FINALLY AN AUTHENTIC RABBI NOT AFRAID TO SPEAK. RABBI ALGAZE.....

 

bs"d

DEAR Friends, amv'sh

Failure of the Major Orthodox Jewish Organization in America to express  our entitlement to Eretz Hadodesh and be an integral player towards the Settling of the Land of Israel.

It has been so frustrating for me after years of calling and calling Rabbis and Major Jewish Organizations such as Agudath Yisroel of America, the OU and the Young Israel, the Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation etc. etc. etc. only to be treated politely and respectfully to my cries to please end the Silence and speak out for our entitlement to Eretz Yisroel.   I always sensed that our respectful Rabbinic Leaders agreed with me 100% regarding our entitlement to Eretz Yisroel.  Can they blatantly ignore what is so clear in the Torah?  Yet there was that awful silence as the people of Gush Katif were thrown out of their homes.  There was no public protest or statement of clarity to the perpetrators of this terrible tragedy inflicted upon our dear brothers by our very own.  In fact many of the religious parties chose to be part of a coalition in the gov't in return for various subsidies. There was no public protest to the progrom of our precious children in Amona.  No outcry of pain and anger toward the gov't of Israel as those Kassam Rockets showered on the people of Sderot and the army as per their instructions looked the other way, nor any apology to the people of Gush Katif for allowing their expulsion to happen and there was  no resolution to not allow it to happen to another community in Judea and Samaria or the Golan.  Yes these worthy organizations will collect for the poor.  (Their askanim will find it quite difficult in the future to support the hundreds of thousands of displaced people chas veshalom, as was quite apparent after the Disengagement from Gush Katif or the War with Lebanon.)   

PIDYON SHVUYIM not a priority

And today as I write this email, there is no attempt to publicize or act upon the travesty of justice of the imprisonment of Rifka Meirchik whose crime was stubborn refusal to recognize a corrupt Judicial System that persecutes those that settle our heartland.  There is no outcry of Pidyon Shvuyim for the Chalamish brothers, lovers of Eretz Hakodesh, defenders of the security of the residents of Yehuda and Shomron for doing what they were supposed to do which is defend our rights to live securely on the Land.  Jonathan Pollard, who acted on behalf of his brethren when the United States gov't failed to share important intelligence with Israel is still languishing in jail and we continue to tolerate it with an occasional protest that is ignored and we fail to persist in our protest.

We are powerless is their excuse. 

Our leaders and organizations  say they are powerless and refuse to publicly even validate the legitimacy and justification of the struggle of our brave brothers and sisters that have taken upon themselves the unfair burden of the rest of us to settle and defend our Land. Instead our leaders are silent while others successfully portray the struggle as a religious extremist fringe element of the Jewish population. It is politically correct to speak of the tragedy of Mercaz Harav Kook and the martyrs but not politically correct to speak of the policies that led to this and other tragedies and G-d forbid portend future tragedies of the same sort.

The World Committee for the Land of Israel is a spark that will hopefully turn into a flame to unite all Jews to recognize our precious gift Eretz Yisroel and speak out with Komemiut, uprightness for the Torah and for Am Yisroel in Eretz Yisroel.  No longer will the Mainstream Jewish Organization in the Diaspora hold us hostage, or steal the actualization of  yearning of hundreds of thousands of Jews in an applied manner towards Yishuv Haaretz.   The goal of the World Committee for the Land of Israel is to practically invest our resources and efforts in being an integral part of the settlement of Eretz Yisroel in this historical time.  No longer will we allow our Jewish Organizations to divert the pure intentions of our people to go nowhere except to memorialize the dead and into empty prayers of hypocrisy.  

Let us stop this absurd expression of yearning for something that we have been given and proceed with the next step of fulfilling our historic mission of keeping the Chukim and Mishpatim in the Land of Israel with a burst of passion.  G-d has kept His promise and we have witnessed a miraculous return to Zion in our generation. Now we are expected to fulfill our part of the agreement.

Invest our energies to settling Israel rather than putting in stronger roots into the Diaspora

 Here in America our Jewish energies are diverted to investing our lives in the Diaspora and obtaining American aid for our Yeshivas here in the Diaspora and obtaining aid for our worthy programs in America so that we have no energy left to cry out in despair against the American Foreign Policy that is strangling the lives of our brethren in Israel.  Maybe we fear that speaking out against American foreign policy will jeopardize the funding for the government aided programs or our tax exempt status as non for profit organizations.  Meanwhile the lives of our brothers and sister living in Eretz Hakodesh are in danger at the mercy of their enemies that our surrounding them at an alarming rate,  These enemies have armed themselves with sophisticated weapons coming from Iran funded by monies of Arab countries that have become so rich from the American consumer.  Where is all our money for gas going if not to aid terrorists?

Christians Leaders speak up quoting Tanach while the Jewish Leaders are silent or condemn them.

I have seen courageous Christian Leaders such as Hagee, Hutchinson, Vineyard, Hellman speak up with clarity regarding G-d's promise to Israel.  And it's a real disgrace that there have been Jewish  or so called Jewish Leaders that condemn them since they are an obstacle to the "Peace Process" based on the "Land for Peace" recipe .

 Promote Huckabee for Republican Vice Presidential Running Mate for McCain.

I have listened to Huckabee, a G-d fearing man say what we the Jews have not publicly said.  He speaks with clarity and conviction regarding the rights to the Land to Israel given to our ancestors by G-d.  He speaks out with logic and reason against a 2 State Solution. He speaks of Americas dependency on oil that is feeding the terrorists.  Don't these these words deserve our endorsement and promotion? 

 

Now is the time for us Jews to express our admiration for his courageous stand for truth and convince McCain to accept him as the Vice President running mate and to embrace the words of Hagee and all those that love freedom and Democracy and Israel's right to their Land for the benefit of humanity.

I am not a political person and do not speak up for what is politically correct.  But when a politician speaks up for Torah then I will do whatever I can to embrace their platform and promote it.   

From: Nadia & David Matar [mailto:nmatar@netvision.net.il]
Subject: MUST READ!! Rabbi David Algaze's speech at Central Park, Sunday
Dear friends,

If more and more Rabbis and public figures would speak like Rabbi David
Algaze spoke in Central Park, the Jewish People would be in much better
shape.

Kol Hakavod Rabbi Algaze!

Ruth and Nadia Matar
Women in Green
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Subject: MUST READ!! Rabbi David Algaze's speech at Central Park, Sunday
June 1, 2008



Speech at the Concert in Central Park
June 1st, 2008
Rabbi David Algaze


I HAVE COME TO ASK A QUESTION, A SIMPLE QUESTION, ONE THAT HAS BEEN
FORGOTTEN IN ALL THE TALK ABOUT PEACE IN ISRAEL.

WHO DOES THIS LAND BELONG TO?

WE HAVE AN ANSWER AND IT IS THE ONLY ANSWER. LET US SAY IT OUT LOUD,
LET THE WHOLE WORLD HEAR IT. LET NO ONE, NOT EVEN US, HAVE ANY DOUBT
ABOUT IT:
THIS LAND IS MY LAND, IT'S YOUR LAND IT'S OUR LAND.
IT'S THE LAND OF OUR FATHERS; IT IS THE LAND FOR OUR CHILDREN.


THIS IS THE SIMPLE TRUTH WE ARE BEING ASKED TO FORGET AND IGNORE. BUT
WE WILL NOT FORGET IT, WE WON'T BETRAY OUR LAND. WE SAY TODAY AND
EVERY DAY: "IF I FORGET THEE
JERUSALEM LET MY RIGHT HAND BE PARALYZEDS."

THERE IS A REASON WHY THIS LAND IS CALLED THE PROMISED LAND. AND DO
YOU KNOW WHY? BECAUSE IT IS PROMISED TO OUR FATHERS AND IT IS
PROMISED TO OUR CHILDREN.
HOW CAN WE GIVE IT AWAY? WE DO NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO GIVE IT AWAY.


G-D SAID TO OUR FATHER ABRAHAM OVER AND OVER AGAIN: THIS IS YOUR
LAND; I HAVE GIVEN IT TO YOU. HOW CAN WE FORGET THIS? IT IS REPORTED
THAT PRESIDENT TRUMAN, THE FIRST U.S. PRESIDENT TO RECOGNIZE AND
SUPPORT THE STATE OF ISRAEL, OFTEN CITED THE VERSE IN DEUTERONOMY
(1:8) "BEHOLD, I HAVE GIVEN THE LAND BEFORE YOU, GO IN AND TAKE
POSSESSION OF THE LAND WHICH THE LORD HAS SWORN UNTO YOUR FATHERS
THROUGH ABRAHAM, THROUGH ISAAC AND THROUGH JACOB."

TRUMAN REMEMBERED, MANY CHRISTIAN PREACHERS REMEMBER, DARE WE BE THE
ONES TO FORGET?

WE CREATED THE WORLD COMMITTEE FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL JUST TO SPREAD
THAT SIMPLE TRUTH THAT THE LAND OF ISRAEL BELONGS TO THE JEWISH
PEOPLE AND WE WILL NOT PART WITH IT. THIS IS OUR LAND AND WE WILL NOT
BARTER IT AWAY. PERIOD.





THE REBIRTH OF ISRAEL IN ITS LAND IS AN EVENT HARD TO UNDERSTAND. THE
WORLD HAS NEVER SEEN SOMETHING LIKE IT. THE STORY OF OUR RETURN IS
WITHOUT PARALLEL. JEWS NEVER LEFT ISRAEL VOLUNTARILY AND THEY
RETURNED WHEN THEY COULD. WE NEVER ABANDONED THE LAND ENTIRELY
EITHER, THERE WERE JEWS THROUGHOUT HISTORY IN THE LAND. IT IS A
MIRACLE AND AS WITH ALL MIRACLES WE NEED TO BELIEVE IT TO SEE IT.

LET US BE CLEAR: THE JEWS HAVE RETURNED TO OUR LAND.

WE DID NOT COME AS CONQUERORS. WE DISPLACED NO ONE. THE NATIONS OF
THE WORLD MANDATED THE RETURN. ALTHOUGH THEY HAVE SINCE MANY TIMES
RESCINDED AND DIMINISHED THEIR ASSURANCE, THE RETURN HAS BEEN LEGAL
AND MORAL.

THE LAND WAS A DESERT BEFORE THE JEWS RETURNED. CHURCHILL ONCE
REMARKED THAT THE LAND BELONGED TO THE JEWS BECAUSE THE ARABS
DESTROYED THE LAND, WHEREAS JEWS CREATE THE LAND.

THIS IS A LOVE STORY BETWEEN A PEOPLE AND ITS LAND LIKE NO OTHER. NO
OTHER NATION EVER CREATED A STATE IN THE LAND, AND THE JEWS NEVER
CREATED A NATIONAL HOMELAND OUTSIDE OF IT. THE LAND ONCE FLOWING WITH
MILK AND HONEY, WHEN THE JEWS PARTED, REFUSED TO GIVE ITS FRUITS. THE
BEAUTIFUL LAND BECAME A WASTELAND. WAITING FOR HER CHILDREN.

WE ARE THE CHILDREN OF THE LAND AND THE LAND SMILED UPON US WHEN WE
RETURNED. WOULD ANYONE DESERT HIS OR HER MOTHER? CAN WE THINK OF
LEAVING THE LAND VOLUNTARILY IN THE HANDS OF STRANGERS?
THIS IS OUR LAND, AND WE WILL NOT BETRAY HER.

THE STORY OF GUSH KATIF PROVES THIS. THE LAND THE ARABS CALLED
"ACCURSED," AS SOON AS THE JEWS CAME, BEGAN TO YIELD THE MOST
BEAUTIFUL FRUITS, FLOWERS AND PLANTS. THE TINY PORTION OF LAND IN
GAZA YIELDED AT ONE TIME MOST OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXPORTS OF ISRAEL.
YET, WHEN THE JEWS LEFT, THE LAND BECAME USELESS AGAIN. EVEN THE
INSECTS PARTICIPATED. THE VEGETABLES THAT HAD BEEN ONCE FAMOUSLY
BUG-FREE, BEGAN TO DEVELOP BUGS. THE THRIVING BUSINESSES OF GUSH
KATIF LANGUISHED IN THE HANDS OF THE ARABS. EVEN THE SAME MANAGERS,
WHO HAD WORKED UNDER THE JEWS AND HAD ALL THE EXPERTISE TO MAKE IT
GO, COULD NOT DO IT. WHY? THE LAND DID NOT COOPERATE.

THE LAND WAS LOYAL TO THE JEWS, ARE WE GOING TO BE FAITHFUL TO THE LAND?



THERE IS A NEW CAMPAIGN IN THE JEWISH PEOPLE, A DANGEROUS AND
INEXPLICABLE DEMENTIA. IT IS CALLED "LAND FOR PEACE" IT WAS TRIED IN
OSLO, IT WAS TRIED IN WYE, IT WAS TRIED IN TABA, AND NOTHING WORKED.
THINGS ARE GETTING WORSE. WHEN TIME AFTER TIME A PROBLEM IS NOT
RESOLVED, IS IT NOT REASONABLE TO SUSPECT THAT IT MAY BE
IRRESOLVABLE? AT LEAST IN THE MANNER IT IS PLANNED?

YET THERE IS A CAMPAIGN AFOOT INVOLVING ALL MAJOR JEWISH
ORGANIZATIONS TO GIVE THE LAND AWAY. WHEN WE GIVE AWAY JUDEA AND
SAMARIA, WE ARE GIVING AWAY THE CORE OF OUR LAND, THE HOLY PLACES
WHERE OUR HISTORY EVOLVED. WE ARE GIVING UP ONLY JUDEA?  WHAT WOULD
JEWS BE CALLED IF WE GIVE UP JUDEA? AND THOSE INTRUDERS WHO WILL
OCCUPY JUDEA, WOULD THEY NOT HAVE THE RIGHT TO BE CALLED JUDEANS AS
WELL?

WHEN WE GIVE UP THE LAND, WE GIVE UP OUR HISTORY, WE GIVE OUR
IDENTITY AND WE GIVE UP OUR SOUL.


WE HAVE COME TO STOP THIS MADNESS. TO SAY TO THEM:
WE ARE TIRED OF EXPULSIONS, WE ARE TIRED OF POGROMS, AND WE ARE TIRED
OF SUICIDE BOMBERS AND INDISCRIMINATE MURDER IN THE STREETS. WE ARE
NOT GOING TO SPEAK OF THE RIGHTS OF OTHERS; WE ARE GOING TO SPEAK OF
OUR LEGITIMATE AND INALIENABLE RIGHTS. WE WILL NOT ENDANGER OUR
PEOPLE WITH FOOLISH DREAMS THAT HAVE BEEN TRIED AND DISCREDITED OVER
AND OVER AGAIN.

THERE IS A SPIRIT OF FEEBLENESS AMONG US. OUR LEADERS HAVE LOST THE
WAY. THEY KNOW THAT THERE IS NO HOPE FOR A PEACEFUL ARAB STATE IN THE
LAND OF ISRAEL. NEVERTHELESS THEY INSIST BECAUSE THEY HAVE FORGOTTEN
THE ESSENTIAL: THIS LAND BELONGS TO US. THEY FAILED AND YET THEY KEEP
TRYING WITHOUT REMORSE AND WITHOUT SHAME.

TO THEM WE TELL THEM: ENOUGH. ENOUGH OSLOS, ENOUGH WYES, ENOUGH
LIFTING OF ROADBLOCKS, ENOUGH RISKING THE LIVES OF OUR INNOCENT
PEOPLE, ENOUGH OF SDEROT, ENOUGH!

IN OUR LONG HISTORY, WE WITNESSED THE DESTRUCTION OF JEWISH
COMMUNITIES BEFORE. BUT THIS TIME IS WORSE, MUCH WORSE. THIS TIME WE
WANT TO HELP THE DESTRUCTION ALONG.






AFTER HITLER, WE VOWED "NEVER AGAIN" BUT TODAY OUR LEADERS, OUR
RABBIS, OUR MAJOR JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS ARE ALLOWING WITH THEIR
ACTIONS AND THEIR SILENCE, THAT WE HEAR  "EVER AGAIN."


WE NEED TO RISE AND TELL THEM "NO!"

THE CURRENT GOVERNMENT IN ISRAEL WITH THE AID OF WEAK-MINDED JEWISH
LEADERS IN THE DIASPORA HAS EMBARKED UPON A PROGRAM THAT MAY SIGNAL
THE DESTRUCTION OF THE STATE OF ISRAEL. WITH A BLEND OF HASTE AND
SUBMISSIVENESS, WITH DECEIT AND SELF-DECEPTION, THE PRESENT
LEADERSHIP OF THE JEWISH PEOPLE HAS SUCCEEDED WHERE ITS MOST BITTER
FOES HAVE FAILED. THEY ARE ENDANGERING THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF THE
ZIONIST ENTERPRISE THAT WERE ATTAINED WITH A SACRIFICE AND DEDICATION
UNPARALLELED IN HISTORY. OUR LEADERS ARE PLAGUED WITH AN
IRRESPONSIBLE SHORTSIGHTEDNESS AND ARE RUSHING HEADLONG INTO ACCORDS
WITH PARTNERS THEY KNOW ARE DECEITFUL.

WE PROTEST. THE WORLD COMMITTEE FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL HAS COME TO
OBJECT AND REFUSE THESE PLANS OF THE DEMENTED AND THE PATHETIC.

WE NEED TO REPUDIATE ANY PLAN THAT INVOLVES BETRAYING OUR LAND. WE
MUST OPPOSE ANY PROGRAM THAT PUTS OUR POPULATION WITHIN THE RANGE OF
THE KASSAM. WE HAVE TO STAND AGAINST ANY SUGGESTION THAT PLACES OUR
CHILDREN AT RISK. WE DID NOT RETURN TO ISRAEL TO RELIVE THE TRAGEDY
OF POLAND AND GERMANY. IF OUR LEADERS ARE TIRED, LET THEM STEP ASIDE.
IF THEY FEEL EXHAUSTED AND DRAINED, LET THEM MAKE ROOM FOR A NEW
GENERATION THAT REMEMBERS THE DREAM OF ABRAHAM AND HAS THE COURAGE TO
FIGHT IN OUR DEFENSE.

THIS IS NOT TO SAY THAT WE DO NOT WANT PEACE. WE SHOULD BE ZEALOUS IN
THE PURSUIT OF PEACE, BUT WE SHOULD BE NO LESS FIERCE IN THE DEFENSE
OF OUR LAND.

WE EXTEND OUR HAND IN PEACE TOWARDS ALL OUR NEIGHBORS. OUR HANDS
CONTAIN NEITHER RANCOR, NOR HATRED NOR WAR.
BUT THEY ALSO CONTAIN NO LAND.

WE OFFER PEACE, A REAL GENUINE PEACE. NEVERTHELESS, OUR PEACE IS NOT
THE PEACE OF BEGGARS. IT DOES NOT GIVE AWAY OUR CHERISHED LAND.  WHAT
OTHER NATION IN THE WORLD GIVES AWAY ITS LAND?  WE WILL NOT GIVE AWAY
OUR LAND NO MATTER WHO COUNSELS IT OR WHO PROFITS FROM THIS BETRAYAL!

OUR FIRST FATHER ABRAHAM HAD TO UNDERGO TEN TRIALS. THE LAST OF WHICH
WAS TO BURY HIS DEAR WIFE SARA. THE TRIAL WAS THAT ALTHOUGH G-D HAD
PROMISED HIM THE ENTIRE LAND OF ISRAEL, HE DID NOT HAVE EVEN A PLACE
IN WHICH TO BURY SARAH. YET, HE, THE OWNER OF THE ENTIRE LAND, DID
NOT COMPLAIN. HE HAD NO LAND NOW BUT HE STILL KEPT THE HOPE. IT IS
IRONIC THAT OUR FATHER ABRAHAM, WHEN HE DID NOT HAVE THE LAND, KEPT
THE HOPE AND WE WHO POSSESS THE LAND ARE THINKING OF GIVING IT AWAY.

THE WORLD COMMITTEE FOR THE LAND OF ISRAEL CALLS UPON THE JEWS OF THE
WORLD TO RALLY AROUND OUR BEAUTIFUL MOTHER, THE LAND OF ISRAEL. WHEN
ESTABLISHED JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS ARE PATHETICALLY ACCEPTING AND EVEN
CALLING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF AN ARAB STATE IN THE LAND OF
ISRAEL-- IT IS TIME FOR US TO SAY NO!

IF THEY HAVE BEEN BRAINWASHED OR WORSE, WE WILL NOT ALLOW TO BEING
BRAINWASHED. THE GIVING AWAY OF LAND TO CREATE ANOTHER ARAB STATE,
THIS ONE IN THE LAND OF ISRAEL IS WRONG.  IT WAS WRONG WHEN THE ARABS
WANTED IT, IT WAS WRONG WHEN JESSE JACKSON SUGGESTED IT, IT WAS WRONG
WHEN OUR ENEMIES SUGGEST IT AND IT IS STILL WRONG!

HASHEM OZ LE'AMO YITEN, HASHEM YEVARECH ET AMO BASHALOM!
G-D SHOULD GRANT US THE STRENGTH TO STAND UP TO OUR ENEMIES. IF WE
DO, THEN WE WILL MERIT THAT HE BLESSES US WITH LASTING PEACE.

I CALL UPON ALL JEWS AND GOOD PEOPLE EVERYWHERE TO RALLY AROUND ERETZ
ISRAEL, THE LAND OF OUR FOREFATHERS AND OUR GRANDCHILDREN. DO NOT
LEAVE HER, DO NOT BETRAY HER. THIS LAND CAN BECOME THE RALLYING POINT
FOR ALL JEWS, REGARDLESS OF THEIR RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE. LET US ALL BE
BROTHERS AND SISTERS AND IN THE DEFENSE OF OUR LAND, WE WILL BECOME
ONE NATION AGAIN.

WHEN ALL JEWS ARE UNITED, NO FORCE ON EARTH WILL EVER CONQUER US. LET
US UNITE, BROTHERS AND SISTERS, AND LET US HAVE THE HOPE OF ABRAHAM
THAT THIS LAND IS OUR LAND NOW AND FOREVER.

Rabbi David Algaze

To hear this speech live, www.israelnationalnews.com . Click on radio and then on Israel Day Concert. Rabbi Algaze's speech may be found in Part 3 of the concert.

 

Also please read Caroline Glicks article in the Jerusalem Post showing disgust at the Jewish leaders of AIPAC for shunning Hagee and CUFI

 

Click here to view the entire article:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1212041458955

AOL Users click here to view the article:
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull&cid=1212041458955

---

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Jerusalem liberated with Hebron and places of our Biblical Homeland: J-M Video

bs"d

 

Thank you Ruth Matar from Women
wfit2@womeningreen.org in Green for sending.  Please watch the phenomenal clip and famous Letter to the World by Stanley Goldfoot.

 

Dear Friends,

Today we celebrate "Jerusalem Day".

Anyone who googles Jerusalem Day will get the following: "Jerusalem Day is "a Israeli national holiday, held on the 28th day of Iyar, marking the Israeli liberation of East Jerusalem in 1967 and the subsequent reunification of the city. " (Wikipedia Encyclopedia.)

And indeed, anyone listening to the Israeli media only hears about celebrations in Jerusalem. But this is not correct. For on this day not only East Jerusalem was freed from Arab occupation, but also Judea, Samaria, Gaza and the Golan!! In fact, tonight begin the Hebron Day celebrations, on the 29th of Iyar.  Hebron, holy to the Jewish people as much as Jerusalem, was liberated from Arab occupation.

The name "Jerusalem Day" is therefore a political name trying to make us all forget that on this day the Jewish People liberated and returned to large parts of our biblical Homeland, which had been under Arab occupation for 19 years, from 1948 till 1967.

Therefore, Women in Green really believe that the name "Jerusalem Day" should be changed into "Land of Israel Day", with the clear message that the entire Biblical Land of Israel was given by G-d to the People of Israel. The day will come, please G-d, when we will celebrate the return of the Jewish people to all the different parts of that Land, from the Euphrates until the Nile.

In honor of "Jerusalem Day - Land of Israel Day" Women in Green would like to share with you once again  the famous letter written by Stanley Goldfoot in August 1969:  "LETTER TO THE WORLD".

Stanley and Helen Goldfoot have been fighting for the Land of Israel since before the creation of the State of Israel. Stanley passed away in 2006 at the age of 92. Helen, may she be blessed till 120 with good health, lives in Herzliya. Both were dear friends and active members of  Women in Green.

A four minute video-clip based on Stanley's letter was made. It is very powerful
Click on: http://www.aish.com/movies/jerusalem.asp

Happy Land of Israel Day,

Ruth and Nadia Matar
Women in Green
--------------------

Some more background on Stanley Goldfoot:

On November 24, 2006, at the age of 92, a man named Stanley Goldfoot passed away.  He is remembered by family and friends for his love for and devotion to Israel and the Jewish people.

Stanley Goldfoot was born in Johannesburg, South Africa. Subsequent to his hearing a speech about the Zionist vision by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, he headed for Palestine where, at the age of 18, he joined a HaShomer HaTzair kibbutz.

After the rebirth of the Jewish State of Israel his main goal, which he eventually realized, was to establish a Zionist English newspaper, "The Times of Israel."

In the first issue of "The Times of Israel", Stanley Goldfoot wrote his famous controversial "Letter to the World from Jerusalem", which caused quite a stir. The article is still relevant .

__________________________________________________

A LETTER TO THE WORLD FROM JERUSALEM
by Eliezer ben Yisrael  (Stanley Goldfoot)
from The Times of Israel


I am not a creature from another planet, as you seem to
believe. I am a Jerusalemite-like yourselves, a man of flesh and
blood. I am a citizen of my city, an integral part of my people.
I have a few things to get off my chest. Because I am not a
diplomat, I do not have to mince words. I do not have to please you
or even persuade you. I owe you nothing. You did not build this city,
you did not live in it, you did not defend it when they came to destroy
it.

And we will be damned if we will let you take it away.
There was a Jerusalem before there was a New York. When Berlin,
Moscow, London, and Paris were miasmal forest and swamp, there was a
thriving Jewish community here. It gave something to the world which
you nations have rejected ever since you established yourselves- a
humane moral code.

Here the prophets walked, their words flashing like forked lightning.

Here a people who wanted nothing more than to be left
alone, fought off waves of heathen would-be conquerors, bled and died
on the battlements, hurled themselves into the flames of their
burning Temple rather than surrender, and when finally overwhelmed by
sheer numbers and led away into captivity, swore that before they
forgot Jerusalem, they would see their tongues cleave to their palates,
their right arms wither.

For two pain-filled millennia, while we were your unwelcome
guests, we prayed daily to return to this city. Three times a day we
petitioned the Almighty: "Gather us from the four corners of the
world, bring us upright to our land, return in mercy to Jerusalem,
Thy city, and swell in it as Thou promised." On every Yom Kippur and
Passover, we fervently voiced the hope that next year would find us in
Jerusalem.

Your inquisitions, pogroms, expulsions, the ghettos into which
you jammed us, your forced baptisms, your quota systems, your genteel
anti-Semitism, and the final unspeakable horror, the holocaust (and
worse, your terrifying disinterest in it)- all these have not broken us.
 They may have sapped what little moral strength you still possessed,
but they forged us into steel. Do you think that you can break us now
after all we have been through? Do you really believe that after
Dachau and Auschwitz we are frightened by your threats of blockades and
sanctions?

We have been to Hell and back- a Hell of your making. What more could
you possibly have in your arsenal that could scare us?

I have watched this city bombarded twice by nations calling
themselves civilized. In 1948, while you looked on apathetically, I
saw women and children blown to smithereens, after we agreed to your
request to internationalize the city. It was a deadly combination
that did the job- British officers, Arab gunners, and American-made cannon. And
then the savage sacking of the Old City-the willful slaughter, the
wanton destruction of every synagogue and religious school, the
desecration of Jewish cemeteries, the sale by a ghoulish government
of tombstones for building materials, for poultry runs, army camps, even
latrines.

And you never said a word.
You never breathed the slightest protest when the Jordanians
shut off the holiest of our places, the Western Wall, in violation of
the pledges they had made after the war- a war they waged,
incidentally, against the decision of the UN. Not a murmur came from
you whenever the legionnaires in their spiked helmets casually opened
fire upon our citizens from behind the walls.

Your hearts bled when Berlin came under siege. You rushed your
airlift "to save the gallant Berliners". But you did not send one
ounce of food when Jews starved in besieged Jerusalem. You thundered
against the wall which the East Germans ran through the middle of the
German capital- but not one peep out of you about that other wall, the one
that tore through the heart of Jerusalem.

And when that same thing happened 20 years later, and the Arabs
unleashed a savage, unprovoked bombardment of the Holy City again,
did any of you do anything?

The only time you came to life was when the city was at last
reunited. Then you wrung your hands and spoke loftily of "justice"
and need for the "Christian" quality of turning the other cheek.
The truth- and you know it deep inside your gut - you would
prefer the city to be destroyed rather than have it governed by Jews.
No matter how diplomatically you phrase it, the age old prejudices
seep out of every word.

If our return to the city has tied your theology in knots,
perhaps you had better reexamine your catechisms. After what we have
been through, we are not passively going to accommodate ourselves to
the twisted idea that we are to suffer eternal homelessness until we
accept your savior.

For the first time since the year 70, there is now complete
religious freedom for all in Jerusalem. For the first time since the
Romans put a torch to the Temple, everyone has equal rights (You
prefer to have some more equal than others.) We loathe the sword- but
it was you who forced us to take it up. We crave peace, but we are
not going back to the peace of 1948 as you would like us to.

We are home. It has a lovely sound for a nation you have willed
to wander over the face of the globe. We are not leaving. We are
redeeming the pledge made by our forefathers: Jerusalem is being
rebuilt. "Next year" and the year after, and after, and after, until
the end of time- "in Jerusalem"!

Stanley Goldfoot
Founder Editor
The Times of Israel
 August 1969


=============================================
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ACTION ALERT: AIPAC, PIDYON SHVUYIM : HALAMISH BROTHERS RIVKA MEIRCHIK in PRISON

bs"d

Dear Friends, amv"sh

Our friends in Eretz Yisroel are depending on us.  Please email this to your email lists and Rabbanim, and print it out and leave and post in shuls and other public places and  urge people to act AND FULFILL THE MITZVAH D'ORAYTA (Biblical commandment) OF AL TAAMOD AL DAM REIACHA (not to stand idly when your brother's blood is being spilled or about to be spilled which is likely to happen chas veshalom with the establishment of a Palestinian State)  AND the Mitzvah of  PIDYON SHVUYIM (releasing captives).

Thank you Susie Dym mattot.arim@gmail.com and

Datya Itzhaki pidionshvuim@yahoo.com,  for these action alerts!

Urgent about AIPAC: Will AIPAC encourage rocket attacks on Tel-Aviv and Jerusalem?

 

AIPAC's Policy Conference starts today (2 June). The important speakers will be speaking on 4 June : http://www.aipac.org/about_AIPAC/Learn_About_AIPAC/2841.asp

It is very important to make sure that the speakers there (US presidential candidates, Olmert, etc.) do not burble on about options that are sheer lunacy, such as the "Palestinian state" option.

 

AIPAC is a huge and very important American Jewish organization. Contact them about this problem  by writing IMMEDIATELY to: press@aipac.org, membership@aipac.org, MARreg@aipac.org, hkohr@aipac.org.

 

For example, you could write:

 

"Urgent about the AIPAC Conference!

 

AIPAC leaders, please pre-confirm with your guest speakers that they will not mention the "Palestinian state" idea in any way. As Israel's most conciliatory newspaper, Haaretz, has said: http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/875942.html

"There is a growing consensus in Israel that a withdrawal from the West Bank is no longer possible….The reason is obvious: Israel …does not want Qassam rockets against Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Ben-Gurion International Airport."
If AIPAC's leaders have any compassion at all for the poor rocket victims in Sderot, it is their  duty to make sure that Israel's terrible rocket problem does not spread, under their auspices, to Tel-Aviv, Jerusalem and Ben-Gurion airport. So, please emphasize to your guests: No Palestinian State in your address to our conference!

 

 

Nu? What's going on with the Halamish brothers?

 

President Peres has not yet taken up the issue of their presidential pardon; in the meantime the 2 brothers continue to languish in prison -- for having shot in the air.

Come on folks. Let's not be bashful. Let's pick up the receiver, call up the Bet Hanassi and ask: Hi there, what's new with the Brothers Halamish, I am worried about this, can the President take this matter up TODAY?

 

026707211 --  weekdays 8:00-19:00.  Fax, 24 hours a day: 025611033

Remember to contact us mattot.arim@gmail.com if you hear anything interesting. Thank you so much.

June 2, 2008

Pidion Shvuim Alert:
No. 13

Israeli Judge Again Postpones Release Decision of Rivka Meirchik

   On June 1, Kfar Saba Magistrate Nitza Maimon Shashua scheduled yet
another hearing for a decision on the release of Rivka Meirchik despite an
earlier decision by Petah Tikva District Court Judge Ruth Lorch that her
arrest and detention are illegal.. [The hearing on June 1 was originally
scheduled for May 29 but was postponed after chief police prosecutor Shir
Laufer said she was vacationing in Eilat.]
    Meirchik, who remained handcuffed and shackled in leg-irons throughout
the hearing, has refused to be handcuffed inside the Neve Tirza prison where
she is kept in solitary confinement and denied visitation and telephone
rights. Prison authorities have also denied her the right from meeting with
her attorney in her cell.
    After the hearing, prison guard Orit Hasidi speeded Meirchik out of the
courtroom into a waiting prison van despite the judge's order to allow her
to meet with defense attorney Aviad Visoly.
    Earlier, police at the Kfar Saba court barred friends from entering the
open court session after they said that Tzvia Sariel, who earlier this year
spent three months in prison in similar circumstances, was provocative. The
judge later agreed to admit her.
    Meirchik, who appeared gaunt, managed to convey to family members that
she was hungry.
    "My sister is very allergic and can only eat certain foods," Rivka's
sister Racheli said. "We, the family, hired the attorney, because we want to
see Rivka released. Why is there so much foot-dragging and why does it
[judicial process] take so long?"
    Meirchik, like Sariel, has refused to accept the authority of the court
including agreeing to police conditions for her release and is being held
until the end of judicial proceedings.
      "According to the police release sheet, the reason for her arrest was
that she refused to identify herself," Visoly said. "There was no other
cause."
    Visoly said the police arrest record shows that Meirchik, arrested at
the Shvut Ami Jewish community near Kedumim on April 2, was arrested for
failing to identify herself and not for committing any other offenses. Only
later, Visoly said, police charged Meirchik with trespassing, disturbing and
assaulting a police officer, resisting arrest and violating a military
closure order.
    "The arresting officer did not follow protocol when he failed to
identify himself or explain [to Meirchik] that she was arrested and for what
reason," Visoly said. "According to paragraph 24 of the criminal code, this
arrest was illegal. And in the case of an illegal arrest, the suspect has a
right to resist."
    The Petah Tikva District Court also deemed Meirchik's arrest and
incarceration illegal for another reason. She was imprisoned and ordered
held until the end of judicial proceedings before the prosecution presented
any evidence against her.
    The next hearing is scheduled for June 5 at the Kfar Saba Magistrates
Court.

    The major Israeli media, particularly the state-operated radio and
television, did not mention a word of this travesty of justice. So, we must
turn to you, lovers of Israel, who were so effective in the case of Tzvia
Sariel and who, thanks to your efforts was released from jail, and ask that
you act to help defend Jewish rights in Israel.
    As a first step, we request that you telephone -- rather than e-mail -- 
the Israeli Embassy or the Israeli consulate nearest you and demand to know
why Rivka is still in prison. The embassy's phone number is 202-364-5500.
Stress, that as an American citizen, you can ask the State Department to
investigate what you feel is clearly a human rights violation.
    Now, we are asking you to call your member of Congress and raise the
issue of Rivka Meirchik. We also ask you to call the State Department's
Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor and inform them of Rivka and
demand an investigation. Tell the department officer you have also raised
Rivka's case with your member of Congress. The State Department's main
numbers are 202-647-4000 or 1-800-877-8339.
    The Olmert government, with an approval rating of near zero, has refused
any accountability to the Israeli people and fears only the Bush
administration. Unless we act now, there will be many more Rivkas in jail.
    If you agree with this, please act quickly. What could be more important
than winning the release of a Jewish child imprisoned for loving her country
and people?
    We also urgently need your help to pressure the office of President Shimon Peres this week to pardon Dani and Itzik Halamish who are innocent of any crime but are sitting in prison.
    Please contact the military attaché at the Israeli Embassy [telephone: 202-364-5500] and ask to speak to the military attaché. Express your outrage that the Israel Army abandoned its fighters for protecting Jews. Don't argue. The military attache's office knows exactly what you're talking about. Stress that you are an American citizen whose support for the Israeli military is based on its protection of Jews. Say that you also plan to discuss this case with your member of Congress who decides on U.S. military aid to Israel.
      You can also fax the president's office at: 972 2 5671314.
     
With Love of Israel,
Datya Itzhaki

 

 

 

The Crow and the Kitten AMAZING Utube. Hopefully soon the Wolf and the Lamb....

 

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Thank you Buddy Macy (VegiBud@gmail.com) for link.

 

Buddy writes:

 

Hi Friends,

 

I think you will enjoy this video. After watching it, you might also like "The Most Educational Video..." under Related Articles. (It really works!)

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Hagee quotes Tanach. Holocaust linked to Israel, Israel Kaplan and Yossi Baumol

 

bs"d

 

Hagee, a prominent Pastor was rebuked for his remarks based on Tanach  linking the Holocaust to the Land of Israel. 

• Rick Richman - Jewish Current Issues -  Five Leads for Reviewing Pastor Hagee

Among those that distanced himself from these remarks was McCain, the Republican candidate for President.  Israel Kaplan and Yossi Baumol have written in support of Hagee's comments from a Jewish perspective. (read till end of this email). Tanach is Tanach. Hagee is to be commended for his courage and conviction and for his willingness to state the Emes, truth even when it is not politically correct to do so.   

 

Isn't is a shame that it takes a Pastor to stand up with courage and publicly bring awareness to our Torah and we the Jews have been publicly silent. 

 

Many Diaspora Jews are silent because we say how can we Jews speak up while living in the Diaspora.   

 

The answer we must speak up for our Land even when we reside in the Diaspora.!  

 

 

Aliya (Sprititual Ascent) in the Diaspora:

My Place is in Eretz Yisroel and everywhere I travel, I travel towards Eretz Yisroel. (Rabbi Nachman of Breslev)

 

1. Recognize that Eretz Yisroel is your inheritance no less than your fellow brother living in Israel and whose sons are on the front line in the army.  Your obligations to keep the commandments are equal as your brothers in Israel.  Your brother living in Israel has the advantage that he is able to observe many commandments that you can't and he has the potential to reach greater heights in observing the commandments. 

 

2, Publicly proclaim your entitlement to Eretz Yisroel.

 

3,  Recognize and feel the pain of your disadvantage of being in the Diaspora and ease it by doing whatever you can to bring chizuk (strength) to the Yishuv (settlement) in Eretz Yisroel. There are no end of worthy  projects that need us to get involved in Eretz Yisroel with our hearts, our souls and our pocket books.

 

4. Do what you can in the PR war.  Every man, women and child can write a letter claiming our rights to Eretz Yisroel. 

 

How one can live in the Land of Israel but not quite be there:

 

1. Feeling that you are not entitled to the Land of Israel and that a foreign people are.

2. Not associating the Land of Israel as being a Holy Land or the Promised Land.

3. Scorning the Torah and the Mitzvoth

 

Israel Kaplan's letter to Pastor Hagee:

 

Hi Teresa Weaver (secretary to the Hagees)

 

Would like to send Pastor John Hagee a booklet called "Confronting the Holocaust".   Due to the current news item regarding Presidential nominee John McCain distancing himself from Pastor Hagee, I felt that it just might be timely to send out to him articles on how in fact Jewish writings support the connection between the Holocaust and the rebirth of the Jewish Homeland, Israel.    A copy is being sent as well to John McCain with a letter recommending that he read the material and to think long and hard about reversing his major blunder distancing himself from Pastor Hagee's support.   We are of the opinion that he was ill advised on the matter.  To us it is offensive that he used Pastor Hagee's statement on the Holocaust which shows that his advisors are either ignorant or are so immersed in the political gains or losses that they totally disregard the religious foundations of Judaism.

 

Thank you.

 

Izzy Kaplan

Toronto Zionist Council VP

 

Hagee, Holocaust & Hebron

By Yossi Baumol

 

G-d certainly didn't "cause" the Holocaust. It was a group of horrid monsters headed by Hitler who caused it by exercising their free will in the worst imaginable way. In addition, it is difficult to bear hearing anyone confidently speak on behalf of Divine Providence.

 

Yet the fact is that an all powerful G-d did allow the Holocaust to happen. The fact is that others have spoken in His name just as confidently.

 

Many people have risen up to castigate Rev. John Hagee for saying that the reason Divine Providence allowed the Holocaust to happen was so that the Jews should go back to the Land of Israel.

 

Would a Jew say such a thing?

 

Just by accident, let's take a look at "B'Chukotai" - the Torah portion read the week this story broke on the Huffington Post website. Rabbi Meir Simcha of D'vinsk wrote in 1925 on Leviticus (26:44):  The Jew, in general, will forget from whence he came…He will think that Berlin is Jerusalem… Then a tempestuous wind will come and uproot him from his trunk… Then he will realize that he is a stranger, that his language is our holy tongue, that foreign tongues are like temporary garments, that his origins lay in the Jewish race, and that his consolations are those of HaShem's prophets, who prophesied about the stem of Yishai at the End of Days.

 

In his revived sermon from the 1990's, Rev. Hagee said that the passage in Jeremiah regarding fishermen and hunters refers to Herzl & Hitler. How far off is he from the following Jewish source? "For there are two ways to acquire an animal: call it and it follows after him, or strike a stick and it runs before him. And thus we have to ascend to the Land of Israel of our own accord, and not to wait until Hashem strikes us by means of a stick (Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 88, written by Rabbi Yissachar Teichtel during the Holocaust).

 

Anyone else?

There are dozens of the most highly respected Talmudic scholars who concur with this view and they can be found in Chapter 2D of Rabbi Shlomo Aviner's book, "Shelo Yaalu B'Choma", translated into English by Rabbi Mordechai Friedfertig which is quoted at length at the end of this article.

 

The fact is that most of the Torah portion we read last week deals with this prediction. Despite the horrors of the Diaspora, the Torah promises us that we will not be totally destroyed while in exile:  "And yet for all that, when they be in the land of their enemies, I will not cast them away, neither will I abhor them, to destroy them utterly, and to break my covenant with them: (Lev 26:44).

 

The source of our strength, the source of our protection lies in Hebron, as is stated two passages earlier: "Then will I remember my covenant with Jacob, and also my covenant with Isaac, and also my covenant with Abraham will I remember; and I will remember the land."  

 

***

 

Excerpts from Chapter 2D of Rabbi Shlomo Aviner's book, "Shelo Yaalu B'Choma", translated by Rabbi Mordechai Friedfertig

 

…3. And the great authorities of Israel already wrote that it is forbidden to remain in Exile when there are also evil decrees, they include the Rambam:[100] That those who abstain from this [ascending to the Land] they are "violators and cause others to sin," the Ralbag,[101] and the Magen Avraham:[102] that furthermore are "liable to the death penalty," and this is also implied from the words of the Ramban.[103]

4.  And the great authorities of Israel similarly wrote that the purpose of the suffering of the Exile is to awaken us to ascend to the Land of Israel - and this is similarly in the Midrash[104] - they include the Chatam Sofer,[105] the author of the Arba'ah Turim[106] and Ha-Rav Mordechai Eliezer Weber, that this is the explanation of the talmudic statement "The Land of Israel comes through suffering that the suffering hints to us to awaken ourselves to return to the Land of Israel,"[107] and Rabbi Meir Shapira of Lublin.[108]

5. The great authorities of Israel wrote that the horrors of the Exile come upon us when we do not ascend to the Land of Israel, they include Ha-Rav Yaacov Tzvi Emden,[109] Ha-Rav Yehudah Alkalai[110] and similarly the Rokeach.[111]

6. The Shelah wrote that the goal of the fiery furnace is to clarify that this is a mitzvah to ascend to the Land of Israel.[112]

7. The great authorities already warned, that if we do not ascend on our own to the Land of Israel, the matter will come through horrors and destruction, they include Rabbi Simchah Bunem of Pshischa[113] that it is incumbent upon us to ascend to the Land of Israel on our own and not wait to be struck by a rod, and Rabbi Meir Simchah of Dvinsk[114] similarly wrote that Hashem will clarify by a blow of fury that Berlin is not Jerusalem. And the Netziv[115] and the Gra wrote that it is incumbent upon us to choose the path of the of the Revealed End of returning to Zion and then there would not have been a need for our Sages to warn us regarding a king whose decrees would be worse than Haman,[116] "and almost every day our Rabbi spoke to us in trembling and emotion that in Zion and Jerusalem there will be a refuge, do not delay the appointed time. Who can recount and who can describe the magnitude of concern of our Rabbi in his relating to us these types of matters in his holy spirit and tears in his eyes."[117] In the year 5693 (1933), ten years before the destruction of Europe, when the oppressors of the Jews, may their name be blotted out, rose to power, the Chafetz Chaim said that the remaining refugee camp would be in the Land of Israel.[118]

Our master Ha-Rav Kook wrote: "Come to the Land of Israel, pleasant brothers, come to the Land of Israel, save your souls, the soul of your generations, the soul of our entire Nation..."[119]

8. And our Rabbi Ha-Rav Tzvi Yehudah wrote that the Holocaust is the divorce document with the Exile which appears together with our Redemption.[120]

 

 

 

Bibliography of quotes selected from Rabbi Aviner's book

 

100. At the end of Iggeret Kiddush Hashem (Edition of Mossad Ha-Rav Kook pg. 66) that it is forbidden to remain in the land there in which there are decrees, "But those who deceive themselves and say that they should stay in their place until the King Messiah comes to the Land of the West [and then they will] leave and go to Jerusalem - I do not know how this persecution will be nullified for them. Rather they are violators and cause others to sin."

101. That after there was a famine in the Land, our forefather Avraham decided on his own that this is the will of The Holy One, Blessed be He, that he should descend to Egypt even though the Divine command was to settle in the Land (To'aliyot Ha-Ralbag, Parashat Lech Lecha, Bereshit 12:10). And all the more so to abandon the Exile and to ascend to the Land (Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pp. 160-161).

102. "That if there are harsh decrees in the Land of Israel one should sacrifice his life for settling the Land which is not the case of one who dwells outside of the Land in a place of decrees, he is liable to the death penalty if he does not go to another country" (Zait Ra'anan on Yalkut Shemoni Yitro 292. Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pp. 106-107).

103. Who wrote that The Holy One, Blessed be He, promised us that we would sit in tranquility and with ample livelihood in the Exile (Parashat Ki Tavo, Devarim 28:38), and if so, when the non-Jews take all of the benefits of life from us, it is as if The Holy One, Blessed be He, is saying: "I pulled my hand away from you from further promising your settlement in the Exile, but you should arise and come to your mother's chest" (Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pp. 160, 239).

104. For The Holy One, Blessed be He, brought distress upon Machlon and Kilyon for approximately ten years in order to warn them to return to the Land of Israel (Tanchuma Behar #3. Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 159).

105. For the force of the distress is to bring us to the Land of Israel (Derashah for Parashat Parah. Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 86).

106. "Any time that the sounds, cries and screams of the harsh decrees are heard, God forbid, every person's heart should burn to build the Holy City" (Shemot 9:33. Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 228).

107. The introduction of the book "Erech Dal" on Arachin. Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pp. 161, 231. And ibid., that the purpose of this bitter Exile is to awaken us for the Land of Israel (pp. 245-246).

108. "Now I know why you are against ascending and building the Land, since any time that you eat 'lichtiga fish' ['fish of light' which Chasidim eat at Seudah Shelishit while it is still day] the Land of Israel is not an imperative for you. But on account of our great sins, the great majority of Israel only eats 'finsatara fish' ['fish of darkness' - which Chasidim eat at Seudah Shelishit when it becomes night]" (related in Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 225). And he wrote similarly that the actions of the fathers are a sign for the children for Yaacov swore at a time of distress "And I will return in peace to my father's house." It is written in the Midrash that The Holy One, Blessed be He, takes the words of the fathers and makes them a key for the redemption of the children, a hint of the footsteps of the Messiah (Sefer Divrei Emet Parashat Va-yetze. Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 31).

109. "Do not consider remaining rooted outside the Land...this was the sin of our forefathers...and it is what kept us in our bitter Exile because not only one person arose upon us to destroy us but in each and every generation...and we were persecuted ruthlessly...as it seems to us when we were in tranquility outside of Israel that we found the Land of Israel [on] a different level, therefore all of the tragedies come upon us when Israel was dwelling in the Land of Spain and other lands..." (Siddur Beit Yaacov, introduction, 13). "And if only this sin had been in our hands...in my view it is the closest reason, revealed, powerful and strong, for all of the horrible, great and unprecedented persecutions, which astonishes the mind, which we have experienced in Exile" (ibid.). And see below footnote 178.

110. "Since Israel was not awakened to return to our Land and the inheritance of our forefathers, the decrees began, the expulsion and persecutions, because the matter is dependent on repentance - that they return to the Land of Israel" (Kol Korei from the year 5608 [1848]).

111. For the persecutions of Warsaw came because they thought they lived in the little Jerusalem. See below in the end of footnote 156.

112. Shelah volume 3, chelek Torah Shebichtav, 11:2 (Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 330).

113. For there are two ways to acquire an animal: call it and it follows after him, or strike a stick and it runs before him. And thus we have to ascend to the Land of Israel of our own accord, and not to wait until Hashem strikes us by means of a stick (Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 88).

114. "...and the Jew...will think that Berlin is Jerusalem...then a stormy and rushing wind will come, it will uproot us from its trunk..." (Meshech Chochmah Bechukotai pg. 192). "A stormy wind will arise, and spread out its many waves, and destroy, lay waste, ruin, wash away without mercy" (pg. 191).

115. For during the three days of darkness all those who did not want to leave Egypt died, "And all of this is incumbent upon us to remember that also at this time that many of Israel refuse the future Redemption [occurring] quickly in our days, but The Holy One, Blessed be He, will rule over us with a strong hand" (Haggadah of Pesach on the verse "And Hashem brought us out...with a strong hand").

116. Kol Ha-Tur chapter 4 #3.

117. Kol Ha-Tur end of chapter 5. And similarly "And there will be a refugee in Zion and Jerusalem and for the remnants, and that is sufficient wisdom. And our Rabbi was extremely worried regarding this" (ibid. Chapter 1 #10). And Rabbi Moshe bar Hillel of Shaklov: "The matter of this prophecy, in Zion and Jerusalem will be a refugee, caused extreme worry to our Rabbi, the Gra, that according to this the footsteps of the Messiah were coming that the ingathering of the Exile would come by way of the refugee, which means out of the necessity of distress and decrees, and only the remnant of the survivors would arrive to Zion and Jerusalem" (Magid Doresh Tzion vol. 2 pg. 71. Ha-Tekufah Ha-Gedolah pg. 446). And Rabbi Sa'adia of Mohliv, a student of the Gra, reported that when the Gra spoke about this, tears flowed from his eyes, and he said "We must hope that the ingathering of the Exiles will be by our own will and not by means of distress of a refugee" (ibid. footnote 33. Ha-Tekufah Ha-Gedolah ibid.).

118. As it is written (Ovadiah 1:17) "And there will be a refugee on Mt. Zion and it will be holy" - and therefore it was ensured that our Land of Holiness will rescue (Chafetz Chaim pg. 73. Ha-Tekufah Ha-Gedolah pg. 198).

119. "Keriyot Gedolot - Le-Eretz Yisrael." And Ha-Rav of Onsdorf said [in Yiddish]: Woe, I see that God forbid the Jews can not remain here, in these countries, and they will be forced to flee. There will be nowhere to flee. Why do they not see to build the settlement in the Land of Israel?" (Em Ha-Banim Semeichah pg. 25).

120. "Hashem's hand extends over us, from the midst of bloodshed, fiery furnaces, agony of suffering, kindling of fires, sacrificing of souls, which with the taking of land of the Exile and the removal of the Divine Presence from it, also brings us by our forelock, and places us in the heights of our theater of operations" (Le-Netivot Yisrael pg. [61] 81). "And the extension of Hashem's hand over us in a pouring out of His anger, to remove us from the impurities of the lands of the Nations and the dispersions of our Exiles in the midst of their darkness...in the annihilation of a third of our body and its choice part" (ibid. pg. [94] 123). "The dreadful chapter of the Divine dissection in the body of the Nation with the annihilation of our six million, an important part, in a way of lifting us to our place" (ibid. pg. [110] 147). "The departure from the desert of the Nations...with the inconceivable horrible and dreadful dissection-severance of hundred of thousands, may the remembrance of the holy ones be a blessing, may Hashem revenge their blood, and cause to enter for the settlement of the Land" (ibid. pg. [134] 179). "The ingathering of our exiles and entrance of our scattered to the Place of our Life, with their horrible uprooting of the dispersions and the scattering" (ibid. pg. [182] 247). "With the completion of the collapse of the land of the Exile from under our feet...with the fulfillment of the word of Hashem that 'Among these Nations we will not find tranquility and our feet will not find rest'..." (ibid. pg. [52] 69). "The storm of severance of the body of the Entirety of Israel from the deserts of the Nations" (ibid. pg. [80] 105). "The complete actual arising, of the announcement that 'Among these Nations we will not find tranquility,' came with taking the portion of the land from our presence there" (ibid. pg. [61] 80). "In the essence of the full collapse, the complete uprooting, the final severance, for all of the Community of Israel's agony of upheaval from its reality among the Nations and their lands, of its bodies and its souls, of its adults and its youths, of its possession and its culture, of its physical and its spiritual, of its holy and its profane - it is the appearance of the light of life and the revival of the Nation of Holiness and the splendor of its eternity" (ibid. pg. [102-103] 135).

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