Category: The Society

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Why Hillary’s “Experience” Presents a Problem

hillary clinton terrorism

Many people are understandably concerned about this year’s presidential election. Some are saying the two chief candidates are the worst choices in decades. I’ve often heard it said that elections are not so much about voting for who you favor, but more about voting against who you disfavor. In other words, voting for the lessor of two evils.  In 2016 this represents my personal position as well.

Some have decided to boycott the election altogether. In my opinion this is a copout and negates said individual from participating in discussions, as they have opted out of the process. Not making a decision, is making a decision.

One of the justifications people have used to support Hillary Clinton, vs Donald Trump, is she has experience.  I understand that, however just because someone has “experience,” does that mean they deserve to be the most powerful person in the world? Also, one has to evaluate their “experience,” to determine if what they have previously done merits greater responsibility, and reward.

One of the flashpoint issues of the day is terrorism. It is here where I would like to dig a little deeper. Since Trump has not served in public office, his “experience” cannot be evaluated. Yet, he has made his views  regarding terror quite clear.

Hillary on the other hand has significant experience, which includes serving as Secretary of State from 2009 – 2013. Let’s take a closer look, specifically with respect to terrorism.

One of the official duties in the job description of Secretary of State is “ensures the protection of the US Government to American citizens, property and interests in foreign countries.”

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In March 2016 an American- Taylor Force was murdered by a terrorist while he was visiting Israel. His killer, Basar Masalha who was killed during the attack, was a member of Hamas. Masalha was praised as a “martyr” by the official PA newspaper Al-Hayat Al Jidada. PA President Mahmoud Abbas was asked to publically condemn the murder. He refused, which is tantamount to implicit support.

What’s the connection between Force’s murder and Hillary Clinton? Allow me to connect the dots.

It’s been documented, but worth repeating the Arab Palestinians reward terror.  Starting in 2003, when a “soldier of Allah” commits murder, or another act of terror his crime provides him with a place of honor. It also entitles him to be paid a salary. The more heinous the crime, the greater the salary. If the murderer dies, or is killed while committing his crime, he becomes known as a “shahid,” or martyr. In this case his family is awarded the financial compensation. Palestinian murderers and/or their families in some cases collect as much as $3,500 (US) per month, which is 5 times greater than the average Palestinian family income.

Aside from Hamas, the terrorist can be from numerous groups, including Fatah, the political party of PA President Mahmoud Abbas.

The Palestinian Authority allocates roughly 6% of their budget to reward murderers. Since the government of the Palestinians is providing said compensation, it can easily be defined as state sponsored terrorism. Yet where are the demands to halt this despicable policy? Certainly none have come from Hillary.

While world leaders turn a blind eye to this ‘official’ sanctioning of murder, the same world leaders are often heard roundly criticizing Israel for construction in areas that have long been understood as being part of the Jewish State. Such criticizing voices have included Hillary Clinton. While there may be disagreement that said construction is in an acceptable area, how can any leader deserving of respect focus on construction, while ignoring outright murder?

Yet, there is more to this story. The Palestinian Authority receives over $1.3 billion aid money from around the world. (2014 figures) The single largest source is the United States which provides $400 million annually. The EU, Saudi Arabia and UK are 2nd, 3rd and 4th respectively in annual support.

While Clinton was not Secretary of State when Taylor Force was murdered, she was from 2009 – 2013. As such she was part of an ongoing US policy of being the majority financial supporter for a government which promotes and rewards murderers of Israeli civilians, which subsequently included Americans. In addition to Taylor Force, one of the three teens murdered by Hamas in June 2014-Naftali Frenkel, was American. During Clinton’s tenure she did nothing to criticize, impede or prevent the PA policy of rewarding murder, which was in place while she served as Secretary of State, and remains in effect today.

What’s the take away from this?

Indeed it is true that Hillary Clinton has “experience.” The question begs is the knowledge of and financial support for ongoing murder of innocent lives (which includes Americans) the type of “experience” that justifies electing her President?

I think Donald Trump would say “no.”

The real question is what will Americans say?

For more of Dan Calic’s articles see his Facebook Page.

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The King is the Heart of the Nation

SHOFTIM deals primarily with statutes pertaining to Israel’s leadership. Because leadership is not a position of honor for the individual but rather a burden of responsibility for the welfare of the Jewish people, the Torah sets down specific guidelines in order to steer our leaders towards attaining their full potential.

“It shall be that when he sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself two copies of this Torah in a book, from before the Kohanim, the Levi’im. It shall be with him, and he shall read from it all the days of his life, so that he will learn to fear HaShem, his G-D, to observe all the words of this Torah and these decrees, to perform them, so that his heart not become haughty over his brethren and not turn from the commandment right or left, so that he will prolong years over his kingdom, he and his sons amid Israel.” (DEVARIM 17:18-20)

A melekh (generally translated into English as “king”) is commanded to write and read his own Torah in order to prevent his position of leadership from creating within him a feeling of arrogance toward his brothers. By delving into the deeper secrets of Torah, a melekh can gain a higher awareness that although we may each play unique roles in Israel’s national life, we are all in fact parts of a greater whole and no man can truly reign supreme over others. Even learning the Torah on a surface level enables a leader to understand the past failures of his people in order that he personally strive to correct these shortcomings and lead the Jewish people in fulfilling our collective destiny.

The ideal Torah concept of melekh differs greatly from the monarchs who rule over other peoples. A melekh is the concentrated expression of the collective Israeli soul – Knesset Yisrael – that manifests itself in our world through millions of bodies revealed in space and time as individual Jews. The melekh does not actually rule over Israel but rather embodies the mission and aspirations of his nation to the extent that he becomes a microcosm of the entire Jewish people and his personal identity is absorbed into Israel’s collective national identity.

As is clearly exhibited in the behavior of David, a true melekh leads Israel not by behaving with arrogance but by displaying greater passion and fervor in serving HaShem.

“David danced with all [his] strength before HaShem; David was girded in a linen tunic. David and the entire House of Israel brought up the Ark of HaShem with loud, joyous sound, and the sound of the shofar.” (SHMUEL II 6:14-15)

David remains the paradigm of the ideal melekh, setting the ultimate standard for all future Jewish leadership.

“His [the melekh’s] heart is the heart of the entire congregation of Israel.” (Hilkhot Melakhim3:6)

Like the heart, which is one of the smallest organs of a body yet provides for that body’s entire life force, a melekh generates and directs the character and vitality of the entire Hebrew Nation. In this vein, the Midrash states that “The leader of the generation [represents] the entire generation.” (Bamidbar Rabbah 19:28)

To assist our leaders in properly fulfilling their roles, the Torah offers statutes to promote an attitude of responsibility, such as the commandment for a melekh to write for himself two copies of the Torah, as well as the following verses found at the end of SHOFTIM.

“If a corpse will be found on the land that HaShem, your G-D, gives you to possess it, fallen in the field, it was not known who smote him, your elders and judges shall go out and measure toward the cities that are around the corpse. It shall be that the city nearest the corpse, the elders of that city shall take a heifer, with which no work has been done, which has not pulled with a yoke. The elders of that city shall bring the heifer down to a harsh valley, which cannot be worked and cannot be sown, and they shall axe the back of its neck in the valley. The Kohanim, the offspring of Levi, shall approach, for them has HaShem, your G-D, chosen to minister to Him and to bless with the Name of HaShem, and according to their word shall be every grievance and every plague. All the elders of the city, who are closest to the corpse, shall wash their hands over the heifer that was axed in the valley. They shall speak up and say, ‘our hands have not spilled this blood, and our eyes did not see. Atone for Your nation Israel that You have redeemed O HaShem: Do not place innocent blood in the midst of Your nation Israel!’ Then the blood shall be atoned for them. But you shall remove the innocent blood from your midst when you do what is upright in the eyes of HaShem.” (DEVARIM 21:1-9)

While it may be difficult to imagine why anyone would suspect a pious city elder of responsibility for a mysterious local murder, Rashi explains that the elders must publicly absolve themselves from guilt in order to clarify that they were not negligent in providing the necessary security that would have prevented the spilling of blood. Sforno adds that such defensive measures include ensuring that no known murderer is permitted to roam the area. A Jewish leader must never be negligent when dealing with the welfare or security of his people.

A great lesson is taught here – a lesson in responsibility, Ahavat Yisrael (love of Israel) and the duty that a leader bears for the defense of his people. It is clearly not enough for a person to refrain from murder. He must also do everything in his power to prevent blood from being shed by others. And in order to save innocent people from danger, it is often necessary to neutralize whatever security threats might exist. The Torah teaches this to be a major responsibility of both local and national leadership.

The Maharal of Prague offers a profound insight on this point. He teaches that these verses imply that the murder could have been avoided had the victim been escorted by someone from the city. While there is no legal requirement to accompany a traveler all the way to his destination, the Maharal explains that when a host takes the trouble to escort a stranger on his journey, he demonstrates solidarity with a fellow Jew and with the entire Hebrew Nation. This is achieved by the mere performance of going out of one’s way for another even if not specifically mandated. When one demonstrates such Ahavat Yisrael, HaShem provides extra protection and the possibility of a tragedy occurring is diminished.

True love breeds responsibility. A Jew cannot exist independent of his people and Hebrew leadership demands the attributes of compassion and responsibility in order to succeed in guiding and protecting the Nation of Israel. Our Sages teach that Jerusalem’s second Temple was destroyed as a result of baseless hatred between Jews. The third Temple will arise as a result of a limitless love – a love that will breed courage, humility and responsibility, ultimately shining its light to the entire world and engulfing humanity in the Divine blessing of HaShem.

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PEAK AMERICA: Hacking the DNC is Just the Beginning

Whether it was Russia or a dead DNC staffer that leaked or better said hacked the DNC email system, the damage has been done.  To most people in the USA, it was a passing story, but the truth is that one has to be naive to think America’s most important data is safe.  While other countries are learning to build better and safer systems to protect sensitive data, America lags behind.

In fact, back in April NBC ran a story about an Iranian hacking into a control center of a NY dam.  It was the first time such a hack occurred using simple Google searches.

“While foreign nation-state hacking into U.S. infrastructure is common and growing in scope and sophistication, the dam hack is significant because prosecutors say it’s the first time a simple, search engine-driven hack of a piece of U.S. infrastructure has surfaced as the tool of choice. It’s also the first time federal indictment tied a foreign state to the hacking of critical U.S. assets, ” the NBC report said.

Essentially, the USA is far behind most of its enemies.  This has implications for security, but it also has an implication on how Americans can be influenced by bad actors wanting to shape and shift public opinion.  We see this clearly in this year’s election, where WikiLeaks holds the cards to the outcome in November.

If America, wants to protect itself and society it needs to learn how to better deal with information protection in both the public and private sectors.

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Kurdistan, Biafra Denied Olympic Representation while non-state “Palestine” Gets Team

With eyes focused on the Rio Olympics, the hypocrisy of who gets to participate as a country or even a territory cannot be ignored. When real nations like Kurdistan, Biafra, and even the Lakota are not present because of political concerns, while non-state former terrorists known nowadays as “Palestine” get a team there is a sort of Alice in Wonderland moment at hand.

The same leftist organizations that are so intent on demonizing Israel and relishing in the inclusion of one of the biggest cheerleaders of anti-Jewish incitement in the world fall silent when it comes to the lack of recognition for the truly repressed nations.

Kurdistan is not only an autonomous zone in northern Iraq, but is the largest group of people never to have a defined homeland. With 14.5 million Kurds in Turkey, 6 million in Iran, another 6 million in Iraq, and 2 million in Syria, the Kurds are busy dying fighting ISIS and getting the shaft by the international community. While the Olympics may just be a sporting event, symbolism matters.

The real reason why Kurdistan has never had an Olympic team and will probably be denied one for the forseeable future is Turkey. Erdogan’s nemesis or bogy man is the Kurdish independence movement. Erdogan has used it at opportune times to deflect opponents and consolidate power. With Turkey’s population standing at 76 million, Kurds make up nearly 20% of the total.  This means any weakening towards recognizing a free Kurdistan could potentially rip Turkey apart.

Biafra, a nation in southeast Nigeria was forced by the British colonial masters to merge with Lagos Colony, and Hausaland in 1914 in order to create what is no known as Nigeria.  However, the British put a caveat in the decree that merged the three areas together. The charter would only last 100 years. Since 2014 Biafra has had a legal right to pull away from Nigeria.

One of the biggest reasons why Biafra has not seceded from Nigeria is it still remembers the Biafran war for independence in 1967-1970 that failed miserably and ended with between 3 to 6 million dead Biafrans. Not only that, but Britain is vehemently against an independent Biafra, because it would lose much if its control over Nigeria’s oil, which resides in Biafra as well as the Niger River delta where most of the oil is brought through.

The Lakota and other first world people have never been on the radar for going to the Olympics. Accepting them as an autonomous region would be a blow to America’s artificial narrative of protector of freedom and human rights. Afterall, the United States government has been trying to settle the Lakota’s outstanding claim to their land since the Treaty-of-Fort Laramie in 1868 and the government’s own violation of the treaty in 1877 (through the seizure of the Black Hills). So real is their case, the USA has repeatedly tried to offer a financial package, but the Lakota have turned it down demanding only the return of their land.

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With these very real cases of national claims being denied, it is beyond strange that the world still sees it just to focus on a group of people who for the most part were coerced into migrating to the Land of Israel just over a century and half ago and have no defining mutual characteristic among them other than the rampant desire to kill Jews. Palestine was synonymous with Israel until the late arch terrorist appropriated the name in 1964. Until then Arabs of the Levant were Arabs.

In order for the Olympics to shake the corporatist wrappings they have become seen as representing, allowing representation to real national entities instead of false one, would be a great place to start the games’ rehabilitation.

 

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REDEMPTION WATCH: Rav Eliezer Schick about the war of Gog U’Magog

Rav Eliezer Schick, ZTL, shares some of Rebbe Nachman’s ‘Hidden Scroll’ which explains what will happen before Moshiach comes

For around 200 years’, the Megillat Setorim, or hidden scroll, written by Rebbe Nachman has been one of the best-kept secrets of Breslev chassidut. Until recently, very few people had even heard of it, and even fewer had access to its secrets.

The scroll was written in code by Rebbe Nachman before his death in 1810, and it contains secrets pertaining to what will happen in the world before Moshiach comes, that only one in a generation is initiated into.

In the last generation, as the footsteps of Moshiach have come closer, more and more of the contents of the ‘hidden scroll’ have been leaking out. Before his untimely death last year, Rav Eliezer Schick, ZTL, wrote the following about the contents of Rebbe Nachman’s ‘hidden scroll’ in his book, Paolot HaTzaddik.

Rav Shick revealed that there would be a terrible ‘war’ prosecuted against the nation’s leading Tzaddikim, as part of the preparations for Geula. He wrote (my translation):

“There are the wars of Gog and Magog, which will include all the machloket (disagreements) and the accusations that will be made against the true Tzaddikim, those who uncover the true will of Hashem Yitborach.

“Because there are those who want to eat them alive [these Tzaddikim], God should have mercy, and who say every forbidden thing against them, and mock them a lot. And by doing this, they greatly distance Jewish souls from coming near to them, and also lengthen the duration of our bitter exile, God forbid.

“And because they do this, woe to them! Woe to the souls of these people, who have a share in the machloketand disagreements involving the true Tzaddikim, and who reveal Hashem’s true will in the world.

“And they are the brazen-faced of the generation, the people with the face of a dog [note: in the language of the gemara], the soldiers of Gog and Magog, who conceal the truth, and they are the wicked people of the generation, as written in, (Bava Metzia, 83): “As this one is exceptionally contemptuous, one may deduce that he is a wicked person.” [This was a statement made by Rabbi Elazar the son of Rebbe Shimon Bar Yochai, in relation to a mocking comment that was made to him by a laundryman, who it was later discovered WAS a very wicked person.] I.e, the man was so insolent and brazen towards one of the leading Rabbis of the generation, he had to be a wicked person.

“It’s written in the Midrash (BeMidbar Rabba, יח:י): ‘He who is brazen-faced, and who is not ashamed in front of those who are bigger than him, and he who is a baal machloket (troublemaker), you’ll see that he is the wickedest of the wicked.”

“And if I would have known, my dear brother, what was written in the Megillat Setorim regarding these soldiers of Gog and Magog, and the people who cover over the truth, you would fall on your face from fear and dismay, about how this bitter exile would be lengthened by them.

“And it was already written in the Yerushalmi, (2a) that ‘the insolent one will win-out over the kosher one’, in order to maintain free will and spiritual tests.

“As we can see, my beloved brother, you must flee from all machloket and from all disagreements, and not get drawn into fights and arguments. And in particular, be very careful that you should have no part whatsoever in any mockery, disagreements or criticism of the true Tzaddikim, because you don’t know what the next day will bring. And you don’t know against who and against what you may be opposing or mocking.

“And even though they may want to try to destroy you [with their words], because for them it’s a ‘mitzvah’ to persecute kosher people, SAVE YOUR SOUL, my beloved brother, and run away from doing ‘mitzvahs’ like these, because otherwise ‘bitter will be you end’.

“And the opposite is also true: If you help the true Tzaddikim, then you will bring the geula closer, and you will merit to have all the good that has been set aside for the soldiers of the House of David. [Referring to Moshiach].”

Originally posted here.