GILAD SHALIT IS FREE!

MAY HE TRULY BE GILAD SHALIT. AND MAY THE WORLD NOTE THAT THE 1939 DAYS OF GILAD SHALIT'S CAPTIVITY SHOULD REMIND US THAT WORLD WAR 2 BEGAN IN THE YEAR 1939 A.D. MAY THIS EVENT HARBINGER THAT A FULL SCALE WW3 IS AVERTED.

Joyous morning! At 6am EST it is not yet daybreak. Even so, the news from Israel is that Gilad Shalit is free and on Israeli soil. May his freedom harbinger peace everywhere in the world, give hope to all suffering and hopeless persons in the world, and transform the consciousness of every evil minded person everywhere in the world!

May this event harbinger that it is still possible that the other Israeli MIA's are yet alive and may be returned alive....

Zeev Rotshik MIA 1973

Yehudah Katz MIA 1982

Tzvi Feldman MIA 1982

Zachary Baumel MIA 1982

Ron Arad MIA 1986 Presumed Dead 1988

Guy Hever MIA 1988

Majdi Halabi MIA 2005

Eldad Regev DEAD 2006

Ehud Goldwasser DEAD 2006

and all the unnamed....

Eight days ago I sent a letter by e-mail to PM Netanyahu. There is no way to know, if he or if any of his staff read my letter. And yet, by some miracle, the very next day PM Netanyahu announced that a deal had been reached with Hamas for the freedom of 1,027 Arabs from Israeli jails in exchange for the freedom of Gilad Shalit. It would be a grand delusion for me to think that my letter made any especial or decisive impact with respect to Israel's decision to make the prisoner exchange deal. And while it would be nice to know, the important thing is that Gilad Shalit is now safe and home in Israel and that there is a window of opportunity for peace to be established between Israel and the Arabs. It is true that some of the released Arabs committed unspeakable atrocities (may those evils be transformed through the grace of HaShem into goodness). Let their freedom be a downpayment towards a peace deal.

Below is a copy of the letter I sent to PM Netanyahu.

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

A MIRACLE BEFORE OUR EYES? GILAD SHALIT IMMINENTLY FREE? 1,027 ARABS FREE?

MAY THE U.S. GOV'T PARDON AND FREE JONATHAN POLLARD AND MAY THE ISRAELI GOV'T PARDON AND FREE YIGAL AMIR (AND POSSIBLY EVEN EXONERATE YIGAL AMIR).

May this past Tuesday's announcement that Israel will free 1,027 Arab prisoners in exchange for Gilad Shalit' freedom be only for good and not for evil. May all 1,028 freed prisoners be in good health, sound in mind and body, and may they all be spokespersons for peace in the world, whenever and wherever freedom may set their feet.

AMERICAN AUTUMN AND THE YOMIM NORAYIM

UPWELLINGS OF CIVIL UNREST STIR AMERICAN STREETS

Economic inequality is stirringly real, though the extreme answers, tactics, and arguments from right and left leave much to be desired. There is much media hype, that the "Arab Spring" has found it's way to America's shores. Yet, it is true that the same generational influences are real in both places. Little of this self-absorption is based in real compassion for anything beyond selfish pain in private little goldfish bowls of self-centered life. Be this as it may, this too is a part of the developmental life of a volatile young generation in volatile times, and may not be ignored, and must be addressed warmly, wisely, and with more than whisperings of wishful thinking.

What is now a warning may grow far uglier and may manifest in violence between forces only too hungry to mix it up with each other in the ugliest of ways, which may tear our beloved USA apart, much as so many Arab nations are presently torn apart. No euphemisms, such as "spring", "flowers", etc. may truly substitute for the realities on the ground in so many nations.

Gaddafi's civilian supporters now face the same risks of revenge and annihilation that threatened Libya's upstart revolution only a few months ago. Yemen and Syria are being ripped apart. Egypt is in one moment promising to reform to allow greater democracy and to maintain peace with Israel; yet, persecutions of Egyptian Christians increase daily, the Israeli Embassy has been sacked, legal aid worker Ilan Grapel (an American-Israeli working in Egypt) has been accused of spying for Israel and has been jailed in Egypt; and we still hear nothing from Gilad Shalit: is he imprisoned in Gaza, in Egypt, in Iran???

In the US Vice-president Biden has spoken harsh, cruel, damning words with respect to Jonathan Pollard -- he does this during the Yomim Norayim! Biden must think he is G-d! May HaShem perceive the Chutzpah of this lump of flesh named Biden, damn up his mouth, and humble him! May HaShem do these things, unless by some miracle, He somehow inspires Biden to compassion!

The United Nations now considers the Petition of the PAL, should a "State of Palestine" be recognized by the world. Does the world need any additional Arab Terrorist States? No!!!!

Today we commence to build Sukkahs in which to dwell in exposure and yet to celebrate beneath the unpredictable heavens, having witnessed that HaShem has written and sealed The Book Of Life for the New Year 5772. We have tasted apples and honey on Rosh HaShannah, then fasted on Yom Kippur. What will be will unravel before our eyes, each moment full of promise, and no moment available to us as foreknowledge, as only HaShem knows, what we must discover.

Today is 11 TISHREI 5772 and it is Day 1930 in the Solitary Captivity of Gilad Shalit! May he be immediately granted freedom to dwell in the Sukkah of his mother and his father and in the ominpresence of the Ushpizin!

Lamah, Lamah Mah, Nikrah Moriah! Al Shem HaMor HaTov, Al Shem HaMor HaTov, Sheh Yeshno Sham!

WATERFALL

A POEM FOR NINE-ELEVEN

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

Note: Today is Day 1902 for Gilad Shalit in his solitary captivity.

BACK TO THE FUTURE: WILL TURKEY RULE SYRIA AND LEBANON? WILL EGYPT RULE GAZA? WILL JORDAY RULE JUDEA-SAMARIA? AGAIN???

AN ALL TOO LIKELY CONSEQUENCE OF THE SO-CALLED "ARAB SPRING" IS A "BACK TO THE FUTURE" SCENARIO IN TERMS OF MIDDLE EAST POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY.

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.

TU B'AV - A SOLITARY SIX-DAY "WAR" SINCE TISHA 'B'AV WITH NO VICTORY OF RELEASE FOR GILAD SHALIT.

THE GOOD NEWS IN THE PAST FOUR WEEKS IS, THAT ON 17 TAMMUZ, ISRAEL'S NAVY TOOK CONTROL OF THE SOLITARY SEA-GOING VESSEL OF THE SO-CALLED "GAZA FLOTILLA 2". It seems that the world has come to understand and find fault with such provocative propaganda exercises as the "Gaza Flotilla". Even the Turks, Greeks, and Cypriots have cooperated in restraining the "Gaza Flotilla 2", so that only the symbolic passage of one vessel has taken place, and that vessel has been peacefully intercepted. And within the next week it is anticipated that the U.N. report on the "Mavi Mamara" incident (Gaza Flotilla 1) will favor Israel's action in self-defense.

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".

FIVE YEARS AND FORTY DAYS IN CAPTIVITY MARK TISHA B'AV 5771 FOR GILAD SHALIT.

ON THIS TISHA B'AV WE MEMORIALIZE THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL BY THE ROMANS FOR THE 2041'ST TIME IN OUR HISTORY AS JEWS IN EXILE. SUCH ANNIVERSARIES! AND WE REMEMBER OTHER DESTRUCTIONS, SUCH AS THE DESTRUCTION OF ISRAEL BY THE BABYLONIANS, SUCH AS THE INQUISITION, SUCH AS THE SHOA ....

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!

GILAD SHALIT -- FIVE YEARS OF SOLITARY CONFINEMENT IN GAZA.

SHABBATH MARKED FIVE YEARS OF CAPTIVITY IN SOLITARY CRUEL CONFINEMENT FOR GILAD SHALIT.

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.

SUNDAY, MAY 22 BY THE JEWISH CALENDAR WAS LAG B'OMER 5771 AND MARKED DAY 1793 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.

This traditional Jewish Holiday marking relief from suffering -- which did not mark a day of relief from suffering for Gilad Shalit -- did mark a day of relief for myself; indeed on this day of Lag B'Omer I was discharged from hospital care, having healed adequately to return home after two major surgeries, the first, double-bypass heart surgery, and the second, clot-busting surgery due to a "saddle" embolism.

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;

TODAY IS DAY 1803....

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.

NOW IS THE TIME FOR ISRAEL TO FORMALLY AND PUBLICLY ANNEX (OR, REAFFIRM ANNEXATION OF) THE GOLAN, SHEVA FARMS, JUDEA-SAMARIA, AND JERUSALEM.

THESE ANNEXATION ANNOUNCEMENTS SHOULD BE GIVEN BEFORE THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY BY PREMIER BENYAMIN NETANYAHU THIS COMING TUESDAY, APRIL 5, WHICH IS ROSH CHODESH NISSAN 5771, AND SHOULD BE ANNOUNCED IN HONOR OF GILAD SHALIT, WHO HAS BEEN IN SOLITARY CAPTIVITY BY HAMAS NOW FOR 1,769 DAYS. THE DECISION TO PROCEED WITH THESE ANNEXATIONS SHOULD BE A PRE-EMPTIVE RESPONSE BY ISRAEL PRECIPITATED BY THE APPARENTLY INEVITABLE DECISION COME THIS SEPTEMBER BY THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY TO RECOGNIZE A "STATE OF PALESTINE" INCLUSIVE OF JUDEA-SAMARIA, EAST JERUSALEM, AND GAZA (AS REPORTED TODAY IN THE THE NEW YORK TIMES).

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.

ROSH CHODESH ADAR 2 5771 IN THREE MORE DAYS AND GILAD SHALIT IS STILL CAPTIVE AND ALONE IN THE HANDS OF HAMAS..

TODAY IS DAY 1738 IN THE KIDNAPPED, ISOLATED CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.

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.

ROSH CHODESH SHEVAT 5771 -- DAY 1679 THAT GILAD SHALIT REMAINS CAPTIVE

ONE WEEK AGO ON THE GOYESHE NEW YEAR THE "MAVI MAMARA" RETURNED SAFELY FROM ISRAEL TO TURKEY, FINDING A WARM WELCOME AMONGST THOSE, WHO SEEK ISRAEL'S DESTRUCTION.

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.

EREV GOYISHE NEW YEAR -- DAY 1672 -- GILAD SHALIT REMAINS CAPTIVE, ALONE, UNSEEN, UNVISITED, UNHEARD OF, UNHEARD FROM....

AND FOR TWO WEEKS NOW THERE HAS BEEN ESCALATED VIOLENCE ACROSS THE BORDER FROM GAZA, INSTIGATED BY THE FIRING OF ROCKETS AND OTHER MORE ADVANCED WEAPONRY BY HAMAS INTO THE NEGEV. AND MAHMOUD ABBAS IS TODAY FOMENTING MORE ANTI-ISRAEL RESOLUTIONS IN THE U.N.

SHABBATH SHALOM....

WIKILEAKS

DAY 1650 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT

To many Wikileaks is guilty of treason and an enemy of freedom. To others Wikileaks is a hero fighting government power. Probably there is truth from both of these perspectives. Regardless, if Wikileaks has leaked any knowledge of the wellbeing and whereabouts of Gilad Shalit, such knowledge has not made it into the mainstream media.

Today is day 1650 in the captivity of Gilad Shalit.

May Heavenly Mercy inspire his captors to free him.

THE EIGTH DAY OF CHANNUKAH 5771

TODAY IS DAY 1650 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.

The world says nothing about Gilad Shalit, making not even a whisper.

Yet the world weeps that Israel will not surrender Jerusalem, will not buckle to world pressure to retreat to 1967 borders, will not prohibit Jewish life in East Jerusalem, ignoring that Israel does not, will not, and would not prohibit Arab life outside East Jerusalem.

There is a terrible double standard in the world that says, that Israel must give away and give away and give away and give away, and that Arabia may take and take and take and take by violent means of arms and by violent means of politics and by violent means of media saturation.

There is a movement in the UN to recognize a State of Palestine based on 1967 borders, and both Brazil and Argentina (infamous homes for Nazis fled to South America on losing WW2) push this.

The Catholic Church's Council of Bishops and America's General Petraeus have both seen fit to blame Israel as the source of all political instability in the Middle East.

Iran now has it's own mining sources of nuclear raw materials with which to feed the centrifuges in which it produces weapons grade nuclear fuel.

North Korea has attacked South Korea, bringing North Korea and South Korea to the brink of all out military engagement, and causing both an American aircraft carrier group and the nation of Japan to go on the alert in support of South Korea; and of course it may be presumed that Russia and China may be on alert to support North Korea. North Korea may not be found geographically in the Middle East; but, it is the eastern-most nation of the "Axis of Evil" identified by the Bush Administration. It is the Axis of Evil that gave us a nuclear Pakistan, Nine-Eleven, and Mahmoud Ahmadinijad.

May the "drunken" leadership of the world take a sober moment, away from self-absorbed concerns of Wikileak exposure, to realize that the world at large already perceives they are "naked"; and in this sober moment, world leadership should insist on the safe, immediate, unconditional freedom of Gilad Shalit!

Rosh HaShanah and Yom Kippur have come and gone. Sukkoth has come and gone. In the secular world of the USA, Halloween and Thanksgiving have come and gone -- all without the presence of Gilad Shalit at his parent's table.

May the Shalit family find solace and light on this Eigth Night of Channukah, and may Gilad Shalit find his own oil to last as miraculously as did the oil in the time of the Macabees, oil that burned for eight days and nights, when it seemed there was only sufficient oil to burn in the Menorah for one night!

EREV ROSH HASHANA 5771

PROMISES AND UNCERTAINTY ON DAY 1559 OF GILAD SHALIT'S CAPTIVITY. WILL ROSH HASHANA MARK DAY 1560?

Gilad Shalit is not yet free, remains unseen and unheard, there is no trustworthy witness to his being alive nor promise of his freedom....

Prime Minister Netanyahu now speaks of "The West Bank" and not of JUDEA-SAMARIA, and he shakes hands with Mahmud Abbas....

Hamas fires rocket after rocket into Israel and dances joyously en masse in the streets of Gaza (literally, not figuratively!) as five Jewish souls (two men and two women, one pregnant) fall victim to a rain of terrorist bullets in "The West Bank"....

Under Israeli protection the PAL prospers and the ghost of Yassir Arafat sits across the table from Prime Minister Netanyahu and is spoken to as a legitimate "partner in peace"....

This "spirit of reconciliation" occurs against the backdrop of the sounding of the morning Shofar throughout the month of ELUL, the month in which we seek to draw closer to HaShem, a month in which we recite Selichot, the month in which we examine ourselves in regards to the year that is nearly gone, the month in which we seek to transcend self-absorption and participate in acknowledging His Creation. We stand poised to ask HaShem that we be inscribed in the Book of Life for a happy, healthy, peaceful, prosperous, enlightened New Year. Will this Rosh HaShana mark captive day 1560 for Gilad Shalit?

May Gilad Shalit be free. May Jerusalem never again be divided. May Judea-Samaria be formally rejoined to Israel. May the ERUV RAV seek new homes elsewhere, and may all those, who truly remember and love Zion, find their way home.

B'SHANA HABA B'YERUSHALAYIM!

DAY 1482: MORE PROVOCATIONS ON THEIR WAY TOWARDS ISRAEL BY LAND, AIR, SEA ...

STILL THERE IS NO WORD ON ANY CHANCE OF FREEDOM FOR GILAD SHALIT.

In the wake of the Mavi Mamara incident Israel is easing restrictions on the landed flow and nature of goods permitted into Gaza. This unfortunately includes construction materials, much of which will inevitably wind up in the hands of Hamas and will accelerate the rate at which Hamas is able to build such things as military bunkers. Ostensibly this increased legal flow of goods into Gaza will cut the bottom out of the black market being run through the illegal tunnels between Gaza and Egypt. If you believe that line, let me tell you, there is a bridge for sale in Brooklyn....

If there is an upside to Israel's conciliation to international pressure to ease the flow of goods into Gaza, it is that Middle East Envoy Tony Blair has stated publicly that "there is no need" for aid to be sent by sea to Gaza, given the extent to which Israel has eased the flow and diversity of aid allowed into Gaza via proper landed channels.

This is an important statement by Tony Blair as antidote to the propaganda venom of Israel's enemies, who have ramped up provocations of Israel by scheduling additional "humanitarian aid" flotillas to violate Israel's naval blockade of Gaza. Ships from Lebanon via Cyprus and from Iran via the Suez Canal are either on their way or scheduled for imminent departure towards Israel. The Lebanese ships are reported to be financed by Arab-Iranian Yasser Kashlak, Lebanese businessman and allegedly the primary financial intermediary supplying Iranian funds to Hamas and Hezbollah. The Iranian vessels represent a team effort between The Red Crescent and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard with full public support of Ahmadinijad. An unsubstantiated report of a possible air attempt at blockade running into Gaza of Iranian aid from Egypt needs confirmation. Lebanon and Iran have both given national sanction to the alleged "humanitarian aid" missions of these ships, and have pre-established their rhetoric as to the alleged peacefulness of these missions, stating that on that basis they will blame Israel, should any incidents occur.

The USA has quietly sent a carrier group through the Suez Canal just coincidentally in advance of the uncertainly scheduled departures of "humanitarian aid" ships from Iran. Will this carrier group intercept or deter the Iranian ships? Will other nations such as France, Britain, Italy, or Germany make similar showings in the Mediterranean? Such intervention with or without UN involvement could prevent a regional war.

Perhaps even the UN will do it's duty and warn these so-called "humanitarian aid" ships that, by attempting to break Israel's blockade of Gaza, they are engaging in acts of war against Israel, and that Israel has the right to defend itself, even militarily.

Realistically, expecting any such fair and rational behavior from the UN is less a winning bet than a purchase-offer on that bridge in Brooklyn. But, still, in theory we may expect the UN to do the right thing, and if we do not express just what the right thing is, there is no way to hold the UN accountable for doing the wrong thing.

Speaking of the wrong thing, the right thing, and the UN: is it too much to ask that the UN pass an unequivocal resolution asking Hamas to safely and unconditionally return Gilad Shalit home to Israel, immediately?

TODAY IS DAY 1482 IN THE KIDNAPPING AND CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.

OBAMA DOES SOMETHING RIGHT, CALLING FOR B.P. TO ESTABLISH A $20 BILLION ESCROW FUND TO ANTICIPATE PAYMENT OF DAMAGES DUE TO THE GULF OIL SPILL

WHILE THERE IS SO MUCH THAT PRESIDENT OBAMA HAS NOT HANDLED WELL WITH RESPECT TO THE OIL SPILL, THE IDEA THAT B.P. SHOULD ESTABLISH A MULTI BILLION DOLLAR ESCROW FUND IN ANTICIPATION OF PAYMENT OF DAMAGES IS A BRILLIANT IDEA.

This is a win-win idea that British Petroleum should take seriously. In fact according to a NYTimes News Alert, B.P. has agreed to such a fund. At the present time, unless it's financial picture is a house of cards (not impossible given the 21st Century genius of smoke and mirror accounting practices), then British Petroleum already has the financial resources to make such a fund immediately feasible. By establishing such a fund, it should be obvious that the payment of reasonable damages by B.P. then has a tangible and significant opportunity to mitigate the suffering of those in the Gulf in real time. What may be less obvious is that by setting aside an escrow fund, based on the appearance of a reasonable finite number with respect to anticipated damages, should ease stockholder fears of open-ended risk and restore a positive public relations image for B.P. from both the public and the stockholder perspectives.

Kudos to President Obama for this idea. Kenneth Feinberg, who presently is the TARP Special Master, and who previously directed the Compensation Funds Program for Nine-Eleven victims, will reportedly be in charge of the Gulf Compensation Fund. There could not be a better choice to head this fund. Let us hope that the word "tentative" (used by the NYT to describe the agreement for the implementation of the fund) does not imply "temporary for a short term public relations lift, until such time as B.P. may back out of the agreement, leaving Obama and the USA in the lurch."

TODAY IS DAY 1475 IN THE CAPTIVITY OF GILAD SHALIT.

IS THE "RACHEL CORRIE" A PLANNED MARTYR SHIP? ONE STEP AWAY FROM WORLD WAR THREE!

A FEW YEARS AGO A YOUNG AMERICAN WOMAN WITH MISPLACED IDEALS, WHICH IDEALS WERE KNOWINGLY OR UNWITTINGLY EXERCISED IN SUPPORT OF HAMAS, PLACED HERSELF BETWEEN A MOVING ISRAELI BULLDOZER AND THE HOME OF A TERRORIST, WHOSE HOME THE BULLDOZER WAS THERE BY LAW TO DEMOLISH. RACHEL CORRIE GAVE AWAY HER YOUNG LIFE BEFORE THAT BULLDOZER, A GREAT PERSONAL TRAGEDY MOURNED BY THE ENTIRE WORLD. TODAY AN OSTENSIBLY HUMANITARIAN SHIP NAMED IN HER HONOR IS MAKING IT'S WAY TOWARDS GAZA, DOING SO JUST,BUT, NOT JUSTLY ON THE HEELS OF THE "AVI MAMARA" INCIDENT. THE OPERATORS OF THE VESSEL "RACHEL CORRIE" HAVE PUBLICLY STATED THAT THEY WILL NOT RESIST BOARDING BY THE ISRAELI NAVY AND WILL WILLINGLY BE REDIRECTED TO ASHDOD, ISRAEL.

LET US PRAY THAT THE "RACHEL CORRIE" REACHES SAFE HARBOR IN ISRAEL, AND THAT NO "INCIDENT" OCCURS THAT MAY BE BEYOND THE IMAGINATION OF THE WELL INTENDED, BUT, MISGUIDED HUMANITARIANS OF THE "RACHEL CORRIE".

SUCCESSFUL AND SAFE ARRIVAL OF THE "RACHEL CORRIE" TO ASHDOD, AND THE TRANSFER OF HUMANITARIAN GOODS BY THE ISRAELIS INTO GAZA ON THE BEHALF OF THE HUMANITARIANS OF THE SHIP (LESS THE BUNKER BUILDING CONCRETE), WILL DO MUCH TO HONOR THE MEMORY OF RACHEL CORRIE AND WILL MITIGATE MUCH OF THE ANGER, ANGUISH, AND BLOTTED HUMANITARIANISM OF THE SAD INCIDENT IN WHICH RACHEL CORRIE GAVE HER LIFE AND WILL DO THE SAME WITH RESPECT TO THE SIMILAR RESULTS WE HAVE JUST SEEN AS INITIAL CONSEQUENCES OF THE "AVI MAMARA" INCIDENT.

MISGUIDED IN THEIR CONSCIOUS OR INADVERTENT SUPPORT OF HAMAS, THE HUMANITARIANS OF THE "RACHEL CORRIE" MISSION MAY FACE MORE RISK THAN THEY MAY IMAGINE. SUPPOSE SOME JIHADIST TERRORISTS HAVE HIDDEN A BOMB ABOARD SHIP AND SET IT TO EXPLODE IN INTERNATIONAL WATERS, IN ISRAELI WATERS, OR EVEN IN THE PORT OF ASHDOD; SUPPOSE THERE IS A SECRET OPERATION ABOARD SHIP INVOLVING JIHADIST MARTYR BOMBERS (BE THEY HAMAS, HEZBOLLAH, I.R.A., AL-QUAEDA, SOLIDARITY, ROTE ARMEE FAKTION, OR WHOMEVER), OR ANY SIMILAR SUCH SECRET OPERATION FROM OFF SHIP (SUCH AS JIHADIST OPERATIVES DISGUISED AS ISRAELI NAVY MEN), OR ANY TYPE OF SUCH SINISTER EVENT DESIGNED TO CAST BLAME ON ISRAEL AND TO ENFLAME AND INCITE WORLD OPINION AND WAR: SUCH AN EVENT COULD BE ANALOGOUS TO THE ENTIRE WORLD STEPPING ONTO A LANDMINE IN ONE ILL FATED MOMENT....

LET US PRAY FOR THE SAFETY OF THE "RACHEL CORRIE" FROM ANY ACCIDENTAL OR INTENDED HARM!

TODAY IS DAY 1469 SINCE GILAD SHALIT WAS KIDNAPPED AND MADE CAPTIVE IN GAZA BY HAMAS. SHABBATH SHALOM.