Saturday, September 8, 2012

1,000 years of rivalry — and a little bit of harmony — at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

1,000 years of rivalry — and a little bit of harmony — at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher

Whose chapel? Whose step? Whose ladder? The squabbles among differing Christian denominations at the Holy Places can seem petty to outsiders. Yet for much of the Christian world, these issues are vital, and they have been known to provoke bloodshed

September 7, 2012

 
One chilly November morning in 1847, Catholic clergy entered Bethlehem’s Church of the Nativity to pray. As was their custom, they continued into the grotto that had once held a stable. Imagine their dismay when they discovered that the silver star on the floor, which marked the spot of Jesus’ birth, had disappeared.
 
The Catholics immediately blamed the Greek Orthodox community, which had been upset with the star ever since it was incorporated into the floor over 100 years earlier. What bothered them was the star’s Latin inscription, which seemed to give the Catholics property rights to the Grotto.
 
But the Orthodox said that the Catholics had stolen the star, claiming that they were raring for a fight. And, indeed, both Russia (the Orthodox sponsor) and France (which looked after Catholic interests) were incensed over the affair. Even the Sardinian consul got involved.
 
Quickly becoming a dispute over control of the Holy Places, the controversy heated up so rapidly that in 1852 the sultan of Turkey, ruler of the Holy Land, issued an edict that effectively froze all of the religious arrangements in effect at the time — including rights of possession, lighting, decorations and hours of worship. This freeze, specific to the Holy Land’s sacred sites, was called the status quo. It remains in effect to this day.
 
Christians began jockeying for control of the Holy Places after the Crusaders conquered Jerusalem in 1099. Until that time a variety of Christian denominations — mainly eastern Orthodox — apparently worshipped peacefully in the Holy City. But when the Crusaders took over Jerusalem, the Catholic Church gained control of the sacred sites. The result has been a thousand years of out-and-out rivalry.
 
The most volatile period was during the era of Turkish rule, from 1517 to 1917, when the success of each religious group depended on the political climate and on how much money passed into the pockets of the authorities. Sometimes the Turks would decree in favor of the Catholics, at others in favor of the Orthodox.
 
Once they even tried giving two communities rights to the same holy site – and told each that it was to be theirs alone. Nobody was ever pleased with the results.
 
Provocation was the order of the day, and fights even erupted within Orthodox ranks. In Bethlehem, the Greek Orthodox placed a carpet in front of the Armenian (Orthodox) altar. When Armenians came to worship, the Greek Orthodox assaulted them for stepping on their rug.
 
Like many disputes between bickering couples, neighbors and nations, the squabbles among differing Christian denominations often seem petty and trivial to outsiders. Yet for much of the Christian world these issues are as vital as the air they breathe.
 
This is especially true in the Church of the Holy Sepulcher, foremost among the sites governed by the status quo.

 

Greek Orthodox priests at Easter, at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher
(photo credit: Shmuel Bar-Am)
 
 
In fact, to really understand the status quo it is helpful to examine the church’s interior. Divided both in terms of usage and in geographical area, its common areas include the church entrance, the Stone of Unction, the rotunda, its dome, and the sacred tomb of Jesus.
 
Large and small candles belonging to each of the main communities flank the entrance to the tomb and indicate common rights. Every one of the huge pillars that surround the rotunda is assigned to a specific group; one column is divided between the Armenians and the Greek Orthodox.
 
Other portions of the church are, in the main, divided among Greek Orthodox, Catholics and Armenians. Copts and Syrian Orthodox have fewer rights inside the church, although the Copts have a small chapel.
 
Until the 17th century, the Ethiopians controlled several chapels in the church. Later, however, they didn’t have enough money to offer bribes to the Turks and lacked a powerful patron who could offer support. As a result, they were relegated to the rooftop of one of the church chapels.
 
During a single hour that I spent recently at the church, Franciscans held prayers at Jesus’ tomb to a background of loud organ music, and at the same time Armenians ascended to the Greek Orthodox altar. Both seemed to be singing at the top of their lungs.
 
And on Sunday mornings as many as five different liturgies can be heard. But despite the seemingly deafening cacophony of their worship, this was actually an exercise in harmony. For east and west were worshiping, each in its own manner — but from separate, and previously allocated areas.
 
Tourists at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (photo credit: Shmuel Bar-Am)
Tourists at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (photo credit: Shmuel Bar-Am)
 
 
The British who ruled the Holy Land from 1920-1948 prepared meticulous guidelines meant to help clarify issues relating to the Turkish status quo. Still referred to today, their memorandum should keep problems to a minimum. Yet a curious atmosphere of distrust and suspicion remains.
 
Bloody disputes have broken out between the communities over who would clean the bottom step of a flight of steps leading from the church courtyard – property of the Greeks – to the Chapel of St. Mary’s Agony – which belongs to the Catholics.
 
Unfortunately, the step is uneven: at its lowest point it seems like part of the courtyard; on its tallest side it is indisputably a step. Today, the Catholics sweep the step daily at dawn and the Greeks clean it when they are cleaning the courtyard.
 
Heavy candlesticks, and sometimes even a cross, have been known to make excellent weapons when a fistfight turns into a first-class fracas. At one time someone even grabbed a beam that covered a crack in the Chapel of the Skull and cracked a few bones instead.
 
Latin mass at the 11th Station of the Cross at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (photo credit: Shmuel Bar-Am)
Latin mass at the 11th Station of the Cross at the Church of the Holy Sepulcher (photo credit: Shmuel Bar-Am)
 
When the Church of the Holy Sepulcher required repairs, the groups had a hard time finding the right style. They knew that even the tiniest modification of the status quo could create irrevocable changes in their position.
 
As a result, although much of the church has been restored and a new lead covering – with a 200-year guarantee — was placed over the rotunda, for decades the various communities were unable to agree on interior decoration. Scaffolding remained under the dome until the end of the 20th century, an ugly reminder of unsolved disputes. Then, as the new millennium approached, all the parties agreed on a design. Today a golden, star-shaped inner dome shines above the rotunda.
 
My favorite example of the status quo is the ladder that leans against the exterior wall of the Holy Sepulcher, right below one of the church’s second story windows. It was used nearly 200 years ago to haul food up to Armenian monks who were locked in the church. With the situation frozen, probably forever, the ladder seems destined to remain until the ravages of time and weather cause it to crumble.
 
 
All rights reserved.
 

American Jewish leaders call on world to follow Canada’s lead on Iran

American Jewish leaders call on world to follow Canada’s lead on Iran

Conference of Presidents, ADL leaders praise Ottawa for severing diplomatic relations with Tehran on Friday

September 7, 2012
 
Centre Block of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. (photo credit: CC BY Kumar Appaiah, Wikimedia Commons)
Centre Block of Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada.
(photo credit: CC BY Kumar Appaiah, Wikimedia Commons)
Earlier on Friday Ottawa announced that it would be recalling its diplomats from Tehran and that Iranian envoys in Canada were personae non gratae. Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird cited Iran’s “increasing military assistance to the Assad regime,” noncompliance with UN resolutions against its nuclear program, and routine threats against Israel’s existence and “racist and anti-Semitic rhetoric and incitement to genocide” as Ottawa’s rationale for severing ties with Tehran.
 
Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations chairman Richard Stone and executive vice chairman Malcolm Hoenlein praised Canada’s decision to terminate relations with Iran.
 
“We welcome the announcement by the government of Canada that it is severing ties with Iran, ordering Iranian diplomats out of the country, and closing its embassy in Iran,” they wrote in a statement.
 
“It is an important moral declaration and a rejection of the extremist threats of the Iranian regime against the US, Israel, and the West, its gross violation of human rights internationally and internally, its support for global terrorism, and its many violations of United Nations Security Council resolutions related to its nuclear program.”
 
“We hope that other countries will follow Canada’s example. We thank Prime Minister Stephen Harper and Foreign Minister John Baird for once again being at the forefront of the cause of justice and standing up for the principles and values that it espouses,” Stone and Hoenlein said.
 
Anti Defamation League National Director Abraham H. Foxman said, “Canada’s principled stand against the belligerent Iranian regime has set a new example of leadership, integrity and principle for the international community to emulate.”
 
“Once again, Canada has taken the lead in providing an example for other countries, reinforcing a clear message to the Iranian regime that their nuclear activity and violent anti-Israel and anti-Semitic rhetoric will no longer be tolerated by the community of nations,” Foxman added.
 
He called on other countries to follow suit, and continue ratcheting up diplomatic and other pressures against the Iranian regime.
 
The United States severed diplomatic relations with the Islamic Republic of Iran in April 1980 after Iranian revolutionaries stormed the US embassy in Tehran and took 52 diplomats hostage the November before. Washington imposed a trade embargo on Iran in 1995.
 
 

Christian pastor jailed in Iran for 3 years is freed

Christian pastor jailed in Iran for 3 years is freed, watchdog group says

An undated photograph circulated by religious rights organizations shows Youcef Nadarkhani and his family.
 
Iranian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani, who was originally sentenced to death in his native country for his Christian faith, was acquitted of apostasy charges and released from custody.

Nadarkhani, 32, was imprisoned for three years and waiting execution for refusing to renounce his Christian faith. His charges were lowered to evangelizing to Muslims, which carried a three-year sentence. He was released with time served, according to the American Center for Law and Justice, a Washington-based watchdog group that had been campaigning for the pastor's release.

"Today our sources in Iran reported that Pastor Youcef was acquitted of apostasy and released from prison. After languishing in prison for almost three years, he has been reunited with his family," Jordan Sekulow, executive director of ACLJ said in a statement to FoxNews.com.

"While we are working on confirming the exact details of his release, some sources report that the court alternatively convicted Pastor Youcef of evangelizing to Muslims, sentencing him to three years and granting him time served. Pastor Youcef’s story is an example of how the world can join together to ensure that justice is served and freedom preserved."

Nadarkhani was originally called to Saturday's hearing to answer to "charges brought against him," leading to speculation that the new charges from the Iranian Supreme Court could be for a security-based crime, a charge often handed down to cover-up prisoners being held and sentenced on faith-based charges.

"While we praise the release of Pastor Youcef, we must recognize that Iran felt obligated to save face among its people and continue its pattern of suppressing religious freedom with intimidation tactics," Tiffany Barrans, a legal director for ACLJ said to FoxNews.com.

"International attention to this matter saved this man's life, but we must not forget the human right of freedom of religion includes the right to freedom of expression."

Nadarkhani's attorney, who also has been jailed, maintained that the married father of two faced execution because he refused to renounce his religion. An Iranian diplomat told a United Nations panel earlier this year that Nadarkhani would not be executed.

According to Sharia law, an apostate has three days to recant. The pastor refused to do so and sources close to the matter say executions in Iran can happen at any time, often without notice. The court is reportedly seeking the opinion of Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Islamic republic's spiritual leader and highest authority, according to AFP.

The ACLJ worked with the State Department to try to win Nadarkhani's freedom, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a resolution earlier this year condemning his imprisonment and calling for his immediate release. Nearly 3 million people have voiced support for Nadarkhani on Twitter through the "Tweet for Youcef" campaign.


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/09/08/christian-pastor-jailed-in-iran-for-3-years-is-freed-watchdog-group-says/#ixzz25syPOGF4

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/09/08/christian-pastor-jailed-in-iran-for-3-years-is-freed-watchdog-group-says/

 

Friday, September 7, 2012

Yeshua Is the Light with Lyrics Messianic ישוע הוא האור


Meha Shamayim - "The Remnant of Israel" song


400 Rams Horns to Awaken IDF Repentance

400 Rams Horns to Awaken IDF Repentance

The IDF rabbinate has purchased 400 rams horns, used to arouse Jews to repent during the months of Elul and Tishrei.
 
By Maayana Miskin
First Publish: 9/7/2012


A shofar
A shofar - Israel News photo
 
The IDF Rabbinate is purchasing 400 new shofars for use during the Hebrew months of Elul and Tishrei. The shofar, made of a ram’s horn, is blown to help arouse Jews to repentance before Rosh Hashanah, the Day of Judgment, and Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement.

Prior to the purchase, the Rabbinate gathered all of its current shofars to see how many were still fit for use, and any damaged horns were replaced.

The army uses shofars that are kosher according to all rabbinic opinions, in order to ensure that soldiers of all backgrounds will be equally able to fulfill their religious obligation to hear the horn sounded.

The need for hundreds of new shofars reflects a growth in the number of IDF soldiers who observe Torah law.

The army is also working to provide soldiers who can lead services during the holidays. Former and current Hesder yeshiva students will be sent to bases and outposts across the country to ensure that there are public prayers and that the shofar is blown.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/159740

 

Cardinal Closes DNC with Prayer for Unborn

Cardinal Closes DNC with Prayer for Unborn

 
 
Catholic Archbishop of New York Timothy Dolan closed out the Democratic National Convention with prayer last night, stressing the right to life for the unborn.
 
Dolan is a prominent opponent of abortion and same-sex marriage.
 
"Thus do we praise you for the gift of life," Dolan prayed. "Grant us to defend it. Life, without which no other rights are secure."
 
"We ask your benediction on those waiting to be born, that they may be welcomed and protected," he prayed.
 
At first, Democrats had declined his offer to pray at their convention. They reversed the decision a few days later.
 
The Obama administration has alienated many Catholic voters during the fight over the health care mandate. The Catholic vote could be critical this election year.
 
Cardinal Dolan also prayed at the Republican National Convention.
 

Thursday, September 6, 2012

Obama: "I am a Muslim."


This has been out before, but we need to remember that out of the heart the mouth speaks. Listen and decide for yourself what the truth is.


http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=tCAffMSWSzY#t=28


At the advice of a friend posting on my Facebook wall, in response to my placement of “Obama – He admits He is a Muslim”, I went and saw the movie “2016 – Obama’s America.” (Now playing, directed by Dinesh D’Souza). I was glad it wasn’t a “hate” movie. It simply laid out where Obama has come from, and where he desires to take America. Honest. Forthright. Eye-opening. I suggest you see it too. http://2016themovie.com/
 
 




 

Americans in Israel Register to Vote after DNC Flap

Americans in Israel Register to Vote after DNC Flap

Marc Zell, co-chairman for Republicans Abroad
JERUSALEM, Israel -- More Americans in Israel want to vote in the U.S. presidential elections in November following the Democrats' initial decision to remove references to Jerusalem (and to God) from its party platform.
 
That decision could be responsible for a spike by Americans in Israel -- some with dual Israeli-American citizenship -- to register to vote.
 
Marc Zell, co-chairman of Republicans Abroad in Israel, told CBN News he received 50 phone calls Wednesday from Americans interested in registering to vote.
 
Zell said that was "more than a coincidence" coming a day after the DNC removed a reference to Jerusalem as Israel's capital from 2012 party platform. They reinserted the reference the next day.
More than 100,000 Americans living in Israel have registered to vote by absentee ballot in the upcoming elections, Zell said, estimating that at least 2 to 1 will vote Republican.
 
Meanwhile, Speaker of the Knesset Reuven Rivlin said the Democrats' omission of Jerusalem from the platform -- originally adopted with those changes Tuesday evening -- was not a slip-up.
 
In a radio interview Thursday, Rivlin said he had "no doubt that President Obama restored Jerusalem to the platform because of political and electoral pressure" and "because of the sharp criticism from Israel and the U.S."
 
Rivlin says the backlash convinced Obama to reinstate the references, a decision, he says, that elicits "no cause for optimism."
 
"This is not something that can be corrected with the stroke of a pen," he said. "It's a problematic sign indicating the gradual reduction of the American government's strategic commitment to Israel."
 
The new platform now reads, "Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel...an undivided city accessible to people of all faiths." The party also restored the phrase, "God-given potential" to its platform.
 
 
 

Discovery of large man-made reservoir next to the Temple Mount

Cistern dated to First Temple period found in Jerusalem

Discovery of large man-made reservoir next to the Temple Mount shows city did not solely rely on the Gihon Spring for its water 2,500 years ago

September 6, 2012

A public water cistern found adjacent to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem sheds new light on the city's water supply more than 2,500 years ago (photo credit: Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority/Vladimir Naykhin)

A public water cistern found adjacent to the Temple Mount in Jerusalem sheds new light on the city's water supply more than 2,500 years ago (photo credit: Courtesy of the Israel Antiquities Authority/Vladimir Naykhin)
The cistern, which held 250 cubic meters of water, was discovered adjacent to the western side of the Temple Mount during an ongoing excavation at the site, the IAA said in a statement.
 
The discovery shows that the city’s water supply at the time did not rely solely on the Gihon Spring, Jerusalem’s only natural water source, but rather included large man-made reservoirs of the kind now uncovered, according to the IAA.
 
The unique size of the cistern — the largest of its time to be discovered in the city — and its location suggest the possibility that it played a part in the ritual activities at the Temple, according to archaeologist Tsvika Tsuk of the Israel Nature and Parks Authority.
 
“It is possible that the large cistern found next to the Temple Mount was used in the daily operation of the Temple itself, and also served the pilgrims who came to the Temple and needed water for washing and drinking,” Tsuk said, according to the IAA statement.
 
The cistern was waterproofed with a yellowish plaster typical of the period, with handprints still visible on the walls, Tsuk said.
 
The First Temple was built around 950 BCE, according to the biblical record, and destroyed by a Babylonian army in 586 CE. Construction of the Second Temple commenced some 50 years later. The Temple Mount as it currently exists dates to an expansion and renovation of the compound by Herod the Great five centuries after that, about 2,000 years ago.
 
The Second Temple was destroyed by Rome in 70 CE.
 
The excavation in which the cistern was found is being carried out by the Israel Antiquities Authority, an arm of the Israeli government, and is funded by the Elad Foundation.
 
 
 
 

DNC Almighty Nightmare In Charlotte: Now Dems Put God And Jerusalem Language Back Into The Platform

DNC Almighty Nightmare In Charlotte: Now Dems Put God And Jerusalem Language Back Into The  - CBN News

David Brody

Now an update to the story that The Brody File first broke across the country: God is back.

This has become a disaster for the Democrats and a boon to the Romney campaign. The DNC has now added God back into their platform language after originally taking it out. They have also added language back in that says Jerusalem is the capital of Israel. When they tried to change the language on the convention floor, there were boos! Oy-gevalt.

Despite the corrections by the Democrats, the Romney campaign can now argue that the Democrats don't know what they believe on two very important topics. They can also argue that the Democrats only did this because of the pushback. That’s true. The Brody File first pointed it out and the media followed, making this a story that the DNC wants to make go away. The problem is it’s not going away. Expect the Romney campaign to push this until Election Day. These last second changes really just make the issue worse and make the Democrat Party look bad.

In a way it’s unfortunate for the party because speakers at the DNC have been talking about God from the stage and there have been plenty of faith-filled events down here in Charlotte. But party officials should have known this would get scrutinized. The issue is either political malpractice or something far worse.


Here’s more info from Associated Press:

Democrats have changed their convention platform to add a mention of God and declare that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel.

The move came after criticism from Republicans.

Many in the audience booed after the convention chairman, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, ruled that the amendments had been approved despite the fact that a large group of delegates objected.

He called for a vote three times before ruling.

The party reinstated language from the 2008 platform that said "we need a government that stands up for the hopes, values and interests of working people and gives everyone willing to work hard the chance to make the most of their God-given potential."

The platform also now includes what advisers said was Obama's personal views on Jerusalem.

http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=6139670746694843000#editor/target=post;postID=5342720012987746827

 

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

Ahava Love Letter - "His Peace...in the Midst"


"His Peace...in the Midst"
Dear family of friends,

The Lord’s Presence. In the midst of evil. Our heads covered with His anointing oil.

 I experienced that recently as I stood with a pro-life group, on the streets of Charlotte, NC, during the 2012 Democratic National Convention. I was a “by-stander”, basically going uptown that day to take in the history happening in our city. The Lord sent me there to pray.

The older man with the portable loud speaker spoke calmly, yet boldly, as he shared the consequences of turning from the Lord and His ways. The gathered Planned Parenthood opposition, across the intersection of College and 5th Streets, tried to shout him down. More than 40 police stood between them, ready to respond as needed.

In the midst of it all, I was there praying in tongues. It wasn’t planned on my part, but the Lord had me there to intercede. For the pro-life speaker. For the kids holding the unborn kids posters. And even for the pro-deathers opposite us.

I had His peaceful presence with me. I feared no harm, and even thought of what I would do if it came. In confidence I could say I was ready.

Times are becoming more darker. We will be called upon to stand up for righteousness - for the unborn, for Israel, for His purposes in the earth. We can be confident He will be there standing in the midst with us.

Ahava to my family of friends,

Steve Martin

Founder/President

Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858.  Tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation.  

 
Pro-life street speaker at DNC, Charlotte, NC
 
 
Police standing between the two groups
 

Planned Parenthood group
 
(Photos by Steve Martin)



     
Love For His People, Inc. truly appreciates your generous support. Please consider sending a monthly charitable gift of $5-$25 each month to help us bless Messianic Jews in Israel. You can send checks to the address below. Todah rabah! (Hebrew - Thank you very much.)

©2012 Steve Martin Love For His People, Inc. 12120 Woodside Falls Rd. Pineville, NC 28134


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Love For His People, Inc. is a charitable, not-for-profit USA organization. Fed. ID#27-1633858. Tax deductible contributions receive a receipt for each donation. 
 
Ahava Love Letter #43 Date: Sept. 5 in the year of our Lord 2012

          

Democrats' removal of Jerusalem as Israel's capital from platform - Obama's true face is revealed.

Rivlin: Obama doesn't understand realities of the Mideast
By LAHAV HARKOV, Jerusalem Post
09/05/2012

Knesset speaker says Democrats' removal of Jerusalem as Israel's capital from platform is a bigger problem than disagreements on Iran, may have far-reaching consequences; Ariel: Obama's true face is revealed.

Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin
Photo: Marc Israel Sellem

US President Barack Obama's administration does not understand the realities of the Middle East, Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin said Wednesday, amid ongoing speculation of a rift in US-Israel relations.

"The fact that the Democrats removed a united Jerusalem as Israel's capital from their platform is more worrying than the argument over Iran," Rivlin told The Jerusalem Post. "The change may have far-reaching consequences."

 
According to Rivlin, anyone who thinks that dividing Jerusalem will bring peace is mistaken, and does not understand the Middle East. "A united Jerusalem will help bring peace and stability," he stated.

The Knesset Speaker added that "rumors of a rift between Israel and the US are wrong," and that the two countries have a "sharp, unambiguous understanding" on Iran, whose nuclear ambitions threaten not only Israel, but the whole free world.

Rivlin plans to discuss the Iranian threat with Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi later Wednesday.
MK Uri Ariel (National Union), chairman of the Knesset Caucus for Jerusalem, said Wednesday that "finally, Obama's true face is revealed."

According to Ariel, Obama previously acted against Jerusalem via surrogates and messengers, but now his actions show his intentions. "We must not worry. With or without Obama, Jerusalem will stay united under Israeli sovereignty forever," the National Union MK added.

Jerusalem mayor Nir Barkat dismissed the political argument altogether. “The fact that Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Israel is not a subject for debate, and its status is not affected by foreign political platforms or elections,” he said.

Melanie Lidman contributed to this report.

http://www.jpost.com/DiplomacyAndPolitics/Article.aspx?id=283920
 

Israel takes center stage in Obama-Romney election

Israel takes center stage in Obama-Romney election
Israel takes center stage in Obama-Romney election
 
No foreign entity has played so large a role in American presidential elections as the tiny Jewish state, and that phenomenon has only grown as President Barack Obama and his challenger, Mitt Romney, head into the home stretch ahead of the November poll.

Republican critics sounded an alarm this week as the Democratic National Convention (the major party event preceding the election) got underway, noting that Obama's party had removed from its official platform a number of pro- Israel provisions.

In his 2008 campaign for the presidency, Obama openly stated that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, that so-called "Palestinian refugees" cannot be settled in Israel proper, and that Hamas will not be accepted as a negotiating partner until it denounces its goal of destroying Israel.

None of those provisions were on the policy agenda as the Democrats gathered in Charlotte, North Carolina, and instead made do with a vague "unwavering commitment to Israel's security." That bolstered assertions made last week by Romney at the Republican National Convention that Obama had "thrown Israel under the bus."

But Jewish Democratic activists fired back, noting that no one who had actually sat in the Oval Office had been able to keep his promise to move the American Embassy to Jerusalem, including Republican presidents.

"President Bush signed waivers 16 times to avoid moving the US Embassy in Israel to Jerusalem," David Harris of the National Jewish Democratic Council told The Times of Israel, referencing a six-month national security loophole that every American president has abused since Congress decided in 1995 that the US Embassy be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

http://israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23377/language/en-US/Default.aspx

 

Dems Scrub 'God' References from Party Platform

Dems Scrub 'God' References from Party Platform

David Brody, CBN News
  
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Democrats took to the floor in Charlotte to hear speeches and also take part in a traditional ritual: approving the party's platform. But this year something's different. The Democrats have dropped all references to God from the document.
 
The move comes after CBN News spoke with DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman-Schultz about the Democrats' relationship to the faith community. "We really think it's important that we not allow the Republicans to corner the market on the faith community," she said.
 
Yet the party's language seems to be moving in the opposite direction.
 
In 2004, there were seven platform references to God. Then in 2008, there was only one mention stating how everyone had "the chance to make the most of their God-given potential."
 
This year the platform simply says, "In America, hard work should pay off, responsibility should be rewarded, and each one of us should be able to go as far as our talent and drive take us."
But to some, the lack of reference to God is not a problem.
 
"I wouldn't worry about it," Mississippi Delegate Albert N. Gore said. "It doesn't bother me from the standpoint that I know where I stand and I know that there is one and that's it."
 
The party's platform is a document that doesn't carry any weight. It doesn't set policy. It just lays out principles.
 
But a Pew Research study shows that Americans actually are more interested in the platform itself than they are in the speeches from President Obama and GOP nominee Mitt Romney.
 
Some ministers are definitely paying attention.
 
Rev. Michael Stevens pastors University City Church in Charlotte. Many of his members are still struggling with whether to support the president this time around because of his support for same-sex marriage. That position is also reflected in the 2012 party platform.
 
"It makes me feel as a pastor that all respect and reverence for the Church and clergy has been removed from the Democratic Party," Stevens told CBN News.
 
"They're willing to roll the dice and say, 'We can win without their votes, and we can win even if it means full-frontal and being offensive,'" he said.
 
Unlike in 2008, this platform also leaves out any mention of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel -- an issue that's important to the Christian community.
 
Democratic officials noted there is a paragraph on the importance of faith in the party platform.
"The fact that we talk about faith more than 20 times in our platform, I'd go toe-to-toe with anybody about how we see the significance and importance of faith in American life," DNC Faith Outreach Director Derrick Harkins told CBN News.
 
"I think it's a non-issue when you consider the fact that we directly address the importance of faith for every American who chooses to be an American of faith," he said.
 
Democrats have been holding daily prayer services at the convention, but so far the only headlines on faith coming out of Charlotte have not been flattering.
 
 
 

Democratic Party platform stripped of key pro-Israel policy statements

Democratic Party platform stripped of key pro-Israel policy statements, Republicans charge

Romney denounces Democrats for ‘embracing President Obama’s shameful refusal to acknowledge that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital’

September 4, 2012
 
 
The Democratic Party’s 2012 platform is missing key pro-Israel provisions that were in the 2008 platform, but have apparently now been removed, Republicans charged Tuesday.
 
The 2008 platform had expressly said that “Jerusalem is and will remain the capital of Israel,” but the 2012 platform carried no mention of Jerusalem, according to a reading by the Republican Jewish Coalition (RJC).
 
Similarly, the 2008 platform demanded “the isolation of Hamas until that organization renounces terrorism and accepts other requirements of the peace process,” insisted that “any settlement of the so-called ‘refugees’ question in a final settlement make a future Palestinian state, not Israel, the destination for Palestinian ‘refugees,’” and noted “that it’s not realistic to expect [the] outcome of negotiations to be a full and complete return to the armistice lines of 1949,” the RJC noted.
 
All those provisions were missing from the 2012 platform, the RJC said.
 
The Obama campaign and the National Jewish Democratic Council could not be reached for comment.
 
Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney responded quickly to news of the platform changes on Tuesday, charging that it was “unfortunate” that “the entire Democratic Party has embraced President Obama’s shameful refusal to acknowledge that Jerusalem is Israel’s capital. Four years of President Obama’s repeated attempts to create distance between the United States and our cherished ally have led the Democratic Party to remove from their platform an unequivocal acknowledgment of a simple reality. As president, I will restore our relationship with Israel and stand shoulder to shoulder with our close ally.”
 
According to RJC Executive Director Matt Brooks, the removal of the provisions showed that “this administration is painfully out of touch with the mainstream of the Jewish community, which knows that Jerusalem is the capital of Israel, and that it must remain the undivided capital of the Jewish State of Israel.”
 
“Before this platform, the Obama administration had already taken the Palestinians’ side on a number of issues related to the peace process – on borders, on settlements, and on Jerusalem,” according to Noah Pollak, executive director of the Emergency Committee for Israel, a conservative group that has been sharply critical of Obama’s policies toward Israel.
 
“It seems to me that with the deletion of the language about refugees, specifying that they should be settled in a future Palestinian state, not in Israel, that Obama is taking the Palestinian side on a fourth issue. I wonder: Does the administration really intend to open up for discussion whether Israel can be flooded with millions of Arab refugees. Is that their intention here? And if not, what is their intention?” Pollak asked.
 
 
 
 

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Video Song for Rosh HaShanah: Set Your Soul Free

Video Song for Rosh HaShanah: Set Your Soul Free

Aish HaTorah Yeshiva has posted a new video song by English-speaking students, around the theme, “Your life can be so beautiful.”
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
First Publish: 9/4/2012


Aish HaTorah Yeshiva has posted a new video song by English-speaking students, around the theme, “Your life can be so beautiful.”

The video includes clips of the students singing at the Western Wall Plaza, located near the Yeshiva’s Old City quarters.



Among other lyrics, they sing:

“You’re insecure/your life’s blur
Can’t control the way you feel anymore
You’ve got no clue/of what to do
And you’re tired of being confused

Everyone needs a new beginning
New Year’s for me and you.
This is the time/to hit rewind
New Year is here, leave the old one behind
When you are true to yourself, you set yourself free
to be one with the world and humanity."


http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/159614

 

Unprecedented low in US-Israel relations

Report: Unprecedented low in US-Israel relations
 
Report: Unprecedented low in US-Israel relations
 
Israel's largest daily newspaper, Yediot Ahronot, on Tuesday cited Israeli officials who claimed relations between Israel and Washington had reached an unprecedented low over the two nations' differing views regarding the urgency of the Iran nuclear threat.

According to the sources cited, coordination between American and Israeli security forces has been reduced, while the New York Times reported that US President Barack Obama is looking at a number of new policies aimed at preventing Israel from taking unilateral action against Iran's nuclear facilities.

The same Yediot report may provide insight into one of those new Obama policies. The newspaper reported that in recent weeks Washington sent a message to Iran via two European nations stating clearly that the US would not take any part in an Israeli strike on Iran, and therefore requesting that Iran not retaliate for such a strike by hitting American assets in the region.

Officials on both sides continue to insist that relations between Jerusalem and the White House are as good as ever, but anyone willing to see past the public pronouncements of politicians can see the obvious tension.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has grown increasingly frustrated with the international community's foot-dragging on Iran, reiterated on Sunday that Obama must set clear red lines.
Speaking to a gathering of wounded Israeli and American combat veterans on Monday, Netanyahu hinted that if Obama would issue a clear ultimatum to Iran, Israel could put any possible attack plans on the back burner:

"[Iran's] is a brutal regime that is racing ahead with its nuclear program, because it doesn't see a clear red line from the international community. And it doesn't see the necessary resolve and determination from the international community. The greater the resolve and the clearer the red line, the less likely we'll have conflict."

http://www.israeltoday.co.il/NewsItem/tabid/178/nid/23375/language/en-US/Default.aspx

 

Monday, September 3, 2012

The other side of the Torah

The other side of the Torah

September 3, 2012, Jason Francisco
The Times of Israel

      Torah and Nazi German painting on other side.
 
Jason Francisco is an acclaimed photographer, essayist and critic
 
In January 2011, a pair of unique objects turned up in the ancient university town of Tübingen, Germany, when a Christian theology instructor and his wife bought a new apartment, occupied by an elderly, reclusive man. Shortly after the purchase, the man died, and his possessions fell into the hands of the new owners. Among these possessions were two original oil paintings depicting a uniformed Nazi German soldier and his wife.
 
On removing the paintings from the walls, the new owners discovered that these likenesses were painted on the back of sections of Torah scrolls. The texts of the scrolls were perfectly legible. One could clearly read from Sefer Shemot, parshiyot Ki Tissa and Vayakhel (Exodus 34:9-35:16), and from parshiyot Vayakhel and Pekudei (Exodus 37:13-39:6).
 
The paintings depict Alfred Mayer and Hedwig Mayer, the parents of the deceased tenant, Heinrich Mayer. Alfred Mayer was an electrician originally from Stuttgart, who served in the Wehrmacht from fall 1939-spring 1945, attaining the rank of sergeant first class. Formally recognized as a master mechanic, he was decorated with the War Merit Cross for his service on the Soviet front in the winter of 1942.
 
The origin and age of the Torah fragments bearing Mayer’s and his wife’s likenesses have not been determined, though it appears that the two sections came from the same scroll. Likewise, the precise date of the paintings is unknown. The identity of the artist also remains unknown, as does the question of how Mayer or the artist came into possession of the scrolls. What is certain is that the painter did not work from life, but from photographs Mayer provided him, which have been discovered among Mayer’s negatives and prints.
 
The painting of Alfred Mayer. On the right  is a view of the back of the painting -- a section of Torah scroll. Click to view full size. (photo credit: courtesy)
The painting of Alfred Mayer. On the right is a view of the back of the painting — a section of Torah scroll.  (photo credit: courtesy)
 
What to do with the discovery was not at first clear. The owners considered many options, including donating them to a local museum, to a synagogue or a Jewish community in Germany, or possibly ritually burying them. I came to know of them not long after their discovery, and strongly favored some form of public display.
 
It seemed to me that when they were part of intact Torah scrolls, these objects contributed to one sort of teaching, and having been violated in an uncommon way – defaced precisely by being enfaced – they now promised a different and no less relevant teaching.
 
When I brought the objects to the attention of Jakub Nowakowski, Director of the Galicia Jewish Museum in Kraków, he recognized their uniqueness and was immediately interested in an exhibition. Ultimately the owners elected to donate to the pieces to the state historical museum in Stuttgart, which agreed, in turn, to lend them to the Galicia Jewish Museum.
 
The Galicia Jewish Museum invited me to lead the curatorial team that would develop the exhibition. The show we have created is unusual. The team agreed that our task was not to curate the objects so much as responses (and relationships) to them, and we conceived of a guided encounter with them as the multifaceted and contradictory things that they are. Specifically, our goal was to bring visitors into an awareness of at least four aspects of the scroll-portraits: as relics, icons, texts, and symbols.
 
As relics, they are unusual in that they fuse together the cultural remains of victims and perpetrators, becoming objects of veneration that emphatically cannot be venerated – relics that are also anti-relics.
As icons, the idealized, albeit poorly painted images of the two Germans recall the “banality of evil,” to use Hannah Arendt’s famous phrase. At the same time, they call to mind other images of the genocide and its aftermath, visions as raw and violent as the portraits are stylized and controlled.
 
As texts, the Torah portions interrogate the images, and vice-versa. By a remarkable coincidence, one of the texts contains the dramatic passage in which God commits to an eternal covenant with the Jewish people through Moses, and the other contains the detailed instructions given to the master artist Bezalel for the construction of the menorah.
 
As symbols of conquest and survival, these scroll-paintings concentrate within themselves enormous contradictions: between the heights of Jewish religious and ethical teaching and the abysses of Nazi crimes, between promise and futility, specificity and ambiguity, remembrance and the effacement of memory, the coupling and decoupling of the visible and the invisible, the sayable and the unsayable, and other polarities.
 
The team at the Galicia Jewish Museum recognized many dangers in presenting these objects. It is imperative, of course, not to honor the murderers unintentionally. It is equally imperative that the museum remain a space in which visitors can expect not to be tormented, which is of course different from being challenged. In Kraków, we solicited opinions from Rabbis Boaz Pash and Tanya Segal, representing Orthodox and progressive perspectives, respectively, and both affirmed that public exhibition of these objects is religiously legitimate in their judgment, and more – that the exhibition stands to make a salient contribution to remembrance of the Shoah in the heart of Poland.
 
The painting of Hedwig Mayer. On the left is a view of the back of the painting -- a section of Torah scroll. Click to view full size. (photo credit: courtesy)
The painting of Hedwig Mayer. On the left is a view of the back of the painting — a section of Torah scroll. (photo credit: courtesy)
 
The exhibition design that we developed attempts to avoid unwanted outcomes by situating the objects in a rich interpretative environment. The exhibition opens with the basic context for viewing the objects: a brief historical overview of the Shoah, an explanation of Torah, and a short account of the discovery of these objects. Moving around a partition, visitors directly encounter the recovered objects, which are visible from both sides.
 
On the walls surrounding the objects are translations of the Torah fragments in Polish, English and German, as well as short, open-ended questions for reflection, also in three languages. Between the objects and the walls are a series of listening stations containing audio responses from distinct perspectives, communities, nationalities and age groups: Jews, Catholics, Protestants, secular humanists, Poles, Germans, Americans, Israelis, old, young, famous scholars, and non-specialists in Jewish and Polish history.
 
The final section of the show presents an illustrated wall text that raises deeper philosophical and historical complications surrounding the objects, as well as touch-screens containing extended segments of the interviews from the middle room, now including the faces of the interviewees. Finally, in the effort to hand the interpretive task forward, we invite visitors to make video recordings of their own responses, which are continuously uploaded to the adjacent touch screens.
 
To our knowledge, this exhibition will be the first time that any such objects will be exhibited in Poland, and the Polish context is essential to the exhibition’s power. Kraków’s Kazimierz district, home of the Galicia Jewish Museum, was famous as a Jewish community from the 14th century through the Second World War, and today is the best preserved Jewish town in Europe. Less than an hour’s drive from Auschwitz, it is one of the key locations in Europe where the Shoah is encountered and taught.
 
As an American Jew, it is clear to me – but bears repeating – that the Shoah is more than a Jewish inheritance. It is a Polish, a German and an international one as well. I see this exhibition as creating an intersection of engagement around a highly unusual relic and symbol of the genocide, much as the Galicia Jewish Museum itself functions as a crossroads where new understandings of the Jewish past in Poland can emerge.
 
 
 

French Anti-Semitic Attacks Up by 40 Percent

French Anti-Semitic Attacks Up by 40 Percent

JERUSALEM, Israel -- Anti-Semitic attacks against French Jews have risen by 40 percent in the five months since an Islamic terrorist murdered a rabbi and three children at a Jewish day school in Toulouse.
 
On March 19, Mohammed Merah gunned down 30-year-old Rabbi Yonatan Sandler and his sons Arieh, 6, and Gabriel, 3, and Miriam Monsonego, the 8-year-old daughter of Ozar Hatorah's principal.
 
In a meeting Tuesday with French Interior Minister Manuel Valls, Simon Weisenthal Center Dean Abraham Cooper said Jewish families in Toulouse, Marseille, and Lyon were experiencing a surge in anti-Semitic attacks, Reuters reported. Valls confirmed "an increase of 40 percent in anti-Semitic and anti-Jewish crimes" since the attack in March.
 
He called it a "shocking number" because "French authorities on both sides of the political aisle" immediately took the right steps in response to the murders.
 
The two men also discussed the "very pivotal role" social media and the Internet play in "incubating" Islamic terrorism.
 
Cooper said many French Jews are sending their children abroad to study and some are seriously considering aliyah, immigrating to Israel under the Law of Return.
 
France has the world's third largest Jewish population (about 500,000), behind Israel (close to 6 million), and the United States (about 6.5 million).