Truth About Jews, Israel, and Intentions on the World

There are more than enough rumors, slanders, myths and misconceptions about the Jewish people and their desired relations with the world. Though I am not the most learned of people on this subject, I will still try and give it a shot as best as I am able. The concepts that Jews have designs on ruling the entire world are false. We Jews have a desire to live on the lands which G0d promised to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob and as described to Moses and Joshua which is best described as the lands between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea with an additional small area east of the Jordan River. If one searches the Internet for “Map of Biblical Israel and the Twelve Tribes” one will easily find the actual lands the Jewish nation carved out and took possession as was promised to them. The Jews have no desire to rule over the world or any of the peoples residing there. We are instructed by G0d and His Torah to serve Him and to live our lives as an example of righteousness, something many of us have plenty of work to do in order to even begin to fulfill that quest. The Jewish people presumably have six-hundred-thirteen commandments which we are to keep and live our lives by. Of these there is a group of basic laws which serve as the starting point which are known as the Ten Commandments and yes, they were originally written in stone and those two stone tablets still exist and can be found in the Ark of the Covenant. Of course finding the Ark of the Covenant has proven to be a bit of a challenge but in theory there is an easy way to find it, allow the building of the third Temple. For those who wish to find a list of these laws, may I suggest reading Torah, starting with Deuteronomy would be the most direct path to finding most of the Commandments but the remainder of Torah, The first five books of the Old Testament, (Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy) is necessary to have a fullness of a definition.

But all this does not define what the Jewish people desire or expect of the rest of the world. The first thing that must be made clear is the Jews do not desire to make the rest of the world to adopt Judaism or to convert to Judaism. The Jews do not wish, demand or expect for the rest of the world to follow the six-hundred-thirteen Commandments as that is the responsibility and burden which the Jews are required to attempt. That does not mean that the Jewish people or Torah does not define a basic set of laws which non-Jews are expected to follow in order for them to lead moral and righteous lives. The requirements of non-Jews which G0d expects of them, and as such also the sole expectations of others from a Jewish standpoint, are known as the Seven Laws of Noah or the Noahic Code (a simple search will lead to numerous sites defining and commenting on these seven laws for all mankind). The only other request the Jewish people hope to receive from the world is to be allowed to live in the lands defined by our Covenant with the L0rd our G0d and work towards the betterment of mankind and all things created by G0d. The Jewish people have no problems with other people who wish to live in our lands as long as they respect the entirety of Jewish Law and are willing to live amongst us in peace. Torah commands that we treat the stranger as we ourselves would wish to be treated and to respect them and be courteous and exemplary hosts. As far as the interactions prescribed for the Jewish people, we are commanded to be a light unto the nations and to live in our lands in such a manner of righteousness that people will come and ask to be taught the laws and will wish to emulate our examples. As said previously, we will need to work on this as there is an enormous room for improvement before the Jews will be able to even make a start on our designated role which we are instructed to follow under the guidelines and commandments written in Torah.

There are two concepts; two sets of words which best describe the role the Jews are supposed to strive to attain. One is the aforementioned of “Be a light unto the nations”, and the other is, “Tikkun Olam” which best translates as “repair the world.” These two expectations are very much intertwined as each are their own path to making the world a better and more holy place and establishing the Kingdom of G0d here on the Earth or wherever mankind will eventually transport their civilizations. By the Jewish people being a holy people and a nation of priests, their sole purpose is to lead lives that are exemplary and worthy of standing as a high standard that reveals the best of humankind. For striving to live to such a standard, the Jewish people will be granted grace from G0d which will result in the lands providing for them and meeting their requirements. In many prayers this is often described by terminology which claims that should the Jewish people live such lives the rains will fall in their season and there will be abundance throughout the lands. As a form of priestly class the Jewish people are also required to instruct those who desire to learn Torah though we are not expected to seek converts or perform other evangelical actions. The vast numbers of commandments placed upon the Jewish people are completely internal and not actions or requirements to which we are to hold others. The sole affect the Jewish people are to have concerning the non-Jewish people is to be an exemplary peoples serving G0d and enacting his will in such a manner as to be the inspiration for the people as a whole and we are to perform this miraculous task while inhabiting a relatively small patch of land at the eastern edge of the Mediterranean Sea. No world conquest, no evil plots, no grand desires and no deceits. The Jewish people are to live simple lives of righteousness where performing deeds of mercy and hope are enough to complete their covenant and thus earn the rights to remain in the lands chosen by G0d in which they are to live. Where the description makes it all sound so easy, the reality is far more difficult as it requires removing our imperfections and constantly striving to walk in the L0rd’s path and committing our lives to G0d’s plans. All of what the Jews are to be and everything required of the Jews is found within Torah. That is much of the reason why many Jewish people treasure those individuals who dedicate their lives to the study, interpretation and teaching of Torah thus granting these seekers of knowledge and truth deferments from such banalities as military service as their service of Torah is simply another of the Israeli defense mechanisms, one whose attributes and contributions are impossible for most who are not learned in Torah to understand or even to discern and recognize. So, the next time you run into somebody proposing that the Jews are taking over the world, kindly please correct them and help put that evil slander to rest permanently. Shalom.

Beyond the Cusp

Shas Reacts Facing the Unthinkable

In the entire history of the state of Israel, Shas has been included as part of the ruling coalition ever since its inception going into elections for the eleventh Knesset without concern for the political alignment, be it right, left, Zionist or any other conceivable alignment except for the sixteenth Knesset under Prime Minister Sharon. This has made the leadership of the Shas Party begin to expect that they would be included in every government going forward as they have proven to be loyal members of coalitions led by Labor or Likud and anyone inbetween. As such, the Shas leadership now has to deal with not being included in the next ruling coalition for only the second time since their inception and they are definitely not pleased with this situation. This begs the question of whether or not any party can rightfully view themselves as indispensable to any ruling coalition and what leads the membership of Shas to have such beliefs.

 

It is actually understandable why Shas has been able to join governing coalitions without regard to most of the political considerations which affect other parties. Shas is only beholden to the Sephardic Haredi population and as such has a very narrow definition of concerns. With such a specific and narrowly defined membership, Shas can be accommodated in any governing coalition without sacrificing any of the more secular principles which often go into the formation of a coalition. Shas would appear to favor more religious Jewish values which are also considered to be at least in part the basics for Likud, Labor and most of the other Israeli Jewish political parties and as such pose no difficulties for the inclusion of Shas in a government. Simply all the major party forming a coalition need implement to have Shas as a member party is to grant them the demands for Torah worship funding including stipends for their adult students, especially those with families, so they may study full time and not need to hold employment and also give those students of Torah deferment from military or public service requirements. This had not been a problem as it had been established through the Tal Law. That came crashing down when Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch annulled the Tal Law as a parting gift when she stepped down from her position. The Tal Law was in need of replacement as the Haredi portion of the Israeli society has grown to the point where it is becoming unfeasible to continue to carry them on the backs of the rest of the country and excuse them from any responsibility solely so they are free to study Torah and only study Torah. The transition had already shown the early signs of stirrings and would have been accomplished, albeit slowly, but it was being addressed. By annulling the Tal Law the government was faced with a pressing situation which more resembled a crisis than having to address a gradual change altering perceptions over time. This made Shas the political hot potato of this election cycle and was further exacerbated by Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party making the immediate enlistment and end of deferrals for almost all Torah students which placed them totally at odds with Shas. This led to a predicament where only one of the two political parties would be able to join the ruling coalition if either were to be included. As Lapid reached an agreement with Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home Party that they would join their Knesset seats together and join a coalition or the opposition as one party. This left Prime Minister Netanyahu with a choice, either include both Yair Lapid’s Yesh Atid Party and Naftali Bennett’s Jewish Home Party or allow Shas to join his coalition. Apparently Shas will end up on the losing end of such a choice.

 

The resulting anger and recriminations which have emanated from the Shas membership and leadership both during the campaign and the ensuing coalition negotiations has been, shall we say, less than cordial or polite. Their vindictive rhetoric towards Yair Lapid and his party’s secular core which demanded equal sharing of the burden was predictable but their venomous outpourings at Naftali Bennett did come as a surprise to some, especially members of the Jewish Home Party. It will remain to be seen if the uncomely actions and accusations from some Shas members, particularly their newly returned leader, Aryeh Deri, have shocked many and left a rather putrid aroma over the whole coalition building scene. Their demands and appearance of feeling owed a position in the next government would affect adversely any regular party in upcoming elections. Not so Shas as their support comes from a close knit community which is obliged by their Rabbis to vote for Shas and without considerations of anything other than supporting their community at the expense of all else. This is part of why they are immune to normal influences that might cripple other parties and why they appear to garner the same portion of Knesset seats election after election. It will remain to be seen if the discipline to keep the members of Shas dependent upon their party once their insular community is no longer supported separate from the rest of Israeli society. Once they are no longer permitted universal deferment from IDF or public service it is possible that their world and societal views may change and outside influences may forever alter their previously closed society.

 

There is one item that also must be addressed if one is to be fair to the Haredi community. They have not exactly been accepted with open arms by those outside their community. Where there may be some credibility to the excuse that the Haredi have not exactly made enormous efforts to be accepted by the outside society, those outside of the Haredi community share at least an equal amount of blame for not making the Haredi accepted or make efforts to make the outside world accessible for the strictly religious. The lack of understanding has been shared by both sides of this debate and any solution is going to require sacrifices and efforts by both communities. Where the Haredi community has been portrayed by the secular media and secular society as a bunch of freaks living in a backwards and exclusive community, there has not exactly been any real efforts made to make the secular society accessible to the Haredi or to be sensitive to their culture and societal rules and standards. Much of the public discussion has been of a nature to criticize the Haredi with little effort put forth towards understanding and acceptance. The Haredi have just as much right to live according to traditional rules as the secular society has to ignore those very same rules which their ancestors no more than a few short generations ago lived by. That is the one small fact that many in the secular community ignore that they are not that far removed from the exact same societal structures and strict rules of the Haredi in their own families. Where it is true that the Haredi are going to need to join Israeli society and start to pull their fair share of the burden, it is also going to be necessary that the secular make adjustment which allows the Haredi to share the burden while not forcing them to abandon their principles and traditions. It is a two way street and neither side is going to be able to demand of the other that they forfeit their way of life and the lifestyle to which they are accustomed. If both are to share the burden, then both will also be burdened with making Israel a place which respects and accommodates both in equal amounts. The extent to which such accommodations and adjustments are made will be the measure to the tolerance and respect both societies are able to grant the other. The one truth is that the future of Israel is dependent upon a shared effort and interest in working together instead of competing for prevalence.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Can Israel’s Image be Salvaged and Polished?

Once there was a time where Israel was seen for what she is, the tiny little country holding tenaciously onto a small, insignificant, former wasteland which was barely visible on maps which is surrounded by the entirety of the Muslim Lands which stretch from the North African Atlantic Coast all the way to the Indonesian and Philippine Islands in the Pacific Ocean. She was viewed as that sparkling gem of freedom, liberty, individual rights and democracy in the midst of a sea of oppressive, repressive, despotic, tyrannical states which crushed human spirit. Israel was once the underdog who had to scrap and fight for her survival against near unimaginable odds and who had managed successfully to do so at every turn. Israel once stood for equality of mankind, individual liberties, endless possibilities, religious freedoms, and unbelievable scientific and cultural achievements that not only survived but thrived against all of the odds stacked against her. What happened that took a place of such acclaim and hope and turned world opinions so horribly against her. How did Israel transform from her once proud and laudable stature into a nation spurned by the world at large, constantly answering charges of crimes against humanity, oppressor of religious beliefs, and usurper of Palestinian lands with an expansionist agenda eyeing all the lands between the Rivers Nile and Euphrates to expand and conquer for the sake of a Greater Israel?

The answer to this enigma is twofold, first is the rise of the ancient hatreds out of history and second the exquisitely planned and expertly executed assassination of the Israeli character carried out on all of the world’s stages beginning with the United Nations and finding its way into every new outlet even to include all too many within Israel herself. After the failure of the Armies of Egypt and Syria during the Yom Kippur War, which was launched in a surprise attack on Israel starting on Saturday October 6, 1973 which was both the start of Yom Kippur and the Sabbath, the Arab nations sought a different approach in order to defeat and destroy Israel. Initially, the combined forces made sizeable gains on all fronts before Israel fully mobilized, which took longer than usual as almost all public and private services and operations were on essential only staffing for the high Holidays, and mounted a counter strategy. This defeat of the combined forces of Egypt and Syria after scoring complete surprise and taking full benefit of every possible advantage available convinced the Arab World that a new, innovative and alternative approach was needed. Thus was the protracted victory through attrition due to terrorism and guerilla warfare tactics was adopted and with it the carefully planned and executed campaign to demonize Israel in every form of media, on every available stage in the world, and through commitment to use organizations such as NGOs and PACs. Quickly, this new tactic began to show progress in the world media the Arab and Muslim offensive to turn the Israeli reputation in the perspective of the world from shining gem and exemplary outpost of freedom in the Middle East to that of a pariah state brimming with oppression and guilty of the occupation of lands which rightfully belonged to the Palestinian People requiring the reestablishment of the ancient state named Palestine. Their success brought with it a steadily increasing number of nations, governments, unions, organizations, political parties, politicians, colleges and the United Nations with its entire assembly of NGOs and commissions.

So, against such an advanced campaign to delegitimize, defame, divest, boycott, and eventually destroy Israel, what can be done to prevent these schemes from eventually attaining their goals? The first step required appears to be counterintuitive, which is for Israel needs to stop apologizing and answering every single charge or allegation no matter how seemingly insignificant simply to attempt to prevent being overwhelmed by negatives. Israel needs to get out from under the repressive effects of the Oslo Accords which have been skillfully applied in a manner that has handcuffed Israel and those who protect her while having no ill or restrictive effects on the Arab, Muslim and Palestinian side. This step could be easily accomplished by taking two simple and immediate steps. The first is to file a complaint with the Security Council of the United Nations requesting they sanction the Palestinian Authority, Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, and the PLO for failing to amend the Palestinian Charter by removing the still standing section which calls for the utter and complete destruction of the State of Israel and the subjugation or elimination of its Jewish people. Follow up with pressure in order to get some response, even if it is simply a motion noting the Palestinian failure to comply without making it an actual judgment carrying a penalty for noncompliance. The other step is to provide the Palestinian leadership with copies going to the United Nations General Security Council, the United States, the European Union, Russia, all the leaders of European nations, all the leaders of the Arab and Muslim world and generally announce this last and final offer for peace through the establishment of a state for the Palestinian people called Palestine. This proclamation should state with accompanying map the borders Israel is willing to offer in this final attempt to reach an amicable peace. Where these borders are drawn is actually of little importance as the Palestinian leadership have painted themselves into a corner where they are unable to accept any peace proposal even if it contains each and every one of their wildest aspirations as by doing so they will have committed an unforgivable sin and would have to face the repercussions from their own people. This proclamation should also contain a second map which denotes the borders Israel is prepared to declare should the Palestinian leadership refuse this final offer. Once whatever deadline has been reached which was written into the offer, Israel should annex whatever sections of Judea and Samaria (West Bank) as they require or even simply desire and exile the leadership of the numerous terror groups along with the political leadership of the Palestinian Authority back to their pre-Oslo accommodations in Tunis, Tunisia.

Israel and the Israeli people need to recognize a truth about people and the ways in which the world works; nobody, no organization, no country, no world body, absolutely nothing will be kinder and like you more than you are able to express the same feelings about yourself. This is a basic truism about people and a basic truism that also applies to countries. As long as Israeli politicians, newspapers, organizations, broadcasters, or people are unable of praise and giving testimony to the goodness of Israel, the world at large will continue to disrespect, disregard, and assume the worst evils of Israel. If Israel really desires wiping the tarnish off her international reputation, she first must change her voice which speaks so loudly to the world which consists almost exclusively of detrimental degradations impugning Israel’s character and denouncing her rights for the respect shown a state who acts and rules honorably. One of the initial tasks which must be accomplished to rehabilitate the Israeli image in the world would be to either redirect or found new news services which speak in English and other languages other than Hebrew which take an attitude and view of Israel that is positive and not simply regurgitate echoing every claim and disparagement spoken by those who would erase Israel and likely the Jews from the face of the Earth given the slightest opportunity. If Israel but echoes the propaganda which are released by her enemies while ignoring the truth, then the world has but one side of the discussion and will never hear the other side, This has the effect of limiting the conversation to the only view being projected, the Israel is an evil and horrid entity. We have had a recent set of events which give perfect example to this phenomenon.

During Shabbat for the last month the Arabs, with incitement, encouragement, cooperation and support of Israeli Jews who hold great spite and hatred for anything Zionist in nature, set fires to the fields surrounding the Yitzhar community in Samaria. When emergency personnel arrived to extinguish the flames before they spread to the community and the homes within, they were greeted by the Leftist Jews and their Arab compatriots showering them with rocks attempting to deny their ability to put out the flames. When the residents of Yitzhar responded in kind to protect the firefighters, the leftist Jews from B’tselem made sure to catch this on tape. Afterwards, these leftist Jews further edited the tape and distributed to the television news departments and sent selected picture to the print media along with a suggested dialog scurrilously depicting the situation as the Jews from the community of Yitzhar as having started the fires and initiating an attack on the Arabs completely unprovoked. This was the sole evidence available as the Jews who live in Yitzhar are observant Jews and thus unable to film the confrontation due to the Sabbath. This past week they had received allowance from their Rabbis allowing them to film the altercations even on the Sabbath. This week the television news organizations received both films, the heavily edited film from B’tselem as well as the longer and unedited film from the Yitzhar community. The news outlets unanimously showed the B’tselem video while deciding not to show any of the Yitzhar taken raw film which showed the Arabs exiting a Red Crescent ambulance and setting the fires and one of the Arab men pulling a knife and setting to attack the firefighters. The Arab was wounded by IDF troops who were called to protect the firefighters and disperse the rioting Arabs and B’tselem Jews. Israel will have no chance of escaping the scorn and rebuttals from the world as long as the Israeli news organizations for the most part appear to be a further outlet for Al-Jazeera News or Palestinian Authority or Hamas Official News Station. The other side of this erroneous picture drawn by the liberal Israeli press has been the near total blackout of the ever escalating rock attacks and car-jacking being perpetrated by Arab gangs in Judea, Samaria and Arab neighborhoods of Jerusalem. These attacks have included daily incidents against the new Jerusalem light rail system which runs through one of the major Arab sections of Jerusalem.

Add the one last slant often taken by much of the world media is the propensity to report every single retaliatory strike by Israel in response to rocket and mortar attacks on Israeli civilians in the communities and cities within range of these munitions fired from Gaza. While the rocket and mortar attacks originate from Gaza where Israel has already removed all their citizens and all IDF troops from stationing within Gaza leaving all of Gaza under direct and independent Hamas rule, the Israeli retaliations target weapon storage facilities, rocket manufacturing locations, and the smuggling tunnels which cross the Gaza borders either heading to Egypt to facilitate supplies being brought to Gaza or to Israel which are used to infiltrate and attempt to attack or abduct Israelis. These reports almost universally report the Israeli strike in active and forceful terms while making only the slightest references to the initial rocket attacks and using passive terms to describe the terror strikes. This is also often the view expressed in Israeli television and other new sources. If Israel actually wishes to retrieve their former respect, then they must first recall the pride and justness of their actions and transfer this emotion and perspective to their reporting and make such the centerpiece of their activities with not only the rest of the world, but with each other in their everyday dealings and reporting. Simply reporting the entire story is all that is required. Israel has no need to pretty up the truth in order to be depicted as honorable, they have honorable as their source guiding their every move. All Israel and her reputation require to shine once again as the virtuous country they are is for the truth to be told without any requirement for polishing or positioning it in anything but a cloak of virtuous honesty.

Beyond the Cusp