Tikkun Olam

I reintroduced with my previous post the author of the book From Time Immemorial, Joan Peters, by presenting in the first installment of six her interview by Zola Levitt Ministries . Basically, the whole "Arab-Israeli Conflict" as I began to explain in my last post is solely an Arab conflict with Israel, which was not reciprocal: the Arabs hated the Jews, and didn't want them in the Middle East, which they considered 'their' region only. In order to legitimize their desire to 'push Israel into the sea' as they have stated many times (mainly in Arabic, to their Arab populations, not to the West), they fabricated a whole universe of LIES, from stating that the Jews have no history in the land and therefore no legitimacy being there, to the "fact" (a LIE) that there is a Arab Palestinian Nation. Just today in World Net Daily, Joseph Farah (an Arab, by the way-a Christian Arab) wrote that the Palestinian people do not exist . He cites that on Ma

The #202 (-are we sure that's the right number? I think it's 201...) Haveil Havalim is UP, at SuperRaizy's, here . It has great posts (yours truly's included), and a great design to boot (why do they say that? Why not 'to shoe,' or 'to kick.' Whatever.) In previous posts I have written about the book From Time Immemorial, by Joan Peters, as a very good reference work to gain clarity on the "The Arab-Israel Conflict in the Middle East," as it is so often called. In reality, after one reads her book (and certain others as well) and is more cognizant of the facts, one realizes that that term is a misnomer; it really should be called " The Arab-Unwillingness-to-Recognize-the-Existence-of-Israel-the-Jewish State-in-the-Middle-East-and-their-Resultant-Lies-and-Obfuscsation-of-the-Facts-and-Subsequent-Attacks-on-Israel. " (-what, you don't like that title? I can't for the life of me think of why not . It has a catchy ring to it. .

I recently began training for a new job, just a few days after my last post—which is why I have not been able to sit down, collect my thoughts, and post anew since the 8 th of the month. The job involves learning an entirely new area for me (a little real estate, business, etc.) — with a little IT work thrown in for good measure, which I already love doing--I guess being married to a geek has rubbed off--all of which is creating interesting new synapses in my brain . By the time I get home, however, I just want to relax, maybe read—not research topics to blog on my s-l-o-w, maxed-out 512 MB of RAM computer (-which sometimes itself decides to relax and freezes , right in the middle of an operation.) In the interim, between my last post and now, I’ve been following the war; last week I downloaded an Israeli toolbar with direct access to all the radio stations, TV, etc. – with even an ‘emergency’ four way split-screen dealie where I can see several TV stations, including Al-

Rabbi Yosef Y. Jacobson of Chabad is a wonderful man and sought-after orator. I personally heard him speak when he came to my town a couple of years ago. I receive his weekly divrei Torah in my email inbox. I was very taken with his dvar Torah which he wrote after the murderous atrocity committed against Westerners and especially Jews in Mumbai two months ago. He called for us to do good deeds and kindnesses and learn Torah, to be sure--but he added something else, very important, which I whole-heartedly subscribe to and have said many times in this blog. It applies to the War in Gaza which Israel is waging defending against its enemies today. He said, sometimes LOVE, is just not enough. Sometimes, we have to FIGHT BACK. Visit his page to hear his shiurim (lessons), here . Read his dvar on evil, here (emphasis mine): The Psychology of Gaza and Mumbai When Love Becomes Evil By Yosef Y. Jacobson Love Vs. Hate After the Mumbai jihad exactly one month ago, we were m

Gaza Updates roundup #12 and 12.5 are now UP at Jack's, here and here , respectively. What can we do, those of us who are not in the IDF? We can continue to do good deeds, mitzvot: help others, give tzedakah, study and learn Torah, do acts of kindness, and send an email to The Office of Rabbi Kook, Rehovot , at the following email address : maortlmo@gmail.com (hat tip: Shoshana). In the email you send, you can request the name of a chayal or chayelet (soldier) in whose z'chut (merit) you can do these good things mentioned above: giving tzedakah, helping someone, visiting the sick, learning Torah , reciting Tehillim (Psalms). I already did, and received my soldier's name: Tamar bat Chana. May we all merit to see Israel's quick victory over its enemies, and a JUST PEACE over Israel and the Middle East, AMEN.

. . . is up at Jack's, here . In the light of four katyushas falling in Nahariya in the northwest of Israel, one of which fell on a Beit Avot (old age home) with several injured, it is imperative that we keep abreast of the news. Read the updates. Rally for Israel. Do your part to spread the truth, and foster positive public opinion. And may GOOD triumph over evil. AMEN.

First and foremost, the latest War in Gaza Update is UP at Jack's, here . Saw this on a blog, can't remember which one (I'm bleary-eyed reading through blog after blog and article after article at the same time as listening to Radio Darom and watching emergency split-screen Israel TV while fasting) by Bret Stephens of the Wall Street Journa l . The lead is very telling; Stephens wrote, "Maybe this column would get a better reception if it were titled, "No Endgame for Israel." Many pundits are commenting and arguing that Israel is lost, no matter what it does in Gaza. This author has, in my opinion, a good analysis of what Israel can accomplish with this war, but it has to not succumb to international pressure for a cease-fire and continue with its mission. There are those who think that this war will enable Israel to 're-occupy' Gaza (which Israel has stated it wouldn't do). I personally think Israel should retake Gaza and annex it; the Arabs h

I saw this on IsraellyCool and fell off my chair. Then I went to the article by Youssef M. Ibrahim * as published in Jewish World Review and saw that it was originally written in June of 2006. My heart sank; it's two and a half years, and they still haven't learned their lesson. What's it gonna take. . . I dread thinking about it. To my Arab brothers: The War with Israel Is Over — and they won. Now let’s finally move forward With Israel entering its fourth week of an incursion into the same Gaza Strip it voluntarily evacuated a few months ago, a sense of reality among Arabs is spreading through commentary by Arab pundits, letters to the editor, and political talk shows on Arabic-language TV networks. The new views are stunning both in their maturity and in their realism. The best way I can think of to convey them is in the form of a letter to the Palestinian Arabs from their Arab friends: Dear Palestinian Arab brethren: The war with Israel is over. You have lost. S

. . . to CNN for it's brilliant, one-sided histrionic reporting-again- with their article entitled In Gaza, Living with Anger and Fear . I've got an idea: let's subsitute the word "Sderot, Ashkelon or Gedera in the same paragraphs, use Jewish names and paraphrase it, something like THIS: "Listen, listen to this!" shouts Fida Qishta Re'ut as the crackling of rockets is heard over her phone receiver. "It's difficult for anybody to imagine that in a second, maybe when I am talking to you on the phone, maybe something [will] happen to me or to my family," the Palestinian blogger Israeli mother told CNN from her home in Gaza Sderot, [or Ashkelon, or Gedera, or the rest of Southern Israel]. She has gotten little sleep during the past 10 days as Israel Hamas continues its attacks on her homeland, prompting the [defense] attacks the Jewish state says are designed to stop months years of rocket strikes on southern Israel by Hamas militants t

Where is the United Nations in all this? Where is their "moral compass?"(-as Dennis Prager would say). Oh, here it is; seems they dropped it. I think it's irreparable: 3 January 2009 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his deep concern over Israel's launch of a ground operation into Gaza today, with the Security Council calling an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. Mr. Ban expressed his extreme disappointment to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. “He is convinced and alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering of the affected civilian populations,” according to a statement issued by the Secretary-General''s spokesperson. “He called for an immediate end to the ground operation, and asked that Israel do all possible to ensure the protection of civilians and that humanitarian assistance is able to reach those in need.” All I hear the U.N. spouting is anti-Israel rhetoric. Where is the protest of the

First of all, Haveil Havalim #199 (is it that many already?) is UP, at Ima's . Also check out Jack's Gaza Updates-9.5 and counting-linked here . Okay, so maybe I was too serious in my last post. You want funny? IMAO shows how Hamas can be funny (really). This is only an excerpt; go to the site for the rest of it. Hamas sure seems to like provoking Jews into killing them, so as a public service I thought I’d send my crack research staff to revisit and revise their facts about Hamas before research about Hamas becomes a job solely for anthropologists. FUN FACTS ABOUT HAMAS * Hamas was founded in 1987 according to some site I found with Google. I was eight years old then and wanted to be a fireman or an astronaut. Blowing up Jews had not crossed my mind. * Hamas is Arabic for “dumb @#$% with explosives”. * Contrary to popular belief, Hamas has nothing to do with ham. Actually, if you throw hams at them, they’ll get angry. * Make sure to keep Hamas away from your Jews. *

Warning: this post is CHOCK FULL O' LINKS. (You can have some coffee with that.) I really don't think the world knows what it's dealing with regarding the Arab mindset. The world does not understand their mentality. When you think about it, it really is an interesting, maybe even unique one. It perhaps is a Middle Eastern, Levantine, tribal way of conducting the business of life; I wouldn't trust most Arabs as far as I could throw them, and this is why: the Arab mindset allows for weaving a tale, for embellishing facts, for obfuscating the truth. Samuel Katz , (who just passed away in May, 2008) in his wonderful little book "Battleground: Fact & Fantasy in Palestine " relates a very funny (sad, but funny) story illustrating this mindset, paraphrased here : An Arab was trying to take a nap in his upstairs bedroom, but he couldn't, because the children were playing and shouting in the courtyard underneath his veranda. So he got up, went out on the ver

In case you weren't sure about the purpose of Hamas' rocket attacks vis a vis Israel's "disproportionate response" attacking military weapons caches, installations, launching areas and terrorist headquarters, take a look at this, which I found on Yael's blog, Aliyah Step by Step : Contrast that with Israel dropping leaflets over the civilian areas of Gaza, warning them to flee to avoid casualties, because their areas are terrorist strongholds and are being targeted by the IDF. Disproportionate response, anyone?

I'm trying to rationalize this out, and that is the only conclusion I can arrive at. A psychologist would have a field day with this. Why else would the world rail against Israel for fighting back to protect its citizens? Why else would the world accuse Israel of using "disproportionate force?" Why else would the world cry out that Israel is ' indiscriminately killing civilians?' Why else are there 'demonstrations' against Israel's offensive in Gaza? I'll tell you what is disproportionate response . What is disproportionate is the world's reaction to tiny Israel making a belated attempt to defend itself and prevent further murder of its own civilian population. The world's response (with the exception of the United States') is generally negative towards anything Israel does to defend itself. It's outrageous. Where was this world when Hamas was lobbing rockets into Sderot? When Hizbollah was firing Katyushas into northern Israel?