Thursday, July 26, 2007

in Response to Eretz Yisrael or Soviet Israel - Letter to David Wilder.

bs"d
 
David, amv"sh
 
You say that this time the Settlers of Hebron in the Jewish Shuk will not go voluntarily.  David, you know what you are up against.  Amona etc.  Unless you have a fighting army with a General and a working army behind you, you are still naive.
 
They will send armed soldiers, approximately 1000 as in past experiences, for each family consisting of a father, a mother and a bunch of kids all unarmed of course.  They want to show how strong they are to the population who might consider coming to the support of these courageous and stupid families who dare defy the Government of Israel.
 
What is different now then Amona?  Is bashed heads something you are literally asking for? 
 
Am I supporting a civil war!  Absolutely not!  It need not come to that and G-d willing it never will. 
 
However, I don't see any way out besides seeing the legitimacy of a willingness to fight any aggression be it Kassam or Yassam in a fair manner.  An army of soldiers vs an army of soldiers.  It's cowardly to send an armed force with clubs and riot gear and riot horses and water canons, trained in martial arts and psychological warfare against a bunch of unarmed kids, women and even adults in order to subdue their passion for the Land of Israel. Those Kassam guys are a bunch of cowards.  The army guys who don't protest this rotten assignment don't impress me either.  They are not that macho as was proven by the War in Lebanon (A War that they never officially lost because it was never officially declared a War). 
 
We have a legitimate claim to settling the Land.  They claim that they are in charge.  Let's talk about a fight that's fair and square.  If we are not strong enough as a working unit at the moment then choose to delay the  fight for now but at least let's not be afraid to speak out what is being said behind closed doors.  Let us say that this is a situation of taxation w/o representation.  Gush Katif residents were taxed w/o receiving fair representation and many times worse.  Having to pay an unfair tax was reason enough for the colonists to start the American Revolution.  Here the people of Gush Katif were expelled, their property and source of livelihood destroyed, their families endured much physical and psychological damage. Being taxed unfairly is a piece of cake. Enough is enough. 
 
Bombard everyone on the Internet with chat rooms and discussions, forums and blogs about setting up an independent governing entity where there are two autonomous Jewish governments.  One government has it's basis in Torah.  The other government is not quite ready for such a drastic step. This is not sedition.  This is simply a logical, sane, peaceful way to resolve the difference of loving brothers.  One side does not wish to coerce the other.  The two sides can not coexist w/o a clear separation because they are mutually exclusive positions.  Either it's ok to have territorial concessions or it is not.  Either the Orange Camps position exists or it must disintegrate.  There is no possibility of mutual coexistence because case of point, Gush Katif was destroyed.
 
The existing government of the State of Israel has close ties with Western democracies.  They will remain more secular.  Call the new entity  the Judean Authority rather than a Palestinian Authority.  We will be at peace with our brother Israel and will not choose to fight them unless to defend ourselves.  We are not like the PA who educates their children to destroy Israel.  The "Judean Authority", now let's have our imaginations run wild,  loves Israel and all the people of Israel and would do whatever they could while seeing to their own survival not to hurt a fellow Jew. Their love for their fellow Israeli was clearly shown during the Disengagment.   However, when their own survival and the honor of G-d's Torah is at stake, the Judean Authority has no choice but to do what it must to defend their G-d given rights of the Land of Israel.  The Judean Authority will have it's own governing authority, an army, a Constitution based on the Torah and will have an independent way to sustain themselves with a thriving economy with G-d's help of course.  The Judean Authority will try to the best of their ability to keep the commandments pertaining to the Land of Israel.  The Land is G-d's  (Ki Li Kol Haaretz) but the rightful stewards can only be the people who are descendant of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and Ger Toshavim that accept the sovereignty of  G-d and the special status of the Nation of Israel and their obligation to keep the Torah.  Let us brainstorm how a Judean Authority and Israel can coexist in peace and democracy (as long at it doesn't supercede the Torah) and harmony.  There will be mutual cooperation and sharing of resources.  Rather than fight our brothers with weapons, let us fight with ideas that are true to our Torah and cannot in our day of Internet, be easily silenced.  If the Jewish Idea, and Kahana's followers were silenced it was because they were labeled or shall we say mislabeled, as "religious extremists, fanatics, Messianists, crazy and dangerous".  Did I miss some nice choice labels?  This labeling was the psychological weapon that was sent their way.  However, if a respectable amount of people would contribute to this discussion about "How different is the legitimate cause of the American Revolution to the cause of the Orange camp", then it would be impossible to silence such talk.  If the government of Israel, the Shabak, the courts of "justice" or whomever  chooses to silence, let's raise the discussion in ten times as many forums.  How many computers can they physically make inoperable.   How many virus's can they infect the population with. Once the idea is out let there be freedom of expression.  The more attempts that are made to silence these ideas the stronger these ideas will be voiced!!
 
-----------------------------------------------
 
David Wilder
July 25, 2007


Eretz Yisrael or Soviet Israel
by David Wilder
The Jewish Community of Hebron
July 25, 2007
 
Yesterday the Jewish people marked the fast day, Tisha b'Av – the ninth day of Av. Exactly 1938 years ago the heart of Israel went up in flames. On the 9th day of Av the Second Temple was destroyed by the Roman army. Some 650 years previously, on the exact same day, the First Temple was razed by the Babylonians. That day, Tisha b'Av, the 9th day of the month of Av, is commemorated each year as a fast day, from sunset to sunset.
 
Other inauspicious also occurred on the same date. Most well known was the expulsion from Spain in 1492. The decree ordering Jews to leave Spain was issued on March 31, 1492. The expulsion was to be completed by July 31 of that year. July 31 was the 9th of Av. [ http://www.jewfaq.org/holidayd.htm]
 
However, most significant was the first Tisha b'Av, marked by the rejection of Eretz Yisrael, the land of Israel, by the Israelites, who had been liberated from Egypt only months earlier. Moses sent 12 men to spy the Land. Those men were the leaders of the people, the 'president' of each of the 12 tribes. The best of the best. According to Jewish sources, they realized that upon entrance into the Land of Israel they would be replaced, they would no longer be 'leaders.' As a result, upon their return to Moses and the rest of the Israelites, ten of them slandered the Land, calling it a land of giants that devours it inhabitants. Only two of the spies rejected this slander, Joshua and Kalev, exclaiming that Israel is a 'very very good land.' But they were not able to convince the majority who tore their clothes, wailed and demanded to return to Egypt. As a result, G-d decreed this day to be a day of hardship and mourning, and so it has remained over the centuries.
 
In other words, the root of Tisha b'Av, the ninth day of Av, is the rejection of our G-d-given Land, of Eretz Yisrael.
 
The mourning period, prior to Tisha b'Av is quite intense and, in many respects, difficult. With the advent of  the month of Av, many religious Jews refrained from eating meat or drinking wine until after the fast. In addition, they did not wear freshly laundered clothing or bathe for 10 days. It would be expected that following the path of thousands of years of history, thousands of years of calamity, destruction and mourning, our people would have learned the lesson of Tisha b'Av. Unfortunately it seems that this has yet to be learned and internalized.
 
Just 10 days ago, as the grief of the month of Av began, the state of Israel 'celebrated' the inauguration of the state's ninth president. The commencement of Shimon Peres' reign as president is another reason to mourn. Shimon Peres is the embodiment of the vile spies, who, thousands of years ago, maligned and rejected Eretz Yisrael.
 
Peres was the driving force behind Oslo over 13 years ago. As was then, still today. On the day of his inauguration the eleventh spy proclaimed, "We have to rid ourselves of the 'territories'".
 
The Prime Minister has mouthed the same thoughts: we shouldn't fool ourselves – we won't be able to hold on to the 'territories.' He has ordered the notorious minister Haim Ramon, recently convicted of a 'sex crime' to head up expulsion from and destruction of 'hilltop communities.' Ramon recently suggested a 'toned-down' disengagement: rather than abandon some 90% of Yesha, as Olmert proposed following the last elections, Ramon called for an abandonment of 'only' 70% of Yesha.
 
The Churban – the destruction of 1938 years ago continues.
 
One of the most difficult and emotional episodes faced during these days of mourning began today, exactly two years ago, when Gush Katif was deleted from the face of the earth. Not only is the memory heartbreaking. It is also nauseating. Last week a number of programs on radio, and articles in the press 'questioned' the wisdom of Sharon's 'vision,' bringing about the churan of Gush Katif and the northern Shomron. Hundreds and thousands have been left without employment or permanent housing. Homes have been broken; students who once excelled in their studies lost all motivation to continue. People who were 'temporarily housed' at certain Kibbutzim find themselves again about to be expelled from their homes due to disagreements between the government and the kibbutz administration concerning the cost of rent. The state of Israel has, for all intensive purposes, abandoned these people, who gave their entire lives to the 'greening of the desert,' who suffered mortar attacks and terror killings for years and years, yet refused to give up.
 
And of course, the result of Israel's abandonment of Gush Katif was readily known long before the expulsion. That land would be utilized as a base from which to attack Israel. Now, two years later, the Israeli media, one of the main stalwarts of Sharon's madness, is 'starting to ask questions.' Maybe, just maybe Israel made a mistake?! It really is nauseating.
 
Over the past week hundreds and thousands of youth have attempted to return to Homesh, one of the two communities destroyed in the northern Shomron. From the highest point in Homesh you can view the Israeli coast, from Netanya to Ashdod and Ashkelon. This land, now cleared of all Jews, is still under Israeli control. But Israelis are forbidden from being there, in accordance with the expulsion law passed some two and a half years ago, legalizing the uprooting of 10,000 Jews from their homes.

Of course those brave souls, walking for hours to reach their destination because roads were closed off by security forces, we 'greeted' by baton-wielding police who beat them and dragged them away. However, these people never give up and have sworn to return again and again, until the Homesh community is rebuilt on the ruins of the destroyed town.
 
And what about Hebron? The craziness continues here too. The story of the Shalhevet neighborhood – the 'shuk' is well known. The 'shuk' - the area of the old Arab market, was built on Jewish property purchased in 1807. The market was closed years ago and the buildings left vacant. Following the murder of the 10-month old infant, Shalhevet Pass, in March 2001, we moved into those buildings and renovated them, transforming them into apartments for 9 families and a study hall in Shalhevet's memory.

Following the expulsion from Gush Katif, the government decided to expel us from those apartments too. The day before their ultimatum expired, ordering us out, they offered us a deal: we leave voluntarily, and the government would work out an arrangement allowing us to move back in 'legally' in a short period of time.

We had a 'town meeting' about this in the middle of the night and took a vote, and it was decided to opt for the deal. The next day the families moved out. That was over a year and a half ago, and we still aren't back in. The attorney general first denied a deal had been made and then later, admitted it had been agreed upon, but voided it.

Some months ago two of the families who had moved out of the "Shalhevet neighborhood"  moved back in for lack of any other place to live. When the authorities discovered them this too started bouncing around in the courts. Last week they were presented with eviction notices, demanding they move out by this Friday at 12 noon or be forcibly expelled.

We have decided not to move out willingly this time around. The families won't leave voluntarily. The Israeli government has a moral obligation to allow Jews to live on Jewish land in Hebron, especially at this site, having been evicted with the promise of return. Enough expulsions, enough abandonment of Jewish land, enough broken promises. This time we will not give up easily!
 
In a few days we will mark the 78th anniversary of the 1929 Hebron massacre which left 67 dead, 70 wounded and hundreds expelled from their homes in Hebron. Is the Israeli government going to follow in the footsteps of our Forefather Abraham, who settled the land, who settled Hebron, or in the footsteps of Haj Amin el Husseini, whose murderous incitement led to the riots, slaughter and expulsion? Do we live in Eretz Yisrael or Soviet Israel?
 
 
The following letter was sent today to Defense Minister Ehud Barak by Chairman of seven Knesset factions:

To Defense Minister Ehud Barak:
 
At the present time, when we are marking 78 years since the 1929 riots, you are faced with a fateful decision concerning one of the sites which represents, more than anything else, the murder and the thievery of the Hebron Jewish community of those days: the site of the 'shuk' in Hebron, where presently several families are living.
 
We the undersigned, chairmen of various parties in the Knesset, turn to you with this request to refrain from expelling these Jewish families living in the 'shuk' and to study alternative ways to resolve Jewish quarters at this site, legally.
 
Before our eyes are the following factors:
  1. We are dealing with Jewish-owned land, which was stolen as a result of the terrible slaughter. It is incumbent on the government to act to return the stolen property as would be expected in relationship to stolen Jewish property anywhere in the world.
  2. The preset time is a time of reconciliation, during which we are attempting to refrain from conflicts which are avoidable. A solution to this issue, was suggested by a highly respected attorney, former Justice minister Dr. Ya'akov Ne'eman. This should be seriously studied prior to physical conflicts which would almost inevitably occur.
  3. The residents of Hebron prevented violence and conflict similar to the occurrences in "Amona" when they voluntarily moved out of these homes, based upon promises that they would be allowed to return, honoring and respecting promises of representatives of the state, IDF officers. This type of approach is to be encouraged and rewarded, not discouraged.
  4. The continued residency of Jews in the shuk does not harm Hebron's Arabs, who have enjoyed an alternative modern market place in the Palestinian side of the city. The site also does not expand the Jewish community of Hebron at all. We are speaking of maintaining the status quo and preventing actions which could cause instability in this sensitive area.
 
For all the above reasons, we request, that you order that the issue of Jewish residency in the shuk be studied seriously, and that in any case, you prevent, for the time being, any eviction of Jewish residents from the site.
 
Sincerely,
Knesset party chairmen:
Yoel Hasson, Kadima
Meir Porush, Yahadut HaTorah
Uri Ariel, National Union-NRP
Gideon Saar – Likud
Robert Ilatov – Yisrael Beitanu
Ya'akov Margi – Shas
Moshe Sharoni – Retirees
 
 
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Shemittah Rediscovered





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Monday, July 23, 2007

A video for Tisha Baav. kiruv.com/fromtheashes. You will be a changed person!

 
bs"d
 
Watch it even before Tisha Baav so you'll spread the word. 
 
 
Thank you Caren May for sending me the link.
 
If you wish to visit my blog click on:
Shemittah Rediscovered
Title of Last Post is called On Aish Hatorah, C-tians talking Torah, Shemittah and Sham 




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On Aish Hatorah, C-tians talking Torah and Shemittah and Sham

bs"d
 
Tonight I watched a powerful video of Rabbi Noah Weinberg and 60 of Aish Hatorah's educators go to Poland and see the reality of what happened there. http://www.kiruv.com/FromTheAshes/    This is a must see video and one can not walk away from this video unchanged.  This video is a wake up call to what a patient G-d is willing to do to his precious children, Jew and non Jew alike, when we lose sight of our purpose for being in this world.  G-d is very patient.  He waits generations before he strikes.  But, yes he does strike at times when there is no other choice because the world is simply too corrupt and incapable of return.  Rabbi Weinberg's message was that even though we (all the organizations that are involved with reuniting Jews with their heritage) are making in ways, we are still losing the battle.  Perhaps Rabbi Weinberg is being metaken (correcting) the fault of the Biblical Noah who did not yell and scream to his generation WAKE UP.  The Deluge is coming!
 
Then thanks to links from Batya Medad in her blog http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/ I saw video clips of Danny Danon Likud Chairman and the World Likud alliance with World Evangelical C-tians.  see wezion.org. These C-tians apparently wish to be more active in promoting World Likud's platform and become working active partners and not just spectators from afar.   I listened to Joel Bell speak very eloquently about C-tians support for World Likud that will enable them to play a part in a shared vision of a Strong Israel and an Israel that has a Covenant with G-d as is specified in the Torah.  Danny Danon was equally eloquent calling on C-tians Evangelical Groups  to be supportive of World Likud and support World Likud's platform which has a shared vision.
 
I listened recently as well to John Hagee's  speech to AIPAC and was mesmerized by his overt Torah references.   Thank you Sara Lehman for that link.  Benny Elon of National Union has strong connections with Evangelical Christians.  
 
So the C-tians are taking a Biblical stand and with money are influencing Israeli politics.  I will not at this point discuss whether their support for a Complete Israel is pure or comes with an agenda.
 
Is this connection to Christians a good or bad thing?  In my opinion it is only good if the Nation of Israel are the true Kohanim and recognize together with the rest of the world, that the essence of Israel is to be Metaken Olam Bimalchut Shakai, to correct the world in the Kingdom of Heaven and to be a Mamlechet Kohanim VeGoy Kadosh.  How is this accomplished.  Only through proclaiming the Sovereignty of G-d and then through the observance of Mitzvoth which we learn and teach and keep and whose source is our H-ly Torah.  Yet when the majority of Orthodox Jews, the Torah Leaders refuse to overtly talk about any Biblical references that might have any connections with world events and ignore any focus on those commandments read in Sefer Devarim, the commandments that are necessary in the Land of Israel, the commandments taught by Moshe Rabbeinu in the last 36 days of his life, knowing that he will not lead the Nation into the Land of Israel and only the performance and the observance of these Mitzvot will bring the Roadmap to peace and security and prosperity, I agree with Rav Noah Weinberg that we are indeed losing our battle.  How can one teach Torah to the millions of lost Jews and with the threat of weapons of mass destruction in every corner and the threats of Natural Disasters coming from both Heaven and Earth and remain apathetic to the Commandments that are spelled out in Sefer Devarim (Deuteronomy) and reiterated many times and act that there is nothing that actually correlates our failures in observing these Mitzvoth and the dangers facing our generation from every direction.  If we go with happenstance then G-d will as well.  The Blessings and Curses are clearly pointing to observances of specific Mitzvoth and on the top of the list is Shemittah. 
 
I put an alert on Google to any posts about Shemittah.  What came up was an article in the TIMES.  It is clear that all the loopholes the Takanos of the Rabbanim of the Mitzva D'araita of Shemittah did not escape the writer of the article.  The title of the article is Shemittah and Sham.
 
 
The purpose of this blog is to brainstorm how to rediscover the Mitzvah of Shemittah without the Rabbinic loopholes.  The dream is to experience Shemittah in the spirit of Shabbos, Shabbat where the Halachoth reflect that the entire Land belongs to G-d and it is truly a year of partying and eating and sharing what one has.  There is the utopian vision of no poor person among my brothers and of equality and of sanctity and h-lyness since there is the recognition and knowledge that all truly comes and belongs to G-d.  Shemittah as practiced in our times practically means buying Arab produce or doing without. Even putting a plastic divider doesn't quite bring in the proper spirit and neither does not having any vegetables to eat that is grown in Israel proper.  What about foregoing loans?  That is totally not addressed out of the halachic loophole of Pruzbul.
 
Coming up with Halacha that reflects the utopian vision of all the above has not been addressed since the time of the 1st Temple.  And even in the time of the first Temple there were 70 Shemittoth  that were not observed properly Keneged, represented by, the 70 years between the destruction of the 1st temple and the building of the 2nd Temple.  Each Shemittah is a 7 year cycle.  Simple multiplication of 7 times 70 brings one to 490 years.  The duration of the 1st Temple was only 850 years.  That means that even in the time of the first Temple Shemittah was not kept properly for 490 years.  And if these were the last 490 consecutive years of the 850 years that the 1st Temple stood, that would bring us back to even before the rule of King David to the times of the Judges.   
 
Rediscovering the Halachot of Shemittah is truly revolutionary.  Very scary let me add.  Yet the threats that hover our generation having witnessed and having extensive documentation, first hand of the Holocaust, is way scarier. 
 
It's time to get down to business and as Rav Noah Weinberg states, let us learn from our enemies the monsters, the Nazi's what the meaning of dedication and determination and professionalism and efficiency and let us learn from our enemies the Hamas and the PA, the meaning of self sacrifice (G-d does not desire the sacrifice of the Molech) but perhaps the monetary sacrifices where Ani CHashuv Kemais (a poor person is considered as dead)  can replace human sacrifice, we will once again rediscover only with G-d's help and our yearning, what the Torah really meant by the Mitzvoth of Shemittah.
 
 
 
 
 
 




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Sunday, July 22, 2007

Manhigut's Slogan "Feiglin Yesh Lo Elokim" Proclaiming G-d's Sovereignty

 
bs"d
 
Yasher Koach to Manhigut Yehudit and Moshe Feiglin for choosing a slogan that is a precondition to everything else.  In fact such a statement comes before speaking about doing Mitzvoth.
 
The following will back up this point. I was learning Mishnayot with my son, and a particular Mishneh seems to indicate that Manhigut/Moshe Feiglin with this slogan is sending the right message.  (I wish that they would break from Likud but that is a side issue)  
 
It was Berakhot Chapter 2 the Second Mishnah.  (in the middle of the mishnah)
 
R.Yehoshua b. Karha said:  Why does Shema precede Vehaya?  Why in arranging the sections of the Shema, did the Rabbis place the section beginning with Shema before the paragraph beginning "And it shall come to pass if you will hearken diligently"? (Vehayah im Shamoa)
 
Ela Kedei So that one should first accept upon himself the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven - Shema was placed before: "And it shall come to pass." so that man should first accept the Yoke of the Kingdom of Heaven, the belief in and the submission to the Sovereignty of G-d, which is included in the Shema paragraph, which contains the affirmation of our belief in the existence of G-d and His unity and uniqueness.  This affirmation is the essential precondition for the observance of the Torah. 
 
Veacher Kach And afterwards take upon himself to observe Mitzvot, as is explicitly stated in the second section: "And it shall come to pass if you will hearken diligently to My commandments... to love the L-rd your G-d and to serve Him with all your heart and with all your soul." (taken from  Elucidated Mishnah Series Berakhot with commentary by R. Pinhas Kehati)
 
Let me commend Moshe Feiglin and the Manhigut Team on the choice of their slogan. This affirmation of our belief in the existence of G-d and His unity and uniqueness is the essential precondition for the observance of the Torah.  Just hearing the slogan brings great strength to Am Yisroel.
 
(one additional  constructive comment. I  think a concern some Jews (especially from the Chareidi camp)  may have with the slogan is whether  it's ok to spell the word Elokim with a heh rather than with a kof.  When Moshe Feiglin speaks, he says Elokim. Being that the slogan will be on posters on busses some might get the wrong impression that Manhigut Yehudit has irreverence to G-d's name for spelling it out). 
 
May all the endeavors of Manhigut be to Glorify G-d's name in this world and be pleasing to G-d and in this direction may Manhigut Yehudit under the leadership of Moshe Feiglin go from strength to strength.
 
Sincerely, Robin Ticker
 






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Friday, July 20, 2007

Zion Bamishpat Tipadeh Veshaveha Bitzdaka. A letter to the Gush Katif refugeeslll

bs"d

Zion BaMishpat Tipadeh Veshaveha Bitzdaka.. (Zion will be redeemed through justice and her returnees through righteousness). The question is how can we raise consciousness so that precisely that will happen. I read about a study done on how to convince people to be more involved in a cause. For this study they chose the cause to stop smoking. First they asked people if they would contribute to the nonsmoking campaign. The response was shvach. Then they tried another approach. They asked people how they felt about smoking. People expressed their concerns and their knowledge about how smoking is dangerous. Then they asked people if they would be willing to put up a sign stating that smoking was hazardous. Many agreed to this simple act of involvement. Once this message became ones own, and by this simple personal declaration whereby they contributed not necessarily with money but with their hearts, the likelihood of them contributing with money was that much greater.


The root cause of the disengagement was our failure to have the yearning for Eretz Yisroel and the desire to keep the Mitzvoth in Eretz Yisroel and to live the Torah in Eretz Yisroel. This root cause goes back to the Chait Miraglim. As a result of our failure, (and when I say "our" failure, I am including even those that love Eretz Yisroel, live in Eretz Yisroel, work the Land in Eretz Yisroel and fight in the Wars and have died for Eretz Yisroel). Why you may ask do I include these righteous souls? Only because of Areivus. When the majority of Jews in Chutz Laaretz and in Eretz Yisroel, are unwilling to put a claim to Eretz Yisroel, even a simple declaration, not even requiring going on Aliya which is umpteen times more difficult, then the Nation as a whole because of Areivus is lacking and undeserving of this precious gift of Eretz Yisroel. The disengagement happened only because the majority of Jews wherever they live did not support the struggle of the people of Gush Katif and the righteousness of their cause by a simple declaration. There was deafening Silence on the part of world Jewry. For example, not only did Agudath Yisroel fail to share in the pain, in my opinion they were a direct cause of the pain by the Silence of their Leadership who could have mobilized hundreds of thousand of Jews to protest the disengagement and they chose instead to allow it to happen. How did they claim and fool people to believe that it was not in their power to do anything to stop it even when there were many Mitzvoth D'orayta that were being violated? Then again there was the Conference of Presidents that supported the policies of the gov't of the "State of Israel" irregardless of what the policies are.

The Security and Humanitarian projects are practical ways to deal with the security and humanitarian consequences of Am Yisroel's failure to put a claim to Eretz Yisroel and whose leadership willingly gave our inheritance to the Goyim. But even if the Goyim that we gave our Land had been "peace loving partners" as per Bush's wish full thinking , our lack of appreciation and yearning for this precious gift of G-d and desire to keep His commandments reflect a failure on our part to keep our part of the Covenant. These Goyim desire the destruction of the State of Israel as well as the Nation of Israel as well as Western Democracies)

Chesed is a natural extension of keeping the Mitzvoth. However, Chesed by itself is not necessarily the reason to support all the worthy projects that have been initiated for the refugees of Gush Katif or for the people of Sederot. After all, especially in my neighborhood in Marine Park Brooklyn, no one would argue with you that indeed these are very worthwhile projects. However, A kind, caring Brooklynite will argue in his/her defense not to contribute to your cause, that he/she is inundated with many worthwhile chesed projects. Then to back up the point, he/she will provide you with 10 envelopes of worthy chesed projects he/she receives daily in the mail not to mention the chessed calls he/she receive daily. After paying 4 tuitions and mortgage and car payments and regular expenses, I am living day to day in the red, these very kind and charitable families will tell you in a caring and concerned manner.

Does that mean that they don't care about your suffering. Not at all. It means that they do not have the where with all to help you financially and if they did have extra money you are competing with many other worthy causes.

The approach can not simply be humanitarian, chesed. The Emes is that this chesed for the refugees of Gush Katif is actually a way to once again help those that were the builders of Eretz Yisroel, once again do that. The Charitable people from whom you are reguesting aid, need to have it internalized that it's also their Land. They too must stake a claim to the Land. Because G-d desires the Nation as a whole to yearn and desire the Land of Israel. Going on Aliya is the goal. Yet if that is a goal that is too difficult to implement, than at least let it be acknowledged that indeed, the home of the Jew is Eretz Yisroel. To fulfill commandments properly requires the Land of Israel.

A Jew in Chutz Laaretz has the same claim as the Jew in Eretz Yisroel to the Land of Israel.

The next step after this acknowledgement is to help join with the collective struggle to stay on the Land, work the Land, make the Land produce and most important keep the Mitzvoth in the Land. It doesn't necessarily require making Aliya as long as there is acknowledgment that the Land of Israel is my true home and I am obligated to do what I can to preserve the Land and whomever is involved in doing just that.

There needs to be a collective recognition that the strength of each community in Eretz Yisroel is what gives strength to Eretz Yisroel as an autonomous Nation and the collapse of any community brings weakness to Am Yisroel. Why if there are over 100,000 signatures on a petition to stop an antisemitic website see http://www.petitiononline.com/rjw23/petition.html, can't there a be a declaration that is proactive for what Judaism and Eretz Yisroel is all about. Antisemitism happens when the Jew is not involved with Torah and Mitzvoth. When we declare that we would like to keep the mitzvoth, specifically those dependant on Eretz Yisroel, antisemeitism should be reduced by inversed proportions.

For our collective survival, we need to look beyond our personal pain of our own community. We must first see ourselves as part of a whole. The disengagement of Gush Katif is a stain, a cavity in our oral Hygiene. So are the excavations at Temple Mount and the incarcaration of Yonatan Pollard. Our aim is to unite all these worthy parties/groups as one thereby creating a force that will work for the benefit of each of the individual members knowing that it will ultimately benefit the Klal.

There must be a public apology to the people of Gush Katif and to Sederot for a failure to prevent the disengagement.

True, money for the farmers of Gush Katif will ease the emotional and material pain and security for Sederot will ease the stress level and daily anxieties. However, that in and of itself is merely a bandaid or balm to the deep sore that has caused such anguish. The sore however, if not properly diagnosed or treated will simply surface elsewhere in the body.

Imposter was removed with xoftspyse

bs"d

Thanks to xoftspse software(which I purchased online), a trojan that was attached to utorrent was removed from my computer. I also changed my Password. I hope that this has resolved the problem. Thank you Rafi for your computer expertise.

Friday, July 13, 2007

There is an imposter on Shemittah Rediscovered

bs"d

Dear Friends,

You may have been receiving strange posts from this blog. I have not been posting them but someone is under my name. Please do not open any links. Know that it is spam. I have written user support at blogspot and asked them how it is possible that an unauthorized user has succeeded in invading my blog and posting on it. I have still not received an answer. I delete the posts that are hijacking my blog as soon as I seem them but several have come up daily. I hope that this can be resolved asap because this is bad news for all bloggers.

Sincerely, Robin Ticker