Parsha Beha’aloscha 5770 — Real Leadership vs Evil Pretenders: Mirror Reflection of Us?

by Moshe Burt

Commentators discussing our Parsha speak about the reasons for the separate section delineated by the inverted “nuns” — “When the Aron (the Ark) would journey, Moshe said, ‘Arise Hashem, and let your foes be scattered, let those who hate you flee from before you.’ And when it rested, he would say, ‘Reside tranquilly, O, Hashem, among the myriad thousands of Israel.'” (Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 10, posukim 35-36)

Preceding these posukim are the posukim which speak about the journey of the Aron and of B’nai Yisrael from Har Sinai to their next resting place, “…a three day distance…” (Sefer Bamidbar, Perek 10, posukim 33 & 34). read more

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Parsha Shoftim 5769: Israeli Governance: Justice in Judgement, or Subversion Thereof?

The third posuk of our Parsha reads;

“Tzedek, Tzedek tierdof…” Righteousness, righteousness (also rendered Justice, Justice) you shall pursue that you may live and inherit the land which the Lord, your G’d gives you.” (Sefer Devarim, Perek 16, posuk 20)

This posuk follows immediately after the opening of our Parsha in which Moshe Rabbeinu urges the B’nai Yisrael;

“Judges and officers shall you appoint in all of your cities — which Hashem …gives you — for your tribes; and they shall judge the people with righteous judgement. You shall not pervert judgement, you shall not respect persons, neither take a bribe, for a bribe binds the eyes of the wise, and perverts the words of the righteous.” (Sefer Devarim, Perek 16, p’sukim 18-19) read more

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Shabbos War News: Operation Cast Lead — Day 8 — Ground War Commences Amidst Continued Rocket Bombardment

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Commentary;

IDF ground action in Gaza commenced Motsei Shabbos after troops began firing artillery at Gaza targets. Are Cast Lead’s goals the destruction and eradication of Hamas or merely a “dream world” concept of “restored security” and disabusal of Hamas from terror attacks either via rockets or mortars or any other mode of attack? Will it be “a war to the bitter end”? Or is this a high-stakes stinking political maneuver with the lives of both Jewish troops and a major urban section of Israel with a collective population of approximately 800,000 on the line? And what about the freeing of Gilad Shalit? read more

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Bibi’s Tzomet Ploy Apparently Failed; Eitam Next in Attempt to Push Feiglin Down?

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Commentary;

Readers may wonder why this blog has stuck pretty much to three topics in recent days; Bibi, Likud and Feiglin, Jonathan Pollard and the daily Gaza (and Yehuda, Shomron) war news.

The reason is basically because these three issues most closely focus in on the ongoing political/spiritual (or lack thereof) war between the forces of darkness, apathy and stagnation and the forces of light and Jewish self-pride and spirituality for the minds, hearts and souls
of masses of Israelis. read more

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Israeli Political Protexia: Ignoring Failure in Gaza

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Commentary;

Below is Caroline Glick’s scathing indictment of Israel’s current governance, from Ehud Olmert, to Tzipi Livni, to Ehud Barak and beyond. This commentary is essentially echoed and bolstered by Evelyn Gordon whose commentary is found below under Related reports. MB

Ignoring Failure in Gaza, by Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post)

“His [Sharon’s] incapacitation itself made discussing the failure of the withdrawal somehow unseemly…. ‘How dare you add insult to injury’ by noting that his most significant action while in power imperiled the country? …Not only Sharon, but all his supporters in his government, were immunized from criticism and the need to account for their strategic imbecility.” read more

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Consequence of Expulsion: Israel’s Military Deterrence In Shambles

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Commentary;

Evelyn Gordon writes about the shambles in which Israel’s military deterrence was left as a result of Israeli citizens being evicted from Gaza and as a result of the failed Lebanon conflict and the abortive Security Council Resolution 1701.

Gordon cites Sheikh Hassan Yousef, a Hamas leader in the “West Bank,” who stated;

“Members of the Israeli “peace camp,” those who spoke about ending the occupation and withdrawing, pushed us forward in our decision to continue the suicide attacks,” he said. “The cracks in your steadfastness encouraged us greatly and proved that this method is very effective. Ariel Sharon’s plan for disengagement from the Gaza Strip was also a great achievement that resulted from our activities. For us, one of the best proofs of the rift that suicide attacks had created in Israeli society was the phenomenon of refusal to serve in the army. We thought this rift should be deepened, and use of the suicide bomber weapon became a matter of consensus in our organization.” read more

Do Israeli Politicians Believe in the Justice of Israel’s Cause?

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Commentary;

It seems patently obvious that without a Jewish faith-based governmental and leadership rooting, without recognition that our existence as a Jewish nation and our being in OUR Land is directly connected to the tenents of Jewish halacha and principle, both the governance and prestige of Israel are doomed to continued deep downward spiral. MB

Two Years of Hindsight (Jerusalem Post Editorial)

Excerpts;

The second anniversary of the 34-day-long Second Lebanon War offers an apt occasion to reflect on its lessons for Israel, now that the dust has settled somewhat. It is almost universally agreed that although the Israeli home front displayed great resilience, the IDF, in failing to harness its overwhelming military superiority, squandered an opportunity to destroy the bulk of Hizbullah’s military presence in southern Lebanon, to crush that group’s state-within-a-state, and to enhance Israel’s deterrence. read more

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Will Olmert Regime Back Down on Givat Ze’ev, Stiff Shas?

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Commentary;

There is a type of “convergence” of several major stories of this time into one;

Olmert, facing pressure from “the nations” coupled with self-hatred for Jewishness and overwhelming lust for perpetuation of his prime ministerial power, will back down on Givat Ze’ev just as sure as he backed down on mounting a credible invasion of Gaza, just as he backed down on connecting Ma’alei Adumim to Jerusalem, just as he invaded Lebanon hodge-podge, not to win, in July 2006. read more

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Regime Posturing and Backing Down: It’s Beyond Embarrassing

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Commentary;

The repeated saber-rattling of the Olmert-Livni-Barak regime has long-since passed way beyond embarrassing. Each episode of saber-rattling, of talking the talk, is inevitably followed shortly thereafter by these incompetent, self-serving political hacks backing down out of fear, intimidation by, and subserviance to the superpower. Without a belief-based rooting, these irreligious so-called “leaders” are thus disabused of “walking the walk.”

And so what results is, as with the Lebanon conflict, a hodge-podge, hit-or-miss set of aims and goals far beneath TOTAL Victory and vanquishment of the enemy sworn to vanquish and decimate us. As this blog has repeatedly noted, the goal of the regime is to bring international forces to Gaza, as with Lebanon. And, as any thinking person knows; international “peacekeeping” forces lack total credibility based on past record. read more

Final Winograd Report to be Delivered to Snow-Covered Jerusalem

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Commentary;

Wednesday, 30 January, 2008, the long-awaited day of the release of the Final Winograd Report, has arrived.

The report is slated to be delivered to Prime Minister Olmert in a snow-covered Jerusalem at 5 PM with a public news conference to be held at Jerusalem’s International Convention Center (Binyanei Ha’ooma), at 6 PM.

Here are some must read reports from Caroline Glick and Dr. Aaron Lerner which will provide perspective on today’s events. MB

Grimacing to Victory and Grinning to Defeat, by Caroline Glick (Jerusalem Post) read more

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