Rabbi Metzger Doesn't Represent Me

We don't think we can say it in any simpler words than this, "Rabbi Yona Metzger's statements do not represent me."

At the Hurva ceremony he made the following statement in an attempt to warn/appease/calm the Arabs:

"We don't have any plans to go up to Har Habayit. We aren't planning to build the Beit Hamikdash."

I don't think we can emphasize enough how much we disagree with him on this matter. And how shocked we were to hear him say it.

We, as practicing Jews, as Jews who this Rosh Chodesh (which is in fact right now) will be saying in our Mussaf prayer מזבח חדש בציון תכין (Establish a new altar in Zion) and ובעבודת בית המקדש נשמח כלנו (And with the Temple services we will all rejoice).

It's clear that 2000 years of exile have caused irreparable damage if a Chief Rabbi of Israel can disassociate himself from the Temple, the Temple Mount, and aspirations to go up to Har Habayit and to rebuild the Temple.

Picture by Koby Aharati (we think)

Rabbi Metzger follows up and says "God's Temple will be established by Your hands".

Clearly he subscribes to the opinion that the Third Temple will only come about through an overt miracle from God. And that's fine.

But as he tells the Arabs to calm down, is he too embarrassed to tell the Arabs where exactly God will establish this Third Temple?

Or perhaps where is not important, because he seems to strongly imply that God won't be establishing the Temple any time soon anyway, so there is no cause for their alarm.

It's our theory that God is certainly not going to give us something as important as the Third Temple (neither to let us build it or to drop it down from the sky), if we haven't internalized, and won't verbalize, how much we actually want and need Bayit Shlishi - now.

We want to go up to Har Habayit. We want the Third Temple established there as soon as possible. This is what we pray for in all our established prayers. This is certainly part of what kept us going through 2000 years of exile. We Jews need it. The world needs it.

We can only hope that this post is at least a partial Tikkun for what was said today.

The dedication ceremony can be seen in totality here in the first video. Rabbi Metzger's comments can be heard in the second video at the very end of his speech (which is at the end of the video).

(Another joint Joe-Jameel post).

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Can you offer an explanation?

Jameel and I aren't into conspiracy theories, so when something unusual like this comes along, we end up scratching our heads looking for explanations that make sense without the conspiracy. But we gave up, and want to hear what you think.

On August 4th 2005, Jewish Terrorist Eden Natan-Zada got on a bus, traveled to the Israeli-Arab town of Shfar'am and opened fire. Natan-Zada was captured by police and handcuffed inside the bus. Arab rioters then scared off the police, stormed the bus, and proceeded to lynch the already captured and immobilized Natan-Zada.

Here is where the story gets weird.

Ha'aretz is reporting that the Natan-Zada defense lawyer uncovered videos from a UAV and helicopter that indicates something very strange.

The UAVs were following the bus Natan-Zada was on - before the attack even happened.

The police have made a point of stating that they did not have any UAVs at the time and the aerial videos are not from them, meaning these belonged to one of the Intelligence services.

The lawyer is claiming that the video indicates that Intelligence forces had very specific information ahead of the attack and were tracking Natan-Zada that day - from the start.

The prosecution is now trying to prove that the videos were taken after the events of the day - because otherwise it means people in the Intelligence service knew something bad was about to happen. (And that implies more than just champagne).

Anyone care to comment?

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Finally. A Scientific Explanation of the Singles Problem

Srugim, the hit TV show in Israel about religious singles in Jerusalem prompted me to think about the singles issue. Some call it a crisis, some call it a problem. Regardless of what you call it, there are more and more older singles out there.

Pop quiz: Are there more single men or women out there?

Every person whom I've asked this question has the same answer: There are lots more single women out there, than men.

Every singles shabbaton we've helped host, has always seen lots more men than women. My wife almost wouldn't let me come home till I registered some single men for one shabbaton (friends from work), which was hosted in our community -- since the shabbaton was almost hopelessly lopsided by an abundance of single women, and a dearth of single men.

Luckily for me, I begged a friend to come to the shabbaton, and he ended up getting married to someone he met there, and I was able to come back home...

Unsatisfactory answers I've heard to explain this phenomena are:

In Israel, men die in the army, so there are more women than men.
I don't believe that so many men are dying in combat/training on an annual basis as to actually impact the religious singles scene.

In Israel, more men die in car accidents than women.
I don't know if that's true, and even if it were, I doubt its statistically relevant enough on an annual basis to actually impact the religious singles scene.

So what's the root cause?

Religious men typically marry women younger than them -- even a few years younger.

Due to natural growth, there are more children born each year than the previous one.

As an example (not using real numbers, this is only to explain the point).

Children Born 1985 -- 1000; 500 boys, 500 girls
Children Born 1986 -- 1010; 505 boys, 505 girls
Children Born 1987 -- 1020; 510 boys, 510 girls
Children Born 1988 -- 1030; 515 boys, 515 girls
Children Born 1989 -- 1040; 520 boys, 520 girls

Therefore, assuming men marry women who are 3 years younger than them, in the year 2008, the 500 men that are 23 years old have a pool of 515 women to marry who are aged 20.

The following year, 505 men aged 23 will have a pool of 520 girls who are aged 20.

Over time, as men continue to marry women younger than them, and there is a natural growth increase in children, there will be more and more women without anyone to marry.

Without anyone to marry?

A possible solution could be;

As a society, we need to encourage women to also marry men their own age, or even men younger than them.

We shouldn't wait till singles are already late in their 30s, 40s or 50s...rather we should already encourage women in the 20s to consider marrying men their own age or younger.

Otherwise, the current situation will continue to grow and grow.

Thoughts?

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Not too little, but far too late

The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center (Malam) is a very interesting organization. It’s a think-tank/NGO formed by former members of the Israeli intelligence community. There’s a tremendous amount of interesting information on their website on terror activities by the Palestinians, Islamists, and other haters of Israel.

They recently released their detailed response to the Goldstone report.

This response was put together with the assistance of various IDF units.

Probably the most powerful aspects of the reports are the pictures and videos showing Hamas soldiers repeatedly using children as human shields and showing how the Palestinians used schools, mosques, and hospitals as military centers (and human shields).

The problem with the document is that as powerful as it is, and incredible a job it does at Fisking Goldstone and the Left – it’s coming out far too late.

There’s no way this document could have been assembled without the IDF’s assistance, the declassified videos and photos, the captured documentation, and soldier’s testimonies.

And that’s where the problem lies.

The IDF/Government waited too long to assist in putting together this response.

The IDF talks about real-time reporting and embedding of the media, and they had interesting updates during the war, but all this stuff should have been made available immediately to “Malam”.

This report should have been released the day before Goldstone – so that when the Goldstone report, with its anticipated bias and false information was released, the truth would have already been known.

As a result, this document is reactive – not proactive. That’s the mistake.

“Malam” did an amazing job putting this report together – and they can only be commended for the job they did.

But operationally, the IDF failed to anticipate and respond to these attacks on time, ahead of time – and hence, lost this propaganda battle against Israel.



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The IRS, FBAR and you.

Its only hours to go before the ides of March, yet the IRS decided it was fed up with one of those pesky US citizens who tried to cheat the system.

Arriving at Harv's Metro Car Wash in midtown [Sacramento] Wednesday afternoon were two dark-suited IRS agents demanding payment of delinquent taxes. "They were deadly serious, very aggressive, very condescending," says Harv's owner, Aaron Zeff.

The really odd part of this: The letter that was hand-delivered to Zeff's on-site manager showed the amount of money owed to the feds was ... 4 cents.

Inexplicably, penalties and taxes accruing on the debt – stemming from the 2006 tax year – were listed as $202.31, leaving Harv's with an obligation of $202.35. (Sacramento Bee)

The FBAR filing deadline for tax year 2009 is June 30, 2010. Most tax attorneys interpret this to mean that the FBAR must arrive at the Treasury by June 30th, not simply be postmarked by then.

And if you think the IRS doesn't care -- why would they bother going after someone for a three year old debt of 4 cents?

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Its so much more fun to criticize Israel

This past year marks a rather difficult one for Israel, as we've been criticized for just about everything. When we defend ourselves for being shelled by Gaza - Goldstone pounds away.

When housing plans have passed a municipal planning milestone in Jerusalem, Obama's furious, Hillary Clinton burns off Netanyahu's ear, and our ambassador to the US, Michael Oren gets called in for a tongue-lashing.

Rumor has it that Obama has barred US Administration officials from attending any Pesach Seder this coming year because of the "unhelpful" and "counterproductive" text of the Hagadda, "This coming year in a rebuilt Jerusalem"

Its so much more fun and easy for the world to criticize Israel, than to publicly criticize the Palestinians.

Why say anything about this?

March 11, 1978 is the date of the worst terror attack in Israel's history, when 37 people were murdered in a bus hijacking known as the "Coastal Road Massacre". Palestinian Authority TV opened its broadcasting last week on the 32nd anniversary of the terror attack praising it as:

"A glorious chapter in the history of the Palestinian people... [near Tel Aviv] in the heart of the occupation state. The operation shocked the occupation entity."

PA TV's praise of the attack was part of the introduction to an interview with Rashida Mughrabi, sister of terrorist Dalal Mughrabi who commanded the attack. She also praised the attack and called for further terror against Israel, who she referred to as "the Zionist enemy":

"This is a day of glory and pride for our Palestinian people and a blow to the Zionists... we must unite, and our rifles must unite, against the enemy who steals our land."

Or howabout the Jerusalem Post's latest scoop?

PA takes whistle-blower’s Jericho house

Fahmi Shabaneh exposed scandals that have seriously embarrassed PA leadership.

Palestinian Authority security personnel over the weekend seized a house belonging to Fahmi Shabaneh, the former Palestinian intelligence official who exposed a series of scandals that have seriously embarrassed the PA leadership.

Shabaneh told The Jerusalem Post that the security forces raided his house in Jericho, destroyed furniture, knocked down walls and confiscated equipment and personal items.

Its so much more fun for the US Administration to publicly humiliate Israel for such atrocities as defending themselves or building in their capital city.

Challenge the Palestinian Authority on serious issues? What fun is there in that.


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JoeSettler’s Guide for a Safe Financial Aliyah

One of the things no one is going to tell you when you make Aliyah is how to keep your money safe. And what I am about to tell you may be the best pieces of financial advise you will get.

As most people quickly realize, rules and contracts can be quite flexible in Israel (and not in your favor). Anyone who has a cellphone plan tends to learn that within 6 months of signing up and having their plan changed on them.

But what is more worrisome is when can happen with your bank or credit card.

The MOST DANGEROUS document you can sign in Israel is the Hora’at Keva (Direct Withdrawal Order).

Many companies and organizations request that you sign a Hora’at Keva document if you want to sign a contract/subscription with them. This may be a phone company, the Iriya/Moetza, a gas company, a car leasing company, or even a donation to a cause.

This document lets them withdraw their payment directly from your bank account.

They’ll tell you that it is easier. They’ll tell you that they require it. They'll tell you it's safer.

DON’T DO IT.

I can’t emphasize this enough (and I speak from multiple experiences).

Besides that you should always check what you need to pay someone before you pay it, there are serious ramifications to this document.

This document grants these organization full access to withdraw however much they want from your account. I mean it.

The banks generally do not check to see if there is a limit in place (if the specific order even mentioned a ceiling) – and it can be an innocent mistake, or it can be on purpose, but once you sign this document, I will guarantee that at some point some organization will pull out more than they should (or more than you think they should) - much more.

And depending on the organization, getting your money back may be difficult if not impossible.

The problem also extends to credit cards. Once an organization has your credit card, many of them keep it on file. Some of them have been known to decide on their own to extend your subscription, your donation or even to buy you a gift.

Some credit card companies are more responsive than others when this happens, but I have yet to hear of them penalizing the seller for these criminal actions.

So what are your options?

Sometimes you have to have a Hora’at Keva. And far too often you need a credit card (and did you notice that the banks don’t offer debit cards – as far as I know).

I recommend you open an account at the Post Office Bank – perhaps even two (one under your name, the other, your spouses). If you must do a Hora’at Keva, link it from there, and only put in enough each month to cover the withdrawals you expect that month.

This way you can put a ceiling on how much money someone can steal in any given month from your account. Splitting it between 2 accounts drops that ceiling even lower.

As for the credit card, my experience has been that you can (probably) trust in the credit card company to deal with it at their own pace, once you fax them your detailed complaint and make some followup calls, or you can go back to the Post Office and buy prepaid credit cards from them.

The Post Office Prepaid Credit Cards are much closer to debit cards. You fill them up (once) and that’s all there is in them.

They don't offer any protection, and they don't work everywhere and have other limitations, but if you want to do a one time deal with a company and are concerned they may charge you again in a few months time, this may be the way to go.

All this is a little extra work, but if it saves you a few thousand shekels in fraudulently withdrawn money, it’s worth it.



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New Gadget for Pesach: The Lateral Recliner!

Just what you need for your seder....the "lateral recliner."



At first I thought this was a joke...apparently, it isn't! (Heck, if the personal mechitzas are real, nothing can surprising me anymore)

hat-tip: The REAL rightwinger (not JoeSettler)

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Dubai Squad Theme Continues

Riding on the coat tails of the alleged Mossad involvement of the Dubai Hit Squad, the "Chatzi Chinam" supermarket chain is about to run TV commercials based on the infamous "hit squad" characters shopping in "Chatzi Chinam" -- including footage from security cameras (I don't know if it includes a cameo appearance by the Chief of Dubai Police).

The ads should be running soon advertising Pesach sales. I'll post it's video when it comes out.


Meanwhile, in related news, here's a decent short video clip (2:45) from Laatma from this past Purim's edition. Sorry, no English captions, but it is captioned in Hebrew...



hat-tip: ynet via Doubletapper



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