Charlie Shrem, a student who is majoring in 'Middle Eastern studies' in New York, wrote me a disturbing note about what is going on in his and other schools with their text books.

He wrote me that he's writing a paper for his middle eastern studies degree, and basically took his textbook that the college uses, and would, in his thesis, prove his text book was wrong!

Charlie wrote me the following,

'Tamar, You have no idea how many blatant lies were in the textbook that the whole school uses!  It was ridiculous.  The textbook is supposed to objectively cover the "Israel-Palestinian Conflict " but it was so biased to the Arabs, it was disgusting. I proved all their examples wrong in every chapter, using quoted actual sources, not media reports. I quoted British Police reports from 1948, speeches and interviews by Israel, Arab, British and American leaders.  It's horrendous that this is what the American Jewish youth is learning in universities today.'

And so I had Charlie on my show to talk about it.  Following the airing of the show, I received an email from one of the listeners named Elka, who wrote me the following:

Shalom, Tamar.

I've just finished listening to your show where callers complained about their college textbooks.

Complaining to the college or to the publisher will not do any good because this is a question not of just a couple of textbooks with "errors" or "lies" in them, this is a question of the views that are a "must" for anyone who wants to write textbooks and have them published. This is too big for mere complaints and, basically, at this point, insurmountable.

It starts in public schools where European history is taught as the history of the church using the textbooks where Jews are mentioned in a couple of sentences not forgetting the trading and the money lending as their (sigh) sole occupations (most Jewish children in the US, as you must know already, attend PUBLIC schools).

The only EFFECTIVE way to fight this is for ALL the Jewish students to quit these universities en masse and continue their education in Israel i. e., HIT THEM IN THE POCKET! And write a nice letter to the university president thanking him for helping them make the decision to make aliyah and mail it right before boarding the plane.

Please do not give them mixed messages, i. e., "Stay where you are and fight!" vs. "This is the 30s in Germany, get out!" because they cannot do both.

Here are my own examples:

I am currently enrolled at a college in the Midwest which shall remain nameless because I have no grudge against the college (as I already explained, the problem goes much deeper).

I took a History course (Western Civilization, the textbook written by a Jew) where the instructor talked at length about "Jewish persecutions of (early) Christians", reenacted for the class how the Jews shouted "Crucify him! Crucify him!", announced before the class that in 1492 Muslims(!) were expelled out of Spain (in actuality in 1509) without mentioning the Jews (I had to say it out loud for him). The textbook didn't mention anything about the Jews aside from the usual.

I've also taken an Anthropology course where there is ONE sentence (nothing of importance) devoted to Jews but a whole article about the most peaceful religion in the world.

I also have a college Geography textbook where the author emphatically states that the science has proven that all civilization started in East Africa (not the Middle East) from where Homo sapiens crossed on their way into North Africa, Arabia, "and spread all across Asia" although she does state that animal domestication, irrigation, etc. started 10,000 years ago in the ME -  very confusing), and both India and China are called "civilization hearths" with Hinduism being named as the oldest religion in the world, and China - the oldest known civilization.

About Israel - not a word about the mandate; creation of Israel by the UN caused the conflict, etc.; small size and population belie Israel's "real power", Israel gets "massive" U.S. financial aid, the number of "stateless" "Palestinians" is estimated at 10(!) million, Golan and Jerusalem are a "problem", etc. Bombing of Israel from Gaza is replaced with "border skirmishes".

This is NORMAL, Tamar. This is the party line of every red-blooded college professor and researcher (and schoolteacher).

It cannot be fought in the U.S., not anymore. It's a different country than the one you remember.

Why is the Jewish Agency sitting on its hands?

The Jewish Agency has just announced that it is doubling its representation on American campuses. How far from zero was that before the "doubling up"?

Why is Nefesh B'Nefesh selecting rich retirees and the wealthy to make aliyah? The rich can lose their money quickly, and then what? No aliyah?

A million Jews in Yehuda and Shomron and another million in Yerushalayim would stop the "piece process" cold.

Thank you.

For those interested, you can hear Charlie Shrem being interviewed about his text book here.

Also, thanks to Elka for her email and comments to me, very enlightening, and good advice to make aliyah NOW.    

Let's face it, things are getting worse in the news, and it sure looks like the stage is being set for the war of Gog and Magog.

Obama wants to split Jerusalem, divide the Holy Land of Israel and give it to the Arabs for a new terror state called Palestine.

U.N. head Bank Ki-Moon wants to split Jerusalem and give it to the Arabs for a new terror state called Palestine and he says Jews can't build in liberated Jerusalem.  This 'Two State Solution' they are pushing for, is really the Final Solution, as the state of Israel cannot exist with a terror state embedded in it's belly.  It means the end of Israel.
 
Iran is more truthful, and its leader Ahamdinejad doesn't want to wait for a PA terror state to eat Israel for breakfast or eat it away like a cancer.  He wants to see the end of Israel in one fell swoop.  He will try to use his proxies like the Hamas and the Hezbollah to directly wipe us off the map with missile and other direct attacks, and when he can, he will try to attack us with nuclear weapons/bombs to finish the job.
 
Our own Prime Minister is weak (or worse) and though he says no to some of the demands by the International community, he may very well keep appeasing them and the Arabs until it is too late.  He has done this thus far already with his support of ceding Hebron when he was first Prime Minister back in the 90's, voting as a minister under Sharon's government for the expulsion of Jews from Gush katif, implementing a building freeze in Judea & Samaria (and now Jerusalem) and being the first Prime Minister to proclaim his support for a Palestinian State (though demilitarized).  Any Palestinian state that is set up with the help of the International community would be, in the words of  U.S. Vice-President Biden (on his visit to Israel several days ago) an independent state that is "viable and contiguous".   'Contiguous' means that Israel is split into two.  And 'independent' means that this 'Palestinian' state can choose not to be de-militarized.
 
So, what can we do?  Or on a more specific, individual note so we can focus...
What can YOU do? 

You will argue that you cannot do much, because you are not the Prime Minister of Israel.
You will argue that you cannot do much, because the IDF does not take its command from you and you cannot send them out to the defense of Israel.
You will argue that you cannot do much, because you are not rich or wealthy.
You will argue that you cannot do much, because maybe you don't live here.
You will argue that you cannot do much, because even though you live here, you are just a pawn, a little person.
 
So again, what CAN you do?
 
G-d gives us all a certain potential, and we need to use that potential and strengths and learning to better ourselves and fix the world.  You are correct, you are NOT the Prime Minister of Israel, You may NOT be wealthy, but you CAN do certain things, no matter how small.  Because sometimes it only takes a small deed to tip the scales.
 
There is the famous story that I personally love and connect to, about the Torah Sage, Reb Zusha of Anipoli. Before his death, his students came to him and were surprised to find him trembling with fear. They said to him, "Why are you afraid of death? You have lived a good, righteous life. To which Reb Zusha replied, "In the coming world, if G‑d asks me why I was not like Moses, I can say, because you did not give me the leadership capabilities of Moses."  And if G-d asks me why I was not like Abraham, I can say because you did not give me the same charachter traits of Abraham, but if he asks me, "Zusha, why were you not like Zusha?'" Then what will I say?
 
We all have a certain amount of potential and certain character traits that G-d has given us.  Some of us were blessed with a little more of this, a little less of that, and these talents we were given in the measurement given, make us special individuals.  Are we being the 'BEST (fill in your name)' we can be?
All God asks of us is that we do our best according to our own potential.
When we are called to the next world and are put on trial for how we lived our life, you will not be asked why you didn't send the army to release kidnapped IDF soldier Gilad Shalit, or why you did not send the air force to bomb the Iranian nuclear reactor.  Because you could reply. "But G-d, you did not make me the Prime Minister of Israel with the power to give these commands."  But if you are asked why you didn't do more of whatever you COULD do, what will you say?
 
What will you say if you are asked, "Your brother Gilad Shalit has been held captive by terrorists for 4 years, FOUR YEARS, and you went about your day as usual, without even a daily remembrance of him and a short morning or evening prayer that he be released.  What will you say?
 
What will you say when you are asked why you didn't pray for the release of Jonathan Pollard, held in an American prison?  What will you say when you made sure to grab a coffee and go to work and maybe see a movie, or take your kids to the park, or watch your favorite Dextor episode, but you didn't take the time to remember your brothers still being held captive?    There are other IDF soldiers still missing in Arab countries; Ron Arad, Zecharya Baumel, Zvi Feldman, Yehuda Katz, Guy Hever, and Majdy Halabi all who fought to keep us safe here in israel.  We can at least take a moment each day to pray for them and their loved ones who suffer pain everyday at their loss.  If we don't, what will we say? 
   
 
All of us CAN say a daily prayer, "Please, G-d, have our boys released immediately to their homes, their families, safe and sound."  That is something we all CAN do.  Otherwise, what will you say 'up there' when asked why you could not even do that small effort?
 
What will you say when you are asked if you gave 10% of your income to charity?  We know that all the money we make in this world is not through our doing, but by HaShem's will.  The money He gives us is HIS, not ours, and we are commanded to give 10% to charity.  It is not a choice, it is a commandment.  What will you say if asked why you kept it for yourself when it was G-d's money He gave you?  Money is something to help us live, to live good lives, and improve the world, not to (all) be hoarded away for a rainy day or to make our accounts bigger, or feed our insecurities.  The money G-d blesses us with should be used wisely, and not selfishly.  THIS we CAN do, and make sure we fulfill the commandment of giving our ten per cent due. 
 
Did we study Torah everyday?  When we learned, did we dedicate our learning to those less fortunate than us, those who may be sick, or again, dedicate it for the release of our captured brothers being held?  Did we support other places of learning, or arrange an evening (maybe in our home) where other people could learn Torah?  This we CAN do.
 
And what will we say when we are asked why we didn't make a serious, SERIOUS effort to keep one more mitzvah, or work on improving one more mitzvah, or try to be kinder or more loving even though we didn't feel like it, or give the benefit of the doubt or not accuse another person of things we imagined they did or jumped to conclusions to?
 
We are not perfect, but we have to strive to be the best individual we can be.  We can lie in this world, put on a facade, make excuses that sound believable, but in the world of TRUTH, all of our actions will be plain to see.  G-d tells us what we need to do.
 
When we repent, we read in the High Holiday machzor (prayer book) that repentance comes through Teshuvah (returning to G-d), tefillah (actual prayer and mediation) and tzedakah (giving charity, or helping the poor).  The Jewish people, and the world for that matter, are entering a very dangerous period in history, a possible WWIII, and it is very likely that nuclear weapons will be employed.  We all need to humble ourselves (in a good, positive way) and recognize our Creator, let go of our egos, and do His will, as written to us in the divine book that He gave us, the Torah.  We all need to better ourselves, even just a little. Picking something specific to improve ourselves on is usually more effective then biting off a too-big piece to chew and sawy "This year I will be better".  Because, what does THAT mean?  This is why specific targets or baby steps are usually more effecitive in improving our character traits and mitzvoth that we do.  
 
If we make the effort, we are taught that G-d will then bring us results.  The results are up to G-d, the efforts are up to us.  This is what we CAN do, and we don't need to be wealthy, or the head of a country to do so.

Watch this short video please:

I'm speechless.  I mean, this really takes the cake. The NY times has posted an article on the health care bill called, "As Health Vote Awaits, Future of a Presidency Waits, Too".  The article was accompanied by a picture of Obama (subliminally or not so subliminally) as Jesus.  Yes that's right, this photo puts an unconscious idea in the head  that Obama is a god, or is jesus.  I received this from Dan, who received it from 'D' who pointed out the following:

"... Here a picture from yesterday's paper.  Note the halo around his head and the cross behind him.  ... Note the three symbols: 

the cross,

the halo

and the Jesus pose with finger upraised."

Here's the direct LINK   to see a larger photo.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/15/weekinreview/15baker.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

I'm not shocked, but I am speechless.  Maybe YOU all have something to say about this. 

How dumb do they think we are?  Appalling.

Special note:  Talk backer # 15 - Chaim, said that the photo was  removed.  I suspected this might happen, and took a print screen shot of the NY Times when they had it up.  Unfortunately, the size of the photo is small for this blog but the real picture I have is much bigger and clearer.  Here is what it looked like in a smaller sized photo.

For those who don't remember, I posted a piece a while back about one of the readers of this blog, Ignacio.  The piece was entitled: "Blog Helps Reader Return to G-d"  and Ignacio wrote the following:

"...both my wife and I have come to believe that if he existed "J" was neither G-d nor Messiah and that to believe otherwise is Idolatry. We looked at the scriptures that were presented and finally saw that he didn't fulfill any of the Messianic prophecies and the ones that the christian churches use are ALL taken out of context.") 

He wrote me the following and I thought I would post this as well, as it is something we need to remember and consider when it comes to the 'do we trust them or not' issue which, considering history, we Jewish People have every right to ask ourselves.

Here is one of Ignacio's recent emails to me:

Dear Tamar,

I was reading one of the blogs on Arutz Sheva called the "The Wilder Way" , where he was writing about Pastor Hagee and some of the stuff he and his people are doing . Mr. Wilder pointed out things about Torah studies going on and things of that nature and the donations and good things that this group is doing in Israel.

I also spent some time looking at the responses to his blog and something struck me about the comments. Everyone seemed to be focused on Hagee and his sneaky way of doings things, saying on one hand that he is for Israel but that they all convert at the same time, and I felt like one very important point had been missed in it and I wanted to run it by you to see what you think.

I have little to no use for any of the so called christian leadership, because I tend to figure that if I have been able to find the truth, surely they with all their doctorates know the truth already so I am not here to defend them or Hagee. 
They are not looking to the pastors and so called leaders for the answers they are looking to the scriptures themselves and at some point they are going to see the places where G-D makes it very clear that He is ONE and there are not other god's.

What I thought that has been missed in this is the fact that xtians are picking up the Torah, for the first time, and are studying it to see whats there. I think perhaps what some people , that have never been involved in xtianity , don't realize is that in xtianity you are not taught much about the Tanach and especially the Torah. You are taught that the "new Testament" and their false god is all that you need and that the "old Testament" is filled with good stories and all , but because of the blood of the J or Y (if your messianic) that the Torah is no longer applicable and that the rest is just history. You are taught the "new" and the "old " is ignored
.
So the fact that  average xtian's are now looking for the truth found in the Tanach is astounding, yes there are snakes amongst them who will try to convert Jews, but the vast majority are earnestly searching because they KNOW somewhere down deep inside that something isn't right, that their religion is dead.

They are not looking to the pastors and so called leaders for the answers they are looking to the scriptures themselves and at some point they are going to see the places where G-D makes it very clear that He is ONE and there are not other god's. It will happen, I know this for 2 reasons. The first is because it happened to me and my family and the second is because the prophets foretold of this day.

If we are to believe that we are living in the time of the Messianic age, then we have to remember that the prophets predicted that the Gentiles would be coming to you for the truth and along with them all the lost tribes and even those who didn't even know that they were of G-D's people. The prophecies are being fulfilled right before our eyes. I understand the fear of the snakes and wolves amongst those who are searching and I believe that G-D will deal with their deception in His own way, but please remember that for every snake you find , and you will find them, there are a hundred people who are looking for the truth.
Ignacio