Please see my new article in The Times of Israel called “Israel’s Mysterious 7 Watershed Moments.” G-d works in mysterious ways, but occasionally He reveals Himself to us to impart His holiness and perfection to the world.
As we know, seven represents the miraculous days of G-d’s creation of the heavens and earth and his rest on the holy seventh day of Shabbat. Additionally, in Kabbalah, seven represents the number of lower sephirot, which are the divine manifestations or emanations of G-d present in this world.
We shall see that many of Israel’s watershed moments have happened over many decades in years ending in the number seven (7).
Prime Minister Netanyahu stands out not only for having been the longest serving Prime Minister of Israel (winning six times) and leading for over fifteen years, but for his undying vision and execution of peace through strength. Certainly, I could write of his heroism as an Israeli commando (and that of his dear older brother Yoni, who tragically perished in the Rescue at Entebbe), his miraculous rescue of Israel’s finances and remake of the country into a genuine economic success story, and his unflinching determination to prevent a Palestinian terror state next to Israel and to thwart the existential Iranian nuclear threat.
However, I think there is no better expression of Bibi’s core love for his people and Israel than that of his own words in his countless genius arguments and eloquent speeches at the United Nations, Congress, and with world leaders in defense of Israel’s legitimacy and right to exist and defend itself.
What is striking to me is that when it comes to hate against the Jews as opposed to hate against other groups, we continually see that “their” rights are immediately supported, while we have to prove that it’s really hate.
Hopefully, our community leaders, police, FBI, and Homeland Security are paying close attention and will take appropriate preventive action so that we can avoid another incident like the shooting just four years ago at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh. We need more intelligence, surveillance, officers, patrols, data-driven policing, self-defense and emergency medical training, synagogue protection, community outreach, beefed-up reporting systems, and tougher penalties to start with. We can’t expect the people who hate to stop, but we do need to keep raising the bar on how to keep our communities safe and stop hate crimes.
This book is about finding and connecting with G-d. As the prophet Jeremiah states (29:13), “You will seek Me and find Me when you search for Me with all your heart.” This is my personal journey back to G-d and Judaism. It provides my life reflections, dreams, prayers, and hopes to strengthen my faith and trust in G-d by exploring a variety of the precious gems of Judaism and the Torah, reflecting on the diversity and strength of our people and culture, and longing for our nation and beautiful State of Israel and the completion of the final Redemption and bringing of the Mashiach. Please G-d, may it serve as inspiration for your journey as well.
It hit me today—with all the news about Russia preparing to invade Ukraine and devastate its people, unprovoked, there is nobody talking about the people of Ukraine.
Our leaders and news media are so misguided and focused on the geopolitics of the thing, all they talk about is what the U.S. and EU will do in terms of some measly sanctions.
But they have completely forgotten the innocent people there—44 million of them—who face death and occupation.
Where is our leadership????
Where are the speeches about the innocent people? About freedom? About democracy? About human rights?
Where is the United Nations????
They are supposed to safeguard and maintain peace and security around the globe.
Where are the outspoken liberals who call out occupation, apartheid, and human rights abuses????
Not a word from anyone.
It’s incredible how prejudiced, biased, discriminatory and corrupt all these people can be. They can be brainwashed, bribed, and bought to speak out for those when it will somehow fit their agenda or benefit them!
But when the Russian or Chinese powerful aggressors are at the doorstep of Ukraine or Hong Kong/Taiwan—where is anybody to speak out?
Last night, I imagined the people of Ukraine sitting in fear, in worry about what will happen to them, their families, their homes.
Do the world leaders care anything about the lives of real people—men, women, and children—or only about how any conflict makes them look, and how they are polling, and the next election?
Morality and conscience–is it on life support or dead in this narcissist world of the powerful and elite. 😉
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)
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