mor on SALE of Kippot - Givat Gal- Letter from Rachel Hacohen and Pictures of converted bus תמונות שכונת גל

bs"d

This family is certainly worthy of an Extreme Makeover Home Edition!  Does anyone know if there is an Israeli version of Extreme Makeover Home Edition?  This home certainly deserves a nomination! 

Any ideas of serious fundraising is most welcome!



Pictures of Givat Gal

The pictures include the Hacohen's kitchen, bedroom, bathroom all converted from this one bus. AMAZING!

Letter from Rachel Hacohen

We, the HaCohen family, have been living on Givat Gal for almost 5 years. Prior to arriving here from Beit El, we had lived in a private home with our 9 children.   My husband worked full-time, as well as my having provided infant daycare. However, our idea and ideal was to establish a new settlement for the sake of Am Yisrael, in Eretz Yisrael. When the opportunity arose, we chose not to live in the established community of Kiryat Arba but rather to outfit and live in an old city bus by ourselves, with our 9 children, on an uninhabited hilltop, adjacent and overlooking Kiryat Arba-Hevron.  At present, B"H, we are already 5 families living on the hillside known as Givat Gal, with 2 families in permanent homes, 1 building anew,  2 caravans and ourselves, with our ultimate goal being, to be one of the new neighborhoods of Kiryat Arba.

 

Our family situation is such that my husband has only part-time work, based on the local economy and his recent eye surgery which prevented him from working for the last 1/2 year. He is now gradually returning to his work. Due to our location outside the Kirya, it has not been possible to duplicate the daycare that I provided in Beit El here, as we are distant from the central area of town. In the meantime, I knit kippot to sell to our occasional visitors, as well as those who wish to support the development of our hill and future community.

 

Our home has expanded from 9 children to 11, and from the bus, to include 3 shipping containers. We have modified them to serve as our living area, as well as a temporary Beit Knesset/Beit Medrash for the families here and a center of activity for our supporters from the Kirya. At present we want to continue work on our house, to give it some semblance and appearance of a normal home. One of the rooms that still cannot be used other than for storage, needs to be rebuilt for living quarters, as well as other basic improvements. Due to our lack of funds though, much of this has been put aside. In the past year we have also begun to establish a goat herd for milk production, as well as a chicken coop. While they are off to a good start, they will require at least another couple of years before seeing a return on the effort invested and will need continued outlay until then. We also have plans for the planting of trees and flowers and have established a playground on Givat Gal. Still needed at this time, we wish to install a lighting system for the entire neighborhood, pave the access road to Gal, and build a permanent Beit Knesset, which would also allow the area in our house to be used for living space.

 

We certainly appreciate any support for our pioneering efforts, and are happy we can offer you a chance to partner with us in the building of Eretz Yisrael.

 

                              Bvracha      Rachel HaCohen and Family

 

Obama set to betray Israel big time. Time to get passports and purchase an apt in Israel

bs"d

People in Europe are afraid to walk the streets with a Yarmulka. Where is America heading?  Read below Ted Belman's post.  Please forward as well.  Then please read my commentsl!
 

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: joe <hannajaffa@rogers.com>
Date: Wed, Apr 1, 2009 at 11:20 AM
Subject: Fw: ISRAEL IS BEING THROWN UNDER THE BUS
To: Robin Ticker <faigerayzel@gmail.com>

 

----- Original Message -----

From: Ted Belman

To: hannajaffa@rogers.com

Sent: Tuesday, March 31, 2009 9:08 PM

Subject: ISRAEL IS BEING THROWN UNDER THE BUS

Obama's Muslim Outreach 

By Ted Belman

One year ago I wrote about Obama's Muslim connection. No matter how strong this connection was, the main stream media and ultimately Jewish Americans ignored it.

"The person who made me proudest of all," Obama wrote, "was Roy. Actually, now we call him Abongo, his Luo name, for two years ago he decided to reassert his African heritage. He converted to Islam, and has sworn off pork and tobacco and alcohol."

On February 27th, Barack Hussein Obama said the Muslim call to prayer is "one of the prettiest sounds on Earth."

Although Obama played he Christian card while campaigning, he is playing the Muslim card now in such a blatant fashion that even I am astounded.

Here is his record to date after inaugeration,

- Obama's first call was to Mahmoud Abbas who is not even a head of state. Obama was delivering a message to Israel and the world.

- Obama's first interview, within days of inaugeration, was with the Dubai-based Al-Arabiya Networks In it her stressed his own Muslim ties and his hopes for a Palestinian state. His message was "U.S. not your enemy"

"And as I said during my inauguration speech, if countries like Iran are willing to unclench their fist, they will find an extended hand from us,"

- on Febuary 10th, Obama ordered the expenditure of $20.3 million in migration assistance to the Palestinian refugees and conflict victims in Gaza.

- In February, he pledged to provide $900 million in aid for rebuilding the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip

- On March 19th Obama delivered to customary speech to the Iranian people on their New Year but sold them out by referring to the Islamic Republic of Iran which amounted to an acceptance of the regime.

- Obama has been reaching out to Syria for some time now but in the last two months he has matched words with deeds, He has lifted sanctions on Syria and intends to meet personally with Assad hereby bringing him in from the cold. He wants to see if Syria is serious about peace, which means breaking from Iran, in which case he will force Israel to give up the Golan.

- Obama has also been calling Erdogan and Gull in Turkey looking to imrpove relations with Turkey. He praised Erdogan for his efforts at peace making between Syria and Israel and wants him to continue. He is looking to Turkey to help with Iran and Afghanistan and to permit US forces to exit Iraq throught Turkey.

Essentially this outreach is intended to upgrade the relationship between the US and the Muslim world which will necessitate downgrading the relationship with Israel.

For decades now this is what the State Department has wanted but couldn't say so publically. As I pointed out in Give the Palestinians what they want or else , there is a coordinated attack under way to bring about the downgrading of the US/Israel relationship.

In the last few weeks, I posted many articles which made this point. Here are two.

The West is tiring of Israel

'I have every reason to believe, based on what I've seen at my level of clearance especially over the last several years, that Israel will soon be completely on their own… or worse.' When asked what could be worse than losing the support of the United States, he stated: 'when our administration provides more support to Arab countries financial and military aid, undercutting Israel's defense efforts all while pushing Israel to succumb to the pressure of unreasonable demands designed to end with their political annihilation as a nation.'

CIA report: Israel will fall in 20 years

The CIA report predicts "an inexorable movement away from a two-state to a one-state solution, as the most viable model based on democratic principles of full equality that sheds the looming specter of colonial Apartheid while allowing for the return of the 1947/1948 and 1967 refugees. The latter being the precondition for sustainable peace in the region."

These are only a few of the articles published since Obama's inaugeration which provide the handwriting on the wall. The core issue that the West is now recognizing is that given the emnity of the Arabs to the state of Israel, the Sate of Israel is doomed and shouldn't be supported to the detriment of the US.

Debka reported this week,

Obama set to betray Israel, big time Mar 29th

DEBKAfile's Washington sources report that the Obama administration is on the threshold of a major rapprochement with Tehran, a reversal of US policy dramatic enough to block out international sanctions. Iran will be allowed to keep its nuclear program, including military elements and enriched uranium stocks, up to the point of actually assembling a weapon.

The US president is willing to ditch Israel as a friend. This will be brought home to Jerusalem when he makes his big speech on April 7 appealing for a grand US-Muslim global reconciliation. The US president is preparing to tie a Palestinian-Israeli settlement - on Washington's terms - to such unrelated issues as Afghanistan and Pakistan as the currency for purchasing Muslim and Arab backing for accommodations of these outstanding terrorist fronts.

To lend wings to Obama's outreach to the Muslims, White House circles Monday, March 30, leaked word that his team took a hand in persuading Israel to accept a ceasefire which cut short its anti-Hamas operation in Gaza in January. The radical Islamist terrorists had to be spared from total defeat by Israel and their leaders from capture otherwise Assad, as their backer, would be restrained from resuming peace talks with Israel for some time.

The ceasefire gave Assad enough political room to continue the negotiations without losing credibility in the Arab world.

Its not going to get better.

Ted Belman

+1 416 256 7597

MY COMMENTS

Antisemitism and world opinion against Israel is advancing at an alarming rate. America is no different! 

We must pray that we are worthy of Hashem's protection.Sof Davar Hakol Nishma, Es Haelokim Lira Vees Mitzvosav Tishmor....We must fear only G-d and speak out for the Emes and the Torah.  Everything else in Hevel, zero! This translates into speaking out strongly and forcefully AGAINST a Palestinian State and do whatever we can to voice entitlement and support for Jewish settlement in ALL of Eretz Yisroel especially in Judea and Samaria and Gaza.  Any act of aggression against even one family or one home in Judea and Samaria is a provocation and an act of aggression upon the entire settlement enterprise and should be answered with unity of the National Camp and the force it brings when they are unified.

All other calculations and deliberations are worthless and meaningless and G-d does not accept bribery even in the form of

• releasing Gilat Shalit in exchange of releasing terrorists or
  
• promises of Torah educational subsidies or child allowances in return for joining with the government and not speaking out against a Palestinian State
• promise of a choice political cabinet position in exchange for being part of the government and a willingness to give away or not protest giving away parts of EY
  
• providing permanent housing or land permits for former Gush Katif expellees or residents of Hebron, Judea and Samaria or East Jerusalem in exchange for their preoccupation with being finally able to have  permanant housing and their unwillingness to risk it being taken away, thereby effectively silencing them into not joining with their brothers in Judea and Samaria in protesting government dismantling of small outposts.  
• dangling pending permits of permanent housing solutions to finally put an end to  intolerable living conditions thereby creating a situation where the intended recipient of such benevolence on the part ofo the gov't is afraid of endangering and losing this golden opportunity and will refrain with being involved in a protest of a small outpost destruction until the final deal of his permanent housing is actualized.
  

When all these tactics of "rewarding" those that did not join in unified protests fails, and attempts to conquer and divide the National Camp is not effective enough, then the government must resort to harsher methods such as outward physical intimidation such Yassam Police, clubs, riot horses and gear, incarceration and destruction of settler property etc.   Even sometimes more painful then the physical intimidation  is destroying the integrity and slandering the settlers via lies, distortions and libels etc. to paint the settlers as lawless criminals who disregard the law of the land and have contempt of the judiciary,and   as individuals who wish to take the law into their own hands and would murder, kidnap and loot the Arabs as they see fit. 

There is no real freedom of speech for the settlers since the media is owned by those who have a different agenda with lots of money coming from the left. The media is controlled by the left.

Yet do those that agree with the government's position against the settlers and the dismantling of the outposts ever question the moral justification of the 13 colonists to rebel against Britain for intolerable acts? 

Do the Bill of Rights including the right to bear arms only apply to the Palestinians and their so called security personnel who openly teach their children hatred and to be rid of Israel but are being denied to the settlers whose prime desire is to live and settle the Land and be a light onto the Nations?

Jews are unable to walk freely in Arab populated towns w/o being iin fear for their lives while the Arabs who educate their children in Jihad roam freely w/o fear in Israeli populated towns.  In such a situation, why is insisting on accepting Jewish Sovereignty so problematic?

Why can the Arabs proclaim that this is a religious War for Allah against the Israeli occupiers and the Jews that proudly quote the Torah and the Covenant with our forefathers are labeled as religious fanatics and extremists.

Why can all religions pray on Temple Mount except the Jewish Religion?
 
The government knows who is desperate since they created the situation. Their strategy has been to take those that they have made desperate and then buys their Silence by offering them a bone of some form of relief of their intolerable conditions.
 
Yehudit Katsover told the Afsi crowd in her recent visit to NY that Tzvi Katzover as Mayor of Kiryat Arba was offered over hundred new housing units permits in Kiryat Arba in return for seeing to it that Chazon Daavid synagogue would not be rebuilt. This offer follows a freeze of  housing and building expansion in the settlements.  Chazon David, a shul placed near the entrace of Kiryat Arba in response to a terror attack, was built and rebuilt at least 33 times after having been consistently torn down and destroyed by the police.  It was clearly an embarrassment for the gov't of Israel to the likes of Condeleeza Rice or Hillary CLinton who see this shul, or even a vision of this shul as a stumbling block of the "peace process".

But to his credit, Mayor Katzover refused to accept these conditions.. Tzvi Katzover knows that if we agree to such terms, it won't be long before the newly added additions to Kiryat Arba will also chas veshalom be in danger because unless we continue to assert our entitlement to all of Eretz Yisroel, and our rights to build and settle in all of Eretz Yisroel, then it is just a matter of time until the existing settlement in Eretz Yisroel, be it Ben Gurion airport, Rechovot, Tel Aviv, or Jewish population in Flatbush or Boro Park will be put into serious danger as well.

Exclusive, FOR SALE in Flatbush: Beautiful, handmade crocheted ladies hats and men's/boys crocheted Kippot, excellent for sports and camp since they don't fall off the head, hand crocheted by Rachel Hacohen of Shechunat Gal in back of industrial park

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.

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>

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?    http://www1.yadvashem.org/exhibitions/album_auschwitz/mutimedia/index.html   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.   http://www.pmw.org.il/holocaust.htm   IZZY KAPLAN 416 824 2858 416 256 2858 Check out my new blog http://israelonisrael.blogspot.com\ ------------------------------------------------------------------

----- Original Message -----

From: The Ginsbergs

To: @netvision.net.il;

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:

barhow@netvision.net.il 

 

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.


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