Office The right of return of the Palestinians is an integral part of UN Resolution 194… The moral and political injustice of dispossessing the Palestinians in the past shall not be remedied by creating new injustices.
– Avraham Burg, “Say a big ‘thank you’ to Martin Schulz,” Haaretz, February 14, 2014
Liberation from Zionism is not a dirty word…. what lies behind Zionism nowadays are interests related to water, real estate… and a huge army hungering to justify its existence… We have to get rid of Zionism…
– Yitzhak Laor, “Get rid of Zionism,” Haaretz, June 3, 2011
We enthusiastically chose to become a colonial society… engaging in theft and finding justification for all these activities…
– Michael Ben-Yair , “The war’s seventh day,” Haaretz, March 3, 2002
For readers less familiar with the lesser- known protagonists in today’s Israeli socio-political milieu:
Avraham Burg was the speaker of Israel’s parliament, and chairman of the Jewish Agency, son of Yosef Burg, iconic leader of the right-wing National Religious Party that evolved into what is now Bayit Yehudi, headed by Economy Minister Naftali Bennett. Avraham Burg’s mother, Rifka Slonim, daughter of Jacob Joseph Slonim, Ashkenazi rabbi of Hebron, was a survivor of the 1929 Arab massacre of Jews in the city;
Yitzhak Laor is a well-known Israeli poet, author, and journalist, and lectured in the department of literature, Tel Aviv University;
Michael Ben-Yair was attorney-general under the governments of Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres. In a 2013 Facebook post, Ben-Yair labeled construction of Jewish communities across the pre-1967 lines “the most evil and immoral act since the Second World War,” deeming them worse than the atrocities of the Pol Pot regime in Cambodia, the purges during Stalin’s reign of terror and the gory genocide in Darfur.
Bad week for Jewish sovereignty:
The last week or so has been a very bad time for the sustainability of Jewish political independence. It has been even a worse time for intellectual integrity in Israeli politics and a really atrocious time for Jewish solidarity.
Somewhat paradoxically, things got off to a not so bad start last Wednesday, when European Parliament President Martin Schulz gave what was, overall, a rather positive address to a plenary Knesset session that was far more laudatory toward Israel than critical. He was even unequivocally emphatic that “the EU has no intention to boycott Israel.”
But things went seriously awry when Schulz foolishly insinuated that Israel was depriving Palestinians of water, citing wildly inaccurate figures, which he admitted were uncorroborated, and which he had heard in a passing conversation with a Palestinian youth. This incident prompted an irate walkout of the Bayit Yehudi faction.
Of course the “water libel” against Israel is nothing new. Totally unfounded – indeed, outlandish – accusations that it is denying the Palestinians access to adequate water supplies have been leveled against it for years. But in the case of the furor over Schulz’s remarks two points should be made.
Water: The new blood libel?
The first is that it was of course discourteous and injudicious to makes such serious allegations in such a public manner, when the most cursory inquiry, made discreetly to the proper authorities, would have quickly dispelled his misconceptions and avoided the unfortunate and unnecessary brouhaha. But then, perhaps even in the mind of the relatively amicable Schulz, Israel must be assumed guilty of something… In this regard PM Netanyahu’s response was apt and accurate: “Schulz admitted that he didn’t check if what he said was true, but he still blamed us. People accept any attack on Israel without checking it.”
This brings me to the second point.
The very fact that such a senior foreign politician is still laboring under such grave misapprehensions is a devastating indictment of Israeli public diplomacy.
For in the case of water, all the facts are crystal clear, and overwhelmingly exonerate Israel of any allegations of discriminatory deprivation toward the Palestinians.
Accordingly, the very fact that anyone can still raise such absurd charges, however obliquely, without being subjected to withering ridicule, reflects an inexcusable failure of Israel’s diplomatic apparatus to discharge its functions.
Grotesque and perverse:
Of course not all Israelis were put out by Schulz’s ill-considered rashness. Avraham Burg (see above) for example thought he deserved a “big thank you.” Burg, who achieved his public stature representing the Jewish state and the Zionist ideal, has devoted his recent efforts to annulling them – although he apparently has no qualms about continuing to receive generous pensions/benefits from its tainted coffers, which to the best of my knowledge he has yet to decline.
In a grotesquely perverse piece in Haaretz (where else?) he seizes on Schulz’s misinformed allusion, to reenforce the worst anti-Israel (and anti-Jewish) connotation that could be attributed to it.
In his toxic tirade, in which Burg hurls highly disrespectful personal insults at Netanyahu, he declares “We ought to be grateful to President Schulz. Perhaps the disparity in access to natural resources isn’t precisely what he was told in Ramallah… But let’s get back to the principle.
The current Israeli government, headed by that man of “moral confusion” [Netanyahu], accepts the premise that the Jews deserve more.”
Taking his father’s name in vain:
I shall deal with the repudiation of the outrageous Judeophobic slur a little later.
It will suffice here to point out that, although Burg generally commends Schulz’s implied censure of Israel, he feels that the attitude of the European Parliament president to the Jewish state was far too benign, stating “On most issues connected to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict we disagree. He is closer to the Israeli mainstream, and his positions resemble those of [the very dovish] Labor Party chairman Isaac Herzog.”
Burg, who basically now advocates the abolition of Israel as the nation-state of the Jewish people and its conversion into a multi-ethnic state-of-all-its citizens, goes on to take his strongly pro-Zionist father’s name in vain: “If my father, one of the founders of the party that later became Bayit Yehudi, were alive to see his political descend[a]nts in the Knesset on Wednesday I have no doubt… that he would… turn over in his grave.”
Sadly, I am old enough to be able to remember the ideo-political predilections of Burg senior, who retired from politics in 1986, after heading the National Religious Party for almost 10 years. I would give heavy odds that what is making his father, who escaped Nazi Germany at the last moment, “turn in his grave” is not the conduct of Bayit Heyudi, but his son’s descent into the depths of political prostitution (I make no apologies for the term), and the latter’s betrayal of all the Zionist ideals he cherished.
Shame on Susan:
But Burg junior was not the only one to use the issue of the “water libel,” raised (inadvertently or otherwise) by Schulz’s address, and provide grist for the mills of the myriad Judeophobes, eager to pounce on any opportunity, however flimsy, to denigrate the Jewish state, and to undermine its security and existence.
Earlier this week, Susan Hattis Rolef published a column in The Jerusalem Post titled “Water in the West Bank and the blockade on Gaza.” The piece was so misleading and misinformed that it is difficult to keep criticism of it within the confines of collegial courtesy.
There are so many inaccuracies, distortions and outright errors in her article that it would require more than an entire column to deal with them exhaustively. I will thus confine myself to the most glaring.
Hattis Rolef contends, “There are no official figures regarding the average water consumption of the Jewish inhabitants in the territories,” hinting that this alleged dearth is indicative of some dark conspiracy, and prejudicially states: “but it is assumed to be much higher (some say even double) the figure for Israelis within the Green Line.”
She is hopelessly wrong on all counts and seems to indicate that she did not invest a modicum of effort in researching the topic before publishing her diatribe.
A brief telephone call to Israel Water Authority would have provided her with all the information (and more) that she could have wished for. The authority is more than eager to oblige, as virtually all the data are highly supportive of Israel’s positions.
Susan (cont.):
For example, she would have discovered that the roughly 380,000 “Jewish inhabitants in the territories” (excluding greater Jerusalem) consume on average considerably less than the roughly 8 million “Israelis within the Green Line.” While the former consume a total of 50 million cubic meters of fresh water annually (and approximately 70 m.cu.m. including degraded waste water for orchard irrigation), the latter consume almost 1,200 m.cu.m. of freshwater (and 1,900 m.cu.m. including other waste/brackish water).
Thus, the average per capita fresh water consumption of “Jewish inhabitants in the territories” is just over 130 cu.m. annually, and of total water, under 185 cu.m., while for “Israelis within the Green Line” the corresponding figures are 150 cu.m. and almost 240 cu.m., respectively.
Hattis Rolef claims that, although there “is formal cooperation between the water authorities of Israel and the Palestinian Authority… the balance of power is like that between a mule and its rider.”
Ah, won’t the anti-Israel Judeophobes love that imagery! In fact, if she had bothered to read the Oslo II Accords (Article 40), which deals with Water and Sewage, she would discover that there is a Joint Water Committee that is charged with administering all water-sewage related matters. According to Article 40, “The JWC shall be comprised of an equal number of representatives from each side” and “All decisions of the JWC shall be reached by consensus…” This clearly gives the Palestinians veto power over the decision-making process, which is the major reason for the delays in construction of purification plants for waste water, which continues to flow and pollute Israeli downstream sources.
So much for the mule-rider analogy! She complains, “Israel actively destroys Palestinian wells and reservoirs because they are allegedly ‘illegal,’” adding snidely, “which is what much of the international community says about… what Israel has done in the West Bank since 1967, and… ‘he who lives in a glass house shouldn’t throw stones…’” So is Hattis Rolef seriously suggesting that Israel permit unregulated and unrestricted extraction from the aquifer and allow depletion to reach the catastrophic proportions now existing in Gaza, following Israel relinquishing control there? How precisely would that improve the lot of the Palestinians water-wise?
Vindictive malevolence vs inept impotence:
There is so much more to respond with, like for instance that Israel conveys more water from inside the pre-1967 lines into Judea-Samaria (67 m.cu.m.) than the entire consumption of the much maligned “settlers” (50 m.cu.m.), thus more than compensating the Palestinians for the entire Jewish water usage across the Green Line; or like, according to the Oslo Accords it is the PA, not Israel, that is responsible for supplying the Palestinian consumer with water, and virtually all stoppages/ shortages are due to unpaid bills, faulty infrastructure and theft on the part of the Palestinians; or that differentials in consumption reflect differences in demand and lifestyles rather than differences in supply and discriminatory deprivation.
But there is only so much one can cram into a single opinion column. I am forced to forgo mention of the other perfidious “pearls-of-wisdom” from other leading left-wing activists and representatives, on other topical issues.
However, the fact that the water issue continues to remains a topic that can still be used to denigrate Israel, without the malefactor being scorned and shamed, bears lamentable testimony to the vindictive, borderline treasonous malevolence of the Left, which makes cynical use of it to further its political credo; and to the inept, borderline imbecilic, impotence of the Right, which has failed to totally discredit this practice.
This lethal combination is emerging as, arguably, the gravest threat to the sustainability of Jewish political independence.
Martin Sherman (www.martinsherman.net) is the founder and executive director of the Israel Institute for Strategic Studies. (www.strategicisrael.org)
@ the phoenix:
Mon Cheri you surprise me???
@ honeybee:
http://youtu.be/9y92QZvSpjo
the phoenix Said:
There is a song by Waylon Jennings called “Iam a Little Bit Crazy but it Keeps Me from Going Insane”.
@ the phoenix:
Darlin, I am very functional. When I walk I tend list to one side but other wise I function pretty well. And because of the difference in the length of my legs, Iam a damn good belly dancer.
@ the phoenix:
I wholeheartedly disagree. Most of the Jews that I know are anything but dysfunctional. Human? Yes! The anti-Semites are truly the dysfunctional ones.
@ honeybee:
In the previous thread, yamit has, so rightfully mentioned that as Jews we are the most dysfunctional race /people known to mankind…..
I wholeheartedly agree, and as a reply to your highlighted comment, I would just add that I can see/understand “both sides” of the story…. Which….only adds more to the dysfunctionality.
😉
@ the phoenix:
The mother bear defended her cubs,taught them to defend themselves,made a truce with the wolves to their mutual benefit, you gave up on the out come to early, pessimist.
bessos y embarrasses.
@ the phoenix:
The Almighty uses EVERTHING to his own purpose . We just had a miracle baby born into the family. When I was twelve a Dr.[cruel sob] to me I would be in a wheelchair by the age 40,the sob was wrong.
“And God spoke to Job from the whirlwind saying WHERE WERE YOU WHEN I LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE EARTH.”
@ yamit82:
Very moving video clips.
It is so incomprehensible … So savagely sad… So RAW!!!!
How was that allowed to happen……
How?
How?
yamit82 Said:
that blog is political and anti Israel plus full of ridiculous bias and disinfo like this:
😛 😛 😛 😛
@ yamit82:
You have a hero,!!!!OMG!!!!!
@ honeybee:
Dear honeybee,
Your last post, was indeed sweet and I am intotal agreement with it.
If you notice, my ‘beef’ is not with the act of god which has destroyed the crop. THIS, can be understood.
What I fail to understand and I have yet to have that properly explained to me, is:
WHY after countless times, that our proverbial farmer, had his stock deliberately stolen or damaged, or set afire by a band of squatters that have invaded his farm, WHY is he giving them shelter, food and medicine, in spite of everything?
WHY does our farmer pay heed to what everyone says ?
WHY does he not proceed to throw out the squatters (as a first humanitarian response), and if the squatters continue – just shoot them dead!!!
WHEN will the farmer realize that it is a zero sum game? Either HE gets rid of the bastards, or he loses….practically everything.
HOW can the farmer be so smart, to achieve such a miraculous garden and yet be sooo…….ehm, naive?
@ bernard ross:
I consider Rav Ariel a true Tzadik!!!! There are so few. After the rabbis kept silent during Gush Katif and Yamit evictions, I don’t see them as religious. They fear government, not G-d. They declared Rebbe Schneerson – Messiah but abandoned his fundamental injunction: no part of the land of Israel could be ceded. Their synagogues, the dens of thieves, are not worth frequenting.
Is the fuss about land? A piece of desert in Gaza or Northern Sinai, not critically important by biblical or national standards? Not at all. The issue is about Jewish people. The government that sends thousands of Jews to settle the land based on nationalist aspirations, and then evicts them, has lost the claim of Jewishness. Medieval kings similarly invited the Jews to their lands to advance trade, and evicted us on occasion, robbing on the way. Israeli government acted no differently, and the rabbis who did not call on the hundreds of thousands of religious Jews to fight, lost the title of religious teachers.
Though almost all Jewish males historically have studied Tanach, few of them have pursued religion as a full-time occupation. Judaism, a religion of worldly deeds, emphasizes the need for productive work. Whatever Rabbi Karo surmised, Hillel worked arduously, and so did Maimonides. Their work did not prevent them from becoming two of the most prominent Jewish scholars of all time. Rabbi Akiva joined Bar Kochba’s army. In more distant times, Joshua bin Nun, a prophet, led a Jewish army; obviously, Joshua devoted much time to military exercise. Even a hundred years ago, professional rabbis were few. Jewish communities gladly paid wages to several rabbinical leaders, and provided meager charity to some others, but overall the number of religious professionals was negligible. They constantly interacted with common Jews, and imparted religious knowledge and morality. The picture of closed communities of yeshiva students and rabbis, divorced from Jewish society and work, wearing 300-year-old garb—which was nice and modern at the time it was introduced—is appalling.
Then as now, yeshivas were privately funded. The State of Israel gives very little money to yeshivas. So what’s our problem with the professional Jews? It’s defamation. They misrepresent Judaism. Our religion is about productive life, not monastic isolation and a black-market economy. The Talmudic sage Rabbi Zeira communicated with bandits, and they eventually reformed. Rabbis exist for the sake of the Jewish community. Whether the community is good or bad, religious or otherwise, the rabbis must live in it and actively communicate with common Jews, trying to change us for the better. Instead, today’s ultra-Orthodox rabbis see common Jews as tax-paying, army-serving human cattle, unworthy of Judaism.
The rabbis who isolate themselves from the Jewish world in a time of spiritual crisis are not worthy of their title.
Jerusalem Day: Reflections by Rabbi Yisrael Ariel (English)
Rav Yisrael Ariel at Amona
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XYnXsTb5GR8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBS9K-pT12k
@ the phoenix:
I totally understand where you are coming from. The most recent day in Jewish history was yesterday.
There is always hope to rely on – the promise – the rainbow.
We won’t be moving backwards, but will move forward.
@ the phoenix:
Realism: watching you crops destroyed by a hail storm a day or two before harvest.
Optimism: Planting the same crops again in the spring.
Besous mon chere
@ honeybee:
dear honeybee,
there was once this optimistic fellow…who was pushed out of the empire state building.
somewhere around the 50th floor, a window opens, and somebody asks him:
“how are you doing?”
and the optimist answers:
“ok. so faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar…
do you understand the difference between ‘optimism’ and ‘realism’??????????????? sweetheart..
the phoenix Said:
You don’t have an optimistic bone in you cute body Darlin,BUCKUP COWBOY
yamit82 Said:
here is one of the comments below your linked article:
I find the whole topsy turvy aspect of so called religious Judaism interesting. The orthodox to ultra orthodox range becomes more bizarre the more supposedly “Jewish or Pious” they dress up to be. The ultimate absurdity is the bizarre spectacle of the Naturei Karta and so called “true Torah Jews”. I would not be surprised to see them dancing with the jew killers and handing out sweets when Jews are killed in Israel. This behavior extends to lesser shades with the Satmar and ultra orthodox but it is a matter of shades rather than substance. Their “rabbi’s” have led them down this path and used the Torah to justify their conclusions and behavior. Why do we assume that these Rabbi’s and Jews are Jewish? They wear a uniform to proclaim their Jewishness, they engage in the rituals to proclaim their Jewishness, but I see no “light” emanating from their behavior to validate their Judaism. What could be more unJewish than these?
Therefore, G_d demonstrates to us that even “rabbis” and “Torah” may be corrupted and are unreliable. You have stated that the corruptions of today existed in ancient Israel as well. When I encounter individuals who demonstrate corruption in areas of their lives I find it difficult to give credibility to their assurances in other areas, especially in areas that involve the assertion of facts or of ethics and morality. The behavior and credibility of todays Rabbi’s wrt interpretaions of the Torah also bring into question the credibility of past Rabbi’s in history. Basically the behavior of these rabbi’s cast aspersion on Rabbinism in general.
My understanding is that the next ingathering after the last exile is to be the last.
Can anyone dispute that G_d is gathering in the Jews to the Holy Land?
Can anyone dispute that the barren land of 2000 years now blooms?
Can anyone, whether Haredi or supercessionist dispute WHO is being ingathered and WHO are the Jews being ingathered?
Men make decisions, interpret and judge according to their folly but G_D demonstrates facts for all to see. There is no need to speculate on the existence of facts which are clear for all to see.
The only speculation is on what will come next and whether man,and rabbi’s, are in alignment with G_d’s demonstrated will.
Will G_D take the rabbi’s acts of commission, or ommission, into account wrt unfolding the future?
Last time he led them to the Promised Land they were made first to wander the desert.
Comment to yamit in moderation
@ yamit82:
@ yamit82:
When looked from this angle… Obviously, there is no argument….
The earth is some 4.6 billion years old… And as such, a major oil spill (exon Valdez, the recent deep water horizon in the Gulf of Mexico) are not even a blip on the screen of the spectrum of time . For that matter, even a complete deforestation of the amazon rainforest would be insignificant…. These trees are a ‘mere’ few hundreds of years…. Which totally disappears in the time continuum of planet earth….
I dare say, however yamit, that the arguments brought here on this forum, are really about the here and now
And more specifically, can Israel survive the Jews….
And by that I mean the self destructive, to the point of being suicidal, division and antagonism among the Jews.
This is the part that totally defies logic.
I understand, that when we are talking about metaphysical subjects, they certainly defy logic, and when viewed as a continuum, there is definitely a rhyme and reason to all that befell our nation.
HOWEVER,
the pain of the survivors of all the murderous attacks is very real , visceral and very much in the NOW.
Dolfinarium….sbarro…. 1001 others…. Itamar!!!
the brutal images of the evacuations… (You of all people, were among the first to experience this travesty)
I would love to maintain an optimistic outlook by events happening NOW vs. having to look at it from the grand scheme of time.
@ yamit82:
Hey Darlin,Carter sunk himself. It was the rabbit attack, who can vote for a man who is attacked by rabbits.
@ yamit82:
A Rebbe who is a paratrooper wonderful. Israeli are so much more masculine then Jewish men of my generation. Kerry has already been cursed, have you seen his wife!!! I know many women who voted against him because they could not stand his wife.
@ yamit82:
May I keep Sam Houston. I was listening to Dennis Pragher yesterday and he had a very interesting guest, Hugh Ralston PhD astronomer U of Toronto. He explained Genesis from a scientific viewpoint. And yes Dr. Ralston is a Christian.
Interesting
The CIA/Likud Sinking of Jimmy Carter
@ bernard ross:
Israeli Rabbis Warn Kerry of God’s Wrath
Five right-wing Israeli rabbis say U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry deserves the destructive fate that has met past enemies of the Jewish people because of his efforts to reach a peace agreement that would establish a Palestinian state on the West Bank.
In an open letter to Kerry, these nationalist rabbis likened Kerry to Haman, the Persian vizier and the villain in the Book of Esther who “contrived a vicious plot” against the Jews but ended up — along with his sons — hanged “on the very same gallows he had prepared for Mordechai, the Jew.” Haman was then impaled on a sharpened pole for good measure.
The letter said Kerry’s “incessant efforts to expropriate integral parts of our Holy Land and hand them over to [Palestinian leader Mahmoud] Abbas’s terrorist gang amount to a declaration of war against the Creator and Ruler of the universe.”
The group of rabbis from the Committee to Save the Land and People of Israel warned Kerry that if he persists in his “destructive path,” he will earn “everlasting disgrace in Jewish history for bringing calamity upon the Jewish people — like Nebuchadnezer and Titus who destroyed, respectively, the first and second great Temples and the entire Holy City of Jerusalem, and who, by Heavenly punishment, brought eventual disaster upon themselves.”
Israeli religious nationalists consider the West Bank to be land that God gave to the Israelites in perpetuity, territory called by many Israeli leaders by the Biblical names Judea and Samaria. But international law grants the land to the Palestinians and considers Jewish settlements on the land to be illegal.
The rabbis’ letter condemned Kerry for seeking to establish a Palestinian state on the West Bank, despite the expectation that Kerry will propose some land concessions to Israel so several hundred thousand Jewish settlers can remain in their homes. But any compromise is unacceptable to the five rabbis, according to their letter.
“For G-d awarded the entire Land of Israel to our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, in order that they bequeath it, as an everlasting inheritance, to their descendants, the Jewish people, until the end of all time,” the letter read. “By the power of our Holy Torah, we admonish you to cease immediately all efforts to achieve these disastrous agreements — in order to avoid severe Heavenly punishment for everyone involved.”
The signers of the letter were Gedalya Axelrod, emeritus head of Haifa Rabbinic Court; Yisrael Ariel, chairman of the Temple Institute; Ben Tziyon Grossman, a rabbi in Migdal Haemek; Shalom Dov Wolpo, dean of the Institute for Complete Code of Maimonides; and Yigal Pizam, head of the Yeshiva of Kiryat Shmuel.
Rabbis Shalom Dov Wolpo and Yisrael Ariel were associated with the ultra-nationalist political activities of the late Meir Kahane who founded the militant Jewish Defense League and Kach, an Israeli political party that was denounced by the Israeli government as racist.
Though the five rabbis are considered to be on the fringe of Israeli politics, their condemnation of Kerry reflects a growing resistance within more mainstream Israeli circles to Kerry’s persistence in seeking a resolution to the long-running Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Kerry is expected soon to unveil his proposed framework for a possible settlement.
bernard ross Said:
This was my rebbe from Yamit. He was one of the paratroopers who Liberated Jerusalem in 67.
Govt. to Split Jerusalem – Where are the Rabbis?’
Rabbi Yisrael Ariel wonders at fellow rabbis’ silence over plan to give away Jerusalem holy sites.
Rabbi Ariel, who heads the Temple Institute, continued, “The Christians will get the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and Mount Zion, the Muslims will get the Temple Mount, and we Jews will need to visit the Kotel (Western Wall) under the auspices of the Palestinian Authority.”
The Palestinian Authority (PA) denies the Jewish connection to the Western Wall, and PA TV has labeled Jewish worship at the holy site “sin and filth.”
Even if Jewish worship at the Kotel were to continue freely, the loss of access to the Temple Mount would be highly significant. The Temple Mount is the holiest site on earth according to Judaism, and is the place where the First Temple and Second Temple once stood.
The plan to split Jerusalem’s holy sites between various religions “has existed for some time, and now they’re going to implement it in stages,” Rabbi Ariel warned, adding, “During the Pope’s next visit they plan to transfer the Cenacle on Mount Zion to him, turning it into a pilgrimage site.”
He criticized Israel’s rabbis, including the Chief Rabbis, for their silence. “Not long ago they gave the Russian Compound to Russia, now the Christians are restoring a church – unused until now – on the Mount of Olives, and thus they slowly sell Jerusalem, and nobody raises their voice in protest,” he charged.
“Where is the Chief Rabbinate? They’re going to take the heart of Jerusalem and make it a Christian center,” he continued.
He accused his fellow rabbis of focusing on “price tag” vandalism of Arab property rather than the future of Jerusalem. “Three hundred rabbis spoke out against ‘price tag.’ Is this what you’ve found to get involved with, is this what pains you?
“Instead of meeting with the Prime Minister to protest the sale of Jerusalem, you’re speaking out against a handful of youths who burned a rug,” he accused.
honeybee Said:
Does seem to indicate that it’s so. 🙂
the phoenix Said:
Sacrifices were not for G-d he doesn’t need sacrifices nor even want them. sacrifices were a concession to the needs of man as per general custom in ancient times. In any event the sin offerings were only for unintentional sin. If a Jew had to schlep a lamb or goat all the way up to the temple he would probably not commit the same sin again. It’s a learning or remedial exercise.
Important general comment about sacrifices
“Since this article must of necessity deal with the topic of animal sacrifice, let me start by mentioning that whatever else may be commanded, there is one overriding provision that applies to all sacrifices, namely—
In other words, sacrifices may only be performed in one centralised location and, if that is impossible (as it is at the present time when no centralised location exists for performing them), then the offering of sacrifices is forbidden.”
Relax about animal sacrifices:
The prophets also speak frequently about a third route to “atonement”, and it is this one that they say God prefers:
Note that “When you hold up your hands” in verse 15 is a reference to the kohanim performing the ceremonial “blessing” of the congregation as prescribed in B’midbar 6:23-26, and tola in verse 18 is a bright scarlet dye. Read full article on atonement in Judaism