After a reprieve from terror attacks, Jerusalem’s Old City is once again the target for radical Islamic terrorism. Two Israeli police officers were wounded by the attacker near the Lions Gate. Police shot and critically wounded the terrorist who used a screwdriver to wound the police.
The Lions Gate area is deep into what was once a mixed Jewish Arab neighborhood before the Jordanian occupation. There had been no Jews living there until a reacquired Jewish apartment was recently renovated and filled with young Yeshiva boys. Even local Arabs consider the neighborhood dangerous as young gangs from rival clans frequently attack each other. With Jews moving back in, there has been increased threats of violence.
“A few weeks ago I was walking with my friends to look at the new apartment and Arab youth came out threatened to physically harm us. Thankfully, one of us had a gun, which the Arab youth clearly saw. We ended up back off and walking back. The police have little to do with the area and are as nervous about the violence as we are,” a Jewish activist told Israel Rising.
Islamic terrorists understand that the ongoing Jewish return to neighborhoods that were primarily Jewish before the British backed Arab riots expelled the Jews from 1920 to 1948, is the biggest threat to the supremacy of Islam. This is exactly why they are increasing their attacks in areas that have yet to be returned to their indigenous residents.
“If they think these attacks will even remotely slow down Jews from moving into that area they are very terribly mistaken. G-d willing we will be moving in 2 to 3 families there in the next few months. Arab terrorism will be defeated with Jewish victory!” Rabbi Ben Packer of the Heritage House said about the incident.
As the Obama presidency winds down, observers are watching if he will take any unilateral action against the State of Israel. Arguments abound on both sides, yet we who understand that these times cannot be judged on the logic of the past know that something else is afoot. It’s true Obama can do little actual damage to Israel in a physical way, but with a number of resolutions on the table in the UNSC there is a clear trajectory to create a situation where just by an American abstention a de facto Palestinian State will be created. This state will forcibly divide Jerusalem, ripping out the Jewish Nation’s capital from within it and handing most of the holy sites to a made up people that never existed. All this will be on paper, left for Trump to deal with. Of course we all know that Donald Trump nor his senior advisers believe in a two state solution nor will they want to pressure Israel, but international law will have already been created.
Don’t Worry, We Have Seen This Show Before
History is neither linear nor static, but rather spiral. We understand that the Torah is the blueprint of Creation and in it is the archetypes for all time. The Palestinians draw their name from the British Mandate of Palestine, which in turn drew its name from the Roman colony of the same name, which was given by the Romans upon their expulsion of the Jews from Judea as well as the rest of the Land of Israel.
Why did the Romans name it Palestine? The Romans wanted to drive a knife into the collective heart of the Jewish people and chose the name of the long vanquished enemy of the first Kingdom of Israel, the Philistines. The Hebrew root of Philistine means invader or one who invades. The Philistines came to invade the land of Israel even at the time of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. It is in this original setting that we understand the Philistine archetype is built into the creation until the end.
In this past week’s Torah portion Isaac busies himself in digging out the wells of his father Abraham. These wells were stopped up by the Philistines. In fact it clearly says they stopped them because the Philistines were jealous of Abraham and then Isaac. Instead of asking to share the water, they preferred to block up the abundance which the Creator had given Abraham and his offspring.
At the End of Days, many Nations will attempt to utilize the false nation of Palestine to make one last chance to block Godliness from the world. This is why the ambush at the UNSC is happening. Jerusalem is the ultimate wellspring. It is the ultimate source for Godliness in the world and it is in this place the nations of the world will fulfill the prophecy, either physically or politically that is so clearly spelled out in Zecharia chapter 12.
Zecharia Chapter 12;
1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The saying of the LORD, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him: 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it fall to be in the siege against Jerusalem.
3 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it. 4 In that day, saith the LORD, I will smite every horse with bewilderment, and his rider with madness; and I will open Mine eyes upon the house of Judah, and will smite every horse of the peoples with blindness. 5 And the chiefs of Judah shall say in their heart: ‘The inhabitants of Jerusalem are my strength through the LORD of hosts their God.’ 6 In that day will I make the chiefs of Judah like a pan of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire among sheaves; and they shall devour all the peoples round about, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem. 7 The LORD also shall save the tents of Judah first, that the glory of the house of David and the glory of the inhabitants of Jerusalem be not magnified above Judah. 8 In that day shall the LORD defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that stumbleth among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as a godlike being, as the angel of the LORD before them. 9 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem.
Rebbe Nachman of Breslov teaches us that the world was flipped on its head after Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden of Eden. His student Reb Nosson teaches further that the point of the fiery sword, which flipped around and around was to block the re-entry of people to an orderly morality. The evil people seem to win and the righteous suffer, but at the end it all flips back the way it was originally supposed to be. The UNSC can vote whatever way they choose, but they should know they are only playing a role that was already prewritten for them.
Today the UN voted to disconnect the Jewish people from their ancient capital and hand it to a people that never existed. This was not the whim of a thin majority of countries, but rather a vast overhwhelming number of UN member states voted for the resolution. Out of the UN’s 193 member states, 147 voted in favor, seven voted against and eight abstained. Those who voted against were Canada, USA, Israel, the Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Naura and Palu. Those who abstained were Australia, Guatemala, Panama, Papa New Guiea, Paraguay and Vanuatu.
The resolution states the following: “Any actions taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to impose its laws, jurisdiction and administration on the Holy City of Jerusalem are illegal and therefore null and void and have no validity whatsoever, and calls upon Israel to immediately cease all such illegal and unilateral measures.” It then continues and pushes Israel to “respect for the historic status quo at the holy places of Jerusalem” and “urges all sides to work immediately and cooperatively to defuse tensions and halt all provocations, incitement and violence at the holy sites in the City.”
Daniel Luria, the Executive Director of Ateret Cohanim, an organization dedicated to returning property in Jerusalem stolen by Arabs back to Jewish hands dismissed the resolutions as anti-semitic. “Whoever doesn’t recognize such a clear, obvious and eternal connection and unbreakable bond between the Jewish people and Jerusalem, the Temple Mount and the ‘Kotels’ (Northern, Southern, Western and Eastern Walls of Temple Mount) is blinded by hate, a denier of both current day realities (a plethora of archeological finds) and Jewish history, and is an anti-semitic, arrogant fool. Such a person or body is destined the dung-heap of history and will be shunned or forgotten in due course.”
The UN General Assemply decision comes on the back the UNESCO vote, which disregarded the Jewish narritive to the Land of Israel. While the UN vote is non-binding it still gives added energy to a potential UN Security Council collision course before Obama leaves office. If it gets to the security council all bets are off. After all, if it was Jimmy Carter Palestine would have been a reality a long time ago.
It isn’t everyday when one gets to witness divine retribution. Although no one should seek joy in another’s sorrow, the idea of a tsunami hitting New Zealand just hours after John Kerry was there trying to convince the government to come on board for a final move against Jerusalem is far too obvious to ignore.
“It is a conversation we are engaged in deeply and we’ve spent some time talking to Secretary Kerry about where the US might go on this. It is something that is still in play,” Murray McCully the Foreign Minister of New Zealand said after his meeting. He even indicated that New Zealand itself could table the resolution. A few hours after that meeting, the tsunami struck.
Our world is rapidly becoming undone. With three months left to Obama’s term, assume that he will try to divide Jerusalem at the UN. Yet, it is the Creator who will have the last laugh. If the timing of the tsunami is any indicator the nations will not succeed in dividing Jerusalem as it is fast becoming “a cup of poison” for them.
1 The burden of the word of the LORD concerning Israel. The saying of the LORD, who stretched forth the heavens, and laid the foundation of the earth, and formed the spirit of man within him: 2 Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of staggering unto all the peoples round about, and upon Judah also shall it fall to be in the siege against Jerusalem. 3 And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will make Jerusalem a stone of burden for all the peoples; all that burden themselves with it shall be sore wounded; and all the nations of the earth shall be gathered together against it.
and again in chapter 14:
1 Behold, a day of the LORD cometh, when thy spoil shall be divided in the midst of thee. 2 For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, but the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city. 3 Then shall the LORD go forth, and fight against those nations, as when He fighteth in the day of battle. 4 And His feet shall stand in that day upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem on the east, and the mount of Olives shall cleft in the midst thereof toward the east and toward the west, so that there shall be a very great valley; and half of the mountain shall remove toward the north, and half of it toward the south. 5 And ye shall flee to the valley of the mountains; for the valley of the mountains shall reach unto Azel; yea, ye shall flee, like as ye fled from before the earthquake in the days of Uzziah king of Judah; and the LORD my God shall come, and all the holy ones with Thee.
UNESCO has finally gone ahead and used its majority Arab membership to rewrite history and erase the deep and unwavering connection between the Jewish nation and Jerusalem. While it states in the text, which can be read in full here, “Affirming the importance of the Old City of Jerusalem and its Walls for the three monotheistic religions…” it clearly and unequicably only acknowledges Jerusalem’s Old City as having Palestinian heritage. Instead of viewing the Jewish return to Jerusalem and the national rectification of recieving back that which was stolen from it during theyears of forced Arab occupation as legitimate these regrown Jewish roots are seen through the veil of increased “occupation”.
Being a world body UNESCO has opened the first shot in the world’s war against Jerusalem as prophesized thousands of years ago. Israeli politicians, religous leaders, and acitvists have responded with anger and declarations. Afterall, nearly all Jews that have some sort of connection to the broader national belief set hold a bond that is unbreakable with Jerusalem. Despite the outcry, there is not much on a political level we can do. That in of itself may be the most painful aspect of all.
Rectifying Our Past, Reconnecting Our Future
As someone who considers himself a follower of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, I journeyed to Uman, Ukraine to be by Rebbe Nachman’s grave for Rosh Hoshanah. Rebbe Nachman made it clear that his followers should continue to visit him for Rosh Hoshonah even after his departure from this world. “There is nothing greater that my Rosh Hoshanah,” Rebbe Nachman stated to his followers.
Of all of Rebbe Nachman’s teachings, none is more powerful than his exhortation to spend at least an hour a day in personal solitude in direct conversation with the Almighty. While in Uman I spent most of my time like many others next to Rebbe Nachman’s grave, yet when I wanted to be alone I walked quite a ways from the central area of rebuilt Jewish Uman. Just prior to Rosh Hoshanah I reached a quiet spot overlooking a river flowing out of Uman. It was at this spot I chose to speak to G-d. My hour long session was so meaningful I decided to return near to the same spot the next day, yet chose a different route to get there.
As I approached the area I noticed the color of the earth changed to black beneath my feet and there were broken tombstones all around for as far as I could see. I felt a sense of deep anguish in the area and after my hour long seclusion I located the rebuilt graves of Rebbe Nachman’s grandson and one of his chief students Reb Naftali. Nearby I found a sign noting the area was a the burial place for 3000 Jews slaughtered by the Ukrainians in the pogroms of 1920.
Destroyed Graves of the 3000 Jews Massacred in the Ukranian Pogroms of 1920
Jewish blood flows throughout Uman. From the Chmielnicki massacre of 1648 that saw nearly 30,000 Jews killed in Uman with over 500,000 in the rest of the Ukraine to the pogroms of 1920 to the Nazi exterminations in WW2. Rebbe Nachman stated clearly his ability to rectify the souls of the dead and the torments of the souls lying in Uman were clearly far greater than other places. Yet, I believe Rebbe Nachman has another agenda (one of many) by asking us to return to Uman year in and year out.
In many ways we are the rectification. After he leaves, the Tzaddik (rightous one) has no physical presence in our world, yet he continues to have an impact due to the fullfillment of his lessons and advice by his followers who are called his legs. It is our praying, singing, and dancing in a place of such pain that rectifies the broken souls left in the area.
The Long-Short Path
In the Talmud, tractacte Eruvin it states that Rebbe Yehoshua ben Hanniyah was travelling and saw a child at a fork in the road. He asked the child which way was the best to the city. The child said that one path was a short-long path and the other was a long short-path.
Rebbe Yehoshua ben Hanniyah took the short long path and very quickly came to the outskirts of the city and found that it was surrounded by gardens and orchards. He returned to the child and and said: “My child you said this was the short path.” The child responded to him: “No I said it was the long path.” Rebbe Yehoshua ben Hanniyah then said the following: “I kissed him on his head and I said to him, happy is Israel that all of them are with from the big to the small.”
This passage has tremendous lessons for our time. We the Jewish nation returned in great haste to our ancient homeland. Miracle after miracle has guided us and yet we insist on playing by the rules of the nations of the world. We rushed back so fast we have gotten lost in gardens and orchards of world politics and forgotten the surest way of crossing the proverbial finish line of redemption. The Jewish people wanted to so much to be back in Jerusalem we set out on the short-long path and cannot truly enter our city in a way that feels lasting. We have been forced to return to the fork in the road and take the other path no matter how long it seems it may take.
For me this path is the path of Uman, which by way of complete and pure faith reminds us that we as a nation are above the normtive rules of time and space. We are forever. Our war is not against UNESCO. They are a pawn played by the Almighty in the march towards fullfiling the prophecies laid out thousands of years ago. Our war is with ourselves; with that part of us that forgot what it means to trust in the Almighty and develop an instrinsic faith in G-d as a real active part of our lives, both personal and national.
Rebbe Nachman said many times that a great flood of anti-faith would rage around the world and at the end our war would be about recovering our own faith. By bringing us back to the geographical point where we had such faith that we were willing to die for it, we the Jewish Nation are able to recapture that part of us which was lost along the way.
UNESCO has no power to change the truth. In fact, it is telling that the sons of Ishmael who are supposedly faithful to G-d rely on earthly political constructs to erase our history. If they have stooped that low, we have only to reach inside ourselves to rise past them. That is our task and of course let G-d do the rest.
