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Beit Midrash
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By repeating this patently false narrative over and over again the Arabs have convinced themselves that the Jews are Johnny-come-lately interlopers into the Land of Israel and that the Jews have no legitimate claim to their homeland and territories.
As long as this narrative is continued and reinforced it is difficult to see how any form of any peace process and settlement of the Israeli-Arab dispute can be achieved. Fantastic denials and distortions of historical facts only lead to further confrontation and eventual violence. As long as the accurate picture, not only of current events but of past happenings, is not recognized by the parties to the dispute it will defy logic and reality to expect any long lasting solutions to emerge from any types of conferences, meetings, plans and proposals, no matter how well-intentioned their promoters may be.
And the core of this correct understanding of past events and of history is that the Jews lived and settled in the Land of Israel millennia before Islam and the Arabs arrived on the scene. Our claim to the land is not based on the Holocaust (Obama’s famous error in his Cairo speech) or on United Nations resolutions (Israel’s continuing diplomatic error) but on the fact that the Jews settled the Land of Israel at the time of Joshua and have had a continuous association with the Land of Israel ever since.
Over Simchat Torah I spent some time studying the book of Ezra. I used the Daat Mikra edition published by Mosad Harav Kook to review and understand the text. One of the most fascinating things about that edition of the book is the wealth of seals, shards, and coins of First and Second Temple times that appear in that rather slim volume.
I was particularly struck (no pun intended) by the book’s reproductions of the ancient coins of the Jewish state in those times. I realized again - or maybe it was the first time that I really realized it - that all of the coins in circulation in modern day Israel are replicas of ancient coins used by Jews in the Land of Israel thousands of years ago.
The harp on our half shekel coin is the same harp that appeared on coins and seals in First Temple times. The lulav and etrog that appear on the one shekel coin today appeared on the shekel in Temple times as well. The crown and capital on the five shekel coin also appeared on coins in Temple times as did the date palm tree that today is represented on our ten shekel coin.
Somehow my realization of this continuity of Jewish life in the Land of Israel as represented on our coins invigorated me and made me proud. It connected a lot of dots to me and reaffirmed again our narrative of the bond between the people of Israel and the Land of Israel.
These coins will do little to convince our enemies of the justice of Israel’s cause. But they certainly are valuable in convincing us Jews of the justice of our cause. Ignorance and self-hatred abound in an assimilated Jewish world that worships the idols and ideals of current political correctness and faddish mores. If we do not know and believe our own story and of our right to live in the Land of Israel there is little reason to hope that others will somehow believe it.
When I was a small child I noticed that my father would save the postage stamp from letters that he received from his family in British mandated Palestine. He explained to me, based on the stamps, what the Tower of David and the Temple Mount as represented on the stamps meant to Jews and what they should mean to me. I believe that this was the first history lesson that I then absorbed in my young life.
The power of those postage stamps helped shape my life and attitudes and eventually my future. The same thing is true of our Israeli monetary coins. They are not just legal tender in the market place. They are our story and the narrative of our rights and attachment to the Land of Israel.
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Shoftim TESHUVA IN COURT OF LAW?
Parshat Shoftim-Chodesh Elul
Why does parshat Shoftim always come out during Elul? This innovative and central explanation is an eye-opener regarding many aspects of Judaism.
The Month of Elul TESHUVA IS THE ANSWER
The month of Elul serves as a vital time for self-reflection and personal accountability to prepare for true repentance.
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Realtor’s Fee on Large Commercial Building – part I
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 85031 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
P'ninat Mishpat Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: The Goal of an Agricultural Yeshiva – part I
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh)
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the laying of the cornerstone of the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh)
Chemdat Yamim The Goal of an Agricultural Yeshiva – part II
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the cornerstone laying for the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh – 1938)
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 263 (address at the cornerstone laying for the Yeshiva Chakla’it in Kfar Haroeh – 1938)
Re'e NEVER EXTREME EXCEPT ISRAEL
Parshat Re'eh
Judaism is against extremism, so how can we understand the seemingly extreme statements found in our sages in favor of living in the Land of Israel and against living in Chutz laAretz? The article deals with the seeming contradiction between the strength of Free-Will and the strength of being influenced by our surroundings.
Ekev DANCE FOR ISRAEL- FOR YOUR BENEFIT
Parshat Eikev
Description: The 7 Haftarot we read after Tisha B'Av ("Shiva D'Nichemta") surely get us excited that they're coming TRUE, and awaken us to yearn, dance & join the return to Zion! The short article also deals with the problems and solutions facing the American Jewish community as discussed at a recent panel, as well as the question why Jews come from America to Israel to help when we face problems, but Israelis don't come to aid Jews in America when they face anti-Semitism.
P'ninat Mishpat P'ninat Mishpat: Complaints about Contractor’s Work – part II
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
(based on ruling 83037.1 of the Eretz Hemdah-Gazit Rabbinical Courts)
Chemdat Yamim Moreshet Shaul: Twin Foundations
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
Based on Siach Shaul, Pirkei Machshava V’Hadracha p. 690
