Please check out the following great blogs (click below or links are on side bar)
Smooth Stone
Campaign to Divest from "Palestine"
ThirtySix
Menorah
The Muqata جميل في المقاطعة
Yehudi Yerushalmi
November 30, 2005
BREATHTAKING YERUSHALAYIM
Click HERE to see a gorgeous picture of Jerusalem that I discovered on Rabbi Brody's awesome blog.
Unity: Some Movement
Former Agudat Yisrael MK Promoting Right-Religious Coalition
Rabbi Yisrael Eichler, formerly representing Agudat Yisrael in parliament, is working to draft joint "red lines" for all right-wing and religious political parties.
In an interview with Arutz Sheva Radio on Tuesday, Rabbi Eichler said that his efforts are aimed at foiling a divide-and-conquer approach from being effective against the religious and right-wing parties. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon used such an approach successfully after the last elections, according to Eichler, ultimately destroying both the Torah world and the Jewish communities of Gaza and northern Samaria. "And his hand is still outstretched for more," the former MK warned.
Rabbi Eichler said that he is working on drafting key non-negotiable positions for all religious and right-wing parties to agree upon ahead of coalition negotiations for the next government. He is seeking to prevent a situation in which, among the right-wing and religious parties, "in order to get some extra kneideleh [matzah ball], one [party] will enter [the coalition] at the expense of another."
Ideally, Eichler would like to see a joint commitment by the right-wing and religious parties that any future coalition must include all or none of them. However, barring that, he is working on a minimal agreement that the religious Zionist parties will fight legislation that could harm the interests of Hareidi Torah institutions and the Hareidi parties will fight legislation that harms the interests of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
The first stage in forming his envisioned right-religious coalition, Rabbi Eichler said, is forming a single Hareidi bloc including Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah. However, Eichler admitted that such a bloc is difficult to generate. Shas, he said, is concerned about losing traditionalist, but not Orthodox, voters to the secular parties should the Sephardic movement agree to join Ashkenazi Hareidim in one party.
Rabbi Yisrael Eichler, formerly representing Agudat Yisrael in parliament, is working to draft joint "red lines" for all right-wing and religious political parties.
In an interview with Arutz Sheva Radio on Tuesday, Rabbi Eichler said that his efforts are aimed at foiling a divide-and-conquer approach from being effective against the religious and right-wing parties. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon used such an approach successfully after the last elections, according to Eichler, ultimately destroying both the Torah world and the Jewish communities of Gaza and northern Samaria. "And his hand is still outstretched for more," the former MK warned.
Rabbi Eichler said that he is working on drafting key non-negotiable positions for all religious and right-wing parties to agree upon ahead of coalition negotiations for the next government. He is seeking to prevent a situation in which, among the right-wing and religious parties, "in order to get some extra kneideleh [matzah ball], one [party] will enter [the coalition] at the expense of another."
Ideally, Eichler would like to see a joint commitment by the right-wing and religious parties that any future coalition must include all or none of them. However, barring that, he is working on a minimal agreement that the religious Zionist parties will fight legislation that could harm the interests of Hareidi Torah institutions and the Hareidi parties will fight legislation that harms the interests of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.
The first stage in forming his envisioned right-religious coalition, Rabbi Eichler said, is forming a single Hareidi bloc including Shas, Agudat Yisrael and Degel HaTorah. However, Eichler admitted that such a bloc is difficult to generate. Shas, he said, is concerned about losing traditionalist, but not Orthodox, voters to the secular parties should the Sephardic movement agree to join Ashkenazi Hareidim in one party.
November 29, 2005
A Call for Religious Unity in Israeli Politics
I call upon all Religious parties in Israel to band together to stop the fatal bleeding in the Knesset.
The status quo is not working, and with Mr. Sharon's final leap into insanity by becoming more "left" then Labour, it seems that the time for unity and "Achdus/Achdut" among the Religious of Israel is now.
For the sake of the State and the Jewish people -- UNITE!
Col Yisrael Chaverim.
The status quo is not working, and with Mr. Sharon's final leap into insanity by becoming more "left" then Labour, it seems that the time for unity and "Achdus/Achdut" among the Religious of Israel is now.
For the sake of the State and the Jewish people -- UNITE!
Col Yisrael Chaverim.
November 28, 2005
No! Impossible! I won't hear of such things! (fingers in ears) Lalalalalalalalalalalala.
Charity cash for Palestinian poor was siphoned to suicide bombersMillions of pounds donated by British and other European charities to help the Palestinian poor were unwittingly diverted to fund terror and support the families of suicide bombers, Israeli prosecutors claimed yesterday.
Ahmed Salatna, 43, a Hamas activist from the West Bank town of Jenin, was remanded in custody by a military court charged with distributing €9m (£6.2m) for such purposes over the past nine years. The recipients are alleged to have included the family of a young man who blew himself up at the Sbarro pizza restaurant in Jerusalem in August 2001, killing 15 people and wounding 107. Hamas and Islamic Jihad acknowledged responsibility.
The charge sheet names two British charities, Human Appeal International and Interpal. Human Appeal is a broadly based fundraising organisation, currently helping victims of the Pakistani earthquake. Interpal describes itself as "a non-political, non-profit-making charity that focuses solely on the provision of relief and development aid to the poor and needy of Palestine". No one was available for comment at its London office yesterday. Other charities mentioned were the French CBST, the Italian ABSPT and the Al-Aqsa Foundation, which operates in Austria, Belgium, Denmark and Sweden.
Read the full Article HERE or click above.
November 27, 2005
Sharon shows his true cowardly colors
Sharon Plans Massive Withdrawals
Reports are increasing that Prime Minister Sharon has drafted a plan for Israel's withdrawal from almost all of Judea and Samaria by 2008.
Middle East Newsline (MENL) reports in the name of "political sources" that Sharon has begun briefing senior U.S. officials of his intention to withdraw unilaterally from more than 95% of Judea and Samaria. Sharon is hoping to be elected Prime Minister for a third time - this time not in the Likud, however, but as head of his new Kadima Party.
One of the most valuable "acquisitions" of the Kadima Party, MK Chaim Ramon, formerly of Labor, said openly last week that Sharon will unilaterally withdraw to final borders in Judea and Samaria if Palestinian terror continues. IMRA reported that Ramon said this on a live interview on Channel 10's "London and Kirschenbaum" news program just hours after he announced his decision to join Sharon's Kadima.
Ramon explained that Sharon will keep his plans secret until the elections because he wants to give the Road Map a chance.
Many public figures said, both immediately before and after Sharon's decision to quit the Likud, that this decision stems from his desire to carry out dramatic diplomatic moves that he knows the Likud would not approve. Among those who have said this are Binyamin Netanyahu, former Ashkelon Mayor and long-time Sharon confidante Eli Landau, Likud ministers, and others.
The MENL report indicates that Sharon would seek a U.S. and international security presence in Judea and Samaria, as well as yet another commitment for the dismantling of Palestinian terrorist groups.
Sharon's reported plan is to order a unilateral withdrawal, at first, from more than 90% of Judea and Samaria, while retaining control over air space. The pullout would be accompanied by a pledge of an additional withdrawal, as well as full Palestinian independence, once the PA dismantles terrorist groups and maintains security cooperation with Israel. The MENL sources said a version of the plan has already been drafted by Israel's National Security Council.
Though Sharon has denied that he plans any further disengagements, he pledged last week to "lay the foundation for a peace in which we set the permanent borders of the state, while insisting on the dismantling of the terror organizations."
Reports are increasing that Prime Minister Sharon has drafted a plan for Israel's withdrawal from almost all of Judea and Samaria by 2008.
Middle East Newsline (MENL) reports in the name of "political sources" that Sharon has begun briefing senior U.S. officials of his intention to withdraw unilaterally from more than 95% of Judea and Samaria. Sharon is hoping to be elected Prime Minister for a third time - this time not in the Likud, however, but as head of his new Kadima Party.
One of the most valuable "acquisitions" of the Kadima Party, MK Chaim Ramon, formerly of Labor, said openly last week that Sharon will unilaterally withdraw to final borders in Judea and Samaria if Palestinian terror continues. IMRA reported that Ramon said this on a live interview on Channel 10's "London and Kirschenbaum" news program just hours after he announced his decision to join Sharon's Kadima.
Ramon explained that Sharon will keep his plans secret until the elections because he wants to give the Road Map a chance.
Many public figures said, both immediately before and after Sharon's decision to quit the Likud, that this decision stems from his desire to carry out dramatic diplomatic moves that he knows the Likud would not approve. Among those who have said this are Binyamin Netanyahu, former Ashkelon Mayor and long-time Sharon confidante Eli Landau, Likud ministers, and others.
The MENL report indicates that Sharon would seek a U.S. and international security presence in Judea and Samaria, as well as yet another commitment for the dismantling of Palestinian terrorist groups.
Sharon's reported plan is to order a unilateral withdrawal, at first, from more than 90% of Judea and Samaria, while retaining control over air space. The pullout would be accompanied by a pledge of an additional withdrawal, as well as full Palestinian independence, once the PA dismantles terrorist groups and maintains security cooperation with Israel. The MENL sources said a version of the plan has already been drafted by Israel's National Security Council.
Though Sharon has denied that he plans any further disengagements, he pledged last week to "lay the foundation for a peace in which we set the permanent borders of the state, while insisting on the dismantling of the terror organizations."
Armilus rises
Laughable. These Crusader Europeans, who watch as their cities burn from Muslim extremisim, have the chutzpah to chime in on Jerusalem. When will they learn?
EU Wants Israel to Divide Jerusalem
The EU has accused Israel of a de facto annexation of eastern Jerusalem. An EU conference in Barcelona is discussing the issue, with the PA calling for dividing Israel's capital.
A European Union (EU) document, reported in The New York Times and The Guardian, urges member countries to prevent the security fence from "sealing off most of East Jerusalem" and allowing Israel a "de facto annexation" of Jerusalem. The city which was re-united after the 1967 Six Day War.
The report charges that "Israeli activities in Jerusalem are in violation of both its roadmap obligations and international law." Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and virtually every previous prime minister and leader of major parties have declared that Jerusalem will remain united. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has insisted that its proposed new Arab state will include Jerusalem as its capital.
The EU report, prepared by its diplomats in eastern Jerusalem and Ramallah and written by British consulate officials, was sent to foreign ministers of the 25 countries in the group.
Click title for more. Or click HERE
EU Wants Israel to Divide Jerusalem
The EU has accused Israel of a de facto annexation of eastern Jerusalem. An EU conference in Barcelona is discussing the issue, with the PA calling for dividing Israel's capital.
A European Union (EU) document, reported in The New York Times and The Guardian, urges member countries to prevent the security fence from "sealing off most of East Jerusalem" and allowing Israel a "de facto annexation" of Jerusalem. The city which was re-united after the 1967 Six Day War.
The report charges that "Israeli activities in Jerusalem are in violation of both its roadmap obligations and international law." Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and virtually every previous prime minister and leader of major parties have declared that Jerusalem will remain united. The Palestinian Authority (PA) has insisted that its proposed new Arab state will include Jerusalem as its capital.
The EU report, prepared by its diplomats in eastern Jerusalem and Ramallah and written by British consulate officials, was sent to foreign ministers of the 25 countries in the group.
Click title for more. Or click HERE
November 21, 2005
Tumah on the Mount
Radical Islamic Leader of Israeli Arabs Visits Temple Mount
Ra’id Salah, head of the radical Islamic movement in Israel, which denies the Jewish state’s right to exist, paid a visit to the mosques on the Temple Mount on Sunday.
Read it HERE
Ra’id Salah, head of the radical Islamic movement in Israel, which denies the Jewish state’s right to exist, paid a visit to the mosques on the Temple Mount on Sunday.
Read it HERE
November 13, 2005
Why there can be no peace.
November 11, 2005
Extry! Extry! French are Idiots!
French Riots Fan Anti-Semitism Moslem riots in France have fanned anti-Semitism, and four synagogues and Jewish schools have been firebombed, despite Jewish media reports that Jews are not being targeted more than others.
Read it HERE
A Series of Dramatic Archaeological Finds
Archaeologists announced this week the discovery of a 3,000-year-old Hebrew inscription. It is merely the latest of a series of dramatic archaeological finds in Israel in recent months.Archaeologists have discovered a 40-pound stone containing the oldest known example of the Hebrew alphabet. The stone, inscribed with the Hebrew alphabet written out in its traditional order, was found in the wall of a building dated from the 10th century BCE in Tel Zayit, ancient Judea, south of Jerusalem. The building itself was part of a network of structures at the site, indicating an important border town connected to a centralized kingdom.
The discovery was made by Dr. Ron Tappy, a professor at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary, on the last day of a five-week dig at Tel Zayit. "This is very rare," he said, "This makes it very historically probable there were people [3,000 years ago] who could write." In an interview with the New York Times, Dr. Tappy said, "All successive alphabets in the ancient world, including the Greek one, derive from this ancestor at Tel Zayit."
In addition to constituting an important contribution in understanding the history of writing, the inscription helps to counter claims that the Bible could not have been written by Jews in ancient times, experts said. The find, in its context, suggests literacy levels that support Biblical writings of a unified Jewish kingdom.
Read the rest HERE
November 10, 2005
This Sunday is the Yahrtzeit of Rachel our Mother
Ever since her passing, thousands of men, women, and children have journeyed to the Tomb of Rachel (Kever Rochel) to request her intercession on their behalf. The barren pray for children. The sick pray for health. The lost and the troubled pray for release and relief. Please also see the page on Rachel which explains the custom to wear a "Red Bracelet". Jacob must have known that her resting place would become, a destination for spiritual people to come pray and connect with the soul of Rachel, Jacobs destined soulmate, the mother of "Hope and Faith". Rachel died in childbirth of her second son Benjamin.Jeremiah 31:14: "Thus said Hashem: A voice is heard on high, wailing, bitter weeping, Rachel weeps for her children; she refuses to be consoled for her children, for they are gone. Thus said Hashem: Restrain your voice from weeping and your eyes from tears; for there is reward for your accomplishment - the word of Hashem - and they will return from the enemy's land. There is hope for your future - the word of Hashem - and your children will return to their border."
November 09, 2005
Anniversary of Rambam's Temple Mount Ascent Tuesday
Holy Temple enthusiasts observe Tuesday, the 6th of Heshvan as a minor holiday – a tradition observed by the Rambam (Maimonides) - to commemorate his ascent of the Temple Mount.Read about it HERE
URGENT - More Moslem Destruction of Temple Mount Feared
(from Arutz Sheva)The Committee to Prevent Temple Mount Artifacts Desecration warns that Muslim Waqf construction works are once again underway - this time at the Temple entrance path taken by Jews 2,000 years ago.
The Committee sent a letter on the matter this week to the Prime Minister and to the Director of the Antiquities Authority. The letter states that new information has been received indicating the Waqf's intention to continue its "refurbishing" works on the Mount.
Yisrael Caspi, an active member of the Committee, told Arutz-7, "For some years now we have been standing guard to try to have the Waqf stop its destruction works. The Waqf is trying to take over the Mount and make it a totally Moslem site, with no Jewish presence."
Yisrael Caspi, an active member of the Committee, told Arutz-7, "For some years now we have been standing guard to try to have the Waqf stop its destruction works. The Waqf is trying to take over the Mount and make it a totally Moslem site, with no Jewish presence."
Caspi said that the latest information indicates that the Waqf plans to begin work at the site known as the Hatunya, adjacent to the Southern Wall excavations and the Dung Gate entrance to the Western Wall.
"A staircase leads from the Temple Mount plaza downward under the Al Aksa mosque [south of the Dome of the Rock]," he said, "to two tunnels built by King Herod 2,000 years ago. The tunnels served the Jews who entered the Holy Temple from the Hulda Gate on the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount. Today, we see the Hulda Gate, but just to the left is a building called the Hatunya, built several hundred years ago. The Waqf wants to excavate the tunnels and the Hatunya, and, based on past experience, turn it into yet another mosque - while hiding or destroying Jewish artifacts."
Click here for a "restoration drawing" of the Hulda Gate entrance.
"We firmly object to granting the Waqf a construction permit for its Temple Mount works," the Comittee's letter states, "and we demand that all work be carried out only under the supervision of the Antiquities Authority."
Caspi said, "Our past experience has shown that the Waqf does not exactly have an interest in preserving the archaeological findings there, and especially not the Jewish ones. On the contrary: They want to hide and even destroy all Jewish findings. This is our concern. We demand that the Antiquities Authority - which is not taking a strong enough position on this issue - be responsible once again for what goes on there."
"In the past," Caspi said, "the government of Israel gave a permit for Waqf renovations in the Solomon's Stables area of the Temple Mount and under the Al Aqsa mosque [just south of the Dome of the Rock]. The bottom line was that the works were done without supervision, archaeological findings are feared hidden and destroyed, new mosques were built on the Temple Mount, and Jews are prevented from visiting the most important Jewish sites in history."
Caspi said that while he and his colleagues try - so far with little success - to find MKs or others who can intervene with the Prime Minister on this issue, the public can do its part as well: "They should fax the Prime Minister's Office [at 02-670-5475 from within Israel; +9722-670-5475 from abroad] and protest the fact that his policies are allowing the Moslems to totally take over our holiest site and keep us, and our history, out."
For more information, send email to itac45@inter.net.il.
November 06, 2005
November 04, 2005
Le karma, non?
French riots spread beyond ParisThe violence that has wracked Paris suburbs over the past week has spread to new areas and outside the French capital for the first time. Youths burned buildings and more than 500 vehicles in the eighth consecutive night of rioting. Nearly 80 arrests were made in Paris. Cars were torched in the eastern city of Dijon, and sporadic unrest broke out in southern and western France.
See a disturbing slide show HERE
Me: At first I was going to say that at least in France the Muslims wait for the people to be off the bus before they torch them (unlike their "Palestinian" bretheren). Yeah... not so much...
A handicapped woman was doused with petrol and set on fire by youths during another night of rioting in Paris. The 56-year-old suffered third degree burns to 20% of her body in the attack.
Witnesses said a youth poured petrol over the woman and then threw a Molotov cocktail on to the bus she was travelling on in the suburb of Sevran.
Click HERE for full story.
Hashiva shofteinu k'varishona
Sanhedrin Project Unveiled With Humility
A conference this week unveiled the Sanhedrin project to the public, shifting away from euphoric satisfaction with the launch of the Court one year ago and moving toward broadening participation.
Since it was launched in Tiberias last year, the Court of 71 rabbis has strived to fulfill the halakhic (Jewish legal) requirements for renewing authentic semicha (rabbinic ordination passed down from Moses) and for reestablishing the Great Court, which was disbanded 1,600 years ago. At Sunday’s conference, distinguished members of the Court, led by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz), presented a humble, yet exhilarating plan to widen the scope and acceptance of the Court to truly move toward becoming the restored Sanhedrin of old.
Along with the increasingly modest references to the current institution of a Court or Sanhedrin project came new high-caliber participants in the project. Rabbi Even-Israel publicly accepted the position of Nassi, President of the Sanhedrin, and Rabbi Re’em HaCohen – head of the Otniel Hesder Yeshiva - delivered the first address of the morning. Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi and Dayan (Rabbinical Court Judge) Dov Lior spoke both at the conference and later at the festive meal.
Read full articel HERE or click above
A conference this week unveiled the Sanhedrin project to the public, shifting away from euphoric satisfaction with the launch of the Court one year ago and moving toward broadening participation.
Since it was launched in Tiberias last year, the Court of 71 rabbis has strived to fulfill the halakhic (Jewish legal) requirements for renewing authentic semicha (rabbinic ordination passed down from Moses) and for reestablishing the Great Court, which was disbanded 1,600 years ago. At Sunday’s conference, distinguished members of the Court, led by Rabbi Adin Even-Israel (Steinsaltz), presented a humble, yet exhilarating plan to widen the scope and acceptance of the Court to truly move toward becoming the restored Sanhedrin of old.
Along with the increasingly modest references to the current institution of a Court or Sanhedrin project came new high-caliber participants in the project. Rabbi Even-Israel publicly accepted the position of Nassi, President of the Sanhedrin, and Rabbi Re’em HaCohen – head of the Otniel Hesder Yeshiva - delivered the first address of the morning. Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi and Dayan (Rabbinical Court Judge) Dov Lior spoke both at the conference and later at the festive meal.
Read full articel HERE or click above
November 03, 2005
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