A Chanukah Wish...

What is Chanukah?
(click above)

Chanukah means "dedication." The Temple was cleansed and rededicated on this holiday. How will you be celebrating this miracle? Dreidel? Gifts? Latkes?

Perhaps there's more we, the Children of Aharon and Levi, could be doing. I therefore call upon all Kohanim and Leviim to dedicate (or rededicate) themselves to the Halachos of Kodshim (holy objects), Taharos (purity) and Avodah (Temple Service).

With all of the events unfolding in the world, it seems even more pressing that we dedicate ourselves to this knowledge.

Excerpts of a letter by the Chofetz Chaim (Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagen HaKohain):

…Presently it is difficult to find Kohanim who know the laws and practices of the Temple Service fully. How disheartening and embarrassing. It sadly indicates that our prayers for the Temple and the Service are merely lip service, not real or heartfelt. For if we really desired it to come, we would prepare and make ready for it.

Therefore my brothers, it is incumbent upon us to…further the knowledge of the Temple and its Service. Particularly the Kohanim and the Levites, who are most directly involved in this Torah Mitzvah, for they will be the first to be asked, “why didn’t you prepare for the Temple Service?”

Will you heed the call?

New Links Added

Check 'em out...

Boker tov, Boulder!
Yeranen Yaakov
The Aliyah of Ezra HaLevi
JRANTS

Purim comes early this year

In Iran, Arming for Armageddon
By Charles Krauthammer
Washington Post.com

Lest you get carried away with today's good news from Iraq, consider what's happening next door in Iran. The wild pronouncements of the new Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, have gotten sporadic press ever since he called for Israel to be wiped off the map. He subsequently amended himself to say that Israel should simply be extirpated from the Middle East map and moved to some German or Austrian province. Perhaps near the site of an old extermination camp?

Except that there were no such camps, indeed no Holocaust at all, says Ahmadinejad. Nothing but "myth," a "legend" that was "fabricated . . . under the name 'Massacre of the Jews.' " This brought the usual reaction from European and American officials, who, with Churchillian rage and power, called these statements unacceptable. That something serious might accrue to Iran for this -- say, expulsion from the United Nations for violating its most basic principle by advocating the outright eradication of a member state -- is, of course, out of the question.

To be sure, Holocaust denial and calls for Israel's destruction are commonplace in the Middle East. They can be seen every day on Hezbollah TV, in Syrian media, in Egyptian editorials appearing in semiofficial newspapers. But none of these aspiring mass murderers are on the verge of acquiring nuclear weapons that could do in one afternoon what it took Hitler six years to do: destroy an entire Jewish civilization and extinguish 6 million souls.

Everyone knows where Iran's nuclear weapons will be aimed. Everyone knows they will be put on Shahab rockets, which have been modified so that they can reach Israel. And everyone knows that if the button is ever pushed, it will be the end of Israel.

Read the rest HERE

Make tonight movie night

Grab the fam, pop some popcorn and sit down to watch the classic: We Should Fight the Jews and Burn Them Like Hitler

Or how about that always hilarious David Duke in the wacky Israel is like the Nazis.

Or perhaps you're looking for something to tug at your heart strings. Well, then scroll down the page and you'll find the tragic head of the Neturei Karta (Yimach Shemam) wailing that Israel is Satanic.

Enjoy!

No.

Israpundit says what we've all been thinking. Check it out HERE

Thank you thank you thank you

9000 hits in one year!

Got Chutzpah?

Missionaries Lobby Israeli Gov´t to Stop Demonstrations in Arad

Christian missionaries, primarily from the United States, have been pressuring the Israeli government to prevent demonstrations against their activity.

Read the stupidity HERE

Oh no, I hope they won't turn violent!

Senior PA Chief Says: ‘No Jerusalem, No Peace’

"No Jerusalem, no peace,” declared PA Prime Minister Ahmed Quriea at a special cabinet meeting of the Palestinian Authority’s government on Monday.

Quriea, also known by the name he used as a PLO terrorist, Abu Ala, is a senior PA offical, second to PA chief Mahmoud Abbas.

He promised that the Palestinian Authority would never give up its demand for sovereignty over Jerusalem and goal of making it the capital of a Palestinian state. That goal, he said, has become the PA’s primary consideration for peace with Israel.

Quriea announced at the meeting that the PA will be taking positive steps to exert its influence over Jerusalem.

He said the PA planned to transfer income support payments to Arab families living in the city.

He said the PA was trying to enlist donations for that purpose from countries that contribute money to finance the operations of the PA government. The United States, Europe, and various Arab countries regularly donate money to the Palestinian Authority.

Quriea thanked the government of Saudi Arabia for its contributions towards realizing the PA’s goals in Jerusalem.Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish State, is under Israeli sovereignty. The city was liberated in two stages, the western part in the 1948 Independence War, and the eastern part in the 1967 Six Day War. The eastern part of the city, which contains the Old City, Western Wall, and Temple Mount, also includes numerous Arab neighborhoods.

The Israeli government formally annexed the eastern part of the city shortly after the Six Day War.

The Palestinian Authority, set up by the Oslo accords in 1994, is based in Ramallah, north of Jerusalem. PA operations in Jerusalem are forbidden, according to those agreements. They are also illegal under Israeli law.

Me: Here's my counter offer: Go scratch your a** with a broken bottle.

Baruch Hashem! Birkas Kohaim VIDEO!

I just found this very moving video on Google.

Blessing by the Kohanim at the Western Wall on Chol HaMoed Sukkos 5756.

Click HERE

Ha-Mikdash is one year old!

To all my readers...

Thank you for a great first year! Please keep reading and telling others about the site.

May we merit the coming of Mashiach Ben David this year and may the Temple be speedily rebuilt thereafter.

Amen.

Now THAT's Funny!

Palestinian Authority Claims Western Wall is Moslem Property

The Palestinian Authority’s Office for Religious Affairs claims that the Western Wall, revered by Jews for generations as the last structural remnant of the Second Holy Temple, is Moslem property.

The PA office claims Moslem ownership of the Western Wall by referring to the wall on its website as the Al-Boraq Wall. According to Moselm legend, the wall is the place where Mohammed parked his horse, named Boraq, before ascending to heaven.

Moslem tradition holds that Mohammed rose to heaven from the Temple Mount, though that idea is not mentioned anywhere in the Koran, the central text of the Moslem faith.

The Palestinian Authority’s official website, echoing the claims of its religious affairs office, also attempts to negate Jewish ownership of the Western Wall.

The PA contends that Israeli archeological digs near the site of the Western Wall, also commonly known as the Wailing Wall, “totally failed to find any proof that support their false claims” to the Wall.

Read the rest of ther mishegas HERE

Me: No comment except for the fact that once again this proves that we are dealing with revisionist liars who have no grasp of reality. But hey, let's keep negotiating!

A Sad State

No Go Yet for National-Religious Unification

MK Chanan Porat, a former NRP Knesset Member and a National Union founder, says the rabbis must become more actively involved in removing the disputes blocking a merger between the two parties.

Speaking with Arutz-7's Yigal Shok on Thursday, Porat - himself a rabbi and Torah scholar - said, "The argument over who will head the party is that which is currently holding up the unification. The claims that the issues revolve around 'difficulties in formulating the agenda,' and the Land of Israel's weight in the agenda, are merely spins for the media."

NRP sources have claimed that the National Union is placing too much emphasis on the struggle for the Land of Israel [Eretz Yisrael] for their taste, and that the NRP wishes to give more prominence to social and educational issues.

Read the rest HERE

Me: Keep bickering. You'll have plenty of time to resolve issues when you're living in Islamic Palestine (Ch'VS).

Last night I had the most incredible dream

I dreamed that I was driving by a home and was asked to call 911 because someone inside was ill (he was an Orthodox Jew... that's all I knew). I called and hundreds of people started flocking to the house to help. After the man was healed, we all marched to the Holy Kotel in Jerusalem to dance. There were hundreds of thousands of people, some holding up flags or pennants, dancing their way to the Wall.

I noticed that the dancing was dying down so I decided to do something about it. There were three other rooms where Jews were hanging out. One room was filled with secular Jews who were eating and drinking in a fashion not unlike a secular New Years party. In the second room, Jews were just talking but not following me to the Wall, the third room was a Beis Medrish where Orthodox Jews were davening. It hurt me that they would daven there and not at the Wall. All I wanted to do was to keep the dance going and show the world that the Jews were one people. I was able to coax some people to follow me to make a kiddush Hashem but many would not come.

Shame on the Presbyterian Church!

"I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse."
Genesis 12:3

Presbyterian Leaders Meet Hizbullah Terror Chief

Presbyterian Christians from Chicago met recently with Hizbullah terror chief Hassan Nasrallah in Lebanon.

The meeting took place during a trip co-sponsored by the Chicago Presbytery’s Middle East Task Force, in which Rev. Bob Reynolds of the Presbytery’s executive board took part.

The trip’s leader, Dr. Robert Worley, praised Hizbullah and expressed understanding for the terror group’s activities against the Jewish state, saying that Presbyterians “have suffered much pressure on the part of Jewish organizations.” Worley also told Nasrallah that Jewish influence in America leads to the perception that Hizbullah is a terrorist organization.

Read the rest HERE

Amazing film! - Who are you?

The Kotel
(click above)

Interesting Movie on the Temples (in Hebrew)

You need to wait a few minutes past the credits for it to actually begin.

See it HERE

What's it like: A Muslim In A Jewish Land

Let's find out.

Read about it HERE.

Even more new links... come and get 'em!

Please check out the following great blogs (click below or links are on side bar)

One Jerusalem
Israel Midnight Cafe
For Israel, and Justice
Amkha Yisrael
A Jewish Perspective

Admonition of the Kohanim - from this week's Haftara

And now, this commandment is for you, O Kohanim. 2 If you will not hearken, and if you will not take it to heart, to give glory unto My name, says the L-rd of hosts, then will I send the curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings; I curse them, because you do not take it to heart. 3 Behold, I will rebuke the seed for your hurt, and will spread dung upon your faces, even the dung of your sacrifices; and you shall be taken away unto it. 4 Know then that I have sent this commandment unto you, that My covenant might be with Levi, says the L-rd of hosts. 5 My covenant was with him of life and peace, and I gave them to him, and of fear, and he feared Me, and was afraid of My name. 6 The law of truth was in his mouth, and unrighteousness was not found in his lips; he walked with Me in peace and uprightness, and did turn many away from iniquity. 7 For the Kohain's lips should keep knowledge, and they should seek the law at his mouth; for he is the messenger of the L-rd of hosts. 8 But you are turned aside out of the way; you have caused many to stumble in the Law; you have corrupted the covenant of Levi, says the L-rd of hosts. 9 Therefore have I also made you contemptible and base before all the people, according as you have not kept My ways, but have had respect of persons in the law.
Malachi Chapter 2

When will the Kohanim of today take this to heart? Where is the Teaching? Where is the Learning? Why are we not devoting ourselves to our birthright and delving into the vast body of knowledge that awaits us regarding Taharos, Karbanos and Kodshim?

Thoughts?

New Links Added

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