Sounding The Alarm. Letter to Rabbonim and to Khal HaKadosh. A Cry for Action.

Bsd

 אֶל־הַמָּק֖וֹם אֲשֶׁר

Updated June 20th, 2021

Bh it seems like Aliya is picking up. 

https://www.israelhayom.com/2021/06/16/aliyah-from-us-canada-spikes-after-year-of-covid/

According to this article it seems like there was an almost 300% increase in applications to make Aliya from 2020 over 2019 and a 95% increase of people actually making Aliya in 2021. Beezrat Hashem may the actual numbers of those making Aliya reflect the increase in applications and may the Government of Israel and the Jewish Agency and Nefesh b'Nefesh do everything in their power to expedite the Aliya process and not in anyway make it more complicated than it needs to be.

Bs"d

 

Lichvod Rabbanim uKahal haKadosh

 

Please circulate!

In light of the very obvious deterioration of the moral fabric of our society today, we can no longer remain passive.

The situation is getting worse and will only continue in this trajectory unless we the Nation of Israel, the Light unto the Nations are proactive.

It is seeping into every fiber of society and no one is protected.

May Hashem give us the fortitude and courage to do what is right in Hashem's eyes and may our efforts be successful and received in the right spirit for the betterment of Am Yisroel,  society and mankind.

How can we as a Mamlechet Kohanim veGoy Kadosh bring G-dliness into today's world?

 

The immorality of our times is reminiscent of the generation of Noach and the lawlessness, of the society of Sodom and Gemorah.

 

Can we ignore it and hope that it will get better on its own with the hope we can insulate ourselves?

 

Shouldn't we be worried that G-dless values has seeped into our world and will seep into eveyone's  lives as it did then...

Here are some very current examples that are raising red flags.  How can we be in denial?

 
Our naive Yeshiva kids registered in Kingsborough Community College will soon be indoctrinated with classes on racial equity.

NY City, State and Federal Employees are forced to take mandated SLMS Gender Identity Training.

"Shemittah Rediscovered: Fyi Fwd: Fw: Implicit Bias Training - Encore Session. Adult Education for State Employees." https://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2021/06/fyi-fwd-fw-implicit-bias-training.html?m=1

What books and programs for 2 year olds up are now being offered in the local public libraries?

What curriculum and textbooks will our Yeshivas be forced to teach?

A void of G-dliness is being filled with G-dlessness.

 

This reminds us that Galus is not our final destination...

 

Let's brainstorm. 

 

Here are some practical suggestions for your consideration.

 

Against immorality and lawlessness:

This is not the time to be humble. Jews must protest a G-dless society and lead and educate society towards a society of G-dliness. There is no sitting on the fence. If there is a void it will be filled either by us or them.

Shouldn't we protest a political party whose agenda is G-dless and lawless and rather than encourage our community to register for this G-dless party that protects criminals with its laws, and empower them with our spark of Kedusha, do the opposite?

Shouldn't we expose their agenda as G-dless? Shouldn't we refuse to partner and/or accept funding from their non Kosher sources of funding which easily blinds us?

As a Mamlechet Kohanim veGoy Kadoshan shouldn't we the Jewish People lead by increasing awareness and educate secular society  the importance of G-d's Eternal Laws of Universal Morality for humanity, the 7 Noahide Laws?

Laws for a civilized society are absolute and not subject to change to an alternative set of values. 

Surely this will help retard the indoctrination and brainwashing of alternative values that is replacing traditional values in society at large. We dare not afford to be humble and passive. 

...

Are we being too comfortable in Galus?

 

How do we Instill a yearning to live in Eretz HaKodesh for the Jewish people?

How do we influence Israeli politics in the Land of Israel to reflect true Torah values as was stated in the Moetzet Gedolei Resolution in Marienbad in 1937?

How can the Nation of Israel even suggest a willingness to divide Eretz Yisroel?

The entire land belongs to G-d and the Covenant G-d made with Avraham, Yitzchok, and Yaakov

and their seed, the Nation of Israel is everlasting and eternal!

Shoudn't we make it clear that Non-Jews can live in The Land of Israel provided that they observe the 7 Noahide Laws?

Is it happenstance that the Government of Israel is now literally holding back Jews from going on Aliya? (GOI)

It's scary but a recent blog post in  Times of Israel by Steve Rodan suggests that the USA is worried Jews making Aliya will take their money with them.

 Nefesh b'Nefesh has reported a tremendous increase in the number of applications for Aliya yet the actual number of those making Aliya from the USA has decreased!  What's going on?

From Blog of Steve Rodan

Israel's White Paper? US Jews find locked doors.

The Law of Return isn't working. American Jews aren't being allowed to move to Israel. What is going on?!

MAY 28, 2021

https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/israels-white-paper-us-jews-find-locked-doors/

....

How can we increase our yearning for Moshiach and for the Beit Hamikdash?

 

It says: "Unishalma Parim Sefateinu ' (Hoshea 14:3) Let us compensate for the bulls with our lips. (Courtesy: Artscroll Translation)

Perhaps if we encourage ourselves to focus on the Korbonos portions of davening, to even memorize them, and to say it with more kavana, this will BEH make the Avoda closer to our hearts and we will see the Avoda as something that can actually become a reality and not a just a mere dream.

Haven't we had enough of human sacrifices, Kedoshim of Meron and Givat Zeev?

We have just now laid out serious concerns and suggestions. It is not our job to complete the work but neither are we exempt from it. Each and every Jew, each according to his or her standing can influence and make a difference. To not act is to act. Collectively surely Hashem will see our efforts and may we have much Siata Dishmaya!

May we be zocheh to Moshiach Tzidkeinu beRachamin and the

rebuilding of the Beit HaMikdash  and the return of the Avoda, speedily very soon in our days!

Amein Ken Yehi Ratzon!

Posted on https://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2021/05/sounding-alarm-letter-to-rabbonim-and.html?m=1

Re: Shin Bet fears violence against Lapid, Bennett, and Shaked

Bsd

Shin Bet once again pushing the Jewish terrorist narrative.

Its a lie.

Bennett and Netanyahu pushed this false narrative in 2015 following the Duma arson based on the Shabak say so.

There is no organized Jewish Terror!

Its a fabricated lie. Its all political defamation and slander against those that want a government based on Torah... basically against the Settler Hilltop Youth and the followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane who can't be bought and are hard to blackmail.

Jewish Media: Please don't fall into the trap. Don't betray those you have been defending and supporting and turn your back, believing Shabak who has a history of defamation, provocation, and framing those who want Torah and Mitzvoth the law of the land.

It is the Torah mindset that threatens the present government and the opposition. They are the perceived enemy.

G-d runs the show and those that seek power and fame aren't that happy with this ideology.

Just in case you've forgotten past action of Shin Bet against the Hilltop Youth...

The following posts document how invested the right was to demonize the right wing Settler Youth. 

Bsd

Bennett's Oped in the NY Times in 2015 without retraction,  has made me lose all his right wing credibility in my eyes. He slandered and libeled and betrayed the salt of the earth, the Hilltop Youth.

How one treats the Hilltop Youth is the litmus test to know how sincere and truthful he is. 

I am therefore not surprised of  Bennets betrayal now to partner with the left in spite of some very recent impressive yet deceitful rhetoric.

From Moshe Elkman

Bennett at his best!

If only Bennett would join with Netanyahu and Saar then we will have a great united right wing government...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__r8vtk8XBc&t=2s

I blogged

https://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2016/01/duma-blood-libel-calling-hilltop-youth.html?m=1

...Naftali Bennett has convicted Hilltop Youth in August 7, 2015 in a New York Times Op Ed. without even knowing their identity he called them terrorists, anarchists, a fifth column within Israel and like Hamas and Hezbollah they must face the full force of Israel's justice system and its defense establishment.  

If I was a lawyer of any of these Duma suspects, I would sue Bennett for defamation of character and mental anguish leading to near suicide,  false incarceration, torture and basically taking away months of my clients life away. "

Naftali Bennett, Prosecutor and Judge on Israel's Jewish Terrorists By NAFTALI BENNETT AUG. 7, 2015 They killed the baby and his parents....

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/08/08/opinion/naftali-bennett-on-israels-jewish-terrorists.html?_r=0  

...The terrorists who killed Shira and Ali do not represent Israel or its people. They are a fringe group, made up of radical extremists who do not only seek to kill. Their ultimate goal is the destruction of the State of Israel. They act against and threaten the very premise of what the Zionist movement envisioned when returning to the Land of Israel after 2,000 years in exile — a Jewish and democratic state committed to equality and freedom for all its citizens. They are anarchists, a fifth column within Israel and like Hamas and Hezbollah, they must face the full force of Israel's justice system and its defense establishment.

But they are also a tiny group. They do not represent the 400,000 residents of Jewish communities throughout the West Bank, the overwhelming majority of whom are law-abiding citizens and have condemned these acts of violence.

Campaign to Divide and Conquer Yesha. Duma Suspects get Guilty Verdict! Condemned in the Media. Verdict is decided before the Trial has begun...

https://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2016/01/campaign-to-divide-and-conquer-yesha.html?m=1

And Netanyahu isn't innocent either...

"PM condemns 'horrific, heinous terror attack' on Palestinians | The Times of Israel" https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-condemns-terrible-heinous-terror-attack-on-palestinians/ 

"Netanyahu 'shocked and outraged' after visiting hospital bedside of Palestinian burn victim - The Jerusalem Post" https://m.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/Netanyahu-shocked-and-outraged-after-visiting-hospital-bedside-of-Palestinian-burn-victim-410766 

"Netanyahu condemns fatal West Bank arson attack, calling it 'terrorism' - Haaretz Com - Haaretz.com" https://www.haaretz.com/.premium-netanyahu-fatal-west-bank-arson-attack-is-terrorism-1.5381610 

On Mon, May 31, 2021, 4:40 PM Arutz Sheva <news@israelnationalnews.com> wrote:

If you cannot see this email properly, please click here

View Online Shin Bet fears violence against Lapid, Bennett, and ShakedArutz Sheva Staff, 9:56 PM Security beefed up for Yamina leaders as Israeli security agency warns of incitement against them and Yesh Atid leader. 50 years ago, the Rebbe decided to stand by terror victimsYoni Kempinski, 9:14 PM Director of Chabad Terror Victims Project, talks about the organization's work assisting victims of Hamas rocket attacks. Meet ILAN, the new Israel-Latin American relations lobbyYoni Kempinski, 10:48 PM Foreign Minister Ashkenazi at launch of Latin American Lobby in Israel: 'Relations with Americans of Latin descent are strategic.' Netanyahu to Sen. Graham: No one has done more for IsraelArutz Sheva Staff, 10:03 PM Senator Lindsey Graham visits Israel, meets PM Netanyahu, Defense Minister Gantz in Jerusalem. Reports emerge of US spying on Germany, EU statesArutz Sheva Staff, 8:33 PM A breaking report alleges the US NSA spy agency accessed Denmark's subterranean internet cables to spy on allied states. Deri tries to break up Shaked and BennettHezki Baruch, 4:47 PM Shas chairman attempts to convince former Justice Minister her career will suffer if she allows government with Lapid to proceed. Bennett commits to forming government with Yair LapidHezki Baruch, Yesterday, 8:15 PM Yamina chief announces he will work 'with all his might' to form unity government with Yesh Atid, left-wing parties, and United Arab List. Opeds The New York Times is more demonic every day Prof. Phyllis Chesler Perhaps Bennett's time has come Ronn Torossian‏ Have they no shame? The edge of the political cliff in Israel Rabbi Yitschak Rudomin My mother was born in Sheikh Jarrah in 1921 Dr. Michael L. Wise The NYTimes and Washington Post bash Israel with false claims David Singer Google, Amazon, and Israel in the new America Caroline Glick Haredi lawmakers planning alternative gov't without the Left?Hezki Baruch, 12:10 PM Sources inform Arutz Sheva that haredi lawmakers are working to prevent unity government with the Left, build alternative coalition. Netanyahu's tempting offer to ShakedHezki Baruch, 2:12 PM 'Ayelet Shaked has worked more than anyone else to form a right-wing government,' spokesperson says. 'One of the biggest election thefts we have seen'Arutz Sheva Staff, 2:04 AM Journalist Kalman Liebskind criticizes Yamina's decision to form a government with the left-wing and Arab parties. Shaked's condition for joining the governmentArutz Sheva Staff, 8:05 PM Yamina leader may not enter Bennett-Lapid government if this demand is not met. UK judge rules Jewish couple can't take baby to Israeli hospitalDan Verbin, 4:20 PM UK Jewish parents "devastated" after judge bars them from taking sick two-year old child to Jerusalem hospital for additional treatment. www.israelnationalnews.comwww.inn.co.il (עברית)www.7kanal.co.il (russian) Follow Us

Israel National News | Beit  | El | Israel | +972-74-7467777 Unsubscribe | Report spam Sent with ActiveTrail software

"Fraudulent Arab Land Claim Enabled Holocaust and Caused Subsequent Wars!" From: Joe and Renanah Gemeiner

Bsd

After WW1 the Ottoman Empire  in the MIddle East was put under sole Arab sovereignty except for a tiny niche of the Jewish Homeland where sole Jewish sovereignty was enshrined  in international law by all 52 League of Nations members!

However, the Palestine Mandate - which demanded Jewish immigration and prevented any land being ceded to other powers -  was dishonored by the British who encouraged massive Arab illegal immigration and violence , while blocking Jews . Six  million Jews who had no other county to flee to, were  therefore exterminated in the Holocaust.  The British - with League support - supported the lies of of land  rights and national historical roots in Israel,   and the delegitimization and suppression  of the true Jewish land rights to what was then known as Palestine  This name of Palestine was  given to the Jewish Homeland by the Roman occupiers who renamed the Jewish land after the invading Philistines. The ancient Philistines have no connection to Arabs . 

At the same time  the Arab leadership was partnering with the Nazis also claiming the  Jihaist lie that the land of the Jews belonged to them! 

Professor Abraham Fuchs in "The Unheeded Cry" writes about Nazi leader Dieter Wisliceny who was hung at Nuremberg: 

"At the end of the summer of 1941...R. Shlomo Gross told Rabbi Ungar, the rabbi of Nitra, about the relations which developed between him and Dieter Wisliceny...Wisliceny had told him that he and Adolf Eichmann (S,S, officer, head of Gestapo's Section IV B4 which dealt with the expulsion and extermination of European Jewry) wanted to establish a private agency for the emigration of the Jews overseas (Judisches Reise Bureau).....In their conversations, Wisliceny revealed that the Germans had promised  the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem (Ha-jj Amin AlHusseini - the Arab religious national leader) that they would help the Arabs to prevent Jewsih immigration into Palestine and so the attachment of the Jews to Palesine would be broken forever." (footnote:  Wisliceny, in his evidence before the court in Bratislave (MS.)  gave a detailed account of the connections between the Mufti of Jerusalem, Ha-jj Amin Al-Husseinie and the Germans..) 

Today - the Arabs and their supporters around the world continue the same lethal lie of Arab land rigfhts in Israel and the deligitimization of the true sole Jewish land rights.

This"occupation" accusation and the Two State (Final ) Solution are the means by which Israel is being forced to give up land to Jihad and agree to suicide.

From: Joe and Renanah Gemeiner <joenadren@gmail.com>

Fwd: A Heartfelt Cry from a Resident of the City of Lod

---------- Forwarded message ----

B"H

Translated from Russian. Please forward. 

And the world is pressuring Netanyahu for a ceasefire???????

My dear friends, every day I receive dozens of calls and messages from you, just to ask how things are  in Lod. So I decided to answer everyone at once.

I want to name my post:

"Lod on Fire or Report from the Front Line."

I think that all of you are more or less aware of what is happening in our country, I don't want to give any political assessments, I'll just tell you about our daily life.

Our  mornings begin with questions in local groups: how can we get out of the city? do doctors work? a child has high  fever, how to get to the doctor so that they don't kill us on the way? where they are shooting today? what's on fire? where is being  smashed? etc ...

The rockets, which fall on our heads at the same time, already seem to be just child's play. It is much more terrible when every second you expect the thugs to break into your house and start killing your family.  You can hide from missiles in a bomb shelter, but how to protect yourself from those who break into your door, and it is just you against them?  On the very first night in Lod, several houses were evacuated, in which Arabs and Jews lived together.  When the rioters came, Arab neighbors guided them to Jewish apartments. People in the middle of the night jumped out into the street with children in their arms, they were forced to urgently evacuate.  Does this remind you of anything?

Our husbands have not been sleeping for several nights, they guard our homes, and next to them are our sons. They have no weapons, they are absolutely defenseless in the face of  thugs armed to the teeth.

Settlers from Judea and Samaria come to us and stand next to our men, this is our protection.  The police and the magawas ( boarder police) are  not managing.

We see our cars and synagogues burning. People burst into burning synagogues to save sifrei Torah ( Torah scrolls).

All night long automatic gun shooting does not stop. We cannot sleep. All Lod residents inform each other in various media groups  what is happening on this or that street, where the crowds of pogromists have moved at the moment.  We are afraid for our children, who are with us at home, and for our men, who are now trying to resist the crazed crowd on the street.  Now we have again been warned that pogroms are expected after Friday prayers, be prepared ( it was written on Thursday).  We live in constant fear, and mind you, all this is not happening somewhere in Syria, or beyond the so-called Green Line.  All this is happening in our country, in its very center, a 20-minute drive from Tel Aviv.

Do you hear this on the news?  

                               NO!!!

It all started from our city of Lod. We cried out for help!  Nobody heard us. Now pogroms are already taking place in all Israeli cities with a mixed population.

If you have not yet understood, we have a war, a war for survival, and missiles falling from the sky will soon seem to us the lesser of two evils.

If the easy going residents of Tel Aviv think that this misfortune will bypass them, I  am afraid they are deeply mistaken. The situation is already getting out of control, and God forbid, the whole country can set ablaze.

Remember, when people were evicted from Gush - Katif? The people there shouted: "Come to your senses! What are you doing? If we are not there, missiles will fly to the center of the country."

That  is what we are now witnessing.

People!  Do not be silent, tell the whole world what is happening here.

The world must know the truth!

I want to end my post with the famous words of Martin Niemeller.

"When the Nazis came for the communists, I was silent, I'm not a communist.

Then they came for the Social Democrats, I was silent, I am not a Social Democrat.

Then they came for the trade unionists, I was silent, I am not a union member.

Then they came for the Jews, I was silent, I am not a Jew.

And then they came for me, and there was no one to protest. "

 Alla Zohar

Re: Bennett's excellent interview on Al Jazera. My comments

Bsd

Re:

On Sat, May 15, 2021, 7:19 PM Moshe Elkman <biblicalpath2peace@gmail.com> wrote:

B"H

Bennett at his best!

If only Bennett would join with Netanyahu and Saar then we will have a great united right wing government...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=__r8vtk8XBc&t=2s

Hi Moshe Elkman, amvsh

It was an amazing interview.  i agree with you on that!

But...

Bennett has yet to apologize to the hilltop youth for his demonization of Settler Youth in the New York Times of all places, August 2015, one week after the Duma arson portraying Settler Youth as Jewish Terrorists. (albeit he claims it was only a minority of hilltop youth who committed the Duma arson making it sound plausible coming from a reliable source).   

Bennett wrote the article slandering innocent Jews as perpetrators of the Duma arson with no real investigation nor evidence. Just the say so of Shabak. 

https://shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com/2016/01/duma-blood-libel-calling-hilltop-youth.html?m=1

In addition, the designation  of Kahana organizations as a terrorist organization, legally laid the groundwork for the Duma miscarriage of justice and bias against Jewish Hilltop Youth and the followers of the late Rabbi Meir Kahana z"l.

Appeals Court Upholds Terrorist Label for a Jewish Group

https://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/18/us/18kahane.html

 Israel Foreign Ministry Cabinet Communique designating Kahana Organizations as Terror Organizations March 13,1994

Again, justification of this designation at the time was strictly political. In the Duma case, the charges were not based on fact but rather manufactured evidence by the Jewish Division of Terror of Shabak abetted by a compromised judicial and political environment. 

This Division must therefore be defunded and dismantled. 

Instead of protecting society, Jews and Arabs,  this Division is doing precisely the opposite and causing great disunity in the process.

GOI use of archaic terror administrative detention laws, denying basic human rights and legal rights is a disservice to both Jew and Arab alike when basic human rights are trampled on for political rather than actual security considerations.

Posted on Shemittahrediscovered.blogspot.com

Pollard: ‘Jew-hatred’ a foundational belief of ‘Amalek’ Biden administration

https://www.timesofisrael.com/pollard-jew-hatred-a-foundational-belief-of-amalek-biden-administration/ 

Fwd: National Tragedies, Multiplied Pain!! Arlene Kushner

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Arlene from Israel <arlene@arlenefromisrael.info>
Date: Mon, May 3, 2021, 3:05 PM
Subject: National Tragedies, Multiplied Pain!!
To: <faigerayzel@gmail.com>

From Israel: National Tragedies, Multiplied Pain!! May 3, 2021 Before I turn to the national tragedy that will be a major focus of this posting, I w

Like   From Israel: National Tragedies, Multiplied Pain!! May 3, 2021 Before I turn to the national tragedy that will be a major focus of this posting, I want to call the attention of my readers to a terror attack that took place yesterday (Sunday) evening: A drive-by shooting at the bus stop at Tapuach Junction, a major crossroad in the Shomron. Credit: Yossi Zeliger This junction, which is located within the boundaries of the religious community of Kfar Tapuach, has been the site of multiple attacks by terrorists over recent years. On Sunday, three yeshiva students, all aged 19, were shot. One, Amichai Challah, received light injuries and was released after a brief time in the hospital. The other two, Yehuda Guetta and Benaya Peretz, who both took shots to the head, are in critical condition in Beilinson Hospital. Doctors are working to save the life of Yehuda. And so, please, pray for them: Yehuda Ben Milka, Binaya Ben Aviva, and Amichai Ben Ronit. This is what we can do now. https://www.jewishpress.com/news/israel/judea-samaria-israel/doctors-fighting-for-lives-of-terror-attack-victims-idf-manhunt-continues/2021/05/03/ I confess, there is for me no professional objectivity when reporting on incidents such as this one. ~~~~~~~~~~ There was an IDF presence at the junction when the shooting took place, and soldiers shot at the attackers. But as the shooting was done from a moving car, the terrorists were not hit. A search for them is in process and they will be caught. This we can do. In my opinion, after they are tried and found guilty, they should be sentenced to death. They will not be (in good part because of a left-leaning Supreme Court). ~~~~~~~~~~ In the course of the search for the culprits, IDF forces entered the Arab village of Beita, south of Shechem (Nablus). There they encountered Arabs who rioted and threw rocks and Molotov cocktails at them. They look like a friendly bunch: Credit: Xinhuanet The soldiers responded with live fire and at least one villager was killed. It's important to note the response of these Arab villagers. Let no one imagine that the terrorists who shot our yeshiva students were operating alone and without broader sympathy. ~~~~~~~~~~ And it's not just the sympathy of villagers. It's also Fatah, which is the main party of the Palestinian Authority. See Fatah Facebook messages put out yesterday, May 2: "The Fatah Movement's Nablus branch emphasized that resistance is a natural right of the Palestinian people against the Zionist arrogance." There was, additionally, an appeal to destroy evidence of the comings or goings of the terrorists: "…we call on you to get rid of the contents that were stored in the [security] cameras of your homes or your businesses today…" https://palwatch.org/page/21738 ~~~~~~~~~~ The attack may very well have come in response to incitement regarding the Temple Mount, which I have been writing about. The Mount is the flashpoint and Arab radicals make charges that are devoid of truth, but which inflame the masses: Islamic Jihad declared that the attack was "a message on behalf of the entire Palestinian people that Jerusalem is a red line and that harm to the holy places will explode in Israel's face." According to Hamas, the attack was "a natural response to Israeli aggression in Jerusalem and the Al-Aksa Mosque. Palestinians are being called upon to escalate opposition to plans by Israeli elements to break into the Al-Aksa Mosque on Jerusalem Day." (Emphasis added) There are, of course, no plans to break into the Mosque on Jerusalem Day, which is next Sunday night and Monday. But security officials are concerned that more attacks may be coming. In light of the current situation, the IDF Division for Yehuda and Shomron has been reinforced. ~~~~~~~~~~ Charges leveled at Israel by Mahmoud Abbas of the Palestinian Authority also have the potential to incite violence. Credit: on this day The PA had announced May elections, both legislative and presidential, at the urging of the US, which wants to cast the Palestinian Authority as a "democracy in the making." You can ask Secretary of State Blinken about this. The PA has not had elections in 15 years. Abbas has not been eager for these elections, both because Fatah, the mainstay of the PA, might well lose to Hamas, and because he is being challenged by others for his position. (I will deal more extensively with this in another posting.) What he did, then, was make a major deal of the fact that it was important that Palestinian Arabs who have residency cards for Jerusalem be permitted to vote in Jerusalem. Israel is not eager for this to happen (as there are jurisdictional/sovereignty issues) and has restricted campaigning, but has not overtly declared that such voting would not be permitted. Nevertheless, Abbas has suggested that the elections have to be postponed because the right to hold elections in eastern Jerusalem has not been guaranteed by Israel. https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/abbas-wont-go-to-elections-without-jerusalem/2225160 ~~~~~~~~~~ And now looking back some days earlier to the national tragedy that occurred in Meron, in the upper Galil near S'fat, past midnight on Thursday, which was Lag B'Omer. It is said to be the largest civic tragedy in Israel's history. Meron is the burial place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, a Second Century sage known as the Rashbi. It is traditional for Haredim (Ultra-Orthodox) by the thousands and tens of thousands to visit his gravesite on Lag B'Omer, to light massive bonfires on the mountainside, and to celebrate with music and dancing. Last year corona interfered with the celebration; this year, some 100,000 attended, and this was said to be a low number compared to previous years. Credit: Jalaa Marey/AFP The tragedy was the result of massive crowds moving on a metal walkway that was on an incline coming down the mountain, and slippery apparently because it was wet. The walkway led to a stairway that was not secure. Apparently, some people fell, but there was so much pushing from behind, with the mass of people, that they were trampled. It is difficult for me to envision, as it may be for you. But this sort of catastrophe does occur from time to time, at over-crowded sports events and at the Haj in Mecca. People stumble and are stepped upon by the crowd, which is being shoved from behind and cannot stop. In the end, at least 45 people, mostly Haredi and including children, were killed. Credit: MENA ~~~~~~~~~~ There was a good deal of finger-pointing in the wake of the tragedy, regarding who was responsible. But there was also a great deal which we as a nation did right and can be proud of. The rescue organization Zaka did a superlative job, especially with regard to retrieving bodies of those killed and attending to injured. Hundreds of Israelis donated blood for those injured. Additionally, residents of nearby Arab villages set up stations to offer food and drink to people coming down the mount after the tragedy. Initiatives to help the evacuees were launched in the villages of Tamra, Jish, Yarka and Peki'in. While many families in the Druze village of Beit Jan had opened their homes to evacuees and rescuers from the disaster. https://www.timesofisrael.com/arab-towns-offer-food-drink-to-meron-survivors-hundreds-give-blood-in-tel-aviv/ ~~~~~~~~~~ Prime Minister Netanyahu went up to Meron. Credit: MENA He then declared Sunday to be a day of national mourning. ~~~~~~~~~~ In the end, how do we unravel this horror and make sense of it somehow? What is clear is that the site at Meron was a tragedy waiting to happen. There had been extensive warnings about the situation there over the years. But what also emerges is the fact that there was no clear governmental jurisdiction over the site. This was, as I have come to understand it, at least in part a function of the enormous de facto autonomy exhibited by the Haredi community (which actually consists of a number of different groups). This autonomy – which is in fact a defiance of governmental jurisdiction – is a deep problem within our greater society. The Haredim answer to their own leaders, rabbis first and then political figures. They do not consider themselves beholden to governmental authority. ~~~~~~~~~~ My understanding of this phenomenon is that it was carried from Europe, when Haredi populations often endured virulent hostility exhibited by state officials. Ways in which it was possible to defy those state officials and proceed according to their own lights were encouraged and reinforced within the Haredi communities. Unfortunately, in at least some measure, they brought these attitudes with them when coming to Israel, and they have persisted. We see it in the refusal to cooperate with the draft, or to structure school curricula according to government regulations (regarding, for example, core subjects such as math). We saw it in defiance of corona rules – when they insisted that gathering in yeshivas was more important than those rules. And so was it the case with Meron. They were determined to come in large numbers, to do their celebrating. And I consider that civil officials now accused of being remiss for not stopping them from coming have some merit in their claim that there would have been no way to "stop" 100,000 Haredim bent on coming. ~~~~~~~~~~ There was, for example, Interior Minister Aryeh Deri, of the Sephardi Shas party, who, according to Yosef Schwinger, head of the national holy places center, "fought like a lion" to "save" the Lag B'Omer celebrations from being scaled down. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SJkoWMhvd Deri argued that "attendees would be protected by the spiritual influence of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai." "Shlomo Levy, former head of Meron HaGalil Regional Council, reported that for years he tried to improve the conditions at the mountain where Meron is located, but without success: "…it is impossible to move a stone there without running into this or that Hassidic group, and if you do move something there, half an hour later you get a phone call from Jerusalem." Religious groups, he said, use government connections and…have the place "in a chokehold." https://www.ynetnews.com/article/SJuXYhovu?utm_source=Taboola_internal&utm_medium=organic And Sigal Bar Tzvi, head of Community Policing for Israel Police spoke of the fact that the police did not have the authority to limit the number of participants in the gathering on the mountain. "We do what we are told to do, within the framework of our abilities; there is freedom of religious assembly." (Emphasis added) https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-tragedy-multiple-reports-of-political-pressures-not-to-limit-meron-event/ The point here is that the Haredi autonomy superseded official police judgement on the matter: the police had reservations about the safety of the gathering, but Haredim decided to participate anyway. ~~~~~~~~~~ I do not mean to simplify the situation. There will be an official investigation and heads may yet roll. On Sunday Chief Ashkenazi Rabbi David Lau told Army Radio that in light of what has happened, "the state is obligated to take responsibility for [the site]." While Moshe Gafni, head of the United Torah Judaism (Haredi Ashkenazi) party, said that "government decisions need to be made, [in which] the government says what it intends to do with this place." ~~~~~~~~~~ I offer here an insightful article on this entire issue by Aviv Rettig Gur. The Haredim, he writes, are now questioning the price they have paid for their insistence on autonomy: "But the shattering images from Meron cut through the glib self-assurance and silenced, at least for the moment, any boasts about Haredi self-rule. "And as the confident voices dwindled into shocked silence, other voices came to the fore, cries of angry self-critique that are rarely heard from the mainstream of Haredi society. "The voices all carried a single message: The state's kowtowing to our leaders has brought this disaster upon us." (Emphasis added) https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-meron-calamity-haredim-question-the-price-of-their-own-autonomy/ Perhaps the social dynamic will see a long-overdue shift. ~~~~~~~~~~ Credit: Kenneth Allen ~~~~~~~~~~ See my website: https://www.arlenefromisrael.info © Arlene Kushner. This material is produced by independent journalist Arlene Kushner. Permission is granted for it to be reproduced only with proper attribution ©2021 Arlene from Israel | arlene@arlenefromisrael.info Web Version   Preferences   Forward   Unsubscribe     Powered by GoDaddy Email Marketing ®