Newton's Third Law: HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Lech Lecha 5775

BS”D  Parashat Lech Lecha 5775  Rabbi Nachman Kahana EQUAL AND OPPOSITE FORCES Avram and his entourage returned safely from Egypt where they accumulated incredible wealth. And as it has been from time immemorial, to this day, and well into the foreseeable future, great wealth most often invigorates even the most dormant ego (the difference between a pane of glass which permits one to see out to others and a mirror where one sees only himself is the thin veneer of silver on one side of the mirror). Lot and his aggressive shepherds were now in a bitter dispute with Avram’s shepherds over how to graze their animals. Lot’s shepherds would take their animals into other people’s fields, and Avram’s shepherds would reproach them for violating the Halacha of respecting the property of others. After appraising the nearly irreparable damage to his teachings, Avram suggested to Lot that the families part ways (13,8-9): ויאמר אברם אל לוט אל נא תהי מריבה ביני ובינך ובין רעי ובין רעיך כי אנשים אחים אנחנו: הלא כל הארץ לפניך הפרד נא מעלי אם השמאל ואימנה ואם הימין ואשמאילה: And Avram said to Lot, “Please, let us not have any quarreling between you and me, or between your herders and mine, for we are close relatives. Is not the whole land before you? Let us part company. If you go to the left (north), I will go to the right (south); if you go to the right, I will go to the left.” Rashi quotes a Midrash: הסיע עצמו מקדמונו של עולם אמר אי אפשי לא באברם ולא באלהיו: Lot distanced himself from the Creator and said, “I do not want to be associated with Avram or with his God.” The Action-Reaction Law Avram’s great piety vs. Lot’s extremely heretical reaction to Avram’s halachic requirements brings to mind Newton’s Third Law of Motion, which states: All forces exist in pairs. When object A exerts a force (FA) on object B, then B simultaneously exerts an equal and opposite force (FB) on A. Hence, all forces are interactions between different bodies, so that there is no such thing as a force that acts on only one body. This law is also referred to as the Action-Reaction Law. Here is an illustration. A person pushes against the floor when he walks, and the floor simultaneously pushes against the person. The tires of a car push against the road, while the road pushes back on the tires. A swimmer pushes the water backward, while the water simultaneously pushes the person forward—both the person and the water push against each other and the two forces are equal and opposite. The holy, pious Avram was exerting intense pressure on Lot to live an halachic life – to be honest and respect the property rights of others. Lot found it more lucrative to “round off” the sharp corners of Halacha and permitted his shepherds to graze the flocks wherever they pleased, while disregarding the damage he was doing to his uncle Avram’s success in converting the idol-worshipping Canaanites to his teachings. In keeping with Newton’s Third Law, Lot exerted an equal but opposite force against Avram, which took the form of extreme anti-Halacha atheism. If Avram went to the north, Lot would go to the diametrical opposite south. If Avram went to the south, Lot would go to the diametrical opposite north. Newton’s Third Law states that the opposite force has the same intensity as the original force. Therefore, we can measure Lot’s decadence by measuring Avram’s virtues, Lot’s depravity by measuring Avram’s purity, Avram’s obedience to HaShem by Lot’s immorality and Avram’s kindness by measuring Lot’s wickedness. Avram travels the lanes of the Holy Land and Lot settles in Sedom! The Anti-Semite Reacts Newton’s Third Law of motion has contemporary political implications and serves to identify much of present-day conduct between people and nations. The growing and very dangerous point and counterpoint of today’s world, with its potential for world war, are the actions of Medinat Yisrael vs. the reactions of anti-Semites. Each exerts force on the other, creating equal but opposite forces. The unprecedented return of the Jewish people to the Holy Land and the Medina’s success in all fields of endeavor exert huge forces that challenge Christian and Islamic belief that the Creator rejected the Jewish people. The anti-Semite reacts with opposition to the very idea of a Jewish State by seeking to destroy the forces that created the State through boycotts, sanctions, divestments and anti-Israel resolutions in the United Nations. And as the anti-Semite exerts his force on the Medina, we react with opposing force by population growth, urban and rural expansion, military strength and prestige, spiritual ascent, scientific breakthroughs and so much more. We can measure the extent of our progress by measuring the intensity of the hatred of our enemies, and we can conclude that the degree of their hatred can be measured by the breathtaking progress of the Jewish State. As the world’s economic, political, social and security indicators fall, the parallel indicators of the Jewish State will show “equal but opposite” results. Excerpt from My Autobiography Fifty-Eight years ago today, on the 29th of October, war broke out between England, France and Israel against Egypt, known here as the Sinai Campaign. The following is an excerpt regarding that war from my soon-to-be-published (B”H) autobiography. Teachers Who Changed My Life During the day, I was a student at the Rabbi Jacob Joseph Yeshiva in New York’s lower East Side, and attended night school at City College. The class was very large, numbering several hundred students. I was one of only three who wore kippot. It was the night when the “Sinai Campaign” broke out. At the end of the session, a swarthy-looking student – much older than we three yeshiva boys – approached us and asked what we intended to do about the war. I recall answering “There is nothing we can do.” He then told us that he was an Egyptian soldier and was returning to Egypt to take part in the fighting. At that moment, I felt the profundity of his words. That goy was a true brother to his countrymen; but we yeshiva students were, in the best case, no more than half-brothers to our people struggling for their lives in the effort to defend Eretz Yisrael. We did not share the day-to-day experiences of life in Eretz Yisrael, so we did not merit to feel the pain or partake in the struggles of our brothers and sisters in Eretz Yisrael. The following morning, I was certain that the Rosh Yeshiva would deliver words of encouragement and prayer for our brothers in Eretz Yisrael. However, the hours passed with no sign of impending speeches by any of the rabbis, and it became apparently clear to me that the Torah being taught there was more appropriate for pre-World War Two Eastern European yeshivot, but totally out of synchronization with what was transpiring in our changing world where the Medina, and all that it implies, will be the fulcrum of Jewish life until the Mashiach. On that day, the words of an anonymous Egyptian soldier (who, by the way, never returned to the class) and the absence of words by my rabbis had changed my life forever. I knew that, as a son of Am Yisrael, I would live in Eretz Yisrael and, in the right time, it is there where I would return my soul to HaShem. Shabbat Shalom, Nachman Kahana Copyright © 5775/2014 Nachman Kahana

A New Start for the Jerusalem Rabbinate

By Rabbi Yisrael Rosen Dean of the Zomet Institute

"And Malki-Tzedek, King of Shalem, took out bread and wine, and he was a priest of the exalted G-d" [Bereishit 14:18]. New Rabbis after some Complications After ten or eleven years that the exalted post of the Rabbi of Jerusalem was not filled (since the passing of Rabbi Yitzchak Kulitz and Rabbi Shalom Mashash in 2003), the void has now been filled with the new elections of two candidates, Rabbi Shlomo Moshe Amar and Rabbi Aryeh Stern. The position of Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem is indeed exalted and honorable, possibly the most prestigious job of its type in the world, and former Chief Rabbis include such legendary luminaries as Rabbi Yisrael Salant and Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook, along with a long list of prominent rabbis, both Ashkenazim and Sephardim. The current choice of these two rabbis involved both complex political struggles and intricate legal delays. However, this obstacle course is now behind us, and we can hope to derive pleasure from the activities of the newly-chosen rabbis, and especially from their joint activities on our behalf. All of the struggles and the manipulated deals, and all the administrative and legal twists and turns, were centered on one question only: Is there a possibility for the religious Zionist movement to find a suitable rabbi who will be accepted by a majority of his colleagues? The question was never whether a candidate was appropriate for the job of rabbi of Jerusalem, but rather where he came from and in which surroundings he developed. Rejection or Inclusion? Indeed, I admit that as far as the residents of Jerusalem are concerned it does not matter very much which rabbi was chosen or from which "sector" he comes. In fact, for more than ten years the city continued on its way without a Chief Rabbi, and the sky did not fall. And it seems to me that the religious services of the city continued to operate, for better or for worse, even without a "ruler in the palace/capital." And I also admit that the question of how the Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem will behave is nowhere near as important as the key question of the elections themselves: Can Torah Zionism succeed in achieving a prominent position within the rabbinate or not? To put it even more bluntly – as far as I can tell the character of and the role played by the Jerusalem rabbinate would be virtually the same no matter if it would be directed by Rabbi Moshe Chaim Lau, the Chassid, Rabbi Aryeh Stern, the Zionist, or Rabbi Eliyahu Shlezinger, the "Lita'i." They are all well-liked, they are all clear in their statements, they are all pleasant to others, and they all know the same Torah. But now we come to the sharp blade of contention within the Beit Midrash: Will the camp (or camps) of the Chareidim admit that the above statement is true? And here the answer is well known, it is a resounding "NO!" To our great sorrow, there is a complete lack of symmetry between the Chareidi and the religious Zionist camps with respect to mutual recognition of relevance to Torah and showing respect for prominent rabbis. Based on tradition, the Chareidi Torah giants are recognized and honored by the Torah Zionist camp. Their books are studied in detail, as is clearly seen on the walls of the Batei Midrash, where the books by Chareidi rabbis are displayed prominently. However, on the other side there is open rejection instead of respect, contempt instead of appreciation, and disregard instead of a show of interest. I am not referring only to books about philosophy and faith or even books about current issues in halacha (such as "Techumin," which deals with Torah, society, and the state, or books that deal with halacha in the army and modern economics). Rather, I am referring to books that are strictly analytical or involve pure halacha. Perhaps the best example of this is the edition of the Talmud "Halacha Berura U'Birur Halacha" edited by Rabbi Aryeh Stern, the newly-elected Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem. Evidently the twenty-five tractates of this treatise cannot be found in any of the Chareidi yeshivot, even though it consists purely of collections of all the opinions of the early commentators for each passage in the Talmud. Matters even went so far that one of the Lita'i "mashgichim" commanded that a single volume that was displayed as an advertisement be removed immediately, striking the table and declaring that he would "resign if this book is allowed to enter our holy place," or something similar. And why is this so? It is totally unacceptable for them to acknowledge or to allow a belief that Torah can exist among the "goyim" who studied at Yeshivat Merkaz Harav and its subsidiary yeshivot! However, in the end truth will prevail! There is valid Torah in the Torah Zionist camp, there are yeshivot and kollelim, there are rabbinical judges and authors, there are philosophers and educators, there are people with outstanding personal traits and wise men who can take part in halachic disputes ("baalei terissin" – see Berachot 27b). And... now there is a Chief Rabbi in Jerusalem! I have a rabbi, my brother!      * * * * * * The first time Jerusalem is mentioned in the Torah is in this week's Torah portion, in the verse quoted above, where it is called Shalem. There is also a hint of the rabbis of Jerusalem in the verse, with the name Malki-Tzedek. "Who are the kings (melech)? They are the Torah scholars." (See Gittin 62a, commenting on the verse, "Kings will rule over me" [Mishlei 8:15].) In the Midrash, the sages note that Malki-Tzedek was Shem, the son of Noach (Rashi). He was the innovator of the concept of studying in a yeshiva, and a veteran Rosh Yeshiva, as in the phrase, "The Beit Midrash of Shem and Eiver" (see also Rashi, 21:8 – "The prominent scholars of the generation were Shem and Eiver"). The veteran scholar of the generation receives Avraham, the Ivri, with a blessing and presents him with bread and wine, which is a hint of the Torah – Halacha is the bread, and Aggada (thought and an approach of belief) is referred to as wine.

Are We All Chickensh*t?

By Rob Muchnick

In the wake of the Obama administration’s undiplomatic name-calling of Bibi and also yesterday’s assassination attempt on Rabbi Yehuda Glick’s life, I think that we need to take a look at ourselves and determine whether or not we and our leaders are all ‘chickensh*t’, apathetic, or something worse.

Rabbi Glick, one of the most prominent fighters for Jewish rights on the Temple Mount, was shot yesterday by an Arab who was recently released from Israeli prison. He was most certainly targeted for his activism on behalf of the holiest site in Judaism, as every Israeli government since G-d liberated the Mount for us in 1967 has denied Jewish rights on the spot where our Holy Temples stood.

Today the Israeli government responded by closing the Mount to Jews, giving the shooter exactly what he wanted. Instead, Bibi should have closed the Mount to Muslims, announced that he was permitting unfettered access to Jews to pray there, that a shul will be built there immediately, and that honest plans will commence for how to proceed with constructing the Third Temple.

In response to Obama’s insults, Bibi responded earlier this week that he will do nothing to hurt Israel’s security. A wonderful line to say, Mr. PM, but we’ve heard it all before from you. You don’t think it hurts our security when you voted to expel 10,000 Jews from their homes in Gaza and the Shomron and hand these parts of Eretz Yisrael to our sworn enemy? Because of the Expulsion, we now have wars every few years to 'mow the grass' in which scores of Jewish boys die for virtually nothing. How about releasing thousands of Arab terrorists from Israeli prisons – yes thousands if we include his first tenure as PM? How about freezing all construction in ‘settlements’ in hopes of simply having the ‘privilege’ of sitting at the negotiating table with the author of the PLO plan to destroy Israel in stages, Mahmoud Abbas, who you have repeatedly called a ‘peacemaker’?  How about removing the IDF from most of Hebron, which resulted in the brave Jews who live there being put in a literal shooting gallery and 10-month old Shalhevet Pass’ murder at the hands of an Arab sniper?

What should we make of Obama’s underlings calling Bibi chickensh*t because he won’t do anything about the Iranian threat? Obama’s way of delivering the message was certainly disrespectful, but shouldn’t Bibi the ‘defender of Israel’s security’ have handled the threat from Iran already in a decisive fashion?

A top supporter of Bibi’s told me recently that “of course we all love and support what Feiglin stands for, but his platform is just ‘not practical’.” This man continued that, “Bibi is like treading water, and that is all we can hope for now.”

Bibi is not a stupid man, so why does he continue forever with his attempts to divide Israel while refusing to take the Jewish stand on the Temple Mount?

And what about some of the other wanna-be Israeli leaders? Bennett the ‘right-winger’ wants to give the Arabs approximately half of Judea and Samaria for an indefinite autonomous period, and just to make sure they like us, he wants to give them millions of dollars so that we can continue the Shimon Peres charade of having ‘economic peace’ with them. Oh, and according to former Jerusalem councilman Aryeh King, Bennett had his party members vote against building homes recently for Jews in our capital.

What of Liberman, the “tough guy”? He wants to give virtually all of J&S to those that call themselves ‘Palestinians’, when we all know that their real name should be “Fakestinians” [thanks, Beth]. Just because he attended one event with Rabbi Kahane, the Israeli populace thinks that he is the new Kahane, no matter that he writes on his website that he even wants to give a large section of the Galilee to “Palestine”, as well, because a lot of Arabs live there now.

Both Bennett and Liberman say they want to increase the Jewish identity of Israel while also saying that they would give the Arabs parts of Eretz Yisrael where most of the action in our Tanach occurred. Does this make any sense to you? Oh, and by the way, they – along with Bibi - both had their parties vote against a bill which, according to Livni, would have literally ended the fraudulent peace process.(Of course she didn't call it 'fraudulent'.)

There’s no need to bother discussing Lapid or Livni, as they don’t even pretend to be in touch with reality, considering they both continue to discuss Abbas the financier of the Munich Massacre as a “man of peace”. Did I mention that Abbas' 'peace-making' party announced celebrations today because of the attempted murder of Rabbi Glick?

Our leaders are truly either chickensh*t or are running away from Israel’s Jewish identity for some reason, but what about us? Why do we accept this? Why do we tell ourselves that all is well, and continue to go about our daily business when we should be screaming at the top of our lungs that we’re mad as hell and we aren’t going to take it anymore?

A friend of mine told me recently about his 20-something Israeli cousin who’s family emigrated from Morocco. The cousin stated that in his public school he was actually taught to be Israeli first and Jewish second, and that he was very proud of this fact. This comment is sad for all of us, and in particular it is pathetically ironic considering the fact that the Israeli Establishment did everything in its power to take the Judaism out of the Mizrachim, including radiating 100,000 North African Jewish kids to ‘rid them of ringworm’. In reality, this was done to keep the Ben-Gurionistas in power, because Jews from the Middle East who believe in G-d would have never voted for the Labor party. Unfortunately, it is clear that the Israeli government has not eliminated its policy of Israelization of the population, and part of being Israeli is following the Supreme Court in lieu of G-d. After all, we have to be ‘democratic’ above all else, right?

There is only one man in the Israeli government who voted to end Oslo, to not release the terrorist-murderers, to not give the Negev to the Bedouin, would re-institute full and complete Jewish control over the Temple Mount, and who has a realistic plan to end the problems with the Fakestinians by annexing and settling our Land and giving the enemy financial incentives to emigrate. If you’re as mad as hell as I am, there’s only one thing to do – namely you must support this man. His name is Moshe Feiglin. We simply cannot afford to tread water anymore.

Lech Lecha

By HaRav Mordechai Rabinovitch

The expression Lech Lecha  is not the only directive with which Hashem directs our forefather Avraham to embark on a journey to the unknown. It is also the command used later to direct Avraham to the Moriah to offer up his only son, Yitzchak (Bereishith 22:2) But what does this expression mean?

Abravanel explains that Lech Lecha means to go it alone; become an individual, forge an identity removed and distinct from those norms and ideas with which your birthplace, your family and your home were associated (see also Prof. Cassuto). In the “Land that I will show you,” Avraham will plant the seeds of a unique people who will have an impact on world history out of all proportion to their numbers and situation, a People who will carry a message to all the nations on earth. The crucibles to which Avraham is subjected are all intended to stimulate his individualism and make him the patriarch of this great nation.

But this land “that I will show you”… where is it? And when does Hashem show it?

“And Hashem said to Avraham after Lot separated from him: ‘Lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, to the northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see – I will give it to you and to your offspring, forever” (Bereishith 13:14-15; see Ibn Ezra Bereishith 12:1, Rashash Avoth 5:3).

True, in Bereishith 12:7, when Avraham makes camp near Shechem, Hashem promises to give “this land” to Avraham’s descendants – but He does not say anything about Avraham and does not show him the Land, until Avraham and Lot separate and go their own ways.

Since the mysterious “Land that I will show you” is not revealed until verse (Bereishith 13:14), it follows that earlier on, Avraham’s going to Egypt in the face of famine in the Land of Canaan (Bereishith 12:10) was not in any way a failure on his part (Rashash ibid.; cf. Ramban). Avraham had not been commanded to go to Canaan. His family had set out in that direction but settled instead in Charan (Bereishith 11:31). He was commanded to go to the “Land which I will show you”, and having no real clues as to the identity of this secret land, Avraham simply continued towards the land of Canaan, in the hope that eventually he would discover the intended destination (Rashash ibid.).

When Avraham insists that Lot and he must part ways (Bereishith 13:9), and Lot chooses to reside in Sodom – whose inhabitants were notoriously wicked – only then does Hashem actually show the Land to Avraham and promise it to him and to his descendants (Bereishith 13:14-15; see Rashi v. 14). In this trial, Avraham has to choose between family (Lot) and morals. Should he tolerate Lot’s stealing (see Rashi Bereishith 13:7), or should he insist that in his society such behavior is unacceptable? Lot, after all, was his nephew (Bereishith 11:27) who had accompanied him all the way from Ur Kasdim (ibid. v.31) and was the last blood relative in his vicinity. Couldn’t Avraham find some way to justify stealing from the natives?

But Avraham had been commanded to “go it alone”, to become an individual, to be a blessing to all mankind. And so Avraham fulfilled the commandment, and insisted that Lot depart. And thereupon, the mystery was resolved, and the “land which I will show you” was revealed to him, and promised to him and to his descendants.

And we, the descendants of Avraham, must strive like him to build a model society in the Holy Land given us by Hashem, a moral, just and G-dly society, whose message will reverberate around the globe, until the whole world is united in the Kingdom of Hashem: One people in one land under one G-d.

INN: Feiglin Gets Extra Security Detail Amid Assassination Fears

Knesset Chairman Yuli Edelstein (Likud) on Thursday instructed Knesset guard commander Brig. Gen. Yosef Griff to deploy a security attachment to accompany MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud), in a unique security detail unlike the routine attachments given to MKs.

Edelstein also asked Griff to provide security to any MK, from the political right or left, who feels a threat to their well-being from extremist forces.

Likewise he ordered Griff to be in close contact with security and intelligence sources regarding any threat of assassination on MKs.

The raised level of concern of an assassination comes in the wake of Wednesday night’s assassination attempt by an Islamic Jihad terrorist, who shot Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick several times at point blank range after he spoke at the BeginHeritage Center in Jerusalem about Jewish prayer rights at the holiest site in Judaism.

Glick remains in critical, albeit stable condition. The terrorist, Mu’taz Hijazi, who was employed at a restaurant in the Center despite having been released from a jail sentence for terrorism in 2012, was shot by police as he opened fire on them during an arrest operation.

The fears concerning the possible threat to Feiglin’s life in particular comes due to his outspoken position of support for Jewish rights to visit the Temple Mount – he was in fact at the event where Glick was shot and was a witness to the assassination attempt.

Speaking immediately after the murder attempt, Feiglin said: “the weakness of the government, the security forces and of the Minister of Public Security against the Arab conduct on the Temple Mount and the harassment of Jews, stimulates the continuation of violence and leads to attempted murder.”

On Thursday, Feiglin also addressed the fact that despite police steps to close the Temple Mount to both Jews and Muslims following the attack,Muslims were in fact let on the Mount while Jews were not; the Muslims in question eventually rioted and forced police to disperse them.

“When I asked to enter so that the sovereign’s representative in Israel, the Israeli Knesset, will be on the Mount, not just Muslim sovereigns which actually took our place on the Mount, they didn’t allow it,” Feiglin noted. “I asked to speak with the prime minister and he never called me back.”

“This is the situation this morning, the reality whereby a wanted murderer is given what he wanted in full. This conduct will certainly not bring about peace, only more murders,” warned Feiglin.

The latest escalation in violence focusing on the Temple Mount comes after Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas two weeks ago called for “all means” to be used in blocking Jews from “defiling” the site, in an uncannily similar manner to former PA Chairman Yasser Arafat’s call for the 2000 Second Intifada.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186817#.VFKnwjSUeuI

MK Moshe Feiglin: How the Temple Mount Impacts the World

In this short English interview, MK Moshe Feiglin explains how the Temple Mount impacts the world.

MK Moshe Feiglin Calls on Prime Minister Netanyahu to Open Temple Mount Exclusively to Jews

After Rabbi Yehuda Glick was shot last night by an Arab terrorist, the police announced that the Temple Mount would be closed today to both Moslems and Jews. But MK Moshe Feiglin says that is not true. “Moslems are being allowed on the Mount, ” Feiglin related after he was barred from entry to the holy site.  “But for me, a representative of Israeli sovereignty in this Land, the Temple Mount is closed, as it is for all Jews. Does this policy subdue terror? Or does it exacerbate it? The actions of the police and security forces, who are supposed to safeguard Jerusalem, do not bring solutions; they are part of the problem.”

“I am pleased that the security forces have killed the terrorist who shot Rabbi Yehuda Glick,” Feiglin said. “But the would-be assassin is not the problem; he is the symptom. Moreover, this terrorist was released in a previous terrorist-release-for-‘peace’ deal. What a delightful ‘peace’ these deals have brought us.”

MK Feiglin is still at the gates of the Temple Mount, calling upon PM Netanyahu to turn this picture around. “Instead of being open to Moslems alone, the Temple Mount should be opened today exclusively to Jews,” Feiglin concluded.

Please continue to pray for the recovery of Rabbi Yehuda Glick: Yehuda Yehoshua ben Rivka Itta Breindel.

MK Moshe Feiglin: Status Quo on Temple Mt. Murderous (Recorded 3 days before the shooting of Rabbi Yehuda Glick)

(English subtitles available)

Feiglin on Glick Shooting: The Writing Was on the Wall

News

Cheshvan 6, 5775, 30/10/14 01:14

MK Moshe Feiglin calls to open Temple Mount for Jewish prayer following shooting of leading activist.

By Yishai Karov

MK Moshe Feiglin (Likud), who was in attendance at Wednesday evening’s event at the Begin Center in Jerusalem before the shooting of leading Temple Mount activist Yehuda Glick, said that “the writing was on the wall”.

"The shooter made ​​sure that it was Yehuda before he shot him," Feiglin told Arutz Sheva, adding that the incident took place after a "calm and simple conference at the Begin Heritage Center.”

"Every Jew who ascends the Temple Mount is a target of violence. It starts with shouting, continues with spitting, throwing rocks and then with Yehuda being followed,” said Feiglin.

He stressed that "the writing was on the wall. The weakness of the government, the security forces and of the Minister of Public Security against the Arab conduct on the Temple Mount and the harassment of Jews, stimulates the continuation of violence and leads to attempted murder."

Feiglin called for the Temple Mount to be opened to Jews freely as a response to the shooting, “but as I know the police, they will actually close the Temple Mount instead of opening it.”


Witnesses said that Glick was shot outside the Begin Heritage center in Jerusalem, after a terrorist pulled up in a scooter or motorcycle and shot him before fleeing the scene.

Initial reports are indicating that Glick - who founded and heads the LIBA Initiative for Jewish Freedom on the Temple Mount - was deliberately targeted for nationalistic reasons, but police have not yet officially announced a motive.

Glick is in serious but stable condition at the Sha’arei Tzedek Medical Center in the capital, and is undergoing surgery.

The Volcano that is Waiting to Erupt

By Shmuel Sackett

I have said it many times and written it even more, and sadly, my prediction is coming true. A deadly volcano is about to erupt and cause tremendous damage and the name of that volcano is called “Jerusalem”. Yes, THAT Jerusalem. The city we all love. The center of the universe and the place towards which we face three times a day in our prayers. The heart and soul of the Jewish people is about to explode and only now, some (but not all) of our leaders are starting to wake up.

I realized we had a problem back in 2010 when a good friend asked for my help. This friend lives in Rockville, Maryland but has a beautiful apartment in Rehavia. He insisted on becoming an Israeli citizen upon his retirement and is very proud of showing people his “Teudat Zehut” (Israeli identity card) and his Israeli driver’s license. He needed my assistance in helping him renew his driver’s license so we went to the Jerusalem Motor Vehicles Department located in Talpiot. When I stepped inside that office, I immediately thought of the famous line: “Houston, we have a problem” – with one major change; “Jerusalem, we have a problem”. Every single person waiting on line plus every single worker in that office were Arabs. Believe me when I tell you – and this is no exaggeration- my friend Shlomo and I were the only Jews among 100 plus people… in the heart of Talpiot, Jerusalem. While nothing happened to us that day and we took care of his license, I realized that this is similar to living near a volcano. 99% of the time things are fine and beautiful but when that 1% hits and the volcano bubbles over… watch out!

In reality, the problem has existed a lot longer than my discovery in 2010. For the last 30 years, it has been almost impossible to walk freely as a Jew in 40% of our holy city. While it’s fine to stroll around Har Nof and Bayit Ve’Gan, it has been unheard of to walk in the footsteps of King David and Shmuel Ha’Navi in places like Ir David and much of the Old City since the mid 80’s. How did we let that happen to our most prized possession? Where were our leaders when this was going on?

The answer is simple. The leaders were  ignoring the problem and hoping it would simply “go away” – like some annoying mosquito. How blind were these leaders and how foolish as well! The Arabs of Jerusalem are not “going away” – they are here to stay. They are building homes, raising large families and educating them in hatred of the Jewish State. So what can be done?

Rule #1 to solving any problem is to first acknowledge that a problem exists. Unfortunately, this has still not been done by the existing Israeli leadership. “There is no intifada in Jerusalem”, they say. Even the mayor of Jerusalem, Nir Barkat, does not seem fazed by the growing Arab population in his city nor of the violence that has been escalating these past few months. With him, it is life as usual including his ridiculous Formula-1 car race through the city on Erev Succot! (You had to be there to see how crazy and stupid this thing was – at the busiest time of year. No words can describe the nonsense that went on just so that fancy Italian cars can zip through the city and dance around Mamilla. It was totally nuts)

Rule #2 is that as soon as you acknowledge the problem, you immediately proceed to solving it. For this, you need a strong hand and a mighty stick. Any and all violence must stop and the perpetrators punished to the full extent of the law. The Israeli police plus army must be deployed throughout the city and respond with force against anyone throwing a rock or threatening an innocent person. It is inconceivable that one takes his/her life into their hands when visiting the Har Ha’Zaytim (The Mount of Olives) cemetery. It is totally unacceptable that, while walking home – or back to your hotel – from the Kotel, you have to avoid 70% of the Old City out of fear. It is unimaginable that it is very dangerous to visit the Shiloah springs – where the Kohanim drew water for the Bet Ha’Mikdash. What better place to visit than THAT during Succot? This is actually where the “Simchat Bet Ha’Shoevah” started… just a short walk from the Kotel… and Jews walking there put their lives at risk??? How evil is our leadership to allow this to happen? This must stop IMMEDIATELY!!

There’s an expression in English that says that “there’s a new sheriff in town”. Simply put it means that it is out with the old and in with the new! This is what needs to be done right now in our precious city of Jerusalem. A new “sheriff” needs to come to town where he will announce – through actions, not words – that violence and threats will no longer be tolerated. Every tool and weapon will be used to stop the violence and restore peace and tranquility to the city. The police and army enforcers will no longer use methods that are “politically correct” (oh, how I HATE that term!!) and Jews will be able to walk freely in all parts of the city 24 hours a day.

While all of this is nice and definitely possible to achieve, it still does not solve the problem stated at the beginning of this article; the massive numbers of Arabs living in Jerusalem. For that, there are two options and the first one is connected to restoring law and order. The Arab of today is very bold because he has not seen the mighty hand of the Jew since 1967. As soon as he sees what will happen if he steps out of line, things will calm down and he might seek his future elsewhere.

The second thing to do is to build, build and build some more for Jews all over Jerusalem. Once things are safe – as they should be – Jews can and WILL move all across the city and not just congest themselves in Katimon or Geula. There should be Jewish life on every street in Jerusalem – including the eastern part of the city… and not just in a few homes that some brave Jews buy today. What those Jews do is incredible but we need to multiply that by 10,000… at LEAST!! Unlike what people say, there is actually plenty of room to build in Jerusalem, just not in Sha’arei Chesed, Nachlaot and Emek Refaim! There’s an additional  side to this amazing city and when that new sheriff lays down the law, Jewish construction and life will fill every corner. May this happen very soon so that we can all say – with happiness and a true desire – Next Year in Jerusalem!

MK Moshe Feiglin: Jerusalem Doesn’t Need More Police, Needs Decision that it is Ours

“In a deliberation on the situation in Jerusalem this week in the Knesset Interior Committee,” said MK Moshe Feiglin, “all the speakers – from Internal Security Minister Aharonovitz to Jerusalem Mayor Barkat – proposed technical solutions for the growing problem of Arab violence in the capital: They favored more police and more technological aids.”

“These “solutions”, Feiglin told the Interior Committee, “add more and more carpets over the glowing embers – but the carpets themselves become part of the fire. More police officers are not necessary. “All we have to do is decide that Jerusalem is truly ours,” Feiglin concluded.

MK Feiglin to US Administration: Apologize to Netanyahu or Face 3rd World Status

After Tuesday’s scathing personal attack by a top US official against Prime Minister Netanyahu, MK Moshe Feiglin issued the following statement: "I fundamentally disagree with PM Netanyahu on many issues – including those issues over which the US has criticized the PM in the past. But if America does not officially distance itself from yesterday’s personal attack against Prime Minister Netanyahu (who represents all the citizens of Israel) we can conclude that under Obama, the US has deteriorated to the cultural and essential level of a third world country. Its future is already behind it."

Likud MK Moshe Feiglin has defended the decision by the Tel Aviv municipality to cancel school trips to Jerusalem over safety concerns, and blasted criticism of their decision as an attempt by authorities to avoid responsibility for the ongoing violence in the capital.

Last night, it was revealed that eighth-grade field trips to the Kotel (Western Wall) and Ammunition Hill – next to the place whereWednesday’s deadly terrorist attack took place – would be cancelled, along with other additional trips following orders from the Tel Aviv municipality, which was apparently responding to concerns by parents.

The decision drew sharp criticism from one of Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat’s deputies, who branded it “outrageous.”

“If we and our children can maintain a routine, so can your children continue trips to Jerusalem as usual,” said Rachel Azaria.

But Feiglin begged to differ.

“The decision of the Tel Aviv Municipality to postpone outings to Jerusalem, is not essentially different from the decision taken by the residents of Nahal Oz,” he wrote on Facebook, referring to the southern Israeli kibbutz, many of whose residents chose to abandon their homes in the face of what they said was a lack of confidence in the government’s ability to protect them from Hamas mortar and rocket attacks.

The Likud lawmaker insisted “with great regret” that in both situations “the correct decision was taken,” and launched a scathing attack on officials who he said expected Israelis to operate as if Israel were still under British occupation.

“We need to understand – the British Mandate is over. We are no longer in the days of ‘tower and stockade,” he wrote, referring to the systematic strategy of the early Zionist pioneers to settle and secure new outposts in the face of hostile Arabpopulations and British antipathy.

“Back then it was correct to fight the enemy via the citizenry. But today we have a state and its central task is to provide security. That is why there is a state, an army and a police force.”

“The leadership cannot evade responsibility for the security of its citizens and turn the responsibility onto the citizens with patriotic arguments from the past,” he continued, branding attempts in his view to do so as “a fig leaf for the bankruptcy of the defense (establishment).”

“If the IDF is Gaza, and the police in Jerusalem, would receive the order to win and it was clear that that is what they were doing speedily and with determination,” it would be acceptable for the government to demand its citizens shoulder their part of the burden and continue visiting the capital in a show of solidarity and defiance, he said.

“But if the government, the army and the police choose to ‘manage the conflict’ as if they were a Limited Corporation and not a sovereign state, then it is certainly possible to understand the decision of the citizens of Nahal Oz or the parents council of Tel Aviv, who are not interested in taking part in the games of these ‘leaders’ and to endanger their children in order to allow the state to avoid its responsibilities,” he concluded.

 http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/186590#.VEz9gSKUeCQ

MK Moshe Feiglin: Left Outcry Against Bill to Override High Court Tyranny of the Minority

“The bill to override the High Court rulings that passed in the Knesset Ministerial Committee on Sunday may be the beginning of the restoration of the State of Israel to the Nation of Israel,” said MK Moshe Feiglin. “I endorse the legislators who initiated the bill, MKs Ayelet Shaked and Yariv Levin. If the bill does pass – and experience has taught us that we are still far from that point- it will be the most important measure that the current Knesset has taken in its entire term. Let us hope that the concealed pressure that is generally brought to bear on the Prime Minister when similar bills were to be passed, will not melt this bill away, as was the case with its predecessors.

The leftist outcry over the ‘attack on democracy’ and ‘tyranny of the majority’ are nothing more than the crocodile tears of the minority tyrants – from whom values like liberty, democracy and human rights couldn’t be farther,” Feiglin concluded. 

MK Moshe Feiglin: Tel Aviv School Right to Postpone Jerusalem Class-Trips

The decision by the Tel Aviv school to postpone outings to Jerusalem for fear of the Arab violence taking place there, is not essentially different from the decision made by the residents of Nahal Oz this summer, who chose to abandon their homes in the face of their lack of confidence in the government’s ability to protect them from Hamas rocket attacks, said MK Moshe Feiglin after more violence in Israel’s capital. “With great regret, I must say that in both situations, the correct decision was made.”

“We need to understand,” Feiglin continued – “the British Mandate is over. We are no longer in the days of ‘tower and stockade,” when early Zionist pioneers would settle and secure new outposts overnight in the face of hostile Arabs and British. Back then, it was correct to fight the enemy by means of the citizens. But today we have a state and its central task is to provide security. That is why the state has an army and a police force.”

MK Feiglin maintained that “the leadership cannot evade responsibility for the security of its citizens and place the burden on the shoulders of the citizens with patriotic arguments from the past, which today – are nothing more than a fig leaf for the bankruptcy of the defense establishment.

If the IDF in Gaza and the police in Jerusalem would receive the order to win – and if it was clear that they would do so speedily and with determination, it would be acceptable for the government to demand that its citizens shoulder their part of the burden and continue visiting the capital in a show of solidarity and civilian courage.

But if the government, the army and the police choose to ‘manage the conflict’ as if they were a Limited Corporation and not a sovereign state, then we can certainly understand the decision of the residents of Nahal Oz or the parents council of Tel Aviv, who are not interested in taking part in the games of these ‘managers’ – endangering their children to allow the state to avoid its responsibilities,” Feiglin concluded.

Bernie Quigley on The Hill: Israel Should Lead the World’s Small State Revolution

Israel’s greatest problem today is its American friend President Obama, only the most recent rock-star leviathan in a sequence of “gods-that-failed” to toss it around for four to eight years. The EU is second, a pitiful imitation.

To America, Israel is exactly what India was to Victorian England: The jewel in the crown; our best, brightest and most precocious student of whom we are most proud. But this is the very worst kind of territorialization; a nebulous psychological dominance and enslavement. To be a free state, Israel must step away.

Gandhi was the one indispensable figure to tell Britain that India no longer desired her determined interest, but more importantly, to convince India herself that she was not British, never could be, never would be, never should be.

It is exactly what Israel needs today; a Gandhi figure and a revolutionary generation to raise it to its existential moment and to tell the American friend to turn away. That moment begins to surround as trouble brews today on Temple Mount, where Jews are forbidden to pray. Temple Mount will be its symbol; the symbol of liberation for all Israel past and future.

And that rising generation is just a shadow away today in Israel. You can tell who the rising leaders will be because the Western establishment press in Europe and America and sadly, inherent in the Americanized Israeli press as well, calls them the nastiest things. Knesset members Moshe Feiglin, Ayelet Shaked and Minister of the Economy Naftali Bennett especially prompt their ire. The next generation always intentionally turns the tables on the last and the press, guardian of the past, does its job to prevent time and future generations from awakening. ‘Twas ever thus.

But what happens today in Israel may become the world model for the rise of small states. The “second great political trend of the age: devolution” forecasts a world ahead according to a recent report to the CIA. Scotland, Venice, Catalonia, Texas, Vermont, northern California and even Wisconsin have all shown symptoms.

One issue rising today in Israel and supported by Shaked should be considered by smaller states seeking autonomy and even connected states like Texas and California, which recently have been feeling as far away from Washington as Tibet is from Beijing.

Shaked proposes a bill “allowing the Knesset to override High Court of Justice rulings that strike down laws as unconstitutional.” The Supreme Court of course in the U.S. trumps the people’s will and post-war Israel was designed on Western models. But prosperous smaller states (Switzerland, Singapore) have different dynamics than vast, globalist abstractions and are able to advance a deeper and more unified moral and cultural ethic within their groups as large conglomerates are not.

Even in the United States, a high court with the ultimate say brings challenges today from mature, autonomous, developed regions. Especially given the recent history of the Supreme Court, which some even consider complicit in a coup d’etat in 2000, as I heard a full-fledged Columbia University professor say last night. The Supremes of colonial days when America consisted of three cities and a forest did indeed share a common ethic. Today, justices are chosen by political friendships and in a strange shift from states and regional identities to ethnicity.

A high court trumping the will of a fully matured and morally educated people is an insult. And that insult has been felt in our times in Texas, California and elsewhere. Food for thought as the call for a new constitutional convention sends shivers through the establishment.

http://thehill.com/blogs/pundits-blog/international/221775-israel-should-lead-the-worlds-small-state-revolution

Secretary Kerry, on Words One does not Pay Customs!

By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

An Arab colloquialism, frequently employed by Arab policy-makers in order to mislead foreign movers and shakers (including American Secretaries of State) suggests that "on words one does not pay customs."

For instance, on October 16, 2014, Secretary of State John Kerry stated: "I was just in Cairo, where a terrific $5.4bn was raised in order to help rebuild Gaza."  In fact, $5.4bn was not raised; it was verbally pledged against the backdrop of a litany of unfulfilled Arab pledges to help the PLO, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority.  

While Secretary Kerry assumes that Arab leaders walk-the-talk when it comes to the Palestinian issue, a July, 2014 study by the Congressional Research Service states: "Routinely, [Arabs] make generous pledges of aid to the Palestinians, but at times fulfill them only in part and after significant delay…. According to Reuters, 'a high of $1.8bn in foreign aid from Arab countries in 2008 plunged to $600mn in 2012, with Gulf countries scaling back their giving…."  The study indicates that since 2008, the US foreign aid to the Palestinians has averaged $400mn annually, more than the oil-rich Saudi Arabia ($260mn in 2013, $100mn in 2012 and $180mn in 2011), the United Arab Emirates ($50mn in 2013) and Kuwait ($50mn in 2013). 

The Qatari Al Jazeera reported that "Palestinian officials are skeptical of Arab aid pledges, as few Arab countries carried through on promises last year…. "

On December 26, 2012, Nabil Elaraby, the Secretary General of the Arab League, divulged that "Arab countries pledged a $100mn monthly safety net to the Palestinian Authority at the March, 2012 Baghdad Arab Summit, but none of it has been realized yet."

According to the official site of the US Department of State, Secretary Kerry stated at the October 16, 2014 Department of State reception in honor of the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday: "As I went around and met with people in the course of our discussions about the ISIL coalition, there was not an [Arab] leader I met who did not raise with me, spontaneously, the need to try to get peace between Israel and the Palestinians, because it was a cause of recruitment and of street anger and agitation that they felt they had to respond to.  And, people need to understand the connection of that…."

Professor Efraim Karsh, the founding Head of Middle East and Mediterranean Studies Center at King's College, University of London, and a senior researcher at the Begin-Sadat Center for Strategic Studies at Bar Ilan University, highlights - in a July 2014 publication, "The Myth of Palestinian Centrality" - the wide gap between the lavish Arab talk and the scant Arab walk when it comes to the Palestinian issue.

While Secretary Kerry assumes that the Palestinian issue is a crown jewel of Arab policy making and the crux of the Arab-Israeli conflict, Prof. Karsh writes: "pan-Arabism does not consider the Palestinians a distinct people deserving statehood, but rather an integral part of a wider Arab framework…. In the words of Hamas leader, Mahmud Zahar, 'In the past there was no independent Palestinian state….' The 1948 pan-Arab invasion of Israel was more of a classic imperialist scramble for territory, than a fight for Palestinian national rights. The first Secretary General of the Arab league, Abdel Rahman Azzam, admitted that Transjordan 'was to swallow up the central hill regions of Palestine; the Egyptians would get the Negev; the Galilee would go to Syria….'" 

In fact, the 1948/9 war was not fought by Arab countries because of – or for – the Palestinians.  Therefore, Iraq, Jordan, Egypt and Syria occupied Judea, Samaria, Gaza and parts of the Golan Heights, but did not transfer it to the Palestinians. Moreover, none of the Arab wars against Israel (1948/9, 1956, 1967, 1069/70, 1973) was conducted on behalf of Palestinians.  And, Arabs never flexed any military muscle during Israel's wars against Palestinian terrorism (1982/3, 1988-91, 2000-2003, February 2008, December 2008, March 2012, October 2012 and July 2014). Arabs have always showered Palestinians with rhetoric, but never with resources.  Why?

Since the 1950s and 1966, when Mahmud Abbas and Arafat fled Egypt and Syria due to subversion and terrorism, Arab leaders have perceived Palestinians as a source of violent unrest. Prof. Karsh notes that the PLO has a treacherous track record, stabbing its Arab hosts in the back, triggering ferocious civil wars and causing the displacement of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in Jordan (1970), Lebanon (1970-1976, 1983, 2007), Kuwait (1991), Iraq (2003) and currently in Syria. No Arab country came to the rescue of those Palestinians.

Irrespective of the Arab talk, the roots of the anger and agitation on the tectonic Arab Street are 1,400 year old; unrelated to the 66 year old Israel and its policies. 

Regardless of the Arab talk, the cause of recruitment to – and the vision of - ISIS are derivatives of the 7^th century birth of Islam; not of the 21^st century Palestinian issue.

Notwithstanding the Arab talk, the failure to consolidate an effective coalition against ISIS reflects the fourteen century old violent, unpredictable, fragmented, anti-Western nature of the hate-education-based Arab World; not Israel's determination to sustain secure boundaries in the most violently treacherous neighborhood in the world, the Middle East.

Secretary Kerry should avoid repeating the critical error committed by Senator Kerry, who allowed the Hafiz and Bashar Assad talk to cloud their walk, convincing himself that the ruthless Syrian dictators were constructive and peaceful leaders, worthy of Israel's trust and Israel's giveaway of the Golan Heights.

Global Tower: A Torah Thought for Parshat Noach by MK Moshe Feiglin

And all the earth was of one language and one speech. (From this week’s Torah portion, Noach, Genesis 11:1)

It is impossible not to draw parallels between the opening of the story of the Tower of Babel and the modern global village. Once again, the entire world is of one language and one speech. Everyone is connected to everyone, speaking to everyone and at least in the Western world, everyone is motivated by the same ideas. Ultimately, this uniformity leads to a war against the Creator and to the re-scattering of humanity.

We are at the threshold of a new age. It could be that we are witnessing the waning of the modern nation state. Europe and the US are bankrupt. After an era of swift economic growth accompanied by moral decadence, the unavoidable stage of disintegration is upon us.

And they said, “Let us build for us a city and tower and its top will be in heaven, and we will make for us a name, lest we be scattered on the face of the earth. (Genesis 11:4)

The Tower of Babel was not a temple to G-d. It was a temple to man.

The Western nations that have made man the focal point of existence are morally bankrupt and have lost their founding ethos. As a result, they are also economically bankrupt. Only a small bit of foresight is necessary to understand that the Western economies do not have any real ability to stand on their feet again. It is quite possible that we will also witness their political disintegration. Time and again, entities that are not states defeat the ever-weakening nation-states.

In light of this reality, Israel must develop a long-term strategy that will take into account a completely different world structure than the one to which we have been accustomed in the modern era.

Shabbat Shalom