Bush-Who the HELL is Abbas you idiot?

Well Annapolis is over and it didn't have the dramatic effects that everyone was expecting. The fact the PM of Israel is ONCE AGAIN sitting down offering more land to a leader who's sole purpose in being there is to eventually be able to kill as many Jews as possible.

But this "Palestinian leader" is probably the most interesting in all of the leader's who have come to the White House before to solve "The Situation," (oh wait there was only one, Arafat. There was nobody before him).


The brainchild of Bush was that we would throw the Jews out of Gaza and then have the Arabs come in a create a stable, functioning society that would bring prosperity to the world.

I don't know who he was kidding but the fact that it's turned into a terrorist nest I think has burst Bush's bubble.

But Bush is a man who is obsessed with democracy. Democracy in Afghanistan, democracy in Iraq, and "Mr. Palestine" wants democracy in these new terror states that he stays up at night dreaming about. How do we make a democracy? Oh, I know, we have elections! Then the people will vote in a leader who I can then negotiate with.

There's just one problem with that, the Arabs voted in a terror group which was inevitable because both parties that were running were terror groups. Those STUPID people! They voted in the WRONG terror group!

There's a key difference between Hamas and Fatah, Hamas is a devoutly religious group and they answer to no one except "Allah." Bush doesn't speak that language so he can't negotiate with them.

Fatah on the other hand are not as religious when it comes to Allah, they are more religious when it comes to something that Bush can give them, MONEY!

So we have a group that has been given the opportunity to democratically vote the leader they want in order to represent them in the pathway for them to acquire a state, which they never did anything to actually deserve. They can't ever vote for the right party!

So it should make sense that you take the party that lost and that's who you're going to invite to Annapolis to make a new Middle East, because this guy is obviously backed by the people he's supposedly representing right?

Mr. Bush, get you're head out of your tush and go read a Bible (after you've spent about 2 days underwater in a mikve to cleanse yourself of all of the sins you've done)

EDITOR'S NOTE: I am going into finals and will probably not be able to post for the next 2 weeks or so.

"The Last Jew"

I found this very disturbing, yet it gives you something to think about.

From the Milkshake and the Flood blog:

My name? My name is not important.

Who am I? I am the last Jew. The year is 2124, the place is the Smithsonian Institute is Washington D.C. I am in this museum, in a cage on exhibit. People pass my way, day in and out, staring, pointing, and even sometimes laughing. On the walls surrounding my exhibit are the remnants of a Jewish culture; a talit, a Torah, the books of the Talmud. Each day, as I sit here watching the people pass, I wonder to myself how six and a half million people who existed as Jews a little over a century ago could have possible vanished. My father and grandfather used to talk with me about the Jewish communities in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; about the large populations in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago, Pittsburgh, and world-wide organizations like United Synagogue, B'nai B'rith and so many others. I recall my father telling me how successful and prosperous the Jew in America was. And about a land called Israel. And yet, all this has vanished--all this has disappeared. I contemplate the reasons, I recall the events, and I search for an answer. I now believe that I know how the Jews in America and in the world disappeared. Small things at first, things that happened gradually. Jewish families stopped attending Shabbat services, the parents stopped sending their children to religious schools, Hebrew High School, day schools and Bar Mitzvah classes. The Shabbat candles were never lit. My grandfather told me that they were still good Jews--some of them spoke Yiddish, they attended Yom Kippur service, they held a Passover Seder each year. Some of them were Jewish by heart; others by tradition and others by stomach. However, the books tell me that in time, this too, ended. To attend a Kol Nidre service became a chore, not an honor--to hold a Seder became a task, not a joy. The rituals and observances of Judaism began to vanish, and this I believe was the first step. Intermarriage was in order. The Rabbi became a businessman, not a teacher. Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform were quarreling. I was reading of a Rabbi, Mordecai Rosenberg, who demanded that Jews fight for emancipation between the American community and the Jewish community, to put aside all difference. In time, the Jew did become equal. He attained material success, and he achieved sustained equality. The Jew was at the same level socially as any Christian. Hatred toward the Jew soon died off, and nowhere was there heard a shout of bigotry towards the Jew. And with this fight for equality, all differences were put aside, including religious differences. Jews stopped hanging mezuzot on their doors, as it merely proved them different. Jews when asked if they were Jewish, would either give a brisk "no" or no answer at all. They were Americans first. A non-religious Judaism was established in America. Why didn't these people see that a non-religious Judaism couldn't exist? Judaism obviously needs Jews, but also, Jews need Judaism. Without one, the other is dead. Why didn't those people see it? Why did Ashkenazi and Sephardic Jews fight?

And then, the final blow to the Jew came. It occurred about 50 years ago, and so I can recall it vividly. The Arab nations around the Jewish state of Israel grew restless and strong. As they have since the beginning of recorded history, the Arab nations wanted Israel destroyed. And they acted. With two nuclear pellets, three and a half million Israelis were obliterated, and the land that had once flowed with milk and honey was now charred beyond fertility. When the news of the incident flashed across the globe, the Jew in America turned his head, denied concern and replied, "Really, what could I have done?" Yet, little over 150 years ago, a man in World War II was supposed to have slaughtered six million Jews in Germany, and my father told me that people swore they would never forget. They promised that they would always support the Jews across the continents. They pledged their donations towards the development of Israel, and they vowed their allegiances were forgotten. Any responsibility of the American Jew to Israel was ignored. How forgetful a people can be! When the people lost their pride in themselves, their religion, and their Israel, they lost everything. As it was once said, "If I am not for myself, who will be for me?" I am the last American Jew. In less than twenty years, I too, will die. And never again will another Jew set foot on this planet.

My G-d, my G-d, where did we forsake you?

How Great Stories Are Made

I had an interesting experience at the chiropractor's office this afternoon. My chiropractor is a frum Jew, and has mezuzot on all of the doorposts in his office.

I had just sat down to wait for the doctor when I heard the following dialogue between a father and son:

"Dad, look there's another one! What does it say on it? Sin? Shin? Daled? What is it?
"It's something that religious Jews put on their doorposts. It has verses from the Bible in it."
"Wow! I guess he really does keep the law!"

The conversation ended there, and I poked my head out a spotted a kippa-less father walking out with his inquisitive son. I figured that they were Jewish, because the kid recognized the Hebrew letters, so I'm going to keep that assumption.

I wonder how much of a Kiddush Hashem my chiropractor realized he had created. That kid is probably going to go home and walk around his house and ask "why don't we have anything on our doorposts?" Which will lead to the parents making very uncomfortable gestures at each other ("He picked this up from you!)

They might decide to stop using my chiropractor, and eventually the kid will forget about the whole experience.

I'm guessing the kid was about 8, so fat forward 12 years. This kid is a between semesters of his Junior year and he's signed up to go on a Birthright trip to Israel. He will walk the streets of Yerushalyim, (free, because the Arabs decided to pack their bags and go home to Arabia) and notice the various mezuzot that line the doorposts and entranceway's all over the city.

He will then be reminded of this experience at the chiropractor he used to go to. He will go back to America and start asking questions. The summer following his graduation, he'll head to Israel trying to find himself, somehow wind up at Aish and start learning.

He'll realize that, as a Jew, he belongs in Israel, and will send his parents an email telling them that he's not coming back.

They will of course be outraged, ("This isn't the kind of son we raised!") and will immediately hop on a plane to come to Israel to try to knock some sense into their son.

He will convince them to take the Discovery seminar, take them on some trips all over the country, and they will eventually come around to his way of thinking.

They'll then go back to America, where they will spend the next 3 years watching their son grow on the other side of the world.

On his wedding day they will also decide that they also want to stay in Israel and make Aliyah with Nefesh B' Nefesh the following summer.

They will then somehow run into Rabbi Spiro, who right a book about their story.

This all Mashiach pending of course.

Good luck kid.

The PA Arabs Real Motives Have Been Revealed!

There really are some advantages to reading Al Jazeera, it really lets you see what your enemies true motive are.

Olmert has made a condition for the upcoming summit in Annapolis.

The Arabs have to accept a Jewish state.

I mean what do the Arabs have to do in whatever agreement is going to be made? Let's pretend that G-d didn't run the world for a second, Olmert is offering to give the Arabs half of Yerushalayim, and all of Judea & Samaria. They are offering to accept and help with the creation of an Arab state in the heartland of Israel.

What do the Arabs have to do?

Well, it hasn't been discussed as much as what the Jews will have to give up, but I'd imagine that it's along the lines of previous agreements, stop terror activities, (but the definition "terrorists" is never defined. When was the last time you heard the head of a country or news reporter refer to suicide bombings as "terror attacks?") arrest terrorists, and other aspects of, you know, creating a functioning, thriving society?

Israel has to evacuate hundreds of thousands of Jews who live in the Israel's heartland, and will probably supply this theoretical country with water, electricity, food, other staples so "international war crime" is not thrown at Israel (which it probably would anyway).

Well I'd imagine that this attempt will breed about the same results as other's have. Namely Israel will agree to every single part of its agreement while the Arab leaders take all of the money that has been given to them by the international community, and pocket in their Swiss bank accounts. What hasn't been pocketed will go into buying weapons to shoot at Jews.

So given that history is repeating itself, why should the Arabs accept Israel as a Jewish state? They'll just deny it and they'll still get everything they want.

Olmert's condition threatens to undermine a US-hosted Middle East conference later this month.

Really?! The condition, which is nothing more than a simply saying empty words in Annapolis is what will "undermine the US-Hosted Middle East conference"?!

You know what this means right? As soon as the Arabs which up until this time have only been pushing for the West Bank, will, after they get it, want the rest of Israel.

Differences over the issue emerged this week when Saeb Erekat, the Palestinian negotiator, said Palestinians would not accept Israel as a "Jewish state".

This assertion is seen by critics as a way for Olmert to argue against a return of refugees in a final deal.

I hope that's not Olmert's reason for making the Arabs comply with is demands. I would think that, as the Prime Minister of Israel, he'd have the common sense to see that 7 million Arabs coming into the country would destroy it.

"We do not accept conditions of this type, not at all," Salam Fayyad, the Palestinian prime minister, told Al-Arabiya television.

Of course because if they do accept Israel as a Jewish state they'd have to (horrors) have to admit that the Jews actually belong in the Land of Israel!

Meanwhile is bending over backwards to try to appease these terrorists. I don't agree with what they're doing, but they are doing it. I don't see any Arab countries saying, "Well we've played this whole "Palestinian" game long enough, I guess we should open out borders to allow them to return to their native lands."

An Israeli spokesperson refused to comment.

Now on a side note I've always wondered, from a journalistic ethics perspective, is this ethical? Couldn't anyone put something along the lines of "A un-named commander in the military told me that Canada is planning an invasion of Japan?" There's no way to check statements like these.

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."
-Martin Luther King Jr.

What are YOU willing to die for?

Read This if You Are A G-d Fearing Jew!

This is today's Shmirat Halashon halacha of the day. Please forward this to as many people as possible, and thank you to the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation for all of their phenomenal work!

Talking During the Torah Reading

Unfortunately, idle conversations often begin with stories that are filled from beginning to end with loshon hora. When held in the synagogue, such conversations usually begin prior to the Torah reading, but when the reading commences, the speaker continues his narrative so that he speaks loshon hora even as the words of our holy Torah are being read. Often, this person is among the distinguished members of the congregation whose seat is at the eastern wall, so that his sin is committed in full view of everyone. In this way, one is guilty of desecrating Hashem’s Name in public, meaning, in the presence of ten Jews, a most severe form of chilul Hashem.

Note how many prohibitions this man has transgressed:

(1) The prohibition against speaking loshon hora, aside from numerous other commandments both positive and negative [which one might transgress when speaking loshon hora].

(2) The sin of “You shall not desecrate My Holy Name” (Vayikra 22:32), which, as mentioned above, was transgressed in public.

(3) He has ignored the Torah reading; even if he has missed a single verse or even a single word, his sin is enormous. For our Sages consider it a serious sin even to leave the synagogue while the Torah reading is in progress; how much more so regarding one who is present in the beis haknesses (synagogue) and whose craving for idle conversation and loshon hora causes him to ignore the word of the Living God! Often, this occurs on Shabbos, when the sin is far greater than on a weekday, as is stated in many holy works.

To all of the above is added the sin of engaging in idle conversation in the beis haknesses or beis midrash, which is a great sin as stated in Shulchan Aruch — and certainly when such conversation is in the form of loshon hora!

How Google Saved my Neshama

I've been a lifetime AOL user. Call it the curse of AOL being the first major Email an internet provider and the fact that I've been using the same email address for 12 years.

Anyways. I want to thank Yishai Fleisher for, unknowingly, opening my eyes to an extremely harmful feature that AOL provides.

Let's forget the fact that Aol NEVER WORKS! And it takes approximately 3 minutes to sign onto your screen name (and this is using the AOL website, forget the AOL program!) where you then have to spend another 10 minutes going through your list of 60 emails to weed out the junk from the stuff that's actually important.

So after spending what could have been productive time, deleting emails for Viagra and Microsoft Windows (all at low, low prices) I can finally go to the top of the inbox to read my email only to find that I have five new junk emails to delete.

How I managed 12 years of this with all my hair I have no idea.

So, now that I FINALLY have finished cleaning out my inbox, I can actually read my mail.

But this is actually not the worst part of AOL.

The worst part is actually the ads.

We learned in our E-Commerce class that most people have become immune to banner ads, and I can say that I've become one of them. But I think the fact that you don't even realize consciously what's on the screen is rather disturbing, and it took me a while to realize that AOL's banners are full of half naked women.

They run an ad continuously for a weight loss program, with a bikini-clad woman, as well an ad for an online dating service that shows a girl in her underwear looking at a webcam.

I think the fact that I didn't even REALIZE that that's what I was being bombarded with every single day shows I have some work to do.

So I emailed AOL and complained and this is the response I recieved:

"We are sorry for the inconvenience that our banner ads cost you, but we have no control over what our advertisers put in their banner space."

Translation: "We're getting too much money to care about the spiritual well being of our customers."

Well, I had been thinking about switching to Google's Gmail for some time and had been unable to make the switch until now.

The real catch was that I could still receive all of my AOL mail in my Gmail inbox. I could even send an email with my AOL screen name, all without having to actually sign onto AOL.

But there have been some additional bonuses to switching to Gmail.

First of all, I love the fact that Gmail does not use any picture ads. They take of the successful model of Google that doesn't use picture-based ads, they only use keyword based ads.

This gives me the oppurtunity to see ads that pertain to me. Take for instance an ad for Rabbi Rappaport's mohel services in the Baltimore-Washington area. Or as I wrote about last week, an ad to buy Rav Kook's sefarim online.

I even saw an ad for a dvar Torah on Friday.

Well I must say that I highly recommend Gmail, also for their unnatural ability to filter out spam, even spam that it brings over from AOL.

All in all I have to say that I am extremely happy with my decision and I hope that Gmail continues to provide the excellent product that they have.

Another Aliyah Rant

I was reading the article in the Yeshiva World News about the hardships of Jewish families in America with tuition and healthcare. Not to be blunt or anything, but of the 60 comments posted the word "Aliyah" didn't come up once. (Well, it will when, and if, they post my comment.) How come people don't think of Aliyah as an option? It's what I like to call the curse of the Exile, people have become so comfortable that they've forgotton what the mission of the Jewish people is.

There's a weekly parshah sheet that makes it's rounds in my Shul called the "Penimim." They had an interesting insight into the cause for anti semitism. You know what the cause is?

The Jews.

Not that the Jews exist, but the fact that Jews forget what their mission is.

There's a reason Yaakov declined Eisav's invitation to join with him after they meet (in next weeks Parshah). Yaakov knew that he would be safer traveling with Eisav, but if he did that his family would start to assimilate with Eisavs family and the Jews mission would become lost.

It's funny, because this came from a Yeshivish source, I think some people whould start practicing what they preach.

Arabs are in a good mood, so what do they do? They Shoot Eachother!

This is an article from Al Jazeera, a fine news source that always spell checks it's articles before posting them to their website.

At least five people have been killed and about 100 are reported to have been wounded after gunfire broke out at a rally attended by Fatah supporters in Gaza.

The gunfire erupted as tens of thousands of people were attending the rally in Gaza City to mark the death of Yasser Arafat, the former Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) leader.

Nour Odeh, Al Jazeera's correspondent in Gaza City, said that people fled from the scene as gun battles between Fatah and Hamas fighters intensified.

She said doctors at local hospital had been "overwhelmed" by casualties and that the death toll could rise.

Fatah officials accused Hamas forces of opening fire from the nearby Islamic University, but Hamas said its men had come under attack from Fatah gunmen and shot back.

Organisers say that about 100,000 people had turned up at the commemoration event for the former Fatah leader.

Tense atmosphere

Hamas had broken up some smaller demonstrations organised by its rival on Sunday, the third anniversary of Arafat's death.

Speaking at Monday's rally before the gunfire broke out, Odeh called the atmosphere in Gaza City "quite tense".

"Fatah promised everyone a show of force and presence in Gaza and a show of force they certainly did show," she said.

"[The rally] has surpassed all expectations [of the number of people attending]."

Hamas had set up checkpoints on the main north-south road in Gaza to check vehicles going to the event, residents said.

Their security forces also deployed across Gaza City and fired in the air on Monday morning at one intersection after youths threw stones at them, witnesses said.

Odeh said that she had spoken to people who had walked to the rally from Beit Hanoun, which lies at the northernmost tip of the Gaza Strip.

"Four months after the Hamas takeover of Gaza, the occasion of the anniversary of Yasser Arafat's passing has basically brought all Fatah members together to show that they are here," she said.

She said the rally had galvanised Fatah supporters after previous attempts to hold public demonstrations in the Gaza Strip were put down by Hamas's police force.

Fatah has had only a marginal presence in Gaza since Hamas forces violently took control of the region in June and took over key institutions.

The Wafa news agecny, which is run by the office of Mahmoud Abbas, the leader of Fatah and the Palestinian president, said Hamas had confiscated pictures of Arafat and headdresses symbolising the late leader.

The items were seized "at a time when the Gaza Strip is being deprived of basic goods and medicine", a Hamas security offical was quoted as saying by a pro-Hamas website.

Israel recently imposed caps on fuel imports to the Gaza Strip, leading to transport restrictions and reductions in electricity output to the Palestinian territory.

BEWARE: AMERICANS ARE VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT THE WORLD

PA Arabs Losing Interest in Independent State

This from Israel National News:

by Ezra HaLevi

Though the Annapolis Conference is widely seen in Israel as an effort to keep the Olmert government alive, there are indications it comes at the tail end of the movement for a PA state.

“It would not be a great exaggeration to conclude that the Palestinian national movement has ceased to exist in recent years,” writes political correspondent Danny Rubinstein for Haaretz. “The institutions of the PLO, which were to represent all groups among the Palestinian people, have become outdated and of little importance.”

Rubinstein, in fact a leading proponent of a Palestinian state, laments that many top PA officials have returned to their countries of origin and given up on carving from Israel another Arab state in the Middle East, for the Palestinians. “Nabil Shaath, a PLO veteran who was a minister in the Palestinian government after returning with Arafat and settling in Gaza, has return to his home in Cairo where he runs a thriving business,” Rubinstein notes. “Muhammad Dahlan and Hasan Asfor, who not long ago were ministers and powerful advisors in Gaza, now spend most of their time in Cairo with their families. In Ramallah, it is estimated that 50,000 residents have left the West Bank [Judea and Samaria] in recent years, most to return to their homes and property in Amman. They had come to Ramallah and Nablus to work in PA offices there.”

Though he does not mention it and presumably would not support it, Rubinstein seems to conclude that MK Benny Elon’s Israeli Initiative - to reengage Jordan and Egypt with regard to Judea, Samaria and Gaza – is the way of the future. “With the failure of the PA experiment, the Arab states have begun to return to the scene. The Jordanian government, with the encouragement of Israel, is establishing a renewed presence in the West Bank…King Abdullah II and government leaders in Amman are careful to publicly announce that they have no designs on the West Bank. While this may be true, there is no doubt that their interest in events there is growing. There is every reason to expect further cooperation between the West Bank and the East Bank in Jordan, which will also have political consequences.”

Another report bolsters Rubinstein’s assessment, with PA Arabs massively trying to obtain Israeli citizenship. Reportedly, thousands of PA Arabs living in the areas surrounding Jerusalem have submitted applications to become Israeli citizens, fearing the rise of a PA entity along the borders of the Partition Wall following the Annapolis conference.

Arabs in the surrounding neighborhoods listed as part of Jerusalem’s municipality were offered citizenship after the Six Day War, but many refused. Since then, according to officials, only a few dozen applications were received each year.

In Israel, Birthrate Up for Jews, Down for Muslims

This from the Jerusalem Post:

The country's fertility rate continues to rise; the average number of babies born to Muslim women is falling; having babies before the age of 20 is less common, and the average age when women have their first child is up. These are some of the findings of the report on Patterns of Fertility in 2006 released this week by the Central Bureau of Statistics.
A total of 148,170 babies came into the world last year: 71 percent of them were born to Jewish mothers and 23% to Muslims; 3% to women of undetermined religion; 2% to Druse; and 1% to Christians (81% of those Arabs). According to data from 2006, the average Israeli woman will have 2.9 children in her lifetime, compared to 2.8 based on 2005 figures. The average fertility rate among Jewish women rose from 2.7 in 2005 to 2.8 in 2006. Muslim women's fertility has declined to four children, compared to 4.7 in 2000. The lifetime fertility rate for Christian Arab women was 2.2 children in 2006, compared to 2.7 in 1996. The highest rates are in haredi towns such as Modi'in Illit (Kiryat Sefer) and Betar Illit, with an average of eight children per woman, and in Beduin towns such as Tel Sheva (6.8), Rahat and Arara. The least fertile cities were Ariel (1.7), Kiryat Yam, Tirat Carmel, Kiryat Bialik and Upper Nazareth. There were 3% more newborns than during the previous year, with the increase due largely to a higher birthrate among Jewish women. Baby boys - 51.3% - are more common than girls. In 2006, the average woman gave birth to her first child at 26.8 years, about a year and six months older than a decade earlier. Only 3,966 babies were born in 2006 to women under the age of 20. Nearly 5,900 single Jewish women gave birth that year; most had never been married; the rate was 6.6 births per 1,000 single women in 2006, compared to 4.3 a decade before. Most of the increase was among women in their late 30s. In 2005, 4.4% of all newborns were from multiple pregnancies. During the last decade, there has been a 12% increase in multiple births - putting Israel near the top in this category. Ninety-six percent of the multiple births were twins, and 3% triplets (compared to 10% triplets a decade before). Fully 99.6% of all deliveries are in a hospital. But 3.6% of Muslim women in the South give birth at home.

The Last Place You'd Expect. . .

I just had the most incredible thing happen to me. I switched to Gmail this week for my email. I had been using AOL, but the ads that they post there I didn't think was good for my neshama.
One of the things I like about Gmail is that there are no picture ads, only words.
So I'm looking at my email and in the scrolling bar at the top of the page it switches to this:
תקליטור כתבי הרב קוק - www.talsys.net/?d=p/36 - חדש - גירסה 3 - מותאם לXP

It's a website for Rav Kook's sefarim!

"The Visitor"

This article is from Aish:

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors: Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game. He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave?)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on a regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely (much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... and NEVER asked to leave.

More than 50 years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures. His name?

We just call him, "TV."

And the stranger has a wife now. We call her "Internet."

Hashem Who?

I have a relative who is a Christian Missionary, who sometimes comes by my house in the hope that I'm not there (OK, I'm only joking). But hanging around him, as well as observant Christians has given me some insight into how Jews approach the whole G-d idea.

Lori Palatnik, who has a weekly videocast on Aish, one told a story of a seminar she was giving to intermarried couples, one spouse was Jewish, and the other wasn't.

She spoke about a number of topics, where you should educate the kids, how to deal with certain in-laws and other family members, and throughout the seminar she would get nods of heads from different people all over the room. She was trying to see if she could figure out which was the spouse who was Jewish.

She knew when what topic would uncover that answer. As soon as she started speaking about G-d half of the room leaning in (the non-Jewish half) and half of the room leaned back (the Jewish half).

The non-Jews wanted to hear what she had to say, but the Jews didn't. Why?

Back to my uncle, he knows that everything that happens in is life is from G-d, and he acknowledges it. Throughout his speech he'll say, "Through the work of G-d" he recognizes it.

Why don't Jews?

It's not only the non-religious, Orthodox Jews have trouble saying it. Lori, told a story of a woman who approached her after the seminar and told her that she wanted to become Jewish like her husband, but she was worried that if she became Jewish she would have to give up G-d.

Another, similar, subject that revolves around this idea of the Beit Hamikdash. There a rather disturbing story in the Gemarah (Ketubot 61a), of a Jew and a non-Jew who are traveling together. The non-Jew is lagging and he wants the Jew to slow down, so he yells what he thinks is something that will cause the Jew to stop and be shocked. "The Beit Hamikdash has been destroyed."
The Jew turns around and says, "You want to shock me? You're going to have to do better than that, that's old news."

This a great example of what the Exile has done to us. We had a close friend of the family pass away this past summer, and when I went to make a shiva call I realized something. I took a closer look at what we say to the mourner, "May you be comforted with the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."
What does that mean? It means the feeling you get when you lose someone close to you, is the same feeling you should get when you think about the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash.

I have a rebbe who unfortunetly sometimes has to visit America from Israel. He has some close friends of his who, whenever he's in town, try to get together.
So he's on the phone with one of them and his friend asks him when he's going to to visit America again.
"Well I hope that the next time I see you will be here in Jerusalem in the Holy Temple.

And his friend replied, "Don't be retarded, when are you going to come visit America."

It's a sickness, a sickness of the Exile, and the only thing that will get some people thinking differently will either be a destruction or a rebuilding. The destruction of another Holocaust or the rebuilding of the Beit Hamikdash.

One of the first steps to this is to start realizing G-d more in out lives. Say "Thank G-d," "Baruch Hashem," and don't be afraid. In fact if you say "Thank G-d," to a non-Jew, especially a Christian, they will have the utmost respect for you.

Give it a try, I dare you.

CNN's Bias what's new?

Yasher Koach to the people who put together this video: