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9 Iyar 5768, 5/14/2008
While Olmert Fiddles and Bush Dances A Jig
  (IsraelNN.com) Arab terrorists in Gaza fired two Grad Katyusha missiles at southern Ashkelon late Wednesday afternoon, and one rocket scored a direct hit on a children's medical clinic inside a shopping center. Parts of the building collapsed, trapping four people for a half-hour. (complete article and picture credit)  Read this first person account--near miss: Attention K-Mart Shoppers - Incoming Rockets by Sara Layah Shomron As I walked into the Nitzan caravilla site, my temporary home away from home - may Gush Katif be speedily rebuilt, I heard and felt a BOOM! Once in my crowded caravilla, I turned on the computer and learned that the earth shake underfoot were 2 rockets that had landed at the Ashkelon Hutzot mall on the health clinic floor from where I was returning. I met my son at the Hutzot mall in Ashkelon who had traveled there from his Jerusalem Yeshiva specifically for a 5:15pm medical appointment at the Hutzot Mall. He arrived earlier than expected (3:30) on account of concern over traffic of Jerusalem roads caused by American President Bush's visit. I hadn't expected my son so early and was still at the caravilla when he phoned me of his Ashkelon arrival. I instructed him to go to the specialist's waiting room area where hopefully he could be seen earlier - I would be there shortly. Fortunately someone I knew stopped for me as I walked toward the highway to catch a bus headed for Ashkelon. As fate would have it, their destination was the same as mine. We got him in to see the specialist, stopped in the pharmacy and were out at the bus stop to catch our respective buses - it was 5:15pm. Had my son's scheduled appointment time been kept I fear ... there but for the grace of G-d go we. May those injured have a speedy and complete recovery. May what masquerades as our government quickly understand that George Bush is not the burning bush and act accordingly - with G-d's help fighting the war with a clear and unequivocal victory.
 Now, honestly, do you think that US President Bush is a real friend of Israel? And do you think that Olmert and crew are doing what they should be for Israel?
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7 Iyar 5768, 5/12/2008
Peace, That's The Problem
This post has been "festering" in my mind for awhile, but it only came to a head at the recent Yom Zikaron-- Soldiers and Terror Victims Memorial Day. One of the songs used as "background" mentioned "peace." 
We will have to fight again until we understand that victory is our goal.
 Forever, it seems, Israel has been striving for peace, willing to do everything for peace. That's the problem. We should be doing everything plus, not for peace, for VICTORY, victory against our enemies. Only when we defeat our enemies will we know peace, true peace. All of those praising peace as an ideal, whether Peace Now or the late Menachem Begin have been dangerously wrong and misguided. We are suffering from peace-caused terror. By not concentrating our energies in defeating those who want to destroy us, we are facilitating their strengthening. Just look at what has been going on, even before the State of Israel was established. All that talk about living with our Arab neighbors in peace, as if we're sharing some fancy apartment house. The Arabs understand the situation very well, unlike the Jews. For us to have real peace we must understand our enemies and we have to be victorious. Life is no yin/yang coexistence. In real life all people aren't equal; that's anarchy. Consensus is mediocrity at best. Some people are meant to lead. It's not that they're aggressive; they are more efficient. Think of all the jokes about committees. Everyone is different; that's how G-d makes us. We all have different talents and roles. Our opportunities should suit that pragmatic reality. To think that some sort of peaceful compromise can be made with terrorists is totally and dangerously and suicidally unrealistic! I remember being asked by immigrants of the former USSR why Israel doesn't celebrate Victory Day, what they called the anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany. They got it right in that sense. We have to stop being embarrassed about our victories. - If only we had proudly celebrated our 1967 victory over Egypt, Jordan and Syria...
- If only we had immediately settled our liberated HolyLand with total enthusiasm...
- If only we had built the Third Temple on Har HaBayit (the Temple Mount) immediately after our victory, instead of giving our very holiest spot to our enemy...
I have no doubt, no doubt at all, that the Moshiach (Messiah) was here with us, ready to take us to true peace. But we sinned. I must say "we," because we're all responsible. Jewish prayers are in the plural, "our G-d," never "my G-d." To get back to such a lofty level will be difficult. We must be proud of our military might, not embarrassed by it.
Only when we defeat our enemies will we know peace, true peace.
In 1967 we defeated our enemies in six days, six days like the Six Days of Creation. The True Shabbat was about to begin. Shabbat is considered by chazal, our sages, as a taste of Redemption. But the key was given to our enemies and we will have to fight again until we understand that victory is our goal. G-d willing. 
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2 Iyar 5768, 5/7/2008
We Remember
In some ways it seems like Memorial Day is superfluous. Even those of us lucky enough not to be "in the club" have trouble going a day without remembering at least one of those killed in army action or murdered by Arab terrorists. I thought I was the only one constantly reminded, but my neighbor, Rabbi Dov Berkovits, said something similar at the cemetery this morning.  It would be nice to have a day in which our minds were erased of pain and tragedy. Actually, that's what the Left would want. That's what Peres probably means when he says that we shouldn't be burdened or restricted by history.
Pain is a warning. It says: Watch out! Don't! This could damage something.
When we use pain killers, local anesthetics, it's like stuffing our ears from warnings. We can do serious damage to our bodies. We have a Memorial Day to remind us that we have enemies who want us destroyed, and they don't care how many of our neighbors, children, siblings, spouses etc they kill. They want us all dead. We must remember never to give into our fears and never forget that we must survive and strive for a great strong secure country. We must remember that we don't need anybody's approval. All we need is G-d, and G-d wants us here. And G-d wants us to fight for our Land and country. That's why we have Memorial Day. And as the sun sets on Memorial Day we thank G-d, say Hallel and celebrate Yom Ha'Atzmaut, Israel's Independence Day. 
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1 Iyar 5768, 5/6/2008
A Club I Don’t Want to Join
Tonight is Israel's Memorial Day, when we pay our respects to those who sacrificed everything so that we can live. In Shiloh we had an extremely moving ceremony. I'll blog about it at another time. My emotions are too raw right now. Here is something that suits my mood. I wrote the following a few years ago: Musings #13 May 22, 2003 A Club I Don’t Want to Join The other night I was at a beautiful, joyous wedding. The bride was one of the younger daughters of people I have known since my teens. When she smiled I went back almost forty years, when I first knew her mother. I knew quite a few people there, but not from our mutual past. These friends have something in common with the parents of the bride. They are all bereaved parents; one of their children was killed by Arab terrorists. They are all members of a club I don’t want to join. The parents of the bride are veteran members. She befriends other parents whose children are killed to help them rejoin and regain “normal life.” Everyone could see the joy she, her husband and parents get from her surviving children and grandchildren. The Arab terrorists murder and maim Jews. They cause great pain to the surviving family and friends, BUT THEY CANNOT DESTROY US. We are surviving, and we will always survive! We survived slavery in Egypt. We survived Haman in Persia. We survived the Greeks. We survived the Crusaders. We survived the Inquisition. We survived the Nazi Holocaust, and we will survived these murderers and all of their supporters. I have no doubts. Every generation has its challenges and its heroes. Batya Medad, Shiloh
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29 Nissan 5768, 5/4/2008
You Need A Sense of Humour
You really do, or you'll go nuts, or worse.
I invite you to send me more incongruous examples
Just now, I turned on the computer, went to the Arutz 7 English homepage and saw these two headlines. Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi in Auschwitz: 'We Have Learned Our Lesson'
Lt.-Gen. Ashkenazi, the son of a Holocaust survivor, is the first Chief of Staff to lead a delegation of IDF officers on the March of the Living. (complete article) Defense Minister Barak gives orders to remove three critical checkpoints in Judea and Samaria, allowing terrorists to travel unhindered. (complete article) - Do these politicians, and I have no doubt that the IDF Chief of Staff is no less a politician than any MK or Cabinet member, ever really coordinate things?
- Do they read their speeches or just recite pretty words?
- Do they look any further in the future than the immediate applause of our enemies? But applause is applause, right?
I invite you to send me more incongruous examples like the two I just posted, inconsistency, hypocrisy etc. Thanks and Keep Smiling, Just Don't Grind Your Teeth Too Much
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The Eye of the Storm
by Batya Medad
A Unique Perspective
by Batya Medad of Shiloh
Batya Medad made aliya to Israel in 1970 and is in Shiloh since 1981; she is a veteran jblogger. She's also an English Teacher, wife, mother, grandmother, photographer and HolyLand hitchhiker, always seeing things from her own very unique perspective. For more of Batya's writings and photos, check out: Shiloh Musings And: me-ander |
