Hamas War

Sunday, June 30, 2013

What's New in Old Shiloh


Here's the program for the Second Shiloh Conference Kenes Shilo #2.  It'll be in Shiloh, Shiloh HaKedumah, aka Tel Shiloh this coming Thursday, July 4, 2013.  To sign up, click here.  From what I know, it will be in Hebrew only.  There are buses coming from Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

And next week, Monday, Rosh Chodesh Av, July 8 will be the monthly Women's Rosh Chodesh Prayers at  Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel Shiloh.  Ladies, you're invited!

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh
Rosh Chodesh Av
Monday, July 8, 2013
1 Av 5773, 8:30am
Tour of Tel & Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson
Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים
ראש חודש אב בתל שילה

יום ב' 8-7 א' אב תשע"ג 8:30
יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל
נא לבוא, לפרסם ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות
 
 
There's now a very interesting and well kept up tourist center in Shiloh, Shiloh HaKeduma, at Tel Shiloh.  You can arrange tours and events there by emailing visit@telshilo.org.il or call 02-994-4019.

Saturday, June 29, 2013

Why Was Andrew Pochter in Egypt, Not Israel?

Condolences to the family of  Andrew Pochter, who was the American killed in Egyptian riots.

I find his story very disturbing. 
Pochter’s family said he had travelled to Alexandria for the summer to teach English to 7- and 8-year-old Egyptian children and to improve his Arabic.
“He had studied in the region, loved the culture, and planned to live and work there in the pursuit of peace and understanding,” read the statement, that asked for privacy in a time of grieving.
Pochter was looking forward to beginning his junior year at Ohio’s Kenyon College and had planned to study abroad in Jordan next spring, according to the statement.

Read more: http://forward.com/articles/179563/idealistic-jewish-student-killed-in-egypt-violence/#ixzz2XdzXq9JH
What was he doing in Egypt?  Why did he feel more connected to Arab countries, rather than to Israel?  Did he really think that he, a Jewish American, could do something for "the pursuit of peace and understanding?"

Did his family support this delusion?

Did his family and friends and teachers warn him that he was going to a dangerous place?

Frequently when someone in the states says they're going to Israel, people act horrified:

"It's so dangerous!"


Now, I would like to know if Pochter received such reactions to his plans.  Of course there's no guarantee that Pochter would be alive if he had gone to Israel.  But for sure, if he had been killed here, the article about his death would include something of how his family didn't want him to come because of the supposed "dangers."

Think about it.  Where can one find more danger, in Israel or the Arab countries?  If someone is injured or hurt, where is there better medical care?  And are you disturbed by the fact that an American Jewish student is more attracted to Arab society than to Jewish Israeli society?

Am I the only one bothered by this incident and this situation in general?

Friday, June 28, 2013

Latma Gets It Right, One of Their Best About The Arab Intentions

Towards the end of this week's edition of the Latma Tribal Update news parody, there's a skit that perfectly voices the Arabs' plans for Israel.  It's definitely worth seeing.


This week on the Tribal Update, the weekly satirical news broadcast produced by Latma, the Hebrew-language satrical media criticism website I run we bring you Tawil Fadiha, the Palestinian Minister of Uncontrollable Rage explaining John Kerry's peace plan.
You may not be aware, but Israel's new Heath Minister Yael German, from Finance MInister Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid party has decided to follow in Michael Bloomberg's path and turn Israel into a nanny state. She's already planning to ban salt from tables in restaurants. And her new plan is to automatically register everyone as organ donors when we renew our driver's licenses. We discuss her plan in the show as well.
I also suggest reading Caroline Glick's Obama's war of ideas, which is excellent.  Here's an excerpt:
US foreign policy is failing worldwide.
The Russian and Chinese embrace of indicted traitor Edward Snowden is just the latest demonstration of the contempt in which the US is held by an ever increasing number of adversarial states around the world.
Iran has also gotten a piece of the action.
As part of the regime's bread and circuses approach to its subjects, supreme dictator Ali Khamenei had pretend reformer Hassan Rohani win the presidential election in a landslide two weeks ago. Rohani has a long record of advancing Iran's nuclear program, both as a national security chief and as a senior nuclear negotiator. He also has a record of deep involvement in acts of mass terror, including the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish center in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and wounded hundreds.
Yet rather than distance itself from Rohani the phony, the Obama administration has celebrated Iranian democracy and embraced him as a reformer. Obama's spokesmen say they look forward to renewing nuclear talks with Rohani, and so made clear - yet again - that the US has no intention of preventing Iran from becoming a nuclear power.
Rohani responded to the administration's embrace by stating outright he will not suspend Iran's nuclear enrichment activities. In other words, so great is Iran's contempt for President Barack Obama and his administration, that it didn't even pay lip service to the notion of cutting a deal.
Shabbat Shalom

Let's Define PEACE

I wish there were strict international labeling regulations.  People are trying to sell us a "peace" which doesn't comply with the meaning of the word, at least as I, a linguistic and grammatical purist, thinks it should be defined.

Definition of PEACE

1
: a state of tranquility or quiet: as
a : freedom from civil disturbance
b : a state of security or order within a community provided for by law or custom peace

>
2
: freedom from disquieting or oppressive thoughts or emotions
3
: harmony in personal relations
4
a : a state or period of mutual concord between governments
b : a pact or agreement to end hostilities between those who have been at war or in a state of enmity
5
—used interjectionally to ask for silence or calm or as a greeting or farewell
at peace
: in a state of concord or tranquillity


I'm not really  sure what Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is trying to promote:
Netanyahu: Peace Agreement Won’t Eliminate ‘Wild Defamation of Jewish State’
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Thursday that he desires peace, but that no agreement with the Palestinian Authority would silence critics of the Jewish state.
“Let no one among us delude him or herself that if we make a peace agreement with the Palestinians, that this agreement would eliminate the wild defamation of the state of the Jews. What has been the lot of the Jews beforehand, for generations, today is the lot of the state of the Jews,” Netanyahu told an audience during a State Memorial Ceremony for Zionist leader Theodor Herzl in Jerusalem.
What would we, the State of Israel, be getting in the proposed deals/treaties?

Again, I recommend that you subscribe to the Palestinian Media Watch for their updates.  They aren't afraid to publicize what is really being said by the Arab world, especially in the P.A. Palestinian Authority by its so called "moderate" leaders.
This official PA map of "Palestine” was broadcast on PA TV in September 2011. The map includes both the PA areas and all of Israel (excluding the Golan Heights) wrapped in the Palestinian flag - a symbol of Palestinian sovereignty over the whole area - and has a key through it, symbolizing ownership. Similar maps presenting all of Israel as "Palestine" appear in Palestinian schoolbooks and are shown regularly on PA TV.

If it's not real peace, I'm not buying!  I'd rather wait until the Arabs are ready and want to live in peace, the true type, as much as we do.

Thursday, June 27, 2013

New Life for Jewish Israeli Blogging, The New Havel Havelim

I opened up a new account at blog carnival for Havel Havelim.  It has been limping along as of late as a monthly blog carnival.  That's not good.  The type of posts that make Havel Havelim great are topical and timely, so monthly makes it weak, stale and was killing it.  I pledged on our facebook page, or at least to Esser Agaroth that if I can get "ownership" of the blog carnival account, I'd be the default and use their trusty instacarnival*  to post when there is no host.  Since we couldn't get control of that account, I just opened a new one.
Jewish-Israel blog carnival aka Havel Havalim
Submit your posts by clicking here.
and Please add the logo to your blog's sidebar.
And until I receive a new logo for the blog carnival, I'll use this picture:



Here are the posts that had been submitted the past month to Havel Havelim (plus other posts which I've added) which due to circumstances beyond my control wasn't posted:

Five Inspiring Books to Read This Summer
Whimsical Windows, Delirious Doors! #81
Self-Sacrifice and You: Lessons from Irena Sendler
"We have met the enemy..."
My Mother and Her Judaism
A Thanks to The Women of the Wall
Like an Epidemic of Deaths, Another Eulogy for My Mother
Another Rabbi of the Exile, Keeping the Jew Down
The Melon Knows Hashem Better Than Many Jews
A Time to Remember the Holy House
Get Out Now
The Arab Mind: Read Their Lips

Please read, comment and of course share the carnival and share the posts.  Let's get this show back on the road!

That concludes this edition. Submit your blog article to the next edition of jewish-israel blog carnival aka havel ha using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page.

*Blog carnival does all the work for us.  They collect and compile all of the links that have been sent in and send the package aka instacarnival to the host.  All you need to do is edit, which means deleting any spam off-topic posts, add more posts you've found and some pictures from the posts if you want.  Instacarnival comes in two versions, the html code and "regular."  I'll also help "coach" you through the process if needed.  So, please volunteer to host.  Contact me through email or our facebook page, thanks.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

The Arab Mind: Read Their Lips

Netanyahu says his goal is to remain in the talks and continue with them for an extended period to try and "grapple with all the issues"; Palestinian Authority leader reiterates call for full settlement freeze.

Being in mourning for my mother, according to Jewish Law I can't watch enjoyable television shows, which makes the news the perfect thing to have on.  I just can't stand the silence without either music or TV in the background.  So last night I asked my husband to turn on the news.

I wonder why it's called the news, when there is nothing really new being broadcast.  We have the same things going on, maybe recycled with different "players," but it's really hard to discover something that hadn't happened before.

The President's Strategy (2007)
Back in 2007, President George W. Bush was dealing with the Middle East by sending weapons to one set of terrorists in hopes that they would use them against another group of Islamists. Now, with the slaughter in Syria out of control, has another President decided to adopt the same strategy of sending weapons to one set of terrorists for use against another?


The Arabs have been pretty straight-talking about their plans and aims; you just have to read their lips.  That's why I always recommend keeping up with the Palestinian Media Watch, which translates and publicizes what the Arabs are saying among themselves. 

While international "statesmen," media, academics and too many Israelis keep insisting that we can "negotiate peace"  with the PA's Abbas, the truth is that he has never supported true peace with Israel.  Abbas defies US Congress request to fire official who glorified murderer.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas has defied senior members of US Congress by announcing his refusal to dismiss a senior PA official who glorified a murderer.

FollowingPalestinian Media Watch's report last month that Abbas' advisor and Head of the PA's NGO Authority, Sultan Abu Al-Einein, glorified the murderer of an Israeli just three days after the killing, five members of the US Congress sent a letter to PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas demanding that the PA official be removed from office:
"We ask that you publicly and officially denounce and condemn Mr. Al-Einein's remarks at once and remove him from his position in your government."
 

The letter was signed by Reps. Ed Royce, Eliot Engel, Nita Lowey, Ted Deutch, and Brad Sherman. PA official Abu Al-Einein had praised the murderer with the following words:
"We salute the heroic fighter... Blessings to the breast that nursed [him]."
 

Abbas has now announced that he will not remove Abu Al-Einein from his position, and likewise rejected Congress' demand for condemnation.
Last night another of those interchangeable Israeli "experts" on Israeli television kept on insisting that he had no doubts that Abbas really wanted peace sic.  That's what we keep hearing from the Israeli Left and Center, but there has never ever been such words and promises from the Arabs themselves.

The Jerusalem Post even admits it in today's headline:
Abbas douses expectations for resumption of talks

Photo: Jason Reed / Reuters
 Israeli-Palestinian talks are on the immediate horizon, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu shifted the message Tuesday from calling on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the negotiating table, to calling on him not to bolt once he is there.


  

Amid reports that that Israeli-Palestinian talks are on the immediate horizon, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu shifted the message Tuesday from calling on Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas to the negotiating table, to calling on him not to bolt once he is there.
But will our policy makers and media take this to heart?  Are they willing to admit that their policies and ideology are lies based on fantasies?

The Arabs aren't hiding anything.  We just have to listen.

Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Post-Shiva: Catching Up on The News

This morning I just got up from sitting shiva for my mother.  It's a strange coincidence that today is the seventeenth 17th of Tammuz and the Jewish World is entering the very sad period of the Three Weeks which commemorates the destruction of our ancient Holy Temples.  So I'm not the only Jew not celebrating, not listening to music etc.

During the seven days of shiva for my mother and the days from the announcement until the funeral I pretty much ignored the news.  Now, I'm trying to catch up. I only got on the computer to check emails and I blogged about my mother, her funeral and shiva.  I also kept a journal at the advice of David Bedein, after I had complained of boredom especially due to the restrictions in reading subjects.  According to Jewish Law, especially in the shiva and pre-funeral status one isn't supposed to read pleasant subjects and occupy oneself with things unrelated to the burial and mourning, watch television programs etc.

Now that I'm up from the most intensive stage of mourning, it's time to see what has been going on in the world.

I had planned on attending the Shimon Peres President Conference, as I had done last year.  It's not that I'm a great fan and admirer of Israel's President Shimon Peres, but last year I discovered that there are some very interesting sessions. It's not good to isolate oneself from those of other opinions.  G-d willing I'll attend next year's.

After over a week of not watching, reading or listening to the news I don't think I missed anything.  Today's article in the Jerusalem Post, Netanyahu urges Palestinians to start talks, and stay at them , is just too similar to those I've been reading for years. 
Western diplomats tell Israeli media PM willing to release prisoners, freeze settlement building in return for Abbas giving up demand to start talks based on '67 lines; Erekat denies report, says PA won't give up preconditions.
As it is written in Kohelet, Ecclesiastes, "nothing's new."

One of the first things I checked after getting up was Caroline Glick and her Latma broadcast.



Latma interviews the new moderate Iranian President and celebrates with Shimon Peres among other topics.


I had also missed Ruthie Blum's latest article.  Here it is,Jordanian teens give honor killings high ratings:
A new study released on Thursday by Cambridge University’s Institute of Criminology is getting a lot of publicity for what it suggests about societal norms in Jordan. The study, conducted by Professor Manuel Eisner and graduate student Lana Ghuneim, reveals that a large number of teenagers in the Hashemite Kingdom not only consider honor killings to be legally just, but advocate them on moral grounds.

Read more: http://communities.washingtontimes.com/neighborhood/right-angles/2013/jun/22/jordanian-teens-give-honor-killings-high-ratings/#ixzz2XEYGagsk
Follow us: @wtcommunities on Twitter


So if this is the prevailing culture in Jordan, what can we expect from the Arabs here?

Dent left by shooting on the bus

 

Monday, June 24, 2013

Like an Epidemic of Deaths, Another Eulogy for My Mother

In on of the Matan courses I've been taking, the one about ספר במדבר, Sefer Bamidbar, The Book of Numbers taught by Atara Snowbell, we've mentioned the subject of how/when the generation of the Exodus died out.  A punishment for their sins, for supporting the ten tribal heads who discouraged the immediate entering of the Land of Israel after G-d performed the great miracle of freeing them from Egyptian slavery, was that their generation would have to die out before the Jewish People could finally enter.  There's a question I remember her asking or talking about.  Did everyone die about the same time, or was it spread out over the forty, or more exactly about thirty-eight years?

The Chumash, the first Five Books of the Bible which recounts the beginnings of Jewish and World History, from Creation until the death of Moshe, Moses.
Deuteronomy Chapter 34 דְּבָרִים
ד  וַיֹּאמֶר יְהוָה אֵלָיו, זֹאת הָאָרֶץ אֲשֶׁר נִשְׁבַּעְתִּי לְאַבְרָהָם לְיִצְחָק וּלְיַעֲקֹב לֵאמֹר, לְזַרְעֲךָ, אֶתְּנֶנָּה; הֶרְאִיתִיךָ בְעֵינֶיךָ, וְשָׁמָּה לֹא תַעֲבֹר. 4 And the LORD said unto him: 'This is the land which I swore unto Abraham, unto Isaac, and unto Jacob, saying: I will give it unto thy seed; I have caused thee to see it with thine eyes, but thou shalt not go over thither.'
ה  וַיָּמָת שָׁם מֹשֶׁה עֶבֶד-יְהוָה, בְּאֶרֶץ מוֹאָב--עַל-פִּי יְהוָה. 5 So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD.
There has been something strange going on among neighbors in Shiloh and among even other friends of mine.  For the past couple of months, it seems there always seems to be someone sitting shiva, sometimes even more than one at a time.  All of the people I know of who have died, died of natural death.  They didn't die in accidents or terror attacks.  There was no great drama involved with their deaths.  Their deaths had been expected.  All were ill, suffering.  When people ask me about my mother's death and I describe old age and physical deterioration, the accumulated cholesterol (like sludge) in the circulatory system and not waking up from sleep, so many people have similar stories about the recent death of their parents.

Yes, G-d controls coincidence the timing of life and death. Doesn't G-d have reasons?  Coincidence isn't random.

My mother lived longer than anyone in her family.  To reach the age of eighty-eight in her family, her parents and siblings, it's like living until one hundred and twenty one (121.)  Her younger sister by five years, my Aunt Natalie Rosenberg, died just a few months ago.  Only one other of their seven other siblings had passed her eightieth birthday, and if I'm not mistaken only one other even made it past seventy.

One thing many mentioned was that my mother was concerned about the importance of eating healthy food, whole wheat, fruits and vegetables and raw salads long before anyone else they knew.  It obviously made a big difference.  My mother had a very active life well into her eighties, but there's a limit how much we can improve our genetic make up.  My mother's long active life was a triumph over nature.

She loved museums and volunteered as a docent in the Nassau County Art Museum.  She had a special cane which could be opened into a chair, and that's how she got around when she needed to walk a lot.  She stuffed everything she could into her life until she could no longer control her mind and body.

One thing for sure.  She was a tough act to follow.


My parents and I at the NCSY
Ben Zakkai Honor Society Dinner when
I was inducted into the society.
Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet
 
Shirley Spiegelman
שפרה בת אברהם וחיה ריזיה
Shifra bat Avraham and Chaya Raisia
 
לעילוי נשמתה
Li'ilu'i Nishmata
May her Soul be Elevated
 
 

Sunday, June 23, 2013

Pictures from the funeral and cemetery

 
As usual, I had my trusty old camera with me at my mother's funeral.  I may have taken some of the pictures, for sure those before the actual funeral.  Then I'm pretty sure I handed it to a friend.  My mother is buried in the New Montefiore  Cemetery out on Long Island.  We got off at Exit 49 on the LIE and drove south.

My parents had bought their burial plots there in the Oakland Jewish Center section in about 1959. 


I'm pretty sure they lived next to us when we
were in the five room duplex in Bell Park Gardens.
They were founding members of the shul, Oakland Jewish Center, Bayside NY.  I was hoping to see lots of people I knew, I mean their names on tombstones.  No doubt I'll be back, and then I'll find their old friends.

My father has a lot of relatives in the Neshelsk (a city in Poland that once had a very large active Jewish community) section of a different cemetery.  A cousin was there visiting her parents and grandparents in between my mother's death and funeral.  She told them the news about my mother.

My mother's grave is near one of the outside walls.  It was pretty noisy, but that shouldn't bother her now.

Covering the grave was a group effort.  Due to a shoulder injury I was pretty useless with the shovel.  But I did drop a stone from Shiloh into the grave.  I had brought it with me to make sure my mother had something special from ארץ ישראל Eretz Yisrael, the Land of Israel.  Most of my mother's grandchildren and all of her great-grandchildren are in Israel.

I was surprised at how much deeper she's buried than we do here in Israel.  There are other differences, the American legally required coffin versus just the shrouds wrapped in a Tallit.  No, I didn't take up the offer to check/see the body.  My brother was pleased at how the shroud covered her.  She was in the simple coffin as all traditional Jews request.  There are many more "traditional Jews" when it comes to burials than living and breathing Jews.

In my community, Shiloh, Israel, actual "kri'ah," ripping of the clothes is the accepted standard.  My high school friend, with whom I had become religious almost fifty years ago,  did the first cut with a knife and Rabbi Dale Polakoff of the Great Neck Synagogue supervised, making sure that the rip was long enough.

Rabbi Polakoff made sure that my mother was well covered.  When the family and friends were gathering to leave, we could still he him heaving the earth onto my mother.  He was overheard telling the cemetery workers that he would take care of it himself.  I'd say that the Great Neck Synagogue is in good hands.



Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet
 
Shirley Spiegelman
שפרה בת אברהם וחיה ריזיה
Shifra bat Avraham and Chaya Raisia
 
לעילוי נשמתה
Li'ilu'i Nishmata
May her Soul be Elevated

Saturday, June 22, 2013

The Blessing of a Full Shiva

"Shiva" is actually the Hebrew word for seven 7 שבע sheva.  The same linguistic root for week שבוע shavu'a and oath שְׁבוְּעָה shvu'ah. And just to make things more interesting, the letter שְׁ the "sh" sound has a little dot on the top right.  If you move it to the left, the sound is like an "s." Then the Hebrew שבע sava  means satisfied.

So since my mother died on the 7th of Tamuz, and there's no Jewish Holiday to cancel shiva I get the full seven days, including a Shabbat and time to have been at the funeral, sat with family, was comforted by friends in New York, then flew to Israel to be home in Shiloh, and I still have a full two days of shiva left.

I'm back in my "shiva uniform," ripped shirt and all.

Friday, June 21, 2013

A break from "sitting shiva"

We're not supposed to do overt public mourning on Shabbat.  So after landing  in Israel and getting home and sitting a couple of hours and being comforted by neighbors, I was finally able to take a shower and put on clean clothes and wear shoes.

After Shabbat I will take off my clean Shabbat clothes and put back on the clothes I wore to the funeral and had been wearing also on the plane.

My kids are taking good care of me.

I was picked up at the airport and bought coffee so I wouldn't fall asleep too early or too late.  When I got home, I could see that the house has been scrubbed and the livingroom rearranged.  We'll be eating a combination of the food brought in by neighbors and cooked by my kids.

I am not interfering.  Yes, I admit that not interfering is tough for me.

I really am sincerely grateful.

I have a super wonderful family and community.

Shabbat Shalom to all

Thursday, June 20, 2013

Amazing Funeral, Great Tribute



Yesterday was my mother's funeral at the Oakland Jewish Center section of the New Montifiore Cemetery.  It was conducted by a Rabbi  ?Klein and with the participation of Rabbi Dale Polakoff of the Great Neck Synagogue. My many cousins plus some friends and other family members attended.  My brother, sister and I really appreciate it.  I was told that it was considered a large group.  I guess it was, because Rabbi Klein had asked if there would be a minyon of men, and we certainly had that.

The cousins, from both sides (to tell the truth, a stranger would not have been able to tell if they were my father's or mother's nieces and nephews) really enjoyed Rabbi Polakoff's description of my mother as "feisty."  This was a great tribute to their Aunt Shirley whom they obviously adored.

Observing my absolutely wonderful cousins in action together, I have no doubt that they all are a tribute to my parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents who produced this wonderful family I am privileged to be one of.
There aren't many families as amazing as mine.

My Cousin Howard opened his home to us for the post-funeral shiva.  He set it up as a proper shiva home, covered the mirrors and had water for ritual hand-washing outside the door.  One is supposed to wash one's hands when leaving a cemetery, but since he knew that we'd be going into the cars straight from the gravesite, he was prepared.  My sister-in-law brought low chairs from her Young Israel of Scarsdale, and my friend Rose made sure there was the traditional "seudat havra'ah" for the mourners to eat.  There was also kosher food for all, since many traveled long distances and we were all mourning.

It was truly a celebration of who and what my mother was and no doubt my mother would have greatly enjoyed the "party."

Afterwards I got back to my sister-in-law's and on old friend from Great Neck came over to "linachem."  His parents had been very generous to me in the years I had needed a place for Shabbat and holiday meals.  We hadn't seen each other for over forty years, but have had occasional email contact.  The Jewish World is amazing.

The day before, on Tuesday, there was a funeral ceremony for my mother in Phoenix Arizona, which my father was able to attend.  My NY daughter was there, too and stayed with my father after my sister and her husband traveled to New York for the burial.  Some of my mother's former caregivers joined the friends my parents had made in a Conservative Scottsdale Synagogue my parents have joined since their move from New York.  Also attending were many friends of my sister, her family and more.

Today the shiva continues at my sister and brother in law's home, then to JFK and my flight home to Shiloh where I will continue sitting until I get up on Tuesday morning, G-d willing.

li'ilu'i nishmata
May her soul be elevated...
Shifra bat Avraham and Chaya Raisia
Shirley Shankman Spiegelman

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Today's the Funeral

Shirley Shankman Spiegelman, 1925-2013
Shifra bat Avraham and Chaya Raisia
Brooklyn, Bayside, Great Neck, all in New York and finally Arizona
last surviving of nine children
wife, mother, aunt, grandmother, great-grandmother and friend to many

Volunteers don't take days off.

Tuesday, June 18, 2013

My Mother and Her Judaism

Let's start with the official obituary.
Spiegelman, Shirley
Shirley passed away at age 88 Saturday June 15, 2013, in Tempe, AZ. Born in Brooklyn in 1925, she moved from Great Neck, NY, to Arizona in 2010. Devoted to her family and community, Shirley had a lifelong passion for dance, theater and the arts, making the most of the cultural offerings in New York and wherever she traveled. She put her experienced eye and mind to work for many years as a docent at the Nassau County Museum of Art, on Long Island. She was pre-deceased by her parents and eight brothers and sisters.  She is survived by her adoring husband of 65 years, Sidney, her loving children, Vivian, Hal Thomas Spiegelman and Batya Medad, seven grandchildren, four great grandchildren, and many nieces and nephews. All will treasure her spirited love, beauty, warmth, fairness and good cooking. A service will be held at 10:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 18th, at Sinai Mortuary, 4538 North 16th Street, Phoenix, AZ. A graveside ceremony will take place at 1:00 p.m. Wednesday June 19th at the New Montefiore Cemetery, 1180 Wellwood Avenue, West Babylon, NY.
It definitely mentions a host of hobbies, interests and activities, but it leaves out something that was very crucial to her life, Judaism.

 
Like many of her generation in the United States, my mother's parents, who had emigrated from the Ukraine and White Russia to New York before World War One, were Torah observant, kept Shabbat, kashrut, the Jewish Holidays and more.  My grandfather had been a great lover of chazanut, the "artisitic," operatic singing of Jewish Prayers and she would accompany him on Shabbat to the large synagogues to hear the great cantors of that generation, such as Koussevitzky.

As a teenager, she was friends with the kids in her high school who were in Hashomer Hadati, and renewed friendship with a couple whose elderly mother lived in our building in Bayit V'gan, Jerusalem.

My mother was the eighth out of nine children in a poverty-stricken "his, hers and theirs" family.  By the time she was in her teens, her elder siblings were adults and were no longer religious.  She once told me that it was expected that she would follow their lead and she did.

My father, although always a proud Jew, wasn't from a strictly religious home and didn't believe it was important to keep kashrut, Shabbat and Jewish Holidays.  But as a Jew, it was important to him to be a member of a synagogue.  They were founding members of the Oakland Jewish Center, Bayside, NY and then joined the Great Neck Synagogue when we moved.  My mother was always active in the synagogues' Sisterhood and Hebrew School PTA's.  In Great Neck, where they lived for decades, she took an extremely active role, being President of the Sisterhood for many years, helping to organize the "Kiddush," provide food for mourners and ran the gift shop.

When I announced that I was Orthodox, she joined my father in trying to stop me, but later on, when I began college she agreed that I should have my own kosher dishes, so I could come home for visits and eat.  I remember going off with her to a local "five and dime" and buy a slew of pots, pans and dishes for my personal use.  A couple of years later, after I became engaged they got instructions on how to kasher the house.  That made it possible to socialize with the more religious members of the shul and have us over with the kids.

After my sister and I moved my parents to Arizona, they joined a Conservative shul they had liked to frequent during visits to my sister.   My sister has made an effort to take them there whenever possible.

In the New York neighborhoods of their childhood, Judaism was the dominant religion.  It was the culture and the food.

Monday, June 17, 2013

My Mother, SAHM Did Not Mean Just Folding Laundry

Officially, you could say that my mother, Shirley Spiegelman, was a SAHM, Stay at home mother, but she really didn't stay at home much, except to run the various groups and organizations she joined.  I learned how to fold by folding flyers she had to distribute for those groups and whatevers

She was president, secretary, chairman, in those days called chairwoman when female, and on a rare occasion a more minor position.  Every PTA, Sisterhood, the National Council of Jewish Women, Bell Park Gardens Day Camp and groups I never knew about were on her "CV."  The deal my parents had was that he would earn the money and she would care for us and run the house.  It worked for them and always seemed ideal to me. I never looked at "not working" as an inferior life.  I was hoping to have the same arrangement with my husband, but in the end I had to find ways to get paid.

Besides all of the organizational work, my mother loved the stage.  She'd take dancing lessons and also acted, first in the Fresh Meadows Community Theater, when we lived in Bayside, NY, and later in the Great Neck Community Theater.

The make-up artist in the Great Neck Community Theatre complained that there was no way to make my mother look as old as she was supposed to look for that role.


My Cousin Mickey, who had Cerebral Palsy, used to love to tell how my mother kept him entertained by dancing for him when he suffered through painful physical therapy when he was a little boy.

One summer when I was in college, friends of hers insisted she teach them "exercise to music," the predecessor of "aerobics."  It was actually my specialty; I had been training with an expert, Alan Wayne.  So she convinced them that I should be her assistant to demonstrate the exercises.  What we really did was that she would tell people to do what I did, and then we both got paid.

When my father retired, they liked to go to the musical performances there were for free in Great Neck.  I once went with them.  My father would inevitably fall asleep for the whole show, and when he got  up he'd say:
"That was the worst music I've ever heard."

Actually, he did the same thing this past winter in the senior citizen place they were then living in.

One thing for sure.  No matter what types of jobs and occupations and hobbies one has during one's active years, nothing really prepares us for the difficulties of old age, when we may have no choice about staying home* or going out.

*whether it's "home" or an "old folks home" where we have little control over our lives

Sunday, June 16, 2013

Baruch Dayan Ha'Emet, "it's no real surprise, though always is"

My mother passed away on Shabbat in her new "home" in Arizona.  I had just visited and left there less than a week ago.

Funeral and Shiva arrangements to be announced.

Saturday, June 15, 2013

Jewish Prayer Direct to G-d

One of the most wonderful things about Judaism is that we don't need an intermediary to pray to G-d.  That's one of main lessons we learn from the Biblical story of Chana (Hannah) in Shiloh.

After almost four hundred years of a leaderless anarchy, when after conquering the Promised Land, it was time for the Jewish People to take the next step and choose a king. 
Judges Chapter 21 שׁוֹפְטִים
כה  בַּיָּמִים הָהֵם, אֵין מֶלֶךְ בְּיִשְׂרָאֵל:  אִישׁ הַיָּשָׁר בְּעֵינָיו, יַעֲשֶׂה.  {ש} 25 In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did that which was right in his own eyes. {P}
It took a woman to finally set this in motion.

The Biblical Chana, barren, though married to Elkanah who had many children with his other wife, Penina, couldn't understand why Chana wasn't satisfied with her life.  During one of their pilgrimages to the Mishkan, Holy Tabernacle in Shiloh, Chana went to pray.  She prayed for a son who would be dedicated to work for G-d and the Jewish People.
1 Samuel Chapter 1 שְׁמוּאֵל א
א  וַיְהִי אִישׁ אֶחָד מִן-הָרָמָתַיִם, צוֹפִים--מֵהַר אֶפְרָיִם; וּשְׁמוֹ אֶלְקָנָה בֶּן-יְרֹחָם בֶּן-אֱלִיהוּא, בֶּן-תֹּחוּ בֶן-צוּף--אֶפְרָתִי. 1 Now there was a certain man of Ramathaim-zophim, of the hill-country of Ephraim, and his name was Elkanah, the son of Jeroham, the son of Elihu, the son of Tohu, the son of Zuph, an Ephraimite.
ב  וְלוֹ, שְׁתֵּי נָשִׁים--שֵׁם אַחַת חַנָּה, וְשֵׁם הַשֵּׁנִית פְּנִנָּה; וַיְהִי לִפְנִנָּה יְלָדִים, וּלְחַנָּה אֵין יְלָדִים. 2 And he had two wives: the name of the one was Hannah, and the name of the other Peninnah; and Peninnah had children, but Hannah had no children.
ג  וְעָלָה הָאִישׁ הַהוּא מֵעִירוֹ מִיָּמִים יָמִימָה, לְהִשְׁתַּחֲו‍ֹת וְלִזְבֹּחַ לַיהוָה צְבָאוֹת בְּשִׁלֹה; וְשָׁם שְׁנֵי בְנֵי-עֵלִי, חָפְנִי וּפִנְחָס, כֹּהֲנִים, לַיהוָה. 3 And this man went up out of his city from year to year to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, were there priests unto the LORD.
ו  וְכִעֲסַתָּה צָרָתָהּ גַּם-כַּעַס, בַּעֲבוּר הַרְּעִמָהּ:  כִּי-סָגַר יְהוָה, בְּעַד רַחְמָהּ. 6 And her rival vexed her sore, to make her fret, because the LORD had shut up her womb.
ז  וְכֵן יַעֲשֶׂה שָׁנָה בְשָׁנָה, מִדֵּי עֲלֹתָהּ בְּבֵית יְהוָה--כֵּן, תַּכְעִסֶנָּה; וַתִּבְכֶּה, וְלֹא תֹאכַל. 7 And as he did so year by year, when she went up to the house of the LORD, so she vexed her; therefore she wept, and would not eat.
ח  וַיֹּאמֶר לָהּ אֶלְקָנָה אִישָׁהּ, חַנָּה לָמֶה תִבְכִּי וְלָמֶה לֹא תֹאכְלִי, וְלָמֶה, יֵרַע לְבָבֵךְ:  הֲלוֹא אָנֹכִי טוֹב לָךְ, מֵעֲשָׂרָה בָּנִים. 8 And Elkanah her husband said unto her: 'Hannah, why weepest thou? and why eatest thou not? and why is thy heart grieved? am not I better to thee than ten sons?'
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.
יא  וַתִּדֹּר נֶדֶר וַתֹּאמַר, יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת אִם-רָאֹה תִרְאֶה בָּעֳנִי אֲמָתֶךָ וּזְכַרְתַּנִי וְלֹא-תִשְׁכַּח אֶת-אֲמָתֶךָ, וְנָתַתָּה לַאֲמָתְךָ, זֶרַע אֲנָשִׁים--וּנְתַתִּיו לַיהוָה כָּל-יְמֵי חַיָּיו, וּמוֹרָה לֹא-יַעֲלֶה עַל-רֹאשׁוֹ. 11 And she vowed a vow, and said: 'O LORD of hosts, if Thou wilt indeed look on the affliction of Thy handmaid, and remember me, and not forget Thy handmaid, but wilt give unto Thy handmaid a man-child, then I will give him unto the LORD all the days of his life, and there shall no razor come upon his head.'
יב  וְהָיָה כִּי הִרְבְּתָה, לְהִתְפַּלֵּל לִפְנֵי יְהוָה; וְעֵלִי, שֹׁמֵר אֶת-פִּיהָ. 12 And it came to pass, as she prayed long before the LORD, that Eli watched her mouth.
יג  וְחַנָּה, הִיא מְדַבֶּרֶת עַל-לִבָּהּ--רַק שְׂפָתֶיהָ נָּעוֹת, וְקוֹלָהּ לֹא יִשָּׁמֵעַ; וַיַּחְשְׁבֶהָ עֵלִי, לְשִׁכֹּרָה. 13 Now Hannah, she spoke in her heart; only her lips moved, but her voice could not be heard; therefore, Eli thought she had been drunken.
 
G-d answered Chana's prayers, and she gave birth to a son, who was the Prophet Shmuel (Samuel,) the person who led the Jewish People after the capture of the Holy Ark and anointed the first two kings, Saul and David.

For the past few years I have been inviting women to join me at Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel Shiloh for Rosh Chodesh Prayers.  Shiloh is easily accessible by public or private transportation.  Please spread the word.

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh
Rosh Chodesh Av
Monday, July 8, 2013
1 Av 5773, 8:30am
Tour of Tel & Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson
Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים
ראש חודש אב בתל שילה

יום ב' 8-7 א' אב תשע"ג 8:30
יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל
נא לבוא, לפרסם ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות
 
 
There's now a very interesting and well kept up tourist center in Shiloh, Shiloh HaKeduma, at Tel Shiloh.  You can arrange tours and events there by emailing visit@telshilo.org.il or call 02-994-4019.

 

Friday, June 14, 2013

Caroline Glick's Latma Brings Us to a "Better Place"

Political parody isn't always funny, but there are some excellent pieces here that will make you think of things a bit differently.



Gay Pride and Pederasty in Tel Aviv; Arab Pride and Peace Plans in Syria

And Caroline Glick's article this week is davka about the "Better Place" cars.

Shabbat Shalom!

Yes, Bibi, "The World Ignored Our Annihilation"

Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu at
Auschwitz, June 13, 2013.
Photo: Israel GPO.
 
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is right that "The World Ignored Our Annihilation," but he doesn't seem to understand that nothing has really changed.  And the lesson to learn from it is that we should remember that we can't rely on anyone when in trouble.  We must have policies that don't require being rescued or help by any other country.
“The leaders of the Allies knew about the Holocaust in real time. They understood exactly what was happening in the death camps. They were asked to act, they could have acted, and they did not. To we Jews the lesson is clear. We must not be complacent in the face of threats of annihilation. We must not bury our heads in the sand or allow others to do the work for us. From here, the place that attests to the desire to destroy us, I, the Prime Minister of Israel, the state of the Jewish People, say to all the nations of the world: The State of Israel will do whatever is necessary to prevent another holocaust.”

I'm just a lowly blogger; I'm not in any position to change or make policy, but Netanyahu is the Israeli Prime Minister and he can do a lot more than just tap letters on a keyboard.

The Holocaust teaches us that normal cultural and "moral" values are ignored when the victims are Jews. 

Today we are victimizing ourselves by agreeing to empower Arab terrorists and given them sovereignty over our Land.  Claiming that it's possible to make a "Palestinian state" that doesn't endanger Israel is like claiming that 1 + 1 = 3.

The early Nazi laws which only "discriminated" against Jews in Germany were nothing compared to the laws against Jews in most Arab countries today and also in the "PA Authority."  Yes, Jews were still safer then in Germany, than we are today in Jenin, Ramallah or Shechem.

Just like there was silence from international human rights organizations then when Jews were losing their jobs and being thrown out of schools, who is complaining about the Judenrein policies of Jordan, Dubai and the PA Authority, among others?

It's time to learn our lesson and stop talking "peace."  We have a country to build.  We shouldn't expect any help from others.  Once we concentrate our energies on true sovereignty, we'll be the "light to all nations," strong and secure.

Shabbat Shalom

Thursday, June 13, 2013

Peace? Let's Stop Begging!!!


 

Last night, not for the first time, I had the unpleasant experience of listening to our Prime Minister pathetically begging our enemies to "make peace."

Netanyahu in Poland: Stop Negotiating About Negotiations

Sorry, Charlie, but that's not how it's done.

There will only be peace, true peace, when we stop begging and make it clear that we don't need any favors from anyone.  We're perfectly fine without that sort of "peace."

True PEACE won't cost us land or security.  There will only be true PEACE when the Arabs are ready and want it as much as we do.  You can't buy peace, nor can it be achieved through negotiations.  I'm only interested in true PEACE.

As long as we keep on begging for "peace" we'll just keep on getting wars, threats and terror.  We'll just get more pressure and dangerous "suggestions" to sweeten the "negotiations."

True PEACE doesn't have an expiration date like milk does; it won't grow moldy like bread left out in plastic for a week or two.

You can't  compromise with people who want you destroyed.  Would it have worked with Hitler?  Did it work for the countries that had made treaties with him?  No.
“I think it is time to stop squabbling over preconditions. I think it’s time to stop negotiating about the negotiations. I think we have to start peace talks immediately,” Netanyahu said during a joint press conference with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk...
Kerry phoned Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday to assure him that he was continuing to push for renewed talks.
Abbas reiterated the demand that Israel must freeze West Bank settlement activity and Jewish building in east Jerusalem.
He also asked that Israel release all Palestinian prisoners in its jails.

All these scenarios that Bibi, Peres, Obama, Kerry, Blair etc. keep proposing are unworkable, fantasies, just recipes for disaster for the State of Israel and Jewish People all over the world.

Wednesday, June 12, 2013

Old and Ancient Sure Have Different Meanings When Living in Israel

My fellow jblogger, Paula, the Soldiers' Mother is having the same reaction to Europe as I had when in Philadelphia last summer.
I asked the really nice Pakistani taxi driver how old London was - I should just do the research. He said - "very old. More than 300 years old."

Pretty much everything in America (at least in terms of architecture) is, at most, 200 years old so at 300 and more, that becomes impressive. The problem, I realize, is that after living in Israel so long, pretty much nothing tops it. There are parts of Jerusalem that are 2,000 years and more. Rome will likely have similarly aged buildings but I've clearly decided my question was wrong. Old , for someone who is in Jerusalem daily, is not a good measuring factor.

Shiloh was the Capital of the Jewish State that had existed here three thousand years ago.  Our People, religion and country existed before there was a language called English, or French or Russian.  We speak, work and invent modern technology in that very same language.

A mile from my house is the Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel of Ancient Shiloh. 



Most of my Shiloh neighbors live much closer to the Tel than I do.  Modern Shiloh grew around the old structures.

My sons live and one even works in Jerusalem buildings over a hundred years old.

The Jewish Religion and Jewish Nation are thousands of years old.  We have out-survived all of our enemies, and we're thriving, thank G-d.  Everything looks different from the perspective of being here in Shiloh, Israel, the Holy Land.

The State of Israel would be in better shape if only our political leaders would accept this and stop trying to more "modern," like other countries.  We are not the same as other countries, other religions and other societies.

Let's stand up proudly and state that our country is thousands of years old.  We predate all of those who try to tell us what's best for us.  The only One Who does know what's best is G-d Almighty.  That's it in a nutshell.

Tuesday, June 11, 2013

What "Reality" Does MK Dov Lipman See?

“So did [my recognition of] the reality there, which we cannot ignore,” he added. (from Arutz 7)

At the same time Lipman said that Israel must give Land to the Arabs.
Love for the entire land of Israel can go hand-in-hand with support for Israeli withdrawals and the creation of an Arab state in Judea and Samaria, says MK Dov Lipman of the Yesh Atid party.

When I explain to those unfamiliar with the Land of Israel, Judea and Samaria why Israel wouldn't survive the "two states for two peoples" fantasy, I explain that the reality is that such an arrangement has never ever worked any place.  For people old enough to remember when there was an West Berlin in the middle of East Berlin, it becomes pretty easy for them to see the reality of the dangers to the security and continued existence of the State of Israel.

It's clear that Lipman is enamored with his position in Yair Lapid's party.  I remember that during the campaign a friend of mine heard him speak and was very disgusted with his simplistic platitudes and campaign double-talk.  Having Orthodox simcha (ordination,) keeping kashrut and Shabbat does not make him an expert in the Land of Israel and how it applies to the Jewish People today.

G-d made us the miracle of the 1967 Six Days War, because He knew it was essential that we Israelis control the Land of Israel at least until the Jordan River.  He, Hakodesh Baruch Hu, also gave us the Temple Mount, the Sinai and the Golan.  Unfortunately our dangerously foolish politicians immediately gave the Arab Muslims the Temple Mount, and then ten years later, Menachem Begin, as Prime Minister, gave Egypt the Sinai.  Begin, like Lipman, wanted to please the world and change his image.

There's an interesting op-ed in the Jewish Press, also complaining about Lipman.  The feeling is that Lipman sold his soul to Yair Lapid, and now he fits in fine to Lapid's Yesh Atid.
But along came MK Dov Lipman and decided to stage a show-down. “There will be war!” came the message. “We must get those Haredim out of those yeshivos!” “We will only allow a tiny amount of the elite to stay in learning, as a grand concession.” “We will starve them out – we will cut their funding if they don’t do the core curriculum, and we will cut their social security, and we will cut their children’s allowances… ” “And we will do all of this for their sakes, for they do not know what is in their own best interests.”

Power sure changes people...

Monday, June 10, 2013

Jordan, A Fake Country

Jordan's land was supposed to be part of the Jewish State.  When the League of Nations assigned Great Britain the responsibility to prepare former Turkish land aka Mandated Palestine to be the Jewish State, it included both sides of the Jordan.

But it didn't take long for Britain to give Transjordan aka the East Bank of the Jordan to the Hashemites, from Saudi Arabia. They financially and diplomatically supported their new/fake/pet country for decades.

The inevitable is starting to happen.  There are serious cracks in the Hashemite Kingdom.  There's a limit how long foreigners can rule.

For the last two years, Jordan has been witnessing regular protests calling for reform, with some demanding the king give up his powers. [1] On November 15, 2012, massive protests broke out in Jordan after the Jordanian government, in compliance with the requirements of the International Monetary Fund, raised fuel prices. Protests, as The Independent noted, swept the country, “with most chanting for toppling the regime” despite the fact that protesters had previously “rarely targeted the king himself.”[2]
For the first time, the Palestinians engaged fully in the protests; As Al-Jazeera reported, Palestinians, including those from refugee camps, have been fully involved, [3] calling for toppling the regime in most of their major residential areas, including the Al-Baqqa refugee camp [4], the Al-Hussein refugee camp, close to downtown Amman [5] Douar Firas [6], Jabal Al-Nuzha, [7], and the Hitteen refugee camp [8].

And there's also a limit how long a country without any real history, common culture etc can stay united and peaceful.  The land was pretty empty when Britain invented Jordan.  It was easy to give it to the Hashemites, because there had never been more than nomads, villages and towns.  There was no regional culture.  There had never been an independent country based only in that part of the work.  It had been part of the Biblical Jewish Kingdoms, from the time of Joshua, which even predates the kings.  Two and a half Jewish tribes lived there, their capital being Shiloh and later Jerusalem.

Anarchy on the other side of the Jordan, visible from my home in Shiloh, will probably last quite a while.  Actually, Israel is usually safer when Arabs fight each other.  The only thing that unites them is their aim to destroy the State of Israel and murder/terrorize Jews.

Let them continue to fight each other...

Sunday, June 9, 2013

If "Netanyahu: Israel trusts only itself to protect its borders," Then Why Does Bibi Pay Attention to Foreign Leaders?

There is a very crucial inconsistency in Bibi's statements and policies.  Readers of my blog can easily picture me blogging something similar to this recent Israel Hayom headline:

Netanyahu: Israel trusts only itself to protect its borders
Shiloh Musings: Israel should trust only itself to protect its borders

I just wish that these words quoted from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu could be taken serisouly as Israeli policy.  It's because of statement like this, which frequently float very convincingly from Netanyahu's tongue that many people think of him as Right wing and expect his government coalitions to follow Right policies.

Unfortunately, I don't see Netanyahu's actual policies as following this:

"We discussed matters pertaining to Syria, where the situation is getting more complex by the day," Netanyahu said. "We saw just last week the fighting that took place near our border on the Golan. Israel will not interfere in the civil war in Syria, as long as the fire is not aimed at us."
The prime minister said Israel trusted only itself to protect its borders.
"The disintegration of the U.N. force on the Golan highlights the fact that Israel cannot place its security in the hands of international forces. They can be a part of [future] arrangements, but they cannot be the basis of Israel's security," he said.

He keeps trying to get reassurance and praise from foreign leaders.  We need a leader like King David who rejected conventional military strategy and insisted that his secret weapon was G-d.  That's how King David killed Goliath.  King David did fight military battles, but he knew that the final outcome was actually up to G-d.  Netanyahu does not have that sort of religious faith.  It's is tragic flaw as a Jewish Leader.

I still think that Netanyahu has the potential to be a great Jewish leader, but he must stop thinking with his head and he must start thinking with his Jewish soul. I believe he does have one, but he is used to repressing it.

I have no doubt that Bibi loves the Land of Israel, the Bible and Jewish History.  He just doesn't know how to combine them into policy.  He is missing the connection to G-d and the glue of the Mitzvot, Torah commandments.  Let's pray for him to reach his potential and become a great Jewish Leader.  Until then, I can't vote for him...

Let's Demand a Moratorium to Peace Talks!

I suggest, in all seriousness that Israel declare a moratorium  to peace talks.  Simply, we aren't interested  until the Arabs come begging.  The State of Israel shouldn't beg anyone for peace.

We aren't the aggressors.  We live peacefully with our Arab neighbors.  The aggression, terror, threats and war come from them not us.  So they have nothing to fear from us, from Israel.

It probably will take at least a couple of generations if not longer.  That's no problem.  In the meantime we'll do what is really important.  We will develop and strengthen the State of Israel and make it more Jewish and more secure.  Our economic growth is far better than the United States and Europe.  No doubt more and more Jews will come to live here.  And many Jewish immigrants will want to live all over, including Judea and Samaria.

We must also stop taking advice and orders from foreign countries.  If they're so smart why is our economy better?

If a foreign dignitary, official visiting or a foreign ambassador calls us aggressors, insults or threatens us, like the Turkish and even American ones, we must expel them and declare them persona non grata.  Within no time, we will gain international respect.  If any Israeli media, politician, academic or whatever join in criticizing the IDF or Israeli Government for defending Israel and its citizens, they must be arrested.  That Turkish flotilla aggression would have blown over a long time ago if only we had behaved this way.  They should have had apologized.  Israel did absolutely nothing wrong!