One “Very” is not Enough

by Shmuel Sackett

There is a Mishna in Pirkei Avot that teaches us to be humble and modest. The Mishna is short and directly to the point. While the lessons are great, the words are few. It is the 4th Mishna in the 4th Perek and it starts with a basic teaching; “Rabbi Levitas of Yavneh says, ‘Be very, very humble in spirit’…” Nothing fancy, nothing complicated, just some wise guidance to be very humble. There’s only one problem… it doesn’t say that we should be humble. Rabbi Levitas teaches us to be very, VERY humble. Twice? But the Torah – yes, even the Oral Torah – never repeats words. Every word is calculated and precise. Why the need to write “very, very”?? Hold that question for a minute as we change focus.

In this week’s Parsha, 12 men are sent to spy the Land of Israel. We are all familiar with this story of how 10 of them came back with a negative report. Their 40 days of spying the land turned into 40 years of wandering in the desert and we remember this tragic event each year by fasting on Tisha B’av. But what did the 2 good spies have to say? They were Calev and Yehoshua and their report was not negative at all. They simply said; “The land that we passed through, to spy it out – the land is very, very good” (Ba’midbar 14:7)

One second. What did they say? “Very, VERY”?? Correct! This was the first time that this expression was used and then, about 1,400 years later, Rabbi Levitas used that exact same expression; “Very, VERY” when teaching us about humility. There has to be a connection… but what is it? A connection between being humble and Eretz Yisrael? Puzzling, indeed!

This riddle was solved, Baruch Hashem, by the Slonimer Rebbe in his masterpiece “Netivot Shalom”. The Rebbe writes that there is a deep connection between humility and the Land of Israel. He states that when one comes to live in Israel, he must come with his humility and leave his pride in his old country. Far too many people expect to see the red carpet – after all; “Do you know who I am???” They come to Israel and always manage to find problems with the education, the health care or the price of food. They have difficulty feeling comfortable in their new surroundings because of one thing; they forgot to pack their “humility” in their suitcases! The Rebbe says that the land is indeed very, VERY good but you will only realize it, if you are very, VERY humble.

Dearest friends; this is a powerful lesson for us all. With all the wonderful things about Israel, the modern state is just 70 years old and in many ways, is still a “work in progress”. The reason I want you to come here is for that very reason! I want you to help build the country. I want you to plant trees, develop ideas, strengthen the army and bring dreams to fruition. All these need to be done because Israel is young and still growing, maturing and developing. Don’t come to Israel and expect to be served. Life here is not a “Pesach program” in Miami Beach, but on the good side, it’s not over in 8 days.

Regarding Calev, the spy who saw the good in Israel, Hashem clearly says the following; “I will bring him to the land to which he came and his offspring will drive out (its inhabitants)…” (Ba’midbar 14:24) Do you understand those words? Because Calev saw the good, his descendants will merit to drive out the enemy. This means they will merit to fight for Israel! The Torah doesn’t say that his offspring will sunbathe on the beach or shop in Mamilla… no it doesn’t, because that’s a life for people who forgot the 2 lessons of “very, very”.

On one hand, “The land is very, very good” but on the other hand, when you come here, you need to be “very, very humble in spirit”. Humble people work hard, sweat in the heat as they build the land, train night and day to fight the enemy and are always ready to give and not receive. THAT is the attitude a Jew needs to have when fulfilling his/her destiny in making Aliyah.

Come home my brothers and sisters. Come to the very, very good land and bring your very, very humble spirit. You will be very, very happy you did!

Rabbi Ari Kahn on Parashat Shalach: Falling In Love

Yishai on Sky News Australia: "Prominent Israeli broadcaster and settler activist Yishai Fleisher has called on US President Donald Trump to defund the United Nations. "

The Yishai Fleisher Show: Trash-Talking Israel

The land of Israel is a "very very good land!" So says Caleb to the people of Israel who are in the midst of a faithless panic attack initiated by the evil and scary report of the wayward scouts. Rabbi Yishai is in the Hebron Embassy in Brooklyn after parading with Israel down 5th Avenue to undo the Sin of the Spies by speaking lovingly about God's great gift of the Good Land.

Islamic Anti-Semitism is Islamic Imperialism

by Daniel Greenfield

We ask that the verses of the Qur'an calling for the killing and punishment of Jews, Christians and unbelievers be rendered obsolete," the manifesto states.

It cites the murders of Sarah Halimi and Mireille Knoll, two elderly Jewish women murdered by anti-Semitic Muslim thugs, the fact that "French Jews are 25 times more likely to be attacked than their fellow Muslims", and the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Jews from the encroaching no-go zones.

"10% of the Jewish citizens of Île-de-France - that is to say about 50,000 people - were recently forced to move because they were no longer safe in some cities and because their children could not attend the schools of the Republic,” it courageously warns.

“This is a quiet ethnic cleansing being carried out in in the country of Emile Zola and Clemenceau."

The manifesto was written by former Charlie Hebdo editor Philippe Val, who had republished the original Mohammed cartoons from the Jyllands-Posten despite the threats, both terroristic and legal, and its signatories include former president, Nicolas Sarkozy, the former mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoë, famed singer Charles Aznavour, actor Gérard Depardieu, and many other significant figures.

The moral power and the importance of the manifesto should not be underestimated.

After 9/11, it was American Jews who brought attention to the plight of French Jews while their community leaders often preferred to remain silent. Now it is French Jews who speak out, who march and whose LDJ even confronts Islamic thugs in the street while American Jews keep quiet or collaborate.

The despicable alliance between AJC and ISNA, and the ADL’s attack on Canary Mission, carry with them the stench of Vichy on the spring wind. When an Islamic terrorist attacked a Kosher supermarket before the Sabbath, asking his victims if they were Jewish before he shot them, Obama dismissed it as a random attack on a “bunch of folks in a deli.” It’s become virtually impossible in the United States to have a discussion about Islamic anti-Semitism without being denounced as an Islamophobe.

Why did France and America trade places? France has faced worse terrorist attacks in recent years than we have. But, more significantly, it lacks the politically correct viewpoint consolidation of America. Despite certain views being criminalized, there are all sorts of non-traditional views in public life there that are actively debated, instead of being airbushed or silenced the way they are in the United States.

Neither the manifesto nor Charlie Hebdo could exist in the United States. The media in this country censored the Mohammed cartoons more vigorously than the Europeans did. Without any legal threat.

And yet, despite its moral courage and its vital message, the manifesto misses the true nature of Islamic anti-Semitism.

It’s a lot more than a few verses.

The verses are part of a larger Islamic narrative. They’re not random outbursts, but a story. And that story is the primal conflict between Mohammed and the Jews. It begins with the massacre of the Jews at Khaybar and concludes with an end of days that can only come when Muslims exterminate the Jews.

It’s not a few intemperate verses. Anti-Semitism is fundamental to the story of Islam. And that story with its visions of a conquest sweeping across the world has not ended. That’s why the violence goes on.

Jews and Christians have a paradoxical role in Islam. They are on the one hand, People of the Book, the unacknowledged originators of the ideas and texts that Mohammed looted to found Islam. But their precedence is removed by accusing them of having betrayed Allah and perverted the scriptures.

Unlike the polytheistic pagans wiped out by Islam, Jews and Christians are in theory monotheists, with a higher status, but they’re also accused of being mushrikeen, polytheists, who take “partners” with Allah. Jews and Christians had “taken Rabbis and monks to be their lords besides Allah”. (Koran 9:31)

The ambiguity of Jews and Christians gave them a special status and a special peril. Ritual humiliations of Jews and Christians were enacted to demonstrate their inferiority and the supremacy of the Muslim. In an honor-shame culture, Islamic superiority had to be demonstrated by humiliating other religions.

When Jews and Christians gained independence or won battles, it called the truth of Islam into question.

That, rather than a few verses, is what we are dealing with. The verses remain relevant to those Muslims who believe that they are in a zero-sum struggle with every other religion on a battlefield whose scope is as large as the planet and as small as a neighborhood or a building. And that’s the vast majority.

You can try to make an idea obsolete when it’s no longer relevant. But the anti-Semitic hatred in almost every country where Jews and Muslims both live shows that anti-Semitism remains quite relevant.

Hating Jews, attacking them and even killing them, remains a meaningful part of Islamic identity.

The Jews were a primal Islamic enemy. That enmity is written into Islamic scriptures, traditions and prayers. All of that can’t be made obsolete because the Islamic conquest is an ongoing project.

It’s not a few verses. It’s the context of the conquest. That’s the mission at the heart of Islam.

The Lebensraum and Drang Nach Osten of Islam might pause for periods, but it never actually stops. Iraqis, Pakistanis and Somali migrants pour into Europe seeking Lebensraum. They move into poorer areas associated with immigrants bringing them into contact with earlier Jewish communities.

When the second generation, usually more prone to supremacist violence and expansionism than its immigrant forebears, comes of age, the Jewish communities are violently driven out of their homes.

The verses that justify it won’t become obsolete until the modes of behavior behind them lapse.

Calls for the persecution of Jews and Christians won’t be outmoded relics of another time until Muslims make them so, not by changing words, but by changing deeds. The trouble is that the verses remain entirely relevant because Muslim populations around the world continue to fight religious wars.

Muslim hatred of Jews has unique elements. As anti-Semitism usually does. But it’s still a subset of an Islamic supremacism and xenophobia that is endemic and whose consequences can be seen in clashes between Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, Muslims and Hindus in Kashmir, Muslims and Buddhists (and Hindus) in Myanmar, Muslims and Yazidis in Iraq, Muslims and Zoroastrians in Iran, Muslims and Atheists in Bangladesh, and those are just a few of the many examples around the world.

Islam is not on good terms with any other religion. Including its own spinoffs, like the Bahai, or its own subdivisions, like the Sunnis and the Shiites.

It’s not about the Jews. It’s about Islam.

The truth of Islam is validated by violence. Its theological disputes are settled by force.

The verses about Jews and Christians are not the problem. They’re a symptom of the problem. As are the terrorist attacks, stabbings, shootings, bombings, no-go zones, sharia police and sex grooming gangs.

The response from Muslim clerics in France to the manifesto has been to claim that the verses are meant to be seen in the context of their time and that Islamic wars are only defensive. Historically, that’s nonsense. But everyone would be perfectly happy if they believed that and really lived it.

Instead Islamic violence is always deemed to be defensive. Peace can only come from victory, not co-existence. War with non-Muslims who don’t submit to Sharia law is seen as inevitable and necessary.

The verses libeling Christians and Jews, and justifying violence against them, are just rationalizing this fundamental Islamic worldview and applying it to specific targets. Islamic anti-Semitism is born of Islamic supremacism and imperialism. Muslims aren’t persecuting Jews just because of anti-Semitic verses in the Koran. They’re persecuting Jews because the Koran is supremacist and imperialistic.

That’s why Muslim violence against Jews is not just a problem for Jews. It’s a problem for everyone.

Like the Yazidis, Jews are a tiny minority and more vulnerable. That’s what makes them the canaries in the coal mine of Islamic migration. Muslim attacks on Jews in Europe date back over a generation. Long before Paris, Brussels and London were being regularly terrorized; European Jews had already retreated into fortified synagogues, stopped wearing Jewish clothing in public and maximized their security.

That was the canary in the coal mine. If Europe had woken up then, it wouldn’t be choking now.

American synagogues and Jewish institutions are starting to resemble their European counterparts. A decade ago, armed guards were a rarity outside synagogues. I walk past them all the time now.

The French manifesto is an imperfect effort to call attention to a burning problem. It’s an attempt to start an urgent and necessary conversation in France that can’t even be had in the United States.

And it’s a conversation that we must have before civilization chokes in the coal mine.

The USA-North Korea-Iran strategic interconnection

by Ambassador (ret.) Yoram Ettinger

The geo-strategic ripple effects of the 2018 US nuclear negotiation with North Korea and the 1994 US nuclear agreement with Pyongyang have been closely scrutinized by Iran’s Ayatollahs. Similarly, North Korea has studied the geo-strategic consequences of the 2015 US-led nuclear accord with the Ayatollahs (the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action).

The track record of the nuclear negotiations with the Ayatollahs and North Korea verifies a clear and direct interconnection between the two processes. Moreover, the nuclear agreements with both the Ayatollahs and North Korea were largely shaped by the State Department establishment, in general, and Wendy Sherman, the former Chief Negotiator and Acting Deputy Secretary of State, in particular.

Furthermore, the overall conduct of both rogue regimes – as far as abandoning or advancing nuclearization, ending or expanding terrorism, subversion and ballistic capabilities - has been immensely impacted by the US negotiation posture. Thus, the less assertive and more eager is the US, and the more reluctant it is to use the military option, the less deterred and the more radicalized are Iran and North Korea.

They consider concessions made by the US and other Western democracies to be a sign of weakness, especially when the concessions are tangible and immediate – in return for future reciprocity – ignoring the tenuous, violent, unreliable and lawless track record of the two rogue regimes.

For example, according to the 1994 Agreed (nuclear) Framework and subsequent agreements (negotiated until 2001), North Korea was supposed to dismantle its nuclear program and to refrain from developing, testing, producing and selling ballistic missiles (hardware and technology), which exceed a 300-mile range. In defiance of those agreements, North Korea has dramatically enhanced its non-conventional capabilities, sharing some of its nuclear technologies with Iran and Syria. It led to the erection of a nuclear reactor in Syria, which was destroyed by Israel in 2007.

On October 18, 1994, President Clinton stated: “…This agreement will help to achieve a longstanding and vital America objective: an end to the threat of nuclear proliferation on the Korean Peninsula. This agreement is good for the US, for our allies and for the safety of the entire world….” However, in 2006, North Korea conducted its first nuclear test. The US response – in an attempt to salvage the nuclear (supposedly disarmament) accord - featured additional concessions, such as the removal of North Korea from the State Department list of state sponsors of terrorism. This further eroded the US posture of deterrence, intensified Pyongyang’s intransigence and infuriated and undermined the national security of Japan and other allies of the US.

Since the July 2015 Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (the Iran Nuclear Agreement), the Ayatollahs have radicalized and intensified their military involvement in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Yemen, as well as their subversive and terrorist operations, aiming to topple all pro-US Arab regimes in the Persian Gulf, the Arabian Peninsula (primarily Saudi Arabia and Bahrain), Jordan and Egypt, as well as multitude of pro-Western regimes in Asia and Africa, and entrenching their anti-US presence in Latin America.

Since July 2015, The Shia’ Ayatollahs have escalated their subversive efforts to annex the Saudi-supported island of Bahrain, which they consider an Iranian province, where a 70% Shia’ majority is ruled by the Sunni House of Khalifa. In the process, Teheran has smuggled military systems to its terrorist network in Bahrain.

Since July 2015, the Ayatollahs have bolstered their military assistance to the anti-Saudi Houthi (mostly Shia’) rebels in Yemen. They consider Yemen - Saudi Arabia’s southern neighbor - a platform to launch missiles into Saudi Arabia, in an attempt to destabilize and topple the House of Saud. Simultaneously, the Ayatollahs have expanded their incitement of – and subversive initiatives in - the oil-rich, Shia’-dominated regions of Al Hassa’ and Qatif in the eastern part of Saudi Arabia.

Will President Trump avoid – or repeat - the critical errors committed by his predecessors in dealing with North Korea and the Ayatollahs?

Has President Trump recognized the well-documented rogue, unreliable, violent and lawless track record of the Ayatollahs and North Korea, which requires a drastic and tangible transformation, ideologically and geo-strategically, domestically, regionally and globally?

Does President Trump realize that bolstering the US’ posture of deterrence – including a viable military option – is a critical prerequisite to a constructive agreement with rogue regimes?

Has President Trump concluded that flawed agreements with rogue regimes are dramatically worse than no agreements?

Is President Trump aware of the interconnection between agreements concluded with North Korea and the Ayatollahs, on the one hand, and the global US posture of deterrence and the homeland security and national security of the US and its allies, on the other hand?

Palestinians: "Burn the Jews!"

by Bassam Tawil

• There are two important factors that the international community needs to notice regarding the fire kites that the Palestinians are sending to Israel from the Gaza Strip. First: those who are launching the kites are making it clear that their ultimate goal is to kill as many Jews as possible and bring about the obliteration of Israel. Second: the Palestinians see all Jews living in Israel as "settlers.
• The Palestinians are now also telling us that the terror kites they are sending to Israel accord with what the Quran orders Muslims to do in the fight against the "infidels." They apparently see the flaming kites as part of the jihad (holy war) against the enemies of Allah and Islam.
• "We want to set fire to Israel so that the Jews will be burned or forced to leave their country." -- Abu Al-Majd, terrorist.
• The jihad of the Palestinians against Israel is the same jihad that ISIS, the Muslim Brotherhood and other Islamic jihadi groups have also been waging on the "infidels" and "enemies of Islam" in the US, EU and other non-Muslim countries. We are witnessing a well-organized campaign of terror orchestrated by terrorists and activists belonging to Hamas and other Palestinian groups in the Gaza Strip.

Firefighters and soldiers attempt to extinguish a fire in a wheat field in Nahal Oz, Israel, after it was set alight by Palestinians who sent firebombs attached to kites across the border from Gaza, on May 15, 2018. (Photo by Lior Mizrahi/Getty Images)

The Palestinians, who have been sending flaming kites from the Gaza Strip into Israel the past few weeks, say that their real goal is to "burn the Jews" and destroy Israel. They see the kites as a new weapon to achieve their goal. They are disappointed, they say, that no Jew has been hurt yet as a result of the fires triggered by the flaming kites.

The kites have ignited dozens of fires in Israeli fields and forests adjacent to the border with the Gaza Strip, much to the satisfaction of the Palestinians and their supporters in the Arab and Islamic countries, who took to various social media platforms to celebrate the "success" of the Palestinian terror kites.

The same Palestinians who are openly stating that the flaming kites are aimed at "burning the Jews" and eliminating Israel are also arguing that this new form of terrorism is in the context a "peaceful and nonviolent protest" by the residents of the Gaza Strip.

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The Shamrak Report: Hypocrisy of Ceasefires - Enabling the Enemy!

by Avi Issacharoff

Hamas and Israel remain bitter enemies, but neither wants an all-out war, and so both sought to prevent a day's escalation from turning into something far more devastating.

With the tailing off of the Gaza conflict, and the end to the barrages into Israel and the IDF’s counter-strikes, it’s plain that the shared desire of both Hamas and Israel for a return to “normality,” and the avoidance of war, prevailed. Proof of this is that the status quo ante has been restored, with no change to the previous understandings between the sides. Israel and Hamas recommitted to their familiar formula: quiet will be met with quiet.

Neither side wants an escalation. To use a boxing analogy, Islamic Jihad and Hamas, and then Israel, put on the gloves for 24 hours, but heeded the bell and retired to their corners at the end of the round...

Even when hitting back, the Israeli army was careful mainly to target unmanned positions and facilities. As of this writing, there was not a single Gazan fatality reported in the dozens of Israeli retaliatory strikes.

Rocket and mortar fire from Gaza was far more indiscriminate; in the first Islamic Jihad barrage on Tuesday morning a shell exploded in the yard of a kindergarten. Nonetheless, it appeared that the terror group commanders did not wish to lose complete control and to force Israel into a harsher response. That first barrage came before the children had arrived.

Looking at both sides, there was almost the sense of an unseen hand coordinating where to fire and how heavily, until the previous calm had been restored...

NOTE: Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu warnedWednesday that in the event of another escalation, the IDF will conduct the most powerful assault on terror targets the Gaza Strip has seen in years. He charged Hamas, Islamic Jihad and other Palestinian terrorist groups of responsibility for 36 straight hours of massive rocket and mortar attacks.(Why wait? For how long will the inapt response and gamble with Jewish lives last? Remove them from Gaza and end the threat!)

Nothing Achieved in Gaza!

Not a single Islamic Jihad or Hamas member was killed in any of the Air Force strikes. Not a single launching cell was attacked on the most extensive day of battle since Operation Protective Edge, a day in which the Palestinians fired more than 100 rockets and mortar shells. Security sources say they didn’t want to escalate the events in the south because of the northern front. (Terrorist leadership is still alive; enemy population still occupies Gaza - Nobody can end or win conflict with inadequate, proportional response! It can only be stopped by killing terrorists and removing terror supporting population from Jewish land. Bombing empty ‘facilities’ is not enough - it was done many times before!)

Food for Thought. by Steven Shamrak

This is a message to BDS supporters: Please, be positive and campaign for "Buy Palestinian products”! Could you suggest products that could be put in the list “Made in Gaza”? Without doubt, the ‘signature’ products like mortar shells and Qassam rockets, and suicide bombers, and ‘newcomer’ – incendiary kites, will be included with delivery guaranty!

'Useless Nazi' is Truly Irrelevant

The United States vetoed an Arab-backed UN draft resolution calling for protective measures for the Palestinians that won backing from 10 countries at the Security Council. A US resolution condemning Hamas also failed. China, France, and Russia were among the countries that voted in favour of the draft put forward by Kuwait on behalf of Arab countries. Four countries, Ethiopia, the UK, the Netherlands, and Poland abstained. A few days before, Kuwait on Wednesday blocked a US-drafted UN Security Council statement that would have strongly condemned the firing of rockets and mortar shells by terrorists in the Gaza Strip on Israel. (I hate gutless 'friends' of Israel, who abstain, more than enemies who voted “Yes”!)

IDF in 'Quiet' Delusion

A top official in the IDF’s Southern Command said Israel must take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which would likely bring quiet to the Gaza region. A top official in the IDF’s Southern Command said Thursday Israel must take steps to ease the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which would likely bring quiet to the Gaza region. (Aid for rockets - fear trade!? Israel has been there before, many times! How about removing them all from Gaza?)

Missiles Made in Iran

The IDF has revealed the projectiles fired at Israel in the afternoon were made in Iran. “The Palestinian Islamic Jihad is a terrorist organization rooted in Iranian ideology,” the IDF spokesperson said in a statement. “Today, they used Iranian-made weapons.” In March 2014, Israel’s Navy intercepted a Klos-C” ship in the Red Sea that was carrying a massive shipment of arms and headed for Hamas in Gaza.

No 'Traditional' Condemnation from the US

The United States avoided condemning Israel’s approval of thousands of homes in Judea and Samaria. The White House position on settlements has shifted considerably since former president Barack Obama left office in the beginning of 2017. Contrary to his “not one brick policy,” which opposed any construction beyond the 1967 lines, his successor Donald Trump has taken a less confrontational approach.

Hamas Deliberately Creates Misery in Gaza

Dozens of rockets launched a week ago by terrorists from the Gaza Strip hit facilities supplying electricity to the Gaza Strip. Due to the damage to the facilities, three lines supplying electricity to the southern Gaza Strip were stopped. (Just a few days before, a border crossing was also destroyed and Hamas refused medical aid from Israel!)

Retaking Gaza on the Table

Ministers Shaked and Steinitz say armed conflict and retaking of the Gaza Strip are now on the table after more than 70 rockets, mortar shells were fired into Israel's south in less than a day a week ago. Shaked said Israel should go even further, contrary to partial take-over Steinitz talked about, and mull a potential retaking of the coastal enclave as a decisive move to topple the Hamas regime. (It will work only with removal of all enemy population from Gaza - end this horrific stupidity!)

Hamas Begged Us to Stop

The Hamas terrorist organization has been significantly weakened following the latest rounds of clashes with Israel. “The army’s sharp response crippled Hamas’ naval force, as well as their drone manufacturing capabilities and infrastructure,” an officer said. According to the source, Israel’s defense establishment was prepared for a significant escalation with Hamas.

Russia does not Want Iran in Syria

Israel and Russia agree to boot Iran and Hezbollah from Israel's northern border. Israel and Russia have reached an agreement whereby Israel will not intervene to prevent the deployment of Syrian President Bashar Assad’s troops to the southern border and the Golan Heights, effectively reasserting Assad’s control there, and Moscow will make sure that these troops do not include Iranian or Hezbollah forces.

Abbas: Jerusalem Put Me in the Hospital

Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas blamed the new US embassy in Jerusalem and the US recognition of the holy city as Israel's capital for his recent hospitalization. Abbas, 83, has a history of health problems and smokes heavily. He was discharged a week ago after being hospitalized for nine days. Abbas was elected for a four-term term in 2005, but remains in office nine years after his term expired. He has not appointed a successor. (Well, next logical step for him is grave!)

Show Proof of Land Ownership

The Knesset plenum approved a bill amending the Administrative Courts Act (Amendment 117). The amendment seeks to establish Courts of Administrative within Israel’s Magistrate’s Court system. The bill will force Arabs to show hard proof in Land Ownership Petitions! The new amendment could also mean that land disputes will no longer result in court rulings mandating the complete demolition of a Jewish settlement. The High Court of Justice has tyrannized the Israeli settlement enterprise in Judea and Samaria since the early 1990s. (After 70 years of independence, normality of the land ownership system must be established!)

The War Israel is Unwilling to End!

A salvo of twenty-eight mortar shells were fired on Tuesdaymorning at Israeli towns surrounding the Gaza Strip, with at least two exploding inside the communities, one in a kindergarten yard. According to the IDF, the majority of the projectiles were intercepted by the Iron Dome missile defense system. (Hamas is at war with Israel - it is time to realise it and free Jewish Gaza from enemy occupation!)

Is Supreme Court Becoming Normal?

Court unanimously rejects petition against law allowing Knesset to expel MKs who express racism or support for terrorism. The Impeachment Law allows the Knesset to dismiss a Knesset member "whose actions constitute incitement to racism or support for an armed struggle against the State of Israel." (Interesting - Israel’s legal system usually takes an anti-Zionist position.)

Delusional anti-Semitic Idiots

Despite 2005 disengagement removing Israeli civilians and military forces out of Gaza Strip, South Africa demands Israel 'leave Gaza'. After the recent disturbances by the Gaza Strip’s border, South Africa, whose government is pro-Palestinian Authority, recalled its ambassador. (Facts are irrelevant where Jew-hatred is concerned!)

Half of Syria’s Air Defences is Destroyed

Some 50 percent of air-defense batteries belonging to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad have been destroyed after they fired on Israel Air Force jets in recent months during multiple operations. "...We do not destroy batteries that do not fire on us,” said a senior IAF officer.

There is Nothing to Harm

Turkish Foreign Ministry warned Israel against recognizing the Armenian genocide, warning that it would only harm itself if it did so. "We think that Israel putting the events of 1915 on the same level as the Holocaust is harming itself first and foremost." (There was never a good relationship between Israel and Turkey! Jews can find a better holiday destination. The Armenian genocide was used by Hitler, because nobody cared about it, to justify and unleash the Holocaust!)

Nobody Cares what Idiots Think!

French President Emmanuel Macron spoke out against the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem, saying it was the wrong move. "I openly stated this was a mistake. I think that we should avoid escalating the tension in the region.” (There is no peace in the region - There is nothing to "escalate"! The US embassy move is a matter between Israel and the US - shut up idiots!)

Nasrallah: If War Breaks out with Israel...

Hizbullah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah said that if war breaks out with Israel, Hizbullah will prevail. (The problem with our enemies is that they believe in their own delusions!)

Labor still Supports Delusional ‘Land For Peace’ Formula

Labor Party officials pushed back against a proposal by faction member MK Eitan Cabel to “sober up” and abandon the failed 1990s-era “land for peace” negotiations formula with the Arabs in Judea and Samaria, in favour of a more realistic approach that will preserve Israel’s ability to negotiate effectively if the political situation between Israel and the PA (or its replacement) makes talks possible in future. (The proposal is not really revolutionary, just the same idiotic procrastination and unwillingness to face and recognise reality!)

QUOTE of the WEEK:

“Success does not consist in never making mistakes but in never making the same one a second time.” - George Bernard Shaw – For how long is Israel going to pretend that so-called Palestinians want peace and tolerate terror?

After Gaza - War with Iran Next?

by Yochanan Visser

With May coming to an end we had two mini-wars this month and next month could see a big one if diplomacy should fail.

The two mini-wars in May, the one that took place in the night of May 10 between Iran and Israel in north Israel and this week’s confrontation between Hamas, Islamic Jihad and Israel, showed similarities which revealed that the Israeli military has a new strategy.

Just like the direct confrontation with Iran on May 10, when the Quds Force of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps lobbed 32 missiles at Israel and the IAF destroyed 50 Iranian targets in Syria in response, the army did the same with Hamas and Islamic Jihad this week.

The IAF destroyed much of Hamas and Islamic Jihad’s military infrastructure in Gaza when Israeli warplanes and combat helicopters destroyed 65 military targets in the coastal enclave.

"Israel sent a message that if attacks begin again, the attacks on Hamas and its offshoots will become more forceful. Now, actions will decide what the future holds," a senior Israeli defense official told Arutz Sheva.

Hamas and Islamic Jihad, or should we say Iran, apparently got the message and asked Egypt for help in order to establish a cease-fire.

Both terror organizations are considered part of the so-called ‘resistance front’ - the loose coalition of Iranian-backed terror organizations and Shiite militias which are taking their orders from Quds Force commander Qassem Soleimani of the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps...

The Israeli leader on Wednesday repeated Israel preserved the right to act in all of Syria against Iran.

"We will continue to act against (Iran’s) intention to establish a military presence in Syria, opposite us, not just opposite the Golan Heights but anywhere in Syria," Netanyahu said...

"We must go forth and occupy the land. We can do it!”

by HaRav Dov Begon
Rosh HaYeshiva, Machon Meir

At first, the spies were important people, as it says, “All the men were leaders of the Israelites” (Numbers 13:3). Yet when Moses sent them to spy out the Land, they were transformed, as it says, “They departed and they came back” (13:26) – just as their arrival had been with bad intentions, so too, their departure (Rashi). From men who were supposed to exude a lofty spirit and strong faith in our right to Eretz Yisrael and our ability to conquer it, they became another type of people, people who only see the negative, libelers of Eretz Yisrael:

“‘We cannot go forward against those people!’ replied the men who had gone with him. ‘They are too strong for us!’ They began to speak badly about the land that they had explored. They told the Israelites, ‘The land that we crossed to explore is a land that consumes its inhabitants. All the men we saw there were huge! While we were there, we saw the titans. They were sons of the giant, who descended from the original titans. We felt like tiny grasshoppers! That's all that we were in their eyes.” (13:31-33).

Only Joshua bin Nun and Calev ben Yefune were steeped in faith and trust in G-d, and although they were in the minority, they ultimately succeeded in leading the Jewish People to the conquest of the Land and its settlement.

The spies “changed their skins,” altering their views as far as Eretz Yisrael. Rather than strengthening and encouraging the people, they frightened and demoralized them. Just so, in our own day, some of our prime ministers who have taken up the reins of leadership, have changed, altering their political world view despite their having been elected on the basis of their promise to the voters that they would be faithful to Eretz Yisrael and to settling every part of it.

When they were asked for an explanation of their extreme turnaround, they would answer, “What you see from you don’t see from there.” Yet actually that is just an excuse. They followed the path of the spies, whose faith in our right to Eretz Yisrael and in our ability to rule over it and to settle all of it dwindled to nothing.

This weakness stems from a lack of faith, a lack of spirit, and from moral deterioration. These in turn derive from their having distanced themselves from Jewish tradition, and their having never imbibed from our Jewish sources. It is from those sources that from time immemorial we have drawn our faith and trust in the Eternal One of Israel, and in our right to all of Eretz Yisrael. We believe in G-d’s having a goal of fulfilling the destiny of the Jewish People in Eretz Yisrael, towards the enlightenment and betterment of all mankind.

Our leaders suffer a lack of self-confidence, and an inability to provide security to the citizens of our country. They hesitate, agonize and zigzag, and the price is paid by our country’s citizens. We saw this both with the recent Lebanese and Gaza war, and in Sderot and the adjoining settlements.

The call of the hour is to change the leadership of our beloved country, to elect leaders full of faith and trust in G-d, people with a vision and great, benevolent spirit. We need people of integrity who set an example by their own lives. We need brave people, who are truly faithful to the people, Torah and land of Israel, such as Joshua bin Nun and Calev ben Yefune.

By such means, we will see the speedy fulfillment of Calev’s words: “We must go forth and occupy the land. We can do it!” (Numbers 13:30). Amen.

Looking forward to complete salvation,
Shabbat Shalom.

In Praise of Eretz Yisrael

by HaRav Mordechai Greenberg
Nasi HaYeshiva, Kerem B'Yavneh

Parshat Shelach is the parsha of Eretz Yisrael. In these days, when the media reports seem to lead to the conclusion that the vision of a "complete Eretz Yisrael" is totally lost, and the nation has turned its back to its source, there is a special need to emphasize the connection of our parsha to all generations.

Maran Beit Yosef, in his book "Magid Meisharim" (in which he wrote the words of his heavenly "Magid"), deals with the contradiction between Parshat Shelach and Parshat Devarim. In our Parsha, it says that G-d commanded Moshe to send the spies, whereas in Parshat Devarim it says, "All of you [Bnei Yisrael] approached me." (Devarim 1:22) Furthermore, why was there a need to check if the land was fertile or lean, since Hashem had already promised them that it is good and spacious?

The Magid explained to him that Bnei Yisrael in that generation were not worthy of entering the land after all the trials that they tested G-d. Yet, G-d, in His mercy, planted in their minds to ask to send spies so that they would appreciate it and tell its praise, and that would be the merit that would allow them to enter the land. The two parshas are, thus, two sides of the same coin: G-d caused them to ask to send spies, and, in fact, Yisrael did ask. However, the princes of the tribes did not stand up to the test, and didn't tell its praise.

From that time, it is incumbent upon the leaders of Yisrael to tell the praise of Eretz Yisrael, to rectify in this way that which they sinned when they disgraced it.

In Midrash Eichah (1:23) it says on the pasuk, "The entire assembly raised up and issued its voice; the people wept that night" (Bamidbar 14:1), that the Hebrew word "raised up" (va'tisa) has the connotation of a debt; that is, a bad debt that they will have to repay throughout the generations, as it says, "When you make your fellow a loan (tasheh)." (Devarim 24:10) "The entire assembly raised up," the entire assembly became obligated to pay this debt.

The sefer "Eim Habanim Semeichah" writes about this:

In vain we pray in all the synagogues and batei midrash, "Our Father, our King, erase in Your great mercy all of our notes of indebtedness," so long as the debt of despising the coveted land still exists on us ... How can we pray that He erase this debt from us, since we are obligated to pay and we have the ability to rectify this?!

We find in the history of our nation that there was severe punishment for our foreign attitude towards the land. In the Sefer Rokeach (by R. Eliezer of Worms) it says:

Ezra the scribe sent letters to all the cities of the Diaspora that they should go up to Eretz Yisrael. This letter also came to the country of Ashkenaz (Germany) to the city of Worms, and they responded to him, "You live in the big Yerushalayim; we will live in the little Yerushalayim," because they were very important in the eyes of the officers and the non-Jews, and were very rich and dwelled there in peace and tranquility, Therefore great and harsh decrees are more frequent in the land of Ashkenaz than in other communities."

We, more than any other generation, feel to what extent these words were fulfilled!

Only through strengthening the love and yearning for Eretz Yisrael can we rectify the sin of the spies, as R. Yehuda Halevi writes in the conclusion of the Kuzari: Yerushalayim will, indeed, be built [only] when Bnei Yisrael will desire it with the greatest desire until they cherish its stones and dirt!

Fear of Holiness

by HaRav Shaul Yisraeli zt"l

based on Siach Shaul, p. 388-390 (address from 1988)

The spies were sent to find out, among other things, whether "… there is a tree or not" (Bamidbar 13:20). Rashi explains: "Do they have a proper person, who can shield them with his merit?"

Although the spies were seemingly asked to determine physical things, Rashi teaches us something different, which hints at the spies’ mistake. They did not realize that there are two sides to existence. Just as there is a need for a "kingdom of priests," so too there is a need and a possibility of a "holy nation." The nation has the ability to, at once, be involved in ploughing and sowing and not allow this to take them away from holy emotions. If they can preserve the connection between these two sides, they can deal with material matters and not become material themselves.

The Israelites were afraid that the inhabitants of Canaan were too strong for them (ibid. 13:31), [including in their spiritual impact on them], but this is a mistake. While it is true that we, as a nation, can fall very low and learn from corrupt nations instead of the more proper ones (see Sanhedrin 39b), if the scholars of our kingdom of priests do their job, we can survive.

The spies’ mindset finds expression in a social phenomenon that we are witnessing these days. We are witness to a throwing off of values, not only of the special level we reached at Sinai or of some present-day religious law, but, in general, of everything from the past that serves as a foundation of our national identity. The struggle is on the desire of many to create a "new nation," one which has no interest in preserving the traditions of previous generations and the treasures of our cultural past. They want to create new ones by assimilating into the nations of general civilization. They want a nation that is concerned only with the present.

Talk of democracy is just a front for a desire to erase our essence. "Let all do exactly what they desire." If it was only a matter of respecting each person’s divine image, they would react more positively to those who want to lead spiritual lives. In truth, it is what Bnei Yisrael cried about in the desert – "about families." They are appalled and embarrassed that some of their children have returned to Jewish observance. While we are surprised by this reaction, it has roots in the spies’ approach millennia ago. The reigniting of anti-religious activity is a direct result of the teshuva movement, which shakes those who have discarded the ways of their fathers. The movement shows that there is something in the Jewish soul that strives for more than the vanities of the physical world. Such Jews strive for light and internal renewal, and do not find it in the different games they see in society, but in sanctity. This is upsetting and challenging to those who have rejected sanctity.

We can understand the situation with security and serenity. We will be tolerant, not out of resignation, but with confidence that at the end, the light will come. We do not need to fight; Hashem will fight for us. We are just witnessing the last signs of life in a mortally wounded segment that rejects sanctity and is acting as one who sees his house collapsing.

"They saw all of them crying and Rabbi Akiva [who understood the ultimate silver lining] was laughing" (see Makkot 24b).

Another Look at the Sin of the Spies

by HaRav Zalman Baruch Melamed
Rosh HaYeshiva, Beit El

Dedicated to the memory of R. Avraham ben-tziyon ben shabtai

Not "If" - But "How"!
We, living today in Eretz Yisrael, find ourselves in a period of crisis and struggle. Some have even noted that the present situation - in which our rights to the Land of Israel are being challenged - bears a striking resemblance to the time of the meraglim (spies). It does not take much insight to say that today, God is providing us with a test to enable us to rectify that fateful error. It therefore behooves us to contemplate the deeper meaning and ramifications of the sin of the spies in Parshat Shlach.

Perhaps the spies' greatest error lay in their incorrect interpretation of their mission; the leaders of the tribes believed that they had been sent to check to see if it was indeed possible to conquer the Land - to strategically analyze the facts on the ground. In short, they saw their mission as one of determining whether conquering the Land was or was not possible.

Practically speaking, however, they had no obligation at all to analyze the "if" of the impending war for the land, but rather the "how?" - since it was clear from the outset that the Children of Israel would conquer the land. The Holy One, Blessed Be He was willing to enter into a partnership with the Jews in the conquest of the land; He thus agreed to send spies, whose job it would be to bring back information on the land’s inhabitants and on the most straightforward manner in which to conduct the war.

In our day as well, we must understand that the question should not even arise as to whether or not we have an obligation to retain control of the Land of Israel. Obviously, we must cleave to the Land with all of our might since we were commanded to do so by the Torah. In fact, it is a serious violation of halacha (Jewish Law) to transfer portions of the Land to foreign nations. Therefore, the one and only question that remains to be discussed is: "How can we maintain our hold on Eretz Yisrael"?

When the original individuals and families of Bet El first arrived here, everybody had a litany of questions. How could we in fact settle in this area? What would we do with our children? There were no nurseries or kindergartens or day schools at the time! What about public transportation? The longer the deliberations wore on, the more questions and issues we raised. Not many answers were forthcoming.

At one point during the discussions, we stopped and, once and for all, settled a crucial, fundamental matter: We decided that the question: "Are we going to settle in Bet El?"- was not up for discussion at all. Rather, the central concern became "How are we going to go about settling here?" In the end, the previous "insurmountable" difficulties were solved, and Bet El came to be.

This also held true for the establishment of our radio station, Arutz Sheva. Then, too, there were numerous questions left unanswered - where do we buy transmitters? How many do we need? How do we affix them? How much will this cost? Where do we buy a ship? How do we go about hiring a crew for the ship? There were also questions as to what kind of programming would be broadcast, etc.

You must keep in mind that of the people that initiated the radio station, not one of us had ever taken courses in broadcasting or communications. We had absolutely no idea how to appeal to the population at large. Even then, because of the multitude of questions that arose, a general feeling - that it was not worthwhile to even start the project - set in. At that point, we halted the sundry deliberations, and decided that the founding of the station was an absolute necessity, that it would benefit the Jewish people, its land, and its Torah. The question was no longer " if " we were going to go ahead with the project, but how . This must always be the approach of someone serving God. He must not debate whether to act, but rather how to go about acting on his beliefs.

The Spies' Mistaken Mindset
The holy Zohar explains that the sin of the spies stemmed from the fact that in the desert they were national leaders; they understood, however, that when the Jews entered the land, they themselves would not longer hold leadership positions, since these same people were not appropriate to be take on such positions in the framework of a national life in the new land. Thus, the spies preferred to remain in the desert.

Others explain that the spies wished to stay on the level of those who lived in the desert, the consumers of manna, regarding whom the Sages said: "The learning of Torah was set aside only for those who consume manna." Free from the need to worry about their physical needs, they were able to engage in spiritual pursuits. The Holy One, Blessed be He, saw to it that they had food as well as clean and even fresh clothes... In the desert, the Children of Israel were like eternal "Kollel students", relieved of the concerns associated with making a living, free to pursue Torah and mitzvot. The spies thought that such would not be the case in the Land of Israel; the sensed that life in Israel would not see manna falling from Heaven - and that they would have to work in the fields to make a living. Therefore, they reasoned, they would not be able to devote themselves to spiritual pursuits. What would become of Torah?

According to this explanation, the spies' error lay in a lack of understanding that Torah must be brought down to the physical world as well; they did not grasp that the "this -worldly" activities in Israel are in fact much holier than the kedusha (holiness) attained in the desert. The Chesed L’Avraham explains that in the desert, Divine holiness could not take hold in physical reality. As such, the Jews were in need of manna, a Divine food that permitted kedusha to penetrate the human body. In Eretz Yisrael, however, there was no need for manna, since the Divine holiness connects to, and is ingested by, the Jew who consumes the fruits of the land.

Others explain the issue in the opposite fashion: that, in the desert, the Jews lived in a state of constant existential tension. Their eyes were constantly turned heavenward to receive the Divine gift of manna. The manna was, in the words of the Sages, the means by which individual Jews were singled out as being deserving of Divine reward or punishment. Those whose behavior merited it, received the manna, and those who did not - did not. The life of the desert was one of open miracles and of clear Divine providence.

The meraglim had chosen to abandon all of this; they wished to start a "natural" type of existence in the Land of Israel, divorced from the system of the desert and from the absolute dependency on the Holy One, Blessed be He. They therefore tried to analyze whether it would be possible to conquer the Land in a natural manner, without the aid of miracles at all. They arrived at the conclusion - correct in and of itself - that it would not be possible to conquer the Land without Divine aid, without miracles. This realization dealt a crushing blow to their hopes and dreams.

It seems that the both of the above explanations are valid, that there were two types of Jews in the desert: Tzaddikim who sought to stay on the level of life in the desert, who wished to avoid confronting "natural" reality. However, it also seems there were others deeply interested in immersing themselves in the material world, in attempting to "escape" their overt dependency on God.

Our sages teach another - perhaps more important - perspective of the sin of the spies: "All of the good that I advised them to pursue, they ruined, as it says, 'you rejected all of My advice'.

God said to them: "You angered Me with the Good that I provided you." (Bamidbar Rabba) He arranged the visit of the spies in a way that many of the Land’s inhabitants died while the spies were touring the land. Why? So that the inhabitants of the land - pre-occupied with their mourning and burial - would not notice the spies. God should have been praised and thanked for His help in this regard; and yet, the meraglim saw in it only the negative: "It’s a land that consumes its inhabitants!" they screamed. The spies saw giants, large fruits, fortified cities, etc. They could have chosen to see in these phenomenon the utter praiseworthiness of the Land of Israel, a land whose air produces wisdom, a land that grows large, healthy people and juicy fruits. Instead, they chose to be terrified.

When one views the world from a perspective of "Emunah" - or faith, then he can view most phenomenon and events in a positive, not negative, light. If we know that God is good to all, and wishes to give us the Land, then it is clear that the Land is good, - a Holy Land whose kedusha we as Jews are bidden to discover and reveal...

The attitude towards the Land of Israel

by Rabbi Dov Berl Wein

The attitude of Jews towards the Land of Israel has always been a litmus-paper type of test of Jewish commitment and even faith throughout the ages. As we see in this week’s parsha, from the beginning of our national existence there have always been Jews – leading Jews, well-intentioned Jews, even outwardly pious Jews – who have preferred living somewhere else in the world to living in the Land of Israel. Even when Hitler came to power European Jews in many cases refused to consider immigration to the Land of Israel as an option. It is not my place to judge others for their behavior in a very dreadful time, especially since I am blessed with the perfect hindsight that they tragically lacked. But it is a strange fact that throughout Jewish history the naysayers regarding the Land of Israel in Jewish society have always abounded. Jews in the generation of Moses claimed their preference for the land of Egypt over the Land of Israel. An entire generation of special and gifted Jews was destroyed in the desert of Sinai because of their unwillingness to consider living in the Land of Israel as a viable option for them and their descendants. The challenge of living in the Land of Israel was apparently too great a problem, physically, psychologically and spiritually for them to overcome. To me this attitude remains one of the supreme mysteries of all of Jewish history. But mystery or not, it certainly is a fact that has governed Jewish life over the ages.

When Moses’ own relative refused the offer to go to the Land of Israel, Rashi explains that the two reasons for his behavior had to do with family and making a living. These are very strong reasons that exist today that prevent many Jews from considering immigrating to the Land of Israel. Again, I neither judge nor begrudge anyone in this or any other life changing matter. However, I feel that the issue of the Land of Israel, independent of any other causes and motives, strikes at a very deep place within our personal and national soul. The fact that the most ultra-assimilated and the most outwardly ultra-pious amongst us both are included in our generation as the most vociferous of the anti-Land of Israel groupings within the Jewish people shows how deep and sensitive the problem of the Land of Israel is. The extremes in Jewish society cannot deal with the Land of Israel as a reality and earnestly hope that the issue will somehow disappear completely. There are millions of Jews who prefer living in exile to living in the Land of Israel. The Jewish people as a whole has not absorbed the lessons of the exile, its alienation, assimilation and ultimate corruption of Torah values. Today, even many Jews who physically live in the Land of Israel still psychologically and spiritually live in the exile, in their fantasy imagination of the long-destroyed shtetel of Eastern Europe. As foretold to us by our prophets the ultimate fate of the Jewish people will be determined for us by our attitude to the Land of Israel. Living in the Land of Israel or at least visiting it regularly is currently the centerpiece of Jewish life, its faith and its future.

Why the Left Loves and Hates Science

by Daniel Greenfield

“Why do you hate science?”

That’s the question leftists have taken to asking non-leftists. Leftists claim to love science, insofar as anyone can love a method for testing a hypothesis, and accuse their enemies of hating it.

How can anyone love or hate an indifferent set of techniques? And how can an ideology that believes technological civilization is destroying the planet really claim to love the science behind it?

But swap out “science” for “god” and the question, “Why do you hate science” makes perfect sense. So do the constant assertions of love for science. These aren’t scientific assertions, but religious ones.

Actual science doesn’t care whether you love or hate it. That’s not how you engage with the theory of relativity. But religion is measured by love and hate. Either you love a deity or you hate it.

No one loves or hates science. But they do love Scienticism.

Scienticism is science without skepticism. It takes the ideas of science and uses them to create an infallible belief system that gives our lives meaning and dictates how we should live those lives.

In other words, a religion.

Contrary to popular disbelief, a religion doesn’t need a god. It does need some things. A creation myth that explains our lives. An enlightened leadership. The conviction that every person’s actions matter. Redemption, salvation and damnation. Miracles. An imminent apocalypse. A prophesized golden age.

Scientism offers all these things and more. Its creation myths inevitably lead to philosophies about our place in the universe. Its miracles are technological. Its heroes have super powers or spaceships. Global warming is on its way to destroy us. And only recycling and green energy can save us from the climate apocalypse. Its truths are infallible because they are prophesized by PhD’s wielding hockey stick graphs.

Its god is Homo Progressivus, born an ape and ascending to singularity synthesis. Its heaven is a social services agency. Its saints died for social progress. And if you want angels, why not try UFOs?

But what about the devil? In the early days of Scientism, superstition was the great antagonist of modernity. Technological progress had made a new sort of civilization possible. And Scientism was born out of that thrilling encounter with the future. We no longer believed in confessing to clergy. Instead we had our minds scientifically psychoanalyzed by Freudians. The imminent apocalypse had nothing to do with heaven, but everything to do with the class conflicts of capitalism. Our legends would no longer be about the past, but the wonders of the future. Our enemy was the past, with its tradition and ignorance.

The past is dead.

Religion is vanishing in Europe and America is catching up. Morals are as outdated as phrenology. No one believes in the golden future anymore. Least of all the worshipers at the chrome altar of Scientism.

Scientism had created a god of endless progress. A collectivist human engine of innovation. Now it turned him into the devil. Like Zoroastrianism, Scientism became a dual religion of two gods.

One good and one evil.

The Ahriman of scientism builds nuclear power plants, drills for oil, drives an SUV, launches spaceships and shops with plastic grocery bags. Its Ahura Mazda rides a bike, saves trash for compost, eats locally farmed food (I recently passed a downtown Manhattan restaurant which promised that its food came exclusively from the local farms for which the island is renowned) and gets his power from the sun.

Scientism both worships and demonizes science. It loves and hates it. Its mission is to save us all from the ravages of science. And if you question this mission, you’re accused of hating science.

The Scientism of 1918 and 2018 are both snapshots of a philosophical schism that tore the left apart.

The 1918 left reviled the capitalist, but admired the collectivist order of his factory. Its vision was to turn all of society into a factory without a capitalist owner. Social problems would be solved by experts. Organizations would impose efficiency. Global governments would end war, hunger, and euthanize people with flawed genes. The priesthood of public service would replace the service of god.

The 2018 left reviles the factory. Its scientism is an ugly half-breed, half hippie and half technocrat. It’s convinced that science makes it superior. And equally convinced that science is a cold, sterile philosophy of dead white men that cuts us off from the true intensity of feeling of the noble savage and pothead. It romanticizes rural living, handicrafts and religions that behead their daughters. And then it retweets Neil DeGrasse Tyson or Bill Nye to tell off those stupid science-hates who don’t believe science is destroying the planet. Don’t they realize that science has scientifically proven that science is evil?

Confused? So are they.

Technocracy, the factory model extended through the latest internet innovations and their philosophical afterbirths, is still at the heart of left. Despite its hippie affinity for local farms in Manhattan, trendy crafts, raw food and farmhouses in Vermont that no farmer can afford, it doesn’t actually want to move to a commune. Its urban and suburban efforts to mesh yuppie and hippie reflect a mixed-up culture.

And so the left wants us all to live in big cities and bike to work. It loves traveling on jet planes to get back to unspoiled nature. It can’t stop lecturing us on how much it loves science between its meditation classes and protest against nuclear power. It wants a government to use the latest technology to control every detail of our lives so that all the oppressed can finally be free.

Scienticism’s schizophrenia is due to the left trying to reconcile the factory and the commune in erratic and hypocritical ways. Its mind is with the factory, but its heart is in the commune. The technocratic system it’s inflicting on everyone uses false appeals to science as proof of its practical infallibility.

And that’s what the left always loved and truly loves about science.

Science gives it an unfounded sense of practical infallibility while its projected empathy gifts it with an even more unfounded moral infallibility. Between the two, the left is convinced that everything it does is bound to succeed and is the absolutely right thing to do. Even though history shows the exact opposite.

Every crackpot leftist theory from Marxism to Global Warming is cloaked in an inevitable something. The revolution of the working class can’t be stopped. The world is bound to run out of food, oil and sanctimony. The rise of the oceans can’t be stopped (except by electing Democrats). Science says so.

But science is the opposite of infallible. Its strength is its fallibility.

Science offers a crab walk forward, because it’s willing to admit and correct errors. But Scientism never admits it’s wrong. Instead it claims that scientific testing has found it absolutely true. Then it hides its data and tries to pass laws banning anyone from questioning its absurdly premature conclusions.

Scientism strips science of its greatest strength and builds a cargo cult around wearing a lab coat.

The left loathes real science because it hates skepticism. But it loves infallibility. And that is all that’s left of its science. What was once the soul of secularism, a belief system bestriding civilization, now exists solely to offer infallibility to whatever loathsome nonsense the left believes at any given moment.

The rest of utopia has melted into a slimy soup of machine politics, identity politics, elitist snobbery and random tantrums by the sort of unstable people that cults tend to attract like flies to roadkill.

The left doesn’t love science. It loves its own power.

Take anything else that the left claims to love or care about, replace it with those words and you’ll have the right answer. The left doesn’t care about black people, it cares about power. It doesn’t care about women, gays, Syria, recycling, offensive t-shirts, education or Gaza. It cares about power.

Scienticism is a cult of power. Its dualism of the god and devil of science battling each other is a philosophical breakdown which reconciles a schism within the left by offering it even more power.

The old Scienticism believed that our only god would be human progress. Then the new gods of the New Frontier and Great Society with their sociology degrees and colored charts stared into the mirror, they went into the counterculture and came back having found that they were not only gods, but devils.