Somewhere in Kenya....

Aztlan Reconquista? Legit? Heard of it?

https://twitter.com/BlissTabitha/status/546855977359007744/photo/1

The coming boycott of Jewish businesses

SHMULEY BOTEACH
I saw a nasty thing walking with my children in New York City on the Sabbath. On Madison Ave in the mid-sixties, we saw a group of people, chanting, singing.
Was it Christmas carolers? As we got closer we saw it was a protest. An anti-Israel protest.
But this one was not outside an Israeli Consulate or Embassy. It was outside a commercial, retail store. A diamond store. Owned by Lev Leviev, the Israeli billionaire businessman and philanthropist.
“Glitz and glam. He steals Palestinian land.”
I was appalled. I got closer. The protesters were accusing Leviev, a private Jewish citizens, of stealing Palestinian land, persecuting Palestinians, and supporting an imperial Israel.
I asked the protesters who Leviev was and why they were protesting him. Was he Israel’s Prime Minister or Foreign Minister? At least the Ambassador. How else to explain why they would be protesting outside a business simply owned by a Jew.
They told me he was an Israeli who supported Israel’s persecution of the Palestinians. He was a known, high-profile Jewish businessman. They were there to make sure no one bought his products.
I had had enough. I raised my hands into the air, in the mist of the protest, and said loudly, “Long Live Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East. The only country in that dark region that is a bastion of liberty and human rights. A place where Palestinian women need never fear honor killings. A place where Israeli Arabs have more guaranteed rights than any Arab nation. A place where gay Palestinians need not fear being shot in the head on false charges of collaboration. A place where Arabs can protest publicly, just like all of you, and not be shot. Long live righteous and majestic Israel.”
Instantly, all the protestors forgot about Leviev and turned their ire toward me. I was now the devil. They were shouting at me, abusing me. “F—ck off. Go F—ck yourself.”
I got louder.
“How revolting of all of you to protest a business because it’s owned by a Jew.” What is this? Nuremberg 1934? Absolutely reprehensible.
My kids were now engaged in the fight, singing “Am Yisrael Chai. The Jewish people are alive and well.” We were louder than the protestors.
I started saying “Down with Hamas which allows honor killings of innocent Palestinian women. Down with Hamas that slaughters innocent Palestinian gay men. Down with the Palestinian…. ” and I was about to say “… Authority for refusing to go to elections in 10 years and creating a dictatorship, robbing the Palestinian people of their freedom” when I saw that someone was filming me on the Sabbath.
The police came over, trying to quell the confrontation. They have a permit, he said. They have the right to protest.
God bless America. I respect their right for public demonstration. But I also respect my right to write this in a column.
Jews of the world. Wake up. There has never been an assault on us like this in our lifetimes. And we are allowing it. Through our timidity and through closing our eyes and pretending not to see, it’s growing. Our enemies are arraying against us. They have substituted anti-Semitism for Anti-Israelism. But it’s the same sentiment.
Jew-hatred, pure and simple.
This holiday season the world’s anti-Semites are giving thanks for the existence of the State of Israel. If not for Israel they would not have camouflage for their Jew-hatred. Israel has given them cover. It’s not the Jews we hate, but just the Jewish state. It’s not because we have an inherent dislike of Jews. We just hate occupation.
But then they call each other on their IPhones, even though they’re made in China which has been occupying Tibet since 1950.
But only a weak community would give these haters a fig leaf to cover over their clear bigotry, prejudice, and hatred.
My kids were flabbergasted that a private Jewish business could draw major accusations of Palestinian persecution. It suited the protesters well that it was a diamond dealer. Perfect stereotype.
But who would be next? Which Jewish business would they target next?
A few hours later we went to the Chabad public Menorah lighting outside the Plaza hotel on 5th Ave. There was a small protest against Israel there was well. Joining the protest was a 20-something man who told us all that the Jews owned all of 5th Avenue. He pointed across the street at the famous Apple 5th Avenue store. “Apple is owned by Jews.”
I looked at him.
“Um, erg, hmmm. Did you know that Steve Jobs was the son of an Arab-American? So how does that square with the Jews owning Apple?”
“Well the Jews bought it from Jobs with the endless money they have.”
Aha.
I thought to myself, Is there no respite from all this Jew-hatred? Can we not get away from them even at a Menorah lighting?
The other day Harvard University kicked out SodaStream from their cafeteria for the terrible sin of employing hundreds of Palestinians at a plant in Maale Adumim that treats Arabs as the absolute equals of their Israeli counterparts. Without SodaStream these Palestinian families would be destitute. But Palestinian activists at Harvard, animated by hatred of Israel over love for Palestinian lives, demanded a boycott and the caterer capitulated.
And so it goes. Jewish timidity in the United States is allowing more and more of these outrages to take place.
I wonder if we recognize the seriousness of what’s happening or will it engulf us before we take decisive action?
What is needed is an immediate move to organize Jewish students on campus to respond publicly to the anti-Israel onslaught at Universities. We need public demonstrations against Israel-hatred, anti-Semitism, and in favor of freedom and democracy in the Middle East. Jewish students should not just be fighting BDS but should be going on offense to push through resolutions in the City Councils sanctioning Hamas and the Palestinian Authority for not holding elections in a decade and transforming Palestinian society into dictatorships.
Organizations who dare hold ordinary Jews responsible for actions in the Middle East – which would be the equivalent of protesting an Arab-owned department store in Detroit for the butchery of Bashar Assad in Syria – should themselves be targeted for public demonstrations, calling them what they are: anti-Semites.
And let’s honor those brave individuals who have stood up to BDS.
Every June our organization hosts the International Champions of Jewish Values Gala Awards Dinner in New York. Last year the Hollywood celebrity we honored was Sean Penn for his unrivaled bravery in going to Bolivia and rescuing the life of a Jewish businessman who had been wrongly incarcerated.
The year before we honored my dear friend Dr. Mehmet Oz, a Muslim, for his tireless efforts to promote the value of human life by getting us all to live more healthy lives and for his continued friendship with the Jewish people. A few months after the award we hosted Mehmet and his family in Israel.
This year we intend to honor Scarlett Johannson for standing up to the pressure to abandon SodaStream, a company that is a model of Arab-Israeli brotherhood and fraternity.
Scarlett, if you’re out there, please come to New York and accept. The dinner is on 3 June, 2015.
mething great!"

BHO - FREES Terrorists & 3 Cuban Spies -- Why Not Jonathan Pollard?

If Pres. Obama Can Free 10 Guantanamo Terrorists & 3 Cuban Spies -- Why Not Jonathan Pollard?

NEW YORK, December 23, 2014 --- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA)reiterates its call of last week for President Barack Obama to free Jonathan Pollard, after President Obama freed three convicted spies who spied for an enemy regime, Cuba, and now that he has also freed ten terrorists imprisoned at Guantanamo.



The first of six, freed the previous week -- a Tunisian, a Palestinian and four Syrians -- captured in Pakistan and Afghanistan 12 years ago, were released to Uruguay, which in turn immediately released the men. President Obama has now also released four Afghans captured over a decade ago. There is no U.S. requirement that the government of Afghanistan continue to detain the men, meaning all ten are free (Allen McDuffee, 'U.S. Releases Four Afghan Detainees From Guantanamo,' The Atlantic, December 20, 2014).



As with the three Cubans freed last week, these men worked for America's enemies and were imprisoned for a similar period (12 years for the first six Guantanamo men, over a decade for the latest four, 13 years for the Cuban spies) --  whereas Jonathan Pollard, spying for an American ally, Israel, and whose activities cost no American lives, has sat in jail for 29 years.



ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "As we noted last week, it is deeply disturbing that President Obama, who has been repeatedly urged by U.S. officials who held responsibility at the time for national security and intelligence matters to free Jonathan Pollard, has refused to do so.



"In contrast, President Obama repeatedly frees spies and terrorists who fought for America's enemies and whose activities claimed American lives.



"Jonathan Pollard passed on classified information to Israel, a U.S. ally, not a U.S. enemy. There was, thus, no treason involved. Pollard pled guilty to the charges and apologized for his crimes.



"Despite, having pled guilty as part of a plea bargain, Pollard was shown no leniency and was given the maximum sentence, comparable to that of Aldrich Ames, the chief of CIA counterintelligence in Eastern Europe, who passed critical defense secrets to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and was found responsible for the deaths of at least 11 U.S. agents!



"A host of senior past high U.S. government officials with responsibility for relevant national security, international and legal affairs, such as former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George P. Schultz, former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, former National Security Advisor Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane, former Assistant Secretary for Defense Lawrence J. Korb, former Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, former Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman David Durenberger, former Deputy Attorney General Philip Heymann; former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum, former Senate Judiciary Committee Member, Dennis DeConcini, and former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel Samuel Lewis and Thomas Pickering, have all publicly and in writing stated that Jonathan Pollard's sentence has been disproportionate and urged President Obama to pardon him.



"Jonathan Pollard has already served nearly three decades behind bars, which is by far the harshest sentence ever meted out for the offense he committed -- the average term for which is a fine, or two to four years' imprisonment.



"If President Obama can free 10 Guantanamo terrorists who took up arms against America, he can certainly pardon Jonathan Pollard. He should do so without further delay."


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Jewishness - Who Do You Think You Are? by Steven Shamrak

Jewishness - Who Do You Think You Are?

by Steven Shamrak

For several decades, the question about Jewish identity - “who is a Jew” - has been buried and conveniently forgotten - due to fake political correctness, in fear of being called “racist”, and to appease some prominent members of the community - by Jewish leadership and Jewish communities. 

Recently Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman expressed strong opinions, as it should be when someone has an opinion, on the role of religion in the State of Israel (and Jewish identity). "When talking about the Jewish state, is important to emphasize that in the national sense and not in the religious sense," Liberman said. He added that Yisrael Beytenu is very much for Jewish tradition in Israel.

"We respect the religion and Judaism," he said. "Without Judaism and tradition, we would not be standing on this podium. Without Judaism we would not be here and have not established the State of Israel and therefore we can do no harm to Jewish tradition in Israel."

"In the state of Israel you cannot separate religion and state," he said. "As Jews, we do not distinguish between religion and nationality." This principle is applicable to all Jews, regardless of their current residence!

The story of the Four Sons is read at the Passover Seder table. Each of the Four Sons symbolizes a different kind of Jewish person, from the "Wise" one to "the Son who doesn't Know Enough to Ask". The story of the Four Sons reflects that no matter what religious or political views a Jew has all of us are important and intricate parts of the Jewish nation!

Diversity of the Jewish people with emphasis on national unity is addressed again during the celebration of Sukkot when four fruits and plants must be united in order for Jews to make a prayer for peace and prosperity for all people, not just Jews!

Enemies of the Jewish people have given us many derogatory and demonizing names in order to rob us of our true spiritual names: “Israel” - "Triumphant with God", and “Evrim” - “one who have crossed over”.

Jewish spiritual and national unity was shaken after Napoleonic times. When loyalty of French Jews was questioned, rabbis gave an ambiguous answer to prove Jewish loyalty to France, which implied separation of religion and nationality. After that Napoleon had granted Jews some degree of equality in the French Empire, although, this ‘equality’ experiment did not last long in anti-Semitic Europe!

Not long ago, being a Jew meant both: religion and an ethnicity - that is, how all our anti-Semitic ‘friends’ have always treated Jews. Most of them are still thinking and behaving this way! Being Jewish is not just praying to one G-d, or having Jewish parents. It is belonging to a rich spiritual, cultural and national tradition. It is being a member of the nation which in spite of all odds, persecution and relatively small population, survived for several thousand years and made immense contribution to spiritual, intellectual and scientific development of  Humanity.

Jewish ethnicity, due to the lack of traditional spiritual education, had secured the continuity of family traditions and national belonging even in secular countries like the Soviet Union.

There are less than 14 million Jews in the world now, almost the same number as 60 years ago after WWII. During this time most nations have tripled or quadrupled their population! This is an unfortunate result of the assimilation process Jews have been suffering due to the national identity crisis, anti-Semitic persecution and lack of self-respect.

Jews population during the Roman Empire was around 9 million, similar to the ethnic Han population of China at the time, several hundred million now. Two thousand years later Jewish population is merely 14 million.

Assimilation is the biggest threat to the existence of the Jewish people! Breaking the duality of Jewish identity is encouraged by Jew-haters and self-hating Jews as the way to facilitate assimilation and elimination of Jewish identity.

There are some Judo-Christians groups that celebrate Charismas and Hanukah. Usually Jews who turned their back on their heritage disappear in one or two generations.

The ‘Integration’ of Jews is still a hidden agenda of our enemies - extermination of the Jews by any way possible! By facilitating disappearance of Jews they - in their schizoid and delusional belief - feel that they prove that their religion, whether Islam and Christianity, is the true Abrahamic one!

PS: Tinok Shenishba ("captured infant") - is a Talmudic term that refers to a Jewish individual who sins inadvertently as a result of having been raised without an appreciation for the thought and practices of Judaism. "Tinok" principle used to be an important part of Jewish life, even in my family - 3 generations of non-religious Jews!

Disseminating Crimes of Islam - by Steven Shamrak

There are many crimes committed by Muslim countries, Islamic organizations and ordinary Muslims around the world. Many of them are ignored in of offending the Muslim population, which is quite skillful in manipulating public opinion, using fake Western political correctness.

Any action or even protest against Islamic barbarism is impaired by one ‘major’ goal - assisting Arabs in destruction of the Jewish state, Israel and it has nothing to do with the Western dependency on Arab oil. Unfortunately, this is the main preoccupation of the most anti-Semitic governments since the end of the World War II.

Most Western countries pretend that they are serious about one Islamic crime only - the ‘War on Terror’, ignoring the multitude of barbaric and inhuman crimes! This is incomplete list of crimes that have being perpetrated in the name of Islam:

1.         Hate and hostility toward all infidels without discrimination.

2.         Systematic discrimination, ethnic cleansing and even genocides committed against non-Muslims.

3.         Destruction of the archeological and historical heritage of non-Muslim cultures.

4.         Perpetual hate and fighting between the major Islamic sects, Shi’ites and Sunnis.

5.         Discrimination and persecution of minor Muslim sects, like Sufis and others.

6.         Destruction of Islamic archeological and cultural heritage if it is non-compliant with the strict interpretation of Koran by modern Islamist groups.

7.         Production and world-wide distribution of heroin and other illicit drugs.

8.         Unfair treatment and abuse of foreign workers in Arab countries.

9.         Inhumane treatment of women.

a.         Forced marriage and selling  of young girls into marriage

b.         Performing FGM - Female Genital Mutilation

c.         “Honor killings” and gang rapes

d.         Denying education for girls

10.       Widespread abuse and rape of children.

11.       Slavery - abduction and/or buying people.

12.       Killing those who try to leave Islam or converted to Christianity

13.       Last, but not least - financing, propagating, harboring global Islamic terrorism which is based on ideology of Wahabism, world domination of Islam!

There are other issues like: poverty, corruption, lack of general education, poor health care, and unsafe working environment, which are just additional problems that are not addressed and resolved by governments of Muslim countries due to the ingrained Islamic culture of corruption and disrespect.

Ethnic Make Up of 'Palestinians'.

Arab Palestinian nationality (which was officially forged in 1964) is an entity defined by its opposition to Zionism (the Jewish national liberation movement) and not by its national aspirations.

Like a mantra, Arabs repeatedly claim that the Palestinians are a native people of Israel . The concept of a 'Stateless Palestinian people' is not based on fact. It is a fabrication! The following is a chronology of an ethnic make up of so-called Palestinians and their origin.

During Ottoman Empire.

Until the Jews began returning to the Land of Israel in increasing numbers from the late 19^th century, the area called Palestine was a God-forsaken backwash that was controlled by the Ottoman Empire.

1880-84 Turkish government settles Muslim Circassian refugees in the Golan to ward off Bedouin robbers. Other settlers in the area include Sudanese, Algerians, Kurds...

In 1878, an Ottoman law granted lands in Palestine to the Moslem refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina in the Carmel region, in the Galilee and in the Plain of Sharon and in Caesarea. The refugees were further attracted by l2-year tax exemptions and exemption from military service.

The same colonization policy was also directed toward Moslem refugees from Russia - particularly from the Crimea and the Caucasus. They were Cherkesians and Turkmenians - leading to their settling in Abu Gosh, near Jerusalem and in the Golan Heights. Refugees from Algeria and Egypt were also settled in Jaffa, Gaza, Jericho and the Golan.

British Mandate: 1917-1947.

1923 Having discovered the Golan lacks oil but that the Mosul area in northern Syria is rich in oil, the British cede the Golan to France in exchange for Mosul . At the same time the Trans-Jordan was ceded from Palestinian mandate as well and Egypt was given control of Sinai, British and France gain control of Suetz canal. (82% of Jewish land was sacrificed in the process!)

In 1934 alone, 30,000 Syrian Arabs from the Hauran moved across the northern frontier into Mandate Palestine, attracted by work in and around the newly built British port and the construction of other infrastructure projects. They even dubbed Haifa Um el-Amal ("the city of work").

The Ottoman Turks' census (1882) recorded only 141,000 Muslims in the Palestinian. The British census in 1922 reported 650,000 Muslims.

The Palestine Mandate. In July 1922, the League of Nations entrusted the Great Britain with The Palestine Mandate, recognizing "the historical connection of the Jewish people with Palestine," Great Britain was called upon to facilitate the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine - Eretz Israel (Land of Israel). Three months later, in order to obtain full control over Suez canal, the Great Britain and France made a deal with Egypt and Hashemite Kingdom. The king's brother was invited to become the governor of Trans-Jordanian province (77% of the Mandate) and to become king of Jordan later; the Sinai Peninsula was given to Egypt; Golan Heights (5% of the Palestinian Mandate) was ceded to the French controlled Syrian Mandate. This robbery of the Jewish was legalized immediately by, the puppet of the Great Britain and France - the League of Nations!

General Assembly resolution 181, on Nov. 29, 1947: It calls for the partition of Palestine into Jewish and Arab states, with Jerusalem to be controlled by a "special international regime" to protect its holy places. The Zionist movement seeking to establish a Jewish state accepted the partition, the Arabs rejected it. The resolution was not carried out: After Israel declared its independence on May 14, 1948 , war broke out pitting the embryonic state against surrounding 7 Arab states. Israel gained more land than it would have had under the partition resolution. Neither Israel nor Jordan , which controlled the divided parts of Jerusalem after the war, accepted control of the holy city by an international body.

Security Council resolution 242 , Nov. 22, 1967: It calls for "withdrawal of Israel armed forces from territories occupied" in the 1967 Six Day War and for "respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force." The resolution was not carried out because the Arab side did not recognize Israel, and Israel refused to withdraw.

Why Left or Right?

by Steven Shamrak

One of the major distinctions between humans and animals is that we have analytical intellect. At the same time, we base most of our ideas and form opinions on our emotions, beliefs and assumptions, not on facts. Blinded by personal psycho-emotional history, people dismiss logic of the facts and create assumption to fit and support their own belief structure. Completely opposite ideologies: Lefties, Fascists and Islamic expansionists/terrorists found themselves united on one issue only - Hate toward Jews. Quite often, I receive mail from them. Those messages are mainly just rhetoric based on preconceived ideas and psycho-emotional cocktail.

I have never received letters that would contradict the historical facts about: Right of Jewish people to their homeland - "Palestine "; The history of aggression and terror created by Arabs; The U.N. bias against Israel.

But, I am often accused of being:

Anti-Arab or Muslim. -  As a member of the Jewish tribe, with thousands of years being the victims in history of persecution and discrimination , I can assure you that my view are not Anti-something. I just express a pro-Jewish point of view based on facts not legends. At the same time, I do respect the freedom and rights of any religion and political point of view, even the fascist one, as long as they do not infringe on the rights of others.

Too emotional. -  Arab leaders and clerics, often seen on TV, fumigating when they talk about Israel. Communists and Fascists are so passionate when they scream anti-Israel/anti-Semitic slogans. This is apparently acceptable. However, w hen a Jew logically presents facts in support of the Jewish state, suddenly, it is wrong to be emotional.

Too Right wing.   -    I do not consider myself Right or Left wing. I base my ideas and views on facts not emotions. There are too many people (including many Jews) who are very eager to promote, self-destructive, Left wing views. Actually, I can't understand why, in relation to Israel 's right to exist there are Right or Left wind political points of view. Isn't it supposed to be point of view based on historical facts and the right of the Jewish people to live on the land of their ancestors?

Arab-Israel Conflict - Forgotten Facts! - Steven Shamrak

The term "Palestinian" is itself a masterful twisting of history. To portray themselves as indigenous, Arab settlers adopted the name of an ancient Mediterranean tribe, the Philistines ("Invaders" in Hebrew), that disappeared out over almost 3000 years ago. The connection between this tribe and modern day Arabs is nil. Romans, in order to conceal their shame and anger with rebellious regions, changed the references to Judea and Samaria by naming them Palestine.

1. Nationhood and Jerusalem - Israel became a nation in the 14th century BCE. Two thousand years before the rise of Islam.

2. Since 1272 BCE the Jews have had dominion over the land for up to 1,000 years with a continuous Jewish presence in the land for the past 3,300 years.

3. The only Arab dominion since the Arab invasion and conquest in 635 C.E. lasted no more than 22 years.

4. King David founded the city of Jerusalem . Mohammed never came to Jerusalem.

5. For over 3,000 years, Jerusalem has been the Jewish capital. Jerusalem has never been the capital of any Arab or Muslim entity. Even when the Jordanians occupied Jerusalem, they never sought to make it their capital and Arab leaders did not come to visit.

6. Jerusalem is mentioned over 700 times in Tanach, the Jewish Holy Scriptures. Jerusalem is not mentioned once in the Koran.

7. Jews pray facing Jerusalem . Muslims pray facing Mecca (often with their backs toward Jerusalem ).

8. In 1854, according to a report in the New York Tribune, Jews constituted two-thirds of the population of that holy city. (The source: A journalist on assignment in the Middle East that year for the Tribune. His name was Karl Marx. Yes, that Karl Marx.)

9. In 1867, Mark Twain took a tour of Palestine . This is how he described that land: A desolate country whose soil is rich enough but is given over wholly to weeds. A silent, mournful expanse. We never saw a human.

10. In 1882, official Ottoman Turk census figures showed that, in the entire Land of Israel, there were only 141 000 Muslims, both Arab and non-Arab.

11. A travel guide to Palestine and Syria was published in 1906 by Karl Baedeker; The book estimated the total population of Jerusalem at 60,000, of whom 7,000 were Muslims, 13,000 were Christians and 40,000 were Jews.

12. As the Jews came and drained the swamps and made the deserts bloom, Arabs followed. They came for jobs, for prosperity, for freedom. And, they came in large numbers.

13. In 1922, with what was widely acknowledged as the illegal attempt to separate Trans-Jordan - East side of the Jordan river, the Jews were forbidden to settle on almost 77% of the Palestine, while Arab settlement went unrestricted and encouraged by British mandatory authority.

14. Prior to the Second World War Mojli Amin, a member of the Arab Defense Committee for Palestine , proposed the idea "that all the Arabs of Palestine will leave and be divided up amongst the neighboring Arab countries. In exchange for this, all the Jews living in Arab countries will leave and come to Palestine ."

15. Did you know that Saudi Arabia was not created until 1913, Lebanon until 1920? Iraq did not exist as a nation until 1932, Syria until 1941; the borders of Jordan were established in 1946, violation Articles of the Palestinian Mandate, and Kuwait in 1961. Any of these nations that would say Israel is only a recent arrival would have to deny their own rights as recent arrivals as well. They did not exist as countries. They were all under the control of the Turks.  Over 80% of the original British Mandate land was given to Arabs without population transfer of Arabs from the land designated for Jews.

16. In 1947, the Jewish state huddled on 18% of the original British Mandate land. The Jews accepted it gratefully. The Arabs rejected it with a vengeance and seven Arab states immediately declared war against Israel.

17. In 1948, the Arab refugees were encouraged to leave Israel by Arab leaders promising to purge the land of Jews . Most of them left in fear of being killed by their own Arab brothers as traitors.

18. Some 850,000  Jewish refugees were forced to flee from Arab countries, due to Arab brutality, persecution and pogroms.

19. The number of Arab refugees who left Israel in 1948 is claimed to be around 630,000 (where did they get this number?). Based on population census, estimated number of Arabs who left Israel was around 460,000. They were ordered to leave by Arab leaders at the time.

20. From 1948 till 1967 Arabs made no attempt to create a Palestinian state. Under Jordanian rule, Jewish holy sites were desecrated, 58 synagogues in Jerusalem were destroyed and the Jews and Christians were denied access to places of worship. Under Israeli rule, all Muslim and Christian sites have been preserved and made accessible to people of all faiths.

21. Arabs began identifying themselves as part of a Palestinian people in 1964 only , on the initiative of Egyptian-born Yasser Arafat. The idea became popular Arab propaganda tool after Israel re-captured Judea , Samaria and Gaza in the defensive 6-Day War of 1967.

22. Out of the 100,000,000 refugees since World War II, Arab-Palestinians are the only refugee group in the world that has never been absorbed or integrated into their own peoples' lands. Jewish refugees were completely absorbed into Israel.

23. Arab refugees INTENTIONALLY were not absorbed or integrated by the rich Arab oil states that control 99.9 percent of the Middle East landmass. They are kept as virtual prisoners by the Arab power brokers with misplaced hatred for Jews and Western democracy.

24. There is only one Jewish state. There are 60 Muslim countries, including 22 Arab nations.

25. The PLO's Charter still calls for the destruction of the State of Israel.

26. Pan-Arabism or the doctrine of Muslim Caliphate declares that all land that used to belong to Muslims must be returned to them. Thus, Spain , for example, must eventually be re-conquered.

WE sit on a Mountain - Kahane

“But if the watchman see the sword come and blow not the trumpet and the people be not warned; if the sword cometh and take from them a soul…his blood will I require from the watchman”.  (Ezekiel 33)

I sit on the mountain with a trumpet in my hand.  We all sit on a mountain, each of us a watchman with a trumpet in hand.  Our mission is to sit and see the enemy.  Our mission is to see the danger, to search our own souls and to blow the trumpet and warn the rest – the rest of the Jewish people.

I sit on a mountain as the sands slip through, the clock ticks away and the Almighty watches from above to see whether the sleeping Jew will awake on top of the mountain to see the enemy and blow the trumpet and save himself and all the rest and reclaim his greatness and his destiny before there are no more years left.

We are all watchmen, we Jews.  We are commanded to know the danger, to see it approach, to blow the trumpet and save, both ourselves and our fellow Jews.

Peace in the Middle East?

The ninth plague-darkness – has struck Egypt with a vengeance and Pharaoh breaks. Step by step he has retreated and after the eighth plague – locusts – he was prepared to allow the Jews to leave except for their children. Now he surrenders almost entirely as he agrees that all the Jews can leave. He only asks one thing, one compromise, one small victory for himself, that the Jewish cattle remain behind.

Consider; the Jews have been slaves for 210 years. They have lived in misery and persecution. They suffered decrees such as the one casting their male children into the sea. They cried out unto the L-rd for freedom and salvation. Now, apparently the great moment has arrived! Pharaoh agrees that they shall go free! What does it matter that he asks for their cattle? Give it to him! The main thing is peace and salvation and we are willing to give up cattle for peace!

But Moses knows that this is not the purpose of the freedom of the Jewish people and of the story of the slavery and exodus. He is not prepared to compromise one inch because he knows what the purpose of G-d is. When Moses first entered the presence of Pharaoh and said: “The L-rd, G-d of the Hebrews, has said: Let my people go!” Pharaoh contemptuously answered: “Who is the L-rd? I know not the L-rd and will not let Israel go!” Here is where the battle was joined. Here is the purpose and aim of creation – to have the world recognize the dominion and kingship of the L-rd being challenged. Pharaoh must be made to recognize and totally acknowledge the sovereignty of the L-rd over him and his people. He cannot make compromises; he cannot strike bargains. He must submit totally!

“And I shall be glorified through (the defeat of) Pharaoh and his army and Egypt shall know that I am the L-rd.” Only the total defeat of the wicked can raise and honor the name of the L-rd, says the Biblical commentator Rashi. This is why there will be no compromise with Pharaoh. He must totally submit, he must totally surrender.

And even when he apparently does this, after the plague of the first born, when he runs to Moses and says: “Get out, take your flocks with you, just leave and ask the L-rd to bless me!” Moses refuses and in the words of the Mechilta; “And he called unto Moses and Aaron in the middle of the night and said: get up and leave! Said Moses unto him: No, we have been ordered not to leave our houses until morning. What are we, thieves that we should slink out in the night? No, we will leave only in the morning with an upraised arm before the eyes of all the Egyptians!”

Not one inch of retreat here. The lesson of the L-rd being the Omnipotent, King of the universe must be seen and acknowledged.

The lesson is an eternal one and must be learned in our time, too. The question of peace in the Middle East is a question of the Arabs and the world acknowledging the total sovereignty of the All Mighty. There can be no compromise on this. It is only a peace that comes with Arabs submitting to the yoke of the heavenly kingdom that will be a permanent one and the Jew who gives up part of his land as a compromise, violates the entire purpose of the rise of the Jewish State and the demand of the All Mighty that the nations acknowledge Him as King. There can be no retreat from land because that is in essence a retreat also from the Kingship of the L-rd. 

Rabbi Meir Kahane

The Practical, The Rational - 1988

Breathes there a Jew with mind so dead who never has proclaimed allegiance to rationality, pragmatism and the joys of being practical?  To be a person who speaks of “faith” and “ belief” is clearly to have one foot in the camp of the Ayatollah and no normal Jew would ever dare be brushed with the tar of “fanatic!”  No, the Jewish people is a “normal” people, a rational one, and thank G-d that the normal people is also the most abysmally ignorant of its own Judaism and teachings – otherwise it would surely burn all the Bibles and Talmuds that babble about “cursed is he who trusteth in man.”

And so it follows that trusting in G-d is a quaint thing, to be jollied over at the Jewish Museum and in lecture series, but only an extremist would take it to the light of modern day.  This is a practical world, one in which tough and pragmatic men understand the real realities and make their plans accordingly.  Prayers are wonderful for the holidays and with which to open conventions but let them attempt to escape to the streets to demand equal time and to be taken seriously, and we shoot them down as dangerous fanaticism.

That is why the sophisticates from Peres to the AJC, from Moment to Olam HaZeh reject the past as key to the future and indeed, hallow only the moment, the “zeh”.  We believe only in the things we can see and touch and feel and understand.  Only the logical and rational play any part in our equations; guns, allies, realpolitik, those are the things and stuff of which the real is made of.

And that is why we dare not annex the “occupied territories” (Judea-Samaria-Gaza); and that is why we dare not even talk of removing the Arabs from the Temple Mount; and that is why only madmen should think of expelling or “transferring” the Arabs; and that is why we dare not ever anger the Americans without whom we would be in the sea.

Very well, I am convinced.  Secular logic is, after all, so compelling.  I have decided to convert.  I have decided to accept the religion of pragmatism.  You now behold, before you, a superb example of rationality and practicality.  But to the bitter end. And here, fellow pragmatists and healthy rationalists is the bitter end.

Of course this religious dependence on G-d is absurd.  Of course the reality is weapon and the United States and allies and good will.  Because it is only this that will stand us in good stead when the Arabs produce or receive their first nuclear weapon or decide to use the chemical-biological weapons that are today’s “poor man’s” nuclear arsenal.

Pakistan is on the verge of producing (and may, indeed, have already produced) its own nuclear weapon.  It does not take very much to produce a “primitive”, outdated, atomic bomb which is limited in scope, say like the one dropped on Hiroshima… And if Moslem Pakistan develops such a weapon does one believe that its devoted faithful will not share it with their oppressed Arab Moslems and Palestinians?  By all means let us be hard headed and come up with a rational answer to that.  Without the nonsense of faith.

And when the head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Engineers, General Yoseph Ayal tells us (August 17) that certain Arab states are developing the capacity for chemical and biological warfare, there is no doubt that our practical senses will handle the matter with equanimity and without interference from G-d and his faithful.  My only problem is that in all my pious rationality I really do not know how to deal with the above.  Practicality somehow fails to give me answers as to how to deal with Arab nuclear, biological and chemical weapons in the hands of fanatical Moslems.

And bringing back tongue from cheek, the bitter reality is that the realists have nothing but bitter reality and not the slightest answer to the pragmatic and practical problems that defy rational solutions.  The reality is that Israel faces such awesome practical threats just over the horizon that a normal, practical, rational Jew, would be insane to stay if he could, somehow, leave the country.  It is only the “impractical”, the “irrational”, and the “dreamers” who have any rational reason to remain.  They believe in G-d.  They have faith in an Almighty and a Torah that decreed there never can be a third exile.  They know that perfect faith and trust in G-d, while observing His commandments, will assure victory over our enemies.  That is why they stay. That is why they are undeterred by the certainty of Arab nuclear and chemical and biological weapons.  Because they pray.  Because they do not miss a mincha – and evening service – or any other kind.  Because they do know that “these may come with nuclear bombs and these with chemical warfare, but we shall proclaim the name of the L-rd.” 

A rational Jew?  That is a rational Jew.  Any other kind, the one who decides to trust in Ronald Reagan (Today Obama) is mad, fanatic, extreme, a real Khoumeniite.

THE BOOK IS OPEN, THE HAND WRITES

For the Jews of true belief there is no more fundamental axiom than that of a world of hashgacha, ordained, directed, immutable history.  For the Jew of real faith and religion, there is a G-d who created all, who decreed that which was, who commands all that is, who proclaims all that will be.  A world that is ordered rather than one of anarchy, a world that is not free to spin on its own chosen axis but which is bound by the natural laws and decrees of the creator.  And a world whose inhabitant are as clay in the hands of the great Potter, whose lives are subject to His will and for whom directed reward and punishment are assured for their actions and deeds.  A human does not injure his finger without being so decreed from Heaven and this we solemnly accept.  How much more so does the humiliating American retreat from Lebanon and the previous shattering explosion in Beirut cry out for recognition as Divine decree – but that is a thing that is too difficult for us to proclaim.

           

But it is true and there is a book that is open in which all of man’s deeds are recorded and the Hand writes and records and retribution is stored away for its proper moment. 

           

The terrible tragedy of American humiliation that was preceded by the bombing and slaughtering of the United States forces in Lebanon is a shock and sadness for the lives lost.  But there is nothing in this world that occurs without reason and only those who seek to throw off the yoke of heaven from about their personal necks demand belief in a world that itself is free from ordained direction.  The one who seeks freedom from discipline and restraint insists upon creating a world that is similarly anarchical, unbound, undirected, unfettered by punishment for our deeds.  The one who seeks to be free to do all that pleases him, creates a G-d who has a place in this world that he – Man – decides for Him, a Deity akin to a smiling Santa Claus always bearing gifts and never bestowing retribution.  But, that is not the world of the Jew, that is not the reality, and those who insist upon sin will receive retribution and those who persist in license will learn that there is a G-d and a book and a hand that writes and there is reward and punishment.  And that, as sad as it my seem and as shocking as it may appear to the fearful and the unwilling, is the reality of the terrible event in Beirut.

           

There is a G-d in the world and He is the L-rd, G-d of Israel.  And those nations that go against His people will, at some point, feel the punishment implicit in a world of His hashgacha, ordained direction.

           

How did the marines get to Lebanon in the first place?  What brought them to the country, which was to take the lives of so many of them?  Why surely the fact that the President who still sees nothing and still understands the same, rose up in front of Israel and ordered it to stop its march to destroy its enemies.  When the Jewish forces of vengeance stood poised in Beirut to physically destroy the Arab desecrators of G-d and His people, the murderers and defilers of the Name, it was the President of the United States, the Commander-in-Chief of those marines and sailors who died last year, who raised his hand and demanded that the Jews halt; that compelled her to allow the PLO roaches to save their lives and leave their graveyard.  Let the truth be engraven on our hearts so that we may understand the explosion in Beirut:  The United States forces who died in Beirut we sent there in the first place, not to keep “peace”, but to prevent Israel from destroying the PLO, the enemies of the G-d of Israel. 

           

The marines were sent to Lebanon to insure that the Israelis would not be allowed to do that which they should have done.  The open hostility and contempt for the Israelis was permanently engraved on the world by the marines who, time after time, harassed the Israelis and confronted them in a manner they never managed in the case of the Arabs.  The original purpose of the United States troops was not to keep the “peace” but to keep the Israelis from destroying the Palestinians.  And for that the book was open and the hand wrote and retribution was decreed by a G-d who told His chosen Abraham: “Those who bless you shall be blessed and those who curse you shall be cursed.”  And let not the gentile who defiled the G-d of Israel now weep for the consequences of his own actions – the defiance of the G-d of history.  What was sown has been reaped, and the tragedy is not an unguided thing.

           

The gentile who furiously condemned Israel for the massacres in Beirut and who rushed in troops to save the remaining Arabs even while driving the Israelis out has been repayed by those whom he saved.  That is the lesson of the tragedy in Beirut and if the gentile has not learned it, at least let the Jew.  So that he, the Jew, will always remember the book that is open and the hand that writes and all his deeds are recorded.  And retribution is set-aside for the day of payment.

If Pres. Obama Can Free 3 Cuban Spies, He Must Free Jonathan Pollard

NEW YORK, December 18, 2014 --- The Zionist Organization of America (ZOA) is strongly declaring that President Barack Obama, who has this week freed three convicted spies who spied for an enemy regime, Cuba, must free Jonathan Pollard, who spied for an American ally, Israel. 

The ZOA further notes that one of the convicted spies freed by President Obama was responsible for the murder of an American citizen and that all three have served only 13 years for their crimes on behalf of an enemy state, whereas Jonathan Pollard has been imprisoned for 29 years for spying for an American ally.

ZOA National President Morton A. Klein said, "It is remarkable that President Obama, who has been repeatedly urged by U.S. officials who held responsibility at the time for national security and intelligence matters to free Jonathan Pollard, has refused to do so.

"Conversely, he has shown himself, this week, to be willing to free three convicted men who spied for a long-term enemy state, Cuba, including one man who was responsible for death of an American national. Where is the logic and justice in that?

"Jonathan Pollard passed on classified information to Israel, a U.S. ally, not a U.S. enemy. There was, thus, no treason involved. Pollard pled guilty to the charges and apologized for his crimes. His crimes did not lead to the death of Americans, as was once claimed, but rather the espionage activities of Aldrich Ames and Robert Hanssen, whose actions came to light only after the Pollard sentencing, were shown to be responsible for those results.  

"Despite, having pled guilty as part of a plea bargain, Pollard was shown no leniency and was given the maximum sentence, comparable to that of Aldrich Ames, the chief of CIA counterintelligence in Eastern Europe, who passed critical defense secrets to the Soviet Union during the Cold War, and was found responsible for the deaths of at least 11 U.S. agents! 

"A host of senior past high U.S. government officials with responsibility for relevant national security, international and legal affairs, such as former Secretaries of State Henry Kissinger and George P. Schultz, former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, former National Security Advisor Robert C. "Bud" McFarlane, former Assistant Secretary for Defense Lawrence J. Korb, former Deputy National Security Adviser Elliott Abrams, former Senate Select Committee on Intelligence Chairman David Durenberger, former Deputy Attorney General Philip Heymann; former White House counsel Bernard Nussbaum, former Senate Judiciary Committee Member, Dennis DeConcini, and former U.S. Ambassadors to Israel Samuel Lewis and Thomas Pickering, have all publicly and in writing stated that Jonathan Pollard's sentence has been disproportionate and urged President Obama to pardon him.

"Jonathan Pollard has already served nearly three decades behind bars, which is by far the harshest sentence ever meted out for the offense he committed -- the average term for which is a fine or two to four years' imprisonment.

"If President Obama can free three spies for a hostile state like Cuba, including a murderer, he can certainly pardon Jonathan Pollard. He should do so without further delay."

The Primordial Light of Hanukkah Banishes Today’s Darkness

By: Moshe Herman

Published: December 19th, 2014

Baruch Widen, interfaith "dialoguer," artist, and a perennial student of American history, joins Yishai in the studio to discuss the "Israel Fatigue" phenomenon and how Israel is now perceived in America. Hint: Some people are buying the anti-Israel media bias.

Then on Spiritual Cafe: did you know that the first man, Adam, celebrated Hanukkah? Rabbi Mike Feuer joins Yishai in-studio to discuss humanity's primordial urge to overcome the long dark nights of winter and which the lights of Hanukkah satisfy. Also, how did the Biblical Joseph acquire the faith and fortitude to follow his dreams to the end, and can we learn from him?



Yishai Fleisher on Twitter: @YishaiFleisher
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About the Author: Moshe Herman has been actively involved in Israel activism since founding the first pro-Israel student organization at Boise State University in 2007. He has been a member of several panels and discussion groups with topics ranging from interfaith dialogue in the Middle East to Israel’s importance as a Jewish state. Herman joined The Yishai Fleisher Show at the beginning of 2012 and currently resides in Jerusalem after making Aliyah in July 2013.

The Wisdom Of The Dreidel: Comfort in an Impossible World

The Wisdom Of The Dreidel: Comfort in an Impossible World

By: Rabbi Eliyahu Safran

Published: December 19th, 2014
Latest update: December 18th, 2014

Two dreidels from the author’s extensive collection.

Can a simple top, a delightful toy for children, really speak to me in the aftermath of tragedy? In the aftermath of a Har Nof?

Although some might suggest otherwise, questioning how a mere toy could possibly carry the weight of such an event, I believe the dreidel can in fact afford insight into how to wrestle with such difficult and seemingly unfathomable events. In doing so, it offers a hint to why I am so enamored with my ever-growing dreidel collection; a collection I began almost thirteen years ago when I met my beloved wife.

I remember that moment so clearly. It was the second night of Chanukah. Yes, it was a miracle for me to have met my dear Clary. A Chanukah miracle. But even that remembrance begets a Chanukah question. In my heart, the dreidel came to symbolize that wonderful meeting and yet, wouldn’t a single grandiose dreidel have been enough to commemorate that life-transforming moment?

Why did I feel moved – some might suggest compelled – to continue to amass dreidel after dreidel, growing my collection to nearly a thousand dreidels from the United States, Israel, Spain, Hungary, India, Russia, Scotland, Brazil… indeed from all over the world. So many wondrous tops! So many that anyone who comes into the room where I keep my many volumes of books will find themselves transported by the sight of them.

No single dreidel for me. Rather, hundreds of them – made from a broad array of materials, in all sizes and colors.

It is a rare visitor to our home who doesn’t view my collection and then – smile fading from his or her face – ask, “Rabbi Safran, of all the things in the world to collect, why dreidels?”

Lest you think my collection is simply whimsy, an opportunity to recall the delightful evenings of childhood when the joy of Chanukah filled my household, let me share with you my response.

“What,” I ask, “does the dreidel teach us? What is its message?”

So much of Chanukah is presented in a way to delight young children. The dreidel and gelt. The sufganiyot. The games and songs commemorating the miracle of a small, dedicated army of fighters overcoming fierce oppression and rededicating our sanctuary.

And let us not forget the miracle of the oil!

But the story and challenge of Chanukah – and its ultimate miracle – is far beyond a child’s simple story. Likewise, all the elements of that story are more powerful and commanding than how they are often portrayed in the telling. Indeed, the “toy” dreidel represents not simplicity but the complexity and hidden nature of history and miracles.

Just as the dreidel spins and lands with only one side up, history and experience also show us only some of reality. The four sides of the dreidel teach that we are never truly seeing the whole story and that there is always another side that remains hidden to us.

When we begin to grasp the deep truth of the dreidel, we come to understand that with so much beyond our understanding, we have to have faith in hidden miracles and in God. We cannot comprehend the meaning of Har Nof just as we cannot understand the countless other events that mark our long history.

So we return to the dreidel. Four panels. A nun, a pei or shin, a gimmel, and a hei. Four letters, representing the message of Chanukah – “A great miracle happened here/there.” As it spins and falls, showing one letter, it necessarily hides another. What is plain to us is only what we see. We too often fail to find comfort or meaning in what is hidden to us.

When the dreidel falls on the hei we go on playing the game, never considering that on the other side of the dreidle is the nun – neis for “miracle.” We see the “there was” but we are blind to the miracle. A gimmel – “great” – hides the pei/shin, the “here” or “there.”

We spin on and on and on, missing so many of God’s messages to us. Why? Because we see only that which is plain to us, failing to look deeper in order to find that which is less obvious or hidden. However, our blindness does not mean that what is on the other side of the dreidel is not an equally important part of the reality we perceive.

Bayamim hahem – in days of yore. What is vital is not what was but whether what was has everlasting value to us. Many of the holidays listed in Megillat Ta’anit are not celebrated because they fail this simple test. They have meaning only in their own time, in the past.

Chanukah – with its silly little dreidel – continues to be celebrated because its message and its power continue to speak to us today. Ba’zeman hazeh.

Bridging the near-insurmountable distance between hayamim hahem to ba’zeman hazeh is the mystical gift of our survival – physical, spiritual and religious. The bridge that carries us from the hei of the dreidle to the neis is the same gift that allowed the congregation of Har Nof to celebrate a bris the very day after the unspeakable events there.

A great miracle is happening here.

In Days of Deliverance, Rav Soloveitchik notes that Chanukah has a universal appeal; it is “…a holiday of political victories, a holiday of the smashing of political might. Matityahu and his sons had the strength and the courage to confront the Syrian-Greek legions, to liberate the city of Jerusalem and its Temple, and to re-establish an independent Jewish kingdom. This history of dramatic bravery appeals to all, Jew and non-Jew, especially when the revolutionaries compose a small group, unorganized and poorly armed, yet unafraid of declaring war on a mighty enemy.”

However, having said that, he asks the deeper question: “Is Chanukah merely a holiday telling us a heroic story of battles won and political victories gained, like the American Fourth of July, or the French Fourteenth of July? A political event, even one of the greatest importance, can be celebrated only as long as the people view it as a turning point in history, the beginning of a new epoch in independence…. However, a political victory loses its meaning when the people later lose their independence and the victory ends in a downfall.

“If Chanukah had been simply a holiday of political freedom, its whole meaning would have evaporated with the destruction of the Temple and the exile of the Jewish people. Chanukah’s fate would have been exactly like that of all the other holidays of the Second Temple era which were enumerated in Megillat Ta’anit…”

As is clearly pointed out in the Talmud (Rosh Hashanah 19b), “One was forbidden [to fast] on those days named in Megillat Ta’anit when the Temple was in existence, because they were days of gladness at that time. Once the Temple was no longer in existence, one was permitted [to fast] because they are days of mourning to them.”

That being the case, asks the Rav, “Where is the logic in celebrating Chanukah during thousands of years of exile, martyrdom, ghettos, pogroms, and suffering? How small and worthless do the Maccabees’ victories seem when compared to the cruel political downfalls that we have suffered?”

Matityahu and his sons did not start a revolt due to political pressure. They, along with the rest of the people, accepted their political suffering. It was due to the Greeks’ hatred for our spiritual essence, our difference – our Torah. It was the same hatred Haman felt when he complained, “Their laws are different from those of every people.” It is the same hatred we felt during the Holocaust and, indeed, during the most recent expression of that hatred, Har Nof.

It was easy to understand the statement by the director of the Zaka rescue and recovery organization likening the scene he witnessed in Har Nof to pictures from the Holocaust.

The comparison rings true, not just in the images but on a deeper level. How did we celebrate a bris the day after the tragedy of Har Nof? How did we rebuild the Jewish nation after the Holocaust?

How can we comprehend such a rebirth? Just as the toppled dreidel is picked up to spin again, so too do we go on. The day after the tragedy at Har Nof there was davening, there was learning, there was celebration. Our DNA is defined by renewal. No one can stop us. We are God’s nation. He is Eternal. So then are we.

When we are massacred in shul we return the next day to pray and to celebrate a baby boy’s bris. When the gates of Auschwitz slammed shut, the gates of Haifa opened.

Chanukah is not about Matityahu’s military victory. That did not last. What did last to this very day is the purification and renewal of Jewish life. Difficult to grasp? Seems senseless? Walk the length and breadth of Israel and see for yourself.

In another essay, Rav Soloveitchik expresses similar thoughts:

“One can see that which is revealed, but not that which is concealed. The Kabbalists speak about the antithesis between the hidden world and the revealed world. These terms express the idea that most things that humans can sense are only the last phase in a long evolutionary process that unfolded quietly, far from the perception of the human eye, which can discern only things that are ripe and complete.”

The Rav points out that the Hasmoneans fought not against an imperial power but for the purity of the Jewish soul, in their own time and forever. They fought and won to show that the people can be reborn and renewed. That is the miracle.

When the dreidel shows a gimmel it is good to remember that on the other, unseen, side is the nun.There, sometimes hidden, untold miracles abound. We are all dreidels. We keep spinning. That’s why I continue to acquire more dreidels – the miracles of our eternal existence never cease to create renewed amazement.

May we always seek the hidden and find the miraculous of the Eternal even when we are confronted by the pain of the temporal.

About the Author: Rabbi Dr. Eliyahu Safran is an educator, author and lecturer. He can be reached at e1948s@aol.com.