bs"d
To my Dear Friends, amv"sh
Do You Admire the Settlers, aka the Mitnachalim?
Ladies, here is your chance to publicly express solidarity with our brethren in the Yishuvim in Yehuda and the Shomron by buying and wearing a versatile, handmade, beautiful and colorful, crocheted hat by Rachel Hacohen. Rachel Hacohen is a courageous mother of 11 bli ayin hara, living on a hilltop called Shechunat Gal, with her husband and 11 children bli ayin hara.
In July 2006, the following description (slightly edited) of their home in Shechunat Gal was taken from Jonathan Stein's live journal July 14-15 Shabbat 2006. http://msstein24.livejournal.com/30225.html
Shechunat Gal, is a hilltop overlooking the Driben farm. One structure was very unique - it is a house made of an old bus, shipping container, and industrial caravan. The living room can be converted into a shul, the walls are painted by Mrs. Driben from the farm, but the coolest part by far is the kids bus - there is a kitchen area, a bunch of little beds, and a bathroom in the front of the bus, where the toilet seat is opposite the steering wheel so the kids can pretend to drive while on the toilet.
The Hacohen family came to this hilltop when the army was stationed there in 2005. When they came, their accommodations were, yes this is really true, a converted bus. I would certainly nominate them to Extreme Makeover if such a thing existed in Israel. Rachel Hacohen is a courageous mother of 11 bli ayin hara, now living on the hilltop together with a handful of other families. But in 2005 they were the only family living there. I personally can vouch to this because circumstances had me visit their home in 2005 before the disengagement. I have an apt in Kiryat Arba and wanted to redo my bathroom. I asked my contractor, Benny, to show me some sample tiles. So he drove me to the Hacohen's home where he was doing some work to "show me some tiles". Benny my contractor was trying to help make it livable and perhaps gave me this tour because he thought I could help raise funds for them. Understandably, I was in shock especially since I had thought I was going to merely "look at tiles".
The bus was extended interestingly as described above to accommodate their large family and the physical conditions left much to be desired as the conditions in the harsh winters were not for the feint hearted. In 2005 and for the year following, members of the Kiryat Arba community met there regularly for shiurum to give the Hacohen's chizuk. According to long time resident Mrs. Zelda Horowitz, wife of Rabbi Shalom Horowitz Rachel Hacohen is a true lover of Eretz Yisroel who always kept her sweet smile and disposition, had the nicest kids and persevered in spite of her family living under a tin roof and being exposed to the elements, Recently her husband underwent an eye operation.
One week ago, my daughter studying in Kiryat Motzkin received from Rachel Hacohen's parents from Kiryat Ata nearby,15 women crocheted hats and 20 boys hand crocheted kippot that Rochel Hacohen personally crocheted and it is truly my honor to personally purchase my very own crocheted hat. My 11 year old son feels really special and cool with his newly purchased settler's kippa and is looking forward to wearing it especially in the gym.
I feel it is a special honor as well to sell these special handmade kippot.
It's first come first serve! I am selling the Ladies crocheted hats for $25 and the men's/boys Kippot for $15 each. Iti's a great price for a beautiful hand crocheted item especially since the handiwork is of a true Eishis Chayil, a true Jewish heroine, pioneer and proud settler of the Land of Israel.
Regarding the boys kippot I hear you commenting, "This is not the black velvet style yarmulke typical for Boro Park and Flatbush?
QUITE THE OPPOSITE dear friends. IT"S the latest of styles regarding boys fashion especially while playing sports. It's a cool look and this yarmulka will stay on your husband's or sons head even when he is in the heat of a game on the basketball court. Also it will make him feel as if he is in Judea and Samaria, a real pioneer out in the frontier in the heart of Israel..
Call in your orders before the supply disappears! Custom made Kippot can be put on order as well. Let's get some hard earned money back to Rachel so that she can help support her family.
Get your hat or kippa now while the supplies last!
I can be reached at 718-338-3822. or at this email. Robin.
Spread the word!
Yasher Koach and may this campaign please be a successful one bs"d.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Abbas Doctoral thesis - Holocaust denial. - please forward and sign OU petition, Rabbi Kahana Z"LShabbos Hagadol Drasha
bs"d
Why are the major Jewish Organizations Silent about a Palestinian State with Abbas as the President?
PLEASE sign petition to OU http://www.PetitionOnline.com/n2p/petition.html and mail or call Agudath Yisroel of America, the OU and the Young Israel. (see CC's above, contact info at Contact Information of influential Rabbanim)
Speak to your local Rav and ask him to raise awareness of the current life threatening antisemitic overtures reminiscent of the 1930s with the Leadership and Board of Directors of these Major Jewish Organizations that represent almost all of the Torah observant community in America.
How else will these influential, major Jewish organizations know that we really do want them to speak up in Washington for our entitlement of Eretz Yisroel?????? We need these major organizations because they have the infrastructure and networking to be Mezekeh the Rabim to SPEAK OUT with PRIDE of our entitlement of ERETZ YISROEL. There are over a thousand shuls under the OU umbrella. Moetzet Gedolei Hatorah has influence over hundreds of thousands of caring Jews, that adhere to their Roshei Yeshivot and member shuls! Together we can make a tremendous Kiddush Hashem!
We should not be surprised if Washington DC chooses to ignore our voice <imra@netvision.net.il> 3/29/2009 1:28 AM >>>
IDF Chief snubbed in Washington - a message to Israel
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona U.S. Air Force (Retired) March 25,
2009
http://francona.blogspot.com:80/2009/03/idf-chief-snubbed-in-washington-message.html
and
as they disregarded a unity campaign for Jonathan Pollard for a presidential pardon.
At the very least it will perhaps convince our fellow Jews that we had better get passports to Eretz Yisroel and not to rely on America to be our friend. Please read Shabbos HaGodol Drasha by the late Rabbi Meir Kahana ZT"L. who teaches us that the Korban Pesach in Mitzraim defied publicly and openly the deity of the Egyptians and clearly demonstrated our allegiance to the One and Only G-d, a tremendous Kiddush Hashem - a timely message to us Jews in the Diaspora.
Robin
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Israel Kaplan <israelkaplan@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, Mar 29, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Subject: AUSCHWITZ ALBUM:
To: IZZY <israelkaplan@yahoo.com>
From: Israel Kaplan <israelkaplan@yahoo.com>
Date: Sun, Mar 29, 2009 at 5:13 PM
Subject: AUSCHWITZ ALBUM:
To: IZZY <israelkaplan@yahoo.com>
Dear List How sad and unbelievable? The proof is there, in black and white; yet there are those who refuse to believe this really happened. Moreso, there are those who would do it all over again. How can that be? This is something every Jew must see. In fact it would be good to pass it on to the whole civilized world. Israel's current Arab moderate peace partner Mahmoud Abbas, Prime Minister of the P.A. has written his doctoral thesis on holocaust denial. IZZY KAPLAN 416 824 2858 416 256 2858 Check out my new blog http://israelonisrael.blogspot.com\ ------------------------------------------------------------------ |
----- Original Message -----
From: The Ginsbergs
Sent: 30 March, 2009 21:02
Subject: Rabbi Kahane Divrei Torah 1989 THE GREAT SABBATH
FROM THE DESK OF
BARBARA GINSBERG
"K A H A N E"
The magazine of the authentic Jewish Idea
Nissan -5749 April-1989
D I V R E I T O R A H
THE GREAT SABBATH
It is the necessary, the indispensable preface and introduction to Passover. It is the explanation that cries out the ultimate message of the holiday, the basic lesson of the feats of our freedom. It is the foundation of foundations that raises Passover from an insipid, saccharine social custom beginning and ending with recipes printed in the New York Times women's section; from a golden opportunity for Manischewitz to return to Jewishness through capitalist Passover profits even as the truly frum, raise their level of religiosity by raising the level of prices; from a Jewish people that marches on its Seder stomach even as it moves on to the annual national lie. "Next Year in Jerusalem." It is the Great Sabbath, which attempts to save Judaism from myopic ritualism, to make the Jew, Jewish and the Orthodox, religious.
Sabbath Hagadol, the great Sabbath. The Sabbath preceding the Passover, the Sabbath that cries out the basic, the ultimate message of the enormous Exodus from Egypt, of Passover itself. Sabbath Hagadol that gives us the lesson without which Passover, the Jewish people itself, lose all reason for being. Sabbath Hagadol commemorating the basic lesson of Judaism: Faith, real faith, faith in G-d who really is greater than the mighty Pharaoh, or the regal Reagan of the burningless Bush – Sabbath Hagadol. The great Sabbath, that began more than 3,000 years ago on a Sabbath in Imperial Egypt.
"Speak unto all the congregation of Israel, saying: In the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb…"
It is a special, an awesome commandment, one that is given to every Jew, hence the unique words "Speak unto all the congregation." Take a lamb and bind it up for four days.
You believe that this is a simple commandment. Hardly. The lamb is more than an animal; it is the very god of Egypt. It is a deity, a hallowed creature before whom the Egyptian bows and whose meat dare not touch his mouth. And the Jews, "every man" thereof, are commanded to take this lamb, this Egyptian god, the deity of their masters, and tie it to their beds, to their posts, bind it up. And when the astonished and outraged Egyptian masters will ask: "What are you doing? The answer shall be: We shall soon slaughter this lamb, the deity, your god, and eat it.
Do you still think this is a simple, bland commandment? It is a commandment fraught with danger to life, a commandment that surely sent fear down the spines of the Jewish slaves, that, without a doubt, led scholars to rush and ponder whether pikuach nefesh, danger to life might perhaps demand the postponing of the dangerous commandment…
Nor does the Almighty stop there. He insists on a policy of extremism, of goading the gentile. Not content with a commandment that cries desecration of the Egyptian god, that taunts him with the sight of his deity bound up, the G-d of Israel insists that the Jew add salt to the wound.
"And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire… eat it not partially cooked, nor boiled in water, but roasted with fire, its head with its legs and with its insides complete."
Awake and consider! This is what Passover is all about; only this! This is Judaism what Judaism is all about; only this! This is what the duty and the role and the essence of the Jew is all about; only this! To affirm to the world, but first to ourselves that the L-rd, the G-d of Israel, is. That He truly does exist, that He is the One, the only One, that He, only He, directs the world, the fate of man, the destiny of His people. That whatever will be for the Jew will be only because He so decrees. That the gentile has no relevance to the Jewish fate, that the Pharaohs of all time, the ones in Egypt and the ones in Washington are utterly irrelevant to what will be with the Jew.
On the Great Sabbath in Egypt, the L-rd taught us the lesson that we trampled in the dust, the dust of secularism and the dust of the yeshiva world alike: The lesson that the Jew must raise high, must flaunt the glory and Omnipotence of his G-d. That the world must be compelled to see their deities, their gods and idols, bound up and humiliated and destroyed. That one must goad the gentile in order to raise high the banner of the L-rd. That Kiddush Hashem, the sanctification of the Name of the G-d of Israel, demands an open, fearless, flaunting sacrifice of the idols and deities of the gentiles that deny the uniqueness of the G-d of Israel, His exclusiveness, His Oneness! The lamb is openly tied and those who tremble and whisper: "But we dare not goad the gentile," are silenced with thunderous contempt. The lamb is slaughtered and roasted whole and fully and openly. It cannot be hastily covered in a pot where it will not be seen. Its identity cannot be disguised by cutting its body into pieces. We cannot escape the danger of the gentile by avoiding confronting and goading him. No. Precisely the opposite!
The same gentile who thundered and thunders: "Who is the L-rd? I know not the L-rd and will not let Israel go!" must be taught the eternal lesson of: "The L-rd is G-d, the L-rd is G-d!" The gentile does not wish to "know" G-d, to acknowledge His exclusive kingship. He must be taught that lesson in an open and bold and humiliating way. He and his idols must be humbled and broken. The lamb is taken openly. The lamb is slaughtered openly. And those who cringe in populism and whisper: "But one dare not goad the gentiles…" are silenced by the thunder of the L-rd, whose commandment is eternalized by the Rabbis of the Great Sabbath, Sabbath Hagadol. So, let that Sabbath be understood and appreciated and embraced. For without it, there cannot be a Passover, an understanding of what that Passover really is. And without that, when the Jewish child asks for the meaning of this night, the pathetic father who knows not what to tell him will doom his child to become a pathetic as he: practitioner of Jewish ritual, but never, never a religious Jews.
Anyone reading this Rav Kahane article and is not on my personal list to receive the weekly articles written by Rav Kahane and would like to be, please contact me at:
Visit my blog for previously e-mailed Rav Kahane writings:
http:/www.barbaraginsberg.blogspot.com
IDF Chief snubbed in Washington - a message to Israel
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jay Ticker <JTicker@nyhomes.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Subject: Fwd: IDF Chief snubbed in Washington - a message to Israel
To: Robin Ticker <faigerayzel@gmail.com>
An Alarm Bell...
>>> <imra@netvision.net.il> 3/29/2009 1:28 AM >>>
IDF Chief snubbed in Washington - a message to Israel
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona U.S. Air Force (Retired) March 25,
2009
http://francona.blogspot.com:80/2009/03/idf-chief-snubbed-in-washington-message.html
The Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi
Ashkenazi,
visited Washington, DC, last week to meet with senior American
officials to
discuss what Israel believes is the growing Iranian threat to his
country.
In light of President Obama's attempts to reach out to the mullahs in
Tehran - the most recent a Nowruz (Persian new year) video message -
the IDF
chief brought new intelligence on Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
Both American and Israeli intelligence establishments believe that Iran
is
intent on developing nuclear weapons. The difference between the two
assessments is how soon Iran will achieve that capability. The Israelis
believe the Iranians are on the verge of developing a nuclear warhead
for
its ballistic missiles - missiles that can easily reach anywhere in
Israel.
Press reports described Ashkenazi's reception in Washington as
"extraordinarily cool" - he did not meet with any of the Obama Cabinet,
including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. He also was unable to
schedule
a meeting with his counterpart, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Admiral Mike Mullen. Add to that list Director of National Intelligence
Admiral Dennis Blair.
This is almost unheard of. The United States and Israel have close
military
and intelligence ties. It is quite normal for the IDF chief to meet
with
defense and intelligence officers. Keep in mind that in Israel, the
defense
establishment is the senior intelligence authority, making Ashkenazi
not
only Admiral Mullen's counterpart, but Admiral Blair's as well.
Meetings
such as those that did not happen are commonplace, at least they were.
What has changed? Obviously, we have a new administration whose foreign
policy is somewhat changed. The unavailability of virtually any senior
official is telling. This administration appears to have determined
that
forging a new relationship with Iran may come at the expense of the
close
relationship with Israel that goes back decades.
The only meeting with a senior American official was with National
Security
Advisor General James Jones. However, the meeting was focused on U.S.
demands that Israel lift some military restrictions on the West Bank
and in
the Gaza Strip. Jones was not there to listen to anything about what
Israeli
leaders considers an "existential" threat to the Jewish state.
The IDF spokesman tried to soften the blow with this emailed
explanation,
"The schedule for the United States visit of the IDF Chief of the
General
Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, was preplanned according to requests
made by
American officials. Any meetings that were canceled were substituted
with
telephone conference calls." An IDF internet site claimed that
Ashkenazi
returned to Israel to participate in talks revolving around the
negotiations
for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Conference calls? I'm not buying it. This treatment of General
Ashkenazi is
a not-so-subtle message to the Israelis: the situation has changed and
you
may be on your own in dealing with the Iranians.
How else can the Israelis interpret it? Obama has made several
overtures to
the Iranians - a terrorist country (unless you ask Janet Napolitano,
then it
is a "state sponsor of human-caused disasters") according to the State
Department - all of which have been rebuffed. Obama advisors are urging
the
President to talk to not only the Taliban (a terrorist organization),
but
also Hizballah and Hamas (also terrorist organizations). As one analyst
(that would be me) puts it, "We are trying to talk to the exact people
we
should be trying to kill."
Rather than dissuading the Israelis from a military strike on Iran's
nuclear
facilities, the Obama Administration's refusal to talk to senior
Israeli
military and intelligence officials may actually hasten the action they
seek
to stop. If Israel cannot get some assurance of support from the United
States, it will feel compelled to act unilaterally.
Mr. President, you are talking to the wrong people.
====
Since retiring from the Air Force, Lt Col Francona has written Ally to
Adversary: An Eyewitness Account of Iraq's Fall from Grace, and
consulted
with government and private firms. FROM 2003 to 2008, he was a media
analyst on Middle East political-military events for NBC News, and
appeared
regularly on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, MSNBC, CNBC, Hardball,
Countdown, and others.
The colonel has a bachelors degree in government and the Arabic
language,
and a masters degree in international relations with a concentration in
Middle East studies. His decorations include the Defense Distinguished
Service Medal, the Bronze Star, and nine Air Medals, as well as
campaign
awards for service in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and the Balkans. The
colonel was awarded the Central Intelligence Agency Seal Medallion for
his
service with that agency. In 2006, Lt Col Francona was inducted into
the
Defense Language Institute Hall of Fame.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
For free regular subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il
For free daily digest subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe-digest@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il
For a copy of all reports distributed for a given day please send a
message to:
monday@imra.org.il tuesday@imra.org.il wednesday@imra.org.il
thursday@imra.org.il friday@imra.org.il
saturday@imra.org.il sunday@imra.org.il
--------------------------------------------
From: Jay Ticker <JTicker@nyhomes.org>
Date: Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 12:00 PM
Subject: Fwd: IDF Chief snubbed in Washington - a message to Israel
To: Robin Ticker <faigerayzel@gmail.com>
An Alarm Bell...
>>> <imra@netvision.net.il> 3/29/2009 1:28 AM >>>
IDF Chief snubbed in Washington - a message to Israel
Lieutenant Colonel Rick Francona U.S. Air Force (Retired) March 25,
2009
http://francona.blogspot.com:80/2009/03/idf-chief-snubbed-in-washington-message.html
The Israel Defense Forces chief of staff, Lieutenant General Gabi
Ashkenazi,
visited Washington, DC, last week to meet with senior American
officials to
discuss what Israel believes is the growing Iranian threat to his
country.
In light of President Obama's attempts to reach out to the mullahs in
Tehran - the most recent a Nowruz (Persian new year) video message -
the IDF
chief brought new intelligence on Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
Both American and Israeli intelligence establishments believe that Iran
is
intent on developing nuclear weapons. The difference between the two
assessments is how soon Iran will achieve that capability. The Israelis
believe the Iranians are on the verge of developing a nuclear warhead
for
its ballistic missiles - missiles that can easily reach anywhere in
Israel.
Press reports described Ashkenazi's reception in Washington as
"extraordinarily cool" - he did not meet with any of the Obama Cabinet,
including Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. He also was unable to
schedule
a meeting with his counterpart, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
Admiral Mike Mullen. Add to that list Director of National Intelligence
Admiral Dennis Blair.
This is almost unheard of. The United States and Israel have close
military
and intelligence ties. It is quite normal for the IDF chief to meet
with
defense and intelligence officers. Keep in mind that in Israel, the
defense
establishment is the senior intelligence authority, making Ashkenazi
not
only Admiral Mullen's counterpart, but Admiral Blair's as well.
Meetings
such as those that did not happen are commonplace, at least they were.
What has changed? Obviously, we have a new administration whose foreign
policy is somewhat changed. The unavailability of virtually any senior
official is telling. This administration appears to have determined
that
forging a new relationship with Iran may come at the expense of the
close
relationship with Israel that goes back decades.
The only meeting with a senior American official was with National
Security
Advisor General James Jones. However, the meeting was focused on U.S.
demands that Israel lift some military restrictions on the West Bank
and in
the Gaza Strip. Jones was not there to listen to anything about what
Israeli
leaders considers an "existential" threat to the Jewish state.
The IDF spokesman tried to soften the blow with this emailed
explanation,
"The schedule for the United States visit of the IDF Chief of the
General
Staff, Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi, was preplanned according to requests
made by
American officials. Any meetings that were canceled were substituted
with
telephone conference calls." An IDF internet site claimed that
Ashkenazi
returned to Israel to participate in talks revolving around the
negotiations
for captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit.
Conference calls? I'm not buying it. This treatment of General
Ashkenazi is
a not-so-subtle message to the Israelis: the situation has changed and
you
may be on your own in dealing with the Iranians.
How else can the Israelis interpret it? Obama has made several
overtures to
the Iranians - a terrorist country (unless you ask Janet Napolitano,
then it
is a "state sponsor of human-caused disasters") according to the State
Department - all of which have been rebuffed. Obama advisors are urging
the
President to talk to not only the Taliban (a terrorist organization),
but
also Hizballah and Hamas (also terrorist organizations). As one analyst
(that would be me) puts it, "We are trying to talk to the exact people
we
should be trying to kill."
Rather than dissuading the Israelis from a military strike on Iran's
nuclear
facilities, the Obama Administration's refusal to talk to senior
Israeli
military and intelligence officials may actually hasten the action they
seek
to stop. If Israel cannot get some assurance of support from the United
States, it will feel compelled to act unilaterally.
Mr. President, you are talking to the wrong people.
====
Since retiring from the Air Force, Lt Col Francona has written Ally to
Adversary: An Eyewitness Account of Iraq's Fall from Grace, and
consulted
with government and private firms. FROM 2003 to 2008, he was a media
analyst on Middle East political-military events for NBC News, and
appeared
regularly on NBC Nightly News, The Today Show, MSNBC, CNBC, Hardball,
Countdown, and others.
The colonel has a bachelors degree in government and the Arabic
language,
and a masters degree in international relations with a concentration in
Middle East studies. His decorations include the Defense Distinguished
Service Medal, the Bronze Star, and nine Air Medals, as well as
campaign
awards for service in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, and the Balkans. The
colonel was awarded the Central Intelligence Agency Seal Medallion for
his
service with that agency. In 2006, Lt Col Francona was inducted into
the
Defense Language Institute Hall of Fame.
--------------------------------------------
IMRA - Independent Media Review and Analysis
Website: www.imra.org.il
For free regular subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il
For free daily digest subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe-digest@imra.org.il
Unsubscribe: imra-unsubscribe@imra.org.il
For a copy of all reports distributed for a given day please send a
message to:
monday@imra.org.il tuesday@imra.org.il wednesday@imra.org.il
thursday@imra.org.il friday@imra.org.il
saturday@imra.org.il sunday@imra.org.il
--------------------------------------------
Sanhedrin:on Pope Benedictus XVI scheduled visit to Israel. Warning Issued Not to Sign With Vatican
bs"d
Warning Issued Not to Sign With Vatican
by Hillel Fendel Nisan 5, 5769, 30 March 09 12:37
(IsraelNN.com) Pope Benedictus XVI is scheduled to arrive in Israel six weeks from now, and concern is growing over possibly irreversible Israeli concessions to the Church.
For more than ten years, Israel and the Vatican have been negotiating a diplomatic agreement regarding their tax dispute over Catholic Church properties in Israel, as well as other issues over which they disagree. Though public details are sparse to nil, Foreign Ministry officials say major progress has been made – leading many to fear that the Church will be granted a political and religious foothold in the Holy Land.
Though Church officials hope the agreement will be completed before the Pope's arrival in May, this is not certain. Israeli Foreign Ministry's Bahij Mansour, who heads its religious affairs section, said two weeks ago, "We are 85-90% there."
Mansour also said that most issues still in dispute would be resolved in a meeting in April. Different reports say the meeting will take place either April 7 or April 23 - before and after Passover, respectively - and is to involve relatively high-level officials from both the Vatican and Israel's Foreign Ministry.
The Sanhedrin, a body of 71 rabbis that is attempting to renew the ancient tradition of Judaism's most authoritative court, has written a public letter to Israel's leading officials, warning that any agreement regarding the transfer of national, historic, and/or religious Jewish assets to the Catholic Church will be null and void and will not be recognized by Jewish authorities.
Striving for Internationalized Jerusalem
In February 2000, the Vatican and the Palestinian Authority signed an agreement calling for an internationally guaranteed special status for Jerusalem. During his visit that year, Pope John Paul II announced in Bethlehem that the Vatican had always recognized "Palestinian national rights to a homeland." Rabbi Shlomo Aviner, Dean of Yeshivat Ateret Cohanim, said at the time that the Pope's goal was simply to obtain a foothold in Jerusalem for the Church.
The Sanhedrin, which sees itself as a "vehicle to bring about Jewish unity and civil justice, to help repair some of the deepest rifts in our society, and to provide an active, exemplary and unified Torah leadership," warns President Shimon Peres and incoming Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu against the Church's religious agenda hiding behind diplomatic agreements.
The letter states as follows [subheadings added]:
The State of Israel grants freedom of worship to every religion – except to Jews on their most sacred spot, the Temple Mount. They do not have the right to pray there, nor even minimal religious rights. The State thus contravenes the purpose for which it exists, and undermines its own foundations.On the other hand, the State of Israel goes out of its way to transfer diplomatic, religious and spiritual assets to foreigners.
Over the course of many years, contacts have been underway and promises of various agreements have been made regarding what the Catholic Church sees as its property or wishes were its property, in Mt. Zion, the Old City of Jerusalem, the Sea of Galilee, and elsewhere. There are those who came up with the idea of the Holy Crescent [an area around the Old City to the north and east, newly known as the Holy Crescent - ed.] -- the main purpose of which is to rid the Temple Mount and the Old City of exclusive Jewish sovereignty.
The Goal: Sever Jerusalem from Jewish People
Ever since the Israeli army liberated the entire city of Jerusalem in 1967, the members of other faiths and nations have not accepted the Jewish People's sovereignty and return to its eternal capital, the place in which its Temple for the G-d of Israel and G-d's kingdom will be established.In recent years, the Vatican – acting on behalf of Catholic theology – signed a series of secret agreements, behind the public's back, with various elements in the State of Israel, bereft of respect for the spiritual and political essence of the Jewish Nation. The essence of these agreements is the transfer of ownership over national Jewish property in Jerusalem to the hands of foreigners, and the instigation of processes to destabilize the Jewish People's ownership over its sacred sites – primarily, the Temple Mount, the Western Wall, and the entire Old City of Jerusalem.
Giving these and other sites to the Vatican and international elements will lead to their detachment from the State's territorial area.
The State of Israel is bound to the document of acquisition [known as] the Bible, which was the basis for the Jewish People's claim to its Land when it established the State of Israel. The State must therefore actualize Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem, the City of G-d, the city of kingship, the capital of Israel, the heart of the world. It must guarantee the right of worship for Jews on the Temple Mount…
Standing Up For Israel's Honor
It should be noted that in 1964, when Pope Paul VI visited Israel, the third President of Israel, Mr. Zalman Shazar, read to him the verse in Micah stating that though other nations might follow other gods, "we will walk in the Name of our L-rd G-d forever." The Chief Rabbis at the time similarly stood up for Israel's honor by refusing to meet with him at all, after he refused to meet with them in their Jerusalem office. [During his visit, Paul VI did not acknowledge Israel's existence or visit its key sites, did not mention its name, and refused to meet with the Chief Rabbi in Jerusalem. He later addressed a thank you note to the Israeli president, who lived in Jerusalem, by writing, "Mr. Salman Shazar of Tel Aviv." - ed.]Public Opposition Worked
In 2000, when Pope John Paul II visited Jerusalem, various elements tried to promote foreign sovereignty on the Temple Mount at the expense of Israel's sovereignty there. They attempted to enable the visit to the Jews' holiest site in the world without official Israeli presence - but public opposition thwarted these efforts.All official and religious elements in Israel must prevent the signing of an agreement that deviates from the spirit of this document, and express their objections to the Catholic restorationist tendencies whose goal are the neutralization of Israel's sovereign powers and the Jewish People's status in its Holy Land, the Land of Israel.
We expect you to show maximum alertness to the matter of Jerusalem as the holiday of Passover approaches, so that our right hand not be forgotten… Please, clarify your positions to your countrymen and the entire world. Show honor to the G-d of your forefathers, your city, and your nation, without flattery to foreigners who wish to minimize our national image…
The Sanhedrin asserts that the representatives of the State of Israel can represent the Jewish Nation as long as they act in accordance with its traditions and laws – and are not authorized to transfer the ownership, or authority over, lands and properties in the Land of Israel to any foreign religious or political element.
Agreement Will Be Null and Void
Therefore, any agreements made by such representatives with the Vatican as a theological political body, in opposition to the spiritual essence of the Nation of Israel, have no validity. They are all null and void, the Vatican should not believe that property promised to them by these contracts will remain in its hands.Churches in Israel - The Result of Forced Exile
It should be remembered that the Vatican, as the leading Christian Church, is responsible for the legacy of Rome – the conqueror of Jerusalem, the exiler of its Jews, the destroyer of its land. All the churches that exists today in the Land of Israel are the result of the Jewish destruction 1,900 years ago, the elimination of the Jews from their land, and the exile that Christianity wishes to boast will be eternal. This, in addition to the priceless material and spiritual treasures found in the basements of the Vatican [such as the utensils of the destroyed Holy Temple - ed.], as well as the countless synagogues throughout the world that were confiscated by the Vatican and its representatives and not returned.It is gravely forbidden to validate such agreements, as determined by the State's criminal law code.
Warning: Religious War
Continued flattery to the Church on the basis of illegal agreements is liable to end, Heaven forbid, in destructive religious wars all over the globe.
Former Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau has said that Pope Pius XII refused several requests by then-Chief Rabbi Isaac Herzog to meet with him before and during the Holocaust to discuss how the Church could help save Jewish lives. After the war, too, Chief Rabbi Herzog asked for the Pope's assistance in locating Jewish orphans who were cared for by Catholic families, and again, the Pope refused.
Friday, March 27, 2009
Fwd: TZC-Newsletter-March-27-09 Vayikra - Print and read on Shabbos - SIGN PETITION TO OU
bs"d
Please sign and circulate the following petition to the OU initiated by Yosef Rabin and please print out and read the Toronto Zionist Council newsletter for this Shabbos Parshat Vayikra!
Shabbat Shalom
Please sign and circulate the following petition to the OU initiated by Yosef Rabin and please print out and read the Toronto Zionist Council newsletter for this Shabbos Parshat Vayikra!
Shabbat Shalom
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: TZC <tzc@torzc.org>
Date: Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Subject: TZC-Newsletter-March-27-09
To: Yossi Winter <cooljoe@torzc.org>
From: TZC <tzc@torzc.org>
Date: Fri, Mar 27, 2009 at 10:47 AM
Subject: TZC-Newsletter-March-27-09
To: Yossi Winter <cooljoe@torzc.org>
SHABAT SHALOM!
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