A Sordid Tale

Camie Davis

The U.S. government has a multiple personality disorder.  Since the day American companies became involved with oil in the Middle East, the U.S. government has displayed several completely different personalites.  Especially when dealing with Israel. 

America supports Israel.  Well sorta, kinda, on certain days, on certain issues.  And when America is not sorta, kinda supporting Israel, it is undermining Israel's very existence.  But rather than give you a history lesson on the countless times America has dealt with Israel underhandedly, let me tell you a little story instead.

In a town called Boston, there was a horrible crime committed.  Bags containing explosives were detonated in a public place.  Death and carnage resulted.  A nation was stunned (at least the part of the nation who lived with their heads in the sand except for when they came up for air and to watch the mainstream media and E! Entertainment). 

An all out manhunt ensued.  One terrorists down, the other still at large.  A massive lockdown crippled a major city until the wounded animal was cornered.  Cheers were heard in the Boston streets as the heroes who captured the animal wearily drove home.  And a country went back to its daily routine, confident that the terrorist would be brought to justice. (Well at least the head-in-the-sand-msm-watching crowd was confident.  Others who knew a bit about modern American history worried that if the domestic terrorist made a recovery he would probably be offered a job as a professor in Chicago and become pals with a future American president.  Google Bill Ayers if you don’t know what I’m talking about.)

Back to my narrative.  After a drawn out trial, which took longer because of breaks to let the terrorist celebrate Ramadan and to let him pray 5 times a day, (after all, the terrorist became a more disciplined Muslim while in jail) he was sentenced with a very long prison sentence.  More cheers from Americans!  (Except for the ones who thought he should just be given art therapy.  Google Gitmo Art Therapy.)  Case closed.  Or so we thought.  Until a call from the Chinese government came.

During the long Boston bombing trial a funny thing happened.  The US slipped from it’s #1 spot as the world's super power and the Chinese slipped in.  (That multi-trillion dollar debt thingy, it really did matter.  But certain demographics didn’t care as long as women retained their right to choose an abortion.  And besides, voting for Obama was the cool thing to do.)  Anyhoo, the call came and what did the Chinese have the audacity to say?  They told America to let the Boston terrorist go.  No really, they said to give the terrorist a “Get Out of Jail Free” card ASAP.  Why on earth would the Chinese demand such an outrageous thing? 

Well, the Chinese leaders were tired of the whole squabble between Americans and radical Muslims, ie Muslims. They just wanted everybody to get along (translation, do what the damn Arabs want because we have become dependent on their oil).  Muslims who were unhappy living in the oil-rich dictator controlled Arab countries moved to America.  Yet once in America, many of them remained unhappy while watching Americans live happily.  So they blamed their unhappiness on the happiness and freedom of the Americans.  Make sense?  No, it never does.  Well, one day some Muslims decided they would be happier if their fellow Muslim, aka the Boston terrorist, was out of jail.  After all, in their minds it was the American way of life that drove him to bomb happy free Americans in the first place. 

The new super-power of the world understood the plight of the unhappy Muslims, so they demanded America give the Muslim cry babies exactly what they wanted.  Because we all know that giving a child who throws a temper tantrum exactly what he want ensures future peace and tranquility.  Right?  Whatever it took to keep the Muslims happy.  Because happy Muslims = free flowing Arab oil. See, isn’t that neat, everybody is happy.  Expect for the ones who get screwed in order to make the happy deal.  (Google “The Secret War Against the Jews”).

So one bright, clear Bostonian day, at the demands of the Chinese, who had become dependent on Arab oil, the terrorist walked free.  Some say he had a smug smile on his face.  But it was hard to tell since he was surrounded by cheering Muslims giving him a hero’s welcome and by little boys looking up at him adoringly thinking, “Someday, I want to be just like him.”

Sound ludicrous?  Yes, it is completely ludicrous and it has been happening in Israel for years.  And guess who has made the calls telling Israel to release convicted terrorists from prison?  You guessed it, America.

Days after experiencing terrorism on its own soil via the Boston bombings, the U.S. demanded again that Israel release convicted terrorists from prison as a good will gesture towards the Palestinian Authority.  In 2009, Obama demanded that Israel release 1,000 convicted terrorists to appease the PA.  Yes, you read that right.  One thousand.  One can only imagine what would happen if the US made some other demands.  For starters, what if they demanded that the PA removed from their national charter the intent to destroy Israel?  What if they demanded the PA stop naming streets and town squares after suicide bombers?  What if they demanded the PA stop giving payments to terrorists’ families?  What if they demanded that terrorists quit receiving a hero’s welcome when released from prison?  Or let’s just get crazy and imagine what would happen if the U.S. demanded that the Palestinians stopped killing Jews. 

Instead, the U.S. has the audacity of stupidity to actually demand that Israel release terrorists who committed heinous crimes.  Amongst the terrorists who the U.S. demanded be released are the terrorists who burned Amnon Pomerantz alive in his car, the terrorists who murdered tractor driver Yigal Vahknin, the terrorist who murdered 39-year-old Gush Katif resident Shaya Deutch, the terrorists who burned to their deaths Rachel Weiss and her three children; Ephraim, Netanel and Raphael as well as soldier David Delarosa who tried to save them, and the terrorist who murdered Professor Menachem Stern in the Valley of the Cross (in Jerusalem) while he was on his way to Hebrew University.  Yep, just your run-of-the-mill terrorists. 

Not only that, but the U.S. also demanded that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu apologize to Prime Minister Erdogan of Turkey.  Do you know what Netanyahu was told to apologize for?  For killing terrorists who tried to kill IDF soldiers.  The terrorists’ plans didn't quite work out the way they intended.  Instead of the terrorists killing the soldiers, the soldiers killed them.  Oops.  And instead of applauding the actions of the IDF, America condemned the actions and then demanded that Israel actually apologize that the soldiers saved their own lives.  You just can't make this stuff up.   But the insanity doesn’t stop there.  The U.S. told Israel that it would be a nice gesture for Israel to make monetary concessions to the families of the terrorists who attacked the IDF soldiers.  So Israel is literally paying for defending itself because of the preposterous demands of America.

Yes, America with the split personality, has bowed down to the wants and demands of Arab oil king-pins for decades, while at the same time trying to “do the right thing” and support Israel, while at the same time undermining Israel.  Yes, I know, it’s confusing.  America, who gives aid to Israel with one hand while with the other hand gives aid to organizations and nations who publically vow to destroy Israel.  America, who has relentlessly bombed entire nations to defend itself against terrorism, yet continuously demands Israel show restraint in defending itself against terrorism.  America, who helped Yasser Arafat ascend as a legitimate leader and gave him millions of dollars of aid, even though he was the “Father of Modern Terrorism.”  Yet on the other hand America started the “War on Terror” and practically destroyed a nation while looking for a terrorist, who by the way, at one time we armed.  America, who travels thousands of miles to fight terrorism in other countries, yet allows people with known terrorists ties into their own country.  

What Americans witnessed in Boston, Israel has witnessed and lived with for decades.  Decades.  And so Jews, being the smart, resilient people they are, decided to fight and enact many defensive measures against terrorism.  Key word: defensive.  Say it slowly and try to understand its implications.  Israel is trying to defend itself against terrorism.

Checkpoints, aka roadblocks, and security fences are part of those defensive measures.  And you know what?  They are inconvenient for Arabs.  So what does America do, it pressures Israel to make Arabs' "fabric of life" as comfortable as possible.  Nevermind that these defensive measures help preserve Jewish lives.  That’s beside’s the point.  Because remember, where was oil discovered in the Middle East?  It wasn’t in Israel.  Therefore, Jews’ needs and demands, even lives, became and still are expendable.  The U.S. State Department doesn’t seem to mind that practically every time they demand Israel dismantle checkpoints, a terrorist attack happens and Jews are murdered.  The “needs” of Arabs, wherever they are, but especially Palestinians, who became the darlings of the Arab world, became a priority to America.  Because again, when Arab “needs” are met, America’s needs at the pump are met.  (Which brings new meaning to the cry to “Drill, baby, drill!” but that’s a whole other article.)

Bottom-line is that the U.S. foreign policy regarding Israel is sometimes sincere, sometimes a sham, and sometimes maniacal.  But more than anything this week, America’s actions scream of hypocrisy and in a very scary way, show a complete lack of understanding of how to deal with terrorists.  Instead of locking terrorists up and throwing away the key, America expects Israel to unleash them back into society.  And this begs the question, is America’s government just plain stupid, or are they hoping these terrorists will do exactly what they did the first time?  Kill Jews and make Muslims happy.

Happy Independence Day, Israel . . . Kind Of

by Camie Davis

Happy Independence Day, Israel!  Well, kind of.  I mean you’re a sovereign nation.  But as far as being independent . . . not so much.  To put it bluntly, Israel, as long as your leaders continue to do what other nations tell them to do, you will never be independent.

Why do Jewish leaders do it?  Why do they take the advice of nations who do not have Israel's best interests in mind?  Jews are smart.  I mean really smart.  Look at the ratio of Jewish Nobel Prize winners.  But Jewish politicians are, well, there’s really no other way to put it; they are stupid.  Or at least they act stupid once they come into office.   Perhaps that is too harsh.  Perhaps it would be nicer to say that Jewish leaders are rendered stupid when they take the advice of the nations.  Does that sound nicer?  Not really, huh?  The bottom-line is that Israel has not done what is in its best interest for decades because they have followed the advice of the nations.  Hence, their own people have suffered horribly.  And that is stupid.   

When observing the actions of Jewish leaders, one is led to wonder if there are lock boxes in the Knesset for elected officials?  Lock boxes labeled “Common Sense,” “Duty to Fellow Jews,” “Logic,” “Chutzpah” and all elected leaders are required to empty themselves of such traits until their terms are over.  And after giving up traits such as common sense, duty to fellow Jews, logic, and chutzpah, is there an oath of office the politicians take in a back room, behind closed doors?  An oath that states, “I will serve the interest of the nations instead of serving the interest of my fellow Jews”  Sound crazy? 

Then how else do you explain the actions of Jewish leaders in Israel?   How do you explain rockets being fired at Jews without retaliation?  Who decided to let the number of rockets surpass the 10 count, the 100 count, the 1000 count?  Why has the madness of deadly weapons being shot at Jews been allowed to continue for so long?  Long enough to build the largest indoor playground, otherwise known as a bomb shelter.  What a disgrace that Jewish children need a bomb shelter masquerading as a playground.  Do you know what kind of message that sends?  It advertises to the world that, “Our kids will need a place to play for a long time because we aren’t going to do anything to stop rockets being fired on them.”

How do you explain Jewish leaders prohibiting Jews from praying on the Temple Mount?  Surely if Jewish leaders hadn’t allowed their “Chutzpah” and “Common Sense” to be confiscated then there would have been an outcry when an elderly Jewish man, who said a blessing before drinking from his water bottle while on the Temple Mount, was arrested by the Israeli police.  Surely if Jewish leaders had not traded their “Duty to Fellow Jews” for “Appeasing the Nations” then there would have been an outcry when an elderly Jewish rabbi/hero, who was a paratrooper from the Six Day War, who helped liberate Jerusalem and the Temple Mount, was arrested for having the gall to say a prayer for his fallen comrades while he was on the Temple Mount.  Instead crickets chirped while Jewish leaders remained emasculated.

How else do you explain thousands of Jews from Gush Katif being kicked out of their homes and businesses by their own government, making way for terrorists training camps to replace the once thriving Jewish neighborhoods?  One would think that the cataclysmic mistake made by the government would have been the climax of their madness.  One might even hope that the government would rend their garments and grovel at the feet of their fellow displaced Jews with apologies.  But instead, the Jewish leaders allow bulldozers to continue to destroy even more Jewish homes in hopes of appeasing those who were not appeased the first time Jewish homes and entire communities were destroyed.  Those lock boxes aren’t sounding so crazy now are they?  The rational of the Jewish leaders has disappeared somewhere!

Yet, the above actions of the government will be swept under the carpet and a grand parade charade will happen on Israel’s Independence Day.   Jewish leaders will celebrate Israel’s Independence Day with riveting, patriotic orations.  Banners and flags will fly.  Acknowledgements will be made for all the sacrifices made to build a nation.  Fireworks will boom.  But then what will happen after the cheering crowds have dispersed?  After the confetti is swept away?  Will the so-called leaders continue walking the same path humming the same tune, “Hi-ho, hi-ho it’s back to the usual appeasing we go?”

During the days, the weeks, the months following the celebrations will heroes from the past still be arrested for praying on the Temple Mount?  Will pioneers continuing the work of building up the land today, literally fulfilling the words of the ancient Prophets and making the land bloom, be treated as enemies of the State?  Will the pioneers of Judea and Samaria continue to be treated as scapegoats, arrested in the middle of the night for the so-called “crime” of defending their homes and families against marauding Arabs?  Will children who are the future of the State continue to have to live with bulls-eyes on their backs?  Will they be expected to continue to scamper into shelters and indoor “playgrounds” hoping a rocket won’t explode on them during the 15 seconds of run-for-cover time?  Will the IDF of today continue to be taught how to be constrained sitting ducks?  Will they be ordered to idly watch while Arabs burn Jewish crops, while Arabs murder Jews with rocks, while the tombs of Matriarchs and Patriarchs become a den for those with murderous intent?

Or will this be the year that the hypocrisy ends?  Will the daily treatment of Jews live up to the once-a-year speeches and celebrations lauding a nation of independence?  Or will the leadership continue to trade their own dignity and sacrifice the safety of their fellow Jews to appease the nations.  The modern nation of Israel turns 65.  It is time for her leaders to grow up and quit suckling the teats of the nations and swallowing the poisonous milk.  It is time for the newly elected Jewish leaders to dismiss the advice and opinions of the nations and to seek what their Leader, the G-d of Israel requires and wants.  

The day Israel can truly celebrate her independence will be the day she cuts the cords that bind her to the nations, and instead she binds herself to Hashem.  When she becomes solely dependent on Him, she will at last be free.    

A Time to Fight

Recently in my daughter's 8^th grade art class the students had some free time.  So she and her friends were telling jokes to each other.  They were laughing and having fun, but the laughter abruptly stopped after one of the girl’s “jokes.”  She said, “What’s the difference between a cake and a Jew?  A cake doesn’t scream when you put it in the oven.”

My mouth dropped open when my daughter repeated the “joke.”  It was the same reaction my daughter had when she heard it.  The older she gets, the more she speaks her mind, but this time she was shocked and literally rendered speechless by such crudeness.  I'm sure her feelings were accentuated by the fact that she had been reading The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, a book about the Holocaust.  But even more so because two of our dearest friends are Jewish.  In fact, they are more like family to us than friends.  "How could anyone make fun of such a tragic event?" she wondered out loud to me.  And then she said,  "All I wanted to do was cry when I heard it, so I sat there stunned trying to hold back my tears."

Thankfully, two of her best friends, who happen to be boys, jumped in and basically jumped down the girl’s throat.  They asked her how she could even let something like that come out of her mouth and told her that it was not funny on any level whatsoever.

After class, the girl who had told the joke was tripped by someone (whether inadvertently or on purpose, I don't know) causing her to fall down.  When my daughter saw her on the floor, she said, “I thought for a split second, ‘Good, you deserve to be on the floor.’ But then I saw that no one was helping her up.  So I reached out my hand and helped her up.”  And with that, she concluded her story.  At which point, I was the one trying to hold back tears. 

I used to be a Bible teacher and public speaker.  I stopped speaking though when I had my son.  That was several years ago.  I’ve frequently mentioned to God that the teacher in me was ready to speak again.  When and where though I haven’t a clue.  But I’ve felt the frustration of not “teaching” others what I know.  After hearing how my daughter had helped the girl up, I figured I’d been teaching more than I had realized and to the most important audience I would ever be privileged to be in front of.  My children. 

Yet as I write that last paragraph, I realize that it is a bit misleading.  Actually, very misleading.  And very pompous.  I doubt I would have offered a hand to help the girl up; back at age 14 or even now at age 45.  In fact I know I wouldn’t have helped her up.  So in reality, my daughter “the student” has quickly become my teacher. 

When I see the famous Martin Luther King, Jr. quote which says, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that.  Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that," I cross my arms and say "Humph!"  I relate more to Bruce Cockburn who said, "Gonna kick the darkness 'til it bleeds daylight." 

It's people like my daughter, though, who remind me that sometimes offering a hand to lift someone up is a better way to "fight" than knocking them down.  And perhaps offering a hand is more than a physical act too.  Perhaps in some unseen cosmic way it helps lift that person's soul out of the mire and muck of ignorance that he or she is stuck in.

Ecclesiastes 3 reminds us that there is a time to fight.  My daughter reminded me that there is more than one way to fight.  Also, the Hebrew translation of Psalm 89:3 says, "The world is founded (built) upon kindness."  I was humbly reminded by my daughter that it usually takes more strength to help a person up than to knock them down.  It takes strength to be kind.  And there is no doubt that she is much stronger than me.

Sometimes You Just Have to Vent

By Brody Gibson

President Obama is visiting Israel. Rumor has it that he is going to encourage Israel to return the region of Judea and Samaria, or also known by the unHebrew sounding "West Bank," to Arab rule. After all it was part of the Kingdom of Jordan just over 60 years ago; never mind that it was Jordan who attacked Israel and the new, under-armed nation of Israel drove them back to the east side of the Jordan River.  The Arab nations, President Obama, and some of the rest of the world are of the opinion that Israel is "illegally occupying" this West Bank territory. In essence, the President is saying, "If Jordan would have known they would lose the West Bank in their defeat in a premeditated attack, they wouldn't have attacked; now, even though they are not sorry for their action, pretty please, Israel, play nice and give back their land - not to Jordan but these poor Palestinian refugees - because none of the other Arab countries want them or are willing to give land to them - so that there can be a State of Palestine." 

If I were an American Indian, native American or whatever politically correct term one would use, I would be very encouraged by the pressure that President Obama is placing on Israel. Here is why: In 1830, President Andrew Jackson signed the Indian Removal Act. The intent was that whites would live east of the Mississippi River while the area west of the Mississippi was "reserved" for the Indians. The government provided a trail for the Indians by which to get to this reserved land - maybe you have heard of the Trail of Tears? In 1865, just 35 years later, the lure of fertile lands in the west and the dense populations of the big cities of the east gave birth to the Westward Expansion. Horace Greeley gave the advice "Go west, young man, and grow up with the country."  Thus began the occupation of the West Bank - of the Mississippi, that is. 

Now, if President Obama feels that it is reasonable that Israel should turn over a huge portion of her land, so that a people who are refugees from nearby Arab countries that would not have them, could become the nation of Palestine, wouldn't it be just as reasonable that America should give back land to the Native Americans? There actually was a Sioux Nation and a Cherokee Nation, etc. - there was never a Nation of Palestine - the Romans and Byzantines merely denoted the region as Palestine.

Maybe it would work like this: Everything west of the Mississippi River would be given to the Native American Indian. For those of us that live in this area, we would have to vacate our property and head east - well, not me and my wife because we have Indian ancestors - but all you non-native Americans of European, Asian and African descent will have to move. Your houses will be razed and the property will deeded to the Indian Nation. The eastern states will gladly absorb and care for the influx of this new population. Mayor Bloomberg has demonstrated his great concern for the public welfare. So pack what you can carry (excluding your guns, of course) and head east.

Since the Indians did live on lands of the east and since they have been so peaceful about the way they have been treated and have not threatened to wipe America from the map, we should be immensely appreciative. We should award some eastern land to the Indians to do with as they please - to show our appreciation. So, Congress shall pass a law giving a narrow corridor or zone of land reaching from the south west corner of Pennsylvania all the way east to Manhattan (Remember that Manhattan was "bought/stolen" from the Indians for $24). This law will be known as the Great Appreciation Zone Act. We will call this the GAZA strip. There is a huge field just outside of Gettysburg that would be a great place for a casino. Further east in Philadelphia is the spot, before the land was civilized, where ancient medicine men communed with the Great Spirit. Only for the last 200+ years this spot has been known as Independence Hall. Don't worry. We will still be allowed to visit this place; though during our visit we can not wear red, white and blue, show any form of patriotism or move our lips because it may be construed that we were saying the Pledge of Allegiance and this could incite some of the more sensitive folk. A security force known as the Wise And Quick Footed (WAQF) will speedily intervene should any protocol be violated. It will be a difficult adjustment but we should not expect everyone to appreciate how sacred or special these places are to some of us. 

We must know that there will probably be some Native Americans that will not be satisfied with this offer. There will probably be a group that will Harass And Manipulate American Subjects (HAMAS). You have to realize they are just acting out on years of pent up frustration. Also, be prepared for much of the rest of the world to be very sympathetic and supportive of their efforts. 

Now, I hope this sounds absurd to you. Perhaps you smiled while reading it. I did not mean to provoke a smile. I meant to provoke thought. 

I doubt President Obama will see this. If I could address him, I would say this:

Mr. President, it takes much hubris to go to Israel in my name, at my expense and to tell my friends they are taking up too much space. You asked Mr. Medvedev for patience until after your re-election so that you would have more latitude with which to deal with Israel. You did not defend Mr. Netanyahu when Mr. Sarkozy slighted and insulted him. To prepare for your trip to the Middle East you met with, in my White House, two anti-Israeli groups with a record of pro-Hezbollah advocacy. In your first year as President you went to Egypt and made a most conciliatory speech to the Muslim world; now, in your fifth year as President, you visit Israel and will boycott the Knesset?  Mr. Obama, you should not be surprised if your arrival at Ben Gurion is not appreciated nearly as much your departure.

A Frustrated American,

Brody

Footsteps on the Mount are Footsteps of Redemption

Last year 10 million people, mostly Jews, visited the Kotel/Western Wall.  How many Jews visited the Temple Mount?  Nine thousand.  What keeps Jews standing with their faces against a wall instead of ascending to the most important spot on earth?  How often does a person get to go to the very place that G-d described as “the place of My feet?”

Which according to many of the Chief Rabbinate of Israel, I just answered my own questions.  Because of the holiness of the Temple Mount, Jews should not visit it, so they say. 

As Jewish desire to visit the Temple Mount increases, the Chief Rabbinate declarations for Jews to keep off the Mount also increases.  They declare that it is halachically forbidden to ascend the Mount.  They warn that it is a spiritual risk for Jews to walk on the Mount in case they tread somewhere impermissible, therefore risking spiritual excommunication.  Even though the Temple buildings occupied only 15% of the original Temple Mount, which size has doubled over the centuries due to construction by different occupying forces; hence, there is ample space for a Jew to safely walk on the Mount.

Although some of the Chief Rabbinate acknowledge that great rabbis throughout history visited the Temple Mount after the Second Temple’s destruction, they still believe that letting the common Jew visit the Mount today would be logistically challenging, i.e. Jews would have to be educated on proper halachic requirements and a Jewish presence would change the political status quo.  Rabbi Ratzon Arusi, a member of the Council of the Chief Rabbinate, said that issuing a blanket permit for Jews to ascend would be “very problematic.” 

Problematic?  Let’s look at a few other situations that might be considered problematic in Israel today:

·      Arab propaganda is becoming the accepted narrative regarding no Jewish historical ties to the Temple Mount.

·      An Arab mosque continues to stand in the place where G-d asked the Jews to build Him a house.

·      Scaffolding used during repairs in the Dome of the Rock was nonchalantly placed on the Even Shtiya, the Foundation Stone of the universe.

·      Arabs play soccer on the Temple Mount (after all they’ve got plenty of room since Jews are discouraged from going up).

·      A Palestinian flag was recently hoisted atop the Mount. 

·      Over 12,000 rockets have been fired into Israel from Gaza.

·      Jews have been continuously killed terrorists basis despite the “peace process.”

·      Iran is planning to nuke Israel.

The funny thing is that even I, a non-Jew, realize that the answer to every problem mentioned above lies squarely on the Temple Mount.  Because that is the precise spot where the Temple will be rebuilt.  Which will be the seminal event to usher redemption into the entire world.    

The real problem in Israel today is not whether Jews are halachically permitted to ascend the Temple Mount.  Perhaps the problem is that many of the religious leaders in Israel believe that the Temple will fall out of the sky or be built by the Messiah.  Therefore, why risk or bother to go up on the Mount when one can sit back and wait for events to unfold.  As Chief Rabbi Itzhak Nissim said after the liberation of the Temple Mount in 1967, "We have entered the palace, and even reached the table but we are not yet accepted before Him. We have done all that is in our powers to do. All that is left to be done is in the hands of Heaven.”  How ironic to say these words after witnessing Heaven give Jerusalem back to the Jews via the blood, sweat and tears of the IDF and Jewish people.     

I don’t ask lightly, but what if some of the Chief Rabbinate are wrong regarding the Temple Mount?  What if they are as wrong today as the Chief Rabbinate were in 1967? 

In an Arutz Sheva interview, Rabbi Yisrael Ariel bemoaned the fact that it was the Chief Rabbinate in Israel who instructed Moshe Dayan to immediately give control of the Temple Mount back to the Arabs. “He handed over the key [to the Temple Mount], because he was the one who held it, but someone persuaded him to do this," Rabbi Ariel said.  The article goes on to say that Rabbi Ariel learned this from a Bamishpacha magazine article, and then verified the truth of the claim with hareidi former Knesset member Rabbi Menachem Porush, who was quoted in the article.  Rabbi Ariel stated, "According to what he [Porush] said, the greatest hareidi rabbis, led by Rabbi Yechezkel Abramsky, went to Dayan and told him to tell Levi Eshkol to give the Arabs the Temple Mount since, 'The People of Israel have no interest in the Temple Mount.' They also said the UN should be notified that we have no interest in the Temple Mount."

Why should the world today think that Israel feels any differently from the sentiments expressed by those rabbis in 1967?  Recently, a Palestinian flag was hoisted atop the Mount.  The Israeli leadership shrugged its shoulders.  Hence, so does the world.  Only 9,000 Jews showed enough interest in the Temple Mount to actually take the time to visit it last year.  So why should Israeli politicians, or politicians around the world for that matter, think that Jewish rights on the Temple Mount are a priority? 

Thankfully, there is a growing outcry among Jews in Israel over discrimination of Jews who do ascend the Temple Mount.  But actions speak louder than words.  If Jews really do care about the Mount, and I believe a great many do, then it is time for them to put feet to their sentiments.  As Moshe Feiglin said in a 2012 Temple Mount Awareness Day interview, “Every Jewish step on the Temple Mount will bring back sovereignty of the Temple Mount to the Jewish people.”

It is time for a grassroots movement among Jews to show Hashem and the world that they actually do care deeply about the Temple Mount.  It is time to upset the status quo.  It is time for Jews to leave the Western Wall, which is a symbol of exile, and ascend the Temple Mount, a symbol of redemption, sovereignty, and freedom. 

Even some members of the Israeli police have expressed that an increased presence of Jews on the Temple Mount would create drastic changes.  At a conference in Jerusalem in 2009 regarding Jewish ties to the Temple Mount authorities said, “If only more Jews would visit the Temple Mount on a regular basis, the entire balance of power would shift. There would be a paradigm shift; the attitude of the government and the police would be different towards the Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount. The Muslim terror would be abated. Many Jewish people visiting the Temple Mount would be the cure to the overall security situation.”

Yet, the fact that very few Jews try to exercise their rights on the Temple Mount makes it convenient for the Israeli police to dismiss the lawful rights of Jews and instead indulge the demands of the Arabs.  The adage, “The squeaky wheel gets the grease,” rings true.  The Arabs simply make more noise over the Temple Mount than Jews do. 

The novelist Anthony Trollope once said, “My belief is that in life people will take you at your own reckoning.”  If only Israel would grasp that concept.  When Israel takes its own rights, sovereignty, and destiny seriously the world will follow suit.  

Yet, as stated earlier, leading rabbis staunchly disagree with the idea that a Jewish presence, much less a proactive Jewish presence, on the Temple Mount could lead to anything positive.  In 2009, the late Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv emphasized that Jews should not visit the Temple Mount because their visits could provoke bloodshed.  "I have declared this in the past, and I repeat once again my statement that beyond the halachic aspect, it is also a kind of provocation of the world's nations that could lead to bloodshed, and this would be one sin leading to another."   

Again, I don’t ask lightly, but what if he and rabbis like him were and are wrong regarding the Temple Mount?  How has “keeping the peace” worked out for Israel so far?  No one truly knows how the fulfillment of the Prophets’ visions of peace will come to pass.  Will there be bloodshed first?  I don’t know.  But what I do know is that the Torah and Tanach are filled with incidents of the Jewish people following the commands of Hashem that led to bloodshed.  Unfortunately, if the enemies of Israel will not relent what rightfully belongs to Israel, including Israel’s right to exist, Biblical history and modern history shows that it has to be taken by bearing arms.  But what if bearing arms could be avoided by Jewish feet ascending the Mount?   

It’s somewhat incredulous that some Jews have fallen into the belief that a Temple Mount left in the hands of the nations will bring peace.  Who was chosen?  Ishmael or Isaac?  Then why do the descendents of Isaac continue to let the descendents of Ishmael influence and even dictate decisions made regarding the Temple Mount?

The Temple Mount is the portal for redemption to enter the world.  The Jews were chosen to usher in redemption.  They were given back the keys to the portal in 1967, but tragically shunned the privilege. 

However, there is a growing number of Jews who feel the intensity of the Divine Spark within them leading them to action.  They are being drawn to the Temple Mount.  Should the Chief Rabbinate continue to reign in this innate desire within these Jews?  By trying to prohibit Jews from ascending the Mount, they seem to be asking Jews to continue to sit back and take the chance that things will take care of themselves when the Temple falls into Israel’s lap.  Answers rarely fall into one’s lap.  A person has to become the answer. 

The Torah has always called Jews to action - into an active partnership with Hashem.  And rabbis like Rabbi Yisrael Ariel and Rabbi Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute, along with other Jewish leaders are putting feet to that call.  The Temple Institute is not a corner curio shop for tourists to visit and see how things used to be.  It is a living, breathing call to action for Jews to fulfill their destiny.  And it is the perfect place for Jews to learn how to ascend the Mount according to halachic standards based on years of Temple research.

In summation of events surrounding the liberation of the Temple Mount and the Chief Rabbinate’s reaction to it, Yoel Cohen of Jewish Political Studies Review said, “The capture of the Temple Mount presented two possible scenarios: the reintroduction of Temple worship - bringing the biggest revolution in Jewish religious life for 1900 years - or to seek to ‘incorporate’ the Temple Mount within existing patterns of Jewish religious behavior.” 

Hindsight reveals which scenario the religious establishment chose.  The current state of the world and of Israel begs the question whether they chose correctly.

The world desperately needs the Jews to fulfill their destiny of partnering with Hashem to bring about redemption.  I, along with the nations, can only hope and pray that the Jews will rise to the occasion.  Literally.  Arise and ascend the Temple Mount.  Jewish footsteps on the Temple Mount are equivalent to the footsteps of redemption.  

Rachel's Children on Fire

If you’re not a mom, you might not fully understand the luxury of a “Girls Night Out.”  That occasional night when the kids stay home with dad or a sitter while mom goes out with her friends to relax and unwind.  A “Girls Night Out” usually involves dinner, movie, and a cocktail or two.  But unfortunately, a “Girls Night Out” in Israel can involve a different kind of cocktail.  A Molotov cocktail.

I have the honor of knowing what the world refers to as a “settler” in Israel.  I have another name for the “settlers” though; pioneers.  Pioneers reclaiming the Land of Israel.  I also refer to them as prophets.  Prophets, because they are doing one thing better than anyone else in the world; telling the truth.  But they don’t just tell the truth, they live the truth.  And bottom-line, that’s what prophecy is.  The truth.  But more on that in a moment.  Back to the “Girls Night Out” with a splash of Molotov cocktail thrown in.

My friend, who lives in the Judea and Samaria region, recently went with her sister and three other friends for a “Girls Night Out.”  Their night included an award-winning movie, Fill the Void, produced by a chassidic woman.  They enjoyed the movie almost as much as they enjoyed being out together.  Their enjoyment came to an abrupt end though.  On their way home, they experienced an all-too-common incident throughout Judea and Samaria.  A Molotov cocktail was thrown in the road in front of them.  Fortunately, the women knew that it was a ploy to scare them out of the car, and if they had got out, I hate to think what kind of barbaric acts could have been inflicted on them.  Instead, they quickly made a u-turn and sped away.  Eventually they were able to find members of the IDF who helped them get home. 

In describing the incident, my friend said, “This is what we go through.  Every time my family leaves the house, these are the kinds of situations we have to think about.”    

She is not exaggerating when she says that every time her family leaves the house they have to be aware of impending dangers.  Ask Jews what can happen if one makes a wrong turn and ends up in an Arab neighborhood.  If they could speak from the grave, Jews would tell you how they were lynched and killed after making a wrong turn.  Ask Jews what can happen if a rock is thrown at their car while driving through Judea and Samaria.  Some of those Jews and their children would also have to speak from the grave.  Ask off-duty soldiers what can happen during a hike in the hills outside of Hebron.  You guessed it.  They would have to speak from the grave too.  Rocks.  Molotov cocktails.  Ambushes.  No big deal, right?  After all, these attacks are happening to “settlers,” who in many peoples’ eyes are only getting what they deserve for living in so-called “disputed” or “occupied territories.”  When people fall prey to the propaganda that the "settlers" are illegally occupying Jewish land, they can also easily fall prey to thinking that terrorists acts against the "settlers" are justified, perhaps even deserved. 

My pioneering friend not only has to be concerned about impending danger when she leaves home, but while she is at home too.  Far too often Shabbat has ended with a mob of Arabs with weapons rioting in her neighborhood chanting, “Death to the Jews!”  Thank G-d, she and her family have not been harmed.  The same cannot be said for some of their vineyards.  But again, who cares?  She is only a “settler.”  By living beyond the “green-line,” otherwise known as the heartland of Israel, she chose to put herself and her children in harms way, right?

To sum up the events of her night out, my friend said, “We felt Hashem guiding us and leading us out of danger.  Thank you Hashem!  No matter what we go through we feel safer here and we know this is our home!” 

I’m not surprised by her reaction.  It is the reaction of a true pioneer, of a true prophet.  It is the reaction of one of Rachel’s children responding to Rachel’s cries per Jeremiah 31.  It is the response of someone who has truly come home. 

There are many Jews living in Israel.  But not all of them are really living in Israel.  They are living in a faux, political dream.  They are living according to how the nations are telling them to live instead of how the G-d of Israel instructed them to live.  If a Jew is living in the Land while trying to give the Land away, he or she has not truly come home yet.  Rachel still weeps for them.

The pioneers, though, they are the epitome of living in the Land; of being home.  Besides the IDF, they are another line of defense, staking claim and protecting the Land of Israel against enemies within and without who are not only trying to steal the Land of Israel, but are actually trying to end Israel’s very existence.  But, instead of being lauded as a second line of defense, the pioneers are considered by many, including fellow Jews, as the #1 roadblock to peace.  An Arab terrorist can, G-d forbid, don a suicide-belt, launch rockets, and slit Jewish women and children’s throats.  But in the twisted logic of liberals, barbaric acts of terrorism are nothing compared to a Jew picking up a hammer to build a home in Judea and Samaria.

In Obama’s first term, he launched his presidency with his famed speech in Cairo.  In the speech he was quick to point his finger, as other US administrations before him did, at the “settlers” in Israel for being the biggest obstacle to peace.  Yet, what the pioneers are really an obstacle to are the plans of the nations to continue to shrink Israel until, “Poof!” it no longer exists.  While the nations push for pre-1967 borders, while liberal Jews continue to dream of a two-state solution, while the Israeli government bulldozes pioneers’ homes in cowardly acts of appeasement, the pioneers continue to stand on one simple truth – every inch of Israel belongs to the Jews.  Period.

In a world of revisionist history, in the midst of the conniving schemes of Peace Now, and despite many members of their own government and population being against them, the pioneers are a beacon of unadulterated Biblical truth: the Land of Israel was given to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and that has never changed.  Twenty-first century politics and “peace accords” will not cause the pioneers of the Land to sway.  If anything, the liberal ideas of man will only make the pioneers stronger in their stance to live out the promises given to their forefathers.  In the long run, revisionist history and propaganda are no match against pioneers who are the living embodiment of Biblical prophecy coming to pass.  

After the most recent “cease-fire” in Israel, hundreds of Arabs rioted throughout Judea and Samaria throwing rocks and Molotov cocktails at Jews in buses and cars and at Israeli soldiers and police.  Much of the rioting took place at Rachel’s Tomb where Arabs threw 73 Molotov cocktails at the tomb’s compound and at the security forces there.  (It is worth noting that Rachel’s tomb is just one of several historical sites in Israel that Arabs have tried to claim as their own, with the help of UNESCO, and then desecrated the site with barbaric acts, just as they did with Joseph’s tomb.) 

The flames of Molotov cocktails, though, pale in comparison to the holy flames Rachel’s children have become.  Rachel's children have returned to their land.  There, they will stay.  The House of Jacob.  The House of Joseph.  A fire and a flame, in the guise of hammers and nails, consuming those who would oppose their existence.   

                              Dedicated to Hela - the beautiful, indomitable pioneer. 

Israel, Fight Like a Girl!

After the attacks by Muslims on U.S. embassies in the Middle East, which included the murder of four Americans, a college student posted the following comment on Facebook:  “My heart goes out to the families of the people killed in Libya. But I hope we can be filled with forgiveness towards all this baloney. I feel like this secret desire for vengeance and calling it ‘justice’ is exactly what led us into the hell-hole we're currently in. Come on, Christian nation. Forgive them 70 x 7 times.”

I know this kid. (When you get to be my age, you can call college students "kids").  He’s smart, rather brilliant actually.  He’s of upstanding moral character.  He’s even a supporter of Israel, which makes him a rare-breed on college campuses.  And even though he’s a Christian, he doesn’t completely blow-off the teachings of the Torah or the Prophets.  Well, at least he doesn’t intentionally blow-off those teachings.  Knowing all of this about him, I was disappointed, yet not surprised by his comments, as it represents what many of his generation believe.  

His comment led me to ask myself, “WWJD?”  No, not that J?  I’m going back a bit further and looking at the actions of, brace yourself, a woman.  To get a Biblical perspective of what a godly response to murderous hatred, violence, and imposing danger should be, I’m asking, “What would Jael do?”

The story of Jael is found in Judges 4 & 5.  Jael was a contemporary of a judge in Israel named Deborah.  During Jael’s and Deborah’s lifetime, the Jews were threatened by Jabin, King of Canaan.  The general of Jabin’s army was Sisera, who forcefully oppressed the Jews for twenty years.  

To make a long story short, Jabin was an enemy of the Jews and he picked the wrong tent to take a nap in after tiring on the battlefield.  He went into Jael’s tent and asked for water and demanded that she keep mum regarding his whereabouts.  He then went to sleep.  Forever.  At the hands of Jael.   

The Bible describes Jael’s actions as, “Jael, wife of Heber, took a tent peg, placed a hammer in her hand, came to him stealthily, and drove the peg into his temple and it went through into the ground and he died.”

Talk about moxie.  Talk about seizing the moment.  But was she right?  Was it right in God’s eyes for her to kill someone in cold-blood?  The reader of the story is not left to wonder.  Deborah’s reaction to Jael killing Sisera answers that question.

It is worth noting that Deborah was one of the most righteous people in Israel’s history.  She was both a prophet and a judge, i.e. she had the final say regarding the laws of the nation.  She decided what was right or wrong.  What Deborah said was law, literally.  Or perhaps better said, what Deborah sang was law.

Judges 5 records the "Song of Deborah."  A song in the Bible is not just an ordinary song; it denotes a rare spiritual phenomenon.  A “song” meant that someone was having a very clear vision of why certain events occurred and how and why those events fit into the bigger picture.  A “song” is a lucid moment of God’s complete sovereignty and Divine design.  So it is interesting that a large portion of the "Song of Deborah" is about the heroine Jael.

The end of the song goes a little something like this, “Blessed by women is Jael, wife of Heber the Kenite; by women in the tent will she be blessed.  He asked for water, she gave him milk; in a stately saucer she presented cream.  She stretched her hand to the peg and her right hand to the laborers’ hammer.  She hammered Sisera, severed his head, smashed and pierced his temple.  At her feet he knelt, he lay.  At her feet he knelt, he fell; where he knelt, there he fell, vanquished.  Through the window Sisera’s mother gazed, ‘Why is his chariot delayed in coming?  Why are the hoofbeats of his carriages so late?’ The wisest of her ladies answer her, and she too offers her responses, 'Are they not finding and dividing loot?  A comely captive for every man; booty of colored garments for Sisera, booty of colored embroidery for the necks of the looter.’  So may all Your enemies be destroyed, O God!  And let those who love Him be like the powerfully rising sun.  And the land was tranquil for forty years.” 

Did you get that connection?  An act of aggression led to peace.  Repeat that a few times to yourself.  An act of aggression against Israel’s enemy led to peace.  Also, Deborah made the correlation that an enemy of Israel is considered an enemy of God.  Deborah had no secret desire for justice or vengeance.  She openly desired justice and vengeance, and showed no remorse for such.  She even mocked Sisera’s mother who awaited her son’s return.

Another Biblical example of a Jewish woman taking the Jews' survival into her own hands by causing the death of their enemy is Esther.  I admit I used to be in the same boat as others when it came to typical thinking about Esther.  To me Esther was just a beautiful queen who was the epitome of white-washed slogans like, “for such a time as this” and “one night with the king.”  Let’s get real.  “Such a time as this” and “one night with the king” led to a blood-bath for the enemies of the Jews.

Esther’s actions and desires didn’t just lead to Haman’s and his sons’ deaths.  That wasn't enough.  Esther asked for the blood of all those who were against the Jews. And she got what she asked for - the deaths of over 75,000 anti-Semites. She understood the words of her ancestor King Solomon. She understood that there is a time to kill. Who knows?  Perhaps Esther hummed the "Song of Deborah" as she walked towards her fateful meeting with the king.

Since it’s rebirth, Israel has been in a constant war with Arab nations who want to destroy her.  And for decades, the U.S. government has been the biggest proponent of trying to create peace in the Middle East through the “peace process” which would be more aptly called the “appeasement process.”  It has been an epic failure.

Capitulating to people and a cultural mentality that desires to destroy does not work.  It does the opposite.  It emboldens their desire and plans to destroy.  Have you ever asked yourself why God sometimes instructed Jews to "utterly destroy" certain nations?  They were being instructed to destroy entire cultures.  Cultures of destruction.  

Most Americans are oblivious to the fact that the culture which has called for the destruction of Israel for the last several decades, has included America in that same sentiment.  “Death to Israel, the little Satan!” Muslims have chanted for decades.  Along with those chants are calls to destroy the “big Satan.”  Guess who the “big Satan” is? 

This hatred has been smoldering for decades and it is igniting before our very eyes.  It is not “baloney” as the college kid called it.  It is a deep-seated hatred that has led to the murder of thousands of Jews since 1948 and recently the murder of thousands of Americans on 9/11/01 and Americans on 9/11/12. 

A deep-seated hatred has led to hundreds of cowardly acts by militant Muslims, including: 
     Killing an American Jew who was in a wheelchair.  He was murdered and thrown overboard from the cruise ship he was vacationing on.  
     Flying airplanes into buildings in America.  
     Teenagers slipping through a window of the home of a Jewish family and slitting the throats of a baby, two young boys, and the father and mother.  The mother walked out of her bathroom before being killed, though, and most likely saw her baby’s head nearly decapitated before she was murdered.  I’m sure her last thought wasn’t, “This is all just a bunch of baloney.”  

The uprising of Muslim hatred is a matter of life and death.  And according to Biblical principals, and I’m not speaking of Biblical principles that have been reduced to politically correct “turn the other cheek” clichés, I’m talking, bold-faced, when-you-live-in-the-real-world instructions from a Bible that has ample examples of righteous men and women fighting to the death for their families, for the land of Israel, and most importantly for the honor of the God of Israel.  Those kinds of principles teach that if someone tries to kill you, God forbid, you should try to kill them first. 

That is why it is past time for Israel to fight like a girl.  A Jewish girl.  And it’s time for America to fully back Israel in the fight and to begin fighting to win its own wars too.  It’s time for cunning, calculated, take-no-prisoners Esther-type policies.  Would Esther continue to negotiate with Abbas after years of failed “peace talks” while terrorists continue to murder Jews and while over 12,000 rockets are launched into Israel?  Would Esther wait a few more months for Iran to build a nuke?  

It is time for the bold, audacious, seize-the-moment actions of Jael. Would Jael consider a cease-fire before winning a war?  Would Jael release terrorists from Israeli prisons?  Would Jael put Gitmo prisoners into art therapy? Would Jael let Ahmadinejad walk the streets of New York City?  No, a modern-day Jael would put a bullet in his head.

The right thing for Israel to do will not always appear "civil" as noted in Isaiah 63’s description of God’s desire for justice through vengeance:  

“Who is this coming from Edom, with sullied garments, from Bozrah?  This One Who is majestic in His raiment, girded with His abundant strength? 

It is I, Who speaks with righteousness, abundantly able to save!

Why is there red on Your raiment, and why are Your garments like those of someone treading in a wine vat?

I alone have trodden a winepress, not a man from the nations was with Me; I trod on them in My anger and trampled them in My wrath, and their lifeblood spurted out on My garments, so I soiled all My garments.  For a day of vengeance is in My heart, and the year of My redemption has come.  I looked, but there was no helper; I was astounded that there was no supporter; so My arm wrought salvation for Me and My wrath was a support for Me.  I stepped on peoples in My anger and made them drunk with My wrath, and I threw their lifeblood to the ground."

Do you know what the very next line in Isaiah says?  It says, “God's kindnesses will I proclaim as the praises of God, in accordance with all that God has bestowed upon us and the abundant goodness to the House of Israel that He has bestowed upon them in His compassion and in His abundant kindness.” 

God's ways are definitely not our "civil" ways.  We are given a description of a blood-bath and how does Isaiah sum it up?  As God's kindness.  The destruction of Israel's enemies will be an “abundant goodness, kindness and compassion” for Israel.  

And what happens in Israel does not stay in Israel.  What happens in Israel spills over into all of the world.  When Israel rises up to partner with the God of Israel's vengeance and justice, and rises up to fulfill it's destiny to be the Light to the world, “abundant goodness, kindness and compassion” will fill The Land and then fill the world.

The world has seen Israel aroused as it fights against the terrorists in Gaza. We can only hope and pray that Israel will not retreat this time, but finish the job.  If Israel is smart, it will follow the example of its matriarchs and fight until all of its enemies are destroyed.