Israeli Police Officers Don't Want to wear Name Tags?

י"ב לחודש השמיני תשע"ד

Arutz 7: About-Face on ID: Police Want Right to Avoid Nametags
Police sources say mandatory nametags ‘operationally difficult,’ cannot be implemented. Knesset cttee to vote.

Maayana Miskin, October 13, 2013

A Knesset committee is to vote Sunday on a bill, left over from last Knesset, that would mean harsher punishments for police officers who fail to wear name tags.

The bill is meant to prevent police violence, particularly at demonstrations, by making officers aware that they can be held personally responsible for any unwarranted use of force.

It passed an initial reading in the last Knesset, where it was put forth by MKs Uri Ariel, Dov Henin and Nitzan Horowitz, but its progress was frozen when the Knesset’s mandate ended.

At the time, the bill had support from Minister of Internal Security Yitzchak Aharonovich, whose duties include oversight of the Israel Police. However, Aharonovich has informed the bill’s supporters in the current Knesset that the Israel Police no longer supports the law.

“Professional sources in the Israel Police maintain that from an operative perspective, the proposal cannot be implemented, and is likely to create difficulty and complications,” he explained.

“It could even lead protesters to demand ID cards when there is no need, and by doing so to thwart officers’ attempts to restore order when protesters riot,” he warned.

MK Orit Struk, one of the bill’s backers in the current Knesset, expressed surprise at Aharonovich’s about-face. “The fact that [officers] wear ID tags will actually ensure that people do not bother them by asking for ID,” she argued.

“The Police Commissioner and Minister of Internal Security, who repeatedly declare that the struggle against police violence is a top priority, are thwarting a bill which is intended solely to prevent such violence,” she accused.

Dozens of complaints against violent police officers have led nowhere due to the fact that those filing the complaint did not know the name of the officer who had assaulted them, she noted.

Struk expressed hope that the other ministers on the committee that has convened to deliberate on the bill will vote in favor despite Aharonovich’s change of heart. “I very much hope that the ministers will understand what the Police Commissioner and Minister [Aharonovich] do not – that protesters are not criminals, and there is no need to treat them as such,” she said.

(Tip Credit: Sun Lion)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
I have no idea why this bill would not pass.

Well, actually,...yes I do: The Israeli government's desire for increased control over the "sheeple." You see, it is getting a little nervous....

"...from an operative perspective, the proposal cannot be implemented, and is likely to create difficulty and complications."

What a load of crap! ...unless, of course, you believe that being held accountable for your actions, as a police officer, is a "difficulty" and/or a "complication." 

Everyone would benefit from this bill becoming law. Everyone. That means...

Settlers -  who protest against getting thrown out of the homes, and off of their lands.
Arabs - who protest over whatever they want to protest over (...as if I care.)
Haredim - who protest an unnecessary autopsy from being performed.
Anarchists and Ultra-Leftists - who protest the presence of the so-called "security fence.) (...so that the settlers don't have to, I suppose.)

You name it. Everyone would be able to gain piece of mind from the passage of this bill,...while they are getting pummeled by the Israeli Police, because at least they could identity, and later report those responsible for their possibly life-altering injuring,...assuming, of course, that they still have some eyesight left to read name tags, and the cameras of in possession of the nearby witnesses aren't destroyed.

Probably only your standard government line, left-wingers would neither benefit nor be hurt whether this bill passes or not. They fulfill the will of the "almighty" government, so why would the police feel the need to scrutinize them? Why would the government see the need to sick its minyons on them? They wouldn't.

When I was a kid, we were all taught how police officers were "our friends" and are they to "help us."

When I lived in the Shomron (Samaria), in an ideologically and Torah-based "real" settlement, the children there learned early on that the police were not their friends, and were not there to help us; they were there to...

1. Beat up their parents
2. Push around their mothers (sometimes pregnant at the time)
3. Kick their families out of their houses
4. Give their brothers restraining orders preventing them from entering the Shomron during olive picking season
5. Keep their sisters in jail for participating in civil disobedience actions, while alleged murders of Jews, awaiting trial, laid around at home in front of the television on "house arrest."
6. Raid their junior high schools, and interrogate their friends without a parent or attorney present.

The list goes on....

So, it is no wonder why these children, often demonized as "out of control" hilltop youth in need of "Re-Education," learn at a very young age to lie to the police, AND to become very good at it.

Police officer: Where's Avi?
Child: Oh, he's out in the fields over there with the goats.

(He then runs to tell Avi, who is inside his house that the police are after him.)

Police officer: Where's Sarah? I need to talk to her.
Child: It's Tuesday. She's at B'nei Akiva.*

*B'nei Akiva was kicked out of this kid's town, which the cop did not know.

Anyone still want to argue that Israel is not turning into a police state,...or rather MORE of a police state?

What police force of a country claiming to be "democratic," would have the hutzpah (gall) to claim that name tags are "operationally difficult???"

Gimme a break!

Below is a video by the popular, Israeli group "Teapecks" (white out). The lyrics reflect the attitude of Israeli youth toward its local police officers, who always seem to ruin their fun...

...דיסקו מנאייק מגיע לשכונה.

...[when] the "disco manayak" arrives in the neighborhood.

Manayak is much worse than the Hebrew Maniak, which does simply mean "crazy," as maniac does in American English.

This song does not depict anything different than the youth hanging around the "'hood" in most other countries, making fun of their cops. It does show that settlers, and all of the other ideologically motivated groups listed above, are not the only ones in Israel who view the Israeli police force as government lackeys who are supposed to keep the "citizens" in line.

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef's Passing: This is a test; this is only a test....

ערב שבת קודש פר' לך-לך תשע"ד

Rabbi Ovadiah
Yosef ztz"l

Some of you will be critical of me for writing such a post so soon after the passing of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef ztz"l, Chief Sepharadi Rabbi of Israel (5733-5743), and major spiritual leader and adjudicator of halakhah (Torah Law) within the Sephardi and Mizrahi communities until this day.

However, if you actually pay attention while reading this post, you will notice that it does not contain anything even remotely negative about Rav Ovadiah. In fact, other than the mention of his passing, it does not contain anything about him at all.

In anticipation of the potential chaos and traffic jams due to the funeral of Rav Ovadiah at 6:00 PM, it was announced that public transportation would be shut down by 3:00 PM.
That made absolutely no sense to me at all. Why not simply clear the streets needs for the funeral procession? In fact, the procession was apparently shortened in order to lessen the inconvenience to the City and it residents. The procession could have started at Rav Ovadiah's home in Har Nof, a neighborhood in the far west of Jerusalem. But, it did not. Rather it began not so far away at all from his final resting place in Sanhdria (Bar-Ilan Junction), in the Center-North of the City.

So, why was there a need to shut down public transportation in the South or West coming into the Center and Central Bus Station? There wasn't any at all. This was announced on various news site, but neither on the local bus and light rail websites, which are usually pretty good about posting this kind of news flash, change in service information. It is certainly possible that they posted their changes in services not so much later than when I checked them between 3:30 and 4:00 PM.

Jerusalem is no stranger to traffic inconveniences, with this Head of State or that Envoy arriving to tell the Israeli government what it should or should not do. New blockades pop up, buses are rerouted, and that's the end of it. The same has for demonstrations, even those which have whole chunks of the City, like the Beis Yisro'el, Shmu'el HaNavi, and Meah She'arim neighborhoods, and the Bukharim Quarter all at once!

Granted there was an unprecedented attendance of an estimated 850,000 people. But was the government really able to foresee this? Was the government simply be cautious?

Nonetheless, some businesses were closing early, either because owners and their employees wanted to attend the funeral, or because of concerns about getting home themselves.

Meanwhile the Egged Bus Company announced providing extra intercity buses to Jerusalem from Ashdod, B'nei B'raq and Beth Shemesh, to handle the anticipated number of out of town attendees. This did make sense.

By around 5:00 PM, intra-city transportation was back in business, if it was ever out of service in the first place. Service was limited, and trains and buses were packed to capacity. Again, this simply did not make sense. Why limited? Operators and drivers had already gone home, and could not be recalled? Odd....

Twitter was all a buzz about the funeral.

And then I saw...

Unlike in the U. S. where it is supposed to be against the law [usually] to use the military as a police force (Posse Comitatus), the Israeli government does not have that "inconvenience."

Now Imagine This:
How does a government get 850,000 people, in Israel's case, one seventh (1/7) of its population, into a confined area in a matter of hours, including having them get on buses of their own accord, and even get there on their own dime (ie. sheqqel)?

...in particular, 850,000 of the great threat to said government: Religious Jews, who hold The Almighty and His Torah to be on a much higher level of authority than the government.

Pack trains and buses to the brim. Throw in a little panick for good measure, like a gas leak, for example, and every will simply do what they are told to do, by the almighty government which "protects and takes care of us."

If big rabbi or popular political figure wasn't available for "dying," then all the "powers that be" [PTB] would have to do is kidnap one, assuming he would not be willing to collaborate of his own accord, course, in theory this kind of lie would only work once.

Of course, such a big fat lie would only work once,...theoretically. But, it would only have to work once.

In a country where the mainstream (Read: Left-wing controlled) news media is filled with...

1. Fear Iran
2. Fear the situation in Syria, (Read: Israelis must unify and avoid dissent) 
3. Do not worry about the situation in Egypt (because it's too far away and they'll always be our "friends," right?)
4. Ignore any turmoil in Jordan and Turkey (We wouldn't want to frighten the "sheeple!")
5. And that the U. S. will always be there to protect us.

...we are too distracted to see the real threat: The Israeli Government, which only eight years ago threw out almost 10,000 Jews from their homes, gave their lands to Hamas, which has simply continued firing rockets at us ever since.

(Click for links to individual memorial pages.)

Twelve years before that, it gave weapons to the Pseudostinian Authority, which has been using them to kill Jews.

Now, the Israeli Government has its eyes peered at the over 200,000 thousand Jews living in Yehudah and Shomron (Judea and Samaria).

"sheeple" = sheep + people

The Oslo "Death" Accords (1993) did not die with the death of Oslo supporter Rabbi Ovadiah ztz"l. No doubt, his death and message with be used, manipulated, and invoked in order to surrender more land, and to kick more Jews out of their homes in the heartland of the Divinely Promised Land of Israel.

In the meantime, plenty of data was gathered during his funeral, to be used to devise ways and means to keep the "sheeple" quietly tucked away in their pens, while the Israeli Government carries out,...well,...whatever it chooses to carry out.

Council Of Europe: Male Ritual Circumcision - "violation of the physical integrity of children"

ז' לחודש השמיני תשע"ד

My comments are interspersed within this article in blue italics, with a conclusion following it.

YNET: Europe Council Votes Against Circumcision
Parliamentary Assembly of Pan-European intergovernmental organization passes resolution calling male circumcision, female genital mutilation 'a violation of the physical integrity of children.' Jewish leader: War against circumcision, ritual slaughter conceals new anti-Semitism

Kobi Nachshoni, October 3, 2013

Are Europe's Jews about to launch a new struggle for the observance of the circumcision ritual across the continent? The Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, which represents most of the continent's states, has passed a resolution calling male ritual circumcision a "violation of the physical integrity of children according to human rights standards."

This is code for "In Europe, human rights and Torah are not believed to be compatible."

At the end of a debate in Strasbourg, the Parliamentary Assembly ruled overwhelmingly that male circumcision and female genital mutilation are forbidden, unless the child is over the age of 15 and has given his or her consent to the practice.

The council passed the resolution based on a report by the Committee on Social Affairs, Health and Sustainable Development, by a vote of 78 in favor and 13 against, with 15 abstentions.

It calls on the council's member states to "clearly define the medical, sanitary and other conditions to be ensured for practices such as the non-medically justified circumcision of young boys," the JTA reported Wednesday.

Gee. I wonder why the Muslims do not riot over this. Well, their forefather Yishma'el was circumcised at the age of 13 (Gen. 17:23-26). So, I suppose that 15 is close enough. That still does not explain how they are just going to let any laws against "ritual slaughter" slide by. I suppose that the riots will not start until reality sets in for them,...when individual countries make it so.

Fear of wave of legislation
The council further called on states to "initiate a public debate, including intercultural and interreligious dialogue, aimed at reaching a large consensus on the rights of children to protection against violations of their physical integrity according to human rights standards" and to "adopt specific legal provisions to ensure that certain operations and practices will not be carried out before a child is old enough to be consulted."

This is just code for "You are not allowed to follow the Torah."

According to the JTA, large majorities rejected five amendments that sought to remove or alter references to the circumcision of boys. For example, many of the members supported an amendment that removed a reference to the "religious rights of parents and families."

The Council of Europe is a pan-European intergovernmental organization whose resolutions have no legal force and do not bind its member states, but European organizations fear that this declarative move will be perceived as a professional recommendation by the most important body in the continent on democracy and human rights issues, which may lead to a wave of legislation banning circumcision across Europe.

See? Democracy is NOT the Jews' friend! Human rights? Human rights, but not Jewish rights.

The Jewish groups are mainly protesting the failure to distinguish between male circumcision, which is seen as legitimate not just among Jews, and female genital mutilation, which is considered in nearly every culture as a violation of a woman's body and dignity and is strongly opposed by human rights organizations.

A reasonable premise, but these "Jewish groups" are in big time denial that Jew-haters are not reasonable.

'Violation of freedom of religion'
Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, president of the Conference of European Rabbis, told Ynet that in the short time since the resolution was passed, he and his associates had managed to appeal to many of the council members on the issue, and that these members plan to demand a new debate which will consider allowing male circumcision.

"The war against circumcision and ritual slaughter conceals the new anti-Semitism, which is a violation of the freedom of religion all EU countries have signed," said Rabbi Goldschmidt. "Although this is not a binding resolution, it encourages the dark forces which seek to see Europe clean of Jews."

The struggle for the right to practice circumcision has been held in several countries, and in the past year Jewish and Muslim organization scored a significant victory in Germany, where circumcision was permitted after five months of uncertainty since a court in Cologne defined the ritual as "a serious and irreversible interference in the integrity of the human body."

The German parliament passed a law protecting the right to circumcise infant boys and granting parents the right to circumcise their sons using a certified circumciser. Meanwhile, in Scandinavian countries there have been increased calls to ban the ritual.

(Tip Credit: The Torah Revolution)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Well, well, well...

Is anyone surprised? If so, then you've got sand in your ears. You know, from having your head buried in the sand all this time!

With all due respect to Rabbi Goldschmidt, who is doing the galuth (exile) rabbi's job of protecting Jews and Judaism in galuth,...could this act of the EU be just more writing on the wall that European (and North American) Jews simply refuse to see?

New anti-Semitism? This is most certainly not the first time that the practices of brith milah (Jewish circumcision) and shehitah (kosher slaughter) have been fought through legislation. Did no one learn about the Roman Empire in school???

And so, the New and definitely UN-holy, Roman Empire/Edom (B'reishith Rabba) strikes again in its war on The Almighty's Will and His Holy Torah!

Just as Esau reveals his many different faces in the Torah, when going up against his Ya'aqov, so his descendants, whether European "progressive" elite or the Christian Crusaders of today or 1,000 years ago, have always worked toward the same goal,...his (Israel's) destruction.

And, of course,...Esau was never circumcised; he never had a brith milah (ie. not a part of the "covenant")

I cannot emphasis enough, that this is not about giving up the fight for the freedom to be Jewish, and have that protected in galuth (exile). This is about reading the writing on the wall, and moving back to only place where ones Jewish identity can be expressed to its fullest extent.

In this week's parasha Lech-L'cha, Avraham Avinu, then still Avram, was commanded by The Almighty to get up and move out his native land, away from all that he knew, and travel to a Land foreign to him (...to the land that I will show you. - Gen. 12:1), where he and his descendants were to settle.

Rabb Yehudah HaLevy, the author of Sefer HaKuzari teaches that as high a level which Avraham Avinu was on, the only place where he could reach perfection was Eretz Yisrael (The Land of Israel).*

That perfection, of course, also included brith milah, now on its way to be legislated out of the European Union. The two go together, brith milah and Eretz Ysira'el, along with a third, the Torah, and its various other "signs," such as Shabbath observance.

How long will Jews wait, before they finally realize that Eretz Yisra'el is the ONLY Land for them?

How long will it take for Jews to wake up and realize that they are not truly a part of their nations of temporary residence in galuth?

How long will it take for Jews to remember that galuth?is the punishment? The punishment is NOT having to pack up, leave many of your belongings behind, and travel to a Land foreign to you (...to the land that I will show you. - ibid.), where you and your descendants are to settle.

wait, before they finally realize that Eretz Yisra'el is the ONLY Land for them?

********

*as cited in Eretz Yisrael in the Parashah (2006) by Rabbi Moshe Lichtman

Rabbi Ovadiah ztz"l and the Arabs

ה' לחודש השמיני תשע"ד

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef ztz"l

YNET: אבו מאזן הביע את תנחומיו על פטירתו של הרב עובדיה יוסף

אליאור לוי, 07.10.13
הנשיא הפלסטיני אבו מאזן הביע את תנחומיו על פטירתו של הרב עובדיה יוסף. "נפגשתי עם בני משפחתו של הרב במוקטעה ברמאללה בעבר ואני רוצה להעביר את תנחומיי ואת תנחומי העם הפלסטיני על מותו", אמר אבו מאזן.

הנשיא הפלסטיני אמר את הדברים במהלך מפגש במוקטעה ברמאללה עם חברי שדולת פתרון שתי המדינות בראשות חבר הכנסת חיליק בר ממפלגת העבודה.

YNET: Abu Mazen expressed his condolences over the passing of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef

Elior Levy, October 7, 2013

The Palestinian President Abu Mazen expressed his condolences over the passing of Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef. "I have met with members of the Rabbi's family at the Muqatah in Ramallah in the past, and I would like to pass on my condolences and the condolences of the Palestinian People over his passing," said Abu Mazen.

The Palestinian President said these during a meeting at the Muqatah in Ramallah with the members of a Two-State Solution lobby led by MK Hiliq Bar of the Labor Party.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
When I first heard the Rav Ovadiah died, the first thing I search for on the Internet was news as to how the Arabs were reacting. I thought for sure that I would find photos of Pseudostinian Arabs cheering over his death, just like during the First Gulf War when the scuds from Iraq hit Tel-Aviv, on 9/11, and during the Second Lebanon War, even when Hezbollah Qetusha rockets killed their own in Nazareth.

Obviously, I searched too soon,...and I didn't search in Arabic.

What I did find was the above newsflash from YNET.

If nothing else, it reveals just how complex Rav Ovadiah was. He threatened former Prime Minister Menahem Begin with a withdrawal of support in government if he carried out a his promised withdrawal from the Sinai Peninsula. On the other hand, Rav Ovadiah supported the Oslo Accords, and ruled that it was acceptable to give up land for the sake of piqu'ah nefesh (saving/protecting life). His Sha"S Party could easily have killed the Oslo Accords, but instead, abstained from the vote.

They want it all!

But, the biggest puzzle seems to be Abu Mazen's comments, considering just how much Rav Ovadiah did not care for Arabs. Even if he had differentiated between these Arabs and those Arabs, I doubt that would please Abu Mazen.

So, what motivated Abu Mazen to make the comments he did? Appreciation for Rav Ovadiah's role in the passage of the Oslo Accords? Or just pure politics?

Gil Hoffman: All in Good Fun? Or Just a "Crass" Act?

ד' לחודש השמיני תשע"ד

Gil Hoffman Tweet, October 6, 2013, 11:35 PM

Esser Agaroth (2¢):

Hey, Gil! I don't know which Jewish Universe you grew up in. But, where I grew up, one did not stare at married women and speculate on future parental status. In fact, one did not stare at married women, or at women, or even stare period. It was considered rude, not to mention immodest.

Yeah, I know. YOU didn't do the staring. You're only upset because you "missed the scoop!"

I know you have a kippah hidden back there somewhere. Maybe you should risk the occasional snicker from a goy or a leftist, and pull it forward a bit. It may help keep your attitudes in check. You know, remembering that you are a Jew, and how inappropriate it is to objectify a Bath-Yisrael. (There never seems to be a radical feminist around when you need one, is there?)

Just because the British, and probably even more gossipy than American, press does it with their future King's consort, does not mean that we must follow suit, and do it, too.

In fact, we are not supposed to carry and cherish these silly attitudes from our Western exile, from which we supposedly escaped. We are supposed to get rid of them!

Oh, and pul-eaze do not give me any of that "we're living in the modern era" crap, or that it's all in good fun and MK Hotovely wouldn't care anyway. All of that is irrelevant.

You're not a class act; you're a crass act.

Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef: Racist or Realist?

ד' לחודש השמיני תשע"ד

Rabbi Ovadiah
Yosef ztz"l

Facebook Friend:
Rabbi Ovadya Yosef died today. Even though I disagreed with a lot of his halakhic decrees and his more controversial (racist) opinions, he was nonetheless deserving of respect and it's sad to see him go.

Barukh Dayyan Emeth.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
And you call yourself a Rambamist?? What do you mean you disagreed with his "racist" opinions?

For goodness sakes! I suppose that "these Yishma'elim (Arab) are different than those Yishma'elim?" This is a Western, and non-Jewish, concept, that of innocent civilians in a milhemeth misswah.

Please review the Ramba"m's own Laws of Kings and Wars.

On a practical level, who better would know Yishma'elim and their nature, than an Arabic speaker who was born in Iraq, grew up in the "East" Jerusalem, and resided for a time Egypt?

Rav Ovadiah's grandson Yehonathan continues to work at getting Jewish homes lost during Israel's War of Independence returned to their rightful owners, after Yishma'eli squatters have been living in them rent-free for the past 65 years.

Have you lost it?!

וְהוּא יִהְיֶה, פֶּרֶא אָדָם--יָדוֹ בַכֹּל, וְיַד כֹּל בּוֹ; וְעַל-פְּנֵי כָל-אֶחָיו, יִשְׁכֹּן.
בראשית טז,יב

And he shall be a wild ass of a man: his hand shall be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the face of all his brethren. 
Genesis 16:12

...not to mention the countless references to the descendants of Yishma'el (who did NOT do teshuvah) in the Tana"kh, writings of HaZa"L, and the Rishonim, including the Ramba"m.

Why do think your parents believe it to be dangerous for you to be here in Israel? Are Jews the ones shooting rockets at themselves in the South AND in the North? Are Jews the ones going around shooting nine-year old girls?

Gee, I guess that makes me a racist, too, huh?!

Did the Jewish Home Party get a Slap in the Face from this Rabbi?

ג' לחודש השמיני תשע"ד

אתמול קיבלנו ברכה מהרבנית צביה אליהו והיום הרב שמואל אליהו שליט"א שלח לנו מכתב תמיכה. אנחנו מודים על התמיכה ומבטיחים לייהד את ירושלים!

ירושלים מאוחדת בראשות שמואל שקדי ואריה קינג 

Yesterday, we received a blessing from Rabbanit Tzviah Eliyahu, and today from Rabbi Shmu'el Eliyahu shlit"a sent us a letter of support. We are thankful for the support, and promise to keep Jerusalem Jewish!  

- Unified Jerusalem Party - led by Shmu'el Shaqedi and Aryeh King

(Tip Credit: Shuqi)

כיפה: הרב אליהו: מצווה מיוחדת לחזק את בניין ירושלים

במטה "ירושלים מאוחדת" מציגים מכתב תמיכה ששיגר הרב שמואל אליהו לאריה קינג, בו הוא מחזק אותו על פעילותו "בנושא יישוב עיר הקודש ירושלים על ידי יהודים" - יונתן אוריך, כ"ח תשרי תשע"ד (ללחוץ כטן להמשך בעברית)

Translation:

Rabbi Shmu'el Eliyahu

Kippah: Rabbi Eliyahu - It is a special misswah to strengthen the building of Jerusalem
At the Unified Jerusalem Party Headquarters a letter of support sent by Rabbi Shmu'el Eliyahu to Aryeh King, in which he bolsters his activities, under the heading of the Jewish settlement of the Holy City of Jerusalem.

Yonatan Orich, 28 Tishrei 5774/October 2, 2013

At the headquarters of the Unified Jerusalem Party, contending against the Jewish Home Party in the Jerusalem municipal elections, on display today was Rabbi Shmu'el Eliyahu's letter which had been sent about two months ago to Aryeh King, in which he blesses him over his public operations in the capital.

Shmuel Shaqedi

"I want to thank you for your work on the issue of Jewish settlement in the Holy City of Jerusalem," writes Rabbi Eliyahu in the letter to King, "Previously, we needed a decision from the government that Jerusalem be unified and Jewish. Today we need to turn all of our prayers for generations into fact and reality with another house, with another garden, with another neighborhood, with another family."

"The continued building of the city needs a special kind of strength," writes Rabbi Eliyahu, "Our enemies are trying to curb our efforts. The nations which represent themselves as friends also cry out each time we approve a new building project in Jerusalem, and the Israeli government becomes terrified, and operates by limping along. Therefore, today it is a special misswah to strengthen the building of Jerusalem. So, I applaud you and your efforts in the building of the city, and very much hope for your success."

Aryeh King

In the meantime, yesterday the heads of the party met with the widow of the late Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu ztz"l, in the Qiriyath Moshe neighborhood of Jerusalem. The Rabbanit, who hosted Shmu'el Shaqedi, Aryeh King, Haggit Moshe, and Tzviqah Yungreis, said that the United Jerusalem list must fight for its principles over the treatment of the neighborhoods [bordering Arab neighborhoods], and the struggle to keep Jerusalem Jewish.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Shuqi asked me if I thought that this was a slap in the face to the Jewish Home Party.

Naftali Bennett
Jewish Home Party
National Chairperson

I would have to say that my answer is a definitive "Yes."

Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu ztz"l was one of the Jewish Home Party's primary rabbis from whom it would receive answers to its questions of halakhah (Torah Law). In fact, when the Jewish Home Party was still the National Religious Party [NRP], it approached Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu to ask him if they could put a woman on its list of candidates for the 2003 Parliamentary Elections. Rabbi Eliyahu said, "No." Yet, the NRP did so anyway, using the justification that they "have other rabbis."

Well, apparently, now Mordechai Eliyahu's widow, and his son, Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu appear to have "other" political parties.

Yep! This was definitely a slap in the face.

Likud vs. Likud

מוצש"ק פר' נח תשע"ד

Arutz 7: Bibi Boots Elkin from Plane for Embarrassing Him
Prime Minister tells deputy foreign minister to fly El Al to New York, after Elkin embarrasses him with old quote against PA state.

Gil Ronen, September 25, 2013

MK Ze'ev Elkin
(Likud - Beteinu)

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu has punished Deputy Foreign Minister, MK Ze'ev Elkin, by barring him from joining the prime ministerial flight to New York's UN General Assembly as was planned, reports Yisrael Hayom. The decision is reportedly Netanyahu's way of disciplining Elkin, after Elkin embarrassed Netanyahu politically.

Elkin will have to take a regular El Al flight that leaves Saturday night. He will be replaced on the prime minister's plane by Minister Gilad Erdan. Both Elkin and Erdan are members of Likud.

According to the report, Netanyahu is upset because of a speech Elkin delivered at a Likud event ten days ago, and also because of a petition he co-signed with about 30 other MKs, calling on Netanyahu to cancel any further releases of terrorist prisoners.

In the speech, Elkin quoted Netanyahu's own words, 11 years ago, regarding the possible establishment of a Palestinian state. “The Palestinians will enjoy all of the rights,” Netanyahu said then, “except for one right – the right to annihilate Israel. Self rule – yes. A state – no.”

Netanyahu added, then: “They tell us that the Palestinian state is a vision for the future. Well, our nation also has a vision for the future. 'And the wolf will dwell with the sheep. When that vision is realized in the Middle East, we will go back and reconvene the Likud Central Committee and discuss the issue again.”

By quoting Netanyahu, Elkin was showing that he has backtracked on his stated principles. Netanyahu now favors a "demilitarized" Arab state inside Judea and Samaria.

Israel's "Fearless Leader?"
(Photo Credit: YNET Archives)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
I just LOVE this picture of Bibi! Don't you?

So now, do we applaud MK Zev Elkin for getting up to the plate, and declaring the truth?

Do you Likudniks out there condemn him for embarrassing your precious prime minister, and working in the opposite direction of Party unity?

Do the "pragmatists" out there condemn him for not choosing his shots in a terribly efficient manner?

Do those of us on the sidelines ask whether MK Elkin really thinks he has the backing to get on the next Likud list of candidates without Bibi's rubber stamp, especially now that he has stepped on even more toes?

Should we even care?

Well, in between yawns, I applaud MK Elkin for not only speaking up, and calling the prime minister on his shenanigans, but for also not second guessing himself. At least, that's my take on what happened.

You are more than welcome to leave a comment suggesting that I've got this all wrong, and that I do not know MK Elkin as well as you do. I'll probably publish it. I do not have enough emotional investment in the Israeli governmental regime to care, and you'll only be doing me a favor by providing me with some additional insight.

But, until then, MK Elkin if one of the few MK's and even fewer Likud MK's who still have my attention, and positive view.

In case you are wondering who the other Likud MK's are still on my "smiley face" list (for lack of a better term), they are MK Moshe Feiglin, of course, and MK Yariv Levin.

Nope, not Christian lover MK Danny Danon, who was never on said list, and MK Tzippy Hotovely recently revealed her true colors, and so was immediately removed.

Hobby Lobby: American Jews are missing the point,...Again.

מוצש"ק פר' נח תשע"ד

Times Of Israel: J'accuse, Hobby Lobby - No dreidels for sale here, ‘you people’
Chain of Evangelical-owned craft stores refuses to sell Hannukah items, is slapped with hostile online reaction

Gavriel Fiske, October 2, 2013

A chain of craft stores in the US has been accused of anti-Semitism for refusing to sell Hannukah-themed items, leading to an Internet backlash and calls for a boycott.

Hobby Lobby
(unidentified branch)

Last week, blogger Ken Berwitz posted that neighbors were reporting that a New Jersey branch of Hobby Lobby didn’t have any Hannukah or Jewish-themed merchandise for sale. He said workers asked about the omission replied, “We don’t cater to you people,” meaning Jews, and that including Jewish items would be against the values of the chain’s Christian owner.

Berwitz’s post generated a torrent of comments around the web, many of which called for a boycott of the chain, and was picked up by several news sites, including the Daily Kos, who reported on Monday that Hobby Lobby was monitoring its Facebook page to remove any posts about the issue.

A local news site reported Monday that a Hobby Lobby representative wrote to the mayor of Marlboro, New Jersey, where the store in question is located, and said that ”alleged comments made by employees are currently being investigated and will be addressed accordingly. These comments are in no way indicative of Hobby Lobby culture, the owners and the operators.”

Hobby Lobby, a Oklahoma-based chain of over 500 stores that, according to its website, operates “in a manner consistent with biblical principles,” is privately owned by Evangelical Christian businessman David Green. (Hanukkah is against "Biblical Principles?" Perhaps, because it is absent of their false deity/messiah.) (cont.)

(Tip Credit: Sharkskin)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Why are American Jews still fighting about these silly, little things? Don't they get it?

No matter how hard you try to be fully accepted as a "full" American in American society, you will never be. The U. S. A. is not your homeland. Israel is.

One of our (YOUR) greatest challenges is remembering that residing in galuth (exile, ie. not in Israel) is a punishment. As fantastic as we (YOU) are at rising to the challenge of succeeding, and even gaining respect in a Land which is not ours (YOURS), the strategies employed in doing so are based on assimilation, something we (YOU) have been attempting in every generation since [at least] 1400's Spain, and it has never worked. So, it is high time to try something new, and fail safe: Jews discovering what living within a a Jewish (not American) framework is, and then employing that as a strategy.*

Working through the mentality we have developed, due to the 2,000 years our (YOUR) people have spent in galuth is our (YOUR) greatest spiritual challenge, other than perhaps the acceptance that spirituality even has a place in our (YOUR) lives.

The ADL's and the AIPAC's only appear to be your "protectors." But, the reality is that they are keeping us (YOU) down,...down in our (YOUR) exile, preventing you from having any truly meaningful connection to our (YOUR) true homeland and heritage, the Eretz Yisra'el (Land of Israel) and the Torah.

Remember. The Almighty knows all.

He knows all about those nebachy (poor, poor) Jews who think that Hanukkah is a Jewish Christmas, and the most important day in the Jewish calendar. He's got to reach "you people" somehow.

And so should we.

Do not be embarrassed to ask questions about your heritage. If you feel like you're being put down for doing so, then ask your questions to someone else. You can also pose your questions anonymously to the countless Torah-based websites out there.

Try to remember the story of how the holiday of Hanukkah came about.

A group of Jews, led by Matityahu the Kohain Gadol (High Priest) at the time, living in the Land of Israel, were fed up with the assimilation of their (YOUR) brothers and sisters' assimilation into a foreign culture, and its effects on the Jewish People and Jewish Homeland as a whole.

They weren't going to take it anymore. They fought back. Not only did they defending their "freedom of religion," which so many American Jews are taught to fight for, even if that includes fighting for the right not to have any religion or particular beliefs at all. The main difference was that these Jews, the "Maccabees," were fighting for something truly Jewish, and within the only truly Jewish Homeland, not the U. S. of A., but Eretz Yisra'el.

This was a spiritual fight. The fight to live as Jews authentically, including control over Har HaBayith (Temple Mount), and the "right" to practice Judaism there, was intertwined with the fight for authentically Jewish control over the Land of Israel.

It was a fight against assimilation within Eretz Yisra'el.

Incidentally, the word Macabee is actually an acronym, מכב"י. It comes from a verse from the Song Of The Sea, sung in celebration after The Almighty divided the Red Sea, and saved us (YOU) from the pursuit of the Egyptian pursuit, after leaving Egyptian exile (ie. the first Passover).

מִי-כָמֹכָה בָּאֵלִם יְהוָה, מִי כָּמֹכָה נֶאְדָּר בַּקֹּדֶשׁ; נוֹרָא תְהִלֹּת, עֹשֵׂה פֶלֶא. (שמות טו,יא)

Who is like You, O LORD, among the mighty? who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders? (Exodus 15:11)

Maccabee is also Greek for "hammer," a strong message to those Jews who knew Greek, but not Hebrew.

And so, now that you know the story behind the story of Hanukkah, ask yourself what is more important, whether a Christian owned company carries Hannukah merchandise or not, or whether the Jewish People will not only survive, but will remember its heritage, and actually have a true Homeland in which to reside.

In other words, do you really want to be a part of the downfall of the Jews residing in the U. S.? YOU cry antisemitism, but the same ol' "write a letter, make it better" strategy does not go to the heart of the matter, if it ever did.

What good is it to find Hannukah merchandise, if you never knew what Hannukah was really about? Or that Pesah (Passover) is on a different level, or that there is a holiday called Shavu'oth, which never heard of before, because most years, Hebrew school ended before it arrived.

What good is it all, if you are being told that you're just a member of some religion, which you do not even believe in, and not a member of a people which has a Land of its own, even older than Sudan or France?

What good is it all, finding a Hanukkiyah (Hanukkah menorah), if you marry a non-Jew, and have been no solid reason why shouldn't?

What good is it all, if you're being lied to.

********

*A Jew by the name of Rabbi Me'ir Kahane hy"d talked about assimilation being one of the greatest threats to His solution was for Jews to learn about what it meant to exist and to live like a Jew, instead of like non-Jews. Instead of searching for acceptance and validation from the outside (co-dependence), he suggested that we (YOU) search for acceptance and validation from within.

I only mention him here, because his name seems to "scare" Jews away, due to the maligning of it by those very Jews, who have fallen victim to assimilation. 

Guest Post: The Doors of Aliyah are Closing

כ"ט לחודש השבעי תשע"ד

by Hillel Levin
Israel Chesed Opportunities
hillel.leib@gmail.com
"Shiloh, home of the Mishkan for 369 yrs. Connecting with my brothers and sisters!"

29 Tishrei 5774/October 3, 2013

For years I have said that I feared that the Doors of Aliyah* were closing and that all Jews choosing to live Hutz L'Aretz (outside of Israel) should make Aliyah now.

I was not being Prophetic, I was just doing what the Sages have told us to do: Ro'eh es ha nolad. "Look at the outcome."

So now President BO is playing chicken with the Republicans in Congress holding the budget as hostage. This has frozen the US Government. A direct result has been that 800,000 of the 1.4 million government workers have been sent home without pay. Keep in mind that a fair number of Jews are employed by the US Government.

Another result is that Government spending is on hold, so any number of businesses that supply goods or services to the US Government are now slowing or shutting operations. So there are less goods being shipped, so less need for truckers etc.

So this has consumers spending less since that is what happens whenever there is a blow to the economy. Property values will decrease. It will be even harder to sell real estate so that one can pay of their mortgages.

Another result of a shutdown US Government is that routine passport applications are not being processed. This will have a direct effect on the ability of any Jews looking to make Aliyah. No passport? Can't leave the US.

Brothers, sisters, get the message: THE GATES OF ALIYAH ARE CLOSING. Please come home immediately.

*********

*Aliyah - Heb.: "ascending," Jewish immigration to Israel