Through the Eyes of a Messianic Jew - Sounding the Shofar

Through the Eyes of a Messianic Jew

Sounding the Shofar

By: Messianic Rabbi Eric Tokajer
Brit Ahm Messianic SynagogueMessianic Times Website Manager

Saturday, September, 1 2012

Most Jewish adults would probably admit to childhood memories of the High Holy Days (Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, and Sukkot) as a mixed bag of fun and torture. I was certainly no different. Year after year, I dressed in clothing my mother deemed appropriate to wear, but to me as a boy who wanted the freedom to roughhouse outdoors it felt more like a straitjacket. Scratchy starched shirts, clip-on ties that served no purpose I could see, too-tight shoes from last year, and for some reason the socks had to match—how mom could distinguish between dark blue and black was a mystery on par with Stonehenge.

The service was long and mostly in Hebrew which meant I didn’t understand what was going on at all. I knew we were supposed to be sorry for all the bad things we did that year and because we Jews were one people, we were all guilty of every sin even if we didn’t commit the sin ourselves. So that made it even worse—maybe it wasn’t just the tight collar that made me so uncomfortable.

Yet even with all of these “undesirable” features, Rosh Hashanah was my second favorite holiday of the Holy Days—following Sukkot, which won easily because . . . well camping and eating out was fun. The reason I loved Rosh Hashanah didn’t have anything to do with repentance from sin, it didn’t have anything to do with what I now know is wonderfully beautiful liturgy acknowledging God’s love and forgiveness of His people. It really had more to do with my love for . . . cowboys.

You see in every good cowboy movie, the heroes arrived with the blast of a bugle horn. Up until that horn sounded, the bad guys were winning: unfriendly Indians surrounded the wagon trains and were closing in; whatever army attacking the fort had breached the walls and who knows what they would do to the innocent men, women and children. Sitting in a dark movie theatre or in front of the television, I cowered in fear, waiting, hoping that help was on the way. When the bugle sounded and the accompanying horde of uniformed men riding on their trusty steeds came on the scene, I knew that help had arrived—the Cavalry was there to save the day!

Every year I endured all of the discomfort a little boy could handle, just to hear the sound of the Shofar (ram’s horn). I could picture the Israelites in trouble, surrounded by bad guys and just in the nick of time, the shofar’s unique, visceral resonance was heard by all. Enemies would shake in their sandals and run in terror.

Sometimes, I would close my eyes and listen to the blasts as they were counted off and imagined someone rushing in through the doors of the sanctuary to rescue me from the service; ripping off the tie and scratchy shirt, mussing my hair, and letting me escape barefoot to play outdoors.

Today, this grown man still has need of a “hero” who rescues and saves. That Savior is the Jewish Messiah Yeshua (Jesus); and 31 years ago He reached out and made me His. As a rabbi I treasure teaching about the beauty and wonderful symbolisms of Rosh Hashanah. But, that little boy is still there waiting in anticipation for the first blast of the shofar.

As a believer in Messiah Yeshua, I understand that when I hear the sound of the shofar, I don’t need to look to the hills for the sound of the cavalry I just need to look to a hill called Calvary.

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Messianic Rabbi Eric Tokajer and his wife, Pam

Rabbi Eric Tokajer was raised in a traditional Jewish home. While serving in the US Navy, he was challenged to study the Scriptures where he found Yeshua. He has been ordained as a rabbi in the IAMCS and is serving in Pensacola. He and Pam have been married for thirty years.


http://www.mjaa.org/site/PageServer?pagename=n_feature_articles_biblical_teachings

Canada's Harper, Netanyahu to Meet Friday

Canada's Harper, Netanyahu to Meet Friday

Talk with Canadian Prime Minister will probably focus on Iran.

By Gil Ronen, Israel National News

First Publish: 9/27/2012,

Netanyahu and Harper

 

The Prime Minister of Canada, Stephen Harper, will meet with his Israeli counterpart Binyamin Netanyahu Friday in New York City.

Harper is in town as the UN General Assembly convenes but he will not address the assembly himself. Instead, his foreign minister John Baird will deliver a speech to the assembly Monday.

Harper was invited to New York by the Appeal of Conscience Foundation, which will bestow upon him the title of the World's Leading Statesman in a ceremony Thursday. So reports Canadian-Jewish newspaper Shalom Toronto.

Harper and Netanyahu are expected to discuss Iran's nuclear weapons project. Since Harper's election in 2006, Canada is considered to be Israel's closest ally. Official Canadian spokesmen have emphasized Canada's commitment to Israel's security, and Harper has said that Israel's enemies are also Canada's.

Canada stood by Israel after the Second Lebanon War and Cast Lead campaigns. It has recently broken off its diplomatic relations with Iran.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160354

 

Netanyahu: 'Clear red line' needed to stop Iran's nuclear program

 

Published September 27, 2012

FoxNews.com

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in a dramatic speech to the United Nations, employed a simple diagram to hammer home his plea that the international community set a "clear red line" over Iran's nuclear program -- warning that a nuclear-armed Iran would be tantamount to a nuclear-armed Al Qaeda.

Netanyahu claimed Thursday that Iran would have enough enriched uranium to make a nuclear bomb by next summer. His remarks before the U.N. General Assembly amounted to an appeal to the U.S. and other nations to join Israel in drawing a line that Iran cannot cross without risking a military response.

Netanyahu argued that nothing less than the "security of the world" is at stake.

"The red line must be drawn on Iran's nuclear enrichment program," Netanyahu said. "I believe that faced with a clear red line, Iran will back down."

The prime minister displayed a "diagram" showing a crudely drawn sketch of a bomb, divided into sections representing the three stages of uranium enrichment. Using a marker, Netanyahu drew a red line before the end of the second stage.

"Red lines don't lead to war, red lines prevent war," he said. "Nothing could imperil the world more than a nuclear-armed Iran."

Netanyahu warned that it would be a "dangerous assumption" to think Iran could be deterred like the former Soviet Union.

"Imagine their long-range missiles tipped with nuclear warheads, their terror networks armed with atomic bombs -- who among you would feel safe in the Middle East?" he said.

The remarks were a challenge to the Obama administration, which has sought to hold off Israeli military action, which could result in the U.S. being drawn into a chaotic conflict with elections looming. Though Obama has tried to wield economic sanctions and international diplomatic efforts to make progress with Iran, Netanyahu claims those efforts have failed. Israeli leaders have issued a series of warnings in recent weeks suggesting that if Iran's uranium enrichment program continues it may soon stage a unilateral military strike, flouting even American wishes.

On Sunday, Iranian leaders suggested they may strike Israeli preemptively if they feel threatened.

The issue has led to tensions between Obama and Netanyahu. That perception was heightened after Obama did not make plans to meet with the prime minister this week during his visit to New York -- though the two recently spoke by phone.

Obama briefly addressed the Iranian threat during his remarks Tuesday to the United Nations, saying the U.S. "will do what we must" to prevent Iran from gaining a nuclear weapon.

Netanyahu said Thursday "I very much appreciate the president's position."

Netanyahu began his U.N. address with an implicit rebuke to Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, telling the history of the Jewish people's ties to the land of Israel and vowing that they would remain there.

"Throughout our history the Jewish people have overcome all the tyrants who sought our destruction," he said. "The Jewish people have come home. We will never be uprooted again."

A few hours before Netanyahu flew to the U.S., Ahmadinejad spoke at length about his vision for a "new world order" during his speech at the U.N. His speech on Wednesday happened to fall on Yom Kippur, the most sacred day on the Jewish calendar, devoted to fasting, prayer and introspection.
Netanyahu issued a statement condemning the speech soon after the fast ended. "On the day when we pray to be inscribed in the book of life a platform was given to a dictatorial regime that strives, at every opportunity, to sentence us to death," Netanyahu said.

At the U.N. on Thursday, Netanyahu also said he wants a "durable peace" with the Palestinians - but rebuked Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas for his remarks just moments earlier.
"We won't solve our conflict with libelous speeches at the U.N.," Netanyahu said.

Earlier, Abbas had said he will seek to apply to the General Assembly for nonmember status as a sovereign country while cautioning that the expansion of Israeli settlements hurts chances for a two-state solution.

"Despite all the complexities of the prevailing reality and all the frustrations that abound, we say before the international community there is still a chance -- maybe the last -- to save the two-state solution and to salvage peace,'' Abbas said.

Palestinian officials said the bid is likely to be submitted on Nov. 29. The effort was not intended to pose a threat to Israel, Abbas said.

"We are not seeking to delegitimize Israel, but rather establish a state that should be established: Palestine," Abbas said.

He also warned the assembly that Israel is promising a "new catastrophe" if it continues with current policies in the West Bank.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/09/27/netanyahu-will-never-be-uprooted-again/
 

Netanyahu on UN: 'Black Day' for those Who Didn't Walk Out

Netanyahu on UN: 'Black Day' for those Who Didn't Walk Out

Before boarding flight to New York, Prime Minister pens message: Jewish people surmounts all obstacles.

 

By Gil Ronen, Israel News Network

First Publish: 9/26/2012

Binyamin Netanyahu at cabinet session

Israel news photo: Flash 90

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu addressed a letter to the citizens of Israel Wednesday just before he boarded a flight to New York, where he will address the UN General Assembly.

In it, he castigated the UN delegates who chose to remain in the UN General Assembly hall as Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke there earlier in the day.

"Dear Israeli citizens," he wrote. "I am taking off tonight to New York, to represent the State of Israel on the UN podium. On the question of Iran, we are all united in the goal of preventing Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons."

"On the day that we pray to be inscribed in the Book of Life, the podium was given to the dictatorial regime in Iran that takes every opportunity to sentence us to death."

"On the eve of Yom Kippur, a day that the Jewish people holds sacred, the Iranian dictator chose to call for our disappearance in public, with the entire world watching. This is a black day for those who chose to remain in the hall and hear these hateful words. In my speech before the representatives of nations at the UN General Assembly, they will hear our response.

"As the prime minister of Israel, the state of the Jewish people, I am acting in every possible way so that Iran does not obtain nuclear weapons. History proves that whoever wanted to erase us from the map – failed in his mission, while the Jewish nation overcame all obstacles.

"We've created a marvelous state, one of the most advanced in the world. Israel is a modern, strong state due to the strength and talent of its citizens and thanks to our belief in the justness of our path. I wish you a gmar chatima tova."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160312

 

 

 

Kol Nidre Ushers in Yom Kippur Fast: Reflection and Atonement

Kol Nidre Ushers in Yom Kippur Fast: Reflection and Atonement

The most solemn day of the year begins Tuesday eve. A time to pray, to think about who we are and where we are going. Chatima Tova.

 

By Arutz Sheva Staff , Israel national News

First Publish: 9/25/2012

 

Reflection and Atonement

 

Since Rosh Hashannah, many of Israel's Egged buses have had the computerized signs above the driver alternating between the vehicles' destination and the words "Chatima Tova" - "be sealed for a good year".

Israel radio closes its broadcasts preceding the Yom Kippur fast with the same words, said by one announcer to another and to all of Israel.

That is one of the special things about Israel. With all its differences and tensions between the secular and religious, the State of Israel is essentially closed down on Yom Kippur, with no public transportation or electronic broadcasts, and practically no open stores or services. The trains stop at 11, buses several hours later, and the IDF shuts off Palestinian Arab entrances to Jewish areas. Everyone tells everyone "chatima tova" as the phone lines jam. Even the airspace is closed.

This day, highest of the High Holidays – Yom Kippur – is to begin on Tuesday night, and Jews around the world will fast for 25 hours on the solemn day that ends the Ten Days of Penitence.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a Divinely-designated day that the Torah explains “will atone for you [plural] to purify you from all your sins before G-d.” Such atonement, however, is not automatic and must be accompanied by teshuvah, a serious process that must include introspection, admission of sins, remorse, and a commitment not to repeat them.

One must also appease and ask forgiveness from those he has harmed or insulted over the year. One must also forgive those who are sorry for hurting us. To err is human and can be forgiven, the refusal to forgive, however, is not forgivable.

Many people visit the graves of their parents on the days before Yom Kippur, in preparation for the Yizkor service memorializing lost parents which is said during the fast.

The prayers for Yom Kippur, which begin with the Kol Nidre prayer said at night, then take up most of the day, are replete with the various concepts of teshuvah, as well as acknowledgement of G-d’s goodness in affording mortals this opportunity to exonerate and improve themselves.

One of the dramatic prayers is a review of the High Priest's preparations and yearly entering the Holy of Holies in the Temple, during which the each member of the congregation prostrates himself before G-d.
There is also a piyyut, liturgical poem, recalling the ten martyrs killed by the Romans, one of whom was Rabbi Akiva.

The fast begins just before sundown on Tuesday and ends some 25 hours later, after the special Ne’ilah (locking, signifying that the gates of heaven are to be locked at the end of the fast) prayer, said standing. At the prayer's end, the Shma Yisrael - Hear O Israel the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One - is recited aloud by the entire congregation, followed by another two verses, including sevenfold loud repetition of the words "G-d is the Lord".

The end of the fast is signalled by a dramatic, lone shofar-blast and the immediate singing of "Next year in rebuilt Jerusalem". In many Israeli synagogues, this is a signal for joyous dancing as the fast's end signals a lightening of spirits.

In addition to eating and drinking, also forbidden on this day are wearing leather shoes, washing up, make-up and perfumes, and marital relations.

The prohibitions notwithstanding, the day is also onsidered a festive day, in that we celebrate G-d’s beneficence in going against natural law and allowing us to revoke and nullify our misdeeds. It is also a “day of friendship and love," according to the prayer liturgy.

The day of the eve of Yom Kippur, the 9th of the Jewish month of Tishrei, is also considered a special day, and we are required to eat and drink even more than we normally do. "Whoever eats and drinks on the 9th,” the Talmud states enigmatically, “is as [meritorious as] if he had fasted on both the 9th and the 10th." The custom of kaparot is done on the 9th.

Bicycling on main roads and city streets has become a popular pastime on the holy day, to the dismay of many, as there is no motor-vehicle traffic to be seen.

Even more prevalent on this day are prayer services. Organizations make arrangements for secular-friendly prayer services around the country, which have become extremely popular and well-attended in recent years. The PR Ministry has arranged for tens of thousands of Yom Kippur prayer books, called machzorim, to be given free to those attending its scores of special services (link is in Hebrew) for the secular. The Ayelet Hashachar organization has arranged scores of services on kibbutzim that are user-friendly to the secular. Chabad is doing the same in hundreds of spots throughout Israel.

Israelis who are old enough to remember Yom Kippur 1973, recall how people were shocked to see cars driving down the streets in the early afternoon. They were rounding up soldiers as the Yom Kippur War had broken out during the day - almost all of the soldiers, religious and secular, were at their local synagogues and army cars went from synagogue to synagogue with lists, while sirens wailed shortly afterwards in Jerusalem and worshipers raced to shelters.

Memorial services for the war's fallen soldiers will be held on Thursday.

One of the most dramatic prayers in the Ashkenazi machzor on Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur is Unetane Tokef, written by Rabbi Amnon of Mayence in the Middle Ages, which includes the words: "You, the Almighty, recall everything we have forgotten, and the book You open has our lives before You...the angels tremble and say 'Today is the Day of Judgment'.. Who will live and who will die..who by water and who by fire..." (Note: The video of the IDF choir singing the prayer was not recorded on the holiday).



For more detailed information on Yom Kippur, click here.
May we and all Israel be inscribed for a happy, healthy and blessed new year.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160298

Poll show most Jewish Israelis observe Yom Kippur

By JEREMY SHARON

09/25/2012

Gesher poll indicates 64% of respondents said they would refrain from eating and drinking; 46% say they will attend synagogue.

Photo: REUTERS/Ibraheem Abu Mustafa

Approximately two-thirds of Jewish Israelis will fast this Yom Kippur and over 80 percent will use the day either to pray or for general introspection, a new survey published on Monday revealed.

In the poll conducted by the Gesher social cohesion organization in conjunction with Ynet, 64% of respondents said they would refrain from eating and drinking for the duration of the 25-hour Yom Kippur fast, the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

Yom Kippur is traditionally devoted to prayer and fasting to bring about divine compassion for the transgressions committed during the year past.



The Panels Research Institute carried out the survey among 502 Jewish Israelis aged 18 and over, with a margin of error of 4.3%.

Forty-six percent of respondents said they would go to synagogue for at least some of the daylong prayer services, while 36% said they would use the day to spend quality time on personal introspection or with their families.

Gesher chairman Daniel Goldman said the results of the survey demonstrated that there was a consensus in the country that Yom Kippur represents a central day in the Israeli calendar across the board, regardless of one’s religious background.

“The vast majority of Israelis do something on Yom Kippur reflecting the day’s character as one of introspection,” Goldman said.

“What we also see from this poll is that people want to do something to express the way they feel about Yom Kippur in a way that makes sense to them,” he added, pointing to the large number of people who, although not attending synagogue, will use the time for contemplation and self-reflection.

He nevertheless expressed concern that political wrangling over religious issues, especially with regard to Yom Kippur, could damage the consensus surrounding the day.

The recent public spat between Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai and Transportation Minister Israel Katz over the city’s decision to keep the Tel-O-Fun short-term bicycle-rental scheme open over Yom Kippur was entirely unnecessary, the Gesher chairman said.

Katz threatened to cut off state funding for the project unless Huldai closed it down for the duration of the holiday.

“Making Yom Kippur a political football is detrimental and undoubtedly the simplest way to destroy the notion that it is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar,” Goldman said. “The only way to genuinely build consensus around Jewish identity in the public space is to take it out of the political and legal arenas.”

Other information from the poll showed that 14% of people will consider attending some kind of alternative observance or activity, including meditation, study programs and similar events.

Twenty-five percent of all respondents said they would attend synagogue for all prayer services, and 21% said they would attend at least one service. Ten percent of those polled said they would watch movies at home, 3.5% said they would be out of the house with friends and family, and fewer than .5% said they would drive somewhere to a hiking destination.

 

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=286172

 

 

Israel's only Messianic village in legal trouble

 Israel's only Messianic village in legal trouble

Monday, September 24, 2012 | Ryan Jones

Many are unaware that nestled in the hills outside of Jerusalem is a Messianic communal village where some 150 Israeli believers live, work and provide a "living testimony" of faith in Yeshua.

But that identity has often come at a price, and recently the village of Yad Hashmonah was sued and ordered to pay damages after it refused to host a lesbian wedding at its beautifully constructed event hall and biblical gardens.

The courtroom defeat was only the tip of the iceberg, Yad Hashmonah spokesperson Ayelet Ronen told Israel Today.

"We have already received phone calls from many more homosexual groups and couples saying they want to get married here. To avoid another legal problem, for now, we simply cannot book anything at all" at our guesthouse and event center, explained Ronen.

She noted that at this point, to turn down more homosexual groups based on biblical principle would likely result in Yad Hashmonah being forced to shut down its primary business. On the other hand, Ronen insisted, "we cannot and will not cater to this kind of activity."

There are other options, such as re-opening the event hall as a "religious" institution catering specifically to Messianic believers. But that would mean a big loss in business, as well as hinder one of the main reasons Yad Hashmonah invested so much in the facilities in the first place.

"We always wanted to be a living testimony to the Israeli public," said Ronen. "Many believers work in the 'Christian' field, but our desire was to be integrated into normal Israeli society by offering a quality little guesthouse service where our faith is openly declared. And HUNDREDS of Israelis go through this place every month."

If you would like to learn more about or contact Yad Hashmonah, visit their website: www.yad8.com

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23404/Default.aspx

Yom Kippur War revelations underline gravity of Iran dilemma

Yom Kippur War revelations underline gravity of Iran dilemma facing Israel today

Testimonies from 1973 declassified on Thursday show decision-makers’ staggering incompetence and arrogance. Israelis can only hope lessons were truly learned

By Mitch GinsburgSeptember 21, 2012

Times of Israel

 

A wrecked Israeli tank during the early days of the Yom Kippur War (Photo credit: Wikimedia

 

The Yom Kippur War, in Israel, marked the end of the age of innocence.

 

Generals, previously untouchable, were stripped of their commands. The prime minister was ousted from office by popular demand. The tremors of the debacle eventually pried open the grip of the Labor-led left and, for the first time in the history of Zionism, ushered in an ideologically right-wing leadership.

 

Thursday’s revelations from previously classified testimony to the Agranat Commission, which investigated the war, fill in the already grim picture of October 1973 — of arrogance tinged with ineptitude at the very top, which produced, for some, a lack of faith in leaders that endures to this day.

 

The commander of the northern front, Yitzhak Hofi, testified to the Agranat Commission that despite the evidence of an enormous armored presence near the border, and despite explicit information passed on to him from the command’s chief intelligence officer, he was told, just days before the war, that the chance of war was low and that the reports were insignificant. When he called military intelligence headquarters, Hofi told the commission, none of the relevant officers was on duty. They were at home.

 

Only at six in the morning on Yom Kippur, October 6, was he told that war would break out and even then the stated time was six in the evening rather than the actual two in the afternoon.

 

Alfred Eini, an aide to Mossad chief Zvi Zamir, shocked commission members when he said that Zamir apparently “didn’t get” the urgency of a midnight cable from the Mossad’s man in Cairo. He told the five commission members – two former IDF chiefs of staff, two sitting Supreme Court justices and one state comptroller – that “never before” had the man asked for an urgent personal meeting with the head of the Mossad and that Zamir seemed drowsy, even though it was the Mossad that had been warning of imminent war for days.

 

Finally, the prime minister’s military attaché told the commission that the Mossad’s opinion of imminent all-out war on two fronts was never brought to him in an explicit manner; on account of inter-agency bureaucracy, it was buried in a sheath of material.

 

These are details that flesh out the picture of what Abraham Rabinovich, author of “The Yom Kippur War”, called “an existential earthquake” — a war that claimed 2,688 Israeli lives and served as “a standing reminder of the consequences of shallow thinking and arrogance.”

 

Rabinovich, in his superb reportage of the war, spread the blame around: from military intelligence head Eli Zeira to Prime Minister Golda Meir to southern front commander Shmuel “Gordish” Gonen – a tragic figure who was deemed unworthy of further command positions and exiled himself to central Africa.

 

Today, though, with Israel facing the looming challenge of a nuclear Iran, Israeli political and military leaders seem split: many of the military men look at 1973 and point to the failures of leadership; many of the politicians, certainly the defense minister, have their time clocks set on 1967, when the need for preemptive action trumped staunch American resistance.

 

Back in 1973, Israel’s current Defense Minister Ehud Barak returned from studies in the United States to command a tank battalion in the Yom Kippur War. He fought in the southern front and even helped rescue the trapped paratroopers in one of the deadliest and most senseless battles of the war, in what is known as the Chinese Farm.

 

When Barak looks at today’s reality, and especially at an Iran closing in on the bomb, he evidently focuses not on the appalling incompetence of 1973 but on the heroics of the late spring of 1967. Numerous recently retired security chiefs have made plain their opposition to preemptive action in Iran, and some of the current security chiefs are widely reported to share the view.

 

But Barak has repeatedly indicated that preemptive action now, however risky and complex, is far preferable to grappling with a nuclear Iran later on. Several months ago, according to Channel 10 reporter Alon Ben-David, he told the IDF General Staff that “with this kind of General Staff we never would have won in the Six-Day War.”

 

Meir Dagan, the former head of the Mossad, by contrast, has acknowledged that he views today’s challenges through the lens of the Yom Kippur War. He told Ilana Dayan in an unprecedented television interview in which he openly aired his disagreement with a sitting prime minister — terming a preemptive strike against Iran at this time a disaster — that he was speaking from his “formative experience” in 1973.

 

Dagan fought on the eastern side of the Suez Canal 39 years ago. He was part of a small commando team in Ariel Sharon’s division that hunted down Egyptian commandos on Israeli soil. The lack of coherence from the leadership, both before and during the war, sharply increased the number of Israeli dead. The leadership emitted “a sense of complete confidence,” Dagan said bitterly. “We will know everything. We know, there won’t be a war.”

 

His primary lesson of the war, Dagan said, was that just because “people were elected it does not render them utterly immune from making mistakes.”

 

Avigdor Kahalani, a decorated IDF veteran who commanded an armored battalion on the Golan Heights in the Yom Kippur War, repelling a far bigger Syrian force with a hastily assembled tank unit amid battlefield chaos, said Thursday that the chain of failure that so afflicted the Israeli leadership in 1973 simply “could not happen today.” Sufficient safeguards had long since been instituted, Kahalani said, to ensure that vital channels of communication worked effectively and that critical evidence could not be overlooked.

 

Israelis can only fervently hope that this is indeed the case, as the country’s leaders weigh fateful decisions on Iran — their mindsets shaped both by the preemptive successes of 1967, and the hubris and incompetence of 1973.

 

http://www.timesofisrael.com/yom-kippur-war-revelations-underline-the-gravity-of-the-iran-dilemma-facing-israels-leaders-today/

 

 

Rabbis Laud Romney: 'Stated Halakhah on Land of Israel'

Rabbis Laud Romney: 'Stated Halakhah on Land of Israel'

Pikuach Nefesh rabbis happy with Mitt Romney's "sober" view regarding conceding land to the Arabs.

 

 

By Gil Ronen, Israel National News

First Publish: 9/23/2012

Pikuach Nefesh, the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, has sent a congratulatory message to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, praising him for accurately stating the opinion of Jewish Halakhah regarding the Land of Israel.

The rabbis noted that during his visit to Israel, Romney received a Halakhic opinion signed by 350 rabbis, which states that any negotiations for Israeli retreat from land will not bring peace, but rather increase danger of bloodshed.

A week ago, a press release from Pikuach Nefesh noted, Romney made a statement at a private event that appeared to echo this opinion:



"Some might say, ‘Well, just let the Palestinians have the West Bank, and have security, and set up a separate nation for the Palestinians," Romney said. "And then come a couple of thorny questions. I don’t have a map here to look at the geography, but the border between Israel and the West Bank is obviously right there, right next to Tel Aviv, which is the financial capital, the industrial capital of Israel, the center of Israel… And of course the Iranians would want to do through the West Bank exactly what they did through Lebanon, what they did in Gaza, which is, the Iranians would want to bring missiles and armament into the West Bank and potentially threaten Israel."

"Your words express a realistic approach that a Palestinian state would hurt the interests of the U.S. as it would Israel's," the rabbis wrote Romney this week. "This is a true, sober vision that finally removes the smokescreen from the false peace embodied by the idea of two states. These things were stated in the immortal Torah of Israel and unfortunately have been proven accurate over and over again in the last few decades."

The rabbis added a message referencing Yom Kippur – and possibly the upcoming U.S. elections: "In these days, when the Creator of the world sits in judgment of all the world's denizens, surely your important statement will assist you in being written and signed for much blessing and success in all that you do."

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/160232

 

 

 

Yom Kippur - starts sundown Sept. 13, 2013 (Jewish New Year 5774)

Yom Kippur - 2013 

(It's the Jewish Year 5774)

Jews Praying in the Synagogue on Yom Kippur, 

by Maurycy Gottlieb (1878)

(The following is from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, followed by a piece from Feasts of The Lord website, with a Messianic understanding.) Steve Martin, Editor

    

Yom Kippur
Official name	Hebrew: יוֹם כִּפּוּר or יום הכיפורים
Observed by	Jews
Type	Jewish
Significance	Soul-searching and repentance
Date	10th day of Tishrei
2012 date	sunset, September 25 – nightfall, September 26
2013 date	sunset, September 13 – nightfall, September 14
Observances	Fasting, prayer, abstaining from physical pleasures, refraining from work

Yom Kippur (Hebrew: יוֹם כִּפּוּר‎‎, IPA: [ˈjom kiˈpuʁ], or יום הכיפורים), also known as Day of Atonement, is the holiest day of the year for the Jewish people. Its central themes are atonement and repentance. Jews traditionally observe this holy day with a 25-hour period of fasting and intensive prayer, often spending most of the day in synagogue services. Yom Kippur completes the annual period known in Judaism as the High Holy Days or Yamim Nora'im ("Days of Awe").

Yom Kippur is the tenth day of the month of Tishrei. According to Jewish tradition, God inscribes each person's fate for the coming year into a book, the Book of Life, on Rosh Hashanah, and waits until Yom Kippur to "seal" the verdict. During the Days of Awe, a Jew tries to amend his or her behavior and seek forgiveness for wrongs done against God (bein adam leMakom) and against other human beings (bein adam lechavero). The evening and day of Yom Kippur are set aside for public and private petitions and confessions of guilt (Vidui). At the end of Yom Kippur, one considers oneself absolved by God.

The Yom Kippur prayer service includes several unique aspects. One is the actual number of prayer services. Unlike a regular day, which has three prayer services (Ma'ariv, the evening prayer; Shacharit, the morning prayer; and Mincha, the afternoon prayer), or a Shabbat or Yom Tov, which have four prayer services (Ma'ariv; Shacharit; Mussaf, the additional prayer; and Mincha), Yom Kippur has five prayer services (Ma'ariv; Shacharit; Musaf; Mincha; and Ne'ilah, the closing prayer). The prayer services also include private and public confessions of sins (Vidui) and a unique prayer dedicated to the special Yom Kippur avodah (service) of the Kohen Gadol in the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.

As one of the most culturally significant Jewish holidays, Yom Kippur is observed by many secular Jews who may not observe other holidays. Many secular Jews attend synagogue on Yom Kippur—for many secular Jews the High Holy Days are the only recurring times of the year in which they attend synagogue^[1]—causing synagogue attendance to soar.

(The following is from the website: http://feastsofthelord.com)

Messianic Understanding

G-d gave this ceremony of the casting of lots during Yom Kippur to teach us how He will judge the nations of the world prior to the Messianic age known as the Millennium. The nations of the world will be judged according to how they treated the Jewish people. Those nations who mistreated the Jews will be goat nations and they will go into the left hand. Those nations that stood beside the Jewish people will be sheep nations and will enter into the Messianic kingdom or the Millennium. Yeshua taught us about this in Matthew 25:31-46.

Yeshua during His first coming was a type of the goat marked La Adonai. Yeshua was a sin offering to us as G-d laid upon Him the sins of the whole world (Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 53:1-6; 1 Corinthians 15:3; Galatians 1:3-4; Hebrews 2:17; 1 John [Yochanan] 2:2; 4:10).

In the ceremony of the two goats, the two goats were considered as one offering. A crimson sash was tied around the horns of the goat marked azazel. At the appropriate time, the goat was led to a steep cliff in the wilderness and shoved off the cliff. In connection with this ceremony, an interesting tradition arose that is mentioned in the Mishnah. A portion of the crimson sash was attached to the door of the temple (Beit HaMikdash) before the goat was sent into the wilderness. The sash would turn from red to white as the goat met its end, signaling to the people that G-d had accepted their sacrifices and their sins were forgiven. This was based upon Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 1:18. As stated earlier, the Mishnah tells us that 40 years before the destruction of the temple (Beit HaMikdash), the sash stopped turning white. This, of course, was when Yeshua was slain on.


Yeshua is the High Priest (Cohen HaGadol) of G-d (Hebrews 3:1). In John (Yochanan) 20:17, Yeshua said, "Touch Me not; for I am not yet ascended to My Father...." These were the same words that the priest spoke before he ascended the altar. Yeshua can be seen as Priest by looking at some other Scriptures. In Numbers (Bamidbar) 19:11, if you touched a dead body, you were unclean for seven days. After being unclean, purification took place on the eighth day. This is the meaning behind what happened in John (Yochanan) 20:24-27.

Rather than wearing his usual robe and colorful garments (described in Exodus [Shemot] 28 and Leviticus [Vayikra] 8:1-8), Aaron was commanded to wear special garments of linen (Leviticus [Vayikra] 16:4). Yeshua was seen wearing the same thing in Revelation 1:13-15. Daniel also saw this and described it in Daniel 10:5-6.

By slaying the animals at the altar and applying their blood to the altar, the garments of the high priest became very bloody and G-d instructed them to be washed (Leviticus [Vayikra] 6:27). However, on Yom Kippur G-d declared in Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 1:18, as it is written, "...though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow...." Spiritually speaking, a white garment represents purity and the absence of sin (Revelation 7:9,13-14; 19:8).

In Numbers (Bamidbar) 15:37-41, fringes (tzi-tzit) were put on the hem of the garments to remind the people of the Torah or G-d's Word. Consider the woman with the issue of blood (she was unclean) coming to Yeshua (the High Priest of G-d) to touch the hem of His garment and be healed (Matthew [Mattityahu] 9:20-22). The children of Israel were instructed by G-d to wear the garments Yeshua had on in Matthew 9:20-22. These garments were instructed by G-d in the Torah to be worn as just stated in Numbers (Bamidbar) 15:37-41. When the woman with the issue of blood touched the hem (tzi-tzit) of Yeshua's garment in Matthew 9:20-22, it was a picture given to us by G-d to communicate to us that she believed Yeshua's word by faith (emunah) and was made well because of her faith.

Yeshua's Second Coming and Yom Kippur

If you examine the Scriptures concerning the second coming of Yeshua back to earth, when He will set His foot upon the Mount of Olives (Zechariah 14:4), you will find that it uses Yom Kippur terminology. Here are a few examples.

The first example is in Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 52:13-15. First, let us examine Isaiah 52:13-14 so we can identify that this is referring to Yeshua the Messiah. Then, we will look at Isaiah 52:15.

In Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 52:13-14 it is written:

Behold, My servant shall deal prudently [the servant refers to the Messiah], He shall be exalted and extolled, and be very high. [The New Covenant (Brit Hadashah) references to this include Acts 2:32-35; 5:30-31; and Philippians 2:9-11.] As many were astonied at thee; His visage was so marred more than any man, and His form more than the sons of men (Isaiah [Yeshayahu] 52:13-14).

This description of Yeshua, the suffering Messiah, is drastically different than how Yeshua is portrayed in Hollywood.

This description depicts a lamb going to the slaughter (Isaiah 53:7). Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 52:14 depicts a man so marred that He did not resemble a man. Furthermore, Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 50:6 says that His beard was ripped out. Psalm (Tehillim) 22:14,17 says His bones were out of joint and that He was naked before the peering eyes of men. They even bit him (Psalm 22:13).

The Romans used a whip with nine strands, and each strand had bone, glass, and sharp metal in it. The purpose of the whip was to strip away the flesh so the organs would hang out of the body. Psalm 22:16 says they also pierced His hands and feet. Psalm 22:18 says they gambled for His garments. Recognizing that Isaiah 52:13-14 is speaking about Yeshua during His first coming to earth, Isaiah 52:15 will speak about His second coming.

In Isaiah (Yeshayahu) 52:15 it is written:

"So shall He sprinkle many nations; the kings shall shut their mouths at Him: for that which had not been told them shall they see; and that which they had not heard shall they consider."

The phrase, "So shall He sprinkle many nations" is a reference to the sprinkling of the blood on the mercy seat of G-d by the high priest during Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:14). This is also referred to in Leviticus 1:5,11; 3:2,8,13; 4:6,17; 7:2.

The garments of the high priest were covered with blood after he had performed this task (Leviticus 6:27). After this, G-d accepted the sacrifice, and as the high priest hung out his garments, a miracle took place. His garments turned from bloodstained red to white.

G-d was saying in this that He had forgiven their sins and this forgiveness was shown by the garment (symbolic of man's life), being sprinkled upon by blood (the blood of Yeshua), Yeshua forgiving man's sins, and thus his garment turning white. Isaiah the prophet wrote, "Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool" (Isaiah 1:18).

Yeshua's garment went from being stained from His blood when He died upon the tree to being pure white today. White garments represent righteousness before G-d (Revelation 3:4-5; 7:9,13-14). Yeshua is described this way in Revelation 1:13-14. Yeshua is our High Priest (Hebrews 2:17; 3:1; 4:14; 9:11). Yeshua sprinkled His blood for us (1 Peter [Kefa] 1:2).

Moses (Moshe) led the children of Israel out of Egypt by keeping the Passover and sprinkling the blood as found in the Torah and referenced in Hebrews 11:24-28. In fact, G-d promised to sprinkle Israel when they returned to the land of Israel from the Diaspora. This can be seen in Ezekiel 36:24-27.

In Isaiah 52:15, when it says that Yeshua would sprinkle the nations, it refers to what the high priest did on Yom Kippur on the mercy seat of G-d so G-d would forgive the sins of the people. Yeshua came as a prophet in His first coming; now He is the High Priest and is coming back as a King. Isaiah 63:1-3 describes the second coming of Yeshua, and verse 3 talks about His garments being sprinkled with blood. Once again this describes Yeshua, the High Priest coming back to earth on Yom Kippur.

In Joel (Yoel) 2:15-16 it is written:

Blow the trumpet in Zion [the trumpet (shofar) spoken of here refers to the trumpet ushering in the Messianic Kingdom, the last trump that is blown on Rosh HaShanah] sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly [this speaks of the fast associated with Yom Kippur]: gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet (Joel [Yoel] 2:15-16).

Please refer back to the previous chapter on the wedding that takes place on Rosh HaShanah and the honeymoon. In this passage in Joel, we can see that the seven years of the tribulation, known as the birthpangs of the Messiah or Chevlai shel Mashiach, are over and the Messiah is coming back with His followers to go to the marriage supper of the Lamb.

In Joel 2:17 it is written:

Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar [once again, this speaks of an event that took place annually, the priest ministering in the Holy of Holies], and let them say, Spare Thy people, O Lord, and give not Thine heritage to reproach, that the heathen should rule over them: wherefore should they say among the people, Where is their God? (Joel [Yoel] 2:17)

What is being communicated here by the phrase "spare Thy people"? For the answer we must turn to Zechariah 12 and 14:1-9. In these passages, we can see Yeshua coming back after the birthpangs of the Messiah (tribulation), and Jerusalem (Yerushalayim) about to be under siege. Yeshua saves Jerusalem (Yerushalayim). His feet are placed on the Mount of Olives. There is a great earthquake, and the Messianic Kingdom comes in full power. There is no nighttime anymore, and the L-rd will rule the whole earth. At this time, the gates of Heaven are closed. The last Yom Kippur ceremony is called neilah, the closing of the gates, and is the concluding ceremony to Yom Kippur. However, this is not the rehearsal (miqra), but the real thing. At this point, it is too late to make a decision to accept Yeshua the Messiah into your life.

Yeshua spoke of this same event in Matthew (Mattityahu) 24:27-31. In Matthew 24:31, the trumpet that is being blown is called by Yeshua the great trumpet. This is the trumpet that is blown on Yom Kippur known as the Shofar HaGadol. This trumpet will usher the return of Yeshua to rule as Messiah ben David during the Messianic age.

The themes of the fall feasts are numerous and are especially meaningful to the believer in Yeshua. The festivals and the entire Tanach (Old Testament) are fulfilled and speak about the Messiah (Psalm [Tehillim] 40:7; Luke 24:44-47). Understanding the fall festivals will enrich our lives and walk (halacha) as believers in the Messiah. The final fall festival, Sukkot, is no different. The festivals of the L-rd are fulfilled in Yeshua the Messiah while at the same time revealing tremendous insight on how to live for Yeshua on a daily basis. Baruch Ha Shem! Blessed be His Name!

http://feastsofthelord.com/ss/live/index.php?action=getpage&sid=204&pid=2192

Yom Kippur 100 Years Ago -- Or More

Yom Kippur 100 Years Ago -- Or More:
Photographic Treasures from the Library of Congress
from Jerusalem, New York and a French Battlefield

(Israel Daily Picture website)



Jews at the Kotel on Yom Kippur (circa 1904) See analysis of
the graffiti on the wall for dating this picture. The graffiti on
the Wall are memorial notices (not as one reader suggested
applied to the photo later).

 Soon Jews around the world will commemorate Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement. For many Jews in the Land of Israel over the centuries the day meant praying at the Western Wall, the remnant of King Herod's retaining wall of the Temple complex destroyed in 70 AD.

Several readers commented on the intermingling of men and women in these historic pictures.

It was not by choice.

The Turkish and British rulers of Jerusalem imposed restrictions on the Jewish worshippers, prohibiting chairs, forbidding screens to divide the men and women, and even banning the blowing of the shofar at the end of the Yom Kippur service.

View this video, Echoes of a Shofar, to see the story of young men who defied British authorities between 1930 and 1947 and blew the shofar at the Kotel.



Another view of the Western Wall on Yom Kippur. Note the
various groups of worshippers: The Ashkenazic Hassidim wearing
the fur shtreimel hats in the foreground, the Sephardic Jews
wearing the fezzes in the center, and the women in the back
wearing white shawls. (circa 1904)

For the 19 years that Jordan administered the Old City, 1948-1967, no Jews were permitted to pray at the Kotel. 

The Library of Congress collection contains many pictures of Jewish worshippers at the Western Wall over the last 150 years.

After the 1967 war, the Western Wall plaza was enlarged and large areas of King Herod's wall have been exposed. Archaeologists have also uncovered major subterranean tunnels -- hundreds of meters long -- that are now open to visitors to Jerusalem.

Photos of Yom Kippur in New York 105 Years Ago

The Library of Congress Archives also contain historic photos of Jewish celebration of the High Holidays in New York. Some of them were posted here before Rosh Hashanna. Here are two more:

Original caption: Men and boys standing in
front of synagogue on Yom Kippur (Bain
News Service, circa 1907)



Worshippers in front of synagogue (Bain
News Service, 1907)

And a Picture of Jews in the Prussian Army Worshipping on Yom Kippur 140 Years Ago

We were a little surprised to find this picture of a lithograph in the Library of Congress archives. The caption reads, "Service on the Day of Atonement by the Israelite soldiers of the Army before Metz 1870." No other information is provided.

Kestenbaum & Company, an auctioneer in Judaica, describes the lithograph in their catalogue:

This lithograph depicts the Kol Nidre service performed on Yom Kippur 1870 for Jewish soldiers in the Prussian army stationed near Metz (Alsace region) during the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-71.
The Germans had occupied Metz by August of 1870, however were unable to capture the town's formidable fortress, where the remaining French troops had sought refuge. During the siege, Yom Kippur was marked while hostilities still continued, as depicted in the lithograph.
 

Rabbi W. Gunther Plaut, a scholar and Reform Jewish leader who passed away at age 99 earlier this year, provided more facts about the picture. In fact, he called it a "fraud."

In Eight Decades: The Selected Writings of W. Gunther Plaut. In a chapter entitled "The Yom Kippur that Never Was, A Pious Pictoral Fraud" he wrote:

Of all the things in my grandfather's house, I remember most vividly a large print. It was entitled "Service on the Day of Atonement by the Israelite soldiers before Metz 1870." Later I was to learn that this print hung in many Jewish homes.... It was reproduced on postcards, on cloth, and on silk scarves. The basic theme was the same: in an open field before Metz, hundreds of Jewish soldiers were shown at prayer.

Rabbi Plaut cites a participant in the service who reported:

A considerable difficulty arose in relation to the place for the services. Open air services were deemed impossible for Tuesday night because of the darkness and were ruled out for Wednesday because of the obvious reasons [it was a battlefield].... My immediate neighbour was willing to grant me the use of his room so that the service took place in our two adjoining rooms.

Another participant in the unusual Yom Kippur service reported, according to Plaut:

Of the 71 Jewish soldiers in the Corps some 60 had appeared. Amongst them were several physicians, a few members of the military government, all of them joyously moved to celebrate Yom Kippur. The place of prayer consisted of two small rooms.

http://www.israeldailypicture.com/2012/09/yom-kippur-100-years-ago-or-more.html
 

 

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Writes Moving Letter of “Gratitude” after Release

Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani Writes Moving Letter of “Gratitude” after Release

 

Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani wrote the following letter to all those who supported him and his stand for Christ, “the cause that I defend,” following his release after nearly 3 years of illegal imprisonment in Iran for his faith.

Not to us, LORD, not to us, but to Your Name be glory, for Your faithfulness, for Your loyalty…. Psalm 115:1

Salaam! (Peace be upon you!)
I glorify and give grace to the Lord with all my heart. I am grateful for all the blessings that He gave me during my whole life. I am especially grateful for His goodness and divine protection that characterized the time of my detention.

I also want to express my gratitude towards those who, all around the world, have worked for my cause, or should I say the cause that I defend. I want to express my gratitude to all of those who have supported me, openly or in complete secrecy. You are all very dear to my heart. May the Lord bless you and give you His perfect and sovereign Grace.

Indeed I have been put to the test, the test of faith which is, according to the Scriptures “more precious than perishable gold.” But I have never felt loneliness, I was all the time aware of the fact that it wasn’t a solitary battle, for I have felt all the energy and support of those who obeyed their conscience and fought for the promotion of the justice and the rights of all human beings.

          Thanks to these efforts, I have now the enormous joy to be by my wonderful wife and my   hildren. I am grateful for these people through whom God has been working. All of this is very encouraging.

During that period, I had the opportunity to experience in a marvelous way the Scripture that says: “Indeed, as the sufferings of Christ abound for us, our encouragement abound through Christ.” He has comforted my family and has given them the means to face that difficult situation. In His Grace, He provided for their spiritual and material needs, taking away from me a heavy weight.

The Lord has wonderfully provided through the trial, allowing me to face the challenges that were in front of me. As the Scriptures says, “He will not allow us to be tested beyond our strength….”

Despite the fact that I have been found guilty of apostasy according to a certain reading of the Shar’ia, I am grateful that He gave the leaders of the country, the wisdom to break that judgment taking into account other facts of that same Shar’ia. It is obvious that the defenders of the Iranian right and the legal experts have made an important effort to enforce the law and the right. I want to thank those who have defended the right until the end.

I am happy to live in a time where we can take a critical and constructive look to the past. This has allowed the writing of universal texts aiming at the promotion of the rights of man. Today, we are debtors of these efforts provided by dear people who have worked for the respect of human dignity and have passed on to us these universal significant texts.

I am also debtor of those who have faithfully passed on the Word of God, that very Word who makes us heirs of God.

Before ending, I want to express a prayer for the establishment of an unending and universal peace, so that the will of the Father be done on earth as it is in heaven. Indeed, everything passes, but the Word of God, source of all peace, will last eternally.

May the grace and mercy of God be multiplied to you. Amen!

Youcef Nadarkhani
8 September 2012

Pastor Youcef’s letter (translated into English through Present Truth Ministries) was written the day he was released from an Iranian prison less than two weeks ago. Pastor Youcef had been convicted of apostasy (converting to Christianity) and sentenced to execution by hanging. He was imprisoned for 1062 days, just under 3 years, in violation of Iranian and international law that protects religious liberty.

Pastor Youcef’s story reached millions around the world, and the international outcry for his release greatly impacted his case. The ACLJ’s Tweet for Youcef campaign reached over 3.1 million Twitter accounts worldwide with news about his imprisonment. We will continue fighting for and raising awareness about the hundreds of thousands of people facing persecution for their faith around the world, including hundreds who have been arrested in Iran for their Christian faith.

Join people of faith around the world this weekend celebrating Pastor Youcef’s release, praying for his and his family’s safety, and praying for all those facing persecution for their faith. Visit 48HoursforFreedom.org to learn how you can take action.


http://aclj.org/iran/pastor-youcef-nadarkhani-letter-gratitude-after-release

 

Israel's Right praises US Republican presidential candidate

Romney excites settlers by shunning 2-state solution

By GIL HOFFMAN, Jerusalem Post

09/20/2012

Israel's Right praises US Republican presidential candidate after he is filmed mocking Palestinian interest in peace; Peace Now: Romney, Netanyahu both backed by extremist coalition of evangelicals, Sheldon Adelson.

Photo: Jim Young / Reuters

US Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney found himself in the heat of a decades-old political debate in Israel Wednesday after he was taped criticizing a proposed two-state solution and mocking the Palestinian interest in achieving peace with the Jewish state.

Romney’s comments at a Boca Raton fund-raiser about peace being “almost unthinkable to accomplish” were praised by the Israeli Right and residents of Judea and Samaria, and slammed by the Left.



“The Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace,” Romney said in a leaked video of the event. “I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say there’s just no way.”

“And so what you do is you say you move things along the best way you can. You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that it’s going to remain an unsolved problem,” he continued.

 

Council of Jewish Communities in Judea and Samaria chairman Dani Dayan said Romney’s viewpoint had become more common in recent years among international figures, who have started admitting publicly and not just privately that they do not believe there will be a two-state solution and are seeking other alternatives.

“He described the reality that anyone with eyes can see,” Dayan said. “More and more people around the world realize it. After 20 years of the Oslo diplomatic process, anyone who thinks two states is still possible doesn’t know what he is talking about.”

While praising Romney, Dayan issued surprising optimism about the Middle East policies in a potential second term of US President Barack Obama.

“Romney understands the Middle East better than Obama, but I think the Obama of 2012 is not the Obama of 2008,” Dayan said.

“I think Obama also understands that a deal cannot be reached, even though he might wish it wasn’t true. So even though I appreciate that Romney is saying such things out loud, I am not panicking about an Obama victory.”

By contrast, Peace Now head Yariv Oppenheimer expressed confidence that if Romney would win, he would follow a long line of politicians whose campaign promises and rhetoric do not match their actions when they take office.

“Romney represents [Prime Minister Binyamin] Netanyahu and the Israeli Right, who are trying to remove the effort to solve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict from the international agenda,” Oppenheimer said.

“There is a clear connection between the Republicans and Netanyahu, who are backed by an extremist coalition of Christian evangelicals and [casino magnate] Sheldon Adelson.

“This has made the Republicans turn their back on the traditional American support for two states for two peoples, but candidates before elections and after elections are often not the same,” he said.
Asked about reports of Israeli leftists who fear a continued stalemate in the peace process if Obama is re-elected, Oppenheimer said they would still prefer Obama to Romney, despite the president’s mistakes in the diplomatic arena.

“Leftists who oppose Netanyahu can’t back Romney because of his strong connections to the prime minister,” Oppenheimer said. “With key universal non-diplomatic issues like abortion and same-sex marriage also decided in this race, the dichotomy between the Left’s views in Israel and the US is clear.”

http://www.jpost.com/International/Article.aspx?id=285616

 

The 7000 year plan of God

Light rail causes 41% increase in J’lem foot traffic

Light rail causes 41% increase in J’lem foot traffic

By MELANIE LIDMAN

09/19/2012, Jerusalem Post

Municipality survey: "Dramatic rise" seen following opening of rail line, 1 m. people expected to visit Old City during Succot.

Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

Just ahead of Jerusalem’s busiest period for visitors from Yom Kippur through Succot, the municipality has released a new survey pointing to a large increase in the amount of foot traffic in the major downtown areas.

According to the report, since the light rail began running, there has been an overall increase of 41 percent in the number of pedestrians, from 298,000 visitors in July 2011, the month before the rail started service, to 422,000 visitors in August 2012.

The survey was carried out by video cameras at 17 different points in the downtown area that counted the number of pedestrians from 7:00 am to midnight.

 

The largest increase was Nahalat Shiva near Zion Square, which saw an increase of 87% in the number of visitors, from 55,000 in July 2011 to 106,000 in August 2012.

The foot traffic in the Mahaneh Yehuda market increased by 38%, from 121,000 to 166,000, and the “triangle area” formed by King George Avenue, Jaffa Road and Ben-Yehuda Street increased by 34%, from 79,000 to 106,000.

“There is no Jerusalemite that doesn’t get excited to see that the city center is again bustling and active after it has been fading for many years,” said Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat, in response to the survey.

Nadav Meroz, head of the Jerusalem Transportation Master Plan, highlighted the fact that the light rail is still relatively new and has not yet reached full capacity.

“There were those that were concerned that the train would hurt the number of visitors in the center of the city, but today we see that the phenomenon is reversed and this enormous investment is beginning to bear fruit,” he said.

Meroz added that in other European cities, especially in France and Germany, the introduction of the light rail led to a similar revival of the downtown area.

Downtown business owners agreed that the light rail had brought a dramatic increase in foot traffic.
“They don’t have to do a survey, you can see it with your eyes!” said Malekan Kumars, the owner of the Joy dress shop next to the Jaffa Central light rail stop. “Jaffa Road never looked this way, and in a good way,” he said.

Kumars added that the accessibility had certainly brought him more customers, including Arabs from east Jerusalem who now make up about 20% of his customer base, compared with practically no Arab customers before the rail. But the business owners aren’t the only ones benefiting from the increased traffic: since the train started, rent for stores along the road has increased about 20%, said Kumars, a senior member of the Jaffa Road Business Committee.

Avraham Levy, owner of a 35-year-old vegetable stall at the shuk who sits on the Mahaneh Yehuda Council, agreed that he also saw a much higher amount of foot traffic there. But he said that while the light rail has brought in more visitors, it made it harder for residents to do their daily shopping at the market.

“It’s tourism, they’re not coming to take bags of tomatoes and cucumbers,” he said. “So many people come and say ‘it’s beautiful,’ there are a lot of tourists, but economically for us it’s nothing.”
Levy reasoned that the coffee shops and gift shops that have sprung up in the market are better able to capture this demographic.

“For Jerusalem in general, [the light rail] is good, but the problem is how to bring it to the small businesses,” he said.

In order to accommodate the train, the main route to the shuk, Agrippas Street, was closed to private cars due to the increased number of buses - a move Levy said has severely impacted their customer base, since it has made parking near the shuk more difficult.

The light rail will be put to the test over the next few weeks, as more than 1 million visitors from Israel and abroad are expected to flood the Old City over Yom Kippur and Succot.

The Old City will be closed to private cars as it is the rest of the year. However, parts of Highway 1 and Hebron Road leading to the Old City will also be closed to private vehicles to deal with the increase in buses – though there will be extra shuttles from Teddy Stadium and Shmuel Hanavi Street. Additionally, the light rail will run at intervals of 5 to 8 minutes all day, not just during rush hour.

http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=285586

 

The 2 Spies: What Were You Doing Today?

                                            IDF on Golan Heights

The 2 Spies: What Were You Doing Today?: On Wednesday, while The 2 Spies went to work packing up our house, while the children went to school, and Mommies went grocery shopping.... ...