Living History

I found the recent article in the NYTimes on what really happened on Chanukah to be quite amusing. The author (and his readers) was upset to learn that Chanukah isn't about Religious Tolerance or whatever as he grew up to believe, but about civil war and the survival of Judaism. He of course paints the Maccabees as a bunch of religious fanatics/Talibanist fighting the moderates who were looking to "synthesize" the Greek and Jewish cultures together, ignoring how (a) the moderates were trying to destroy Judaism and assimilate, and (b) that it is unlikely there would be much of Judaism (or Jews) left today if it weren't for our coreligionists back then.

It seemed appropriate on Chanukah that the JoeSettler family visit something connected to our ideological and national ancestors. There seems to be so much in common between then and now.

So we took a trip to the Maccabean grave site near Modi'in. Now no one is exactly sure where the grave site is, but for a number of reasons, this is currently accepted to be the most likely candidate (though other strongly disagree).



At the location is a modern "Andarta" to soldiers who died in 1948 defending the region against the Jordanian army (there weren't Arabs who could be identified as Palestinians back then). The design of the pyramids is symbolic of the grave markers that were originally on the Maccabbee graves.





If you head out on the path to highway 443 you can see Jewish burial caves that were uncovered as the road was built (you can actually see it on the highway if you drive slow enough). These graves are from around 100 years after the Maccabee victory.







Heading back to the main area, you can see what are considered the most likely candidates for the graves. These graves where carved out of the limestone themselves, and probably a stone pyramid was built over them to cover them up.





There are actually a lot of small caves in the area. Many (but not all) are marked off so you don't fall into them.



If you head over to Latrun tank museum and climb up to the top of the building you can look around and see where the Maccabees fought the Greek-Syrian armies.

Now that's a living history!



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Synthesizing Israel: Judaism, Democracy & the IDF

Israel's politicians repeat the following mantra over and over again till they're blue in the face: Israel is a Democracy and a Jewish State. Yet they also categorically state, Israel's democracy is our dearest and most important aspect of the country. Rarely will you hear a politician say that Israel's Jewish character is our dearest and most important.

This post comes on the coat tails of Defense Minister Ehud Barak's decision to disconnect the IDF from the Har Bracha Hesder Yeshiva. Hesder yeshivot combine the Jewish characteristic of the importance of studying Torah and Jewish Law, and the importance of being part of Israel's daily challenge of physical survival. The Rosh Yeshiva of the Har Bracha Yeshiva, R' Eliezer Melamed was at the focus of the storm, since his outright declaration that "Torah law outranks IDF commands" and that a soldier may not participate in the uprooting of Jews from their communities in Israel (alluding he destruction of settlement outposts, and more).

In response, Barak demanded a "hearing" with R' Melamed, who refused to show up, claiming that he would attend a meeting, but not a "hearing" under pressure. When R' Melamed refused to show up, the Defense Ministry ordered an immediate cease to funding to the Har Bracha Hesder Yeshiva, and that the Yeshiva no longer is considered within the "Hesder" framework.

Over 50% of this mornings radio news programming from 8 - 10 AM was about this issue -- including interviews with the brother of R' Eliezer Melamed, the Rosh Yeshiva of the affected

Sitting next to me on my ride to work this morning was a co-worker, and I asked his opinion about the Har Bracha Hesder Yeshiva issue. My friend is a reservist combat officer, who happens to also be a religious settler. He's far less dramatic than JoeSettler's comments...and he said very clearly that the vast majority of the IDF's religious soldiers will continue to serve. We got into an interesting discussion about the Har Bracha yeshiva, and the "Chardal" movement -- Har Bracha is not representative of the Hesder yeshiva movement, and is on the far right. Is Har Bracha's disconnection from the IDF really what R' Melamed wanted? Instead of outright saying, "Soldiers need to disobey orders about removing settlements", he should have said, "keep the IDF out of political issues."

I wanted to add 3 thoughts:

1. Ehud Barak does everything due to politics. He will get plenty of brownie points within the Labor party for "sticking it" to the settlers and Hesder yeshivot. As with Ariel Sharon, he would rather forcefully drag the IDF into politics to prove he's a leader, rather than finding a solution which would be better for Israel's unity and future.

2. The same way the IDF has disconnected itself from Har Bracha's yeshiva, I would demand that the IDF stops funding for all atuda students/soldiers and career soldiers studying for degrees at colleges and universities that spout anti-IDF dogma; including Hebrew University, Tel-Aviv University, Haifa University, and Ben Gurion University. While Har Bracha encourages (overall), IDF combat service and only talks about disobeying orders when it comes to "uprooting settlements", the the anti-IDF rhetoric at the Universities discourages any participation in the IDF whatsoever.

3. This is a thorny issue that should have been dealt with with much more sensitivity and creativity, from R' Melamed to Ehud Barak.

Oh, here's an interesting update. R' Ovadiya Yosef has announced that anyone who uses Israel's secular courts instead of going to religious ones, can not be counted for a minyan. (Posted in this past Shabbat's parsha flier, מצב הרוח כ"ד כסליו תש"ע)

Of course, R' Ovadya's Shas yeshivot will continue to get money from the government, while Har Bracha will not.



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Updates and responses to Barak's removal of Yeshiva Har Bracha from the Hesder program can be found at this JoeSettler post.

In the meantime, more than 60 active combat reservists, including officers and commanders have already signed a letter that if Yeshiva Har Bracha is out, then so are they.

In their letter to General Ashkenazi and Ehud Barach they write (rough translation):

Many of us have fought in Lebanon and Gaza fulfilling every mission – even if it meant giving our lives.

We learned this fighting spirit from our Rabbis, and from our Hesder Yeshivas we absorbed the message to fight and give our all.

But if the Hesder Yeshivas are kicked out then the message we receive is that the army doesn’t want us either and is forcing us out.

It is because of our Yeshiva education that we did our army service and do our reserve duty. But if the army is kicking our Yeshivas out, then it is with a heavy heart that we must complete the job for the army.

And if there is war, unfortunately we won’t be able to see ourselves on the frontlines in the army that pushed us out.

This is just the beginning. Who is going to be left to fight Barak's upcoming wars with Gaza and Lebanon?

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Sufganiyot to Drool Over

Just looking at this makes me hungry.


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Can you trust this poll?

Last summer an independent poll was commissioned and it was found that only around 4% of Israelis believed that Obama was pro-Israel, whereas 51% considered him pro-Palestinian.

Obama was reportedly upset by his low ratings.

A new poll came out yesterday, with very different results. In that poll, 40% of Israelis view Obama positively, while only 39% view him negatively.

(Among US Jews 36% said he supports Israel while 60% who say he doesn't.)

The obvious question here is, "Why did so many so many Israeli Jews suddenly change their opinion?"

But the real question to ask is, "Did they really did change their position?"


According to the Jerusalem Post:

pollster Jim Gerstein, who conducted the survey on behalf of the progressive New America Foundation think tank, said that the numbers indicate that Obama has much higher approval ratings among the Israeli public than is generally believed.

What the Jerusalem Post forgot to mention is that pollster Jim Gerstein is a founding director (and Vice President) of JStreet as well as a board member of American Friends for Peace Now.

It's not really the JP's fault, as for the longest time, the JStreet site didn't mention these less than causal connections either.

And it probably wouldn't have if an intrepid investigative reporter hadn't exposed it.

JStreet used Gerstein's company for all their polls, yet at that time Commentary Magazine had to dig down all the way to JStreet's IRS 990 form to find the hidden connections between Gerstein and JStreet.



Since being exposed, JStreet added a disclaimer to their Website:

Myth:
J Street's polling is compromised by the fact that its pollster Jim Gerstein serves on its Board of Directors (JoeSettler: and on the board of other radical Left organizations).

Fact:
J Street publicly releases the survey methodology, composition of the sample, and the full question wording for our polls of American Jews. This full disclosure and transparency reflects J Street's commitment to opening up its research to professional scrutiny and is unparalleled among other organizations conducting public opinion research of American Jews.

Some who disagree with J Street's views choose to attack the credibility of our pollster, rather than debate the merits of our opinions. But the fact that Jim Gerstein is a founding member of J Street's Board of Directors doesn't change the views of Jewish Americans on Israel....
[Gerstein] lived in Israel in the late 1990s, where he was a member of Ehud Barak's polling and communications team, and he currently serves as Vice President of the board of the American Friends of the Yitzhak Rabin Center and on the board of Americans for Peace Now.

Unfortunately that statement/clarification certainly doesn't help their case when it comes to Israel, as because as Commentary Magazine pointed out,

So J Street not only commissions polls—it writes the questions, conducts them, analyzes the results, and then carries out promotional campaigns with the findings. If you were wondering how it was possible that J Street could repeatedly produce “polling data” that almost perfectly complements the group’s political agenda, now we have one important clue.

And it appears that Commentary Magazine wasn't even aware of the time of Gerstein's affiliations with other radical Leftwing organizations.

Does this mean that all polls about Israel and Jewish viewpoints by Jim Gerstein are tainted?

I leave that for you to decide, but I certainly think so.


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How Settlers Deal with The Building Freeze Inspectors

hat-tip; ER

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Don't Waffle With Customer Service

In an earlier post Jameel wrote about the poor customer service he received at a restaurant. The post generated quite a response. It merits its own response, a trip back to another post titled Caveat Emptor - Justice for Jameel, and some Waffles.

Read the post and you'll see that poor customer service led to the creation of a brand new career for our friend Jameel. Had the other party in the story upheld their responsibility we might never have had the opportunity to experience the waffle master's exceptional waffle making talent.

One moment in time led to the creation of a whole new industry. Joe Settler did a fine job of covering that in this post. Just a few years later I am pleased to say that we are on the verge of going world wide. We might even choose to begin with a certain establishment in London, who knows.

And lest you think I am pulling your leg don't forget that Jblog superstars such as Treppenwitz have enjoyed the benefits of a fine waffle breakfast.

I have to run now, Jameel has called me on the waffle hotline, but before I go let me remind you that Mondays are for waffles.


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Lets help Peace Now!

Despite the explicit statement from the government that existing construction can continue in Yehuda and Shomron, the peace-lovin' organization, Shalom Achshav has decided that the government's edict isn't enough.

They are advertising for people who "see illegal construction" going on, to immediately call the special "illegal construction peace hotline" so they can transfer all the information to Ehud Barak's "inspectors."

See the following email which explains it all.

Shalom,

Peace Now (Shalom Achshav) had a press meeting yesterday where they advertised a phone number so that anyone seeing any illegal building in Yehuda and Shomrom can call and report it. We would like to fill up the voice mail to this number with as many phone calls as possible by leaving long messages which report illegal building the nearby Palestinian villages.

Whoever can please record the message and forward this message to as many people as possible. The phone number to leave messages is 1-700-701-967

Good Luck!

Secretariat – Yishuv Neriya

Note, in order that you do not receive a call back, dial *43 before dialing the above number. When you hear a new dial tone dial the above number. This will prevent the voice mail from identifying the caller – in the event and you don't want to be identified by Shalom Achshav.

hat-tip: FC

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Decoupling Iran and the Palestinians

In a fascinating article in the WSJ, entitled "Iran's Democratic Moment", we see a clear trend of protesters starting to demand an "Iranian Republic" not an "Islamic Republic."

The most interesting part of the article wasn't so much that the movement wants an Iranian Republic, but that they are clearly decoupling anti-Israel rhetoric and support for Palestinians from Iranian independence.

On Jerusalem Day, Sept. 18, officially intended to express anti-Semitism, the opposition showed that Iranians have no hostility toward Jews or Israel. One popular slogan was "Neither Hamas nor Hezbollah! I give my life for Iran!" Another was "Forget about Palestine! Think about our Iran!"

Most significantly, the movement that started as a protest against the alleged rigging of the election that gave a second term to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has been evolving. The crowds' initial slogan was "Where Is My Vote?" and the movement's accidental leaders, including former Prime Minister Mir Hossein Mousavi, tried hard to keep the protest confined to demands such as a recount of the votes and, ultimately, a runoff in accordance with the law.

The slogans of the protestors are no longer about election fraud. Today they include "Death to the Dictator," "Freedom Now," and "Iranian Republic, Not Islamic Republic!" One slogan is a direct message to President Barack Obama: "Obama, Are You With Us or With Them?"

It is crucial for the USA to reject Iranian opposition leaders to the current regimes as possible options. The Iranian protesters for democracy do not view them as viable alternatives.

In short, the protestors no longer regard the present regime as the legitimate government of the country.

Both Mr. Mousavi and Ayatollah Mahdi Karroubi, another defeated presidential candidate, tried to prevent attacks on the "Supreme Guide" Ayatollah Ali Khamenei in the hope of eventually making a deal with him. As part of such a deal, they promised to defend the Islamic Republic's nuclear program, according to sources close to the opposition. The crowds have rejected that by shouting: "Abandon uranium enrichment! Do something about the poor!"

They clearly reject Iran's nuclear program, which is good for Israel.

President Obama should be supporting the protest movement, though the US has a poor record on such support, if one uses Tiananmen Square protests as a litmus test of what to expect.

Even more important -- President Obama should realize that linkage of the Palestinian issue with Iran's nuclear program doesn't serve anyone's interest, except that of Ahmadinejad.

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