Category: The Society

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Israel Behind the News [Nov 30, 2015]

Yinon Magal was brought into the Bayit Yehudi (Jewish Home) party by Naftali Bennett to put a less religious face on it. The party stalwarts had always been uneasy with Bennett for opening the party calling his move into question as it essentially erases the differences between Likud and Jewish Home.  now they have fodder for the next leadership fight.  It is no secret that Bennett believes his best shot to becoming PM is to merge his party with Likud and fight from within.  This puts a small monkey wrench into that plan.  Yet, despite that the new bill being proposed by Bibi to under the guidance of MK Levin to make it so the largest party automatically gets to form the government would almost guarantee a merger anyway.  This would be out of fear of the Left rising to power over a fractured right wing.

 

Once again Europe misses the point. Islam = Jihadist ideology.  The Koran espouses destruction of the unbelievers and dhimmitude of the “other people of the book.” Islam would have to essentially stop being Islam in order to be enlightened. It’s true there are sects like the Sufi’s who appear to be peaceful, but even they are easily fired up against the West: http://shoebat.com/2014/06/22/peaceful-muslim-sect-turned-fanatic/
At the end of the day, the World must come to a conclusion that it is really Islam itself that breeds violent hysteria into a way of life.

 

Just when we thought the “cycle of violence” was settling into a low flame reality, an Arab teen shot dead by security forces reignites tensions to a boiling point. Attacks had begun to be kept to Judea, Samaria, and “East Jerusalem,” but rage has a way of spilling back out into the rest of the country. Remember, that in most cases the security forces shoot Arab teens because they are in fact throwing rocks or Molotov cocktails. This is a prevalent past time in these neighborhoods.
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Israel Behind the News [11.29.2015]

Here are some of the leading headlines today in Israel:

The Israel Rising take: When the Prime Minister announces work on the long awaited Jewish State Law bill two questions come to mind? Why is he announcing this now and what does Israel need a Jewish State Law for? The PM always announces “right wing” statements when he feels pushed back by his own camp.  Bibi believes in keeping the situation under management instead of finding solutions to challenges. His coalition has been shaky from the beginning and announcements like working on the Jewish State Law will keep those ministers that are to his right from bolting the coalition next time there is a crisis.

When the government denies transferring acres to Palestinians you can rest assured it had been on the table.  The government will not transfer it because the coalition will be finished. Area C is rightfully part of Israel even according to the Oslo accords.  transferring more land will not solve the conflict but rather give a prize to terror. Why a leak now?  Like anything else in Israel, the opposition and the Arabs will try to trick the right into crashing the coalition due to emotions rather than at an opportune time.

Yaalon’s has tried to keep a lid on a full scale take down of the PA terror entity in Judea and Samaria due to a couple of considerations.  The first is that he really doesn’t believe in our right to these areas other than for strategic reasons. The second is that wit all the chaos surrounding Israel, the IDF needs to be focused on the more “dangerous” geopolitical situation. Lastly, Yaalon is worried about a backlash te USA state department and would like to keep up his good relations with America. The above three points are keeping Jews in harms way.

 

 

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Recycling bottles to redeem Jerusalem

Originally published on HaKol HaYehudi.

Aryeh Blumberg gathers bottles for recycling and donates the money to buy homes in Jerusalem.

Aryeh Blumberg lives in Maale Adumim and works as a plumber. In recent years Blumberg has also begun collecting bottles for Jerusalem. He collects bottles for recycling and the money he receives he gives to Ateret Cohanim to redeem property in Jerusalem.

“Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish nation,” says Blumberg, “The world doesn’t accept this and wants to steal it from us. Jerusalem has always been ours. We can’t let them change history and steal it from us. We have to fight for Jerusalem.”

Blumberg tells the story of how he started his project after the Gaza expulsion. “I realized that if today they were expelling Jews from Gush Katif, tomorrow they could expel Jews from Jerusalem. I decided that talking wasn’t enough and I wanted to do something in practice to strengthen Jerusalem.” Blumberg explains that he wanted to donate to support Jerusalem, but his financial situation did not allow it.

“Then I realized that people always throw out their bottles in the trash and they could instead get money back for them,” says Blumberg. That thought led him to action and he began by asking Ateret Cohanim if they had a minimum donation amount. They told him they were willing to accept even small amounts and so he began his project.

“My first donation was only 140 shekels (~$40). In the first year I donated 2500 shekels, the second year 5000 shekels, the third year 8000 shekels, the year after 10,000 shekels, and every year since, it’s been around 12000 shekels,” explains Blumberg on how the project grew. “Today, thank G-d,‘donations from bottles’ have passed the 100,000 shekel point.”

Blumberg says that as the project grew, more people joined him. “There are several in Maale Adumim, and there are also several places in Jerusalem where I pick up bottles from people.”

Since he started the project, Blumberg’s yard is almost always filled with boxes of bottles, but he says “My wife agrees to it. She even helps with the project and my kids also help a lot.” Blumberg also emphasizes that all of the money from the bottles goes to Ateret Cohanim, “I don’t take any overhead and I pay for my own gas or any other expenses.”

“It’s amazing to be able to take a small thing like bottles that we throw in the garbage and use them to change the reality,” says Blumberg. “From 30 agorot (8 cents) from each bottle we reached 100,000 shekels, thank G-d. It’s possible to help the Jewish people in many ways and with G-d’s help through all of these small things we will merit to bring the Redemption.”

“The need to strengthen Jerusalem,” is what Blumberg says gives him the strength to keep going. “I can’t tell you why we were punished with the expulsion from Gaza but it was probably something small. I think we need to strengthen Jerusalem and move as many Jews as possible into the city. That’s what Ateret Cohanim does and that’s what I want to support.”

Blumberg says that, “As a result of the project my personal connection to Jerusalem has also strengthened.”

In conclusion, Blumberg tells that he once did work for a Jew who was not religious in Jerusalem. “I asked him why he chose to live in Jerusalem and he told me, ‘Jerusalem is the center of the Jewish nation.’ Jerusalem is truly our center. The world wants to take it from us but we can’t give up Jerusalem.”