 | A Netzarim (an other Gush Katif abandonned community) Update - Please forward |
Udi <udizinar@bigfoot.com> wrote:
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Wednesday, November 23, 2005
Kolot_JewVoice: A Netzarim (an other Gush Katif abandonned community) Update - Please forward
Thursday, November 17, 2005
Kolot_JewVoice: The case for Mitzpe Shalhevet
| The case for Mitzpe Shalhevet |
| Nov. 16, 2005 21:19 | Updated Nov. 17, 2005 0:48 The case for Mitzpe Shalhevet By DAVID WILDER posted by Michelle_Nevada <Michelle_Nevada@comcast.net> to the group ChozrimExiles @YahooGroups During the past several weeks, over 100 members of the Likud Central Committee have come to Hebron to see, feel and experience the first Jewish city in the Land of Israel. They've come mostly to view Jewish property that is inaccessible to Hebron's Jewish community. The story properly begins in 1807 when Haim Bajaio purchased, on behalf of the Hebron Jewish community, a five-dunam plot of land adjacent to the centuries-old Jewish Quarter, for 1,200 grushim. The deal was witnessed and signed by no fewer than 22 Hebron Arab notables. This property served Hebron's Jews and later accommodated the home and synagogue of its chief rabbi, Eliahu Manni. Following the Jordanian occupation of Hebron in 1948, the entire Jewish Quarter - founded by Spanish-Jewish exiles in 1540 - was razed to the ground. Among the structures destroyed was the ancient Avraham Avinu Synagogue. In the early 1960s, an Arab fruit and vegetable market was constructed on the property bought by the Hebron community in 1807. Following the liberation of Hebron during the 1967 Six Day War, these structures continued to function, having been rented to the Hebron Arab municipality by the Israeli government. The property contracts for these buildings expired in the 1990s, and the site was gradually closed over a period of several years, due to security concerns. The market was finally shut down following an attempted terrorist attack: Arabs placed a booby-trapped teddy bear in a plastic bag in the market near the entrance to the Jewish neighborhood, hoping a Jewish child, finding it, would play with it and be killed in the ensuing explosion. Despite numerous requests by our community to rent the structures, the site has been left vacant. On March 26, 2001, at the beginning of the Oslo War an Arab sniper shot and killed 10-month-old Shalhevet Pass. Following the murder, Hebron children began utilizing the abandoned Arab shuk as a place to play and take cover during shooting attacks from the overlooking Abu Sneneh Hills. Over a period of time, the Hebron community invested tens of thousands of dollars to convert the former fruit and vegetable stalls into livable apartments. Presently, the former market, renamed the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood, houses Hebron families and a Torah study hall opened in Shalhevet's memory. Mitzpe Shalhevet is presently on the brink of obliteration, not by Arabs, but by the government. FOUR YEARS ago, in response to an Arab demand to reopen the market, the Attorney-General's office notified the Supreme Court that: (1) the Arabs no longer had any legal rights to the market and (2) that Israeli "trespassers" would be evicted from the site. The Supreme Court, however, never ruled that the former market's Jewish population should be expelled from their homes. The reason behind the attorney-general's decision is summed up in his own words: "The criminal must not be rewarded." The criminal, in this case, is not defined as the Arabs who murdered 67 Jews, destroyed the Jewish Quarter, shot at Hebron Jews from the surrounding hills and killed Shalhevet Pass. Rather, the criminal is defined as Hebron's Jews, who had "usurped" the vacant buildings belonging to the State of Israel. Following issuance of an eviction order, Hebron's Jewish community appealed to the courts, claiming private Jewish ownership of the property. An appeals committee of three judges ruled 2-1 that the land did legally belong to a private Jewish organization, but that the buildings legally fell within the jurisdiction of the Israeli government. Concurrently, two of the three judges ruled that the optimal solution to the problem was to lease the structures to Hebron's Jewish community. The defense minister delayed executing the eviction order for over two years, due to security issues and other concerns. However, recently, following the successful expulsion of 10,000 Jews from Gush Katif and northern Samaria, the Attorney-General's Office has exerted tremendous pressure on Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to execute the eviction orders and remove Hebron's families from the Mitzpe Shalhevet neighborhood. Mofaz may be under the mistaken impression that the Supreme Court ruled that the structures must be evacuated. This is, as previously noted, not true. To the contrary, the easiest and most just solution, as recommended by the judges, is to lease the buildings to Hebron's Jewish community. On the Shabbat of November 26, thousands of Jews are expected to arrive in Hebron to celebrate the annual Torah reading of Hayei Sarah commemorating Abraham's purchase of Ma'arat Hamachpela, the Cave of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, some 4,000 years ago. There could be no better way to affirm a permanent, eternal Jewish presence in Hebron than to officially proclaim the reclamation and rededication of Mitzpe Shalhevet. No doubt Abraham and Sarah would smile down upon us from the heavens above. The writer is the spokesman of the Jewish Community of Hebron. |
OrTorah: Sanhedrin Moves to Establish Council For Noahides
| Sanhedrin Moves to Establish Council For Noahides | |||
Sanhedrin Moves to Establish Council For Noahides 01:39 Sep 29, '05 / 25 Elul 5765By Ezra HaLevi taken from http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=90646
B'nai Noach, literally "Children of Noah," known as Noahides, are non-Jews who take upon themselves the Torah's obligations for non-Jews - consisting of seven laws passed on from Noah following the flood, as documented in Genesis (see below). Until now, Noahide communities and organization had been scattered around the globe, with a particular concentration centered around the southern United States. The communities themselves are a relatively recent phenomenon bolstered by the fact that the Internet has allowed individuals sharing Noahide beliefs to get in touch with one another. The court of 71 rabbis, known as the Sanhedrin, which was reestablished last October in Tiberius following the reinstitution of rabbinic semikha, decided, after numerous requests from the Noahide community, to assist the movement in forming a leadership council. Rabbi Michael Bar-Ron, with the Sanhedrin's blessing, travelled to the United States to meet with representatives of the Noahide movement and select members for the High Council. Bar-Ron, an ordained student, talmid samukh, who currently sits on the Sanhedrin, is also one of the Sanhedrin's spokesmen. Bar-Ron organized a small conference in California where six of the council's future members were selected and also addressed the annual convention of the Vendyl Jones Research Institute - one of the Noahide organizations represented on the council. At the VJRI convention, Bar-Ron met five more of the Noahide leaders who will be joining the council. The purpose of the council, which was the brainchild of Rabbi Avraham Toledano, is to assist the B'nei Noach in their struggle to observe the word of G-d. "The goal is to unify, serve and organize all kosher B'nei Noach communities of the world under a single body that can operate under the direct authority and supervision of the Sanhedrin," the decision to establish the body reads. "To form a vessel through which the Torah, from Zion (via the Sanhedrin) can effectively serve non-Jewish communities around the world." A third goal of the creation of the High Council and the Sanhedrin's efforts in regard to the Noahide community, is to "transform the Noahide movement from a religious phenomenon - a curiosity many have not heard of - into a powerful international movement that can successfully compete with, and with G-d's help bring about the fall of, any religious movement but the pure authentic faith that was given to humanity through Noach, the father of us all," said emissary Bar-Ron. To that end, one of the primary functions of the council will be the creation and development of effective outreach materials for the world. Although Judaism does not require or encourage non-Jews to become Jewish, the observance of the Seven Laws of Noah is incumbent upon humanity and widespread observance is to be worked toward, even through active proselytization, something that is anathema to Judaism. The council is also seeking to identify and contact communities around the world who observe the Seven Laws of Noah in order to invite them to learn more about the movement. B'nei Noach in India and Brazil are already in touch with Noahide leaders. Asked why the Sanhedrin would reach out to B'nei Noach before concentrating on outreach within the Jewish community, Rabbi Bar-Ron answered: "There was no conscious choice to ignore the issue of outreach toward other Jews, but there is a Torah principle that a mitzva, positive precept, that comes to your hand should be fulfilled first and should not be put off. It happens to be that the group that showed the most outward display of support and genuine concern for the success of the Sanhedrin - contacting us from the very outset - were the B'nei Noach. One of the great responsibilities of the Jewish people is to spread the laws of Noach." Bar-Ron said he had mixed feelings as he departed for the meetings with the B'nei Noach leaders, as he left the day the forced expulsion of Jews from Gaza began. "I was in such a horrible heart-wrenching pain about leaving - I almost felt like a traitor to our people. But I realized then that although the government was detaching itself from the Land of Israel - a partial annulment of our covenant with G-d, similar to the sin of the ten spies - there is another aspect of the covenant that has not been pursued. That aspect is our obligation to be a nation of priests unto the nations. This is the core of the covenant with Abraham and it is something the Jewish people as a nation has not involved itself in since Second Temple times. So as the government disengaged from the covenant, I was participating in the reengagement with an aspect of the covenant that has been dormant." Bar-Ron was very impressed with the B'nei Noach leaders he met. "Each of them had a different unique talent. One was an extremely talented media coordinator, two were great scholars of Noahide law, one was secretary of a large successful Noahide community and research institute and one was a law enforcement officer for a number of years. Each had the wisdom and experience that will help them lead the movement. All of the prospective members of the High Council are obligated to appear in Jerusalem this coming January, at which time they will be ordained by the Sanhedrin as members of the High Council. "One of the things I thought would be more difficult was implementing the fact that the Sanhedrin's steering committee unanimously voted that the High Council members must appear personally before the Sanhedrin to be ordained as such," Bar-Ron said. "But the level of commitment of these people is so high that it is not posing a problem at all. Each member was screened very carefully and accepted not only on the basis of their high reputation, wisdom and experience - there were many dedicated and talented B'nei Noach who we would have loved to have accepted into the council - but for their role as representatives of entire B'nei Noach communities or as experts in a particularly field. The acting head of the Sanhedrin, Rabbi Yoel Schwartz, has set up a Beit Din for B'nei Noach to serve the needs of B'nei Noach worldwide. At this point, the council will not serve as a adjudicating body. "It is our sincere hope that in years to come, the knowledge of the halakha, Torah law, of the Seven Laws of Noach will grow to such a degree that there will be true Noahide judges," Bar-Ron said. "One of the goals is to delineate clearly the seven laws and their applications according to the Mishneh Torah of the Rambam." "Never before in recorded history have B'nei Noach come together to be ordained by the Sanhedrin for the purpose of spreading Noahide observance of laws," Bar-Ron said. "This is the first critical step of bringing about the ultimate flowering of the brotherhood of mankind envisioned by Noach, the father of mankind." The Seven Laws of Noah are: Shefichat damim - Do not murder. Gezel - Do not steal or kidnap. Avodah zarah - Do not worship false gods/idols. Gilui arayot - Do not be sexually immoral (engage in incest, sodomy, bestiality, castration and adultery) Birkat Hashem - Do not utter G-d's name in vain, curse G-d or pursue the occult. Dinim - Set up righteous and honest courts and apply fair justice in judging offenders and uphold the principles of the last five. Ever Min HaChai - Do not eat a part of a live animal. For more information email the Sanhedrin's secretary at: dbtc@actco.com |
Sunday, November 13, 2005
OrTorah: Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath
| Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath |
Finding Said to Boost Proof of Goliath Associated Press Thu Nov 10, 7:36 PM www.comcast.net/news/science/index.jsp?cat=SCIENCE&fn=/2005/11/10/261812.html JERUSALEM - Archaeologists digging at the purported biblical home of Goliath have unearthed a shard of pottery bearing an inscription of the Philistine's name, a find they claimed lends historical credence to the Bible's tale of David's battle with the giant. While the discovery is not definitive evidence of Goliath's existence, it does support the Bible's depiction of life at the time the battle was supposed to have occurred, said Dr. Aren Maeir, a professor at Bar-Ilan University and director of the excavation. "What this means is that at the time there were people there named Goliath," he said. "It shows us that David and Goliath's story reflects the cultural reality of the time." In the story, David slew Goliath with a slingshot. Some scholars assert the story of David slaying the giant Goliath is a myth written down hundreds of years later. Maeir said finding the scraps lends historical credence to the biblical story. The shard dates back to around 950 B.C., within 70 years of when biblical chronology asserts David squared off against Goliath, making it the oldest Philistine inscription ever found, the archaeologists said. Scientists made the discovery at Tel es-Safi, a dig site in southern Israel thought to be to be the location of the Philistine city of Gath. |
OrTorah: Kabbalah, Science and Creation -part I,
| Kabbalah, Science and Creation -part I, |
Kabbalah, Science and Creation -part I By Nathan AviezerJewish Action Fall 5765/2004 posted to http://groups.yahoo.com/group/HaTsafon/ In recent years, many religious scientists, I among them, have written at length about the emerging harmony between the discoveries of modern science and the Torah account of Creation (1). In particular, big bang theory of cosmology provides a scientific explanation (2,3) for every word and phrase that appears in the first five verses of Bereishit - the First Day of Creation. In view of these remarkable correlations between Torah and science, it is tempting to explore the other traditional source that discusses the creation of the universe, namely, kabbalah. Kabbalah presents a description of Creation that is very different from the description that appears in the first chapter of Bereishit. This does not imply any contradiction between these two accounts of the same event. Rather, the two versions emphasize different features. The Torah description deals with the actual sequence of events (First Day, Second Day, et cetera), whereas kabbalah stresses the role of God in the process of Creation and His interactions with the universe. Is it possible that the account of creation given by kabbalah can be correlated with the findings of modern science? One might object to this question on the grounds that kabbalah deals with the spiritual realm, whereas science is restricted to the physical realm. Nevertheless, one of the principles of kabbalah is that the spiritual realm of the world above descends, suitably garbed, to create a physical counterpart in the world below. Therefore, it is indeed in place to ask: Can one find features of the physical world that appear related to kabbalah? As we shall see, the answer to this question is "yes." In the past few decades, the physical universe has been revealed to be a far richer, stranger and more wonderful place than anyone could have imagined. It is precisely this subtlety and intricacy of the physical world that provide the framework for the various correlations with the spiritual world of kabbalah. Kabbalah There are learned scholars who have spent their entire lives studying the mysteries of kabbalah. It is therefore obvious that this essay will not contain a comprehensive account of the subject. For our purposes, it is sufficient to concentrate on a few basic principles. It should be noted that there are different traditions in kabbalah. Our presentation will follow the ideas of the Ari (Rav Isaac Luria, sixteenth century), whose approach to kabbalah was foreshadowed in the writings of earlier mukubalim (kabbalists). The views of the Ari were written down by his most important disciple, Rav Chaim Vital (4). One of the basic concepts in kabbalah is the sefirot. The origin of the term has been understood in various ways: it is either sefirot, that is, "spheres," or sapirim, relating to God's "radiating and sparkling," or mesaprim, alluding to the Divine cosmos "relating" the glory of God. The essence of God cannot be known; we know of God only through His manifestations. Central to His manifestations are the ten sefirot, which represent Divine emanations or dimensions. The idea of exploring the ten sefirot is discussed in Sefer Yetzirah 1:4: Ten sefirot from nothingness. Ten and not nine; ten and not eleven. Understand with wisdom; be wise with understanding. Probe with them and explore with them. Establish a thing in its essence. And return the Creator to His rightful place. The Kabbalistic Account of Creation Kabbalah characterizes God as the Ein-Sof ("without end"), a limitless and unknowlable infinite realm. The ten sefirot are configurations of Divine powers within the Godhead, containing the principles whereby God manifests Himself to us, and constituting the vehicle through which God interacts with the universe. In the beginning, the universe did not exist. The existence of an entity in addition to the Ein-Sof would have been impossible, because this would constitute a limitation on His infinity. To enable the universe to exist required an act of tzimtzum on the part of God. The literal meaning of tzimtzum is "contraction," which the Ari understood as "withdrawal." Although the Midrash also speaks of the presence of God undergoing tzimtzum, the idea there is that His presence contracts and concentrates into a point. The Ari understood tzimtzum to mean a contraction and withdrawing away from a point. This Divine withdrawal made possible the creative processes leading to an entity - the universe - that could exist in parallel with the Ein-Sof (5). God's withdrawal provided a space into which flowed a ray (kav) of Divine light. The nature and development of this light is dealt with in kabbalah literature. What is relevant to our discussion is the effect of the light on the sefirot or, more accurately, on the vessels (kelim) associated with each of the ten sefirot. The vessels of the first three sefirot managed to contain the ray of light that flowed into them. However, as the light struct the following seven sefirot, it was too powerful to be held by their vessels, which cracked and shattered, one after another. This kabbalistic concept is known as "the breaking of the vessels" (shevirat haKelim). In the future, through human fulfillment of Torah and mitzvot, the seven broken sefirot may regain their perfection, a process known as tikkun. However, until the era of tikkun, the universe will consist of three intact and seven broken sefirot. The Scientific Account of Creation The branch of science that deals with the origin of the universe is known as cosmology. In every age and in every culture, people would look up at the sky and wonder: What was the origin of the heavenly bodies - the sun, the moon and the stars? The concept of Creation was considered an impossibility, because science asserted that something cannot come from nothing. Therefore, scientists viewed the universe as eternal, thus neatly avoiding its origins. The Bereishit statement that the universe was created became an arena of conflict between science and Torah. That is how matters stood for many years. But this situation has now changed. The twentieth century has witnessed an unprecedented explosion of scientific knowledge that was nowhere more dramatic than in cosmology. Astronomers had been studying the heavenly bodies for thousands of years, but their studies dealt almost exclusively with charting the paths of the stars, planets and comets, and determining their composition, spectrum and other properties. The origin of the heavenly bodies remained a complete mystery. Important advances in cosmology during the past few decades have, for the first time, permitted scientists to construct a coherent history of the origin of the universe. Today, an overwhelming body of scientific evidence supports the big bang theory of cosmology (6). The current scientif status of the big bang theory was summarized as follows: "The big bang theory works better than ever." (7) Similar views were expressed in 1999 by cosmology Brian Greene of Columbia University: "The modern theory of cosmic origins [asserts] that the universe erupted from an enormously energetic event . the big bang theory of creation is referred to as the standard model of cosmology." (8) The most important assertion of the big bang theory is that the universe was literally created. It is instructive to quote some of the world's foremost authorities. Nobel laureate Paul Dirac, a major architect of twentieth-century physics, writes: "It seems certain that there was a definite time of creation." (9) Leading cosmologist Stephen Hawking writes: "The creation lies outside the scope of the presently known laws of physics." (10) When cosmologists use the term "creation," to what are they referring? Precisely what object was created? Scientists have discovered that the universe began with the sudden appearance of an enormous ball of light, called the "primeval light-ball." This "explosion of light" was dubbed the "big bang" by the British astrophysicist, Fred Hoyle. (11) The remnant of this primeval light-ball was first detected in 1965 by two American physicists, Arno Penzias and Robert Wilson, who were awarded the Nobel prize for physics for their discovery. Comparing Kabbalah with Science Let us summarize the three features of the kabbalah account of Creation: 1. The universe began through an act of creation; 2. Divine light played a central role in the creation and 3. There exist three intact sefirot and seven broken sefirot. Our task is to relate these features of the kabbalah account of Creation to the scientific theory of the creation of the universe. The first feature of the kabbalah account deals with an event - the Creation. Correspondingly, the big bang theory of cosmology asserts that the universe was indeed created. Today, it is hardly possible to carry on a meaningful discussion of cosmology without the creation of the universe assuming a central role. The second and third features of the kabbalah account deal with entities - the Divine light and the ten sefirot. According to kabbalah, as stated previously, every entity of the spiritual world above descends, suitably garbed, into the physical realm of the world below. Therefore, the physical counterparts to the Divine light and the ten sefirot are to be sought in the world below. The physical counterpart of the Divine light of kabbalah is the primeval light of the big bang. The standard theory of cosmology asserts that the entity that was created at the beginning of time was an enormous ball of light, popularly known as the big bang and hence, the name of the theory. With appropriate instrumentation, one can still observe the remnant of this primeval light that dates back to the very origins of time. The difficulty resides in the third feature of the kabbalah account of Creation. What might be the physical counterpart of the ten sefirot? Since the sefirot are often described as the "dimensions of God," we propose that the physical counterpart of the sefirot in the world below are the spatial dimensions of the universe. According to this proposal, the three intact sefirot correspond to the three familiar dimensions of space: east-west, north-south, up-down. This brings us to the crux of the problem: The total number of sefirot is ten. Is there any sense in which one can speak of a ten-dimensional universe? And what is meant by the broken sefirot? Is there such a thing as a broken dimension? These questions are answered by string theory, (12) the modern scientific description of the universe. String theory asserts that the universe consists of ten spatial dimensions. This discovery has generated a great deal of excitement. On the cover of a recent scientific journal, the following words appeared: "String Theory and Space-Time with Eleven Dimensions." (13, 14) The eleven dimensions of space-time posited by string theory consist of one time dimension and ten spatial dimensions. Of the ten spatial dimensions, three are the usual dimensions previously mentioned (up-down, east-west, north-south), while the other seven dimensions have become "compacted" (in the language of string theory) and, as a result, are not directly accessible to our senses. This is why it was previously thought that we inhabit a universe of only three dimensions. The importance of these amazing scientific statements lies in the fact that they imply a correspondence between science (string theory) and kabbalah. One may identify the physical counterpart of the seven broken sefirot of kabbalah with the seven compacted dimensions asserted by string theory. |
Wednesday, November 09, 2005
Kolot_JewVoice: We’re Being Robbed! - by Batya Medad
| We’re Being Robbed! - by Batya Medad |
| We’re Being Robbed! by Batya Medad Wednesday, November 9, 2005 posted to http://www.theraphi.com/medad/wbr.html
Just as we were trying to figure out which communities in Judea and Samaria are, G-d forbid, next in line for extinction and destruction, we were shocked to discover that Mount Zion, including David’s Tomb is being offered to the descendents of the Crusaders, the same guys who brought us the Inquisition more than half a millennium ago. If you haven’t yet heard, and Israel’s President Katzav claims to be in the dark about this scandal, even though the government is planning on using him to sign the contract. Yes, I’m calling it a contract, rather than an agreement, since it’s a business deal involving millions, tens of millions of Euros, which are worth more than dollars. Honestly, it is possible that Katzav knows nothing about it. In Israel, the president is a figurehead to be wheeled out to smile and shake hands at formal occasions. Katzav, a “traditional Jew,” keeps a kippah handy in his pocket for religious needs, and besides a ready smile, he seems pretty robotic to me. He succeeded Ezer Weitzman, his polar opposite in personality and life-style. That’s one of the reasons, probably the main reason he was elected. It’s strange that even though Katzav’s office professes ignorance and the mainstream newspapers are at best playing it down and even worse most are ignoring it, a group of Anglos have had little trouble discovering the details. Sharon Katz’s Voices Magazine will be running an article on the subject. Investigations have shown that the scheme was hatched by Avraham Poraz, of the anti-religious Shinui Party, when he was the Minister of the Interior. He promised to facilitate the deal during a visit to Rome over a year ago. The Shinui Party is no longer a member of the coalition. Previous Israeli officials, such as Rabbi Benny Elon of the National Union and former Minister of Tourism did everything to veto it. The deal to give away Mount Zion to the Catholic Church has been totally ignored by the Hebrew press. Not even the religious Jewish papers have written about it. Every time I mention it to neighbors they are in shock and can’t figure out why they have been kept in the dark. Not a peep has been heard from the politicians. It seems like all the activity is from some bloggers and emailers in English. From the amount of letters coming in to our computer, you’d think it was the biggest issue in the country, but unfortunately it’s not true. Nobody else seems to know anything. I can’t believe that nobody cares. Even if the area in question hadn’t been the location of a yeshiva, The Diaspora Yeshiva, for over thirty five years, it’s still of great religious and historical importance for the Jewish People. It shouldn’t be given, sold or leased to any other religion. It‘s a travesty of justice. Why are the civil rights of Jews always ignored? On Friday I was the demonstration outside of the President’s Residence against his signing the agreement. We were a very small group, and only one politician showed, Jerusalem City Councilwoman, Mina Fenton. She seems to be the only person in the municipality showing any interest, and she had more information, and it was bad news. It’s like living in the Theatre of the Absurd. Giving the Catholic Church such a holy Jewish Landmark endangers our existence. Our disengaged government is out to destroy the country, G-d forbid. Let’s get to work. We have a country to save. *****Batya Medad, special to TheRaphi.com, and her husband made aliyah from New York in 1970 two months after their wedding. They have five children and two granddaughters and have lived in Shiloh since 1981. Batya hitchhikes to and from Beit El, where she teaches English in the Yeshiva High School B´nai Binyamin. Author's Website |
OrTorah: The Convergence of Torah and Science
| The Convergence of Torah and Science |
| The Convergence of Torah and Science* by Prof. Paul Eidelberg Wednesday, November 9, 2005 taken from http://www.theraphi.com/ppe/tcotas.html
Israel’s survival ultimately depends on national unity. Nothing is more conducive to unity than revealing the convergence of Torah and science. Hence the importance of Gerald L. Schroeder’s book, The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom. This essay is very much indebted to his work. Dr. Schroeder, a physicist, writes: “Of all the ancient accounts of creation, only that of Genesis has warranted a second reading by the scientific community. It alone records a sequence of events that approaches the scientific account of our cosmic origin.”[1] Dr. Schroeder has especially in mind the Big Bang theory. Based on Einstein’s general theory of relativity, the abundance of evidence confirming the Big Bang has made creatio ex nihilo the reigning cosmological principle in the community of scientists. The dogma of the eternity of the universe, which held sway for millennia in philosophy and science as well as among eastern religions, has thus been discarded. In fact, more and more astronomers, astrophysicists, physicists, and mathematicians—hitherto atheists or agnostics—now admit that the universe, having had a Beginning, must have had a Beginner. Genesis 1:1, “In the beginning God created (bara) the heavens and the earth …” contains a unique and seldom used word in the Torah, namely, bara. This word, translated as “created,” has as its primary definition “bringing into existence something that did not exist before.” In Genesis 1:1, bara means creation from nothing. Here “nothing” signifies the absence of matter and energy as well as the dimensions of space and time—hence nothing which any human being can detect and measure. The Big Bang theory therefore accords with the Genesis account of Creation. How did scientists arrive at the big bang? When Einstein proposed his theory of general relativity in 1916, the cosmological doctrine of an eternal universe held in a static state throughout infinite time reigned supreme. Although his field equations predicted an expanding universe, Einstein was trying to construct a static model universe that would not collapse as a result of its own self-gravitation. But since Hubble’s discovery in 1929 of the recession of the galaxies, the theory of an expanding universe has dominated cosmology.[2] Knowing the rate at which the universe is expanding, one can extrapolate backwards to determine the size of the universe “in the beginning,” that is, at the moment when expansion began. At that moment, about 15 billion (Earth) years ago, the entire universe—all the galaxies, with their millions of stars, the dust and gas, the intergalactic matter, all the energy and even the four dimensions of space and time—was squeezed into an “atomic nucleus” or “singularity” of infinite or near infinite density, temperature, and pressure. That singularity, at which all known physics come to an end, was itself created (bara) from “nothing.” From that singularity, whose volume is very much smaller than the period at the end of this sentence, the universe burst forth and expanded, and it continues to expand. What an incredible and unintended confirmation, by science—indeed, by a Jew who was not even a believer—of the infinite power and majesty of God! Strange indeed are God’s ways. Strange too that estimates of the age of the universe from Jewish sources antedating the fifteenth century range from 2.5 to 17.5 billion years.[3] Ponder, therefore, the words of the great Torah scholar and Kabalist Nahmanides (1194-1270). Commenting on Genesis 1:1 some seven hundred and fifty years ago, Nahmanides writes: This “primary matter” is nothing other than energy, which can be converted into matter (and vice versa) according to Einstein’s celebrated formula E=mc2. Commenting further on the first verse of Genesis, Nahmanides says, “with this creation, which was like a very small point having no substance, everything in the heavens and on the earth was created.” That point, of course is the previously mentioned “singularity” from which the Big Bang originated. Nahmanides derived this knowledge from the Talmud (ca. 500 CE). Physics has thus confirmed the first verse of Genesis, whose meaning was known 1,500 years ago by Rabbis who had received this secret knowledge via the oral tradition going back to the time of Moses. However, more fundamental than energy is wisdom: “With wisdom God created the heavens and the earth.” (See Proverbs 3:19.) Since the reliability of the evidence confirming the Big Bang depends primarily on the accuracy of general relativity’s predictions about the dynamics of the universe, consider the following. General relativity predicts that, over time, two neutron stars orbiting about one another will radiate so much gravitational energy that they will spiral inward toward one another causing their orbital periods to speed up. With measurements extending over twenty years (1974-1994), general relativity was confirmed over all to an accuracy of no more than one part in a hundred trillion. This prompted physicist Roger Penrose to say, “This makes Einstein’s general relativity, in this particular sense, the most accurately tested theory known to science.”[5] In fact, no other theory of physics has ever been tested in so many different contexts and so rigorously; general relativity has withstood all these tests, which solidifies the Big Bang theory. Given the infinite or near infinite temperature of the singularity which exploded in the Big Bang, one of the predicted consequences of this explosion is cosmic background radiation. The most compelling evidence of such radiation—which evidence showed how the galaxies were formed out of the Big Bang—was provided in the 1992 findings of the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) satellite. Theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking (a reputed atheist) said, “It is the discovery of the century, if not of all time.” Astronomer George Smoot declared, “What we have found is evidence of the birth of the universe. It’s like looking at God.”[6] Many other kinds of evidence confirming the Big Bang theory have been accumulated. Consider the Anthropic Principle, which has been elaborated during the last three decades, and which postulates a linkage between the structure of the universe and the prerequisites of human existence. The Anthropic Principle suggests a Creator-God concerned about man. Michael A. Corey writes: The gravitational constant (G), for instance, appears to be exceedingly fine-tuned for the existence of life. If it were slightly larger, stars would have burned too hot and much too quickly to support the fragile needs of life; but if it were slightly smaller, the intrastellar process of nuclear fusion would have never initiated, and life would have been incapable of arising here. The fine-tuning of the universe includes dozens of parameters whose values must fall within narrowly defined ranges for physical life of any sort to exist. Mention may also be made of the ratio of the number of protons to electrons, the carbon to oxygen energy level ratio, the speed of light (299,792,458 kilometers per second), and the fine structure constant necessary for DNA to function. Although the validity of the Anthropic Principle has been challenged by various scientists, its general formulation is consistent with the Torah, according to which the universe was created for man. Scientist and former skeptic Fred Hoyle concludes that “a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology.” Paul Davies has moved from promoting atheism to conceding, “It seems as though somebody has fine-tuned nature’s numbers to make the Universe. The impression of design is overwhelming.” No less than Stephen Hawking concedes: “It would be very difficult to explain why the universe should have begun in just this way, except as the act of a God who intended to create beings like us.”[8] But let us return to the big bang. Since the Big Bang theory entails a finite universe, the question arises: What is there beyond? Outside the universe there is no space. The notion of emptiness, as opposed to fullness, applies only inside the universe. It bears repeating that space was created at the moment of the big bang. Hence there are no dimensions outside the universe (and of course the human mind reasons and calculates in terms of spatial dimensions). The same applies to time. The question of what went on before the big bang is meaningless, since time itself was created with that awesome event. Leaving aside the two religions derived from Judaism, only the Torah unambiguously states that time is finite, that time has a beginning, and that God created time, as should now ring true from the Genesis account of Creation. Indeed, Dr. Schroeder, using Einstein’s equation for gravitational time dilation, shows that the duration and events of the billions of years which followed the big bang, and the events of the first six days of Genesis, are in fact one and the same! Here are some relevant passages from his The Science of God. Schroeder suggests that we read the opening chapter of Genesis a few times, paying particular attention to the description of the events and the flow of time related to those events. Then read any other chapter in the entire Bible, again concentrating on the flow of events and the related flow of time. Note how the context changes. The description of time in the Bible is divided into two categories: the first six days and all the time thereafter. During those six days, blocks of time are described and then we are told that a day passed. This is repeated in a totally objective fashion six times…. There is no intimate relation between the events and the passage of time.… Rather, we are told that the land and waters separated, plant life appeared, “And there was evening and there was morning a third day” (Gen. 1:9-13). No hint is given for the time each of these major events took. After explaining the equality between the six days of Genesis and fifteen billion Earth years during which the entire universe was created, Dr. Schroeder refers to Nahmanides’ above quoted commentary on Genesis 1:1, and points out that the great Kabalist learned from his teachers that the first word of the Bible, beresheet— “In the beginning of”—means in the beginning of time. Biblical time thus begins with the appearance of matter—an extraordinary insight. Of course, it remained for the mathematics of general relativity to show how the six days of Creation recorded in Genesis is equal to fifteen billion (Earth) years. It follows from the preceding discussion that the modern dichotomy between science and religion, or rather, between science and the Torah, has been placed in question by science itself. Indeed, a recent scientific article in one of the foremost international journals of physics bears the title, “Creation of the Universe from Nothing”: At the 1990 meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Professor John Mather of Columbia University, an astrophysicist who also served on the staff of NASA’s Goddard Center, presented “the most dramatic support ever” for an open universe [i.e., one which supports a cosmological proof of God’s existence]. According to a journalist present, Mather’s keynote address was greeted with thunderous applause, which led the meeting’s chairman, Dr. Geoffrey Burbidge [an atheist astronomer], to comment: “It seems clear that the audience is in favor of the book of Genesis—at least the first verse or so, which seems to have been confirmed.”[10] This is only the beginning! Footnotes: [1] Gerald L. Schroeder, The Science of God: The Convergence of Scientific and Biblical Wisdom (New York: Broadway Books, 1997), p. 80. [2] See Hugh Ross, The Creator and the Cosmos (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress, 2001), pp. 24-25. [3] See Aryeh Carmell & Cyril Domb, Challenge: Torah Views on Science and Its Problems (Jerusalem: Feldheim, 1976), p. 282, n. 10. [4] Ramban (Nachmanides), Commentary on the Torah (5 vols.; New York: Shilo Publishing House, 1971). I, 23, Chavel trans. [5] Cited in Ross, p. 104. [6] Cited in ibid., p. 31. [7] Extracted from the Internet. [8] Quotes in this paragraph are cited in Ross, pp. 157, 159. [9] Schroeder, pp. 45-47. [10] Cited in Lawrence Kelemen, Permission to Believe: Four Rational Approaches to God’s Existence (Jerusalem: Targum/Feldheim, 1990), p. 40. *(The Jerusalem Post recently published rather superficial articles regarding the relationship between science and religion. No mention was made of Dr. Gerald L. Schroeder’s illuminating work on the subject. Hence this essay, which is based on my latest book “A Jewish Philosophy of History.) *****Prof. Eidelberg, special to TheRaphi.com, is a political scientist, author and lecturer; co-founder and president of The Foundation For Constitutional Democracy and is the President of the Yamin Israel movement. |
Wednesday, November 02, 2005
Kolot_JewVoice: Mt. Zion Situation - Please Help
|
Mt. Zion Situation - Please Help
posted by shelomo@alfassa.com to the forum NetEsnoga@yahoogroups.comFriends,
In October the Vatican paper 'El Messagero' reported Israel may sign
an agreement handing over part of Kever David HaMelech (the
traditional tomb of King David) on Mt. Zion to the Roman Catholic
Church. For many years the Vatican has wanted the room they describe
as the "Last Supper Room" of which all historians agree, is not the
location where a supposed event of the same name ever took place. In
exchange for handing this location over to the Church, the Jews
(Israel) would receive the Santa Maria La Blanca Church in Toledo,
Spain. Of course we all know there are no Jews left in Toledo after
being chased out in the 14th century with the violent pogroms.
We have come to learn that the President of Israel is not only
working to hand over part of the Mt. Zion Complex to the Church, but
the Church is going to build a Vatican annex or complex there. This
would be their first of more steps. We have assembled a great
international team and ISFSP is leading the charge to put pressure
(in a respectful way) to have President Katsav not sign this deal. He
is going to the Vatican in 2 weeks.
Please visit this website and learn more, see documents, and most of
all, HEAR a shocking interview with Rabbi Herman of Mt. Zion where
talks about what the Church plans to do with that portion of
Jerusalem--its shocking.
http://www.isfsp.org/zion.html
We need letter to the president, we need you to contact the media.
Shelomo
Tuesday, November 01, 2005
Kolot_JewVoice: [Tsedakah] Appeal from Tsfat, Israel
Dear Friends:
We are turning to you on behalf of the 70 children in the City of
Tsfat, Israel. A hot lunch was provided until recently for 200
children in grades 1-8. The monthly cost to the parents for this
program is approx. $ 30 per child. There are seventy children whose
parents cannot afford to pay for their childs hot lunch. The parents
of these children are unable to provide their children with any lunch
at all.
We are asking you to help sponsor the hot lunch of one child for one
month at a cost of $ 30. For this amount of money you will be
providing a Jewish child with a nutritious meal for one year so that
he will be able to learn properly. Please help us help these children!
Checks should be made out to American Friends of Tsfat and mailed to:
American Friends of Tsfat
20 Dawson Ave.
West Orange, NJ 07052
For those who wish I can email letters of support from the Mayor of
Tsfat and Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Tsfat.
All contributions to American Friends of Tsfat are tax deductible.
Sincerely:
Eliezer Greenspan
Israel Office: P.O. Box 6194, Tsfat 13410, Israel
U.S. Office: 20 Dawson Ave. West Orange, NJ 07052
Tel: 973-954-2399
We are turning to you on behalf of the 70 children in the City of
Tsfat, Israel. A hot lunch was provided until recently for 200
children in grades 1-8. The monthly cost to the parents for this
program is approx. $ 30 per child. There are seventy children whose
parents cannot afford to pay for their childs hot lunch. The parents
of these children are unable to provide their children with any lunch
at all.
We are asking you to help sponsor the hot lunch of one child for one
month at a cost of $ 30. For this amount of money you will be
providing a Jewish child with a nutritious meal for one year so that
he will be able to learn properly. Please help us help these children!
Checks should be made out to American Friends of Tsfat and mailed to:
American Friends of Tsfat
20 Dawson Ave.
West Orange, NJ 07052
For those who wish I can email letters of support from the Mayor of
Tsfat and Rabbi Shmuel Eliyahu, the Chief Rabbi of Tsfat.
All contributions to American Friends of Tsfat are tax deductible.
Sincerely:
Eliezer Greenspan
Israel Office: P.O. Box 6194, Tsfat 13410, Israel
U.S. Office: 20 Dawson Ave. West Orange, NJ 07052
Tel: 973-954-2399
Kolot_JewVoice: Project Warm Up-"Warming bodies...touching souls"
| Project Warm Up-"Warming bodies...touching souls" |
Project Warm Up-"Warming bodies...touching souls" posted to rammod@yahoogroups.comA very good friend of mine from Jerusalem, Lori Lurie, has initiated a project to provide a new warm winter jacket for every person from Gush Katif and northern Shomron who was forced to leave their home. Lori has been able to get these jackets from the distributor at cost and has begun distributing them this week. The boys from Shevet Maalot will be coming around on Tuesday afternoon to collect for this worthwhile cause. Your donation of 36 shekels (twice "chai") will purchase a warm jacket. Please give generously. Contributions are tax deductible both here and in the US. If you prefer to bring the money directly to me you are welcome to do so. If anyone wants to pass this on to friends or relatives in chutz la'aretz, the address is Project "Warm-Up" P.O. Box 8431 Jerusalem 91084 projectwarmup@hotmail.com Thank you and tizku lemitzvot, Chevi Schrader Hatirosh 14 If you have any questions you can call me at 9761290 or 054-6467739 |
Monday, October 31, 2005
Kolot_JewVoice: An Open Letter to American (Orthodox) Jewry
| An Open Letter to American (Orthodox) Jewry |
An Open Letter to American (Orthodox) Jewry
from Orit in Tel Avivhttp://israelnn.com/article.php3?id=5679
sent by HaDaR-Israel@verizon.net to OhaveiEretzYisrael@yahoogroups.com
First, I'd like to thank you, America, for being a wonderful host to
me after the terrible Disengagement. It was nice to spend time with
my family in sunny Los Angeles, relax with manicures and pedicures,
and zone out to the latest TV shows. I was able to gather new
strength, gain new perspectives, and clarify my mission to go back to
Israel and change a country.
However, it was less fun to go to shul on the High Holidays at my
folks' Modern Orthodox synagogue. Services were terribly boring. But
what really annoyed me was that no one talked about Gush Katif. The
sermons that I heard (or didn't fall asleep to) mentioned Katrina a
lot, but rabbis were eerily silent on the topic of the Disengagement.
I find this a little disturbing, because all throughout the holidays
we pray for the joy and peace of Israel; yet, while thousands of
Israelis are in a state of suffering, uncertainty and confusion, no
one seems to care, even though the liturgy expresses otherwise.
It was also interesting that on the holiest day of the Jewish
calendar, when we're supposed to reflect rigorously on the state of
our soul, no one really talked about the fate-altering Disengagement.
This certainly should have been a hot topic on the Day of Atonement,
but again, it was easily evaded, if it was even on anyone's minds.
And still, we prayed - all day - for righteousness, honesty and peace
of mind - personal and national.
But, in America at least, Judaism is not about the Jewish people
anymore. Judaism is about having a nice life and wearing nice outfits
to shul, where you can network with equally smart, successful and
well-dressed people. It's about saying morning and evening prayers
because it feels holy and idealistic, and, hey, everyone wants to
feel good about themselves.
For many American Jews, Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur seemed all about
how to continue living a nice, suburban life. The Torah might as well
be a Tony Robbins self-help book, because it outlines great
techniques for living, sprinkled with a few historic traditions and
ethical codes.
I realized, during my nice stay with you, that you say you care, but
deep down, I don't think you really do. You say you love Israel and
that you are Zionists, but I don't think you really are. You see,
Judaism is not about nationalism to you. Judaism is not about a
people living free, independent and strong in their homeland; it's
about having a nice house, a good parnasa, and a way of life that's
safe and comfortable.
That's why many of you (and there are exceptions), didn't really like
talking about the Disengagement. That's why some of you were even
happy that it occurred, and that America was appeased, because God
forbid, your generous host - your real nation -- would be mad at you
otherwise. As soon as you have to take a stand or interrupt your
lifestyle, you retreat to your prayer books and everyday say words
like:
"Blessed are You, HaShem, Who redeems Israel, Who gathers the
dispersed of Israel, Who loves righteousness and judgment, Who breaks
His enemies and humbles wanton sinners, Who builds Jerusalem, Who
sprouts the rays of redemption, Who restores His Presence to Zion."
These are supposed to be your values, but are they? Do you mean these
prayers? Do you want these blessings? No, you do not. Because if you
did, you'd be taking a lot more risks for Israel than you are now.
You'd seriously consider - and what a thought! - fulfilling the
mitzvah of living in the country. You'd save some money, pick-up your
family, and take part in realizing your prayers - the ingathering of
the exiles, the building of Jerusalem, the restoration of Zion - no
matter how difficult it will be.
Or maybe the flaws are in the prayers and the Diaspora Jews who
penned them long ago, because it's easy to absolve all responsibility
to HaShem and just say, "HaShem restores Zion, HaShem breaks His
enemies, I don't have to do a thing!" But HaShem once said, through
his prophet Isaiah, "Of what are your great many sacrifices to me? I
am full of the burnt-offerings and the fat of fed beasts." Prayers
are considered the modern-day substitute for animal sacrifices, and
HaShem's sick of them. He doesn't want your new moon and Shabbat
invocations - HaShem calls them "iniquity." He says that you can pray
all you want, but he won't answer them.
HaShem wants us to do what's right and to seek justice - thus says
Isaiah.
But Torah is not about doing what's right anymore, is it? It's about
making enough money to send kids to Jewish day schools, so that one
day, they could also have a big house and two cars in the same
neighborhood and send their kids to the same school and shul, and so
on and so forth, forever.
And when Israel is at war with her neighbors, and her people are
dying, they'll continue to send their kids to Jewish day schools, and
say the same prayers in the same shul, and maybe they'll send some
money to Israel, but they'll be glad they are in their beloved
America. When Judaism is too difficult, why put yourself on the line?
Why risk your life or your lifestyle? Why shed blood? After all, it's
only a religion.
And I wouldn't want you to risk your life for a religion. But it's
not a religion we're talking about. It's about a nation - the Jewish
nation and its people - me, you, your spouse, your kids, your
parents. It's about fighting for what is right and pursing justice.
But that doesn't seem to be too important these days.
So, farewell America. I had a good time. You're a good friend, you
can be there for me in difficult times, but I have to catch a plane
and start finding myself some justice.
Be`ahavath Israel
from HaDaRA Torah-wing Jew ("religious fanatic, gun-toting settler")
from Qiryath Arba Hebron
=====================================================
=========
He who is merciful with the cruel, will end-up being cruel to the
merciful - Kohelet Rabba 7:16
=====================================================
=========
When terrorists kill a Jew in Erets Israel , there are two responsible
parties: the terrorists
and the government that allows it. - Rav Meir Kahana
=====================================================
THE TORAH ON WALLS AND FENCES:
"He [your enemy] shall besiege you in all your gates, until the fall
of the tall and fortified walls in which you trust throughout your
land..." -- Deut. 28, 52
Ezekiel Chapter 13:
10 Because-, even because they have led My people astray, saying:
Peace, and
there is no peace; and when it buildeth up a wall, behold, they daub it
with
whited plaster; 11 say unto them that daub it with whited plaster, that
it
shall fall;
=======================================================
"Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch.
Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote!"
-Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790) US Founding Father-
=======================================================
Every drop of Jewish blood spilled by Arab terror, is on the hands of
ALL those who refuse
to work for the removal of these blood-thirsty beasts from among us.
They cannot say:
"Our hands did not spill that blood." - HaDaR -
=====================================================
"The question is not how can we remove the Arabs, but rather how can we
not"?
Rabbi Meir Kahane, ZTUQ"L, HI"D, "They Must Go", 1981, p.245
=====================================================
Woe unto them that call evil good and good evil.
(Isaiah 5,20)
=====================================================
"At a time of universal deceit - telling the truth is a revolutionary
act." (George Orwell)
=====================================================
"You declare, my friend, that you do not hate the Jews, you are
merely anti-Zionist.
And I say, let the truth ring forth from the highest mountaintops.
Let it echo through the valleys of God's green earth.
When people criticize Zionism, they mean Jews.
Zionism is nothing less than the dream and ideal of the Jewish people
returning to live in their own land." (Martin Luther King)
=====================================================
"Lots of bad editorials are better than a beautiful obituary."
-an old Israeli saying from the times before "Lemmings Disease" and
"Osloporosis" struck most of the country-
=====================================================
"The strength of the prophets of Israel lay in the fact that they
proclaimed the Truth
when everything was against it." - Andre Malraux -
=====================================================
Pacifism is objectively pro-Fascist. This is elementary common sense.
If you hamper the war effort of one side, you automatically help out
that of the other.
(George Orwell, Partisan Review, 1942)
=====================================================
"A nation can survive its fools, and even the ambitious. But it
cannot survive treason from within. An enemy at the gates is less
formidable, for he is known and he carries his banners openly. But
the traitor moves among those within the gate freely, his sly
whispers rustling through all the galleys, heard in the very hall of
government itself. For the traitor appears not a traitor - he speaks
in the accents familiar to his victims, and wears their face and
their garment, and he appeals to the baseness that lies deep in the
hearts of all men. He rots the soul of a nation - he works secretly
and unknown in the night to undermine the pillars of a city - he
infects the body politic so that it can no longer resist. A murderer
is less to be feared." -Cicero, 42 B.C.E.-
===================================================
"No Jew has the right to yield the rights of the Jewish People in
Israel. No Jew has the authority to do so. No Jewish body has the
authority to do so. Not even the entire Jewish People alive today
has the right to yield any part of Israel.
It is the right of the Jewish People over the generations, a right
that under no conditions can be cancelled. Even if Jews during a
specific period proclaim they are relinquishing this right, they have
neither the power nor the authority to deny it to future generations.
No concession of this type is binding or obligates the Jewish People.
Our right to the land - the entire land - exists as an eternal
right, and we shall not yield this historic right until its full and
complete redemption is realised."
-David Ben Gurion - at the Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in
1937
Friday, October 28, 2005
"If it is crazy to be Jewish and to prefer Jewish law, then lock us all up in mental institutions"
After more than two months of media censorship and silence, the shameful story of the Israeli government prosecution and persecution of a 16-year-girl for her political and religious beliefs has broken through the media ban. The story of Tziviya Sariel of Elon Moreh finally hit the papers and her uncle was about to be interviewed on Israeli Channel 2, when an Israeli court issued a gag order against any publicity concerning her case.
Tziviya has been languishing in an Israeli jail for women, without bail for more than 60 days charged with involvment in anti government protests following the expulsion of Jews from Northern Shomron. She has angered the Israeli authorities by refusing to recognize the secular Israeli legal system, demanding to be tried before a Rabbinic court. This new trend of Jews demanding trials according to Torah law has caused absolute hysteria among many Israeli judges. The judge presiding over Tziviya's trial actually ordered Tziviyah to be sent for psychiatric evaluation because of her insistance to be tried in a Torah court.
The fact that Tziviya's case has now broken through government censorship has embarrassed the prosecutor and the courts to bring forward her next trial date to this coming Monday October 31, 05. Tziviya's family is urging the public to attend a protest outside the Kfar Saba courthouse, Monday 8:00 AM. The family will be holding signs that read: "If it is crazy to be Jewish and to prefer Jewish law, then lock us all up in mental institutions."
"The use of psychological repression against political rivals with opposing ideological beliefs is a tactic used by repressive regimes and has no place in the land of Israel. We hope to deliver thousands of signed petitions to the President of Israel against this insanity," said Yekutiel Ben Yaakov of Mishalot Yisrael.
To sign the petition visit http://www.voiceofjudea.com/eng/petition.asp
send contributions for campaign to Mishalot Yisrael - Jaffa Rd 210/14 Jerusalem, Israel
http://www.voiceofjudea.com
Mike - 0544876709
Tziviya has been languishing in an Israeli jail for women, without bail for more than 60 days charged with involvment in anti government protests following the expulsion of Jews from Northern Shomron. She has angered the Israeli authorities by refusing to recognize the secular Israeli legal system, demanding to be tried before a Rabbinic court. This new trend of Jews demanding trials according to Torah law has caused absolute hysteria among many Israeli judges. The judge presiding over Tziviya's trial actually ordered Tziviyah to be sent for psychiatric evaluation because of her insistance to be tried in a Torah court.
The fact that Tziviya's case has now broken through government censorship has embarrassed the prosecutor and the courts to bring forward her next trial date to this coming Monday October 31, 05. Tziviya's family is urging the public to attend a protest outside the Kfar Saba courthouse, Monday 8:00 AM. The family will be holding signs that read: "If it is crazy to be Jewish and to prefer Jewish law, then lock us all up in mental institutions."
"The use of psychological repression against political rivals with opposing ideological beliefs is a tactic used by repressive regimes and has no place in the land of Israel. We hope to deliver thousands of signed petitions to the President of Israel against this insanity," said Yekutiel Ben Yaakov of Mishalot Yisrael.
To sign the petition visit http://www.voiceofjudea.com/eng/petition.asp
send contributions for campaign to Mishalot Yisrael - Jaffa Rd 210/14 Jerusalem, Israel
http://www.voiceofjudea.com
Mike - 0544876709
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