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Google Translate Now Has Hebrew

Google can now translate Hebrew word into English words, paragraphs, or full web pages. And the reverse. Here is how this page looks in Hebrew.

Not By Chance

From Haaretz (!?)

"It's no coincidence that men with knitted skullcaps - two of them soldiers - were involved in killing the terrorists who carried out the last three terror attacks..."

Searching for Chometz

Some ideas on how to "enhance the search" (Audio)

Chag Sameach!

The Jew & His Homeland

"For a Jew, the land of Israel is more than a place, it is a body for the soul of a people...a place to find where you began, where you belong and what you truly are; A Jew does not travel to Israel, s/he returns there..."

Check out the great new feature on Chabad.org

Return Again

Yonatan Razel urges Australian Jews to Return Home!

Music for the (Spiritual) Revolution

Shuli Rand struggles and searches for God (From Hebrew Maariv Online)
Worth a listen & some thought!

Luciano Pavarotti a"h

"You are Jews and I am Catholic, but we both put the soul of man first, and that is the truth"

Pavaratti visited and sang in Israel a number of times, never cancelling concerts because of terror or politics. Here is a classic clip of the tenor joined by one of our generation's great Rebbes, Barry White shlit"a, singing one of the theme songs of the High Holidays: "My First. My Last, My Everything" ("Emet Atah Hu Rishon..."). Note the very excellent frock & "Bekeshe" the dynamic duo are sporting.

Thanks to proud Jewess Debbie Schlussel for the 'mekor'.

Great Blogging Material and a Video of Spoiled Westerners in Shechem

*My photo feature from Homesh. A trip.

*This video probably deserves its own post. Rich kids from America and Europe play cops and robbers with an IDF they know is castrated in the middle of Shechem. You can hear shouts of Allahu Akbar and see martyr posters as the Canadian-sounding girl says: "You're not gonna shoot us man!" and "Six internationals run over by an army jeep will look really bad in the papers!"

*Yuli Tamir, the Education Minister, responds to Sderot parents' decision to protest government's failure to crush Gazan terrorism by keeping their ids home from schools: "Homes are less safe than the schools."

*Avoda Ivrit at the Knesset (Hebrew)

*British paper compares Marva program with Hamas day camps

*Mmmmm. Sacrelicious.

KuLinks

(stay tuned for comment on picture at end of post)
Some links and brief comments:

Chana at Blogs of Zion wishes CNN stuck to talking about how rotten the settlers are. She is upset that they extrapolated outward to how bad all the Jews are. I suspect for some, this thing made them hate settlers with a new urgency ('They are making the gentiles hate us").

The GM at Jewlicious posted one of my A7 pieces on the latest wave of refusals. The conversation in the comments section is worth continuing. Refusal is totally and completely what is expected of a Jewish army when faced with the moral challenges of our time. The attempt to paint the soldiers as mindless hesder guys listening to their rabbis robs them of the admiration they deserve, even from their political opponents, for being willing to go to jail for what they believe to be an illegal order.

Shoshi Greenfeld knows where it is at.

It's official: Everyone is making Aliyah

Someone please let the Jewish Exponent know that there is a singular version of the word "olim."

9-11 is coming. Heres a photo of those who were killed.

And finally, the picture: The US and Israel should be ashamed of themselves for arming Fatah terrorists without the slightest safeguards in place making certain that children handling the guns are given at least rudimentary gun-safety training. I mean, the girl's finger is clearly on the trigger!

Two Years Have Passed... Part II

Do you feel that is hard to remain living in a country that betrayed you?

AFP Covers Aharit HaYamim

The AFP infiltrates Aharit HaYamim's festival. Not as nasty coverage as I would expect. Good even...

West Bank: Torah, reggae and marijuana at Jewish 'Woodstock'

by Michael Blum Wed Jul 4, 6:02 PM ET

BAT AYIN SETTLEMENT, West Bank (AFP) - A group rocks to reggae in front of a large star of David while a Jewish rabbi urges a return to the faith amid a cloud of smoke: welcome to a religious Woodstock on the West Bank.

At least 1,000 people, from Orthodox youths wearing kippas to hippies sporting multi-coloured ponchos, gathered on a summer night for the 8th edition of the "Festival of the End of Time." The setting is a pine forest in the Gush Etzion bloc of Jewish settlements.

"This festival gives me spiritual power," gushes Elisheva, a 16-year-old girl from Jerusalem. "There are sparks of holiness in the air." Close to her, teenagers smoking nargilas sit on carpets, swaying to the music.

A curtain is supposed to separate females and males during dancing but in the darkness the religious interdicts are quickly forgotten and everyone mixes freely.

The festival is billed as a "unique spiritual gathering." It aims to be a meeting place for radical settlers in illegal settlements across the occupied West Bank and non-religious Jews, many recently returned from spiritual journeys to India after their military service.

"Thank God all day long," chants singer Yehuda Leuchter, whose family created the festival of Jewish music in memory of their father, an American-born musician who died in 1994.

But the rabbis too have their say.

Michi Yossefi, the guru of young settlers, seizes the microphone and begins to preach the need to respect Jewish religious values to the assembled youths, who drink in his words.

He is not put off by the earrings worn by the males and the short skirts of the females -- his aim is to win back the lost sheep to the faith.

On sale at the stands erected in the forest are Indian fabrics, jewellery and CDs of the latest bands. Nearby, a couple bake bread in a rudimentary oven and offer salads and cheese to festival-goers at a modest price.

"Our message is that unity between the various strands of the Jewish people can hasten our redemption," says 25-year-old Raphael Barkatz, a Parisian saxophonist.

Moshe Karo, a 57-year-old immigrant from the French Indian Ocean island of Reunion, takes the stage to sing a little known song by French artist Serge Gainsbourg, "Sand and the soldiers," the rights of which were offered to Israel in 1967.

"Yes, I will defend the sand of Israel, the soil of Israel, the children of Israel, even if it means dying for the sand of Israel," he sings in French before translating into Hebrew. "The music is a form of prayer to God," says the singer.

As the night wears on, and the families and the few adults leave, the smell of marijuana fills the air.

For Yocheved, 25, who arrived with a group of friends from Jerusalem, the evening is an occasion to relax and meet new people.

"There is a friendly atmosphere, the music is good, there is happiness," she says before taking up a tambourine which she beats in time to the musicians on the stage.

The dawn begins to break. The musicians arrange their instruments and start the morning prayers while the faraway hills glow with the rising of the sun.

OK, well I don't know about the Guru Yosefi part, but kol hakavod Michael Blum for disappointing your editor, who was probably hoping for something with a bit more blood of Christian children in it.

Literally Everybody is Making Aliyah. (Google's AliyRSS-Feed)

As an Aliyah enthusiast I have devised a Google RSS feed that links me, up to the second, to any Aliyah (or Aliya) news (in addition to any articles written by or about anyone named 'Aliyah' - a much more popular name than I ever knew, as can be attested to by this I-Phone story by Aliyah Shahid). Copy and paste this link into your RSS reader to share the excitement.

The excitement? Yeah, lately I would call it that. On a daily basis local papers around the US are publishing human interest stories about the local Jews coming home. Here are a selection:
* Danbury, CT's NewsTimesLive.com:

American-born Giliah Ruth Librach, who was conceived in Israel and grew up always feeling it was her home, is pulling up her roots this month and going there for good.

The Feed also brought to my attention to this story, though I have reserve duty with her daughter (a mashakit chilutz) in the near future:
* JPost: Woman rabbi flies to US to preach aliya [Jpost hates capitalization -ed.]:

Shiryon's trip to the US to encourage Reform Jews to perform the ultimate Zionist act and make aliya marks a break with the official Reform stance, which could be best described as "lukewarm." Now the Reform Movement is actively encouraging its members to consider immigration to Israel.

"It has nothing to do with fears of intermarriage," said Shiryon. "The Reform Movement is very open to welcoming mixed couples. It has to do with living a full Jewish life."

* The Toledo Blade: Rabbi Heading For His Spiritual Home: Israel:

Looking back at his three years at B'nai Israel, a Conservative congregation in Sylvania, he said the life cycle numbers are not very positive.

"I've officiated at 51 funerals, 27 b'nei mitzvah, and only two weddings, and one of those weddings was for an out-of-town member," he said.

"It reflects the demographic changes in the community. The congregation is shrinking," Rabbi Leff said.
[...]
"The state of Israel is the most exciting thing to happen to the Jewish people in 2,000 years," Rabbi Leff said. "The fact that we can live in a Jewish country is truly miraculous."

* Haaretz has even took a break from getting anonymous Jewish Agency sourpusses to badmouth Nefesh b'Nefesh to note the 33-year record Aliyah from North America.

* And in case you doubt the value of an Aliyah/Aliya RSS feed, you now know that the President of Kazakhstan named his daughter Aliyah.

There really is an Aliyah revolution afoot.

Kill Me? You've Hardly Cured Me

"He talked to me about how they were going to destroy British and Americans. He told me that the plans were already made and they would soon be destroying the British. He said the people who cure you would kill you."

Read what an Iraqi Jihadi told a British Anglican.

Is Christian Support for Israel Legitimate?

Is Christian support for Israel legitimate? Israel National News has an article up about the Chief Rabbinate banning Jewish participation in a Christian group's (Bridges for Peace) women's conference scheduled for next week in Jerusalem. They claim that the organization's concentration on "Judeo-Christian values" and the study of "the Jewish foundations of Christianity" are forbidden. The rabbis ruled that these efforts are actually part of a long-running campaign to bring Israeli-Jews to believe in Jesus.

At the same time Pastor John Hagee gave a rousing "sermon" at the AIPAC conference which people are talking about.

My opinion:

I hate when people say "Israel - you are not alone".

A. We are not alone, so you don't have to worry about it, G-d is on our side, and so are people who are truly with G-d and B. We don't mind being alone. Nothing wrong with individualism. Sometimes when your leading you are alone at the head.

I hate when people say "Israel - we support you". Support means that there's a big entity and a small entity, the bigger helping the smaller. I don't think Israel needs Christian help (nor do I think Evangelical Christianity has helped Israel one iota) and detest the email I get from Christians who tell me that I should stop ripping Jesus if I want to continue receiving their support. The good people of this world do not need to flaunt their support if it comes from the heart. Have you ever heard Micronesia make demands on Israel in return for its support?

BUT while I hate "support", I do not mind cooperation and friendship. I have met Christians who are leaving their false beliefs in favor of a more Bible-oriented world-view. I have met Christians who believe in Israel with all their hearts. I have met Christians who inspire Israelis to believe in the Torah, and to our right to the whole land of Israel.

If we do not come to Christians from a position of the low-self esteem and neediness we will be able to recognize our true friends. If we impress upon them that missionizing will not be tolerated, they will learn to sublimate whatever false beliefs they have left in them. Israel does not need support, nor is Israel alone, however, Israel does know how to appreciate a good friend, colleague, or partner.

When it come to the "word" - I never stand for any Jesus-talk - I say plainly "We do not believe in that, and it goes against the Torah - do yourself a favor and rid yourself of false beliefs." Christians love when I talk this way because they know they are not dealing with someone who is trying to smooth talk them to get something. We must always know and radiate the fact that we are the Chosen people and we are the guardians of the Torah - anyone who is thirsty may come and drink. We, on the other hand, are not thirsty. This is they key to a healthy relationship.

"Post" or "Anti" Zionism?

State Sponsored Anti-Zionism
(Too bad we don't we have a Label for "Jewish Self-Hatred")

Down on Maon Farm, Songweaver and the ADL: A Roundup

• NRG has a great video of famous Israeli singer Sharon Rotter ("Ani Arutz Aleicha") visiting her relatives, the Dribbens, at Havat Maon (slated for destruction). She performs there for the hilltop/forest community's women. "It's like going to India without leaving Israel" she tells the interviewer.

• A creative oleh spent his time in the bomb shelters last summer developing a way for musicians worldwide to collaborate and build upon each other's work. He calls it Songweaver. Sounds awesome, haven't fiddle with it yet, though.

• This article takes a phenomenon caused by a pretty clear policy-choice and draws the completely wrong conclusion.

• Jonathan Mark puts more delicately and less emotionally the sentiment I tried to convey in this piece from before the Disengagement.

A Living Holocaust Memorial

Yom Hashoah, David Hatuel & The Klausenberger Rebbe ?!

Never Forget!

Today marks 60 years since the murder of Dov Gruner, Yehiel Dresner, Eliezer Kashani & Mordechai Alkahi HY"D by the British, at the Acco gallows.

"For you should know this: there is no power in the world which can sever the tie between the Jewish people and their one and only land. Whosoever tries to sever it - his hand will be cut off and the curse of God will rest on him for ever...In blood and fire Judea fell, in blood and fire Judea will rise again..."

The full story on the official ETZEL website

In honor of the yahrtzeit, check out A Simple Jew's Photo Essay

Life-Altering Experience

Friday marks the 3rd Yahrtzeit of our beloved Jay Litvin zt"l - a very wise, sensitive and brave Jew, who shared his deepest thoughts, fears, struggles and hopes in dozens of beautiful essays on so many areas of life: spirituality, death, parenting, children, faith, doubt, joy , Israel & "indispensability"...

Jay Litvin zt'l made Aliyah in 1993 to serve as medical liaison for Chabad's Children of Chernobyl program...

and took a leading role in airlifting children from the areas contaminated by the Chernobyl nuclear disaster; he also founded and directed Chabad's Terror Victims program in Israel (see: "The Hidden Angel"). Jay passed away in April of 2004 after a valiant four-year battle with Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Reading Jay's articles is inspiring and powerful - and can (should!!) be a life altering experience.

Zechuto Yagein Aleinu