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My comments in red. I added the yellow and orange highlighting
Statement of Agudath Israel of America on Iranian nuclear agreement :
Upon consultation with its rabbinic leadership, Agudath Israel of America issued the following statement regarding the agreement announced on July 14 concerning Iran's nuclear program, and calling for both political and spiritual advocacy:
Deep concerns have been expressed by many knowledgeable groups and individuals regarding the agreement announced on July 14 concerning Iran's nuclear program. These concerns raise serious questions whether the agreement is in the best interests of the United States and its allies.
The nation that has the greatest stake in this matter is Israel, which is the declared target of Iranian genocidal ambitions. It is noteworthy, therefore, that not only the prime minister of Israel and its ruling coalition, but the entire spectrum of political ideologies in Israel, have spoken out about the mortal danger they believe the agreement poses to Israel, and are urging its rejection by the United States Congress.
My comment: Not only have the entire spectrum of political ideologies in Israel have spoken but the entire spectrum of political ideologies in America and neighboring countries close to Iran (who have now alligned themselves to Israel) about the mortal danger they believe the agreement poses not only to Israel but to the entire region and to us in America as well!
We have no doubt that the White House and its team of negotiators, in conjunction with its other partners, acted in good faith in reaching an agreement with the Iranians, and with the commendable goal of reducing the Iranian nuclear threat to America and its allies including Israel. However, we cannot disregard the opinions of so many that the agreement is not in the best interests of America and its allies, and certainly not in the best interests of our Jewish brothers and sisters in Israel.
My comment: How can Agudah have no doubt the America is acting in good faith? They themselves follow this paragraph with this one
That is especially so in light of the undisputed and indisputable fact that Iran is a rogue state, which has fomented terror and destruction throughout the Middle East and beyond. It has been, and continues to be, fully committed to the destruction of Israel. Nothing in the agreement requires Iran to renounce its support of terror or its goal of genocide. Nothing in the policies or conduct of the Iranian government provides any realistic basis for confidence that it will live up to its obligations under the agreement, that it will not use the billions of dollars it will receive under the agreement to fund terror activities by Iranian proxies such as Hamas and Hizbollah, that it will not stockpile other deadly weapons and eventually even develop nuclear weaponry after certain designated periods of time, or that it has any intention of abandoning its genocidal ambitions.
These considerations must be at the very forefront of Congress' deliberations as it now carries out its awesome responsibility of independently reviewing the agreement and determining whether the agreement is truly in the best interests of America and its allies.
To our own community, we reiterate the foundation principle that our security comes ultimately from Hashem, G-d Himself. Rabos machshavos b'lev ish, while man may have many thoughts and designs, atzas Hashem hie sakum, it is Hashem's design that prevails.
Surely we must do our advocacy, including reaching out to Congress and other relevant parties; that is part of our "shtadlonus" obligation under the clear mandate of Torah. However, the most important advocacy we can do is to turn to Hashem, to recognize that teshuva tefilla u'tzedaka ma'avirin es ro'a hagezeira, repentance, prayer and acts of charity are the keys to our salvation.
My comment: There is an existential threat with ramifications far serious than WWII. I remember being at a Tisha Baav event in 2005 when the expulsion of Gush Katif was happening and close to 10,000 people were forced out of their homes, their livelihoods and houses and communities bulldozed. A women, in the audience got up and said "please let us daven for the people of Gush Katif". The moderator said "We already said 2 Perakim of Tehilim for Eretz Yisroel". Apparently the magnitude of what was happening in Gush Katif didn't quite register with those running the local Tisha Baav program.
This is a period of somber reflection for the Jewish people. May the challenging developments in the world around us remind us of how fragile our existence truly is, and how totally dependent we are on the protective embrace of the one-and-only Shomer Yisroel, the Heavenly Guardian of the Jewish People.
My Comments: I wonder if this was the refrain prior to the Holocause calling the current events at the time as "challenging developments". While surely they too were under the protective embrace of the One-and-only Shomer Yisroel, they were being massacred and thrown into the gas chambers. it is hard to believe that the the critical urgency of the situation has sunk in.
Additional Comments: My question is what Statement will Agudah Issue after the tragic news that a nuclear bomb was dropped somewhere chas veshalom and there were hundreds of thousands of fatalities? Or that there were many terror attacks in Israel chas veshalom, following the influx of conventional weapons and billions of dollars into Iran. After 120 years how will they answer the heavenly court who will ask them "Did you do your Hishtadlus as the leader of hundreds of thousands of religious Jewish Jews and what concrete steps did you take given your access to thousands of Shuls and Rabbanim. Did you mobilize Am Yisroel to do their Hishtadlus like you did against the Chareidi draft". How come you had no doubt that Obama acted in good faith when they made the deal with Iran in light of the undisputed and indisputable fact that Iran is a rogue state, which has fomented terror and destruction throughout the Middle East and beyond. It has been, and continues to be, fully committed to the destruction of Israel.
Please check out these links on Shemittahrediscovered
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Sincerely,
Robin Ticker
Activist emails sent to my list are L'Ilui Nishmat Yisrael ben David Aryeh ob"m (Izzy - Kaplan) and Howard Chaim Grief great activists and lovers of Eretz Yisroel, Am Yisroel and the Torah. Yehi Zichronum Baruch. May their memories serve as a blessing.
