Jewish Books

Buddist/Reiki/Native American/Spiritual

Blog For Free! Archives Home 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2007 December 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 March 2007 February 2006 December 2006 November 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 January 2005 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January My Links The Store at Jewish.com - Everything from software to holiday items, apparel, bar/bat mitzvah and much more. Even items made in Israel Come listen to Isreal National Radio in their Virtual Studio! Excellent radio to listen to while at work and at home. Isreal National Radio website Learn Hebrew Featured Jewish Products Torah Codes 2000 Torah Codes MAC Torah Gematrias Macintosh Torah Gamatrias Gabai - Synagogue Management Artscroll Stone Chumash with English Rashi E-Z Hebrew Phrases LdyDanu9's Pharmacy LdyDanu9's Health Store If you're into getting kewl items when you donate to the virtual yeshiva, please go here! Kosher Shabbat Light/Lamp Designer Clothes At Low Low Prices! Almost wholesale! LdyDanu9s News Site Get Latest in News Locally and Worldwide Including Business News LdyDanu9s FC Store Very Family Oriented Excellent Savings Lady Danu9's Gifts-N-Such The Jewish Woman Amazing personal investigations online from your home computer. tBlog My Profile Send tMail My tFriends My Images Sponsored Blog Affiliate program for jobs & resumes Get All Your Pets Needs At 1800PetMeds Virtual Yeshiva - Your Online Jewish Schul and Home to Noachides as well. Please help support our efforts by making a donation (see bottom of page). Excellent Music at fantastic prices Help support your fav Buddhist site from your fav Buddhist Church .... Anam Cara Zen Buddhist Church of Enlightenment Anam Cara Zen Buddhist Church of Enlightenment Yahoo Group Anam Cara Zen Buddhist Church of Enlightenment on ning.com .... Reiki & Buddhist (Mostly Shin/Mahayana, Pure Land Buddhism but Zen as well) Beliefs Jewish.com - Home to an excellent selection of items. From kiddush cups to software and books, mezuzahs and much more! topstarsearch search engine: Jewish Books Welcome to the ExploreBlogs.com, The Blog Directory with RSS Feeds! Help Your Fav Buddhist Site from your Fav Buddhist Teacher Continue the Work Jewish.com - Home to an excellent selection of items. From kiddush cups to software and books, mezuzahs and much more! Online catalog from the makers of Kosher Lamp, including Kosher Clock and more Online catalog from the makers of Kosher Lamp, including Kosher Clock and more Bookmark this site! If you prefer getting cool items when you donate, you can go here to also help Virtual Yeshiva and get cool items. Jewish Books Jewish Search Jewish.com - Home to an excellent selection of items. From kiddush cups to software and books, mezuzahs and much more! Jewish Search Webshots! Over 20 MILLION FREE screen saver and wallpaper photos! Bookmark this site! adopt your own virtual pet! Jewish.com - Home to an excellent selection of items. From kiddush cups to software and books, mezuzahs and much more! Jewish Search adopt your own virtual pet! adopt your own virtual pet! Jewish.com - Home to an excellent selection of items. From kiddush cups to software and books, mezuzahs and much more! Blog Directory Jewish Software Get All Your Pets Needs At 1800PetMeds Free Cell Phone from Tracfone Jewish.com - Home to an excellent selection of items. From kiddush cups to software and books, mezuzahs and much more! Online catalog from the makers of Kosher Lamp, including Kosher Clock and more Online catalog from the makers of Kosher Lamp, including Kosher Clock and more CrispAds Blog Advertising How to Make Money From Your Website Jewish.com - Home to an excellent selection of items. From kiddush cups to software and books, mezuzahs and much more! << List Jewish Bloggers Join >> < ,center>

Text of Weekly Torah Portion 01.23.06 (7:37 am)   [edit] Text of Weekly Torah Portion is brought to you by The Jewish Theological Seminary P A R A S H A T V a - E r a M'varkhim ha-Hodesh Exodus 6:2 - 9:35 The text of Parashat Va-Era is available online at http://www.jtsa.edu/community...   Text of Weekly Haftorah Portion 01.23.06 (7:36 am)   [edit] Text of Weekly Haftorah Portion is brought to you by The Jewish Theological Seminary H A F T A R A T Va-Era Ezekiel 28:25-29:21 The text of Haftarat Va-Era is available online at http://www.jtsa.edu/community...   Lessons in Tanya: Monday, 01/23/2006 01.23.06 (7:35 am)   [edit] B"H Tevet 23, 5766 * January 23, 2006 ========================= ====== L E S S O N S I N T A N Y A ========================= ====== Today's Lesson: Likutei Amarim Chapter Fifteen --------------- [In the previous chapters, the Alter Rebbe discussed the difference between the tzaddik and the Beinoni. The tzaddik has no evil inclination. Since there is no longer any evil in his own soul, evil holds no attraction for him. In the Beinoni, however, the evil remains strong. The Beinoni therefore finds evil desirable, and it is only through the constant vigilance and struggle of his divine soul that he is able to prevent his animal soul from implementing its desires in thought, speech and action]. With this [distinction in mind], we may understand the verse: (1) "And you will return and see the difference between the righteous man and the wicked one, between he who serves G-d and he who serves Him not." [The Talmud (2) raises the question: The term "righteous man" is identical with "he who serves G-d," and "the wicked man" is obviously "he who serves Him not." Why, then, does the text repeat the contrast? In answer, the Talmud states: "Both `he who serves G-d' and `he who serves Him not' are fully righteous; yet one who reviews his studies one hundred times cannot compare to he who reviews his studies 101 times." (3) However, this answer seems to clarify only the second set of seemingly repetitive terms - "the wicked man" and "he who serves Him not." Far from being wicked, "he who serves Him not" is so described only because he reviews his Torah studies no more than 100 times. Yet we remain with the difficulty posed by the first set of identical descriptions - "the righteous man" and "he who serves G-d." In fact, the above-quoted Talmudic interpretation of the verse adds yet a third category: "he who serves Him not," yet is also righteous! It is this difficulty that the Alter Rebbe now resolves, based on his previous distinction between the tzaddik and the Beinoni]. The difference between "he who serves G-d" (oved) and a righteous man (tzaddik) is, that "he who serves G-d," written in the present tense, describes one who is still presently laboring in his divine service. This service consists of the struggle against one's evil nature with the aim of overpowering it, and banishing it from the "small city" [i.e., the body, which is like a city whose conquest is the objective of both the good and the evil nature], (4) so that it should not vest itself in the organs of the body through evil thought, speech or action. (5) [Doing battle against his evil nature is the avodah ("service") of "he who serves G-d]." This constant battle with one's evil nature truly entails much effort ("service") and toil. This is the Beinoni. [It is he, who must wage this battle; it is the Beinoni who is called "he who serves G-d," for he is actively engaged at present in his service]. The tzaddik, on the other hand, is designated "a servant (eved) of G-d," as a title [conferred on the person himself; it is not merely a description of one's active role as is the designation "one who serves." [The term "servant" is] similar to the title "sage" or "king", bestowed on one who has already become a sage or king. So, too, he [the tzaddik] has already effected and completely accomplished his "service" of waging war with the evil in him. He has banished it and it is gone from him, leaving [the seat of evil nature in] his heart, (6) "void within him." [Having completed this task, the tzaddik has earned the title "servant of G-d." We now see that the expressions "a righteous man" and "he who serves G-d" are not repetitious; "he who serves G-d" is not a description of a tzaddik but of a Beinoni. The Alter Rebbe now goes on to discuss the difference between "he who serves G-d" and "he who serves Him not," who, as the Talmud declares, is not wicked]. In the category of Beinoni there are also two levels: "He who serves G-d" and "he who serves Him not." Yet he [who "serves Him not]" is not wicked, [although he does not wage war with his evil nature], for never in his life has he committed even a minor transgression [in the realm of negative commandments]. He has also fulfilled all the [positive] commandments which he was able to fulfill, including the precept of Torah study - which is equal to all the other commandments combined - to the extent that his mouth never ceased from study, [despite the difficulty involved in this]. Yet [he is still described as one who "does not serve G-d," for he does not wage any battle against his evil inclination to vanquish it through the aid of the Divine light that illuminates the G-dly soul abiding in the brain, which rules over the heart - as explained above (7) - [that the G-dly soul and the Divine light illuminating it are the Beinoni's answer to his evil inclination. He ("who serves Him not') does not struggle with it] - for his evil inclination does not oppose him at all in an attempt to deter him from his Torah study and divine service, and thus he need not wage any war against it. So it is, for example, with one who is by nature an assiduous student due to his stolid temperament, and who is also free of conflict with sexual desire due to his frigid nature; and similarly with other mundane pleasures [he need not exert himself to master a desire for them], for he naturally lacks any feeling for enjoyment. For this reason he does not need to contemplate so much on the greatness of G-d to consciously create a spirit of knowledge and fear of G-d in his mind in order to guard himself from transgressing any prohibitive commandments. [He also need not create] a love of G-d in his heart, [which would motivate him] to bind himself to Him through fulfilling the [positive] commandments and through Torah study which equals all [the other commandments together]. The hidden love of G-d found in the heart of all Jews, who are called (8) "the lovers of His name," is sufficient for him [to motivate his fulfilling the commandments], since he is naturally so inclined. [For a Jew who must engage in battle with his evil inclination, the love hidden in his heart is not enough. He must arouse it to an active, conscious state. For the person who is free of conflict with evil, however, this hidden love (together with his naturally favorable character traits) is sufficient]. For this reason, he is not considered "one who is serving G-d" at all. For this latent love is not of his making or achievement by any means. It is our inheritance, bequeathed by our Patriarchs to the entire Jewish nation, as will be explained further. (9) [With this the Alter Rebbe concluded the thought that within the level of Beinoni there are two sub-categories - "he who serves G-d," and "he who serves Him not." He now goes on to say that even one who is not naturally endowed with traits favorable to G-d's service, may yet come under the category of "he who serves Him not]." So, too, he who is not inherently studious, but has accustomed himself to study diligently, so that this habit has become his second nature; thus, [diligence is now natural for him], - for him, too, the hidden love of G-d is now sufficient, unless he wishes to study more than he usually does. [To do so, he must arouse a conscious love of G-d in his heart. Only such a love can supply the strength necessary to free himself from the restraints of his acquired nature]. Footnotes: 1. Malachi 3:18. 2. Chagigah 9b. 3. The significance of the 101st revision will be explained further in this chapter. 4. Kohelet 9:14; Nedarim 32b; and see above, ch. 9. 5. See ch. 12. 6. See ch. 1. 7. See chs. 12 and 13. 8. Tehillim 69:37. 9. Chs. 18, 19, and 44.   Daily Mitzvah (Maimonides) Monday 01/23/2006 01.23.06 (7:31 am)   [edit] B"H Tevet 23, 5766 * January 23, 2006 ========================= ========================= D A I L Y M I T Z V A H (M A I M O N I D E S ) ========================= ========================= Today's Mitzvot (Day 143 of 339): Positive Mitzvot 82, 135; Negative Mitzvot 220, 221, 222 ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------ Positive Mitzvah 82: Breaking the Neck of an Unredeemed First-born Donkey -Exodus 34:20 "And if you do not redeem it, you shall break its neck" The owner of a first-born donkey, who does not redeem it, prevents the priest from receiving his due. He cannot benefit from this animal and is commanded to kill it by breaking its neck. ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------- Introduction to Mitzvot 134 - 135: Shemitah - The Sabbatical Year Avi's family lives in Jerusalem. Avi likes the city with its busy streets and constant activity. There is always something going on. However, sometimes, Avi thinks about his cousins who live on a kibbutz in the north and wonders what it is like to live there. One summer, Avi's parents decided to send him to stay with his cousins for a month. He was so excited he could talk of nothing else for weeks. Finally, Avi arrived at the kibbutz. The countryside was so different from the city. The beautiful green meadows and yellow fields were nicer than any park back home. Avi loved the kibbutz. But most of all, he liked to accompany his uncle on his tractor. Every day, his aunt would make fresh salads and steam vegetables that came straight from the fields. His uncle even let him pick the fruits and vegetables himself. Avi was amazed at the large amount of fresh produce that grew in the fields. "Uncle Abe," he once said, as they were riding on the tractor, "it is as if the land is a natural factory, producing such a large harvest over and over again every year." His uncle smiled. "You are right, Avi. Sometimes, we're so used to it, we take it for granted and expect the earth to supply us constantly, with everything that we need. But, you know, that's why HaShem commanded us to keep Shemitah." "Shemitah?" Avi repeated, somewhat puzzled. "What's that?" Uncle Abe explained: "For six years we work the land, and then, on the seventh year, we stop plowing and planting." "That sound's like Shabbat!" exclaimed Avi. "In a way it is!" Uncle Abe replied. "It is a Shabbat for the land. We do not work the land at all. It reminds us, that it's not the earth that supplies us, but HaShem that makes things grow!" "But then, how do you make a living, Uncle Abe?" asked Avi. "I can't imagine my father taking a year off from work!" Uncle Abe explained: "There are some types of work in the fields that are permitted. Most important though, this Positive Mitzvah teaches us to trust HaShem and believe that He will provide us with our needs. And He does!" The Positive Mitzvah of Shemitah applies only in Eretz Yisrael. ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------- Positive Mitzvah 135: Resting the Land from Plowing and Reaping during Shemitah -Exodus 34:21 "In plowing and in harvest you shall rest" The Torah commands us to stop working the land during the Shemitah year. ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------- Negative Mitzvah 220: It is forbidden to plant during the Shemitah year. -Leviticus 25:4 "You shall not sow your field" We are forbidden to plant our fields during the Shemitah year. ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------- Negative Mitzvah 221: It is forbidden to prune trees during Shemitah -Leviticus 25:4 "You shall not prune your vineyard" We are forbidden to prune our vineyards or trees during the Shemitah year. Pruning is snipping off extra branches or twigs that interfere with other growing branches. ------------------------- ------------------------- ------------------- Negative Mitzvah 222: It is forbidden to harvest crops in a regular manner -Leviticus 25:5 "That which grows of its own accord of your harvest, you shall not reap" During the Shemitah year, many crops that had been planted during the sixth year continue to grow on their own and become ripe. We are allowed to eat those crops, but we must harves them differently than we normally would. For example, instead of collecting the entire crop at once and packaging it, we pick only the amount that we need to use in the immediate future. We are not permitted to harvest those crops in the same manner which we do every other year.   Today's Day Tevet 23 5766/Jan 23 2006 01.23.06 (7:30 am)   [edit] B"H Tevet 23, 5766 * January 23, 2006 ======================= "T O D A Y ' S D A Y" ======================= Thursday, Tevet 23 5703 Torah lessons: Chumash: Sh'mot, Chamishi with Rashi. Tehillim: 108-112. Tanya: However, the impression (p. 51)...Towards his brothers. (Here appears an emendation to the text of Torah Or, relevant only in Hebrew. Translator). Groaning by itself won't do a bit of good. A groan is only a key to open the heart and eyes, so as not to sit there with folded arms, but to plan orderly work and activity, each person wherever he can be effective, to campaign for bolstering Torah, spreading Torah and the observance of Mitzvot. One person might do this through his writing, another with his oratory, another with his wealth.   A7News: Gush Katif: The Good News and the Bad 01.16.06 (3:32 pm)   [edit] Gush Katif: The Good News and the Bad By Hillel Fendel Government agrees to fund homeless communities, and their rabbis... IDF begins to draft expulsion protestors... Hundreds of expellees are still in hotels and yeshiva dorms... * The IDF has decided to revoke its self-imposed ban on enlisting youths accused of criminal anti-disengagement activity this past summer. Beginning in March of this year, the 137 youths in question will be drafted. The decision follows a request by Yesha Council leaders to IDF Chief of Staff Lt.-Gen. Dan Halutz and Chief Personnel Officer Maj.-Gen. Elazar Stern. Stern also instructed recruitment interviewers not to ask potential recruits questions such as, "Where were you during the disengagement? What is your opinion of the disengagement? Who will you listen to, your rabbi or your commander?" * The Cabinet took a step yesterday towards helping former Gush Katif communities remain whole. It decided to finance community administration costs at the expellees' temporary residential sites, to enable the preservation of community frameworks during the period of transition to permanent communities. Communities of 20-50 families will receive up to 5,500 shekels each month; 50-100 families - up to 11,000 shekels per month; and over 100 families - up to 22,000 shekels a month. In addition, educational institutions that continue to operate with at least 150 students will receive up to 11,000 shekels each month. The Cabinet also decided to finance the costs involved in employing rabbis at the expelled residents' temporary residential sites. Communities of 50-100 families will receive one rabbi, and larger ones will receive two rabbis, at costs to be determined by the National Religious Services Authority. The above sums will be supplied for two years, or until the residents move to permanent communities, whichever comes earlier. More than 75% of residents from the Gaza Strip and northern Samaria currently reside at various temporary residential sites throughout the country. Close to 400 families, however, still live in the most temporary of dwelling arrangements, such as hotels, tent cities and yeshiva dormitories. A partial list of locations still serving as first-stop temporary quarters: * Six Jerusalem hotels - 94 families from N'vei Dekalim, mostly awaiting pre-fab houses in Nitzan * An Ashkelon hotel - 90 from N'vei Dekalim, Katif and Elei Sinai, mostly awaiting pre-fab structures in Ein Tzurim or Nitzan * Chafetz Chaim - 51 families from five communities (waiting for pre-fab caravilot in Yad Binyamin or Ein Tzurim) * Ein Tzurim - 27 from Netzer Hazani (waiting for pre-fab housing in Ein Tzurim) * Hispin yeshiva dormitory - 23 from Netzer Hazani (waiting for pre-fab housing in Ein Tzurim) Dozens of families are still living in encampments near Netivot and Yad Mordechai, and in yeshiva dormitories in Karnei Shomron and Even Shmuel. Among the medium-term temporary communities, hoping to move to their permanent locations in two years, are the following: * Nitzan, with 470 families from all over Gush Katif. * Three communities in Yad Binyamin: 100 families from Yeshivat Torat HaChaim and others from N'vei Dekalim and elsewhere, 80 families from Ganei Tal that are headed for Chafetz Chaim, and 15 assorted families who want to build their own community. * Shadmot Mecholah - 11 families from Shirat HaYam. * an Ashkelon apartment building - close to 60 families from Kfar Darom. * Karmiyah - 56 families from Nisanit and Elei Sinai. A Kassam rocket landed near this site on Friday afternoon. * Several others. The following communities are in various stages of moving to their permanent communities: * Many families of Atzmonah are likely to move to Shomeriyah, some 20 kilometers north of Be'er Sheva in the northern Negev. Shomeriyah is a kibbutz of the left-wing HaShomer HaTza'ir movement that has not prospered in recent years. The remaining families will accept compensation and move out, leaving some 30 residential buildings, a dairy, chicken coop, orchard, and various public buildings behind. Several dozen caravilot (pre-fab structures) will be built on the site as well. * Over 50 families, mostly from Moshav Katif, plan to move to Amatziah, ten kilometers north of Shomeriyah and halfway between Hevron and Kiryat Gat. Some N'vei Dekalim families currently in Jerusalem hotels plan to join them. The precise location of the new community has not yet been determined. * Close to 80 families from Ganei Tal hope and plan to build their permanent homes in Chafetz Chaim. They have remained together as a community since the day of the expulsion - first in the Chafetz Chaim guesthouse, and now in Yad Binyamin, just a few kilometers away. * Some 35 families from Atzmonah, as well as the pre-military yeshiva academy that was located there, are currently in Yated, in the Halutzah Sands directly south of Gaza. Their move to their permanent community, currently known as Halutzit-4 and located in the same area, has been approved. * Some 55 families of Netzarim are currently in Yevul, in Halutza, and their permanent move to Halutzit-1, in the same area, has been approved.   A7News: Election Shorts: Kadima and Shinui 01.16.06 (3:30 pm)   [edit] Election Shorts: Kadima and Shinui By Hillel Fendel The Kadima Party chooses Olmert as new head, and approves new ministerial appointments, while the Shinui Party breaks apart and faces the possible retirement of its leader, Yosef Tommy Lapid. The Kadima Party convened today for the first time without its founder and raison d'etre, Ariel Sharon. The high point of the meeting was to choose Ehud Olmert, unanimously, as temporary party leader. Olmert replaces Sharon, who is in a coma in Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. Olmert then presented his list of ministerial appointments - all of whom come from Kadima, which is the only party remaining in the Cabinet. (The hareidi-religious Agudat Yisrael party is also a member of the government, but refuses to accept ministerial appointments. It has two Deputy Ministers, in the Welfare and Transportation ministries.) The government, which has been re-shuffled several times since its inception three years ago, lines up like this: Acting Prime Minister and Minister of Finance, Interior, Trade, Welfare - Ehud Olmert Defense - Sha'ul Mofaz Foreign Affairs, Justice, Absorption - Tzippy Livny Education, Transportation - Meir Sheetrit Public Security, Environment - Gideon Ezra Infrastructures, Science - Roni Bar-on Housing, Agriculture - Ze'ev Boim Health, Negev and Galilee Development - Yaakov Edri Communications, Tourism - Avraham Hirschson Secret Services - Tzachi HaNegbi Shinui: Well-known for its one-issue, anti-religious stance, the Shinui Party has all but fallen apart. It entered the outgoing Knesset with 15 seats, but, according to recent polls, was expected to receive only 4-5 Knesset in the coming election. Despite this, about double that amount of incumbent MKs - eight to ten - have split off from the party and are considering starting a new party. The inter-party tensions broke to the surface on Thursday, when party leaders Yosef Tommy Lapid and Avraham Poraz did poorly against their respective challengers in the party primaries. Lapid narrowly managed to win his race for the party's first slot, but Poraz was trounced by challenger Ron Levental. Levental is a non-MK who has been outspoken in his criticism of Lapid and Poraz ever since the party entered the Knesset three years ago. Some of the other MKs, not associated with Levental's camp, immediately withdrew their candidacy for the remaining spots on the Shinui list of Knesset candidates. They convened in Poraz's home to decide on their next steps - including the option of quitting the party and then "starting all over," by taking the party's name, institutions and funding. Asked how this jibes with the concept of democracy that the party always claimed as its hallmark, MK Ettie Livny said that the present case is different because a hostile group took over the party from within. MK Ilan Shalgi, another Poraz-Lapid camp member, blamed Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Shalgi told Israel Radio that Sharon had set this precedent by ignoring the outcome of the Likud's referendum against disengagement in May 2004. The breakaway group appears to have rejected the option of assuming the party's name, because of legal obstacles. It is now expected that party leader Tommy Lapid, who turned 74 last month, will retire from politics. The one-term Knesset Member, a close friend of Ehud Olmert, was to convene a press conference this afternoon, but later called it off. Poraz, on the other hand, has not yet announced his choice of action. It is possible that Poraz and his party allies with join the new party of Maj.-Gen. Uzi Dayan, named Tafnit (Turning Point). Tafnit has not passed the minimum voting threshold in any surveys as of yet.   A7News: Tense Quiet in Hevron 01.16.06 (2:58 pm)   [edit] Tense Quiet in Hevron By Hillel Fendel Hundreds of army forces and special policemen entered the Jewish Quarter of Hevron late this morning, taking over rooftops, as well as the Betar building. The situation is tense. "They've come simply to provoke us, to scare us and to show their strength," said David Wilder, spokesman for the Hevron Jewish Community. "They have come with a tremendous show of force - soldiers, police, Yassam, Border Guard, and horses - and they're just standing and watching. I don't think there's been one arrest. They're simply waiting for someone to attack them." "They went into the Betar building," Wilder said, "right in the middle of the Avraham Avinu neighborhood, and declared the people standing on the roof as an illegal assembly - even though I never heard of such a thing on private property... They're also blocking off the ancient Avraham Avinu synagogue and not letting people into that area." Another spokesman, Noam Arnon, said, "We convened the youth this morning, and informed them that the stage [of violence] of the past two days has ended. The police, however, ignore this, and came here today to stage a provocation." The army wishes to expel 11 Jewish families of Hevron from their homes on Jewish-owned land that once served as an Arab marketplace. Though many media reports say that the issue involves "Palestinian homes," the land was actually purchased by the Sephardic Jewish community of Hevron 200 years ago and transferred to the present-day Jewish community. Arabs worked there for a time, but did not live there. In 1929, Arabs massacred 67 of their Jewish neighbors living in the Jewish Quarter. The survivors were hurriedly evacuated, and the Jewish houses and synagogues were abandoned and left uninhabited. In 1953, Jordanian troops assisted Hevron's Arab population in razing the remains of the Jewish Quarter, turning the beautiful Avraham Avinu Synagogue into a goat sty. On part of the land was built an outdoor food market, which continued to operate even after the Jews returned during the Six Day War in 1967. Just over a decade ago, when Arab-initiated violence in Hevron was at one of its highs, the army decided to improve Jewish security in the area by clearing out the Arab store-owners in the marketplace. Several years later, after an Arab terrorist shot to death 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass with a bullet to her head, Jews decided to renew their title to the land. They began renovating the stores, turning them into inhabitable apartments, and moving families in. Eleven families currently live there. Arabs then sued in Israel's Supreme Court against what they called the "infiltration" of the Jews to the stores, and the Court ruled in their favor - without agreeing with their basic premise. The Court did not deny that the land was Jewish-owned, but rather ordered the Jews thrown out in order that "sinners not go unpunished" for having entered the buildings without army permission. Noam Arnon said at the time, "The Supreme Court decided that the land should be given to the Arabs, even though it is clearly Jewish land that was robbed from us... The Court simply ignored the fact that this is Jewish land." Orit Strook (pictured above), a long-time Hevron resident who is considered the human rights activist leader of the nationalist camp, explained today, "The expulsion that the government wants to carry out is totally unnecessary and is merely a provocation. The whole thing could easily be arranged peacefully by giving a little time to arrange the rent legally." Strook said that the "explosive mess we now face" was caused by the combination of "the use of tear gas by police, an IDF Brigade Commander whom I admire but who lost control of himself yesterday, idealistic and excitable teenagers, the terrible events of this past summer [in Gush Katif] that have left their imprint on all of us - and [Attorney General Menachem] Mazuz." Strook blamed Mazuz, "who has a particular agenda, and who, with the encouragement of government elements, is rushing this impossible timetable, instead of allowing events to sort themselves out peacefully... Even the Prosecution is in favor of allowing us to rent the homes legally, as this is our property. The entire situation is a provocation that could be avoided." Asked why the Jews don't simply agree to be evacuated, and return a day or two later, David Wilder said, "We have been made aware of the possibility that the army would actually destroy the buildings, rather than allow that to happen." Hevron activist Baruch Marzel told Arutz-7, "We are just fighting for our land and our inheritance; it's ours and we don't plan to turn the other cheek." He accused the press of not telling the whole story: "For example, has anyone heard the case of the little 10-year-old tzaddik [righteous one] who, on his way out of evening prayers, was set upon by Yassam police who started beating him up; only when they saw how young he really was did they let him go..." "There is an entire population sector that was hurt to its very soul by what happened this summer," Marzel said. "We see that we can only rely on G-d - no one in authority is preserving law or justice. The government's intention - whether headed by Ariel Sharon or Tommy Lapid's friend Ehud Olmert - is to destroy everything that is sacred in the Land of Israel, of which Hevron is a main part."   A7News: U.S. Backing Down from Opposition to Hamas 01.16.06 (2:57 pm)   [edit] U.S. Backing Down From Opposition to Hamas By Hillel Fendel Though U.S. Sec'y of State Rice has said that PA terrorist groups have “no place in the political process,” Israel is receiving hints that the U.S. is seeking to accept Hamas in the PA leadership. Arutz-7's Haggai Huberman has learned that Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office has received hints to this effect. One proposal is to inform Abu Mazen that if he does not include Hamas representatives in his Cabinet, the United States will not cut off its support and ties with the PA - even if Hamas does well in the upcoming elections. As the Jan. 25th elections for the Palestinian Authority's legislature (PLC) approach, it is becoming clear that Hamas will, in fact, win a significant amount of seats. Some estimates are that Hamas will receive up to 40% of the vote, mainly at the expense of Fatah, the main PLO organization headed originally by Yasser Arafat and now by PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen). Bush Administration officials have made clear, over the past weeks, their displeasure with Hamas and its participation in the election, but always stopped short of demanding that the PA ban Hamas from taking part. State Department spokesman repeatedly said that though Hamas is an outlawed terrorist organization, its participation in PA elections is a "local" issue. Similarly, the U.S. pressured Israel into toning down its own opposition. Now, with a strong Hamas showing imminent, the U.S. is faced with dealing with the fruits of this approach. Just four weeks ago, 73 U.S. Senators signed a letter to President George W. Bush recommending a reassessment of American ties with the PA in the event that Hamas is integrated into the PA leadership. The letter stated, "If terrorist groups achieve significant presence in the Palestinian legislature, it will be much harder, if not impossible, to achieve any type of progress in the Road Map..." The letter followed by a few days a House of Representatives resolution, passed by a 397-17 vote, warning the Palestinian Authority that it could face a cut in U.S. aid if it does not require Hamas and other terrorist organizations to disarm. The resolution also urged the PA not to allow a still-armed Hamas terror organization to run in the election. Israel understood that the letter and the resolution rule out U.S. cooperation with the PA in the event that Hamas is elected to the PA legislature. Now, however, Huberman reports, Israel has room to fear that the Bush Administration will provide a new interpretation to the events. It appears that Bush and Rice will overlook a strong Hamas presence in the legislature, as long as it is not integrated into the PA government. Two months ago, when U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice visited Israel, she said it would actually be easier to compel Hamas to disarm if it participates in the elections, because the pressure would come from the entire international community. She said that this was what had happened in northern Ireland and Angola. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon disagreed with this approach, saying at the time, "If Abu Mazen does not fight terrorism now, he will be less likely to do so after the elections." Sharon also acknowledged, "Nowhere in the world would [Hamas] be allowed to participate in elections." Since 1989, Hamas has carried out more than 100 major terrorist attacks, killing more than 500 people; 84% of Israelis killed in these attacks have been civilians. In addition, 17 Americans have been murdered in Hamas attacks since 1993. Excerpts from the Hamas Covenant: “For our struggle against the Jews is extremely wide-ranging and grave, so much so that it will need all the loyal efforts we can wield, to be followed by further steps and reinforced by successive battalions from the multifarious Arab and Islamic world, until the enemies are defeated and Allah’s victory prevails.” (Introduction) “The Islamic Resistance Movement is a distinct Palestinian Movement which owes its loyalty to Allah, derives from Islam its way of life and strives to raise the banner of Allah over every inch of Palestine.” (Article 6) “Israel, by virtue of its being Jewish and of having a Jewish population, defies Islam and the Muslims.” (Article 28) “I swear by that who holds in His Hands the Soul of Muhammed! I indeed wish to go to war for the sake of Allah! I will assault and kill, assault and kill, assault and kill (told by Bukhari and Muslim).” (Article 15) “The Arab states surrounding Israel are required to open their borders to the Jihad fighters, the sons of the Arab and Islamic peoples, to enable them to play their role and to join their efforts to those of their brothers among the Muslim Brothers in Palestine.” (Article 28) “…until the Decree of Allah is fulfilled, the ranks are over-swollen, Jihad fighters join other Jihad fighters, and all this accumulation sets out from everywhere in the Islamic world, obeying the call of duty, and intoning ‘Come on, join Jihad!” This call will tear apart the clouds in the skies and it will continue to ring until liberation is completed, the invaders are vanquished and Allah’s victory sets in.” (Article 33) “[Peace] initiatives, the so-called peaceful solutions, and the international conferences to resolve the Palestinian problem, are all contrary to the beliefs of the Islamic Resistance Movement. For renouncing any part of Palestine means renouncing part of the religion.” (Article 13) “There is no solution to the Palestinian problem except by Jihad.” (Article 13)   A7News: Supreme Court Rejects Pollard's Plea to be Prisoner of Zion 01.16.06 (2:55 pm)   [edit] Supreme Court Rejects Pollard´s Plea to be Prisoner of Zion By Hillel Fendel Israel's High Court has rejected Jonathan Pollard's request to be a Prisoner of Zion - which would have led to an end to torturous prison conditions and to better chances for his release. The Supreme Court rejected this morning Pollard's plea to have the State of Israel recognize him as a Prisoner of Zion. The Court accepted the State's position that Pollard did not meet the required criteria, such as teaching Hebrew or encouraging immigration to Israel. A former Prisoner of Zion, Prof. Ezriel Kochubievski of Rehovot, ridiculed this approach. Prior to the Court hearing last September, he said, "The government stipulates that Prisoners of Zion must have engaged in Zionism. When I was in the Soviet Union, I did not think of myself as engaging in Zionism; I just wanted to go to Israel. Pollard, however, was sent by Israel to carry out a specific mission. If that's not a Zionist activity that qualifies for Prisoner of Zion status, then I also do not qualify." Pollard's wife Esther said sadly this morning that granting her husband Prisoner of Zion status would have had two concrete results: "It would have stopped the torturous conditions that he has been undergoing for 20 years, and it would have led to much better chances for his release. The prison authorities in the U.S. would not dare to harass someone who has been recognized in this way by the Israeli government... It also would have helped smooth the way for diplomatic pressures in both Israel and the U.S., which would have helped secure his release." Mrs. Pollard said, "The whole country knows that he has been suffering in prison for 20 years merely because is a Jew who wanted to help Jews. Today's Supreme Court decision is very sad for all of us." "The government knows how to do all sorts of tricks to find ways to free terrorist murderers," Mrs. Pollard said, "yet for Jonathan Pollard it refuses even to make the simplest gestures." In January 2005, Pollard's request to be recognized as an official Prisoner of Zion was turned down by the official Prisoners of Zion Authority. One of the stated reasons for the rejection astonished many of those following the Pollard case. "How can we know that he will want to live in Israel upon his release from prison?" the committee wrote. In his frequent letters and messages from prison, Pollard has often stated his deep desire to live in Israel. In response to the rejection, the Knesset passed a resolution recognizing Pollard as a Prisoner of Zion, but this decision did not obligate the Government. Attorney Nitsana Darshan-Leitner, who represented Jonathan Pollard in his Supreme Court petition, told the Court that Pollard's life sentence -- for passing information to Israel, classified by the US as a friendly nation -- is unprecedented in U.S. legal history. Persons convicted of actions similar to this, or even more serious than it, generally serve only 4-7 years in prison, while Pollard is now in his 21st year of a life sentence. Darshan-Leitner also listed many incidents of torture inflicted upon Pollard while he was in prison. He was put in solitary confinement and had his clothes and glasses taken away for long periods of time during the winter months. He was forced to sleep irregular hours on a concrete slab. In addition, he was chained to an iron chair while guards sprayed ice-water at him. For an entire year, the petition stated, Pollard was forced to reside in a special prison ward reserved for the mentally ill, where he was subjected to electrocution. Darshan-Leitner's office said at the time, "The lawsuit also seeks a judicial review of the Israeli government's calculated mishandling of Pollard's case for the last two decades; and its consistent refusal to mount an effective campaign to secure his freedom, as it has done for agents captured in other countries, including Cyprus, Switzerland, Jordan, and New Zealand."   A7News: Doctors May Begin Easing Sahron Out of Coma Monday Morning 01.08.06 (5:00 pm)   [edit] Doctors May Begin Easing Sharon Out of Coma Monday Morning By Hillel Fendel Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef said that this morning's CAT scan of PM Sharon's brain showed satisfactory results, and that the doctors plan to begin easing him out of his induced coma Monday morning. The doctors at Hadassah Hospital in southern Jerusalem have placed Prime Minister Sharon in a form of coma, in order to allow him to recover from the massive cerebral hemorrhaging he suffered Wednesday night and again on Friday. If all goes according to plan, the doctors plan to begin easing him out of the coma tomorrow morning, and to then begin a neurological examination. Sharon has undergone three operations: a seven-hour affair on Wednesday night, a two-hour operation on Thursday morning, and a nearly four-hour operation on Friday. Prof. Ben-Yosef, Director-General of Hadassah, announced at 2 PM this afternoon that following today's CAT scan, "We continue to see an improvement in the picture of the brain. The brain ventricles have diminished, there has been good drainage of the fluids, and we can now see an image of the folds of the brain in the CAT scan. This shows improvement. In addition, the other measurements - blood pressure, cranial pressure and pulse - are good, and there is no temperature. His condition is still critical but stable." In light of the above, Mor-Yosef announced, the doctors will begin reducing the dosage of the coma-inducing medications that the Prime Minister is receiving, "on condition that the whole period until then continues uneventfully." Most significantly, Mor-Yosef said that the doctors hope to begin a neurological examination tomorrow morning, "to see how the Prime Minister's brain is functioning. I hope we will be able to report on the results tomorrow at approximately this time." Mor-Yosef did not relate to the question of whether Sharon's condition is still considered life-threatening, or what type or extent of brain damage can be expected. Prof. Yonatan HaLevy, the director of Shaarei Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem, commented on Channel Two television that the decision to wait some 16 hours before beginning to reduce the coma-inducing medication "is most likely the result of wanting to be extra cautious." He said that the fact that the patient is immobilized is potentially dangerous, and could lead to infection and clotting in the legs. "The usual procedure would be to prescribe blood-thinners," HaLevy said, "but we know from bitter past experience that this could lead to bleeding in the brain. So the next-best course of action, certainly less effective, is simply to move him around as much as possible."   Lessons in Tanya (text): Friday, Jan 6, 2006/Tevet 6, 5766 01.06.06 (12:42 pm)   [edit] B"H Tevet 6, 5766 * January 6, 2006 ========================= ====== L E S S O N S I N T A N Y A ========================= ====== Today's Lesson: Likutei Amarim (Conclusion of Chapter Seven) -------------- However, the vitality in the drops of semen that one issued wastefully, even though it has been degraded and incorporated in the three unclean kelipot, can nevertheless ascend from there by means of true repentance and intense concentration and devotion [kavanah] during the recital of the Shema at bedtime, as is known from the teachings of our master, Rabbi Isaac Luria, of blessed memory. This is implied in the Talmudic saying: (12) "He who recites the Shema at bedtime is as if he held a double-edged sword ...," [meaning, one edge] wherewith to slay the bodies of the "extraneous forces" [the kelipot] that have become garments for the vitality in the drops [of semen], and [another edge by which] the vitality ascends from them [from the kelipot], as is known to those familiar with the Esoteric Wisdom [the Kabbalah]. Therefore the sin of wasteful emission of semen is not mentioned in the Torah among the list of forbidden coitions, even though [in one respect] it is more heinous than they, and [the individual's] sin is greater with regard to the enormity and abundance of the impurity and of the kelipot; he begets and multiplies them to an exceedingly great extent through wasteful emission of semen, even more so than through forbidden coitions. [I.e., when measured by the "quantity" of kelipot that sin creates, this sin is graver than the forbidden coitions]. It is only that [when measured qualitatively this sin is different. For in] the case of forbidden coitions one contributes additional strength and vitality to a most unclean kelipah, from which he is powerless to raise up the vitality by means of [ordinary] repentance, * unless he repents with such great love that his willful wrongs are transformed into merits. [Since the sin of wasteful emission of semen can be rectified even without "repentance out of love," the Torah does not include this sin with the related sins of forbidden coition. Concerning this sin, all that is necessary to elevate the degraded vitality to holiness is proper repentance with true intent and devotion, during the recitation of the bedtime Shema. In the note which follows the Alter Rebbe explains why forbidden coition requires greater repentance than wasteful emission]. * NOTE The reason is that [through forbidden coitions] this vitality has been absorbed by the level of Yesod in the "female" element of kelipah, which receives and absorbs the vitality from holiness - [just as the physical semen is absorbed within the female, in the case of these sins]. Not so with wasteful emission of semen, where there is no "female" element of kelipah; Only its [the kelipah's] power and forces garb [i.e., encompass] the vitality of the semen, as is known to those familiar with the Esoteric Wisdom. END OF NOTE [From the above [explanation, that the vitality of the forbidden coitions can be released through "repentance out of love]," we will understand that which our Sages say: (13) "Which is (14) `a fault that cannot be rectified'? - Having incestuous intercourse and giving birth to a bastard." For then, [once the bastard is born], though the sinner undertakes such great repentance [as "repentance of great love]," he cannot cause the vitality to ascend to Sanctity, since it has already descended into this world and has been clothed in a body of flesh and blood. [Even "repentance of great love" cannot rectify this. Still, it is explained elsewhere that if the repentance is powerful enough it can actually effect the death of the bastard; and once it ceases to be a body of flesh and blood its vitality can ascend to holiness. (15) Footnotes: 12. Berachot 5a. 13. Chagigah 9a. 14. Kohelet 1:15. 15. Cf. Introduction, by Rabbi Joseph I. Schneersohn of Lubavitch, to Pokeach Ivrim. Featured Audio Class on Chabad.org: Vayigash - Joseph's Leadership Role By Moshe New The lesson from Joseph: the strength and ability to be a leader and sustain society not just physically but spiritually as well. http://www.chabad.org/337246" title="http://www.chabad.org/337246" target="_blank"http://www.chabad.org/337246 More Audio/Video http://www.chabad.org/multimedia" title="http://www.chabad.org/multimedia" target="_blank"http://www.chabad.org/multime...   Halacha of the Day 01/06/2006 01.06.06 (12:37 pm)   [edit] Halacha of the Day (1/6/2006) By Rabbi Eli Mansour To dedicate Daily Halacha for a day please click here. Thank you. http://www.dailyhalacha.com/sponsorship1.asp" title="http://www.dailyhalacha.com/sponsorship1.asp" target="_blank"http://www.dailyhalacha.com/s... * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Description: Reciting Kriat Shema With Enthusiasm Amidst the laws of Kriat Shema, Maran (author of the Shulchan Aruch) mentions (in siman 61:2; listen to audio for precise citation) a Halacha that emerges from a verse in Kriat Shema: "Asher Anochi Metzavecha Hayom" ("which I am commanding you this day").  Maran writes that one should recite Kriat Shema each day as if it is new to him.  Generally, familiarity and repetition gradually lead to a degree of monotony; we normally do not get excited over experiences that we have each and every day.  Maran therefore tells us that although we recite Shema every day, we must recite it with an attitude of freshness and novelty, with enthusiasm, as if we recite it for the very first time in our lives. In his comments to this Siman (chapter), the Kaf Ha'chayim cites from Rabbi Chayim Vital (famous Kabbalist, Tzefat, 1543-1620) a fundamental notion concerning the essence of prayer.  Rabbi Chayim Vital developed the idea that no two prayers are ever alike.  Not only do the Shabbat and festival prayers differ - both in content and spiritual effect - from weekday prayers and from one another, but the weekday prayers themselves differ from one another.  The effects of the Shacharit service on the upper worlds differ substantially from those of the Mincha and Arvit prayers.  Moreover, no two Shacharit prayers are identical, either.  Every time a person prays, he introduces a new quality to his prayer based on his intention and unique experiences, and the circumstances of that particular prayer.  It therefore behooves us to realize each time we begin to pray that we are not reciting the same prayer we recited the day before.  Rather than falling into the trap of heartless, mechanical pray A Rabbi once applied this theme of "Asher Anochi Metzavecha Hayom" on a broader level to religious life in general.  What this idea teaches is that one should approach his religious observance with the attitude of "one day at a time."  People are often frightened by the lifelong commitment entailed by Torah observance; they feel they cannot possibly live up to the Torah's demands for so many years.  Likewise, people tend to focus too heavily on mistakes of the past and wrongly conclude that they have already lost their chance at religious excellence.  Judaism teaches us to focus our attention on that "which I command you this day."  Rather than dwelling on the past or worrying about the future, we are to concentrate on today's obligations and responsibilities.  Each Shacharit should be looked upon and treated as our first Shacharit, because our attention should be focused primarily on today's responsibilities, rather than our mistakes of yesterday or challenges of tomorrow. * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * Audio Length: 4:50 Minutes Size: 1.13 MB Click to Listen to it now: http://www.DailyHalacha.com/Play.asp?ClipID=1078" title="http://www.DailyHalacha.com/Play.asp?ClipID=1078" target="_blank"http://www.DailyHalacha.com/P... Click to Download: http://www.DailyHalacha.com/HalachaClips/Save.asp?SaveID=1078" title="http://www.DailyHalacha.com/HalachaClips/Save.asp?SaveID=1078" target="_blank"http://www.DailyHalacha.com/H...   Arutz Sheva's Israel Natl Radio 01.06.06 (12:27 pm)   [edit] Arutz Sheva´s IsraelNationalRadio Live Political Analysis, Social Commentary, Hourly News Reports, and much more.   A7News: On A7Radio; Unchanuka Thoughts and Calendric Proximity 01.06.06 (12:22 pm)   [edit] On A7radio: Unchanuka Thoughts and Calendric Proximity A7 Radio's "Torah Tidbits Audio" with Phil Chernofsky Torah Tidbits Audio for Parshat Vayigash. Listen Now -or- Download* RSS feed For more A7 Radio visit www.IsraelNationalRadio.com.   A7News: Kfar Darom Expellees Move into Temporary Home 01.06.06 (12:10 pm)   [edit] Kfar Darom Expellees Move into Temporary Home By Hillel Fendel Over the past two weeks, the 60 families of Kfar Darom ended their 4.5-month saga in a Be'er Sheva hotel, moving into the Eyal Towers apartment building in Ashkelon. And in other Gush Katif news,... The Kfar Darom-ites, who have nothing but praise for their hosts in the Paradise Hotel, are scheduled to remain in Ashkelon only for two years or so. In the duration, they will be seeking solutions for the establishment of their permanent community. Many of the new Ashkelon residents are still out of work and will join the city's unemployed rolls (see below, however). The community's educational institutions - the school, yeshiva, Kollel, and the Torah and Land Institute - will continue to function in a building granted by the Ashkelon Municipality. The day care centers and the synagogue will function in the Eyal Towers building itself. A strongly ideological and cohesive community in northern Gush Katif, Kfar Darom had set as its goal its perpetuation as a community even after the destruction and expulsion. Though they were accustomed to open areas and single-family dwellings, they agreed to move into an urban apartment building for idealistic reasons. "Our goal is to be with the people, to remain in the middle of the country, to be able to have an influence," one resident said just a few days after the expulsion. "From our new location we can look towards the ocean and Gush Katif," said Rabbi Asher Mivtzari of Kfar Darom. "We hope that we will return there, with G-d's help... The Gush Katif public is strong and will overcome - but the feeling is that the country struck a great blow at the concept of mutual responsibility, of 'kol yisrael areivim.' We felt great solidarity with Jonathan Pollard, who helped the country but was betrayed by it. But thank G-d, we have moved into apartments. Our need now is to rectify the general ethical situation." Other Gush Katif news: * The evicted residents recently received a letter saying that their "follow-me" arrangement with the Postal Authority had come to an end, and that it would cost 56 shekels to renew it. The letter stated that the residents must update those who send them mail as to their new address "in order to save [you] from paying the service fee." Moti Sender of the former Gush Katif community of Ganei Tal, who edits the Katif.net website, wrote that the arrangement never worked well: "Much mail never reached [us], and some of it arrived only months afterwards. It is chutzpah on the part of the Postal Authority to collect money for this service when until now it hasn't done its work properly, and we cannot update all those who write to us about our new addresses. Many government offices themselves still send us mail at our Gush Katif addresses, including the Interior Ministry." * The community of Netzer Hazani, whose members currently live in the Golan, Ein Tzurim and elsewhere, has apparently decided to build its new community outside Yesodot. If the program goes through, this would create a bloc of Gush Katif communities: Ganei Tal in Chafetz Chaim, Netzer Hazani in Yesodot, and in between, a community of families from N'vei Dekalim and elsewhere will reside in Yad Binyamin. Families from Gadid, Atzmonah and Gan-Or are also part of the plans. * Dozens of expelled residents who now live in the temporary pre-fab community of Nitzan, north of Ashkelon, as well as in other sites, convened this week in the Waldenberg Community Center in Ashkelon for the opening of a course in Project Management. The intensive course will take place four times a week for four months, and will grant the students professional tools for advancement in their work. It is being provided by the Ashkelon Employment Office especially for Gush Katif residents.   A7News: Mofaz: If Hamas Changes, We Can Talk with Them 01.06.06 (12:08 pm)   [edit] Mofaz: If Hamas Changes, We Can Talk With Them By Hillel Fendel Defense Minister Sha'ul Mofaz (Kadima) said that Israel would be prepared to conduct talks with Hamas - if the terrorist organization does well in the coming PA election and lays down its arms. Mofaz also said that Hamas must erase from its charter the call to destroy Israel. The Likud issued a statement in response, saying, "It would be better if the Defense Minister would concentrate on his job of preventing Kassam rockets against the residents of Sderot and the western Negev, instead of looking for conditions and ways to certify murderous terrorist organizations." Mofaz recently ran for head of the Likud Party, but abruptly left the party in mid-campaign to join Kadima. He had said just two days before that he would not leave the Likud and that it was his home. Middle East expert Dr. David Bukai of Haifa University dismissed Mofaz's statements about Hamas out of hand. Speaking with Arutz-7's Hebrew newsmagazine, Dr. Bukai said, "One of the jokes that we hear on the media is that there won't be any alternative other than speaking with Hamas. But the question is, What will we talk about? Hamas wants what Arafat wanted, and that is the liquidation of Israel. The difference between them is only the methodology... Hamas has an ideological religious conception regarding the implementation of Islamic values, and is not interested or able to change." Hamas recently revealed its election slogan: "We're Continuing the Fight." "The Arab world does not have democracy," Dr. Bukai said, "and will not have. This is one of the great tragedies - that the U.S. is trying to implement democracy in Iraq. Even in the Palestinian Authority there is no democracy - just total anarchy. The stronger elements do what they want, and Abu Mazen has remained a clerk of Arafat; the U.S. is depending on him, but he doesn't want to do anything, nor can he." "What angers me," Dr. Bukai added, "is that we are facing a terrible terrorist war against us, with suicide missions. I foresee a very difficult situation in February and March, and maybe even before that. But no one opens his mouth and says that this is because of the disengagement and the insane and criminal panicky retreat. It's clear that in the Middle East, when you run away, they run after you and hit you even harder."   A7News: Doubts Raised about Kadima's Strong Poll Showing 01.06.06 (12:06 pm)   [edit] Doubts Raised About Kadima´s Strong Poll Showing By Hillel Fendel Polls show that the Kadima Party is maintaining its support, despite Ariel Sharon's departure from the political scene. The results are not generally seen as conclusive, however. A poll conducted for Haaretz and Channel Ten shows Kadima led by Ehud Olmert receiving 40 Knesset seats in the March 28th election. Another poll carried out by Mina Tzemach's Dachaf Institute for Yediot Acharonot shows that Kadima would receive 39 seats. The latter survey indicates that if Kadima is led by Shimon Peres, the party would receive 42 Knesset mandates, and 36 if led by Justice Minister Tzippy Livny. Many analysts and observers do not accept these results as conclusive, however. Nearly half the readers' comments on the Ynet report either express disbelief in the findings, or say the poll was conducted too early. Many called the report an outright lie, while others echoed one who said, "The public has not yet absorbed the news [of Sharon's illness]." Maariv's political commentator and Kol Chai Radio show host Menachem Rahat told Arutz-7 today, "I don't believe in political polls in general, because they are accurate only for that minute; things change very quickly, as we saw this week... But even if I did believe in polls, the ones publicized today are particularly not trustworthy, because the public is still in shock. As long as Sharon is still in the public consciousness, support for his party is still high. But I believe that Kadima will soon begin losing support each week, and if it receives 20 seats on Election Day, that will be a lot." In light of the apparent disappearance of their leader from the political scene, Kadima MKs are attempting to maintain unity in the ranks. Transportation Minister Meir Sheetrit, who called yesterday morning for the party to convene within two days and choose a leader, retracted his remarks shortly afterwards. He said today, "We must all agree to place Ehud Olmert at the head of the party. I believe he can lead us to victory in the elections." Even MK Chaim Ramon, who arrived in Kadima from the Labor Party, said today that Olmert was his choice for party leader. "I believe that Olmert can lead Kadima to the highest amount of Knesset mandates," Ramon said. He had originally said that Peres should be Israel's Acting Premier in place of Sharon. In an attempt to shore up the party ranks, Olmert scheduled a meeting with Peres today - which was abruptly canceled when Sharon was taken to the operating room shortly before noon. Labor leaders, for their part, are trying to entice Peres, their former leader, to return to Labor. Olmert talked with National Religious Party leader Zevulun Orlev last night. Orlev promised that his party would act as a "responsible opposition" and would not attack the government in the coming days. National Union party leaders have also taken this approach - although they are planning a strong public struggle against the government's plans to evacuate Jews from the Mitzpeh Shalhevet neighborhood in Hevron. In the Likud, Binyamin Netanyahu has set the tone of "now is not the time to deal in politics." He even asked all the party's Knesset candidates to call off the political events they had scheduled for the next few days. The Likud ministers had been set to resign from the government this coming Sunday, but postponed implementing this decision when Sharon underwent his emergency operation. Agriculture Minister Yisrael Katz (Likud) agreed that political activity should be "suspended for a day or two, until the situation clears up." He predicted that some Kadima members would seek to return to the Likud: "It can't be ignored that Kadima is a one-man party, and it's clear that in light of Sharon's situation, if he is unable to return, some of the people who arrived in Kadima from various places will want to return from whence they came."   A7News: Sharon is Rushed to Operating Room 01.06.06 (12:04 pm)   [edit] Sharon is Rushed to Operating Room By Hillel Fendel Following a CAT scan performed on Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, doctors rushed him to the operating room, shortly before noon on Friday. Earlier this morning, doctors in Hadassah Ein Karem in Jerusalem said Sharon's condition of Prime Minister Sharon continued to be "serious but stable." They had planned to ease him out of his induced coma on Sunday morning. Prof. Shlomo Mor-Yosef, Director of Hadassah Hospital, told reporters this morning that the Prime Minister's condition had not changed significantly over the night. "The parameters that we measure are stable, and this is a good sign," he said. In accordance with a decision by the hospital's top medical staff, another CAT scan was performed on Sharon this morning. Reporters were to be briefed after the results are analyzed, but in the event, there was no time to do this before he was rushed to the operating room. This is his third operation since Wednesday night. The first one took seven hours, and the second one, shortly afterwards, lasted two hours. Reports from the hospital this morning indicated that Sharon's brain stem was not affected, but that the left side of his body, as well as his ability to speak, may well have been. Rabbi Avraham Elimelech Firer, known as one of the top medical advisors in the country, visited Sharon's room Thursday afternoon. Rabbi Yitzchak David Grossman of Migdal HaEmek - like Rabbi Firer, a winner of the Israel Prize - visited the Prime Minister earlier yesterday. No politicians have been permitted to visit Sharon, but Shimon Peres was to have been the first one, had Sharon not been taken to the operating room. Speaking on his Christian Broadcasting Network's ''700 Club," U.S. broadcaster Pat Robertson said that Sharon's sudden illness was Divine punishment for having withdrawn Israeli forces and residents from Gaza and northern Samaria this past summer. ''Sharon was personally a very likable person," Robertson told his audience, "and I am sad to see him in this condition, but I think we need to look at the Bible and the Book of Joel. The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who 'divide My land.'" The Anti-Defamation League issued a statement urging Christian leaders to distance themselves from the remarks. Rabbi Eric H. Yoffie, president of the Union for Reform Judaism, said Robertson's comments violated ''simple human decency" and were ''profoundly offensive." But many others agreed with Robertson. The Katif.net site headlined its report on Robertson's remarks as follows: "A Christian preacher says what many Israelis are thinking." One resident still seeking a permanent place to live after being thrown out of his home in Gaza said on Israeli television, "I'm not happy about Sharon's condition, but we see Divine justice here: any leader who dares to touch the Land of Israel is stricken down." In the Palestinian Authority, reaction to Sharon's illness was mixed. "I am ready with my candies and my rockets and praying to Allah that Sharon dies," said Abu Abir, spokesman for the Popular Resistance Committees. So reported WorldNetDaily. Hamas leader Mahmoud Al-Zahar similarly said, "We have prepared a celebratory barrage of rockets ready to fire into Israel on the occasion of the death of our enemy." On the other hand, PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) phoned Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and expressed his concern over Sharon's health. "We all hope that Sharon will recover quickly," Abbas said.   Daily Dose: Heretics 01.04.06 (11:13 am)   [edit] B"H Heretics -------- There are no heretics nowadays. You have to know an awful lot to be a heretic. A Daily Dose of Wisdom from the Rebbe -words and condensation by Tzvi Freeman Tevet 4, 5766 * January 4, 2006   A7News: Neshama Carlebach Interview 01.03.06 (10:05 am)   [edit]   A7News: Yitzhar Resident Acquitted After Left-Wing/Arab Claims Rejected 01.03.06 (9:47 am)   [edit] Yitzhar Resident Acquitted After Left-Wing/Arab Claims Rejected By Ezra HaLevi After three years of troubles, imprisonment and thousands of shekels in court fees, Avraham Binyamin of Yitzhar was acquitted of charges he attacked Arab olive-pickers and left-wing activists. Judge Carla Raginiano decided to completely acquit Binyamin of any involvement in the attack, which allegedly took place three years ago. Raginiano said that the police failed to demonstrate any connection between Binyamin and the alleged attack. His case is but the latest in a series of high-profile accusations that local Jews cut down Arab trees, followed by low-profile acquittals and debunking of such claims by tree-experts and judges. Binyamin, a 20-year-old resident of the northern Shomron town of Yitzhar, was arrested after left-wing activists, led by Rabbi Arik Ascherman of Rabbis for Human Rights and the radical Ta’ayush group, claimed they had rocks thrown at them by Jews from Yitzhar as they helped local Arabs harvest olives nearby. Ta’ayush activist Or Gurlitz claimed that Binyamin threw stones at him and stole his knapsack. Binyamin was arrested and imprisoned for several days in the Ariel police station, during which time he says police investigators hit him while he was tied. He was released only after signing a restraining order banning him from setting foot in Judea or Samaria for six months and posting 4,500 shekels bail. During the course of the trial, at the Kfar Saba Magistrate’s Court, an IDF reserves company commander was called to the witness stand by the prosecution in order to testify against Binyamin. He refused to do so, to the prosecution’s consternation, instead telling the court that the left-wing activists had lied in their police complaint. Binyamin’s lawyer, Ofer Ashkenazi revealed irregularities in the police handling of the case. Police refused to put together a line-up for local Arabs to be able pick out who supposedly attacked them. Ashkenazi alleged that police knew Binyamin, and assumed his guilt from the outset. Binyamin’s lawyer also demonstrated during the trial that the left-wing activists had given four different testimonies regarding the identity of the attacker. Another key witness, left-wing activist and Beit Berl professor Yaakov Manor, was found to have given contradictory testimony. Binyamin told Arutz-7 that he is considering suing the police for their superficial and faulty investigation of the case, as well as for his false imprisonment and alleged abuse while under police custody. Ta’yush’s Gurlitz, a resident of Ramat Gan, told Arutz-7 that he is “very sorry to hear about the acquittal.” He said he is still convinced that Binyamin was the attacker and that the verdict is “part of the forgiving attitude of the judicial system toward the attacks of the settlers.” Meanwhile, police forensics units have once again entered Samaria’s olive groves to determine whether olive trees have been cut down by local Jewish residents, as alleged by left-wing groups and the international media, or by villagers seeking compensation. A local Arab from the village of Burin told Israel’s Channel 10 that he saw groups of settlers from an outlying neighborhood near Elon Moreh cut down the olive trees that border the community. Defense Minister Sha’ul Mofaz announced the launching of a special investigation into the cutting of the olive trees, saying the perpetrators would be found and brought to justice. Police investigators last year found hundreds of trees that had allegedly been cut by Jewish residents to have actually been pruned by their owners. The investigators now say there is a possibility the Arab villagers caused the damage themselves, in order to receive compensations from the government. “Something is clearly suspicious in the way these trees were cut,” Police Superintendent Shlomi Sagi told Army Radio. He said that it would be strange for Jewish residents to start cutting the trees on the side closest to the Arab village and merely cut off branches, when they could have cut the trunks with the chainsaws apparently used. MK Avshalom Vilan (Meretz-Yahad) called the tree-cuttings an act of terror and demanded the IDF clamp a closure on Judea and Samaria until the perpetrators are apprehended. “Had it been Arabs who cut down the trees, security forces would have acted a long time ago," he said. Jewish farmers in Gush Etzion and Samaria say, however, that they have had hundreds of fruit trees uprooted and acres of wheat burned by local Arabs, but police, to date, have never carried out serious investigations into the vandalism.   A7News: Terror Statistics Belie IDF Claim of Less Terrorism 01.03.06 (9:44 am)   [edit] Terror Statistics Belie IDF Claim of Less Terrorism By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu IDF Chief of Staff Dan Halutz said Thursday terrorism has gone down since the expulsion and withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria, but statistics on suicide bombings show the opposite. In an interview, Halutz said, "the level of terror has gone down significantly." He also advised to take recent terrorist attacks in proportion and not to interpret every "sound" as "noise." Halutz stated, "Pay attention to how many attacks there were [before the expulsion and withdrawal] and how many there are now." Statistics show that terrorism actually has increased and has not decreased. Suicide bombers struck six times in 2005, twice before the expulsion of Jewish residents from the Gaza and northern Samarian regions and four times afterwards. In February, a suicide bomber killed five Israelis in an attack on the The Stage nightclub in Tel Aviv, shortly after the "calm" was announced at the Sharm el-Sheikh summit. In July, a suicide bomber killed five Israelis and injured 30 others at a Netanya mall, the first of two attacks there. On August 28, shortly after the expulsion, a terrorist blew himself up and wounded 20 people in an attack at the Be'er Sheva bus station. In December, suicide bombers struck twice, once at the Netanya mall where five were killed, and again on Thursday when an IDF officer and two Arab bystanders were murdered. The number of rockets and mortar shells on Israeli targets has sharply increased since the expulsion, with 130 attacks from January through July, the eve of the expulsion, and 179 since then. A decline in the shelling and rocket attacks can be claimed only if taking into consideration the hundreds of strikes by Arab terrorists against the Jewish communities in Gush Katif and northern Gaza before the expulsion. However, there have been numerous misfirings which have resulted in countless rocket explosions in the areas of the destroyed Jewish communities. The IDF Chief of Staff also said in the interview that he does not expect the IDF to stop the Kassam rocket attacks entirely, but only to reduce them to a low level.   A7News: Britain's Chief Rabbi: Anti-Semitism Spreading Like a Tsunami 01.03.06 (9:42 am)   [edit] Britain’s Chief Rabbi: Anti-Semitism Spreading Like a Tsunami By Scott Shiloh Britain’s Chief Rabbi, Jonathan Sacks, said in an interview on BBC radio that ongoing conflicts around the world have been having uncomfortable ramifications for Europe’s Jews. He said that global conflicts are acting like “a kind of tsunami of anti-Semitism, which is taking place a long way from this country (Britain) but (of) which Europe seems unaware," he said. Rabbi Sacks did not blame Israel for the threat to European Jewry. He pointed out that many regional conflicts ignited by Islamic radicals in Chechnya, the Philippines, and Indonesia, would be occurring, even if Israel did not exist. He said that globalization was leading many people to view Israel as the cause of the world’s conflicts. He accused Islamic radicals of using Israel’s alleged mistreatment of Arabs to support their campaigns of violence around the world. Rabbi Sacks blamed satellite television and the Internet for exposing Britain to a globalized anti-Semitism. But anti-Semitism was also rearing its head on prime-time TV and best-selling books that deny the Holocaust, he warned. While the situation for Jews in Britain was good overall, Rabbi Sacks said that anti-Jewish activities were rising throughout Europe, especially in France. “A number of rabbinical colleagues throughout Europe have been assaulted and attacked on the streets,” he said. "We've had synagogues desecrated. We've had Jewish schools burn to the ground - not here but in France." The Community Services Trust, a UK based group that monitors anti-Semitic incidents says there has been a dramatic rise in anti-Semitic incidents over the past year. The trust recorded 532 anti-Semitic incidents in 2004, 83 of which were physical assaults.   A7News: Kassam Rockets Strike Negev Despite IDF Operation 01.03.06 (9:36 am)   [edit] Kassam Rockets Strike Negev Despite IDF Operation By Scott Shiloh Three Kassam rockets struck the western Negev on Sunday, despite an IDF operation in northern Gaza to stop the rockets. Two of the rockets landed in open fields and the third struck the city of Sderot, a frequent target for the Kassams. None of the rockets caused damage or casualties. The rocket fired at Sderot set off the city’s, “Red Dawn” warning system. Residents took cover in bomb shelters. Over night Sunday, the IDF carried out an aerial attack against a structure in the southern Gaza Strip used by terrorists of the Fatah-affiliated Al-Aksa Martyrs Brigade. IDF spokesmen said the attack was in retaliation for recent Arab terror activity, including the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip at Israeli communities. Sunday’s Kassam strikes calls into question the effectiveness of the IDF’s operation in northern Gaza, code named, “Blue Skies.” Many of the Kassem rockets, especially those fired on the Ashkelon industrial zone, were launched from the former Jewish communities of Dugit, Elei Sinai, and Nisanit. The IDF has warned the Palestinian Authority that any unauthorized Arab present in those areas would be hit by the IDF. PA police are exempt from the ban, although Israel has warned the PA security forces against assisting the terrorists. The IDF’s strategy has been to effectively create a buffer zone in the areas that were thriving Jewish communities prior to the disengagement last August. That strategy was put into practice Saturday night. IDF troops spotted three terrorists near the former community of Elei Sinai as they were attempting to launch a Kassam into Israel. Two of the three terrorists were killed and one was wounded by a missile fired by the Israeli Air Force. The PA, in an unusual act of candor, admitted that the Arabs killed were in fact terrorists from the Al Aksa Bridages, the military arm of the Fatah, the political party of PA chief Mahmoud Abbas. The IDF has warned the PA that the “Blue Skies” operation could be expanded to include large swaths of territory bordering Israel, if the PA does not act to stop the rockets. Sources in the IDF said that certain foreign governments have been pressuring Israel to halt the operation, claiming that it limits PA control over territory ceded to it by Israel under the disengagement plan. Those sources emphasized that at present, there are no plans to stop the operation. Sderot residents, however, have complained to Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, that operation “Blue Skies” in northern Gaza has no effectiveness in preventing Kassam rockets from being fired from other sites in Gaza into areas of the western Negev. “Are the children of Sderot worth less than those of Ashkelon?” asked Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal. “We live in one country, and if an operation is to be carried out to prevent the firing of Kassem rockets is different for Sderot than for Ashkelon…this is very serious.” Moyal said that what appeared to be discrimination between the two cities, “should not happen in a democratic country.” Moyal said the residents of Sderot were “very angry” at the government. “We’re very happy the prime minister is defending the residents of Ashkelon. But we want them to do the same thing when rockets are fired at Sderot,” he said. “And if not, let them explain why they discriminate between the lives of Ashkelon’s children and the lives of those in Sderot.”   A7News: Netanyahu Will Decide when Likud Ministers Resign 01.03.06 (9:34 am)   [edit] Netanyahu Will Decide When Likud Ministers Resign By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Members of the Likud party serving in Prime Minister Sharon's government have decided to resign their posts. They agreed to leave the timing of their resignations in Binyamin Netanyahu's hands. The decision was reached Monday morning at a meeting among Likud government ministers convened by party chairman Binyamin Netanyahu. Between Sunday evening and Monday morning, Netanyahu had spoken individually with Ministers Limor Livnat, Danny Naveh, Yisrael Katz and Silvan Shalom, emphasizing that it was not politically possible to attack the government's policies as long as Likud members sit in the cabinet. Therefore, in light of upcoming national elections, he asked them to offer their resignations as soon as possible. Among other issues determining the timing of the planned Likud resignations is the upcoming hospitalization of the prime minister for a heart catheterization procedure on Thursday. Ministers pushing for delaying their resignations contend that resigning before Sharon's hospitalization would be perceived by the public as a move lacking in national responsibility. Those in favor of resigning before Sharon's hospitalization claim that the longer the party remains in the government, the more harm is done to the party's electoral prospects. Commenting on the make-up of the existing government coalition ahead of the meeting with Netanyahu, Education Minister Livnat said that government ministers who broke away from the Likud to form the Kadima party are the ones who have no right to their position. "They are sitting on a Likud mandate," said Livnat, "because Likud voters chose them to sit in the government."   A7News: Discussions of Cross-Isreal 'Safe Passage' Suspended 01.03.06 (9:32 am)   [edit] Discussions of Cross-Israel 'Safe Passage' Suspended By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz Anarchy in the Palestinian Authority is the reason Israel cited for its decision to put off talks on allowing travel between Gaza and Judea and Samaria. The Americans have dropped the issue. Israel initially promised US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice that it would implement a long-dormant provision of the Oslo Accords, providing PA Arabs traveling between Gaza and Judea and Samaria "safe passage" through uncontested Israel, on Israeli roads. The commitment was made in the framework of a deal brokered by Rice to open the Rafiach crossing between Gaza and Egypt. However, Israeli officials have informed the Americans that current anarchy in the PA makes it impossible to maintain Israeli security requirements for implementing the cross-Israel passage for PA residents. According to a senior government official, the US and European officials have shown understanding of Israel's position. American negotiators have not raised the matter of the "safe passage" in the past week, in contrast with the persistence with which they pressured Israel previously. The European Union has also lowered its pressure on Israel, particularly since the European observers at the Rafiach crossing on the Egypt-Gaza border were forced to flee in the wake of PA rioting and internal clashes. On Thursday, a delegation of senior envoys from the United States is due to arrive in Israel for meetings with Israeli and PA officials. The American delegation, headed by US Undersecretary of State C. David Welch and Deputy National Security Advisor Elliot Abrams, will raise the issue of the "safe passage", but no ultimatum is expected. At the top of the delegation's agenda will be the expected victory of the Islamist Hamas movement in PA elections scheduled for later this month, as well as the possibility that the elections may be postponed. Members of the ruling Fatah organization have recently threatened to withdraw their names from the ballot, which would force a postponement; whereas, PA leader Mahmoud Abbas ("Abu Mazen") has declared that the elections will go ahead on schedule. Abu Mazen himself, however, has indicated that he may not contest future PA leadership elections.   A7News: GSS: 900% Increase in Terrorist Smuggling in Four Months 01.03.06 (9:31 am)   [edit] GSS: 900% Increase in Terrorist Smuggling in Four Months By Nissan Ratzlav-Katz The General Security Services (GSS) has released its 2005 year-end report, which reveals a dramatic increase in weapons brought into Gaza by Arab terrorists since Israel's evacuation of the region. According to the report, released Monday, there has been a 900% increase in the number of anti-tank missile launchers Arab terrorists have brought into Gaza from Egypt since Israel's unilateral withdrawal in August as compared with the preceding seven months. Approximately 350 anti-tank missiles were brought across the border in the same post-Disengagement period, representing a 600% increase since the Palestinian Authority took over Gaza. In addition, the GSS reported that an estimated five tons of explosives have made their way into Gaza since August, as well as 5,000 rifles and handguns, and more than a million bullets. The GSS report states that the PA, which holds jurisdiction over Gaza since the Israeli withdrawal, is doing nothing to halt the flow of weapons into terrorist hands. Therefore, the report concludes, the border between Egypt and the Gaza Strip has become an easy, safe passage for the importation of weapons and other supplies for various Arab terrorist groups. In this regard, the GSS sees the abandonment by Israel of the Philadelphi Route, bordering Egypt, as a turning point in the threat Israel faces from Gaza. Security services say the beefed-up arsenal has provided the terrorists with greater capability and incentive to start firing Kassam rockets into central Israel from Judea and Samaria, as well. While noting an increase in certain types of terrorist attacks in 2005, the GSS report notes a decrease in the overall number of victims of such attacks. During the year just concluded, there were 2,990 terrorist attacks of all types against Israeli targets, with an increase in rocket attacks (377) over 2004 (309). There were 45 Israelis murdered by terrorists in 2005, down from 117 in 2004. Of those killed, half were victims of seven suicide bombings carried out over the last year, four of which took place subsequent to Israel's unilateral withdrawal from Gaza and northern Samaria. The GSS report clarifies that the drop in the number of victims is primarily the result of Israeli measures preventing, disrupting or intercepting terrorist organizations attempting to carry out attacks. The report further specifies that during 2005, the GSS arrested 160 suicide bombers in Judea and Samaria. Despite declarations of "calm" by terrorist organizations during 2005, the GSS reported that the number of security alerts remained fairly consistent all year. In fact, there was an increase in attacks in the Judea area during the terrorist-declared "calm" as compared to an equivalent period before the declaration. Only in the Gaza region was there a significant decrease in enemy attacks during the period of "calm", but still representing 1,205 attacks (as opposed to 2,637 attacks during an equivalent period beforehand).   A7News: Shteinitz: Egypt is Preparing for Possible War with Isreal 01.03.06 (9:02 am)   [edit] Shteinitz: Egypt is Preparing for Possible War with Israel By Scott Shiloh MK Yuval Shteinitz (Likud) says that Egypt’s arms buildup over the past few years has focused on the possibility of future war with Israel. In a radio interview broadcast on Arutz 7’s Hebrew internet site Tuesday night, Shteinitz, a former professor of political science at Haifa University who chairs the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, said that Egypt has already become a major supporter of terrorism against Israel. Shteinitz said that Egypt has been allowing terrorist groups operating out of the Gaza district to smuggle missiles into Gaza. Those groups intend to use the missiles against Israeli targets. In his estimation, 90% of the explosives used by the terrorist groups are brought in from Egypt. Shteinitz explains that it is a mistake for Israel to view Syria as its principle enemy, while neglecting the Egyptian threat, primarily because Israel maintains diplomatic relations with Egypt. The committee chairman said that weapons smuggled from Egypt has become so important to the Hamas, “if you would ask them what they would be willing to give up, assistance from Egypt or Syria, they would prefer to give up Syrian, but not Egyptian aid.” The Egyptians, Shteinitz asserts, have kept to the peace agreements signed in 1978 as far as not engaging Israel in outright conflict. But on other levels, such as economic relations or stopping anti-Israel incitement, Egyptian compliance has been lacking.   A7News: Bittersweet Events for Gush Katif Expellees 01.03.06 (8:59 am)   [edit] Bittersweet Events for Gush Katif Expellees By Hillel Fendel The expelled residents of Gush Katif celebrated a number of festive occasions this week, each tinged with a taste of sadness. Picture by Ofir Avitan Among this week's events were a Torah Scroll for Yeshivat Torat HaChaim, the wedding of David Hatuel, and new quarters for the Otzem pre-military yeshiva. Yeshivat Torat HaChaim, forcibly relocated from N'vei Dekalim to Yad Binyamin (south of Rehovot) this past summer in the course of the Disengagement Plan, dedicated its new Beit Midrash and a new Torah scroll on Monday night. The Torah scroll is a donation by Reuven and Yosef Rosenblatt families. Reuven, the first mayor of the Gaza Coast (Gush Katif) Regional Council, took time out from his 70th birthday celebration this morning to tell Arutz-7 the special story of the Torah scroll: "Our family was a large one from Lodz, Poland, and we had our own Torah. During the Holocaust years, we managed to hide it via various means and in different places, including with Gentiles. After the Holocaust, those of our family who survived began coming to Israel, and the Torah remained each time with someone else. Finally, the last relative was my uncle, my mother's brother, who decided in the early 1950s to come to Israel as well. But first he made a two-week pilot trip. He was the type who made sure to find a solution for every problem - and here he was faced with the problem of how to take a Torah scroll out of Communist Poland. He arrived with the Torah at the airport, without trying to hide it because he knew he couldn't. He looked for a Christian-looking customs inspector, and said to him, 'Look, I'm very religious, and I'm afraid to fly without my Torah. But I'm just going for two weeks. So please just write down in my passport that I'm returning it in two weeks...' "The inspector agreed, and my uncle arrived and of course left the Torah here. When he arrived back in Poland, he looked for the same inspector, and said to him, 'The Jews didn't allow me to go back with the Torah, and they took it from me, despite my cries...' Again the inspector accepted the story, and agreed to erase the relevant passport page... "Here in Israel, the Torah was placed in a shtiebel [a small synagogue] in Tel Aviv, where my father prayed with many other Holocaust survivors. But little by little, the number of worshipers dwindled, and finally my father decided to take it with him to the community of Gan-Or, in Gush Katif, where he spent the last year of his life, together with my daughter and her family. There it remained [for some 20 years], until the expulsion this past summer." Rosenblatt said that he emphasized to the Yeshiva heads that the Torah will remain with them only on loan, until it can be returned to Gan-Or. The event was not widely publicized, explained Yehudit Amitai, Rosenblatt's daughter and a former Yeshiva secretary who now lives in Yad Binyamin, "because many people from Gush Katif are still suffering greatly, and our joy is far from complete." "My family also built the Gan-Or synagogue's Aron Kodesh (Holy Ark), and within a few weeks, it will be rebuilt and placed as well in the Beit Midrash of Yeshivat Torat HaChaim in Yad Binyamin," Reuven said proudly. Also this week, David Hatuel, formerly of Moshav Katif, wed Limor Shem-Tov of Jerusalem. Close to 1,000 people were invited to Ashkelon for the wedding, which was conducted by Rabbi Mordechai Elon. The groom's first wife, Tali, and their four children, daughters aged 2-11, were murdered in May 2004 in a Palestinian terrorist attack in Gush Katif. "I have two options," Hatuel said upon becoming engaged several weeks ago, "either to collapse or to continue living. I have chosen life! My new home is an addition and not a replacement of the home that was destroyed. I am like a tree whose branches were cut off and now they are growing again." This past Friday, the pre-military yeshiva academy of the now-destroyed Atzmonah moved to its new permanent home in Yated. The new location is due south of the former Gush Katif, in the Halutza Sands area. Families from Atzmonah moved in to Yated several weeks ago, while others still live in the Faith City encampment outside Netivot. The yeshiva is headed by Rabbi Rafi Peretz, an IDF helicopter pilot who advised his students not to refuse orders to take part in the expulsion. The academy was housed for the last several months in Shaarei Avraham, east of Ashdod.   A7News: New Orleans Hurricane Survivor Makes Aliyah 01.03.06 (8:55 am)   [edit] New Orleans Hurricane Survivor Makes Aliyah By Scott Shiloh Daniel Ribak, a 36-year-old survivor of the hurricane that devastated New Orleans last summer, will be making aliyah to Israel Wednesday along with 250 other Jews from North America. Daniel, an athlete and basketball trainer, set up and managed a basketball school in New Orleans. When Hurricane Katrina hit that city, Daniel lost all of his property. His home was flooded, and his life’s work, the basketball school, was totally destroyed. Just before the storm struck, Daniel stuffed whatever he could into his backpack and rode a bicycle 40 kilometers until reaching an airport, where he got on the last plane out. Daniel flew to Miami and saved his life. Everything he left behind was destroyed. Daniel realized that he had no alternative but to start a new life. “I had nothing,” he said. “I had to start from zero in a new place, and maybe this was a sign.” “Instead of sinking into depression,” Daniel thought, “perhaps this was an opportunity to start life anew, and if it’s going to be a new place, then this is my opportunity to move to Israel.” Daniel joined the plane carrying the new immigrants with the help of the Nefesh B’Nefesh program.   A7News: Aliyah: Numbers are Up, Satisfaction is High 01.03.06 (8:47 am)   [edit] Aliyah: Numbers are Up, Satisfaction is High By Hillel Fendel Aliyah to Israel is up - not only from North America, not only in numbers, and not only in the "final step." For the first time since the onset of the Oslo War five years ago, the downward Aliyah [immigration to Israel] trend has turned, with more olim [new immigrants] arriving this year than last year. A total of some 23,000 new immigrants will have made Aliyah this year, according to preliminary Jewish Agency figures. These include record numbers from France and North America, and increases from other countries. The most dynamic name in North American Aliyah will star this afternoon, when the 7th specially chartered Nefesh B'Nefesh flight of the year will arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport. The El Al plane will bring close to 250 North American Jews home in Israel. Since its inception in 2001, Nefesh B’Nefesh (NBN), an organization dedicated to the revitalization of North American Aliyah, working closely with the Jewish Agency, has brought more than 7,000 new immigrants to Israel. Today's flight will bring this year's total to more than 3,100. Greeting the newcomers at a welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport will be hundreds of family, friends and supporters, along with former Knesset Immigration Committee Chairman MK Tzvi Hendel, Deputy Interior Minister Ruchama Avraham, and Nefesh B’Nefesh founders Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart. Before Aliyah, must come education to Aliyah. The Jewish Agency notes that the number of Jewish youth from around the world participating in educational programs in Israel is also on the upswing. In 2005, young Jews taking part in short-term programs (including Birthright-Israel, Israel Experience and others) numbered 29,712 - close to 1,000 more than last year. Participation in long-term educational programs was up 37%: 5,583 students and youths studied in Israeli yeshivot and university programs, as opposed to 4,058 the year before. Possibly in celebration of the rise in Aliyah, the Aliyah organization Kumah has released a short provocative film via the internet. Viewable at www.AliyahRevolution.com, the animated film draws upon the allegory constructed by the popular Matrix trilogy, and calls upon the individual Jew living outside Israel to reach a heightened awareness of his/her role in Jewish destiny at this time. The Jewish Agency reports that from North America, 3,052 new immigrants will have made Aliyah by the end of this year, up from 2,640 last year. This is the highest total since 1983, when 3,806 North Americans moved to Israel. From France, Aliyah was up from 2,415 last year, to nearly 3,000 this year - the highest total since 1972. In the past two years, 5,700 North Americans and 5,400 French Jews have made Aliyah - literally, moved up - to Israel. A recent survey commissioned by the Jewish Agency found that more than 90% of North Americans who immigrated to Israel between 3 and 16 months ago are either "very satisfied" or "quite satisfied" with their absorption in Israel. The survey was conducted by Dahaf - Public Opinion Research Institute. A 10% decrease in Aliyah was registered from the countries of the former Soviet Union. The total for 2005: 9,124 new immigrants. From Ethiopia, there will be a total of 3,700 olim, similar to last year. A large increase was registered from South America - 1,850 olim this year, compared with 1,348 last year - and a small increase was registered from England - over 450 olim this year, an increase from 435 last year.   A7News: Terrorists in Lebanon Bombard Northern Isreal 01.03.06 (8:44 am)   [edit] Terrorists in Lebanon Bombard Northern Israel By Baruch Gordon and Hillel Fendel Arab-fired katyusha rockets at northern Israel scored direct hits on two civilian homes. IDF Northern Commander: "Merely the same rockets that we know well." IDF retaliation wounds 2 terrorists. No one was injured directly from the Hizbullah rocket attacks, but four civilians were taken to the hospital for treatment of shock. The shelling began just after 11pm Tuesday night. One rocket landed in the stairwell of a 3-story building in Kiryat Shmonah, causing heavy damage. A second Katyusha landed in the den of a civilian home, completely destroying the room; the parents were in the bedroom and went into shock. Their child was unharmed. Electricty in the region was knocked out as a result of the shelling. Four other rockets landed in Shlomi and the western Galilee area. Israel retaliated with artillery fire at a terrorist training base in Lebanon, lightly wounding two Hizbullah members. An emergency situation of preparedness was declared in northern Israel in wake of the rocket attacks, and the IDF instructed area residents to descend to bomb shelters. The residents were allowed to move to safety rooms for the duration of the night, and life returned to normal this morning. IDF Northern Commander Gen. Udi Adam said that Israel should not respond "wildly" to the rocket attacks on civilians. "There is no need for winds of war," he said. "Lebanon understands that if it does not deal with the rockets, we will do it." Speaking with reporters near one of the stricken homes, Gen. Adam further attempted to calm down any fighting spirit by saying that the terrorists did not display any new technological prowess, and that their hits were merely "happenstance." Though he admitted that it was only by miracle that no one was hurt, he said, "These are the same rockets that the residents know well."   A7News: New Outposts Update 01.03.06 (8:37 am)   [edit] New Outposts Update By Hillel Fendel Nineteen new locations throughout Judea and Samaria - and Kisufim - are the sites of Land of Israel construction and pioneer spirit, as of this Chanukah. Soldiers are guarding the new sites. Youths of the Land of Israel Loyalists took advantage of their Chanukah vacation to advance the cause of "The People of Israel in the Land of Israel according to the Torah of Israel," and are in the process of building outside the following 19 sites: * Elazar, Bat Ayin, and Efrat in Gush Etzion * Adei Ad, Beit El, Maaleh Levonah, Psagot, and Kokhav Yaakov in Binyamin (north of Jerusalem), * Maaleh Hever south of Hevron, * Mitzpeh Yericho and Kokhav HaShachar in the Jordan Valley, * and Karnei Shomron, Eli, Peduel, Talmon, and Yitzhar in the Shomron. Two more locations, Neriah and Karmei Tzur, were added today. Other sites are expected to be added over the course of the 8-day Chanukah holiday, which ends Monday. The most emotional pioneering effort took place in Kisufim, at the former entrance to Gaza. Some 30 youths from Gush Katif established a presence, but did not sleep there. They will arrive again tomorrow together with youths from Kfar Darom and hotels. The plan is to turn it into a permanent meeting place for former Gush Katif residents, and, says at least one former resident, "a place from where we will be able to return home. If it took 19 years to return to Gush Etzion, hopefully it will take less time to come back to Gush Katif." Dozens of youths took part in construction efforts at each site, and also held prayer services, Chanukah candle lighting ceremonies, classes, and song and dance. The residents of some nearby communities also took part in the festivities. The building continued today (Wednesday) as well. For those who were unable to take part, Land of Israel youth held candle-lighting ceremonies at dozens of central intersections aroundd the country at precisely 6 PM Tuesday night. The candles were lit in solidarity with the establishment of the outposts. A police official responded with disdain to the coordinated country-wide effort, saying it was merely the work of a "bunch of bored youngsters." Datia Yitzchaki, formerly of Gush Katif and a spokesperson for the Land of Israel Faithful cause, said in response, "Those who think that bored youth are those who build the Land of Israel, have a problem. It appears to me that the bored youth of this country are doing many things other than building the Land... Many great things happened in our nation because of the youth, and we can be very proud of these youngsters; they are the ones doing something." Two headlines just from today dealing with youth blared, "Police Investigating Violent Youth Games in Petach Tikvah" and "Holon Resident Stabbed by Youths in Kiryat Ben-Gurion." Yitzchaki added that contrary to the media line that the police are simply biding their time and waiting until the youths return to school next week, "the fact is that they don't have sufficient forces to deal with all 20 spots that we have managed to build at one time. We truly hope to make these into permanent locations; in Kokhav Yaakov a concrete floor has been poured and two caravans were brought in, and in Beit El a caravan is hopefully on the way... We are looking now for young couples and families that wish to make these places their home."

Jewish Software iTunes Music Store Sudoku Puzzles by SudokuPuzz Jewish.com - Home to an excellent selection of items. From kiddush cups to software and books, mezuzahs and much more! CallWave - Free Phone! CallWave Mobile Rewards the pay-as-you-go cell with no contract! CLICK HERE NOW! Click here to comment! Any Language caribbeanans Czech Danish Dutch English Finnish French German Hungarian Indonesian Italian Malay Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Slovak Spanish Swedish Turkish headline boolean phrase all the words any of the words 10 20 25 45 75 100 Web greenearth.dollardays.com To continue our important work in face of today's harsh economic realities in Israel , we appeal for your urgent, generous charitable support -- Tzedakah! Welcome to the ExploreBlogs.com, The Blog Directory with RSS Feeds! Welcome to the ExploreBlogs.com, The Blog Directory with RSS Feeds! Quick Job Search Enter Keyword(s): Search Type: These or Similar WordsAll of These WordsAny of These WordsExact PhraseBoolean Search Category: Accounting & FinanceArts/Entertainment/GamingClerical/AdministrativeConstruction & ExtractionCustomer ServiceEducation & TrainingEngineering & ArchitectureGovernmentHealthcare/MedicalHuman ResourcesInformation TechnologyInsuranceLegal ServicesManagementManufacturing & ProductionMarketing & AdvertisingMedia & CommunicationOtherPersonal & Home ServicesPublic RelationsPublic Utilities & ServicesPurchasing/RetailReal EstateResearchSales & Sales ManagementScience/BiotechTransportation/LogisticsTravel/Restaurant State: Add Resume Employers Bookmark this site! Jewish Books Wireless As Low As $7.99 Any Language caribbeanans Czech Danish Dutch English Finnish French German Hungarian Indonesian Italian Malay Norwegian Polish Portuguese Romanian Slovak Spanish Swedish Turkish headline boolean phrase all the words any of the words 10 20 25 45 75 100 Proud to wear the uniform then, proud to carry the card now: Save Hundreds of Dollars from Veterans Advantage To continue our important work in face of today's harsh economic realities in Israel , we appeal for your urgent, generous charitable support -- Tzedakah! Quick Job Search Enter Keyword(s): Search Type: These or Similar WordsAll of These WordsAny of These WordsExact PhraseBoolean Search Category: Accounting & FinanceArts/Entertainment/GamingClerical/AdministrativeConstruction & ExtractionCustomer ServiceEducation & TrainingEngineering & ArchitectureGovernmentHealthcare/MedicalHuman ResourcesInformation TechnologyInsuranceLegal ServicesManagementManufacturing & ProductionMarketing & AdvertisingMedia & CommunicationOtherPersonal & Home ServicesPublic RelationsPublic Utilities & ServicesPurchasing/RetailReal EstateResearchSales & Sales ManagementScience/BiotechTransportation/LogisticsTravel/Restaurant State: Add Resume Employers