Unstoppable Fear Meets Immovable Humiliation

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "Unstoppable Fear Meets Immovable Humiliation."

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict is really about fear vs. humiliation. The Jews are fearful of the Palestinians and the Palestinians feel humiliated by the Jews. The Jewish people collectively suffer post-traumatic stress and anxiety disorders after millennia of persecution culminating in the Holocaust and multiple Wars in Israel against far greater Arab forces. Further, this has been perpetuated by decades of terrorism and Intifadas that have left the Jews feeling vulnerable in their own land of Israel. The net effect of this Jewish history and of being surrounded by hundreds of millions of Arabs, many resentful and angry, is that Jews are naturally afraid. At the same time, the Palestinians, as part of the greater Arabs, feel humiliated after the fall of the Ottoman Empire and the carving up of their lands by the West and the colonialism and occupation that followed by Britain and France. More recently, the Palestinians feel humiliated by the founding of the State of Israel amidst the multitude of Arab lands of the Middle of East, as well as by the barrier wall and regular checkpoints that protects Israel from terrorist intruders, by the West Bank settlements (and actually by Jews anywhere in Israel), and by general Israeli military control over the territories.

There is hope that in time and with G-d's help, the opposing forces of fear and humiliation will weaken and thereby become less oppositional. At that miraculous time, please G-d in the near future, the factors that prior resulted in a cosmic explosion of war, terror, Jihad, and Intifada will dissipate. Then instead of suicide bombers and terror tunnels and walls and checkpoints, we can have hope for the arrival of a beautiful white dove with an olive branch of peace that knows no bitter boundaries of Jew or Palestinian anymore.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Unstoppable Fear Meets Immovable Humiliation

More Daring than a Prison Break

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "More Daring Than A Prison Break."

Unlike the Jews that came as refugees from the horrors of the concentration camps and expelled from a multitude of the Arab nations, the Palestinians have been supported all this time by the Arab League, the United Nations, and the West capitulating to Arab oil dependence and ongoing fight against an encroaching Russia in the Middle East. There is no question that the Palestinians have squandered billions of dollars in aid, spent decades engrossed in terror, maintained unrealistic goals to “have it all,” and passed over many chances for achieving their people’s autonomy. If only their efforts at building tunnels to escape from prison as well as to get into Israel and attack, murder, and kidnap innocents would be channeled instead toward building solid institutions to advance the governing of their people, educating and growing prosperity, and living in freedom and peace, side-by-side with their neighbor, Israel.

While I am sure that there are many good Palestinians who are deserving of autonomy and opportunity, unfortunately, their corrupt leaders and terrorists have been brainwashed by radical Islam and have used the Palestinian people as political pawns leaving many still languishing in refugee camps today. In stark contrast, the Jewish freedom fighters, who also endured incredible hardships, focused their efforts towards their independence, and even those taken prisoner managed to escape again and again until they made their way back to Israel to celebrate the achievement of the independence of their people. Like many things in life, setting the right goal is half the battle, and a goal of life and freedom is a much more compelling vision and driving force than ever hate and terror will be.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

More Daring than a Prison Break

The Last Kiss Goodnight

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "The Last Kiss Goodnight."

Certainly, every human being has the desire to live and goes about fighting for life. It’s part of our genetic makeup and our very survival instinct. Yet, we all know that the cycle of life brings us from the beginnings of infancy to growth, the maturity of adulthood, then decline, old age and ultimately death itself. Truly, we all know the end from the very beginning, and with that we can achieve a greater awareness that what’s good in living isn’t the materialism and chasing the next “high,” but rather the ability to choose to do good and to be on a higher spiritual plane.

Life is choice and having control over how we respond to life’s circumstances. Death is simply observing and being. Therefore, even if we merit being in the Divine presence in the afterlife, we still can’t actively help anyone, like those we love, any longer. This is why we want to merit life where we can continue to work on ourselves and help others. Thus, despite all the pain and suffering associated with life, it is more than offset by the opportunity to learn, grow, and transform our very essence in a purification process of our souls.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Last Kiss Goodnight

G-d Doesn't Ask Us

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "G-d Doesn't Ask Us."

Truly, in whatever situations we find ourselves in life, and the pain and suffering that we may have to endure, we really don’t have a choice of our circumstance, but only in how we choose to respond to it. In life, G-d puts us right where he wants us and in situations that are personalized and best for us, whether it feels that way at the moment or not. G-d tries us, and we have to respond with the “right” thoughts, words, and deeds—always remaining a mensch and choosing holiness and righteousness, no matter how difficult it may be. That’s our ultimate challenge, to find holiness even in the depths of despair.

Everyone is confronted with levels of pain and suffering, as I heard said that: “there aren’t enough people for all the pain in the world!” The challenge is to resist hopelessness and the loss of one’s integrity, and nevertheless to choose to do good. As we approach Rosh Hashanah, we have the opportunity to do teshuva and to try to influence G-d’s decree for us for the new year, but in the end, G-d is the ultimate Judge. He doesn’t ask us; He tells us what will be for us. Of course, we have the opportunity to answer G-d’s call to us and the responsibility to choose righteousness even in a distressed world and in trying times. In essence, the underlying test of it all is not only to survive the challenges we must face, but also to emerge from them as better people with purified souls.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

G-d Doesn't Ask Us

Paradoxically Jewish

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "Paradoxically Jewish."

While Israel and the Jews are filled with paradoxes from our forefather Abraham to the modern State of Israel, we are a people who try to wear these paradoxes well. We relish our commonalties even as we are proud of our differences and uniqueness. We argue and fight with each to try to get to “the truth of the matter,” and we negotiate, compromise, threaten and cajole to that sometimes elusive end. Paradox is just another word for our survival against all odds and our determination to overcome the blind hate, anti-Semitism, and scapegoating of Jews throughout history. We Jews are individually broken, but together, we are a beautiful, paradoxical mosaic—a little meshuggah (crazy) and with an unfortunate dose of PTSD, but fundamentally good in intent and deed—working to fulfill our optimism, hope, and mission to usher in the universality of G-d in the world and of betterment for humankind.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Paradoxically Jewish

@Great Falls 2021

@Great Falls 2021

No Talking To A Terrorist

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "No Talking To A Terrorist."

The fact of the matter is that when a terrorist who hates you and wants to kill you talks, they are telling you that homicidal action is soon forthcoming. It starts with words of disdain, loathing, threats, and hostility, but make no mistake, that those words end in terror and death. Terrorists, like the radical Iranian mullahs are not someone you can sit down with for tea, have a nice conversation, and work out a meaningful or binding diplomatic agreement. Unfortunately, the only thing that a murderous, racist terrorist understands is a punch in the nose! Accordingly, no amount of talking with Iran is going to lead to them ceasing their pursuit of weapons of mass destruction to use against the Jewish State and the United States. In their own very distorted “religious” minds, the irrational Iranian mullahs hate us and want us dead, period. To them, we are the scorned infidels, and they are the holy jihadists on a mission of murder. As much as we want peace with all our neighbors, in this case, a military response is not only necessary, but required.

The Jewish people have learned very well the hard and painful lessons from tyrannical madmen who have sought to destroy us over the centuries. The Holocaust is seared into our present-day consciousness like the tattooed numbers were into their victim’s flesh. We have learned to never let our guard down, to expect the unexpected, and to fight like hell when we have to. I am confident that with G-d’s help, Israel and the United States will not wait until it’s too late or stand by for a genocide to happen again! What Iran “says,” it means, but what Israel “does,” it expertly succeeds at.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

No Talking To A Terrorist

Peace In The Home, Always

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, "Peace In The Home, Always."

If the husband and wife—with Hashem’s help as the third partner—create a peaceful, loving, caring, and harmonious home then they can have the likes of Shabbat all week long.

I realized why we say the blessing for the food before we eat and bless G-d for the land after we eat: before we eat, we don’t know how it will taste or whether it will sit well with us in our stomachs, but we imagine when we are hungry that all the good-looking food and drink will be great and so we bless G-d based on the perception of the coming food. However, after we eat, we make the blessing for the source of the food (the land, the food chain, and over wives for preparing it) for the sake of Shalom Bayit, because whether the meal was so good or not so good, we say thanks to Hashem and to our wives, because that contributes to Shabbat and peace in the home, always!

(Source Photo: Pixabay)

Peace In The Home, Always

If G-d Wouldn't Let Moshe In, Who Am I?

 

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, "If G-d Wouldn't Let Moshe In, Who Am I?"

Sure, we may not fully understand G-d’s decision on not letting Moshe into the land of Israel (or decisions that affect our lives today), still we can affirm our faith that G-d is a just and merciful Judge.

In the end, none of us are the level of Moshe Rabbeinu, and if G-d didn’t let him in, well who are we? This is a frightening thought to me. Yet at the same time, I believe that if we as the Jewish people collectively put our heartfelt yearnings and prayers together to be able to go and settle the land of Israel then perhaps G-d will answer us in the affirmative!

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

If G-d Wouldn't Let Moshe In, Who Am I?

We Are All Disabled

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "We Are All Disabled."

And what happens to us after creation? Life happens, and people suffer from the happenstance and the often harsh “nurture” of this world. Whether from disease, accidents, or hurt inflicted on us from others — intentional or not — we all have “disabilities” and as difficult as it is to live with it, there is no shame in it!

Disabilities are an opportunity, however painful and humiliating for us to learn and grow and for others to be able to demonstrate love, compassion, and kindness to us...There is no running or hiding from disability, it is part of our mortal world. But from the scars and suffering of life, we must create healing. From disability, it is our job to turn it into ability, capability, and mobility!

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

We Are All Disabled

Hiking @Harpers Ferry

(Credit Photos: Andy Blumenthal, except the last one which was from Dossy Blumenthal)

Hiking @Harpers Ferry

When Might Makes Wrong

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "When Might Makes Wrong."

A single Jewish country, like Israel, doesn't stand a chance at the UN, where they are automatically outvoted and imprisoned by their enemies in a virtual diplomatic isolation.

The ability of the Muslim nations and those they coerce to outvote Israel at the United Nations, whether in the General Assembly, the HRC, and through UNRWA is neither right, ethical, nor moral, but simply a fixture of might makes wrong at the UN! In democracies around the world, we pride ourselves on balancing voting with constitutions that protect the basic human rights of all people, including minorities be they according to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or disability. Unfortunately, these principles and protections of people don't apply at the United Nations. Thus, bias and hatred of Israel is allowed and even encouraged to perpetuate as long as their enemies can use sheer numbers or their power to deny the basic rights of a secure existence and nationhood to the Jewish people. Regretfully, these types of gross injustices, including genocide, have been perpetrated against many other minorities as well. While there have been attempts in the past to reform the UN, unfortunately, these remain mostly unsuccessful, and the farce that is the United Nations continues with its unsound power structure and the lack of a global moral compass to guide its actions.

(Credit Photo: Pixabay) 

When Might Makes Wrong

Remember To Always Be Kind

Nice sign on the electrical pole, reminding us to always:

Be 💗 Kind

What kind?

The kind that has compassion on others, cares and love them, and does what's right. 

That's really the only kind worth being! ;-)

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Remember To Always Be Kind

A Practical Approach to Peace in the Middle East

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "A Practical Approach to Peace in the Middle East."

The question then is why? What is so intractable about the Israel-Palestinian conflict that no one seems to be able to solve it and that it has become virtually the Holy Grail of world issues on which if only we could solve it then everything else would-be nirvana. The conflict has been blamed for everything from the endless Palestinian refugee situation to Soviet aggression and expansion during the Cold War, the oil embargo of 1973, the rise and proliferation of Islamic terrorism, and countless other of the world’s ills. Anyone who even contributes to Middle East Peace like Menachem Begin and Anwar Sadat and Yitzhak Rabin and Yasser Arafat win the Noble Peace Prize, and that’s without there being a full and final solution!

I am certain that Israel’s willingness to negotiate and even to make painful compromises for peace has been far more prevalent, far-reaching, and consistent over time—whether in Oslo, Camp David, or Taba. In the meantime, Israel and the Palestinians continue to “take the risks” and remain in a perpetual state of sometimes active and more often passive war that is fought by Israel through military control and incremental settlement expansion and by the Palestinians through terrorism and their pursuit of the demographic population time bomb. When it comes to achieving peace, perhaps the wisdom of the ages applies here: “the short road is long”—there are no shortcuts to serious negotiation and compromise—and “the long road is short”—eventually, a solution for peace will be found even if for now it tragically and painfully evades us all.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

A Practical Approach to Peace in the Middle East

From Passivity To Power

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "From Passivity To Power."

Over the course of our history, the Jewish people have grown from a passive and helpless people during 2,000 years of exile to become, once again, an assertive and strong nation in the Land of Israel as we once were in the days of Joshua, King David and the Maccabees.

In the end, we need to be as faithful as “Jacob” and as strong as “Israel.” As we learn in the Torah and from the rest of Jewish history: inside every Jacob, who just wants to serve G-d in peace as the “People of the Book,” there is also a determined, strong, and brave Israelite fighter and innovator who can stand up for his people and his faith.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

From Passivity To Power

Menachem Begin, Hero of Independence and Beyond

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, "Menachem Begin, Hero of Independence and Beyond."

While David Ben-Gurion was the politically savvy founding father of the modern-day State of Israel, Menachem Begin was the military genius who brought the Jewish people from British subjugation to being a free people in our own land.

In the end, the Jewish people’s fight for freedom from oppression and for an independent homeland, even the willingness to accept a partitioned land along with the desire for peace, required both the political fight that Ben-Gurion brought to the world’s governments as well as the military struggle that Begin was expert at against both the British overlords who refused autonomy under the mandate and to the Arabs who refused partition. Further, this underscores the stark contrast between the Jewish struggle and that of the Palestinians who have incessantly rejected negotiation and any opportunities for autonomy and peace, including at Oslo, Camp David, and Taba, as well as after Israel’s full withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 that was followed by Hamas’s terror tunnels, kidnappings, incendiary balloons attacks, and rocket barrages on Israel civilian population centers.

(Credit Photo: Israel Government)

Menachem Begin, Hero of Independence and Beyond

When Compromise Means Death

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "When Compromise Means Death."

The nations of the world look on with horror at the “plight of the Palestinians,” but they turn a blind eye to the chants of “death to Israel” and as the Palestinians turn billions of dollars of aid into relentless homicide bombs and send thousands of missiles into Israel civilian population centers. The compromise that Israel has shown would end the Palestinian “victim status” and thus endanger their endless money and support that flows freely from the UNRWA to prop up the corrupt Palestinian leadership. The reason that the Palestinian leadership doesn’t want an agreement is that they want the Jews dead “from the river to the sea!”

Israel has shown that is willing to make difficult and painful decisions and support Palestinian autonomy for the sake of peace, but will the Palestinians ever compromise at all? As Golda Meir said:

Peace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us.

Please G-d, the day will arrive soon, when reason will overcome hate, and peace will prevail over prejudice, and Jews and Palestinians can live side-by-side, as neighbors and as friends.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

When Compromise Means Death

G-d’s Redemption Is A Promise

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called, "G-d's Redemption Is A Promise."

The Jewish people’s exile was only temporary and that is what G-d promised us. But the anti-Semites of the world somehow want to make us believe that G-d has forsaken the Jew permanently, and thus they chant “Free, Free Palestine!” and call the Jews occupiers.

In short, the worst punishment is not just being hurt, but also feeling exiled, abandoned, and hopeless. This is where we must look up to the Heavens for G-d’s salvation, and work to merit His bringing us back towards His divine presence. As with anyone who has experienced personal “exile” and suffering in life, we know those are the darkest of days when G-d’s face is hidden from us, and we may feel alone and abandoned. But G-d is always there, waiting for us to seek Him out and return to Him, and that is when we can finally not only see the light at the end of the darkest of tunnels, but also when we can feel G-d reach out to us and bring us back home again to Him.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

G-d’s Redemption Is A Promise

The UNHRC is a Bloody Joke

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "The UNHRC is a Bloody Joke."

While the UNHRC has an incredibly important and noble mission to promote and protect human rights around the world, in reality, the UNHRC, conducts itself like its anti-Semitic parent, the United Nations (UN) which regularly condemns Israel at every turn of world events. Made up of a variety of despots, dictators, terrorists, and rotten-to-the core human rights violators, the UNHRC refuses to condemn the incessant attacks and terrorism against Israel, but rather they defend those that want to “throw the Jews into the sea” and in turn use anti-Semitic attacks on Israel to hide their own fraud, waste, abuse, and corruption at home.

Unfortunately, while the UN “Commission” on Human Rights was replaced primarily in name only by a UN Human Rights “Council,” nothing much else changed in their wanton display of corruption, anti-Semitism, and human rights violations. To this day, the leaders of these countries use Israel and the Jews as an object of hatred and for persecution to deflect and hide the repression and atrocities that they routinely and wantonly do to their very own people.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The UNHRC is a Bloody Joke

The Stranger and The Enemy

Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called "The Stranger and The Enemy."

In summary, with regards to Israel, we must follow two important commandments that guide our relationships with the outside world. First, there is the imperative to love our neighbor and the stranger. Second is the dictum to wholly defend ourselves from our enemies who seek our destruction. While on the surface these may pose a contradiction, in reality, they do not, because if our neighbors and the strangers among us are willing to live in genuine peace with us then we gladly and actively will extend the olive branch in peace and brotherhood. But if unfortunately, our neighbors are bent on our genocide then we must fight them.

Love and peace is always what we want from the bottom of our hearts, but war is a necessity that is sometimes thrust upon us by our enemies and that we must absolutely, with G-d’s help, win.

(Credit Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

The Stranger and The Enemy