Wednesday, November 30, 2011
CHINA BUILDS UP MILITARY, NAVAL, AIR, AND EXTRATERRESTRIAL CAPABILITIES, WHILE FEEDING WARS ALONG THE HIMALYAS AND SOUTHEAST ASIA.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
WILL LIBYA BE THE FIRST ARAB NATION IN HISTORY TO INCLUDE EQUAL JEWISH PARTICIPATION IN GOVERNMENT?
Monday, November 7, 2011
HOSTAGE POPULATIONS TO IRAN'S TYRANNICAL, MEGALOMANIACAL REGIME AND SUBJECT TO IRAN'S TICKING NUCLEAR "TIME CLOCK".
Sunday, November 6, 2011
SHOULD ISRAEL CHALLENGE U.N.E.S.C.O. IN THE INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE (ICJ) AT THE HAGUE? THE IDENTITY THEFT OF ISRAEL BY "PALESTINE" ...
OF CHINESE WATER TORTURE, THE "STATE OF PALESTINE", AND "PALESTINIAN FREEDOM FLOTILLAS".
Friday, November 4, 2011
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE, THE MORE THEY STAY THE SAME
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
GILAD SHALIT IS FREE!
ATTN: PRIME MINISTER NETANYAHU
DATE: 12 TISHREI 5772
THIS IS MY PRAYER AND REQUEST TO HASHEM, TO PRIME MINISTER BENYAMIN NETANYAHU, TO THE ISRAELI GOVERNMENT, TO ISRAEL, AND TO THE WORLD ON THIS YOM SHEYNIE ACHAREI YOM KIPPUR V'LIFANEH SUKKOTH 5772.
EVERY EFFORT SHOULD BE MADE, PUBLICLY AND PRIVATELY, AND IMMEDIATELY, TO SEND LULAV AND ETROG, APPLES AND HONEY, AND A SIDDUR TO GILAD SHALIT!
Sunday this week was not merely Yom Rishon -- it was the first day after Yom Kippur on which we commence to erect our Sukkahs.
On Yom Rishon at Shacharith we say from Tehillim, "L'Dovid Mizmor, l'HaShem Ha'Aretz Oo'm'loo'aoh, Theybel v'Yoshvey Baooh...."
Monday this week is Yom Sheynie -- is the Sukkah progressing?
At Shacharith on Yom Sheynie we say from Tehillim, "Shir Mizmor Libneh- Korach: "Gadol HaShem Oo'm'Hoolal Me'od, B'Eir Elokenu, Har Kadsho...."
Tuesday this week is Yom Shlieshie -- is the Sukkah built and Lulavim and Etrogim en route?
At Shacharith on Yom Shlieshie we say from Tehillim, "Mizmor l'Asaf, Elokenu Nitzav B'Edath-Kel...."
Wednesday this week is not merely Yom Rivi'ie -- it is Erev Sukkoth. Is the Sukkah decorated, and Lulavim and Etrogim ready and delivered?
At Shacharith on Yom Rivi'ie we say from Tehillim, "El-N'kamoth HaShem, El N'kamoth Hofiye: HeeNoSeh Shofeth HaAretz.... "
Thursday this week is not merely Yom Chamishie -- it is Yom Echad, Sukkoth. Are Lulavim and Etrogim in hand for HaKofeh Aleph?
At Shacharith on Yom Chamishie we say from Tehillim, "Lamnatzeach El-HaGithith L'Asaf; Harneenu L'Elokim Euzinu...."
Friday this week is not merely Yom Shieshie -- it is Yom Sheni, Sukkoth. Lulav and Etrog in hand, we engage Hakofeh Beth!
At Shacharith on Yom Shieshie we say from Tehillim, "HaShem Moloch, Ge'Oot Lovesh, Lovesh HaShem Euz HeetAzar...."
HOW DARE WE THEN REST ON SHABBATH, IF WE HAVE NOT MADE EVERY EFFORT TO SEE TO IT THAT GILAD SHALIT IS SENT A SIDDUR, LULAV & ETROG, AND A FEAST OF APPLES AND HONEY, SO THAT IN HIS CAPTIVITY HE MAY ENJOY A TASTE OF THE NEW YEAR, KNOW THAT IT IS SUKKOTH, AND EMBRACE THE SYMBOLS OF HOPE IN HIS HANDS, THAT HE MAY PRAY, TOUCH, HOLD, WAVE, AND SMELL THE SWEET SCENTS OF LOVE AND FREEDOM!
(MAY GILAD SHALIT BE FREED TO DWELL IN THE SUKKAH OF HIS MOTHER AND FATHER AND IN THE CLOSE COMPANY OF THE USHPIZIN!)
MAY HAKOFEH GIMEL BE ENGAGED THIS SHABBATH FOR GOODNESS L'DOR V'DOR!
AHARON BENITZAK
Sunday, October 16, 2011
A MIRACLE BEFORE OUR EYES? GILAD SHALIT IMMINENTLY FREE? 1,027 ARABS FREE?
Sunday, October 9, 2011
AMERICAN AUTUMN AND THE YOMIM NORAYIM
Lamah, Lamah Mah, Nikrah Moriah! Al Shem HaMor HaTov, Al Shem HaMor HaTov, Sheh Yeshno Sham!
Sunday, September 11, 2011
WATERFALL
WATERFALL
Waterfall of bejeweled souls,
Aflame in early morning sunlight,
Tumbling towards the center
Of the spinning molten earth;
Where by the Grace of God --
Engineer of All That Is, Was, and Will Be --
You rise in twin beams of light,
Beacons into the black of night,
Reaching outwards to the sparkling stars
From the twin footprints you have left behind you.
And, when in the dark of night,
Travelers seek out America's Harbor --
By air, by sea, by rail, by road, by foot,
Or even by ship of space,
Guided in by your twin beams
Of risen waterfalls of light --
I wonder, if as I do, they will hear
An old favorite tune,
Brought to earth for a brief moment
By a shooting star named Jimmy Hendrix,
A brilliant bard of my wartime youth,
Singing this song of Love and Solace:
"Waterfall -- Nothing may harm me at all;
My worries seem so very small by my Waterfall.
"I can see my rainbow calling me
Through the misty breeze of my Waterfall.
"... Waterfalll! Don't ever change your ways!
Fall with me for a million days! Oh, my Waterfall...."
AARON BEN EZRA
09/11/2011
12 ELUL 5771
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
DAY 1890 - HAPPY BIRTHDAY GILAD SHALIT....
I was unaware of this on Motzeh Shabbath, when for several hours I experienced a deep and inexplicable sadness.
Sunday morning I awoke from an awesome dream in which my mother Gilda bas Sarah (may my mother and grandmother both rest peacefully in Shemayim) gave me solace and showed me a vision of the future -- may it be so (with the help and blessings of HaShem) -- and I will only say that both my mother Gilda and Gilad Shalit are both in my heart and in my mind as this Rosh Chodesh Elul is now upon us, may my mother in Shemayim somehow bless Gilad Shalit, that he shall soon be free.
Happy Birthday and CHodesh Tov, Gilad Shalit.
Saturday, August 20, 2011
BACK TO THE FUTURE: WILL TURKEY RULE SYRIA AND LEBANON? WILL EGYPT RULE GAZA? WILL JORDAY RULE JUDEA-SAMARIA? AGAIN???
Until the Brittish occuppied "Palestine" circa World War One, it was the Turks who ruled and called the territory inclusive of Israel, Lebanon, and Syria by the name "Syria".
In 1948 Jordan invaded and occupied Judea-Samaria, preventing a UN sanctioned call for a "State of Palestine" from being realized into existence alongside the newly recognized State of Israel. Also in 1948 Egypt invaded and occupied Gaza, some of which at the time was the legal property of Jews.
Egypt remained in Gaza until Israel kicked out the Egyptians in the 1956 Sinai Campaign, and Jordan remained in Judea-Samaria until Israel defeated the Jordanians in 1967 in the Six Day War.
If Assad and Alawite power (however cruel) should fail in Syria, then it must be considered that Turkey -- even while Turkey itself is in the midst of a Sunni shakedown/reformation of it's famed secular military -- could step in to stabilize the situation in Syria.
If Hamas and the various Gaza terrorist groups continue to terrorize Israel (simultaneously placing Egypt itself at risk, and using Egypt so blatantly and embarrassingly as an uncontrolled terrorist operations base), then it must be considered that Egypt -- even as it seeks to reform it's own Government amidst internal unrest -- could step in to stabilize the situation in Gaza.
If unrest causes the Palestinian Authority to lose it's grip in Judea-Samaria, then Jordan -- even while already struggling with it's own population's unrest, which includes two-million Iraqi refugees -- could step in to stabilize the situation in Judea-Samaria.
Is it "Back to the Future" for Israel -- a Turkish border to the north/northeast, an eastward inwards-denting Jordanian border including East Jerusalem and Judea-Samaria, and an expanded Gaza-inclusive Egyptian border to the south?
Will Israel be faced with Western pressure to surrender the Golan and the Sheva Farms in order to make a peace deal with an expanded Turkey?
Will Israel be faced with Western pressure to see Gaza completely under Egyptian domain?
Will Israel be faced with Western pressure to surrender East Jerusalem and Judea-Samaria to Jordan? There are already Israeli's. who favor such a deal with Jordan.
Today marks Five-Years-and-FIfty-Two-Days in the Captivity of Gilad Shalit.
Monday, August 15, 2011
TU B'AV - A SOLITARY SIX-DAY "WAR" SINCE TISHA 'B'AV WITH NO VICTORY OF RELEASE FOR GILAD SHALIT.
No doubt the "Arab Spring" is making "waves" of a different kind. Uprisings throughout the Arab world, the downfall of Egypt's Mubarak, NATO's effort at Libyan regime change leading to the apparent alliance of Libya's Qadaffi with Al-Quaeda, repression in Assad's Syria and calls for Syrian regime change -- all of this is occurring widely and on such a large scale that the world must realize that there are more causative factors in the world of the Arabs than tiny Israel. Europe has seen horror in Norway (a "Christian" fascist massacre), the end of Holland's liberal attitude towards "multiculturalism", and a similar reconsideration of "multiculturalism" in France. It seems that Europe has had enough of "multiculturalism" (read: "Islam").
May this month of Menachem Av bring harbingers of peace to the world. May this coming month of Elul bring reconciliation between man and man and between man and HaShem. May Rosh HaShana see Gilad Shalit home, healthy, safe, and secure in the arms of his mother, father, sister, and brother. V'omerim, "Amen".
Tuesday, August 9, 2011
FIVE YEARS AND FORTY DAYS IN CAPTIVITY MARK TISHA B'AV 5771 FOR GILAD SHALIT.
It is said that Moshiach Moshicheh will be conceived on Tisha B'Av. This in turn implies that Moshicach Moshicheh will be born at Pesach time... and then, how many years until Moshiach Moshicheh is an adult capable of fulfilling the role of Moshiach?
Gilad Shalit should not have to wait for the arrival of Moshiach Moshicheh to be set free from his captivity.
And if Moshiach Moshicheh should already be in this world, then may he wait no longer; may he free Gilad Shalit at this very moment, and may he free Kol Yisroel at this very moment, and may he free and heal the entire world this very moment!
Sunday, June 26, 2011
GILAD SHALIT -- FIVE YEARS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN GAZA.
Ban Ki Moon -- UN Secretary-General -- is publicly lobbying Hamas to release Gilad Shalit.
Nicholas Sarkozy (President of France) and Angela Merkel (Chancellor of Germany) have jointly and publicly called on Hamas to release Gilad Shalit.
Throughout Israel marches and demonstrations have called for Hamas to release Gilad Shalit.
There are still efforts to press Israel to swap 1000 living murderous terrorists from Israeli jails in exchange for Gilad, even by those mentioned above.
Why is it that this is an acceptable equivalence in the eyes of the world?
Gilad Shalit's captivity -- utterly alone and forbidden visitation by his father, his mother, by even the Red Cross -- is a metaphor for the State of Israel. The humanitarian needs of Gilad Shalit are the humanitarian needs of Israel. Murderous Arabs would do to Israel, what they have done to Gilad Shalit and to every Israeli and Jewish prisoner they have held (which is reason to believe that Gilad Shalit may well already be dead).
AT THIS VERY MOMENT ANOTHER MUCH LARGER SO CALLED "PEACE FLOTILLA" IS TAKING SHAPE UNDER TURKISH AUSPICES TO PROVOKE ANOTHER INCIDENT OF VIOLENCE WITH ISRAEL AND TO TEST ISRAEL'S NAVAL DEFENSES AND POLITICAL ACUMEN.
AT THIS VERY MOMENT ISRAEL'S EILAT BEACHES ARE IN THE MIDST OF CLEAN-UP EFFORTS FROM A MYSTERIOUS DOUBLE OIL SPILL FROM TWO TURKISH VESSELS.
AT THIS VERY MOMENT DELTA AIRLINES HAS ENTERED INTO AN INTERLINE BOOKING AGREEMENT WITH SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES. SAUDI ARABIAN AIRLINES DISCRIMINATES AGAINST JEWS AND ISRAELIS AND AGAINST CHRISTIANS AND OTHERS AS WELL.
MAY THE WORLD WAKE UP FROM IT'S SLUMBER AND SEE THE TRUTH FOR WHAT IT REALLY IS, AND MAY THE WORLD CEASE IT'S EVILS -- WHETHER IT IS TURNING A BLIND EYE TO THE TRUTH, OR WHETHER IT IS GIVING DELIBERATE SUPPORT TO TERRORISM AGAINST ISRAEL.
MAY THE ARABS BE INSPIRED BY THE COMPASSION OF GOD AND COMMENCE A TRUE PEACE PROCESS BY UNCONDITIONALLY FREEING GILAD SHALIT TO A SAFE RETURN HOME TO ISRAEL.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
SUNDAY, MAY 22 BY THE JEWISH CALENDAR WAS LAG B'OMER 5771 AND MARKED DAY 1793 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.
I marvel at my own good fortune, while I despair and pray for Gilad Shalit. On my birthday two days before Pesach I was admitted to hospital; on the first day of Chol Moed Pesach I underwent a double-bypass operation; less than two weeks later I underwent clot-busting surgery; a week before Lag B'Omer I gained strength to walk prodigiously; on Lag B'Omer I returned home. I "should" have been dead twice; HaShem took me "Between the Straits" on dry land!
May Gilad Shalit be free this Shavuoth!
DAY 1800 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT MARKED ON SUNDAY, MAY 29, 2011;
Fifty Israeli's on motorcycles joined the now traditional Memorial Day Weekend Rolling Thunder motorcycle rally in Washington, DC - a rally calling attention to the plight of MIA soldiers - in order to remind the world about the captivity of Israeli MIA Gilad Shalit, kidnapped by Arab terrorists in June, 2006. Rally's in Israel and around the world called for Gilad Shalit's release by Hamas.
We, who are free today in the USA this Memorial Day weekend, owe our freedom to many. While we remember American soldiers, who gave the full measure of their devotion in order that we remain free, we owe it to the world to remember that there are many from other nations, who gave that same full measure for the same reason, and that includes the sacrifices of many Israelis, who have given far more than the world knows or recognized for the sake of peace and freedom.
Sunday, April 3, 2011
NOW IS THE TIME FOR ISRAEL TO FORMALLY AND PUBLICLY ANNEX (OR, REAFFIRM ANNEXATION OF) THE GOLAN, SHEVA FARMS, JUDEA-SAMARIA, AND JERUSALEM.
By ganging up on Israel, resolution after resolution, decade after decade, the UN has already waged war de facto on Israel; any decision by the UN to recognize a State of Palestine would represent an utterly outrageous, provocative, precipitous additional act of de facto war by the UN against Israel.
The United Nations presumes to act as a World Government. This is not it's purpose nor mandate. Similarly, the World Court presumes to world jurisdiction, which is also not it's mandate, nor is it so recognized, certainly not by the USA nor Israel. World Court decisions against Israel declaring the Security Fence illegal and defining specific territories as "Palestinian lands under Israeli occupation" form pretexts that favor Israel's enemies; these World Court decisions have no sustaining legal basis, nor do they serve the purpose of peace.
May Israel have the foresight, integrity, strength, and endurance to withstand the evils of the United Nations. May the USA and all free nations of the world come to full sensibility and means by which to return the United Nations to the mandate of it's chartered purpose: the encouragement between nations of civil discourse and of civil problem resolution.
20 MURDERS (INCLUDING 2 BEHEADINGS) IN AFGHANISTAN UNDERSCORE THE TERRIBLE SEVERITY BY WHICH JIHADISM DRIVES WORLD CONCESSIONS TO ISLAMIC TERROR
Not so long ago with respect to the proposal to build a Muslim Center merely two blocks away from Ground Zero, President Obama distinguished between the "right" to build the Center and the "wisdom" of actually building it. So, too, the Florida Pastor of the 'Dove Outreach Center' displayed a profound lack of wisdom in burning a Koran. His right to do so provides the bas relief by which to perceive the stupidity and precipitousness of his acting-out of that right.
And so an excuse was given to Afghani Jihadis -- be they Taliban, Al-Quaeda, or some other group or mob -- for the murders of UN staff in Afghanistan. This is the type of "justification" for hatred and murder that plays into Jihadi hands. Not that they would cease such hateful, murderous, extortive behavior; they themselves incite, provoke, and thrive on such activity by which in the realm of propaganda, they obtain the appearance of justification for their murderousness.
That Christianity also has it's "crusaders", who are just as intolerant and murderous as Jihadis, does not excuse nor justify nor mitigate the real and present danger to the world that exists so militantly in the form of Jihadism today. Perhaps it is the stunning daily failure of the media to vociferously report the extremes of terror perpetrated by Jihadism against all non-Muslims that enables Jihadism to spread and that pushes some preachers today to extremes they otherwise would not even entertain.
Whether it is the burning of Bibles, the tortures, rapes, murders, destruction of Churches, and forced homelessness of Christians; whether it is the destruction of statues of the Buddha, Buddhist Holy Places, and Buddhists themselves; whether it is the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit, the firing of rockets into Israel from Gaza, the bus bombings in Israel, etc.: the bottom line is that Jihadism has no room in it's mind nor heart nor soul for the peace of the world. It is long overdue that the world cease to make excuses for the evils of Jihadism; it is long overdue that the world deliver a quick and undeniable destruction to Jihadis and to Jihadism.
Saturday, March 19, 2011
ARABIA WILL MAKE PEACE WITH ISRAEL AT IT'S PLEASURE.
... but, the many should consider that the Arabs are human beings, stereotyped in the West as "towel heads", "camel jockeys", and even more vulgar terms of reference; and this type of attitude towards Arabia serves to foment violence and hatred amongst the Arabs, playing into the hands of the worst elements in Arab society. It is one thing to be intensely critical and quite another to be arrogant, derisive, and disparaging. At bottom humanity can do well to take a step back from the "earthquakes, tsunamis, and nuclear meltdowns" (if I may make a metaphor based on the horrible triple catastrophe current in Japan) of decades of violence, propaganda, posturing, etc. and reconsider the realities.
There have been times in history that Jews have thrived in Muslim realms. This has not been true in recent history. Yet, recent history need not be the only barometer nor predictor of Jewish-Arab relations. As Arabs in Judea-Samaria and Gaza protest and call for unity between Hamas and Fatah in order to fight Israel -- a microcosm perhaps at the heart of much of the protests current throughout the Arab world -- it should be kept in mind that the Arabs and all Muslims need to be reminded of their own best teachings about the Peoples of the Book (Jews and Christians) and the Muslim obligation to be protective.
While it is true that in classic form this has meant second class status and special taxes for Jews and Christians, and that in history this obligation has been practiced both benignly and malevolently, it should be possible in todays world for an application of this practice to be developed by Muslims such that overt subjugation and denial of equality may be set aside. Even the ceding of land to enable Israel to live in peace inclusive of Judea-Samaria ought to be practicable and desirable -- as long as it is granted that this be done at the pleasure and free will of Arabia. Such generosity would necessarily include the paid resettlement and future security of up to two-thirds of the Muslim population currently under Israeli jurisdiction, as for reasons of language, culture, economics, and the upheaval of relocation, it would yet be preferable to this population to live under Arab jurisdiction, and may well be acceptable, if again such generous surrender of claim in Israel were voluntary in the name of Peace.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
ANOTHER ASSASSINATION IN PAKISTAN IN THE NAME OF JIHAD, AND UNREST AND REVOLUTION THROUGHOUT THE WORLD OF ISLAM.
At a most basic level the ubiquitous unrest has demographic. economic, religious, and political roots. all of which factor into uncertain outcomes. In the majority the ordinary people seek human dignity, meaningful lives, political, religious and economic freedoms -- ergo, they seek a future for themselves and for their families; they do this against a backdrop of religious intolerance, political dictatorship, and economic conditions that are as bleak as the endless desert sand dunes surrounding the limited arable land and fresh water that make possible any life at all.
Thousands of lives have already been lost in these upheavals, and more will continue to be lost. At question is: how many, for how long, and with what short term and long term consequences. As Winter commences to end and as Spring commences to break ground, will unrest in this vast desert of nations surrounding Israel lead to stable solutions soon enough and happily enough to avoid major wars and major warfare -- including another war against Israel in the heat of Summer? Conditions are ripe for unified scapegoat warfare against Israel as a means for these nations of unrest to seek blame and vent anger on Israel in order to divert attention from the domestic issues that severely challenge these nations.
May Peace break out in the world speedily and in our time!
ROSH CHODESH ADAR 2 5771 IN THREE MORE DAYS AND GILAD SHALIT IS STILL CAPTIVE AND ALONE IN THE HANDS OF HAMAS..
Tu B'Shevat has come and gone, and Israel has lost a precious forest to a fire set by carelessness under environmental conditions of extended severe drought, depletion of fresh water resources, and lack of preparations to cope with such an event in an already arid part of the world, where each and every drop of water, tree, and blade of grass is precious.
Rosh Chodesh Adar 1 has come and gone, as has Purim Katan. Once again the World via the United Nations Security Council has ganged up on Israel such that once again the USA has been the only "protection" of Israel by virtue of the power of the veto vote against the resolution regarding Israeli Settlements. The pressure on Israel is profound to cave in to World demand that Israel curtail it's rights life and freedom. This pressure is not limited to political pressures. Russia has contracted to provide Syria with cruise missiles even as Hamas has renewed rocketing activity against Israel and as Iran, another military client of Russia, has with Egyprian permission sent a pair of heavily armed naval vessels through the Suez Canal into the Mediterranean Sea off the coast of Israel.
May Adar 2 commence and extend the hidden miracles of this season to bring true peace to the World and to bring Gilad Shalit home safely to his family.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
ROSH CHODESH SHEVAT 5771 -- DAY 1679 THAT GILAD SHALIT REMAINS CAPTIVE
ISRAEL STANDS ACCUSED, EVEN AS GILAD SHALIT REMAINS UNSEEN, UNHEARD, UTTERLY ALONE IN HIS CAPTIVITY IN GAZA, BE HE ALIVE OR DEAD.
FOR THOSE OF YOU, WHO MAY HAVE FORGOTTEN, THE "MAVI MAMARA" IS THE TURKISH SHIP (FROM THE FLOTILLA OF SIX SHIPS THAT SOUGHT TO VIOLATE ISRAEL'S NAVAL BLOCKADE OF GAZA) THAT REFUSED SAFE NAVAL ESCORT TO ASHKELON, CHOOSING INSTEAD TO CARRY OUT PRE-MEDITATED VIOLENCE AGAINST THE INEVITABLE BOARDING BY ISRAELI NAVAL COMMANDOES. THE INCIDENT PROVED DEADLY AND OF COURSE ISRAEL WAS BLAMED, NOT THE TURKISH PERPETRATORS. TURKEY USED THE INCIDENT TO BREAK OFF DIPLOMATIC RELATIONS WITH ISRAEL AND TO PUBLICLY SHIFT POLICY TO MORE STRONGLY FAVOR SYRIA AND IRAN.
WHAT A WORLD! THE "OLAM HABAH" LOOKS BETTER AND BETTER ALL THE TIME.... SHABBATH SHALOM.