Jerusalem’s Absolutely Jewish Temple Mount

So the Nazi’s tried to make the world Judenrein–free of Jews–meaning dead, as in Holocaust and genocide!

The Babylonians tried. 

The Assyrians tried.

The Greeks tried.

The Romans tried.

The Persians tried. 

And more…

…but they all failed. 

Empires came and went with their anti-Semitism, hatred, racism, discrimination, and bigotry. 

Now the UNjust United Nations, heralded by demagogues, dictators, and human rights abusers from around the world come together against Israel.

The latest yesterday, by the corrupt UNESCO, which drafted yet another resolution against the Jewish State declaring that the Holy Temple Mount in Jerusalem where the Jews worship at the Western Wall of their twice destroyed temple (Beit HaMikdash) is not Jewish.

The First Temple: 

1 Kings 6: “In the 480th year after the Israelites came out of Egypt, in the 4th year of Solomon’s reign over Israel, in the month of Ziv, the second month, he began to build the temple of the L-rd. 

The Second Temple:

Ezra 1-3: “In the first year of Cyrus king of Persia…the L-rd stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia…thus says Cyrus king of Persia…whoever among you of all his people, may his G-d be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and rebuild the house of the L-rd, the G-d of Israel–he is the G-d who is in Jerusalem.”

The anti-Semitic UN and it’s farcical subagencies like UNESCO can make earthly resolutions–false and worthless–all they want. 

But there is a heavenly G-d, and only He/She reigns supreme and whose resolution is truth and will endure. 

Jerusalem is the eternal capital of Israel and the Temple Mount is the holy site of the Jewish people, and if the UN has a problem with the word of G-d then they have a very BIG problem indeed. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal; The beautiful painting by Penina Flamm)

Anti-Semitism From Obama To The World

This is what happens when President Obama sets a blatantly anti-semitic tone to his presidency by for example, snubbing at the White House the outreached hand of our ally and friend, Israel. 

Subsequently, at the Rio Olympics this week, Egypt (right) snubs Israel (left) in the very same way.

Racism and hatred is a contagious disease of the heart, mind, and soul. 

And this is especially the case, when racism and hatred emanate from the very top–the leader of the free world–the diametric opposite of true leadership by example and with integrity. 

In this case, President Obama has numerous times displayed his outrageous anti-Semitic leanings making the Prime Minister of Israel exit out the back door of the White House, refusing to host him for dinner, to meet with him, or even shake his hand, and condones his administration calling him disgusting vile names.

Nations and people can disagree and they can still be the best of friends and allies, but Obama has chosen to display his very tangible anti-Semitism throughout his administration, and then culminated it with his dangerous nuclear deal and love affair with the Iranian regime, the #1 state sponsor of terrorism and human rights abuses worldwide. 

Racism and hatred begets more racism and hatred in the world. It is an unleashing of evil between different peoples, instead of a bonding and brotherhood of all people. 

Just look at the unfortunate effects in terms of racial divisiveness, global terrorism, civil war and coups, resurgent Russian and Chinese militaries, and the horrific impacts of violence, destruction, and refugees around the world today. 

When the esteemed President declares it’s okay to hate–less than 70 years after the genocidal Holocaust that murdered 6 million Jews–then unfortunately it’s open season once again. 

From The White House to the Olympics…President Obama has set a shameful, hate-filled anti-Semitic tone for his 8-year presidency.

Let us hope and pray that the next President is one that is not only a genuine solid leader, but also a good, decent, and loving human being. 😉

(Source Photos: Here with attribution to Al-Monitor and The Israel Project via Facebook)

Responding To Foolish Holocaust Denial

So I just watched a video where the radical Muslim speaker tries to explain how it is not the Earth that rotates around the Sun, but rather how really the Earth is fixed in space, and it is the Sun which rotates around it. 

His logic and proofs include things like the following:

– If the Earth was really moving, and you tried to fly to China, the plane shouldn’t have to move, since China would just come to the plane. 

– Also, if the Earth was moving in the same direction as the plane, and you were flying to China, then you would never get there, because you’d just be chasing a moving China. 

This is how people’s inner darkness, ignorance, and evil can attempt to extinguish the light. 

Similarly, this past week, the “leader” of Iran took the opportunity on International Holocaust Remembrance Day (Jan. 27)–of all days –to once again express his vile denial of the Holocaust.

Khamenei declaring: “It’s not clear if the Holocaust is a reality or not.“

And calling for the “dear people of Iran” to “stand up to the ignorance” of the West.

Wow, who is calling whom ignorant and trying to brainwash the good people of Iran. 

It’s funny, but there are so many nice people from Iran that I’ve had the opportunity to meet and befriend, and one of them is an elderly man who is a swimming buddy of mine– and he is such a nice person–I really enjoy talking with him (despite some of our differences of opinion). 

The point is that when the leadership is corrupt, evil, and insecure, then they try to extinguish the good in the masses of the people, so that the people stay in the dark, blinded by scare tactics, scapegoats, and hatred–this is how they stay in power. 

When it comes to Holocaust denial though, I think this is definitely going way too far, and I imagine the souls of the Six Million righteous who perished in the Holocaust–under the worst genocide the world has ever known–that they are watching and they are listening. 

And Khamenei and his cohorts of evil doers will most certainly have to contend with all these very real martyred righteous souls. 

So in their warped ignorance, foolishness, and hatred–where the sun rotates around the earth and with utter darkness they attempt to extinguish the light of the good people–I imagine with the strongest and most vivid of images and sounds that certainly Heaven does not await them…but a very fiery Hell of their own making indeed. 

(Source Photo: here with attribution to slgckgc)

Silence In The Face Of Ongoing Terror And Murder

In the recent wave of terror attacks in Israel, in less than 3 months (Oct 1- Nov 23), there have been:

– 21 Murdered 

– 184 Wounded (20 critically)

Through:

– 74 Stabbings

– 10 Shootings

– 11 Car Rammings

The murdered include Ezra Schwartz, an 18-year old American citizen from Massachusetts. 

Despite the terrorism and the death of an American citizen along with so many other innocent Jews, the superpower country of the world is silent–not calling it reprehensible or deplorable or condemning it or demanding the terrorism stop immediately. 

– Silence, despite about the murder of Jews and even its own U.S. citizen in Israel on November 19.

– Silence, yet signing nuke deals with “Axis Of Evil” Iran–the #1 state sponsor of terrorism (undiminished in 2015) and top abuser of human rights.

– Silence in the face of terror attacks against Jews elsewhere abroad, like the Jewish teacher stabbed and killed in Paris last week by three assailants shouting anti-Semitic insults? 

– Silence through a “no-show” at the Solidarity Rally in Paris with 40 other heads of state in January to denounce the terror attack on Charlie Hebdo and on the Jewish grocery store that killed 17 innocent people. 

Could this perhaps be payback time to one of it’s closest friends and allies for: 

– Continuing settlements for an expanding Israeli population who are surrounded by hostile neighbors that want to throw them into the Mediterranean Sea. 

– For a peace deal with the Palestinians that didn’t materialize without a peace parter that would recognize the Jews States’ right to even exist.

– For Netanyahu’s objection to the Iranian nuke deal that put’s Israel in the crosshairs of a sprouting nuclear regime that threatens annihilation against it. 

Regardless of why, it is abundantly clear that the killing of Jews in Israel and abroad is tacitly being given the green light to continue–and so it’s an open field day for terror and murder of Jews!

Even the generally harsh critic of Israel, Amnesty International, has come out calling the terror against Israel “reprehensible and unjustified” and “a clear contempt for human life.”

The appalling indifference to the murder of Jews by top administration officials, just 70-years after the Holocaust, is being heard loud and clear around the world.   

– It is a sanctioning of terrorism and murder, period. 

– It is reprehensible, period. 

– It is cementing a legacy of blind hatred and blatant discrimination and anti-Semitism that will go down in history, period. 

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Indians And Palestinians

September 4, 1886, Geronimo, the last American Indian warrior surrenders to the United States and later after some time in prison, Geronimo converts and becomes a successful farmer. 

November 29, 1947, the United Nations General Assembly votes 33-13 in favor of a partition from what was land prior under the control of Britain leading to the establishment of the State of Israel on May 14, 1948 at which time the surrounding Arab nations attacked and were defeated, and this replayed many times in 1956, 1967, 1973, 1982 and subsequent Intifadas.

Recently, I had a conversation with a lady who is a Lacota Indian and who happens to be a proud supporter of the State of Israel.

This is what she told me: 

“The Indians and Palestinians have a lot in common in that we both have to share land.”

But, what is different is that we [American Indians] don’t act like some [extremist] Palestinians teaching endless cycles of hatred and violence.

We don’t go around knifing people, throwing stones, shooting, or blowing people up.”

I had understood many people think this, but I had never heard anyone actually come out and say it–let alone a Native American Indian. 

Even now-a-days, I think we must admit that American Indians live in a challenging state in this country and certainly they deserve more and their standard of living should be vastly improved, but at the same time, they manage to live with all the immigrants that came to the United States from all over the world, and they do this in peace.  

Perhaps, in Israel, where there is tacit agreement towards an even better scenario–a two-state solution–with the real potential of peace, prosperity, and security for both Jews and Palestinians–the cycle of hatred and violence can end and should end. 😉

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Maryland GovPics) 

The United Nations — As Silent As It Is Anti-Semitic

Another truly lovely (not) rally of hatred and violence by our “peace partners” in the Middle East. 

Check out the size of this guys’ butcher knives for killing Jews with. 

Where is the United Nations? 

According to the UN Charter, the #1 purpose for its existence is: “To maintain international peace and security.” 

But of the 193 member countries in the United Nations–more than a quarter of them–50 are majority-Muslim nations, comprising 1.6 billion people! 

But there is only 1 Jewish Country, Israel, the size of New Jersey. 

Knowing the historical anti-Semitism of the UN, it’s probably about time for another anti-Israel resolution. 

Incredibly, there were 20 of these just last year alone (versus 3 on the rest of the world)!

Yet, the United Nations is consistently deadly silent in the daily face of:

– Knifings, 

– Shootings, 

– Bombings, 

– Abductions, 

– Terrorizing, 

– Destruction of Jewish holy sites and places of worship, and 

– Threats of annihilation to Jews. 

Only 70 years since the Holocaust wiped 6 million Jews–a sick and evil genocide of a full third of the world’s Jewish population–blind hatred, discrimination, and violence against Jews is okay by UN standards. 

What a wholesome failure and disgrace on the United Nations–a body that is supposed to represent peace, security, and justice.

Where is the peace, security, and justice from the UN for the small, minority Jewish people, numbering just 14 million men, women, and children?

The United Nations–as silent as it is Anti-Semitic. 😉

Imagining The Unimaginable

So today, I am imagining the unimaginable, and thinking the unthinkable. 

What if extremists in Iran stopped hating Israel and the United States, and instead liked or even loved us?

Not because of the recent agreement on nukes and lifting of sanctions, but actually in spite of it–because as the Ayatollah has said, he prohibits any further negotiations and often refers to the U.S. as it’s enemy (the only thing missing is the usual Iranian chants of “Death to America!”).

But today, I saw the Iranian family again the I referred to in a Sept. 27 blog post, where the father had a stroke and the son comes on the weekends from Texas to help his father with physical and occupational therapy to recuperate. 

Well today, I saw the daughter too, and both she and the son where in the pool trying to help the father in every way to move and walk again. They swarmed around him in such loving-kindness, I couldn’t believe the amazing display of love and devotion to any parent or disabled person. They were all there for him!

And my heart opened up, and I couldn’t help thinking what if the Iranian leadership could be moderated by average normal people who just want to care for their families, earn a living, and worship and live in freedom? 

What if the Iranian leadership could learn to forgive and love again those who they have hated for so long and so much–the USA and Israel?

If the U.S. can forgive Iran for the hostage crisis that took 52 American diplomats and citizens hostage for 444 long days and the bombing of the Beirut barracks that killed 241 marines, and Israel can forgive the endless Hezbollah terror attacks, the bombing of the Argentinian Jewish Center that killed 29 and wounded 250, the Holocaust denial, and threats of maniacal genocide…then surely, Iran can forgive the U.S.’s role in the 1953 coup that brought the Shah to power and can forgive Israel for merely existing!

As a son of Holocaust survivors, I am a die-hard for the defense and security of the Jewish people, so maybe today I am just being naive, foolish, or letting my imagination run wild. 

But I feel that Hashem is putting the words on the screen through my fingertips…what if Esau can stop hating Jacob? What if Iran can stop hating the USA and Israel and there can be peace and not war?

This is a fantasy, but perhaps it can become a reality.

Instead of the cycle of hate, the sponsorship of terror, the secret building of nukes, and aggression escalating until ultimately major devastating military strikes…instead imagine abandoning the old hateful and belligerent ways…imagine forgiveness for the past transgressions and affronts…imagine peace!

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Evil Cannot Be In Charge

So I am having to reconcile some interesting things in my mind. 

Hating and liking. 

For example Iran, led by dictators and extremists, is perhaps the epitome of the “Axis of Evil” and the arch enemy of America and Israel

Iran suppresses the freedom and human rights of its people, is the leading sponsor of world terrorism, denies the Holocaust, and threatens brutal attacks on America and to annihilate Israel. 

Yet, on a personal level I have had the opportunity to meet a number of Iranians that I really like and respect.

These include amazing colleagues at work, and wonderful members of my synagogue as well as neighbors. 

One Iranian family I met just this morning was simply amazing.

The father had a horrible stroke earlier in the year. 

Today, I saw the father wheeled to the swimming pool by his son. 

The son took his father lovingly into the water and worked with him therapeutically to help him on regaining as much mobility as possible. 

I stopped to speak with them, and the man’s wife told me that the son, who was a PhD in mechanical engineering from Texas came every week to Washington, D.C. to work with his stricken father. 

The son told me that although he was not a therapist worked hard with his father on physical and occupational therapy, and I even saw his father laugh a little with his son in the water. 

The son held the father by a safety belt and his father put his hand on his son’s shoulder as they walked forward and backwards in the water, and even did a little swim while his son held the belt tight. 

I was really impressed by this family and especially the love, caring, and devotion the son showed his father. 

Despite their troubles, the wife asked me how I was recuperating and smiled when I told her I was doing better. 

It’s amazing to me how hate truly is blind. 

On one hand, what Iran stands for today led by extremists who seek religious domination, suppression and destruction of others, and a return of the Caliphate is a danger to its people and the world.

On the other hand, many of the people from the streets of Iran are surely some very good people.

We need to see the bad apples and separate them from the good ones. 

As a country, we need to support the freedom of the Iranian people and help those that believe in peace and fellowship. 

When evil is in a leadership position, then good does not follow, but rather is smothered until it is set free. 😉

(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Purim All Over Again

Last night my wife received an email from a very holy woman from our synagogue telling us to pray for G-d to save the Jewish people.

 

This at a time when Iran is on the verge of nuclear breakout capability and has for more than a decade threatened Israel with genocide. 

 

As Prime Minister Netanyahu said yesterday, the threat from a nuclear-armed Iran is a security issue to the U.S. (which has been threatened by Iran, including unbelievably threats to President Obama’s family), but is a survival issue to Israel.

 

The holy lady from the shule reminded us that this is the week we celebrate Purim.

 

This holiday commerates when the Jewish people were miraculously saved almost 2,500 years ago from an evil plot to destroy all the Jews in ancient Persia (and yes, what is now related to modern day Iran).

 

The threat: “To destroy, kill, and annihilate all the Jews, young and old, infants and women, in a single day.”

 

But for a miracle from G-d through Mordechai and Queen Esther were the Jewish people saved from annihilation. 

 

It is not lost of any of us that now Iran wants to exterminate the Jews once again, in a single day, in a single nuclear strike on the holy land. 

 

The Jerusalem Post astutely points out today that Prime Minister Netanyahu is like Mordechai who recognized the threat of the evil Haman who sought the Jews’ destruction, as well as Queen Esther who spoke truth to this to King Ahasuerus. 

 

Both my mother and my wife are named after the beautiful Queen Esther and so this holiday has enormous personal meaning for me, especially since my family are also survivors of the Holocaust. 

 

Today, we are all praying for another miracle when Netanyahu addresses the U.S. Congress that the Jews should once again be saved from historical enemies old and new. 😉

 

(Source Photo: here with attribution to pixgood)

Reform The Movement

So was very glad to read this week about a top Sunni cleric who called for educational reform to combat “extremist violence.”

Sheik Ahmend al-Tayeb, a grand imam in Cairo said “corrupt interpretations” of the Koran and of Muhammad was leading to a rise of Middle East-based terrorism. 

This to hopefully stem the flow of what is now being reported as 20,000 foreign fighters flocking to join ISIS. 

What is amazing here is that good Muslim people are recognizing the problem with radicalization, extremism, and violence and are speaking out. 

Yet, many of our own leaders in the Western world still refuse to say the dirty words “Islamic terrorism.”

The President saying instead: “No religion is responsible for terrorism–people are responsible for violence and terrorism.“

So perhaps, according to this “logic,” no movement is responsible for what their people do–only the individuals are?

And therefore, accordingly, the Nazis would not be responsible for the Holocaust, nor America for Slavery, nor Communism for political purges, oppression, and violation of human rights, etc. etc. 

…in which case, there would be no apologies, no regrets, no reparations, no museums, no memorials, nothing–because this was just some individuals doing some bad things and those individuals are may no longer even be here with us. 

Doesn’t this ignore the very basic and fundamental fact that when the masses follow a movements’ (genuine or distorted) ideological teachings of hatred, racism, and discrimination, and the people act nefariously on this, then does not the movement itself hold some responsibility for the murderous and evil actions committed based on their doctrine?

The Sheik who denounced terror and called for changes to the education in the Muslim community is recognizing what apparently many of our own leaders refuse to, which is that they–and we–are responsible for what is taught and tolerated in our communities. 

As Peggy Noonan recently wrote, “The reality is that the Islamic State is…very Islamic.

Currently, we are fighting a war on radical Islamic terrorism…whether that terror is committed on Charlie Hebdo, a Jewish grocery store, or the World Trade Centers. 

That does not mean that tomorrow, we are not fighting against some other movement’s treachery. 

This is why good people everywhere must stand up and speak out when they see religions, governments, institutions, or other movements preach and teach lies, hatred, and terror. 

Bad (or hijacked good) movements drive bad actors…so we must not only go after the bad guys, but also hold the movements themselves to account.

We must demand that the lies and distortions be called out for what they are and that truth and virtue be held up in its place. 😉

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Front Page Magazine)