18 Elul 5779 We've done all we could. The rest is up to Hashem. But, no secular anti-Torah (right or left) Zionist government will ever command our allegiance. This is what unites Jews all over the world, no matter what country we live in...
שְׁמַע יִשְׂרָאֵל יְהוָה אֱלֹהֵינוּ יְהוָה אֶחָֽד
בָּרוּךְ שֵׁם כְּבוֹד מַלְכוּתוֹ לְעוֹלָם וָעֶד
Our first and primary allegiance is to Avinu, Malkeinu, HaKadosh Baruch Hu!
May He quickly send us our righteous Mashiach to rule over His land just as He rules in our hearts and minds!
Moving the US Embassy to Israel has been promoted by Jews as a great "kindness" that President Trump performed "for Israel." And so it was presented by those who initiated it and who were part of it. In reality it was a hostile act of conquest.
Glittering Christmas decorations festooned across the White House hallway enveloped Trump, with Vice President Mike Pence deliberately – if a bit awkwardly – placed directly behind the president’s shoulder, ensuring that no camera angle could leave him out of the picture.
It all felt carefully staged to send a strong message to Christian evangelical voters and their leaders that this is their victory and Trump is their man.
...The announcement also took place just before Pence is set to visit Israel for three days, from December 17-19. This guarantees enhanced media coverage for the Pence trip, where he will certainly be greeted as a conquering hero – pleasing evangelicals even more.
...Trump is showing love to Israel because evangelical voters form the crucial linchpin in his relatively small but solid support base. Evangelical voters threw their support behind Trump in 2016 at a higher rate than any previous presidential candidate – giving him 81 percent of their vote, even more than they gave to fellow evangelical George W. Bush.
It was these Christian evangelicals – and Pence, an evangelical himself and a prominent touchstone of their influence in the Trump administration – that were clearly the driving force behind the Jerusalem declaration.
...In order to truly understand the centrality of this “theological dog-whistle” to Trump’s evangelical base, you must take their religious beliefs seriously, argued progressive Christian commentator and pundit Diana Butler Bass, in a widely circulated thread on Twitter. Bass said the Jerusalem issue was so important to evangelicals because it is necessary to regain Judeo-Christian control of the Temple Mount. (Source)
In other words, he didn't do it for the Jews. And the time will come when we will rue the day. In point of fact, the US embassy was not "moved" as the one in Tel Aviv is still in operation, and a new facility was not built to house one in Jerusalem. This was a largely symbolic event. A plaque was placed and a ceremony was held at a building which already existed and is conveniently located on "the seam line" between "East" and "West" Jerusalem - the better to serve both Israel and "Palestine." If you listened closely to what was actually said at the time, only "West" Jerusalem was actually recognized as Israel's capital!
Jerusalem armistice lines between 1949 and 1967
...Jerusalem was key in [Trump's] attempt to win over the coveted evangelical vote — already a growing part of his political base thanks to his enlistment of Mike Pence, the devout, born-again Christian, as his vice president.
The evangelical spirit behind the embassy relocation was present during the inauguration ceremony that took place that May day in the Arnona neighborhood of Jerusalem: The small and exclusive group present included a few dozen evangelicals who had come as part of a special delegation from the United States, headed by Pastor John Hagee and Robert Jeffress. After his speech, Hagee asked his audience for a “Hallelujah.”
Other speakers — Jewish and Christian alike — peppered their speeches with biblical quotes relating to God and Jerusalem. Even Netanyahu quoted scripture: “Thus saith the Lord of hosts: I am jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I am jealous for her with great fury” (Zechariah 8:2). Some evangelicals take that line to be a reference to J****’ return to Jerusalem. (Source)
A few months earlier, Mike Pence had made a rousing speech in the Knesset, establishing that the United States would stand with Israel so long as it shared American values and would only go so far in recognizing Jerusalem, leaving discussions about the city's ultimate borders until final status negotiations. Furthermore, he made abundantly clear that the US priority in the Middle East is to strengthen the Christian presence there and even went so far as to suggest that Israel assist it in doing so!
"It is deeply humbling for me to stand before this vibrant democracy. ...We stand with Israel because your cause is our cause, your values are our values, and your fight is our fight."
And the day that ceases to be, which is not so far off, that will be the end of this "friendship." US President Donald J. Trump doesn't do anything out of the "goodness of his heart," and he doesn't do "favors" unless he is expecting something in return. To Trump this is just "doing business" or "making a deal." It's very much better to owe nothing to Mr. Donald J. Trump. Just ask anyone who ever fell foul of him. He comes to despise anyone he considers "disloyal", i.e. anyone who crosses him or does not show the proper appreciation for his "kindness." Ultimately, he acts only for his own aggrandizement.
...There are large numbers of believers, in fact, who see Trump's announcement - and, in fact, Trump himself - as hastening the long-awaited coming of the Messiah.
But just whose Messiah is Trump hastening? Is it the fundamentalist Israeli vision of a return to a Jewish kingdom and priesthood reminiscent of the Old Testament? Or is it the Evangelical belief in the return of J**** C***** and the conversion of all the Jews to born-again Christian doctrine and faith?
And, considering the unfathomable idiosyncrasies of the president's personality, isn't there every chance that we are now watching the evolution of a particularly Trumpian version of Jerusalem Syndrome - that disorder in which a recent visitor to the Holy City begins to take on the personality of a biblical figure?
The Messiah, for example.
..."When Trump promised Evangelicals that he would move the embassy to Jerusalem, it was a Christian move to stand with Israel,” Indiana Evangelical Pastor Paul Begley said earlier this year.
"He knows that it is his Christian responsibility to do that. When this happens, it will make it easier for Israel to build the Third Temple, fulfilling Bible prophecy for the End of Times.”
But what would happen then? As Israelis awaited Trump's statement Wednesday evening, Israel's Channel 10 broadcast a clip entitled "Welcome to the Coming Apocalypse," in which Pastor Begley, an American flag flying behind him, spoke with such rapturous excitement that nearly kept his words from leaving his lips:
"The Jewish People - I've been there, I'm telling ya - they believe that when the Temple's built, the Messiah will be revealed to them. And it will be. The Temple will be rebuilt, and then Yeshu* [fundamentalist Christians' preferred Hebrew name of J****] will be revealed to the Jewish People, that he is truly their Messiah.
"And they will embrace him."
Israel Channel 10 anchor Nadav Eyal asked for a response from Likud lawmaker Yehuda Glick, an Orthodox Jew and a prominent leader of the Temple Mount movement, which seeks the rebuilding of the Third Temple.
It's fair to assume that the last thing Glick would want to see is for Jews to convert en masse to Christianity. And yet, he clearly sees Begley - and, in particular, Donald Trump, whose inauguration Glick enthusiastically attended - as allies in bringing the Jewish Messiah Glick so fervently hopes one day to welcome.
"Paul Begley is a dear friend of mine," Glick said. "We have an excellent relationship, certainly.
...as the White House decorations suggested, this week he gave Jerusalem to the Evangelicals for Christmas, as a capital of their very own.
Precisely. This was no "kindness" meted out to the Jews as so many erroneously believe. This was a statement of possession.
All over the Land of Israel, these Christian Evangelicals are laying claim to our inheritance in the name of their false god. The Awake Jerusalem Facebook page made this announcement back in April 2018:
Calling all worshippers: Let's go home to Jerusalem! A strategic movement is forming to rebuild the Tabernacle of David. We are gathering at Zedekiah's cave (where scholars believe that Solomon may have mined stones for the building of the Temple) in Jerusalem. We will pray and worship at strategic sites like the Temple Mount, Garden Tomb, and Yad Vashem.
It's time to unite. It's time to rebuild. #ItsTimeForJerusalem
Their "About" section says the following:
Awake Jerusalem was birthed in 2018, when nations from all around the globe came together to worship in God’s Holy Land, Jerusalem. We are a global house of prayer movement that assembles together in prophetic gatherings of non-stop worship and prayer. Join us and be a part of these historic days!
On May 17, 2019, they published this:
From the nations of the earth, a tribe is arising… Join us as God is assembling the nations to come and ascend into His Holy Land! Experience a multinational and multicultural gathering, meet and journey through Israel with hundreds of other believers from around the world, and let your voice be heard in this historic and prophetic worship declaration!
Make this October YOUR journey to God’s chosen land... #ItsTimeForJerusalem
GOD FORBID!!!
So there you have it, folks. The Jews can stop bowing and scraping and acting like shnorrers now. We owe Trump nothing. As he himself said, he was only recognizing the "reality." And that reality is, we have Jerusalem because HKB"H gave it to us, not Donald Trump! Our boys - Jewish, Israeli boys - died to win back Har Habayit for us, not Christian American soldiers. And we don't recognize the term Haram al Sharif, Mr. Mike Pence!!! One day, very soon, the entire Jewish public is going to understand. Our Father Ya'aqov knew better than to accept any sort of "kindness" from our Uncle Eisav. (Uncle S"M). If you want to see what HASHEM is forced to look upon because of our inaction and shirking of our responsibility to protect the kedushah of this precious gift of Holy Jerusalem, just witness the following video of the avodah zarah which is coming in two weeks time thanks to this Awake Jerusalem crowd (and they are just one of many!). THIS is what Mike Pence wants from Israel, when he talks about ensuring "freedom of worship for all" in this land. THIS is the price of their "friendship" and their "kindness." We can't afford to keep paying it!!!
17 Elul 5779 Otzma Yehudit = "Jewish Power" There is a certain "right-wing" party with a woman at its head whose last attempt at gaining power for herself ended in tens of thousands of "wasted" votes. Now she calls for Likud to go and take Otzma's voters, since they are sure to become "wasted" votes - according to her calculations. What kind of chutspah is that?! I've been going back and forth about this in my mind all day long. Here are a few random thoughts. Despite everything else, OtzmaYehuditdoes represent a voice which rings, not just with words of Torah, but with deeds of Torah. Also, because they are so publicly connected to Rabbi Kahane, may God avenge his blood, it is almost like showing all those who deride "Kahanism" just how much support there still is for him and for his path, thirty years after he was banned from election and then murdered. I had great expectations from NOAM and was very disappointed about their withdrawal. Actually, I was even more disappointed when NOAM and Otzma decided not to run together, although I blamed Otzma for that. When I asked my Rav what he thought about it, this was his reply, which I use here with his permission:
Rabbi Dov Lior supports them. He is a very big Talmid chacham. I have known many of the leaders of Otzma for decades, they are people that strive for truth, though they are not Rav Kahane. Though it is by far not a simple issue for me to vote for the Knesset, my leaning would be Otzma.
I also wrestle with this question of voting, at every election. At least we take it seriously. In the end, the way I've handled it is that if there is a real Torah alternative to vote for, I would give them my support, if for no other reason than to stand up and be counted on the side of right and good. And I feel at this point that with Otzma Yehudit, although it's not my ideal, there is still what to vote for. Therefore, God willing, I hope to cast a vote to strengthen Jewish power in our Holy Land tomorrow, b'li neder, since maybe WWIII will cancel it! We never know what is coming next! I've only just now found the names for the revised list since Dr. Michael Ben Ari, Baruch Marzel and Bentzy Gopshtein were disqualified. It took some time to find adequate references to get a good picture of who they are. I have to say that I am impressed. Here are the names of those taking the first four positions on the Otzma Yehudit list:
1) Itamar Ben Gvir - civil rights attorney, resident of Hevron.
2) Dr. Adva Biton - holds a doctorate in medical chemistry, but may be best know as the mother of little Adele Biton who was hit by a rock thrown by a hostile Arab and died after two years in hospital.
3) Yitzhak Wasserlauf - a 26-year-old from Tel Aviv who has a National Religious background.
4) Rav Meir David Cooperschmidt - touted as Otzma's "chareidi" candidate, this 27-year-old rabbi and father of two grew up in Betar Ilit.
16 Elul 5779 This may actually be "IT" - the point of war between Persia and Edom, otherwise known as WWIII.
(Debka Breaking News) Iran launched nearly a dozen cruise missiles and more than 20 drones from its territory in the attack on key Saudi oil facilities in Saturday, a senior Trump administration official told ABC News on Sunday night. Houthi rebels in Yemen claimed responsibility for the assault, but the senior US official said that was false. “It was Iran. The Houthis claim credit for something they did not do.” President Donald Trump tweeted that there was “no evidence the attacks came from Yemen,” adding “There is reason to believe that we know the culprit, are locked and loaded depending on verification, but are waiting to hear from the Kingdom as to who they believe was the cause of this attack, and under what terms we would proceed!”
And every Jew should know, if he doesn't already, that following on these reports is a flood of accusations being brought across the globe that Israel is the real culprit, that this was a "false flag" attack perpetrated by Israel in order to force Trump into a war he doesn't want, for the sake of Israel. Here we stand at nearly the halfway point of our period of teshuvah, and I don't think any of us has a proper appreciation for the dire situation we find ourselves in today. Every Jew in the world is standing under a Sword of Damocles this morning. In Eretz Yisrael, we could be the next target of Iran's missiles and drones. And they are unlike anything we have ever seen from Hamas or Hizballah. In chu"l, every antisemite is burning up inside at the thought of Jews being at the center off yet another global conflagration. "See," they'll say, "Jews can't get along with anyone. As long as there are Jews in the world, there'll never be peace." That's what they think; that's what they'll say to each other, and that's what will fuel the outbreak of pogroms. Yes, it's coming. Let there be no illusions about that. And there is nowhere to run and hide. It seems we may have reached the point of no return. Where is our Esther and Mordechai to call all Jews to true and lasting repentance before it is too late?!
15 Elul 5779 I was saving this for tomorrow, but in light of the very disappointing news that NOAM has withdrawn from the elections, it seems it needs to be addressed now...
A very short time ago, NOAM supporters were notified via WhatsApp that while NOAM could count on 70,000 committed votes with an additional 250,000 possibles, the rabbis made the decision to withdraw from the election and use the momentum they have started to work on these issues dear to our hearts from outside the Knesset. Like I said before, this was all about seeing how many people were really ready to follow Mashiach. That was its only purpose, it was never going to wield a great influence from inside the Knesset, even if it squeaked in. Here is what I had written for publication tomorrow had NOAM not withdrawn today. My prediction of possible scenarios..
Best-case scenario: The formation of a government will fail yet again, and the vision of Mashiach taking it over before they can try a third time comes to pass.
Worst-case scenario #1: Netanyahu manages to form a coalition and "immediately after the election" the Trump Peace Plan is adopted. If implemented, it will send the country on a downward spiral to becoming a nation like all other nations - no more possibility of a JEWISH state.
Worst-case scenario #2: Gantz-Lapid are given the task of forming the next government and succeed, after which they go to war against the Torah sending the country on a downward spiral to becoming a nation like all other nations - no more possibility of a JEWISH state. (There's also nothing to say that they would not also implement the Peace Plan.)
All of these secular leaders will dance to the tune of those holding the power above them and I don't mean Hashem, since they do not recognize Him. As I've tried to express many times and in many different ways, "THEY" are trying to destroy Torah and its bearers from the world.
So, in the end, it doesn't really matter whether Noam or Otzma get in or how many seats UTJ gets, there is only one way to stop this inevitable "death" spiral: 1) Mashiach arrives and takes over, or 2) the God-fearing public (from Chiloni to Hareidi - everyone who wants to remain a Jew) will have to rise up and overthrow this evil regime. Since I don't really see the latter as a realistic possibility right now, I think we may have reached our Yam Suf moment when all we can do is scream to Heaven to save us. My vote for NOAM is my pitifully poor cry to HKB"H. Please Hashem bring us Mashiach Tzidkeinu, and we will follow him through the Sea to the other side and on to conquer Eretz Yisrael.
If Mashiach continues to delay, I fear many more Jewish lives will be lost needlessly before the people will have finally woken up to the fact that this is all part of a plan for our ultimate annihilation. And no party, no election is going to change any of that. All the dice are loaded. We can't win by playing their game and by their rules.
In everything, we have to have two things in mind: 1) HKB"H is orchestrating it all, so "THEY" won't win in the end, and 2) a lot still depends on us. What we will be called upon to do with or without Mashiach will be the most challenging test of our faith that we have ever faced.
Our Sages have told us that the final redemption will be very much like the first redemption from Egypt. In that instance, 4/5ths of the Jews did not even leave Egypt; of the rest, all the men but two died in the wilderness.
Although the final end is assured, our place in it is not. That depends on our deeds. Ever since signing onto the covenant at Har Sinai, there was no longer any question of whether we would fulfill its conditions or not. From that moment on, the only choice left to us was whether we would do it the short, easy way or the long, hard way. And that's the choice we have to make today, regardless of how this election turns out.
It may very well be that a Leftist/Anti-Torah government could be seen as a hidden blessing as the only difference between the right and left is perception. With a Leftist/Anti-Torah government, God-fearing Jews will understand immediately that a fight with the assistance of Heaven is necessary; however, with a supposedly Right-Wing/Religious government, the illusion of safety, security and wholeness could continue on for a much longer time before people fully understand the damage that has been inflicted.
May Hashem look upon His children who put all their faith and trust in Him with favor and with mercy during this special time of Elul. May He give us a sign for good with another failed government. May it signal the end of the Erev Rav regime's power over us and may He speedily reveal our righteous Mashiach and bring him to the head of a truly JEWISH/TORAH government in Eretz Yisrael. May the Kingdom of Israel arise today and for all time to come. AMEN! UPDATE: I'm seriously considering transferring my vote to Otzma Yehudit. I voted for them in the past. The reason I abstained last election when Eli Yishai's Yachad also withdrew was because they had formed an alliance with Jewish Home which I cannot support. It is to their (and our) advantage that they are running on their own now.
PS: Maybe NOAM will form a sort of government-in-waiting outside the Knesset to assist MBY when he arrives. (Maybe that was the idea all along?) Had they continued to run and votes were "thrown away," the cost in lost public support for their vision would have been great. Something to think about.
Anyone considering voting for Yamina needs to be reminded that Shaked and Bennett are a package deal.
Naftali Bennett, not Ayelet Shaked, is chairman of New Right, party bylaws show Naftali Bennett is the chairman of the New Right party, not Yamina leader Ayelet Shaked, as the two have led the public to believe, Zman Yisrael, the Hebrew sister site of The Times of Israel, revealed on Tuesday. Formerly the leader of the Jewish Home party, Bennett, along with then-justice minister Shaked, split from the national-religious party in December 2018 to form the New Right, saying their new party seeks to forge a full, equal partnership between the secular and religious sectors. The two had hoped to pull votes away from both Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud and the Union of Right-Wing Parties – a faction comprised of the Jewish Home, the National Union, and the far-right Otzma Yehudit Party – but the maneuver failed and New Right did not pass the 3.25% electoral threshold in the April 9 elections. Ahead of the second vote this year, set for September 17 after Netanyahu failed to form a coalition, New Right joined forces with Jewish Home and the National Union to form the Yamina alliance and, in an attempt to broaden voter appeal, named Shaked – a controversial but very popular politician – as its leader. However, a review of the New Right’s party bylaws reveals that Bennett has remained New Right chairman, despite Shaked being publicly presented as its leader throughout the campaign and being placed at No. 1 on Yamina’s Knesset slate. Bennett is New Right’s No. 2, making him No. 4 on Yamina’s merged slate. As New Right’s chairman, Bennett maintains the authority to split the party from Yamina after the elections, potentially leaving Shaked with no Knesset faction to head.
Maybe people have forgotten how Bennett and Shaked left Jewish Home high and dry with a big debt in order to increase their own power and then "wasted votes" in their failed attempt at leading the New Right in the last election. Maybe people have forgotten, or never knew, that as Education Minister, Naftali Bennett sent Israeli children to a Christian indoctrination center...
Israel’s education ministry is providing state funding for a Christian evangelical leadership training program in the northern West Bank city of Ariel.
JH Israel’s website boasts that with its new Israeli government contract, the Ariel facility becomes “the only recognized provider of leadership and biblical content for Israel’s Ministry of Education.”
An education ministry spokeswoman confirmed that a contract for almost a million shekels of state funding had indeed been signed....
Bennett also has some very revealing opinions about Torah Jews who would like to see the State of Israel replaced by the Kingdom of Israel which God has promised to us. I mean that is what Mashiach is coming to do - convert the State of Israel into the Kingdom of Israel. In the New York Times no less!
“Israel is under attack,” he began. “This time though, the threat is not from Iran, Hezbollah or Hamas. It comes from a fringe group within Israel, which needs to be eradicated swiftly and forcefully.” Bennett said that the attackers are Jewish extremists who said they are acting in the name of God, but in reality desecrate Him, Judaism and the Jewish people, and represent no one but themselves, not the mostly law-abiding residents of Jewish communities in the West Bank. They are a fringe group who want to destroy Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. “They are terrorists,” he added, vowing to use all means at Israel’s disposal to defeat them. “They are anarchists, a fifth column…they must face the full force of Israel’s justice system and its defense establishment. ...“These extremists threaten Zionism, our future and our statehood,” he stated. “We must do everything in our power to stop them.” Calling himself “the leader of Israel’s right-wing camp,” Bennett ...wrote that he “believe[s] in coexistence and working together with our neighbors to create stability, economic prosperity and a safe, secure future for all of our children, Israeli and Palestinian, without regard for their religion or sexual orientation.” As education minister, Bennett said he supports tolerance, including having Jewish schoolchildren learn more about Arabs, their culture, history and language, and called for Palestinians to do the same,.... (Source)
You might like Shaked, but you should know that if you choose Shaked, you also get Bennett! If you are serious about what you say in your prayers every day and are not just lying to God and to yourself, there is no way you can support this erev rav mixture called Yamina. The time has come to choose one side or the other. I won't presume to tell you which one, that's up to you. But, if you want to be on the winning side (even should they lose the State's election), I believe NOAM is ready to bring the Torah out of the Beit Midrash and into the streets of Eretz Yisrael. It's been a long time coming.
