A Jewish right to a Jewish land

The Rebbe of Gur was visited by an official of the British Mandate. In the course of conversation the official informed the Rebbe that the British were poised to move out and leave Israel to the Jews. 
The Rebbe’s reply was a Yidishism – “Mi-heChe-Teise,” an idiom loosely translated as "let it be." Unsure of how to translate the Rebbe’s response, the interpreter said, “The Rebbe is pleased with the news.”

After the interview the interpreter asked the Rebbe why he was so casual in his response. The Rebbe replied, “G-d promised the land to our forefather Abraham, to our forefather Isaac and to our forefather Jacob. The British also want to promise us this land? Nu, Mi-heChi-Teise,” let it be…”

This is the true Jewish perspective of why Israel belongs to the Jew. We don’t require legal arguments or scientific proof to justify our claim to Israel. To us, Israel and the Jew belong to each other because it is inherent in our heritage. It is enshrined in the Bible, where it wasn't only promised us, but given to us.

That archaeology, sociology and anthropology buttress this claim is superfluous to the Jew. It’s nice to know that our tradition is corroborated, but it is hardly surprising to us nor is it necessary. It is not for science or history that we lay claim to Israel. It is for our G-d given right.

Yet Jews often shy away from making the Biblical claim outright. You hear Jews speak of the United Nations Vote for Partition in 1948. You hear Jews speak of a historical right to reclaim the land of our ancestors, but rarely does one hear Jews speak publicly about a G-d given right enshrined in the Bible.
The obvious reason is that such a claim would subject us to the counter-claim that Islam has its own tradition, its own holy book and isn’t subject to ours. While this is true, it essentially allows the other side to dictate the conversation. If we don’t claim our Biblical right out of respect for Islam and the secular west, we essentially discard our best, and truthfully our only, argument.

It is well known that some early Zionists weren't particular about Israel. As secular European Jews, their chief aim was to secure a homeland for Jews. They were willing to establish this land wherever they could. The British offered to provide a Jewish homeland in Uganda and in principle, the early Zionists weren't opposed. It was ultimately rejected, as Herzel told the Zionist Congress in 1903, because no other land would motivate Jews to accept marching orders. Only Israel holds that resonance and drama.
Jews would only leave their homes and businesses for the Holy Land, given us by G-d. The land whose loss we never stopped mourning and for whose shores, we never stopped yearning. The land of our fathers, the land of our glory, the land of our home, the land of our soul; only that land that would move the nation. No other land would do.

This is the only true reason Jews live in Israel today. It isn’t a gift of the UN and it is not ours by right of conquest. It isn’t ours on account of history, it is ours because G-d made it so. Had the UN given us California, we would not have gone. Had the Jewish people defeated the Nazis in the Warsaw Ghetto, they would not have claimed that land.

Let us face the truth. The only reason we are in Israel is because it belongs to us and we belong to it. It is no less a part of our Jewishness than the Torah. Of the 613 commandments, 343 are unique to the land of Israel. We can survive anywhere, but we can thrive only there. Plainly put, if Israel weren't ours, we wouldn't have had a homeland.

Should we deny this essential truth only because Islam isn’t not prepared to accept it?

Instead we devise all kinds of new arguments. We claim it is ours because the UN gave it to us. That is a weak argument. The UN dictates all manner of things to Israel that Israel conveniently ignores. If the UN’s authority suffices to create the land, it should suffice to dictate to the land. If we won’t accept its dictates, how can we claim its partition?

We use the argument of our historical right, but it too doesn't work. If the tribes indigenous to America and Canada were to take up to arms to reclaim their historical lands, international law wouldn't support them. The fact is that when Jews returned to Israel to establish a government, there was an indigenous community on the land. We can’t just displace them because we lived there thousands of years earlier.
In fact, even if we posit that Jews lived in Israel thousands of years earlier, what of the tribes we conquered and displaced when we arrived? If historical rights are claimed, the descendants of those tribes should be located and awarded the land. In addition to Jews, Hittites, Philistines, Jebusites, Assyrians, Babylonians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines and the Turks all controlled Israel at some point. How do we determine whose it really is? That we cannot identify the descendants of these nations doesn't justify our claim to it.

The only conclusive and resounding argument for a Jewish right to a Jewish land, is the Biblical one. G-d gave it to us. It is only through this argument that the others make sense. They buttress our G-d given right, but they can’t stand as independent arguments.

As He gave it, He also took it. We mourn the destruction of our Temple and the loss of our land, but we also know it why it was taken. It was for our sins that we were driven from our land.

“When you beget children and children’s children… and you become corrupt and make a graven image….. you will speedily and utterly perish from the land” “And you will return to the Lord your G-d with all your heart and all your soul… then the Lord your G-d will bring back your exiles and have mercy … and bring you to the land which your forefathers possessed.”

We hesitate to speak this truth because we are a diaspora people surrounded by nations. Even in Israel we hesitate to speak because we are dependent on the good will of these nations. Yet the Torah tells us that it is precisely in the diaspora, where we ought to seek and find G-d.

“From there you shall seek him out and you shall find him - if you shall seek Him with all your heart and soul. From there, from your exile and diaspora, where G-d is hidden and must be sought in order to be found, you shall seek Him. Don’t despair of finding Him and bringing Him to the attention of the nations. Seek Him with all your heart and soul, and you shall find Him."

Over and over we hear that these arguments are good for the synagogue, but not “out there.” The Torah tells us to seek G-d when we are “out there,” “From there you shall seek him out.” The mystics point out that the Hebrew word for there is sham and the Hebrew word for name is Shem. The two words are similar because they belong together. On the surface, there, represents a place where G-d needs seeking because He is concealed. Name connotes that G-d’s name is known. Yet the two words are comprised of similar letters because it is precisely “out there” that we should seek Him. And when we do, we make a name for Him. Sham, out there, turns out to be a most conducive place for Shem to make His name.

We are wary because on the surface G-d is utterly concealed “out there.” But the Torah enjoins us to have a little faith and make that leap. Though you are out there, tell your neighbors, colleagues and friends that Israel is yours because G-d gave it to you and because the Bible says it is so. Don’t worry that they will think of you as way “out there.” G-d told us to think differently. G-d said that your words will make a real difference. You will create a name for G-d and a bastion of support for Israel, even “out there.”

Rabbi Lazer Gurkow, a respected writer, scholar and speaker, is the spiritual leader of Beth Tefilah congregation in London, Ontario. He is the author of Reaching for God: A Jewish Book on Self Help, and his new book, Mission Possible: Living With Higher Purpose will be released this spring and can be pre-ordered by emailing egurkow@gmail.com

'Hand of God sent missile into sea'

More claims of divine intervention are being reported in the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, with an operator of Israel’s Iron Dome missile-defense system saying he personally witnessed “the hand of God” diverting an incoming rocket out of harm’s way.

Israel Today translated a report from a Hebrew-language news site, which noted the Iron Dome battery failed three times to intercept an incoming rocket headed toward Tel Aviv last week.

The commander recalled: “A missile was fired from Gaza. Iron Dome precisely calculated [its trajectory]. We know where these missiles are going to land down to a radius of 200 meters. This particular missile was going to hit either the Azrieli Towers, the Kirya (Israel’s equivalent of the Pentagon) or [a central Tel Aviv railway station]. Hundreds could have died.
“We fired the first [interceptor]. It missed. Second [interceptor]. It missed. This is very rare. I was in shock. At this point we had just four seconds until the missile lands. We had already notified emergency services to converge on the target location and had warned of a mass-casualty incident.
“Suddenly, Iron Dome (which calculates wind speeds, among other things) shows a major wind coming from the east, a strong wind that … sends the missile into the sea. We were all stunned. I stood up and shouted, ‘There is a God!’
“I witnessed this miracle with my own eyes. It was not told or reported to me. I saw the hand of God send that missile into the sea.”

The commander’s account is reminiscent of a recent newspaper headline which trumpeted the possibility of supernatural protection.
“Their God changes the path of our rockets in mid-air, said a terrorist,” was the headline in the July 18 edition of the Jewish Telegraph.

It was a partial quote from Barbara Ordman, who lives in Ma’ale Adumim on the West Bank.
Her exact quotation was: “As one of the terrorists from Gaza was reported to say when asked why they couldn’t aim their rockets more effectively: “We do aim them, but their God changes their path in mid-air.”
She opened her piece by noting: “In October 1956, [Israeli Prime Minister] David Ben Gurion was interviewed by CBS. He stated: ‘In Israel, in order to be a realist, you must believe in miracles.’”
Ordman also noted religious texts, specifically the Jerusalem Talmud, teaches Israelis not to depend on miracles for survival.
“It argues that we must not desist from our obligations and must not wait for miraculous intervention from the Supernatural,” she wrote.

Meanwhile, the Times of Israel reported a senior officer in Israel’s army said divine miracles protected his soldiers during fighting in the Gaza Strip.

Givati Brigade commander Col. Ofer Winter told the weekly publication Mishpacha that he “witnessed a miraculous occurrence, the likes of which he had never seen before during his military career.”

Winter indicated a predawn raid intended to use darkness as cover was delayed, forcing the soldiers to move toward their objective as sunrise was approaching.

Col. Ofer Winter

With the troops in danger of being exposed at daybreak, Winter explained how heavy fog quickly descended to shroud their movements until their mission was accomplished.
“Suddenly a cloud protected us,” he said, referring to clouds the Bible says guided the ancient Israelites as they wandered in the desert. “Clouds of glory.”

Winter said only when the soldiers were in a secure position, the fog finally lifted.
“It really was a fulfillment of the verse ‘For the Lord your God is the one who goes with you to give you victory,’” he said, quoting Deuteronomy 20:4.
Why does the Bible say believers will sit on the throne of Jesus Christ and judge angels? Find out in your personally autographed copy of “The Divine Secret” by Joe Kovacs right now, or get autographed copies of both “The Divine Secret” and the classic “Shocked by the Bible” bundled together!

The Times of Israel notes Winter made headlines over an official letter he sent to battalion and company commanders July 9, telling his subordinates that “history has chosen us to spearhead the fighting (against) the terrorist ‘Gazan’ enemy which abuses, blasphemes and curses the God of Israel’s (defense) forces.”

The dispatch came under fire from some, since it portrayed the Operation Protective Edge as a religious war against non-Jews. The Israeli government’s stated aim is to stop rocket attacks at Israel and destroy a network of tunnels dug under the border from Gaza used to launch terror attacks inside Israeli territory.

In his interview with Mishpacha, Winter defended his message, saying everyone finds God when in combat.
“Anyone who attacked me for the letter apparently has only seen weapons in pictures, was never in combat, and doesn’t know what fighting spirit is,” he said, revealing that before going into action his custom was to recite the blessing with which the ancient Israelite priests would bless the army before it went to war.

“When a person is in a life-threatening situation he connects with his deepest internal truths, and when that happens, even the biggest atheist meets God,” he said, claiming soldiers see so many miracles, “it is hard not to believe [in God].”

Tisha B'ov

The Sin of the Spies - Today

The writer of this article is Head of Yeshivat Har Bracha and a prolific author on Jewish Law, whose works include the series on Jewish law "Pininei Halacha" and a popular weekly column "Revivim" in the Besheva newspaper. His books "The Laws of Prayer" "The Laws of Passover" and "Nation, Land, Army" are presently being translated into English. 

by Rabbi Eliezer Melamed

In this period of mourning the destruction of the Holy Temples, we must try our best to rectify the Sin of the Spies,  the root of all calamities. This week’s Torah portion, D’varim (Deuteronomy), repeats the story.

Our Sages said:“On the Ninth of Av, it was decreed that our fathers should not enter the Promised Land (as a result of the Sin of the Spies, which took place on that day), the Temple was destroyed the first and second time, Beitar was captured, and the city of Jerusalem was ploughed up” (Ta’anit 26b).

It is important to understand just what  the sin of the Spies was.  According to the pshat, the literal meaning of the verses, entering the Land of Israel in the spies' assessment would have involved risking their lives, and in order to save the lives of their children, it was necessary to remain in the desert. Should they have ignored the danger?!

Actually, however, their sin was that they looked at the cherished Land with abhorrence. Their basic attitude was that conquering the Land and settling it was a difficult matter – a serious “problem.” It would be better to remain in the desert – to eat bread from the heavens and the quail, and survive miraculously. 

Therefore, when they saw the giants and fortified cities, they made up their minds that it was impossible to conquer the Land, and "melted the hearts" of the people.

In the end, all of them were punished and delayed for forty years, “until the last of your corpses lie here in the desert”. They chose to protect their physical bodies, rejecting the vision of yishuv ha’aretz (settling the Land of Israel), and instead, remained dead corpses in the desert.

They did not understand. The Land of Israel (Eretz Yisrael) is not the problem of Jewish existence – the Land of Israel is the solution.

Jews in the Diaspora and the Question of Eretz Yisrael

There were Jews in the Diaspora who wished to forget about the Land of Israel – to stop feeling like foreigners, and assimilate into their societies. But the Gentiles did not let them forget the Land of Israel. “Jews to Palestine” they shouted at them. 

Many Jews believed that if they could just forget about their connection to Eretz Yisrael, everything would be fine; after that, they would be accepted among the nations, and be able to influence them with their Jewish values. 

The Reform movement even erased the Land of Israel and Jerusalem from their prayer books.

In the end, there was the Holocaust, or at best, Communist decrees, and it was no longer possible to immigrate to Israel.

Because the Land of Israel is not the problem, it is the solution.

Students of the Vilna Gaon and the Precursor’s of Zion

The Vilna Gaon and his disciples began speaking about the importance of immigration to Israel and rebuilding the Land, but their words did not attract enough followers – the yishuv (settlement) in Eretz Yisrael was meager and poor. Even a generation later, when the gaonim Rabbi Kalisher and Rabbi Guttmacher aroused the public to immigrate to Israel and build it, only a few heeded their call, because the leadership and the people thought it was too difficult to immigrate to Israel and survive there. And in Europe, hardships and persecution increased on the one hand, and assimilation on the other.

Because the Land of Israel is not the problem, it’s the solution.

Founding of the Zionism as a Rescue Movement

We were not worthy of having multitudes of Jews immigrate to the Land of Israel motivated by a desire to fulfill the mitzvah from the Torah and the vision of Redemption, and anti-Semitism greatly increased. And thus the Zionist movement was founded as rescue movement for the persecuted Jewish people.

From the onset, it was clear that the place of refuge for the Jewish people would be in the biblical Land of Israel, including the eastern side of Jordan. With the grace of God, the nations of the world also recognized this at the time of the Balfour Declaration and the decision of the League of Nations.

However, when the Zionist leadership saw that the claim to Eretz Yisrael initiated problems and required struggles with the Arabs and the British, it was decided to solve the “problem” of Eretz Yisrael by conceding the eastern part in exchange for a promise to settle the western side of the Jordan and the transfer of the Arab population to the eastern side.

And wonder of wonders – conceding the eastern side of the Jordan did not solve the problem. The pressures and rioting in opposition to the Jewish settlement increased, and instead of the Arabs moving to the eastern side of the Jordan, masses flocked the western side to enjoy the fruits of Jewish settlement. The problem gradually intensified and the British restricted Jewish immigration and allotted parts of our holy Land to the Arabs – as well as land purchased by Jews.

Because Eretz Yisrael is not the problem, but the solution; therefore, conceding the eastern side of the Jordan only exacerbated the problem.

The Partition Plan

Nevertheless, the Zionist leadership did not learn its lesson and continued to relate to the extent of Eretz Yisrael as a problem, and in order to prevent bloodshed during the riots (1936-1939), agreed to give up most of the area west of the Jordan, in accordance with the proposal of the Peel Commission.

Instead of receiving peace, security and unrestricted immigration to save Jews from the claws of the Nazi’s, the riots continued and the British imposed further obstacles to immigration to Eretz Yisrael.

For indeed, the Land of Israel is not the problem, it is the solution.

Either We Build, or Engage in Saving Lives

When the Jewish people are worthy – we engage in the mitzvah of yishuv ha’aretz, attempt to bring as many Jews on aliyah as possible, settle as much of the Land as we can, and in this manner, attain peace and security, prosperity and immigration, respect among the nations, and strengthen the Jewish spirit. When we are not worthy to engage in yishuv ha’aretz, we are forced to engage in pikuach nefesh (saving lives).

In recent generations, at least we can take comfort that by the grace of God, with all the troubles and dangers, we are privileged to make some progress in settling the Land – but with great difficulty and agony.

Only following the tragedy of the  Holocaust were we able to find the strength to establish the State of Israel. Only because the Arabs continued to attack us with a lust for murder and destruction, were we able to liberate portions of our homeland and began to settle Judea and Samaria.

This is the significance of what our Sages said concerning the Redemption:

“If they are worthy, I will hasten it: if not, it will come in its due time” (Sanhedrin 98a) – if they are worthy – through the joy of building the Land; if not – through difficult and horrible suffering.

The Moral Predicament

Certain morally-conscientious people throughout the world argue against the State of Israel: “You are robbers, for you have forcefully conquered the Arab’s land” (in which they never had a state).

There are also morally-sensitive Jews who argue “occupation corrupts”. They believe that if not for this messianic affinity to Judea and Samaria all wars would cease, the world would consider us enlightened, and Israel would be the exemplary society they dreamed of establishing. For that to happen, first we need to get rid of the “problem” of the “territories” (a derogatory name for Eretz Yisrael).

In actual fact, the Arabs were granted broad autonomy in Judea, Samaria, and the Gaza Strip, but instead of peace – hatred and terrorism towards us increased tremendously, anti-Semitism spread throughout the world, and international pressure against Israel intensified.

Because the Land of Israel is not the problem, it is the solution.

If we are worthy – we settle the Land for the sake of the mitzvah. If not – we are forced to conduct repeated wars, and only through suffering are we privileged to slightly expand Jewish settlement.

The Problem of America and the Entire World

Even the United States and the rest of the Western countries have a serious problem with the Land of Israel. A little sarcasm is due: If not for the Jewish settlements in Judea and Samaria, world peace could have been achieved long ago, the Muslims would have calmed down, and democracy would flourish in all countries. Instead of this, the world is forced to hear about more houses being built in the settlements.

And as long as Jews continue to build in the settlements the international media is forced to cover it, and does not have time to report about the millions of murdered people in Islamic countries, and about the hundreds of millions of starving and sick people in Africa. As long as the settlers keep behaving with horrendous violence by scribbling graffiti against the Arabs, world leaders and the U.N. are unable to find time to solve the problems of international terrorism, nuclear weapons, and global conflicts.

And here, they were able to begin solving the “problem”; they succeeded in expelling Jews from Gush Katif and freezing construction in Judea and Samaria. But for some odd reason tensions are on the rise, the Muslims are not satisfied, and anti-Semitic incitement is growing. Countries are collapsing in blood, fire, and pillars of smoke.

Because the Land of Israel is not the problem, it’s the solution. 

Through the building of Eretz Yisrael, nations who desire justice and peace could have sent a clear message to all the various terrorists that violence, falsehood and evil do not pay. This is the correct way for the West to put all evil regimes in their place. This is the way to bring peace to the world.

The War in Gaza

And so, we arrived at this complicated war in the Gaza Strip.

Had we been worthy – we would have engaged in the mitzvah of yishuv ha’aretz, building and expanding Gush Katif. We would not have sinned in the Oslo Accords, and not have granted the Arabs any collective rights in the Land of Israel. Indeed, we would have to deal with international pressure and threats from the Arab enemy, but handling such pressure would have been relatively easy. It could even have been a constructive and reinforcing struggle.

But since we were not worthy, we sinned in the Oslo Accords and the destruction of Gush Katif, we entered a complicated war in Gaza in order to save Jewish lives from the fires of Muslim terror, and our precious soldiers are forced to sacrifice their lives in the defense of the people and the country.

The Only Way to Win is Settling the Land

If the government continues to ignore the vision of yishuv ha’aretz, we cannot win the war. For the Arabs know that the key issue concerns the sovereignty over the land, and as long as they remain steadfast and their claims receive international attention – they win. Even if we kill thousands of their soldiers and citizens and destroy thousands of their houses, specifically on account of that, they will receive more funding to build their military strength.

And thus, we will have to go from one military operation to the next, to bend, twist, and confront international pressures – because the Arabs will always have demands, and there will always be more terrorists to violate the peace.

The only way to win is by returning to the mitzvoth of yishuv ha’aretz. If as a result of the war in Gaza the government comes to the realization that further talk about withdrawal from Judea and Samaria is forbidden and must expand the Jewish settlements, this war can then be depicted as somewhat of a victory.

If the enemy knew that as a result of the war the government would decide to build tens of thousands of homes in the settlements of Judea and Samaria, they would realize they have lost.

If they heard that the Israeli government intends to occupy Gaza, to rebuild the destroyed communities, to encourage the emigration of refugees and enemies of Israel, their dream of victory over Israel would fade, international pressure would gradually diminish, and the swamp of terror would eventually dry up.

The Role of Individuals

During the period of mourning over the destruction of the Temple, each individual should make an effort to rectify the Sin of the Spies by building the Land. Anyone who can join the settlements in Judea and Samaria is called to do so. 

Those who cannot move there for family reasons, or because they fill other important functions in education or in the community, are called upon to encourage those who can, to rise up and join the settlements.

Of course, those standing guard over the communities on the Golan Heights and the Negev, the Galilee and the Arava, should remain where they are. This call is directed to the residents of central Israel, who, without losing their jobs, can fulfill the great mitzvah of saving our nation from the existential danger of the establishment of a terrorist state in Judea and Samaria.

Because settling the Land is the solution, 

and in the building of Eretz Yisrael we will find comfort.

This article appears in the ‘Besheva’ newspaper, and was translated from Hebrew.

Gaza, Obama and Harav Kook

Rav Avraham Yitzchak HaCohen Kook served as the first Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi for the British Mandate of Palestine (today’s Israel) between 1921 and 1935. He is considered by many to be the founder of modern Religious Zionism.

As a Torah scholar and student of Kabbalah (Jewish mysticism), he wrote of Redemption. To oversimplify, he believed that Redemption was not a singular, unique event that would occur in a (probably) unexpected instant. Instead, he believed that Redemption was a process that unfolds in history.

He died in 1935 before he could realize how correct he was.
In the book, War and Peace, (Commentary by Rabbi David Samson and Tzvi Fishman, Torah Eretz Yisroel Publications, Jerusalem, 1994), Rav Kook is said to have written that G-d directs the world in a natural, historical fashion, achieving His aims through the vehicles of nations and kings (i.e., national leaders) (p.43). He believed that the prophesied return of the Jewish people to Israel would be an historical event sure to come true (ibid, p 42).

How would that happen? Through history.
For Rav Kook, Divine Providence works through history. In history, a process unfolds. This process is similar to what man experiences: just as man develops from infancy to adolescence to maturity, so, too, history evolves, stage after stage (ibid, p 39). This process, Rav Kook said, is the blueprint that HaShem has created for the world—for man, history and for the Jewish people (ibid).
Redemption is part of that process (ibid, p 40). 

Look at what our Sages teach: war, our Talmud says, contains both destruction and the beginnings of Redemption (Megilla, 17b) (see ibid, p 40). Rav Kook wrote that when there is war, then, in accordance to the magnitude of the conflict, the Redemption of Israel moves forward faster or slower. This is precisely what has happened with modern Israel.

For example, World War One brought us the Balfour letter, which set into motion the re-creation of the Jewish national homeland on Biblical land (ibid). World War Two brought us the founding of the modern state of Israel (ibid). The June, 1967, Six-Day War brought us the reunification of Judea-Samaria with Israel—and the recapture of the Temple Mount.

Now, Israel fights another war. This war is against Hamas in Gaza. So far, this war has moved Israel closer to its ‘destined perfection’ (ibid, p42) by bringing Israelis together in a unity not seen for decades (“Shimon Peres: I Have Never Seen the Nation So Unified”, Arutz Sheva, July 30, 2014).

Recently, we saw the possible beginning of yet another step forward. Because of this Gaza war, we may be looking at a sea-change in Israel’s relationship with its secular ‘master’, the United States.

The United States has always been a friend to Israel. But that friendship has always been bitter-sweet. For example, the birth of the modern Israel could not have happened without the support of the US. But then, at almost the same instant Israel was ‘born’, the US joined Britain in an arms embargo against the new Jewish state just as that state was invaded by Arab armies.

The US has always had a love-hate relationship with Israel. For many, the US has been the master and, too often, our leaders have been nothing more than American puppets. For some, Israel’s destiny will always be stalled when it replaces G-d with such an indifferent master.

That love-hate relationship may be ending. The current US President has never really liked our Prime Minister Netanyahu—and he now  appears to reveal that he can no longer even be civil to Netanyahu.  

A tape recording has emerged. That recording might never have seen the light of day but for a US assertion that Netanyahu had asked for a new cease-fire with Hamas (“Kerry: Netanyahu Asked Me to Help Broker Gaza Ceasefire”, Arutz Sheva, July 29, 2014). The recording emerged because, it would seem, that assertion was a flat-out lie.

In the short-term, both sides have chosen to deny the authenticity of the tape. That’s okay. That’s called, ‘managing the news’.
Nevertheless, the voices on that tape exist; and proverbial cat is now out of the bag. We have seen the emperor with no clothes on—and what we see is ugly.
Specifically, the recording presents the US President as demanding, with great force and hostility, that Israel not only accept a cease-fire, but make that cease-fire unilateral (see “In Leaked Tape, Hostile Obama Tries to Force PM to Accept Truce”, Arutz Sheva, July 29, 2014). 

It presents us with a shocking show of raw power applied with an intense hostility.
We will have to wait to see how this tape influences events—and leadership decisions. But already, one result has been visible: despite Obama’s demand, Israel Defence Forces (IDF) have continued fighting.

Rav Kook has written that history progresses with the aim of bringing the Jewish people to its destined perfection. You may not believe in this process. But you cannot deny two things: (1) the world map has indeed been rearranged to create modern Israel (ibid, p 43); and, (2), war brings us increasingly closer to the Jewish Redemption.

Rav Kook was right.

by 

Dr. Tuvia Brodie

The author has a PhD from the University of Pittsburgh and writes for tuviainil.blogspot and jewishleadership.blogspot

Gaza: Spare Me Your Sick, Manipulative, Dead Baby Propaganda Photos

By James Delingpole

Did you see the photograph of the Middle Eastern boy blown apart in an explosion?

I did, unfortunately. Someone insisted on posting it in my Twitter timeline. For my education, presumably.

The boy - no older than five - was on a hospital bed. It must have happened very recently because there was still colour in his face. His eyes were closed and his expression - he can't have seen it coming, thank God - was serene. You might almost have imagined him asleep, if it weren't for the fact that his body was in bits: head and severed torso; an arm; legs and lower body; entrails.
Whoever did this, I thought, is really, really sick.

But I didn't mean the Israelis - who, I imagine, were the people I was expected to blame. Rather, I meant the sicko who scooped up the boy's remains while they were still fresh and insisted on laying them out, like some grotesque jigsaw, in order to snap them artfully for a propaganda shot. And also, all the sickos out there who have been reposting photos like these all over the internet in order to make what they seem to imagine is an unarguable point about Israel's war on Hamas.

The point they are trying to make goes like this: here is a dead child; killing children is evil; Israel killed this child; therefore Israel is evil.

Are you buying this argument? I'm not. I don't even think it qualifies as an argument. In fact, I think it has about as much insight and depth as one of those posters with kittens on it saying: "Today is the first day of the rest of your life."
What I loathe about it is its mixture of hectoring presumption and manipulative dishonesty.

Presumption: "If you support Israel, then you clearly don't care about dead children," it says. (Is there anyone in the world who isn't moved by the sight of a dead child? I don't think so. The people who are implying otherwise are beneath contempt).

Dishonesty: other than the truism that war is hell, the photograph actually tells us nothing.
We have no idea whether this boy was actually a victim of the fighting in Gaza - or of the far bloodier and uglier civil wars in Syria and Iraq.
If he was indeed a Palestinian, we have no idea whether he was killed by Israeli fire or by Hamas ordinance.
Nor, even if he was killed by Israeli fire, do we know the circumstances. Maybe it was a tragic mistake; maybe, he was one of those innocents that Hamas likes to use as human shields in its rocket launching sites; maybe he was being used as a "tunnel rat"; maybe he'd tried to flee with his family to a shelter only to be driven back to his apartment by Hamas who recognise the propaganda value of dead children.

In a world where the media was doing its job, none of this would need explaining. It would be widely known that Israel is going to extraordinary lengths - even to the point of risking the lives of its fighting troops - to minimise civilian casualties. It would also be widely understood that the aggressor in this conflict - and the only side that can possibly benefit from large numbers of Palestinian dead - is Hamas.

But the media isn't doing its job. Apart from small pockets like Breitbart, Fox and the Spectator, almost no one out there is reporting the reality of what is happening in Gaza. 

What this information deficit means is that there are people out there - lots and lots of them - who are happy to act as Hamas's useful idiots, disseminating this vicious and unprincipled terror group's vile propaganda in  the belief that it will further the cause of peace.

No it won't. It just advances the cause of the bad guys

"Asra Kadisha" guy, Avraham Wallas, killed by Arabs

R' Avraham Wallas

 Toldos Aaron chasidim in Jerusalem have been plunged into mourning the death of one of their own in today’s terror attack on Rechov Shmuel Hanavi.


Rabbi Avraham Walles has been identified as the man who was killed when a massive construction excavator rammed into an Israeli bus, overturning a Beitar Ilit bound bus onto the sidewalk, as previously reported on VIN News.


According to reports on Israeli site Kikar Hashabat, Rabbi Walles, a 29 year old father of five, who worked for the Organization “Asrah Kadisha” was headed to work at a nearby construction site, was not scheduled to be in the area today.
“He did a favor for a friend and agreed to switch places with him and in the end he was killed at same construction site where he was going to work for the first time,” said one distraught friend.


The excavator had been taken from that same construction site, the nearby Olive Tree Hotel.
Walles described by his friends as someone who never harmed anyone.

A fund has already been established to raise money for Rabbi Walles’ wife and children.

Video of Motorcycles & Weapons Found Inside A Terror Tunnel From Gaza

Saudi King Publicly Blames Hamas for Gaza War

In a stunning five minute statement read on state television late Friday, Saudi Arabia’s King Abdullah, leader of Israel’s oldest and most implacable foe, called the Hamas-Israel war in Gaza a “collective massacre” caused by Hamas.

It is just the latest signal in a tectonic shift in Middle East geopolitics that has been largely overlooked by Western media seemingly still committed to building upon its decades-old narrative that Israel remains the united enemy of the Arab world.


In the 75 year history of conflict between Arabs and Jews in the Middle East, no state has been more consistently intransigent against the very notion of a sovereign Jewish presence in the region than the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, founded by Abdullah’s grandfather, Ibn Saud, in 1923.


Just weeks ago, before Hamas’ current war against Israel, it would have unthinkable to suggest that a Saudi King would even hint that any entity other than Israel bore any responsibilities for actions perceived as harmful to Palestinians.


Abdullah’s statement, read by a news anchor on behalf of the ailing 90-year old Monarch, that the violence in Gaza has led to “various forms” of terrorism, whether from groups, organizations, or states, is seen in the Middle East and Arab states as a flat-out repudiation of Hamas.


Perhaps even more remarkable, while King Abdullah condemned the consequences of a war he termed “devastating” to Palestinians, he issued no demands upon Israel.


As has been pointed out numerous times by Breitbart contributors, Saudi Arabia’s now open disavowal of any common cause with Hamas reinforces an emerging and wholly improbable new alliance uniting every Arab state save Qatar together with Israel and against the United States.


As remarkable as was King Abdullah’s statement by itself, it pales in comparison with the transformation of the relationship between Egypt and Israel. From cold no-belligerents under President Mubarak, to near antagonists under the Muslim Brotherhood government of Mohammed Morsi, today Israel and Egypt are tightly cleaved military allies.


In the harshest words ever used by a Saudi King to condemn any Palestinian “resistance” to what is routinely called “Zionist aggression,” King Abdullah’s statement said, “It is shameful and disgraceful that these terrorists are doing this in the name of religion, killing the people whose killing Allah has forbidden, and mutilating their bodies and feeling proud in publishing this.”


The king went on to say of Hamas’ war against Israel, “They have distorted the image of Islam with its purity and humanity and smeared it with all sorts of bad qualities by their actions, injustice and crimes.”


Unlike President Obama and Secretary of State John Kerry, the guardian of Islam’s holy places and thus the putative leader of the entire Muslim world, King Abdullah did not call upon Israel to meet any Hamas demands. He made no calls for “opening up border passages” between Gaza and Israel/Egypt-- thought by many to be the primary strategic objective of Hamas’ war.


He issued no demands that Hamas be permitted to build a seaport, let alone that Israel and Egypt be required to help fund it. Nor did he petition Israel or the Palestinian Authority to resume cash payments to the more than 44,000 Hamas "civil servants" in Gaza rendered jobless as a result of the recent PA-Hamas unity government agreement.

Chareidim having nothing to do, block excavating site

While the IDF are busy giving their lives for  these un-grateful vultures, Chareidim  decide to divert precious Israel manpower!
Why don't they protest in Gaza, where the IDF is doing  excavating now?

Police arrested five Charedim residents of Jerusalem Sunday morning for attempting to block the Israel Antiquities Authority from excavating a site outside the Old City.

Police did not state what was being excavated or why the ultra-Orthodox men objected to the dig.

After being questioned by officers, the five unidentified suspects were taken into custody and were awaiting arraignment at Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court. 

UN kock-IMOON condemns Israel for bombing a UN shelter

The UN shelters and Schools have turned out to be harboring missiles and Hamas terrorists, 
but kock-iMoon doesn't see that, he only sees Israel bombing these known terrorists sites!
Just like the  Satmar's Der Blatt:

The Secretary-General strongly condemns the killing today of at least 10 Palestinian civilians in shelling outside of an UNRWA school in Rafah providing shelter to thousands of civilians. The attack is yet another gross violation of international humanitarian law, which clearly requires protection by both parties of Palestinian civilians, UN staff and UN premises, among other civilian facilities.
United Nations shelters must be safe zones not combat zones. The Israel Defence Forces have been repeatedly informed of the location of these sites. This attack, along with other breaches of international law, must be swiftly investigated and those responsible held accountable. It is a moral outrage and a criminal act.

The Secretary-General is profoundly dismayed over the appalling escalation of violence and loss of hundreds of Palestinian civilian lives since the breach of the humanitarian ceasefire on 1 August. The resurgence in fighting has only exacerbated the man-made humanitarian and health crisis wreaking havoc in Gaza. Restoring calm can be achieved through resumption of the ceasefire and negotiations by the parties in Cairo to address the underlying issues.

The Secretary-General repeats his demand to the parties to immediately end the fighting and return to the path of peace. This madness must stop.

Scarborough Stands By Remarks Accusing Israel of 'Indiscriminate…Killing of Women and Children'

It's now happening in the USA! A well respected former GOP Congressman from Florida and now Newscaster, espouses the same anti-Semitic views as Hamas!

His co-host is Mika Brezezinski, the daughter of Zbiginew Brezezinski, Jimmy Carter's National Security adviser. 

Zbiginew was a noted anti-Semite.

On friday, Mika flubbed 

1. 'Keep it right here on Morning Jew'

On thursday morning MSNBC's Joe Scarborough accused Israel of "what appears to be indiscriminate killing … of women and children." 

Friday morning, Scarborough seemed shocked that he was criticized for accusing Israel of war crimes with no evidence to back it up and then went on to read a prepared statement that attacked his critics as "simple minded."

In a carefully worded statement, Scarborough chose not to walk back, amend, or even address his unfounded smear against Israel. He obviously stands by those remarks. 

The Poilishe anti-Semitka Mika

Auschwitz stops Jews from singing "Ani Maamin" the song that millions sang before they were murdered

The following is via Truth Revolt:

On Friday, August 1st, local police arrested Rabbi Rafi Ostroff, the leader of a group of visiting Australian and South African students, for singing the same songs Jews sang as they marched to their deaths. 

Security officials at Auschwitz I twice requested that the group cease their singing. Auschwitz-Birkenau officials again requested they cease singing and subsequently summoned police.


It seems that the new wave of Auschwitz security guards, little better than their 1940’s predecessors, have a different agenda. For the first time since January 1945, it seems that proud Jews are no longer safe at Auschwitz.

Members of the group, including some with grandparents who had been incarcerated, some perishing, in Auschwitz, locked arms and began to sing songs. They sang lyrics like “Am Yisrael Chai” and “Ani Maamin….” 
At this point, guards approached Rabbi Ostroff and demanded that he make the group stop. Said Rabbi Ostroff, “I told him that I don’t have control over this as they are singing from their hearts. He then threatened to arrest me and called the police.”

When local police arrived, they seized Rabbi Ostroff and threatened him with 24-hour imprisonment or a 1,000 zl fine (roughly $320), while the group continued to sing. Rather than remain incarcerated in a Polish prison over Shabbo, Rabbi Ostroff paid the fine and rejoined his group.

Beck from Neturei Karta Protesting with Hamas at White House on Shabbos

Beck (the moron dressed in white) from Monsey, in front of White House on Shabbos!

Beck, the self-hating Jew, the head of the Neturei Karta, lives in Monsey, and people in Monsey respect him, give him money and invite him to weddings!

Thousands of demonstrators waving Palestinian flags and dressed in the flag’s green, red, white and black colors filled a square outside the White House and marched around the nation’s capital to support ending violence in Gaza.
Demonstrators on Saturday carried signs including: “We stand with Gaza,” ‘‘Free Palestine Let Gaza Live!” and “Stop the Massacre of Gaza.” The group’s chants could be heard from the north lawn of the White House, but President Barack Obama was not at home.
According to AFP, many of the protesters voiced anger at Netanyahu, with one waving a banner that read “Netanyahu and Hitler are the same, the only difference is the name.”

Among the demonstrators was Tariq Abu Khdeir, the Palestinian-American teenager from Florida who was arrested, and he says beaten, by Israeli security forces.
A handful of Orthodox Jews dressed in their Shabbos garb from the anti-Zionist’s group Neturei Karta were among those in the demonstration.
An approximately 20-person group of Israel supporters also turned out, and the two groups exchanged shouts.

Israel Supporters Evacuated From Front of White House Under Police Protection

Dan Merica, associate producer for CNN Politics has sent out a series of photos and reports on social media about Israel supporters being evacuated in police vans from in front of the White House after being surrounded by menacing Hamas supporters.

Merica was there covering a pro-Hamas rally by the communist terrorist support group ANSWER being held at Lafayette Park.

Merica reported Cornell West spoke at the rally.

Far left professor Cornel West gives an impassioned speech at a pro-Hamas rally outside the White House.
A small group of pro-Israel demonstrators carrying Israeli flags stood on Pennsylvania Avenue across from the rally.

People shout anti-Jew epithets at a small counter pro-Israel protest in front of the White House.
Merica’s photos show a horde of Hamas supporters confronting the pro-Israel activists.

Pro-Palestinian protesters shout “stop the genocide” at a small pro-Israel counter protest outside the White House.
The police set up a barrier around the pro-Israel protesters in front of the White House.
But that was not enough.
Merica then posted a photo with a caption saying the pro-Israel group was being put in police vans and were being escorted away for their safety.

They had to be rescued by the police from the radical pro-Hamas protesters.
The Hamas protesters then torched an Israeli flag.

Satmar Chesed

Read the "letter to the editor"  in this week's edition of the Satmar (Aronie) Yiddish Newspaper, "Der Blatt!"
This guy who writes the letter, spent a Shabbos in Manhattan, to do "Chesed" to someone in a hospital. This letter is about their experience!

Here is my loose translation of the letter.

Headline: Should I stuff my ears or run?

In honor of "der blatt"
My brother and I and a family member, had the occasion of being in a hospital in Manhattan on Parshas Mattos.
Shabbos morning we went to a neighboring shul. As soon as we walked into the shul we noticed a Zionist flag on the "Mizrach Wall" which stabbed us in our hearts.
When we asked someone, whether the flag is there all the time, he answered, that no, it is only there now, because of the war between the State of Israel and Hamas. 
With no other choice we sat by the western wall and tried to hide behind the Bima, (So as not to stare at the flag.)

But our patience "burst" when right before Mussaf, the Rabbi got up to give his sermon about the importance of the war. He embedded words of heresy in the weekly parsha comparing this war with the war of Midian, G-D have mercy and save us from this, and then to top it all off, he made a Mi Shebeirach for the Zionist soldiers.

My brother suggested that we stuff our ears, but because of the blue and white flag we decided to run out, since it would be better that we daven Be'ychidus (without a minyan) in the Hospital than in a place such as this.

We believe that we did the right thing, if not, could someone please enlighten us.
Brothers S. New York

Reading "Der Blatt" is reading Al-Jazeera

This week's edition of Der Blatt, a Satmar (Aronie) Yiddish Newspaper, had pages of photos of Palestinians standing by their bombed out houses! 
There were no pictures in the entire edition of Der Blatt of  bombed out Jewish homes 
There were no pictures of little Jewish boys sobbing as they watch their fathers being buried. 
There were no pictures in the entire edition of Der Blatt of the widows of the Jewish soldiers, but they managed publishing photos of Arabs mourning their bombed houses! 
Don't anybody ever tell me about Satmar "Chesed"!
Can anyone tell me the difference between the Satmar reporting and Al-jazeera?

The by-line reads that the State of Israel is violating the precept of "Hisgarus B'umois" by criticizing Secretary of State Kerry!
On an another page they write that the State of Israel violated the Ceasefire?????????????????????

Kidnapped Soldier was a Yeshiva Student

 Sources are reporting that the captured israel Lieutenant, 23 year-old Hadar Goldin, hails from a family of British immigrants and is a cousin to Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon.

THEPOST.co.il (http://bit.ly/UQf84d) reports that Lt. Goldin also has a twin brother Citrus with whom he graduated the IDF’s officer’s academy last October, and two months ago he became engaged.

At the Goldin family home this morning in Kfar Sava, where Hadar and Citrus’ parents live along with their two siblings, a family friend told reporters that the Goldin family is concerned and hoping for Hadar’s safe return.

“The parents who are Orthodox Jews from the religious Zionists party are very optimistic and are hoping for the best,” the friend said, while adding that the family is in shock over the news involving Hadar, who he described as a “charming guy” and a “musician in addition to being an officer.”

IDF counselors and medical specialists have also arrived to aid the Goldin family as they await any word on Hadar.

Sources say Hadar and his twin brother Citrus have been inseparable almost their entire lives, having studied together at Bar Ilan elementary school and then attendeding a yeshiva high school before joining the army.

The brothers also spent years together serving as youth counselors in Bnei Akiva until, for the first time in their lives, they were separated by their IDF assignments following officers’ school graduation.

The brothers explained their first time separation during an interview last October immediately following graduation, saying that despite being apart for the first time they hoped they could continue to meet at home with their family to observe Shabbat on certain Fridays.

During that interview, Hadar explained how much his relationship with his twin brother meant to him during officer’s training.

“We had to complete many tests that would have left a lot of other guys not knowing what to do, but because my brother and I have done so much learning together we both knew exactly what the other was thinking. What better way to understand the material when you’ve done as much learning together as we have.”

The brothers also spoke proudly of their family, saying, “We grew up with a love for the people and the country, even our grandparents participated in and survived the War ofI Independence, and our father is a reserve battalion commander. Our family has always stressed living good lives, with a lot of love and especially a lot of education so that we will know how to make good decisions.”

UN Condemns Israel's Latest War Crime: Not Sharing Iron Dome with Hamas?

The UN's top human rights official again condemned Israel for its military actions to stop Hamas rocket attacks against Israeli civilians, accusing the Jewish state of “deliberately defying International Law... in a way that may constitute war crimes.”

Navi Pillay told reporters following yet another "emergency" meeting of the Geneva-based UN Human Rights Council that Israel was not doing enough to protect civilians. "There is a strong possibility,” said the known Israel critic, “that international law has been violated, in a manner that could amount to war crimes.”

Among the UN’s long bill of particulars against the beleaguered Jewish state comes the almost unbelievable accusation that Israel’s refusal to share its Iron Dome ballistic missile defense shield with the "governing authority" of Gaza – i.e. Hamas, the terror group created to pursue the extermination of the Jewish state and now waging a terrorist war against it – constitutes a war crime against the civilians of Gaza.

The UN chairwoman criticized the U.S. for helping fund Israel's Iron Dome system which has saved countless Israeli and Palestinian lives. "No such protection has been provided to Gazans against the shelling," she said.

Just because Hamas fires rockets indiscriminately aimed at Israeli civilian population centers without provocation and fires them from within its own population centers does not “absolve” Israel from its own legal violations, Pillay told reporters Thursday.

Marking the end of her contentious, six-year term as chairman of the notoriously anti-Israel UNHRC, Pillay saved her harshest condemnations for what she termed Israeli "targeting" of UN-run schools and hospitals in Gaza. She did not mention, nor was she reminded by any of the reporters present, that as of this writing, at least three UN-run schools in Gaza have been used as rocket warehouses, a gross violation of international law that clearly falls within the category of war crimes. Neither did she mention, nor was she reminded, that in at least two of the three cases cited above, the terror rockets found on UN property in Gaza were returned to Hamas by the UN.
"What I'm seeing now is a recurrence of the very acts that the Gaza fact-finding mission indicated as constituting war crimes and crimes against humanity," she said.

The UN’s Human Rights Council has long been a source of deep embarrassment to some UN supporters all-too-conscious that the council is widely regarded as a cesspool of anti-Israel and anti-Jewish hatred, manipulated by the world’s very worst human rights abusers to cover up their own gross abuses of human rights by scapegoating Israel.

Current members of the UN Human Rights Council include China, Russia, Cuba, and Saudi Arabia. Iran and North Korea have been recent active members of the body. So execrable were the actions and abuses of the UNHRC in the past that the body was in fact disbanded in 2006 after the late terrorist leader of Libya Muammar Gaddafi was elected President of the Council.

While Israel is the only country in the world that remains a standing agenda item at every session, the human rights body has to date said nothing about the recent Russian-backed shooting down of Malaysian Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, nor has it condemned the ongoing mass killings in Syria or South Sudan. North Korea, China, Pakistan, Syria, Sudan, or Iran, all recent or current members of the council, have never been condemned by it.

The UNHRC has never formally mentioned “Hamas” by name, let alone condemned it.

From 2006 through 2012, Israel was formally condemned by the UNHRC at least 47 times.

Lt. Hadar Goldin captured by Hamas in Israel by Gaza Border!

A Hamas attack on IDF soldiers in southern Gaza, which occurred an hour and a half after the start of a humanitarian truce, ended with the  kidnapping of a soldier, the IDF said . 

Second Lt. Hadar Goldin, a 23-year-old Givati officer from Kfar Saba, was named as the IDF soldier presumed to be abducted by Hamas. His family has been notified. 

Two other soldiers were killed during the incident. Their families have been notified.

Terrorists emerged from a tunnel shaft, and a suicide bomber detonated himself in the vicinity of soldiers. Heavy exchanges of fire ensued, before one of the IDF soldiers was kidnapped, a senior army source said.

The IDF said the incident occurred at 9:30 a.m., but a spokesman for Hamas's military wing claimed the terrorists came out of the tunnel and took part in the ensuing gunfight at 7:00 a.m.

"The incident is ongoing, and the IDF is in the midst of operational and intelligence efforts to track down the soldier," the army added. 

The statement came after Palestinians reported heavy exchanges of fire in southern Gaza, in which several Hamas attackers were reportedly killed in IDF return fire. 

Around 10 a.m. rocket and artillery fire resumed, bringing an end to the 72-hour humanitarian cease-fire brokered by the UN and the US that went into effect just two hours prior.

Palestinian media reported heavy casualties, with at least 40 dead, according to local sources. Rocket fire continued to hound southern Israel.

The IDF attacked 50 Hamas targets across Gaza overnight between Thursday and Friday, including rocket launch zones, and targets that were hit by the navy and infantry in a combined attack. 

Two terrorists seen near a tunnel were killed by Paratroopers. The Israel Air Force struck an Islamic Jihad control room, killing two terrorists. Meanwhile, Givati infantry units uncovered two tunnel shafts and destroyed them. Secondary explosions were seen in the blast.

On Thursday, five IDF soldiers were killed in a mortar attack in Eshkol Regional Council on the Israeli side of the Gaza border.


They were named as Sergeant First Class (res.) Daniel Marash, 22, of Rishon Lezion, Capt. Omri Tal, 22, from Yehud, St.-Sgt. Shay Kushnir, 20, of Kiryat Motzkin, St.-Sgt. Noam Rosenthal, 20, from Meitar, and Capt. (res.) Liran Adir (Edry), 31, of Ezuz.