The Key to Success

Posted on: September 19th, 2012

Rabbi Kook has good news. If you are a loser, all is not lost. You too can be a winner. You too can succeed. How? Through t’shuva.

Israeli Ex-Defense Official: Hezbollah has 60-70,000 Rockets; Iran’s Pursuit of Nuclear Weapons is the Main Threat

Posted on: September 16th, 2012

Hezbollah now has 60-70,000 rockets, according to Maj.-Gen. (ret) Amos Gilad, a former IDF Spokesperson and Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories, who delivered a major speech last week at the World Summit of the International Institute for Counter-Terrorism in Herzliya, Israel, which ended yesterday. "The next war will be aimed against the home front," he said. But Iran, which backs and has been arming Hezbollah may be a greater threat. In a paper from May 2012, Gilad said however that the "the main issue today is how to prevent a nuclear Iran."

Postcard from Israel – Hatzav

Posted on: September 16th, 2012

Drimia Maritima, or the Sea Squill, is known in Hebrew as Hatzav (from the word Hatzeva; quarrying, hewing or tunnelling) probably due to the ability of its long roots to penetrate cracks in rocks, and even widen them, in order to reach water or damp ground. In Israel, this tall, impressive plant – which flowers right [...]

Just Say No… to the Nonsense of the iPhone Smashing Rabbis

Posted on: September 16th, 2012

Rabbi Lior Glazer smashed an iPhone with a hammer in a show of protest. Like virtually every other Rav in the very right-wing Charedi world of Bnei Brak, Glazer blames personal tragedies on technology and not the abnormal psychology of the individual. I am beginning to find that the more I see a story like this, the more I just want to fold up my tent, and go home. No matter how much one wants to be Dan L’Kaf Zechus and judge people and their actions favorably, a story like this comes along which makes it extremely difficult to do so.

Swing States: Obama Ahead Everywhere but N. Carolina

Posted on: September 16th, 2012

There's only one bit of good news for the Romney campaign in the all-important swing state polls this weekend.

Let Abbas Bail Out the Palestinian Authority

Posted on: September 16th, 2012

Abbas is reported worth millions. So why not let him save his own skin, instead of having Israel repeatedly bail the Palestinian Authority out?

To Inform or Not to Inform – That is the Question

Posted on: September 14th, 2012

With all the bacteria a mouth is known to contain - and the possibility that it might contain bacteria or viruses that are very harmful to a vulnerable 8-day-old child while an adult carrier might not even be aware of it - it is not exactly rocket science to know that putting your mouth on an open wound is not a good idea.

What Seven Years Have Wrought

Posted on: September 14th, 2012

In the past seven years since the Disengagement from Gaza, we have been witness to the conversion of Gush Katif into an armed camp, an arsenal from which some 9,400 rockets and missiles have been fired at the Israeli civilians and communities on the other side of the fence.

Our Egyptian Ally: More Confusion from Obama

Posted on: September 14th, 2012

Soon after the attacks on American embassies in Egypt and Libya, Presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and his running mate Paul Ryan criticized President Obama for lack a clear and forceful message to the world. Soon after, the administration provided another example of why this was true, with Obama stating that Egypt was neither friend nor foe, while the State Department confirmed that Egypt is indeed an ally.

Feel Frightened and Depressed? Be Happy!

Posted on: September 14th, 2012

Simply put, to the initiate, the pain that comes with t’shuva is scary. The baal t’shuva is the man of courage. He is the true hero. He is the one prepared to set out on the greatest journey in life.

No Such Thing as a Bloodless Victory

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

There are no bloodless victories, but we can choose whether to bleed our enemy or to bleed our hearts. And when our hearts bleed for the enemy, than the blood sooner or later stops being a metaphor and becomes a sticky dark red liquid on the boots of the brave Afghan people, the brave Iraqi people, the brave Libyan people or the brave Syrian people and all the other brave peoples we will set out to save from the hells they make for themselves.

The President Sends a Message of Submission

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

The Western media are not the only ones who fail to see the symbolism of raising al-Qaeda’s banner on 9/11. Our President missed it as well.

9-11: A Note with Five Words & Two Numbers

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

Randy Scott’s family believed he had died instantly on September 11, 2001. Ten years after the attack, a note thrown out the window of the South Tower shortly after impact was discovered and identified using DNA tests. It was written by Scott minutes before he perished.

The Emes Ve-Emunah People

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

The Emes Ve-Emunah blog recently ran an internal poll as to readers religious leanings, here blog author Harry Maryles analyzes the results.

Barbara Boxer Bashing Bibi on Obama

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

It's the stuff of early education: "my deep disappointment" and "contrary." The deep sense of betrayal oozing from every well chosen word...

Latma’s Rosh Hashanah Music Video

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

Latma's Rosh Hashanah greetings music video. Enjoy!

Jerusalem Demographics 1800-1922

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

On the issue of demographics, the numbers make things quite clear that even before modern Zionism began, the city was Jewish and only Muslim repressive policies artificially kept the numbers of Jews down before the mid-19th century.

Cheeseburgers and T’shuva

Posted on: September 13th, 2012

Only t’shuva can reconnect the sinner with God. Only t’shuva can restore the harmony between a man’s soul and the world. Only t’shuva can wipe away the sins which prevent a man from being a positive contributor to life.

How Not to Keep Israel from Bombing Iran

Posted on: September 12th, 2012

Unwilling to issue an ultimatum, the U.S.will go no further than to repeat that “we will not allow Iran to get a nuclear weapon,” but it will not say — publicly or to Israel — how far it will allow Iran to go.

Better Than They Are

Posted on: September 12th, 2012

After Muslims killed thousands of Americans we did everything we could to learn about their religion, to celebrate it and soothe their ruffled feathers.