Grandma's army

The late Prime Minister Menachem Begin famously said: "I am not a Jew with trembling knees. I am a proud Jew with 3,700 years of civilized history. Nobody came to our aid when we were dying in the gas chambers and ovens. Nobody came to our aid when we were striving to create our country. We paid for it. We fought for it. We will stand by our principles. We will defend them. And, when necessary, we will die for them again, with or without your aid". For decades, we have confronted the scourge of Islamic fundamentalism. We have outlived expulsions, progroms, massacres, and even the Holocaust. Our history may be tragic, but we have reason to be optimistic. We are living in times in which we need to be reminded of how much strength the Jewish people have: Our survival as a people, the gathering in of exiles and the rebuilding of a Jewish state.   To quote Mark Twain: "Properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of.  He is as...

    President Donald Trump’s miraculous intervention in Israel’s lone fight to rid the world of the threat of Iran’s nuclear capabilities   reminded me of a previous blog.   President Trump’s declaration of the recognition of Jerusalem , in 2017, as the Jew’s eternal capital was an unprecedented move and, unfortunately, not followed up by our other so-called Western allies. Jerusalem has always been considered the eternal capital of the Jewish people. It is mentioned more than 600 times in the Hebrew Bible and has more synagogues per capita than any city in the world. Religious Jews all over the world have always prayed three times a day, facing Jerusalem. In Israel today, everyone has complete freedom of worship. It is the only city in which some 15 different Christian communities live alongside one another. Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives is home to 150,000 Jewish graves dating back to the 1400’s. During the Jordanian occupation of Jerusalem, Jews were not al...

WHY ISRAEL MATTERS – II Almost a century before Israel existed and was controlled by the Sultan of Turkey, Mark Twain commented on the possibilities of a Jewish state being formed in its ancient homeland: “I am not the Sultan, and I am not objecting. But if that concentration of the cunningest brains in the world is going to be made into a free country, I think it would be politic to stop it. It will not be well to let that race find out its strength. If the horses knew theirs, we should not ride anymore.” The Jews, who finally returned to their only homeland were, indeed, far better equipped to transform their spiritual vision into a practical reality - capable of benefiting the entire world. In the world of technology and innovation, Israel’s contribution to the world is dramatic. The country has more hi-tech start-ups per capita than anywhere else in the world and is second only to the US in venture capital funds. This is an impressive feat for any state, but more so for one t...

There are miracles and there are coincidences – it’s a matter of one’s beliefs. I believe that a miracle proves G-d’s presence in the world, whereas coincidences are the opposite. They are G-d's way of remaining anonymous. President Trump’s declaration yesterday of the recognition of Jerusalem as the Jew’s eternal capital was almost a miracle. The Balfour Declaration, the UN resolution of 1947, the War of Independence, the Six-day War, etc. were all miracles in my eyes. Speaking of Jerusalem – it has always been considered the eternal capital of the Jewish people. Jerusalem is mentioned more than 600 times in the Hebrew Bible and has more synagogues per capita than any city in the world. Religious Jews all over the world have always prayed three times a day, facing Jerusalem. In Israel today, everyone has complete freedom of worship. It is the only city in which some 15 different Christian communities live alongside one another. Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives is home to 1...