If, I'm not mistaken, I first met up with David Bedein the founder and director of Israel Behind The News when my husband and I were pretty new to Shiloh and had become the local "media stars." David would show up with reporters, journalists, diplomats and foreign politicians from all over the world and all sorts of publications.
I used to joke around that in contrast to me and my husband who naively foolishly considered it sufficient "payment" to be mentioned without too many distortions in the articles, David was the "hasbara* hustler," because he very rightly considered all of his hard work with those journalists and other important visitors to be a job/business and an important one.
Become a part of an effort which demands that funds to UNRWA and the Palestinian Authority be conditioned on the cessation of such "education"
Become a part of an effort that questions whether Israel should allow the US and Canada and the EU to train PLO armed forces which can turn in Israel at any moment.
Honestly I think it's important. It's not enough to kvetch, rant and blog from the sidelines. Contact David to see how you, too can help, join his very professional efforts.
This week's Latma skit shows a "what if" TV interview with the Israeli Left and the Arab Terrorists of Gaza.
It's obvious that the Latma writers get it, but will the Israeli Left ever fully understand?
Shabbat Shalom to One and All!
I'm glad that some of the Beit El Ulpana neighborhood residents whose homes are being dismantled destroyed decided to fight rather than be led like sheep... Actually, I think that it's much better for their children to see how much they care.
The psychology used against the family is awful. Not everything is translated.
"Obeying orders" is one of those phrases that makes my blood run cold. That was the excuse that many Germans and other Europeans gave for cooperating with the Nazis.
One of the reasons that so many Jews of my generation were in the forefront of the idealistic aspect of the 1960's was to counter that ideology which worships the "rule of law." Just because a government decides on a law, does not make that law moral or just.
As far as I'm concerned there are moral problems in Israel when it comes to enforcing and judging the laws. There is an underlying doubt in the minds of too many Israelis concerning our rights to the Land of Israel. They see the Arabs as owners. There were Arabs here at the beginning of the Zionist return, but those Arabs aren't historically, culturally or religiously connected to the goyish nations in the Bible. The more modern Arabs never ever had a sovereign independent country or countries here. The only people to ever have a country here were Jews, and the Land has been waiting for our return.
When we show doubt and when we passively cooperate with the authorities when they demand the destruction of Jewish homes, we endanger ourselves and delay our Redemption.
The Israeli Government is promising a Humpty Dumpty happy ending. They claim that they can put Humpty Dumpty back together again after breaking up people's homes into over a hundred pieces.
IDF Draft and Tal, Who Is Most Afraid of Cutting Exemptions?
Ever since the State of Israel began to codify its laws over sixty years ago, there has been an exemption for yeshiva students. At the time Israel's first Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion proposed it, there weren't too many men learning full-time, and he didn't want the IDF to have to cater to the needs of the chareidi, aka ultra-religious. It seemed easier all around to just let them skip army service.
The truth is that there is nothing in Judaism that states that a Torah observant Jew shouldn't serve in the army, especially a Jewish army that protects Jews and the Jewish Land and Jewish State, the State of Israel. It's actually a very important mitzvah, Torah commandment to serve and even risk your life.
Not long ago, there was a big controversy in Torah Tidbits about that issue. Phil Chernofsky who has edited/written Torah Tidbits from its inception wrote about the importance of army service. Then Rabbi Leff of Matityahu countered that he was incorrect. And the following week Rabbi Chaim Wasserman, my NCSY rabbi, wrote about how Jewish Law demands army service. The three articles can be seen here. Following are excerpts.
On the other matter of the IDF... I believe, with all my heart, that there should not be exemptions for Torah study. From the Torah we learn that for a MILCHEMET R'SHUT, an optional, non-essential war, there are several exemptions allowed. These include a person who has built a home and has not yet lived in it, a person who planted a vineyard but has not yet had a yield from it, person who has betrothed a woman but has not yet married her... and one who is afraid (different opinions on this, but most interesting is one who is afraid because he does not keep mitzvot properly, to put it mildly)... For a MILCHEMET MITZVA, an obligatory war - and this includes a defensive war in which the survival of the people is at stake - a Chatan joins the fighting even from his Chupa, etc. And the Torah student leaves the Beit Midrash. There is no doubt that we are in a situation of Milchemet Mitzva with enemies within Eretz Yisrael, neighboring Israel, and in other countries within missile range.
...Bottom line, it is the right thing to do for an eligible fellow, to serve in the army in some framework. And it will also be a Kiddush HaShem (or at least, alleviate a possible Chilul HaShem).
It was mentioned there that all deferments for yeshiva students should be canceled and compulsory sheirut leumi be imposed on all girls as in a milchemes mitzvah all go out to battle.
It is very presumptuous to negate a principle that countless Gedolei Yisroel (not only from the Charedi world but also others such as Rav Tzvi Yehudah Kook and Rav Avroham Shapira) upheld that Yeshiva students be deferred from army service and girls be exempt from sheirut leumi, by quoting a Chazal that they obviously also knew.
The issue of the tens of thousands of young men who are immersed in Torah study and as a result seek a permanent deferment from army service is arguably one of the primary issues which has divided the Torah-true community these last six decades. The gedolim who have opined that Torah comes first can be listed and named; they are not countless. And then there are, for sure, the dati-leumi gedolim who have concluded quite differently.
...Then we have to recall the immortal words of the NeTZiV in his commentary to Moshe Rabeinu's question to the members of the tribes of Reuven and Gad when they looked to avoid going to war as the nation stood on the banks of the Jordan River: "Your brothers will go to war but you will remain here?!" he asked. This, explains the NeTZIV, would have constituted an "avlah", an unjust wrongful act that would be perpetrated against all of Israel (Ha'amek Davar, Bamidbar 32:6).
In most recent decades, the religious demands/expectations of the dati le'umi, national religious community have increased in terms of levels of observance. In Dati Le'umi circles there are many young men and women in the IDF. Some serve as part of yeshivot hesder in special religious units, others after finishing mechinot special preparatory programs and others go straight into the army after high school. There is much less of a difference between those soldiers and the religious practices of the chareidim. Also, more and more IDF officers are Torah observant, seeing their army service as the greatest mitzvah they could ever do.
The Tal Law, which in recent years determined the conditions of the exemptions is no longer in force and now there are all sorts of political and public arguments about how universal the Israeli army draft should be.
The media and many politicians are pushing for maximum chareidi army service, like Defense Minister Ehud Barak's demand of 90% enlistment. Just like most other of Barak's statements, it may make great headlines, but it's neither realistic nor intelligent. Barak like most/all Leftists conveniently leaves out facts.
One important thing to take into account is that there are many able-bodied Israelis who get deferments for other reasons, or even fake their reasons, because they don't want to serve at all. I was glad to hear Housing Minister MK Ariel Atias bringing up the subject when interviewed on Israeli television. Many Israelis get "sports deferments," rather than time off for special training. In most cases their talents are not Olympic world class sports talents nor more valuable to the Jewish State than many of the yeshiva students are to the Torah world. If yeshiva study exemptions are to be reduced, the same should go for the sportsmen, university academics and others.
It's important to remember that yeshiva students are not the only young Israelis who can defer army service. The entire system must be changed and tightened.
It's so easy to take nearby things for granted. While Jews and Christians, too, all over the world may yearn to make a pilgrimage to Holy Shiloh, too many Israelis, even the most religiously observant, seem to have forgotten it exists. Granted that in most Jewish schools and yeshivot the Bible learning is concentrated on the חומש Chumash, The Five Books of Moses. Joshua and Samuel are pretty much ignored, and they are the books which mention Shiloh the most.
I've taken it on, as a pledge of sorts, to try to bring Shiloh back to the forefront of Jewish Prayer. Why Jewish Prayer? It's simple. Shiloh played a very important role in Jewish national and religious history as told in the Bible. It was Shiloh which was the capital city of the Jewish Nation and the location of the Holy Tabernacle for 369 years, from Joshua until Samuel. For almost four centuries Jews came from all over to pray. Among them was Hannah, the barren wife of Elkanah. She prayed to G-d for a son who would lead the Jewish People. Her prayer was granted by G-d, and Samuel was her son.
י וְהִיא, מָרַת נָפֶשׁ; וַתִּתְפַּלֵּל עַל-יְהוָה, וּבָכֹה תִבְכֶּה. 10 and she was in bitterness of soul--and prayed unto the LORD, and wept sore.
Moshe Dayan may have given the Keys to the Temple Mount to the Muslims after we liberated it in June, 1967, but Shiloh is still in our hands.
I've established the custom to pray at Tel Shiloh with other women every Rosh Chodesh, the first of the Jewish Month.
You're welcome to join our facebook page. Tel Shiloh is open to visitors daily. Tours can be arranged through the Shiloh HaKeduma, Ancient Shiloh office. Email telshilo@gmail.com or phone 02-994-4019.
I just serched the Haaretz news site and couldn't find an artilce about the recent Gazan Arab terrorist missile firing on southern Israel. At least the English edition considers it boring old news. I'm not surprised that the BBC is ignoring these attacks, but all Israeli news media should be making sure that their readers know about the war.
Nu, you say that there's no war going on if you don't read about it in Haaretz? It's like that great philosophical question about the tree falling in the forest not being heard, so did it really fall?
Wow! Now I understand. It's the latest defense mechansism, war theory, weapon etc being utilized by the IDF and the present Binyamin Netanyahu-Ehud Barak-Shaul Mofaz government. The most powerful weapon we have is silence!
Don't let anyone know that we're being attacked, and then it'll be as if we're not attacked. Nu! That's how they worked on the Beit El "leaders" sic. By having such a silent stoic -keep the kids away- evaccuation of the "problematic homes" in the ulpana neighborhood, there won't be any great evocotive pictures, so the entire action will be ignored by the media, as is if it never happened, or since the government so kindly provided a packing service, it should be thought of as humanitarian "urban renewal."
I guess they're supposed to take our minds off of the silent and cooperative sheep to the salughter evacuation that happened right next to their Beit El studio and office. Sorry, but I'm in a wful mood this morning.
Audio: Rockets, Missiles and BOOM BOOM BOOM!
One of those she interviews is Miriam who blogs about it.
And just to remind you, Israel is a very tiny country. Here's a map (Hebrew) showing wich cities are in the range of fire, up to 40 kilometers. In the 30 kilometer zone are most of the places where the Jewish Gush Katif DP's now live.
Here's a translated version. I hope it makes things clear enough.
We can only defeat our enemies if we fight them to submission. Ignoring them won't help us at all!
My thoughts, some at least, about the forced evacuation of homes in Beit El's Ulpana neighborhood are very sad. I must admit that I didn't join any of the demonstrations. It's not that I don't believe in demonstrating; it's just that I don't trust the organizers. I don't/didn't think they were ready to risk all for the cause.
Apparently there were government orders to keep the children away. The pictures look sterile and dead. The silent protest included letting the government workers do a lot of the packing.
It's hard to sort my thoughts into clear prioritized reasons. Listing as "1, 2, 3..." means that one is either the most or the least upsetting. I guess I'll write them in "bullets," rather than number them.
I remember the terror attack in which Arab terrorists murdered some of the Tzur family.
I remember that Yoel Tzur, the bereaved father and widower was given the opportunity to develop the Ulpana neighborhood in the memory of his wife and son.
I remember the buildings being built and how they looked when they were new.
I remember losing my faith in Moetzet YESHA during the painful time leading up to Disengagement. I remember a ride in a taxi from a demonstration and what the driver said: "It's so obvious that Disengagement will be bad for the country, that the fact that Moetzet YESHA hasn't succeeded in getting it canceled means that there's something wrong with Moetzet YESHA."
I finally realized that Moetzet YESHA is working with the government of the State of Israel before Gush Katif became not only judenrein but the launching pad for deadly missiles against Israel.
I remember the horror of Amona and how the "government forces" attacked innocent Jews, among them my students and their teachers.
I could see the ulpana neighborhood drama play out as deja vu.
The government did, too and put lots of pressure on the Beit El people so there wouldn't be those fantastic inspiring pictures of young Jews defying the armed riot squad police.
The final terribly silent evacuation of those houses reminds me of when the family of a severely injured or dying person is put under pressure by the doctors to "pull the plug," while some protest that he/she is still alive.
I feel so sorry for those who actually believed that the could beat Bibi's government. The coalition is ninety-four out of one hundred and twenty Knesset Members. Bibi has each held tightly. If they move too far, they're out. Yes, that's why I don't vote Likud.
I like Westbank Mama's take on the latest development in the Israeli version of "social justice" sic. Last summer they were all the rage in the media, and the government acquiesced like doting grandparents oblivious to junior's self-centred spoiled behavior.
Well I guess the government ministers got some good parenting lessons this past winter. They finally said "no" to the "I want now" me-generation crowd led by upper class Daphna Leef.
Leef's latest gimme, gimme demonstrations were sans permits, and since Israel is a country of law, as the Left keeps telling us, you need proper police permits for demonstrations, rallies etc. If you don't follow the laws you'll get in trouble. Apparently after last year's great pr protest successes, Leef and company thought they were above the law. Finally, there was a crackdown. A little reality set in.
The protesters knocked over trash cans and shouted chants criticizing Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Still, the car managed to leave the scene.
The police said Friday's protest was illegal, and that the demonstrators refused the requests of municipal inspectors to halt it. Protesters attacked the inspectors and the police at the site, the police said. Protesters cursed, spat and threw things at the officers, the police said.
Let's hope that the public will finally realize, recognize that there's nothing very "just" in Leef's organization and that her priorities are unrealistic and elitist.
The government and police must treat them the way they'd treat any other protest group without permits. None of the official bodies expected violent reactions. Last summer the Korach demonstrators were coddled by the government. Instead of scheduled television programming on Saturday nights, we'd find ourselves watching the carnival entertainment at their protests as if it was earth-shattering national news.
I hope that the government and police will continue laying the law and teaching these rioters that they are not above it. They should work hard and live within their budgets.
Yesterday I posted videos of wise words, common sense from Caroline Glick and Naftali Bennett which I filmed at the 2012 Presidents Conference in Jerusalem last week. At that very same session, The Tomorrow's Borders of Israel, I also heard horrifying words and suggestions.
What stands out in my mind is how David Makovsky kept on referring to various percentages of Land and "the settlers" as if we were just pawns or furniture that could be moved by him without any consequences whatsoever.
Makovsky took all of his plans for the State of Israel out of human context and history.
"I am a settler! I'm a person, a human being!"
Besides the actual technical problems in keeping the various "settlement blocs" safe and secure when surrounded by an Arab terrorist state, an impossibility for those who subscribe to reality, Makovsky's "solutions" totally disregarded the human factor and the proven failures of smaller settlement/settler withdrawals.
Another speaker on that panel, Ilan Paz, dealt with the complications of such a withdrawal and Palestinian state with the typical old-time Israeli "נפתור אותם niftor otam, we'll find a solution-no big deal."
I'm taking him out of context. The moral, logical considerations one must have when talking about life in Israel and in the Jordan Valley, Judea, Samaria, Jerusalem any place etc. must be that if you're not affected/touched by the grand pronouncements and plans you're promoting, you have no right to make them. People like Mokovsky aren't personally affected by their mistakes, and I have no doubt that if any of his plans/options would be adopted by the Israeli Government it would be a security disaster for the State of Israel, should not be listened to. A realistic scenario would be to see it as, G-d forbid, the cause of the destruction of the State of Israel if we followed his suggestions.
I'm not confident that Paz and his buddies can find workable solutions to the problems their, and that includes Shimon Peres's plans would cause. Actually, just like today's situation in which the Israeli south is suffering from the Gazan missile attacks, the entire remaining country would be bombarded by a Palestinian sic state.
Makovsky will then "tssk, tssk" from his haven in America, and Peres, Paz and other Leftist Israeli leaders will be offered luxury refuge accommodations. And lots of memorials will be funded, but nobody will admit the truth that they and their ideologies caused the death of Jews and the destruction of the State of Israel, G-d forbid.
By flashing my color-coded press name tag, I was able to get into the already packed, standing-room only/barely session of the 2012 Shimon Peres President's Conference in which Caroline Glick and Naftali Bennett were on the panel.
When I walked in Caroline Glick was in the middle of speaking, so I have no idea of how much I had actually missed. Like many Israelis and Jews and people all over the world with common sense, I'm a great fan of hers.
Considering that my opinions, ideology and life-style etc are very much the opposite of Israel's President Shimon Peres and the conference revolved around him and his philosophies, I didn't expect to hear much I agreed with. This was Peres's party, and I recognize it as a fact. I was/am blown away by the amount of money his name can collect from abroad. The conference was free to all participants and it was humongous by any standard. It cost millions and millions of dollar$ to pull it off. Those of my political opinions have no such money sources. So it was nice of the organizers to offer a bit of choice and variety among the speakers.
The session in which they spoke was called The Tomorrow's Borders of Israel, rather a strange title in English. The Hebrew title also sounds strange to my ears, גבולות המחר של ישראל. Maybe "the tomorrow," like the grammatically peculiar "the peace" are from the same grammatical/ideological source. Israel's Left speaks of השלום hashalom, the peace. Now, I look at the word "peace" as having a specific meaning, lack of war and aggression, including plans to annihilate the other side. The sort of state that would exist if we had the Leftists' "the peace" is something else. Simply put, it's a sham. It's Shimon Peres's "new middle-east."
I managed to record quite a bit of good plain common sense and facts that were avoided by other speakers in both Hebrew and English of what Glick and Bennett said, including replies to questions. I suggest that you listen to what they said.
One of the important points that Glick made was to counter the idea that Israel must create/agree to a Palestinian sic State is to get the Arabs out of Israel in order to protect Israel. Caroline Glick reminded everyone that those dangerous Arabs won't disappear if Israel no longer controls where they live. They will become even more dangerous if ruled by Arab terrorists in the guise of a Palestinian sic government.
This week's Parshat Shavua, Torah Portion of the Week is Korach. The story of Korach and his rebellion against Moses and Aaron is another stage in the downward spiral of the Jewish People in the first year after being rescued from slavery to Pharaoh in Egypt.
Korach incites a mutiny challenging Moses’ leadership and the granting of the kehunah (priesthood) to Aaron. He is accompanied by Moses’ inveterate foes, Dathan and Abiram. Joining them are 250 distinguished members of the community, who offer the sacrosanct ketoret (incense) to prove their worthiness for the priesthood. The earth opens up and swallows the mutineers, and a fire consumes the ketoret-offerers.
This year I, davka, studied the first part of במדבר Bamidbar Numbers (In the wilderness/desert) in Matan with Atara Snowbell. We didn't get to Korach this year, but we'll study it next year, G-d willing. It's too bad that we didn't manage to study Korach this year, because I see it as totally connected to the a topic from Bamidbar that we did study. That is when Moses asked G-d for help in governing/controlling the people. In response G-d appointed seventy eleders to assist Moshe. In actuality there were seventy-two included Eldad and Medad who prophesied* in the camp/among the people.
י וַיִּשְׁמַע מֹשֶׁה אֶת-הָעָם, בֹּכֶה לְמִשְׁפְּחֹתָיו--אִישׁ, לְפֶתַח אָהֳלוֹ; וַיִּחַר-אַף יְהוָה מְאֹד, וּבְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה רָע. 10 And Moses heard the people weeping, family by family, every man at the door of his tent; and the anger of the LORD was kindled greatly; and Moses was displeased.
יא וַיֹּאמֶר מֹשֶׁה אֶל-יְהוָה, לָמָה הֲרֵעֹתָ לְעַבְדֶּךָ, וְלָמָּה לֹא-מָצָתִי חֵן, בְּעֵינֶיךָ: לָשׂוּם, אֶת-מַשָּׂא כָּל-הָעָם הַזֶּה--עָלָי. 11 And Moses said unto the LORD: 'Wherefore hast Thou dealt ill with Thy servant? and wherefore have I not found favour in Thy sight, that Thou layest the burden of all this people upon me?
יב הֶאָנֹכִי הָרִיתִי, אֵת כָּל-הָעָם הַזֶּה--אִם-אָנֹכִי, יְלִדְתִּיהוּ: כִּי-תֹאמַר אֵלַי שָׂאֵהוּ בְחֵיקֶךָ, כַּאֲשֶׁר יִשָּׂא הָאֹמֵן אֶת-הַיֹּנֵק, עַל הָאֲדָמָה, אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲבֹתָיו. 12 Have I conceived all this people? have I brought them forth, that Thou shouldest say unto me: Carry them in thy bosom, as a nursing-father carrieth the sucking child, unto the land which Thou didst swear unto their fathers?
יג מֵאַיִן לִי בָּשָׂר, לָתֵת לְכָל-הָעָם הַזֶּה: כִּי-יִבְכּוּ עָלַי לֵאמֹר, תְּנָה-לָּנוּ בָשָׂר וְנֹאכֵלָה. 13 Whence should I have flesh to give unto all this people? for they trouble me with their weeping, saying: Give us flesh, that we may eat.
יד לֹא-אוּכַל אָנֹכִי לְבַדִּי, לָשֵׂאת אֶת-כָּל-הָעָם הַזֶּה: כִּי כָבֵד, מִמֶּנִּי. 14 I am not able to bear all this people myself alone, because it is too heavy for me.
And after that G-d appointed the seventy elders. We don't know exact time in the Bible, but the fact that the Bible was written in the order it was written was to make it clear that Korach took advantage of Moses's weakness.
Korach was an opportunist. A rebel/troublemaker like Korach wouldn't try to take over or shake things ups if he didn't think he had a chance to succeed. It's also interesting that he had a delegation with him from all the tribes, davka, of the "...princes of the congregation, the elect men of the assembly, men of renown." Korach was well prepared. It's obvious that he had been working on the rebellion for a while.
When you have weak "leaders" without confidence and vision, there's always more of a chance that the opposition will strengthen.
Here in Israel we're suffering because of bad, weak leadership. The State of Israel is being ruled by politicians who don't fully believe in our rights to the Land of Israel. That's why the Arabs are launching deadly missiles at us. Our IDF responses don't bother them. They accuse us of violence and then laugh with glee at the weak, pathetic responses from our government. Our security depends on our strength, our ideological strength and determination. That's how we gained our independence in 1948. The Jewish population, including new immigrants straight off the boats, were willing to fight for the Land and State of Israel. They didn't worry about what the world or our enemies thought or felt. We have lost that determination as a People. It does still exist in many parts of the country, but it's neither in the government nor the media.
This is Our Land. The only People with a long history, legal and yes moral rights to be sovereign here are Jews!
*A navi, or as it's translated "prophet" is not one who predicts. The navi sees things because he's connected/communicating with G-d to give the people or the King messages. He was a facilitator, not a fortune teller.
This week Latma produced the 150th episode of the Tribal Update! We've been working week in and week out for the past three years with barely a one week break. I don't think that any television show in the history of television -- aside from the news -- has such an uninterrupted production record. As you can imagine, my team needs a bit of time to recharge our batteries. So we've decided to take the next several weeks to regroup and let our creative juices run wild. In the near future, we will be producing materials that may or may not bear any resemblance to what we have done so far as we try out new ideas. We will post the ones that work, and we'll file the ones that bomb away. I'll keep posting it all on my website and Facebook page. And I hope you'll continue to watch and send your suggestions.
Don't worry, we are not disappearing. We are just regrouping in order to return even better and fresher than we have been for the past 3 years.
In this week's show, among other things, we present the dilemma of the Israeli soccer fan in choosing a team to root for in the Euro Cup. We also bring you behind the scenes of Israel's decision to deport the foreign workers from South Sudan. And much, much more.
Here is the full show. Enjoy! And again, don't worry, we're not going away.
As a veteran blogger, about ten years of blogging under my belt, I've seen the profession/hobby evolve from "What's that?" to getting accepted as a conventional journalist at events like the recent President's Conference.
Of course, there are bloggers and there are bloggers.
Some bloggers have mostly inactive blogs or concentrate on subject matter that only interest their nearest and dearest at the most.
Some blogs are like very serous news sites.
Some blogs are "commercial" to promote a business.
Some bloggers, like myself, run more than one blog, because I write about too wide a variety of subjects to have them all on one "site." If I had known how my blogging would have evolved, I could have started my very own internet magazine.
Some bloggers just blog on the larger more conventional media. Almost all newspapers which are now online, besides paper/hardcopy, have blogs in their internet version.
Around seven years ago or more, I was given journalist seats on Nefesh B'Nefesh immigrant plane rides to Israel. The public relations firm that worked with them just requested that I also get some regular media to promise to publish my reports, not only my blogs. Yes, the same PR firm worked on the Presidents Conference.
Not only did we have the same color-coded name tags as the conventional press, but a few special events were organized for us including meeting President Shimon Peres during which he answered a lot of questions from bloggers.
I managed to get to all but one of the special sessions. On Wednesday we got to meet the Editor of Tablet who said that she would never expect writers to write for nothing, very rare in today's world.
And on Thursday we met the notorious Peter Beinart f2f when he did his best to charm the bloggers who mostly disagreed with his published opinions.
For many of us bloggers, it was a great opportunity to get together as professionals and to forge face-to-face relationships. We do take ourselves and our writing very seriously. Not all bloggers were able to take off much time to attend the convention, mostly fitting it into our workday, even if that meant working at the convention itself via computer/internet in the Press Room.
Blogging may not offer much in financial benefits, but we do offer the world professional services, and it's nice to be appreciated.
Jewish Leadership, Why Not From Zion?
By the time I could convince the guards that I, as an official member of the press (bloggers were considered press by the organizers,) I was supposed to be allowed to enter even if it was crowded. And when I got in, the ushers ushered me to a seat in the front row. Contrary to what they had said at the door, there were a few empty seats.
The moderator was still introducing the speakers, and suddenly it hit me that they were all from abroad. And as I listened carefully to speech after speech I became more and more disturbed. Apparently the organizers consider "Jewish leadership" as a galus/galut chutz la'Aretz diaspora problem.
כִּי מִצִּיּוֹן תֵּצֵא תוֹרָה, וּדְבַר-יְהוָה מִירוּשָׁלִָם.
for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Torah is the essence of Judaism and Jewish Leadership must come from Zion, from the Land of Israel. At least the concept of young Jewish Leadership should have been considered as something for the entire world. I really do not like the the separation. It doesn't make it any better that the panel had representatives from Taglit-Birthright Israel trip, Limmud and other excellent programs who really care about the future of the Jewish People.
I was most impressed by the last speaker, Rabbi Rabbi Daniel Smokler. He described introducing a non-observant Jew to Judaism as "an adopted child meeting her birth parents." From my vantage point of over forty years in Israel, and also not being raised religiously observant, I think that doing what Rabbi Smokler does abroad is like introducing them on skype. Torah in Israel is the face to face meeting.
Maybe the title was faulty, because it made me expect something else, something much larger and greater.
True Jewish leadership can only come from the Land of Israel, because it is here that we can all unite. With all my criticisms of Shimon Peres and the conference, I must say that it could only have had been held in Jerusalem. A galut diaspora venue would reduce its effect.
I left before the questions in order to be on time for a special bloggers session with Peter Beinart, which G-d willing, bli neder I'll blog about another time.
There seems to be a war going on in the south, the south of Israel that is. Arab terrorists from Gaza have been launching deadly missiles/weapons at Israel. And then Israel responds as carefully as possible in order not to kill anyone, duh?
A little geography lesson. The closest country to southern Israel is Egypt. Gaza isn't a country. I don't know what to call it, a terrorist entity, maybe. What would you call it? Israel keeps claiming that it is at peace with Egypt.
It's a strange sort of peace, an extended and cold cease-fire as Caroline Glick as said. If there was a true peace relationship between Israel and Egypt, then Egypt wouldn't put up with the Gazan terror aggression against Israel. But as all of us with even a fraction of an ear on the news knows, Egypt is a mess with lots of major problems, like unclear election results. That's what happens in a culture of chaos.
For the past three days the Gazan Arab terrorists have been attacking southern Israel with dangerous and potentially fatal weapons. Of course they are blaming us and claiming a ceasefire is our responsibility.
"Responding to the Egyptian efforts, we and the armed resistance announce our commitment to stop this round of confrontation as long as the occupation stops this aggression," said a written statement from Hamas's armed wing.
More than 55 rockets hit southern Israel on Wednesday as the IDF struck back at Hamas and Global Jihad targets in the Gaza Strip despite Egyptian calls for an immediate ceasefire.
This is consistent with all other past attacks on Israel.
Missiles like the one in the picture don't fly by themselves. It takes people to launch and aim them. G-d has been good to us in preventing major catastrophes, since each missile has the potential to kill many of us. That's the aim of the terrorists.
Israel continues to suffer attacks by the Arabs and we're not stopping them. This is war, isn't it?
Ambivalent I was for sure about attending this year's President's Conference. I'd been invited in the past and never ended up going for various reasons. To be honest, anything connected to Shimon Peres, President of Israel, is a turn-off as far as I'm concerned. But since it amazingly fit into my busy schedule, ok mid-way through day #2 was the earliest I could make it, I figured that G-d wanted me there.
Registration was a breeze. They accepted my official Israeli Senior Citizen ותיק Vatik Card as identification and gave me a name tag on a string to put around my neck. I picked up a schedule/program and discovered that there was only one session going on. It ended up that you needed a ticket to get in, and they were all gone.
When I complained to one of the staff, she told me to "blog, tweet, fb about the poor organization," since hundreds (could there have been so many?) of people were stuck like me with nothing to do.
"Hobnob or network," I was told. "You must know somebody here."
"Not me. I'm the invisible person." I replied. "Maybe I should just go home."
But then I spotted David Ha'ivri, of the Shomron Liaison Office. Soon I met Eli Hertz of Myths and Facts and saw Stephen Leavitt, General Manager - Internet at JewishPress.com. I was starting to enjoy myself.
Soon I ran into an old friend and newer blogger, Sharon of Real Jerusalem Streets who took me off to the Press Room. Yes, we bloggers are fully accepted as journalists at the President's Conference.
She also gave me her ticket to the plenum to observe the Plenary Session: What's New in New Media. I got to hear most of the end of it.
Paula, A Soldier's Mother, was at the conference, too. The organizers even have a few special sessions for bloggers only. They obviously realize that we give them lots of free publicity.
At the session I attended we heard Alana Newhouse, editor-in-chief of Tablet. She also took lots of questions from the floor. There were more bloggers there, Rafi-Life in Israel, my husband-My Right Word, David of Jewlicious and many, many others.
Especially since most of us rarely get to see each other, this was definitely an afternoon well-spent.
Yesterday was one of those black days in Israel. We were bombarded/ by attacked by Arab terrorists from the south, and the town of Beit El gave in to government pressure/bribery.
Alerted by a well-written headline in the Jewish Press which mentioned that the false prophet/panacea that Iron Dome hadn't done much of a job protecting the Israelis in the south, I looked for more information.
The following paragraph now appears in the Jerusalem Post. Being that the article is online and not from a "hardcopy," one of the editors can suddenly edit or delete it.
Iron Dome batteries were deployed throughout the South but by the evening they had not been activated. The IDF said the batteries were on high alert and were prepared to defend the cities they surround.
I can't understand what it means. Maybe I'm just stupid. Does it mean that the Iron Domes have been placed/parked around southern cities, but nobody has bothered turning them on?
Israelis have been programmed to believe that the south is no longer in danger because the Iron Domes will catch and destroy any missile the Arab terrorists launch at us. I guess it's supposed to be like the simple ball game we used to play, "man in the middle." The big difference is that we don't get to use the missiles we catch against the enemy.
Honestly, I wasn't surprised. It's one of the reasons I have been relatively silent about the entire issue and I didn't join any of the demonstrations; nor did I visit the protest tent etc. Post-Disengagement I'm very cynical about the honesty of our "settlement leaders." That's the truth.
Outpost residents say agreement preventing forced evacuation comes after Prime Minister's Office pledges to build 300 homes in Beit El settlement, change policy on removal of settler homes on private Palestinian property.
One of the most bitter lessons we learned from Disengagement was that the aim of the official "settle leadership" was to pacify the residents and keep the anti-Disengagement activists busy with useless activities which could be controlled and stopped easily by government forces. Sad, but true.
Well, to wind this up, in some ways you can compare the Iron Dome with "settler leaders." Nu, what do you think?
The other day before going to sleep, I emailed myself a reminder (information overload wreacks havoc with my memory) to blog about the use of the term פעילי טרור pi'ilei terror, terror activists. I heard it on the news here in Israel.
Why couldn't they say מחבלים michablim, terrorists?
When I hear of "activists" I think of my past as a Jewish student activist in New York demonstrating for Israel and against the antisemitic policies of communist USSR. By calling Arab terrorists "activists" the Israeli news editors are dumping me and my friends from SSSJ (Student Struggle for Soviet Jewry) in the same boat as Arab terrorist murderers.
This is what the Arab terrorists themselves, on the Al Qassam website, call the deadly weapons they launch at Israel.
It wasn't all that long ago when international politicians, leaders, professors and media were absolutely raving about the "Arab spring," as if it was a gentle, benign and beautiful carpet of wildflowers blooming.
Instead, it is being revealed that there aren't any real differences between the new "Arab spring" rulers and the ones they've replaced. Ruthie Blum's most recent Israel Hayom article is about how the Arabs think of the United States and Israel.
Words are very powerful. We're not going to win the information war if we don't use the right terminology.
All of the world is in danger. If you've ever learned European History, you'd know that this isn't the first time that the Muslims have tried to take over the world.
This short documentary describes the glorious rule of Muslim Moors in what is now Spain. A forgotten history is remembered. Visit www.IslamicVideos.net for more videos like this!
Is this the history you learned? Watch and listen carefully.
Dry Bones old cartoon says/pictures it very well.
The Europe of today isn't the same one as fifty years ago or even twenty years ago. Look at the demographics and look at the Islamic philosophy and aim. Israel isn't the only country in danger. And we're not the only country fighting with the wrong weapons.
The severe incident this morning on the Egyptian border, near the Gaza Strip, was predictable. The terrorists realized that Israel is concerned, hesitating - and this gives them plenty of confidence. The results are severe. A Golani force charged and killed the terrorists, but this was only after the harsh result had taken place. In the past few months, the IDF have been reacting to fire incidents in the area with what is being called “ballerina steps.” It’s not that it couldn’t act differently, and not that it doesn’t want to. However, the hesitant political echelon is waiting for miracles. That always ends badly, and this is what happened this morning.
The attack that Egozi referred to is "Terrorists infiltrate Egypt-Israel border, kill civilian contractor."
Friends who live in southern Israel have been reporting sounds of weapon fire and military planes, but will our response really stop the terrorists?
An Israeli civilian was killed and another wounded Monday morning when a terrorist cell from Sinai infiltrated southern Israel in the area of Kadesh Barnea and opened fire on the Israelis' vehicles. Two of the Palestinian infiltrators were killed in the ensuing gun battle with Israeli troops in the area, while the third terrorist was either killed or escaped back into Sinai. Later on Monday, the Israeli air force killed two Palestinians traveling on a motorbike in the northern Gaza Strip. The Israel Defense Forces spokesperson said the two Palestinians were part of a terrorist sniper cell from Beit Hanoun and were not connected to the earlier attack along the border. Palestinian sources said the men were members of the Islamic Jihad military wing.
It's not only Israeli leaders who are out of their league, consistently underestimating the dangers we're all in.
It's this philosophy, lack of realism which truly endangers world peace.
There should be zero tolerance when it comes to attacks on Israel, internal and external. What punishment is being given to the Arab youth that attacked a Jerusalem army base this week?
We can't allow this to continue!
I'm not a scare monger; I'm a pragmatist.
Those who don't take me seriously are generally the type who believe in evolution, the survival of the fittest. Right? So, use those principles on what is happening now in the world. If you don't strengthen yourselves and fight it, then you will see the Muslims taking over, because that's the proof that they are strongest and most determined.
The fight isn't over. We still have a chance to stop the "invasion," but we must work hard and use the right weapons.
Am I a "Sell-Out" to Go to Peres's President's Conference?
As a blogger who (among other specialties) is considered a political observer, I've received invitations to the Annual President's Conferences. I always plan on attending, but somehow it just doesn't work out.
This year I decided to really attend, even though when I look at the program and scheduled speakers, I wonder if I really want to listen to what they have to say.
The Brain – Can Machines Improve Humans?
Judaism and Democracy: Complementary or Conflicting Values?
The World Economy – Will it Get Worse Before it Gets Better?
What Is the Secret of Asia's Success?
What does World Jewry Expect from Israel?
Tomorrow's Jewish-Arab Coexistence in Israel: Moving Forwards or Backwards?
Will the Next Jewish Leader Please Stand Up?
Tomorrow's Religion: Part of the Problem or Part of the Solution?
A Greener Israel – A Distant Dream?
So many times I've wondered if Shimon Peres and his Leftist followers and fellow travellers have learned from their mistakes or even recognized that they have made mistakes. It is so clear to me that Peres's entire mindset is based on something so terribly unrealistic and dangerous.
For almost the entire history of the State of Israel, Shimon Peres has been a leader of the Israelis who believe that it's possible for Israel to "make peace" with the Arabs. They are constantly trying out inevitably unsuccessful "experiments" in their quest for peace. All we here in Israel get is war, terrorism and foreign criticism and pressure to try harder.
I'm a pragmatist, not a dreamer. I see these consistent and progressively worse failures as proof that their entire philosophy is faulty. It is based on a lie, not on history nor on human nature.
The truth is that we won't have peace, true peace --the fake stuff is what makes war and terror-- until the Arabs want to live with us in peace. All the while that Arabs indoctrinate their children to kill us, we have no "peace partner."
I'm not naive. I don't expect to hear my point of view at Peres's President's Conference. But to be intellectually honest and informed, I must listen to what the other side is saying, even if it just gives me fuel to use against them.
I just wish they'd listen to my point of view just as carefully as I'm going to listen to theirs.
Where Do Our Prayers Go?
Has The United States "Unfriended" Israel?
Israeli Politics, Could I Have Been Wrong?
Shmuley Boteach, Running for What?