Iyar is a Good Month

I have a feeling that tomorrow will be a big day in Israeli politics. Tomorrow we will finally know for sure that the Olmert administration screwed up big time in the war this past summer. Of course, I was saying this last year (but who listens to me?).
This is the month of Iyar, a big month on the Hebrew calender. A cool trick with the word 'Iyar' the word in Hebrew can be broken down from its letters and they stand for Avraham, Yitzchak, Yaacov, and Rachel.
But this Iyar is unique, unlike any Iyar we've had in the past
This Iyar is will mark the 40th year since the 1967 war in which we, the Jews, finally took back the Temple Mount that had been out of our hands for 1900 years.
The number 40 is significant in the Jewish tradition as a special mystical number. For example, the Jews wondered the the desert for 40 years and it rained for 40 day and 40 nights during the time of Noach.
Back in November of last year, Tovia Singer said to watch this month, and watch specifically the week of the 26th day of Iyar (which is May 14th this year), which is exactly 40 days from the start of the 6-day War.
I'm starting to see some hints now of what's to come, and I'm really hopeful that this will be a good month for the Jewish people.
I hope to see the end of the Olmert government, which is very likely given that the Winograd Commission comes out tomorrow and Bibi Netanyahu is now going on a rampage to bring down the Olmert government (I love his campaign line, 'You've failed, go home!)
Please G-d let this be the end of all of the Jewish people's problems bring Mashicach as fast as possible, WE NEED HIM!

How I Spent my Yom Ha'azmaut in America

Yom Ha'atzmaut. Israel's Independence Day. And I spent it watching the movie Paradise Now in my English class. So given that I was forced to watch this movie I might as well share my views on it.

Rubbish.

I always wanted to use that word, it makes me sound sophisticated (being a British word) and at the same time effectively expressing my disgust for the object I'm labeling. The movie was designed to make the viewer sympathetic to the Palestinian 'cause' and legitimize the suicide bombings against Jews. What I'm really frustrated about is the lack of voice on the opposite side, obviously the movie doesn't go into the Israeli side of a suicide bombing, but rather spends the entire time following two men around on the 24 hours before their terrorist attack. In the end, after a heated debate, one of them goes through with the attack while the other's guilty conscience gets to him.
According to Itamar Marcus (Palestinian Media Watch) the movie shows a "romanticized view of suicide terrorists " and anyone who goes the video section of
Palestinian Media Watch can see some of the actual statements these suicide terrorists say before they go and murder Jews.

Adham Ahmad Hujyla Abu Jandal
Prepared before Suicide attack on December 7, 2004
Published on Hamas website in February 2006

"My message to the loathed Jews is that there is no god but Allah [and] we will chase you everywhere! We are a nation that drinks blood, and we know that there is no blood better than the blood of Jews.
"We will not leave you alone until we have quenched our thirst with your blood, and our children's thirst with your blood. We will not leave until you leave the Muslim countries..."

Reem Riyashi
Prepared before Suicide attack on January 14, 2004
Published on Hamas website in January 2004

"I hoped that the shredded limbs of my body would be shrapnel, tearing the Zionists to pieces, knocking on Heaven's door with the skulls of Zionists...
"How often I spoke to my soul, 'O soul, if you loathe the Zionists, enemies of my religion, my blood shall be my path to march to Heaven. Since eighth grade I have striven, seeking people daily to guide, listen and help me...
"How often I dreamed, how often I desired to carry out a Shahada-seeking [suicide] operation inside Israel, and by perseverance, and with Allah's grace, my wish was fulfilled as I wanted."

Mu'min Rajab Rajab Abu Hafs
Prepared before Suicide attack on December 7, 2004
Published on Hamas website in February 2006

"In the name of Allah, we will destroy you, blow you up, take revenge against you, purify the land of you, pigs that have defiled our country... This operation is revenge against the sons of monkeys and pigs...
"I dedicate this wedding [i.e. death for Allah] to all of those who have chosen Allah as their goal, the Quran as their constitution and the Prophet [Muhammad] as their role model. Jihad is the only way to liberate Palestine -- all of Palestine -- from the impurity of the Jews...
"My dear mother, you who have cared for me, today I sacrifice my life to be your intercessor [on Judgment Day]. O my love and soul, wipe your tears, don't be saddened. In the name of Allah, I've achieve all that I've aspired. Don't let me see you sad on my wedding day with the Maidens of Paradise. So be happy and not sad, because in the name of Allah, after death is merciful Allah's paradise."

Bassem Al-Takrouri & Mujahid Al-Jabari
Prepared before Suicide attack on May 17, 2003
Published on Hamas website in February 2006

Bassem Al-Takrouri:
"Angels of mercy, escort our souls to Heaven after we fulfill this duty of crushing the descendents of monkeys and pigs. Dear father and mother, blessings of honor and respect to you, while you escort me to the Maidens of Paradise as a martyr."
Mujahid Al-Jabari:
"My brothers, youth of this nation, march on the way of Jihad and martyrdom-seeking. Carry the Quran in your right hand and your weapon in your left and go in the way of the Chosen [i.e. Muhammad]. Ask for death -- the life will be given to you."


As you can see the reason that they are fighting is not to "liberate Palestine," but to kill Jews, the goal is just that, to kill Jews.
They use all of the classic Arab Propaganda, 'we are living under occupation,' 'the Israeli's are so cruel to us,' blah, blah, blah.
If we were 'so cruel' to them and we wanted to destroy them, we would have done it a long time ago. This one fact should make it obvious to anyone that Israel wants peace with the Arabs. If the situation were in reverse, I don't the Jews would still be around, but unfortunately the PA government has done a great job at brainwashing them and the Western World.
I noticed one interesting point in the movie my classmates did not, that the people who were sent out on this mission were dirt poor. The 'top (rich) people' are sending out the poor people to die for their own personal cause.
This is not a new phenomenon the wealthy Arabs have been walking on the poor Arabs for centuries, and if the Western world knew that they wouldn't be so willing to support the Arabs cause.
On another note I have to remember that G0d controls everything and this is just the emeny of this generation. Where are the Roman? The Germans? The Greeks?
Gone
And we are still here.
And we will continue to be here.

A Little something I'm designing for an upcoming Aliyah newsletter. . .

We DO Have A Right to Exist!

I had another experience yesterday of talking with a Christian about Israel. Just a girl that I got into a conversation with after my math class, and we were discussing our future plans. I, as I do in most of my conversations, mentioned that I’m moving to Israel.

Her response was typical, first “Isn’t it dangerous?” Which my reply was that our hometown is far more dangerous then anywhere in Israel, and in fact, when I was in Israel I was scared for my friends and family back in America. Well that’s not true, there are some places that are more dangerous in Israel, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable walking at night where I currently live, I have no problem walking the streets of Jerusalem at night. Maybe not Ramallah, but Jerusalem, no problem.

Her next question was why I wanted to move to Israel. Well, this is the point I know that they are on my side, because some leftist at this point will tell me how I’m wrong, and that it really is dangerous and that I can’t make any money, and how I’m causing the Palestinian problem, blah, blah, blah.
So I answered, that Israel is the place for all of the worlds Jews, and how I want to develop the land and how Israel is vital for the world’s continuing freedom, not just the Jews.
This has been at least the eighth time in my conversations with Christians that, at this point they cock their heads and say, “Hey that makes sense, why aren’t all of the worlds Jews moving to Israel?”
Why do the Christians get it and the Jews don’t!?

I was listening to A Light Unto the Nations on Israel National Radio, and their guest this week (actually in July as this week was a repeat show) was Pastor John Hagee, a pastor for the Cornerstone Church in San Antonio. I gotta tell you, how inspiring it was to listen to this Pastor talk about Israel and the Jews. He had an intense love for Zionism and Israel, and his mission, along with his church is to help the Jews of Israel, without any political or religious (IE missionizing) agendas.
Jeremy, one of the show’s hosts, brought up an interesting point, that, we, as Jews, sometimes are confused about the world. We have been persecuted for the past 2000 years and the only thing we know how to do is to try to please the world’s nations, not realizing that we, in fact, do have a right to exist, it’s almost like we think we need their permission to exist!
At the time the show had originally aired, we were right in the middle of this past summer’s war, and an interesting was said, that, during the war, the Leftists, when asked why they were shooting at us, admitted, like it was obvious, that ‘they hate us, and want to kill us,’ simple as that. But we see now that the Arabs have stopped firing we’re still trying to get them to talk peace with us.
Secular Jewish Leader: “Please can we have peace with you?”
Arab Leader: “Sure, if you give up the West Bank and Jerusalem, then slowly but surly, the rest of you country, until we can wipe you from the face of the earth.”
Secular Jewish Leader: “Sure, anything if we can only have peace. But could you please do one other small thing? Could you please tell us that we have a right to exist?”
Arab Leader: “I’ll have to think about that one. OK I’ve decided. Our goal is to drive you into the sea, so we will accept your right to exist for as long as you can hold your breath under water.”
Secular Jewish Leader: “Thank you so much!”

We need to stop worrying what the world nations think of us and we need to start doing what WE NEED TO DO, to finally have a victory, a real victory. Not one that pushes the Arabs away temporarily, but one that eliminates the terrorist threat.
As Pastor Hagee says, we can’t live in a world where good and evil live together side by side peacefully, we need to live in a world where good triumphs over evil. The hard part is that evil, unlike in the movies where it’s always dark and scary, nowadays camouflages itself so we think it is good. But if we are uneducated about the dangers we all face, then I’m afraid for the world of tomorrow.

Outfoxing an Islamofacist

This is a great video of Sean Hannity ripping into Imam Abdul Alim Musa. I don't agree with some of Sean's views, but when it comes to Islam and Israel this guy hits the nail on the head!

I just want to respond to a few points this idiot Imam brings up:

Number one, in 1982 Israel went into Lebanon to save the Christian Arabs that lived there from being slaughtered by the Muslim Arabs. I dare to say that those '40,000' people that Israel 'killed' were actually the number of people killed by the Muslims, who, like they are trying to do now in Israel. They simply wanted to slaughter the Christian Lebanese and make Lebanon a Muslim State.

I love the point he brings up with the Neturei Karta! The most disgusting group out there, they give money to terrorists to kill their fellow Jews! Absolutely disgusting!

'Hezbollah is a great movement!' 'Hezbollah only attack Israeli's in Lebanon!' Well that's wring. Didn't the entire war start last summer because Hezbollah terrorists came into Israel and kidnapped two soldiers.After that they were content with firing 4000 rockets specifically targeting Jewish civilians! They know that it they were to fight a legitimate war with the IDF they would be defeated very easily, so they settle for killing Jewish civilians and they hiding behind Lebanese civilians, knowing that Israel won't fire at the civilians!

Regarding the 'difference' between Palestinians and Hezbollah, back in the early 1970's when all of the Palestinian Arabs were kicked out of Jordan, half of them moved into Israel, and the other half to Lebanon. Hezbollah came out of the Lebanon Palestinians. Hezbollah ARE Palestinians!

'Hamas' (or Cham'as) in Hebrew means 'violence'

"Let the 'people' return to their ancestral land." I'm assuming he's talking about the Arabs, except there's one small problem THE JEWS WERE THERE FIRST! And this isn't scepticism, any archaeologist would only have to spend 5 minutes digging any where in Israel and what's he going to find? I guarantee you not Arab artifacts. There's also the small fact that Jews have a record of living in Israel since the destruction of the 2nd Temple, during the time of the Roman occupation. After the Romans came the Christians, and then, only then, did the Muslims come. Of course the Ottoman and Byzantine Empires were thrown into this mess but, if the Muslims think they were there first. . .

One point that never seems to get discussed regarding the Holocaust is that post WWII there was no place for the Jews to go. They weren't welcomed in Europe, Russia, America, or Canada. So instead of sitting around feeling sorry for themselves, they took action and joined the Jews in Palestine, some under the penalty of sitting in more camps, this time created by the British, and, as we know, eventually the Country of Israel was born.

In contrast, the Palestinian Arabs continue to fight a pointless battle, because eventually the Israeli people are going to finally elect someone who will simply kick them out and not try to appease them all of the time. There are more then 20 Arab countries, yet there is only one Jewish country, and this is what the Arabs can't stand. The fact that land that used to be under Islamic control has been taken over by infidels and now the Muslims are being controlled by Jews. This is what the fight is about, it has absolutely nothing to do with land, it has to do with the pride of the Muslims. This is what the West needs to realize.

He brings up an interesting point, when was the last time you heard an African-American say that they are longing to return to their home country in Africa? There's a good chance you never heard it, and the reason for that is that they don't consider Africa their home anymore. But the Jews, for the past 2000 years, have prayed everyday to return to Jerusalem and Israel. We are the most unique people in history because of this fact. And no matter what happens the Jews will continue to long for their homeland until Mashiach comes

A day to remember. . .NOT to forget

Today is Yom Hashoah and the day where we're supposed to remember the Holocaust. I was looking at an interesting headline on Arutz Sheva that said that Olmert, on the night that we remember the Holocaust, was meeting known a Holocaust Denier in an attempt to get 'peace' with our Arab neighbors. I find this ironic as the Arabs view what Israel's doing to them as the same thing the Nazi's did to us 65 years ago. I also love it when they call Israel and apartheid state. If we were acting like Nazi's or if we were an apartheid state, would we be negotiating 'peace' with the people we are supposedly 'oppressing?' Would Arabic be an official language of the country and would an Arab sit in the Kenneset?

I think not.

But they continue to scapegoat Israel, by accusing us of doing the same thing to our neighbors that was done to us in the past.

You know what I have to say to that?

BEFORE THEY CONDEMN US FOR THESE THINGS WHY DON'T THEY TAKE A GOOD HARD LOOK AT HISTORY! ARABS HAVE BEEN PERSECUTING JEWS FOR CENTURIES WE FINALLY GET OUR OWN COUNTRY AND DO WHATEVER WE CAN TO TREAT EVERY SINGLE PERSON IN IT AS A HUMAN BEING, NOT JUDGING THEM BECAUSE OF THEIR SKIN, RACE, OR RELIGION!

Whew, had to get that out.

But we have done whatever we can to have peace with our neighbors and the stumbling block has never been on our end, it has always been on theirs. We keep giving up, and giving up, at the expense of the Jews who live here in order to have peace.

I think it's probably pretty obvious that Israel is not the road block in the 'pathway to peace,' the Arabs are.

On another, similar note, I think the Arab-Israeli conflict (or as the stupid leftist media says, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict) is ill-named. It implies that there are only two levels to the conflict when there are in fact three. The correct name is the Israeli-Arab-Palestinian Government conflict. The media likes lots of explosions and with Israel they know they're going to get it because Israel lets them know exactly what going on on their end. The Arabs don't let journalists in so they don't know when the Arab terrorists are going to attack.

This creates the illusion that Israel' s the aggressor, when in fact the real mastermind that starts everything is the PA government.

The PA government is fighting a very unconventional war with Israel, a war in which no uniforms are worn and the objective is not military battle, but the massacre of innocent men, women and children. When a terrorist is sent in civilian clothing, Israel has no way of weeding out the terrorists from the common Arabs who just want to earn a living. The consequence is that every Arab has to be detained and searched.

Of course all of the useless human rights idiots cry 'foul' on Israel. I wonder if they would say the same if they watched PA terrorists kill an Arab child in a car. Or the mutilation and rape of an Arab woman on the street. Israel does what it does for protection, not just of Jews, but for everyone in the country including tourists, and other Arabs. The Arab government does what it does with one simple objective, to kill as many Jews as possible. I also find it sad that these people who are trying to 'help' the Arabs, are in fact, just pushing them further into the pit their government keeps digging for them.

In some ways the Holocaust is still going on, but cries of 'never again,' might unfortunately be drawing to a close as our leaders start to re-examine what they are doing and start believing the lies told by the Arabs. The only thing we can do is pray, and trust that G-d does have a plan even if it's not apparent right now.

On another note, I have yet to find someone who criticizes Israel, is sympathetic to the Arabs, yet examines the faults of both. This past summer for instance, I haven't heard anyone who has criticised Israel attacking Lebanon say that the reason for Israel's attack is because Hezbollah fired over 4000 rockets into Israel. Israel tries to minimize civilian casualties, the Arabs strive to maximize it.

Vatikin at the Kotel. . .

One of the most moving things I’ve ever done has been davening vatikin (the earliest possible time to daven in the morning) at the Kotel. We used to do this all time in Yeshiva, when one of our Rebbaim would be driving to the Kotel on Friday morning from Ramat Beit Shemesh.

After a car ride of about a half an hour we would pull into a parking spot that would miraculously materialize during our search around the Kotel area. Even at 4:00 in the morning it’s impossible to find a parking spot there, with cars jam-packing every parking lot and the side of every road!

I remember one time when we were going through the Kotel security check point the security guard there said “Shalom,” followed by name. I looked at him and asked him if I knew him from somewhere, thinking he might be another one of my relatives in Israel that I didn’t know I had. He replied in broken English “We are all Jews, and we all stood at Har Sinai together, that is where I know you from!”

Only later, as I was walking to the Kotel plaza, did I realize that my name was clearly printed, in Hebrew, on my T’filin bag! I love this country!

I always love approaching the Kotel at this time of day, when the sky is completly dark, except for a small sliver of red on the distent horizen. I think there might be more people davening there at this time then any other time during the day. This is definitely the time of day with the least amount of tourists, which makes the Kotel Experience much more enjoyable without being interrupted every few seconds by the flashing of cameras, or the whispers (hopefully only whispers!) of conversation.

When davening at this time (well, actually anytime, really) you kind of just join any minyan that is at the point in davening that you want to be. Depending on the speed in which the particular Jewish sect you choose to daven in, you can arrive an hour before sunrise, or 20 minutes before, and you can still find a minyan that is just starting.

But the real magic of the morning is when the sun starts to rise. Every single minyan, no matter what time they started, starts Shmonei Esrai at exactly the same moment, and the noise that was thunderous, with hundreds of people yelling different words at different times, just stops, and all you can hear are the birds that are flying around the Kotel area.

Aliyah. . .

I recieved some great news today, another family from my community is going to be making aliyah this summer, the holy city of Rechovot! Good luck to them and to all of the Jews who will finally be making the final trip this summer!
I've spent the last few days thinking about, what else, moving and living in Israel. I'm writing a paper right now for my sidistic English teacher about the US's history and role in the Middle East, and for some reason I only find myself righting negative stuff about the Arabs and positive stuffa about Israel. But I know that Israel isn't a walk in the park (trust me, I REALLY know!), but a lot of those thing that we Americans feel are 'difficult' are really the kinds of things that, once we get past them, really make us laugh. For instance, I'm reading Laura Ben-David's book about her and her family's Aliyah experience, documenting everything, from a few days before the flight to about 8 months after it. I realized while reading this book that, in Israel or not, we have things like that going on everyday. The kind of incidents that give us a real headace, but if we can just push and look past the hard stuff, we'll realize that it's not really so hard. Plus we'll then have some great stories later.
The one story from the book that sticks out in my mind is when Laura was going to take her driver's test (new country, new license) and how she arrived a day before her scheduled appoinment (at 7:00 in the morning!) and was told to come back the next. I think that was the day the lift arrived so they were up late and the next day she arrived to late to take the test. So the instructor re-sceduled it. When she discovered that the test coincided with her family trip to Eilat she called the instructor and asked if the test could be postponed. She recived a call back that if she didn't come at that time "it is a fail!"
Well needless to say she managed to re-schedule and it was not a 'fail,' but this is a perfect example of an unnerving life experience that, now ,doesn't matter, and it has made for a great story!

We will continue fighting. . .and what Pesach's all about (kinda)

Well Pesach has come and gone and I've spent, now my third Pesach, really wishing that I wasn't in America. Three years with 2 sedarim, two 2 day yom tovim and just a feeling of longing for Eretz Yisrael, my homeland, where the true land of freedom is.
I got an email from my sister who lives in Israel and she has informed me that she really doesn't want to spend another Pesach in the States and I don't blame her. I don't want to spend another Pesach in the States, but, at least for now, I know I'll be spending at least one more here, possibly two.
I don't know what it is about the 2 day Yom Tov that gets to me. Just to clarify above what the '3 years' are, four years ago I had not gone to yeshiva yet, and had not been exposed what living in the Land of Israel really meant. Now that I have lived there all I want to do is get back there permanently. I want to have only one day of Yom Tov, I won't have to deal with anymore of these 3-days-without-a-shower thing. I get an extra day of Chol Hamoed, and I get to eat chometz a day (plus 7 hours) before anyone else here in America.
But I don't want to move to Israel for these physical benefits. I want to experience Pesach, the holiday of Freedom, in the LAND of Freedom. The sense of peace in Israel (ironic isn't it) is unlike anyplace else in the world for a Jew. Long gone are the days where foreign governments will persecute us, long gone are the days when the future of the Jewish people is in question, long gone are the days when we didn't know how we would be treated on a day to day basis, we are finally in our land, the land that is unique only to us. No one else has ever been able to get the land to respond like we have. Take Gush Katif, they had an entire industry growing plants in sand. If you were to ask any gardener if sand would make good soil they would tell you that sand is one of the worst things you could use to grow plants. Yet we, the Jews, managed to do it.
We are a unnatural illogical people who should have disappeared from the earth ages ago
But we're still here.
Part of that has to do with this holiday of Pesach, where we tell over the story of our beginnings and how, no matter what happens to us, we will eventually come out on top.
Maybe that's the reason we have two days of Yom Tom in Chutz L'aretz, here, surrounded by non-Jews we need to be reminded twice about our purpose in the world and how, eventually (whether welike it or not) all Jews will one day live in Israel and we will be a light from Zion going out to the world with everyone having knowledge of the true G-d and Shalom

How Comfortable is America?

I've come to a realization. I want to live in Israel, but I still want to be able to come back to America. The only problem is that (only a small one) I am a Jew. I was reading an article on Aish.com by someone who had made Aliyah a few years ago, and they were describing their first year in Israel, and the thing that really sticks in my mind was when he was describing Pesach. Long ago were the days now when he and his family had to sit in the zoo and eat their funny matzah sandwichs, while the non Jewish crowd stood in line at McDonald's, long ago were the days when he had to hear his boss say, "Let me get this straight, you're taking off of work to go sit in a hut in the backyard for a week?!"
I'll admit it this Yom Tov has been hard, particularly the first day of Chol Hamoed when I had school and work. It was shocking how, here I am, in the middle a holiday with all of these restrictions, and these people around me, are completely oblivious as to what I'm going through.

On a slightly funny (and sad) note, in my office we get a fax everyday from local resteraunts posting the daily specials and menus. Well today there was a little notice under the special of the day (some shrimp dish) that said "We have Matzah and Matzoh Ball soup in honor of Passover."
It's one thing for Jews to over commercialize their holidays, but with Non-Jews it gets kind of ridiculous.
I love America, I don't think Jews should live here but I do love America. But does the fact that I love America have anything to do with the fact that Jews live here? If, for instance, I become a businessman, and have to make occasional or frequent trips here, what would my stay be like if there was no kosher food? If I didn't know where I could daven, or get some seasonal item for an upcoming holiday? (BTW once I move I don't plan on ever coming back to America for even one of the holidays)
Maybe for me to be able to fully enjoy America it has to have Jews in it.
Maybe I'm just rambling random thoughts, but over the Chag 2 shuls in North America were vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti. I'm afraid of the future of this country and the reason I want to occasionally come back to America is for some physical comfort. But at the expense of bodily harm it for sure won't be worth it. Besides, the more North American Jews that make Aliyah, the more Israel will have to conform the American values (like customer service) and then I hopefully won't ever want to leave!

Note: one of those shuls, the one in Montreal. with the 'graffiti' actually was a bomb. Thank G-d no one was hurt, but to make a long story short. . .