My mental illness allows me one moment of lucidity a day. As I arise from the dark coffin of my sleep, I see things clearly and I shudder. I see, for example, that Ariel Sharon is responsible for the intifada. Not for going on the Temple Mount. Every Jew should be allowed. No. But for selling out and giving them the moral high ground. By forbidding other Jews from going on the Temple Mount, he broadcasted guilt over doing it and, post facto, projected to the entire world that not only was he wrong from going there, but no Jew has the right to go to their holiest of places.
When the Palestinian Authority destroyed the Tomb of Joseph, in violation of the Oslo Accords, rather than declaring officially that Oslo will be enforced, and that under the provisions of Oslo, the PA election to employ violence renders Oslo retroactively void, he continues to forbid Jews access to their holy places. Rather than refusing access to the Temple Mount and to Joseph's Tomb, he should provide access to the Tomb of Shimon, son of Joseph, the tomb of Yehosua bin Nun, the tomb of Elisha, etc., all in Arab villages located in contrived Areas A and B. Could it be that he really doesn't care?
Now, the world press is obsessed with the shuttle mishap. The Israeli and the Jewish press are in collective mourning over the death of one Jew. In contrast, there is a subtle contrasting message that the murder of 1,000 Jews during this intifada is ?justified? by Sharon's backpedaling and by his insistence in now creating a Palestinian country.
We learn never to judge someone until you are in his place; nevertheless, as my life and the lives of my children are on the line, the imminent danger warrants challenging the ruling powers.
Sharon has sold out. By rushing to give today's Nazis a country, in violation of the mandate of the electorate, especially those that voted for the Likud, which is officially against the creation of a Palestinian state, he has crossed the line.
I do not know what brought down this once proud bull that I voted for, that I like and respect. Was it the ten billion dollar pseudo-bribe that Israel will get, like we got the 500 million dollars promised for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon? Was it the price for American action against Iraq?
I cannot judge him, but I beg the Likud leadership to replace him, before it is too late. Replace him, not with Benyamin Netanyahu, who also sold out, but with a fresh face that at least says that they will do the right thing.
The Holocaust, as well as two thousand years of conditioning in expulsions, Inquisitions, Crusades, pogroms, riots, and racial edicts, conditioned us to tread lightly and not elicit the gentiles' wrath. Because of this conditioning, we still don't get it. If we don't respect ourselves, no one will respect us. If we don't take the moral imperative of fulfilling the millennia old dreams and aspirations of returning to Israel, an Israel that contains all of the land delineated in the Bible, who will? Christians who want the Jews to return to Israel so that almost all Jews can be killed before the ?Second Coming?? The Moslems, who can't wait for their version of Armageddon, wherein the Jews return to Israel and trigger a war in which most Jews are killed?
No. We have to stand up and scream that we have every right to be here. We do not define morality. Hashem defines morality, and He declared this truth in numerous Biblical passages.
Jews, come home. Buy or build a house in Israel and then go back to your lives in your second home abroad. Aliya is not for everybody, but every Jew in the world can afford a house in Israel. It's yours. It's holy. It's free. Once the majority of the world?s Jews have a residence in Israel, the Sanhedrin can be established and Israel can actually increase its level of holiness.
Jew, be proud. Stop being ashamed. Counter the thousands of years of aversive conditioning that put you in the spotlight as the Wandering Jew, whose suffering is needed to validate other religions.
Jew, trust G-d. He promised you this land as an everlasting inheritance and your being here is the fulfillment of His prophesies. He defines what is right and what is wrong. It is right for Jews to "occupy" the West Bank. It is a divine, moral imperative. If the world?s gentiles don't like it, let them take it up with the Creator. I am sure that there is a special place in Hell for those that attack this Biblical mandate.
Jew. Expiate your guilt by declaring that Israel is immoral in occupying areas that are not really Israel, such as the Negev, while foreign Arab governments are immoral in occupying parts of Israel. Parts of Southern Lebanon and parts of Syria are Biblical Israel. As He orchestrates history, and we are His mere puppets, events will transpire that will force us to reclaim this territory so that a united Biblical Israel will be "occupied" by "Jewish settlers", in fulfillment of numerous Biblical prophesies.
But then again, everyone thinks that I am an insane dreamer. Let me tell you a secret.
I am.
I am a Jew.
--------------------------------------------------------
Shmuel Neumann, Ph.D., is actively involved in creating communities for English-speaking olim, and in an emigration program for Palestinians. He currently resides in the Shomron.
When the Palestinian Authority destroyed the Tomb of Joseph, in violation of the Oslo Accords, rather than declaring officially that Oslo will be enforced, and that under the provisions of Oslo, the PA election to employ violence renders Oslo retroactively void, he continues to forbid Jews access to their holy places. Rather than refusing access to the Temple Mount and to Joseph's Tomb, he should provide access to the Tomb of Shimon, son of Joseph, the tomb of Yehosua bin Nun, the tomb of Elisha, etc., all in Arab villages located in contrived Areas A and B. Could it be that he really doesn't care?
Now, the world press is obsessed with the shuttle mishap. The Israeli and the Jewish press are in collective mourning over the death of one Jew. In contrast, there is a subtle contrasting message that the murder of 1,000 Jews during this intifada is ?justified? by Sharon's backpedaling and by his insistence in now creating a Palestinian country.
We learn never to judge someone until you are in his place; nevertheless, as my life and the lives of my children are on the line, the imminent danger warrants challenging the ruling powers.
Sharon has sold out. By rushing to give today's Nazis a country, in violation of the mandate of the electorate, especially those that voted for the Likud, which is officially against the creation of a Palestinian state, he has crossed the line.
I do not know what brought down this once proud bull that I voted for, that I like and respect. Was it the ten billion dollar pseudo-bribe that Israel will get, like we got the 500 million dollars promised for Israeli withdrawal from Lebanon? Was it the price for American action against Iraq?
I cannot judge him, but I beg the Likud leadership to replace him, before it is too late. Replace him, not with Benyamin Netanyahu, who also sold out, but with a fresh face that at least says that they will do the right thing.
The Holocaust, as well as two thousand years of conditioning in expulsions, Inquisitions, Crusades, pogroms, riots, and racial edicts, conditioned us to tread lightly and not elicit the gentiles' wrath. Because of this conditioning, we still don't get it. If we don't respect ourselves, no one will respect us. If we don't take the moral imperative of fulfilling the millennia old dreams and aspirations of returning to Israel, an Israel that contains all of the land delineated in the Bible, who will? Christians who want the Jews to return to Israel so that almost all Jews can be killed before the ?Second Coming?? The Moslems, who can't wait for their version of Armageddon, wherein the Jews return to Israel and trigger a war in which most Jews are killed?
No. We have to stand up and scream that we have every right to be here. We do not define morality. Hashem defines morality, and He declared this truth in numerous Biblical passages.
Jews, come home. Buy or build a house in Israel and then go back to your lives in your second home abroad. Aliya is not for everybody, but every Jew in the world can afford a house in Israel. It's yours. It's holy. It's free. Once the majority of the world?s Jews have a residence in Israel, the Sanhedrin can be established and Israel can actually increase its level of holiness.
Jew, be proud. Stop being ashamed. Counter the thousands of years of aversive conditioning that put you in the spotlight as the Wandering Jew, whose suffering is needed to validate other religions.
Jew, trust G-d. He promised you this land as an everlasting inheritance and your being here is the fulfillment of His prophesies. He defines what is right and what is wrong. It is right for Jews to "occupy" the West Bank. It is a divine, moral imperative. If the world?s gentiles don't like it, let them take it up with the Creator. I am sure that there is a special place in Hell for those that attack this Biblical mandate.
Jew. Expiate your guilt by declaring that Israel is immoral in occupying areas that are not really Israel, such as the Negev, while foreign Arab governments are immoral in occupying parts of Israel. Parts of Southern Lebanon and parts of Syria are Biblical Israel. As He orchestrates history, and we are His mere puppets, events will transpire that will force us to reclaim this territory so that a united Biblical Israel will be "occupied" by "Jewish settlers", in fulfillment of numerous Biblical prophesies.
But then again, everyone thinks that I am an insane dreamer. Let me tell you a secret.
I am.
I am a Jew.
--------------------------------------------------------
Shmuel Neumann, Ph.D., is actively involved in creating communities for English-speaking olim, and in an emigration program for Palestinians. He currently resides in the Shomron.