The Abelow Elul Update
Shalom to all!!
Note: The following email update ( below) was written 2 days ago, before the twin suicide bombing attacks that killed more innocent Israeli Jews - killings that continue to take place thanks to the planned or unplanned incompetence of the world powers to stop the murderers -(somewhat similar to WWII - when it comes to the lives of Jews). So, I wanted to add in some thoughts about the latest happenings.
It is at times like these that me must remind ourselves that this world is but a corridor to the next world. We cry and scream out to G-d over our losses and question his actions/inactions, as this "matzav" continues, as we should. Yet we should also hold on to our belief that we live our lives according to the Torah so that when we do leave this world, however we do, we move on to the "world to come", and we leave all the pain and suffereing of "this world" behind. Our physical bodies are only the phyiscal cases to house our souls while we travel through this world, but they are not needed in the world to come. Although the above is the "emet", it is still no comfort to all of us left behind who must deal with the losses of our loved ones, acquaintenences and fellow Jews as they are taken from this world.
May "this matzav" come to a quick conclusion, and may we all assist in bringing about the redemption of AmYisrael, Eretz Yisrael and the world, quickly...
Abelow Update
Well the new year has begun!!!
Yakir has officially begun the Israeli school system by going to a public school gan in Efrat! (Note: in Israel, most schools are public schools, and many public schools are religious - this is the gadlut of Israel). Tachlis, that means that Yakir is in a gan with 34 other children and 2 gananot!!
Of all the ganenets in the system his ganenet is one of the best. So we are very thankful that he got her for a teacher. She is childcentered and friendly to the children. The assistant is very disappointing. If it wasn’t for the head ganenet we don’t know if we could’ve started him in the public system yet.
Rachel, the professional ganenet, with an MA in early childhood education, is having a tough time dealing with this new educational reality of such large classes.
Yakir is doing really well adjusting and likes his new gan and Ruti, the head ganenet. He says to Rachel in the morning, “Imma, play with me for a minute and then you can go.” He is doing better than Rachel is! He is such a big boy and developing really nicely.
As for little Itai, he is doing fabulously. Growing bigger and bigger by the day. He has the biggest smile and laughs when tickled! We look at Yakir’s baby pictures and they look exactly alike, it’s unbelievable! We are enjoying him a lot. Yakir loves being a big brother and takes very good care of Itai. He always runs over to give him kisses! Today Itai gave a real hearty laugh when playing with Yakir. It was very exciting! He loves his big brother!
The yamim noraim are upon us and our goal is to unpack as many boxes as possible before the chagim start. Wish us luck.
As for me and Rachel, B"H, we are enjoying now being parents of two beautiful little boys....and that says it all. That is what life is all about, enjoying our kids and growing with them, and we are loving it.
America is changing - beware and be cautious
Right now America is being squeezed from the "right" and from the "left" and the future of America looks very sketchy.
Today, I read a few interesting articles, describing different aspects of the changes that the USA is going through currently, and neither one, unfortuanately, is good for anybody who considers America the land of the free.
One article describes the depth to which the democratic party is failing Americans and America in exchange for a more liberal/unAmerican America.
This article is written by Dennis Prager, an American Jew who is very much respected by many, Jew and non-Jew alike, for defending Judeo-Christian values in America.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=34492
The other articles I read off of various media pulications (MSNBC, Yahoo news etc) on what is scary about where the American administration, (Republican administration under Bush), is taking America with the US Patriot Act (and the steps that the administration wants to take to expand the government powers under this act, allowing more and more intrusive government authorities on personal information and activities - erasing little by little the privacy that Americans think they cherish).
http://www.msnbc.com/news/963214.asp
http://www.sptimes.com/2003/02/16/Columns/If_you_liked_Patriot_.shtml
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=1802&ncid=1802&e=2&u=/washpost/20030909/ts_washpost/a45434_2003sep8
Each article alone might not sound so scary, but reading them together paints a scary picture about the direction that the USA is heading.
Personally, it is quite scary to see America moving in both of these directions. To me these two different "programs " are a sign of the fragile state that the USA is in right now, and a road map (sorry for using this now cursed term) to the direction that the USA is heading.
There are many, many Americans active in fighting against one or both of the above "programs", trying to stop the dangerous slide the USA is falling into (i.e. a liberal un-American America and a police state), but momentum is not on their side. On the one hand the fear of terror is allowing the Bush administration to gain more and more federal powers, to the detriment of the citizens privacy, and on the other hand, the liberalness of America is growing and expanding as we speak - making America less and less the melting pot it used to be and more and more a free for all country where anyone can do anything, and where citizenship doesn't even matter! It is hard to see either of these "programs" come to a halt and reverse themselves.
On the one hand I fear for the changes that America is going through, because America has been very, very good for the Jews and it has been a light unto the nations in many ways. However, I do not believe either of the above mentioned "programs" are good for Americans or for Americans Jews and ultimately they both will change America into a much scarier place to live. I'm more scared for Ameica's future than hopeful. I see these "programs" as a strong sign that is becoming stronger and stronger, a red flag, so-to-speak, for American Jews to leave the USA and come home to Israel. Here we have plenty of other problems and issues that are scary, but at least Israel is our homeland, where in one shape or form, we are impacted by living here in very positive ways.
Kansas is no longer the home Dorothy felt comfortable in - the USA is changing in very scary ways and there truly is no place like home, and that true home is in Israel.
May Hashem look after all of us on this blessed earth that he created, especially in todays topsy turvy world filled with terrorism and hypocrisy, and may we look after ourselves by accepting the scary reality around us and acting accordingly, instead of ignoring it and living life as usual - even though the reality is staring us right in the face.
Israel
I don't have optomistic thoughts on where the world is leading our puppet leaders with regards to the future of the State of Israel. Even though it is scary, it ultimately doesn't bother me, because hakol biday shamayim chutz m'yirat shamayim, and ultimately, everything will end up good. Good for Am Yisrael and for Eretz Yisrael. We still will probably have some very painful bumps in the years ahead, but ultimately, Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael will come out whole (whatever that means). I can't see how we will get there, but that's why I have faith in the one above and that is why I'm active in trying to bring to that future good about and not passive. But for now, the ikar for me is living and growing as a Jew and as a person in this special land we Jews call our inheritance and our homeland. May we take the steps to earn this inheritance and keep it!
With Teshuva, Tzedakah and Tefilah may we all be redeemed.
Elul Tov.
Avi
Thursday, September 11, 2003
Tuesday, July 01, 2003
Great News amongst an Ugly Reality
We finally named our new born son.....Itai Yisrael.
The meaning:
"Itai"
1. One of King David's warriors
2. Hebrew word for friendly/compasion
"Yisrael" - named after my great-uncle Irving who was a gem of a human being - caring, sweet, gentle, friendly and loved by all.
May our Itai Yisrael grow up and develop the wonderful attributes that made my great-uncle Irving the wonderful person that he was.
At the brit I mentioned that Itai's bar Mitzvah parsha is parshat shelach and one major lesson I hoped he would internalize from that parsha is the lesson not to say dibah (the sin of the spies is that they spoke "dibah", or complained, about the land of Israel).
Just focusing on the bad and complaining is not good for one's personal development and not good for one's spiritual development. Rather, the world before us is imperfect, our own people (Am Yisrael) is imperfect and the land of Israel is imperfect, IN ORDER FOR US TO WORK TOWARDS MAKING THINGS BETTER. To focus on the bad, to complain about people, Am Yisrael, or Eretz Yisrael, regardless if it is true or not, means taking oneself out of being actively involved in improving the situation.
Am Yisrael has its problems, but instead of complaining about it, do something about it.
Eretz Yisrael has its problems, but instead of complaining about it, come here and do something about it.
So my bracha to our little Itai is that he hold on to his emunah in Hashem and dedicate himself to deal with the problems and challenges facing Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael instead of running away from the issues and only complaining about them.
That is the good news.
The ugly reality is that the Israeli Prime Minister together with the Bush administration have recently taken concrete steps that will endanger the whole state of Israel in the coming weeks or months ahead. The question isn't IF the palestinians will use terrorism again but WHEN they will begin to use terrorism again? (even the first question is a stupid thought considering that terrorism is still going on, and wasn't totally stopped - a continuation of the successful palestinain game they play with international politics)
However, even with this ugly reality, we, in Israel, will continue to have children, continue to build and move into communities all over Israel, including YESHA, and continue to act upon our beliefs that will ultimately bring about true peace to Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael - regardless of the dangerous games that the politicians play with our lives.
We will not stop and complain, rather we will continue to do what we are supposed to do; and that is the type of life we bless our children to take upon themselves as well.
L'taken Olam B'malchut Shakai,
Avi
We finally named our new born son.....Itai Yisrael.
The meaning:
"Itai"
1. One of King David's warriors
2. Hebrew word for friendly/compasion
"Yisrael" - named after my great-uncle Irving who was a gem of a human being - caring, sweet, gentle, friendly and loved by all.
May our Itai Yisrael grow up and develop the wonderful attributes that made my great-uncle Irving the wonderful person that he was.
At the brit I mentioned that Itai's bar Mitzvah parsha is parshat shelach and one major lesson I hoped he would internalize from that parsha is the lesson not to say dibah (the sin of the spies is that they spoke "dibah", or complained, about the land of Israel).
Just focusing on the bad and complaining is not good for one's personal development and not good for one's spiritual development. Rather, the world before us is imperfect, our own people (Am Yisrael) is imperfect and the land of Israel is imperfect, IN ORDER FOR US TO WORK TOWARDS MAKING THINGS BETTER. To focus on the bad, to complain about people, Am Yisrael, or Eretz Yisrael, regardless if it is true or not, means taking oneself out of being actively involved in improving the situation.
Am Yisrael has its problems, but instead of complaining about it, do something about it.
Eretz Yisrael has its problems, but instead of complaining about it, come here and do something about it.
So my bracha to our little Itai is that he hold on to his emunah in Hashem and dedicate himself to deal with the problems and challenges facing Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael instead of running away from the issues and only complaining about them.
That is the good news.
The ugly reality is that the Israeli Prime Minister together with the Bush administration have recently taken concrete steps that will endanger the whole state of Israel in the coming weeks or months ahead. The question isn't IF the palestinians will use terrorism again but WHEN they will begin to use terrorism again? (even the first question is a stupid thought considering that terrorism is still going on, and wasn't totally stopped - a continuation of the successful palestinain game they play with international politics)
However, even with this ugly reality, we, in Israel, will continue to have children, continue to build and move into communities all over Israel, including YESHA, and continue to act upon our beliefs that will ultimately bring about true peace to Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael - regardless of the dangerous games that the politicians play with our lives.
We will not stop and complain, rather we will continue to do what we are supposed to do; and that is the type of life we bless our children to take upon themselves as well.
L'taken Olam B'malchut Shakai,
Avi
Thursday, May 29, 2003
A Response to a Road Map Related Issue
I always look foward to your responses, and this time you did not disappoint me. As with all of your responses, your words ring true, very true. And they hurt like hell, because you say it like it is.
You picked up on the one piece of information that I purposefully left out of my email and that is, even though G-d works in strange ways, filling in for our weakness as a people, the price we will continue to pay for our weakness is with our own lives.
I do not know if you heard but upon hearing that the approval of the road map was final, Minister Uzi Landau said something to the effect of "The Jews also led themselves to be slaughtered in the Holocaust", commenting that we, as a people, have throughout history had the power to willingly bring about our own destruction. It was true then and it is once again true now.
However, you raise the question why Israeli Jews or Efrat Jews aren't in the streets protesting. How can it be that we oursleves are allowing this to happen. Well, in my opinion there are a number of reasons for this.
1. Israelis have learnt that Israel is not goverend by a democracy, it is governed by an autocracy. A Prime Minister can do whatever the hell he wants, without even consent of his own fellow party parliramentarians!
2. Israelis have so many economic woes just trying to make ends meet, they have no time or luxury to protest, which in anycase makes little to no difference on the decision makers.
3. Israelis are tired. They just went through 10 years of illusions and tragedy and they just want it over. Even though many people think the road map is bad, they secretly hope that it will help.
But do not be decieved. Even though the above analysis describes the masses, there are a number of people who are working for a revolution. But, like any revolution, it takes time to develop the infrastructure for the revolution to succeed. Because a revolution is based upon public support and as long as the masses remain indifferent, the revolution won't go anywhere. But it will happen.
I'm both an eternal optomist and a realist. Though the current situation pains me to no end, to know that Jews will continue to be killed, with our own "consent" to another useless political plan to reward the terrorists. I know that sometime soon- definately not soon enough - this geopolitical game of rewarding terrorists will come to an end, and a political revolution in Israel will take shape.
Again, my perspective is that, even though we the Jews, aren't doing enough to bring about our own salvation from this geopolitical mess, G-d, in his strange ways, will bring it about through occurences that to our untrained eyes will look totally natural.
Until better days,
Avi
I always look foward to your responses, and this time you did not disappoint me. As with all of your responses, your words ring true, very true. And they hurt like hell, because you say it like it is.
You picked up on the one piece of information that I purposefully left out of my email and that is, even though G-d works in strange ways, filling in for our weakness as a people, the price we will continue to pay for our weakness is with our own lives.
I do not know if you heard but upon hearing that the approval of the road map was final, Minister Uzi Landau said something to the effect of "The Jews also led themselves to be slaughtered in the Holocaust", commenting that we, as a people, have throughout history had the power to willingly bring about our own destruction. It was true then and it is once again true now.
However, you raise the question why Israeli Jews or Efrat Jews aren't in the streets protesting. How can it be that we oursleves are allowing this to happen. Well, in my opinion there are a number of reasons for this.
1. Israelis have learnt that Israel is not goverend by a democracy, it is governed by an autocracy. A Prime Minister can do whatever the hell he wants, without even consent of his own fellow party parliramentarians!
2. Israelis have so many economic woes just trying to make ends meet, they have no time or luxury to protest, which in anycase makes little to no difference on the decision makers.
3. Israelis are tired. They just went through 10 years of illusions and tragedy and they just want it over. Even though many people think the road map is bad, they secretly hope that it will help.
But do not be decieved. Even though the above analysis describes the masses, there are a number of people who are working for a revolution. But, like any revolution, it takes time to develop the infrastructure for the revolution to succeed. Because a revolution is based upon public support and as long as the masses remain indifferent, the revolution won't go anywhere. But it will happen.
I'm both an eternal optomist and a realist. Though the current situation pains me to no end, to know that Jews will continue to be killed, with our own "consent" to another useless political plan to reward the terrorists. I know that sometime soon- definately not soon enough - this geopolitical game of rewarding terrorists will come to an end, and a political revolution in Israel will take shape.
Again, my perspective is that, even though we the Jews, aren't doing enough to bring about our own salvation from this geopolitical mess, G-d, in his strange ways, will bring it about through occurences that to our untrained eyes will look totally natural.
Until better days,
Avi
Tuesday, May 27, 2003
The Road Map - What We Can Learn From it?
Well friends, it is official, the first Israeli government in history has officially accepted the political establishment of a Palestinian state. Not only that, but it is a right wing government to boot! Go figure.
Well, I'm not surprised and I'm not worried about our future either and I will tell you why.
THE lesson that I have learnt from this whole peace process is that G-d works in strange ways. That, in my eyes, says it all.
So what, ANOTHER Israeli government has just approved ANOTHER plan to AGAIN reward the Arab terrorists who terrorize us, in the name of some made up nation called the Palestinians.
That says it all. We have enough proof of the past 10 years to know that promoting plans that reward the Arab terrorism doesn't entice them to stop, it actually entices them to continue.
We had Oslo.....we had terrorism.
We had Camp David....we had terrorism.
We had Tenet, Mitchell, Zinni.....we had terrorism.
Why should we think that now it will be any different with the Road Map? Whoever thinks that it will be different is relying on the same false sense of hope that Oslo brought us. Well, wake up already - start using well based facts, history and your own logic, not false feelings of hope.
No, in my eyes, there never will be a Palestinian state, so we do not have to worry. Not because us Jews didn't try our best to give them one on a silver platter, but because the truth is that they don't want a Palestinian State. What they really want is to get rid of the Jews. Only with that subtle difference can we explain the perceived irrationalities of the Palestinians. Abba Eban is quoted as saying about the Palestinians that "they always take advantage of the opportunity to miss the opportunities given to them". Well, to our naive thinking yes, they are missing every opportunity possible to have their own state, but to them, they are not missing any opportunities, because they are not fighting for a state, they are fighting to get rid of us, and so far they are the ones who have continuously had full/partial backing from the world to continue their "struggle" against us, regardless of all the good faith deals we were/are willing to make with them.
So, what is my conclusion?
My conclusion is that the Arabs themselves will deny themselves the existence of their own 28th (I think) state in the Middle East because they can't stop themselves from killing us. Plain and simple.
That is G-d's strange way of working. Even though we the Jews don't have enough strength to stand up to the world and fight for our rights to live in our WHOLE homeland, which is g-d given even in the words of the Koran. It will end up happening because the Arabs just won't give up their fight until they lose it all.
So, the road map is just another rung on the ladder to prove to all of us that no matter what "political horizon" the Arabs have, they will never give up their real fight, which is not for another Arab state, but really a fight against the Jews.
Think I'm off my rocker? Well, don't believe me now, but 5,10,15 years down the line, come visit me for coffee in Jewish Beit Lechem, the urban suburb of Efrat, and tell me how right I was.
Avi
Well friends, it is official, the first Israeli government in history has officially accepted the political establishment of a Palestinian state. Not only that, but it is a right wing government to boot! Go figure.
Well, I'm not surprised and I'm not worried about our future either and I will tell you why.
THE lesson that I have learnt from this whole peace process is that G-d works in strange ways. That, in my eyes, says it all.
So what, ANOTHER Israeli government has just approved ANOTHER plan to AGAIN reward the Arab terrorists who terrorize us, in the name of some made up nation called the Palestinians.
That says it all. We have enough proof of the past 10 years to know that promoting plans that reward the Arab terrorism doesn't entice them to stop, it actually entices them to continue.
We had Oslo.....we had terrorism.
We had Camp David....we had terrorism.
We had Tenet, Mitchell, Zinni.....we had terrorism.
Why should we think that now it will be any different with the Road Map? Whoever thinks that it will be different is relying on the same false sense of hope that Oslo brought us. Well, wake up already - start using well based facts, history and your own logic, not false feelings of hope.
No, in my eyes, there never will be a Palestinian state, so we do not have to worry. Not because us Jews didn't try our best to give them one on a silver platter, but because the truth is that they don't want a Palestinian State. What they really want is to get rid of the Jews. Only with that subtle difference can we explain the perceived irrationalities of the Palestinians. Abba Eban is quoted as saying about the Palestinians that "they always take advantage of the opportunity to miss the opportunities given to them". Well, to our naive thinking yes, they are missing every opportunity possible to have their own state, but to them, they are not missing any opportunities, because they are not fighting for a state, they are fighting to get rid of us, and so far they are the ones who have continuously had full/partial backing from the world to continue their "struggle" against us, regardless of all the good faith deals we were/are willing to make with them.
So, what is my conclusion?
My conclusion is that the Arabs themselves will deny themselves the existence of their own 28th (I think) state in the Middle East because they can't stop themselves from killing us. Plain and simple.
That is G-d's strange way of working. Even though we the Jews don't have enough strength to stand up to the world and fight for our rights to live in our WHOLE homeland, which is g-d given even in the words of the Koran. It will end up happening because the Arabs just won't give up their fight until they lose it all.
So, the road map is just another rung on the ladder to prove to all of us that no matter what "political horizon" the Arabs have, they will never give up their real fight, which is not for another Arab state, but really a fight against the Jews.
Think I'm off my rocker? Well, don't believe me now, but 5,10,15 years down the line, come visit me for coffee in Jewish Beit Lechem, the urban suburb of Efrat, and tell me how right I was.
Avi
Monday, April 21, 2003
Long Overdue Update
Chag kasher V'sameach to all,
The other "big" change in our life is that we bought an apartment!! Yup, we now own a piece of property in Eretz Yisrael! It is very exciting. It is one thing to live in Israel and it is another thing to own real estate in Israel, but the biggest zechut is to live in Israel in your own real estate!! So, B"H, we are blessed to be in the midst of preparing for our upcoming move to our new apartment in Efrat up the block from where we are currently renting.
Chutz me ze, it is wonderful being in Israel for our second straight Peseach in a row. It is hard to believe that we have already been in Israel for a year, wow!
This Pesach was a very deep one for Am Yisrael and the world. As a world, we all saw a type of "Slavery to Freedom" story unfold right before our eyes in prime time television (Iraq) and as a jewish people we got to all internalize and understand the famous Hagaddah saying that in every generation there is a people that wants to destroy the Jewish people (The Palestinians).
Personally, as a child growing up, I always read that line in the Hagaddah thinking of the Holocaust as my reference to the closest time to my life that the Jewish people ever tried to be destroyed. But I never thought it would happen again. "Never Again" was the saying repeated time and time again by jew and non-jew alike. Never again would jew or non-jew, the world over, allow innocent jews to be killed for no reason other than being jews. Well, my time of innocence has ended. Has yours? Many jews and non-jews alike stood by (and continue to stand by) excusing the killings of jews/israelis by the palestinians. Ad ma-tie?
When will we, the Jewish people, learn to stop putting our faith in governments, people and written agrrements with signatures and start putting our faith in the only rightful place - HKB"H - and in our own deeds/actions that can make a difference?
Until then, may we all strive to improve ourselves - our deeds, our thoughts, our words, our faith - and may we all return to our homeland soon.
Chag kasher V'sameach!
Avi
Chag kasher V'sameach to all,
The other "big" change in our life is that we bought an apartment!! Yup, we now own a piece of property in Eretz Yisrael! It is very exciting. It is one thing to live in Israel and it is another thing to own real estate in Israel, but the biggest zechut is to live in Israel in your own real estate!! So, B"H, we are blessed to be in the midst of preparing for our upcoming move to our new apartment in Efrat up the block from where we are currently renting.
Chutz me ze, it is wonderful being in Israel for our second straight Peseach in a row. It is hard to believe that we have already been in Israel for a year, wow!
This Pesach was a very deep one for Am Yisrael and the world. As a world, we all saw a type of "Slavery to Freedom" story unfold right before our eyes in prime time television (Iraq) and as a jewish people we got to all internalize and understand the famous Hagaddah saying that in every generation there is a people that wants to destroy the Jewish people (The Palestinians).
Personally, as a child growing up, I always read that line in the Hagaddah thinking of the Holocaust as my reference to the closest time to my life that the Jewish people ever tried to be destroyed. But I never thought it would happen again. "Never Again" was the saying repeated time and time again by jew and non-jew alike. Never again would jew or non-jew, the world over, allow innocent jews to be killed for no reason other than being jews. Well, my time of innocence has ended. Has yours? Many jews and non-jews alike stood by (and continue to stand by) excusing the killings of jews/israelis by the palestinians. Ad ma-tie?
When will we, the Jewish people, learn to stop putting our faith in governments, people and written agrrements with signatures and start putting our faith in the only rightful place - HKB"H - and in our own deeds/actions that can make a difference?
Until then, may we all strive to improve ourselves - our deeds, our thoughts, our words, our faith - and may we all return to our homeland soon.
Chag kasher V'sameach!
Avi
Wednesday, February 05, 2003
An Idea to Help Bring About a True Peace in the Middle East
THE IDEA
My idea is to consistently and forcefully promote a diplomatic plan that calls upon the world leaders (United Nations, United States and Europe) to work with the Arab Countries (that attacked Israel in the Independence War) to resettle the Palestinian Arab refugees because they have direct blame for them becoming refugees.
The reason I think this diplomatic idea is a good one is because it:
1. Allows the Leumi camp to alter the issues being discussed about the conflict
2. Places the responsibility for the Middle East conflict on the Arab countries
3. Allows the true reasons for the Middle East conflict to come to the fore
4. Allows the public (world, Jewish, especially Israeli public who sway Israeli public opinion) to begin to question the validity of the accepted solution (A Palestinian State)
5. Places the Leumi camp in a positive light with a positive diplomatic plan
This is different than a diplomatic plan for Transfer, because even the idea of transfer, coming from us, means that we take responsibility for the Palestinians. The idea that I propose diplomatically takes the responsibility of dealing with the refugees away from us and puts it where it belongs – with the Arab countries.
WHY THIS IS A GOOD IDEA
Fact – ‘No to a Palestinian State’ did not work in the elections. (Much of the public has already accepted this as a fait accompli – they just want to end the matzav).
Fact – The real war behind the Oslo war is the war over the facts of the Middle East conflict.
Fact - As of now we have LOST the war over the facts almost totally – the world and most of the Jewish/Israeli people have accepted the version of the conflict that the Arabs created. (Even if they haven’t accepted the version of the conflict, they have accepted the solution of a Palestinian State, i.e. Donald Rumsfeld.
Fact – Nobody speaks about or deals with the historic reasons behind the conflict. (A Palestinian State is the accepted solution to the issue).
Also, now that the Arab world is the “sights” of the world community, and not immune to criticism, I think this is the opportune time to promote such as idea.
I would really like to hear your feedback and advice about what I wrote as well as advice on how to bring this idea before the right wing camp in general.
Thank you in advance for your help.
I have already prepared an online petition to help promote this idea that I put it up on the web two days ago. Any advice you can give me on publicizing the petition would be helpful as well.
The online petition can be found at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/justice9/petition.html
I put time and effort into this idea because I can’t sit idly by watching the facts of the situation become irrelevant and our horrible matzav contine. I believe that as long as the real reasons behind the conflict are not dealt with, our matzav will continue. I would really appreciate any help you can give me on this. Thanks again.
Avi Abelow
THE IDEA
My idea is to consistently and forcefully promote a diplomatic plan that calls upon the world leaders (United Nations, United States and Europe) to work with the Arab Countries (that attacked Israel in the Independence War) to resettle the Palestinian Arab refugees because they have direct blame for them becoming refugees.
The reason I think this diplomatic idea is a good one is because it:
1. Allows the Leumi camp to alter the issues being discussed about the conflict
2. Places the responsibility for the Middle East conflict on the Arab countries
3. Allows the true reasons for the Middle East conflict to come to the fore
4. Allows the public (world, Jewish, especially Israeli public who sway Israeli public opinion) to begin to question the validity of the accepted solution (A Palestinian State)
5. Places the Leumi camp in a positive light with a positive diplomatic plan
This is different than a diplomatic plan for Transfer, because even the idea of transfer, coming from us, means that we take responsibility for the Palestinians. The idea that I propose diplomatically takes the responsibility of dealing with the refugees away from us and puts it where it belongs – with the Arab countries.
WHY THIS IS A GOOD IDEA
Fact – ‘No to a Palestinian State’ did not work in the elections. (Much of the public has already accepted this as a fait accompli – they just want to end the matzav).
Fact – The real war behind the Oslo war is the war over the facts of the Middle East conflict.
Fact - As of now we have LOST the war over the facts almost totally – the world and most of the Jewish/Israeli people have accepted the version of the conflict that the Arabs created. (Even if they haven’t accepted the version of the conflict, they have accepted the solution of a Palestinian State, i.e. Donald Rumsfeld.
Fact – Nobody speaks about or deals with the historic reasons behind the conflict. (A Palestinian State is the accepted solution to the issue).
Also, now that the Arab world is the “sights” of the world community, and not immune to criticism, I think this is the opportune time to promote such as idea.
I would really like to hear your feedback and advice about what I wrote as well as advice on how to bring this idea before the right wing camp in general.
Thank you in advance for your help.
I have already prepared an online petition to help promote this idea that I put it up on the web two days ago. Any advice you can give me on publicizing the petition would be helpful as well.
The online petition can be found at:
http://www.petitiononline.com/justice9/petition.html
I put time and effort into this idea because I can’t sit idly by watching the facts of the situation become irrelevant and our horrible matzav contine. I believe that as long as the real reasons behind the conflict are not dealt with, our matzav will continue. I would really appreciate any help you can give me on this. Thanks again.
Avi Abelow
Tuesday, January 21, 2003
In Response to the Question - What is a Moderate?
Take the settler/religious/non-religious sectors out of this discussion. It has nothing to do with sectors of people and everything to do with one whom acts/thinks moderately regarding today's matzav.
What is a moderate? you ask.
Here is my definition:
A moderate is one who has accepted the "reality of the Israeli/Palestinian situation" as the liberal world has created it to be (pushed by many years of disinformation by the Arab world) and has adjusted his/her opinions of what we should do according to that mis-reading of reality. The point is that when you try to solve a problem that does not represent the true problem, the solution that you implement just won't work!
A moderate is a Jew, any Jew, who thinks that it is ok for negotiations with our enemies to involve negotiations over parts of the Land of Israel, believing that any such negotiations will really solve the issues of the Middle East (hence the real issue - and not the Israel/Palestinian issue).
A moderate is one who disagrees with the fact that the negotiations with our enemies should START off at the point that the Land of Israel belonging to the Jewish people is an indisputable fact that is NOT negotiable and that any negotiations must start with how the WORLD, including the Arab world, will help solve the Palestinian refugee issue. That is the real issue at stake that has everything to do with the Arab world and world powers.
In closing, a moderate is a Jew, any Jew, who thinks that he/she believes that by being pragmatic he/she is working towards the betterment of Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael.
That is my opinion and you are more than welcome to disagree with me.
Regarding the one unpleasant fact you mentioned, all I have to say is that regardless of that issue, we should be screaming at the top of our lungs the above argument. So long as we don't, and the longer it takes us to do it, the longer our situation will continue.
Regardless, in my world view, even if the worse case scenario comes about and we ourselves give away parts of the Land of Israel, our conflict will not end, it will only continue, thanks to the stupidity of our cousins who will never stop their crusade against us. That means, that one day, we will end up in all of Eretz Yisrael once again.
So, what situation do we want? a situation where we are forced to leave in order to return once again, with many more years of pain, anguish and mourning?
Or a situation where we try to end the lies of today's reality once and for all and stand up for ourselves as we should, right now.
Avi
Take the settler/religious/non-religious sectors out of this discussion. It has nothing to do with sectors of people and everything to do with one whom acts/thinks moderately regarding today's matzav.
What is a moderate? you ask.
Here is my definition:
A moderate is one who has accepted the "reality of the Israeli/Palestinian situation" as the liberal world has created it to be (pushed by many years of disinformation by the Arab world) and has adjusted his/her opinions of what we should do according to that mis-reading of reality. The point is that when you try to solve a problem that does not represent the true problem, the solution that you implement just won't work!
A moderate is a Jew, any Jew, who thinks that it is ok for negotiations with our enemies to involve negotiations over parts of the Land of Israel, believing that any such negotiations will really solve the issues of the Middle East (hence the real issue - and not the Israel/Palestinian issue).
A moderate is one who disagrees with the fact that the negotiations with our enemies should START off at the point that the Land of Israel belonging to the Jewish people is an indisputable fact that is NOT negotiable and that any negotiations must start with how the WORLD, including the Arab world, will help solve the Palestinian refugee issue. That is the real issue at stake that has everything to do with the Arab world and world powers.
In closing, a moderate is a Jew, any Jew, who thinks that he/she believes that by being pragmatic he/she is working towards the betterment of Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael.
That is my opinion and you are more than welcome to disagree with me.
Regarding the one unpleasant fact you mentioned, all I have to say is that regardless of that issue, we should be screaming at the top of our lungs the above argument. So long as we don't, and the longer it takes us to do it, the longer our situation will continue.
Regardless, in my world view, even if the worse case scenario comes about and we ourselves give away parts of the Land of Israel, our conflict will not end, it will only continue, thanks to the stupidity of our cousins who will never stop their crusade against us. That means, that one day, we will end up in all of Eretz Yisrael once again.
So, what situation do we want? a situation where we are forced to leave in order to return once again, with many more years of pain, anguish and mourning?
Or a situation where we try to end the lies of today's reality once and for all and stand up for ourselves as we should, right now.
Avi
Monday, January 20, 2003
The Myth of the Moderate Religious Settler
I have always tried my best to portray myself as the moderate religious settler, in effect trying to blunt the "damage" the more extreme settlers have on all of us; Explaining my beliefs together with pragmatic reasoning (which obviously toned down the _expression of my true beliefs) to garner some understanding, if not agreement, with the people who I communicated with.
However, today's two year matzav has clarified quite a lot for me, and one of the most important lessons of them all is that our horrible matzav continues, and will continue, so long as we, Jews/Israelis, don't admit to ourselves and to the rest of the world what we truly believe in, which is that Eretz Yisrael is the land of the Jewish people, period - whoever can accept that and live peacefully with us, great let's live in harmony, whoever can't accept that and acts accordingly will have to face extremely stiff consequeces. Once this is accepted, all the specifc issues can be resolved, but as long as we ourselves don't wholeheartedly scream the above message out loud, we will continue to pay for our silence.
For good or for bad, the above argument is totally based on faith and belief, and flies in the face of the pragmatic liberal world we live in. (Even though I believe that the pragmatic liberal - pascifist ideology flies in the face of true reality and pragmatism.)
So, I'm left with believeing that I no longer should portray myself as a moderate religious settler, because I'm not, and the longer we, as a community, continue to delude ourselves that such a thing exists, by hiding behind the true belief of our own religion, the longer we contribute to our horrible matzav to continue.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Avi
I have always tried my best to portray myself as the moderate religious settler, in effect trying to blunt the "damage" the more extreme settlers have on all of us; Explaining my beliefs together with pragmatic reasoning (which obviously toned down the _expression of my true beliefs) to garner some understanding, if not agreement, with the people who I communicated with.
However, today's two year matzav has clarified quite a lot for me, and one of the most important lessons of them all is that our horrible matzav continues, and will continue, so long as we, Jews/Israelis, don't admit to ourselves and to the rest of the world what we truly believe in, which is that Eretz Yisrael is the land of the Jewish people, period - whoever can accept that and live peacefully with us, great let's live in harmony, whoever can't accept that and acts accordingly will have to face extremely stiff consequeces. Once this is accepted, all the specifc issues can be resolved, but as long as we ourselves don't wholeheartedly scream the above message out loud, we will continue to pay for our silence.
For good or for bad, the above argument is totally based on faith and belief, and flies in the face of the pragmatic liberal world we live in. (Even though I believe that the pragmatic liberal - pascifist ideology flies in the face of true reality and pragmatism.)
So, I'm left with believeing that I no longer should portray myself as a moderate religious settler, because I'm not, and the longer we, as a community, continue to delude ourselves that such a thing exists, by hiding behind the true belief of our own religion, the longer we contribute to our horrible matzav to continue.
Thanks for letting me vent.
Avi
Thursday, January 09, 2003
Israeli Democracy?
***I write the following harsh words about Israeli democracy because I believe that true change can only come about when we, en mass, start saying the naked truth about the situation loud and clear. Otherwise, we continue to play according to the rules of the undemocratic ruling elite. ***
Israel’s Democracy Must Be Changed!!
Yitzchak Rabin was quoted as saying that he had to try the Oslo accords because Israel couldn’t fight the Arabs anymore because of the Israeli Supreme Court.
Today we were provided further proof of that unfortunate fact.
The decisions made today in the Supreme Court allowing Tibi and Bashara to run for the Knesset had nothing to do with the law and everything to do with executing a particular ideology, (an immoral-European one, I might add, that appeases the ruthless, and directly & indirectly hurts the innocent).
As the symbol and executor of “authentic” Israeli Democracy, the Supreme Court further provided proof for me that this type of democracy must be changed.
My vote will go to the political party that earnestly and constantly communicates the messages below loud and clear to the Israeli public:
**Israel’s laws of democratic conduct must be changed.
**It is undemocratic for Supreme Court Judges to pick fellow Judges.
**A vote for Labor/Mitzna is a vote for politicians who support enemies of Israel to sit in the Knesset.
**We can’t totally win the war against the West Bank/Gaza Arabs and their Israeli Arab supporters if our own Supreme Court continues to take steps to defend their undisputed evil words and actions.
Following Rabin’s logic we should act towards changing Israel’s Supreme Court/laws of Democracy so that we can be allowed to win the war against the Arabs. We can not continue the dangerous Oslo path of land for peace towards more bloodshed.
Food for thought:
What is more immoral?
Expelling an Arab (Israeli, West Bank/Gazan) that supports the enemies of Israel and/or the killing of Israelis
OR
Allowing the bloodshed of innocent Israelis to continue.
I believe that it is time we use our true Jewish Kup and not our Jewish-galut kup.
No, this is not the only challenge that we face in fighting out enemies, but this is one thing that we have the power to change if we start telling ourselves and the public the truth.
***I write the following harsh words about Israeli democracy because I believe that true change can only come about when we, en mass, start saying the naked truth about the situation loud and clear. Otherwise, we continue to play according to the rules of the undemocratic ruling elite. ***
Israel’s Democracy Must Be Changed!!
Yitzchak Rabin was quoted as saying that he had to try the Oslo accords because Israel couldn’t fight the Arabs anymore because of the Israeli Supreme Court.
Today we were provided further proof of that unfortunate fact.
The decisions made today in the Supreme Court allowing Tibi and Bashara to run for the Knesset had nothing to do with the law and everything to do with executing a particular ideology, (an immoral-European one, I might add, that appeases the ruthless, and directly & indirectly hurts the innocent).
As the symbol and executor of “authentic” Israeli Democracy, the Supreme Court further provided proof for me that this type of democracy must be changed.
My vote will go to the political party that earnestly and constantly communicates the messages below loud and clear to the Israeli public:
**Israel’s laws of democratic conduct must be changed.
**It is undemocratic for Supreme Court Judges to pick fellow Judges.
**A vote for Labor/Mitzna is a vote for politicians who support enemies of Israel to sit in the Knesset.
**We can’t totally win the war against the West Bank/Gaza Arabs and their Israeli Arab supporters if our own Supreme Court continues to take steps to defend their undisputed evil words and actions.
Following Rabin’s logic we should act towards changing Israel’s Supreme Court/laws of Democracy so that we can be allowed to win the war against the Arabs. We can not continue the dangerous Oslo path of land for peace towards more bloodshed.
Food for thought:
What is more immoral?
Expelling an Arab (Israeli, West Bank/Gazan) that supports the enemies of Israel and/or the killing of Israelis
OR
Allowing the bloodshed of innocent Israelis to continue.
I believe that it is time we use our true Jewish Kup and not our Jewish-galut kup.
No, this is not the only challenge that we face in fighting out enemies, but this is one thing that we have the power to change if we start telling ourselves and the public the truth.
Monday, November 25, 2002
Here are my thoughts on today’s situation in Israel
The So-called Reality
First of all, I’m totally against a Palestinian state and it disturbs me greatly to hear that the leader of the Likud party, Arik Sharon, no less, is now talking about an eventual State for our terrorist supporting cousins. However, if a so-called terrorist State is inevitable, I much prefer the Likud to work towards that agreement than the Labor and Left, who have proven themselves to be way past delusional.
That’s what I have to say with regards to how “other” people interpret the “reality of the situation”.
The Truth About Reality
Now I want to awaken people to the true reality of today’s situation. The Arab world in general, and the Palestinians in particular have showed us, in no uncertain terms, that they want to rid Israel of the Jewish people and they want to get rid of Israel. That is the painful reality, and whoever denies this well proved fact, is himself/herself in denial.
The Conclusion
Therefore, any State given over to the Arabs as a prize for their terror is and will be a prelude to a continued and prolonged fight to destroy the State of Israel. Any “realist” who denies this is in deep, deep denial and I feel very bad for them.
Any signed papers of security agreements that try to ensure the security of the State of Israel from a State of terrorists, will be disregarded, as all other signed agreements we have made so far with the terrorists. (Another reality that “realists” tend to forget when promoting dialogue with/a State for the terrorists.)
This Part Hurts The Most
Now I will turn to the topic that hurts me the most about this whole issue. As a G-d fearing Jew, I try to limit my thoughts concerned with “the reality of a situation”. I have come to believe that any argument that the word “reality” is used, is a tool of the rationalists in this world to convince the rest of us that our beliefs are wrong. Before WWII, “reality” did not convince the world that a Holocaust was about to occur. During WWII, “reality” didn’t convince the world that a Holocaust was occurring. During and after WWII , “reality” didn’t convince the world to help Jews get to the land of Palestine. After WWII, “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that they the UN would declare the State of Israel. During the pogroms of Europe “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that one day they would have a State of their own. During the Golden Age of Spain “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that they were about to be force to convert or leave Spain. Etc. etc. etc……………..
There is A Greater Power Our There That We Are Supposed to Believe In
The argument of “reality” and rationalizing ones thoughts with rational reasoning regarding world events has been proved wrong again and again. And we the Jews know this the best. We know there is a greater power out there that guides the ways of the world, whether we like the results or not. We are SUPPOSED to believe that that greater power guides the ways of the world, regardless of what “the reality of the situation” is.
The Lesson
The personal lesson I learn from all this is that we, as G-d fearing Jews, are supposed to act according to our beliefs of what we believe is true and how we believe things should be and not according to the “reality of the situation”. Otherwise, we would not be Torah abiding Jews, making sure we abide by, sometimes, meticulous, Mitzvot that go against the rational explanation of human nature. Therefore, every G-d fearing Jew should be in total shock at today’s situation when he/she hears that a nationalistic leader of Israel might establish a State for terrorists.
The Clincher
According to our beliefs we are supposed to return to the Land of Israel and be
.לתקן עולם במלכות ש-די
This will only happen sooner rather than later, and I repeat, only happen (And I will explain why) if we do not help establish a State for Terrorists. Only by holding onto to the whole State of Israel will we be showing ourselves and the world that we stand up for our Jewish beliefs, which would be a gateway to establishing ourselves as an אור לגויים in every other capacity possible.
However, by giving into “reality”, the rationalists among us, the World and the Arabs into creating a State for terrorists on the Land of Israel, we will be showing the world and the Arabs that we lost our beliefs and we ourselves will be prolonging the conflict even longer until we will finally be able to be
.לתקן עולם במלכות ש-די
We Must Believe in God, Not in Reality
God works in strange ways and we must believe in G-d, not reality. That’s my motto, and I just wish other people would take upon that motto instead of the motto that says “rationalism” must be right because logic says so. Haven’t we lived long enough to know that that is just plain stupid?!!!
When will we G-d fearing Jews have the strength to stand by our beliefs and not let the rationalists of the world convince us otherwise? As we say in the Israli Army ….עד מתי??
Don’t Even try to Rebut
I already know the response I will receive to these thought – How can I say that we should ignore reality when the Rabbis themselves proved that we must take reality into account when they asked the Romans for Yavneh at the price of the destruction of Yerushalayim.
My answer to you is simple – there is no comparison. Israel today is in a very different position then it was then. And the geopolitical situation is very different. No comparison, so don’t even try.
The bottom line is not that we should ignore “reality”, rather that we should stand up for our beliefs, and not give up on them, while dealing with “reality”. There are plenty of forces out there in the world today who would stand by us if we stood up for ourselves based on our beliefs against a State for the terrorists. But why should they stand up for us when we ourselves sit back quietly and accept what the “rationalists” dictate to us? Why should they if we ourselves don’t?
Avi
Here is a fascinating article that appeared in the Jerusalem Post last week, READ IT…………
Truth for peace
Nov. 14, 2002
The only hope for peace is to compel the Arab world to give up its illegitimate weapons: terrorism and the denial of resettlement to Palestinian refugees
The United States, American presidents often remind us, is Israel's greatest friend in the world. This is certainly true, and the contrast between American sympathy and European hostility has only become clearer during the current conflict. But if the US is serious about promoting peace in the wake of the expected war in Iraq, it has to start doing something simple: the US must tell some basic truths that it knows, but does not state out of deference to Arab opinion.
Until now, America has been giving Israel protection from international pressure without challenging the false premises on which that pressure is based. By doing this, the US encourages Israel's enemies to hope that someday the US will stop protecting Israel. They can believe that the US support for Israel results from the "Jewish lobby" or other political considerations and contradicts the requirements of justice and peace, or international security.
West Europeans, Arabs, and Meretz regularly call on the US to become more involved in reaching a "solution" to the Israel-Arab conflict. They assume that if the US is more involved it will force Israel to accept an agreement more favorable to the Palestinians than the offers Israel made at Camp David and Taba. Presumably they believe that such an agreement would satisfy the Palestinians' just demands and preserve Israel's security as a democratic Jewish sovereign and therefore solve the conflict.
It is natural to assume, based on the traditional diplomatic discussion, that a major US peace effort would involve pressure on Israel to go beyond its previous offers. But that standard discussion is far removed from reality and cannot lead to peace.
A major component of a new approach that the US requires is to speak the truth to Arab governments - instead of diplomatically avoiding the truth in order to avoid offending them. There are two reasons for the US to switch to a revolutionary truth-telling policy: It is the best way to pursue peace. And it meets the needs of the current US fight against militant Islam.
The truths that the US have not been willing to say clearly to Arab governments include: Israel is a legitimate state based on law and justice.
The Jewish people have ancient roots in Palestine
The League of Nations established the international authority for a Jewish homeland in Palestine - and its decision was formally endorsed by the US and never superseded by the UN.
UN Security Council Resolution 242 does not require that Israel relinquish all territory acquired in 1967. Since 1967 Israel has stood ready to negotiate a division of the West Bank and Gaza as envisaged by Resolution 242.
Israel is not occupying Palestinian land. It is occupying disputed territory to which it has a substantial claim and which was never under Palestinian sovereignty, while trying in good faith to negotiate about the disposition of that land as required by Resolution 242.
Israeli neighborhoods and settlements in Jerusalem and the disputed territories are not illegal. Nor are they in violation of any Israeli agreement or understanding with the Palestinians (unlike many Palestinian "settlements" in the territories).
There are arguments for and against the separate position that new settlements, even though legal, made it more difficult to make peace. It is not clear whether the positions the US has taken against settlements represent a genuine judgment on the question or merely a diplomatic decision that disagreeing with the Arabs on this issue will hurt either US interests or the cause of peace.
Palestinian refugees do not have a "right of return." The Arab interpretation of UN General Assembly Resolution 194, which is the supposed source of this "right," is incorrect. They must be resettled like all other refugees in the world. Most Palestinian refugees should be on their way to permanent resettlement in Arab countries as a prelude to realistic peace negotiations.
Jerusalem as a city is central to Israel and to Judaism; it is primarily a negative concern for Muslims. Israel should not be expected to agree to any arrangement for Jerusalem that threatens its ability to continue to be a successful working city as it is today and the capital of Israel.
The claims and interests of Palestinians and Israel in Jerusalem are profoundly asymmetric; therefore reasonable agreements between the parties should not be expected to provide equality or symmetry between the rights of Israel and the rights of Palestine in Jerusalem. This does not speak to the question of whether there can or should be a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem, nor to the question of protection of Muslim interests in holy places.
The deliberate killings of innocent Israelis is terrorism. The Palestinian/Arab position that anything done to "resist occupation" is not terrorism cannot be accepted. This definition undercuts the fight against international terrorism.
The PLO is an organization that supports and harbors terrorists. Therefore although it also does other things, it is a terrorist organization.
Israel has been exercising its right to self-defense with remarkable restraint. There certainly are a large number of cases where Israelis made deadly mistakes or deliberately inflicted more harm on the Palestinians than necessary to pursue Israel's security requirements. But in comparison to the way any other Western democracy would act in response to such attacks, Israel has shown great concern, and taken great risks to avoid civilian casualties on the Palestinian side.
THE CURRENT approach is to attempt to achieve peace without publicly establishing any of these truths, which American diplomats would privately not deny, as a basis for diplomacy. The current approach cannot work, because it is based on an attempt to satisfy the Arab world, without confronting the Arab belief that Israel's very existence is unjust and essentially illegal.
If the Arab world succeeds in fooling or pressuring the US and Europe to impose an agreement on Israel, there will not be peace, because they will believe that they can use the same measures to take the next step to destroying Israel. (Just as Hizbullah's success in inducing Israel to leave southern Lebanon convinced Yasser Arafat that similar measures would induce Israel to leave the West Bank and Gaza.)
The result of an imposed agreement will be more war, in more difficult circumstances for Israel, quite possibly requiring Israel to be less constrained than it is today.
The only hope of peace is to go in the opposite direction: to help the Arabs to recognize that Israel cannot be removed, and compel them to give up their main weapons, which are terrorism and the cruel denial of resettlement opportunity to Palestinian refugees, because both weapons are illegitimate and stand in the way of peace.
Fundamental peace obviously requires that the Arab states and the Palestinians accept Israel's presence as a Jewish state in the region. This suggests that a policy intended to achieve peace should be designed to induce the Arab states to change their current position. And a big step in this direction is for the US to state the facts that Israel's enemies refuse to recognize.
Instead, the US has been following the theory that either the Arab states really do accept Israel now, or that they would do so if Israel only retreated to the 1967 borders and made an accommodation on Arab refugees that would save face for the PLO and the Arab countries.
While perhaps there was some chance in 1992 that this policy might have worked - although even then there was much evidence that this was wishful thinking - it is now clear that playing along with the pretenses of Arafat and some Arab states set back the cause of peace. But this failed policy had the "advantage" of allowing the US to avoid challenges to the assumptions of the Arab states and their supporters, including much Western European diplomacy and opinion.
Now the "advantage" of avoiding the need to contradict Arab governments has become a disadvantage, because now the US needs to demonstrate its power over the Arab countries and the hopelessness of violent Muslim challenges to US power. To fight international terror, the US must show that it cannot be fooled or pressured into accepting false or illegitimate Arab positions. In particular, the US has to demonstrate that it is willing to confront Arab governments that use lies or special definitions to deny that they harbor or support terrorists.
Until Saddam Hussein is removed there is no way that the US can convince Arab governments that they have to pay attention to US unhappiness with their continuing support for terrorists. If Saddam can get away with what he does they can get away with diddling the US about terrorists.
When Saddam is removed there will be a new page in regional political calculations and the US will have a chance to show that it will do what must be done to protect itself and others from international terrorism.
The argument will be made - by the US State Department among others - that after its show of power in Iraq, the US should balance its strong demands on Arab countries to stop harboring terrorists by continuing to accommodate their views on Israel. Some may even argue that to make up for the insult of overthrowing Saddam, the US should avoid pushing too strongly against continued Arab protection of terrorist organizations.
These arguments should be rejected because they misunderstand Arab politics and society. Telling the Arabs the truth about their conflict with Israel will be a twofer. It is the beginning of a realistic pursuit of peace, and it shows that the US has the understanding and the will to eliminate governmental support for international terrorists.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies of Bar-Ilan University.
The So-called Reality
First of all, I’m totally against a Palestinian state and it disturbs me greatly to hear that the leader of the Likud party, Arik Sharon, no less, is now talking about an eventual State for our terrorist supporting cousins. However, if a so-called terrorist State is inevitable, I much prefer the Likud to work towards that agreement than the Labor and Left, who have proven themselves to be way past delusional.
That’s what I have to say with regards to how “other” people interpret the “reality of the situation”.
The Truth About Reality
Now I want to awaken people to the true reality of today’s situation. The Arab world in general, and the Palestinians in particular have showed us, in no uncertain terms, that they want to rid Israel of the Jewish people and they want to get rid of Israel. That is the painful reality, and whoever denies this well proved fact, is himself/herself in denial.
The Conclusion
Therefore, any State given over to the Arabs as a prize for their terror is and will be a prelude to a continued and prolonged fight to destroy the State of Israel. Any “realist” who denies this is in deep, deep denial and I feel very bad for them.
Any signed papers of security agreements that try to ensure the security of the State of Israel from a State of terrorists, will be disregarded, as all other signed agreements we have made so far with the terrorists. (Another reality that “realists” tend to forget when promoting dialogue with/a State for the terrorists.)
This Part Hurts The Most
Now I will turn to the topic that hurts me the most about this whole issue. As a G-d fearing Jew, I try to limit my thoughts concerned with “the reality of a situation”. I have come to believe that any argument that the word “reality” is used, is a tool of the rationalists in this world to convince the rest of us that our beliefs are wrong. Before WWII, “reality” did not convince the world that a Holocaust was about to occur. During WWII, “reality” didn’t convince the world that a Holocaust was occurring. During and after WWII , “reality” didn’t convince the world to help Jews get to the land of Palestine. After WWII, “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that they the UN would declare the State of Israel. During the pogroms of Europe “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that one day they would have a State of their own. During the Golden Age of Spain “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that they were about to be force to convert or leave Spain. Etc. etc. etc……………..
There is A Greater Power Our There That We Are Supposed to Believe In
The argument of “reality” and rationalizing ones thoughts with rational reasoning regarding world events has been proved wrong again and again. And we the Jews know this the best. We know there is a greater power out there that guides the ways of the world, whether we like the results or not. We are SUPPOSED to believe that that greater power guides the ways of the world, regardless of what “the reality of the situation” is.
The Lesson
The personal lesson I learn from all this is that we, as G-d fearing Jews, are supposed to act according to our beliefs of what we believe is true and how we believe things should be and not according to the “reality of the situation”. Otherwise, we would not be Torah abiding Jews, making sure we abide by, sometimes, meticulous, Mitzvot that go against the rational explanation of human nature. Therefore, every G-d fearing Jew should be in total shock at today’s situation when he/she hears that a nationalistic leader of Israel might establish a State for terrorists.
The Clincher
According to our beliefs we are supposed to return to the Land of Israel and be
.לתקן עולם במלכות ש-די
This will only happen sooner rather than later, and I repeat, only happen (And I will explain why) if we do not help establish a State for Terrorists. Only by holding onto to the whole State of Israel will we be showing ourselves and the world that we stand up for our Jewish beliefs, which would be a gateway to establishing ourselves as an אור לגויים in every other capacity possible.
However, by giving into “reality”, the rationalists among us, the World and the Arabs into creating a State for terrorists on the Land of Israel, we will be showing the world and the Arabs that we lost our beliefs and we ourselves will be prolonging the conflict even longer until we will finally be able to be
.לתקן עולם במלכות ש-די
We Must Believe in God, Not in Reality
God works in strange ways and we must believe in G-d, not reality. That’s my motto, and I just wish other people would take upon that motto instead of the motto that says “rationalism” must be right because logic says so. Haven’t we lived long enough to know that that is just plain stupid?!!!
When will we G-d fearing Jews have the strength to stand by our beliefs and not let the rationalists of the world convince us otherwise? As we say in the Israli Army ….עד מתי??
Don’t Even try to Rebut
I already know the response I will receive to these thought – How can I say that we should ignore reality when the Rabbis themselves proved that we must take reality into account when they asked the Romans for Yavneh at the price of the destruction of Yerushalayim.
My answer to you is simple – there is no comparison. Israel today is in a very different position then it was then. And the geopolitical situation is very different. No comparison, so don’t even try.
The bottom line is not that we should ignore “reality”, rather that we should stand up for our beliefs, and not give up on them, while dealing with “reality”. There are plenty of forces out there in the world today who would stand by us if we stood up for ourselves based on our beliefs against a State for the terrorists. But why should they stand up for us when we ourselves sit back quietly and accept what the “rationalists” dictate to us? Why should they if we ourselves don’t?
Avi
Here is a fascinating article that appeared in the Jerusalem Post last week, READ IT…………
Truth for peace
Nov. 14, 2002
The only hope for peace is to compel the Arab world to give up its illegitimate weapons: terrorism and the denial of resettlement to Palestinian refugees
The United States, American presidents often remind us, is Israel's greatest friend in the world. This is certainly true, and the contrast between American sympathy and European hostility has only become clearer during the current conflict. But if the US is serious about promoting peace in the wake of the expected war in Iraq, it has to start doing something simple: the US must tell some basic truths that it knows, but does not state out of deference to Arab opinion.
Until now, America has been giving Israel protection from international pressure without challenging the false premises on which that pressure is based. By doing this, the US encourages Israel's enemies to hope that someday the US will stop protecting Israel. They can believe that the US support for Israel results from the "Jewish lobby" or other political considerations and contradicts the requirements of justice and peace, or international security.
West Europeans, Arabs, and Meretz regularly call on the US to become more involved in reaching a "solution" to the Israel-Arab conflict. They assume that if the US is more involved it will force Israel to accept an agreement more favorable to the Palestinians than the offers Israel made at Camp David and Taba. Presumably they believe that such an agreement would satisfy the Palestinians' just demands and preserve Israel's security as a democratic Jewish sovereign and therefore solve the conflict.
It is natural to assume, based on the traditional diplomatic discussion, that a major US peace effort would involve pressure on Israel to go beyond its previous offers. But that standard discussion is far removed from reality and cannot lead to peace.
A major component of a new approach that the US requires is to speak the truth to Arab governments - instead of diplomatically avoiding the truth in order to avoid offending them. There are two reasons for the US to switch to a revolutionary truth-telling policy: It is the best way to pursue peace. And it meets the needs of the current US fight against militant Islam.
The truths that the US have not been willing to say clearly to Arab governments include: Israel is a legitimate state based on law and justice.
The Jewish people have ancient roots in Palestine
The League of Nations established the international authority for a Jewish homeland in Palestine - and its decision was formally endorsed by the US and never superseded by the UN.
UN Security Council Resolution 242 does not require that Israel relinquish all territory acquired in 1967. Since 1967 Israel has stood ready to negotiate a division of the West Bank and Gaza as envisaged by Resolution 242.
Israel is not occupying Palestinian land. It is occupying disputed territory to which it has a substantial claim and which was never under Palestinian sovereignty, while trying in good faith to negotiate about the disposition of that land as required by Resolution 242.
Israeli neighborhoods and settlements in Jerusalem and the disputed territories are not illegal. Nor are they in violation of any Israeli agreement or understanding with the Palestinians (unlike many Palestinian "settlements" in the territories).
There are arguments for and against the separate position that new settlements, even though legal, made it more difficult to make peace. It is not clear whether the positions the US has taken against settlements represent a genuine judgment on the question or merely a diplomatic decision that disagreeing with the Arabs on this issue will hurt either US interests or the cause of peace.
Palestinian refugees do not have a "right of return." The Arab interpretation of UN General Assembly Resolution 194, which is the supposed source of this "right," is incorrect. They must be resettled like all other refugees in the world. Most Palestinian refugees should be on their way to permanent resettlement in Arab countries as a prelude to realistic peace negotiations.
Jerusalem as a city is central to Israel and to Judaism; it is primarily a negative concern for Muslims. Israel should not be expected to agree to any arrangement for Jerusalem that threatens its ability to continue to be a successful working city as it is today and the capital of Israel.
The claims and interests of Palestinians and Israel in Jerusalem are profoundly asymmetric; therefore reasonable agreements between the parties should not be expected to provide equality or symmetry between the rights of Israel and the rights of Palestine in Jerusalem. This does not speak to the question of whether there can or should be a Palestinian capital in Jerusalem, nor to the question of protection of Muslim interests in holy places.
The deliberate killings of innocent Israelis is terrorism. The Palestinian/Arab position that anything done to "resist occupation" is not terrorism cannot be accepted. This definition undercuts the fight against international terrorism.
The PLO is an organization that supports and harbors terrorists. Therefore although it also does other things, it is a terrorist organization.
Israel has been exercising its right to self-defense with remarkable restraint. There certainly are a large number of cases where Israelis made deadly mistakes or deliberately inflicted more harm on the Palestinians than necessary to pursue Israel's security requirements. But in comparison to the way any other Western democracy would act in response to such attacks, Israel has shown great concern, and taken great risks to avoid civilian casualties on the Palestinian side.
THE CURRENT approach is to attempt to achieve peace without publicly establishing any of these truths, which American diplomats would privately not deny, as a basis for diplomacy. The current approach cannot work, because it is based on an attempt to satisfy the Arab world, without confronting the Arab belief that Israel's very existence is unjust and essentially illegal.
If the Arab world succeeds in fooling or pressuring the US and Europe to impose an agreement on Israel, there will not be peace, because they will believe that they can use the same measures to take the next step to destroying Israel. (Just as Hizbullah's success in inducing Israel to leave southern Lebanon convinced Yasser Arafat that similar measures would induce Israel to leave the West Bank and Gaza.)
The result of an imposed agreement will be more war, in more difficult circumstances for Israel, quite possibly requiring Israel to be less constrained than it is today.
The only hope of peace is to go in the opposite direction: to help the Arabs to recognize that Israel cannot be removed, and compel them to give up their main weapons, which are terrorism and the cruel denial of resettlement opportunity to Palestinian refugees, because both weapons are illegitimate and stand in the way of peace.
Fundamental peace obviously requires that the Arab states and the Palestinians accept Israel's presence as a Jewish state in the region. This suggests that a policy intended to achieve peace should be designed to induce the Arab states to change their current position. And a big step in this direction is for the US to state the facts that Israel's enemies refuse to recognize.
Instead, the US has been following the theory that either the Arab states really do accept Israel now, or that they would do so if Israel only retreated to the 1967 borders and made an accommodation on Arab refugees that would save face for the PLO and the Arab countries.
While perhaps there was some chance in 1992 that this policy might have worked - although even then there was much evidence that this was wishful thinking - it is now clear that playing along with the pretenses of Arafat and some Arab states set back the cause of peace. But this failed policy had the "advantage" of allowing the US to avoid challenges to the assumptions of the Arab states and their supporters, including much Western European diplomacy and opinion.
Now the "advantage" of avoiding the need to contradict Arab governments has become a disadvantage, because now the US needs to demonstrate its power over the Arab countries and the hopelessness of violent Muslim challenges to US power. To fight international terror, the US must show that it cannot be fooled or pressured into accepting false or illegitimate Arab positions. In particular, the US has to demonstrate that it is willing to confront Arab governments that use lies or special definitions to deny that they harbor or support terrorists.
Until Saddam Hussein is removed there is no way that the US can convince Arab governments that they have to pay attention to US unhappiness with their continuing support for terrorists. If Saddam can get away with what he does they can get away with diddling the US about terrorists.
When Saddam is removed there will be a new page in regional political calculations and the US will have a chance to show that it will do what must be done to protect itself and others from international terrorism.
The argument will be made - by the US State Department among others - that after its show of power in Iraq, the US should balance its strong demands on Arab countries to stop harboring terrorists by continuing to accommodate their views on Israel. Some may even argue that to make up for the insult of overthrowing Saddam, the US should avoid pushing too strongly against continued Arab protection of terrorist organizations.
These arguments should be rejected because they misunderstand Arab politics and society. Telling the Arabs the truth about their conflict with Israel will be a twofer. It is the beginning of a realistic pursuit of peace, and it shows that the US has the understanding and the will to eliminate governmental support for international terrorists.
The writer is a senior fellow at the Hudson Institute and the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies of Bar-Ilan University.
My Thoughts on Today's Reality
The So-called Reality
First of all, I’m totally against a Palestinian state and it disturbs me greatly to hear that the leader of the Likud party, Arik Sharon, no less, is now talking about an eventual State for our terrorist supporting cousins. However, if a so-called terrorist State is inevitable, I much prefer the Likud to work towards that agreement than the Labor and Left, who have proven themselves to be way past delusional.
That’s what I have to say with regards to how “other” people interpret the “reality of the situation”.
The Truth About Reality
Now I want to awaken people to the true reality of today’s situation. The Arab world in general, and the Palestinians in particular have showed us, in no uncertain terms, that they want to rid Israel of the Jewish people and they want to get rid of Israel. That is the painful reality, and whoever denies this well proved fact, is himself/herself in denial.
The Conclusion
Therefore, any State given over to the Arabs as a prize for their terror is and will be a prelude to a continued and prolonged fight to destroy the State of Israel. Any “realist” who denies this is in deep, deep denial and I feel very bad for them.
Any signed papers of security agreements that try to ensure the security of the State of Israel from a State of terrorists, will be disregarded, as all other signed agreements we have made so far with the terrorists. (Another reality that “realists” tend to forget when promoting dialogue with/a State for the terrorists.)
This Part Hurts The Most
Now I will turn to the topic that hurts me the most about this whole issue. As a G-d fearing Jew, I try to limit my thoughts concerned with “the reality of a situation”. I have come to believe that any argument that the word “reality” is used, is a tool of the rationalists in this world to convince the rest of us that our beliefs are wrong. Before WWII, “reality” did not convince the world that a Holocaust was about to occur. During WWII, “reality” didn’t convince the world that a Holocaust was occurring. During and after WWII , “reality” didn’t convince the world to help Jews get to the land of Palestine. After WWII, “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that they the UN would declare the State of Israel. During the pogroms of Europe “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that one day they would have a State of their own. During the Golden Age of Spain “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that they were about to be force to convert or leave Spain. Etc. etc. etc……………..
There is A Greater Power Our There That We Are Supposed to Believe In
The argument of “reality” and rationalizing ones thoughts with rational reasoning regarding world events has been proved wrong again and again. And we the Jews know this the best. We know there is a greater power out there that guides the ways of the world, whether we like the results or not. We are SUPPOSED to believe that that greater power guides the ways of the world, regardless of what “the reality of the situation” is.
The Lesson
The personal lesson I learn from all this is that we, as G-d fearing Jews, are supposed to act according to our beliefs of what we believe is true and how we believe things should be and not according to the “reality of the situation”. Otherwise, we would not be Torah abiding Jews, making sure we abide by, sometimes, meticulous, Mitzvot that go against the rational explanation of human nature. Therefore, every G-d fearing Jew should be in total shock at today’s situation when he/she hears that a nationalistic leader of Israel might establish a State for terrorists.
The Clincher
According to our beliefs we are supposed to return to the Land of Israel and be
.לתקן עולם במלכות ש-די
This will only happen sooner rather than later, and I repeat, only happen (And I will explain why) if we do not help establish a State for Terrorists. Only by holding onto to the whole State of Israel will we be showing ourselves and the world that we stand up for our Jewish beliefs, which would be a gateway to establishing ourselves as an אור לגויים in every other capacity possible.
However, by giving into “reality”, the rationalists among us, the World and the Arabs into creating a State for terrorists on the Land of Israel, we will be showing the world and the Arabs that we lost our beliefs and we ourselves will be prolonging the conflict even longer until we will finally be able to be
.לתקן עולם במלכות ש-די
We Must Believe in God, Not in Reality
God works in strange ways and we must believe in G-d, not reality. That’s my motto, and I just wish other people would take upon that motto instead of the motto that says “rationalism” must be right because logic says so. Haven’t we lived long enough to know that that is just plain stupid?!!!
When will we G-d fearing Jews have the strength to stand by our beliefs and not let the rationalists of the world convince us otherwise? As we say in the Israli Army ….עד מתי??
Don’t Even try to Rebut
I already know the response I will receive to these thought – How can I say that we should ignore reality when the Rabbis themselves proved that we must take reality into account when they asked the Romans for Yavneh at the price of the destruction of Yerushalayim.
My answer to you is simple – there is no comparison. Israel today is in a very different position then it was then. And the geopolitical situation is very different. No comparison, so don’t even try.
The bottom line is not that we should ignore “reality”, rather that we should stand up for our beliefs, and not give up on them, while dealing with “reality”. There are plenty of forces out there in the world today who would stand by us if we stood up for ourselves based on our beliefs against a State for the terrorists. But why should they stand up for us when we ourselves sit back quietly and accept what the “rationalists” dictate to us? Why should they if we ourselves don’t?
Avi
The So-called Reality
First of all, I’m totally against a Palestinian state and it disturbs me greatly to hear that the leader of the Likud party, Arik Sharon, no less, is now talking about an eventual State for our terrorist supporting cousins. However, if a so-called terrorist State is inevitable, I much prefer the Likud to work towards that agreement than the Labor and Left, who have proven themselves to be way past delusional.
That’s what I have to say with regards to how “other” people interpret the “reality of the situation”.
The Truth About Reality
Now I want to awaken people to the true reality of today’s situation. The Arab world in general, and the Palestinians in particular have showed us, in no uncertain terms, that they want to rid Israel of the Jewish people and they want to get rid of Israel. That is the painful reality, and whoever denies this well proved fact, is himself/herself in denial.
The Conclusion
Therefore, any State given over to the Arabs as a prize for their terror is and will be a prelude to a continued and prolonged fight to destroy the State of Israel. Any “realist” who denies this is in deep, deep denial and I feel very bad for them.
Any signed papers of security agreements that try to ensure the security of the State of Israel from a State of terrorists, will be disregarded, as all other signed agreements we have made so far with the terrorists. (Another reality that “realists” tend to forget when promoting dialogue with/a State for the terrorists.)
This Part Hurts The Most
Now I will turn to the topic that hurts me the most about this whole issue. As a G-d fearing Jew, I try to limit my thoughts concerned with “the reality of a situation”. I have come to believe that any argument that the word “reality” is used, is a tool of the rationalists in this world to convince the rest of us that our beliefs are wrong. Before WWII, “reality” did not convince the world that a Holocaust was about to occur. During WWII, “reality” didn’t convince the world that a Holocaust was occurring. During and after WWII , “reality” didn’t convince the world to help Jews get to the land of Palestine. After WWII, “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that they the UN would declare the State of Israel. During the pogroms of Europe “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that one day they would have a State of their own. During the Golden Age of Spain “reality” didn’t convince the Jews that they were about to be force to convert or leave Spain. Etc. etc. etc……………..
There is A Greater Power Our There That We Are Supposed to Believe In
The argument of “reality” and rationalizing ones thoughts with rational reasoning regarding world events has been proved wrong again and again. And we the Jews know this the best. We know there is a greater power out there that guides the ways of the world, whether we like the results or not. We are SUPPOSED to believe that that greater power guides the ways of the world, regardless of what “the reality of the situation” is.
The Lesson
The personal lesson I learn from all this is that we, as G-d fearing Jews, are supposed to act according to our beliefs of what we believe is true and how we believe things should be and not according to the “reality of the situation”. Otherwise, we would not be Torah abiding Jews, making sure we abide by, sometimes, meticulous, Mitzvot that go against the rational explanation of human nature. Therefore, every G-d fearing Jew should be in total shock at today’s situation when he/she hears that a nationalistic leader of Israel might establish a State for terrorists.
The Clincher
According to our beliefs we are supposed to return to the Land of Israel and be
.לתקן עולם במלכות ש-די
This will only happen sooner rather than later, and I repeat, only happen (And I will explain why) if we do not help establish a State for Terrorists. Only by holding onto to the whole State of Israel will we be showing ourselves and the world that we stand up for our Jewish beliefs, which would be a gateway to establishing ourselves as an אור לגויים in every other capacity possible.
However, by giving into “reality”, the rationalists among us, the World and the Arabs into creating a State for terrorists on the Land of Israel, we will be showing the world and the Arabs that we lost our beliefs and we ourselves will be prolonging the conflict even longer until we will finally be able to be
.לתקן עולם במלכות ש-די
We Must Believe in God, Not in Reality
God works in strange ways and we must believe in G-d, not reality. That’s my motto, and I just wish other people would take upon that motto instead of the motto that says “rationalism” must be right because logic says so. Haven’t we lived long enough to know that that is just plain stupid?!!!
When will we G-d fearing Jews have the strength to stand by our beliefs and not let the rationalists of the world convince us otherwise? As we say in the Israli Army ….עד מתי??
Don’t Even try to Rebut
I already know the response I will receive to these thought – How can I say that we should ignore reality when the Rabbis themselves proved that we must take reality into account when they asked the Romans for Yavneh at the price of the destruction of Yerushalayim.
My answer to you is simple – there is no comparison. Israel today is in a very different position then it was then. And the geopolitical situation is very different. No comparison, so don’t even try.
The bottom line is not that we should ignore “reality”, rather that we should stand up for our beliefs, and not give up on them, while dealing with “reality”. There are plenty of forces out there in the world today who would stand by us if we stood up for ourselves based on our beliefs against a State for the terrorists. But why should they stand up for us when we ourselves sit back quietly and accept what the “rationalists” dictate to us? Why should they if we ourselves don’t?
Avi
Thursday, November 14, 2002
Chanukah Update
Chanukuh is just around the corner and we are now in Israel for almost 8 months!! It is unbelievable how time flys by so quickly.
Thank God we are all doing well. Rachel has already participated in 8 (I think) performances of Esther, with more on the way. She has been great with a lot of rave reviews. Check out this link to see pictures from the performances http://www.theesthershow.com/images.asp?Action=View
As for Yakir, he is unbelievable. I was lucky enough to have lots of time lately to spend with him. THis past week I was home sick for two days, so I had a lot of play time with him (I wasn't contagious). And last month I was in miluyim. Although it sounds like a paradox to have lots of time with him while I was in miluyim, what I mean is that during miluyim (that lasted the whole month of October) I had two leaves home each for 3 days and during those days that I was home I had a lot of play time with Yakir. I cherish those moments greatly, because when I'm at work, I really only get to see him on Friday and Shabbat, unfortunately. Anyway, he is really doing wonderfully. This past Friday he was "The Abba shel Shabat" for the shabbat party in Gan. He came home with this big sticker on his shirt that said "Abba shel Shabbat", it was very cute.
As for miluyim, B"H my whole unit returned home safely. I have to admit that even though there were some scary moments, over all I'm glad that I was able to partake in miluyim again. First of all, I have the opportunity to reconnect with a lot of old Israeli friends of mine who I served in the army with. But more than that, I got to feel that I was doing my part for Israel in today's ludicruis situation........
Talking about ludicruis situations, we are now in election season in Israel!! All I have to say about that is 'Hakol biday Shamyim chutz m'yirat Shamayim'. In the end we will elect whomever we will elect and regardless of who it is (Likud too) the sham peace process will somehow continue. However, I firmly believe that with all the idiotic geopolitics and anti-semitism, we will somehow come out on top. In today's new world of global terrorism, I have a hard time believing any sham "peace agreement" will ever happen. But, that won't stop our Israei politicians and the good intentioned White House with pressure from the misdirected State Department from pushing for it in anycase.
All we need is to hold on to a little emunah, and one day, I don't know when, but one day, this matzav i nIsrael will be over, B"H.
But, with it all, there is no place like Israel. This Chanukah will be our first family Chanukah in Israel, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world to celebrate.
Chodesh Tov,
Avi
Chanukuh is just around the corner and we are now in Israel for almost 8 months!! It is unbelievable how time flys by so quickly.
Thank God we are all doing well. Rachel has already participated in 8 (I think) performances of Esther, with more on the way. She has been great with a lot of rave reviews. Check out this link to see pictures from the performances http://www.theesthershow.com/images.asp?Action=View
As for Yakir, he is unbelievable. I was lucky enough to have lots of time lately to spend with him. THis past week I was home sick for two days, so I had a lot of play time with him (I wasn't contagious). And last month I was in miluyim. Although it sounds like a paradox to have lots of time with him while I was in miluyim, what I mean is that during miluyim (that lasted the whole month of October) I had two leaves home each for 3 days and during those days that I was home I had a lot of play time with Yakir. I cherish those moments greatly, because when I'm at work, I really only get to see him on Friday and Shabbat, unfortunately. Anyway, he is really doing wonderfully. This past Friday he was "The Abba shel Shabat" for the shabbat party in Gan. He came home with this big sticker on his shirt that said "Abba shel Shabbat", it was very cute.
As for miluyim, B"H my whole unit returned home safely. I have to admit that even though there were some scary moments, over all I'm glad that I was able to partake in miluyim again. First of all, I have the opportunity to reconnect with a lot of old Israeli friends of mine who I served in the army with. But more than that, I got to feel that I was doing my part for Israel in today's ludicruis situation........
Talking about ludicruis situations, we are now in election season in Israel!! All I have to say about that is 'Hakol biday Shamyim chutz m'yirat Shamayim'. In the end we will elect whomever we will elect and regardless of who it is (Likud too) the sham peace process will somehow continue. However, I firmly believe that with all the idiotic geopolitics and anti-semitism, we will somehow come out on top. In today's new world of global terrorism, I have a hard time believing any sham "peace agreement" will ever happen. But, that won't stop our Israei politicians and the good intentioned White House with pressure from the misdirected State Department from pushing for it in anycase.
All we need is to hold on to a little emunah, and one day, I don't know when, but one day, this matzav i nIsrael will be over, B"H.
But, with it all, there is no place like Israel. This Chanukah will be our first family Chanukah in Israel, and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else in the world to celebrate.
Chodesh Tov,
Avi
Wednesday, October 16, 2002
Israel Today - Pre-elections
I do not agree with many things that Sharon has done to handle the current situation, actually it is more that I do not agree with many things he hasn't done or hasn't done enough of. However,I do believe he has done a good job changing the way the public discourse and expectations should be with the "Matzav", and he has done a fantastic job at almost destroying Arafat and the PA, but it still is not enough, not by far, (hence the almost). For all his retoric that the Oslo accords are dead, he is still playing the diplomatic game according to the 'spirit' of the Oslo accords, thanks to his own weak spine in not standing up enough to Bush, the most sympathetic President to Israel in this Middle East crisis.
However, I do not want him to be the next Prime Mininster of Isreal come election time, even though he probably will be. Why? Because, even with his history of championing the right, he is still a Mapainik, who will sell Israel short in a phony peace deal in the next few years.
Now, where does that leave me, the Israeli voter, someone who is just as right wing as you? Who do I vote for in the next elections?
Sharon is the most successful right wing prime minister, and the most accepted by the Nation, yet I already voiced my concern with him. Netanyahu is a proven failure as a Prime Minister, proven to be a leader without a spine to stand up to pressure. At least Sharon has stood up to pressure, unlike Bibi. That's it, those are the two options for the next Prime Minister of Israel, and neither of them will stand up to the world against a Palestinian State.
So how do we behave? How are we supposed to hold onto the optimistic thought that the Palestinians won't destroy us, that they won't get a State, that we won't have to evacuate Yesha?
How are we supposed to act knowing that no current Israeli political leader will be able to stand up to the world and the US in not allowing the Palestinians to get a State of their own on our land? Honestly, I ask you, how?
First of all, I have a deep belief that Hashem works in strange ways, and the above scenarios won't end up coming to fruition, against all the efforts of world leaders, including the efforts of Bush, and all Israeli leaders. Just look at what's going on today in the Middle East and the world. World terrorism is growing, whether at the hands of Al Qaida or others. A war with Iraq is almost definate, and a war between Israel and Lebanon/Hizballah/Syria/Iran (if not others) is almost definite (due to the water issue), just postponed due to the Iraq issue. Basically, if you ask me, the Middle East and the world is a powder keg that is waiting to burst in many places, not just in the Middle East. Even though the Palestinian issue is big news today, and probably will stay big, with the culmination of all the above issues, it will suddenly lose some of its importance and some of its world support. I therefore think, due to natural/godly occurences, a Palestinian state will not come about.
However, I do not rely on this belief alone. I'm a firm believer that G-d helps those that help themselvs, and faith alone is not enough, it needs action to back it up.
I therefore come to the biggest problem of all in Israel - the political system and the polticians. I'm a big follower of Moshe Fieglin's Manhigut Yehudit faction within the Likud, because it's aim is to infuse the Israeli political system with people who will lead Israel based on the belief that Israel is not a nation like any other, but rather a nation that is proud to be different, not better, but different. In a nutshell its aim is to transform israel with a true Jewish leadership that makes policies based on Jewish values, and not based on pure political greed, self-interest groups and pressure.
Change takes time. A revolution takes longer. I believe that with Manhigut Yehudit will succeed in revolutionizing the Israeli polical system, but it will take time.
Currently, the biggest enemy of Israel is the fabricated story of the Israel/Palestinain conflict that is accepted by the world and perpetuated by the media.
Until that version is changed, and the true facts are perpetuated by the political leaders and the media, I have to fight using arguments that they can accept. I therefore I sent out the article below. Even though I totally agree with your thoughts below. May the day come soon when people will laugh at such an article as superfluous, as it should be.
Kol Tuv,
Avi Abelow
I do not agree with many things that Sharon has done to handle the current situation, actually it is more that I do not agree with many things he hasn't done or hasn't done enough of. However,I do believe he has done a good job changing the way the public discourse and expectations should be with the "Matzav", and he has done a fantastic job at almost destroying Arafat and the PA, but it still is not enough, not by far, (hence the almost). For all his retoric that the Oslo accords are dead, he is still playing the diplomatic game according to the 'spirit' of the Oslo accords, thanks to his own weak spine in not standing up enough to Bush, the most sympathetic President to Israel in this Middle East crisis.
However, I do not want him to be the next Prime Mininster of Isreal come election time, even though he probably will be. Why? Because, even with his history of championing the right, he is still a Mapainik, who will sell Israel short in a phony peace deal in the next few years.
Now, where does that leave me, the Israeli voter, someone who is just as right wing as you? Who do I vote for in the next elections?
Sharon is the most successful right wing prime minister, and the most accepted by the Nation, yet I already voiced my concern with him. Netanyahu is a proven failure as a Prime Minister, proven to be a leader without a spine to stand up to pressure. At least Sharon has stood up to pressure, unlike Bibi. That's it, those are the two options for the next Prime Minister of Israel, and neither of them will stand up to the world against a Palestinian State.
So how do we behave? How are we supposed to hold onto the optimistic thought that the Palestinians won't destroy us, that they won't get a State, that we won't have to evacuate Yesha?
How are we supposed to act knowing that no current Israeli political leader will be able to stand up to the world and the US in not allowing the Palestinians to get a State of their own on our land? Honestly, I ask you, how?
First of all, I have a deep belief that Hashem works in strange ways, and the above scenarios won't end up coming to fruition, against all the efforts of world leaders, including the efforts of Bush, and all Israeli leaders. Just look at what's going on today in the Middle East and the world. World terrorism is growing, whether at the hands of Al Qaida or others. A war with Iraq is almost definate, and a war between Israel and Lebanon/Hizballah/Syria/Iran (if not others) is almost definite (due to the water issue), just postponed due to the Iraq issue. Basically, if you ask me, the Middle East and the world is a powder keg that is waiting to burst in many places, not just in the Middle East. Even though the Palestinian issue is big news today, and probably will stay big, with the culmination of all the above issues, it will suddenly lose some of its importance and some of its world support. I therefore think, due to natural/godly occurences, a Palestinian state will not come about.
However, I do not rely on this belief alone. I'm a firm believer that G-d helps those that help themselvs, and faith alone is not enough, it needs action to back it up.
I therefore come to the biggest problem of all in Israel - the political system and the polticians. I'm a big follower of Moshe Fieglin's Manhigut Yehudit faction within the Likud, because it's aim is to infuse the Israeli political system with people who will lead Israel based on the belief that Israel is not a nation like any other, but rather a nation that is proud to be different, not better, but different. In a nutshell its aim is to transform israel with a true Jewish leadership that makes policies based on Jewish values, and not based on pure political greed, self-interest groups and pressure.
Change takes time. A revolution takes longer. I believe that with Manhigut Yehudit will succeed in revolutionizing the Israeli polical system, but it will take time.
Currently, the biggest enemy of Israel is the fabricated story of the Israel/Palestinain conflict that is accepted by the world and perpetuated by the media.
Until that version is changed, and the true facts are perpetuated by the political leaders and the media, I have to fight using arguments that they can accept. I therefore I sent out the article below. Even though I totally agree with your thoughts below. May the day come soon when people will laugh at such an article as superfluous, as it should be.
Kol Tuv,
Avi Abelow
Tuesday, September 17, 2002
A Tribute to JJ
I went to a funeral today, the funeral of JJ Greenberg.
Many of you might not have known JJ. I actually didn’t know JJ well, but the amazing thing about JJ is that one only had to meet him once, for a second to feel a bond with him and know how much of aspecial person he was. He was just that type of person, not one comes by too often. As his sister mentioned at the hesped, JJ was a a really cool Jew, who felt 100% comfortable who he was, and proud of it. More than that, JJ was a person who sucked the marrow out of life. There are many things I can learn from JJ, and I hope I put some of those lessons into practice.
For now I just wanted to pay tribute to JJ, and everyone else whose life was taken from them, whether by road accidents, terrorism or anything. My tribute to them all is to love life and to love living. I try to live by that and I’m sure JJ would agree with me.
Gemar Tov to all,
Avi
I went to a funeral today, the funeral of JJ Greenberg.
Many of you might not have known JJ. I actually didn’t know JJ well, but the amazing thing about JJ is that one only had to meet him once, for a second to feel a bond with him and know how much of aspecial person he was. He was just that type of person, not one comes by too often. As his sister mentioned at the hesped, JJ was a a really cool Jew, who felt 100% comfortable who he was, and proud of it. More than that, JJ was a person who sucked the marrow out of life. There are many things I can learn from JJ, and I hope I put some of those lessons into practice.
For now I just wanted to pay tribute to JJ, and everyone else whose life was taken from them, whether by road accidents, terrorism or anything. My tribute to them all is to love life and to love living. I try to live by that and I’m sure JJ would agree with me.
Gemar Tov to all,
Avi
Tuesday, June 18, 2002
How Much Longer
As you all know by now, more Jews were killed today for being Jews. More Jewish children had their lives taken away from them..... because people in the world today are STUPID!!!
Stupid for thinking that logical, rational thinking will solve our problems with Palestinian terrorists.
Stupid for STILL thinking that any concession Israel would make would help bring peace to our region.
Stupid for thinking that the Palestinians deserve a state (even though they use terrorist actions and despite historical facts vs. myths of teh Middle East)
Stupid for thinking that terror and terrorists can be appeased.
Stupid for denying that what's going on today in Israel is due to pure hatred, hatred and more hatred, and has nothing to do with territorial claims! (hence, a hint to what the soluition should and should not be)
Stupid for swallowing hook, line and sinker the Arab propoganda that has become fact in today's international media and political circles.
How many more Jews have to die until world Jews and non-Jews alike awake from their slumbering stupidity???
I ask you HOW MUCH LONGER????
As we wait, here is a worthy article for all to read, especailly President Bush, Colin Powell and the whole American administration (because they are about to show us how much they take our cousin's opinions into consideration, even though many of them know what's really going on and what really should happen).
When will all people (jews, non-Jews et al) call a spade a spade, stand up to the hypocrisy of today's Western doplomacy with Arab countries and let us Jews in Israel live in peace and quiet (with or without a stupid piece of paper that says "peace", that will eventually be broken anyway by our cousins) without having to make everyone else happy by causing our own self-destruction?? I know the answer is never, but I at least have to scream about this hypocrisy once in a while because many of us still don't get it, unfortunately. When will logical, rational people realize that logic won't solve the problems of Israel and the Arabs?
With faith for a better future,
Avi
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020617-68280324.htm
Ramallah rabble-rouser
Clifford D. May
Twenty-one years ago, Karam Zohdy, leader of the Islamic Group, Egypt's largest terrorist organization, ordered the assassination of then-president Anwar Sadat. From his prison cell, Zohdy recently explained to Ben Barber, a reporter for The Washington Times, why he did it.
"We made the decision because some Islamists were arrested, and he made peace with Israel. We were young and frustrated."
Chances are that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat doesn't have a subscription to The Times. But chances are he has long known why Mr. Sadat was gunned down and by whom.
And so the question should arise: Why would Mr. Arafat seriously attempt to arrest Islamic terrorists? Why would he make peace with Israel?
After all, there are still quite a few "young and frustrated" Islamists hanging around Ramallah, the Middle East and the world at large. Mr. Arafat may encourage Palestinian adolescents to become suicide terrorists. His wife may tell reporters taking tea at her Paris home that if she had a son, she'd be proud to have him detonate his explosives belt amid a crowd of Israeli children. But Mr. Arafat has always been very keen on his own survival and, therefore, we should expect him to avoid carefully following in Mr. Sadat's footsteps.
Understanding this, it really doesn't make sense for European and American diplomats to continue to recommend that Mr. Arafat be given another chance to do as Mr. Sadat did. Understanding this, it doesn't make sense — as former CIA agent Reuel Marc Gerecht has pointed out — for George Tenet, the director of central intelligence, to be again helping Mr. Arafat improve the skills of his intelligence and security apparatus, an apparatus that has itself been involved with terrorism.
But, you say, doesn't that make the situation hopeless? After all, if the instinct for self-preservation is among the factors preventing Mr. Arafat from eliminating the terrorists from the West Bank and Gaza, if fear of the Islamists is among the reasons Mr. Arafat will not consider seriously abiding by agreements with infidel Jews, what possible way is there to settle the conflict in the Middle East?
The answer requires turning conventional wisdom on its head: Instead of assuming that we can only win the war on global terrorism after settling the decades-long conflict over Israel/Palestine, it's time to recognize that we can only settle the Israel-Palestine question after we win the war against global terrorism.
What's more, it is time to acknowledge — as CNN's Lou Dobbs boldly did the other day — that the war against terrorism is really a war against Islamism, the ideology principally responsible for terrorist acts in the world today. It is the Islamists who have — in both word and deed — declared war on Jews, Christians, moderate Muslims (such as Mr. Sadat) and other infidels.
The next step will be to demonstrate that societies that support terrorism and militant Islam will inevitably go the way of the Taliban. Once it is apparent that Islamism hasn't the strength to annihilate Judeo-Christian civilization and hasn't a chance of restoring lost Islamic glory, the base of support for terrorism and Islamism will shrink to insignificance.
It is doubtful that, when this occurs, Mr. Arafat will still be in his crumbling compound in Ramallah. But whoever is leading the Palestinians at that point will understand that the world has changed — that the greatest threat to his survival no longer comes from his "young and frustrated" brothers but rather from the democratic societies of the world that, it turns out, do indeed have the will to defend themselves. And at that point, the prospect of sitting down with Israelis to negotiate a lasting peace will seem like a reasonable option.
Clifford D. May, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times, is the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
As you all know by now, more Jews were killed today for being Jews. More Jewish children had their lives taken away from them..... because people in the world today are STUPID!!!
Stupid for thinking that logical, rational thinking will solve our problems with Palestinian terrorists.
Stupid for STILL thinking that any concession Israel would make would help bring peace to our region.
Stupid for thinking that the Palestinians deserve a state (even though they use terrorist actions and despite historical facts vs. myths of teh Middle East)
Stupid for thinking that terror and terrorists can be appeased.
Stupid for denying that what's going on today in Israel is due to pure hatred, hatred and more hatred, and has nothing to do with territorial claims! (hence, a hint to what the soluition should and should not be)
Stupid for swallowing hook, line and sinker the Arab propoganda that has become fact in today's international media and political circles.
How many more Jews have to die until world Jews and non-Jews alike awake from their slumbering stupidity???
I ask you HOW MUCH LONGER????
As we wait, here is a worthy article for all to read, especailly President Bush, Colin Powell and the whole American administration (because they are about to show us how much they take our cousin's opinions into consideration, even though many of them know what's really going on and what really should happen).
When will all people (jews, non-Jews et al) call a spade a spade, stand up to the hypocrisy of today's Western doplomacy with Arab countries and let us Jews in Israel live in peace and quiet (with or without a stupid piece of paper that says "peace", that will eventually be broken anyway by our cousins) without having to make everyone else happy by causing our own self-destruction?? I know the answer is never, but I at least have to scream about this hypocrisy once in a while because many of us still don't get it, unfortunately. When will logical, rational people realize that logic won't solve the problems of Israel and the Arabs?
With faith for a better future,
Avi
http://www.washtimes.com/op-ed/20020617-68280324.htm
Ramallah rabble-rouser
Clifford D. May
Twenty-one years ago, Karam Zohdy, leader of the Islamic Group, Egypt's largest terrorist organization, ordered the assassination of then-president Anwar Sadat. From his prison cell, Zohdy recently explained to Ben Barber, a reporter for The Washington Times, why he did it.
"We made the decision because some Islamists were arrested, and he made peace with Israel. We were young and frustrated."
Chances are that Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat doesn't have a subscription to The Times. But chances are he has long known why Mr. Sadat was gunned down and by whom.
And so the question should arise: Why would Mr. Arafat seriously attempt to arrest Islamic terrorists? Why would he make peace with Israel?
After all, there are still quite a few "young and frustrated" Islamists hanging around Ramallah, the Middle East and the world at large. Mr. Arafat may encourage Palestinian adolescents to become suicide terrorists. His wife may tell reporters taking tea at her Paris home that if she had a son, she'd be proud to have him detonate his explosives belt amid a crowd of Israeli children. But Mr. Arafat has always been very keen on his own survival and, therefore, we should expect him to avoid carefully following in Mr. Sadat's footsteps.
Understanding this, it really doesn't make sense for European and American diplomats to continue to recommend that Mr. Arafat be given another chance to do as Mr. Sadat did. Understanding this, it doesn't make sense — as former CIA agent Reuel Marc Gerecht has pointed out — for George Tenet, the director of central intelligence, to be again helping Mr. Arafat improve the skills of his intelligence and security apparatus, an apparatus that has itself been involved with terrorism.
But, you say, doesn't that make the situation hopeless? After all, if the instinct for self-preservation is among the factors preventing Mr. Arafat from eliminating the terrorists from the West Bank and Gaza, if fear of the Islamists is among the reasons Mr. Arafat will not consider seriously abiding by agreements with infidel Jews, what possible way is there to settle the conflict in the Middle East?
The answer requires turning conventional wisdom on its head: Instead of assuming that we can only win the war on global terrorism after settling the decades-long conflict over Israel/Palestine, it's time to recognize that we can only settle the Israel-Palestine question after we win the war against global terrorism.
What's more, it is time to acknowledge — as CNN's Lou Dobbs boldly did the other day — that the war against terrorism is really a war against Islamism, the ideology principally responsible for terrorist acts in the world today. It is the Islamists who have — in both word and deed — declared war on Jews, Christians, moderate Muslims (such as Mr. Sadat) and other infidels.
The next step will be to demonstrate that societies that support terrorism and militant Islam will inevitably go the way of the Taliban. Once it is apparent that Islamism hasn't the strength to annihilate Judeo-Christian civilization and hasn't a chance of restoring lost Islamic glory, the base of support for terrorism and Islamism will shrink to insignificance.
It is doubtful that, when this occurs, Mr. Arafat will still be in his crumbling compound in Ramallah. But whoever is leading the Palestinians at that point will understand that the world has changed — that the greatest threat to his survival no longer comes from his "young and frustrated" brothers but rather from the democratic societies of the world that, it turns out, do indeed have the will to defend themselves. And at that point, the prospect of sitting down with Israelis to negotiate a lasting peace will seem like a reasonable option.
Clifford D. May, a former foreign correspondent for the New York Times, is the president of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies.
Wednesday, April 17, 2002
Aliyah Update
Chag Sameach everybody!
We are so lucky to have our own homeland, so lucky. Rav Soloveichik was profound when he wrote that the establishment of the state of Israel was the process of six miraculous occasions done together by Hashem (For more detail on this look up his essay “Kol Dodi Dofek” – “My beloved is calling”). It is mamish a miracle from Hashem, with the Jewish people’s partnership, that the state of Israel came into existence in 1948 and each day is miraculous that we have the opportunity to live here and defend ourselves. Sometimes Jews in Israel and overseas don’t realize how much the existence of the state of Israel has influenced how easy life has become for Jews all over the world. The soldiers of the Israeli army are today’s heroes for all of Am Yisrael, not just for the Jews living in Israel.
Yom Haatzmaut Update
We just spent our first Yom Haatzmaut here in Israel as an Israeli family and it was great!
Last night we saw three different fireworks shows that took place in the Gush Etzion region. First we saw the Elazar fireworks show, then we saw the Alon Shvut fireworks show and finally, last but not least, we saw the Efrat fireworks show (all seen from standing in one place in Efrat). We attended the celebration here in Efrat and it was so nice to be celebrating the chag while being here in Israel.
This years celebration has really been internalized by by and large all the citizens of the country, since Zionism is now IN because the Arabs have reminded us that they don’t want us here. Everywhere you look you see Israeli flags waving in the wind; from cars, houses, apartments, lampposts etc. My brother, Dani, was in Tel Aviv last night and he said that he was pleasantly surprised to see Tel Aviv filled with flying Israeli flags as well (an unusual occurrence in the past). It is such a sad state of affairs that we need others to remind us of what’s important to us, but so it is.
Aliyah Update
We were able to finish all of our bureaucratic, Government office errands before and right after Pesach. B”H, it all went well without much hassle. Our lift came in after Pesach and we were one of the lucky one of eight families to have been chosen by the Israeli tax authority for our lift to have been opened up by them. They were sweet enough to open up half of our boxes and make sure that we were honest in declaring the goods that we brought into the country! After their thorough search, the lift was delivered to our rented apartment in Efrat. We have since been busy unpacking our boxes and arranging everything in our new true bayit neeman B’yisrael! It has been very exciting trying to figure out how to arrange all of our furniture into our new apartment. Little by little everything is coming together.
Unfortunately, we still have not moved into our apartment. We would have moved into our apartment right after Pesach, but we only got electricity in the apartment this past Sunday! B”H we have family here that we have been able to stay with. Our latest challenge is getting our appliances hooked up. Now that we finally have electrolyte we have found out that the company that we have a service contract with won’t come out to Efrat to install everything! But, we hope to be in our apartment by the end of the week.
We heard about the amazing rally in Washington. It really didn’t get much press here in Israel because it was Yom Hazikaron, but hopefully the American administration got the message. We have heard that the press in America has been good. Is that true? In any case, it is so good to hear that American Jewry, as a community, is finally waking up and smelling the coffee! Kol Hakavod to all of you for doing your part for Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.
May we all be together in Israel soon.
Chag Sameach.
Avi, Rachel and Yakir
Chag Sameach everybody!
We are so lucky to have our own homeland, so lucky. Rav Soloveichik was profound when he wrote that the establishment of the state of Israel was the process of six miraculous occasions done together by Hashem (For more detail on this look up his essay “Kol Dodi Dofek” – “My beloved is calling”). It is mamish a miracle from Hashem, with the Jewish people’s partnership, that the state of Israel came into existence in 1948 and each day is miraculous that we have the opportunity to live here and defend ourselves. Sometimes Jews in Israel and overseas don’t realize how much the existence of the state of Israel has influenced how easy life has become for Jews all over the world. The soldiers of the Israeli army are today’s heroes for all of Am Yisrael, not just for the Jews living in Israel.
Yom Haatzmaut Update
We just spent our first Yom Haatzmaut here in Israel as an Israeli family and it was great!
Last night we saw three different fireworks shows that took place in the Gush Etzion region. First we saw the Elazar fireworks show, then we saw the Alon Shvut fireworks show and finally, last but not least, we saw the Efrat fireworks show (all seen from standing in one place in Efrat). We attended the celebration here in Efrat and it was so nice to be celebrating the chag while being here in Israel.
This years celebration has really been internalized by by and large all the citizens of the country, since Zionism is now IN because the Arabs have reminded us that they don’t want us here. Everywhere you look you see Israeli flags waving in the wind; from cars, houses, apartments, lampposts etc. My brother, Dani, was in Tel Aviv last night and he said that he was pleasantly surprised to see Tel Aviv filled with flying Israeli flags as well (an unusual occurrence in the past). It is such a sad state of affairs that we need others to remind us of what’s important to us, but so it is.
Aliyah Update
We were able to finish all of our bureaucratic, Government office errands before and right after Pesach. B”H, it all went well without much hassle. Our lift came in after Pesach and we were one of the lucky one of eight families to have been chosen by the Israeli tax authority for our lift to have been opened up by them. They were sweet enough to open up half of our boxes and make sure that we were honest in declaring the goods that we brought into the country! After their thorough search, the lift was delivered to our rented apartment in Efrat. We have since been busy unpacking our boxes and arranging everything in our new true bayit neeman B’yisrael! It has been very exciting trying to figure out how to arrange all of our furniture into our new apartment. Little by little everything is coming together.
Unfortunately, we still have not moved into our apartment. We would have moved into our apartment right after Pesach, but we only got electricity in the apartment this past Sunday! B”H we have family here that we have been able to stay with. Our latest challenge is getting our appliances hooked up. Now that we finally have electrolyte we have found out that the company that we have a service contract with won’t come out to Efrat to install everything! But, we hope to be in our apartment by the end of the week.
We heard about the amazing rally in Washington. It really didn’t get much press here in Israel because it was Yom Hazikaron, but hopefully the American administration got the message. We have heard that the press in America has been good. Is that true? In any case, it is so good to hear that American Jewry, as a community, is finally waking up and smelling the coffee! Kol Hakavod to all of you for doing your part for Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael.
May we all be together in Israel soon.
Chag Sameach.
Avi, Rachel and Yakir
Tuesday, March 26, 2002
We Have Finally Returned Home!!
Chag Kasher V'sameach to all!!
This is our first email from Israel since we arrived last Monday. Baruch Hashem everything is going well. We have spent the past week taking care of all the beaurocratic stuff necesaary in the aliyah process, but I must admit, things have gone much more smoothly than they used to (at least compared to my last aliyah experience in 1990). Of couse there have been a few nuisances, but overall we really can't complain, things have gone pretty smoothly. The most interesting observation that we have made during our rounds to all the government offices is that most off all the government employees in these offices are Russian! It is really unbelievable. Every office has Russian workers, Russian signs, Russian publications, and it seems that the Russians have a lot of assistance in all their government dealings. it really has impressed me, thinking how different life in Israel might be if hundreds of thousands of American Olim came to live here too. What a difference such a large mass of people would be able to make on the makeup of Israeli society for the good. Chaval, most American Jews decide to stay in the States with their talents instead of coming here on mass to really make a difference (100 families a year from America doesn't have the same impact on a society as tens of thousands a year).
So, I'm sure everybody wants to here how we have adjusted to living in Israel, and especially Efrat, during these hard times. I have to admit that it is hard to get used to walking through the streets of Jerusalem with a sense of fear that something might happen, but we did. Since we came a week ago, we have strolled through Jerusalem's center of town many times. We were actually on Rechov Hamelech George a half hour before the horrible piguah last Thursday. Realizing that was a big shock. But it has not stopped us from stolling down Rechov Hamelch George or other areas of Jerusalem. It is not easy getting used to this reality, but on the other hand, life goes on, and we, like everybbody else, have adjusted to doing what we need to do, going where we need to go, regardless of the fear in the back of our minds.
But, with it all, we are so happy to be here. It is so great being back in Israel. So far we have spent a Shabbat up north, we have taken a train ride on the beautiful new double decker train from Tel Aviv to the north, we have been to an english speaking play production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and we have had a great time seeing friends and family. Life is great, life goes on and Beezrat hashem the matzav will come to an end soon.
Last night we heard a shiur from Rabbi Avraham Twersky (the famous psychologist). There is one thing he mentioned that I wanted to repeat for all of you. he mentioned that there is one aspect of teh seder that still puzzles him; he has still found no answer to the question why we dip a vegetable into salt water? After years of learning, he still has no answer to the question. The paradox is that the Rabbis tell us that we do it in order that the children will ask why we do it, even though we then tell them 'in order for you to ask why we do it'! Go figure! However, Rabbi Twersy said that that is exactly the point, there is no answer to that question and when children ask why we do it it is not only ok, but it is imperitive for the parent to answer 'I don't know why we do it, but we do it in order for you to ask why'. So too in life, we are always required to ask why things happen, but sometimes there are no answers to our questions, and that is the lesson itself. In today's times, we have no way to explain why Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael is going through such traumatic times, but yet we still have to ask why, and even though we have no answer, that is ok. We have to feel sad on the one hand for what we are going through, but happiness on the other hand, because even though we don't know why, God's hand is behind it all. Am Yisrael chai, and we will get through these harsh times as well. May this Nisan really bring the geulah and may we see all of Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael soon (whether the mashiach comes or not).
Chag Kashem V'sameach.
Avi, Rachel and Yakir
Chag Kasher V'sameach to all!!
This is our first email from Israel since we arrived last Monday. Baruch Hashem everything is going well. We have spent the past week taking care of all the beaurocratic stuff necesaary in the aliyah process, but I must admit, things have gone much more smoothly than they used to (at least compared to my last aliyah experience in 1990). Of couse there have been a few nuisances, but overall we really can't complain, things have gone pretty smoothly. The most interesting observation that we have made during our rounds to all the government offices is that most off all the government employees in these offices are Russian! It is really unbelievable. Every office has Russian workers, Russian signs, Russian publications, and it seems that the Russians have a lot of assistance in all their government dealings. it really has impressed me, thinking how different life in Israel might be if hundreds of thousands of American Olim came to live here too. What a difference such a large mass of people would be able to make on the makeup of Israeli society for the good. Chaval, most American Jews decide to stay in the States with their talents instead of coming here on mass to really make a difference (100 families a year from America doesn't have the same impact on a society as tens of thousands a year).
So, I'm sure everybody wants to here how we have adjusted to living in Israel, and especially Efrat, during these hard times. I have to admit that it is hard to get used to walking through the streets of Jerusalem with a sense of fear that something might happen, but we did. Since we came a week ago, we have strolled through Jerusalem's center of town many times. We were actually on Rechov Hamelech George a half hour before the horrible piguah last Thursday. Realizing that was a big shock. But it has not stopped us from stolling down Rechov Hamelch George or other areas of Jerusalem. It is not easy getting used to this reality, but on the other hand, life goes on, and we, like everybbody else, have adjusted to doing what we need to do, going where we need to go, regardless of the fear in the back of our minds.
But, with it all, we are so happy to be here. It is so great being back in Israel. So far we have spent a Shabbat up north, we have taken a train ride on the beautiful new double decker train from Tel Aviv to the north, we have been to an english speaking play production of You're a Good Man Charlie Brown, and we have had a great time seeing friends and family. Life is great, life goes on and Beezrat hashem the matzav will come to an end soon.
Last night we heard a shiur from Rabbi Avraham Twersky (the famous psychologist). There is one thing he mentioned that I wanted to repeat for all of you. he mentioned that there is one aspect of teh seder that still puzzles him; he has still found no answer to the question why we dip a vegetable into salt water? After years of learning, he still has no answer to the question. The paradox is that the Rabbis tell us that we do it in order that the children will ask why we do it, even though we then tell them 'in order for you to ask why we do it'! Go figure! However, Rabbi Twersy said that that is exactly the point, there is no answer to that question and when children ask why we do it it is not only ok, but it is imperitive for the parent to answer 'I don't know why we do it, but we do it in order for you to ask why'. So too in life, we are always required to ask why things happen, but sometimes there are no answers to our questions, and that is the lesson itself. In today's times, we have no way to explain why Am Yisrael and Eretz Yisrael is going through such traumatic times, but yet we still have to ask why, and even though we have no answer, that is ok. We have to feel sad on the one hand for what we are going through, but happiness on the other hand, because even though we don't know why, God's hand is behind it all. Am Yisrael chai, and we will get through these harsh times as well. May this Nisan really bring the geulah and may we see all of Am Yisrael in Eretz Yisrael soon (whether the mashiach comes or not).
Chag Kashem V'sameach.
Avi, Rachel and Yakir
Thursday, March 07, 2002
Aliyah Update
Shalom to all,
I just wanted to let everybody know that Rachel, Yakir and I are flying to Israel for our aliyah flight on March 17th. We will miss all of you from the States but we look forward to welcoming you to our home in Israel, whether you come on vacation or for a more permanant stay.
The following thoughts were mostly written for my own benefit, to finally put into words abstract thoughts that I have been having about our aliyah plans. If anyone has any fedback, please let me know.
I have to admit that going to Israel today, with everything that is going on, is a scary thing. Obviously, I hoped that our return to Israel would be during peaceful times, but HKB"H had other plans. Even though I would rather not admit it, I'm also scared about moving to Efrat in today's climate. I wouldn't be as scared if it was just me, but now I'm a responsible father and husband and I'm always second guessing myself whether I'm really doing the right thing by moving my family to a place that most consider to be more dangerous than other places.
Even though I have these thoughts, I still believe that moving to Israel today, and moving to Efrat today, is the right thing to do. It might not be the most rational, the most logical or the "sure thing", but I do believe that it is the right thing.
I feel this way because I ask myself 'who really is assured that they will wake up the next day breathing? Who is secure that they won't be hit by a car while crossing the street?' I always answer myself that the answer is nobody. Nobody is secure that nothing bad will happen to them. People might not realize it or just not pay attention to it, but no matter where one lives or what one does, things can happen to anybody at any time. We all want to feel safe and secure, but in truth we feel secure even though we really aren't.
So I then start thinking about what we are really supposed to feel scure about? And I realize that the only thing we can feel secure about is who we are, how we act adn what we do. That is really the only things we can feel secure about, those things that we control. Many of us feel physically secure with an abstract feeling that our surroundings are safe or that our neighbors are harmless. But that really does not address our needs of security. Our one and only security is our emunah in Hashem. It is that belief in HKB"H that can help make a person feel physically secure, because one realizes that whatever they have control over is the right thing to do, regardless of what may happen that is out of their control. It is the belief in God that allows us to feel secure in who we are, what we do, and how we act. It is that security that makes sure that regardless of what happens to us (injury, death etc.) that we make sure to live fulfilling and meaningfull lives.
That is why I know, that even though I'm scared, I'm doing the right thing by moving to Israel and to Efrat. It is a scary feeling to place my sense of security in my belief in Hashem, but I think that is better than falsely believing I'm safe from harm because I live in X place.
People can then argue with me that halachikly one shouldn't place themselves in a place of danger. I'm not a rabbi and I'm not a posek, so I won't even try to deal with that question in a halachik framework. But I do know that my blood is no redder than anybody else who lives today in Efrat or Yesha. And I do know that if people wouldn't live there, then no Jew would be able to live in those areas or visit those areas for a very long time. Yes I think that not enough is being done to defend all the Jews in Israel, especailly in Yesha, but that is not stopping me from rightfully joining those Jews in creating and maintaining thriving Jewish communities in the one place in the world Jews should not be barred from living.
Yes, it is dangerous in Israel today and I'm not going to Israel with a aflse sense of reality. But I believe that unless we live there, stay there and support those who currently live there (by visiting them, staying in contact with them, and, most importantly, by joining them) Israel might not exist tommorrow.
Avi
Shalom to all,
I just wanted to let everybody know that Rachel, Yakir and I are flying to Israel for our aliyah flight on March 17th. We will miss all of you from the States but we look forward to welcoming you to our home in Israel, whether you come on vacation or for a more permanant stay.
The following thoughts were mostly written for my own benefit, to finally put into words abstract thoughts that I have been having about our aliyah plans. If anyone has any fedback, please let me know.
I have to admit that going to Israel today, with everything that is going on, is a scary thing. Obviously, I hoped that our return to Israel would be during peaceful times, but HKB"H had other plans. Even though I would rather not admit it, I'm also scared about moving to Efrat in today's climate. I wouldn't be as scared if it was just me, but now I'm a responsible father and husband and I'm always second guessing myself whether I'm really doing the right thing by moving my family to a place that most consider to be more dangerous than other places.
Even though I have these thoughts, I still believe that moving to Israel today, and moving to Efrat today, is the right thing to do. It might not be the most rational, the most logical or the "sure thing", but I do believe that it is the right thing.
I feel this way because I ask myself 'who really is assured that they will wake up the next day breathing? Who is secure that they won't be hit by a car while crossing the street?' I always answer myself that the answer is nobody. Nobody is secure that nothing bad will happen to them. People might not realize it or just not pay attention to it, but no matter where one lives or what one does, things can happen to anybody at any time. We all want to feel safe and secure, but in truth we feel secure even though we really aren't.
So I then start thinking about what we are really supposed to feel scure about? And I realize that the only thing we can feel secure about is who we are, how we act adn what we do. That is really the only things we can feel secure about, those things that we control. Many of us feel physically secure with an abstract feeling that our surroundings are safe or that our neighbors are harmless. But that really does not address our needs of security. Our one and only security is our emunah in Hashem. It is that belief in HKB"H that can help make a person feel physically secure, because one realizes that whatever they have control over is the right thing to do, regardless of what may happen that is out of their control. It is the belief in God that allows us to feel secure in who we are, what we do, and how we act. It is that security that makes sure that regardless of what happens to us (injury, death etc.) that we make sure to live fulfilling and meaningfull lives.
That is why I know, that even though I'm scared, I'm doing the right thing by moving to Israel and to Efrat. It is a scary feeling to place my sense of security in my belief in Hashem, but I think that is better than falsely believing I'm safe from harm because I live in X place.
People can then argue with me that halachikly one shouldn't place themselves in a place of danger. I'm not a rabbi and I'm not a posek, so I won't even try to deal with that question in a halachik framework. But I do know that my blood is no redder than anybody else who lives today in Efrat or Yesha. And I do know that if people wouldn't live there, then no Jew would be able to live in those areas or visit those areas for a very long time. Yes I think that not enough is being done to defend all the Jews in Israel, especailly in Yesha, but that is not stopping me from rightfully joining those Jews in creating and maintaining thriving Jewish communities in the one place in the world Jews should not be barred from living.
Yes, it is dangerous in Israel today and I'm not going to Israel with a aflse sense of reality. But I believe that unless we live there, stay there and support those who currently live there (by visiting them, staying in contact with them, and, most importantly, by joining them) Israel might not exist tommorrow.
Avi
Wednesday, December 12, 2001
A Must Read Refresher on Middle East History
http://www.the-idler.com/IDLER-01/12-12.html
Letter from Jerusalem: Palestine is Israel, the Jewish
National Home
By Arlynn Nellhaus
Borders of the Jewish National Home in Palestine as
determined by the San Remo Conference of 1920 (from
US-Israel.org website).
A recent letter writer to the New York Times professed
her great support for Israel, but said there never
could be peace until the Jewish state gave up "the
occupied territories."
Even Secretary of State Colin Powell (and some times I
do wonder about him), in Louisville used the term
"occupied territory."
Every time Palestinian spokespersons open their
mouths, there is reference to "the occupied
territories." Of course, they know that the word
"occupied" resonates with the implication of foul
deeds.
But what "occupied territories?"
There never has been an independent country called
"Palestine." Nor is there such thing as "Palestinian
land" – another fictional location from which Israel
is supposed to leave. What needs to be talked about is
"disputed territory."
In fact, Palestine is the name for the British Mandate
intended for a Jewish National Home. The original
Palestinians were all Jews. After 1948, they began
calling themselves Israelis. Therefore, to be logical,
Palestine is Israel. The PLO, formed only in the
1960's after the failure of Pan-Arab nationalist
attempts to eliminate Palestinian Jews living in
Israel and steal Israeli land, instead stole the name
"Palestinian" from its rightful owner -- Israel.
The only people who consistently have claimed and
lived in the land of Israel for 3,500 years are the
Jews.
Philip Hitti, who was Middle Eastern studies professor
at Princeton, and who never had a nice word to say
about Israel, made that clear in his book on the
history of the Middle East.
His book tells of Semitic tribes always on the move.
The only exception, the only one that maintained a
permanent base, was the Jews. Even the Koran, which
has violent words about Jews, Christians and others
who don't accept the "true faith," states in Suras 5,
10, and 17 that Allah gave the Holy Land to the
Israelis.
Conquerors came and went, including an Arab invasion
in the 7th century. The Ottoman Turks ruled from the
16th to the 20th century, followed by the British
holding a League of Nations Mandate over the land.
Under the British, Southern Syria was called
"Palestine" and included what became Jordan.
After the British lopped off Palestine east of the
Jordan to reward their allies, the Hashemites of
Arabia with a country of their own after they had been
driven out of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the British Peel
Commission recommended dividing what was left between
Jews and Arabs.
The Jews said yes, the Arabs said no.
When the United Nations voted to do so in 1947, the
Jews again said yes, the Arabs responded with war.
They lost.
The territory, which belonged to no nation, could have
been a Palestinian state 54 years ago. It then was
occupied by Jordan and Egypt. There was no talk of
"Palestinian land."
If you reject a compromise, go to war to get the whole
loaf and lose everything, are you still entitled to
the original offer 54 years later?
Germany went to war a couple of times in the 20th
century, lost both, times and ended up smaller each
time.
In the rest of the world, there is punishment for
aggression. In the Middle East -- if you are an Arab
-- there only is reward.
And in a twist of history, all the land that could
have been an independent Arab state fell to Israel
after the Arab nations tried again in 1967 to destroy
Israel.
Israel was fighting for its life, not to become the
ruler of Arabs, but that is how it turned out.
The UN Security Council came up with its much vaunted
Resolution 242.
Eugene Rostow, US Undersecretary of State between 1966
and 1969, played a leading role in producing 242. He
says that 242 allows Israel to administer the
territories it took over until "a just and lasting
peace in the Middle East" is achieved.
But today, under the terms of the Oslo Accords, on
which Yasser Arafat signed on the dotted line that he
recognized Israel's right to exist and renounced
terror, Israel gave large amounts of this disputed
territory to the Palestinians.
Today, upwards of 95 percent live under the
Palestinian Authority, a state-in-the-making with its
own post office, police, airport, courts and
government, corrupt as it is – but it's theirs.
So if they are governed by the Palestinian Authority,
what "occupation?" It's a great word to use, for it
can make people think things that don't really exist.
Palestinians complain of having a hard time getting
from one Palestinian Authority area to another, becase
they have to cross Israel.
If they would stop killing Israelis, they wouldn't
have such difficulties. They could try it and see. But
they will not give Israel the promise of one week
without suicide bombings.
It pays to remember, according to a Palestinian
survey, that at least 72 percent of Palestinians
support suicide bombings.
Would you let them into your house?
Just how would you know you are letting in the 28
percent who don't support suicide bombings?
How would you know that the 28 percent that might not
feel like blowing themselves up don't support
shootings or stabbings, instead?
As for "Palestinian-owned land," to believe that every
Palestinian – many of whom are probably descended from
Arab, Syrian, Egyptian, Lebanese or Jordanian
immigrants -- holds title to land, is simply
fallacious.
Fifty-four years ago, most of the land was owned by a
few big Arab landowners. The rest of the Arab
population worked other people's land. They were
landless. It wasn't fair, but that was their system.
Yet the greater part of all the land belonged to the
state – whatever it was at the time: Turkey, Britain,
Jordan or Egypt. And now, except for what has been
relinquished to the Palestinian Authority, Israel is
the state.
And Israel has a valid historic claim to all the land.
Meanwhile, today's Palestinians claim all the land.
The same land. The Land of Israel. (If you think they
only want Gaza and the historic areas of Judea and
Samaria, you haven't been paying attention.)
Even with achievement of the dream of "a just and
lasting peace," UN Security Council 242 does not
require Israel to withdraw from all the territory. It
may keep what it deems it needs for security. And that
is to be negotiated peacefully.
So please, forget the terms "occupied territories" and
"Palestinian lands." Use the correct term, "disputed
territories or lands," and then we can all agree. This
is a territorial dispute.
As for the "settlements" (when did the "settlement" of
Boston become a village, a town, or a city?), under
the Turks and British, could the Jews have put up a
lean-to on land that didn't belong to them -- or that
wasn't state land?
Think about it. The Jewish Agency purchased the land
of Israel, with hard currency, from its legal
owners.Every square dunam.
For example, the land that Kfar Darom is on in Gaza
was purchased under the British, although Jews have
lived in Gaza since the time of the Macabees, whose
miracle we celebrate at Hannukah, more than 100 years
before the Common Era.
And here's a surprise, Palestinians are now living on
Jewish-owned land. The Dehaishe refugee camp is
located on 405 dunams purchased by the Jewish Agency
in 1943.
The British Mandate fully recognized the right of the
Jewish people to settle in the entire Mandate
territory east of the Jordan. That's right, the entire
territory east of the Jordan River is legally
available to Jewish families. It is not a "restricted"
neighborhood.
Rostow points out that that right is buttressed by
Article 80 of the UN Charter which says that nothing
shall be construed to alter in any manner the rights
of people or terms of existing international
instruments.
And the Mandate given to Britain by the League of
Nations was such an "international instrument."
Are the "settlements" an obstacle to peace?
Bin Laden's appeal to an Islamic uprising is an
obstacle to peace.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad's suicide bombings are
obstacle to peace.
Arafat's racist incitement is an obstacle to peace.
Building more homes for peaceful families to live in
peacefully alongside their neighbors is not an
obstacle to peace -- it is an incentive for peace.
http://www.the-idler.com/IDLER-01/12-12.html
Letter from Jerusalem: Palestine is Israel, the Jewish
National Home
By Arlynn Nellhaus
Borders of the Jewish National Home in Palestine as
determined by the San Remo Conference of 1920 (from
US-Israel.org website).
A recent letter writer to the New York Times professed
her great support for Israel, but said there never
could be peace until the Jewish state gave up "the
occupied territories."
Even Secretary of State Colin Powell (and some times I
do wonder about him), in Louisville used the term
"occupied territory."
Every time Palestinian spokespersons open their
mouths, there is reference to "the occupied
territories." Of course, they know that the word
"occupied" resonates with the implication of foul
deeds.
But what "occupied territories?"
There never has been an independent country called
"Palestine." Nor is there such thing as "Palestinian
land" – another fictional location from which Israel
is supposed to leave. What needs to be talked about is
"disputed territory."
In fact, Palestine is the name for the British Mandate
intended for a Jewish National Home. The original
Palestinians were all Jews. After 1948, they began
calling themselves Israelis. Therefore, to be logical,
Palestine is Israel. The PLO, formed only in the
1960's after the failure of Pan-Arab nationalist
attempts to eliminate Palestinian Jews living in
Israel and steal Israeli land, instead stole the name
"Palestinian" from its rightful owner -- Israel.
The only people who consistently have claimed and
lived in the land of Israel for 3,500 years are the
Jews.
Philip Hitti, who was Middle Eastern studies professor
at Princeton, and who never had a nice word to say
about Israel, made that clear in his book on the
history of the Middle East.
His book tells of Semitic tribes always on the move.
The only exception, the only one that maintained a
permanent base, was the Jews. Even the Koran, which
has violent words about Jews, Christians and others
who don't accept the "true faith," states in Suras 5,
10, and 17 that Allah gave the Holy Land to the
Israelis.
Conquerors came and went, including an Arab invasion
in the 7th century. The Ottoman Turks ruled from the
16th to the 20th century, followed by the British
holding a League of Nations Mandate over the land.
Under the British, Southern Syria was called
"Palestine" and included what became Jordan.
After the British lopped off Palestine east of the
Jordan to reward their allies, the Hashemites of
Arabia with a country of their own after they had been
driven out of Saudi Arabia and Iraq, the British Peel
Commission recommended dividing what was left between
Jews and Arabs.
The Jews said yes, the Arabs said no.
When the United Nations voted to do so in 1947, the
Jews again said yes, the Arabs responded with war.
They lost.
The territory, which belonged to no nation, could have
been a Palestinian state 54 years ago. It then was
occupied by Jordan and Egypt. There was no talk of
"Palestinian land."
If you reject a compromise, go to war to get the whole
loaf and lose everything, are you still entitled to
the original offer 54 years later?
Germany went to war a couple of times in the 20th
century, lost both, times and ended up smaller each
time.
In the rest of the world, there is punishment for
aggression. In the Middle East -- if you are an Arab
-- there only is reward.
And in a twist of history, all the land that could
have been an independent Arab state fell to Israel
after the Arab nations tried again in 1967 to destroy
Israel.
Israel was fighting for its life, not to become the
ruler of Arabs, but that is how it turned out.
The UN Security Council came up with its much vaunted
Resolution 242.
Eugene Rostow, US Undersecretary of State between 1966
and 1969, played a leading role in producing 242. He
says that 242 allows Israel to administer the
territories it took over until "a just and lasting
peace in the Middle East" is achieved.
But today, under the terms of the Oslo Accords, on
which Yasser Arafat signed on the dotted line that he
recognized Israel's right to exist and renounced
terror, Israel gave large amounts of this disputed
territory to the Palestinians.
Today, upwards of 95 percent live under the
Palestinian Authority, a state-in-the-making with its
own post office, police, airport, courts and
government, corrupt as it is – but it's theirs.
So if they are governed by the Palestinian Authority,
what "occupation?" It's a great word to use, for it
can make people think things that don't really exist.
Palestinians complain of having a hard time getting
from one Palestinian Authority area to another, becase
they have to cross Israel.
If they would stop killing Israelis, they wouldn't
have such difficulties. They could try it and see. But
they will not give Israel the promise of one week
without suicide bombings.
It pays to remember, according to a Palestinian
survey, that at least 72 percent of Palestinians
support suicide bombings.
Would you let them into your house?
Just how would you know you are letting in the 28
percent who don't support suicide bombings?
How would you know that the 28 percent that might not
feel like blowing themselves up don't support
shootings or stabbings, instead?
As for "Palestinian-owned land," to believe that every
Palestinian – many of whom are probably descended from
Arab, Syrian, Egyptian, Lebanese or Jordanian
immigrants -- holds title to land, is simply
fallacious.
Fifty-four years ago, most of the land was owned by a
few big Arab landowners. The rest of the Arab
population worked other people's land. They were
landless. It wasn't fair, but that was their system.
Yet the greater part of all the land belonged to the
state – whatever it was at the time: Turkey, Britain,
Jordan or Egypt. And now, except for what has been
relinquished to the Palestinian Authority, Israel is
the state.
And Israel has a valid historic claim to all the land.
Meanwhile, today's Palestinians claim all the land.
The same land. The Land of Israel. (If you think they
only want Gaza and the historic areas of Judea and
Samaria, you haven't been paying attention.)
Even with achievement of the dream of "a just and
lasting peace," UN Security Council 242 does not
require Israel to withdraw from all the territory. It
may keep what it deems it needs for security. And that
is to be negotiated peacefully.
So please, forget the terms "occupied territories" and
"Palestinian lands." Use the correct term, "disputed
territories or lands," and then we can all agree. This
is a territorial dispute.
As for the "settlements" (when did the "settlement" of
Boston become a village, a town, or a city?), under
the Turks and British, could the Jews have put up a
lean-to on land that didn't belong to them -- or that
wasn't state land?
Think about it. The Jewish Agency purchased the land
of Israel, with hard currency, from its legal
owners.Every square dunam.
For example, the land that Kfar Darom is on in Gaza
was purchased under the British, although Jews have
lived in Gaza since the time of the Macabees, whose
miracle we celebrate at Hannukah, more than 100 years
before the Common Era.
And here's a surprise, Palestinians are now living on
Jewish-owned land. The Dehaishe refugee camp is
located on 405 dunams purchased by the Jewish Agency
in 1943.
The British Mandate fully recognized the right of the
Jewish people to settle in the entire Mandate
territory east of the Jordan. That's right, the entire
territory east of the Jordan River is legally
available to Jewish families. It is not a "restricted"
neighborhood.
Rostow points out that that right is buttressed by
Article 80 of the UN Charter which says that nothing
shall be construed to alter in any manner the rights
of people or terms of existing international
instruments.
And the Mandate given to Britain by the League of
Nations was such an "international instrument."
Are the "settlements" an obstacle to peace?
Bin Laden's appeal to an Islamic uprising is an
obstacle to peace.
Hamas and Islamic Jihad's suicide bombings are
obstacle to peace.
Arafat's racist incitement is an obstacle to peace.
Building more homes for peaceful families to live in
peacefully alongside their neighbors is not an
obstacle to peace -- it is an incentive for peace.
Monday, December 03, 2001
A Little Bit of Chizuk for a Horrible Time Period
After this weekends horrific deaths in Yerushalayim
and Haifa I feel utter sadness. Yet it is so hard to
feel sad and to shed a tear because I'm so used to
going on with life after all the other deaths that
take place on an almost daily occurence. That is what
upsets me the most about Arafat and his gang of
terrorists, not only have they taken away my the
bright neshomot of fellow Jews, but they have robbed
me of my natural emotional reaction of sadness,
because they made deaths of Jews a part of my daily
life!
It is such a paradox, to go on with our normal daily
lives, yet also be able to feel our emotions of
sadness. This is not such an easy combonation.
Chazal were smart in allowing us to maintain this
combonation when facing the death of a loved one - a 7
day mourning period before continuing with daily life.
Ultimately, all of us, all of Am Yisrael, need some
type of similar mechanism to allow us to feel our
sadness after each and every senseless death of our
brothers and sisters in Am Yisrael. Instead we scream
and shout one night and then return to work the next
morning, almost as if nothing happened the day before.
There is so much for us to celebrate and be happy
about - our own lives, our family, our personal
celebrations etc. Yet, I believe that we still have
the need to express our deep sadness in order to then
properly feel our happiness, and this is hard to do
nowadays.
A number of weeks ago, I wrote an email expressing my
feelings of anger and despair about today's overall
situation in the world, especially with the hypocrisy
of the world's leaders in dealing with Israel. I
wrote about my personal frustration in not being able
to do enough to make a difference. In repsonse to
that email, I received a very warm response with a
message of chizuk that I want to share with all of you
today, because I feel that it can also be applied to
our situation of sadness and helplessness today. This
little story of chizuk is right below.
In the meantime, may we all see peace, quiet and
tranquility within Israel's borders soon. And may we
then have the time to sit down and look back at the
events of this horrible uprising so that we can think
back and mourn all the precious souls of loved ones
and fellow Jews whom we have lost. I look forward to
such a time to be able to feel my sadness once again.
Avi
P.U.S.H.
> > >
> > >A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when
> > suddenly his room filled with light, and God
> > appeared.
> > >The Lord told the man he had work for him to do,
> > and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin.
> > >
> > >The Lord explained that the man was to push
against
> > the rock with all his might. So, this
> > >the man did, day after day. For many years he
> > toiled from sun up to sun down; his shoulders set
> > squarely
> > >against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving
> > rock, pushing with all of his might. Each night
the
> > man
> > >returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling
> > that his whole day had been spent in vain.
> > >Since the man was showing discouragement, the
> > Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture
> > >by placing thoughts into the weary mind: "you
have
> > been pushing against that rock for a long time,
> > >and it hasn't moved." Thus, giving the man the
> > impression that the task was impossible and the
> > >he was a failure.These thoughts discouraged and
> > disheartened the man.
> > >
> > >"Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll
just
> > put in my time, giving just the minimum
> > >effort; and that will be good enough."
> > And that is what he planned to do, until one day
> > >he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take
> > his troubled thoughts to the Lord.
> > >"Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in
> > your service, putting all my strength to do that
> > >which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I
> > have not even budged that rock by half a
millimeter.
> > >What is wrong? Why am I failing?"
> > >The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend,
> > when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I
> > >told you that your task was to push against the
> > rock with all of your strength, which you have
done.
> > >Never once did I mention to you that I expected
you
> > to move it. Your task was to push. And now you
come
> > to Me
> > >with your strength spent, thinking that you have
> > failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself.
> > Your
> > >arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and
> > brown, your hands are callused from constant
> > >pressure, your legs have become massive and hard.
> > Through opposition you have grown much, and your
> > abilities
> > >now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you
> > haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be
> > >obedient and to push and to exercise your faith
and
> > trust in My wisdom.
> > >This you have done. Now I, My friend, will now
move
> > the rock."
> > >At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend
to
> > use our own intellect to decipher what He wants,
> > >when actually what God wants is just a simple
> > obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise
> > the faith
> > >that moves mountains, but know that it is still
God
> > who moves mountains.
> > >
> > >When everything seems to go wrong ... just
> > P.U.S.H.!
> > >When the job gets you down ... just P.U.S.H.!
> > >When people don't react the way you think they
> > should... just P.U.S.H.!
> > >When your money looks "gone" and the bills are
> > due...just P.U.S.H!
> > >When people just don't understand you ... just
> > P.U.S.H.!
> > >
> > >P= Pray
> > >U= Until
> > >S= Something
> > >H= Happens
> > >
> > >Remember!! Judaism is not an all-or-nothing
> > religion. So try to do the best you can.........,
> > >
> > >Rabbi Benny Zippel
After this weekends horrific deaths in Yerushalayim
and Haifa I feel utter sadness. Yet it is so hard to
feel sad and to shed a tear because I'm so used to
going on with life after all the other deaths that
take place on an almost daily occurence. That is what
upsets me the most about Arafat and his gang of
terrorists, not only have they taken away my the
bright neshomot of fellow Jews, but they have robbed
me of my natural emotional reaction of sadness,
because they made deaths of Jews a part of my daily
life!
It is such a paradox, to go on with our normal daily
lives, yet also be able to feel our emotions of
sadness. This is not such an easy combonation.
Chazal were smart in allowing us to maintain this
combonation when facing the death of a loved one - a 7
day mourning period before continuing with daily life.
Ultimately, all of us, all of Am Yisrael, need some
type of similar mechanism to allow us to feel our
sadness after each and every senseless death of our
brothers and sisters in Am Yisrael. Instead we scream
and shout one night and then return to work the next
morning, almost as if nothing happened the day before.
There is so much for us to celebrate and be happy
about - our own lives, our family, our personal
celebrations etc. Yet, I believe that we still have
the need to express our deep sadness in order to then
properly feel our happiness, and this is hard to do
nowadays.
A number of weeks ago, I wrote an email expressing my
feelings of anger and despair about today's overall
situation in the world, especially with the hypocrisy
of the world's leaders in dealing with Israel. I
wrote about my personal frustration in not being able
to do enough to make a difference. In repsonse to
that email, I received a very warm response with a
message of chizuk that I want to share with all of you
today, because I feel that it can also be applied to
our situation of sadness and helplessness today. This
little story of chizuk is right below.
In the meantime, may we all see peace, quiet and
tranquility within Israel's borders soon. And may we
then have the time to sit down and look back at the
events of this horrible uprising so that we can think
back and mourn all the precious souls of loved ones
and fellow Jews whom we have lost. I look forward to
such a time to be able to feel my sadness once again.
Avi
P.U.S.H.
> > >
> > >A man was sleeping at night in his cabin when
> > suddenly his room filled with light, and God
> > appeared.
> > >The Lord told the man he had work for him to do,
> > and showed him a large rock in front of his cabin.
> > >
> > >The Lord explained that the man was to push
against
> > the rock with all his might. So, this
> > >the man did, day after day. For many years he
> > toiled from sun up to sun down; his shoulders set
> > squarely
> > >against the cold, massive surface of the unmoving
> > rock, pushing with all of his might. Each night
the
> > man
> > >returned to his cabin sore and worn out, feeling
> > that his whole day had been spent in vain.
> > >Since the man was showing discouragement, the
> > Adversary (Satan) decided to enter the picture
> > >by placing thoughts into the weary mind: "you
have
> > been pushing against that rock for a long time,
> > >and it hasn't moved." Thus, giving the man the
> > impression that the task was impossible and the
> > >he was a failure.These thoughts discouraged and
> > disheartened the man.
> > >
> > >"Why kill myself over this?" he thought. "I'll
just
> > put in my time, giving just the minimum
> > >effort; and that will be good enough."
> > And that is what he planned to do, until one day
> > >he decided to make it a matter of prayer and take
> > his troubled thoughts to the Lord.
> > >"Lord," he said, "I have labored long and hard in
> > your service, putting all my strength to do that
> > >which you have asked. Yet, after all this time, I
> > have not even budged that rock by half a
millimeter.
> > >What is wrong? Why am I failing?"
> > >The Lord responded compassionately, "My friend,
> > when I asked you to serve Me and you accepted, I
> > >told you that your task was to push against the
> > rock with all of your strength, which you have
done.
> > >Never once did I mention to you that I expected
you
> > to move it. Your task was to push. And now you
come
> > to Me
> > >with your strength spent, thinking that you have
> > failed. But, is that really so? Look at yourself.
> > Your
> > >arms are strong and muscled, your back sinewy and
> > brown, your hands are callused from constant
> > >pressure, your legs have become massive and hard.
> > Through opposition you have grown much, and your
> > abilities
> > >now surpass that which you used to have. Yet you
> > haven't moved the rock. But your calling was to be
> > >obedient and to push and to exercise your faith
and
> > trust in My wisdom.
> > >This you have done. Now I, My friend, will now
move
> > the rock."
> > >At times, when we hear a word from God, we tend
to
> > use our own intellect to decipher what He wants,
> > >when actually what God wants is just a simple
> > obedience and faith in Him. By all means, exercise
> > the faith
> > >that moves mountains, but know that it is still
God
> > who moves mountains.
> > >
> > >When everything seems to go wrong ... just
> > P.U.S.H.!
> > >When the job gets you down ... just P.U.S.H.!
> > >When people don't react the way you think they
> > should... just P.U.S.H.!
> > >When your money looks "gone" and the bills are
> > due...just P.U.S.H!
> > >When people just don't understand you ... just
> > P.U.S.H.!
> > >
> > >P= Pray
> > >U= Until
> > >S= Something
> > >H= Happens
> > >
> > >Remember!! Judaism is not an all-or-nothing
> > religion. So try to do the best you can.........,
> > >
> > >Rabbi Benny Zippel
Saturday, November 03, 2001
Times Are Rough - Thoughts
Hi all,
I'm a very optimistic person, and I believe it is
rooted in my eternal belief in Hashem and in Nezach Am
Yisrael, but I'm having a very hard time lately not
becoming depressed and fighting off thoughts of
hopelessness.
I look around me, I listen to the news, I read the
news on the internet and all I see and read is
hypocrisy.
A war on terrorism that includes allies that are
countries that support terrorism.
A war on terrorism that does not include (at least
publicly) countries that fight terrorism.
A large part of the world that hides it's
anti-semitism by cloaking it in anti-Zionism.
A large part of the world that dares to say "cycle of
violence" with regards to Israel, when any sane person
knows that if one side would be pressured to stop,
then there would be no "cycle of violence" to lie
about.
A large part of the Jewish people who pray to return
to the land of Israel, but who do not return.
There are so many battles to fight, so many causes to
stand up for.
Belive it or not, the biggest cause dearest to my
heart is my concern that Jews complain about the above
issues, but leave the activists to act, while the
majority do nothing, but complain. Judaism is about
living an active life based on our beliefs, yet
"activists" are only a small segment of our
population, when instead that term should include all
of us. Too many of us suffice with just tzedakah to
let others do the hard work.
I'm tired of all this hypocrisy and I'm depressed by
it.
I don't know what to do anymore. Sometimes I really
feel hopeless. I can talk till I'm blue in the face
about these issues that concern me. I can send
emails, sign petitions, prod people to do more, to get
involved, but yet I still feel that I'm making no
impact - powerless in the face of so much hypocrisy,
hopelessness, apathy and inactivity.
Kohelet had it right "Hevel Havalim, Hakol
Hevel.....Et Hashem Yirah v'et mitzvotav shmore, ki ze
kol haadam". But I still wish more people would do
more besides their daily mitzvot, because there is so
much that needs to be done.
Maybe I'm not doing the right things, maybe I'm not
doing enough, maybe I'm not talking to the right
people. I guess that is why I'm sending out this
email: A plea for help, and a communication to find
out about other ideas, other avenues, other people to
reach out to.
Thanks for listening.
The latest project that I honed my frustration on is a
website called Americans for a Safe America. I just
put it together out of pure anger towards the
hypocrisy of America's war. Instead of putting the
focus on the hypocrisy towards Israel, I focused on
the hypocisy of the war strategy itself. If you have
any comments or suggestions, let me know. PS - it is
still under construction. What I will do with it, if
I will do anything with it, I have no idea, but I'm
open to suggestions and at least, for myself, I'm
trying to do something.
http://www.geocities.com/veryconcernedcitizens
With it all, emunah will carry us through, it just
isn't so easy all the time.
Avi
Hi all,
I'm a very optimistic person, and I believe it is
rooted in my eternal belief in Hashem and in Nezach Am
Yisrael, but I'm having a very hard time lately not
becoming depressed and fighting off thoughts of
hopelessness.
I look around me, I listen to the news, I read the
news on the internet and all I see and read is
hypocrisy.
A war on terrorism that includes allies that are
countries that support terrorism.
A war on terrorism that does not include (at least
publicly) countries that fight terrorism.
A large part of the world that hides it's
anti-semitism by cloaking it in anti-Zionism.
A large part of the world that dares to say "cycle of
violence" with regards to Israel, when any sane person
knows that if one side would be pressured to stop,
then there would be no "cycle of violence" to lie
about.
A large part of the Jewish people who pray to return
to the land of Israel, but who do not return.
There are so many battles to fight, so many causes to
stand up for.
Belive it or not, the biggest cause dearest to my
heart is my concern that Jews complain about the above
issues, but leave the activists to act, while the
majority do nothing, but complain. Judaism is about
living an active life based on our beliefs, yet
"activists" are only a small segment of our
population, when instead that term should include all
of us. Too many of us suffice with just tzedakah to
let others do the hard work.
I'm tired of all this hypocrisy and I'm depressed by
it.
I don't know what to do anymore. Sometimes I really
feel hopeless. I can talk till I'm blue in the face
about these issues that concern me. I can send
emails, sign petitions, prod people to do more, to get
involved, but yet I still feel that I'm making no
impact - powerless in the face of so much hypocrisy,
hopelessness, apathy and inactivity.
Kohelet had it right "Hevel Havalim, Hakol
Hevel.....Et Hashem Yirah v'et mitzvotav shmore, ki ze
kol haadam". But I still wish more people would do
more besides their daily mitzvot, because there is so
much that needs to be done.
Maybe I'm not doing the right things, maybe I'm not
doing enough, maybe I'm not talking to the right
people. I guess that is why I'm sending out this
email: A plea for help, and a communication to find
out about other ideas, other avenues, other people to
reach out to.
Thanks for listening.
The latest project that I honed my frustration on is a
website called Americans for a Safe America. I just
put it together out of pure anger towards the
hypocrisy of America's war. Instead of putting the
focus on the hypocrisy towards Israel, I focused on
the hypocisy of the war strategy itself. If you have
any comments or suggestions, let me know. PS - it is
still under construction. What I will do with it, if
I will do anything with it, I have no idea, but I'm
open to suggestions and at least, for myself, I'm
trying to do something.
http://www.geocities.com/veryconcernedcitizens
With it all, emunah will carry us through, it just
isn't so easy all the time.
Avi
Wednesday, October 17, 2001
The World Has Turned Upside Down
I write to you all today with a heavy heart.
It's not easy for me nowadays to go on with my daily
life of work. Unfortunately, I just feel that work
nowadays is "hakol hevel".
I have always known that the world is a nutty place
-where justice really isn't just, where people believe
outright lies because it is convenient for them not to
have to face the truth, and where many people live
lives of black and white, when really much of
everything in life is somewhat grey.
The world mamish has turned upsides down lately, not
only are Jews not safe in many places but neither are
Americans, and it is very hard for me not to let
everything going on today effect my mood.
To top it off, today a great leader of the Jewish
people was killed. It is hard enough for any innocent
person to be killed, hard enough for any innocent Jew
to be killed just for being a Jew, but it is
especially hard when a Jew who spends his life
dedicated to the Jewish people and the Land of Israel
is killed. Even those in Israel who totally disagreed
with Ze'evi, all agree that they lost one of the most
principled and dedicated Jewish leaders in Israel.
Unfortunately, principles Jewish leaders totally
didicated to the Jewish people and the Land of Israel
are hard to come by. Especailly today, in our
generation of cynicism and idiotic liberalism.
But, with it all, I must go on with my daily, mundane
work life. And I do so with as best an attitude as
possible. Because ultimately I know that there is
some grand plan taking shape, I just don't like what I
see happening, I don't understand why it has to
happen, and I probably never will. But, as Shlomo
Hamelech writes in the last sentence of Kohelet - "We
shall have awe for G-d and we shall keep his mitzvot,
because that is what man is supposed to do."
I write to you all today with a heavy heart.
It's not easy for me nowadays to go on with my daily
life of work. Unfortunately, I just feel that work
nowadays is "hakol hevel".
I have always known that the world is a nutty place
-where justice really isn't just, where people believe
outright lies because it is convenient for them not to
have to face the truth, and where many people live
lives of black and white, when really much of
everything in life is somewhat grey.
The world mamish has turned upsides down lately, not
only are Jews not safe in many places but neither are
Americans, and it is very hard for me not to let
everything going on today effect my mood.
To top it off, today a great leader of the Jewish
people was killed. It is hard enough for any innocent
person to be killed, hard enough for any innocent Jew
to be killed just for being a Jew, but it is
especially hard when a Jew who spends his life
dedicated to the Jewish people and the Land of Israel
is killed. Even those in Israel who totally disagreed
with Ze'evi, all agree that they lost one of the most
principled and dedicated Jewish leaders in Israel.
Unfortunately, principles Jewish leaders totally
didicated to the Jewish people and the Land of Israel
are hard to come by. Especailly today, in our
generation of cynicism and idiotic liberalism.
But, with it all, I must go on with my daily, mundane
work life. And I do so with as best an attitude as
possible. Because ultimately I know that there is
some grand plan taking shape, I just don't like what I
see happening, I don't understand why it has to
happen, and I probably never will. But, as Shlomo
Hamelech writes in the last sentence of Kohelet - "We
shall have awe for G-d and we shall keep his mitzvot,
because that is what man is supposed to do."
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