The Aliyah Revolution Album gets a great review in Makor Rishon
The Israeli newspaper "Makor Rishon" (my favorite Hebrew paper by far) wrote a great review of our new album. They see it as part of the cultural revolution of the Aliyah movement, and I agree. The Aliyah Revolution will bring about a burst of cultural renewal, for as we come home, we reunite with our people, our land, and our traditions, and fuse Israel with what have learned in the Diaspora. It's all happening. (Click on the photograph to enlarge and read the article for yourself)
Comrade Obama has hit the ground running in America. Aside from signing environmental and economic legislation, he has come down like a hammer on the Middle East, swearing his allegiance with the Muslim world, and sending his new/old envoy George Mitchell to spy out the Holy Land prior to his big Two State Solution push.
Here is a new video by The18, which is beginning to instruct Americans as to how they can stop Obama: PS - I have my own multi-state solution. It's called the 24 State Solution - we give the Muslims 24 states (gee, that's a lot of states!) and we give the Jews one tiiiiiny little state (gee, that's not a lot of states!). Then we see if there's room enough for everyone! Whadya think?
A new group calling themselves "The 18" has formed to fight hard against US pressure toward a 2-state "solution" to the Arab-Israeli "conflict".
If you, like me, are TIRED of Big Brother United States getting into our kishkes all the time, telling us who to be friends with and how to share our toys, consider getting involved in this fight to get Obama to BACK OFF!
Here is an essay posted by Michael Fenenbock of The 18:
A MATTER OF SOME URGENCY
Barack Obama has won the American presidency. In a landslide.
His party gained considerable seats in both the Senate and the House. Led by Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid, the Democratic party commands large majorities in Congress. Democrats also added to their already substantial majority in governorships and state legislatures.
More importantly, they have a mandate from the American people. A mandate for sweeping change. President Obama and his party have complete control of all the levers of power in America. A rare occurrence in American political history. And need I mention the excited backing of a fawning worldwide media.
Elections have consequences and for the state of Israel the consequences of the Obama sweep are singular.
They make no secret of their intentions. The Obama administration’s Middle East policy will be driven by “linkage.” “Linkage” is predicated on the notion that Palestinean grievances are what fuel terrorism. The idea that if we resolve the Israeli/Palestinean dispute (and that’s how they see it, as a “dispute”) it will suck all the oxygen out of Islamic terrorism.
Imposing a two-state solution will be at the heart of their efforts.
The atmosphere is alight with warnings. And the warnings are worldwide. Nobel Peace Prize winner and former President of Finland, Martti Ahtisaari, the day after Obama's election, called on the new U.S. president to immediately press the need for a Palestinian state.
Former British Prime Minister Tony Blair spoke with President-elect Obama and called for the creation of a Palestinian state as the world's first priority.
Jesse Jackson just prior to the election was quoted as saying, "Zionists who control America are on the way out." "America," Jackson says, "must apologize to those we have offended by putting Israel's interest first." Jackson has set out the mindset and priorities for all to see. He has let the cat out of the bag.
Several top foreign policy advisors in the Obama camp have regularly called for imposing a two-state solution on Israel. The key word is "imposing." Look at the Obama line-up starting with Jimmy Carter’s foreign policy guru Zbigniew Brzezinski. Leftie ideologues like Robert (Sure, I advise Obama, and sure I talk with Hamas, so what) Malley and perennial two-state advocates Dennis Ross and Tony McPeak, and let’s not forget Israel’s “friend,” Samantha Power. Scary.
Tellingly, within days of the American election, President-elect Obama sent Robert Malley scurrying to Damascus and Cairo.
It gets worse. Within Obama’s foreign policy camp, “Islam” is not an issue of concern. On the contrary, they are more in sync with the notion that “Islamophobia” presents the real danger. In their view, the bad guys are those who instead of addressing legitimate Arab grievances, go off half-cocked frightening the world about Islam.
In their world view, Islamic terror is an understandable response to appalling conditions -- and Israeli aggression. The Obama forces will attack those they view as “Islamophobic” with a multicultural sword. Political correctness will rule. In that vein, witness former Secretary of State Colin Powell’s comment about Islamophobia in his statement endorsing Senator Obama.
And there is American Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, who is lobbying to keep his job in an Obama administration, advising DOD to drop "Islamist" from any characterization of terrorism. Oy gevalt!
Add to the mix the sure knowledge that when it comes to shoving a two-state solution down Israeli throats, President Obama and his foreign policy team will have willing allies in the Israeli political establishment, the Israeli media, Israeli opinion makers, and the vocal support of a large swath of the Israeli and Jewish American populace. Do you doubt it?
And there’s the insiders… establishment leaders in the Jewish American community who will effortlessly be pulled into the push for a two-state solution. Why? Because for these Jewish institutional leaders protecting their “insider” status trumps all other issues.
It is instructive to remember that when the Republican Party vice presidential nominee wished to speak out in protest of a homicidal maniac who calls for the extinction of Israel, her voice was stilled by mainstream Jewish leaders. These Jewish “insiders” feared to give offense to candidate Obama’s soon to be in charge inner circle. Yipes!
Indeed the fear Jewish insiders suffer from most is the fear of becoming outsiders.
Elected officials to the rescue? Don’t hold your breath. Jewish American office holders and members of Congress will throw elbows like hockey thugs in order to secure a first-class seat on the two-state train before it leaves the station. Carl Levin anyone? Chuck Schumer?
What about AIPAC? Sustained attacks on AIPAC as “too influential” have taken a toll and they are currently tied in knots over a lingering federal prosecution for espionage. Forget it. AIPAC will be very cautious.
Still more. In this political climate, a new outfit – J Street – will loom large as a challenge to AIPAC. J Street claims to speak for mainstream American Jews and bills itself as “the political arm of the pro-Israel, pro-peace movement.”
J Street is on the ascendancy and will have both influence and access in the new halls of power. Here’s just the most relevant of their statement of principles:
The creation of a viable Palestinian state as part of a negotiated two-state solution, based on the 1967 borders with agreed reciprocal land swaps. The future Palestinian state will require unprecedented levels of international economic and political support to succeed, including a resolution of the refugee issue within the new Palestinian state and in current host countries.
There is no good news. The worldwide coalition gathering to impose a two-state solution on Israel is like nothing previously seen.
Where does this leave us?
We have to face up to reality. There’s no way to sugarcoat this. The two-state solution is rapidly nearing its tipping point. Tipping point… you know, that moment when slow and gradual change – drip, drip, drip – suddenly becomes a deluge. Tipping point is the crashing sound made when ideas that have just been floating around suddenly become irreversible consensus. Irreversible. Locked in concrete.
If two-state is frighteningly near its tipping point, what does this mean for those of us who reject a two-state solution? What are the consequences for those of us who carry a Zionist vision of a Jewish homeland from the river to the sea? How does this affect those who advocate a return from exile, the unification of Jerusalem, restoration of the Temple, and await Moshiach?
Well, it means turn out the lights, the party’s over. Thanks for coming, folks. Drive carefully on the way home.
Once two-state is tipped over into irreversibility the deluge will leave Judea and Samaria bulldozed flat as surely as disengagement flattened Gush Katif; a divided Jerusalem a fait accompli; an internationalized Jerusalem a possibility; the Temple Mount in the possession of the Waqf in perpetuity; and the image of a bifurcated, ethnically neutral Israel looming on the horizon. Peace Now will be driving the bus.
And we must always factor in Arab propaganda. Holocaust denial has been joined by "Temple denial" as part of the ongoing Arab strategy to delegitimize Jewish claims to holy sites and to Jerusalem itself.
Naomi Ragen wrote recently that she feels, “helpless to stop this juggernaut towards disaster.” Yes, ma'am. I know how you feel
Is there anything we can do? Maybe.
To give ourselves a chance, a long shot maybe, but a chance, we must first recognize that the front line for the Israeli Right is two-state.
All other issues are a diversion. No matter how drawn we are to other battlegrounds we must steel ourselves to the reality that all else must be secondary to fighting two-state.
If we lose the two-state battle – and we are badly overmatched, out-gunned and out-manned – we lose the whole game. The fight must be joined on the issue of two-state. Period. We cannot let our attention wander or our resources be diverted to other fronts.
There is very little time. The window for us to act is shrinking. The fat lady is not yet singing, but if you listen carefully you can hear her warming up backstage.
How to begin?
A framework for action is available on request.
But first, we must do what all rebels do. Throw up roadblocks, slow down the momentum toward two-state inevitability. Keep the damn thing from tipping over.
Those are my thoughts. They are just words on a piece of paper. My friend Yishai Fleisher has a great line when talking about Eretz Israel. He says, “How do we fill this vessel with meaning?”. Indeed. Those who would make the rebellion are those anointed to breathe life into the vessel and give it meaning.
Can we win?
I don’t know and I wonder if at this juncture that’s the right question to ask. Will we fight seems to me more to the point. And, if we do fight, will we fight intelligently, strategically, relentlessly.
I argue that Israel is closer than we think to becoming a modern ghetto… growing smaller and weaker as the noose tightens. Will we be passive Jews? Will we acquiesce or will we resist?
The deck is stacked against those who would fight. In the coming struggle Jews who stand up against the two-state consensus will be marginalized, scorned as fanatics, extremists, obstructionists, war mongers, and deranged religious nuts. And those are the lucky ones. Some will have their heads cracked open.
I look to the hero of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising for inspiration. Mordechai Anielewicz did not stop the Holocaust, he did not stop the murder of Jews, he did not stop the trains running to Treblinka… but he did leave us a legacy.
In April 1943, this young Jew named Mordechai showed us that a fearless handful of the committed can make a rebellion and he forever laid to rest the myth of the passive Jew.
The stakes seem to me nothing less than the fulfillment of the Zionist enterprise… and for those who work to end the exile, unite Jerusalem, rebuild the Temple, and bring forth the Moshiach, the stakes are even higher.
Time is not our ally. Seconds turn to minutes, minutes to hours, hours to days…
This is a matter of some urgency.
Consider this:
Hillary Clinton is about to be the US Secretary of State (egads!)
A meeting between the right-of-center-and-probable-next-Prime-Minister-of-Israel Bibi and Obama (when he came to Israel to show all the Jews how incredible he will be for Israel) was described by Newsweek magazine as: polite. "As for Obama, it is yet to be seen how the dovish American would work with a hard-line Israeli counterpart. At the King David meeting, Obama smiled and tried to find common ground."
The Obama/Biden campaign website says that if Iran continues its nuclear program, it will get tough by "step[ping] up our economic pressure and political isolation." Aka: Israel v. Iran will be mano a mano.
Obama has been quoted as saying “Israel has no God-given right to occupy Palestine” plus there’s been “genocide against the Palestinian people by Israelis.”
I think it's best we do what we can to get BO off our back - don't you?
I recently heard an interview with Rebbetzin Esther Jungreis on Israel National Radio, in which she basically assured the listeners that we are in the days immediately preceding the arrival of the Messiah, and that it is of great urgency that we all return to G-d ASAP. For religious Zionists, this also translates into sounding the alarms to bring Jews back to the Holy Land.
I like to encourage aliyah by yelling at people, flailing my arms, grabbing people by shirt collars and shaking them, what have you. But there are others who are trying to engender love for Israel in a much softer, sweeter, less frontal manner. In fact, it's so soft, so gentle, that one may wonder whether the message comes across at all. Which way is the best? You decide.
I present: THE SUPER-SOFT SELL, entitled "Why I Don't Live in Israel", produced by Lori Palatanik of Aish HaTorah:
One of the saddest phenomenons I have witnessed since making Aliyah is the apparent apathy so many Jews living here show for the Land. Don’t get me wrong. There are so many Jews living here that are a true inspiration to the “Keep Making Aliyah” spirit. But there are far too many I meet (indeed even one is too many) that simply don’t feel anything special about this land.
When Jews living in America are apathetic toward living in Eretz Yisrael at least we could blame it on them being blinded by the “good life” of the “golden medina.” But when Jews who grew up drinking the water and breathing the air of Eretz Yisrael, and are still apathetic to the idea of living here and even warm to the idea of making Yerida – what excuse can we invent to explain this?
Actually that’s not really the question we should be asking. There are many answers we could give – ranging from government frustration to pure desensitization due to familiarity with the Land. Whatever the case may be here is the challenge I present to the reader and to my fellow Kumah bloggers.
What could we do to encourage all Jews – even though born and raised and still living in Eretz Yisrael – to keep making Aliyah?
So NBN has this new site called MyAliyahIdea.com, and I'm like: Great! Now I can start posting all my Aliyah ideas and get them out there for folks to see. Trick is, people need to vote on it so that it gets into the big leagues. So here is my first Aliyah idea - if you like it, make it count by clicking the voting icon!
Now for the idea: Aliyah Across America – Shabbat Lech Lecha
Every year Parshat Lech Lecha rolls around, bespeaking of Abraham's journey from Aram to the Land of Canaan. Abraham, the first Jew, the first Oleh, come to the land of Iisrael as a wealthy leader – he was not escaping persecution, but rather ascended to Israel to find spiritual fulfillment. This attitude towards Aliyah is exactly what American Jews need to hear: Aliyah is not running away from America, it is running to Israel to fulfill Jewish destiny.
It is for this reason that Shabbat Aliyah Across America will take place annually on Parshat Lech Lecha. On this Shabbat, Jews all over North America will celebrate the Jewish love for Israel and restate the commitment to our collective destiny.
On AAA, participating communities will host Aliyah speakers and hold events and discussions that call on Jews to strongly consider Aliyah as an option. Youth groups will congregate to spend a Shabbat dedicated to seeing themselves living in and building the Jewish State.
Such a fixed yearly Aliyah focal point will allow educators and professionals to target their audience for Aliyah messaging around that period. Throughout the preceding month ads will appear in magazines, and Aliyah activities will take place in schools. Each year, educators and professionals will get geared up to push the message of Aliyah, in connection with this beloved Torah portion.
Rebranding Israel: FM Just Doesn’t Get It - Still!
This is not the first time Kumah has written about this.
Last week I attended the Nefesh B’Nefesh First International Jewish Bloggers Convention along with the rest of the Jblog world. One segment of the program featured Zavi Apfelbaum, the Director of Brand Management of the Foreign Ministry. At the time I did not know that she represented the State of Israel. (I didn't read the program, okay?)
(Click the video for a transcript we posted on YouTube.)
Which is why when blogger Moshe Burt (“Israel and the Sin of Expulsion”) began screaming at the top of his lungs “this is a Jewish State!,” though I agreed with him, I thought he was taking the wrong approach. But now that I realize exactly what was going on I think he was exactly right and that might be the only way to keep making the point, as Burt wrote, “until it sinks irrevocably into their consciousness.”
Let’s start at the beginning. The Foreign Ministry spent millions of shekel of taxpayer money to figure out that, guess what, the world thinks Israel is a bunch of thugs and a very cold (not weather-wise), dull, place to live or visit. Well obviously the world has branded us waaay wrong! Apfelbaum, again blaming the victim, claimed it was not the world that did it but we did it to ourselves. Perhaps I’ll grant that as a half-truth but that’s for another discussion.
So once again the Foreign Ministry plans to spend waste millions of shekel “rebranding” Israel.
The future brand and marketing image of Israel: 1. Tel Aviv Fashion Brands 2. Tel Aviv Modern Dance Troupes 3. Tel Aviv Beach Life 4. Israeli High Technology Developments 5. Tel Aviv Night Life 6. Israeli High Technology Medical Developments 7. Israeli Wine
With the exception of 4 and 6, basically they are trying to brand Israel as Italy, France or Spain.
When will they learn? Israel is a Jewish Country!
Here’s what I wrote a year ago:
Once Israel becomes "a nation like any other" we are thrust onto a world scale we have no right being on. On that scale, Israel appears to be a pretty crummy nation with nothing special at all. Hence the post-Zionists. But if we stay on the scale we are supposed to stay on, the "light-to-the-nations" scale we are untouchable! When we promote G-d, no nation anywhere can come close in terms of history, culture, food, family life, beauty, and spirituality. Indeed we have something no other nation has.
To summarize, Israel already has an excellent – but discarded - brand. The powers-that-be in the government just don’t like it very much. But this brand has been around for over 3,300 years! Let me explain it in simple terms:
New York is to “The Big Apple” as Israel is to “The Holy Land.”
Gee, whiz. Brilliant! Why didn’t anyone ever think of that before? It’s a brand we have and it’s a brand we should use. It’s a brand that will stick because it already sticks, much to the dismay of the government. Basically the country is spending millions because we don’t want people to think of us as holy! Stop pretending to be the Europeans we are not, because the world is not dumb enough the fall for it. Start being yourself, Israel, and good things will happen. In the 60 years since she was founded Israel never got to be herself - not for one day.
And Moshe Burt is right. In terms of Holy we are talking Judaism. No Muslims are going to view Israel more favorable if we tell them Israel is important to them. And the Christians already know the real deal and love the Jewish people for it. Just talk to any Christians you meet. They know the Holy Land is G-d’s gift to the Jews and they are cool with that. Very cool with it.
So here is a small part of Pinchas’s plan for “rebranding” (that’s "re" as in repeating something not as in changing something):
Shabbat
Kotel
Jewish Tradition
Jewish Children
Holy Things
The problem is the government is working backwards. Instead of displaying the beauty of Judaism and Shabbat for the world, the government does everything it can to destroy our image as a holy nation by doing things like attempting to have buses run on Shabbat. Sometimes the only way to get the message across truly is to yell it, and to yell it again, again, and again!
Two interesting events occurred today in Jerusalem, both of which merited mass police security and the streets being closed off... the gay pride parade and accompanying counter-protest. Since these occurrences have in the past sparked sharp criticism going both ways I decided this year I would go to both and check things out for myself.
First and foremost I would like to say that people in both gatherings seemed to be very mellow and there were no signs of violence or extremism from what I saw. Though I've heard gay parades in places such as America can tend to be extremely vulgar, there was nothing I saw that I would say was overtly offensive (unless one happens to be offended by gays in which case the whole event would be cause for slighted feelings). For the most part it was people carrying signs and rainbow flags with a few shouting rhyming chants. An exception would be a group of youths all in red carrying red soviet hammer and sickle flags and one girl in the group wearing picture of Lenin on her shirt. What communism has to do with homosexuality is beyond me, but nobody else seemed to notice or at least care.
Much more troubling than the behavior of the parade goers (which was much more mellow than I had expected) was that of the police who saw fit to talk to me several different times. Since I was just going to observe and not arouse any controversy I specifically dressed up in non-religious clothing but apparently the beard gave my disguise away. Upon requesting me to take my baseball cap off and seeing I had peos (sidelocks) underneath I was rejected from entering at that point and instructed to enter in a different location while other non-religious people were allowed to come and go as the pleased. Once inside the pre-parade gathering I was approached by undercover police, asked for identification and asked if I was religious and what I was doing there. Later on as the parade was underway, an plainclothes officer asked me where I was from although he left it at that. While I understand there were concerns that there might be people sneaking into the crowd who wished to disrupt the event and possibly even cause violence, I was still a little unnerved by the police-state like feel.
Next I ventured into Kikar Shabbat in the heart of Charedi Meah Shearim to check out the counter-protest. While people were displaying banners, some of which were extremely sharply-worded, the atmosphere itself was even more docile than the parade. There were several hundred people gathered before a platform in which a small older man was speaking through a large speaker system leading Slichot prayers.
I feel the contrast between these two gatherings is indicative of a greater diversity throughout Israeli society at large. Regardless of political and religious/moral beliefs, I found the marked differences between participants taking place so close to each other (a ten minute walk apart) fascinating. The parade was full of rainbow colors and a variety of outfits. The protest uniform black and white suits (aside from a few sackcloths). The parade was filled with smiles and dance. The protest, mourning and heartfelt pleas for forgiveness. Even the physical dynamics- the parade a large leaderless mass traveling down the street while the protest was stationary, all focused on a stage and seemingly searching for the proper guidance. Both were groups of Jews taking time out of their day to stand up for what they believe is right and for their views of Jerusalem and what it should represent, yet what incredibly different views they both have.
One may say Jerusalem is confused, or even schizophrenic, but they can't say it's boring.
Here I am in sunny California, in the dreamlike town of Santa Barbara. I was invited to participate in the Jewish community's celebration of Israel's 60th anniversary. As I was introduced to the crowd, a loud roar greeted me. While I would have liked to believe that the extended applause was for me, I knew better - it was for the Jewish state, which I had the honor to represent.
I gazed out at the mass of people - like me, the vast majority being the oldest of the baby-boomer generation. I could not help but wonder: What is it about Israel that pulled at the heartstrings of these 60-somethings? Why would they want to assume the headaches of Israel, and the need to defend it from the onslaught of the ultra-liberal members of the local community, many of whom were affiliated with the California university system, that included the Santa Barbara campus - a hotbed, like its sister school, Berkeley, of virulent anti-Israel activism?
With Israel mercilessly and oftentimes unfairly attacked because of its continued occupation of the West Bank, one would think that Jews abroad would lower their Israel profile.
So, why such an impressive turnout to fete Israel? Jealousy.
LET ME explain. A while ago, I attended my 40th high-school reunion. The night before the main event, 15 of the Jewish members of the class gathered together. In the course of our conversations, I learned that most of my childhood friends had amassed wealth I will never approximate, live in homes so big my entire apartment would fit into their living rooms, had traveled the world, visiting places I only read about, and were engaged in important work that significantly impacted people's lives.
And yet all of them, by their own admission, were jealous of me by virtue of the fact that I live in Israel.
As children of the '60s, we were social activists - civil rights, anti-Vietnam, Soviet Jewry. More important than feeling a moral compulsion to create a new social order or espousing liberal slogans was translating our social concerns into action - being carted off to prison demonstrating against segregation in Selma, Alabama, Oxford, Mississippi and Little Rock, Arkansas; blocking entrances to army recruitment centers; and chaining ourselves to the gate of the Russian embassy.
As the activist '60s gave way to the mellow '70s and the reactionary '80s, concomitantly with the natural aging process that saw us become grandparents in the '90s, the rigor of youthful activism diminished. My friends felt a measure of guilt for their lack of involvement today, but also felt a vicarious satisfaction in knowing that their classmate in Israel was still carrying a torch of social concern. It mattered little what side of the political spectrum I was on. The fact of my engagement made them envious.
Throughout their lives they believed that to be socially involved was a central moral value, but as they grew older, they felt they had failed to fulfill their ethical obligation to remain active and pass that value on to their children. They mused about what it would be like to live in a country like Israel, where social commitment seemed to be a national trait. They wished that the requirement to serve in the army or do national service was something their kids had experienced.
I might add that of the 15 participants in our pre-reunion get together, only 13 were still married to the same person. Even though most of my friends were married to non-Jews, their sentimental attachment to Judaism was such that they preferred their children to marry Jews, as is natural in Israel, but not the case for almost all of their kids.
They rightfully believed that there is less of a generation gap in Israel, and that parents and children here share a commonality of experiences that binds them closer to one another. Virtually all the children from their blended families lived nowhere near them, unlike the normal family configuration in Israel, where kids live in a small radius of their parents and each other - another reason for my classmates' envy.
I expected my friends to ply me with questions about the occupation, Gaza, settlements, Hizbullah and Hamas, along with terrorism, war and the threat of a nuclear confrontation with Iran. Not that they were disinterested in such weighty matters or did not have their criticisms of Israel, but surprisingly that was not their focus when we talked, although they admired Israelis' resilience in the face of danger and their ability to be leaders in the fields of literature, art, medicine, technology and science.
Most interesting of all was that they were envious of the excitement that descends upon Israel, with the greatest amount of envy being directed to our living in sealed rooms during the Gulf War (the kind of excitement we could live without). They saw my life in Israel as being far more adventurous than theirs in America; as one classmate longingly put it: "You do not live a boring life."
And so, as I looked out at the crowd, I recalled my reunion and realized that with all the monumental challenges we Israelis face, we lead an enviable life. In acknowledgement and appreciation of this simple fact, throngs of people filled the public square to celebrate Israel's 60th anniversary.
Click on the above photo to enlarge it - it is a happy maker. Also, speaking of Exodus, check out this Haaretz article about a modern Jewish hero, the captain of the Exodus:
'A Hero Who Did Not Seek Acts of Heroism'
On the way from Tel Aviv to the funeral yesterday in Kibbutz Sdot Yam of Yossi Harel, the legendary commander of illegal immigration ships, his friends sang Shaul Tchernichovky's evocative "Creed" to the mournful accompaniment of a harmonica. There seems to be no better song than this, declaring the poet's belief in the human spirit and the birth of a new, strong generation, to reflect Harel's life.
"Modest, a brave fighter and a hero who did not seek acts of heroism, because he understood the limitations of strength," is the way the writer Shaul Biber, a comrade from the Palmach days, described him.
Defense Minister Ehud Barak eulogized him as "a man who saw a window or a door in every wall, and an obstacle as an opportunity to be overcome."
President Shimon Peres said the biblical verse, "For with wise advice thou shalt make thy war; and in the multitude of counselors there is safety," suited him very much.
When Harel was only 28 years old, he had already commanded the major clandestine immigration operations which brought four ships from Europe to the shores of Palestine: Knesset Israel, Exodus, Atzmaut and Kibbutz Galuyot, bringing in 24,000 Jews, over one-third of all the illegal immigrants who came to the country between 1945 and 1948.
A veteran of the Palmach's naval force, the Palyam, recalled that in the hold of the Exodus was a 12-year-old girl, who would one day raise a son in Israel who would become commander of the navy and of the Southern Command. That girl was Fruma Galant, the mother of Major General Yoav Galant.
Ten years ago, Galant brought his mother to meet Harel, and yesterday he said he "was impressed by the power that radiated from him and the sympathy he showed. One can only look at his actions today in amazement."
Some 300 of Harel's friends and relatives gathered yesterday on the beach at Tel Aviv's Clandestine Immigration Park to remember him. Later, at the funeral in Sdot Yam, Mordechai Roseman, a leader of the immigrants aboard the Exodus, said, "We salute Yossi Harel, our commander."
Here are the fax numbers of the Shas Knesset members. Thanks to their continued participation in the Olmert coalition, we all get to enjoy the painful, sluggish path downward that is comprised of unchecked rocket attacks, threats against Jewish communities, mass releases of convicted terrorists, and various other acts bespeaking corruption and soul sickness.
I hope that you will take 5 minutes, pick three (or more) of these people, and make it your mission to show them that their presence in the government has not gone unnoticed, and that it is not looked upon favorably by potential voters and their friends.
For you, it's 5 minutes. For Israel, it's the future.
I am writing the numbers with the international dialing code at the beginning, for all of you in the exile who are desperate to be involved in what's going on in Israel. For those of you already here, you already know how to dial.
There are a lot of activism opportunities today for those of you who are truly pained by the suffering of our brothers and sisters in Sderot. Here are some for your immediate participation:
1. The Totally Most Awesome Women of Israel organization, known to you as Women in Green, is rallying at 6:30pm - TONIGHT, Monday, February 11th, in front of the Prime Minister's Office (between the Knesset and the Supreme Court).
For details please call 052-3121383
2. At 8pm, also TONIGHT, head out to the Kotel for another rally - a prayer rally - organized by two kids from New York who are learning at the Tiferet Center in Ramat Beit Shemesh. You won't be alone - approximately 2,000 yeshiva and seminary students are expected to attend. The rally is called Enough is Enough! For more information, contact Rabbi Elie Mayer at 052-616-4050
3. For all of you who cannot attend tonight's rallies, and want to do some good work, this is your chance! Yishai called a Shas member on his show today, and asked his secretary why Shas was still in the government, because Jerusalem is, in fact, on the table (and Shas swore it would leave the government if surrendering Jerusalem to the local Arabs were to ever be discussed as a possibility). He then asked her if Shas had received any faxes asking them to leave.
The answer was no - not one! So you're going to fix that now:
Here are the fax and phone numbers of Shas Knesset members. If you don't send a fax or call one of these people, you officially don't care about what's happening in Sderot:
Saving Israel, one paycheck at a time: 1. Executive Assistant for the Overseas Department of the City of David. • English mother tongue • Hebrew proficient • High level writing and communication skills in English • Experienced in organization and coordination • Ability to multi-task and work under pressure • Excellent computer skills • Available to work flexible hours, including some evenings • Creative, energetic, assertive, detail oriented, dynamic and warm.
2. Position available in the Reservations Department of the City of David English and Hebrew proficient, high level of expression, ability to provide a professional service over the phone. Full time position, One year commitment. Please send your resume to Efrat@cityofdavid.org.il
"It’s a drink the ultra-Orthodox lack...They make a lot of babies, they study the Torah and they dance. They need a lot of energy, and something to strengthen them."
The Aliyah Revolution is full steam ahead at the University of Chicago where over 25 students have already registered for an aliyah shabbaton on November 16th and 17th. Will post details after the event - if you have any ideas please leave a comment!
I know its been a long time, and I will get at it again, but I just got this email, and I think People should know about it.
Enjoy :-) ~ Shulamit THE ISRAELI FOREIGN SERVICE NEEDS TO HEAR FROM YOU Oops! A fly on the wall informs us that the Israeli Ambassador Sallai Meridor and the Israeli Consul General in NY, Asaf Shariv, have apparently gotten NO PROTESTS from anyone about the attempts to set up a new Palestinian terror state just a bike ride from divided Jerusalem, Tel-Aviv, and Israel's only international airport (Ben-Gurion). So... write, fax, email, or swim and say it to their face:
Ambassador Sallai Meridor, Embassy of Israel, 3514 International Drive, NW, Washington, DC 20008
ON THE SILENCE OF MAINSTREAM ORTHODOX & HAREIDI RABBIS Some great people in the United States have begun lobbying mainstream Rabbis and Jewish organizations to speak out against a Palestinian State. Their motto: "10 phone calls each day is good, but even 1 phone call is better than none". Background: "Our personal focus is the Rabbanim. The security dangers of a Palestinian State are real, but we are emphasizing the Torah perspective to the Rabbanim.
Their reason for Silence is that "they don't make political statements". Our answer to them is that Silence is a political statement in favor of a Palestinian State. A Torah statement would be that only the Nation of Israel is obligated to keep the Commandments in the Land of Israel and that Torah and the Land of Israel and the people of Israel are one and the same. There can not be a separation without a negation of the other. Eretz Yisroel is our Biblical Inheritance and a Palestinian State is contrary to Torah."
These great people need us to join in: "What follows is a list of mainstream Rabbis in the Hareidi and Orthodox circles that influence hundreds of thousands of Jews. Please find the time to call these Rabbanim or Organizations and ask them to personally speak to their Rabbinic mentors, contacts, Organizations and PR people to unite and to create a strong unified Jewish Voice against a Palestinian State:"
Agudath Yisroel of America : * 212 979 9000 Rabbi Gertzulin (son in law of Reb. Jungreiss), * Rabbi Chaim Dovid Zweibel PR dzwiebel@agudathisrael.org 646-254 1650 and fax 646 254 1650 * Rabbi Shafran, shafran@agudathisrael.org
Arachim: * Chofetz Chaim Heritage Foundation Executive Director Michael Rothchild 845-352-3505 * Spirtual Mentor Rabbi Shmuel Kamenetsky (Yeshiva in Philadelphia) 215 477 1000
Rabbi Hillel David 718 252 4579
Rabbi Pesach Lerner National Council of Young Israel. Rabbi Lerner is one of the United States leading rabbinical activists who has made numerous distinguished contributions to the struggle for Jonathan Pollard and against the expulsion of Gush Katif. Ask him to use his sterling reputation to unite the mainstream Haredi and modern orthodox and Secular Organzations to make a joint statement. ncyi@youngisrael.org
Rabbi Perlow, the Noveminsker Rav - extremely influential in Haredi circles in America 718-436-1133
Rabbi Matisyahoo Solomon (very influential in Lakewood and Yeshivish communities) 732-363-8928
Rabbi Gershon Tannenbaum - President of Iggud Harabonim. Very vocal against territory expulsions. The only mainstream Rabbinic group in America that we know of that came out against the expulsion of Gush Katif. Please encourage him to rally his members to become activists and unite with other major mainstream Rabbinic Leaders and organizations to come out with a strong voice against a Palestinian State. 718 871-0913
Rabbi Vigler rabbivigler@gmail.com Meorot Center - A dynamic Chabad Rabbi in Marine Park Brooklyn, Please ask him to use his leadership connections and contacts in the Chabad world and the orthodox world so that the mainstream Chabad leaders will rally against a Palestinian state.
Rebbetzin Jungreiss hineni@hineni.org Please ask her to ask the Rabbanim to end the Silence on the "Palestinian state" issue. Write to: Hineni Heritage Center, 232 West End Avenue, New York, NY, 10023 Tel: (212) 496-1660 Fax: (212) 496-1908
Orthodox Union Offices * National Headquarters: Eleven Broadway, New York, NY 10004, Tel. 212-563-4000, Fax 212-564-9058, info@ou.org * Washington, DC OU Institute for Public Affairs, 800 Eighth Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20001 Nathan Diament, Director, Tel: 202-513-6484, Fax: 202-289-8936, ipadc@ou.org * West Coast: 9831 West Pico Boulevard, Los Angeles, CA 90035. Rabbi Alan Kalinsky, Director, 310-229-9000, Fax: 310-229-9011, rakalinsky1@juno.com * Israel: Seymour J. Abrams Orthodox Union Jerusalem World Center, 22 Rechov Keren Hayesod, P.O. Box 37015, Jerusalem, 91370 Israel * Rabbi Avi Berman, Director-General, aberman@ouisrael.org * Menachem Persoff, Director, menp@netvision.net.il * Phillip Chernofsky, Director of Adult Education, tt@ou.org
NCSY: Rabbi Michael Fredman, Director, NCSY-in-Israel, ncsy_is@netvision.net.il 972.2.560-9100 Fax: 972.2.561.7432
List of all email addresses above (if you don't have time to call/fax and would rather send one quick email to all:)
"Dear Rabbis, The security dangers of a Palestinian State are real, but we are emphasizing the Torah perspective. Eretz Yisroel is our Biblical Inheritance and a Palestinian State is contrary to Torah. Unfortunately, consistent silence is a political statement in favor of the notion of a Palestinian State. Please can you personally speak out and unite with your Rabbinic mentors, contacts, Organizations and PR people to create a strong unified Jewish Voice against a Palestinian State. Thanking you very sincerely, (name)".
* Haaretz reports that the Supreme Court is actually making Avoda Ivrit more desirable by closing the loopholes allowing Jews in Judea and Samaria to exploit their Hamas-voting neighbors, outsourcing their tax evasion and taking advantage of their proximity to a mafia-run third world empire (my words, not theirs).
* Rabbi Yuval Cherlow, who reportedly did not stop at telling his students they did not HAVE to refuse orders, but told them they HAVE to obey, says Avoda Ivrit is Nazism. Brought to you by Jpost and the racists at RamFM, the clueless, yet entertaining South African-run station broadcasting in English out of Ramallah.
* There is once again an Avoda Ivrit web site! The New Israel Fund, through its proxy, Mossawa closed down the old Israel-based Avoda Ivrit directory, with its webmaster replacing the site with an apology. The new site could use some reader participation.
* Hey, even professional settler-hater Jeffrey Goldberg says he once dabbled in Avoda Ivrit (not in 'Nam, of course): "In the late nineteen-eighties, I worked for a time on a kibbutz in the Jezreel Valley, southeast of Haifa. I was a great believer in the philosophy known as avoda ivrit—the idea that Jews will redeem their land and themselves by hard physical labor."
On Erev Tisha B'Av, Kumah organized three buses of English-speaking folks on a trip to Kever Rachel. Why? Tisha B'Av is centered around Jerusalem and the Temple, but is also a day to mourn the exile - and no one cries more about the exile then Rachel Imeinu. We joined together with Rachel Imeinu in the prayer "Veshavu Banim Legvulam" - "May the Children Return to their Borders."
Rachel's Children Reclamation Foundation (Evelyn Haies) and Kumah invite you to join us for a prayer vigil at Kever Rachel (Rachel's Tomb) on the 9th of Av at night.
Tisha B'Av is centered around Jerusalem and the Temple, but is also a day to mourn the exile - and no one cries more about the exile then Rachel Imeinu. Come join your tears with hers in the prayer "Veshavu Banim Legvulam" - "May the Children Return to their Borders."
When: Join our bus at 6:30PM on Monday the 23rd of July, Erev Tisha B'Av
Where: Binyanei Haumah - The International Convention Center across from the Central Bus Station
What to bring: Water, a hard boiled egg, a sandwich for pre-fast final food, Scroll of Eicha
How long: The bus will return to join up with the Women in Green march around the Old City walls. (around 9:30PM)
Cost: Free - we want you to come and give nachat to Rachel Imeinu.
