#property in even yehuda-Israel

[the-garbanzo-annex-jr]

by Victor Rosenthal

So that is why the ultra-violent massacre in the south was cheered by Palestinians everywhere. And that is why the propositions of the conseptzia are false. Honor/shame and religion are at the top of the list of motivators for the Palestinians. Palestinians have consistently chosen violence over statehood, and weapons over economic development. They are not frustrated because they don’t have an independent state – they are infuriated because we have one on what they believe is their property. If we give them money for development, they will take it (and skim off plenty from the top for the benefit of their leadership). But the PA will always pay terrorists and their families, and Hamas will not stop building tunnels and rockets.

The Palestinians can’t be bought off and they can’t be persuaded that it is in their interest to live at peace alongside a Jewish state. The various factions have different strategies and tactics, but their ultimate objective is the same: Israel must disappear.

The Americans are dangerous, because they don’t or won’t accept this. The Americans have been slaves to the conseptzia since at least 1967. Biden, Blinken, and the rest continue to talk about a “two-state solution”, by which they mean a Palestinian state under the PA in Judea/Samaria and Gaza (sometimes even with a road between them cutting Israel in two!) What happened on October 7 shows that this is unacceptable. If Israel loses control of Judea and Samaria, the horrific events in the lightly populated Gaza Envelope could be repeated, this time in Tel Aviv. Even if the PA were more moderate than Hamas (it isn’t), who is to say a moderate leadership wouldn’t be replaced by an extreme one? Indeed, Gaza was originally ruled by the PA, but Hamas won the PA elections; and when in 2007 it wasn’t allowed to take power, it overthrew the PA in Gaza, tossed local officials off buildings, and took over.

Ordinary Israelis understand this, and our government seems to as well. This is why it announced that it did not want to decide at this time what would happen in Gaza after Hamas is defeated. It is obvious to us that only some form of Israeli control in both Gaza and Judea/Samaria can protect us, and it is equally obvious that the Americans oppose that. That’s why they are demanding that we come up with a plan for “the day after.” Israel would prefer not to have this argument today.

[silver-cats]

zionists trying to rationalise the Nakba by saying shit like ‘well that’s just what happens during a war’ are rationalising war crimes and it never gets any less infuriating. Over 500 Palestinian villages were bulldozed during the nakba, nearly a million Palestinian people were expelled from their homes, there were death marches in Lydda and Ramle, so much property was looted by Zionist forces to the point that you even had Jewish people like Netiva Ben-Yehuda likening the pillaging she observed in Tiberias to the anti-Jewish pogroms the nazis carried out. Even Palestinian villages (like al shaykh munis) which harboured no millita and could not be considered millitary targets by any stretch of the imagination were targeted, so much disgusting awful shit happened. 90% of the villages in the Jaffa area were totally destroyed, as were 90.0% of those in Tiberias, 90.3% of those in Safad, and 95.9% of those in Beisan. Israel is stolen land and there’s no rationalising these damning stats, EVER. But do we really expect the people cheering for the millitary occupation of Palestine to even know what a war crime is?

[newhome4u-properties-israel]

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[jewishtraces]

Neighborhood Spotlight: South Los Angeles

Los Angeles has so many former synagogues, I’ve chosen to focus on them by neighborhood. First in the series, South LA. Many of these buildings have been almost entirely forgotten, and I may have been the first to rediscover them.

As in most cities in the US, the first synagogues were built in the downtown area. LA was no different. The first recorded Jew, Jacob Frankfort, arrived in 1841, and there were eight by 1850 when California became a state. The first rabbi, Joseph Newmark, held the first Shabbat services and helped found the  Hebrew Benevolent Society — the first chartered charity organization in Los Angeles, now Jewish Family Service — in 1854. The first cemetery was founded in 1855 near what’s now Dodger Stadium (the bodies were later moved to East LA in 1910), and the first congregation in 1862. The Reform Congregation B’nai B’rith met in rented halls before dedicating their first building in 1873 on what’s now Broadway between 2nd and 3rd Streets. They later built a new building at 9th and Hope in 1896. B’nai B’rith’s Rabbi M.G. Solomon left the congregation in 1899 to join a new Orthodox congregation, which, after merging with another congregation, built the city’s first Orthodox synagogue in 1902 on Olive Street near Temple St.. (All three of those buildings have long since been demolished.) By 1900, the city had 2500 Jews, clustering around Temple St. and Bunker Hill.

As the city grew geographically and in population, Jews moved to the city and followed its expansion to new neighborhoods. The first Conservative congregation, Congregation Sinai, was founded in 1906 and built their first building to the west in 1909 (more on that next time). Boyle Heights is famous as being the largest Jewish hub west of Chicago as Jews moved there in the 1920s (more on that later, too). But a largely forgotten cluster of synagogues was built by the community who moved south of downtown in the 1910s and ’20s, and it’s those I’ll focus on in this post.

The influx of Eastern European Jews in the first decade of the 1900s led to the founding and expansion of social welfare agencies and congregations. Chasidic immigrants built what is either the fourth or fifth synagogue building in the city, Agudath Achim Anshe Sfard, in 1909 (I can’t tell if it predates Sinai, as mentioned above) on 21st St. just off Central Ave. The building was sold in 1945 to an African American church when the congregation moved to a larger building in Mid-City. It was then sold to a Hispanic church in 2005. (I would love to write a longer post about this amazing building! I took a ton of photos.)

B’nai Amunah Congregation established a synagogue in 1914 at Broadway and 40th, then moved to 42nd and Grand in 1921. They remained until at least 1942. The 110 freeway was constructed blocks away in the mid-1950s, which prompted many families to leave, though the Jews were largely leaving this area already. I know almost nothing about this congregation or the building. It has since become home to a sequence of Hispanic churches.

Talmud Torah Tifereth Jacob began in 1922 with fifty families, possibly as two separate congregations, rented space at first, and in 1925 purchased a building at the corner of 59th Street and Brentwood in the southern part of the city. After two years, the old building was replaced by a new and larger one, which served 1500 families. The congregation moved west to Ladera Heights (and ultimately to Manhattan Beach in 1977), and sold the building to the Evening Star Missionary Baptist Church in 1952.

This one was a doozy to find. It appears from building records that Congregation Etz Chayim physically moved their building from Santa Barbara Ave. (now MLK) and Avalon to 4315 McKinley Ave in 1923. It may previously have been Cong. Pahol Zedek, though that’s an educated guess. Turns out the streets and addresses here were renumbered around 1939, 4315 becoming 4361 when 43rd St. jumped a block, so this one escaped me for a while! The Church of Christ bought it in 1945, and the congregation merged with Rodef Sholom in Mid-City. The Church of Christ moved out in 1953 when they outgrew the building, and it’s now the Washington Memorial Church of Christ Holiness.

Sephardi Jews also began to move to the area in the 1920s and ’30s.  Congregation Talmud Torah of Peace and Progress Organization bought the property at Hoover and 55th by 1930, and built a new building as the Sephardic Hebrew Center in 1935. The building sold in 1958 to the Second African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church of Los Angeles when the congregation moved to Ladera Heights. Tiferet Israel held services in homes, halls and theaters, but finally dedicated their synagogue at the corner of Santa Barbara (now MLK) and La Salle Avenues in 1932 and remained until 1970 when they moved to Westwood. The two would later merge in 1993.

Tiferet Israel seems to have been the last active synagogue in South LA by the time it moved. Moving east, I know nothing about Huntington Park Hebrew Congregation/B'nai Yehuda, built in 1937, beyond that it appears to have changed hands in 1986-7, or even if the Seventh Day Adventist church it became is still active. (Any information is appreciated!) Temple B’Nai Emet in Montebello and Temple Ner Tamid in Downey even farther east and south, may be the last synagogues to carry this legacy. However, with the revitalization of Downtown LA, there are now two Chabad locations in the area, the one at Broadway and 7th just blocks away from the first Jewish settlement.

All photos are mine. The photo captions don’t appear to be working but the photos are in the same order as listed in the post. Most of this information comes from Jewish Los Angeles - A Guide, published in 1982, the websites of the extant congregations, and public records.

[rickwhite]

Behar: The Hetter Mechirah for the Sabbatical Year

“When you come to the land that I am giving you, the land must be given a rest, a sabbath to God. For six years you may plant your fields, prune your vineyards, and harvest your crops. But the seventh year is a sabbath of sabbaths for the land.” (Lev. 25:1-4)

A Brief History of the Hetter Mechirah

As the Jewish people began to return to the Land of Israel in the late 1800s, establishing farms and agricultural settlements, the question of letting fields lie fallow during the sabbatical year became - for the first time in many centuries - a burning issue. With the approach of the sabbatical year of 1889, the Jewish settlers turned to the rabbinate to issue a hetter (permit) to allow them to continue working their lands during the seventh year, so that the young and fragile agricultural settlements would not collapse.

Three respected scholars met in Vilna and designed a hetter mechirah, temporarily selling the land to a non-Jew over the sabbatical year. The hetter was approved by Rabbi Yitzchak Elchanan Spector, chief rabbi of Kovno and the pre-eminent Halachic authority of the generation.

During the following sabbatical years of 1889, 1896, and 1903, many of the new settlements utilized the hetter. However, a number of highly respected scholars vociferously opposed the leniency. Among the opponents were Rabbi Yosef Dov Soloveitchik, the Netziv (Rabbi Naftali Zvi Yehuda Berlin), and Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch.

The Sabbatical Year of 5670 (1909-1910)

In 1904, Rav Kook arrived in Eretz Yisrael, serving as chief rabbi of Jaffa and the surrounding moshavot. Leading up to the sabbatical year of 1910, Rav Kook took a forceful position defending the hetter mechirah. He penned a treatise entitled Shabbat Ha'Aretz which explained the legal reasoning behind the permit, along with a discussion of the laws for the sabbatical year.

While Rav Kook was an original and creative thinker, he usually took a relatively conservative position in Halachic matters. What led him to support the lenient position in the hetter mechirah controversy?

We can learn much about his underlying concerns from letters that he wrote during this time. The following quotes are from letters in the first volume of Igrot HaRe’iyah.

Reasons to Support the Hetter

While still in Latvia, Rav Kook and his father-in-law, Rabbi Eliyahu David Rabinowitz-Teomim (the “Aderet”, rabbi of Ponevezh and later chief rabbi of Jerusalem), discussed the issue at length. In his letters, Rav Kook admits that at that time they both opposed the hetter.

“From afar, when we heard the arguments of those who permit and of those who forbid, we both leaned toward the stricter opinion. But when the Aderet arrived in the Land of Israel, he saw with his own eyes that it is impossible to even consider not making some sort of arrangement for the sabbatical year.” (p. 258)

Seeing first-hand the precarious state of agricultural settlements was a critical factor in changing Rav Kook’s mind. He understood that full observance of the sabbatical year could endanger lives and would likely bring about the collapse of the new settlements.

A second concern was that the entire enterprise of the national return to the Land of Israel could fail over this issue. At that time, the nascent economy of the Yishuv in Eretz Yisrael was based on the commercial sale of agricultural produce.

“The Jewish Colonial Association (JCA) representative informed me that the JCA is preparing plans to buy much more property in the Holy Land. But if we decide that there is no permit to allow work during the seventh year via some legal sale, then the representative will be forced to advise that they should invest their money in Canada and cease supporting projects in the Land of Israel.

He also explained that [if lands will lay fallow during the sabbatical year], the Arabs will take control of Jewish land during the sabbatical year by grazing their herds on them and it will be necessary to take them to court.” (p. 285)

A third concern - and perhaps the most important for Rav Kook - was his fear that a strict ruling would plainly demonstrate that Judaism is incompatible with the modern world and building of a Jewish state:

“Even worse is the potential condemnation of Judaism and widespread rejection of Torah observance as a result of a strict ruling, Heaven forbid, in this matter. The anti-religious elements are hoping that the rabbis will forbid [all agricultural activity during the sabbatical year]. Then they will have gained a great victory. They will have demonstrated that by listening to the rabbis, the land will be laid waste, the fields and vineyards will become desolate, and all commercial ties for the sale of wines, oranges, and other agricultural produce will be broken - ties upon which the survival of the Jewish settlement truly depends.” (p. 258)

The Halachic Underpinnings of the Hetter

In his letters, Rav Kook also discussed the legal reasoning behind the hetter mechirah. The sale is actually based on a number of independent, mitigating factors, each one lessening the severity of working the land during the sabbatical year.

The most important factor in taking a lenient stance is the ruling of most Halachic authorities that nowadays the sabbatical year no longer retains the status of Biblical law. Since it is rabbinically-ordained, we may apply various leniencies, according to the principle of sfeika d'rabbanan lekula.

The hetter only permits those types of agricultural labor that are not Biblically prohibited, even when the sabbatical year itself is Biblically-ordained. Thus, planting, pruning, harvesting, fruit-picking, and perhaps plowing must still be performed by a non-Jew hired to work the field. This clause ensures that no Torah prohibitions are violated, even according to the minority opinion that even nowadays the sabbatical year is Biblically ordained.

An additional reason to be lenient is that our current situation is one of “undue hardship”. Given the precarious state of the agricultural settlements, not working the land would be truly life-threatening. In such cases, one may rely on a single opinion - that of the Rezah1 - who held that nowadays, without the Jubilee year, the sabbatical year is not even rabbinically ordained, but is only a pious custom.

Additionally, we may take into account the question regarding the correct count of the years of the Shemitah cycle. The Kaftor Vaferach2 testified that some farmers would observe the seventh year during one year, while others observed it during another. Even though the rabbis agreed to observe just one sabbatical year - and chose the opinion of Maimonides -this is only a convention. The doubt still remains as to which year is truly the sabbatical year.

Rav Kook also intimated that he had additional arguments to be lenient, but intentionally did not publicize them. He feared that, once institutionalized, the hetter would become too entrenched. The ultimate goal was not to circumvent the laws of the sabbatical year, but to allow the settlements to grow and prosper until they would be able to completely observe the sabbatical year in all of its details.

“On purpose, I did not organize everything in this matter to be fully explained, organized, and analyzed as it should be. Some justifications and cogent arguments I have omitted completely. All this was in order that the hetter should not become too accepted, but will always be considered a temporary measure (hora’at sha’ah), something that was permitted grudgingly due to the needs of the time. But when these issues are analyzed in the way of true Torah scholarship... the prohibition would become too weakened - and I certainly did not desire that.” (pp. 348-349)

Eye to the Future

Many of the rabbis who opposed the hetter mechirah wrote that not observing the sabbatical year would in fact jeopardize the future of Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel, since the punishment for transgressing its laws is exile (see Avot 5:9). While Rav Kook also looked forward to the day when the seventh year would be fully observed, he viewed the hetter as a stepping-stone that would allow the community to achieve that goal.

“We must recognize that we are obligated to strive with all of our strength to bring matters so that, in the end, the sabbatical year will be increasingly observed in all of its holiness in the Holy Land.... But how to arrive at this sacred goal? Which means should we use to attain it? This matter must be considered carefully.

In my opinion, we need to arrive at our desired goal precisely by graduated efforts. Rabbi Chiya Rabbah described the overall redemption of Israel as beginning slowly, little by little - kim'a kim'a [Jerusalem Talmud, Berachot 1:2]. So too, the spiritual redemption of establishing the Land’s holiness will advance in stages, step by step.” (p. 330)

One expression of this graduated approach is the distinction the hetter made between those agricultural activities that are prohibited Biblically and those prohibited rabbinically. “We should be like one who saves his possessions from the fire,” Rav Kook explained. “Whatever is more precious and holier [i.e., Biblically-prohibited labor] must be rescued first.”

This distinction also provides a solution to the danger of punishment by exile for not observing the sabbatical year. Such a severe penalty could only apply to transgressing Biblically-ordained prohibitions.3

The Hetter for Farmers and Consumers

What about those who did not wish to rely on the hetter mechirah? Here, Rav Kook distinguished between farmers and consumers.

Rav Kook was very supportive of farmers who did not wish to rely on the hetter. When he heard that the JCA was using the hetter to force farmers to work on the sabbatical year, he became acutely distressed and informed the JCA that the hetter would become invalid under such circumstances. Rav Kook also spoke of setting up a special fund to support these farmers.

On the other hand, Rav Kook was critical of consumers who chose to be stringent in the sabbatical year by buying produce only from non-Jewish farmers. One cannot take on stringencies at the expense of others:

“Certainly it is not proper to look for leniencies and loopholes by purchasing produce from non-Jews, in a situation when this will cause loss of income from Jewish farmers and undermine their livelihood. In general, in any situation where we desire to be strict for ourselves, it is correct to make certain that this stringency does not induce any negative repercussions of financial loss or disrepute for others.” (p. 258)

1 Rabbi Zerachiah HaLevi Gerondi (1125-1186).

2 Rabbi Eshtori HaParchi (1282-1357).

3 Cf Sha’agat Aryeh sec. 24.

[newstfionline]

After a killing, an Israeli soldier and an Arab family confronted justice

By Ruth Eglash, Washington Post, June 16, 2018

JERUSALEM--Ben Deri says he was just following orders as an Israeli border police officer when he opened fire on Palestinian protesters in 2014.

But his gun was loaded with live ammunition, not the rubber bullets he’d been ordered to use, an investigation later found. His shots left two people dead and one seriously injured.

Four years later, almost to the day, Deri started an eight-month jail sentence last month for causing the death of one of the Palestinians, 17-year-old Nadeem Nowarah, by negligence. Deri, 24, was also ordered to pay Nowarah’s family $14,000 in compensation.

The case is exceptional, even extraordinary, because Israeli security forces are so rarely taken to court for killing or abusing Palestinians.

The eventual punishment, reached via a plea bargain, left both sides unhappy. Nowarah’s family was outraged that their son’s killer was convicted of negligence, not murder. Deri was dismayed because, he felt, the government that put him at that protest four years ago had abandoned him.

Deri had been doing military service in the border police, a hybrid military unit under the auspices of the national police force, responsible for keeping order. Because he was essentially a police officer, he was tried in a civilian court, putting him face to face with Nowarah’s family.

Speaking in recent, separate interviews, Nowarah’s father, Siam, and Deri both expressed profound regret about the events that brought them into such unusually intimate contact.

It was largely Siam’s determination to seek justice for his son that brought about the trial. The Israeli military initially denied any wrongdoing, and Israeli lawmakers tried to cast doubt on the Palestinian version of events.

The shooting took place during the annual Nakba Day protests, when Palestinians mark what they call the catastrophe of Israel’s creation when 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee their homes.

Siam Nowarah said his son was a normal teenager, the joker of the family who listened to Western pop music stars like Lil Wayne and Justin Bieber. The family had no idea that Nadeem had gone to the annual protest in the West Bank village of Beitunia.

One set of grainy footage, taken by a CNN photographer, shows Deri cocking his gun, another, captured on CCTV cameras, shows Nowarah, wandering alone on the edge of the protest with his school bag on his back, suddenly fall to the ground. Siam later retrieved the Israeli-issued bullet from his son’s backpack.

Amit Gilutz, a spokesman for the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, said that because of the video footage, it was impossible for the Israeli judicial system to ignore this case. But Gilutz stressed that only a small handful of such cases get to court.

“It is very rare for Israeli security personnel to be indicted for hurting Palestinians,” Gilutz said. A report published by B’Tselem in November noted that out of 739 cases in which soldiers killed, injured or beat Palestinians or destroyed their property, 3 percent led to an indictment.

Yehuda Shaul of Breaking the Silence, an Israeli group that gathers anonymous testimony from past and current Israeli combat soldiers, was critical of Deri’s trial. He said that such trials allow Israelis to “whitewash our consciences” by deflecting the role of the military and focusing on the actions of the individual.

“First, we get to say that the soldier’s behavior was exceptional; and second, we try to justify the lack of accountability of the system itself,” Shaul said. He added: “We should not forget that individuals must take responsibility for what they’ve done. There should not be a get-out-of-jail-free card for any soldiers.”

[virtual-beit-midrash]

Pesach study session  (#8)

Studying halacha as we head towards Pesach with Mishna tractate Pesachim.  Questions and insights are welcome!

Chapter 4, Mishna 6

Rabbi Meir says, "All work which one had started prior to the fourteenth [of Nissan], he may finish on the fourteenth; but he may not start work on the fourteenth to begin with, even though he can finish it [thereon]. And the Sages say, "Three [types of craftsmen] may do work on the eve of Pesach until noon and they are: tailors, barbers, and launderers;" Rabbi Yose ben Yehuda says, "Even the [shoe] strap-makers [may do so]."   

Chapter 4, Mishna 7

We may place chickens in hatching-coops on the fourteenth [of Nissan]; and we may replace a hen which had run away back to its place; and if [it] died, we may place another [hen] in its place. We may rake [out the stable-dung] from under the feet of domesticated animals on the fourteenth; but it may [only] be removed to the sides [not entirely removed], during the [intermediate days of the] festival. We may carry vessels [and other articles] to and from the house of a craftsman, even though they are not needed for [use during] the festival. 

Chapter 4, Mishna 8

The men of Jericho did six things; about three of them, [the Sages] protested to them, and about three, they did not protest to them. These were [the ones] about which they did not protest to them: they would graft palm trees the entire day [of the fourteenth of Nissan]; they would envelop the 'Shema;' and they used to cut down and make heaps of the new grain before the omer [the special barley offering, offered the day after Pesach, which permits grain harvested in the new harvest to be eaten] was offered - and they did not protest to them. And these were [the ones] about which they did protest to them: they would allow the use of branches [growing on or near] hekdesh [property, living or inanimate, devoted by its owner for sacred purposes, by which action he ceases to be its owner]; and they would on Shabbat eat fruit which had dropped off [the trees]; and they would [leave over] peah [the requirement to leave, when harvesting, a corner of the field for the poor] to [also] be taken from vegetables - and they protested to them. 

Skipping chapters 5-9, which deal with the Pesach sacrifice

Chapter 10, the last chapter, deals with the Seder itself

Chapter 10, Mishna 1

On the eve of Passover [from] close to [the time of] the afternoon offering, no one must eat until nightfall.  Even the poorest person in Israel must not eat [on the night of Passover] unless he reclines.  And they must give him no fewer than four cups of wine, even [if he receives relief] from the charity plate.

[thebeautyoftorah]

BALAK

bs'd

Shalom.

The thought from my book 'Healing Anger' is:

"The statement, “I have children” seems to be incorrect. Children don’t belong to us. They are not our property. Hashem gave us our children as our most valuable treasure, and we must protect them. Angry parents destroy the self-esteem of their children."

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Have a healthy Shabbat Shalom.

BALAK-Reassessing and The Angel of Mercy The Torah tells us that when Bilam was on his way to attempt to curse the Jewish people, he was blocked by an Angel with a sword. Rashi [1] explains, “It was an Angel of Mercy, and It wanted to prevent him from sinning, so that he would not sin and be lost.” HaShem tried to stop Bilam with an Angel of mercy as opposed to a different type of Angel, because He wanted to prevent Bilam from committing a sin, because by doing so he would be engaging in an ultimately self-destructive conduct that would lead to his own death. Before Hashem sent the Angel, He told Bilam, ".. I wish to avoid your death. I do not desire the death of even a Rasha..."[0]. One difficulty here is that the next verse tells us that the Angel was holding a drawn sword and this does not seem to be a fitting mode of merciful behavior. Why the merciful angel that G-d sent to save Bilaam used this intimidating and aggressive behavior to fulfill his mission? Rav Pam [2] explains that an Angel of mercy can appear in all different types of guises and costumes. Sometimes he appears in a benign form and other times he might appear as the scariest creature we have ever seen. His job is to give us a message to stop from doing something for our own benefit and he will do whatever it takes him to accomplish that mission. Sometimes, it requires actions that do not seem merciful at all, such as holding his sword drawn. The merciful aspect of the Angel is not his appearance or his facial expression, rather it is the fact that he is stopping someone from hurting himself. There are two important applications of this idea: Rav Avraham Pam used to discuss one of them this to his students in the context of disappointments they may encounter in the often-arduous process of shiduchim. A young man may meet a young woman and think this is definitely his shiduch. He is so excited and certain that they will gen engaged and then something happens to derail it and the imminent shidduch is called off. Naturally, the boy and his family are very distraught and disappointed.  Many times in life he will come to realize at a later point in time that the cause of his momentary disappointment was the greatest thing that ever happened to him. HaShem ‘knew better’ than him. He knew that this girl was not the right one and that it was necessary to go through this difficult situation in order to be ready to meet the ‘right one’. In this vein, the Steipler Gaon zt”l would tell someone after a broken shiduch to make a Kiddush to celebrate the fact that he/she is one step closer to finding his bashert  (pre-destined spouse). There is a second application of the lesson of the Angel of Mercy: Sometimes G-d sends us a message in a seemingly unpleasant way to make us reconsider a course of action.  In the case of Bilam, he was blindly proceeding on a self-destructive path and HaShem in His Infinite wisdom, decided that it was necessary to send him a ‘tougher’ message of mercy in the guise of the Angel with the sword.   [Sometimes if we ignore Hashem’s personal messages, He is compelled to send us “stronger” messages, i.e. more difficult situations]. In the case of Bilam, he managed to ignore the lesson, but he serves as an eternal example to us all. The important message is that there are no accidents, only messages. How can we know the purpose of messages that HaShem sends us that seems to contradict our present life direction? Sometimes His messages seem so ambiguous. Surely, they are not always intended to make a person change his mind, rather at times they could be the yetser hara’s attempts to prevent one from doing the right thing [Hashem tells us that we should do what is "straight and right in his eyes"][3].  For example, Chazal tell us that the Satan made many attempts to dissuade Avraham Avinu from going through with the Akeda, and yet, Avraham knew that the ‘messages’ he was being sent were not from an Angel of Mercy, rather from the yetser hara.   It seems that the correct approach to take when such a message is sent to a person is not to automatically assume that this means that he should change his course of action, rather it can indicate to him to reassess his decision.  But if he still feels sure that he is making the right decision, then he should continue in his planned path.  In this vein, Rav Yitzchak Berkovits shlita was asked the following question:  A young man who had spent some time in Yeshiva, decided to leave, to pursue the next stage in his life.  He booked a flight, but it was inexplicably cancelled.  He asked Rav Berkovits if this hashgacha (supervision) was telling him to stay in Yeshiva. The Rav answered that a person should not make life decisions based on signs, but we can use this to rethink the course of action. It would also be strongly advisable to seek the counsel of Daat Torah in the matter. If he still decides that this is the correct course of action then he should continue in that path.[4] May we all merit to have clarity when we are faced with hindrances to our plans. ______________________________________ [0] Midrash Hagadol 22:13 [1] Bamidbar 22:22 [2] Cited by Rav Yissachar Frand. [3] See Devarim 6:18 [4] Tiferet Tzion comments that we should constantly implore Hashem to show us the proper path to follow. We should not presume that our present course is necessarily correct, for we may never discover the truth. Rather, we must constantly seek clarification of all matters. If we are sincere in our desire, we will be assisted from Above. Le Iluy nishmat Eliahu ben Simcha, Mordechai ben Shlomo, Perla bat Simcha, Abraham Meir ben Leah, Moshe ben Gila,Yaakov ben Gila, Sara bat Gila, Yitzchak ben Perla, Leah bat Chavah, Abraham Meir ben Leah,Itamar Ben Reb Yehuda, Yehuda Ben Shmuel Tzvi, Tova Chaya bat Dovid. Refua Shelema to all the people sick with the Corona virus, Akiva Shushan Ben Natalie Penina, Mazal Tov bat Freja, Hadassa bat Sara, Elisheva bat Miriam, Chana bat Ester Beyla, Mattitiahu Yered ben Miriam, Yaacov ben Miriam, Yehuda ben Simcha, Naftali Dovid ben Naomi Tzipora, Nechemia Efraim ben Beyla Mina, Dvir ben Leah, Sender ben Sara, Eliezer Chaim ben Chaya Batya, Shlomo Yoel ben Chaya Leah, Dovid Yehoshua ben Leba, Shmuel ben Mazal Tov, Yosef Yitzchak ben Bracha.

[ryanmeft]

Movie Review: Tel Aviv on Fire

Comedy is the hardest thing in the world to transmute between cultures. What we find funny depends almost entirely on our shared background, with jokes and quips building out of the society we find ourselves in and the language we use, so that comedies often fall flat in the eyes of cultures that did not produce them. Tel Aviv on Fire largely sidesteps this problem by relying on bombastic misunderstandings and errors, something understandable in most any language. You may be a little lost if you don’t know anything about the disagreements between Israel and Palestine, but if that’s the case, you’re likely not watching this movie to begin with.

The whole thing opens on a scene so wonderfully corny we cannot believe it is meant to be taken seriously. Indeed, it transpires that it is a soap opera, an insidious form of purported entertainment that has apparently escaped American confinement. This one is set before the Six Days War between Israel and its Arab neighbors, and centers around a Palestinian woman trying to charm information out of an Israeli general. The dialogue is deliberately bad, something difficult to pull off, but the film manages it perfectly, with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek nodding at the audience. The two actors involved are of course playing actors in this movie, actors who are playing actors in---you get the picture. Tala (Lubna Azabal) and General Yehuda Edelman (Yousef ‘Joe’ Sweid) are nice enough people, but of course are actors and therefore want their parts written in ways that most flatter them. The showrunner (Nadim Sawalha) has a nephew, Salam (Kais Nashif) who is chronically unemployable and allergic to responsibility, who he has given a low-level position on the show. Following an encounter with a border patrol commander named Assi (Yaniv Biton), who gives him a solid idea, he is promoted to the writing team. One problem: he can’t write.

Thus, he turns to Assi. Salam is Palestinian, Assi is Israeli, and the latter agrees to help him---essentially writing his scenes for him---in exchange for good Palestinian hummus and an Israeli-friendly ending to the show. The Palestinian backers say no, but Assi is not the kind of person you easily say to. He wants to impress his wife, who watches the show, and extracts a promise from Salam the other man knows he can’t keep.

This all sounds very serious, but director Sameh Zoabi and co-writer Dan Kleinman handle it with a light, personal touch. Salam is hardly a strong nationalist, and while Assi is more strident in his political views (he is in the Army, after all) the job is personal for both men. Assi hates being a border security officer, longs to impress a wife who evidences more interest in the bold, unrealistic male figures on the soap opera, and generally like he must prove his manhood by meeting problems with force. Salam is a run-down shadow of a man, backed into a rut by his own poor personal choices, and trying to amend one of those choices by getting a job that will prove he has changed to the woman (Maisa Abd Alhady) he once cruelly spurned.

In classic comedy tradition, Salam tries to please both the show’s backers and the increasingly demanding Assi while concealing the fact he isn’t even writing this stuff. This leads to hilarious appeals to Assi’s ego, who wants things such as his own picture placed on set. It also inevitably leads to romantic hijinks, such as when Salam must back out of a date with Maryam because the actress Tala, who is of course something of a sex symbol, demands he work overnight at her place to re-write her role or she will quit. These are not the guffaw types of laughs, but ones born of real people in tight situations, which are the best kind. We feel for most everyone in the film, and want them to all get what they want somehow. There are lower-brow, laugh-out-loud moments too, such as the conservative and uptight Assi demonstrating on Salam how to give a massage, as well as pretty much every scene of the perfectly hokey soap itself. The supporting cast is decidedly less developed, with Maryam in particular being reduced to Love Interest 101.

Though the film has been produced by a team ranging across Israel, Belgium Luxembourg and France, and I freely admit I’m not the man to tell you how true it is to the situation of Israel and Palestine. It is approaching a matter of deadly seriousness to millions of people through the device of a character comedy, using the frenemy relationship between an Israeli and a Palestinian as a springboard for humor that pokes subtle holes in the animosities of war in general. That alone may make some people angry. Most, I think, will take the message as intended: that at the end of the day, borders and divisions are at least a little bit absurd.

Verdict: Recommended

Note: I don’t use stars, but here are my possible verdicts.

Must-See

Highly Recommended

Recommended

Average

Not Recommended

Avoid like the Plague

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[muscledemandsrespect]

SEA TO SEA IN ISRAEL!

When first I visited Israel – a decidedly middle eastern country – I didn’t expect to find myself strolling amidst a Gay Pride parade with over 100,000 people revelling on the beaches of Tel Aviv. On my recent and second visit to Israel, I had the great honour of being invited by The Ministry of Tourism, who ushered me and two journalists on an equally unexpected – and remarkably broad – historical and cultural tour of this breath-taking country, called ‘Sea to Sea’. Israel is a delicious melting pot of religion, culture, people and food; where Mediterranean meets Middle-Eastern, and where modern meets traditional. On this expedition, I discovered some truly ancient sites, voyaged through one of the oldest cities on the planet, enjoyed exquisite Israeli restaurants, feasted my way through vegetable/fruit and fish souks, and languished in the intimate boutique hospitality of this country. The list of highlights is impractically long so I’ve listed my absolute key takeaways if you’re thinking of a trip – and at the bottom of the post, other things to do whilst you’re there, should you have time. This is an active trip to remember!

So, faced with the massive suite of possible highlights, my absolute favourite spots from the trip were Jerusalem, in particular, the Old City – as well as Masada and The Dead Sea. Tel Aviv is always something special to behold too! Here’s the list with some visuals to bolster the imagination…

Jerusalem

Visiting Jerusalem enabled me to tick off a major box from my ‘life bucket list’. It’s the capital city of Israel, one of the oldest municipalities in the world, as well as the Holy City for the three monotheistic religions: Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The narrow limestone walkways paved by Olive trees have been walked by some of the most significant religious leaders to have written history, and are the reasons as to why the world looks the way it does today. Jerusalem is a historian’s dream location, steeped with significance that you can almost taste in the air. The places to visit include;

1. Christian Quarter with the Church of the Holy Sepulchre This is Christianity’s most important church, located in the centre of the Christian quarter. It is the site where Jesus was crucified by Roman soldiers.

2. Rebuilt Jewish Quarter and Cardo The ruins of the main street from Roman times.

3. Western Wall (Kotel) This is Judaism’s most sacred site. It’s a limestone wall built by King Herod in 20 BCE. For hundreds of years, people have prayed at the wall.

4. Best view of the Old City? Mount of Scopus (In Hebrew it means “lookout”) offers the best panoramic view of the city.

5. Mahane Yehuda market (Shuk) We visited the market during the day, and indeed a memorable imprint it left – tasting and eating your way through fruit, vegetable & fish stands. However, it was only when we chose to return one evening to experience the nightlife that this became an absolute highlight of the trip!

I’ve never experienced anything quite like it and was totally blown away. The atmosphere was electric. To wander through the market at night is to observe the very essence of a melting pot for people of all religions and ages. There where Orthodox men out on ‘date night’ with their wives, orthodox Muslims, bakers shouting selling their goods, whilst girls and boys were dancing on tables in the immediate vicinity to the tunes of live DJ’s. So many walks of life intersected here that it verged on the surreal and wandering through the streets with a drink in my hand, I couldn’t help but smile; it was exhilarating. I wished I’d partied there as a teen and not in some dark club sitting at a table.

6. Dinner? We enjoyed a delicious meal at Satya Restaurant in Jerusalem. The menu offers a real mix of foods which are perfect for sharing. I could happily just eat all the starters in Israel including herring with sour cream and cucumber salad, sashimi or sea fish tartar and plenty of vegan options like vegetables with shitake mushroom sauce and white rice. All super fresh and benefitting the wonderful climate.

7. Accommodation Situated in the heart of Jerusalem, The David Citadel combines a sense of heritage and modernity, fusing old and new with consummate style and understated elegance. I awoke rested in a spacious calming modern environment, and upon stepping out onto my balcony I could enjoy views of the Old Limestone Wall alight in the morning sun. I loved the garden terrace, full of birdsong, cocooned within the hotel walls whilst overlooking the pool and the Old wall – this was a favourite as was the exquisitely appointed spa, an oasis of calm in an otherwise bustling metropolis

What to do in Tel Aviv…

1. Stand-up paddle boarding This was such good fun, but I would observe, is materially harder than it looks; great for balance and core strength. The view of Tel Aviv from the ocean is totally worth it and the activity delivers a great, all-round workout too.

2. Stroll along the beaches The sweeping beaches flanking Israel dominate their 200km of Mediterranean coastline from Rosh ha-Nikra to Ashkelon on the Central and South Coast. It’s quite breathtaking to behold, and Tel Aviv offers as dramatic an oceanscape as I’ve seen with its skyscraper coastline peering out over Jaffa… There’s also the machine-gun-like barrage of ‘Matkot’ – a beachside racket game where two or more players just try to keep a squash ball alive with a wooden bat. It’s a bit of a national sport, and a stroll along any Tel Aviv beach will show just how popular it is!

3. Where to eat? Mantaray was exceptional with views overlooking the golden beaches. The Israeli cuisine is so light and healthy – fresh sun-drenched veggies, fruit courses, fish is preferred over the meat, & goats milk as standard. It has a relaxed aspect which is just perfect to take in the vibrant orange sunsets. As you walk around the city, you can see some stunning Bauhaus architecture brought by the European migrants around the time of the war.

4. Explore Old Jaffa Here you’ll find craft shops, art galleries, and stalls selling antiques and jewellery at the lively Jaffa Flea Market. Landmarks include the Clock Tower and St. Peter’s Church, while the Ilana Goor Museum shows Israeli and international art.

Check out Caesarea…

It was so interesting to see some Roman architecture in this part of the world, and learning about the history of that ancient civilisation, as well as how it influenced Israel; most unexpected! An ancient port built by King Herod, which at the time was one of the largest & most important cities in the Roman world. It acted as the capital of Judea during the time of Jesus, as well as a crusader fortress along the road from Acre to Jerusalem. This used to be a large entertainment venue with 10,000 seats, called a hippodrome, where horse races were conducted. There’s a beautiful amphitheatre and make sure to check out the remainder of Kind Herod’s bathhouse too.

The Dead Sea

We visited the iconic lake and one of the most amazing wonders of the natural world, the Dead Sea; yet another big fat tick on the bucket list. For thousands of years, the Dead Sea has attracted visitors who come to enjoy its health-promoting properties. The mineral-rich mud contains the likes of sulphur, magnesium, calcium, chloride, sodium, bromide and potassium, creating a natural body & face “mask”. The mud stimulates blood circulation & is thought to help skin diseases (Inc. psoriasis, arthritis & dermatitis). The mineral composition of the body of water itself, including the 30% salt content, makes you exceptionally buoyant so that you simply float on the surface! The Dead Sea is the lowest point on earth, set at 430 meters below sea level, landlocked by the Jordanian desert mountains. It is an otherworldly place to visit, and quite incredible.

Hike Masada

If you can, and people generally recommend that you do, hike up Masada mountain at sunrise. We arrived at noon, and amidst the relentless 40-degree heat, opted for the cable car to save a punishing and futile ascent by foot.

Once you arrive at the crest, the views are spectacular – looking down onto The Dead Sea, the desert and the Judean mountains. It is a panorama which is forever sered into my mind!

Other places to visit include…

Discover what life is like on a Kibbutz – I spent some time on Ma’agan Michael, which was founded in 1949 and is a collective community, traditionally based on agriculture.

See Akko (Acre) – a beautiful ancient Phoenician & Crusader seaport and a U.N.E.S.C.O. World Heritage Site. Check out the Old City, Hammam, Crusaders Knight Halls & the Green Mosque!

Grottos – Cable-carring to the sea-carved grottos…

Haifa – Israel’s third-largest city and second-largest port, on the slopes of Mt. Carmel…

Abu Ghosh, a town outside Jerusalem, an Arab-Israeli village.

The Sea of Galilee (a.k.a. Lake Tiberias) – is a mega 230 sq. km & is cocooned by the hills of the Galilee and the Golan Heights super magical to behold

Tiberias – the capital of the Lower Galilee.

Decks Restaurant Tiberias – Such a beautiful view overlooking the Sea of Galilee, and a great atmosphere with music & dancing.

Hope you enjoy planning your trip

Faya x

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[eretzyisrael]

How the West was Lost

Today the world we live in is dominated by a Western alliance that includes the US and much of Europe, along with some smaller players. This alliance is threatened by two major forces: radical Islam, whose most dangerous expression is the revolutionary Iranian regime; and the People’s Republic of China (PRC), still smarting from its oppression by the West prior to its emergence as a great power. I’ll discuss Iran first.

Last week, Iranian drones attacked a ship near the coast of Oman, killing the captain and a crew member. Apparently the motivation was a tenuous Israeli connection. More recently, a ship in the same region was hijacked, and several others were disabled, apparently by a cyberattack. Although Iran denies being connected with any of these incidents, most observers believe that the Iranian regime was responsible for them.

The Iranian regime finances and arms terrorist groups throughout the region, including in Lebanon, Syria, and Yemen. Lebanon, which survived a brutal civil war, an attempt by the PLO to set up a “Palestinian state” within her borders, an Israeli intervention to throw out the PLO, and the systematic murders of members of its government by Syrian agents, has finally been brought to her knees by her exploitation by the Iranian-controlled Hezbollah. The Covid epidemic, and a massive explosion of a cache of Hezbollah’s explosives at the port that leveled a third of her capital city didn’t help.

Israel, which fought a vicious little war with Hezbollah in 2006, now lives in the shadow of 130,000 rockets located in South Lebanon. These rockets, which include ones with precision guidance systems that can strike within a few meters of targets anywhere in Israel, are deeply embedded in the civilian population, including private homes. Israeli defense officials have said that if Hezbollah activates its rockets, the IDF will be forced to employ massive firepower that will essentially destroy the country. The possibility of war breaking out due to escalation between Hezbollah and Israel is a constant threat.

Westerners who visit relatives in Iran or go there for business, educational, or other reasons are often arrested on trumped-up charges and held hostage, either for ransom or political advantage. Sometimes they are tortured. Conditions in prisons for Iranian political dissidents are atrocious, with torture and rape common. Hundreds of Iranians are executed every year, some for serious crimes like murder or rape, but also for “being gay, committing adultery, sex outside marriage and drinking alcohol.” Political opponents of the regime are sometimes charged with spying and executed as well.

Iranian women protesting Islamic dress codes that are forced on them are beaten, arrested, jailed, and tortured. Masih Alinejad, an Iranian feminist now living in exile in the US, was the target of a plot to kidnap her and bring her back to Iran. The plan was foiled by the FBI. Kidnapping and murdering dissidents abroad has been standard procedure for the regime since it came to power in 1979.

The new Iranian president, Ebrahim Raisi, has been nicknamed “the butcher of Tehran,” because of his responsibility for the execution of thousands, possibly tens of thousands, of people during a reign of terror in 1988. Raisi is considered one of the top candidates to succeed Ali Khamenei as Supreme Leader.

Last, but not least, is the regime’s plan to develop nuclear weapons, which is advancing rapidly. Whether such weapons would be directly used – something which is difficult to judge, due to the religious aspects of Iranian ideology – or whether they would be employed as an “umbrella” to shield its more conventional military aggression, it’s likely that the imminent attainment of nuclear capability would greatly change the balance of power in our region, and make war likely. The regime has consistently and explicitly threatened to “wipe Israel off the map,” and Israel takes these threats seriously.

The Iranian regime, while it is economically and militarily weak, has developed means of leveraging asymmetric warfare, which along with its aggressive and even messianic ideology makes it a serious threat – not just to the region, but to the Western alliance and its leader, the US, which it calls “the great Satan.” The threat is immediate in the short term, due to its nuclear program. It is a highly repressive society, and although there is a strong domestic opposition, attempts to overthrow the regime will be (and have been) met with great brutality.

As an Israeli, naturally I am concerned about the local and immediate threat of Iran. But the PRC is a far greater threat to the Western alliance. China is already a nuclear power, and has recently been reported building up its stock of weapons. China’s military and economic power is thousands of times greater than that of Iran, and is every bit as brutal in its repression of internal dissent.

Although China does not publicly announce that the US is Satan, it is quietly moving its pieces – military and economic – on the world’s chessboard to increase its power and influence. It operates an unprecedented system of industrial espionage that has already neutralized the technological superiority of the US. It is building infrastructure throughout the world under its “Belt and Road Initiative” that will not only provide its industries access to markets, but the large debts incurred by the recipients will provide China political leverage over them.

Chinese technology that is used in the most critical communications infrastructure may contain “backdoors” that allow access to traffic on the networks. Everything from mobile phones to PCs to military communications systems have been suspected to be compromised.

The US and other developed countries are experiencing a long-term transition of their economies away from agriculture and manufacturing and toward service-based economies. Manufacturing has moved to China and to other countries, most of which are, or soon will be, in the Chinese sphere of influence. At the time of the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic, the US suffered a severe shortage of personal protective equipment and medical devices such as masks and so forth. It was simply not produced in the USA.

China does not (as far as I know) export violent terrorism as does Iran. But it has been engaging in territorial expansionism in all directions. Chinese pressure on Hong Kong and Taiwan make headlines, while China quietly “nibbles away” at Japanese islands, territories under Indian control, bits of Nepal and Bhutan, and so on. In the South China Sea, China has built artificial islands which have greatly extended its territorial waters and provided locations for military installations, including missile silos.

I have not discussed the possible exploitation of the Covid-19 epidemic. Certainly the misinformation and disinformation that was provided by China at the time of its outbreak exacerbated the harm to Western societies. There is even a credible argument that once the disease had become established in Wuhan, authorities there – under the direction of the national government – deliberately allowed the residents of the city to travel worldwide during the Chinese New Year period, knowing that this would spread the disease.

The Chinese strategy is safer and surer, if somewhat slower than the Iranian one. But the West has done little to protect itself, either against the immediate danger of nuclear weapons in the hands of a proven rogue aggressor state, or the long-term combined economic, military, and possibly biological domination of a rising totalitarian superstate. Western nations should be confiscating the Iranian regime’s nuclear toys, reestablishing self-sufficient economies, protecting their technological intellectual property, and strengthening their military forces. They are not doing any of these things.

Instead, the most advanced states of the West are self-destructing over issues of race and gender identity.

Abu Yehuda

[newhome4u-properties-israel]

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[connorrenwick]

Brown Hotels Opens Its Largest Property Yet, The Lighthouse in Tel Aviv

Located inside an iconic Brutalist water tower in the heart of Tel Aviv, The Lighthouse is the Brown Hotels’ latest addition to its collection, which already includes four hotels in Tel Aviv, two in Jerusalem, and one in Trogir, Croatia. The new hotel offers guests an abundance of modern amenities, panoramic city and sea views, a panoramic rooftop lounge, and more.

Designed by Argentinian-Israeli architect Nestor Sandbank with direction from Brown Hotels co-founder Leon Avigad, the Lighthouse features a contemporary interior that plays up rich tones of navy and emerald, metallic accents, and varying textures. Golden gates section off parts of the public lounge spaces without closing any one space off. The lobby’s library offers a place for a chat and a cocktail.

The hotel currently offers 100 guest rooms, though a phase two will open up two floors for an additional 60 rooms. For an especially memorable visit, you can book one of the 12 exclusive terrace rooms which offer private balconies, outdoor jacuzzis, and stunning views. Even if you’re not set to splurge, all rooms provide obstruction-free views of the Mediterranean Sea coastline or panoramic views of Tel Aviv.

The guest rooms are between 22 to 28-square-meters, making them more spacious than an average hotel room in the city. The focus of all the rooms are the wooden-clad walls that are punctuated by light-filled crevices. Contemporary furnishings and lighting accents decorate the rooms while 800-thread count Egyptian cotton sheets grace the queen- and king-sized beds. Full-tub showers are filled with Molton Brown amenities for a luxurious soak.

When guests aren’t in their luxurious rooms, they can head to the hotel’s lively lobby area, two cocktail bars, the Haiku panoramic rooftop lounge, two pools, a full-service gym/spa, or the lower level conference/banqueting center. For food and beverage, the hotel’s fifth floor serves breakfast (with the local signature shakshuka dish), lunch, and a-la-carte breakfast.

What: The Lighthouse Where: Migdalor Tower, 1 Ben Yehuda Street, Tel Aviv 6380101, Israel How much? Rooms start at approximately $141 USD per night. Highlights: This is the Brown Hotels’ biggest and most amenity-rich property to date. Design draw: There are many design features throughout the hotel, whether you’re exploring the lobby (a spatial layout with golden gates sectioning off communal spaces) or your own guest room (walls punctuated by crevices of light). Book it: Visit The Lighthouse

Photos by Assaf Pinchuk and Max Morron.

via http://design-milk.com/

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[eretzyisrael]

Sovereign or Satellite?

“Israel has the right to defend herself,” said Joe Biden to cheers from the Jewish state. But not too strongly or for too long, apparently. When the pressure from the left wing of his party began to get uncomfortable, he issued an ultimatum. And when America says “jump,” Israel jumps.

One of the greatest mistakes Israel has made in the 73 years since its declaration of independence was to sign on as a satellite of the United States, in return for military aid. The aid has been corrosive: it gives the US too much leverage over our policies, distorts our military procurement decisions, corrupts our decision-makers, cripples our own defense industries, and damages our sovereignty. We don’t need it and we would be better off without it.

While many Americans support Israel, there are those, including some in the US Congress, Senate, and administration, who would prefer that she disappear. Even among those who support Israel, knowledge of the facts about our situation is rare. American media, with few exceptions, is at best strongly biased toward a policy of Israeli concessions that most Israelis oppose. Some of the media’s misconceptions are risible, like their repetition that Benjamin Netanyahu is a “hardline right-winger.” Many Israelis would respond to this, “if only!”

Israel and its conflict with the Palestinian Arabs has become a highly partisan issue, with American politicians spouting nonsense in order to activate their political bases. Anti-Israel propaganda has become a large-scale industry in the US, with numerous organizations springing up, financed by our state enemies and non-state actors like the groups associated with George Soros, probably the single most prolific funder of anti-Israel initiatives.

In addition to all this, the US is currently going through a convulsive social upheaval centering on the subject of race. The mix of violence and incoherent ideologies, along with what is probably a deliberate attempt to destabilize the country, has also given rise in some segments of society (as political and economic instability always does) to antisemitism and its constant companion, misoziony, the irrational, extreme, and obsessive hatred of the Jewish state. There has been a deliberate effort by some to tie domestic racial issues like the relations between the police and black Americans to Israel. Despite the absurdity of this proposition, it has garnered a great deal of support.

Henry Kissinger once said that Israel does not have a foreign policy, only a domestic one. This is becoming true of America as well. All politics, as Daniel Moynihan said, is local. In more and more ideological localities, they don’t like us, and that has an effect on national policy.

Do we, as Israelis, want to tie our survival to the USA? Or any other great power, like China for example? I don’t think so.

But what is the alternative? Israel is a very small country with a small population in an increasingly hostile world. It is located in a very strategic spot, both physically and in the conceptual geography of much of the human race. Without allies, she would be at the mercy of much larger and stronger nations. Today she is facing a direct threat from Iran, a country with a population almost ten times greater.

The Trump Administration, whatever else can be said about it, was solidly pro-Israel. Its actions regarding Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, as well as its sharp reduction of financial support for UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority, strengthened Israel with respect to her internal and neighboring enemies. The Abraham Accords it brokered provided – for the first time – a true light at the end of the tunnel for the Israeli-Arab conflict, in a way that the cold peace agreements with Egypt and Jordan did not.

I was very optimistic at that time that Trump’s policy marked the beginning of progress away from international isolation, as well as – for the first time – an end to the artificial support for the poisonous and destructive Palestinian movement. Israel, I thought, could develop into a leader of a strong non-aligned movement, including Arab countries and possibly India, that could deter Iranian aggression. I thought that maybe the irredentist PLO and Hamas could be pushed out, and some form of Palestinian autonomy established that would both provide a better life for the Palestinians and end the plague of terrorism that has accompanied our nation since her beginnings.

Unfortunately, the Biden Administration, feeling the need to reject all things Trump, rejected his pro-Israel policy. It went back to the failed and dangerous initiative of the Obama Administration to appease Iran, a policy that guarantees a new regional war in the Middle East – one that will make the recent fracas in Gaza look like a schoolyard squabble. In addition, it is impossible for me to understand how Iran, where “death to America” is a popular slogan, will be a better ally to the US than the nascent Abraham Accords community promised to be.

Biden is a good guy. He said that Israel had the right to defend herself, and said that “until the region, says unequivocally, they acknowledge the right of Israel to exist as an independent Jewish state, there will be no peace.” He is not personally confrontational to Israel or her leaders, as Obama was. But one has to look past what politicians say at what they do. His administration is moving ahead to restart the Iran deal and resume funding the PA and UNWRA. And his ultimatum over Gaza, no matter how polite, was still an ultimatum.

I hope it will be possible for Israel to make the necessary changes to reduce its dependence on the US. It won’t be easy.

In the meantime, this week we are facing a test of our sovereignty and independence. That is the conflict over the Sheik Jarrah neighborhood. Israel’s courts have decided, after a legal struggle that continued for decades, that four Arab families who have never paid rent to the Jewish owners of the property, must be evicted from it. If the evictions are not carried out, it will establish that Israeli law does not apply in Israel when it doesn’t suit the Arabs and their international supporters.

PM Netanyahu will have a chance to prove that he is the leader of a truly sovereign and independent state in the next few days. Let’s see if he can do it.

Abu Yehuda

[eretzyisrael]

Nationalism vs. Empire

Recently I’ve had some arguments with Jewish anti-Zionists (although they sometimes claim they are Zionists). These are not the ones who wear Palestinian keffiyes and say kaddish for dead terrorists. These are the “moderate” ones who say that they totally understand why Israel should exist, but think that it should repeal the Nation-State Law and become a “democratic state of all its citizens” instead of one that privileges one group at the expense of others. It makes them nervous that Israel has a Jewish symbol on its flag, and refers to the “Jewish soul” in its national anthem.

They believe that ethno-religious nationalism, of which Zionism is a sub-species, has been the cause of great trouble in the world, giving rise to wars, ethnic cleansing, and genocide in the recent past.

This is a common view today. Humans are apparently genetically wired to feel trust for and loyalty to their immediate family, their extended family, and to broader and broader circles (clans, tribes, and nations) of people that are in some sense like them. But many people believe that this is a negative characteristic that leads to hatred and violence. They believe that social progress requires eliminating it, at least for circles wider than the family. In particular, the loyalty of individuals to national groups has been blamed for the destructive wars of the 20th century. Indeed, the European Union was intended from the beginning to grow into a super-nation that would ultimately absorb the loyalties of the various European peoples, and thus make future wars unlikely.

Yoram Hazony, in his book “The Virtue of Nationalism,” argues that in fact the main cause of the world wars was not nationalism, but rather imperialist expansionism. Hitler, according to Hazony, wanted to destroy the order of independent sovereign states and replace them with an empire, the “Third Reich,” modeled on the “First Reich,” the Holy Roman Empire. Hazony contrasts two divergent ideas of the best way to bring about peace and prosperity: “an order of free and independent nations, each pursuing the political good in accordance with its own traditions and understanding; and an order of peoples united under a single regime of law, promulgated and maintained by a single supranational authority.” The former, he believes, provides the best opportunity to maximize each individual’s liberty and opportunities for self-realization. Empires come into being and maintain themselves by coercion of their subject nations, which naturally inhibits personal freedom.

In the best case, an independent nation’s population shares a common language, religion, and other cultural features, along with a shared vision of the kind of society it wants to have. Such a nation can provide a high degree of autonomy for its citizens, because they work toward common purposes. In the worst case, you have Lebanon or Syria, where ethno-religious strife tear a nation apart, allow despotic regimes to take power, and sink into a state of daily hell for their people.

Empires, on the other hand, invariably stratify their populations into advantaged groups, who make the rules and consume the fruits of empire, and those who make do with what the elites allow to trickle down to them. The latter have little autonomy, because they must be guided – coerced – to act in ways that promote imperial objectives, and prevented from rebelling. Today there are several empires or aspiring ones: the US, Russia, China, and the European Union.

The nations that consistently score highest on the World Happiness Reportscale are not the richest or largest nations, but smaller, ethnically and religiously homogeneous ones, like the top three: Finland, Iceland, and Denmark. Of course there are many other factors that affect rankings, but there is no doubt that their homogeneity plays an important part in their people’s satisfaction.

“But that’s racist!” I hear. No, it’s just fact. Anyway, skin color or other genetic properties have nothing to do with it except as markers for culture in the broadest sense, including language and religion and numerous other things. I suspect that the desire and ability to live together with others who are like youis a property that developed by an evolutionary process, and as I suggested, is now hard-wired into the species. Those who want to change it, to create a new kind of human who will totally free of bias won’t be pleased to hear this, but they are fighting hundreds of thousands of years – going back to pre-human species – of evolutionary development.

I suggest that we should work with the nature of our species. Nations should be small nation-states of similar people. Countries like Iraq that were created by strokes of a pen on a map without consideration of who lives in the area circumscribed by those strokes, are bound to have problems, as well as artificially balanced multiethnic constructions like Lebanon. Empires can provide stability, but at the cost of the exploitation and oppression of the majority of imperial subjects. A majority in the UK decided that they would prefer full sovereignty to attenuated self-rule as part of an empire, and voted to leave the EU.

Not every group with national aspirations can have a state. Some people will live in countries like the US, which are defined as states of all their citizens. Others will live as members of a minority in someone else’s nation-state.

Jews have a special reason to need a state of their own; their unique history of ever-mutating persecution. It takes a surprising degree of historical ignorance, or something less innocent, to deny that today. The Jews got their state at the cost of an enormous amount of blood, and then had to defend it again and again. And their enemies, both the local ones who simply want to take their land and their wealth, and the European empire for which the Jewish state stands as a reproach, show no evidence of giving up.

Israel did pretty well in the World Happiness Report, coming in 11th out of 149 (the US was 14th and the UK 17th). That is despite the fact that Israel is not Finland: there is a large Arab minority (one out of five Israelis is an Arab) that is excluded from the national mission of the Jewish state. They are not, however, excluded from economic and political life the way minorities often are, as (for example) America’s black minority was for many years. There is a very delicate balance here that the state needs to maintain in order to thrive, or even survive, with such a large national minority within its borders. One doesn’t have to go very far here in the Middle East to see what can happen as a result of unhappy minorities.

One of the reasons that Israel has been so successful, despite the challenges it has faced from its external enemies, the tension between religious and secular Jews, and the complications created by its internal minority, is its sense of national purpose as the nation-state of the Jewish people. I cannot imagine the state would survive the cancellation of this national purpose, even if it maintained, for a time, its Jewish majority. Why would it be more desirable for a Jew to live in Israel, with its mandatory army service and periodic wars, than to live in Europe, America, or Australia? Many of those who had the option to leave would do so. And why would those that stayed have a desire to improve anything in the public sphere, anything beyond their personal situation?

Nationalism, including Zionism, is not anti-democratic, racist, or otherwise evil. I would rather see a world of independent sovereign states coordinating their activities by means of treaties of mutual advantage, than the one governed by one or several powerful, coercive empires toward which we are tending.

Abu Yehuda

[eretzyisrael]

Is America Still Behind Us? Ask our Enemies.

Today Israel is living in “interesting times,” as the saying goes. The northern border is tense, as Iran continues its efforts to transfer more dangerous accurate missiles to Hezbollah in Lebanon, and to build up its bases in Syria, while Israel continues to intercept them. Recently an ground-to-air missile fired at an Israeli aircraft missed its target and continued on until it eventually exploded several hundred kilometers to the south, near Dimona (speculations that this was actually an attempt to attack the nuclear research center nearby are most likely incorrect).

Meanwhile, the nuclear negotiations with Iran are moving rapidly in the direction of a return to the original, worthless, deal, and probably an end to sanctions – including sanctions for non-nuclear terrorism that are not related to the deal.

You have probably also heard about civil disturbances in Jerusalem. Western media have (of course) focused on a demonstration in which anti-Arab Jews chanted “death to Arabs,” but left out or minimized the fact that it was prompted by social media videos showing Arabs slapping and kicking Haredi Jews on the light rail system in Jerusalem. Arabs have rioted in the area around the old city for several days, throwing rocks, fireworks, and firebombs at police, and attacking Jewish passers-by. I’ve seen horrendous videosshowing groups of young Arabs surrounding Orthodox Jews, beating and kicking them mercilessly. As far as I know, no one has been murdered yet, but if the riots continue it is certain to happen. Demonstrations in sympathy with Jerusalem Arabs have started to take place in other Arab towns.

If that isn’t enough, Hamas or other factions in Gaza attacked southern Israel with a barrage of at least 36 rockets and mortar shells yesterday. They were either intercepted by Iron Dome or fell in open areas, with only some minor damage to buildings and agricultural equipment. But the potential for serious escalation remains.

It’s Ramadan, so some of this is inspired by the usual religious indignation that Jews have the chutzpah to exist in places that Muslim Arabs believe they shouldn’t. But all of these phenomena have a common contributing factor: the growing feeling on the part of Israel’s enemies that America is behind them, or at least that America will not stand behind Israel.

The Biden Administration’s series of appointments of people with clear anti-Israel attitudes to numerous positions related to security and foreign policy – the worst being the choice of Rob Malley as head envoy to the Iranian nuclear talks – sends a strong message, as does resuming aid to the Palestinian Authority and to the poisonous “refugee” agency UNRWA, and rejoining the UN’s ludicrously anti-Israel “Human Rights” Commission.

Meanwhile, the increasingly powerful left wing of the Democratic Party has been flexing its muscles: Senators Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders, as well as other Democratic officials, spoke to the convention of the phony “pro-Israel pro-peace” J Street organization, calling for the ouster of PM Netanyahu and the restriction of military aid to Israel, and falsely saying that Israel was obligated by international law to provide Covid vaccinations to Palestinians in the PA and Gaza. They also excoriated former president Trump for his pro-Israel actions. Warren’s speech was particularly harsh.

In the US Congress, Rep. Betty McCollum (D, MN) introduced a bill that

Prohibits Israel from using US taxpayer dollars in the Occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem for the military detention, abuse, or ill-treatment of Palestinian children in Israeli military detention; to support the seizure and destruction of Palestinian property and homes in violation of international humanitarian law; or, to extend any assistance or support for Israel’s unilateral annexation of Palestinian territory in violation of international humanitarian law.

The chance of such a bill passing are minuscule, and the Congress responded with a letter signed by some 330 members opposing the placing of conditions on the use of US military aid by Israel. But regardless of that, the bitterly anti-Israel and even antisemitic tone of McCollum’s bill, along with the list of cosponsors, indicates the depth of opposition to Israel by a growing faction of US lawmakers.

One can understand how all of these signals are received and decoded in Tehran, Ramallah, and Gaza, and as presented to the Palestinian street by Arab media. President Biden himself has said little, and has so far avoided the open conflict with Israel’s PM that characterized former president Obama. But the actions of his administration and much of his party speak loudly enough, and are amplified by those in the region that want to create problems for Israel.

Israelis are worried about the rioting in Jerusalem developing into another “stabbing intifada” like the period between 2015 and 2018 in which Palestinian terrorists murdered dozens of Jews. They are concerned that the rocket fire from Gaza will escalate into yet another war, in which hundreds of rockets a day will fall on Israeli towns and cities as far north as Tel Aviv. They can imagine the northern border erupting into a war with Hezbollah like the one in the summer of 2006; only this time, Hezbollah has 130,000 rockets that can hit every point in Israel. And of course, they can see Iran obtaining nuclear bombs under the protection of an international agreement that will criminalize Israel’s actions to prevent it.

They also know that Western media will cover all of these occurrences by following the now-standard procedure of “it all started when Israel hit back.” The disturbances in Jerusalem, in particular, have been presented as state-supported Jewish extremism, rather than what they were, primarily an outbreak of vicious Arab violence against soft targets which triggered a (rare and universally condemned) Jewish response. I can only imagine how another war with Hamas or Hezbollah would play in the NY Times and on CNN and NPR.

You probably remember those T-shirts bearing a picture of Israeli fighter jets and the legend “Don’t worry, America, Israel is behind you.” The joke, of course, was that the reality was the reverse. Unfortunately, that may no longer be the case.

Abu Yehuda