Welcome to Shiloh

- -

CNN Goes Into Directional Loss

This video of CNN (here), a report on Gaza by Frederik Pleitgen, is astounding.

All you need to view is the first 10 seconds or so.

The reporter talks to a merchant, Riadh Dessogey, who used to do business with ... Egypt.

And who does he blame for his current misery?

Israel.



- - -

A Horrendous Thought

- - -

A Comment on Media Bias

- - -

The Knesset Synagogue

I recently visited the Knesset and had occasion to daven the Mincha service at the synagogue there:



Seemed a bit more crowded then when I worked there.


- - -

Is That A Red String Kabbalah Thing?

Harry Moskoff Knows Where It Is

The Ark, that is.

Another effort to locate elements of the Jewish Temple Mount:

Ark seeker develops theory, works on docudrama

Harry Moskoff is certain of at least one thing – the most powerful lost treasure the world has ever known, one that “could end all religious doubt and bloodshed or start the war of all wars,” is not housed in an unmarked box in a secret military warehouse in Nevada.
The Ark of the Covenant [he] suspects...hasn’t moved very far in the past three millennia.

“I’m sure it’s under the Temple Mount,” he said. “There’s no question about that.”

To satisfy his own curiosity, the patent agent and father of six began compiling topographical, archaeological, historical and biblical information about the ark’s whereabouts more than two decades ago. The data he gathered became evidence to form his theory, and the basis of a 40-plus page, highly technical research paper, complete with maps and diagrams.

Moskoff is currently working [on] a 50-minute docudrama entitled Mapping the Ark: The Quest of All Time.

Moskoff pinpoints its location just south of the Dome of the Rock. According to his research, the ark cannot be directly below the Muslim holy site itself because of an ancient prophecy by Micah saying that the chamber of the Holy of Holies would only be built upon during the Temple eras...

...“If and when it is found, it would prove the essential Israeli sovereignty over the area,” Moskoff said, adding that it would also counter the often-negative public opinion of the state by evincing the veracity of the Bible and the Jews’ connection to God. “It would be the oncoming of a new era, the on-bringer of a Messianic era.”

...the film’s disclaimer warns that its intention is “strictly academic and by no means encourages premature or irresponsible action.”...

- - -

Do You Agree With My Comment?

My comment is here.

Click on over. It's interesting.


- - -

Rabbi IM Lau: "the Third Temple has not [yet] risen"

Dreaming of the Third Temple in a conflicted Land of Israel

On Tisha B'Av, Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau speaks to Haaretz about the Temple Mount

Tel Aviv Chief Rabbi, do you still believe a Third Temple will be built?

Certainly. We believe in that. We pray for that three times a day. It says in a Mishnah in the fifth chapter of "Pirkei Avot": "May the temple be rebuilt soon and in our days." That's one thing. The second thing is that all the Prophets spoke about the fact that [the Temple] had been destroyed by fire and would be rebuilt in fire in the future. Of all the prophecies of calamity that took place and everything [the Prophets] said, none of their words fell to the ground. That's also the way to understand their prophesies about consolation.

Why has it not happened to this day, 1,940 years since the destruction of the Second Temple?

That takes us back to the Talmudic tract Yoma 9 that tells us that the First Temple was destroyed because of idol worship, sexual immorality and bloodshed. These are the three most serious sins about which it is said that no matter what happens, these sins must not be committed. Then after 70 years we were forgiven and we had the privilege of getting the Second Temple just as Jeremiah had prophesied. But from the Second Temple that was destroyed - according to the same Yoma tract, because of unwarranted hatred - to this day the Third Temple has not risen, which teaches us that this sin has not yet been forgiven. We have not yet weaned ourselves off this sin. Apparently this sin is still haunting us to this day.

...Do you feel that the secular public's interest in Tisha B'Av has grown in recent years?

There has been greater interest in recent years. The issue of hatred that we discuss so much has grown so much. From a low point like this we can only improve. Everyone feels that there is too much hatred - the cup of hatred has run over and so there is a feeling that we must do something to fix the situation...

...There is a trend, mainly among religious Zionist rabbis, to go the Temple Mount on Tisha B'Av. What do you think of that?

There are explicit instructions in halakha [Jewish religious law] that have not changed. They say it is forbidden to tread on most of the area [of the mount], and we have been made impure by the dead and the dust of a red heifer is not available to purify us. And it is impossible to have an inspector to tell everyone who goes there where they can tread and where not. Rabbi [Shlomo] Goren, who knew the boundaries, used to recite the afternoon prayer on Tisha B'Av on the Temple Mount. The vast majority of us do not know the boundaries, so it is forbidden to go there...

Poll: We're A Bit Mixed Up

This poll again indicates the problems with "peace-seeking Israelis".

On the one hand we want peace.

On the other we want security.

On the one hand we can be compromising and concessionist.

On the other hand we want to be strong and unyielding.

For example:-

To freeze or to melt? As the September date for ending the construction freeze in the settlements draws near, a not-large majority of the public (52%) favors renewed construction, on the ground that continuing the freeze means capitulation to the Americans and the Palestinians. Some 41.5% favor continuing the freeze, on the ground that it will help advance the negotiations with the Palestinians and improve Israel’s image in the international community. A segmentation of the preferences on this issue by voting in the latest Knesset elections finds that among voters for Meretz (88.2%), Labor (62.5%), and Kadima (60.2%) there is a clear preference for continuing the freeze, while among voters for the rest of the parties, and especially Shas (81.2%), Yisrael Beiteinu (73.8%), and Torah Judaism (67.8%), the definite preference is for ending it. Nevertheless, the rate of those who expect the government to continue the freeze (45%) is higher than that of those who expect it to resume building (37%).

and

A large majority (71.5%) of the Israeli Jewish public supports holding talks with the Palestinians but only 32.3% believe they will lead to peace. This wide gap between high support for talks and low belief in their results has characterized public opinion on this issue consistently since the signing of the Oslo agreement in 1993. The Israeli Arab public’s rate of support for talks is even higher – 83.7%, and so is the rate of those who think they will bear fruit in the foreseeable future – 58.7%. For this public too, though, the rate of supporters is considerably higher than of those who believe the talks will pass the test of results.

A bit mixed up, no?


More there:-

Also on the question of how to conduct the talks, there is a high level of unanimity: a clear majority (62%) of the Israeli Jewish public supports direct dialogue, with only 14% preferring indirect dialogue as in the proximity talks mediated by U.S. envoy George Mitchell. Some 14.5% think it makes no difference how the talks are conducted, since they will not bear fruit in any case.

A Reply to Yonatan Shapira

Yonatan is the anarchist Israeli who sprayed pro-Pal. grafitti on the Warsaw ghetto wall remains.

Here:-

The Warsaw Ghetto never benefitted from so much international sympathy and generosity when it existed.

- Elliot Green


- - -

My Comment on The Shabbat

Here at the NYTimes.



- - -

An Israeli Housewife's Dream

Dershowitz Accuses J Street's Jeremy of Lying and McCarthyism

Alana Dershowitz on J Street's McCarthyism


Alan, that's what you get for being liberal.

The liberals go after their own kind with such a visciousness.

Especially when it comes to Israel.



- - -

Some Liberal Doesn't Appreciate Sarah Palin

Found here:

...[Sarah] Palin has positioned herself as a territory maximalist, arguing for the righteousness of continued Jewish settlement of the West Bank, including those parts of the West Bank, presumably, beyond the security fence. This line of argument places her well to the right of the position taken, late in his career, of Ariel Sharon. As I have pointed out on innumerable occasions, this position, seemingly Zionist (or super-Zionist, even) on the surface, actually undermines the idea of Israel as a Jewish state, because settlements are the vanguard of eventual bi-nationalism, not of a Greater Israel. Israel simply cannot absorb the West Bank's Arabs and remain either a Jewish state or a democracy. For an American politician to argue otherwise is a danger to Israel. Sarah Palin encourages the most recidivist elements of the Israeli right, and it is absolutely vital for the Israeli right to grapple with demographic, political and moral reality, before it's too late.

- - -

Wall Posters

This one protests that the gay parade in Jerusalem will pass within view of the Shaarei Chesed neighborhood:

This one warns against woman's apparel shops which sell too tight-fitting garments:

This one also warns against the upcoming gay parade in Jerusalem

Another Corner of Shiloh

Children on Tisha B'Av

Tisha B'Av in the Machkama

As I did last year and three years ago, I participated in the "Rav Goren Minyan" for the Mincha service on the Tisha B'Av fast located in a building which abuts above the Temple Mount compound.

The pictures:

a) at the window overlooking the Temple Mount compound below:

(Photo Credit: R. Sadan)

b) inside the small synagogue:

(Photo Credit: R. Sadan)

c) reading from the Torah:

(Photo credit: Y. Medad)

d) the raising up of the Torah scroll:

(Photo Credit: Y. Medad)

e) the view from another section of the building looking down to the Western Wall Plaza:

(Photo credit: Y. Medad)

=============================

And on the Temple Mount:

Under armed police escort, Danny Danon, a deputy parliament speaker, toured the site of an ancient Jewish temple, a plaza home to the al-Aqsa mosque, one of Islam's holiest sites, and said he thought Jews should be permitted freer access there.



A group of Muslim protesters shouted "Allahu Akhbar", or God is Greatest, as Danon, trailed by armed police and dozens of Israeli and Western tourists, strolled around the area known to Muslims as al-Haram al-Sharif, and to Jews as the Temple Mount.

But despite the tense atmosphere there was no violence or confrontations during the lawmaker's hour-long visit.

Danon told reporters at the nearby Western Wall, Judaism's holiest prayer site, before climbing up to the Temple Mount, that his visit was to mark Tisha B'Av, a day of fasting marking the day the Roman-era Jewish temple was destroyed.

..."There is full religious freedom for Jews and Muslims on the Temple Mount," Danon said. "But it is more difficult for the Jew than the Muslim to go and pray on the Temple Mount. This is a distortion that must be corrected."

"If Jews want to go and pray on the Temple Mount then they should be allowed to do it," he added.

See, too, this

and this:-

Poll: 74% follow Tisha B'Av tradition

Ynet-Gesher poll reveals some 22% of Israelis will fast on commemoration of destruction of First and Second Temples; another 52% will honor day by not going out with friends

Mulsim Religious Tolerance

On the Temple Mount, last year on Tisha B'Av:

Pals. At Fault

Just got this Press Release

COGAT briefing to EU High Representative Ashton
18 July 2010
Communicated by COGAT Spokesman

which informs us that

On Sunday, 18 July 2010, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) Maj. Gen. Eytan Dangot and MFA Director General Yossi Gal met with EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Baroness Catherine Ashton at the Erez Coordination, Liaison and Administration (CLA) office. During the meeting Maj. Gen. Dangot explained the steps taken as part of the implementation of the civilian policy towards the Gaza Strip and presented the daily coordination of truckloads...The Defense Ministry Crossing Authority representative also emphasized that the crossing capacity has already increased to 150 truckloads per day via Kerem Shalom, and that, since July 4, the PA has begun construction work on the Palestinian side of the crossing in order to increase the crossing capacity to 250 truckloads a day as of July 31, 2010.

So, to upgrade to 250 is a Pal. problem.

Let's go guys. We do want to help.


=====================

UPDATE

And I received this now:-

19 July 2010

Coordination for delivery of medical equipment and construction material to the Gaza Strip
(Communicated by the COGAT Spokesperson)

...COGAT spokesperson announced that the transfer of the cargo from the Libyan ship through the Kerem Shalom crossing continued today with the delivery of 27 truckloads, in addition to the 35 truckloads that were transferred yesterday. The delivery of the cargo from the ship will continue without interrupting the daily coordination of roughly 150 truckloads.

So, the Libyan ship really didn't bring in more than about one day's worth of shipments?



- - -