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Remembering Hebron
Posted By Wes on August 31, 2009
Israel recently observed the 80th anniversary one of the worst massacres in the history of the Palestine area. Another good example of Islam as a “peaceful” religion. The propaganda about the existence of Israel and US support being the reason for the on-going atrocities in the Middle East is bunk. It id the htred and violence of the Oslamic religion that is the source.
Reaching for the Holy
Posted By Wes on August 21, 2009
From a man I admire greatly, Rabbi Moshe Kempinski of Jerusalem
I am My Beloved’s and My Beloved is Mine.
Moshe Kempinski
The old city of Jerusalem during these evenings is awash with people. They arrive in large groups. They arrive with their families. They arrive alone. They do not come as tourists. They are not here to tour any location. They are not here to see anything.
They are here to feel and listen.
During the days of Elul and Tishrei each individual soul undergoes a spiritual voyage that is unparalleled in its intensity and awesome in its implications. It is in the month of Elul that we begin again the courtship with the Beloved and the Hebrew letters that make up the word Elul are also the first letters of the verse ” Ani Ledodi VeDodi Lee-I Am My Beloved’s and my Beloved is Mine.
This powerful verse comes from the ultimate love poem written by King Solomon as beautiful allegory of a love story between the infinite and the finite. The great sage Rabbi Akiba declared, “Heaven forbid that any man in Israel ever disputed that the Song of Songs is holy. For the whole world is not worth the day on which the Song of Songs was given to Israel, for all the Writings are holy and the Song of Songs is holy of holies.” (Mishnah Yadayim 3:5). It is clearly an allegory as the young maiden and her beloved keeps changing. At times he is a shepherd, at times a king and the young maiden keeps changing roles as well.
During the month of Elul, then , thousands of Israelis of all walks of life find there way into the old city of Jerusalem .Especially in the late evening or early morning the people make their way towards the old city like love stricken lovers. The late hours at the western wall sound and look like midday hustle and bustle. Every where you turn you see people in prayer or simply stand in awe. A people living out the verse “Ani Ledodi VeDodi Lee-I Am My Beloved’s and my Beloved is Mine. “ , sometimes without even being aware of it
Yet that verse from that sanctified poem of love and relationship when literally translated becomes somewhat confusing. Ani Ledodi Vedodi Lee, really translates as ” I am to my Beloved and My Beloved is to me”
I was puzzled about the verse until the evening of this years Rosh Chodesh Elul.Every eve of the new month a group of Jewish activists have reinstituted an ancient custom of walking around the gates of the Temple Mount and reciting in song and dance the psalms of ascent at each gate. The purpose of the march is to fulfill the verse “Encircle Zion and march around her, count her towers” (Tehillim – Psalms – 48:13) and the verse “You should seek to cause Him to dwell and you will come there” (Devarim – Deuteronomy 12:5). The verse means that if we show our yearning for Him to dwell in the Temple, then we ourselves will merit the day wherein we may come to dwell in the Temple again, as a House of Prayer for all people.
It was not my first time marching with them but this time as we prepared to leave the Western wall plaza ,one of the young men began filling the air of one of the wheels of the portable wagons that carry the loudspeakers and music. He over filled it and the tire blew with a very loud bang. Every security guard and soldier went into a preparatory stance. It took several long seconds before the tension level was reduced .Yet they were still left with a heavy wagon that was missing a wheel.. That didn’t seem to deter or stop anybody. After all they were individuals in love entering into the month of Betrothal to their ultimate divine Beloved. As a result one individual after another continued to volunteer to help carry that part of the broken wagon through the long trek around the temple mount walls. They were individuals in love and love means constantly moving forward towards the beloved. They, the sons and daughters of Abraham, were driven forward just as their ancestor was bidden to go forth.
That is the deeper meaning of the verse “” Ani Ledodi VeDodi Lee-I Am My Beloved’s and my Beloved is Mine”. The relationship is defined by the constant move towards, I am to my Beloved and my Beloved is to me. When we returned after the long walk we saw a western wall plaza awash with streams of Jews of all sorts filling its every available space.
The Jewish people whether they are consciously aware of their relationship with G-d or not ,are driven by an inner call to “come towards”.
That is their eternal strength and with that we enter the betrothal month of Elul.
Obama’s Education in Anti-Semitism
Posted By Wes on August 13, 2009
An interesting perspective from someone with a similar background to THE ONE.
ISRAEL NEWS UPDATE, INSIGHTS AND VIEWS
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THE SOURCE OF OBAMA’S ANTI-ISRAEL POLICY
BY E.W. Jackson Sr.
E. W. Jackson is Bishop of Exodus Faith Ministries, an author and retired attorney.
Like Obama, I am a graduate of Harvard Law School. I too have Muslims in my family. I am black, and I was once a leftist Democrat. Since our backgrounds are somewhat similar, I perceive something in Obama’s policy toward Israel which people without that background may not see. All my life I have witnessed a strain of anti-Semitism in the black community. It has been fuelled by the rise of the Nation of Islam and Louis Farrakhan, but it predates that organization.
We heard it in Jesse Jackson’s “HYMIE town” remark years ago during his presidential campaign. We heard it most recently in Jeremiah Wright’s remark about “them Jews” not allowing Obama to speak with him. I hear it from my own Muslim family members who see the problem in the Middle East as a “Jew” problem.
Growing up in a small, predominantly black urban community in Pennsylvania, I heard the comments about Jewish shop owners. They were “greedy cheaters” who could not be trusted, according to my family and others in the neighborhood. I was too young to understand what it means to be Jewish, or know that I was hearing anti-Semitism. These people seemed nice enough to me, but others said they were “evil”. Sadly, this bigotry has yet to be eradicated from the black community.
In Chicago, the anti-Jewish sentiment among black people is even more pronounced because of the direct influence of Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Most African Americans are not followers of “The Nation”, but many have a quiet respect for its leader because, they say, “he speaks the truth” and “stands up for the black man”. What they mean of course is that he viciously attacks the perceived “enemies” of the black community – white people and Jews. Even some self-described Christians buy into his demagoguery.
The question is whether Obama, given his Muslim roots and experience in Farrakhan’s Chicago, shares this antipathy for Israel and Jewish people. Is there any evidence that he does? First, the President was taught for twenty years by a virulent anti-Semite, the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. In the black community it is called “sitting under”. You don’t merely attend a church, you “sit under” a Pastor to be taught and mentored by him. Obama “sat under” Wright for a very long time. He was comfortable enough with Farrakhan – Wright’s friend – to attend and help organize his “Million Man March”. I was on C-Span the morning of the march arguing that we must never legitimize a racist and anti-Semite, no matter what “good” he claims to be doing. Yet a future President was in the crowd giving Farrakhan his enthusiastic support.
The classic left wing view is that Israel is the oppressive occupier, and the Palestinians are Israel’s victims. Obama is clearly sympathetic to this view. In speaking to the “Muslim World,” he did not address the widespread Islamic hatred of Jews. Instead he attacked Israel over the growth of West Bank settlements. Surely he knows that settlements are not the crux of the problem. The absolute refusal of the Palestinians to accept Israel’s right to exist as a Jewish state is the insurmountable obstacle. That’s where the pressure needs to be placed, but this President sees it differently. He also made the preposterous comparison of the Holocaust to Palestinian “dislocation”.
Obama clearly has Muslim sensibilities. He sees the world and Israel from a Muslim perspective. His construct of “The Muslim World” is unique in modern diplomacy. It is said that only The Muslim Brotherhood and other radical elements of the religion use that concept. It is a call to unify Muslims around the world. It is rather odd to hear an American President use it. In doing so he reveals more about his thinking than he intends. The dramatic policy reversal of joining the unrelentingly anti-Semitic, anti-Israel and pro-Islamic UN Human Rights Council is in keeping with the President’s truest – albeit undeclared – sensibilities
Those who are paying attention and thinking about these issues do not find it unreasonable to consider that President Obama is influenced by a strain of anti-Semitism picked up from the black community, his leftist friends and colleagues, his Muslim associations and his long period of mentorship under Jeremiah Wright. If this conclusion is accurate, Israel has some dark days ahead. For the first time in her history, she may find the President of the United States siding with her enemies. Those who believe, as I do, that Israel must be protected had better be ready for the fight. We are.
NEVER AGAIN!
E. W. Jackson is Bishop of Exodus Faith Ministries, an author and retired attorney.
Orwellian? I Think So.
Posted By Wes on August 8, 2009
Let’s all monitor our neighbors and friends, and report any activity contrary to what THE ONE wants.
No Point in Reading the Health Bill
Posted By Wes on July 27, 2009
The congress in going to vote on a trillion dollar health bill, and there is no point in them reading it?
Obama’s Health Care Plan Analyzed
Posted By Wes on July 19, 2009
If this doesn’t scare you nothing will. Just one facet of Obama’s socialist plan to spend us into poverty.
Words are that powerful
Posted By Wes on July 16, 2009
Moshe Kempinski Torah Portion ; Matot (Numbers 30:2-32:42)
The Torah portion of Mattot begins with the admonitions regarding vows, oaths and obligations. The old adage” sticks and stones can break my bones but words can never harm me” is simply false in Judaism. Words are not harmless nor are they harmful. Yet words have power. The world was created with words. Relationships are built up with words. Our children discover themeselves through words…theirs and ours. Words thrown about carelessly can foster hatred and can lead to the destruction of the temple, both spiritual and physical.. Yet on the other hand words can create songs and words become the vessels of prayer.
Yet we are so careless with them! King Solomon wrote “Better that you not vow, than that you should vow and not fulfill.( KOHELLET/ Ecclesiastes 5:4)
Words have an innate power. In Hebrew the name for a “word” is DAVAR and the name for a “thing” is a davar. We learn that words create new reality and at the same time that reality speaks words. That is the basis of our relationship with the Infinite One .We use words to bridge the seemingly impossibly wide chasm between we the finite and He the infinite. At the same time the Creator speaks with us through his creation, things speak. That is the secret of the bridge between us that was taught to Moshe ( Moses) in the cleft in the rock when he asked G-d to show him His Glory.
Our torah portion then warns us of the power, potential and dangers of words and vows. It sets up the danger signals we are to be watchful for upon encountering individuals who throw words aimlessly or who use words as weapons. It also helps mankind be wary of the individual who has so mastered the power of words that he begins to believe that words are more important than truth and more critical than action. We need to be especially aware and wary of individuals like that when they enter positions of power and greatness like the Presidency of the most powerful nation in our physical reality. Such a mixture can be very heady and is extremely dangerous for the world in general and for that individual as well. That is so because words don’t only endanger and harm, they also entice and entrap the speaker.
As in all cases related to the words of the Torah portions , they do not only hearken from the past, they speak to the very present. As our ancient sages have taught us the words of the weekly Torah portion will also speak into the very reality of the week wherein the portion is read.
Listen to the words in the national arena and hear the subtext and be prepared and at the same time be careful with your choice of words in your own very personal relationships.
Words are that powerful