Posted on 04/22/2010 7:49:06 AM PDT by Zionist Conspirator
I was very moved to see how you - on the other side of the globe and from an entirely different background than mine - reach the same conclusions about which I have been writing for the last fifteen years. The fact that you understand the true significance of the Temple Mount is particularly compelling. I wish that here in Israel, there would be more people who would reach your level of understanding.
The Jewish Nation is the strongest testimony to the fact that G-d exists. "You are children of Hashem, your G-d," it says in the Bible. Those are not empty words. The Jews are the sons whose very existence testifies to the existence of the Father. That is also the root cause of anti-Semitism. "The Jew brought conscience to the world," said Hitler. "That is why he must be destroyed."
The State of Israel is attempting to detach Jewish identity from Israeli nationality. It would like to be the "Singapore of the Middle East," in the words of Shimon Peres, or a state of all its citizens, as per the proposal of ex-Chief Justice Aharon Barak - with Judaism relegated to the status of quaint folklore.
Well, we established a really successful Singapore, in many respects more successful than the original. Israel is strong and economically sound. The only problem is that we can no longer justify the fact that we exist. The greatest danger for Israel today is not the Iranian nuclear missiles threatening our country, but the international illegitimacy of our existence as a Jewish state.
The Temple Mount is the key to this issue. Our testimony as a nation to the existence of G-d, of a moral Archimedes point outside of man - begins and ends at the Temple Mount. Just as you perceive the inner significance of the Temple Mount, the rest of humanity subconsciously understands the physical and meta-physical connection to G-d that is at its inner core. It is no coincidence that whoever controls the Temple Mount sees himself as the herald of (his version of) Divinity.
When Israel surrendered sovereignty of the Temple Mount to the Moslem wakf, it empowered Islam. There is only one way to stop the Moslem conquest of the world: Israel must re-claim its sovereignty over the Temple Mount.
I thank you for the compliments in your letter. Clearly, my path will triumph simply because the Nation of Israel is eternal. It has no choice but to choose leaders who are committed to G-d's directives and the visions of the prophets. That is the only way that we will ultimately merit peace and prosperity in Israel and the entire free world.
I am happy to see that there are those outside the Holy Land who understand this as well!
May we merit to perfect the world in the Kingdom of Heaven!
Blessings and best wishes,
Moshe Feiglin
I have posted this article by Moshe Feiglin primarily because of the above statement, which is of the utmost importance.
The forces of G-dlessness have attempted for so long now to mar and efface the connection between the Jews and G-d which makes Jewish survival the strongest historical evidence of G-d's existence. They have reinterpreted Jewish history as an anti-religious, humanistic "passion play" in which the Jews, rather than representing G-d, represent skepticism and free thought and are under attack by the reactionary, obscurantist religious believers. In this view the Holocaust was unleashed by (chas vechalilah!) the "forces of G-d" which must never be allowed to come to power again. Jewish survival thus does not constitute evidence for G-d (Who is now associated with the non-Jews) but for "the unconquerable human spirit" in its eternal struggle against the forces of religion and obscurantism. Even some of the atheists here at FR play this dirty and dishonest game.
G-d is the G-d of Israel. He commissioned them, and not anyone else to "conquer" this world and all the peoples in it for Him. Jewish existence and survival is not a rebuke to religious belief but its greatest confirmation!
Thank G-d now that support for Israel has moved from the Left to the Right side of the political spectrum maybe more people will begin to see this. Unfortunately, there are still those out there to whom the Jews represent merely secular multiculturalism. May the final triumph of HaShem be soon and absolute!
Exodus 4:22 And thou shalt say unto Pharaoh, Thus saith the LORD, Israel is my Son, even my firstborn.
Published Tuesday, April 20, 2010 at 07:33 PM
Washington - United States administration officials have voiced harsh criticism over advertisements in favor of Israel's position on Jerusalem that appeared in the U.S. press with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's encouragement. The authors of the most recent such advertisements were president of the World Jewish Congress Ronald Lauder and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel. "All these advertisements are not a wise move," one senior American official told Haaretz.
In the advertisement, Wiesel said that for him as a Jew, "Jerusalem is above politics," and that "it is mentioned more than 600 times in Scripture - and not a single time in the Koran." Wiesel called to postpone discussion on Jerusalem until a later date, when there is an atmosphere of security allowing Israeli and Palestinian communities to find ways to live in peace.
The ongoing confrontation with the U.S. administration over construction in East Jerusalem was present in many of the comments made by senior Israeli officials during Independence Day.
Netanyahu himself said in an interview to ABC that freezing construction in the east of the city was an impossible demand, and refused to answer questions on the Israeli response to demands from Washington. Instead, he called on Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmoud Abbas to return to the negotiating table without preconditions.
Foreign Minister Lieberman, meanwhile, made Jerusalem the focal point of his speech in a festive reception for the diplomatic corps at the President's Residence in Jerusalem. President Shimon Peres spoke first, calling for progress in the diplomatic process. Lieberman, who took the podium immediately after Peres, made diametrically opposed statements in his speech, stressing that the Palestinian Authority is no partner for peace.
"Jerusalem is our eternal capital and will not be divided," Lieberman said. Many of the ambassadors in the audience left feeling stunned and confused, some of them told Haaretz. "The gap between Peres and Lieberman is inconceivable," one of them said. "We couldn't comprehend how Lieberman can say all that in front of all the international community delegates."
Speaking at the torch-lighting ceremony on Mount Herzl on Monday, Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin said that there was "an attack on Jerusalem" and that Israel "will not apologize for the building of Jerusalem, our capital."
The diplomatic freeze and crisis with the Americans fueled a heated meeting of Labor Party ministers on Sunday. Minister Benjamin Ben-Eliezer, Isaac Herzog and Avishay Braverman told Defense Minister and party chairman Ehud Barak that unless there was some movement on the diplomatic front within weeks, the Labor Party should consider leaving the government or working to bring in Kadima.
Senior Labor officials, who declined to be named, said this was the first time the diplomatic freeze was being discussed between Labor ministers. "They main message coming from this discussion is that things can't go on like this," one senior Labor official told Haaretz. "The Labor ministers told Barak that we will be approaching a moment of political decision within weeks."
Barak tried to calm the ministers, saying he was concerned by the state of Israeli-American relations and will travel to Washington next week for talks on the peace process. Barak appears to be set to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, special U.S. envoy George Mitchell and national security advisor General Jim Jones.
Posted on April 21, 2010 at 8:30am
In an address in English to the foreign diplomatic corps in Israel on its Independence Day, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman began by citing a remark made forty years earlier by the late Prime Minister Menachem Begin declared: "Citizens of Israel, let us set Jerusalem above our highest joy! …It is our right to reaffirm on the day of our rededication of our national independence, that the city, north and south, east and west, is entirely under Israel's sovereignty, our eternal capital city! It cannot be divided! And will never again be divided! Neither directly, nor indirectly!"
Begin, Lieberman said, "expressed the eternal connection between Jews everywhere and Jerusalem, which existed then and exists today. Begin made that statement as Israel and Egypt were implementing the historic peace agreement between them. It did not stand in the way of peace. Today, I stand before you in Jerusalem, as Israel's Foreign Minister, and reaffirm late Prime Minister Begin's statement: Jerusalem is our undivided, eternal capital!"
"As Israel proved time and again, especially during PM Begin's right wing government, we yearn for peace and can achieve peace with a genuine partner. That was the case when we signed peace agreements with President Sadat and later with the late King Hussein of Jordan. These historic peace agreements were made possible because we had genuine partners, as well as a supportive international environment. Today, as in the past, a genuine partner and a conducive international environment are critical to progress in any peace process."
"The State of Israel has proven time and again that it is prepared to pay a high price for peace with its neighbors and has already evacuated territory three times its size. In the last year alone, the current government, which is center-right, has made many significant gestures and confidence-building measures towards the Palestinians. In order to make progress beyond the current deadlock, we must now create a new reality in the region based on security for Israelis, economic prosperity for Palestinians, and stability for both. Only then will it be possible to negotiate a final agreement between the parties."
"Any attempt to force a solution on the parties without establishing a foundation of mutual trust will only deepen the conflict. Peace cannot be enforced, it must be built," he said.
"Israel is an island of democracy and freedom in the Middle East. We are an ancient people that returned to its historic homeland. In little more than six decades, a fleeting moment in history, Israel has transformed itself from a tiny nation surrounded by hostility into a high-tech powerhouse. We transformed the desert into a source of life and our knowledge and knowhow into a national reserve of creativity and excellence."
"There is much that we can contribute to the world and the region in the years to come and I am certain you will be there with us as partners."
The ambassadors and consuls stayed for falafel and hummus.
We ever come to a conclusion about how to rebuild Temple?
(As if we can solve anything.)
15 April 2010
Dear President Obama:
I write today as a proud American and a proud Jew.
Jews around the world are concerned today. We are concerned about the nuclear ambitions of an Iranian regime that brags about its genocidal intentions against Israel. We are concerned that the Jewish state is being isolated and delegitimized.
Mr. President, we are concerned about the dramatic deterioration of diplomatic relations between the United States and Israel.
The Israeli housing bureaucracy made a poorly timed announcement and your Administration branded it an “insult.” This diplomatic faux pas was over the fourth stage of a seven stage planning permission process – a plan to build homes years from now in a Jewish area of Jerusalem that under any peace agreement would remain an integral part of Israel.
Our concern grows to alarm as we consider some disturbing questions. Why does the thrust of this Administration’s Middle East rhetoric seem to blame Israel for the lack of movement on peace talks? After all, it is the Palestinians, not Israel, who refuse to negotiate.
Israel has made unprecedented concessions. It has enacted the most far reaching West Bank settlement moratorium in Israeli history.
Israel has publicly declared support for a two-state solution. Conversely, many Palestinians continue their refusal to even acknowledge Israel’s right to exist.
The conflict’s root cause has always been the Palestinian refusal to accept Israel as the nation state of the Jewish people. Every American President who has tried to broker a peace agreement has collided with that Palestinian intransigence, sooner or later. Recall President Clinton’s anguish when his peace proposals were bluntly rejected by the Palestinians in 2000. Settlements were not the key issue then.
They are not the key issue now.
Another important question is this: what is the Administration’s position on Israel’s borders in any final status agreement? Ambiguity on this matter has provoked a wave of rumors and anxiety. Can it be true that America is no longer committed to a final status agreement that provides defensible borders for Israel? Is a new course being charted that would leave Israel with the indefensible borders that invited invasion prior to 1967?
There are significant moves from the Palestinian side to use those indefensible borders as the basis for a future unilateral declaration of independence. How would the United States respond to such a reckless course of action?
And what are America’s strategic ambitions in the broader Middle East? The Administration’s desire to improve relations with the Muslim world is well known. But is friction with Israel part of this new strategy? Is it assumed worsening relations with Israel can improve relations with Muslims? History is clear on the matter: appeasement does not work. It can achieve the opposite of what is intended.
And what about the most dangerous player in the region? Shouldn’t the United States remain focused on the single biggest threat that confronts the world today? That threat is a nuclear armed Iran. Israel is not only America’s closest ally in the Middle East, it is the one most committed to this Administration’s declared aim of ensuring Iran does not get nuclear weapons.
Mr. President, we embrace your sincerity in your quest to seek a lasting peace. But we urge you to take into consideration the concerns expressed above. Our great country and the tiny State of Israel have long shared the core values of freedom and democracy. It is a bond much treasured by the Jewish people. In that spirit I submit, most respectfully, that it is time to end our public feud with Israel and to confront the real challenges that we face together.
Yours sincerely,
Ronald S. Lauder
President
World Jewish Congress
For Jerusalem
It was inevitable: Jerusalem once again is at the center of political debates and international storms. New and old tensions surface at a disturbing pace. Seventeen times destroyed and seventeen times rebuilt, it is still in the middle of diplomatic confrontations that could lead to armed conflict. Neither Athens nor Rome has aroused that many passions.
For me, the Jew that I am, Jerusalem is above politics. It is mentioned more than six hundred times in Scripture -- and not a single time in the Koran. Its presence in Jewish history is overwhelming. There is no more moving prayer in Jewish history than the one expressing our yearning to return to Jerusalem. To many theologians, it IS Jewish history, to many poets, a source of inspiration. It belongs to the Jewish people and is much more than a city, it is what binds one Jew to another in a way that remains hard to explain. When a Jew visits Jerusalem for the first time, it is not the first time; it is a homecoming. The first song I heard was my mother's lullaby about and for Jerusalem. Its sadness and its joy are part of our collective memory.
Since King David took Jerusalem as his capital, Jews have dwelled insides its walls with only two interruptions; when Roman invaders forbade them access to the city and again, when under Jordanian occupation, Jews, regardless of nationality, were refused entry into the old Jewish quarter to meditate and pray at the Wall, the last vestige of Solomon's temple. It is important to remember: had Jordan not joined Egypt in the 1967 war against Israel, the old city of Jerusalem would still be Arab. Clearly, while Jews were ready to die for Jerusalem they would not kill for Jerusalem.
Today, for the first time in history, Jews, Christians and Muslims all may freely worship at their shrines. And, contrary to certain media reports, Jews, Christians and Muslims ARE allowed to build their homes anywhere in the city. The anguish over Jerusalem is not about real estate but about memory.
What is the solution? Pressure will not produce a solution. Is there a solution? There must be, there will be. Why tackle the most complex and sensitive problem prematurely? Why not first take steps which will allow the Israeli and Palestinian communities to find ways to live together in an atmosphere of security. Why not leave the most difficult, the most sensitive issue, for such a time?
Jerusalem must remain the world's Jewish spiritual capital, not a symbol of anguish and bitterness, but a symbol of trust and hope. As the Hasidic master Rebbe Nahman of Bratslav said, "Everything in this world has a heart; the heart itself has its own heart."
Jerusalem is the heart of our heart, the soul of our soul.
/signed/
Elie Wiesel
The Temple could be rebuilt with the approval of genuine Torah Sages. These would be members of the Moetzet Gedolei HaTorah and Moetzet Chachmei HaTorah and some others. We know this is true because great rabbis in the past have taken steps toward rebuilding.
The chief obstacle is the increasingly anti-Judaism secular government of Israel.
Amateur archaeologists and rabbis running tourist attractions are not authorities to be relied on; neither are the endless number of endtimes speculators from false religions.
Sad, but ain't that the truth of it. Man worshiping himself: a stupider religion there has never been.
About 10-20% of Jews are traditionally observant, with the percentage increasing. The question really doesn’t matter as those ‘cultural Jews’ don’t have Jewish descendants after a few generations unless someone returns to traditional observance. Cultural Jews inter-marry at a much greater than 50% rate.
I like the way you think!
Bibi is NOT the answer and STILL cannot be trusted. He has betrayed us before and is capable of doing it again. Moshe Feiglin NEEDS to be the next PM.
“Amateur archaeologists and rabbis running tourist attractions are not authorities to be relied on; neither are the endless number of endtimes speculators from false religions.”
B”H!
I really like the way you think!
Interesting...thanks for this.
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