His Name

Last week I blogged about seeing my name (my great grandfather's name) in Hizkia Franco's book, The Jewish Martyrs of Rhodes and Cos. As the book hits the sad climax, the Nazis start deporting Jews to Haidari (a concentration camp outside of Athens) and then Auschwitz. Here, I came by yet another name that a family member carries. While I briefly blogged about the 3 Davids from which Nissim got his middle name, here's a bit more information about the tragic end of one of these Davids, Nonna's grandfather (his name bolded below):

The following details have been taken from an interview with Mr. Bension R. Menasche. The facts speak eloquently:

'This trip from Athens to Auschwitz lasted thirteen days, from 3 to 16 August 1944. What a journey, and in what terrible conditions! Thirteen days of unheard-of atrocious suffering. Men and women, old people and children were all packed into these dirty and repugnant wagons. We were suffocating, almost dying, the air was so different to breathe. All we had to eat was a mess-tin of filth, and a jug of water they called drinkable. That was all. Many of our deportees succumbed to their sufferings during the trip.

These corpses were flung out on to the fields as prey for the wild beasts. One can easily imagine the emotions of their fellow sufferers. It was these terrible conditions that the deportees spent the thirteen days of their appalling journey.

Here is a list of the deportees who died on the trip from Rhodes to Auschwitz:

Michel Menasche
Michel S. Menasche
Rica de Bochor Levi
Rebecca de Josef Abouaf, from Izmir
Alegra, his daughter
Boulissa de Nissim Alhadeff, the Hazan
David Capelluto, the travel goods supplier
The wife of Yacov Alhadeff, a shopkeeper
Avraam Levi
Sarota de Bochor Alhadeff
Mussani Tarica, an old man
Mazaltov de Bochor Hasson
Mussani Habif, the ironmonger
Bochor Cohen, a porter
Tia Linda de Halfon
Rebecca de David Alhadeff
Yznuda Levi, from Milas
The wife of the Hacham de Cos
Albert, the son of Bochor Almeleh
Avram Huniou, shammas of the Gadol Synagogue
Bochor Menasche de Moushon
Hadji Yehuda Notrica

May their blessed souls rest in peace!

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7 Up

Today I celebrate 7 years in Israel.

It does sometimes seem like decades since I arrived in Ben Gurion on a warm Monday morning and took the taxi to Arad's absorption center. So much has changed since that 22 year old kid arrived in Israel to fulfill a dream and plant his roots.

It's been fun.

It's been sad.

It's been great.

It's been challenging.

It's been difficult.

... and I'm happy.

Other 'Aliya'versary blogs: 3, 4, 5, 6
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World Trade Center

I watched the last half of this movie today. As I got sucked into it, the memories of that day ... September 11th, 2001 ... started coming back.

Senior year ... Binghamton University ... A typical Tuesday morning.

It must have been 8:50 or so and my roommate knocked on the door, "Avram, a plane has hit the world trade center towers." Why is he waking me up I thought to myself, probably just an accident anyways. A few minutes later, I got out of bed and walked to the TV in our lounge. My jaw dropped. No. No, this can't be happening. A few minutes later, another plane hit the second tower. I don't remember much of what I said as I sat down watching this unfold. One tower collapsed. The other followed. It was the most incredible special effects I had ever witnessed in a movie, a movie I wish I had never needed to see.

A few minutes later, I ran to my room and called my dad. I couldn't reach him, the lines were down. I had no idea where his office was in relation to the towers. Was he ... No ... Please no ... Was I going to hear his voice again? I called my mom. Same issue I had with my dad's number. I was getting scared but I saw a friend on AOL Instant Messenger who I knew worked in the city. "Are you ok?," I asked not really interested in her answer. "Ok," she responded, "Are you?" "Yes, I'm at school and I need a favor - can you call my mom and ask her if my dad is ok?" "Sure," and then I waited. I just wanted to hear his voice.

The phone rang. "Hey son, dad is ok. He saw it from his office, and he's fine, don't worry." I breathed deeply, told her how much I loved her and told her I would call everyone and let them know the news. Sister, check. Nonna, check. Gramps, check. Answer all the e-mails from concerned friends, check. The day was over, but I think everyone who experienced what I experienced, or who sadly experienced much worse, would have the day etched in their memory forever.

The movie bought out a lot tears. A few quotes near the end stood out ...

"Hang in there, don't give up"

... Doesn't need much explaining, right? To quote Booker T. Washington, "I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life, as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed."

"Did I love you enough?"

This line really hit me. Not because I thought it was something I needed asking, but because it's something that has been on mind a lot lately for some reason. If G-d forbid your loved one goes suddenly, will they know how much you loved them? I remember once my dad told me, "You will one day not bear the pain that I did and still do, of not having told my Dad z”l how much I loved him and respected him." Tell your loved ones how much you care ... Show them too ... Life's too short and uncertain to miss out on the many opportunities we get to do so.

"9/11 showed us what human beings are capable of. The evil, yeah, sure. But it also brought out the goodness we forgot could exist. People taking care of each other for no other reason than it was the right thing to do. It's important for us to talk about that good, to remember."

To the many heroes that day, I salute you. Thank you.

To the 2,976 souls who never returned home that day - may your dear souls rest in peace.
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My Name

I've started reading Hizkia M. Franco's The Jewish Martyrs of Rhodes and Cos, a book about two rather small Spangoli Jewish communities that were destroyed during the Nazi Holocaust. The chapter I'm currently reading is talking about the expulsion of Turkish born Jews who had got Italian citizenship by virtue of the Treaty of Lausanne. The boat (or 'tramp steamer' as Franco calls it) that was supposed to take them to the Mandate caught fire as it was leaving the harbor and the Rhodes Jewish community organized itself in order to help the 'refugees':

Early the following morning, many men and women of our community hurried to the aid of the castaways, and they were the first to supply food, clothing and blankets. Soon a kitchen was organized in the stadium to feed them properly, as the prescribed rations issued by the authorities were insufficient. Fortunately we still had plenty of food at the time.

In our community, there were good people who devoted themselves wholeheartedly to this charitable work. One of them, the well-known businessman Avraam Piha, fell ill as a result of his efforts. He died on 26 July 1939. May his blessed soul rest in peace!

I'm named after that man, my great grandfather (My dad isn't sure if that date of death (his azkara is in Elul) is accurate). What an honor to carry this name.
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Simply the Best

No other words needed to describe the latest member of the Hall of Fame, Emmitt Smith. Here are some stats for the best RB in NFL history:

* 18,355 career rushing yards, NFL record.
* 164 career rushing TDs, NFL record.
* 78 100 yard games, NFL record.
* 3 time Super Bowl champion (XXVII, XXVIII, XXX)
* 1993 NFL MVP

A few pictures that stick out in my mind from his wonderful career:


The Triplets:


Running through the Bills on the way to the Cowboys 1st Super Bowl of the 90s:


Running through the Bills again for back to back Super Bowl victories:


Celebrating the 3rd Super Bowl:


Breaking Payton's rushing record:


Welcome to the Hall:

Puzzle Two

It's hard to believe that the last puzzle we did was just over a year ago. I'm sure when I wrote that blog I was thinking this would be a more common occurrence. Oh well, a once a year hobby isn't that bad I guess. Without further delay, the latest puzzle:

The Box:


After Day 1:


After Day 2:


After Day 3:


After Day 4:

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Yitro's advice - a mixed blessing

Most of us are aware of the positives that came from Yitro's advice to Moshe (18/13-26), but there was however, one serious negative. By accepting the proposal, the nation significantly reduced their time around Moshe's personality, influence and teaching. As Rashi notes in Dvarim 1:14, the Nation should have said, "From whom is better to learn, from you or from your student: Is it not better to learn from you?" The lesson for us? It highlights the importance of attaching oneself to a wise and inspirational leader, even when 'good sense' dictates a different approach.
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Another reason to fly El Al

Courtesy of Muqata
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Understatement of the Year

The storm over the past day has caused massive flooding in the South (for some pictures, click here). The best picture however has to be the one below, where the bus sign reads, "Not in Service" ... Ha ha, well duuuuh!

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An Umbrella

Last night, a major thunderstorm hit Israel (for picture, see below). It poured the whole night, truly a wonderful blessing for a country in such desperate need of water. When I woke up to go to minyan at 6, it was still pouring. Even after a one and a half hour long shacharit (Hebrew for morning service), the rain continued. On the way back from shul, my friend and I passed our road's bus stop. There, a soldier stood under the small canopy unable to stay dry. As Shmuel passed him, he asked, "Where's your jacket?" "There weren't any on base," the soldier replied. Shmuel said, "Here, take my umbrella." The soldier refused, "It's ok, I'll be on a bus soon." "And when you walk to your base?," Shmuel persisted, "just take it." The soldier held his ground and in the end Shmuel continued on with me and his umbrella. He may not have succeeded in helping the soldier, but the desire to help and do a mitzvah was there. I guess sometimes it's the thought, or desire, that counts.

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Here's some footage (1 2) of Israel's Search and Rescue teams helping to find survivors after the devastation in Haiti. The most touching story so far has been the birth of the first Haitian in an Israeli hospital, Israel. For more, see here.

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A bloody Zionist rain cloud, courtesy of Yaakov Lozowick's blog:


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An Inanimate River

As Hashem prepares Moshe and Aaron to unleash the first of the ten plague on Egypt, he commands the brothers, "Say to Aaron, 'Take your staff an stretch out your hand over the waters of Egypt," (Exodus 7:19). Rashi explains the reason Aaron was chosen to strike the River, and not Moshe, was that the same River had protected the infant Moshe when his mother placed him upon it (Exodus 2:3). It would have been wrong of him to be the one to inflict a plague on it.

This should teach us a very important lesson: if the Torah considers it wrong to show ingratitude to an inanimate river, surely one must be zealous never to slight a human being ...
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Why Judah and not Joseph?

Before he dies in Parashat Vayechi, Jacob blesses his twelve sons. He blesses Judah with "The scepter shall not depart from" him (Bereishit, 49/10), essentially providing his fourth son's descendants with the responsibility of providing Israel a sovereign ruler.

Knowing Jacob's relationship with his all his sons, how come Jacob doesn't bless Joseph with the honor of being leader of the nation?

Abarbanel explains this by quoting part of Jacob's blessing to Joseph, "They embittered him and became antagonists; The arrow-tongued men hated him," (49/23). Joseph couldn't have been a leader because he provoked jealousy in people (the famous example being the brothers, and one can also assume the jealousy created with the ' young Hebrew Slave's' ascendancy in Egyptian political life caused). This was never the case with Judah, who enjoyed undisputed popularity.
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Inspiration

I thought my last blog would be the last for 2009, but alas, I wanted to share what I heard today with my three (or is it four?) readers.

I've joined a footy team that competes in the Anglo League in Israel. Each team is allowed to have 2 Israelis on the pitch, and I was giving one of our Israelis a ride to the game from Jerusalem. As we discussed each other, Rannie started talking about his impressive football background - at least for an Israeli! He came up through the ranks of the Beitar youth system, playing the game with current Beitar stars like Aviram Bruchian & Barak Yitzchaki. As he started to detail aspects of their games, I asked him why he wasn't with them on the pitch every weekend at Teddy. His answer startled me, "I joined the army." So I prodded more, "You're telling me you could have played professionally but you gave it up to do 3 years in the army?" His reply filled me with admiration, "I was offered a professional contract. I thought about it and decided that I live in Israel and I'd serve the country the full 3 years in a combat unit."

Here's a guy who's given his whole life to achieving a dream - and when the day comes for making the dream a reality, he turns it down for the IDF. Unreal. What a role model ...
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Gilad, Beit Yaakov Boycotts and more

I'm torn about Gilad Shalit and his potential return home. After years of campaigning by Gilad's parents, Aviva & Noam, it seems that we're on the verge of a 1 for 1000 deal that will bring him home.

As we edge closer to the potential agreement, an interesting debate has heated up - whether or not Israel is making the right decision in pursuing this exchange. Oddly enough, I understand both sides and see no wrong in either side's points.

Those against the hostage exchange are worried that some of the ~1000 soon to be free Palestinians will commit terrorist attacks that will end the lives of tens of Israelis. They think that the success of this deal will promote more Palestinians attempts to kidnap Israeli soldiers.

Those in favor want Gilad home at all costs, relating to the plight of Gilad's parents (& family & friends) - who have been without their son for 3+ years. They also acknowledge how important it is for a 'country of soldiers' to know that we do our best to never leave our boys behind enemy lines.

Where do I stand? I'm against the deal. I think the negatives far outweigh the positives. I still wouldn't say that to Gilad's parents - nor do I feel that any of their actions to return their boy have been wrong.

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Haaretz had a story today about a handful of Ashkenazi students not attending Beit Yaakov due to the high court ruling that the school must integrate Mizrachi students:

The Education Ministry on Wednesday threatened to prosecute parents of students in a West Bank settlement school under the mandatory education law, unless the students returned to their classrooms.

The Ashkenazi students of the ultra-Orthodox Beit Yaakov girls' school in Immanuel stayed home on Wednesday, yet again, as part of an organized protest against the decision by the Education Ministry and High Court to end the segregation between Sephardi and Ashkenazi students

In August, the court ruled that Beit Yaakov and the Independent Education Center have "infringed on the Sephardi students' right to equality" by segregating them from their Ashkenazi peers. It also scolded the Education Ministry for not using "all the means available to prevent discrimination."

"The court and media don't understand that this is another world," a mother who is keeping her daughter out of school said. "The Hasidic program was created because of a different religious outlook. Only pure children attend it."

"The Mizrahi students' families don't belong with the other families,"another parent said. "They have a television at home while the [Ashkenazim] speak Yiddish. The Mizrahi girls have a bad influence on our girls. No court will change anything," he added. "It's better for everyone to have separate study programs. This way each student keeps his identity - just like you wouldn't play Mizrahi and classical music on the same radio show," another resident said.

The school has 215 students from first to eighth grade, 35 percent of whom are Sephardi.

"It's a disgrace to this place, the ministry must intervene to stop the segregation once and for all," the father of one Mizrahi student said. "The Ashkenazis think they're more intelligent than we are, but what really bugs them is our skin color."

I think these righteous, elitist & racist Ashkenazim should boycott more than the school. Why not also incorporate those Mizrachi/Sefardi 'bad incluence' Rabbis like Rambam, Ramban, Ibn Ezra, Abarbanel, Hillel, Shammai etc into their boycott. I mean, you wouldn't want to hurt your kids' "identity."

And people wonder why I still harp about how this country handled the Mizrachi aliyot in the 1950s ...

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Interesting piece by Carlo Strenger of Haaretz after Jimmy Carter's 'apology' for his tough stance on Israel.

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Courtesy of Jewlicious:

Every Friday, protesters have been gathering [in the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in east Jerusalem] lately to protest the expulsion last August of two families from their apartments after the Israel Supreme Court ruled that the land upon which their homes were built belonged to the Sephardi Jewish community. The evacuated houses were built in the 1950s by the UNWRA in order to house Arab refugees who had fled from West Jerusalem during the 1948 war. In 1967, when Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan and reunited the city, the Palestinian families were permitted to stay on as tenants. Disputing the validity of the ownership of the land, they stopped paying rent. This led to the events that preceded the protests. As you can see, the bulk of the protesters are Jewish and Israeli. What really stood out though was at around 3:19 of the video [already edited in clip below].

One of the middle aged Palestinian women started chanting what sounds like the following: “Falasteene Bladna, al-Yahud klabna” – that would translate into “Palestine is our country! The Jews are our dogs!” – which is kind of odd – I mean the people walking by her in handcuffs were the aforementioned “Jew Dogs” who had been arrested whilst protesting in favor of the Palestinians. Maybe that’s why she was shushed? I mean am I hearing this right?

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"I would like to point out one permanent assignment that is entrusted to each of us, old and young, men and women, educated and ignorant, as a group and as individuals; this assignment is the defense of our people's honor.

All too easily we allow this honor to be impinged. So far have we become used to humiliation, that in a simple curse we no longer find insult, and just say to ourselves: 'thank you for only swearing at us – after all you could also have beaten us!' Everywhere, even in public places, our ears pick up vulgar outbursts against our people, and we pretend that we did not hear them, and console ourselves that 'they did not mean us'.

This is a lie: It is always aimed at us, and we must respond. We must end this abuse of ourselves, at all costs. And it is very easy. They spit in our faces without fear, 'in passing', for no reason – not because our insulters are blessed with courage and want to pick a fight with us, but because this pleasure is so cheap for them: they will spit at us and go on their way, and nothing will happen.

We must accustom them to the thought that from now on this pleasure will come at a hefty cost. A new commandment must enter our hearts: that even where there is only one Jew, the word 'Zhid' must not be heard without response. Wise people will come and try to dissuade us: 'You are weak – what can you do?' But it is not our purpose to win in every single incident. Our objective – to create about us the belief that a slur on our national feelings is no longer what it once was, a small diversion free of cost – but will rather, with an absolute certainty and a mathematical precision, result in a sharp and unpleasant confrontation

It is the hour to prove what we truly are: A proud people, or filthy scum whose only calling is to be trodden upon."

Ze'ev Jabotinsky, What are we to do?, published 1905

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There's a good chance this will be my last post of 2009. So to those celebrating, Happy New Year!
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Joseph's Dreams

At the beginning of Parashat VaYeishev, Joseph had two dreams (Lines 37:55 & 37:9). Both of the dreams are revealed to his family - the first one only to his brothers, who now "hate him even more" (37:8, the hatred was originally inspired by Jacob's favoritism) due the dream's content, and the second to Jacob and his brothers, which results in a scolding from Jacob and feelings of jealousy from his brothers. Joseph surely knew that revealing these dreams could only further strain his relationship with his brothers, and yet he still did. Why?

The commentators offer a few reasons ... Here are a few from The Stone Edition Torah:

- He was still young (17) and not aware/mature enough to understand that his actions would inflame them (Sforno)
- He hoped his brothers would realize his fate was Divinely decreed and would stop disliking him (Chizkuni)
- He hoped his brothers would realize he was destined to play a pivotal role in their futures and would realize that hating him was unwise (Or HaChaim)
- He understood his dreams were prophecies, and a prophet is forbidden to conceal what he must reveal to others (Vilna Gaon)
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Another Hateful Elitist

Two days ago, I spent some time talking with one of my wife's friends. Her father's family had moved to Israel from Iraq, and on arrival, were 'gassed' because of the diseases they may have had. What would follow for her family, and far too many of the approximately one million immigrants from the Arab world, was disgraceful - and it would continue the established precedent of how us Israelis would treat our own, be it Mizrachim or Russians or Haredim (Ultra Orthodox Jews) or 'Settlers'.

Now why am I bothering with this introduction? This morning while eating breakfast, I read Yossi Sarid's latest hateful article in Ha'aretz, "I have no brother." What infuriated me about the article was not that Sarid listed some disgraceful instances (though there are two that need further information for the reader, but that information is not giving for obvious reasons) of Settler behavior, but that he proceeded to generalize them all in his wrap up, "If settlers are our brothers, I have no brother. " All settlers Yossi? All of them commit these acts that you rightly abhor and believe that it's ok? Surely a man of your intelligence is better than that ... Who am I kidding, right?

It's Yossi's kind of attitude that has ripped our country apart time after time, from before the country's birth to the present. The sad and ironic thing is it's been hateful, elitist hypocrites like Sarid from day one who have caused these unnecessary 'brotherly confrontations'. It started essentially with the Season, where Jewish fighters were betrayed to the British by their 'brothers', the Haganah. It would continue during the 1948 Independence Day War, where Ben Gurion ordered the Altalena to be destroyed as she was on Tel Aviv's shoreline. 25 Jews died that day, and as some Holocaust survivors swam to the shore from the burning ship, grenades were thrown on them under one Yitzchak Rabin's watch, "If the Irgun are our brothers, I have no brother." It continued in the 1950s with the disgraceful treatment of Mizrachi Jewry. From gas showers to the ma'abarot to non-stop discrimination, their struggle to become a vital part of Israeli society was a long and arduous one. But I guess, "If the Mizrachim are our brothers, I have no brother," right Yossi? I mean all these crimes were committed by people who thought along your lines. The examples sadly go on and on.

Sarid raises some disturbing points in his article - but the fact is they highlight the acts of the minority. That he can generalize the whole settler community, much like that Shalom Achshav motto - "A Settler is not my Brother," is disgraceful. Would he be ok if all Jews were generalized, like he has just done with the Settlers, based on the actions of a few? Nope, he would probably call it Anti-Semitism ... The sad thing is that we are a fractured society, one where statements like Sarid's, are far too common. "All Haredim ..." (because of the minority which burns trash cans, or throws stones on Shabbat, or bothers the non-religious because they want to park their cars in Mamila), or "All left wingers ..." (because of comments such as Yossi's, or the growing rates of them who refuse to serve in combat units, or those that go abroad to slam Israel), or "All right wingers ..." (because of classless posters showing Obama as a Nazi, or because some shout slogans like 'Death to Arabs', or because of physical abuse of Arabs) are hateful, stupid and do nothing but harm the fragile 'internal peace' of Israel. Reading Sarid's hate filled rhetoric reminds me of what Anwar Sadat said after signing the peace treaty with Israel, "How do you destroy Israel? Leave them in peace for 25 years and they'll take care of it themselves" ...
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Ariel Sharon's Dream

On Tuesday morning's 8-9 AM show on IDF radio with Niv Raskin, the personal secretary of 6 Israeli prime ministers was interviewed. She is now retired, and she served for 25 years as personal secretary for PMs Shamir, Rabin, Netanyahu, Peres, Barak, and Sharon.

She was asked all sorts of questions, but the most interesting one was, "What was the most intimate story shared with you by one of the Prime Ministers?"

Without missing a beat, she immediately answered, "Ariel Sharon's dream."

The interviewer asked for more details, and she stated as follows:

"Two days before the Disengagement, Sharon had a dream.

He was next to a deep well, hanging over it by a rope.

Hanging over it, dangling.

And then the rope snapped.

And then he woke up.

He was very disturbed by the dream, and it bothered him alot"

Credit to Muqata
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Rabbi Hirsch on the Mother's Grief

I really liked this insight by Rabbi Hirsch, taken from Twerksi's Positive Parenting:

Commenting on the verse in Proverbs, "A wise son gladdens a father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother" (10:1), Rabbi Hirsch states:

It is interesting that joy from a successful son is foretold here to the father, while sorrow from an unsuccessful son is linked with the mother. We believe this may be based on the following consideration: No matter how much a father does for his child, it cannot be compared to the sacrifices and privations of a mother. For her, months and years of suffering and renunciation set in from the very beginning of the child's existence. By the time the father directs his personal attention to the child's development, the mother has already devoted years of constant care to his physical, spiritual, and moral growth. It follows that if the child turns out to be well-brought up, and the parents are fortunate enough to find joy in a wise and successful son, the father has won a big prize - in return for a comparatively low stake. If, on the other hand, the child becomes an inept, foolish person, then who can fathom the grief of his mother? She is forced to admit that she has wasted years of anxious days and sleepless nights, that she has spent the best part of her physical strength and mental energy, and all of this for what result? - a foolish son.

Rabbi Hirsch continues with a quote from Proverbs, "What, my son? And what, son of my womb? And what, son of my vows?" (31:2)

Thus begins a mother's admonition to her son, the king. A true mother has been preparing her thoughts fro the spiritual future of her child while he was yet in her womb; her solemn vows accompany his entrance into the world. He is the son of her womb and the son of her vows. A mother's thoughts and emotions during the time that she bears and suckles her child are not without effect. The saying "to imbibe something with one's mother's milk" is no empty phrase. That is the time when the seed is planted for the child's qualities of character, for gentleness or violence, for modesty or sensuality, for a conduct of nobility or vulgarity. This seed is planted within her child by his mother's thoughts while he is still physically connected with her. After that it is his mother's example which shows his awakening soul the ideas that he should follow - truth, decency, purity, or their opposites! Showing her child the right way takes intelligence and firm resolve on the part of a mother, for the success of his future behavior depends on her teaching him the first requirement: to control his own will.

The father's teachings are of great importance, but just as the value of a finished product made by the finest craftsmen depends on the material he was given to work with - gold, silver, tin - the child produced by the father's education cannot be better than the substance provided by the mother; i.e., the basic traits of love, trust, consideration, reverence, and patience.

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Musings After a Visit to Yad Vashem

I haven't been to the Yad Vashem (Holocaust memorial) museum in Jerusalem since I went as a soldier in February 2004.

I tend to stay away from Holocaust films, unless they're movies with plots like those of Defiance or Escape from Sobibor.

I don't know if my attitude is that of the minority or majority of Jewry today.

I know what happened during the Holocaust - and have been haunted by it since I stepped foot in Dachau as a 10 year old. I still will read books about survivors, or when possible, listen to them speak in person

... But I'm tired. I'm tired of the pain and anger I feel when I 'see' that reality. A reality where the world turned its back on the Jews - be it the Yanks, the Brits, the Catholic Church, or humanity bar the 'The Righteous Among The Nations' - and left us at the mercy of the Nazi war machine. The reality I live in is so different obviously - and that's why I struggle with that reality so much.

Which brings me to today. I went with my wife, parents and nonna (Italian for grandmother) to Yad Vashem. It was extremely difficult - as always. I gritted my teeth and held back tears most of the time. My people. My nation. My brothers. My sisters. Annihilated for being Jews. Tertiated.

I burst out in tears in one of the last exhibits - that displaying the many stories of the aforementioned 'Righteous Among The Nations' (for these stories - see here) - when I read the following quote (paraphrased as I didn't write it down), "I know that when I stand in front of God I won't be asked like Cain why I remained silent when my brother's blood was screaming from the ground." In one of the darkest periods in human history, there were flashes of light. Light that saved thousands of human beings who's only crime was being Jewish.

After leaving Yad Vashem with the expected mixed emotions of sadness and anger, I thought to myself how lucky we are to have Israel. We can rely on ourselves ... not on the hope that other nations will protect us.
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Was Clinton smoking ... again?

Who said this:

We view the permanent solution in the framework of [the] State of Israel which will include most of the area of the Land of Israel as it was under the rule of the British Mandate, and alongside it a Palestinian entity which will be a home to most of the Palestinian residents living in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

We would like this to be an entity which is less than a state, and which will independently run the lives of the Palestinians under its authority. The borders of the State of Israel, during the permanent solution, will be beyond the lines which existed before the Six Day War. We will not return to the 4 June 1967 lines.

And these are the main changes, not all of them, which we envision and want in the permanent solution:

A. First and foremost, united Jerusalem, which will include both Ma'ale Adumim and Givat Ze'ev -- as the capital of Israel, under Israeli sovereignty, while preserving the rights of the members of the other faiths, Christianity and Islam, to freedom of access and freedom of worship in their holy places, according to the customs of their faiths.

B. The security border of the State of Israel will be located in the Jordan Valley, in the broadest meaning of that term.

C. Changes which will include the addition of Gush Etzion, Efrat, Beitar and other communities, most of which are in the area east of what was the "Green Line," prior to the Six Day War.

D. The establishment of blocs of settlements in Judea and Samaria, like the one in Gush Katif

Here's a hint, it's the man Clinton referred to when he said that "within three years we would have had a comprehensive agreement for peace in the Middle East" had he still be alive.

Still struggling?


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