Is Ferguson mida k'neged mida?

While it's always been quite a debate if America is truly a friend of Israel's or just claims to be, I don't think anyone would disagree this current administration is one of if not the most openly anti-Israel. In the past 10 years that I can remember paying attention to such things I don't remember such unabashed hostility (again I'm not talking about what the government thinks or does behind the scenes which may be just as bad - I'm talking what they say right out in the open to the news cameras). I was quite surprised by two condemnations of Israel by Obama during this current conflict. By surprised I don't mean that I found it shocking or completely unexpected, but rather that the level of chutzpah shown was so above even what numbed out news-following senses have been accustomed to that it actually exhibited an emotional response rather than just a customary "what else is new?"

The first incident was when after barely mentioning the unjust kidnap and ultimately heinous murder of the Jewish boys (one of which was an American citizen) after 3 weeks, Obama immediately jumped up to speak out against the murder of an arab boy who was most definitely not an American and so soon that not even enough time had passed to know whether it was even Jews or not. Additionally the administration protested the physicality of the Israel police when arresting the boy's cousin (who at the very least was an American) when he had picked the fight with them in the first place and according to most if not all reports had a knife on him at the time. Can you tell me of a single police force in the entire world that when confronted by somebody with a knife in the middle of violent riots would put an arm around his shoulder and say, "Come young man, let's have a nice civilized chat about your behavior."? Certainly not the DC police operating a few hundred yards outside Obama's residence at the White House who slaughtered an unarmed mother for driving suspiciously and not obeying traffic instructions.

The second incident was when the administration spoke out against Israel's measures to defend itself against Gaza including the State Department stating how appalled it was by Israel's disgraceful shelling of a UN school in Gaza. Mind you this was after the UN itself had admitted to finding rockets stored several of it's schools in Gaza! (Never mind the fact that they also openly admitted to handing them back over to Hamas).

It seems quite fitting that for meddling in Israel's affairs America is now suffering an ongoing Black Intifada in Missouri. It has even gotten to the point where the NAACP has resorted to reaching out to the UN over America's supposed mistreating of blacks in the current situation. Perhaps the American government should be more careful what they say and do as in Shemayim the halacha is what's good for the goose is good for the gander.

The Rainbow Connection?

In this emotionally charged time I would like to say that I'm not a prophet, nor the son of a prophet, and not anyone who is connected to Hashem enough to lay any claim to knowing the reasons behind why He does certain things. In writing this I'm just a simple person who is sharing an observation as a possibility - a possibility which I don't believe goes against Daat Torah so what the heck.

Our boys were kidnapped on the night of June 12th. The very next day, June 13th, was the 16th annual Tel Aviv Gay Parade. While these were two separate dates in the Gregorian calendar, it was the same date on the Hebrew one. Additionally if I'm not mistaken it was at the close to a full week of such disgusting celebrations.

This week the day after the funeral, the charred body of an arab teen shows up in the forest, and immediately arabs start rioting and indeed the entire world comes out in condemnation of us as the perpetrators, even though there isn't any public evidence as to who committed the killing. However rumor has it that the main police lead right now is that the kid was gay and his own family murdered him as an honor killing. This could just be speculation, but if you've seen the picture of him Ynet posted, let's just say he's not the most macho looking kind of guy.

If indeed he was killed by his own people, maybe even his own family, for being gay yet we are still being wrested with the blame a thought popped into my head of the possibility of this being consequences for the continued support of "gay rights" being pushed in our name. It's been observed by others before how ironic it is that the gay movement has chosen the rainbow as it's icon when this is the very symbol G-d chose to remind humanity of the flood. Indeed Chazal says seeing a rainbow is an omen that the world is returning to a level of degeneration low enough to merit a second flood had G-d not promised never again to bring another one (of water at least). It could be that with every extra rainbow flag that is waved, it's actually a hint from Shemayim that we are getting deeper and deeper in the shmutz. Additionally Chazal tell us that though the sins of the generation were great, Hashem didn't actually decree the flood until it reached the point where gay marriage became legal and common. It's interesting to note that recently Education Minister Shai Piron got himself into a bit of hot water for an interview in which he didn't even speak out against homosexuality per se, but rather said from a religious point of view a gay couple can not constitute a family. It's no surprise for left wing secular Israelis to espouse pro-gay views... ain chadash tachat hashemesh. However when it reaches the point that people are suddenly shocked that a self-proclaimed "Orthodox Rabbi" says from a Torah perspective that gays aren't a real family, that's something that raises an eyebrow. The fact anyone would reasonably expect something different from the mouth of a man with a kippah on his head is indicative of what a low level we've reached. I'm personally surprised he keeps the kippah on his head when he apparently boasts in the same interview that he's supported every pro-gay piece of legislation that has been offered up during his time in the knesset.

Chazal teach us that the original flood reached everywhere in the world except for the land of Israel. Indeed, lately we have, for the most part, seemed to enjoy being an island of tranquility in the middle of an ever increasingly violent and self-destructive Middle East and entire world for that matter. Like I said, I have no clue why Hashem is making things play out the way they currently are, however it's interesting to ponder the "rainbow connection."

I'd like to write further on the murder of our boys, some of the reactions across Israeli society and what I hope is the big picture of it all, however that will have to wait for a later post. In the meantime let's just pray that we merit to see all "abominations" cleansed from our land - up to and including the wanton slaughtering of our children, may Hashem avenge their blood.... and may He do so in the most brutal and painful way possible.

The "Miracles" of Secular Zionism

Not nearly as much coverage as is deserved is being provided as to the recent home demolitions and essentially mini-expulsion that took place yesterday. Ynet reports that several residents ascended  to the tops of the houses to protest the destruction and "were removed and the demolition went ahead using tractors and engineering equipment." I find "removed" a somewhat insufficient description of what happened. My wife has a friend whose relative happened to live in one of the homes that was destroyed. The family only received notification the night before that the following day their home was going to be bulldozed to the ground. The mother while protesting her home being destroyed was apparently thrown off the roof and broke several of her ribs.


A week after the big fanfare of "Yom HaAtzmaut" it's amazing to see the miracles secular zionism and their "independence" has wrought. Throughout the ages of this long hard exile Jewish mothers were forcibly converted to Islam, those resisting dying with the words of Shema on their lips. Jewish mothers were raped and subsequently slashed to pieces in European pogroms. Jewish mothers held on to their scared naked children as the Germans filled their lungs with Zyklon-B in the death camps. But through it all we held on so that these heros of the Jewish people could bring us back to our homeland, build us a state, and form an army of our very own - an army for the Jewish state filled with Jewish soldiers. At last we could be a "nation like all other nations." And after so much suffering at the hands of others in foreign lands at long last Jewish mothers can be thrown from the rooftops by Jewish soldiers instead of by anti-Semitic non-Jewish ones.

Hashem, just please bring him home!

I'm getting so burnt out on this latest media frenzy concerning Jonathan. I just can't take all the theories, speculations, backtracking and rumors. All I know is that I deeply need him to come home to us now. This country needs it. The Jewish people as a whole need it. On a deeper spiritual level perhaps the whole world needs it. But besides all that I come back to the fact that I need it. Though I mourn over the yearning for a brother whose been in prison almost as long as I've been alive, and one whom even if freed I may never merit to actually meet in person, none the less I have a hole in my heart that will never be healed until I know he is walking a free man in the same streets that I do.

Rav Mordechai Eliyahu said that Jonathan is the Yosef HaTzaddik of our generation. A rav of mine whom was a close talmid of Rav Eliyahu told me once that the Rav additionally said just as Yosef rose to greatness when he was released from prison, so to when Jonathan is finally released he will return to Israel and rise to greatness as well.

In honor of Pesach approaching and all this talk of Jonathan's potential freedom in the air, I'd like to repost "Yehonatan's Song" I originally put on the old Kumah blog several years ago. It's a parable both of Jonathan and his relationship to Am Yisrael and his wife, as well as our national relationship to G-d while in the galut. May we merit to see his happy and healthy return home as well as Rav Eliyahu's words come true - ken yehi ratzon...


Behind the bars within my heart
My thoughts begin to stray
With all this pain I start to ask
Why it has to be this way?
But then my thoughts, they turn to you
And suddenly I’m free
I never have forgotten you
So please don’t forget me

Father won’t you take me by the hand?
And lead me straight to your promised land
And all that we’ve done wrong
Won’t you please set right?
The road is hard and oh so long
Traveled by singers of a solemn song
But within all this darkness
You’ve shown me the light
Please bring redemption, set me free!!
And let the whole world proclaim and see
That there’s a G-d in Israel tonight
Yes, there’s a G-d in Israel tonight.

Stuck inside this concrete pit
Underneath the ground
My enemies, they never stop
To try and bring me down
And the flame of hope lights up my heart
From deep within this hole
They may have trapped my body
But they’ll never trap my soul

Father won’t you take me by the hand?
And lead me straight to your promised land
And all that we’ve done wrong
Won’t you please set right?
The road is hard and oh so long
Traveled by singers of a solemn song
But within all this darkness
You’ve shown me the light
Please bring redemption, set me free!!
And let the whole world proclaim and see
That there’s a G-d in Israel tonight
Yes, there’s a G-d in Israel tonight.

Another week, another month
The years go on and on
It’s sometimes hard to smile
After being here so long
My love for you is strong enough
To always show a way
To not give up and hold on tight
And live another day

Father won’t you take me by the hand?
And lead me straight to your promised land
And all that we’ve done wrong
Won’t you please set right?
The road is hard and oh so long
Traveled by singers of a solemn song
But within all this darkness
You’ve shown me the light
Please bring redemption, set me free!!
And let the whole world proclaim and see
That there’s a G-d in Israel tonight
Yes, there’s a G-d in Israel tonight.

Is it all about to tumble down?

These latest prisoner releases have truly been boggling my mind. With previous releases we got something tangible in return such as the return of captured soldiers, or at least their bodies so we could honor them with a proper Jewish burial. Yet these current ones are beyond nonsensical. What are we getting in return? The ability for backstabbing Tzippi Livni to engage in behind closed doors discussions where they won't let the public have one inkling of what is actually on the table (what exactly are they offering that they are so afraid of us to know about?) with no guarantee that the talks will even complete their 9 month timeline much less garner any actual results. Yet if Abbas gives the word to pack up and go home those prisoners won't be returning to prison (at least until they get caught in their next act of terror). And while he gets to send his negotiating team home, the murdered Jews certainly won't be going home.

In previous prisoner releases, when there was at least a reciprocation of something from the other side, however negligible, those who orchestrated the release had something to defend their decision. One might say that over a thousand terrorists, many of them murderers, was a bit high a price to pay for the return of one soldier. Whether right or wrong, at the very least the other side could counter with the guilty accusation of, "Don't you want Shalit back? What if G-d forbid it was your son?" Yet what can they counter with now? "What, don't you want Tzippi to be able to negotiate the abandonment of our land, security and Jerusalem itself? What if it was your peacemaking credentials at stake?" Sounds absurd, yes? Yet the response they hurl back isn't really much more logical - something to the effect of, "The ruling powers that be in the government have made their decision and publicly challenging it is irresponsible." Really? REALLY? Yet somehow releasing unrepentant murderers onto the street for nothing in return when history shows they will most likely attempt to murder again is somehow responsible? But hey - thank heavens at least they didn't declare the questioning of their logic and morality as anti-Democratic. The more this story goes on the more one feels they went to sleep and woke up in Bizarro World.

Now a very sharp and poignant protest of posting signs on soldiers graves claiming their deaths were in vain due to current prisoner releases is being described as "shameful," an "act of cowardice," and "having crossed the line." Ummm... hello? Are we to insinuate that putting murderers back onto the street to murder even more innocent Jews for no reason whatsoever is by comparison prideful, brave and well within the lines of acceptable decision making? I'm not one to condone using Jewish graves to make a point however right it may be, but I would like to ask those who are decrying it if they protested as loudly (or at all) against the thing that brought about this act in the first place? With all your concern for the dead where is your concern for the living whom they sacrificed their lives to defend?

I forget where I heard it from, but I remember hearing years ago that at the end of times the lies and untruths of the world will become so abundant and ridiculous that one won't need to do great searching to arrive at the truth - the truth will become self evident by virtue of the fact the lie has grown far too large and unbelievable to ever be substantiated. That description certainly has a familiar ring to it now doesn't it? And as the lies become more blatantly untrue the leftitst establishment that perpetuates them goes into ever greater hysterics in order to keep their power hold on the pathetic life-support it now finds itself. The image that comes to my mind is that game we used to play as kids - Jenga. What starts out as a solid tower of filled in blocks starts to grow higher and higher. However in order to continue increasing the height you have to keep taking from the blocks beneath - thus making the foundation supporting your higher levels evermore shaky. The whole point of the game is to not be the player who takes that one piece, just the right one, which pulls out the last meager support and sends the whole thing crashing down. And the more outrageous and illogical their defenses become, the more I feel the Tzippi Livni's of the world are sweating bullets as they look tensely at each other and silently wonder who will be the one to take out that final block.

Thus the fanatical opposition to common sense. Every sane-minded question becomes a sharp reality check that sends this sickening Tower of Pisa swinging and risks ending the whole charade. Therefore it can not be tolerated at any cost. But their efforts are in vain. I wonder if even they realize somewhere deep down the futility of their cause and are just to proud to admit it... or are they really just that delusional? Either way, the truth has a hard time allowing itself to be ignored forever. Eventually that one reality check will come that knocks over the whole thing as we know from history. For what is G-d's way of sending a reality check? The cry of the shofar. And once Yericho had totally rotted and gone past the limits of what Hashem had allowed for human behavior, Am Yisrael didn't need battering rams or catapults. All they needed to do was circle the city, blow the shofar and the walls collapsed on their own.

Perhaps that has something to do with the fact the current amount of murderers being released is 26 - the same as Hashem's name? May we be zoche to such a revelation of the truth soon - before things get much worse.

"Those Jews" and "It's just their problem"

First they came for the communists, and I didn't speak out -
Because I wasn't a communist.

Then they came for the socialists, and I didn't speak out -
Because I wasn't a socialist.

Then they came for the trade unionists, and I didn't speak out -
Because I wasn't a trade unionist.

Then they came for the Jews, and I didn't speak out -
Because I wasn't a Jew.

Then they came for the Catholics, and I didn't speak out -
Because I wasn't a Catholic.

Then they came for me -
And there was no one left to speak for me.

Martin Niemöller




First they kicked everyone out of Gush Katif, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a "Tzioyni"

Then they kicked the Charedim out of the yeshivas, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not a "Parasite"

Then they came to kick everyone out of Israel, and I did not speak out -
Because I was not "Israeli"

Then they came for me - and there was no one left to speak for me...

... nor a land to embrace me.

Shachar Mosby

Paying the Price on the Tag

I hate graffiti. And while even I agree that on occasion some can be creative or even artistic, in general I find the vast majority of it to be lacking any artistic qualities and often just crass and tasteless if not downright incomprehensible. But you know what I really don't like? Graffiti in Jerusalem. The uniform chalky limestone look of the mandatory Jerusalem stone building exteriors gives the city a unique beauty not shared by other cities in the country and probably most in the world .And nothing disrupts this ascetic eye candy bespeaking of the ancient past via the eyes of modern architecture like a nice fat ugly street tag. You know what else I hate? Flat tires. I hate getting three flats in as many weeks, having to waste my days off and hard earned money getting them fixed and being told by the guy at the shop that at least two of them were from somebody sticking a knife into my tires. Dealing with the above mentioned acts if they are done anonymously and to anonymous victims simply out of pure delinquency I find frustrating and stressful. When they are done to targeted groups for ideological reasons, I find it scary no matter who the respective perpetrators and victims may be. Therefore I think most decent people of any persuasion find it regrettable that we are witnessing a growing phenomenon known as "Price Tags."

Enter a slew of politicians issuing condemnations of the highest order and pushing for new legislation to deal with this phenomenon such as our lovely Justice Minister Tzipi Livni. Now I highly doubt somebody so entrenched in the Gaza Gush Katif philosophy of kicking innocent Jews out of their homes could even spell the word "justice" much less minister it to a nation, but perhaps she feels she qualifies for the position based on her attendance at many "Social Justice" events. Tzipi was pushing for recently declined measures to legally equate price tag acts with acts of terrorism. Apparently spraying paint is now the equivalent of spraying rocks and Molotov cocktails, and slashing tires is as serious as slashing people. Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovich compared price tag acts to terror and recently said, “This phenomenon might bring about a serious deterioration in Jerusalem and the West Bank." I wonder how many public statements Minister Aharonovich has made warning of the threat of deterioration Arab rock throwing poses? And while many have been calling the Price Tag phenomena a threat to democracy, how often has that same phrase been applied to rock throwing exactly? Go ahead and google it... see what you come up with. Maybe Arab rock throwing is considered to be a valid democratic right? Perhaps the American phrase "vote with your wallet" should be adjusted to "vote with your rock."

All in all the concern, condemnations, and proposed punitive actions seem somewhat one-sided. And therein lies an interesting albeit under-examined point. To the government, media, and left wing of this country who are so up in arms about anti-Arab actions taken by Jewish youth I ask - who and what do you think caused them to be this way in the first place if not you!? An entire generation of Jewish youth has grown up witnessing their friends family and countrymen murdered and maimed in bus bombings, stabbed, rocketed and stoned. And all the while the above mentioned institutions go to our enemies and the world at large accepting the blame on ourselves, apologizing for existing and exercising suicidal measures of restraint in self-defense to avoid heaven forbid looking like an aggressor. Sending in soldiers to take on knife and club wielding flotilla activists with a couple of paintball guns ring a bell? Armed soldiers caught on camera running away from rock throwers because they will be prosecuted for shooting to defend themselves? 1,027 terrorists released for one soldier? Hundreds let out of prison scot-free for a few dead bodies returned? And what message does this send to youth who spend their childhood witnessing all this? If you express your negative feelings towards other groups through violence and intimidation you will get away with murder (both figuratively and sometimes literally). Additionally, if you want your family property and people being fought and behalf of, you may as well do it yourself because as a Jew your government and media very often won't bother doing it for you.

Additional shock and condemnation has been raised over several incidents in the past couple of years of Jewish youth beating Arabs they find associating with Jewish girls. Many would write this off as bigotry but it's naive to think it's occurring entirely in a vacuum. While mainstream Israeli society would like to sweep it under the rug, the fact remains that countless Jewish women are trapped in abusive marriages with Arab men whom have taken them to live with them back in their villages and they now find themselves unable to leave due to the danger of attempting to, or fear of having to leave their children behind. The story is often a textbook case - a girl who is down and out, suffers very low self esteem or has a bad situation at home is overwhelmed by the gifts and charm of an Arab man just to meet an entirely different person once he has taken them out of the reach of the family and friends. And where is law enforcement when these women start to feel the horror of regret over their decisions but are unable to leave on their own? Nowhere to be seen. Perhaps for fear of appearing racist by breaking up an interracial/religious marriage, or perhaps just for fear of causing a riot when the neighbors catch wind, police usually won't step foot in one of these villages to help take these women out. So while it is not right to attack a stranger in the middle of the street based solely on his being an Arab and his lady friend being a Jew, can one be realistically be surprised when we see it happening? I'm frankly surprised it doesn't happen more often. The built up frustration of watching the honor and safety of Jewish girls and women get trampled upon doesn't dissipate on it's own and when the authorities simply throw their hands up in the air for too long it's not so inconceivable that private citizens take matters into their own hands even if it be in unlawful ways.

So instead of applying some common sense to an ever less sensible situation, the powers that be continue to make logic defying decisions and are all of a sudden shocked an appalled when human nature takes over and people begin to react in ways they don't want them to. Golda Meir famously said, "Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us." That may be true but I contend that security will come when the government cares more about protecting our own rights over those who seek us harm. And if they view the youth who do Price Tag acts as "problem children" then they need look no further than the mirror to find out who the parents are. They themselves racked up the hefty price on these price tags and just because they chose to pay in tashlumim doesn't mean the bill would never get charged.