My dream last night.

It was after a modern day Holocaust. I was wearing the yellow star on my coat. My eleven year old son as well. He was going to rip it off, but I told him to carefully remove it so we could keep it and show to future generations.

I was having a hard time readapting to normal life after the Holocaust and for no reason I started to sing: "Hinei yamim ba-im..." (behold, the days are coming when I will send a famine upon the land. Not a famine for bread, or a thirst for water, but a hunger for hearing the words of HaShem)

Then, as I continued to sing, I could feel that I wasn't the only one singing. The entire Jewish Nation was singing it together in unison.

I was suddenly comforted.

Wow. LA Times almost gets it right.

Great Op-Ed piece in the LA Times today.

King Herod's return

How Israelis and Palestinians put their own spin on archeology to claim an ancestral homeland.

By Walter Reich, WALTER REICH is a professor of international affairs, ethics and human behavior at George Washington University, a senior scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and a former director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum.

"For Israelis, such finds are seen as an emblem of the Jews' ancient and unbroken connection with the land, going back 3,500 years, that justifies the existence of Israel as a Jewish state. For Palestinians, they're seen as a way of legitimizing Israel — the creation of which turned many of them or their forebears into refugees — and are therefore often dismissed as myth or fantasy."

What I don't agree with is the last paragraph:

"Only when each side recognizes the historical right of the other to live in the region will it be possible to begin to talk about peace and a fair reckoning on Jerusalem. And only then will it be possible to put Herod's vengeful ghost back into his haunted archeological tomb."

If the Jewish "claim" to its historical, legal, moral, religious land is accepted, then the "palestinian" have no "historical right" to Jerusalem or any part of Eretz Yisrael.

Kal V'Chomer... if the Arab/Muslim world continues its refusal to acknowledge history and fact, then there is nothing to discuss. You can't draw people to the table of they refuse to admit that the table exists.

There must be a glitch in the Matrix

'cause I'm having deja vu all over again.

Police Approve Gay March in Jerusalem

(IsraelNN.com) A half-year has passed, and traditional elements in Jerusalem are gearing up for another fight against yet another homosexual parade in the holy city.

Religious, traditional and conservative elements in Jerusalem say they will not accept another attempt at a homosexual parade in the holy city. This, just a few days after the police announced its approval-in-principle of the parade - scheduled for next month.

Qassam Rockets

Chag Samayach

Wishing everyone a deep and meaningful Shavuos.

May we all merit to be in Yerushalayim next year studying with Mashiach Ben David.


Rabbi Nathan Lopes Cardozo on Shavuos

The customs of Shavuos

My Right Word: A Possible Location of the Temple

My Right Word: A Possible Location of the Temple

From Rabbi Zalman Menachem Koren's new book on the Temple

A Simple Jew: The Chazon Ish's Shiurim

A Simple Jew: The Chazon Ish's Shiurim

The Temple Mount and the Size of the Cubit

Har Ha-Bayit - yea or nay today?

Rabbis Call for Temple Visits

(IsraelNN.com) Close to 30 leading religious-Zionist rabbis visited the Temple Mount "in purity" on Sunday, after taking the necessary Halakhic precautions.

The precautions involve immersing in a mikveh (ritual bath), taking off one's shoes, and clarifying the precise areas forbidden for entry - or else going only with a guide who knows the area.

The visit was unique in that it marks the first time such a large group of rabbis ascended together to the holy site. Among today's visitors were Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior, Yeshivat Har Etzion Dean Rabbi Yaakov Meidan, Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz of Maaleh Adumim, Rabbi Daniel Shilo of Kedumim, Rabbi Shalom Gold of Har Nof, Jerusalem, and others.

Follow Up:

On Jerusalem Day, for the first time in recent history, multiple groups of 40 or more Jews were allowed to ascend the Temple Mount at once. In the past, groups were severely limited in size – and only one allowed on the mount at a time.

Two Jewish visitors were arrested Wednesday for belting out "Shma Yisrael" – the Jewish declaration of faith and G-d's Oneness of Deuteronomy 6:4. Unlike on previous occasions, the rest of the group was not penalized, and many returned the next day to visit as well.

The religious precautions required of one who wishes to ascend the Mount "in purity" include immersing in a mikveh (ritual bath), taking off one's shoes, and clarifying the precise areas forbidden for entry - or else going only with a guide who knows the area.

“There has been a marked increase in Jewish visitors to the Temple Mount since the large group of rabbis ascended,” the Movement for the Preparation of the Temple said in a statement. “The public is encouraged to study the relevant laws and familiarize themselves with their holiest place.”

However, many rabbis in the religious-Zionist camp continue to rule out visits to the sacred site. Former Chief Rabbi Avraham Shapira, the nonagenarian [in his 90's] dean of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav, told the massive crowds who came to celebrate Jerusalem Day at the yeshiva that entry to the Mount is not permitted at this time, because of the lack of certainty as to the exact location of the Biblically-forbidden areas on the mount.

Former Sephardic Chief Rabbi Mordechai Eliyahu and Rabbi Shlomo Aviner are also among those who forbid Jewish entry to the Temple Mount. It is felt that the extreme nature of the Biblical prohibition against entering the site of the Temple outweighs both political/nationalist concerns and the confidence of those who claim they know the precise location of the forbidden areas.

Kohen Convention

KOHEN– LEVI CONFERENCE

‘THE GATHERING OF THE TRIBE’

Rosh Hodesh Av, 5767 – IY’H - Sunday evening, July 15 - 19, 2007

Islamophobia Worst Form of Terrorism, Islamic Foreign Ministers Say

The gravest terrorist threat in the world today is Islamophobia, foreign ministers of the Organization of the Islamic Conference said this week.

See, I would have thought it was blowing up innocent people in a pizza parlor or murdering children.

My bad.

We're back... kind of...

After a long hiatus of medical problems and other life-altering events, I have decided to jump back into blogging. Blogger's new "layout" form confused me and took the fun out of it for me. I was spending most of my time trying to figure out how to build it rather than adding content.

I have come to the realization that I like "classic" things. My dream car is a 1952 Black Cadillac, though I was born in 1968.

In the past two weeks my iPod, camcorder, computer, "ionizer" (read: hoity toity air filter) and my TiVo (shhhhh, I know) all broke. I was living la vita Amish and instead of missing those things, I was kind of relieved to have them out of my life.

Then a weird thing happened. I was using a fountain pen to write a letter and the tip bent. I was so angry for some reason, that I smashed the tip into the paper destroying the pen. A mere millisecond later I knew I had done a pretty big aveira. Destroying things out of anger is a big no no. I decided to open up Lashon Chachamim, a sefer by the Holy Ben Ish Chai and read the tefilla one says after he does tikkun for certain aveiros. I was not (and am not) able to use a mikvah due to a certain medical problem.

Within a few days, my iPod, camcorder, computer, ionizer and TiVo were all working again. Hmmmm.

Anyhow, no big deal. No smashing of a champagne bottle on my monitor. I reverted back to a simple design ("classic") and am now in a good place.

If you are a former reader, thanks for coming back. If you are new here, welcome.

JHK