Friday, March 30, 2007
Not-So-Random Notes on Redemption for the Eve of Pesach
In The Jewish State, the great Zionist leader and thinker Theodor Herzl made two qualified predictions that have proven utterly incorrect.
Regarding the Jewish Diaspora, he wrote, "[The] absorption of Jews by means of their prosperity is unlikely to occur."
Sadly, assimilation seems to be very advanced in the United States, where Jews are, as a group, arguably the most prosperous they have ever been. More than 50% of American Jews marry out of the faith community and the vast majority of their subsequent generations are lost to the Jewish people.
Regarding the Jewish State he envisioned, Herzl wrote, "The Jews, once settled in their own state, would probably have no more enemies."
No comment necessary.
On the other hand, a foundational book of the Kabbalah, the Zohar, makes certain redemption-era predictions, as well. Unlike the predictions of Herzl, written down about 600 years later, the Zohar appears to me to be spot-on.
The Zohar says that the descendants of Ishmael receive a Divine reward for having preserved the rite of circumcision as taught to them by our common forefather, Abraham. As will be recalled, the Torah records Ishmael's circumcision at the age of 13, a tradition the Arabs, descendants of Ishmael - and all those influenced by the Ishmaelite religion of Islam - have preserved until today.
In the merit of this mitzvah, the Zohar explains, "The sons of Ishmael will rule a long time over the Holy Land, while it is empty of everything.... And they will delay the return of the sons of Israel to their place, until this merit of the sons of Ishmael will be completed."
And how long will that be? Well, from the conquest of Judea by the Arabs until the declaration of the State of Israel is 1400 years. However, 1936-1939 were the years of the first Arab Intifada, which became known as the "Arab Revolt." This "revolt" included organized and well-financed attacks on Jews throughout the Land of Israel. Might one perhaps say that the Arab Revolt was the opening shot in the children of Ishmael's war to hold onto their reward after 13 centuries; i.e., one century for each year of their forefather's age at the time of his circumcision?
Or perhaps, by 1938, the Jewish communities and farms in Israel were sufficiently productive and reinvigorating of the land that it could no longer be considered "empty of everything," in the terminology of the Zohar.
It is also interesting to note that 1938 was the year of Kristalnacht in Germany, when Jews were given a blunt reminder of what it meant to remain in Galut.
And regarding the period after the return of the children of Israel to their land, at the conclusion of the Ishmaelite merit, the Zohar says, "The sons of Ishmael will cause great wars in the world, and the sons of Edom will be gathered to them and cause war against them."
Again, no comment necessary, except to note that, in Jewish commentaries, "Edom" often refers to the Western world - Europe and its cultural spin-offs such as America.
Regarding the Jewish Diaspora, he wrote, "[The] absorption of Jews by means of their prosperity is unlikely to occur."
Sadly, assimilation seems to be very advanced in the United States, where Jews are, as a group, arguably the most prosperous they have ever been. More than 50% of American Jews marry out of the faith community and the vast majority of their subsequent generations are lost to the Jewish people.
Regarding the Jewish State he envisioned, Herzl wrote, "The Jews, once settled in their own state, would probably have no more enemies."
No comment necessary.
On the other hand, a foundational book of the Kabbalah, the Zohar, makes certain redemption-era predictions, as well. Unlike the predictions of Herzl, written down about 600 years later, the Zohar appears to me to be spot-on.
The Zohar says that the descendants of Ishmael receive a Divine reward for having preserved the rite of circumcision as taught to them by our common forefather, Abraham. As will be recalled, the Torah records Ishmael's circumcision at the age of 13, a tradition the Arabs, descendants of Ishmael - and all those influenced by the Ishmaelite religion of Islam - have preserved until today.
In the merit of this mitzvah, the Zohar explains, "The sons of Ishmael will rule a long time over the Holy Land, while it is empty of everything.... And they will delay the return of the sons of Israel to their place, until this merit of the sons of Ishmael will be completed."
And how long will that be? Well, from the conquest of Judea by the Arabs until the declaration of the State of Israel is 1400 years. However, 1936-1939 were the years of the first Arab Intifada, which became known as the "Arab Revolt." This "revolt" included organized and well-financed attacks on Jews throughout the Land of Israel. Might one perhaps say that the Arab Revolt was the opening shot in the children of Ishmael's war to hold onto their reward after 13 centuries; i.e., one century for each year of their forefather's age at the time of his circumcision?
Or perhaps, by 1938, the Jewish communities and farms in Israel were sufficiently productive and reinvigorating of the land that it could no longer be considered "empty of everything," in the terminology of the Zohar.
It is also interesting to note that 1938 was the year of Kristalnacht in Germany, when Jews were given a blunt reminder of what it meant to remain in Galut.
And regarding the period after the return of the children of Israel to their land, at the conclusion of the Ishmaelite merit, the Zohar says, "The sons of Ishmael will cause great wars in the world, and the sons of Edom will be gathered to them and cause war against them."
Again, no comment necessary, except to note that, in Jewish commentaries, "Edom" often refers to the Western world - Europe and its cultural spin-offs such as America.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
They Don't Mean "Jews," Do They?
In 2004, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, Chief Rabbi of Tzfat and son of former Israeli Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu, advised against the sale or rent of an apartment in Israel to Arabs. Earlier, following a terrorist attack in the Tzfat region in which several Arab Israeli students were indirectly involved, he had called for barring Arabs from the Tzfat College.
Rabbi Eliyahu was indicted for racist incitement following complaints by human rights organizations and the Reform movement.
In 2005, activist David Haivri was sentenced to four months in prison, commuted to community service, for the crime of racist incitement after producing and selling shirts bearing the slogan "No Arabs - No Terrorist Attacks."
Fast forward to March 2007.
Jews purchase a building in the ancient city of Hevron from an Arab owner and a group of students move in. The transaction is legal and documented, and Hevron Jewish community spokesman Noam Arnon says at least 20 families will live in the building once renovations are completed.
But the Israeli "human rights organization" called B'tselem is opposed to the idea of selling or renting apartments to Jews in Hevron. Or, as it was put by B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli, "Our opposition in principle is that these settlements should be evacuated anyway and that there shouldn't be these pockets in Hebron."
By "pockets," of course, she means "pockets of Jews."
According to B'tzelem, the legality of the purchase by Jewish owners is irrelevant and "the IDF has the obligation to make sure that settlers don't take over more areas."
By "settlers," of course, she means "Jews."
This "racist incitement" is especially disappointing coming from a group that claims to defend human rights in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Disappointing, but not unexpected. (Has anyone read B'tselem's reports on the human rights violations in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip since Israel withdrew its army and civilians from Gush Katif in 2005?)
A Knesset member of the far-left Meretz-Yahad faction expressed similar views, saying that the issue is not whether the property was legally bought, but the need for the separation of populations. He called upon the government "to throw them out of there fast."
By "them," of course, he means "Jews."
Finally, the head of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), Karl-Henrik Sjursen, said that the presence of Jews in another dwelling in Hevron may be seen by the Arabs as "an unnecessary provocation."
By "provocation," of course, he means.... Well, he said it pretty straightforwardly didn't he?
Who will charge Michaeli, Oron and Sjursen with "racist incitement"? Nobody. You see, when those groups talk about "human rights," there is an asterisk next to the word "human". And down at the bottom of the page, in small letters, is a little footnote. It says:
Rabbi Eliyahu was indicted for racist incitement following complaints by human rights organizations and the Reform movement.
In 2005, activist David Haivri was sentenced to four months in prison, commuted to community service, for the crime of racist incitement after producing and selling shirts bearing the slogan "No Arabs - No Terrorist Attacks."
Fast forward to March 2007.
Jews purchase a building in the ancient city of Hevron from an Arab owner and a group of students move in. The transaction is legal and documented, and Hevron Jewish community spokesman Noam Arnon says at least 20 families will live in the building once renovations are completed.
But the Israeli "human rights organization" called B'tselem is opposed to the idea of selling or renting apartments to Jews in Hevron. Or, as it was put by B'tselem spokeswoman Sarit Michaeli, "Our opposition in principle is that these settlements should be evacuated anyway and that there shouldn't be these pockets in Hebron."
By "pockets," of course, she means "pockets of Jews."
According to B'tzelem, the legality of the purchase by Jewish owners is irrelevant and "the IDF has the obligation to make sure that settlers don't take over more areas."
By "settlers," of course, she means "Jews."
This "racist incitement" is especially disappointing coming from a group that claims to defend human rights in Judea, Samaria and Gaza.
Disappointing, but not unexpected. (Has anyone read B'tselem's reports on the human rights violations in the Palestinian Authority-controlled areas of the Gaza Strip since Israel withdrew its army and civilians from Gush Katif in 2005?)
A Knesset member of the far-left Meretz-Yahad faction expressed similar views, saying that the issue is not whether the property was legally bought, but the need for the separation of populations. He called upon the government "to throw them out of there fast."
By "them," of course, he means "Jews."
Finally, the head of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), Karl-Henrik Sjursen, said that the presence of Jews in another dwelling in Hevron may be seen by the Arabs as "an unnecessary provocation."
By "provocation," of course, he means.... Well, he said it pretty straightforwardly didn't he?
Who will charge Michaeli, Oron and Sjursen with "racist incitement"? Nobody. You see, when those groups talk about "human rights," there is an asterisk next to the word "human". And down at the bottom of the page, in small letters, is a little footnote. It says:
* By "human," of course, we do not mean "Jews."
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Thank You, Raleb Majadle
28 Adar 5767 / March 18, 2007
Surprise! Israel's new Minister of Science, Culture and Sport, Raleb Majadele of the Labor party, refuses to sing our national anthem.
You see, our national anthem, HaTikvah ("The Hope"), expresses the idea that a Jewish State in the Land of Israel is the fulfillment of a dream of 2,000 years. It is a most succinct encapsulation of what this Jewish, Zionist state of Israel is about, at least to a large degree. And so, representing the nation's founding and guiding motivations, the anthem speaks of the "heart of a Jew yearning" and the "hope of 2,000 years."
But Majadele is an Arab and a Muslim, and he refuses to sing those words. As Majadele put it on this morning's Voice of Israel Channel 2 "Another Matter" radio news-and-interviews program:
"[The anthem] is Jewish and Zionist. I am not a Jew, nor am I a Zionist. I may be a member of a Zionist party, but I am not a Zionist."
Zionism is, at the absolute very least, the position that Jews have a right to national self-determination just like every other people; it is Jewish patriotism. The State of Israel is, then, an expression of that self-determination. If Majadele is not a Zionist, then he would seem to be opposed to the existence of the very state for which he is a minister! Shall we laugh or cry?
How will Majadele's non-Zionist and Muslim loyalties play out when he is exposed to sensitive security information regarding a clearly Zionist goal, like protecting the Jews of Hevron from Muslim attack, or like supporting Jewish immigrants (olim) from, let's say, India, Venezuela, Iran or Ethiopia?
Majadele - who told Voice of Israel radio that he has verses from the Koran on his ministerial office walls - has been in the Knesset since 2004. Has no one among the leaders of the Labor party asked these questions before? Shouldn't they have?
If the Labor party is indeed a Zionist party, as Majadele claims, then how can it be that it nominated a non-Zionist Arab to a ministerial post? How can it be that the party purportedly representing the founders and ideologues of the largest faction of the Zionist movement - including the man credited with founding this Zionist state, David Ben-Gurion - allows a non-Zionist Arab even onto its Knesset list, much less onto its short-list for a ministerial post, much less actually into the government? Is our government, in fact, Zionist?
And should anyone think that this is an issue for the Jewish State alone, the Voice of Israel interviewer, Dahlia Yairi, asked a very logical question of Minister Majadele: "Were you a member of the government of, say, England, would you sing the national anthem?"
Majadele didn't answer. After stuttering briefly, he launched into an (uninterrupted) monologue focused on Knesset Member Tzvi Hendel (National Union-NRP), who was interviewed beforehand.
Despite the security risks, which I hope our leaders are somehow mitigating, I am glad Majadele was nominated, I am glad he refused to sing HaTikvah, and I am glad he said what he did on the Voice of Israel. With any luck, only the most self-destructive Jew will fail to understand the essence of the opposition to the State of Israel, from Raleb Majadele to Ismail Haniyeh. It has nothing to do with "occupation," and everything to do with our being "a free nation in our land."
Surprise! Israel's new Minister of Science, Culture and Sport, Raleb Majadele of the Labor party, refuses to sing our national anthem.
You see, our national anthem, HaTikvah ("The Hope"), expresses the idea that a Jewish State in the Land of Israel is the fulfillment of a dream of 2,000 years. It is a most succinct encapsulation of what this Jewish, Zionist state of Israel is about, at least to a large degree. And so, representing the nation's founding and guiding motivations, the anthem speaks of the "heart of a Jew yearning" and the "hope of 2,000 years."
HaTikvah
As long as deep in the heart / The soul of a Jew yearns / And forward to the East / To Zion, an eye looks / Our hope will not be lost, / The hope of two thousand years, / To be a free nation in our land, / The land of Zion and Jerusalem.
But Majadele is an Arab and a Muslim, and he refuses to sing those words. As Majadele put it on this morning's Voice of Israel Channel 2 "Another Matter" radio news-and-interviews program:
"[The anthem] is Jewish and Zionist. I am not a Jew, nor am I a Zionist. I may be a member of a Zionist party, but I am not a Zionist."
Zionism is, at the absolute very least, the position that Jews have a right to national self-determination just like every other people; it is Jewish patriotism. The State of Israel is, then, an expression of that self-determination. If Majadele is not a Zionist, then he would seem to be opposed to the existence of the very state for which he is a minister! Shall we laugh or cry?
How will Majadele's non-Zionist and Muslim loyalties play out when he is exposed to sensitive security information regarding a clearly Zionist goal, like protecting the Jews of Hevron from Muslim attack, or like supporting Jewish immigrants (olim) from, let's say, India, Venezuela, Iran or Ethiopia?
Majadele - who told Voice of Israel radio that he has verses from the Koran on his ministerial office walls - has been in the Knesset since 2004. Has no one among the leaders of the Labor party asked these questions before? Shouldn't they have?
If the Labor party is indeed a Zionist party, as Majadele claims, then how can it be that it nominated a non-Zionist Arab to a ministerial post? How can it be that the party purportedly representing the founders and ideologues of the largest faction of the Zionist movement - including the man credited with founding this Zionist state, David Ben-Gurion - allows a non-Zionist Arab even onto its Knesset list, much less onto its short-list for a ministerial post, much less actually into the government? Is our government, in fact, Zionist?
And should anyone think that this is an issue for the Jewish State alone, the Voice of Israel interviewer, Dahlia Yairi, asked a very logical question of Minister Majadele: "Were you a member of the government of, say, England, would you sing the national anthem?"
Majadele didn't answer. After stuttering briefly, he launched into an (uninterrupted) monologue focused on Knesset Member Tzvi Hendel (National Union-NRP), who was interviewed beforehand.
Despite the security risks, which I hope our leaders are somehow mitigating, I am glad Majadele was nominated, I am glad he refused to sing HaTikvah, and I am glad he said what he did on the Voice of Israel. With any luck, only the most self-destructive Jew will fail to understand the essence of the opposition to the State of Israel, from Raleb Majadele to Ismail Haniyeh. It has nothing to do with "occupation," and everything to do with our being "a free nation in our land."
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Upside Down and Inside Out
23 Adar 5767, 3/12/2007
The world continues in its upside-down and inside-out trajectory. You gotta love G-d's sense of humor.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, head of the ZAKA emergency response organization - and a former spokesman for the Eida Chareidit, that ultra-Orthodox group that promotes a distinctly anti- or non-Zionist religious stance - beat up one of the Neturei Karta members who was photographed kissing arch-anti-Semite Mahmoud Ahamdinejad during a Holocaust revisionist conference in Tehran.
On the other hand, someone thought to be an arch-Zionist (Ariel Sharon) and much of his Zionist party (Likud) was able to uproot Jews from their homes in Eretz Yisrael. A Jewish "intellectual" and professor (Prof. Toaff) published a book that has fueled speculation that medieval blood libels were true. Jews identified as "religious" consort with terrorist anti-Semites.
And "liberal", "left-wing" students support groups that promote the most anti-liberal, fascist ideology on earth - Islamism - so long as those groups attack America and the nation of Israel, which bequeathed to them the values they claim to support. "Zionist" Meretz leaders attack their own country and the "Zionist" Knesset allows Arab MKs to openly consort with enemy organizations and individuals.
Oh man, give me the "ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist" ZAKA folks like Meshi-Zahav any day, over the so-called "Zionists" from the Israeli Left (and what was much of the Right, too).
The world continues in its upside-down and inside-out trajectory. You gotta love G-d's sense of humor.
According to the Jerusalem Post, Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, head of the ZAKA emergency response organization - and a former spokesman for the Eida Chareidit, that ultra-Orthodox group that promotes a distinctly anti- or non-Zionist religious stance - beat up one of the Neturei Karta members who was photographed kissing arch-anti-Semite Mahmoud Ahamdinejad during a Holocaust revisionist conference in Tehran.
On the other hand, someone thought to be an arch-Zionist (Ariel Sharon) and much of his Zionist party (Likud) was able to uproot Jews from their homes in Eretz Yisrael. A Jewish "intellectual" and professor (Prof. Toaff) published a book that has fueled speculation that medieval blood libels were true. Jews identified as "religious" consort with terrorist anti-Semites.
And "liberal", "left-wing" students support groups that promote the most anti-liberal, fascist ideology on earth - Islamism - so long as those groups attack America and the nation of Israel, which bequeathed to them the values they claim to support. "Zionist" Meretz leaders attack their own country and the "Zionist" Knesset allows Arab MKs to openly consort with enemy organizations and individuals.
Oh man, give me the "ultra-Orthodox, anti-Zionist" ZAKA folks like Meshi-Zahav any day, over the so-called "Zionists" from the Israeli Left (and what was much of the Right, too).
Thursday, March 01, 2007
"Even So Is This Matter"
My latest posting on the Israel National News "Back to Sanity" blog (11 Adar 5767, 3/1/2007):
"...as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter." (Deuteronomy 22:26, in reference to rape)
A six-member Arab Bedouin gang was recently arraigned on charges of systematically kidnapping and raping at least four Jewish girls in the Galilee. Three more suspects were arrested Wednesday.
One of the rape victims was only 13 years old (!); another was 16. A third was serving in the IDF at the time and a fourth was a 25-year-old woman kidnapped from a bus stop. Police suspect that there are more victims of this terrorist cell out there, as yet unidentified.
Yes, a terrorist cell. At least one of the mongrels involved told police that the rapes were the perpetrators' way of "taking revenge" against the Jewish state. His confession confirms the statement one of the victims gave police about how she was taunted during the attack.
The violent acts of that kidnap-rape terrorist cell carry an additional layer of meaning, considering the Bedouin identity of the attackers. As it was expressed by an elder of the village in which the terrorists live, Bir Al-Maksur, in the Bedouin culture rape is "worse than murder." It is considered an offense against honor, a humiliation - not of the woman, but of the family and tribe to which she belongs. From this perspective, the rape of Jewish women was, for the terrorists, a step beyond shooting and blowing up the enemy.
It was also part of Islamic jihad from its earliest days.
Mohammad himself took female sex slaves from among Jewish and non-Jewish tribes his followers massacred as Islam was gaining power and spreading in Arabia. But listen to this, from one of the most authoritative collections of ahadith (statements and stories of Muhammad's life and preaching):
This is no surprise, as the Koran itself says (book 33, known as Al-Ahzab, section 50):
"...as when a man riseth against his neighbor, and slayeth him, even so is this matter." (Deuteronomy 22:26, in reference to rape)
A six-member Arab Bedouin gang was recently arraigned on charges of systematically kidnapping and raping at least four Jewish girls in the Galilee. Three more suspects were arrested Wednesday.
One of the rape victims was only 13 years old (!); another was 16. A third was serving in the IDF at the time and a fourth was a 25-year-old woman kidnapped from a bus stop. Police suspect that there are more victims of this terrorist cell out there, as yet unidentified.
Yes, a terrorist cell. At least one of the mongrels involved told police that the rapes were the perpetrators' way of "taking revenge" against the Jewish state. His confession confirms the statement one of the victims gave police about how she was taunted during the attack.
The violent acts of that kidnap-rape terrorist cell carry an additional layer of meaning, considering the Bedouin identity of the attackers. As it was expressed by an elder of the village in which the terrorists live, Bir Al-Maksur, in the Bedouin culture rape is "worse than murder." It is considered an offense against honor, a humiliation - not of the woman, but of the family and tribe to which she belongs. From this perspective, the rape of Jewish women was, for the terrorists, a step beyond shooting and blowing up the enemy.
It was also part of Islamic jihad from its earliest days.
Mohammad himself took female sex slaves from among Jewish and non-Jewish tribes his followers massacred as Islam was gaining power and spreading in Arabia. But listen to this, from one of the most authoritative collections of ahadith (statements and stories of Muhammad's life and preaching):
Narrated Abu Said Al-Khudri: We got female captives in the war booty and we used to do coitus interruptus with them. So we asked Allah's Apostle [Mohammad] about it and he said, "Do you really do that?" repeating the question thrice, "There is no soul that is destined to exist but will come into existence, until the Day of Resurrection." (Sahih Bukari, Volume 7, Book 62, Number 137)This hadith appears alongside several others discussing the general acceptability of the practice of coitus interruptus. Get it? Mohammad was troubled by the jihadists' coitus interruptus - not by his followers repeatedly raping women prisoners.
This is no surprise, as the Koran itself says (book 33, known as Al-Ahzab, section 50):
O Prophet! We [Allah] have made lawful to thee thy wives to whom thou hast paid their dowers; and those whom thy right hand possesses out of the prisoners of war whom Allah has assigned to thee; and daughters of thy paternal uncles and aunts, and daughters of thy maternal uncles and aunts, who migrated (from Makka) with thee; and any believing woman who dedicates her soul to the Prophet if the Prophet wishes to wed her - this, only for thee, and not for the believers (at large); We know what We have appointed for them as to their wives and the captives whom their right hands possess - in order that there should be no difficulty for thee.So, by doing as they wished to Jewish women, the Muslim Bedouin attackers were essentially declaring that they see the Jews as their slaves, those which their "right hand possesses." The rapists' immediate targets may have been Jewish women, but it is undeniable that they felt they were actually expressing contempt for the entire Jewish people.
