Coming to a Close - Interesting Dreams

To anyone who enjoys reading here I apologize I haven't written anything in a really long time. I've been trying to restructure my learning schedule and also had an opportunity to switch jobs for the first time in half a decade so while I've been investing a lot in updating my professional life and (I hope) my spiritual life, I haven't been investing any time or energy in my writing.

One of the goals I have with this blog is to focus my posts on threshing out ideas based either on Torah or at least logical reasoning. I don't like to spend too much time on "feelings" that aren't backed up by some sort of evidence/logic as everyone has their own feelings and whose to say mine are any more relevant than yours that you should be spending time contemplating mine instead of your own?

I especially never intended to speak about my dreams as Chazal says that there is no dream without at least some element of nonsense, and mine in particular never seem to have any significant meaning worth speaking about. However, I have had several dreams over the last several months which I view as significant in that while I'm not some mekubal that can interpret them or even confirm they do have some sort of message, they had quite a significant emotional affect on me both during the dream and after I woke up (including a really striking one the night before the Har Nof shul massacre).

I'd like to share my most recent one as it greatly ties into how I've been feeling lately. I was living in some sort of real-life post apocalyptic tv shows or movies. I'm not sure if the reason had been war or zombies or who knows what, but civilization had collapsed and I was in a group of survivors scavenging for food and supplies. I started telling one of my comrades that G-d was bringing the world to an end and he said something to the effect of, "He already did, look around you." I replied that I didn't mean civilization collapsing, but something even more than that. That even for the survivors - Hashem was bringing their world to an end and that human history was about to come to it's complete end even for those of us still around. As I was telling him this I started crying my eyes out and I said something to the effect of, "It's all going to be finished." Just as I completed that sentence I woke up from the dream!

I don't currently have the head-space to comment on the amazing rate of deterioration (or should I say revelation of the true nature) of Israel's relationship with America, nor the expansion of conflicts in the middle east. I'll leave that to bloggers like Rabbi Brody and Devash. And although Nissan/Pesach as well as shmita is an auspicious time for Am Yisrael, and I'm sure many geula bloggers will make connections to this, I also won't get into that right now. I guess I just need to take a step back for a moment, look at the bigger picture and get off my chest that while I and a lot of people I know have spoken over the last decade or so about how history seems to be speeding up, I feel like in the last year and the last few months even that heightened rate of acceleration is drastically picking up the pace.

Like I said I'm not going to use this post to try and make any ramazim through current events or the like. I just want to say that regardless of any particular instances, I just have this general feeling in my gut of "Whoah, what is going on here?" and I guess I'm just curious if anyone else is feeling that as well? If so please feel free to share.

Shabbat Hagadol Shalom and Chag Kasher v'sameach. May we only hear good things for Am and Eretz Yisrael.

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.

Arutz Sheva links - Radio Interview and Expulsion Video

Just wanted to share two interesting links from Artuz 7:

The first is an interview I did with radio host Ari Louis further discussing the Vatican and it's efforts to take over Kever David: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Radio/News.aspx/5372#.U3khiXfWbe0


The second is video of the recent home destruction last week. In the middle of the clip you can view the cousin of our friend I wrote about getting beat up by police on her roof:
http://www.inn.co.il/wap/Item.aspx?type=0&item=276240

You Can't Make this Stuff up

I think I'll officially stop reading the news for the sake of staying informed and only check it for entertainment purposes. In order to properly prepare for Purim this year I started reading perushim on Megilat Esther a couple of months early to really be in the mood when the chag comes around. However, I wasn't expecting the rest of the world to do the same.

As if a Women of the Wall breakaway minyan wasn't enough, now Hamas is fighting to stem rocket fire towards Israel and setting up security checkpoints to the effect of curbing anti-Israel violence. Say what?!? Apparently they are quite upset at the prospect of ambitious rocketeers from Islamic Jihad dragging them into a conflict with the IDF before they are ready for one and therefore "announced that they will resolutely operate against anyone who attempts to launch rockets towards Israel." Maybe we could have some shrewd Jewish lawyers haggle them into agreeing to have their resolution apply equally to Iranian ones carrying nuclear payload. However I'm wondering if this whole outsourcing of our security concerns to our very supposed enemies could really be a new strategy. Every time we so much as try to put a manhole over a tunnel from Gaza to stop terrorism and smuggling the world screams of persecution. However the Egyptians apparently get a free pass to have somebody shout down the hole, "Hope ya can swim!" before they proceed to flood every last one of them. Now I realize why Boogy Ya'alon was so opposed to replacing Israeli soldiers in the Jordan Valley with American ones - an experienced tactician like him obviously appreciates the fact that the most effective option is to have the Arabs themselves protect us from... errr... themselves. 

Tehillim perek 59 passuk 9 states, "And You Hashem will laugh at them. You will ridicule the nations." I had personally always taken this pussuk to be speaking of Hashem's unrivaled power - that whomever rises up against Him and His people Israel, it is so inconceivable to think they could defeat Him that such an idea would be laughable. However perhaps we should read the passuk more literally that Hashem really does actually make jokes and get a good laugh out of them.

All that chest beating must make one's arms tired

One of the greatest pointers I learned from parenting books was that when disciplining, don't make a threat to the child you don't intend or have the capability of following through on. Though one's initial logic might dictate that making the price tag on an undesirable behavior exceedingly high should scare the child off from doing it, if they take the chance and do it anyway you end up a double loser. First of all the behavior you were trying to avoid happened anyway, and secondly (and more importantly) your future authority has now been undermined as the child now has reason to believe that just as this threat ended up being empty so too other ones you make might be as well.

As it turns out, sometimes the rules of the game for little people are equally applicable to big people too. It seems Obama got himself into quite a pickle a while back when he first threatened that Assad's use of chemical weapons would merit American intervention and punishment. Now why on earth America would ever be interested in getting involved in the whole Syrian mess is completely beyond me. Could the motivation to take sides be solely to be on the opposite side of Russia? Though not impossible it's such a sorry excuse to risk a war that I would hope it's not true. Is it to counter one of Iran's staunchest allies in the region and therefore Iran itself by extension? Could be. But if Obama really intended on confronting Iran why not just go for them directly? And if he doesn't truly intend on confronting them, what's the use of getting involved with Syria simply due to the Iranian factor in the first place? Or perhaps it was simply out of the altruistic desire to protect innocents from the horrors of a death induced by chemical warfare? Yet as scary as such a scenario may be, many bloggers and even a few less mainstream media outlets have raised the valid question of why a given amount of people dying from nerve gas is a travesty requiring intervention but the murder of upwards of 100,000 people by "conventional" means is not? Would it not have been sufficient for the president to public state that he deplores the violence and the suffering of the innocents but that it's not America's place to get involved and he's leaving it up to the international community bodies such as the UN to resolve? Such a policy certainly got a free pass concerning Darfur.

Yet, whatever the reason President Obama felt it was appropriate to threaten US involvement, he had his reason and he did it. At least he thinks he had an appropriate reason. Please G-d - I seriously hope he though he had a appropriate reason. Regardless, whatever the reason (or lack thereof), now the president finds himself in the situation of the parent who has put out the threat to his child he didn't want to carry out. He seems to have committed himself to a ridiculous conundrum of choosing sides between a murderous dictator on the one hand and Al Qaeda on the other. Aside from the distastefulness of that in and of it's own right, I wonder if the old adage of "the enemy of my enemy is my friend" even holds water in this case? Both the Syrian government and Al Qaeda seem equally hostile to America. In fact, given that Assad has never sent passenger jets crashing into the World Trade Center, perhaps logic would dictate Obama would be better served taking his side!

Yet if America takes no action at all, it lives up to any paper tiger accusations thrown at it and future threats hold much less water. Even more than that, if the reason Obama holds back on action shows to be that his previous threats were too hasty and not thought through, it would call into question all of his other foreign policy past present and future. So at the risk of otherwise looking like a fool, he is called into action if for nothing other than to protect his own image. And this perhaps is the most ridiculous aspect of the entire equation. I once heard a shiur by Rav Tzvi Aryeh Rosenfeld quoting the sefer Lekutei Halachot that kings and leaders of countries who choose to make war against each other are held accountable for every drop of blood spilled from every soldier and civilian casualty. However immoral their rationale may be, at least Assad and Al Qaeda's actions can be justified according to their own particular interests - the former being to hold on to his seat of power and the latter being to spread their ideological cause. However the only motivation Obama seems to be driven by is one of frustration upon finding that not all Middle Eastern leaders cave to his demands as easily as Bibi Netanyahu.

Israeli - Arab Peace Negotiations - Israel Tachlis Style

With the looming threats of pointless and untimely negotiations between Bibi and Abbas (whom none ever expected to work in the first place) getting derailed before they even begin, how about seeing some honest debating on the REAL issues with fair representation from both sides? I'd like to acknowledge Ari Louis, founder and director of Israel Sports Radio (and good friend of Israel Tachlis), with a blast from the past of his former American television show "Louis Live" where he invites some distinguished guests to delve into the ongoing Israeli-Arab conflict. Enjoy....

Something Doesn't Smell Quite Right

Emergency Message for U.S. Citizens – August 2, 2013 UPDATE

 

The Department of State has instructed certain U.S. Embassies and Consulates to remain closed or to suspend operations on Sunday, August 4.  All facilities of the U.S. Consulate General are normally closed to the public on Sundays.  The Consulate General is instructing all U.S. government employees not required for ensuring essential building safety and security not to come into Consulate General facilities for afterhours work on Sunday, August 4.  The Department has been apprised of information that, out of an abundance of caution and care for our employees and others who may be visiting our installations, indicates we should institute these precautionary steps. It is possible we may have additional days of closings as well, depending on our analysis.

The above is part of a recent email sent out to everyone on the Jerusalem US Consulate mailing list. Of course anyone need only check the headlines since last Friday to be aware of this. But I'd like to know - is anyone else's Spidey-sense being set off on this one? As an interesting side note, the second line in the email states that regardless of a terror threat the consulate is usually closed for business on Sundays anyway. The same goes for the embassy in Tel Aviv. So it's not so clear why the media keeps mentioning the Israeli locations along with the other middle eastern ones as it appears no special external precautions are really being taken at the moment.

But as far as the other embassies go, this whole thing just doesn't make sense. The warnings are so vague that they essentially amount to, "We're worried that some really bad people are going to do some really bad things really soon." If they don't want to reveal any additional information for security purposes, then why go through the bother of making the whole thing so public in the first place? I'm not so hot at poker, but I imagine I'd feel pretty confident if I was playing at the same table as the federal government. I mean come on people, from an intelligence gathering perspective I think one could go about it much more effectively. Wouldn't it make sense to just close each of these locations individually and contact anyone scheduled to come in that day for a visa, passport, etc. telling them the toilets have all massively overflowed and they'll need to reschedule their appointment? Then in the meantime beef up security in as inconspicuous a manner as possible and play a little game of wait and see. Then when something does pop up maybe you can apprehend a few suspects and garner some information out of them? I'll admit I've never worked for an intelligence agency like the CIA or the like, but even an amateur like me has to venture a guess that my plan is at least a slightly more sound alternative to just broadcasting everything you currently know to the world via CNN. Maybe they are banking on the hope that conservative-minded Muslim extremists prefer not to monitor the mainstream media due to the liberal bias. 

And does the United States not feel at least slightly embarrassed that the best they can offer is a warning that a Al Qaeda might commit a terrorist attack somewhere in the Middle East, but they aren't sure where or when or against whom? And then again, maybe there won't be any attacks at all - they're not quite sure about it either way. Heck, even if something is supposed to happen they're not even 100% sure it's going to be at an embassy. It could even be an airbase, plane or a train (what... no automobiles?) So essentially what they are telling us is that it's just another normal day in the Middle East, eh fellas? And these crackpot intelligence reports are supposed to be what reassures us here in Israel when Obama tells us not to worry about Iran getting a nuke because they'll for sure find out about it in enough time to stop it? Do Iraqi WMD's ring a bell to anyone?

Some talkbalkers are spawning conspiracy theories that the whole thing is a ploy to distract the American public from the major scandals currently hitting Obama one after the other about how the federal government snoops on everything from your tax reports to your Facebook "Likes" and just about anything in between. Perhaps vague, but oh so deadly, threats such as these are even supposed to garner up support from the public and coax them into giving Obama carte blanche to peruse their Gmail. After Edward Snowden I supposed I can believe anything at this point. However, were these theories proven to be true I'd actually be a bit disappointed. Orwell's Big Brother and Inner Party had far more oppressive and invasive control over their subjects and yet even half the stuff they came up with had more substance and logic to it than what we are now currently expected to swallow.

So if you too feel that something doesn't quite smell right with this situation perhaps we should all follow our nose on this one. Maybe it's not for nothing that the American president's initials are B.O.

Lebanese-Syrian Ties

Though their reporting on Israel barely makes an effort to hide bias, I've found that Al Jazeera often tends to have the most honest reporting on all other issues in the Middle East, and especially when it comes to the news on Arabs or Muslims (and their internal conflicts). Perhaps being an Arab network themselves they feel a more of freedom than other networks to be more blunt and real about what's going on with their own without having to fear being labeled racist.



It's looking like the fighting in Syria is starting to rev up in its spillover into Lebanon - especially along Sunni/Shia sectarian lines. While Hezbollah is off supporting their patron Assad across the border, back home some of their opponents have been causing a bit of their own ruckus, now even drawing the Lebanese army into the fray. When the cat is away the mice will play eh? Below is a somewhat interesting background into the inter-meshing of control between the two countries and some insight into who pulling some of the strings. Enjoy...