I know that I am not the only one who is beyond sick & tired of hearing of how the 'occupation' is what causes these evildoers to 'flip out' and kill innocent people. Evildoers, includes Olmert, who is allowing this dysfunctional State of Israel to be beheaded, and then expects to be rewarded in the end, but by whom? I don't get it. Why do people buy into this lie? What is so attractive about it? Why is it so much more appealing for anyone to side with Islamic fundamentalists? They (the liberals or whomever) call the Jews the barbarians, the people who dare to breathe or own any land....yet will fall over themselves to protect the Islamofacists...the very people who would burn anyone alive (including the liberals) who is not a believer. Is this a people to protect and encourage the behavior of? What is the selling point? (radical Islam doesn't encourage women's rights, democracy, fair trial, or any other modern 'nicety' - isn't this what liberals eat up? Why defend a people like this with such fervor yet reject the Jews who DO stand for these things?).

I just do not get it - and I do agree, one of the ways to honor these innocent victims is to learn more Torah. It's something they are being denied of right now.

I would normally say that I am rambling, but anyone would go insane under these circumstances.

May we know of no more pain & suffering and only of Simachot!

I think you might find this letter to the editor relevant.

It figures that Councilman Weiss is an ex federal prosecutor. The good Asst. U.S. Attorneys are always able to see these people for who they are: common thugs dressed up in some phony political "struggle." A lot of Rudy Giuliani's anti-terror credentials as a chief executive may have been smoke and mirrors, but was real was his understanding of the threat and the actual terrorists, and that came from his years as a prosecutor. Rudy is a Republican, Weiss is a Democrat, but a good prosecutor is good prosecutor and usually stays one no matter where they go after they leave the courts.

An e-mail from Yerushalayim:

I thought the story below was pretty amazing, and emblematic of how connected we Jews are in this small country. Sharon Milendorf, wrote this:

"Every morning I take the 35 bus line to work. It's a quick ride and usually takes no more than 12 minutes. The third stop after I get on by the shuk is directly in front of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. This morning I found myself a bit anxious, unsure of what I was going to see as we passed by. As I looked around, I saw death notices pasted all over the street and flowers that had been brought lined the entrance to the Yeshiva. When the bus pulled up to the stop, the driver shut off the engine and stood. With tears in his eyes he told everyone sitting on the bus that one of the boys killed on Thursday night was his nephew. He asked if everyone on the bus would mind if he spoke for a few minutes in memory of his nephew and the other boys that were killed. After seeing head nods all over the bus he began to speak. With a clear and proud voice, he spoke beautifully about his nephew and said that he was a person who was constantly on the lookout for how to help out anyone in need. He was always searching for a way to make things better. He loved learning, and had a passion for working out the intricacies of the Gemara. He was excited to join the army in a few years, and wanted to eventually work in informal education.

As he continued to speak, I noticed that the elderly woman sitting next to me was crying. I looked into my bag, reached for a tissue and passed it to her. She looked at me and told me that she too had lost someone she knew in the attack. Her neighbors child was another one of the boys killed. As she held my hand tightly, she stood up and asked if she too could say a few words in memory of her neighbor. She spoke of a young man filled with a zest for life. Every friday he would visit her with a few flowers for shabbat and a short dvar torah that he had learned that week in Yeshiva. This past shabbat, she had no flowers.

When I got to work, one of my colleagues who lives in Efrat told me that her son was friends with 2 of the boys who had been killed. One of those boys was the stepson of a man who used to teach in Brovenders and comes to my shul in Riverdale every Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur to be a chazan for one of the minyanim."

Joe, that was a beautiful comment. Thank you.

That bus story...that's what Israel is all about.

I'd say - that bus story above comes as no suprise - we're all family - it's what being Jewish is all about. My son is in yeshiva in Israel right now -he called me within minutes of this happening - asking me to say tehillim. I stood in my office - crying and pleading with hashem that this wasn't happening. I still haven't recovered from this... this was an attack on all of us.

This goes along with Mr. Weiss's comments - The councilman clearly stated the situation we are in - how many times have you heard recently that the "mufti's" have declared that there is " no evidence" that the Jews had anything to do with the "temple" in Jerusalem - Meanwhile - they (the ones "in charge of the Temple Mount) continue to destroy every artifact they can dig up at the Temple Mount ( as they do "construction" on the site) - they want every Jew and all of our history erased... they want us dead and gone - in Israel and everyplace else we live. The world is enabling them, swallowing their lies - while blind to their own danger from these people. We are essentially alone - it truly is the Jewish people and Hashem - against the world. May Hashem protect us.

Rachel:

The liberal failure to confront the jihadists is the great moral failure of our time. I see it every day in Hollywood where film people choose make anti-American movies that portray our soldiers as rednecks and rapists.

On top of this Hollywood will not make a film that is favorable to Israel, but you better believe that in the next few years we are going to see plenty of movies that are, ahem, balanced views of homicide bombers and other butchers of Jews.

Shira:

Very compelling. Thanks so much for the link.

Jake:

Yes, Weiss is a successful former prosecutor. In the fight against the jihadists enemy we welcome the rare Democrat who sounds like a Republican—someone more concerned about fighting the war on terror than whining about so-called global shvitzing.

Joe:

Thanks so very much for the lovely story. As you can see we published it as a separate post.

Please submit more material.

See you in shul.

Psychotoddler:

That's what ordinary Israelis are about, but not the Israeli government. The Olmert government is about appeasement to terrorism and enabling the very people who committed the massacre.

Yonoson:

We are not alone. Israel has many Christian friends in America, millions of them. I hear from scores of these fine people every day. They are better friends to Israel and Judaism than most liberal and leftist Jews.

- Question of you / kudos to you -

Question:

Maybe you had to be there but I fail to see what's so outstanding. The speech you quoted looks like a boring ole political speech - pure pablum. Of course you offer different flavors of pablum to inner city kids than to orthodox jews, but it's still pretty unimpressive paste.

Kudos: You spoke so highly of this fellow even though he's a Democrat - and you never even pointed that out to us (how unbiased your praise is)! Seriously, I'm really impressed. I was dan you inaccurately that the guy was a Repo and that you were simply whowhoing the big man of your (political) tribe. I was wrong (I looked it up) and I bow to you in respect. (My disappointment in your backing Repo policies that are so hurtful to the poorest among us stands unbent and with no diminished sense of righteous indignation, let's be absolutely clear about that, - but I honestly only gave you a 15% chance of your hero {in this post} being a Democrat, and it appears that my wager was placed on the wrong side. I'm pleasantly impressed {by you that is, as mentioned, I see nothing in the gentleman's remarks to be particularly impressed over}.)

mnuez
www.mnuez.blogspot.com

Mnuez:

Thanks so much for your comment. I should clarify, and I again thank you for giving me the opportunity to explain why I was so impressed with Councilman Weiss' remarks.

It seems to me that too many people, in America, Europe and Israel, view the Arab Israeli conflict as merely a regional battle over land and boundaries that could easily be settled through polite negotiations and various concessions.

This is simply not true.

Israel is the major front in the war against international terror. The war, in Israel's case, is most toxic because the Arab-Muslim world is infected, from cradle to grave, with the most coarse Jew-hatred imaginable. This makes the conflict existential.

The Arab-Muslim jihadists seek the destruction of all Jews everywhere, and the Jewish State.

Most of the world would prefer not to face this horrendous truth for the logic of the situation leads to all-out war where Israel and the West will inevitably have to annihilate an Arab entity or two, at least to make a point, if not as the beginning of a final terrible war against jihad.

Finally, Democrat or Republican, we all live in the same world and share the same fate if we lose. Hence, I'm perfectly happy to support anyone who's willing to fight the jihadists and crush them to dust and hell.

On matters Israel-relevant it would appear that we'll have to agree to agree. Where I believe that we may disagree however (though I now realize that we do so less than I had initially thought) is in my own unwillingness to join any political camp based on the occasional and ephemeral allied interest. Despite being disgusted by the fact that I live in a country governed by a political system that will allow a half-brain like GWB to assume the presidency, - I voted for him. I voted for this guy whose policies I dislike and who I believe is a son of privilege with half a brain (well, he had half a brain before the many years of whisky and "coke") because I believe in hakaros hatov. He stood resolutely by Israel (with little to gain for it politically) when the world was ready to string us by our necks.

At the same time, I've managed to resist what I believe has happened to all of YOU (including practically every frum relative and friend).

"We like the Repos because they're (lately) quite pro-Israel. Let's see, can we get ourselves to agree with their other policies (that we've disagreed with vehemently for 50 years)? No!.....Not really......Nah....Well, there are two sides to the matter.....Y'know, they have some good points! The Republican party is sooo much better than those Democrats.....Yes!"

As for specifics, well... Cross Currents is one of my favorite blogs but while outreach folk may seem to baalei tshuvah such as yourself (I believe you largely are, right?)q uite "intellectually open", "tolerant" and "afraid of no argument because they have the emes on their side", they present quite a different face to folk such as myself who... shall we say aren't convinced of the truth of the Torah and are able to make that case somewhat convincingly.

So they ban me. Even when no hashkafic matters are raised, if what I say has anything she'b'anything to do with a subject on which they believe the frummeh velt might disagree, they censor me. Al tiftach peh l'satan, I suppose. All of which is to say that I recently posted on this subject we discussed above in a comment to Rabbi Shafran's piece on the presidential race (here http://www.cross-currents.com/archives/2008/03/06/what-counts-and-what-doesnt-in-a-candidate/ ) and it was deleted. But it's really a good, succinct, view of my thoughts regarding "The Israel Issue" as it melds with other issues at play in the upcoming presidential.

Whether your greatest care is for all living humans, or whether it's only for your own fellow citizens, or whether it's for just your fellow Jews... you should vote Democrat. And why? For one solitary reason: Healthcare available for all.

Almost all of you either HAVE health coverage or are young enough (or of wealthy enough parents) that you don't think you need health coverage. That being the case, you have no understanding of the awesome suffering that millions of your compatriots go through each day as they deal with serious pain and illness and lie about in fear and confusion, internally thrashing about and mentally shrieking meyayin yavo ezri?!?!

There is honestly no excuse for our country to practice such barbarism.

Did you know that some 18,000 Americans DIE each and every year on account of their lacking health coverage? They don't go to doctors or dentists, don't know their options, push off required surgeries, can't get medications, etc. etc. My brothers... flying from New York to Chicago a couple of days ago I sat next to a young German fellow who spoke to me in shock of the fact that there are homeless people in every state of the Union. He explained that such a situation does not exist in Germany where people down on their luck are assisted by the government to the extent that NO ONE needs to be without food, clothing, healthcare and housing. My God! The ugliest nation on Earth, Germany, cares for its people more than we (Americans) do! How can we Yidden accept that or rationalize it??

Ah, but the Republicans will likely be better for Israel...

Ken Zein. I voted for Bush in '04 for precisely that reason. Not on account of some selfless care for acheinu in Eretz hakoidesh, but out of my entirely SELFISH care for myself and my family. We Jews have never had it so well (in terms of the tiny percentage of us tortured or killed by Antisemites) as we have since we fought for, and won, an independent state of our own. All of the kdoishim murdered (around the world) from 1948 until today (around 23,000) are less in number than the amount of our family members who were murdered in ANY THREE DAYS in Auschwitz in 1945. So, if you want your children to be able to stay alive and untortured, you're best served by doing all you can to ensure the continued existence of the Jewish State.

But emes is emes.

At the end of the day, Israel's problems will be ameliorated less than aki hu zeh by the occupation of the Oval Office by a Republican rather than a Democrat. Anyone as familiar with Israel's ills as I am knows that its cancerous factors are real - and that they hardly include the question of who is occupying the Oval Office. The fact that 1 in 3 ISRAELI first graders are Arabs is a serious issue. The fact that 18% (approximately) of "Jewish" Israelis really are not Jewish is a serious issue. The fact that most Israelis have one quarter the Zionist feeling of their parents is a serious issue. V'chulei vchulei.

So, in dealing with a Bari (the 47 million uninsured and countless millions more who are UNDERinsured) and shemah that's more an ILLUSION than any sort of real shemah - I can't help but hold my nose and stand with the Left and do all that I can to bring about a situation where we have a good chance of TRULY saving many many lives - including the lives of a great many of unzereh as well.

Greater access to healthcare is, for me, the SINGLE issue in this electoral cycle.

I hope you'll seriously consider my plea.

Kol Tuv ~

So, R' Robert, there ya have it.

mnuez
www.mnuez.blogspot.com

P.S. We have a friend in common so I would like to make that personal connection with you here in this comment by mentioning him but I'm still trying to maintain some anonymity. It's a lot easier to write that way! :-) Kol Tuv ~

I should briefly add one more important factor that I believe too few people take into consideration.

Our issue with the Amalekite nature of today's Muslims is unlikely to be resolved through (diplomatically or physically) beating these particular Amalekites. As a student of Jewish History I rarely view the world around me as in any way more real than the thousands of years of human (and Jewish) existence that preceded us or that is likely to post-date us. Taken in context therefore, I believe that a more "meta" solution may be required than pressuring the UN not to issue one more condemnation. Whether that solution be the one that Hitler proposed (which would be unhealthy for me, but IS honest enough to view "The Jewish Question" within its larger historical context) or that the Christian World proposes (that appears to me to be laughable silly. A bleeding god-man? Funny stuff!) or the one that frumeh Yidden propose ("mir darf tsheeva teen!" - as if gantz heiligeh communities have not been regularly murdered to the last baby) or the one that Herzl proposed (with somewhat - obviously - mixed results , and even those mixed results appearing to be short-lived in nature) or something else or some mix of a few different ideas.... is a matter for another time. But no one sufficiently versed in the living facts of Jewish History can ever really take the daily vicissitudes of the Jewish situation seriously enough to think that this battle or that battle will truly win the war. We need not just larger weapons, but DIFFERENT ones.

mnuez

P.S. People often take most seriously the very last thing that they've heard. I would ask you though to NOT allow the subject of this latter comment to erase from your concern my earlier comment. There's precious little that you or I are likely to do at this moment with regards to resolving the major troubles of Jewish history. We may however be able to save a few lives and a few hours of suffering in the here and now with regards to the very serious issues relevant to the American world today.

And in ALL of your thoughts on the subject, please remember that while HAVING healthcare does not always suffice to save lives, NOT having healthcare is murdering (this is not hyperbole - http://www.iom.edu/?id=19175 ) THOUSANDS of Americans every day. These are REAL people. People you know and meet and laugh with. It's a fact so chillingly shocking I have a hard time ever being able to think about anything else.