She's Got Mail

I don't usually publish or even discuss, most of the emails I am swamped with, however a few here I wanted others to see.  I asked permission from the authors to publish these emails, of which they heartily accepted.

1) Foot in the Mouth: email in reference to the TnT 'Tovia & Tamar Show' where Tovia constantly describes the condition of his spleen:

Tamar, Shalom,
 
I'm reading a book written in 1771 by Tobias Smollett and one of the characters complains repeatedly about his spleen.  I knew Tovia's material was old, but I didn't know it was that old.
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2: What is to Become of the Diaspora Jews?

Wednesday evening my family and I, along with some others from Mishkahn David went to Providence, RI for a celebration of the 60th anniversary of Israel. What I saw and experienced actually saddened me and I thought I would pass it on to you, if for no other reason then to give you something to chew on.

I must admit to being just a bit on the nervous side about going. I am new to the discovery of my Jewish ancestry and though I have been studying and learning what is in the Torah, I have a long way to go before it becomes second nature to me. But none the less, we went to show our support of Israel, our love for the people and the G-d of Israel.

What I witnessed there, actually surprised me. I know that this is the United States and people are free to do as they wish, I just kind of thought things might actually LOOK a bit more Jewish. There were a few men there wearing hats and/or kippahs, there were a few very Orthodox Jews, but not many. And, including myself, there was only 2 men wearing tzit-tzit (tassels) on the corner of garments. I was confused. I thought that these things were a requirement from the Torah given to Moses from G-d. Did I misunderstand?

What I did see plenty of was affluence. Good clothes, good hair (I'm going bald, so any hair looks good to me), handsome men, beautiful women, fine jewelry, very obviously well off people. Now, before you take me wrong, I wasn't expecting to see any less then that. The Jews are a people that are blessed by G-d and as far as that went, it was as it's supposed to be.

But as I stood on one of the bridges and they were sounding the shofar and music was playing I was struck by a sudden sadness. It was deep and profound almost as if I could see into the future and know what is going to happen before it comes to pass. It was if G-d was saying to me; Do you see the people? They are comfortable in their lives here, it will not last. They believe that they are safe, but it is a false belief. I have made provisions for them to go home, but they refuse to go. They will not obey my commands, and while they have enjoyed the blessings they have forgotten about the curses. They need to come home spiritually and physically before it becomes too late. They need to remember ME.

Even as I write this, I am overcome with sadness almost to the point of tears. We have all become blinded by the lives we live here. We are comfortable in our ways and almost complacent to the realities of this mad world. I am afraid that it is soon going to come crashing down hard, in many different ways, and as always, there will be the hunt for who's to blame. Any guesses.....
Shalom,
Ignacio
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3. Sinking In

Tamar, I wanted to share this with you. Shifra Hoffman

Hi Shifra,

I heard you about 1-2 years ago on INR with Tamar.  I thought you were nuts.  I thought you were agitating for your own selfish purposes.  I didn't believe that what you said could happen here.  I grew up with WWII generation as parents and community leaders.  I was flying to Spain in the mid 80's and saw a guy with the numbers tatooed on his arm.  But I thought it as all taken care of and we were above it.
About two months ago I was on my Ron Paul blog/meet-up group.  I noticed a guy that was speaking up against Israel/neo-cons/jews.  I took him to task in a nice way, just pointing out the lack of objectivity in his arguments.  He turned on me.  I'm a mild Christian Goy.  Well, I kept up the truth campaign, and it got worse and worse.  We dominated the blog for weeks with our back and forth.  I felt drained by his venomous attacks, and dedication to hating all things jewish.
It left me shaken, and sick to my stomach.  I've been through 26 years n the military, Korea occupation/Desert Storm in Arabia.  But I was not ready for this.
  I no longer think you are so far out/off.  I'm so sad, because I love jews generally.  There are some angry, hatful, opinion leaders that lead the sheep.  What I saw was that things can be twisted and evil directed at jews, and it can happen in a hurry.
I believe Hashim is with you, and will act this time to protect his people.  May you continue your mission.  Barach Hashim.  --------------(name has been withheld)------------

Well, Readers, your comments on these emails will be greatly appreciated.

The Plagues Of America?

***For some truly awesome photos of IKE's distruction, likening it to a plague, click HERE and then return to read this blog.

When we learn about the plagues of Egypt, do we get angry at the person who is teaching us this biblical history?  Most of us would say no.  It is in this vein that I wish to point your attention to the massive plagues that seem to be happening in the United States. ...And don't be angry at me that I am asking you to consider this.

      (Below: Mass Exodus Fom Hurricane Ike)

In the last two hurricanes that slammed into the U.S., we have seen a true-blue exodus  take place of 3 million people.  Two million running from Gustav and another one million from Ike.  If you are not aware, three million people is close to half the population of Israel!  Can you imagine HALF of the population of Israel having to flee their homes in an exodus like what took place in the USA?

As G-d fearing people, we know that G-d controls everything in this world.  Nothing happens without His allowing it to happen.  This does not mean that I believe in a cruel mean G-d that sits up in heaven and throws lightening bolts in anger against mankind below.  Not at all!  I believe that G-d created us, loves us, and wants us to follow His ways, to cling to Him, and to grow from the challenges we face.  I believe He wants us to make the proper choices in life so that we can take this world and make it better after being here.  If we make the wrong choices, if we chose to do evil, then it's not just a punishment, per se, rather, a CONSEQUENCE.

Imagine that you are a parent.  If one of your children does not clean his room, throwing his books and shoes in the middle of the floor and then decides to go to bed, would it be a 'punishment' if he got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom, rubbing his eyes and then tripping over the mess he left?  A punishment, or a consequence?  And do you, his parent want your child to trip and hurt themselves?  Absolutely not.  You gave him instructions.  You told him to keep his

Map of Missiles/Rockets That Reach Israeli Population Centers and International Airport.

room tidy and reminded him that he has a habit of not wanting to put things in order before he goes to bed.  But these are the consequences of disobeying the rules, the laws of nature, the laws of the home.  You, the parent would hope that your child would now have learned his lesson and will now follow the rules of safety and a harmonious home life in the manual you gave him of house rules. Others would call it the 'Bible'.

The Bush administration is at this moment working to undermine Israel and destroy her.  Because the establishment of a Palestinian State in the heartland of Israel would be impossible for Israel to survive.  All of Israel's major poulation centers, including her international airport,  would be vulnerable from mortar, rocket and missile attacks. 

The Bush administration wants to go against the Bible, G-d's word, and divvy up Jerusalem and the land of Israel.  Something that G-d said He would not tolerate.  Yet Bush & Co. continue to press on, pressuring Israel to make more concessions, more good will gestures, more prisoner releases of convicted terrorist murderers, before the end of Bush's 8 year term is up, in only several weeks time.

                            Egyptain Plague of Hailfire

Pharoah also tried to crush the Children of Israel.  He was the one who had the hardened heart, yet his whole nation suffered.  Some Egyptians feared G-d, and hid their animals inside their homes and barns when the burning hail storms came down and demolished their farms.  The Egyptians suffered much damage, but still survived to rebuild and recoup.  Do we not see the same thing happening in America now? It was hurt, but it too survived, and will hobble along re-building from this latest plague. 

                               Ike's Aftermath

Yes, in G-d fearing people's eyes, Gustav and Ike, the exodus of 3 million people, the devastation and havoc, was similar to one of the plagues of Egypt.  I am not at all happy about this.  The American people are a good people.  I would imagine it would be more just to see the Islamic TERROR regimes suffer.  But I do not claim to know all of G-d's ways or His accounting.  Perhaps troubles befall the Jews and now the Americans because G-d cares enough to straighten us out, where as He has less interest in disciplining  the more evil ones?  I am at a loss.  However, one thing I do I believe, and that is,  if this part of history were happening before the Torah was given,  it would have made it in as one of the stories of the Bible.  Perhaps it would have gone something like this:

"And King Bush, prince of the Western World continued to make the lives of the Children of Israel very bitter.  He lured the corrupt Kings of Israel to the peace table promising riches and open markets and peace.  But the price was the Land of Israel to be given to the sons of Ishmael. And The Holy One, Blessed Be He, made a great wind to blow over the seas over the southern region which belonged to King Bush. 

And a wall of water and great winds crashed into the homes and great cities of the King.  But he would not hearken to the word of the L-rd.  And another great storm came on the heels of the first, displacing millions of people, and still King Bush did not hearken.  And another wall came down, this time in their financial sector which they called Wall Street.  And the great institutions that were housed there fell, leaving the population to carry the debts of silver and gold. 

And a great financial woe settled on this land, and the people cried."….

Pride & Shame

I don't remember being fond of a politician for a long time.  But I have to admit, I like this woman, Sarah Palin.  This doesn't mean that she is perfect, or the answer to the world's problems, or even that she won't get corrupted one day like most politicians do.  But at least IN THE MEANTIME, I am going to go out on a limb and say, I like Sarah Palin.

Sarah Palin seems to be a down to earth mom, a woman with values, and a woman that kept a baby even though she had a big and important career ahead of her.  Keeping her fetus though she knew it had Downs Syndrome, when it would have been so easy to rationalize aborting her baby says a lot about her inner strength and character.

Just look at this gem off the news wires this week:

"Girl to Auction Virginity on Radio Show" 

"Radio host Howard Stern is set to shock his listeners - by auctioning off a girl's virginity on his show.

The 22-year-old brunette is auctioning off her virginity in a desperate bid to pay for her college tuition. The San Diego brunette, who is using the pseudonym of Natalie Dylan for "safety reasons'', was introduced to the RJ by the owner of a legal Nevada brothel, where her sister already works.

The winner of the auction will get to consummate the relationship at the brothel.

"I don't have a moral dilemma with it," the Sun quoted Dylan, as saying. "We live in a capitalist society. Why shouldn't I be allowed to capitalize on my virginity? I understand some people may condemn me. But I think this is empowering. I'm using what I have to better myself," she added."

Natalie says her mother, who is a primary school teacher, doesn't approve of the auction but 'supports' her." ***

Is this what the world has come to?  Is there no shame anymore? Is this how we have raised a generation of children in the most enlightened and freest country in the world?  Without religious convictions, where morality can be rationalized away to permit anything?

Back to Sarah Palin and all moms who have morals and some pride.  In today's world, they are a breath of fresh air.  They give us a sigh of relief in a world that seems to have gone mad.  To be a woman who can be a mother, break the glass ceiling, AND be a G-d fearing woman who values life, no matter if it is not packaged in a perfect body or not, is a rarity today.  Oh, and did I forgot to mention that she loves Israel?  I had written about this in a previous blog, but here is a follow up.  Jake, a Noahide from Alaska who first tipped me off that Palin has an Israeli flag in her governor's office, now sent me another piece of EXCLUSIVE news.  Just read his email to me:

Shalom Tamar!
I'm so excited right now.  I just got back from seeing Sarah Palin speak here in Anchorage at a convention before getting back on the campaign trail with McCain.  Anyway, I wore my Israeli/American flag pin that you sent me [for winning a contest you ran on your blog] on my shirt today.  After Sarah's speech, she made the usual rounds of hand shaking.  My daughter and I were pretty close to the barricade, within arms reach, so I decided to wait for her to make it to our side and shake her hand.  And then it occurred to me.  She might not have an Israeli flag lapel pin, but I could change that right now.  I undid my MUCH-BELOVED PIN!  You have no idea Tamar.  I literally wear it every day.  But I decided Sarah needed it more than I did at this point.  She finally made it to where I was.  She was signing everything anyone stuck in front of her so she had a marker in her hand.  I reached out and she reached out to shake my hand and I placed the pin in her hand.  She got a surprised look on her face, like, WHAT'S THIS, looked down and then back up at me and kind of gasped, put her hand over her heart and said "THANK YOU!"  I nodded and said, "STAND WITH ISRAEL!' and she nodded right back and then she paused, looked me right in the eyes and, with that confident nod she does sometimes, said with sincerity, "I WILL WEAR THIS."  She looked very serious.  I gave her the 'I love you sign' in sign language and that was that. 
So now we shall see what she does with it. 
I think it's pretty awesome Tamar that Sarah Palin now has that pin from Israel all because you took the time to send it to me.  Pretty cool.
Shalom,
jake in Anchorage, AK

p.s. Tamar, here's a picture I snapped immediately after our exchange when she started to move on.  jake