Unexplainable Joyousness in Israel

 

As Olim who have been in Israel only a few years, we are constantly amazed at how absolutely wonderful and friendly life is. This is even more amazing as we have not learned sufficient Hebrew to actually talk to Israelis such as store clerks or when attempting to make medical appointments and other similar arrangements. Most of the time, if the people we get on the phone do not speak English, they will actually follow through and provide a person to call back who speaks sufficient English to deal with whatever it is we are attempting to accomplish. But that and the fact that, even when there is not an English speaker, they will calmly and politely play charades as we use presumed common gestures to get our message across. This has led to some interesting misunderstandings as you can probably guess. Still, we are making progress in teaching all of Israel English, or at least in our small circle. Yes, there are those who are assisting with our learning Hebrew, but the rest of them will learn English by the time we become proficient in Hebrew. But our experiences are but a small part of the whole. Israel ranks as the thirteenth happiest nation on Earth. That is at least according to the survey which placed Finland as number one and Norway close behind, or as we call them, the frozen chosen. Almost everything we have dealt with thus far has been at least pleasant even if the people at the bank cannot agree amongst themselves how to get things done. This, along with other small aggravations, is largely due to Israel being a rather young nation not yet a century old. But let’s take stock at all the reasons and problems which make Israel appear to be misplaced even making the top one-hundred, let alone thirteenth.

 

Israeli Defense Force at Play on a Beach

 

There are almost innumerable reasons against Israel even ranking on a happiness scale when you take a first look at the news and other coverage of us. Often the first thing that people point to is that Israel is surrounded by nations which wish to kill her down to the last person. They add that these enemies stretch for thousands of miles east and west and a fair distance south with Turkey, Syria, Lebanon and then Europe heading north and then west. Turn eastward just north of Turkey and you will soon be in Russia. It is a wonderful neighborhood as long as you remain within our tight little borders. Then there is the fact that Israel is on a war footing 24/7 with threats of war being thrown in our faces regularly. Currently, Hamas is debating whether or not they wish to risk an all-out war with Israel or just to walk that tightrope where Israel does not respond with full-force. Iran is behind the scenes right now encouraging Hamas and Islamic Jihad to press the envelope even if they end up crushed by an Israeli response. Iran is thinking that if they can press the envelope and not quite get an all-out Israeli response, then they may just succeed in making Bibi Netanyahu appear to be weak and thus lose the upcoming elections. What they are apparently unaware of is what the actual result of their efforts are producing. These attacks are overt and obvious in their intent but still they will cause some voters not to vote Likud because they are not responding with sufficient force and much of what their responses have been are seen as farcical. Those who decide not to vote for Likud in order to replace Bibi are not going to vote for any party which is to the left, they are going to vote for one of the two main choices which are more Zionist and to the right. They might decide they want to vote for a party which has a military man who has seen combat and understands how the military function, a general who trained in a combat position for example. Seeking a general one might immediately jump to the Blue-White Party which touts having four generals of which three have been Chief of Staff. That sounds so very impressive until one inspects their military careers and finds that they often were overly cautious to the point of giving an appearance of timidity. One of the four generals in this party is one who might make an excellent Prime Minister except he is not heading the party, the biggest paper pusher of them all is the leader, and we will leave it at that. So, to whom are you intimating?

 

The person we refer to is not known for his military career despite his service being quite exemplary. This general was the head of the Otzem Pre-Military Academy now located in Yated. He established the academy in 1993 in Bnei Atzmon which was within the limits of Gaza. He oversaw their orderly evacuation with passive protests while doing all they were able not to make the IDF soldiers become uncomfortable with their necessary efforts to remove the students. His intent, as best as we are able to ascertain, was to minimize the stress and shock of the events to both his students, who were training to be IDF soldiers, and the IDF soldiers tasked with their removal. To those who have challenged his decision, we can only inquire what they would have had school age children do while remembering that this was already an uncomfortable and potentially scarring set of conditions. He thought of the children in his charge as well as the IDF soldiers, some may have come from the academy, and did what he thought best means of causing them the least chance for any permanent psychological trauma. Rabbi Levi explained about our former general that he did not want to enter politics, “It should be said in his praise that he didn’t want the job and needed to be convinced.” This gentleman was a combat helicopter pilot, so he definitely received combat training and flew whirlybirds, something which takes great skill, dexterity, concentration and stamina. Helicopters are some of the most intricate of the aircraft as some of the controls are counterintuitive in how they are used. I was only trained on a simulator when I trained as a crash-rescue airfield firefighter as we had to pass a simulator test just in case we were required to move a helicopter away from a crash scene or for any other reason. Training for moving fixed-wing aircraft, airplanes, was vastly more simple as those you just roll along the ground and steer them the same as one would a car. Helicopter pilots have my greatest respect for their abilities. Finally, he served as IDF Chief Rabbi for six years, a very select and prestigious position. We are speaking of the quiet strength of Brigadier General (res) Rabbi Rafi Peretz, the newly elected leader of the Jewish Home Party. Confession, we belong to Jewish Home and have since we selected a party when we named the party we preferred so as to be able to vote in primary elections and other party activities. I am also a member of their Central Committee which approved Rabbi Peretz.

 

But there are other reasons why Israel making the top twenty of a list of happiest nations on a list where it initially appears to be a list of the most socialist left-leaning nations favoring Europe is surprising. The fact that the United States ranks at number nineteen, six positions below Israel, is another surprise. Israel is the most sanctioned nation by United Nations resolutions and faces an international movement, the BDS movement, aimed at isolating Israel economically from the rest of the world. The nation consists of largely desert regions yet much of the northern half of the country is green and filled with farmland. Israel has a limited access to fresh water but has made up for the lack of fresh water sources with desalinization plants to augment the water provided largely by the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee). Israel basically has two seasons, so we are either having rainy weather or the hot and dry weather of our summers. In Israel, we are usually very happy to have rain but by this time of the year, we are becoming anxious for the summer. By the fall, we are really ready for the cooler weather despite the rains, or possibly, because of the rains, which accompany the cooler weather. Regions of Israel receive snow, specifically Mount Hermon where the Israeli ski resorts thrive during the winter months.

 

Skiing on Mount Hermon

 

As happiness is often thought to reflect wealth, with Israel ranked just over thirtieth in the world proves that money is not everything. Israel ranks thirtieth in a Quality of Life Index. These ratings would lead one to expect Israel to rank similarly for happiness, but we rate far higher than many expect. Much of this has to do with things which are less easily measured. One is that Israel is a rather religious nation and that applies to all the different religions practiced within our borders. We have a wide choice of fresh fruits and vegetables which are largely grown within Israel through some of the most advanced agricultural methods, innovations and scientific developments which include variants of grains, fruits and vegetables which are better adapted to the climate in Israel. The agricultural wonders are only likely to increase as more of the southern Negev Desert is made arable through irrigation and further adaptable plants are developed through cross breeding and other methods. Many of the Israeli innovations, which are shared with developing nations around the world, can be read about with a number of informative videos in this article titled, 12 Ways Israel Feeds the World, an article which contains many interesting facts. The fact that Israel assists many nations from providing special cell towers, which are powered by solar energy and advance batteries for previously isolated villages in Africa to being one of the first nations to arrive to assist after natural and other disasters and almost always the last to leave, to sharing agricultural advances and medical advances, procedures and inventions often at no cost to the nations we assist. Knowing that your nation is actually fulfilling its desired aim of being a light unto the nations gives one pride. Realizing we do this giving freely, even to the same nations which condemn us repeatedly in votes taken at the United Nations General Assembly as well as countless United Nations agencies, we still get no reassuring support. Israel actually does what we would preach we do if we were to go around beating our chests and yelling, we did that. Instead, we arrive quietly and depart quietly always having the people with whom we interacted very happy that we came and lent a hand. Below is CNN news coverage of the earthquake aftermath in Haiti and the second is a special case from Haiti, George, a dancer, had his leg crushed requiring amputation. The Israeli doctors made arrangements for George to go to Israel and be fitted with a very special prosthetic specifically designed allowing him to return to his life’s love and career as a dancer. He is an excellent dancer even with his new leg.

 

The people of Israel are a mix which comes from every corner of the world. We are not a purely European group of Jews who had nowhere to return to after World War II. The Arab world across the Middle East and Northern Africa forced out virtually all of their Jews who were mostly only able to find one nation willing to take them in, Israel. Israel sent aircraft and boats to assist these refugees, over eight-hundred-thousand in all, in returning to their new home in Israel. We will not claim that there were not difficulties as when you almost double the population in a short period of a nation under fifteen years in age, there are difficulties in finding employment, housing and virtually everything one could imagine. In many cases, these Jews were permitted one suitcase each and those were inspected to make sure that they were not leaving with any item of wealth such as money, jewelry, paintings or other such items. The Jews from these Arab nations were just as destitute and quite traumatized just as the survivors of the Holocaust had been when coming to Israel. They also arrived in a nation being threatened by the same world they had just been expelled from and they would see wars as the Arabs attacked Israel in three major wars in barely over her first twenty-five years. Still, the people have a vibrancy and love of life which is infectious. The love and pride in their homeland is also evident and we all agree on one thing, despite any problems, we are home where we will not become victims of the government and be thrown into death camps with an intent on eradicating the Jews. We are in our country and for better or worse, we know we are home, and that is a very wonderful feeling for a people who have been victimized, persecuted and attempted to be eradicated throughout history, and as Jews, we remember our history. Why is Israel so happy? Perhaps it is the air, the people, the great food, the ice cream shops almost every other block, the beaches, the skiing, Jerusalem, the history and the fact that it is home and always has been the home we dreamed in which to live. We cannot explain why, but we can only be surprised that we are not rated higher. Sure much of the world loves to hate us, but at least now our own country will not hate us and mistreat us because it is actually and really our own country finally and at last, after over two-thousand years, we are home.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Israel Often Asking the Wrong Questions

 

For centuries the Jews have, more often than not, been asking the wrong questions. While it was pertinent during their exile and ordeal of slavery within Ancient Egypt, their enslavement was not an active part of the problem until the very end. The family of Israel should have been asking whether or not they had accomplished what was necessary for ending the exile. It is often told that the Jewish People, the family of Abraham, was enslaved in Egypt for the sin of the brother’s selling, while almost murdering, their brother Joseph. There was another reason for their exile, for their numbers to increase far from the view of leaders who would become nervous about the growing size of the Jewish People. Towards the end, the Pharaoh did become nervous and ordered that the first-born male of every household be killed. The Jews still rose up and left after the Ten Plagues were rendered upon Egypt. They perceived that the reason why Pharaoh was pursuing them was to slaughter most and place the others back in bondage and pressed against the sea they believed their plight to be hopeless. They had been placed in such peril simply to prove the power and dominion of Hashem as he divided the waters and they escaped while the waters were closed upon the Egyptian army killing the vast majority. Even after the miracle of dividing the waters and seeing the presence of Hashem upon the mountain during the giving of Torah, the Jewish People were not capable of the task and was required to be replaced by the next generation born free of slavery which took, unsurprisingly, forty years in the wilderness to build the new generation and train them for the struggles ahead. Now we will try and explain the more modern situations and see of we can find the more suitable questions which should have been asked.

 

When addressing the Gaza situation, we ask if there are more reasons to be rid of Hamas than there are to keep them ruling Gaza. There is the fear that should Israel decapitate the Gaza leadership that an even worse group very likely directed from Iran would replace the current leaders. There is also the fear that Islamic Jihad, a direct arm of Iran, would rise and take control of Gaza permitting Iran to directly control another border of Israel. Then some claim that Israel could simply remove the terrorists and its infrastructure and allow the Gazans to elect new and hopefully better leaders. The Gazans elected Hamas last time, a step in the wrong direction voting out those who simply desired to destroy Israel replacing them with a group which desires to murder every Jews on the planet. The odds are that were the Gazans provided with an opportunity to elect their own government with Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all other terrorist structures removed, somehow they would find somebody to continue the attacks upon Israel. Additionally, it is pointed out that once pushed into the Sinai Peninsula, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and any new friends and Iranian allied forces would be able to launch attacks from within Egypt. This could present the opportunity for Israel and Egypt to solve our mutual problem of terror groups training and designing attacks within the rough terrain of the Sinai Peninsula. Further, should Egypt elect somebody who preferred a more belligerent stance than the present position of their current government led by President Sisi, this would permit those groups to operate with the assistance, or at a minimum, no hindrance from the Egyptian government. The one item which Israel can be assured about, Egypt would rather cooperate behind the scenes with Israel than have to face Iran alone, which is pretty much the choice Egypt would need face. This presents a problem for Egypt as they are one of the nations high on the Iranian list which they require conquest. The other two are Saudi Arabia and Kuwait. The map below depicts the closest cities and communities along with their relative size.

 

Gaza Communities and Relative Sizes

 

What should be asked is why leave anything of Gaza. Why not have the IDF, backed by airpower, simply push the people, everyone, into the Sinai Peninsula? This would be called going Biblical on those who are attempting to destroy you and your way of life. There is little surprise over the fact that the terror groups in Gaza are fully supported by the people of Gaza. The two are willing compliments to one another. There is no doubt as to the enmity felt by the average Gazan towards Israel which has been proven time and again in polls and other means which depicts that over 80% of Gazans fully back their government in the desire to eliminate Israel and slaughter every Jew found there. As time passes, much the same could be stated about the Arabs residing under the Palestinian Authority (PA). Polls have shown that there is a great amount of support for Hamas in the PA regions, one which rivals Gaza. What is surprising is that there are those within the PA ruled regions who would prefer to be ruled over by Israel even if this meant that they would not be permitted to vote in national elections and only permitted the vote in local elections. Should Israel ever push all Gazans into the Sinai Peninsula, this should be performed in conjunction with Egypt such that they too would be permitted to arrest those from Gaza whom they believe would incite against their rule. Still, a recent poll of the Israeli reaction to the response to the rockets fired into Israel where one struck a house injuring seven, where the people of Israel overwhelmingly believed that the response was weak and lacked sufficient will to bring this recent rising level of terrorist attacks to an abrupt end. The Palestinians are playing a very dangerous game of baiting a nation which has shown great control but the people are getting very close to demanding that the Biblical solution of cleansing the lands be applied to the Palestinian Arabs, or at the very least, those in Gaza.

 

Regarding Europe we ask what can we do to appease them and reduce their apparent hatreds. Israel often treats the difficulties with Europe as a misunderstanding rather than a confrontational problem. Israel and the Israelis need to understand that many of the power elite within Europe look upon Israel as the cause of Arab unrest. It is their contention that were Israel to be removed, then relations between the Europeans and the Arab Islamic World would improve drastically. The other problem is that the Europeans see Israel as endangering their lucrative trade with Iran, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the Gulf States which deals with oil in one direction and manufactured goods in the other. Many European leaders were enamored of President Barack Obama feeling that he was a kindred spirit. They particularly approved completely his craven lack of resolve to end the Iranian nuclear program and to merely kick that can down the road and in the meantime provide the leadership of Iran with literally pellets of hundred dollar bills, if not thousands. To the Europeans, this was to their favor as it provided Tehran with hundreds of millions if not billions or tens of billions which the Europeans expected to grab the lion’s share of the cash in exchange for goods from Europe. The JCPOA to the Europeans was simply an invitation to them to make serious money and conduct profitable trade while Iran saw it as an open door through which they could attain the last items on their nuclear shopping list. Israel does not need to acquiesce and appease the Europeans or even gain their approval. Israel simply needs trade with Europe when it is advantageous and walk away totally ignoring them when it is not favorable for Israel. As far as adapting Israeli policies in order to make them pleasing to European sensitivities, this must be terminated immediately as it is not a healthy endeavor. What we should ask is where do we need to turn so we can dismiss Europe and her old, embedded hatreds.

 

Regarding most relations we ask what must we sacrifice to retain relations. That is a defeatist attitude and one taken by a weak adversary in the hopes that they will receive sympathy. It is a plaintiff attitude, and not one from a nation with any pride or certainty in their actions. Israel actually could very well find themselves manufacturing everything they require within her borders making trade a luxury instead of a necessity. Israel need read the tealeaves, or at least the polls in Europe, all of which depict a continent becoming ever more steeped in anti-Semitism and displaying it largely through hatred of and working for the destruction of Israel. Israel gets many items such as motor vehicles, appliances and countless other items which are manufactured in Europe. The European Union and member nations are less than a decade away from completely turning against Israel and fully backing the Arabs in their struggle to eradicate Israel from the map. What need be asked is how can Israel become self-sufficient such that we can exist alone if need be and realize that it is Israel which they all depend and not us depend upon them.

 

With Hezballah to our north perched in Lebanon, we ask how can we refrain them from attacking us. What we need ask is why do we tolerate over one-hundred-fifty-thousand missiles and rockets targeting our people and how long would it take to completely erase all presence of the Iranian menace on our northern border. This is a question of national survival. Would Israel survive if a mere ten percent of these rockets were launched before the Israeli response silenced their launching? That would mean the fifteen-thousand rockets and missiles (mostly unguided rockets) launched within ten to fifteen minutes. Of these probably twenty percent, or three-thousand, are guided missiles and they are made up of the largest warheads with sufficient range to reach anywhere in Israel. Allow us to paint a picture of the scenario. The twelve-thousand unguided rockets would have warheads sufficient to destroy a vehicle and cause sizable damage to a home. The Iron Dome would likely intercept numbers of these rockets heading for civilian areas and the ones which were permitted to land in open areas would simply make quite a bit of noise. Numerous of these rockets would get past the Iron Dome defenses and strike buildings where people reside causing some widespread panic. Now to address the three-thousand larger guided missiles. These most likely have Iranian provided guidance systems which are accurate, from our latest information, to within ten meters and very often within three to five meters. Trust us when we explain with a warhead which is capable of killing people up to one hundred meters depending on walls and plant growth and whether the shell is set to penetrate delaying exploding until anywhere from three seconds to thirty seconds before detonation, explode on impact or explode while overhead and heading towards its intended target. These would be aimed at the nuclear power stations, the tallest buildings which also hold the most offices and thus people. What Israel need determine is she and her people willing to live with this threat, this virtual declaration of war just sitting in preparation for the day that Iranian leaders awaken feeling just somewhat ill-at-ease, so they give the order to let loose the rockets and missiles, all of them. Fortunately, some of the rockets require loading as well as fueling making it impossible for Hezballah to launch all the rockets simultaneously. There is one target which we know will be targeted, the Dimona Nuclear Reactor as well as the nuclear electrical generation plants. Their aim is to make as much area unlivable for humans such that they can declare they drove the Jews from the lands and ended the Zionist threat which was pervasive throughout Israel and now they have made the area uninhabitable. This is one of the ways the Arabs are proving that they truly love the land as their intent is to so utterly destroy the region that nothing remains alive and merely robotic machines are permitted within a certain radius of the main cities of about twenty kilometers. Perhaps this is the particular threat which requires an immediate intervention by Israel removing of most of the threat. Such a Sword of Damocles hanging over one’s head is totally unacceptable. Perhaps we could demand that these rockets and missiles be aimed at targets further from Israel or were decommissioned, but Israelis in the north and south should not be expected to live with a constant threat of rockets raining down upon them.

 

Turning to Iran and we see what may be the greatest threat to peace throughout the Middle East, both currently and in the foreseeable future. Iran is largely responsible for the violence plaguing Iraq, is adding to the conflict in Syria, is responsible for the discord in Lebanon (as well as the flight of the Lebanese Christians), has armed the Houthis who are conquering Yemen with assistance from the IRGC (Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps) and is behind some of the violence emanating from Gaza as well as directly responsible for the threats of violence and isolated incidents of violence along the Golan Heights. Iran has established their desired Shiite Crescent reaching from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean Sea (see map below). Iran also now controls in addition to the Strait of Hormuz also control the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait thus they control a choke point through which over half of the Middle Eastern oil travels in tankers and also the southern exit to the Red Sea and thus closing off Israel from the Asian sea routes blocking the port of Eilat as they control the southern exit from the Red Sea and thus control the Suez Canal. Iran is potentially capable of cutting off all oil from Europe other than what can be provided by Russia. Iran has stated they intend to have hegemonic power in the Middle East while at the same time accusing Israel of hegemonic power. Iran has also stated their intent to remove Israel from the map of the world and that they will also bring down the Great Satan (United States) after they defeat the little Satan (Israel). The Supreme Leader as well as their current President has both been broadcast as well as filmed joining in on the Friday afternoon few hours of hate where crowds gather at selected locations with one in Tehran where they chant for hours Death to America, Death to Israel. Iran has stated that they plan to conquer or otherwise take the Saudi Arabian oil fields as well as the Kuwaiti oil fields, and they intend to conquer the Red Sea region along Saudi Arabia including the Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina and gain control of the heart of Islam. Iran intends to make Shia Islam dominant with themselves as the unrivaled rulers. What we need ask is who is willing immediately to go and free the Iranian people from their nightmare and bring their dreams of world conquest to an early termination. There are a great number of Iranians who would very much love to see this hegemonic religious cult destroyed and them permitted to have a real democratic state and not any form of Theocracy.

 

Shiite Crescent including Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran

 

In reference to the United Nations, we ask how we can appease their insatiable appetite for condemnation of Israel. We wonder what acts of contrition we could take which would bring their constant year in and year out, month in and month out in many of their agencies, condemnations of Israel to an end. Israelis have grown mostly numb to the inanities and insanities performed regularly at the United Nations. Those who attempt to defend Israel are ruled out of order after being shouted down repeatedly and then have their microphone shut off and nothing further translated for the rest of the hall to hear. When any pro Israel individual or Israeli representative stands to speak before the General Assembly or the Security Council, the members disappear from the room leaving a hall filled with empty seats. Their condemnations of Israel are performed as a ritual with such agencies as the Human Rights Council having an actual order to condemn Israel before even hearing any new business. Eventually the members of the United Nations will evict Israel and then proclaim Israel a non-country striping her of her statehood as best they are able. This is in direct contradiction to the United Nations Charter Article 80 where they are sworn to uphold the Mandate System. Israel need discuss and ask themselves and discuss this in the Knesset where Israel can ask themselves do we even bother remaining in such a hateful and dysfunctional institution. Are their any advantages in staying in the United Nations when one has to realize that Israel is one of the few nations to never have been permitted to sit on the Security Council or chair any committee. Israel need realize that there is little need for her to remain in an institution which regularly slaps her across the face while never permitting her the same privileges provided every other member.

 

Finally concerning the world we ask what can we do to change the growing anti-Semitism we see around us. What we need ask is how can we make the Jewish presence so strong that others will fear spiting on us full of disrespect for Israel and through Israel the Jews. Were we to declare our restoration of our promised borders and applied Israeli law to the lands west of the Jordan River, such a bold move would awaken many people. We should or could then apply the three choices to the Arabs and other non-Jews residing within the finally realized promised borders under International Law, Treaties and all starting with the San Remo Conference and the Balfour Declaration. The three choices are as follows: 1) Foreign peoples desiring to reside within Israel may do so if they agree to obey the Noahic Code and Israeli Laws. 2) Those unwilling to accept such will be compensated for their lands and structures and permitted to take their wealth with them and go in peace with no fear of being hunted down in the future by Israelis and 3) One may decide they are not leaving and refuse to even accept the Noahic Code of seven laws and remain in order to end the Jews ruling here, these people have chosen war and their eradication is ordered in Torah for these are the people who will war against Israel and the Jews and are a real threat against us. These are the people we are commanded to eradicate from our lands by whatever means are required. As for the remainder of the anti-Semitism, the sole comfort and respite Israel can offer is the acceptance of all and any Jews into our lands and then providing them with protection. Can we protect the Jews everywhere in the world, probably not. But we can protect all the world’s Jews if only they would come home. Jews are a mere 0.2% of the world population which means that we cannot make the world safe for Judaism and the Jews residing across the world but Israel can be the offer for safety here in our natural home reestablished after over two-thousand years of exile. Beyond our borders, we can offer to help often in some small way, but real protection can only come within Israel which is the natural order of things.

 

Israel keeps asking the world what will it take, what must we do, how can we get you to love us? What we need do is understand that the world does not wish to love us or even like us and if they had their druthers, they would be rid of us, nation, people and all that goes with it. They see us for the sins they claim our forefathers committed when they introduced morality to a world filled with barbarians and for that we will be forever cursed by the barbarians. What we need realize is if given half a chance, most of the world would go back to their barbaric ways of the past and do so with great alacrity and celebration. That is why we will never be loved, liked nor appreciated and always be scorned, despised and rejected as we brought civility into the world and removed the pleasure of the constant orgies and the rape of women forgetting that that was also an age of rule by strength and not by will, mind and the ability to care for others. We can observe the slippage back to the ideals of the barbarian with the “Me First” generation where they will only do the minimal amount to get by but demand that they be rewarded greatly for their minimal efforts. We see it in the laws where a child in the womb has no right to life if it might interfere with mother’s social life and constant parties. We can see it as they are legalizing infanticide where even after the child has been born, drawn its first breaths and cried or possibly even smiled and had that innocent look of complete amazement at seeing the world outside the womb, and now the first state has made it legal to snuff out that life before it has any chance to understand the new world it just was permitted a glimpse and then they are tossed aside and left to perish. They get no love, no sympathy, no regrets, no compassion and no kindness, just a glimpse at the possibilities and then left on a cold slab to fade away through intentional neglect, and it is sanctioned by the governance. Israel must feel like that defenseless child in her interactions with much of the world, but Israel is not defenseless. What Israel needs to ask is do you fear us enough to treat us kindly with respect and dignity. How far do you wish us to go to show you that we are proud of our accomplishments and if you find us repulsive and repugnant, then we can accept your irrational hate and pay you back in kind which is not something you should desire. But you will find you are in luck as we are not the kind to ostracize you though we cannot prevent you from self-ostracizing.

 

We brought civility into the world along with the concept that one is to love their brothers and sisters, respect them, assist them and never take advantage of them even if they are weak. These are the little things the world gained from our Torah which Hashem blessed us through its knowledge and is the instruction manual on how to live a life which is worthy and works as an asset for all humanity. Should you decide that you want no part of what we offer the world, you do not desire the code of laws derived from our teaching, you do not wish to have to observe even partially the conduct by which you give honor to our creator, you do not care and wish to return to idolatry replete with child sacrifice just as is now legal in places on our globe, you do not wish to share in the fruits of a life well lived, then we will bother not your doorway and we will learn to live and continue to set the example which we have been commanded to observe which will not permit us to begrudge you or harm you for as long as you do not harm us. But be warned that should you decide to actively work to destroy our little garden here in Israel, then we will ask first that you cease and after you have had a good laugh, one final laugh, then we will turn from you until you realize the error of your ways. And should you actively attack us, then you will feel our wrath and see the end of your world as your nations will join all the others who attempted to harm us and eradicate us, for they have all departed this world and rule no more. The list is impressive as it includes the ancient Egyptians (no relations to the modern rulers of Egypt), Philistines, Assyrians, Babylonian Empire, Persian Empire (modern nation of Iran), Greek Empire, Roman Empire, the Caliphate, Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition (Spain remains with the same people but no longer rings the world or is anywhere near as impressive), Nazis and there is room for others who also wish to be a footnote or reference talking about the once mighty, place your nation’s name here.

 

Israel does not need grovel and beg for the love of other nations, for that we will let our wonders and successes will be our calling card. Israel can keep her head tall and stand proudly having had the lands which refused all others produce when we asked her to do so. This is our land and it is wholly unsuited for the use by any other peoples. Those empires also attempted to have the land produce and found that only Jews received rain in its seasons and grew crops of every kind with minimal effort and received results. Not only did the land produce far beyond any expectation, it was kind for the Jewish People and only the Jewish People, producing plentiful crops when they followed the laws of Torah, the Commandments from Hashem, and refused to produce when they strayed. This gift is not something Israel can share but we can show what kind of life is expected from the Jewish People in order for the land to produce such lushes crops and should they cease to follow the Laws of Torah, then the rain stops and the land does not produce and should this not make the impression necessary to force the Jewish People to repent, then will come worse, exile from this precious land. We are hoping that the return of so many of the Jewish People to these lands that this will prove to be the Redemption, the Final Redemption and the time we will be permitted and blessed to build the Third Temple in Jerusalem. This is the event, should Hashem so bless us, for which the Jewish People have waited for over two-thousand years. Every nation can choose to share in what will accompany this momentous event unparalleled in all history or they can shun Israel and claim that Torah is just a collection of tales told to keep the people oppressed using the fear of Hashem’s anger, so be it. We will reap the rewards which Hashem has promised and that will be that, end of the story. Others can join in and celebrate and benefit along with us or they can decide to oppose Israel and left out of the coming salvation. They can choose to win or lose, Israel will remain the key as she always has despite the presumed proof to the contrary her enemies have claimed with their saying that they were the new chosen people supplanting those who came before. This was and remains the mantra by which it is claimed that Hashem has condemned the Jewish People when the reality is some men decided to perform said condemnation of the Jews and now they watch as the prophesies of the redemption of the Jewish People is unfolding before their eyes. Every nations can decide if they desire to climb aboard or remain aloof and apart, that is their choice and will be their end, plain and simple.

 

Beyond the Cusp

 

Jewish Disconnect Between Israel and America

 

The disconnect is only superficially due to politics, though this does play an important role. The real difference needs be told, one separate from the other. The reason is that the disconnect has different roots in each sphere. The first thing which needs to be admitted is that the Jews in the United States are not all left wing, progressives belonging to the Democrat Party. There are a number of Republican Jews who are conservative in the United States who pale in numbers compared with the liberal Jewish establishment. There are leftist Jews in Israel who are of a sizable presence largely centered around Tel Aviv and most of the remainder in Jerusalem. This is not to claim that there are none in our little corner, we have some dear friends who hold leftist views. What is amazing is that though leftist Israeli Jews probably agree with their fellow liberal Jews in the United States on most social issues, they differ when it comes to the anti-Israel and anti-Zionist leftist radical in the United States. The conservative minority in the United States is more closely aligned with the conservative Jews in Israel with few exceptions beyond some religious perceptions about Israel and whether she should have waited for the Messiach to come and found the new Jewish State (there are some Jews in Israel who actually agree with this sentiment). This article will be dealing largely with the liberal and leftist Jews in the United States as they are the majority and the nationalist-conservative Jews in Israel as they are also the majority (though not by as great a percentage though that is changing).

 

The first thing is evidenced on numerous college and university campuses where young Jews protest Israel and tout the Arab Palestinian mantras all of which are calls for the destruction of Israel as the Jewish State. There are numerous American Jews who would need to be pushed forcefully before they would ever consider making Aliyah and moving to Israel. They believe that the United States is the new “Promised Land” and that Israel is simply a quaint little nation which is nice but not really anything central to their lives. This is a fiction which has infected the Jews time and time again throughout the ages. The Jews are a people whose desire to find perfection of the human society which often leads them astray. The Jews are often at the forefront of new ideas, be they societal or political and, as both things go through cycles, they often are treading on ground which was traveled before and ended with the same tragedy which their new great hope will eventually reach. Perhaps some bit of an explanation with recorded historical realities will make this more clear.

 

Everyone has probably heard the Exodus story about how the Jews were led by Moses from slavery in Egypt to the Promised Land of what is today Israel. What was likely left out of the telling is that not all the Jews left Egypt with Moses. Jewish oral history notes that approximately twenty-percent of the Jews left Goshen and Egyptian rule to take what must have seemed to be a perilous trek across the desert and through numerous lands each with their own peril. The greater majority chose to remain in Egypt where food was plentiful, their days were ordered by their Egyptian rulers, and they had few decisions or responsibilities for leading their own lives. Further, Egypt, for them, was the great empire which would last forever and was the future and the easier road to salvation. One may ask what ever happened to those Jews who remained in Egypt. They assimilated and were never hear from again. Those Jews who do not heed Hashem’s call to follow the proper path will find themselves cutoff from their brothers and sisters only to perish from the history of the Jewish People. Even those who left Egypt with Moses did not all take the entire journey to the Promised Land and skipped the forty years in the desert. We know this as there has been Jewish styled artifacts found in the Greek Isles along with other items from periods well before Alexander the Great unified the Grecian city-states. These artifacts even predated the First Temple. Those who went with Moses are the lineage of the modern Jews.

 

After reaching the Holy Lands, the Jews had a long and fruitful number of centuries before there came a divide over who was the rightful heir to the throne after King Solomon. The kingdom split and became the northern Kingdom of Israel consisting of ten tribes and their priesthood and the Kingdom of Judea which consisted of two tribes and their priesthood. The northern kingdom was conquered by the Assyrians and was lost until modern times and was referred to as the ten lost tribes of Israel. The southern kingdom of Judea was eventually conquered by the Babylonians. The Babylonians fell to the Persian Empire led by Cyrus the Great who allowed the Jews to return to the Promised Land and were told to rebuild their Temple. Once more we are told that a mere twenty-percent of the Jews returned with the remainder enamored with the greatness of Persia. These Jews were all but assimilated believing that Persia was the entire future of humankind. These Jews got a reality check from which we get the story of Purim. Hamas convinced the king that the Jews were disloyal and supported their kingdom over his rule. The king ordered that the Jews be exterminated only to find out his queen was a Jewess. The king them allowed the Jews to defend themselves on the ordered day for their extermination and the Jews prevailed. Still, these Jews did not all immediately pick up and head for Jerusalem. A mere pittance, a remnant, chose to return to the Promised Land.

 

Persian Empire Capital of Persepolis

 

Persia fell and on came Alexander the Great and the Greek Empire. Once again, there were a large percentage of the Jews living in the Promised Land who were mystified by the Greeks and their philosophy. These Jews were referred to as Hellenistic Jews though their attachment to Judaism was far from perfect. Many Jews became so overcome by the Greeks and they believed that this was the end of history and surely the Greek Empire would rule the world. Well, then came Rome and the Roman Empire with its glory and wealth and again Jews left their faith in the belief that this must surely be the new age which would last eternally. These Jews disappeared when Rome fell or held out until Byzantium fell. The Jews who have remained loyal to their faith, as well as any other Jews the Romans felt were undesirable, were dispersed throughout the Roman Empire with some sold into slavery to peoples outside of the empire. This was largely responsible for the Jews ending up spread throughout Europe, the Middle East and Northern Africa.

 

Here again, the Jews ended up split into two separate groups each with their own difficulties. Many are very familiar with the trial and tribulations faced by the Jews across Europe and Russia. They faced pogroms, forced conversions, inquisitions, purifications and expulsions often sending them almost all the way across Europe seeking a safe refuge to restart their lives. The Jews who lived in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) were soon ruled by the Caliphate as the Islamic Empire spread across the MENA region. These Jews also faced persecution which is seldom recorded in history as the European historians accepted what they were told by the Muslims as the reality and that everybody lived in peace and harmony. This is what is referred to as Taqiyya. Jews under Islamic rule, same as Christians, were persecuted and faced forced conversions. Whenever things went awry and times were difficult, whether in Europe or under Islamic rule, the Jews were often the scapegoat and faced threats to their existence often resulting in mass executions. Such times could be economic, a plague, famine, floods or any calamity whether manmade or natural. The difficulties faced by these Jews resulted in many converting both under duress and by choice seeking to improve their lives. Even after conversion, former Jews were watched with suspicion that they were secretly practicing Judaism, and some actually were such as the Moranos of Spain during the Inquisition.

 

Taqiyya defined in plain and simple easy to understand terms

 

The Jews residing in the region of MENA faced the perils of the Islamic and later the Ottoman Empires with the additional challenges Jews faced virtually everywhere on the globe. The Jews of Europe spread to the New World along with their respective countries as they established colonies. This simply served to spread the Jews even further around the world. Back in Europe, the Jews faced new threats and found new saving ideas and movements which they joined often with great hopes. One such cause was Communism which a number of Jews supported believing the ideals of community and shared property would bring equality and they expected acceptance. That was short lived as Stalin would enact numerous laws which victimized Jews and the Soviet Pogroms were just as horrific as were the pogroms under the Czars. The one deception which can be attributed to the Czars was the Protocols of the Elders of Zion. What was one of the most damning things about the purges of Jews by Stalin and the Holocaust by the Nazis was the fact that Stalin blamed the Jews for the rise of fascism while Hitler blamed the rise of Communism on the Jews. Often, when looking at Jewish history, it is a story of damned if you do and damned if you don’t. Also as part of the Jewish history in Europe, it included being forced from the British Isles, the Spanish Inquisition, the purification of France and of Italy and numerous other persecutions by one nation after another. The Jews were blamed for the plague, droughts, economic difficulties and even for practicing the only trades they were permitted, as most European nations forbid Jews owning land as land equaled wealth. The main profession other than trades of smithing, tailoring, butchering and the like, was exchanging money and allowing for trade outside of bartering as well as providing capital for investing. They were accused of usury often when a person of prominence was unable to repay their loan and decided that the solution was to blame the Jew who lent them the capital as having the Jew killed or run out of town freed them from their debt, read the Merchant of Venice written by William Shakespeare who wrote the tale in a period while Jews were barred from Britain. The truth is that for the most part, the Jews never saw their lives in Europe or across MENA as living in the age which was the end of history and capable of ruling the world and accepting them.

 

This brings us to the New World and in particular, the United States. Many American Jews believe, as their forefathers had mistakenly believed before them, that the United States was the future and the new Promised Land. This did have periods of difficulty but the United States despite not fully accepting the Jews until most recently, still allowed the Jews to enjoy all the freedoms and opportunities, even if some businesses refused to hire Jews. There was that brief but traumatic episode with General Grant and his General Order No. 11 (1862) which ordered the expulsion of all Jews in his military district, comprising areas of Tennessee, Mississippi, and Kentucky. General Grant laid the blame for black market activity, largely regarding cotton, on the Jews and ordered their expulsion and the confiscation of their lands and properties. The order was rescinded by President Lincoln, but not before most of the damage was done. After the Civil Rights movement gained equal rights for minorities, the Jews became convinced that at long last they had found the new age and the perfect land where they could remain and live in perfection. There have been some number of American Jews who have made Aliyah and live in Israel, probably well under twenty-percent which has historically been the norm. The Jews were not alone this time in their belief the time for the end of history has arrived. Francis Fukuyama, an American political and economic scientist, wrote a book titled, “The End of History and the Last Man” after the fall of the Soviet Union claiming that war and human conflict were not likely in the future as Capitalism had proven superior and there were no future discordances as all the important and potential for conflict had reached their definitive solution. He claimed that with the fall of Communism and the Soviet Union and the end of Fascism after World War II, all the opposition to liberal democratic capitalistic philosophy had been eliminated. Unsurprisingly, Mr. Fukuyama has reached a momentous conclusion, he has postponed the end of history.

 

There has been a rise anti-Semitism throughout the Western World and beyond. Most of the nations within MENA expelled their Jews after the founding of Israel in protest of the founding. This may have backfired as these over three-quarters of a million Jews into Israel and their descendants make up approximately half of the Israeli population. As an aside, we have seen the mixing of the European Jews with the MENA Jews which will make Israel truly a nation of a united and unique Jewish nation. There have been genetic studies which have shown that the European Jews are genetically similar with the same genetic roots as the MENA Jews. The similarity was to such an extent that those who conducted the studies were shocked at their findings as they were expecting that these two groups which had been separated for almost two millennia would definitely have departed genetically and it was next to impossible. Their conclusion decided that the Jews placed such an importance at marrying within the faith, that despite their residing apart would have led to their drifting apart through intermarriage and other means which would have led to genetic differences. The remaining Jews outside of Israel now reside predominantly in Europe and North America with pockets found spread around the globe. This is why the rise in anti-Semitism is mostly relegated to these two areas as well as the few pockets. This was brought to a head with the recent blowup over the anti-Semitic tropes used by recently elected Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. Despite this extremely public display, it has had a fairly little if any effect in the American Jewish community. Many Jewish communities within the United States are, unfortunately, excessively insular where they act very much as an echo chamber which ignores much of the outside world beyond their work. This was just the apex of the rising anti-Semitism which was evidenced by rising attacks on Jews in Brooklyn in some of the most heavily Jewish areas. These attacks are simply the tip of the iceberg which is being underplayed by the American Jews as it impinges upon their belief that the United States is the Promised Land and it will be the great haven for Jews forever into the future. If only they were correct, such would make even the Jews in Israel happy, as we want only the best for all of our brethren.

 

The one quirk is that most of the Jews in Israel also see America through rose-colored glasses thinking that it is a golden land. Apart from they are correct, that is now and we can only wonder about the future. Were this to be true, it would be the first nation in history to break the Tytler Cycle (see below) which presents the stages societies have historically followed. Many of the ancient societies only were able to go around this cycle once before they were overrun by the next rising empire on their initial pass around the Tytler Cycle. The Jewish people have been around this circle far too many times and should have learned, but Jews are optimists if nothing else. Well, most Jews are optimists and our editor is the exception that proves the rule. But our editor is an exception in too many ways to even list. Any in-depth study of history proves the validity thus far in human experience of the Tytler Cycle, especially with the rise and fall of the early empires, the numerous rising and collapses of China and Japan, the rise and fall of the numerous European nations with some making their way around the circle more than once. There are arguments as to where on the cycle one finds the United States. The different opinions place it anywhere from Complacency to Apathy with some claiming Dependence. Jews in Israel have a view of the United States which is probably looking at her as she was a couple of decades ago and also refuse to recognize the rising anti-Semitism. Perhaps this is a blindness which has plagued Jews over all of history which would explain to some extent why they remain in nations and do not leave at the first signs that their acceptance is crumbling before their eyes. Whatever the reason, the next decade or two will be very crucial in determining whether or not the Jews have any future in the United States. Should the political climate, especially on the left where the majority of the Jews align, continue in taking the tack which recent events may be a preview, Jews will face an end to their acceptance in the United States. This will also shock the majority of Israeli Jews who believe that the United States and Israel are attached at the hip and never to part. They believe that America has always been a staunch ally of Israel completely oblivious to the fact that the United States did not begin to support Israel militarily until the early 1970’s. We know this because we have had to prove this repeatedly. This is their corollary to the belief that Israel cannot survive without the aid provided by the United States. We discussed this in depth here. As we have predicted, the day will come, and in the not that distant a future, when the aid from the United States will cease and it will probably do so precipitously and, in the eyes of most Israelis, with little or no warning signs. That is the extent of their willful blindness.

 

Tytler Cycle of Power in Governance

 

So, what are our conclusions from all of these presumed observations? This is where we often get into deep trouble. The most obvious is that America and Israel will probably go their separate ways after a messy divorce which will astonish Jews in both nations if not the entire globe. It will not be long after this that Jews start to find that they are not as welcome in many of the cities within the United States. There will be a slow but steady increase in acts of anti-Semitism in the United States only slightly lagging behind the same across Europe. Along the road to this end, the Jews will find themselves supplanted in the Democrat Party by Islamic interests. Jews will find themselves endangered on college and university campuses as one of the earlier warning signs. Synagogues will initially require guards when holding services and eventually require around the clock active protection provided by security companies who will place guards, and later armed guards, to protect them from attack. The same will occur for Jewish schools, daycares and organizational headquarters. Then their homes will come under attack and they will be advised to remove their mezuzahs from their doors for their safety as was temporarily advised for the Jews residing in the North of London or as happened in a community in San Francisco. (This article gives a summary of some of the incidents where this has occurred) With time, more American Jews will end up following their European counterparts in making Aliyah to Israel. The reality is that once the United States does turn on their Jews, other than Israel there will be no safe place to run. The world is going to spit out their Jews one region after another and the Jews in each place will be shocked and astonished with many not understanding what has happened and why they are being treated as they are. This has already struck the Jewish members of the British Labour Party despite the protestation of Jeremy Corbyn; the person one might claim is the ringmaster of the quickly rising anti-Semitism within the British left and the one facilitating the cover-up. At some point, the United States will have telegraphed the coming Jewish apocalypse when their support for Israel rapidly dries up and Israel is cast adrift by the United States. For this reason, we have advised as many as we are able to reach that Israel must begin to produce her own armaments, aircraft, ships, submarines and all other military equipment as she will soon find herself without any true friends. We realize that between nations there is no such thing as friends, simply nations with shared interests which are always subject to change. Israel is going to find that these shared interests are going to be changing and doing so rather fast unless the world takes a turn and alters its current trajectory. This coming alteration in the world and its alignments is a subject which we are likely to come back to from time to time with an ever-greater urgency as we see the approaching tipping point. Currently, this point is outside of our vision but the warning signs are so evident that its inevitability unfortunately appears to be unavoidable. Many Israeli and American Jews will be shocked by the progressing events and will refuse to believe those who predict them. Just as Jews were late in fleeing the Nazis, the Spanish Inquisition, the edict in Persia, the pogroms under the Czar and the purges under Stalin in Russia and so many other periods and times when they could have avoided torture, dispossession, expulsion and death, so will they remain in denial across Europe and in the United States and elsewhere never believing it could happen here. This was the response which Ze’ev Jabotinsky met when he warned the Jews in Eastern Europe that they needed to leave and move to the Promised Land even if they had to walk the entire way when he visited in the early 1930’s. This has been the reaction we have received from Jews we spoke with about this in the United States before we came to Israel and was also the reaction we received from our gentile friends. There is one gentleman with whom we are in steady contact who also denied what was coming and has told us, “You were right again and why don’t I ever believe you about these things.” We have faith he will learn before it is too late. We just hope that the Jews in the various regions, as they turn ugly, realize in time to safely relocate and return home to Israel. One last cautionary note, even after virtually every Jew has left the world and returned to Israel, Israel will still be the nation most scorned and regularly condemned by the United Nations, its various agencies and the vast majority of the nations on the planet despite her continuing to share her advancements, discoveries, innovations, medical procedures, computing software and the other various areas where Israel is one of the leading nations in such improvements.

 

Beyond the Cusp