Thursday 11 June 2009

White Supremacists Celebrate Holocaust Museum Shooter Suspect as a Martyr and Hero

White Supremacists Celebrate Holocaust Museum Shooter Suspect as a Martyr and Hero

Posted: June 11, 2009


Following the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum in Washington, D.C., white supremacists and anti-Semites lauded the suspect, James Von Brunn, a longtime neo-Nazi and white supremacist, as a hero and a martyr.

Although he was a peripheral figure in the movement, Von Brunn was respected by fellow white supremacists for his anti-Semitic and racist views, which he has expressed for decades. After the shootings, he was lauded in posts to white supremacist and anti-Semitic Web sites as “an exemplar of the warrior spirit within every White person.”

One individual called himself a “recruit” as a result of the shooting. Other extremists warned that similar attacks are forthcoming and, more specifically, that “filthy jews need to know that they are not safe anywhere.”

Praise for Von Brunn is not new; though he was a peripheral figure in the movement, Von Brunn was respected by fellow white supremacists as he had expressed his vehement anti-Semitic and racist views for decades.

Giving some insight into what might have driven Von Brunn to allegedly take action at the museum, acquaintance and white supremacist John de Nugent cited, as one factor, the election of President Barack Obama as a “tremendous signal of alarm” for Von Brunn. Rage among white supremacists has escalated considerably, as they view the election of a black man as a sign that white people are losing power.

The following is a series of comments taken from white supremacist Web sites in response to the shooting:

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ADL - White Supremacists Celebrate Holocaust Museum Shooter Suspect as a Martyr and Hero

ADL - Shooting At U.S. Holocaust Museum Part Of A 'Wave Of Hate' Against Jews

Shooting At U.S. Holocaust Museum Part Of A 'Wave Of Hate' Against Jews

New York, NY, June 11, 2009 … The shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum by a white supremacist and anti-Semite is not an isolated incident, but is part of a "wave of hate" targeting Jews and others, according to the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), which monitors and fights anti-Semitism and extremism.

"The shooting at the Holocaust Museum is part of a wave of hate targeting Jews and Jewish institutions and others," said Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director. "It serves as a painful reminder that the anti-Semites and racists are still out there, and are more prone to act out on their beliefs."

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ADL - Shooting At U.S. Holocaust Museum Part Of A 'Wave Of Hate' Against Jews

Israel Matzav: Iran to IAEA: Buzz off!

Iran to IAEA: Buzz off!

Iran has denied an IAEA request to install additional surveillance cameras at its Natanz nuclear site.

The diplomats said the Islamic Republic in recent weeks turned down a request from the International Atomic Energy Agency to place one or more additional surveillance cameras at the Natanz enrichment site.

In addition, they said, the agency was concerned Iran would use its recent denial of access to Natanz to agency inspectors seeking a surprise visit as a precedent, further hampering the UN agency's need to increase its oversight.

IAEA spokesman Marc Vidricaire said the agency would have no comment.

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Israel Matzav: Iran to IAEA: Buzz off!

Parshat Beha - Tzipiyah.com

05miscellany_aaron_lighting

Last week’s parshah concluded with the special inaugural sacrifices that were offered by the princes of each Jewish tribe, besides the tribe of Levi. This week’s parshah opens up with the commandment directed towards Aaron, the high priest, to light the holy Menorah (Candelabra) in the Tabernacle. What is the connection between Aaron’s lighting the lamps and the inaugural sacrifices of the princes? Rashi (Rabbi Shlomo Yitzhaqi, 1040-1105, famed as the author of the first comprehensive commentary on the Torah) offers a possible solution:

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Parshat Beha’alotcha: The Lighting of the Lamps

Posted using ShareThis

Madonna announces second concert in Israel this Summer - Haaretz - Israel News

Madonna announces second concert in Israel this Summer - Haaretz - Israel News

Rehearsal for Maccabiah games opening ceremony held in Rishon Letzion - Haaretz - Israel News

Rehearsal for Maccabiah games opening ceremony held in Rishon Letzion - Haaretz - Israel News

Holocaust Museum: No words to express our grief and shock - Haaretz - Israel News

Holocaust Museum: No words to express our grief and shock - Haaretz - Israel News

The seven-word formula - Haaretz - Israel News

The seven-word formula - Haaretz - Israel News

Israel Matzav: 'The Obama administration seems to be the friendliest we have evah had in Washington' says...

'The Obama administration seems to be the friendliest we have evah had in Washington' says...

... The 'Palestinian Authority.'

The more things change, the more they stay the same. "We reiterated our commitment to the Road Map, including the principle of one authority and one weapon for the Palestinians and putting an end to incitement by both the Palestinians and Israelis." [Now there's a canard. No one in Israel incites to kill 'Palestinians.' CiJ]

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Israel Matzav: 'The Obama administration seems to be the friendliest we have evah had in Washington' says...

Israel Matzav: Interview with Phillipe Karsenty

Israel Matzav: Interview with Phillipe Karsenty

Israel Matzav: Bolton: 'Maybe the fallout from an Israeli attack on Iran wouldn't be so bad after all'

Bolton: 'Maybe the fallout from an Israeli attack on Iran wouldn't be so bad after all'

Former US ambassador to the UN John Bolton looks at the likely fallout of an Israeli attack on Iran's nuclear facilities and concludes that Israel's military option is 'unattractive' but failing to act would be 'even worse' (Hat Tip: Hot Air and Memeorandum). Significantly, if Bolton is correct, most of the Iranian response to an Israeli attack would be absorbed by Israel and not by the United States or other western countries. The retaliation would likely come from Hamas and Hezbullah, while Iran's own military response would be less significant. Here are some of the highlights.
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Israel Matzav: Bolton: 'Maybe the fallout from an Israeli attack on Iran wouldn't be so bad after all'

Israel Matzav: Your tax dollars at work

Israel Matzav: Your tax dollars at work

Israel Matzav: Lebanon accuses Israel of garbling its cell phone service

Israel Matzav: Lebanon accuses Israel of garbling its cell phone service

Life in Israel: Have you found this Mattress?

Have you found this Mattress?

The story of the lady in Israel who wanted to surprise her mother with a nice gift but ended up causing a disaster has been picked up by news media all around the world, even CNN.

She bought her mother a new mattress and threw out the old one, hoping to surprise her mother. When dear mother came home and saw the new mattress, she freaked out, as she had been socking away her life's savings in her mattress - to the tune of $1,000,000!

Needless to say, the mattress by then was gone and they could not find it.

The story stopped there, with a nice quote from the daughter about how one must accept the good and the bad.

The story, however, does not really end there. The papers and radio discussed the situation with her. She has not given up and accepted the bad. She is looking for the mattress and money.

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Life in Israel: Have you found this Mattress?

Israel Matzav: JPost confirms: Carter met with Fadlallah

JPost confirms: Carter met with Fadlallah

The Jerusalem Post and al-AP have confirmed a story broken by Debbie Schlussel Wednesday night that former President Jimmy Carter met with Hezbullah spiritual leader Hussein Fadlallah in Lebanon. Of course, you would never know it from the innocuous headline ("Lebanon cleric praises Obama's speech, but calls for action").
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Israel Matzav: JPost confirms: Carter met with Fadlallah

Israel Matzav: 'When things go bad, the Jews become scapegoats'

Israel Matzav: 'When things go bad, the Jews become scapegoats'

Israel Matzav: Brit Zedek v'Shalom trying to line people up to detonate the US - Israel alliance

Israel Matzav: Brit Zedek v'Shalom trying to line people up to detonate the US - Israel alliance

Israel Matzav: French pilots union says not to fly Airbus 330 and 340

Israel Matzav: French pilots union says not to fly Airbus 330 and 340

Israel Matzav: Reverend Wright: The full interview

Reverend Wright: The full interview

Here's Reverend Wright's full statement to the Hampton Road Press' David Squires. It's even worse than what was reported.
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Israel Matzav: Reverend Wright: The full interview

Israel Matzav: Mullahs throwing Ahmadinejad under the bus?

Mullahs throwing Ahmadinejad under the bus?

In the final days leading up to the Iranian Presidential election it's beginning to appear that the Mullahs are throwing incumbent Mahmoud Ahamdinejad under the bus in favor of his 'reformist' rival Mir Hossein Mousavi.

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Israel Matzav: Mullahs throwing Ahmadinejad under the bus?

Israel Matzav: Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Iran

Israel Matzav: Defense Minister Ehud Barak on Iran

Israel Matzav: Likud to Bibi: 'Leave it out'

Israel Matzav: Likud to Bibi: 'Leave it out!'

TWO STATE SOLUTION: WE'VE BEEN HERE BEFORE

Two State Solution: We've Been Here Before

Netanyahu will give a speech in three days in which he'll accept the two state solution, as demanded by Obama, but also - it's worth noting - as officially accepted by his three predecessors Olmert, Sharon and Barak, and implicitly accepted by their three predecessors Netanyahu Peres and Rabin. We're a democracy, and in democracies newly elected governments are bound to international obligations made by their predecessors. Otherwise, no international order would be possible.

So on that level Netanyahu will simply be putting an end to a three-month hiatus of childish behavior, of pretending to live in Never-Never-Land; these three months caused a degree of damage to Israel that, while not being of major significance, was totally predictable and completely unnecessary.

Yesterday Netanyahu went through the preparatory act required of prominent right-wing leaders as they move to the center on this matter: they stand in front of their party stalwarts, and explain that wielding power requires recognizing reality and relinquishing silly slogans. Olmert had such a moment; Tzipi Livni had more than one; Arik Sharon had a memorable one in 2004; Netanyahu already had one in 1996 but he forgot; even Ezer Weizman had such a moment, back in the mid-1980s. In all cases Benny Begin rejects the thesis, and is joined by whatever party hacks happen to be in the Knesset at the moment - Tzipi Hotovely, this time. (You've never heard of her. She's young, feisty, and in about 15 years she'll stand before Benny Begin and his ephemeral cohorts and tell them that wielding power means recognizing reality).

A more interesting question is if Netanyahu will do what he has to do with good grace, or with surly nit-picking. Good grace means being explicit: we wish to live in peace with the Palestinians, each in our own state. Surly nit-picking means saying the same while pretending you're not: We wish to live in peace with the Palestinians according to the road map and after they fulfill all their obligations and we'll be watching like vultures for any traces they're cheating.

Requiring the Palestinians to fulfill their obligations is of course necessary - but it doesn't have to be the theme of your speech.

For intelligent good grace, Netanyahu could do worse than to lift his speech from today's column by Ari Shavit. Shavit is one of the many Israelis who mirror Netanyahu: the lefties who have accepted that wielding power means relinquishing silly slogans, in their case the slogans about justice for the Palestinians will bring everlasting peace etc. Shavit's thesis: the Two State Solution won't work, unless it reflects a two nation solution. It's a fine column. If you can, read the Hebrew original here; if you can't, read the very poor English translation here

Then, once you finish all that, I warmly recommend the bracing analysis of none other than Agha and Malley, here. This may possibly be the first time ever that I've approvingly recommended anything by the Hussein Agha-Robert Malley duo. Usually I find them quite exasperating. In this most recent effort of theirs, however, they explain

If, despite this desolate landscape, the Obama administration nonetheless is
determined to push for a final agreement, it could be because the President has
something else in mind. At some point, he might intend to bypass negotiations
between the parties and, with support from a broad international coalition
including Arab countries, Russia, and the European Union, present them with a
detailed two-state agreement they will be hard-pressed to reject. The concept
stems from the notion that, left to their own devices, the Israeli and
Palestinian leaderships are incapable of reaching an accord and that they will
need all the pressure and persuasion the world can muster to take the last,
fateful steps.

It is one option. But before jumping toward it, basic issues should be
explored. Getting the leaders to endorse a peace deal will be no mean feat, but
it is not the only and perhaps not the most substantial challenge. The other
question is how in the current climate the Israeli and Palestinian people would
welcome a two-state solution. Would they view it as authentic or illegitimate?
Would they see it as ending their conflict or merely opening its next round?
Would it be more effective at mobilizing supporters or at galvanizing opponents?
What, in short, would a two-state solution actually solve?


Their analysis (the first two thirds of their article) is very interesting, and shows, from an unexpected direction, why the two-state solution could easily not bring peace even if the international community were to force it upon two sides who cannot agree on it by their own. Precisely because it doesn't address the fundamental issues. Their recommendation at the end seem vague hollow and unconvincing, but no-one's perfect.
taken from : Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations

Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Pot Calls Kettle "Terrorist"

Yaacov Lozowick's Ruminations: Pot Calls Kettle "Terrorist"

The Torah Revolution: Plocker's baseless assumprion

The Torah Revolution: Plocker's baseless assumprion

The Torah Revolution: Let's fight normalization

The Torah Revolution: Let's fight normalization

Israel Matzav: Bolton on Obama's foreign policy: Like Bush's second term, only worse

Bolton on Obama's foreign policy: Like Bush's second term, only worse




Former American ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton rips President Obama for his 'apology tour' and his abandonment of allies.


Conservative foreign policy is unabashedly pro-American, unashamed of American exceptionalism, unwilling to bend its knee to international organizations, and unapologetic about the need for the fullest range of dominant military capabilities. Its diplomacy is neither unilateralist nor multilateralist, but chooses its strategies, tactics, means and methods based on a hard-headed assessment of U.S. national interests, not on theologies about process. Most especially, conservatives understand that allies are different from adversaries, and that each should be treated accordingly.

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Israel Matzav: Bolton on Obama's foreign policy: Like Bush's second term, only worse

Chesler Chronicles » Women’s Rights Activists put Israel-bashing before their cause.

Women’s Rights Activists put Israel-bashing before their cause.

‘Tis true: No good deed goes unpunished. But it’s also true that those who perform good deeds are not that easily stopped.

Most bloggers are pleased when another blogger links to their site. It means that their information will reach more readers. Being linked to is usually viewed as an honor: The blogger’s work has been recognized as valuable.

However, this is not true for the website known as “Women Living Under Muslim Laws” (WLUML). Apparently, they want their information made available only to those who march lock-step along with them on other, ostensibly unrelated subjects. WLUML does not want to be “tainted” by any affiliation with a website, (in this case, mine), a site that also links to the work of…certain people.

I have just launched a new and streamlined website at www.phyllis-chesler.com and thus, I’ve begun to systematically link to other websites. Since I have also just published one of the first academic studies of honor killings in the West, and in the distinguished journal Middle East Quarterly, I decided to link to other websites that are also concerned with the plight of Muslim women.

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Chesler Chronicles » Women’s Rights Activists put Israel-bashing before their cause.

UNIVERSAL TORAH: BEHA'ALOSCHA

UNIVERSAL TORAH: BEHA'ALOSCHA


By Rabbi Avraham Greenbaum

Torah Reading: Numbers 8:1-12:16
Haftara: Zechariah 2:14-4:7

* * *

After the dedication of the Sanctuary -- the portable Temple and repository of the Torah -- the Children of Israel were almost ready to start the journey to the Land of Israel. The purpose was to fulfill the mission of Abraham, the founding father: to take the Ark of the Covenant up to Jerusalem so that the light of the Torah would shine from Mount Moriah to the entire world.

The opening sections of BEHA'ALOSCHA set forth some final details relating to the Sanctuary and its services (the lighting of the Menorah, the inauguration of the Levites and their service, the law of the Second Pesach). The Torah then relates the miraculous Divine providence visible in the encampment and journeyings of the Children of Israel in the wilderness. The sections dealing with the Sanctuary conclude with the command to Moses to make trumpets, after which the Torah relates the Children of Israel's momentous first journey from Sinai towards the Promised Land.

* * *

UNTIL THE FLAME GOES UP BY ITSELF

Rashi explains the thematic connection between the opening verses of BEHA'ALOSCHA, about the Menorah, and the concluding section of last week's parshah of NASO:

"When Aaron saw the dedication offering of the Princes of the Tribes, he became demoralized because neither he nor his tribe was with them. The Holy One blessed be He said to him: By your life, yours is greater than theirs, because you kindle and tend the lights" (Rashi on the opening verse of our Parshah).

The Consecration of the Sanctuary and the offerings of the Princes were events of cosmic significance containing the keys of creation -- but they were one-time events. The service of Aaron and his tribe were daily.

The service of the Priest (Aaron, Chessed) is to light the Menorah. Each one of us is the Priest in charge of the lighting of our own Candelabrum: allowing the light of DA'AS, the understanding of G-d, to shine out from its source, in the Sanctuary, before the Holy of Holies, into our souls, minds and hearts. But how can we attain DA'AS?: "An amazing wonder is DA'AS, it is exalted far above me, I cannot reach it" (Psalms 139:6). How can a human being possibly attain the light of DA'AS, knowledge of the Infinite G-d? This is the work of the priest, whose task is to tend the lights and kindle them.

Rabbi Nachman explains that the lights of the Candelabrum that each one of us, as priest, must tend, are the seven lamps of the face: the two eyes, two ears, two nostrils and the mouth. We tend the eyes by not looking on evil (i.e. by not gazing at and lingering over evil temptations, and by seeing not the bad everywhere but the good). We tend the ears by heeding the words of the wise and their reproof. We tend the nostrils by breathing into ourselves the fear and awe of G-d, knowing that our very lives depend upon Him. We tend the mouth by not speaking falsehood -- EVIL SPEECH.

The priest must light the lamps "until the flame goes up by itself". Rabbi Nachman explains that when we do our work of tending the lamps, as detailed above, DA'AS will come upon us of itself, and we will be able to understand things that we could not understand before. DA'AS is obviously a spiritual understanding which we may not even be able to put into words. Spiritual understanding is metaphorically called "light", and "shines" in the form of "Seven Clouds of Glory" (i.e. from all directions). These are a surrounding canopy of holiness. From this canopy -- dark in relation to its Infinite Source, but a protective cloud radiating light to the camp below) shines the light of DAAS. The way to attain this light is by tending the lamps of the Menorah, as above. (Likutey Moharan I:21).

* * *

THE LABOR OF THE LEVITES

After the account of the daily service of the Priest (CHESSED) in each one of us, we come to the inauguration of the Levites (GEVURAH) and their service: the guarding of the Sanctuary/Temple and singing during the sacrificial services.

In the Generation of the Wilderness, the Levites carried the parts of the portable Sanctuary on the journeys. The highest service was that of carrying the golden Ark of the Covenant through the wilderness until it would reach its place in the Holy of Holies in Jerusalem. From there the light of the Torah would shine to all the world.

It is said of the carrying of the Ark of the Covenant that, while its bearers were apparently carrying it, in truth it was carrying its bearers. However, this was a one-time service of the Levites in the Generation of Wilderness. After the entry into the Land of Israel, the essential service of the Levites that remained for all times was that of singing during the Temple services.

Why does this require GEVURAH? It may seem that singing is a simple, pleasant task that should be associated with CHESSED. Yet we see with our own eyes how hard it is to sing. It's not the singing itself that is so hard: in fact, once you start, like the Ark of the Covenant, which carried its bearers, the song carries you. What is hard is to START singing.

This is sadly apparent in today's MIKDASH ME'AT, the "portable Temple" that should be the Sanctuary of the Children of Israel in all their habitations, the BEIS HAKNESSES, the House of Gathering of the Children of Israel -- the SYNAGOGUE. There are some in which a good (or bad) Chazan is paid to sing, and occasionally a choir, and this may be inspiring. In many, however, there is an embarrassed prayer leader and a heavy congregation reluctant to get any form of SINGING.

It is this heavy, depressed reluctance to start singing (people start looking at their watches) that must be overcome with GEVURAH, forcing ourselves to sing. The act of "force" need not be brutish. Often all that is needed is just starting to lightly hum the NIGUN (melody), then keep going until the grace and beauty of the melody itself takes over, and the Ark of the Covenant carries its bearers.

The commandment of the Service of the Levites completes the account of the Sanctuary indicating the supreme importance of song in the Temple/Synagogue Service. Singing in prayer is a unique human ability that even the angels wait to hear. It is the crowning moment of the Service. We may want to hurry the prayers so we can get away from the Synagogue, but instead we "slaughter the animal", "sacrifice ourselves" and stand there singing instead. The song is made up of air, RU'ACH, spirit. The song is GEVURAH, sifting the animal RU'ACH, the side that wants to run away and occupy ourselves with the secular world, from the uniquely human RU'ACH -- the air of our songs. This air or RU'ACH is the vessel through which the even higher faculty of DA'AT is able to enter and dwell, and then everything is complete: the Meat is on the Table (the sacrifice), the Lights are kindled (the Menorah) and the Choir are singing.

* * *

THE SECOND PESACH

"The Second Pesach" has two senses in connection with our parshah. In the first sense, so far there had only been one Pesach: the night of the Exodus from Egypt. The celebration of the one-time Second Pesach, a year later, free in the Wilderness, recipients of the Torah, with the Sanctuary newly erected, was itself an event. It showed that the Exodus, as the foundational event of the People, was henceforth to be institutionalized as an annual experience with the slaughter of the lamb on Passover.

The sacrifice could only be offered by those in a state of ritual purity. So central to the attachment of the Individual to the Nation is this annual sacrifice (failure to bring the sacrifice makes one liable to excision) that some provision had to be made for those who were unable to bring it in its proper time on 14 Nissan. This might be because they were far away and unable to reach thTemple, or because of defilement for any one of a number of naturally recurrent reasons (contact with the dead, menstrual impurity, etc.) Accordingly they were given a "second chance" on the annual PESACH SHENI, Second Pesach (in the second sense of the term!) institutionalized now in Torah law.

The Torah narrates in our Parshah how this vital national law, integral to the annual functioning of the Temple as the central focus of the Children of Israel, came to be revealed because when G-d commanded them in the wilderness to observe the one-time "Second Pesach" on 14 Nissan, one year after the Exodus, a number of people in the camp were ritually impure.

Knowing there was no way they could participate in the celebration of this awesome one-time event -- institutionalizing for all time the annual celebration of the anniversary of the Exodus with the eating of the Paschal Lamb, they felt they had LOST OUT. They felt denied this central act of communion with fellows because of extraneous natural reasons: they had to attend to the dead.

"Why should we be worse off, not to be able to offer the sacrifice of HaShem in its appointed time among the Children of Israel" (Numbers 9:7). (The offering of the Paschal Lamb in the Sanctuary Temple was accompanied by the full Levitical choir and orchestra singing the Hallel, an awesome experience.)

"Why should we be worse off?" There was no way that they could offer the Sacrifice but they longed to be able to. It was their longing that elicited the commandment of Pesach Sheni, the annual "Second Pesach" that gave a SECOND CHANCE to those who lost out the first time -- a tremendous act of love and compassion.

Longing and yearning elicits love and compassion. It is our longing for the Second Pesach, the Pesach of GEULAH, when we too, now impure through contact with the dead etc., will have a SECOND CHANCE and won't have to feel we lost out because we didn't experience the Pesach in Jerusalem.

* * *

THE CLOUDS OF GLORY and MOSES' TRUMPETS

As indicated above, the Clouds of Glory constitute an exalted state of consciousness in which a high DA'AS, knowledge of G-d, dwells, because we seek to sanctify ourselves and order our lives in the proper order (the Israelite camp). With DA'AS one can understand that everything that happens is under G-d's control: there are times when you stay still for different periods, times when you have to venture and journey for different periods.

We may wonder when we will come to the end of the journey through the wilderness? When will we reach the Promised Land? We know when the Generation of the Wilderness reached the Promised Land, but when will OUR generation get there? When will we see the Ingathering of the Faithful to the Holy Temple on Mount Moriah, from which the Torah will shine to the world? When will WE sing the Hallel in Jerusalem?

The answer is given in our parshah, in the commandment given to Moses: "Make for yourself two trumpets of silver." (Numbers 10:2).

Moses is the central NESHAMAH, the root soul of all the Children of Israel. Moses, who brings the TORAH to Israel, must be in command. In his hand are the trumpets to summon the Children of Israel and their leaders together. In addition, in the Temple, the Priests had trumpets which were sounded.

One of the occasions for sounding these Trumpets of Moses -- Trumpeting the TORAH of Moses -- is in times of war. "When you come to war in your land against the enemy oppressing you [such as now], and you shall BLAST ON THE TRUMPETS [the trumpets of the Torah of Moses] and you will be remembered before the Lord your G-d and you will be saved from your enemies" (Numbers 10:9). The verse speaks of war in the land against THE enemy. Asks the Midrash: "Who is THE enemy? This is in the war of Gog and Magog, after which there will no longer be any enslavement to the nations" (Sifrey).

It is in this war against Gog and Magog that we will be remembered before G-d when we hear the blast of the Trumpet of Moses, making us remember the Torah of Sinai.

* * *

THE JOURNEY THROUGH THE WILDERNESS

The Torah account of the one-time journey of the Generation of the Wilderness is a paradigm of the entire history of the Children of Israel. Before we arrive at the trials and tribulations, the Torah sets forth the ideal form in which the Children of Israel advance through history, organized into tribes and families travelling in formation.

As the Children of Israel set off on their journey from their historical place of encampment at Sinai, where the Torah came into the world, Moses (root soul of the Children of Israel, HEVEL or ABEL) makes his eloquent appeal to Jethro, the archetypal GER TZEDEK, Righteous Proselyte (KAYIN or CAIN) to link and journey together (reconciled brothers: TIKUN).

Only when the Jew and the Righteous Gentile link together on this journey through time can the Torah dwell in the Promised Land and shine forth from Mount Moriah. [Yael, righteous proselyte wife of Hever HaKeini, Jethro's descendent, delivered Israel from Sisera; Ruth (same letters as Jethro) was the great grandmother of David, who made the Torah rule in Israel. Shmayah and Avtalion, Rabbi Akiva and Rabbi Meir and many other important Israelites were from families of proselytes. Sometimes the proselytes shames the Israelite, because the proselyte exposes his weaknesses, having become tired after years on the road, while the proselyte is fresh with the clear vision of the beginning, the Exodus, which we have to re-experience each year at Pesach.

* * *

THE INVERTED NUNN'S

"And it was with the travelling of the Ark, and Moses said: Arise HaShem and let your enemies be scattered and those who hate you will flee from before you. And with its resting, he will say: Return HaShem to the tens of thousands of thousands of Israel" (Numbers 10:35-6).

In the Torah scroll, these two verses, the opening verses of the sixth Aliyah, are preceded and followed by an inverted letter NUNN. The two verses are thus set off apart, as a separate entity. (A scroll with 85 letters, corresponding to the number of letters in this parshah, halachically has the same status as a Torah scroll and must be treated with the proper respect.) The two verses are of central importance in the entire Torah. It is when Moses stands up, blasting forth the TORAH OF HASHEM, that G-d's providence is shown in scattering the enemies of Israel and returning His indwelling Presence to the longing and yearning thousands and thousands.

The rabbis taught that although we normally speak of the Five Books of Moses, there are really Seven, because these two verses constitute a separate book by themselves. The two verses divide the Book Numbers into all that came before and all that comes afterwards. What came before is one book. What will come afterwards is another. And these two verses are a book in themselves, making Seven Books of the Torah. These are the Seven Clouds of Glory that accompany us on all our journeys, shining the light of DA'AS to us at all times.

Why was it necessary to make a separation between all of the book of Numbers that came before these two verses and all that comes afterwards? With the census of the people, erection of the Sanctuary and the ordering of the Camp of the Israelites in its proper order, the entire Order of Creation in its ideal form was complete.

From now on, the task was to actually take the Torah up to Zion. To go on the journey. Actually implementing and adhering to the Torah day to day on the arduous journey of life, amidst all the trials of the wilderness is an entirely different story.

The two verses separate between the Ideal and the Actual. One of the two verses speaks about a state of war. The other speaks about a state of peace. In each case it is Moses who must speak, to bring the Divine Presence upon Israel. "And Moses said.. And he will say."

* * *

THE SCHOOLBOY RUNS AWAY

The rabbis said that they left Sinai like a schoolboy running from school (or like worshippers after the service). There is a side that simply rebels against the discipline of Torah and Mitzvos, the same dry diet of words and letters on a scroll, songs, prayers amore prayers, day after day. "MANNA". Spiritual sustenance. Great! But what about some Coke?

As soon as the real, actual hardship of the wilderness become apparent during the first three days of the journey, the first complaints began to be heard about FLESH. Man is made of two sides, the Spiritual and the Physical: that is his entire challenge in life. Dinning out the Trumpets of Moses, Trumpets of the Torah, are the cries of our appetites and desires for physical comforts and pleasures like in Egypt, where they come HINNOM, "free" (free of the burdens of Torah and mitzvos, see Rashi on Numbers 11:5).

The admixture of yeast in the dough, the ERUV RAV ("Mixed Multitude", the opposite of the Righteous Proselyte, the fallen HEVEL, Bilaam) raise their voices in LOSHON HORA, evil speech, about the dull, boring diet: the Manna. The source of all evil lies in evil speech. [Thus today, in the time of exile in the war of Gog and Magog, aspersions are cast upon the Diet of Moses, Manna, Torah, and upon Moses himself, in the form of the true Talmidey Chachamim, who are considered to smell putrid in the time of Mashiach. The aspersions are cast by the ERUV RAV, those who lust for the material world and those led astray by them.]

Moses could not take it. If his voice was not going to be heard, what was the point of living?

The only solution was to spread the spirit of Moses around among the people, kindling from Moses' MENORAH of Prophecy and lighting up 70 other Prophets, making a Sanhedrin of 70 Elders with Moses, the root of the Tree, at the Center: the King. These would bring the prophetic spirit back to the people.

When Moses is King, order is restored, DA'AS reigns, and we learn that material lust is from the side of death and must be buried. That first stop on the journey through the wilderness was named "The Graves of Lust" -- "for that is where they buried the people who had the lust" (Numbers 11:35). It is necessary to overthrow the ERUV RAV and to make Moses the king.

* * *

THE UNIQUENESS OF MOSES

Our parshah contains G-d's own testimony about the uniqueness of "My servant Moses, who is faithful in all My House." (Numbers 12:7). This too was occasioned by a one-time event, a nearly fatal sin of LASHON HARA that is to be inscribed daily in our memories: "Remember what the L-rd your G-d did to Miriam on the road when you went out of Egypt" (Deuteronomy 24:9). Miriam criticized Moses.

Even the saintliest are human. Sometimes even they may be tempted to cover over and disguise their own faint residue of pride under a veneer of piety. "Why is he any different?"

Only Moses is beyond all pride. "And the man Moses was very humble more than all man on the face of the earth" (Numbers 12:3).

Evil speech kills. The punishment is "death" -- leprosy, the withdrawal of life and vitality from the flesh.

Only Moses can bring healing. "G-d, please, heal -- please -- her". The voice of Moses must be heard.

Shabbat Shalom!!!

Avraham Yehoshua Greenbaum

--
AZAMRA INSTITUTE
PO Box 50037 Jerusalem 91500 Israel
Website: www.azamra.org

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Israel Matzav: What Holocaust denial among 'Palestinians' and other Arabs means for peace prospects

What Holocaust denial among 'Palestinians' and other Arabs means for peace prospects

In Wednesday's Washington Post, Michael Gerson does a survey of the prevalence of Holocaust denial among the 'Palestinians' and in the Arab world generally, and then reaches a conclusion regarding the prospects for 'peace' that appears to be spot on.

The politics of conspiracy and victimhood makes it infinitely more difficult to confront the real sources of social, economic and political dysfunction in the broader Middle East.

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Israel Matzav: What Holocaust denial among 'Palestinians' and other Arabs means for peace prospects

Kid Abelha - Como eu quero

My thanks to Elena 17 for posting this.
Obrigado Elena.!!!

Israel Matzav: Israel's robot snake (with video)

Israel's robot snake (with video)

Israel is developing a robot snake to enter narrow trenches and destroyed building.

A robot snake with a camera and microphone in its head is the IDF's latest battlefield weapon, according to a Channel 2 report broadcast Monday.

The channel showed video of the snake twisting into caves, tunnels, cracks and buildings, broadcasting pictures and sound back to a soldier controlling it with a laptop computer.

The "snake" appeared to be about six feet (two meters) long. Covered by fabric in military camouflage colors, it slithered along the ground and climbed rocks, its segments connected with joints that flexed in several different directions. Channel 2 said military researchers studied real snakes to copy their movements.

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Israel Matzav: Israel's robot snake (with video)

Israel Matzav: Breaking : Two women with Israeli passports arrested in Beirut Airport

Israel Matzav: Breaking : Two women with Israeli passports arrested in Beirut Airport

Israel Matzav: No way: Hezbullah would cease to exist if the Israeli-'Palestinian' conflict were resolved

No way: Hezbullah would cease to exist if the Israeli-'Palestinian' conflict were resolved

General David Petraeus, the chief of CENTCOM, made an outrageous statement last week that has raised a lot of eyebrows. He said that were the Israeli-'Palestinian' conflict to be resolved, Hezbullah would cease to exist. That's absurd.

Just prior to the Lebanese elections — elections that Hezbollah lost, thank goodness — Gen. Petraeus spoke with the Arabic-language al-Hayat newspaper, published by the Lebanese Daily Star, and blamed the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for the existence of Hezbollah. “Hezbollah’s justifications for existence will become void,” Petraeus said, “if the Palestinian cause is resolved.”

Reda All at :

Israel Matzav: No way: Hezbullah would cease to exist if the Israeli-'Palestinian' conflict were resolved
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