My Jerusalem

By Zvulun Orlev

In Tehillim, the day that Jerusalem was destroyed is called "Jerusalem Day" – "One the rivers of Babylon, there we sat and wept, when we remembered Zion... G-d, remember... Jerusalem Day, for those who say, 'Destroy it, destroy it, to its foundation." [137:1,7]. Today Jerusalem Day is one of our most important times of joy, as the day when we released it from its foreign conquest and unified it under our sovereignty, 48 years ago. Thus we were loyal to our eternal oath, "If I forget you, Jerusalem, let my right hand forget its cunning, let my tongue cling to my palate if I do not remember you; if I do not lift up Jerusalem to my highest joy." [137:5]. The wise men of Babylon, who could only see Jerusalem in their imagination, said, "Ten measures of beauty descended to the world. Jerusalem took nine measures and one was left for the rest of the world. [Kiddushin 49b]. The wise men of Jerusalem, who were familiar with the city as it existed, said, "There are ten measures of suffering in the world, nine of them in Jerusalem and one in the rest of the world" [Talmud Yerushalmi 3:6]. I was privileged to have been a member of the Paratrooper's Brigade under the command of Mota Gur, which freed the city in the Six Day War. I was in the 71st Battalion, commanded by Uzi Eilam, which first broke into the neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah. I was moderately injured in my leg, and ever since I have felt that I am bonded with the city by blood. I live there with my family and my children and grandchildren. I can see both of the above elements, the beauty and the suffering, and I feel the pain of every element of damage and erosion that occurs, in terms of values, culture, and political status, and every type of damage to the strength of the city. Dangers from Within and from Without The harm and the threats are both internal and external. The external elements stem from the Palestinians and the Arab world, the United Nations, and other nations which do not recognize the unification of the city and its status as the capital of our country. Our ability to withstand these threats depends mainly on having a broad national consensus with respect to the status of the city. The reality that we see in front of us is a reason for worry: Who celebrates Jerusalem Day except for religious Zionists and those who live in the city? It is not only the "State of Tel Aviv" which ignores this day, but also the elites from among the culture, academia, the press, and political powers. Aside from two government ceremonies – a festive meeting at the Knesset and a ceremony held at Ammunition Hill – there is no festive atmosphere in the country on this day. This is a disturbing sign of erosion in the recognition of the status of the city and in the ability to display a broad national consensus against the external threats against the city. The Jerusalem Basic Law, which was relevant on the day that it was passed, does not provide a proper response today for the "Jerusalem down below." While it is true that the exit of educated youngsters has declined a bit, what is needed is a completely new revolutionary approach. This Basic Law must be amended to include benefits and extra privileges, and to encourage citizens of Israel and new Olim to live in Jerusalem, to work there, and to enjoy a level of municipal and national benefits which is substantially better than what is available in other parts of the country. As part of my previous public activities, I was witness to the tough struggles of the mayors and Jerusalem MK's in an effort to increase the national resources available to Jerusalem, but these struggles usually achieved only partial success. Jerusalem is in need of significant support in all walks of life: education, higher learning, science, promoting employment and investment, municipal services, housing, tourism, and more. We must demand that the new government does not show any weakness against international pressure from the other countries in the world, including the United States and Europe. Our statements must be strong and not defensive, taking the initiative and not apologetic. The Christian world knows very well from its own religious sources about the close relationship between Judaism and Jerusalem, and that there is no such a relationship between Islam and the city - remember that Jerusalem is not mentioned at all in the Koran. A hesitant attitude and a policy of zigzagging will only increase international pressure on us to divide Jerusalem. The Capital of the Jewish Nation We must also take action with respect to "heavenly Jerusalem." In the past I proposed a law that would require the official name of the city to be not merely "the capital of the State of Israel" but rather "the capital of Israel and the Jewish Nation." This would be a proper expression of the central character of the city in Jewish life as a whole. It would also serve to internally strengthen the eternal value of Jerusalem. Let us remember the successful struggle by Rav Avraham Yitzchak Kook against the British on the subject of prayer rights at the Western Wall, which appeared in his article, "Our Wall." He wrote: "This nation had a Temple which was exalted in its sanctity above and beyond all other temples all over the world. After it was robbed of its land and its proud Temple was destroyed, all that remained on this earth was the Western Wall. When the remnants of the descendants of this nation pour out their hearts in this place, any nation whose soul has a spark of humanity must stand trembling at the sanctity of the return of this nation, with great anticipation, in awe of the ancient nation." We will finish with Rav Kook's resounding cry: "Let Yisrael know what is happening to the remnant of its precious Temple! And let all cultured nations in the world, together with the League of Nations and especially the British nation which is in charge of the Mandate! Let them know to repair the evil that has been perpetrated... Let them be fully aware who it is that stands behind our wall."

What Asaph saw: HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Bechuko’tei and Yom Yerushalayim 5775

BS”D  Parashat Bechuko’tei and Yom Yerushalayim 5775 Eicha 4,11: כלה ה’ את חמתו שפך חרון אפו ויצת אש בציון ותאכל יסודתיה The Lord has given full vent to His wrath; He has poured out His fierce anger. He kindled a fire in Zion that consumed its foundations. Torah Temima on the words, ‘consumed its foundations”: כתיב (תהלים ע”ט) מזמור לאסף אלהים באו גוים בנחלתך, אמרו ליה לאסף, הקדוש ברוך הוא החריב היכל ומקדש ואתה יושב ומזמר, אמר להם, מזמר אנכי ששפך חמתו על העצים ועל האבנים ולא על ישראל… It is written (Tehilim 79), “A psalm authored by Asaph: O Lord, Gentiles have entered into Your domain (the holy Temple…) And they (the rabbis) said to Asaph, “The Lord has destroyed His palace and Temple and you sing a song of praise! (a psalm) And Asaph replied to them saying, “I praise the Lord for venting His wrath on trees and on stones (the building material of the Temple) but not on the people of Israel… Asaph saw in the greatest tragedy to befall the Jewish nation in 500 years as the never ceasing compassion and fidelity of HaShem for His children Yisrael. That despite the fact that the quality of justice rightfully demanded the most severe punishment for the Jewish nation, Hashem vented his wrath on the physical Temple not on the Jewish population. A motion picture is comprised of thousands of individual frames. So too is one’s life of 70 years or even a whole generation no more than a tiny frame in the larger picture of HaShem’s world plan. And just as one cannot grasp the plot and sub-plots of a film by viewing it for one minute, one cannot grasp the plots and many sub-plots and directions in the history of mankind from the first day that Adam and Eve walked the earth even within a lifespan of 120 years. In our 4000 year trek through time, Am Yisrael has experienced tragedies too many to enumerate and too complex to grade. Destruction of two holy Temples, exile of the ten tribes, exile to Bavel, the Shoah to mention a few. Only the Jewish people, because of our chosen status by HaShem, could have survived to this very day and even remained spiritually and intellectually vigorous and robust as we were thousands of years ago. According to any standard, the tragedy of the Ten Martyred Rabbis in Roman times would take a front line position when dealing with human tragedy and its implications for the Jewish nation. Their death was set against the background of the 10 sons of Ya’akov, who betrayed their brother Yosef by selling him into slavery. The Roman governor of Eretz Yisrael called together the 10 most illustrious rabbis of the time and sentenced them to death for the ancestral sin of selling Yosef. We cry on Yom Kippur and on Tisha Be’av when reading the details of those rabbis and how they were murdered. Ghastly. Inhuman. But who can understand the ways of HaShem who sees the incidents of thousands of years ago as clearly as he sees the happenings of this moment as He weighs, calculates and then weaves their implications into the future fate of the Jewish nation. The Torah relates that Yosef sought out his brothers in the city of Shechem, but was told by a man or angel that they had moved to Dotan, north of Shechem. When the brothers saw Yosef approaching, they threw him into a pit of serpents and scorpions, and then he was sold to Yishmaelites. The murder of the Ten Martyred Rabbis was in lieu of the punishment that should have been enacted on Yosef’s ten brothers. The Mufti Haj Amin Al Husseini, spent the World War Two years in Berlin with his friend and mentor Hitler, where he organized Moslems in aiding the Nazis. In 1942, the Mufti, with his German comrades, completed plans for an Auschwitz type extermination camp which would be used against the Jews of Eretz Yisrael when the Germans would conquer the Holy Land. The place they chose for the camp was the Valley of Dotan, where unknown to the Mufti and his sinister friends, the sin of brothers selling their brother occurred. General Rommel was defeated at Al Allemain in Egypt, and the Germans never entered the Land. What we perceived for 2000 years as the tragedy of the Ten Martyred Rabbis who paid the atonement price for the selling of Yosef in the Valley of Dotan saved the Jews of Eretz Yisrael 2000 years later from the fate which befell our brothers in Europe. The Germans and their willing allies in Europe are beyond forgiveness. The tragedy of the Shoah when over 7 million Jews – not 6 million – is so horrific that no rational person can even suggest why this befell the Jewish nation. (The evil of the Germans was so extreme that we all believed that they had reached the lowest depths that mankind can descend to, until we met the Arab and Moslem extremists. (There is to my knowledge no record of a German who willingly committed suicide in order to murder a Jew. The Arab and Moslem straps on a dynamite belt and blows himself up in a bus or restaurant just to kill a Jew). But the ways of HaShem are so mysterious and always amazing. Undeniably, the unspeakable Shoah was the catalyst for the establishment of Medinat Yisrael, when two thirds of the member states of the United Nations felt a moment of compassion and voted for the Partition Plan in 1947. Since then, Germany has been one of Israel’s closest allies. When the US placed an arms embargo on the nascent State, Germany helped us double our population in the first years of the State. Germany is the spokesman for Israel in the European Union, and our submarine fleet was constructed in and purchased from them. Obviously, the Germans are doing it not because they have suddenly became lovers of Zion, but it has been their entrance ticket back into the family of enlightened nations. In any event, the mysterious hand of HaShem is at work as He weaves the destiny of the Jewish nation. The tragic destruction of the Bet Hamikdash saved the Jewish nation from destruction, and the tragic death of the Ten Martyrs prevented the unspeakable from being done here in the Valley of Dotan, and the Shoah shook the Jewish people out of our exile malaise to begin our return home. In 1948, the Medina was a mere scribble on the map of the world. The dire threat of extinction was real when we were invaded by seven standing Arab armies; but this small splinter of a state defeated them all. In the Six Day War, again the threat of destruction faced the people in Israel. But now HaShem turned Tzahal into a big stick expanding our borders three fold; and for the first time in over 2000 years, we were again sovereign over Yerushalayim. In the Yom Kippur War, Tzahal became a powerful club, defeating the enemy comprised of Arab armies with their Soviet advisors and sophisticated weapons. In this light, we need not fear the evil which currently surrounds us in Eretz Yisrael. The Iranians, the European Union, Russia and the soon to come betrayals of other “friends”. HaShem has delivered the message again and again. Until today many people in the Land have finally deciphered what He means. That a great danger signals the oncoming of a far greater salvation. That examples of the mysterious Hand of HaShem are too numerous to enumerate, but when historical events are viewed as a whole it is so clear that HaShem is holding the hand of His chosen nation and is accompanying us as He walks us across the rock strewn history of mankind. So let us rejoice on this 48th anniversary of the reunification of Yerushalayim by HaShem’s agents – Tzahal and Medinat Yisrael. Let all who believe in HaShem as the loving Father of Am Yisrael recite the Hallel blessing, as we prepare for the next exhilarating advance in our trek to physical and spiritual redemption. Shabbat Shalom, Nachman Kahana Copyright © 5775/2015 Nachman Kahana

My Third Shabbat with Lone Soldiers

By Shmuel Sackett

In the past few months, I have spent 3 Shabbatot with Israeli lone soldiers. For those who may not be familiar with this term, a “lone soldier” is defined as one whose parents live outside of Israel. These guys – and girls – are amazing people. They are all young, smart, energetic, highly motivated and, in most cases, not only do their parents live outside Israel but every sibling as well! These soldiers are literally all alone. Many of them have nowhere to go when the army gives them a few days off. Some crash on a friend’s couch while others have “adopted” families who take them in. These friends do their laundry (sometimes 3 weeks of nasty, army laundry that makes your kid’s post-camp laundry look and smell good!) and these friends also give them Shabbat meals. While this is an amazing act of chessed on the part of these friends, nothing can replace a mother’s or father’s embrace after weeks of grueling training and army service. Nevertheless, these soldiers love the decision they made and wouldn’t change it for the world.

The 3 Shabbatot I spent with them were all quite different. One of the Shabbatot was spent in my community of Herziliya with 12 of these lone soldiers. We arranged housing by different families and they all had a chance to meet my neighbors. They spoke in my shul, introduced themselves and made a wonderful impression on all who met them. The other 2 Shabbatot was reversed; meaning that my wife and I went to spend Shabbat with them. The most recent one was this past Shabbat which was so amazing… I simply did not want it to end!

I am sure that most of you are familiar with the Emek Refaim section of Jerusalem. This area has probably set some kind of world record with about 75 kosher restaurants in a 4 block radius. I am not sure that there is such a category in the Guinness Book of World Records but when there finally is one, “Emek” wins hands down. What you probably do not know, however, is that just a few months ago – in the middle of these restaurants, yogurt shops and waffle bars – a very important home opened up called “The Emek Lone Soldiers Center”. This center serves as a true home-away-from-home for these wonderful lone soldiers. There are 2 bedrooms for many of them to sleep, a fully stocked kitchen to make meals and a beautiful large room for them to learn, read and relax. The location can’t be beat and this center has become an instant hit among the lone soldiers who frequent Jerusalem. But there’s more… one major thing that sets this lone soldiers center apart from all others.

The Emek Lone Soldiers Center focuses – not only on the physical needs of the soldiers – but on their spiritual needs as well. I call this place, the “Aish HaTorah” of the lone soldiers world because in addition to everything stated above, they teach the soldiers Torah, give them a warm and heimish environment and help with cleaning their souls – not just their laundry!

The Shabbat we spent reflected these values. We welcomed Shabbat with a wonderful Carlebach davening and the young men were singing and dancing to all the tunes. Even though Shabbat starts late these days, nobody looked at their watches and the singing went on for a nice long time. When we sat down for the Friday night meal we all introduced ourselves and I was amazed at the wide range of young men who were seated before me. There was a soldier from Spain, one from Germany and one from… Zimbabwe. Yes, you read that correctly. In addition there were 2 young Lubavitcher chassidim from London, a few guys from California, Denver, Omaha and New York. All of these men are serving in very serious IDF combat units ranging from Golani to Egoz to Nahal Haredi. They all have smiling faces and are young in body and spirit. Every one of them has a story and listening to them is simply incredible. They invited me to spend Shabbat with them so that I might inspire them but in the end, they inspired me 100 times more! They left their families, their education and their friends just to join an IDF combat unit. I must stress that this is not a joke. In the last war in Gaza, 3 of the soldiers killed were lone soldiers. They are in the same army as the Israeli boys, with the same training. Nobody goes easy on them and their limited Hebrew makes things very difficult. Nevertheless, they don’t regret their decision for one second.

My wife and I enjoyed every second of each of these 3 Shabbatot. As a matter of fact, I spoke to the head and founder of the program, Rabbi Shalom Myers and told him that he is to bring his soldiers to Herziliya again since the entire community can’t stop talking about these guys! Rabbi Myers is a very interesting individual himself. He was born and raised in South Africa and won the Bible contest in that country back in 1973. He taught in Ohr Sameyach for 14 years and is the proud father of three sons who served in elite combat units in the IDF. One of his sons was also a top officer in the Paratroopers. Rabbi Myers uses his expertise in education, outreach and love for soldiers in everything he does with this center and the lone soldiers are like his children.

Here’s a suggestion: Next time you are in Jerusalem, spend some time in this Emek Lone Soldiers Center. Get to know the people who run it and the young soldiers who call this place home. Sing with them, learn Torah with them and daven with them. I promise you will be inspired and uplifted. And then, after you are motivated and energized, go to one of the stores on Emek and grab yourself a yogurt, or a waffle, or a bagel, or a milkshake, or a steak, or a burger, or a pizza…

For more information please see: www.EmekLoneSoldiers.com

Jerusalem Day's Moral

By Rabbi Zalman Baruch Melamed Dedicated to the memory of R. Avraham ben David

Jerusalem Day has become a day of joy more so for the religious Zionist community than for any other sector of Israeli society. On the day of Jerusalem's liberation, it was as if Zionism had added a second story. The first story was Zion, the second, Jerusalem. The Temple Mount, the Wailing Wall, the Old City - all of these symbolize Zionism's spiritual level, a level that rests upon the physical level. The Six-Day War, which gave rise to Jerusalem's liberation and brought the Jewish people face to face with the site of the Holy Temple, caused a great spiritual awakening among Jews. This awakening proved that Zionism had not finished its task; it proved that providing a practical physical solution to the problem of Jewish survival is not enough. The objective of Zionism goes beyond the mere return of the nation to its homeland. It implies the return of the nation to its God, its spiritual way, its Torah, and all that is sacred to her. By virtue of the Six-Day War, the national religious community received an immense thrust. This new thrust, in turn, became a force that led to Jewish settlement all over the newly liberated territories, settlement with unmistakable religious significance. On the other end of the spectrum, in the secular leftist camp - a camp which saw Zionism as a primarily secular movement whose only goal was to solve the problem of Jewish survival, the task of protecting a scattered and disjointed nation, a hounded and humiliated people - the Six-Day War represented a crisis point in Zionist aspiration. The most serious blow, though, was the Yom Kippur War. At that point in time, it became clear to them that the secular concept of Zionism had not attained its goal. The dream of a Jewish State in Israel that would solve the Jewish problem, bringing, at long last, peace and quiet, was shattered: Here a Jewish State had indeed been established yet the problem had not been solved. It had, in fact, become intensified. The plight of the Jews in Israel was more difficult than that of the Jews in the Diaspora. In the State of Israel Jews faced war, terrorism, and isolation. The dream of being a "free nation in our land" had been shattered. The excessive feeling of danger that existed on the eve of the Six-Day War, the fear of a terrible armed conflict with hundreds of casualties clouded the eventual military victory. It became apparent that, though we were victorious this time, even in the land of Israel our existence is not guaranteed. This difficult feeling deepened afterwards during the War of Attrition, and reached its peak with the Yom Kippur War. At that point, the crisis of the leftist Zionist idea reached full maturity. Since then, the Israeli left has been searching for a way to escape this mess, to escape the Zionist idea. They wish to nullify the concept of the State of Israel as a State of the Jewish people, a concept that leads to a split between Israel and the other nations of the world and causes endless hatred and enmity. The way to do this is by blurring the national Jewish identity of the state, by blurring the boundaries that separate Israel from the rest of the nations. Jerusalem Day, a day that is filled with a sense of deep Jewish identity, is not a holiday of the secular left. The left does not want a Jewish State any more, for our uniqueness is the source of all of the troubles of the state. Attempts by Jews to escape their own identity did not begin yesterday; this phenomenon has a long history. Still, they have never been successful. It appears that we must again carry out this clarification. We must once again discover that it is impossible to hide our Jewishness, and that trying to hide only causes it to burst forth with even greater strength. We are aware that all of our difficulties are part of the process of Israel's redemption and we accept them lovingly. We are happy and grateful to the Almighty for the deliverance that these hardships carry with them. Therefore, Jerusalem Day is a day of thanks and praise to God, who returned us to Jerusalem and to the lengths of the Land of Israel, a day of prayer for complete redemption - that it should come speedily in our days, Amen.

Iran and Suspension of Disbelief

By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

The term "suspension of disbelief” - coined in 1817 by the philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge – refers to a willingness to suspend one's critical faculties and believe the unbelievable; sacrificing reality, common sense, doubt and complexity on the altar of a pretend reality, convenience and oversimplification; infusing a semblance of truth into an untrue narrative.  

Suspension of disbelief characterized the 1977-79 President Carter policy toward Iran, energizing Ayatollah Khomeini, ignoring or underestimating his track record and his radical, supremacist and violent worldview.  The betrayal of the Shah transformed Teheran from "the US policeman in the Gulf” to the worst enemy of the US.

Currently, the suspension of disbelief undermines the US posture of deterrence and vital US national security and commercial interests.  It was demonstrated by President Obama, who – irrespective of Middle East reality – referred to the brutally-intolerant, terror-driven, anti-US, anti-infidel, repressive, tumultuous Arab Tsunami as the Arab Spring "casting off the burdens of the past,” "a story of self determination,” "a democratic upheaval,” "a peaceful opposition,” "rejection of political violence” and "a transition toward (multi-sectarian, multi-ethnic) democracy.”

Suspension of disbelief, coupled with the Ayatollahs' mastery of 'Taqiyya' (Islam-sanctioned double-talk and deception), has led Secretary Kerry to assert on November 24, 2013: "Iran's Foreign Minister Zarif emphasized that they don't intend to acquire nuclear weapons, and Iran's Supreme Leader has indicated that there is a 'fatwa' [an authoritative religious ruling], which forbids them to do this.”  In an April 7, 2015 NPR radio interview, President Obama made a reality-stretching assumption which underlines the Iran policy: "If in fact Iran is engaged in international business… then in many ways it makes it even harder for them to engage in behaviors that are contrary to international norms…. It is possible that if we sign this nuclear deal, we strengthen the hand of the more moderate forces in Iran….”

Rebutting Obama, Amir Taheri, a leading authority on Iran wrote: "hope is not a sufficient basis for a strategy…. [The relatively moderate former President] Rafsanjani has little chance of surviving a direct clash with [the Supreme Leader] Khamenei….” The Saudi frustration with US policy on Iran – shared by all pro-US Arab regimes – was expressed on April 25, 2015 by the opinion editor of the prestigious Saudi daily, A-Sharq Al-Awsat, which echoes the position of the House of Saud: "While the US considers the Ayatollahs a legitimate partner to negotiation, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf States are in a state of war with Iran, which is the main source of chaos in the region.”  The editor-in-chief of the Saudi daily added: "Has the Axis of Evil collapsed to the extent that President Obama is courting one of its key members?! Isn't this the same Teheran that has posed a clear and present danger to the Gulf States for the past 36 years?!” 

The zeal to make a deal plays into the hands of the Ayatollahs and overlooks the following facts:

*An agreement is not the goal, but a tool to achieve the real goal;

*Transforming an agreement to a goal undermines the real goal;

*Details of an agreement are less critical than the details of the Ayatollahs' 36 year track record of supremacist, apocalyptic and megalomaniacal  violence, martyrdom, sponsorship of global Islamic terrorism, subversion of pro-US Arab regimes, repression, anti-US hate education and policies, a systematic non-compliance with agreements and mastery of concealment;

*Such a track record warrants a "guilty until proven innocent” approach;

*Preconditioning an agreement upon a dramatic change in the conduct of the rogue, anti-US Ayatollahs would be "a poison pill” to a bad deal, but a vitamin to a good deal .

*A "bad deal” would nuclearize Iran; "no deal” would allow the US to choose the ways and means to prevent Iran's nuclearization;

*Nuclear capabilities would extend the life of the repressive, rogue Ayatollah regime, precluding any hope for civil liberties or home-induced regime change.

*An agreement – not preconditioned upon the transformation of the Ayatollahs – would compound their clear and present threat to vital US interests;

*The transformation of the nature of the Ayatollahs - as a precondition to an agreement - would prevent the nuclearization of the Ayatollahs;

*Precluding the option of military preemption has strengthened and radicalized the rogue Ayatollahs, and could lead to a nuclear war;

*Misrepresenting the option of military preemption as war defies reality, since it should be limited to surgical - no troops on the ground - air and naval bombings of  critical parts of Iran's nuclear infrastructure from US bases in Bahrain, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Oman and the Indian Ocean or aircraft carriers;

*A US military option forced Iran to end the 1980-88 war against Iraq, convinced Libya to give away its nuclear infrastructure in 2003, and led Iran to suspend its nuclear development in 2003.   

*”Ironclad” supervision and intelligence failed to detect the nuclearization of the USSR, China, Pakistan, India and North Korea;

*Unlike the USSR, which was deterred by Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD), the apocalyptic Ayatollahs would be energized by MAD-driven martyrdom.

*The zeal to strike a deal has led to a US retreat from six UN Security Council Resolutions, which aimed to prevent Iran's nuclearization.

*A nuclear Iran, which celebrates "Death to America Day,” would devastate cardinal US interests: toppling the oil-producing Arab regimes (impacting supply and price of oil) and other pro-US Arab regimes; intensifying Islamic terrorism, globally and on the US mainland; agitating Latin America; collaborating with North Korea; cooperating with Russia; destabilizing Africa and Asia.

*The track record of the Ayatollahs, on the one hand, and compliance with agreements, on the other hand, constitute an oxymoron;

*Suspension of disbelief, in the case of Iran's nuclearization, entails overlooking facts that highlight the implausibility of a viable agreement with the Ayatollahs, thus damaging crucial US interests and fueling a nuclear war.

From Political Freedom to Spiritual Freedom

By HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

The counting of the Omer comes between two Minchah offerings, the barley offering brought on the second day of Pesach, and the wheat offering brought on Shavuot. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook explains that these two offerings hint to us about man’s gradual spiritual improvement. That is, the Rabbis viewed barley as an animal food, alluding to man on a bestial level, and they viewed wheat as a food for human beings, alluding to the highest spiritual level man has ever achieved, that of the Sinai Revelation. 

When an infant is born, we ask how much he weighed. By the time he comes under the marriage canopy, however, we have other questions. We want to know if he is a good person with good traits and good deeds. It is the same during the counting of the Omer. At the start of Pesach we are preoccupied with the Jews’ material and physical survival, and at the end, when we get to Shavuot, we are more concerned with the spiritual level of the indidual Jew and the Jewish People. 

Right now, our national rebirth is undergoing a similar process. In our prayers we beseech G-d to “bring us speedily to our land, with our heads held high [komemiyut].” Based on the word “komemiyut,” which appears in Leviticus 26:13, our sages (Bava Batra 75a) teach that redemption will come in two “komot” or stages. In the first stage, we are occupied with the physical construction of a state, but we are advancing on to the next stage, involving the spiritual status of the nation, as at the Revelation. 

Similarly in the past, we left Egyptian servitude for political freedom, and from there we marched on towards the Sinai Revelation, fifty days after the Exodus, where we achieved everlasting spiritual freedom. 

Through achievement of this political and spiritual freedom together, with the People of Israel living in the Land of Israel, may we merit to see all mankind enjoying material plenty and spiritual light and everything that is good, as indeed G-d promised Abraham: “Go away from your land... to the land that I will show you. I will make you into a great nation... You shall become a blessing. All the families of the earth shall be blessed through you” (Genesis 12:1-3). Looking forward to complete salvation, 

Torah Priests and Cultural Priests

By Moshe Feiglin

In honor of Lag Ba’omer – the holiday of mystical secrets – I have written an article for this week’s 929 initiative. (929 is a controversial internet site that presents the Tanach (Jewish Bible) in modern language).

When the people at 929 called to ask me to write something for Leviticus chapter8, I immediately agreed. But when I opened the Tanach to the relevant chapter, I remained clueless. The entire chapter is about the priests in the Temple, the animal sacrifices and ceremonies that do not even leave a small crack through which modern mentality may peek.

But one verse reminded me of an amazing book that has recently been published, making my short article something between literary critique, literature and something that is informed by Leviticus Chapter 8 and its meaning.

Andrew Cohen, the main character of Reuven Namdar’s widely acclaimed book, The Ruined House, (winner of the prestigious Sapir Prize for Literature) is a modern New York icon. Cohen (52) is a charismatic, popular professor of modern comparative cultures. Living high-style and high society, Cohen is a sought-after guest at cocktail parties of the wealthy. He lives with a young American  woman in her twenties in a studio apartment overlooking Central Park – nothing can be higher on the Western scale of success .

In his desperate search for meaning, in the incomprehensible race for the next must-have, Andrew is the High Priest. Andrew Cohen purifies the impure and infuses senseless behaviors and items with significance.

Shrouded in his sanctuary – his ultra-modern kitchen – Cohen purifies himself and ascends to the spiritual experience of the day: Preparing meat that he has carefully chosen for a feast for his lucky guests. With his  right thumb, the Priest mixes the mixture of blood and rare wine and sniffs. A mystical, sensual hunger pushes the professor to smear the blood on his right ear lobe and his right big-toe.

“And he slaughtered and Moses took of its blood and put it on Aaron’s right ear lobe and on his right thumb and on his right big toe.” (Leviticus 8:23)

And so Namdar does the impossible and draws a bond between the priests who could not be farther in time, place and mentality.

It is difficult not to be perplexed by the incomprehensibility – or even the seeming pseudo-pagan strangeness – that is reflected in the above verse. But Andrew is the priest of our times and the incomprehensibility of the cultural ceremonies and prevailing mentality is no different than the incomprehensibility of ceremonies and cultures that preceded us. Except for the temporary banality that quickly fades, only to be replaced by the next priest and the next fad – as opposed to the one, unique ceremony, which precisely includes the only combination possible for opening the sanctuary on the way to the truly authentic experience.

Surrogates in the Service of "Abomination"

By Rabbi Yisrael Rosen

Dean, Zomet Institute

"From the other nations... shall you buy slaves and maidservants. And you shall also buy them from among the children of those who reside with you." [Vayikra 25:45].

The rescue of many Israelis from the tragedy in Nepal helped to shine the spotlight on the subject of surrogate motherhood. About twenty babies born from surrogates were flown to Israel in an accelerated process (including granting Israeli citizenship to the newborn arrivals). A similar number of women from Nepal who were carrying "Yisraelite seed" knocked on the gates of the Israeli authorities, and several of them were brought here in a humanitarian gesture, while their unborn babies were granted Israeli citizenship.

Some Facts

My column this week will first of all serve as an information service to my readers, which will lead me in the end to share my outlook with you. According to official statistics of the Population and Immigration Authority, in 2013, 169 babies were "imported" into Israel who were born from surrogate mothers abroad. There were 128 in 2012, 93 in 2011, and only 6 in 2008. Until today, about 500 children of surrogate mothers from abroad have been brought into Israel. And here are statistics for Israel itself: In 2013, 58 babies were born from local surrogates (and only 41 in 2012).

The surrogacy process that is most talked about is the "full" one. That is, there are three people who have a share in the child: the father, the woman who donates her egg, and the one who rents out her womb. The last one provides "pregnancy services" for the sperm of the man (usually the Israeli man, who signs the contract for the process) and for the egg of a different woman which was bought or somehow acquired by the man. It goes without saying that this service is in return for pay, whether it is called by some euphemistic name or not (such as expenses, compensation for a loss of work time, and so on). In such cases of "full" surrogacy, the donator of the egg can also be the wife (or life partner) of the man, if for some reason she cannot become pregnant or doesn't want to (say, because of a career or because of physical limitations). In this case, they want to hire a womb together. A quick search in the internet teaches me that the cost of such a process in Nepal can be as high as NIS 250,000.

On the other hand, if the woman who is making her womb available also provides the egg, the surrogacy is called "partial." In this case, a man makes an agreement with a woman that she will bear a child from his sperm, after which he will receive the child and she will be disconnected from the child to which she gave birth.Such a process is prohibited in Israel (and in most other countries in the world) because it causes great harm to the concept of motherhood, and for other reasons. There have been cases where courts (including in Israel) have been called upon to decide who should get the child if the surrogate mother refuses to give it up and does not want to abide by the original contract.

Ethical and Social Dilemmas

It is obvious to anybody who thinks about the matter that the concept of surrogacy raises a host of ethical and social dilemmas, even before we think of any questions of halacha. Those who oppose the idea bring up such concepts as slavery (both men and women), exploitation, and commerce in babies, together with the health dangers and the mental anguish that can result from the surrogate mother being disconnected from her child. From the social point of view, the subject is linked to theshattering and total breakdown of family values (except for a couple who are looking for a solution for a woman who is incapable of becoming pregnant). On the other hand, those who favor the idea point to the concept of adoption, which is considered as an altruistic act of kindness, and they see the process of surrogate motherhood as a way of orchestrating and coordinating the process of adoption.

In many countries around the world, all the many variations of surrogate motherhood are illegal, and those who want children by this process search for weaker countries where there are no legal prohibitions (or where the restrictions can be overcome by various means).Israel is one of the most liberal countries in the world in this matter (could it be otherwise?), and we allow local surrogacy subject to strict control – the main condition being that onlya man and woman who are marriedcan participate (even if the egg was "donated" by another woman), and the surrogate mother must be unmarried. If the wife is Jewish then the surrogate must be Jewish too, although the woman who donates the egg does not have to be Jewish. In the latter case, there will be serious halachic questions about whether the child is Jewish or not, based on the identity of the father and the woman who provides the womb, or if it is not Jewish, following the status of the egg. In the various issues of the annual halachic summary Techumin, about ten different articles have been published on this matter. (Here is an exercise for the reader: find the articles on the Zomet website (www.zomet.org.il) using the built-in search engine.)

Legitimizing "Abomination"

The tumult in Israel with respect to this issue is connected to the demands of single-sex couples and individual men and women, who want to have the right to "purchase" children in this way and raise them. In the previous Knesset, the Minister of Health from Yesh Atid managed (about a month before she was fired) to bring a proposed law to the first reading, in order to amend the surrogacy law to her liking – with the enthusiastic support of the "Abomination Community." In spite of the veto rights of the Bayit Yehudi Party with respect to religion and the state, the party did not object because of coalition considerations, and because of a serious error of halachic quotes that implied that "the situation was not so terrible." And perhaps the worst thing was the victorious declaration of the enlightened Minister: "A family today is not made up of a man and a woman and children. It can consist of a single woman and children, a single man with children, two women with children, or two men with children." I wonder why she forgot some more possibilities, such as a man with two or three women or vice versa (heaven forbid).

We end with some halachic considerations. Such a process within Yisrael, with a Jewish surrogate mother, raises serious questions about the true identity of the "mother" of the child, in terms of illicit sex and incest in marriage. And if the egg was bought from a non-Jewish woman, we become involved in complex questions of whether the baby is Jewish or not. With a surrogate from abroad it is clear that the child is not Jewish, and its subsequent conversion is impossible, especially if it will grow up in a single-sex family.

May We not Labor for Naught: HaRav Nachman Kahana on Parashat Behar 5775

BS”D  Parashat Behar 5775  Rabbi Nachman Kahana Our parasha deals with varied mitzvot ranging from agriculture, commercial transactions of moveable items, as well as real estate in open areas and in walled and open cities, the freeing of avadim (indentured servants), and concludes with the mitzva of Shabbat. Despite the diversity, these mitzvot have a common denominator – they are all time related. The Shmitta (Sabbatical year in cycles of seven), the Yovel (Jubilee once every 50 years), the rights of a seller to repurchase his property within a fixed time, freeing of slaves after 6 work years or at the event of the Yovel, and Shabbat which falls out every 7 days. Time was first created by HaShem when He “uttered” the word “Bereshit” (in the beginning) – meaning now begins what Man will call time. It is the most fleeting, abstract, enigmatic, esoteric and obscure concept. It envelopes all creation; none can escape it, nor limit it, nor change its course. It has no independent existence. The past is instantaneously gone; the future has yet to arrive; the present turns immediately into the past. So what is time? Time is the ultimate supernatural gift that HaShem has given to the Jewish people, and indeed only to us. HaShem granted us the ability to transform its fleeting elements – seconds, minutes, hours, days, and Sabbatical cycles, into eternal entities. We do so by performing mitzvot which transfer the “this world” dimension of time into eternal spiritual entities which are the building blocks of our personal place in Gan Eden. However these must be authentic mitzvot. What is an authentic mitzva, as apart from an unauthentic one? The great Ramban writes in his commentary to Vayikra 18,25: ומן הענין הזה אמרו בספרי (עקב מג), ואבדתם מהרה (דברים יא יז), אף על פי שאני מגלה אתכם מן הארץ לחוצה לארץ היו מצויינין במצות שכשתחזרו לא יהו עליכם חדשים… וכן אמר ירמיה (לא,כ) הציבי לך ציונים, אלו המצות שישראל מצוינין בהם: והנה הכתוב שאמר (דברים יא יז) ואבדתם מהרה ושמתם את דברי אלה וגו’, אינו מחייב בגלות אלא בחובת הגוף כתפילין ומזוזות, ופירשו בהן כדי שלא יהו חדשים עלינו כשנחזור לארץ, כי עיקר כל המצות ליושבים בארץ ה’. ולפיכך אמרו בספרי (ראה פ), וירשתם אותה וישבתם בה ושמרתם לעשות (דברים יא לא לב), ישיבת ארץ ישראל שקולה כנגד כל המצות שבתורה… One is required to keep the mitzvot even in the exile, such as tefilin and mezuza, so that the mitzvot will not be forgotten when we return to Eretz Yisrael; because the mizvot were given essentially for those who reside in Eretz Yisrael. It is for this reason that our rabbis stated (Sifrei Devarim chapter 80) that to reside in Eretz Yisrael is equal to all the other mitzvot of the Torah. The Ramban is saying that one who willingly remains in the galut and goes through the motions of the mitzvot or studies or teaches Torah there can be compared to one who studies the instructions for an appliance without having it. At best it’s a waste of time, or worse – an exercise in futility. Another example of a mitzva which is not a pure and authentic one, is when one receives money for studying HaShem’s holy Torah. The Gemara (Yoma 35b) relates that as a student, Hillel would earn a minimal amount of money for his day labors, half of which he gave to his wife for the family and the other half to pay the entrance fee to the yeshiva. It happened that once he did not have the fee and was refused entrance. It was a cold winter day and Hillel climbed to the roof of the building where he put his ear to the skylight to hear the words of Torah. The cold caused him to lose consciousness. In the yeshiva, the rabbis Shemaya and Avtalion wondered why it was so dark when usually in the early morning hours the skylight would permit the entrance of light. They went up to the roof and found the unconscious Hillel with his ear pressed to the glass in order to hear the words of Torah. That is an authentic mitzva of talmud Torah. Hillel’s learning time achieved eternal spiritual mass. In the closing morning prayer (shacharit) of U’va TeZion Go’el there is a frightening phrase:  שלא ניגע לריק May we not labor for naught It is essential that we make an accounting of the way we utilize the time that HaShem gives us. Time is a limited commodity which cannot be extended; the march of time cannot be slowed. To turn the nebulous concept of time into an eternal essence requires a sincere heart dedicated to Torah, and to the Jewish nation in Hashem’s Holy Land. Shabbat Shalom, Nachman Kahana Copyright © 5775/2015 Nachman Kahana

Do You Want to Help the Ethiopian Immigrants? Stop Helping Them

By Moshe Feiglin

The central feature of the protest of the Ethiopian immigrants in Israel is that nobody knows what they are really protesting about. That is very strange. A real protest – despite all the self-centered spoons stirring the pot – looks and feels unmistakably authentic.

Not that there are not serious injustices that must be rectified. Police violence is certainly a terrible injustice. But in truth, the police hit everyone…

If Ethiopian students are not accepted to a particular school, that school should be closed and the principle summarily fired. The same holds true for the army and every other state system.

But when all is said and done, other sub-groups experience injustice as well. The injustices do not explain the depth of the anger that surfaced this week.

I wanted to write on this topic while it was still a ‘hot’ media item. But I decided to wait, allow everyone to calm down a bit and speak with my Ethiopian friends, whose opinions I value.

I turned to a young Ethiopian man who had once conferred with me in the Knesset. He grew up in Israel, is university educated, articulate and intelligent.

I called him this morning.

“The government is constantly giving to the Ethiopian community. This perpetuates their inferior status,” he said. “The more they give, the worse the problem becomes.”

“So you are saying that when there will be an Ethiopian prime minister, we will still be witnessing the same protests?” I asked.

“Yes. Huge amounts of money are channeled through countless Ethiopian-immigrant aid NGOs and perpetuate the problem.”

“It’s like the blacks who are rioting now in the US, even though the president is Obama.”

“Exactly.”

“So the reason for the anger is deeper than a policeman who hit an Ethiopian or discrimination here and there. I will tell you what I think and you will tell me if you agree.”

“OK.”

“It is like a small child who shouts and kicks to get his father’s attention. His father gives him what he wants, and just a short time later, he is screaming again. The child has learned that screaming is the most effective tool to get his father’s attention and to have his needs filled. From the very beginning, Israel related to the Ethiopian community, as if they were children. It is not that the State does not give. It gives. But the more it condescendingly gives, the greater the problem becomes.

The State mechanisms boast about the aid they provide, NGOs pay salaries, people become powerful and vie for the crown of leadership for the underprivileged. The recipients of the aid feel deep anger for in truth, the central problem is not money, but rather the loss of Israel’s ability to view the Ethiopians as adults – not children.”

“Exactly,” said the man on the other end of the phone.

“We will not allow the tycoons to take control of our poverty,” said Amir Peretz when the tycoon Gydamak erected tents for the homeless. Poverty is an asset that many try to control and  perpetuate. Aid money is channeled in a way that empowers the establishment and preserves the dependence of the recipients. It becomes a vicious cycle. The more loudly the recipients complain, the more childish and dependent they become, the more they receive and the more angry they get.

Now, more than twenty years after the great aliyah from Ethiopia, the best thing that can be done for the second generation is for all of us to internalize the fact that they are citizens equally as talented as everyone else. They have equal rights and equal obligations. And then we must close all the separate government channels for aid to Ethiopian immigrants.

If we do not do so, not only will the second generation continue to be angry and frustrated. Their grandchildren and great-grandchildren will still (justifiably) go out to the streets to protest.

Moshe Feiglin: Medical Cannabis will Eventually be Legal

In a television interview on Friday, Moshe Feiglin said that there are apparently two things preventing Israel from legalizing medical cannabis. One is a liberty issue: It is easier for the government to control the populace when so many normative citizens know that they can be arrested at any time for the ‘crime’ of using cannabis. The second issue is money. “The drug industry is second only to the military industry,” Feiglin noted. “If cannabis solves so many medical problems, the drug companies stand to lose. Approximately one third of our medicine cabinets would become unnecessary.”

Feiglin assured the moderator that getting medical cannabis to the people who need it would be accompanied by extensive education to ensure responsible use of the substance.

“Ultimately,” said Feiglin,  “the wall blocking the use of medical marijuana will fall. Medical cannabis is now legal in many places around the world, with positive results, and that trend will continue.”

Israel's economy defies common sense

By Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

Irrespective of a cynical and gullible "elite” media, independent of diplomatic pressure, political correctness and conventional wisdom, in defiance of the global economic slowdown, in the face of war and terrorism, and despite ill-advised threats of boycott, divestment and sanctions – but, due to principle-driven tenacity, inherent optimism, human capital/brain power, creativity, cutting edge ingenuity and breakthrough, game-changing innovations – Israel's economy is expanding beyond expectations, reacting constructively to pressures/challenges, and developing unique commercial and security niches in response to local and global needs.
For example, the April 10 issue of Financial Times reported that "Israel's cyber security technologies claim 10% of the world's investments, and Israel's exports exceed $3bn…. Buy Swiss watches from Switzerland and information security from Israel…. Israel built its cyber-related offensive, defensive and snooping functions as a byproduct of its regional conflicts, 'turning lemons into lemonade' (Udi Mokady, CEO of CyberArk)….”
Leveraging Israel's cyber knowhow, Lockheed Martin – which joined EMC in fathering Israel's CyberSPark Industry Initiative - collaborates with Israel's National Cyber Bureau, Israel's Technology and Information Administration and the University of Maryland, training Israeli students, reflecting its growing involvement in Israel's cyber research and development (R & D). PayPal acquired Israel's anti-virus cyber company, CyActive, for $60mn, its second R & D center in Israel. In 2008, PayPal acquired FraudScience for $169mn. BottomLineacquired the Israeli cyber company, Intellinx, for $67mn.
According to the April 20, 2015 issue of the London Economist Intelligence Unit:    "Israel's high tech sector is in the midst of a boom stronger than anything seen since the late 1990s.  [300] Startups raised a record $3.4bn in 2014…. Israel has gained a global reputation as a technology innovation leader in several areas, with several hundred new technology firms emerging annually…. Some 82 Israeli startups were sold last year [for $7bn], mostly to foreign multinationals, while another 17 conducted initial public offerings (IPO)…. Foreign multinationals operate more than 200 R & D centers in Israel…. It is also significant in boosting Israel's relations with emerging economic powers hungry for innovation, such as India and China….”   
Contrary to the misperception of Israel's supposed isolation, Renren ("China's Facebook”) and Tencentinvested $100mn in an Israeli venture capital fund.  China's Internet giant, Alibaba, known for the highest-ever IPO ($25bn in 2014), invested about $50mn in Israel's JVP, which is currently focusing on cyber technology.  Chinese contractors are increasingly involved in major Israeli infrastructure projects, winning bids for the Mt. Carmel Tunnel, the Acre-Carmiel railroad, the port of Ashdod, the new deep water Port of Haifa, the supply of electric locomotives, etc.  PingAn, YongJin and ZTE, Chinese giants in the areas of insurance, financial management and cellular, respectively, invested $25mn in Israel's Rainbow, which invests in medical equipment.
Bloomberg reported on March 30, 2015 that India's mega-billionaire, Mukesh Ambani "is scouting for startups in Israel and the Silicon Valley…. Morgan Stanley predicts e-commerce sales will surge, in India, tenfold to $100bn by 2020.”  India's information technology giant, InfoSys, acquired Israel's Panaya for $230mn.
Israel's defense giant, Elbit, represents the rapidly expanding ties between Israel and the emerging markets of India, China and Latin America. According to an April 12, 2015 Bloomberg report: "While US defense spending is in a long term downward trend…demand from those regions helped push up Elibt's backlog orders to $6.3bn, an 8% jump from 2013…. While the US accounted for 28% of total sales in 2014 ($3bn) – the biggest slice… Elbit's combined sales in Asia and Latin America in 2014 (35%) surpassed those in the US for the first time.” Israel Aerospace Industries (IAI) has teamed up with Brazil's IACIT, establishing a radar maintenance center in Brazil, whose air force is using IAI-made airborne radars. Israel's Gilat Satellites won a $285mn bid to establish a regional telecommunications infrastructure in Peru.   
Long-term confidence in Israel's economy was demonstrated by Microsoft, which inaugurated its second R & D center in Israel, which is the site of Microsoft's first R & D center outside the USA.
According to Bank of Israel, $1.6bn were invested, by foreign investors, in Israel's high-tech, traditional industries and real estate during January-February, 2015; $8.3bn were invested during 2014 and $30bn in 2012-2014.  Industrial exports (without diamonds) catapulted from $5mn in 1948 to $47bn in 2014.
How attractive are Israel's high tech companies? During January-March, 2015, eleven Israeli companies raised $1.5bn on Wall Street. Recently, Nielsen Global acquired Israel's eXelate (digital marketing) for $200mn, in addition to its Nielsen Innovative incubator with nine Israeli startups. Canada's NorthLeaf Capital acquired 40% of Israeli Ormat's US subsidiary for $175mn. Blackberry is buying Israel's WatchDog for $100mn.  Avid Technology acquired Israel's OrAd for $70mn. Apple operates, in Israel, its largest R & D center (700 employees) outside the USA, consisting of three companies: LinX that was just bought for $20mn, Anobit Technologies and PrimeSense. TeraData acquired Israel's Appoxee for $20mn, and DocuSign purchased Israel's ARX for $30mn. 
The long-term viability of Israel and its economy is also reflected by its economic indicators, which refute conventional "wisdom.”  For instance, Israel's growth rate (3%) is similar to the USA and above the OECD average, Canada, Britain and Germany, and Israel's unemployment is below the OECD average. Israel's declining debt-to-GDP ratio (67%) is lower than the USA, the Euro Bloc, Japan, France, Canada, Britain and Germany.
Judging  by Israel's stellar economic performance, one would hardly guess that Israel experienced a six week war, against Hamas terrorists, in July-August, 2014.