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Adar Bet 10, 5768, 3/17/2008
Dumb Dome and Bibi's Tail
Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was surprised to learn last Sunday that the Iron Dome defense system, which was approved last year and was supposed to protect Israel's citizens against Qassam rockets, is not capable of alleviating the distress of Sderot inhabitants.
 Not that long ago, I mocked and satirized the two Ehuds, Olmert and Barak's trust in some dumb dome to protect Sderot. I don't know if they read those articles, but they've been running expensive tests which prove that I'm right. Prime Minister Ehud Olmert was surprised to learn last Sunday that the Iron Dome defense system, which was approved last year and was supposed to protect Israel's citizens against Qassam rockets, is not capable of alleviating the distress of Sderot inhabitants. "Recent tests found the system to be effective against rockets fired from more than four kilometers away, but not against those fired from closer range," Haaretz noted that same day in its lead story. Because Sderot is less than two kilometers from Beit Hanun, from which the rockets are being fired, Iron Dome will be helpless against them. (complete article here) Next IAF chief: IDF's entry into Gaza will stop rocket manufacture Nehushtan: IDF must have control on ground; Barak reviewing substitutes for Iron Dome to counter Qassams. (Click title for complete article.) The government would save a lot of money if they just listened to me. I don't get paid for all my blogging, though I wouldn't mind being paid by some publication. How dumb can all these politicians and "experts" really be? They endanger us with their plans. What really is behind them?  In the meantime, it looks like elections are getting closer, since the media is after Bibi. Honestly, I don't see him as a great improvement. That's because he's out to be "centrist." For me, that's falling between the cracks. By trying to be for everyone, he's selling out. We need a strong leader, not a cat chasing its tail.
A true leader leads, doesn't look for a popular niche in the "middle."
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Adar Bet 7, 5768, 3/14/2008
Davka, The Most Religiously Observant Should Be Serving
These thoughts came to me after reading Daniel Pinner's Zachor: Remember Forever. There's no talkback on the Torah articles on Arutz 7, so I'd appreciate if someone would bring this post to the author's attention. Thank you. "And Moshe said to Joshua: ‘Choose men for us who are brave, strong in mitzvot, and victorious in war;" Torah reading for Purim morning, Exodus 17:8-17; this year being Purim meshulash, in Jerusalem it is the Maftir reading for Shabbat, the 15th of Adar II. The negative reactions to what I wrote here about the Christian origin of deferring rabbinic students from the IDF, Israel Defense Force, have surprised me. According to Jewish Law and Biblical history, war is a mitzvah, a religious commandment. It's not a way to give legitimacy to people's violent tendencies. During the 1973, Yom Kippur War, my husband had a job in Sha'are Tzedek Hospital. Because of the war, he had to be there on Shabbat and Holidays. The rabbi of the hospital said that only religious workers could take Shabbat and Holiday shifts. That was because they had to do it as a Mitzvah, not because it didn't bother them to work on Shabbat or holidays. Defending our People and our Land is a mitzvah, too. That's why religious and also chareidi Jews must serve in the IDF. There actually has been in increase, even in such elite units as the Air Force. The more Torah observant Jews serving, the more Jewish the IDF will become. Granted, the transition won't be easy, since there are those who oppose such change. But we mustn't fear their opposition.
Contrary to the old Jewish Agency slogan,
Life in Israel is a rose garden. Just beware of the thorns. 
Shabbat Shalom U'Mevorach! May You Have A Peaceful and Blessed Shabbat!
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Adar Bet 6, 5768, 3/13/2008
"Questionable" Picture in The Jerusalem Post, Again
The Jerusalem Post is Using That Picture Again The Jerusalem Post loves this picture, which it claims is of Ofra, just south of Shiloh. It appeared on the Jerusalem Post website this morning. I can't see this view of it from anyplace near Ofra. Either it isn't Ofra, or the picture was doctored. I've written about it before and never got an answer from the JPost. 
Here's the caption that appeared under it, in the internet edition of the paper, last June: "The settlement of Ofra with the outskirts of Ramallah in the background. Photo: Ariel Jerozolimski" We've contacted people from Ofra who can't figure out where such a picture could have been taken. And Ofra is not next to Ramallah! You can't see Ofra from Ramallah, nor Ramallah from Ofra.
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The Eye of the Storm
by Batya Medad
A Unique Perspective
by Batya Medad of Shiloh
Batya Medad made aliya from New York to Israel in 1970 and has been living in Shiloh since 1981. Recently she began organizing women's visits to Tel Shiloh for Psalms and prayers. (For more information, please email her.) Batya is a veteran jblogger and recently stopped EFL teaching. She's also a 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 |
