Lord God.... How can Jacob stand, He is so small?

Dearest Friends,

This month I offer a blog not of my own making. Instead here is an article that was forwarded to me.

It is copied exactly as written, all emphasis original from the author. I have not altered it in any way.

It is very powerful & ought to be read by every world leader today, for I believe it states plainly the truth.

Ever "politically incorrect"
Rivka


Facing Suicide Bombers and Suicide States: How Shall Israel Stand?
Louis René Beres - Dec 16, 2008

Lord God.... How can Jacob stand, He is so small?
Amos 7:2

In patently ritualized chants from Iran, threats to annihilate Israel are now a commonplace. Were it not for that country's complementary capacity to inflict major harms – a capacity that has now become existential - these genocidal threats might not really be all that worrisome. But Tehran’s ascent to full membership in the Nuclear Club is now less than two years away, and such membership may also coincide with a fixed and firm Iranian leadership belief in the Shi’ite apocalypse. It follows that Jerusalem could soon have to face not only Palestinian suicide-bombers, but also, in Iran, the suicide bomber in macrocosm.It would be a daunting confrontation. The true goal of Israel's myriad Islamist enemies, not only the goal expressed openly by Iran, is extermination. Even in a world that has grown comfortable with every conceivable form of slaughter, Israel remains the object of glaringly new kinds of crimes against humanity. In the bitterest of ironies, an ancient nation that was ingathered to prevent another Holocaust has now become the dominant focus of yet another “final solution.”

For the Jews, it must seem, yet again, that there is nothing new under the sun. Looked at more broadly, the goal of Israel's enemies, especially Iran and the still-impending Palestinian state (Hamas, Fatah, it won’t really make a difference) is to be left standing while Israel is forced to disappear. For these irremediable enemies of a Jewish state, there can be no coexistence of any kind. Never. This is because their own survival presumably requires Israel's extinction.

Soon, the next president of the United States, Barack Obama, will soberly and seriously extol the virtues of the same old twisted cartography – that is, the so-called “Road Map” to peace in the Middle East. Yet, like the Oslo Agreements that preceded it, this plan is premised on Israel’s acceptance of land for nothing.

Asymmetrical international agreements always miss an important point: International law is not a suicide pact. Under the longstanding customary rule of "anticipatory self-defense," Israel still has every right to strike first at developing Iranian nuclear infrastructures. Further, to undertake such a preemption could become more than a legal right. In certain circumstances, it could even become a distinct obligation, not only to the imperiled people of Israel, but also to the most elementary expectations of civilized international relations.

If anticipatory self-defense remains operationally possible (a problematic determination at this point), Jerusalem should not be inhibited by smug assurances of alternative protections from the “international community.” Here, for Israel to decline an operationally plausible preemption could be nothing less than an implicit acknowledgment that international law may expressly defile international justice.

It must be a fatal mistake for Israel to believe that Reason and Justice govern the world. It must be an unforgivable error for Israel to project its own Western, rational and humane sentiments upon its most relentless and barbarous foes. It would be a life risk for Israel to seek to remain standing by stubbornly clinging to false promises and manifestly false hopes.

It is always an error for Israel to fashion policies upon fundamentally incorrect assumptions. Whether in Gaza, West Bank (Judea/Samaria) or Tehran, Israel's Jihadist enemies wish to kill Jews because such murder is felt to be a deeply sacred obligation. For these enemies, killing Jews is plainly an expression of religious sacrifice, and – perhaps most significantly - one that will confer precious immunity from personal death.

Could there be any greater incentive to plan the next genocide of Jews, albeit in this case one in which war and terror have become the prescribed method of extermination? This idea of death as a zero-sum commodity - "I kill you; I therefore remain alive forever" - has been explained in some of the finest psychology literature. For example, it is captured perfectly in Ernest Becker's paraphrase of Nobel Laureate Elias Canetti: "Each organism raises its head over a field of corpses, smiles into the sun, and declares life good."

Shouldn't this idea be especially obvious to the Jewish People? Isn't it time that Israel finally start to elect leaders who can understand what Otto Rank had revealed so courageously in Will Therapy and Truth and Reality: "The death fear of the ego is lessened by the killing, the Sacrifice, of the other; through the death of the other one buys oneself free from the penalty of dying, of being killed."

Israel's enemies, in order to remain standing - and to prevent Israel from standing up - seek to sacrifice the Jewish State on a blood-stained altar of war and terrorism. The idea of sacrifice, therefore, is absolutely central to what is now happening in the Middle East. The planned genocidal destruction of Israel is integrally part of a system of religious worship that is oriented toward the conquest of personal death.

Present-day Israel should not simply ignore four thousand years of Jewish history and world politics. The true source of global influence is always power, and the greatest expression of raw power is always the conquest of death. For the president of Iran, and for the proposed government of executioners now battling each other for control in a future Palestinian state, killing Jews - indeed, killing Israel itself - offers an incomparable fusion of private ecstasy and personal survival. These sworn enemies of Israel are much more than dimly aware that in killing Jews and in killing Israel, they will have killed their own death. For the Islamist "martyr," whether as a terrorist individual or as a murderous individual writ large (i.e.,, the state of Iran), killing Jews and the Jewish State is manifestly the optimal way of affirming life.

Only when Israel finally learns to understand and to appreciate this particular enemy perception will the country finally understand the overriding obligation to stay alive. To fulfill this obligation, Israel should combine a determined willingness to preemptively destroy Iran’s now nearly complete engines of atomic annihilation (a willingness spawned in part by the persistent refusal of the United States to itself exercise this expression of anticipatory self-defense) with a clear and parallel determination to resist any further territorial withdrawals from Judea/Samaria. The now-disgraced and outgoing Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, never received any sort of mandate for the further surrender of Jewish land to the Palestinians. Moreover, the People of Israel are entitled to live securely on this land without constant threats of intimidation and dispossession issued by their own foolish and cowardly leaders.

The intolerable security costs to Israel of former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Gaza “disengagement” are incontestable. To the extent that Hamas continues to collaborate closely in Gaza with al-Qaeda, these costs will also have to be borne by unwitting citizens of the United States. Although still widely unreported, Hamas has begun to allow al-Qaeda elements to fashion certain WMD terror weapons for strategic use in New York, London, Washington and other selected “crusader” targets in the West.

Israel is so small, but if it can turn quickly to plain truth and serious understanding, it can still stand.

LOUIS RENÉ BERES (Ph.D., Princeton, 1971) lectures and publishes widely on Israeli security matters. His work is well known in Israel's political, military and intelligence communities, and to these same communities in the United States. Professor Beres was Chair of “Project Daniel.”

Politically Incorrect

I am a bit sad that the Holidays are already over. That is not a normal reaction for me. Normally I am filled with mixed feelings of relief and guilt over that relief. But somehow the holiday season here in Israel feels completely different. Less tiring, less stressful. First of all, almost no-one, except those in the service industry (grocery stores, etc.) works all through the holidays. Almost the entire country takes a holiday. Everyone goes on Teulim (tours, day trips). We ourselves went to Neot Kedumim twice, Bet Guvrin, and of course, the beach in Tel Aviv. The weather was glorious, and there are lots an lots of things to do & see, even for people who have lived here for years. Our Sabra (native Israeli) friends, the Skuri family, stopped in from Haifa to see us and told tales of their wonderful holiday adventures. It is a cultural thing. Most of the tours are relatively inexpensive, kid-friendly, fun and informative. But that is only the background. The real event is the holiday itself.

Our first Succah in the land turned out really lovely, despite the fact that our lift has not yet arrived and I was without all my carefully collected and treasured Succah decorations. We had many friends in for meals, and were invited over to other friends Succot. The food was wonderful, the friends even more so, and an overall festive atmosphere filled the days. It rained a little during Succot. But now that the holiday is over it has really started raining. It rains almost every night, sometimes during the day for an hour or two. (Keep praying for rain - we need lots lots more!) But the sun still breaks through, and the temperature still lingers in the 60's & 70's (Fahrenheit).

We took advantage of a dry afternoon & took down the Succah. Carefully packed away all the little decorations. Swept off the mirpeset & washed up the piling mound of dishes. I spent a day catching up on the laundry & cleaning the house. Now everything is back on schedule. We are back in Ulpan 4 days a week (Sun - Thur) and they boys are back in school 5 days a week. Maybe I'm a little sad because it's time to get focused on the normal mundane things life brings, which we have managed to sidestep until now. We need to get our Israeli drivers licenses. I need to get my American Passport renewed. We need to try to sort through all the confusing mess of the Israeli school system. Trying to communicate with the boys teachers, who speak only Hebrew, has been challenging. I confess I have not put forth the necessary effort to find out what they need, what they need to be doing, and how I can help them get it all done. We need to learn to speak Hebrew. We desperately need to get jobs. I'm not sure how we're going to juggle all of this as yet.

I wouldn't say that the honeymoon is over. I still have to pause each time I walk out my front door and look at that incredible view. I still find a feeling of awe each night when I put Ari to bed. We look out his bedroom window and see headlights on the highways to the west going to and from Tel Aviv. We see the lights of the neighboring Moshav. There is a rhythm, a melody to the way of life here.
We just need to take a moment to write the notes for our particular instrument into the overall symphony.

We've started watching the news again. Our TV has rarely been on in the past 3 months. But JDC turned it on yesterday. Big news in America and here in Israel. On the local front, yesterday night an arab broke into a home in the Ben Shemen Moshav. He had a knife and there was an altercation with the homeowner. The arab was shot and died later at the hospital. We don't know if he was a terrorist, or simply a thief. When we first heard I was worried that the Moshav was actually Gimzo, where our dear friends, the Goldrings, lived. We rushed to call them and were greatly relieved to learn it was not even in their Moshav & they are all well and safe. Not that the whole situation isn't upsetting. Sadly, I reflected that in America we were so numbed by the high level of crime, that a single break-in 10 miles away wasn't even news there!

Currently the big news is the American Presidential election. We are less than a week away from election day & the race is very close. My kids have asked me who I support and why. Of course, the issue for me is who is going to make the right choices politically for Israel. I have made my choice & already emailed in my absentee ballot. I do have an observation to share. Antisemitism is growing world wide. The level of tolerance, of that growing antisemitism, evident in the American political arena, is alarming. I suspect it is all in the guise of "political correctness". Such was the case as Hitler was coming to power in the late 20's & early 30's. When I contemplate that Iran's leader claims that the holocaust never happened, and publicly calls for the destruction of Israel http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/03/AR2006080300629.html , additionally that he is implementing a nuclear weapons program that will probably produce a nuclear bomb within the next 12 months http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/123037 , and then I learn that the arabs in Gaza are supporting a certain presidential Candidate. The Syrians are also backing the same man. This candidate of choice has advised, as part of his campaign platform, that America should sit down at the negotiating table and talk with Iran. Now that is truly frightening. But I believe that HaShem has a plan. No matter who wins in America. No matter who wins in our general elections here in Israel in February, HaShem will have his way. That gives me comfort. I may not know or understand that plan, that's OK. I don't need to. It is enough for me that we are here, that we can participate in the politics of the day, and try to live in such a way that fulfills our moral and religious obligations.

Sorry I wax politic.

New subject:
JDC and I have always been interested in alternative energy. Earlier this year we heard about a man in India that had manufactured a car that runs on air. We were fascinated and I started an Internet search to learn about whether such a thing could be true. I have attached a new link in the upper corner of the blog about a company I found that is actually beginning to mass produce and mass market an air car. Please take a moment to check it out. I believe it is the way of the future. I believe that one of the reasons this attempt may succeed when others could not, is because this company is not operating inside the U.S. The Oil and Automobile PACS that wield so much power in the U.S. have no clout at all in France. Plus the car is being marketed at less than $20,000, a very competitive price in the American market. It appears that there are no legal obstacles to importing such a vehicle, and the company is currently taking orders for cars to be delivered in America in 2009 & 2010. I have signed onto the mailing list & hope to obtain one for us here in Israel. Imagine, not having to pay for gas!

As I watch the news today I see that the Stock Market has rallied. The Federal Reserve has announced another drop in the prime rate, and I see that in some areas gas prices in the U.S. has dropped to around $2.00 a gallon (something I never thought I'd see again!) I hear that there are things in the works to create an assistance package with mortgage payments for those hard hit by the recent financial shenanigans. I can only hope all this will create a turn around in the housing market which I suspect in turn will stabilize the overall American economy. HaShem will have His way.

I wish you comfort and prosperity in the coming year. May your life be sweet!
Rivka

Morid Ha Geshem - Who Makes the Rain Descend

At last the High Holidays are upon us. Rosh Hashanah has truly marked a change in the weather. Most days are cooler now. But everything is still green and warm enough to be pleasant. Some mornings the skies are a bit overcast - the sunrise a brilliant gash of orange and gold peeking through. The color of dvash (honey) in the land of chalav v' dvash (milk & honey). I love this time of year best. We eat our Challah with honey, we dip our apples in honey. We are reminded that God intends our lives to be sweet. Honey is a real miracle. Our Rabbi's wife reminded us that honey is the only food that is kosher which comes from a non-kosher animal. It is a mystery to understand how a bee and a flower can make something so sweet, so pure. Honey never spoils or gets rancid. Honey contains natural antibiotics. It is pleasant to eat & good for us! May our lives be just like honey, never rancid, always sweet and good, clean in the midst of the unclean, adding sweetness and health to others around us.

Just before Rosh Hashanah our neighbors, Ari & Leah Cutler delivered a beautiful Baby Boy! (Mazel Tov!) His Bris was the Shabbat immediately preceding the Hag (holiday) & we were invited to the Shalom Zachar (festivities on the night before - happened to fall on a Friday) and the Bris (after services on Shabbat). It was a wonderful occasion. Much singing and dancing. Many friends stopping in, laughter, making much over the new addition, etc., a little shot, a glass of wine, some sweets to nibble, a little miracle to wonder over. Friday night we stayed for the Brachot (blessings) and festivities, then eventually made our way back across the courtyard to our own place. I went out on our rear mirpeset (from which I can see the Cutler's gan) to enjoy the wonderful evening, listen to the continued singing next door, and take a moment to commune with HaShem about how much I loved life in Israel and how grateful I am that we are living here. While I was sitting there I felt a small raindrop on my arm. It was almost a confirmation that HaShem had heard my prayers. Then came another, and another. I looked up at the sky & saw mostly stars, with a little cloud cover coming in from the west. Sure enough soon we had a downpour. It was one of those wonderful times when the rain is gentle and the weather just warm enough that you want to stand outside and dance in it. Soon all our neighbors were either outside or looking out their doors & windows at the miracle of the early rain. In Israel we pray for rain, we plead for rain! It is one of the prayers that we say during Succot. No-one here really expects rain before then.


The rain lasted for about 45 minutes. Then, as quickly as it appeared, all the clouds blew over & the sky was all stars again. It rained again later that night, and again once or twice in the next few days. It is a good omen (not that I am much for omens). But everyone agrees it was a miracle, a special blessing from HaShem, and hopefully a promise of more to come. Did I mention it has not rained, since we arrived, not a drop until that night?


Rosh HaShanah itself was a wonderful experience for me. Though I did not have the proper holiday Machsur (prayer book), that did not prohibit me from entering in, singing the songs I remembered, humming those I did not, reciting what prayers I knew, and making up new ones for myself in places in the service where I was lost.

I guess I should tell you a little about the shul where we daven (pray). Even though our grand and wonderful city of 72,000 people is inhabited by 90% plus Jews, we only have 8 actual synagogue buildings in the entire city. Most of those buildings are used by two or more congregations. I believe there are currently 72 or 73 congregations functioning in the city, so obviously not all of them meet in a building dedicated solely to prayer and Torah study. Most meet in school buildings or house to house, some even meet outside, in a park, or on someones mirpeset.

As an aside I will mention this is a sore spot for the constituents in our city, and certainly an important and hotly debated issue as relates to this falls' Mayoral race.

The Shul we attend (we recently applied for membership & acquired assigned seats for the Holidays), meets in an elementary school which has a large, open, oval shaped central hallway. Every week volunteers go & hang a curtain for the Mechitsa (the divider between the men's & women's sections), set out plastic chairs, roll out the Aron (or Ark - the cabinet where the Torah Scrolls are held), set out the siddurim (prayer books) and in general make sure everything is ready for services on Friday night & Saturday. After Shabbat is over everything is carefully picked up & packed up because there is school bright & early Sunday Morning. It is a labor of love & one in which JDC participates as often as possible. The school we meet in is not air conditioned - which makes for a dewy experience at times - though there are oscillating fans placed strategically around the room, it's wise to come early for a cool seat!

The building itself is not fancy, and often not even very clean. But there are touches to it that I really love. There is a balcony circling (actually "ovaling") above us which leads to upper level classrooms. The central hall therefore has a high ceiling & is open to the second floor - makes for great acoustics when singing, but also carries the echos of children crying or laughing (as is often the case - there are lots of children in our congregation). Along the balcony wall, on the east (the direction we face), the school has installed mosaics depicting the 12 tribes of Israel. Judah is a lion, Asher a gazelle, etc. They are lovely & I never tire of looking at all of them. The Mechitsa is made of a silky golden, translucent, ethereal fabric on the upper half with an almost matching opaque version of the same material on the lower half. The light from the windows and doors that circle the hallway glimmers through it as it wafts in the breeze. During services the hallway is filled with wonderful voices singing and praying. The melodies are familiar, and the atmosphere is filled with Kavanah. (This is a harder word to define - religious passion, prayer with intent, people seeking a sincere and meaningful connection with God, more than just reciting memorized prayers - deliberately focusing on supplication - whew!)

We chose this Shul because it met specific criteria. Ashkenaz (eastern European) in style. It is a predominantly Anglo shul - most everyone who attends speaks English. The services are all in Hebrew (including the Rabbi's teaching & the announcements afterwards), there are about 150 families in attendance, most with at least 3 or 4 children. There are always pregnant mothers to be seen - always. (Did I mention in a previous blog that Modiin currently has the highest birth rate in all Israel?! & that those who contribute to this high birth rate are predominantly Modern Orthodox in persuasion?!!! this is an awesome and wonderful thing - if only I were 20 years younger!?!?)

In America the Shul is the center of the Observant Jewish community for the most part. The social circle you participate in centers around Shul related activities and the close friends you make are mostly those you go to shul with. But in Israel this is not the case. Shul starts at 8:00 ends at 11:30, Many women with little ones don't show up until around 10:ish (that is like in the states! LOL) There is usually no kiddush (blessings and a small meal) after services, like we were used to in the states. Even with a Bar Mitzvah services don't last until 1:00 pm, which is pretty normal time for the states. If someone has you over for Shabbat lunch you may walk home and change your clothes, and have a cup of coffee, before you head to their house. Here the community is wider & you make friends with the parents of the kids that your kids attend school with, or those you meet in your Ulpan, or your neighbors - who may not attend the same shul you do, all in addition to those you go to shul with.

We ourselves are making many new acquaintances, and hopefully many of those will grow into some real earnest friendships.

Next Wednesday / Thursday is Yom Kippur. It is a day of fasting & prayer. In the US one would normally be in Shul all day with seemingly only a couple of 20 minute breaks. I am told here we will be there less, and I admit, about 2:00 I usually hit a wall where my feet hurt and my stomach begins an assault, I feel I just need to sit down and rest. But then I know that is the time I really need to pray in earnest, when my soul is laid bare and my most basic needs are set aside for some serious spiritual introspection. I sense that opportunity will avail itself to me again this year, and I will find HaShem as readily available in a sultry school building in Modiin as I ever did in a comfortable Synagogue in America.

Today we started setting up our Succah (Succot begins a week from today). Succot is my most favorite Holiday. Our lift with all our personal posessions will not even leave the states until October 22nd. So all the beautiful decorations that I have lovingly collected and saved for my Succah are far away. Normally we build our Succah out of nursery fabric (you know, that green mesh fabric one commonly sees as the "roofing" over a commercial greenhouse). It is lightweight, light and air pass through it, but it also helps block out most of the heat from the sun. I also have all kinds of garland (grapevine and leaves in fall motif colors) that I normally drape around the upper walls of the Succah, plus twinkly lights, so the evening meals have a subdued atmosphere, and the decorations still show in the luminous cast even after sundown. Usually I have lots of candles scattered around, plus there was always the sound of the waterfall from the adjacent pond. So this year, sigh, not as nice. I can't afford to buy all new decorations, plus I haven't even seen garland anywhere! Candles are more expensive too. I did break down & buy one strand of twinkly lights (have only seen them in one place), plus we do have the trickle sounds from the mini pond. Also, a first for us, this year we can use palm branches for our skach (covering over the top - you have to be able to see the stars through it). I have always had a particular affinity for palm trees (being a west coast transplant) - but was never able to incorporate any into my Succah. This year, what a special treat for me, everytime I look up at the stars I'll be able to look through palm fronds! Yes, We will make do. I have plans already to have lots of people over. We managed to put together a Succah that will probably seat about 15 - 20 (if we squeeze) on the front mirpeset. If you're going to be in Israel, drop me a line.....

I am told it will rain. I hope so. I look forward to it. In the states I always asked HaShem to send the rain to Israel and not to let it rain on my Succah. I hope all of my friends in the states are praying the same - HaShem, who makes the rain descend, please send the rain to Israel & water our thirsty nefesh (soul, spirit, quintessence)!

Till next time!