Setting the Record Straight on International Law

Master of propaganda, the "Palestinians", an artificial entity with no historical veracity, have convinced most of the world that the State of Israel is illegally occupying their country, known as "Palestine". They have used the language of international justice to point their desire to annihilate the Jewish state as a human rights crusade. It has come to the point where even the President of the United States refers to Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria as "illegal". It is necessary for every support of Israel, and decent human being, to set the record straight about Jewish resettlement in the Land of Israel.

Jewish resettlement in the Land of Israel, including Gaza, Judea and Samaria, exist as of right and are completely in accordance with international law. In fact, it is the repeated attempts to prevent Jewish resettlement that is in violation of international law. The Mandate for Palestine, set out by the League of Nations and later enshrined in the United Nations, set out the right for Jews to settle in the entire Land of Israel. The legally binding document was conferred on April 24, 1920 at the San Remo Conference, and its terms outlined in the Treaty of Sèvres on August 10, 1920. The Mandate’s terms were finalized and unanimously approved on July 24, 1922, by the Council of the League of Nations, which was comprised at that time of 51 countries,4 and became operational on September 29, 1923. The Mandate clearly distinguishes between political rights for Jews and civil and religious rights for non-Jews. Article 2 of the “Mandate for Palestine” explicitly states that the Mandatory should: “... be responsible for placing the country under such political, administrative and economic conditions as will secure the establishment of the Jewish National Home, as laid down in the preamble, and the development of self-governing institutions, and also for safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine, irrespective of race and religion.” At no time in the Mandate document are the Arabs referred as a people, or given the right for a country within the boundaries of Palestine set aside for a Jewish National Home.

The claim that Israel is some sort of Holocaust consolation prize to assuage the guilt of Europeans completely disappears when one considers that this document was internationally ratified 30 years before World War Two and explicitly states that Jewish settlement exists by right and not sufferance. The preamble to the text states: "Whereas recognition has thereby been given to the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine and to the grounds for reconstituting their national home in that country." In other words, the soon to be established Jewish state derives its legitimacy from the fact that the two previous Jewish commonwealths existed in the Land of Israel, and that it is the birthplace of the Jewish people. Surrendering any inch of this land to a foreign power is a betrayal of the ancient Jewish ties to the land, and to terms set forth by the Mandator document.

The document, valid until this very day according to international law, sets out that "The Administration of Palestine, while ensuring that the rights and position of other sections of the population are not prejudiced, shall facilitate Jewish immigration under suitable conditions and shall encourage, in co-operation with the Jewish agency referred to in Article 4, close settlement by Jews on the land, including State lands and waste lands not required for public purposes." The document does not take into account the existence of any "Palestinian Arab" people and does not distinguish in any way between central Israel, the Galilee, Negev, Judea, Samaria or Gaza. The policy of denying Jews the right to settle in Judea and Samaria simply by virtue of their being Jewish is a blatantly anti-semitic policy, one completely illegal. As Yehuda Z. Blum, Israeli ambassador to the UN, explained: “A corollary of the inalienable right of the Jewish people to its Land is the right to live in any part of Eretz Yisrael, including Judea and Samaria which are an integral part of Eretz Yisrael. Jews are not foreigners anywhere in the Land of Israel. Anyone who asserts that it is illegal for a Jew to live in Judea and Samaria just because he is a Jew, is in fact advocating a concept that is disturbingly reminiscent of the ‘Judenrein’ policies of Nazi Germany banning Jews from certain spheres of life for no other reason than that they were Jews. The Jewish villages in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza district are there as of right and are there to stay."

Zionism has become a very dirty word recently. Jews must stand up and say that Zionism, supporting the right to Jewish self-determination in the entire Land of Israel, and its practical applications such as resettlement and rebuilding, is the national liberation movement of the Jewish people. Anyone who opposes Zionism is an anti-semite because he denies Jews the right of self-determination which is accorded to all other peoples. Whenever somebody ignorantly repeats the slander about "illegal settlements" or "outposts", he must be reminded that international law demands that the trustee of the Mandate for Palestine, in the modern world, the State of Israel, encourage "close settlement by Jews on the land" and makes no mention of any other group with political rights in Israel. There is an illegal occupation in Palestine- but it is certainly not a Jewish one.

How to Answer the Haters

One of the most important claims for Israel's defenders, both American Jews and Israelis, is Israel's willingness to compromise for peace. "Israel's greatest desire is peace, and is willing to sacrifice for it", they proudly proclaim, in contrast to the 6 decades of Arab rejectionism. Another essential point cited by supporters of Israel is that Israel is "the only democracy in the Middle-East", after which they go on to list the number of ways in which Israel is similar to the United States.

Israel is certainly the only country in the Middle-East with free elections, freedom of speech and freedom of religion. Despite any problems with Israeli democracy, it is infinitely better than Saudi or Iranian theocracy, Egyptian or Syrian dictatorship or the host of other thuggish regimes that rule the Middle-East. However, if this is the cardinal argument in favor of Israel, then Israel advocates are faced with a terrible dilemma: Israel's Jewish and Zionist character are inherently opposed to true, liberal Western-style democracy. Israel is, by definition, a Jewish state, which means that Jews must be the majority of the population. Israel's people, culture, religion, language, holidays and character are thoroughly Jewish. Even if an Arab has equality before the law and the right to vote, he is automatically culturally alienated from a state which belongs to another people. No Arab can sing Hatikvah with pride, beaming as he recites the words "the soul of a Jew yearns". Neither can he identify with a flag which is designed to resemble the Jewish prayer shawl and that features the Star of David, symbol of the Jewish people. He cannot celebrate Yom HaAztmaut, Israel's Independence Day, as this is the day of his defeat at the hands of the Jews. All lovers of Israel must realize that Israel, as long as it is a Jewish state, can never be a perfect democracy in the sense of Canada or the United States. This is not meant to criticize or deligitimize Israel- it is simply the stating of a fact.

Similarly, Israel can never have a complete separation of Synagogue and State, as is in the United States. Whatever role religion should play in the public sphere, most Israelis agree that it is important for Judaism to play a role in the Jewish State. For the concept of a Jewish state to have any significance, Israel must have some sort of Jewish character.

Here we see the fundamental flaws of liberal Israel advocacy. Israel will never be a perfect democracy, nor will it ever be thoroughly American or Western, if it is to be Jewish. In the same vein, Israelis and American Jews present peace as the most important of Israeli goals, as if Israel without peace is useless. Israel's obsessive compulsion to pursue a reckless policy of appeasement and surrender in the name of "peace" is tauted as proof of Israel's supreme righteousness. From Jewish children in Hebrew schools and summer camps, brainwashed by "peace", to liberal American Jews and Leftist Israelis still enamored by Rabin and Oslo, we are constantly reminded that "Israel is all about peace".

Since the earliest beginnings of Jewish re-settlement in Israel, there has been constant conflict with the Arabs. In the 90 years since the Arab pogroms in the 1920s, the bloodshed has been without respite. Despite the initiatives of various US presidencies, the two sides seem too distant and irreconcilable for a peaceful resolution to the conflict. The Jews and Arabs have far too many differences in terms of culture, collective past and their respective views for the future for any peace agreement in the near future. This being said, is Israel then to be considered a complete failure?

Peace is an important goal for Israel, but it is not the most important goal. The quest for peace does not give Israel its right to exist, nor does its democratic government or Western leanings make it the morally superior party. After all, one could easily establish a democratic, Western regime on the stolen lands of another nation, as was the case in Canada, the United or India, for example. After appropriating native land, it is only natural for this country to seek peace with the conquered.

What gives Israel the moral upper-hand in the conflict is the fact that the Land of Israel belongs indisputably to the Jewish people. It was in the Land of Israel that the Jewish people arose, built two Commonwealths, and fought courageously before being carried away by first the Babylonians and then the Romans. It was the Land of Israel in which Abraham, Isaac and Jacob sojourned, in which David fought and Solomon built, in which Isaiah and Jeremiah prophesied and called the wayward Jews to repent. It was the Land that, upon remembering its glory, the exiled Jews sat down by the rivers of Babylon and wept. It is the Land upon whose agricultural cycle the Jewish calendar and holidays revolve. It is the Land which our Sages taught that the entire Torah rests. Jewish settlement and presence in Israel predates that of the British in Britain, the French in France, or the Romans in Rome. When the Greeks were only beginning to ponder the great philosophical questions, the Jews had already left Egypt, conquered the Land, established Jerusalem as their capital, built the Temple there, split into two kingdoms, been exiled by the Babylonians for 50 years, and returned to rebuild under Ezra and Nehemia.

Even after the vast majorities of Jews were carried into captivity by the Romans, the Land was never bereft of a Jewish presence. The center of Jewish life spread to the Galilee and then to the Golan, and during the ages, pious Jews settled in the holy cities of Jerusalem, Hebron, Safed and Tiberias. For the great masses who could not ascend and return home, Israel remained the focal point of their intense longing and desire. Every single year, at the end of every Passover Seder and Yom Kippur fast, every Jew would declare: Next Year in Jerusalem! At every Jewish wedding, a cup is broken and a vow is made: If I forget thee, O Jerusalem... Three times a day, every day, observant Jews turn towards the East and beseech G-d, "may our eyes behold Your return to Zion in mercy". A Jew cannot even eat a cookie without thanking G-d "for the good and spacious land which You gave our ancestors as an inheritance".

To all those who charge Israel with the most vile of crimes, with "occupation, "ethnic cleansing", "theft of land", our answer most not be of saying that Israel wants peace, or that Israel is the only democracy in the Middle-East. The fact that Israel is the United State's greatest ally is irrelevant to this accusation. Our answer must be that of Simon the Maccabee, which he wrote to the Seleucid king Antiochus: "We have neither taken foreign land nor seized foreign property, but only the inheritance of our fathers, which at one time had been unjustly taken by our enemies. Now that we have the opportunity, we are firmly holding the inheritance of our fathers." There is no "Palestinian people", nor was there ever, nor will there ever be. Any student of history is aware of this fact. The relationship of the Jews and their Land is one of love, longing, tearful separation and joyous return. With this we shall answer the haters of Zion.

A Soldier and an Old Woman

From Aish by Ruchama King Feuerman

The Six Day War had ended. The generals assembled the commanders and foot soldiers for a customary review and analysis of the battle. After the military questions had been asked, and the investigative committee was about to disperse, a commanding officer pointed to one of the soldiers. "Wait a minute. I have a question for you. Yes, you, the soldier who put up the flag on the Temple Mount."

The soldier nodded.

"Where did you get an Israeli flag, and why did you put it up?"

The soldier spread out his hands and smiled, a gesture that indicated that here was more than just a one sentence response. He told the following story:

The night before the Old City was liberated, a contingent of soldiers fighting near the Old City took cover in a shelter in a Jerusalem neighborhood. Hordes of children, mothers, old men and women packed inside the bunker alongside the soldiers. People looked frightened and bereft. The government had imposed a news black-out so that the Arab countries wouldn't be able to figure out their positions. And the news -- originating from Jordan, Egypt and Syria -- was enough to induce hysteria: calls from Saudi King Faisal for the total elimination of Israel, calls from every Arab country to push the fledgling country into the sea.

Things looked so bad, Israelis famously converted public parks into mass graves, in preparation for the expected casualties. (Israel's Chief of Staff, Yitzchak Rabin, had even suffered a nervous breakdown.)

As the soldier sat there in the bunker, hopeless and uncertain, he saw an old woman slowly make her way over to him. "Excuse me," she said, standing at his side. She held a satchel in her arms.

He lifted his eyes. "Yes, Doda. Tell me, what is it?"

"Tomorrow you'll go to the Old City and you'll go to the Kotel."

He shook his head at the absurdity. He said, "No, we won't." There were no army plans to liberate the Old City. First, they were fighting just to hold their positions. Also, overtaking the Old City would entail hand-to-hand combat which was greatly feared: Many people would die. Moreover, any bombardment of the Old City might demolish even more of the holy sites than had already been destroyed by the Jordanians. He tried to explain all of this.

The old woman looked at him, steady-eyed. "No, you will go," she said, not as if she were trying to convince him, but as if relaying simple facts.

He shrugged. An old woman's delusions. He wasn't going to argue with her.

Before he turned away, she said, "I have a favor to ask you." She reached into her satchel and took out an Israeli flag. From the way she touched it, it was clear the flag had some personal meaning for her. Had she made it? Perhaps it had been draped over a loved one's grave? But what was she now saying? "When you go, please take this flag, and when you get to the Temple Mount, I want you to hang it up there." She held out the flag.

The soldier repeated, "We're not going into the Old City."

"You're going," she said. Again, she held out her arm.

A thought struck him. "I can't take it," he told her. "It's against army regulations."

"It'll be all right. Just take it."

"I'll get in trouble. You're only allowed to carry a few specified items."

Please," she said hoarsely. "Do me this favor."

He shrugged again. Why was he arguing with this old woman? Let him take the flag, let him make an old woman feel good. He could always get rid of it later.

The next day, the Israeli army, contrary to everyone's expectations, took the Old City. Sure enough, the soldier's unit ended up at the Temple Mount. As he and the other soldiers came close to the Western Wall, he suddenly remembered the flag and the old woman's words. Yes, he would do it, he would! He enlisted two buddies, and together they draped the flag over the grating on the upper left most side of the Kotel, and there they hoisted and hung the Israel flag.

The commanding officer conducting the investigation said to the soldier, "And what were you thinking when you put up that flag?"

The soldier said, "I was thinking that this was the answer to 2,000 years of Jewish suffering."

And so ends the story of the soldier, our hero.

But there's an unsung hero, too. What about the old woman who supplied the flag? One wishes the investigating officers had tracked her down. What did she have in mind as she entered a shelter with an Israeli flag in her satchel? And who was she, anyway? The only identifying feature is that she was old and carried a bag. But her advanced age already tells us plenty: that she knew something about Jewish history, probably having personally lived through it...World War I, Arab attacks, the Holocaust, the War of Independence, 1956. What hadn't she seen?

There, in Israel's darkest moment, outnumbered and surrounded by enemies, terrified that the next morning there will be no Israel, the old woman sees what no one else can see, what no one else is capable of conceiving. She insists on her vision, she practically browbeats the soldier into carrying out her plan. We'll never know how she knew, only that, like many Jewish women before her -- the Matriarchs, the midwives in Egypt, the righteous women in the desert -- she just knew. There are two kinds of prophecy. One that predicts the future, and one that makes the future.

Force of History

Enlightenment-age Jews felt that with the gradual erosion of the Church's power, traditional anti-semitism would soon disappear. In anticipation of becoming full citizens of their respective countries, they declared themselves "Frenchmen (or Germans, or Americans) of the Mosaic Faith". They were Jews in their homes and men in the street. A new age of equal rights was dawning upon them.

This hopeful dream was shattered in the aftermath of the Dreyfus affair, when anti-semitism in France attacked full force, ater 100 years of Jewish emancipation. Cries of "death to the Jews" woke the Jews up from their slumber. Many realized that anti-semitism made it virtually impossible for Jews to live peacefully in foreign countries. Assimilation could never be complete as the anti-semite would always remind the Jew of his origins. These Jews decided that the only solution to anti-semitism was for Jews to forsake the lands of the exiles and build a Jewish state in the Land of Israel. However, the ultimate idea of assimilation was not lost: instead of being good socialists in their home countries, they would build a good socialist state in Israel. The socialist Zionists hoped that in Israel they would create a new Jew, cut off from the ties of the past, a build a secular, socialist society. This new Jewish state would be accepted among the brotherhood of nations as an equal member.

In a great irony of history, after having returned from 2000 years in exile, cut off from our Land, the leaders of Israel today are busy carving the Land up. They are planning to expel 100 000 Jews from their homes, G-d forbid, and to give Judea and Samaria, the Biblical homeland of the Jewish people, up to its enemies. They have fought against traditional Jewish education and raised an ignorant and rootless generation, unattached to Jewish customs, history and practice. The Israeli Left is displaying suicidal tendencies in an irrational drive to surrender and retreat. They put their own people at risk in a desire to withdraw from land and transfer it to the Arabs. What is this insane desire? Israel, an extremely tiny state, could not survive a hostile terror state carved out of its belly. Another Arab state in Judea, Samaria and Gaza would put every singly major Israeli city within rocket range. Ben-Gurion international airport would be under constant threat and if one plane were to be shot down, aliyah, trade and tourism would be effectively over. It seems that despite any logical reasons to the contrary, the Left wants nothing more than to give up as much territory as possible. The spineless and corrupt leaders constantly bow before international pressure in order to appease the rabid anti-semites in the UN and the EU. What is the reason for these self-destructive impulses?

Just like the assimilated Jews of Europe when confronted with brutal hatred, the leftist establishment in Israel is reminded of its Jewish identity by the two-fold force of Jewish history and international rejection. The Israeli Left, inheritors of the secular, socialist vision of the new Jew, want nothing more than to escape Jewish history. All of their policies represent an attempt to flee from their own identity. After the 6 Days' War, Israel found itself in possession of an extremely large amount of territory, central to Jewish history. Instead of liberating Jewish holy places and settling the newly conquered land, the government attempted to return control to the Arabs. What nation would return land conquered in a defensive war, especially land so precious to the Jewish nation? The answer is simple: Judea and Samaria, with its holy sites and biblical locations, reminds the Israeli Left of their Judaism. All of the stories of the Tanach took place in Judea and Samaria. Avraham and David did not walk down Shenkin street, neither did they cruise down the trendy Tel-Aviv hotspots. They did, however, live and die in Judea and Samaria, in places that still exist today. The Israeli government has decided to evacuate settlers from Hebron. Hebron is the foundation of Judaism, where our Patriarchs and Matriarchs are buried. If they are able to free themselves of Hebron, so they believe, they will not be reminded of Judaism.



One could hardly think that the Jewish nation survived oppression and persecution, pogroms and Holocaust, and was returned to its own land simply to bar-hop or go to the beach. The Jewish nation has a destiny to keep the Torah and to become a light unto the nations. Judea and Samaria remind the Left of this. When they see Jews sacrificing themselves to live in these lands, Jews pouring out their souls at the Kotel, Mearat HaMachpela, Kever Rachel and all of the tombs of our forebearers, they cannot forget their mission. They know deep down in their souls how there is more to the Land of Israel than sunshine and hummus. And they cannot abide this. However disturbs their good life must be expelled.

In the past, the Jews had no choice in their identity as anti-semites were quick to point them out. When overt anti-semitism began to fade, assimilation and intermarriage became rampant. Similarly, the hatred of the United Nations and the international body towards the State of Israel lets the Left know that the are still Jews. Israel is the Jew among the Nations. That is behind the intense desire to for peace. Peace, peace, peace. Peace at any cost, any price, any sacrifice. For, according to the Left, if peace is achieved, Israel will be accepted by the world and nobody will dare remind them that they are Jews. If 100 000 Jews need to be thrown out of their homes, so be it. The end result will be acceptance by the world. The condemnations and denounciations of the United Nations has taken the place of the discriminatory restrictions against Jews. Even if they choose not to practice Judaism, the hostility towards them is enough to let the Left know that they have not fully assimilated.

The Jewish nation has a destiny. It was chosen by HaShem, the G-d of the Universe, to bring His Torah to the entire world and to make this world a dwelling place for Him. Such a perfected world necessitates a chosen people living in a special land according to a holy law. Those who oppose such a plan try to divorce Israel from its biblical heritage and mandate by force. However, Israel's identity catches up with it always. When the Jews try to flee from who they really are, the angry nations of the world are quick to remind them. We must remember our divine calling as the Navi says (Isaiah 42:6) "I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and have taken hold of thy hand, and kept thee, and set thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the nations; To open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house." Let us embrace our destiny rather than having it forced upon us unwillingly.

Making History Judenrein

Algebra and social science aren't required learning according to the Torah. G-d doesn't require us to be experts in chemistry or in English literature. The only high school subject that the Torah commands us to learn is history. "Remember the days of old, consider the years of many generations; ask your father, and he will declare unto you, your elders, and they will tell you." (Deut. 32:7) Every single Jew must be aware of his history, from where he came, so that he should know where he is going. A Jew must have a proficiency in the legacies of the past, of the course of Jewish history. Only a Jew who is well versed in the history of his people can feel the true weight of his destiny, of his heritage, and to be able to carry on the Jewish mission.

The enemies of Israel know too well that without a sense of history, the Jewish people have nothing. Therefore, they work tirelessly to erase the past and to destroy evidence of Jewish history. They seek to make history judenrein, free of Jews. The incredible story of Jewish survival throughout the ages bears testimony to our triumph and vindicates our claims before the world. It is not surprising that those who want most to undermine the homecoming of the Jewish people deny the past.

The policy of the "Palestinians" (an invented entity in-and-of itself), both Hamas and the "moderate" Fatah, has been to deny that a Jewish Temple ever existed in Jerusalem. Yasser Arafat, may his name be accursed, repeated this lie before a shocked President Clinton and his aides. Children in the Arab world are consistently taught that the Jewish people are interlopers who have no history in the Land of Israel, or "Palestine". On September 23, Fatah-run "Palestinian" television featured a video clip which called for Muslims to protect al-Aksa mosque. It repeated the claim that the Temple never stood in Jerusalem. As translated by PMW, the video clip that appeared on PA TV on September 23, 2008, includes the lyrics, "Oh [Sons of] Zion, no matter how much you dig and no matter how much you destroy, your imaginary Temple will not come into being, Al-Aqsa is ours. Al-Aqsa is ours, Oh Muslims, Al-Aqsa is ours." It goes on to call for another Saladin, the Muslim conqueror of Jerusalem in 1187, according to PMW. This clip has been broadcasted by Fatah and Hamas repeatedly during the last 18 months.



The Islamic wakf which is in charge of the Temple Mount has been feverishly working to destroy all archaeological evidence of the Temple. Archaeologists have found them dumping priceless historical artifacts in the Kidron Valley. They have been Islamizing the Temple Mount while removing every last vestige of Jewish past from it. Despite the fact that for thousands of years, the Temple was the center of Jewish spiritual life, and Jews pray three times a day facing the Temple Mount, the wakf doesn't allow Jews access to their holiest site. They know full well that without historical justification, Israel has little basis as a Jewish state. With this in mind, they try to cut Jews off from their past. Jews are forbidden to pray on the Temple Mount, Muslim mobs destroyed Joseph's Tomb in Shechem and the Arabs are besieging the beleaguered Jewish community in Hebron, centered on the Tomb of the Patriarchs.

A study released this week by the San Francisco-based Institute for Jewish and Community affairs, found that American elementary and high school textbooks contains gross distortions about Israel and Judaism. One textbook claims that Jesus "was a young Palestinian", and charges the Jews with deicide. Many others deny the connection between the Jewish people and Israel. They claim that the Arabs never attacked Israel and that Israel has refused to make peace with them. They teach that Israel put the "Palestinians" in refugee camps but ignore the half a million Jews forced out of their homes in Arabs lands. (The history of Jews in Arab lands is another subject of historical revisionism as revisionist "scholars" deny the indignities and brutally that they suffered at the hands of Islam.) After a vote by the Islamic Council of Education, it was decided to avoid using the name "Israel" to refer to the Davidic dynasty lest anybody make a connection between this ancient kingdom and the modern State of Israel.

The President of Iran, who is now in NY speaking before the UN and having dinner with religious leaders, denies the Holocaust before the entire world. He has said that: "They have invented a myth that Jews were massacred and place this above God, religions and the prophets. The West has given more significance to the myth of the genocide of the Jews, even more significant than God, religion, and the prophets, (it) deals very severely with those who deny this myth but does not do anything to those who deny God, religion, and the prophet. If you have burned the Jews, why don't you give a piece of Europe, the United States, Canada or Alaska to Israel? Our question is, if you have committed this huge crime, why should the innocent nation of Palestine pay for this crime?" Ahmadinejad asked the West rhetorically why, if they truly committed the Holocaust, do they not the Jewish people a piece of land in Germany. He ignores the historical and ancestral claims that the Jewish people have to the Land of Israel and rewrites history by painting the Arabs as the natives of Palestine who were displaced by Zionist invaders. He combines Holocaust denial, anti-semitism and a commitment to destroy Israel into a frightening combination. He is just one of the growing number of voices that seeks to "revise" the Holocaust and to claim that it was exaggerated.

The Jews were once compared to a messenger who forgot his message. The G-d of history chose the Jewish nation to be His, to be a light unto the nations and to spread holiness and G-dliness all over the world. Unfortunately, many Jews have forgotten their lofty calling and contented themselves to living like gentiles, focusing on materialism and ignoring the Jewish destiny. Leo Tolstoy wrote of the Jews in 1908: “What is the Jew?...What kind of unique creature is this whom all the rulers of all the nations of the world have disgraced and crushed and expelled and destroyed; persecuted, burned and drowned, and who, despite their anger and their fury, continues to live and to flourish. What is this Jew whom they have never succeeded in enticing with all the enticements in the world, whose oppressors and persecutors only suggested that he deny (and disown) his religion and cast aside the faithfulness of his ancestors?! The Jew - is the symbol of eternity. ... He is the one who for so long had guarded the prophetic message and transmitted it to all mankind. A people such as this can never disappear. The Jew is eternal. He is the embodiment of eternity." The Jewish people has survived all of its oppressors and begun to return to its land. Israel is the beginning of the Redemption, what Jews have prayed for three times a day for two thousand years, since the destruction of the Second Temple by the Romans and the beginning of the current exile. They longingly beseeched G-d to return them to His land.

This week's Torah portion sets out G-d's guarantee of our return. "And it shall come to pass, when all these things have come upon you, the blessing and the curse, which I have set before you, and you shall return to your heart [while in exile] among all the nations, where the Lord your God has driven you. And you shall return unto the Lord your God, and shall obey his voice according to all that I command you this day, you and your children, with all your heart, and with all your soul. Then the Lord your God will [re]turn your captivity, and have compassion upon you, and will return and gather you from all the nations, where the Lord your God has scattered you...And the Lord your God will bring you into the land which your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and he will do you good, and multiply you above your fathers. And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart, and the heart of your seed, to love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, that you may live. ... And you shall return and obey the voice of the Lord, and do all his commandments which I command you this day. And the Lord your God will make you abundantly prosperous in every work of your hand, in the fruit of your body, and in the fruit of your cattle, and in the fruit of your land, for good; for the Lord will again rejoice over you for good, as he rejoiced over your fathers. If you shall listen to the voice of the Lord your God, to keep his commandments and his statutes which are written in this book of the Torah, and if you turn to the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul." (Deut. 30:1-10) To be able to return, we must be aware of our original state and be able to know that our present reality is an aberration and not the ultimate goal. The G-d of history will have mercy on His people. Amen.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard and Stop Raping Israel

Our Two-Pronged War

Its open season on Jews in Paris. Saturday, as they were walking home from Mincha prayers, three counselors of the Bnei Akivah youth group were brutally attacked by a gang of Muslims. The counselors were walking when they had chestnuts thrown at them. When they protested, anti-semitic slurs were hurled. 10-12 gang members then joined in and beat them with brass knuckles.

This was the second attack near the Bnei Akivah branch in two months. In June, another 17 year-old Jew wearing a kippah was beaten up by a Muslim gang. And a few months ago, a neighbourhood store was caught selling shirts that read, in German and Polish, "Jews forbidden in the parks". Anti-semitic attacks are very common in France. The radical Muslim population is growing exponentially, veiled women from head-to-toe are a very common sight, and mosques are popping up all over the place. The same pattern is repeating itself in the UK, in Germany and all over Europe. This Islamic fundamentalist Jew-hatred combined with "the new-anti-semitism" of the anti-Zionist Left is lethal to Europe's remaining Jews. Many Jews no longer feel comfortable enough to wear kippot in public or to identify themselves as Jews. Entire communities are under siege as going to synagogue literally becomes an ordeal amidst intense security, guards and routine checks. Synagogues, monuments and Holocaust memorials are routinely vandalized. A few weeks ago, a video was placed on YouTube (and subsequently banned) showing a group of Greek students in Rhodes urinating on a Holocaust memorial with violent rock and anti-semitic lyrics in the background. The Monument to the Murdered Jews of Europe in Berlin was defaced for the tenth or so time.

Europe's tragic history is repeating itself. It feels eerily like 1938 for Europe as attacks on Jews reach a fever pitch. Not only are Jews violently attacked by Muslim anti-semites but the Jewish State is regularly demonized, delegitimized and condemned. The writing is on the walls for the Jews of Europe as Muslim sonei yisrael as well as Leftist anti-semites work tirelessly to make Jewish lives miserable. The Jews of Europe face an existential threat as the radical Muslim influence is growing. In mosques all over Europe (and the world), Jews are dehumanized, compared to insects and diseases and threatened with extermination. Millions of young Muslims are indoctrinated with Jew-hatred and the terrible fruits of this preaching are being reaped in Europe, as well as against Israel. Esau soneh et Yaakov. Once again, the Jewish nation finds itself in dire straights as the world sits silently by and allows anti-semitism to take hold and grow.


We Jews are in between a rock and a hard place. As Yishmael plans to destroy our bodies, Esau deceives us into giving up our souls. The World Evangelical Alliance, "Israel's best friends", have restated their goal to convert the Jewish nation to Christianity. Coming from the city in which the Final Solution of 6 million Jews was orchestrated, the Berlin Declaration calls for the evangelization of the Jews of Europe. "Everyone needs to hear this message including the Jewish people. Proclamation to Israel was Jesus’ priority. It also reflects the apostles’ practice of going to the Jew first. Nothing has occurred since Jesus came that changes the need for Israel and the nations. "

It is astonishing that hundreds of years after the public disputation at the order of the Church in which Jews were threatened with expulsion, death or forced conversion, Jews are again called upon to defend the validity and integrity of their faith. The Jews of Europe, when not being beaten up by anti-semitic mobs, will be swamped with pamphlets and missionaries urging them to convert. The Berlin Declaration in essence says that Judaism has no value and offers no salvation. The Jew who follows authentic Judaism is worthless and is condemned to the fires of hell unless he becomes a Christian. Jews are forced to explain themselves to Christians and to stand up for their faith. Evangelicals claim to be motivate by love for the Jewish people but in reality, they only reject anti-semitism as a means to further their hold on the Jewish soul. Hardly no strings attached! A real love for the Jewish people would be accompanied by a respect for Judaism's validity and choseneness, and the recognition of the legitimacy of Jewish tradition and belief. To issue this declaration of apostasy from the Nazi capital in which Hitler's henchmen orchestrated and planned the annihilation of the Jewish people is the height of insensitivity and callousness. By teaching that Judaism is incomplete and misguided, Evangelicals offer a surefire recipe of hatred and mistrust for the Jewish people.

With barely 15 million Jews in the world today, growing anti-semitism in Europe and North America, an existential threat against the State of Israel, rampant assimilation in the United States and an obsessive drive by Evangelicals to convert Jews, the Jewish future is difficult. We are caught between those who wish to kill us physically, to rob us of life, and those who wish to destroy our unique spiritual heritage by baptizing us. Whether by gas chambers and pogroms or by missionizing and assimilation, the ultimate goal is the same: the eradication of the Jewish people from the face of the Earth. We must take heart G-d's promise in the Torah that the seed of Abraham shall never cease to be a nation. The end chapter has been written. All that remains for us to decide is how many of us will make it to the finish line. The Jewish nation will outlive all of its tormenters and oppressors, the assimilationists and peddlers of foreign faiths. G-d will surely vindicate His people.

Cross-posted to The Truth about Moshiach

No Jew is Ever Lost

"If any of thine are dispersed be in the uttermost parts of heaven, from thence will HaShem thy G-d gather thee, and from thence will He fetch thee." (Deut. 30:4)

In the last post, I wrote about how many Jews have been tragically cut off form their people due to assimilation, intermarriage or conversion. This article from YNet News reminds us that no Jew is ever lost:

Yosef Pero Philip is professor psychiatry at the University of Porto. Arieh Ben Avraham is a renowned film director. Yosef Eduardo Albas is a soccer player in Portugal’s Second Division. All three men have recently converted to Judaism, observe the mitzvoth, and are distinctly proud of their Jewish heritage.

These three men are also representative of a noticeable recent trend among descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Marranos, that is Sephardic Jews forced to adopt the identity of Christians, who are now rediscovering their Jewish faith and reclaiming their ancient heritage en masse.

Rabbi Eliyahu Birnbaum of the “Shavei Israel” Foundation, which oversees the conversion process among these Marrano descendants, said that over the years individual Marranos have converted to Judaism , but now, thanks to the foundation’s efforts, entire communities of Marrano offspring are converting to Judaism and reclaiming their ancient heritage.

This phenomenon is becoming increasingly common. In 2005, tens of families of Incan Jews from the city of Trujillo, Peru, returned to Israel. The Jewish community of Tarapoto, deep in the Amazonian jungle, founded by Jewish refugees from Morrocco in the 1880s, has gotten its first rabbi. An outreach center for descendants of anusim (the proper term for Marrano) was recently opened in Recife, Brazil. Tens of thousands of Ethiopian Jews and Bnei Menashe Indian Jews, descendants of the Ten Lost tribes, have returned to Israel.

"Lost" Jews around the world are taking the plunge and returning to the ways of their ancestors. Clearly, G-d is still with us. This nation is destined for great things. Do you want to sit on the sidelines and watch or be part of this amazing miracle?

Christians often ask why Jews get so irate when they "share" their faith with us. (To Christians: there are millions of lapsed Christians, billions of Muslims, millions of Hindus, many, many non-Christians, so why concentrate on a few million Jews who just want to be left alone?) To answer this, let me share some Jewish history with you.

G-d made an eternal covenant with our father Avraham, saying: 'Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto the land that I will show thee. And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and be thou a blessing. And I will bless them that bless thee, and him that curseth thee will I curse; and in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed.' (Gen. 12:1-3). Throughout the ages, G-d has been with us through fire and water, Crusades and pogroms, jihad and terror. Yet, many Jews did not merit to have Jewish descendants survive until today.

When the Jews left Egypt, four-fifths of the Jews did not leave but perished in the plague of darkness. Only 20% of the Jewish people were ready to defy Egyptian idolatry by sacrificing a goat and to leave the exile. If you are a Jew today, you are descended from those fifth of amazing Jews who had the courage to follow HaShem into the desert.

When the Jews came into the land of Israel, the ten northern tribes abandonned the Torah and worshipped idols. While the tribes of Judah and Benjamin stayed mostly loyal to the ways of their ancestors, the kings of Israel built golden calfs and offered their children to Molech. These ten tribes were exiled by Sancheriv and, until the coming of the moshiach, have disappeard. If you are a Jew today, you are descended from those two tribes that kept G-d's laws.

When Israel was conquered by the Greeks, many Jews were seduced by Greek Hellenic culture. These Jews hellenized their names, accepted the Greek idols and emersed themselves in Greek culture. Many even undid their circumcisions with the hopes of fitting in. When the Jewish majority that kept the "old-fashioned" ways drove the Hellenizers out in the miracle of Channukah, the Hellenizers were free to move to Greece were they could live out their days, for all intents and purposes, as good Greeks. If you are a Jew today, you are descended from the brave Chassidim and the brave Jews who fought alongside Judah the Maccabee and the Hasmoneans.

When the Hasmoneans reestablished Jewish sovereignty over Israel, many of the Jewish elite and priestly class joined the Sadducees religious sect. The Sadducees believed only in the literal Torah text even as the majority of the people stayed true to the teachings of the Sages, to Pharaic Judaism which came from Moses at Sinai. After the destruction of the Temple, these heretics disappeared from history. If you are a Jew today, you are descended to those who refused to deviate from the laws and teachings of Moshe Rabeinu A"H.

When the Romans conquered Israel, in an atmoshpere of intense Messianic anticipation, some Jews turned to heresy and followed, alongside the Sadducees, the Essenes and early Notzrim who later became known as Christians. The Essenes rejected mainstream Jewish society, which they viewed as corrupt, and went to live in commnunal settlements near the Dead Sea. Other Jews joined the Christian movement and believed in a divine intermediary, in the form of the Christ, and called the rabbis 'broods of vipers'. These groups either vanished or assimilated into the gentile Church. If you are a Jew today, you are descended from those who were not swayed by the Essenes, Notzrim or any other heretic.

When the Jews came to Babylon and the Amoraism started to set down the Talmud, a large segment of the Jewish population came to follow the teachings of Anan ben David and became Karaites. They believed only in the literal written word of the Torah and saw the rabbis as false, adding to Moses's law. Besides a few thousand families of Karaites in Israel, they are largely gone. If you are a Jew today, you are descended from the Jews who accepted both the Written and Oral Torah as divine and originating at Sinai.

When the Jews came to Europe, they were attacked by Christian Crusaders who demanded that they accept baptism or death. Entire communities recited the Sh'mah, the traditional Jewish prayer which affirms G-d's Oneness, before taking their own lives or being butchered by Crusading swords. Only a handful of Jews converted. If you are an Ashkenazi Jew today, you are descended from those who refused to worship a foreign god.

When the Jews were given the choice between expulsion from Spain or conversion, tens of thousands of Jews choce Spain and Christianity over the Torah. Many thousands of those continued to practice Judaism in secret, called derogatorily marranos which means 'pigs' (though properly called anusim, 'those who were raped') until being burnt by the Inquisition. Of the tens of thousands who compromised the New Christians, none remain as part of the Jewish people. In fact, many descendants of anusim today are returning to the faith of their ancestors. If you are a Sephardic Jew today, you are descended from those Jews who prefered leaving the richness of Spain than compromising their Jewish faith.

In every age, only those who kept the Torah of Moses, in both its written and oral forms, have survived. Even today, it was found in a study of Jewish demographics, that out of 100 Reform Jews, within 3 generations, only 4 remain Jewish, while out of 100 Orthodox Jews, within 3 generations, there are close to 3000 Jews. It has been estimated that within 50 years, the Reform Jewish population of the United States will have decreased by 90% through assimilation and intermarriage. That's why anyone who wishes to separate a Jew from Moses' Torah is our enemy. Christian missionaries, whether through the sword and stake or through proselytizing and "Christ in the Passover" seders, have the same ultimate goal, or at least result: the complete eradication of the Jewish People. Jews, your ancestors gave so much to remain Jewish, and those who did not are no longer. Do not sell your birthright for a pot of lentils.

Shoovah Yisrael as HaShem Elokeicha! "Return O Israel unto HaShem your G-d!" (Hoshea 14:1)

Bush: Free Your Captive

From Justice For Pollard:

- Jonathan Pollard was a civilian American Naval intelligence analyst. In the mid 1980's (circa 1983-1984), Pollard discovered that information vital to Israel's security was being deliberately withheld by certain elements within the U.S. national security establishment.

- Israel was legally entitled to this vital security information according to a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.

- The information being withheld from Israel included Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities - being developed for use against Israel. It also included information on ballistic missile development by these countries and information on planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets.

- When Pollard discovered this suppression of information and asked his superiors about it, he was told to "mind his own business", and that "Jews get nervous talking about poison gas; they don't need to know."

He also learned that the objective of cutting off the flow of information to Israel was to severely curtail Israel's ability to act independently in defense of her own interests.


- Pollard was painfully aware that Israeli lives were being put in jeopardy as a result of this undeclared intelligence embargo. He did everything he possibly could to stop this covert policy and to have the legal flow of information to Israel restored. When his efforts met no success, he began to give the information to Israel directly.

- Jonathan Pollard was an ideologue, not a mercenary. The FBI concluded after nine months of polygraphing that Pollard acted for ideological reasons only, not for profit. This fact was recognized by the sentencing judge who declined to fine Pollard. (See the addendum for further details.)

Furthermore, on May 11, 1998, Israel formally acknowledged Jonathan Pollard had been a bona fide Israeli agent. This fact wiped out any remaining doubt about Jonathan Pollard's motives. Being an official agent is, by definition, the polar opposite of being a mercenary.

- In 1985, his actions were discovered by the U.S. government. His instructions from Israel were to seek refuge in the Israeli embassy in Washington. When Pollard and his former wife sought refuge there, they were at first received and then summarily thrown out into the waiting arms of the FBI.

- Jonathan Pollard never had a trial. At the request of both the U.S. and Israeli governments, he entered into a plea agreement, which spared both governments a long, difficult, expensive and potentially embarrassing trial.

- Jonathan Pollard fulfilled his end of the plea agreement, cooperating fully with the prosecution.

Nevertheless, Pollard received a life sentence and a recommendation that he never be paroled - in complete violation of the plea agreement he had reached with the government.

- Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for harming the United States.

- Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for compromising codes, agents, or war plans.

- Jonathan Pollard was never charged with treason. [Legally, treason is a charge that is only applicable when one spies for an enemy state in time of war.]

- Jonathan Pollard was indicted on only one charge: one count of passing classified information to an ally, without intent to harm the United States.

Pollard is serving his 23rd sentence with nor end in sight, even though the average sentence for passing info to an ally is about 4 years. Pollard received a comparatively harsh sentence.

For example, compare and contrast the treatment of Jonathan Pollard with that of Steven Lalas, a Greek American who compromised the identities of American agents in the Balkans. Although Lalas did not cooperate, the Government still honored his plea agreement and sentenced him to only 14 years. Pollard's less serious offense and full cooperation with the Government netted him a life sentence, in complete violation of his plea agreement.

Worse still is the case of Lcmdr Michael Schwartz, a non-Jew who spied for Saudi Arabia, an ally of the US, and who got not a single day in prison. Compare that to the life sentence Pollard, a Jew, received for spying for a different ally, Israel. Schwartz was treated with kid gloves and given only a slap on the wrist and a kiss good-bye for his offense - dismissal from his Navy job and loss of rank and pension. Compare and contrast that with the life sentence Pollard received for a similar offense.

Even those who committed far more serious offenses and who spied for enemies of the US received far less severe sentences than Pollard. For example, compare the case of Clayton Lonetree who sold the floor plans of the American embassies in Moscow and Vienna as well as the identities of American agents to Soviet Union, a hostile country. Lonetree's 25 year sentence was soon reduced to 20. Lontree, convicted in 1987, the same year as Pollard went free in 1996, after serving only 9 years. Pollard remains in prison in the 21st century with no end in sight.

Or take the case of Albert Sombolay who spied for Iraq during the Gulf War and endangered the lives of American soldiers by selling samples of American chemical protective gear to the enemy. Sambolay got 35 years and subsequent reductions in his sentence brought it down to 19 years with further appeals pending until it just dropped off the screen. Or the case of Aldrich Ames, a high ranking CIA official who spied for the Soviet Union. Ames was responsible for the deaths of at least 11 American agents and for compromising a number of American programs. Although his crime was far more serious, Ames received the same sentence that Pollard received for his 1 count of passing classifed information to an ally - life in prison.

The stark contrast between the Pollard case and other recent cases of espionage readily illustrates why Appellate Court Justice Steven Williams described the Pollard case as, "a fundamental miscarriage of justice."

Israel has released hundreds of Arab prisoners at the behest of the United States, encouraged by George Bush. Jonathan Pollard has served more than enough years for giving Israel critical information that it was legally entitled to. When Bush comes to visist Jerusalem this week, let him bring Jonathan Pollard, prisoner of Zion, with him.

Jonathan can be now be e-mailed at mail2pollard@gmail.com. Please send him letters of encouragement and thank him for his self-sacrifice on behalf of the entire people of Israel.

"And the ransomed of HaShem shall return, and come with singing unto Zion, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away." (Isaiah 35:10). Amen, speedily in our days.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

Perish Chrismukkah!

Tuesday night is the first night of Chanukkah, the festival of lights. Many, in the US especially, celebrate this holiday like a Jewish Christmas, with white and blue tinsel instead of red and green and holiday bushes. Chanukkah is treated as a Jewish rival to Christmas and they are often fused together into 'Chrismukkah'. Irony of ironies as Chanukkah is a holiday celebrating the victory of Judaism over assimilation and secularism.

In the 2nd century before the Common Era, the Graeco-Syrian king Antiochus Epiphanes ('divine manifestation'- the Jews called him Epimanes, meaning 'madman') sought to unify his kingdom under the Hellenistic culture and forbade the practice of Judaism in Judea. He banned under pain of death the study of the Torah, observance of kashrut, shabbat and circumcision. Antiochus defiled the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, established an altar to Zeus and sacrificed pigs on it. A small and radical minority, impressed with Hellenistic culture, decided 'let's forget about this old stuff- it's too primitive and barbaric so let's get modern', so they took on Greek names and culture. These Hellenizers, as they were known, went to the gymnasiums and even went through extremely painful surgeries to reverse their circumcisions. A rich Hellenizer by the name of Jason even bought the position of High Priest from the king!

Opposed to them were a committed band of Jews known as the Hassidim who zealously observed G-d's Torah. These were the first religious martyrs in history. One such example was the martyrdom of Chana and her 7 sons. Chana and her 7 sons were summoned to the court of Antiochus. One by one, Antiochus demanded that they bow down to a Greek idol and oone by one they refused. The first son, the eldest, refused to worship a god other than HaShem and for his refusal he was slowly tortured before his mother's eyes and dismembered. Slowly, 6 of Chana's sons were brutally butchered until it came time for the youngest, a little boy. Antiochus, in his "mercy", threw his ring before the idol and asked for the youngest to pick it up. The youngest refused as it would appear as if he were bowing before an idol. Before Antiochus took the youngest away, Chana said to him "My son, listen carefully to my words: I carried you for nine months, nursed you for two years and have fed and cared for you up to this very day. To the best of my ability I have taught you about God and the Torah. Do not exchange your commitment and loyalty to Judaism for the fleeting offerings of a king who will soon perish himself..." She told her son that when he arrives in heaven, to tell Avraham Avinu not to boast as he only bound his son while she sacrificed all 7 of hers. Full of despair, she flung herself off a rooftop. Many thousands of Jews died this way, al kiddush HaShem, sanctifying G-d's name.

Greek soldiers enforced Antiochus' wicked decrees in every city and hamlet in Judea. In the town of Modi'in, outside of Jerusalem, an altar to Zeus was erected and a Hellenized Jew offered to sacrifice a pig to it, infront of the entire town. An elderly priest by the name of Mattityahu, incensed at this brazen profanation of G-d's name, rushed towards the apostate and killed him. He cried out 'Mi Le'HaShem Elay!', 'Whoever is for G-d, to me!', in the manner of Moshe Rabeinu, Moses our Teacher. Mattityahu led the entire town to destroy the Greek garisson in the city. Mattityahu died shorty after the beginning of the revolt but his five sons, Shimon, Yochanan, Yehudah (Judah), Elazar and Yonatan continued the rebellion. The rebels took the title Maccabbee which is an acronym for the Torah verse "Who is compared to You among the mighty, oh Lord" (Exodus 15:11).

The few Jewish rebels, none of them soldiers by profession, were met by thousands of crack Greek troops, armed with phalanxes and elephants yet the Jews, who were familiar with the hills and plains of Judea, were victorious. We recite the special Al HaNissim, 'On the Miracles, prayer which mentions this amazing victory. "...You gave the mighty into the hands of the weak, and the many into the hands of the few, and the defiled into the hands of the pure, and the wicked into the hands of the righteous, and the malicious into the hands of those who engage in Your Torah..." Led by Yehuda HaMaccabi, the Maccabbees drove the Greeks out of Judea and reconquered Jerusalem. When they ascended the Temple Mount, they found the Holy Temple in disrepair, defiled, with a statue of Zeus at its center. The Al HaNissim continues "And You made a great and holy name for Yourself in Your universe; and to Your nation, Israel, did You grant a great salvation and liberation, as on this day. And subsequently Your children came to Your holy abode, and they cleared out Your Palace, and they purified Your Temple, and they kindled lights in the courtyards of Your holy place. And they established these eight days of Chanukah in order to give thanks and praise to Your great name." After cleaning and cleansing the Temple, they wanted to relight the holy lights of the Menorah, the 7 branched candelabra but all of the olive oil was defiled. After a lengthy search, the Jews found a small jar of olive oil with the seal of the High Priest in a corner of Temple. Even though there was only enough oil to last for 1 day, the Jews filled the Menorah and miraculously, the oil lasted for 8 days until new oil could be prepared. In memory of this amazing miracle, we light the 8 branched Channukiyah.

So what is Chanukah? It is the victory of light over darkness; of holiness and absolute truth over profanity and hedonism. It is a clash of civilization where Judaism triumphed over secularism. It is the the defeat of assimilation and self-hatred and the victory of Jewish pride and dedication. In these days of moral relativity, materialism and atheism, let us remember the brave Maccabbees who rose up in defense of the truth of the Torah, of the faith of their ancestors and proudly demonstrated to the tyrants and oppressors that the Jewish people are prepared to fight to preserve our way of life.


'Baruch ata Hashem, Elokeinu, melech haolam, sheassa nissim l'avoteinu, bayamim hahem, ba'zman haze'

Blessed are You, Hashem, our G-d, Ruler of the Universe, Who performed miracles for our forefathers, in those days, in this season.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard

Facts and Fiction

Today is the 60th anniversary of the UN vote for the Jews to gain a state in Israel. On November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly approved, 33 to 13, Resolution 181, a partition plan that would have created two states, one Jewish and the other Arab, in what was then the British-controlled Palestine Mandate. According to the resolution, Jerusalem was to be a separate, international city, under UN jurisdiction. The November 29 decision was also a rare instance of the Soviet Union and the United States voting on the same side of a major foreign policy issue, which allowed their satellite nations to vote in favor of partition as well.

The Jews, even after the final state that they were to be given was much less than than originally promised them by the League of Nations and the Balfour Declaration since Jordan had been given to the Arabs and a second Arab state was supposed to be created on the western bank of the Jordan, danced in celebration. The Arabs, however, in typical fashion, marched out of the UN in a huff and prepared for war. The Jews were promised by the UN a greatly reduced state that had 40% of its population Arabs but nonetheless they rejoiced. The Arabs, of course, went to war. Having defeated over a million Arab troops determined to massacre the Jews, Israel's borders were increased and hundreds of thousands of Arabs fled, reducing their percentage of the population.

After Israel's War of Independece, Jordan conquered Judea and Samaria and Egypt conquered the Gaza Strip. Neither nation offered to create a "Palestinian" state (the "Palestinians" didn't even exist before '67) on these lands, even banning "Palestinian" national groups. Not that the Arabs really protested- the need for a "Palestinian" state only came after the Jews liberated the area in 1967 after defeating the Arab onslaught during the Sinx Day War.

Now, Zionist readers, arm yourselves with facts and go out and challenge the army of rabid anti-semitic lies. The Jews did not steal "Palestine" from anybody. Would you like to know the origin of the word "Palestine"? The term "Palestine" came from the name that the conquering Roman Empire gave the ancient Land of Israel in an attempt to obliterate and de-legitimize the Jewish presence in the Holy Land. The name "Palestine" was invented in the year 135 C.E. Before it was known as Judea, which was the southern kingdom of ancient Israel. The Roman Procurator was enraged at how the Jews refused to accept Roman rule and insisted on revolting, clinging desperately to their land. In a bid to dejudaize Israel, the Procurator named the land for Israel's biblical enemies, the Philistines. Thus, the Procurator declared that Land of Israel would from then forward be called "Philistia" [further bastardized into "Palaistina"] to dishonor the Jews and obliterate their history. Hence the name "Palestine." "Palestine" is only an attempt to erase the Jewish connection to Israel.

In honour of the 60th anniversary of the UN resolution and the holiday of Hannukah when the Jews rose up and cleansed the land of Hellenistic influences, Jews are preparing to build 3 more outposts in Judea and Samaria. Land of Israel activists in Judea and Samaria said Thursday that they planned to establish three new Jewish communities in the region during Chanukah. In addition, activists plan to return to five communities that were originally built this past Sukkot but which police have repeatedly torn down. The activists said they will build the new communities on the fifth day of Chanukah, Sunday, December 9. One will be located near Beit El, and will be called Givat HaOr, “The Hill of Light.” The second new community, Maoz Ester (“Ester’s Fortress”), will be built near Kochav Yaakov just north of the capital and a third town will be built near the Jerusalem suburb of Maaleh Adumim. (From Arutz-7)

Just for your musical pleasure, here is Harel Moyal, the winner (or runner-up, I'm not sure) of Israel's version of American Idol, Cochav Nolad (A Star is Born) singing Simanim.



And Balbeli Oto by Kobi Peretz:

It Should Again See Light

It is the month of Kislev, the month of Channukah! I was actually born on Erev Channukah, the 25th of Kislev. Since Chanukkah will be in a few weeks, I want to repost one of my favourite Chanukkah stories which I found on Chabad.org. I've heard this story many times before but it makes me tingle every time I hear it. (An amazing anthology of Chanukkah stories can be found here) The world is just too crazy and unfortunately, the Israel of today is ruled bu the same Hellenized Jews as in the time of Channukah. I pray that Hashem send us true Maccabees today and that the light of Torah shine through and overcome the darkness of secularism, assimilation and ignorance. Enjoy!



It Should Again See Light

By Dr. Blair P. Grubb


Several years ago, a physician from southern France contacted me. His granddaughter had taken ill with a disease that baffled the physicians there. He called after reading several of my articles on disorders of the autonomic nervous system. His granddaughter's symptoms seemed to match those I had described, and he asked me if I could help. I readily agreed, and for many months, I collaborated with the child's French physicians by telephone and by fax, directing their diagnostic testing. At last we came to a diagnosis, and I prescribed a course of therapy. During the next several weeks, the child made a seemingly miraculous recovery. Her grandparents expressed their heartfelt thanks and told me to let them know should I ever come to France.

In the summer of 1996, I was invited to speak at a large international scientific meeting that was held in Nice, France. I sent word to the physician I had helped years before. Upon my arrival at the hotel, I received a message to contact him. I called him, and we arranged a night to meet for dinner.

On the appointed day we met and then drove north to his home in the beautiful southern French countryside. It was humbling to learn his home was older than the United States. During the drive he told me that his wife had metastatic breast cancer and was not well, but she insisted upon meeting me. When introduced to her, I saw that despite her severe illness, she was still a beautiful woman with a noble bearing.

After dinner, we sat in a 17th-century salon, sipping cognac and chatting. Our conversation must have seemed odd to the young man and woman who served us because it came out in a free-flowing mixture of English, French, and Spanish.

After a time the woman asked, "My husband tells me you are Jewish, no?" "Yes," I said, "I am a Jew." They asked me to tell them about Judaism, especially the holidays. I did my best to explain and was astounded by how little they knew of Judaism. She seemed to be particularly interested in Chanukah. Once I had finished answering her questions, she suddenly looked me in the eye and said, "I have something I want to give to you."

She disappeared and returned several moments later with a package wrapped in cloth. She sat, her tired eyes looking into mine, and she began to speak slowly.

"When I was a little girl of 8 years, during the Second World War, the authorities came to our village to round up all the Jews. My best friend at that time was a girl of my age named Jeanette. One morning when I came to play, I saw her family being forced at gunpoint into a truck. I ran home and told my mother what had happened and asked where Jeanette was going. 'Don't worry,' she said, 'Jeanette will be back soon.'

"I ran back to Jeanette's house only to find that she was gone and that the other villagers were looting her home of valuables, except for the Judaic items, which were thrown into the street. As I approached, I saw an item from her house lying in the dirt. I picked it up and recognized it as an object that Jeanette and her family would light around Christmas time. In my little girl's mind I said 'I will take this home and keep it for Jeanette, till she comes back,' but she and her family never returned."

She paused and took a slow sip of brandy. "Since that time I have kept it. I hid it from my parents and didn't tell a soul of its existence. Indeed, over the last 50 years the only person who knew of it was my husband. When I found out what really happened to the Jews, and how many of the people I knew had collaborated with the Nazis, I could not bear to look at it. Yet I kept it, hidden, waiting for something, although I wasn't sure what. Now I know what I was waiting for. It was for you, a Jew, who helped cure our granddaughter, and it is to you I entrust this."

Her trembling hands set the package on my lap. I slowly unwrapped the cloth from around it. Inside was a menorah, but one unlike any I had seen before. Made of solid brass, it had eight cups for holding oil and wicks and a ninth cup centered above the others. It had a ring attached to the top, and the woman mentioned that she remembered that Jeanette's family would hang it in the hallway of their home.

It looked quite old to me; later, several people told me that it is probably at least 100 years old. As I held it and thought about what it represented, I began to cry. All I could manage to say was a garbled "merci." As I left, her last words to me were Il faudra voir la lumiere encore une fois -- "it should once again see light."

I later learned that she died less than a month after our meeting. This Chanukah, the menorah will once again see light. And as I and my family light it, we will say a special prayer in honor of those whose memories it represents. We will not let its lights go out again.

Flashback in Jewish History: Jordanian Desecration of Jerusalem 1947-1967

Hussein, King of Jordan, in a speech in Beirut on 24, August 1967, claimed "the right faithfully to guard the Holy Places that our Arab band has known how to guard these thousand years and more." This is nothing more than a mockery of the facts of the Jordanian desecration of Jewish and Christian holy sites.

Before the UN passed its resolution 29 in 1947 supporting the establishment of the State of Israel, the Arab Legion of Jordan launched an attack on Jerusalem and tried to besiege the Jewish majority by cutting of its supply of water, food and by blocking all roads. The Jordanians bombarded the city and Egyptian and Iraqi troops advanced from the south to mmet with the Jordanians for the final offensive.

The brave Jewish warriors managed to repel the Iraqi and Egyptian forces but the Old City fell to superiour Jordanian firepower. Once the Jordanians had conquered the Jewish Quarter, it annexed the city, expelled the ancient Jewish population and set out to destroy every last vestige of the long and proud Jewish connection to Jerusalem. The Jordanian forces desecrated 34 out of 35 Jewish houses of worship including the 16th century Hurva synagogue of Rabbi Yehuda He-Hasid and the Yochanan ben Zakai synagogue. For the first time in centuries, not one Jew lived in the Jewish Quarter of Jerusalem. The Jordanians ignobly burned hundreds of ancient Torah scrolls, thousands of holy books, razed tens of syangogues or used them as stables, coops or latrines and paved a highway through the millenial-old Mount of Olives cemetary, using centuries old tombstones as pavement. During these 19 long years, Jews were forbidden from going to pray at the Western Wall and had to climb the Mount of Olives just to get a glimpse of the holy site. Nor were Jews the only victims. Very limited numbers of Christians were allowed to make pilgrimages to their holy sites during Easter and Christmas. There were severe restrictions on the building of Christian schools and the Qur'an was required to be taught in all of them. The number of Christians in Jerusalem declined from 25,000 in 1949 to less than 13,000 in June 1967.

This travesty came to an end with the liberation of Jerusalem in 1967. After 2000 years of closing every Passover seder and Yom Kippur fast with the words 'Next Year in Jerusalem!', Israel's leaders plan to divide Jerusalem up. The last time that Jerusalem was in non-Jewish hands, it was desecrated. The Pali. Arabs have a very bad track record themselves on protecting the holy sites of other faiths. When Israel handed over Joseph's Tomb to the Palestinian Authority, it was torn apart and the holy books inside burned. The Islamic wakf is engaging in illegal excavation on the Temple Mount and destroying priceless archaeological evidence. Tens of churches were bombed this year. Think! There are absolutely no Jews living in any Arab-majority city in Judea and Samaria. There is no Jewish presence in the Shechem, now known as Nablus, the site of Joseph's Tomb. The Jewish community of Hebron where the Tomb of the Patriarchs is numbers in the hundreds and lives under intense security.

Those who fail to heed the past are condemned to repeat it.

Cross-posted to Goat's Barnyard