Over all, I was pleased with Bibi Netanyahu's speech. I was especially pleased with his academic correction of Obama's distorted view of Israel's genesis. (His father must be very proud.)
It was very hard for Netanyahu to pronounce the words 'Palestinian State' (as it was for a lot of us to hear them). Furthermore, fulfilling the conditions that he set down would create a tolerable situation. True, the Arabs will not (in the near future) accept them. However, I don't think the PM was being disingenuous. These really are minimum requirements for our survival. If the Arabs aren't willing to engage them, they will simply have missed another opportunity (and shown that nothing short of our disappearance will satisfy them).
Obama's reaction, though, was really very disappointing. He was only slightly supportive, and remains obsessed with settlement construction (as if that's what is holding everything up). I can only conclude the following:
1) He is a radical, Leftist ideologue, who forgets that politics is the art of the possible.
2) He has swallowed the entire Arab/Muslim line and cannot (or will not) see beyond it.
4) He has no respect for Israeli democracy, insofar as the positions enunciated by the PM reflect a broad consensus (aided and abetted in this by the hofjuden Rahm Emanuel, IPF and 'J Street')
5) He thinks he's the unfettered ruler of the United States and the rest of the world.
6) He is dangerous for World Peace, in his naive approach to would be World Powers.
The United States Constitution is based upon an intricate set of checks and balances. World Diplomacy is similarly structured. Hopefully, we will soon see the checks to his messianic zeal.
[As to what Israel should do, aside from support its Prime Minister, I think this warrants thought.]
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Friday, June 05, 2009
Obama's Speech: An Ode to Illiterate Manipulation
I was thinking about Fisking parts of Obama's speech. Others, more qualified, have done so (here, here and, here).
We are in for very rough times. After all, when Gideon Levy calls Obama Israel's Best Friend, he know of that which he speaks.
The problem is that most Westerners, and a foriori, most Israelis don't know enough History or Islam to know that President Obama is either ignorant or manipulative.
Who says that universities show progress when they cut the Humanities for Nanotechnology?
We are in for very rough times. After all, when Gideon Levy calls Obama Israel's Best Friend, he know of that which he speaks.
The problem is that most Westerners, and a foriori, most Israelis don't know enough History or Islam to know that President Obama is either ignorant or manipulative.
Who says that universities show progress when they cut the Humanities for Nanotechnology?
Thursday, June 04, 2009
The United States: A Muslim Country
According to President Obama.
This came over my desk a few minutes ago:
You won't believe this one. In a press release dated today from the White House prior to his trip this week to Saudi Arabia and Egypt (not Israel) the President of the United States of America stated: "Now, the flip side is I think that the United States and the West generally, we have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam. And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. And so there's got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples."
The shock here is not just that his statistics are false (see http://muqata.blogspot.com/ ), but that U.S. President Obama perceives and presents himself as president of "one of the largest Muslim countries in the world!"
See the press release on the White House Web site:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Transcript-of-the-Interview-of-the-President-by-Laura-Haim-Canal-Plus-6-1-09/
And keep lots of water stored in your shelter.
This came over my desk a few minutes ago:
You won't believe this one. In a press release dated today from the White House prior to his trip this week to Saudi Arabia and Egypt (not Israel) the President of the United States of America stated: "Now, the flip side is I think that the United States and the West generally, we have to educate ourselves more effectively on Islam. And one of the points I want to make is, is that if you actually took the number of Muslims Americans, we'd be one of the largest Muslim countries in the world. And so there's got to be a better dialogue and a better understanding between the two peoples."
The shock here is not just that his statistics are false (see http://muqata.
See the press release on the White House Web site:
http://www.whitehou
And keep lots of water stored in your shelter.
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
The Day Before June 4th
In all of the windup to President Obama's Middle East Policy speech in Cairo tomorrow, no one has noticed that he is delivering it on June 4th. June 4th is the lodestar of the Arab World and the Left. It is the anniversary of the day before the Six Day War in 1967. It symbolizes the passionate desire of the Arabs and the Left to erase the results of their defeat in that war; the war that they hoped would drive the Jews into the sea. It symbolizes their desire to drive the 350,000 Jews living in formerly East Jerusalem, the Old City and all of Judea and Samaria from their homes; to drive them from the Old City of Jerusalem and the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hevron; to confine the Jews of Israel within the indefensible borders that resulted from the 1949 armistice and to place them within easy range of their guns and rockets.
Given the traditional Arab penchant for symbolism, and Obama's awareness of their culture, I have no doubt that the date was chosen with that in mind. Obama, it appears, wishes to erase the disgrace of the !967 war, much as Abdullah a Tell wished to erase the injustice of partition in 1948.
He says as much in his speeches and in his desire to rip Jerusalem from us and give it to our enemies.
Israel is facing an unprecedented danger. It has its back to the wall, and now we have neither the Jews of the United States nor the President of the United States to turn to. The former are too enchanted with their new messiah, Barack Obama. He, in turn, is totally honest and open in his policy of appeasement vis-a-vis the Islamic, especially the Wahabee Jihadist world. In a world where political correctness squelches news and information, the American People are unaware that this policy is deadly dangerous for both Christians and Jews.
Personally, I realize that my highly emotional responses to Obama and his Jewish advisors is a mixture of frustration at my inability to really affect these developments, and an expression of just how much I love my country, this rock strewn piece of land that the Creator gave us and imbued with a sublime sanctity.
It was God who gave us the Land. It was God who sustained us during our long exile. If God wills it, we will outlive Obama and his Jewish syncophants.
It is not enough, though, to be passive. We need to hang together. Obama cannot frighten, or cow a united people. The Right needs to keep its peace and support our elected government. The Center and the Zionist Left need to keep our independence by not submitting to American and Muslim diktats. The anti-Zionist Right and Left (Radical Kookians and Leftists like Gush Shalom, respectively) need to be excoriated and marginalized.
If God could cause Balaam to bless us at the sight of our unity, there is no reason to suspect He will not do so again.
[And the blessing may be implied in Barry Rubin's analysis.]
Given the traditional Arab penchant for symbolism, and Obama's awareness of their culture, I have no doubt that the date was chosen with that in mind. Obama, it appears, wishes to erase the disgrace of the !967 war, much as Abdullah a Tell wished to erase the injustice of partition in 1948.
He says as much in his speeches and in his desire to rip Jerusalem from us and give it to our enemies.
Israel is facing an unprecedented danger. It has its back to the wall, and now we have neither the Jews of the United States nor the President of the United States to turn to. The former are too enchanted with their new messiah, Barack Obama. He, in turn, is totally honest and open in his policy of appeasement vis-a-vis the Islamic, especially the Wahabee Jihadist world. In a world where political correctness squelches news and information, the American People are unaware that this policy is deadly dangerous for both Christians and Jews.
Personally, I realize that my highly emotional responses to Obama and his Jewish advisors is a mixture of frustration at my inability to really affect these developments, and an expression of just how much I love my country, this rock strewn piece of land that the Creator gave us and imbued with a sublime sanctity.
It was God who gave us the Land. It was God who sustained us during our long exile. If God wills it, we will outlive Obama and his Jewish syncophants.
It is not enough, though, to be passive. We need to hang together. Obama cannot frighten, or cow a united people. The Right needs to keep its peace and support our elected government. The Center and the Zionist Left need to keep our independence by not submitting to American and Muslim diktats. The anti-Zionist Right and Left (Radical Kookians and Leftists like Gush Shalom, respectively) need to be excoriated and marginalized.
If God could cause Balaam to bless us at the sight of our unity, there is no reason to suspect He will not do so again.
[And the blessing may be implied in Barry Rubin's analysis.]
Tuesday, June 02, 2009
Thursday, May 28, 2009
לולא תורתך שעשועיי
Shavuos is my favorite Yom Tov. After all, its central activity is Talmud Torah.I learned how to appreciate the holiday from my years studying with the Rav זצ"ל and the opening remarks to his famous lecture on Gerus and Masorah are my inspiration.
We often forget the study of Torah is not only a spiritual need, it is a physical requirement. החושש בראשו יעסוק בתורה, said the Rabbis, 'He whose head pains him, let him occupy himself with Torah.' The obverse is also true. The lack of studying Torah inflicts both emotional and physical distress on those who love it.
The act of Talmud Torah is not solely determined by the subject matter. It also depends upon one's state of mind. Thus, it is possible to study our sacred literature with detachment; without a feeling of encountering God. That, in my opinion, is not studying Torah. On the other hand, one can immerse oneself in Jewish History, with all the tools of modern scholarship. If one does so in a modality wherein one sees Divine Providence guiding the history of His People, that is part of Talmud Torah. In terms the Rav described above, such study of Torah in the wider sense is an encounter with God; It is an act of Divine Revelation.
ואידך פירושא, זיל גמור
The rest is commentary, let us go and study.
חג שמח לכולם
Friday, May 22, 2009
Thursday, May 21, 2009
Happy Yom Yerushalayim!
I already expressed with what feelings I will travel tonight and tomorrow to the Holy City, the place which the lord, our God, has chosen.
To President Obama, who wishes to rip out the heart of the Jewish People, in order to sacrifice it on the altar of the Jihadi Molech: I offer the heart-felt and on-target words of Israel Harel.
חג שמח
[Note: I've removed my intemperate remarks about MJ Rosenberg. My sentiments haven't changed, only the way I want to express them.]
To President Obama, who wishes to rip out the heart of the Jewish People, in order to sacrifice it on the altar of the Jihadi Molech: I offer the heart-felt and on-target words of Israel Harel.
חג שמח
[Note: I've removed my intemperate remarks about MJ Rosenberg. My sentiments haven't changed, only the way I want to express them.]
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Eyes that Burned Like Diamonds: The Talner Rebbe זצ"ל
Today is the thirty-seventh yahrzeit of Grand Rabbi M. Z. Twersky זצ"ל, the Talner Rebbe of Boston, father of my teacher, Rabbi Professor Yitzhak (Isadore) Twersky זצ"ל. He passed away on the 41st day of the Omer 5732, יסוד שביסוד as in צדיק יסוד עולם.
The Talner Rebbe was one of those remarkable people who had a real impact on me. The irony is that we never were introduced. We never exchanged a word. I was just one of the hundreds of people, and a kid at that, who came to his shtiebel to dance on the eve of Simhat Torah. Indeed, even if I had wanted to speak to him I would not have been able. By the time I encountered him, he was unable to speak, as the result of a stroke. It was, however, not his words that affected me. It was his eyes.
The Talner's eyes burned like diamonds. As the circle of dancers would pass by him, standing mute at his shtender, he would look at you; and his eyes would see right through you. They were kind eyes, warm eyes, truthful eyes. In his mute dignity, he generated a profound sense of holiness, of godliness. In his presence, I recall feeling that I was in the presence of a real צדיק.
That experience taught me that that there are truly spiritual, truly holy people in the world.
I thank God for the opportunity of encountering such a one.
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