Jerusalem Forest fire: Yad VaShem, Har Nof synagogue evacuated

Last update: 19:26 Israel time

A major fire broke out Sunday in Ya'ar Yerushalayim, the Jerusalem Forest, near Mount Herzl. As of 7:15 p.m. Israel time, firefighters have achieved partial control over the fire in the area of the Pi Glilot fuel depot, and are continuing efforts to extinguish flames in surrounding areas. Police have instructed residents of Har Nof and nearby neighborhoods to remain indoors until further notice.

According to National Fire Chief Shachar Ayalon, the Jerusalem forest fire broke out in four different places, indicating arson.

Around 4:30 p.m., visitors and workers were evacuated from the Yad Vashem Holocaust Museum, adjacent to the forest. According to the director-General of Yad Vashem, the fire reached 40 meters of the museum and maintenance teams managed to stop the flames from consuming the site's most precious treasures at the very last minute.

Around 6 p.m. an emergency medical worker told Walla! News that the street he is on in Har Nof has been evacuated, including the synagogue, its Torah scrolls and nearby schools. Just before 6 p.m. Knesset Member Reuven Rivlin and his wife were evacuated from their home in Yefe Nof, due the presence of reserves of flammable materials in the neighborhood's vicinity.

IDF chief Ganz ordered the Israeli Air Force to join efforts to extinguish the fire. Around 6 p.m. 22 firetrucks and six firefighting planes were being used to extinguish the fire between Har Herzl and Motza. An official told Channel 2 News that Israel has experienced greater fires in the past months, but the location of the fire--near a fuel depot, Yad VaShem, and residential neighborhoods--made this fire highly problematic.


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Israel's last major fire occurred on the eve of Chanukah 5771. This Tuesday is the 17th of Tammuz, the day on which the walls of Jerusalem were breached by the Romans, which marked the beginning of a period of three weeks of calamities culminating in the destruction of the Temple by fire on Tisha b'Av. 

On 16 Tammuz, the Golden Calf emerged from the fire into which the gold of the people was thrown. On 15 Tammuz (today), Chur, the son of Miriam was killed in an attempt to dissuade the people from constructing the golden calf. 

Check back for updates. Please pray for Yerushalayim.

Har HaBayit - BeYadenu?

On Friday around 2:30 p.m. Israel time, tens of Arab youths threw stones from the Temple Mount towards Mugrabe Gate, which out of the Kotel plaza. For the first time since September of this year, Israeli police entered the Temple Mount to disperse crowds and prevent injuries below.

*    *

Two weeks ago, a friend of mine who is exploring her Jewish roots and was previously involved in Arab-Jewish peacemaking arrived in Jerusalem. Her acquaintance with Jerusalem up until this point was no less with the Arab neighborhoods of the city than the Jewish parts, and so she naturally stayed in a hotel in East Jerusalem. Her plan had to been to travel to Safed for Shabbat and delve into the wisdom of Kabbalah through the educational and spiritual resources at Ascent. However, as a result of miscommunication with Egged, she missed the last bus up north and found herself minutes before Shabbat stuck at her hotel in East Jerusalem.

Although I could not accommodate her on Friday night, a friend and I had the unconventional idea to surprise her at her hotel on Shabbat day. The only problem was - myself, an American and my friend, an Israeli - had not been to East Jerusalem in years, and never during such volatile times. We dressed (modestly of course) as non-obsequious tourists, and walked nonchalantly across town towards the hotel, near Damascus Gate. Soon it was time to cross Kvish Echad - Road #1 - that separates the Jewish and Arab neighborhoods of the city. It was one of those experiences where you think lightning is going to strike, and then suddenly - it doesn't - and you realize - there may be a wall of invisible glass dividing the city, but that at its heart, Jerusalem is one.

After meeting at the hotel, we decided to take my friend to the Kotel, as her curiosity for holy places was peaking and she had few resources to explore these places on her own, and besides, what better time to arrive at the Kotel than Mincha on Shabbat. Naturally, she suggested we walk through Damascus Gate, as it provided the most direct route from where we were to the Wall. When our Israeli friend heard Sha'ar Shchem, he replied, are you crazy? I can't walk through there. Eventually we convinced him that there was nothing to worry about, and that chareidim (ultra-orthodox Jews) walk to the Kotel via Damascus Gate all the time.

I don't know exactly how to put into words the experience of walking through East Jerusalem on Shabbat on the way to the kotel. It was like discovering your backyard for the first time, and feeling a bizarre mixture of at-homeness, foreignness, belonging, familiarity and otherness. Granted, I (unlike some others) would not have felt comfortable walking through identified as religious Jews. However, in camouflage, the experience provided an intimate, deeply-sought and deeply significant experience with the city's other half.

The walk from Damascus Gate to the Kotel was new, rich, full of history, and exhilarating. I should note that there were many religious Jews who walked with us, and I resolved to use this route again in the future. Indeed, several days ago, I returned to the Kotel for Mincha on Shavuot, this time dressed as myself, a modestly-dressed religious Jewish woman. Although when I was with the others, we had stuck to the one path leading from the Gate to the Wall, this time I noticed a large group of seminary girls coming out of one of the side alleyways, and I couldn't help but walk a few steps to see what lay at the other end.

To my surprise, the dark alleyway suddenly gave light to an archway filled with blue sky, fresh olive trees, and, behind them - the Dome of the Rock - the present-day marker for the holiest spot of Har HaBayit. This was the regular-old-tourist path to Har HaBayit, and I would soon discover, it was manned by soldiers to ensure that Jews would not enter the space, so as to not turn up the heat on the already hot-spot of conflict. Yet seeing an opening, as any (naive) Jew would do, I abruptly picked up the pace of my steps and went forth. Then, I saw two soldiers waiting by the archway, and right before me, a religious man ascended the steps, eyeing the jackpot. "Excuse me!" the soldiers called in Hebrew. "It is forbidden to go up." A short exchange ensued but it was clear the man had no chance. I had a few seconds before my turn to internalize the situation, and so, eager to ascend (I conveniently forgot for a moment the fact that I should only go up with an expert who knows where I am allowed to step), I decided to try my luck out as a tourist. Yes, that's right, hide my Jewish identity in front of Israeli soldiers to be allowed to enter the holiest place of our people on the festival of Shavuot - 40 years after the reunification of Jerusalem. [God bless the soldiers - they're just taking the Left's (and for that matter, the Right's) orders!]

In any case, my impersonation of a goya did not go very far. At first I tried to sneak but surreptitiously - no luck.  "Excuse me, you cannot go here," the soldier said resolutely in Hebrew. I put on my best clueless tourist, although my Shabbos shoes left me hapless. "Oh...is it always closed?" The soldier perhaps bought it for a moment, and then said: "You can come back tomorrow (in English), mi sheva vachetzi ad achat esre vachetzi". I'm assuming saying the opening hours of the Temple Mount in Hebrew, he was testing my Hebrew as translated in the response of my facial muscles. I couldn't bear to continue the deception and so I smiled and turned around. Maybe another time. As I walked through the metal detectors and to the Kotel Plaza though, I couldn't quite shake off the tense, Kafkaeque and twisted reality of these holy alleyways: After millenia of separation, why is an Israeli soldier the last barrier between a Jew and the Foundation Stone?

Pressure mounts on Obama to ditch the illusion of 1967 stability

According to The Hill, Democratic senators are likely to support a new resolution which would show broad, bipartisan consensus within Congress that the 1967 Israeli-Palestinian borders are not only "indefensible", but also contrary to U.S. national security interests.

Senators Joe Lieberman (Conn., Independent), and Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) are behind the current resolution. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) voiced support, claiming there is “total agreement” in Congress that “the ’67 lines will not work." Other rebukes of Obama's reckless Israel policy include speeches delivered by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) speech at AIPAC on Monday and House Democratic Whip Steny Hoyer (Md.) at the AIPAC conference on Sunday and Monday. Both offered harsh criticism of Obama's hubris of determining borders of a sovereign nation on a podium rather than on the negotiation table.

On the absurdity of transferring populations and redrawing borders as a mechanism for solving problems of national security, George Berkin at NJ Voices makes the following analogy:

How’s this prescription for solving our conflict (illegal immigrants and drugs) with Mexico: Renegotiate the border, starting with where the line stood in 1844 (i.e. before we acquired a large chunk of territory in the Mexican War).

Or here’s a suggestion for resolving problems between Washington and Paris: renegotiate the western U.S. border based on geographic lines in effect in 1802, before the Louisiana Purchase.

While we’re at it, let’s return to the geography of July 1861, just after the Confederate states declared their independence but before the Civil War set things back to right.

Hey, why not? Overturning established borders to return to a previous line of demarcation sounds like a good idea, especially for those unhappy with the status quo.

...The U.S. would never agree to go back to previous borders, no matter how much other parties might promise that doing so would bring peace to the Southwest or improve relations with France or South Carolina.

But the analogy breaks down for other reasons – instructive reasons as we think about how the Palestinians are determined to destroy Israel.

First, none of the examples at the beginning of this post asks the U.S. to surrender part of Washington, D.C., the political (and emotional) seat of our government. But the “pre-1967” borders that President Obama wants Israel to return to would require the Jewish state to hand over part of Jerusalem, the political, emotional and spiritual heart of Israel.

Second, Americans would certainly feel bad about handing over part of the Southwest to Mexico. But no one can credibly claim that doing so would make it nearly impossible to defend what remained of our nation.

Not so were Israel to give up the territories it won – in a defensive war – against its assembled enemies nearly a half-century ago. Some commentators have pointed to Israel’s success in defending itself in 1967 as “proof” that Israel could repeat that military success, if worse came to worse. But having succeeded once before, under remarkable circumstances, is not a solid security strategy.

Third, none of my examples of territorial “givebacks” would be a first step to an ultimate goal of destroying the United States. Again, we would regret losing Texas and part of California, but the U.S. would remain standing. Mexico accepts the U.S.’s right to exist.

...It seems clear that demanding that negotiations start from Israel’s pre-1967 borders will not bring peace. Instead, Palestinian leaders, flush with a “pre-1967” victory, would establish a Palestinian state, and then make their next demand. They would demand a return to the area’s pre-1948 borders – that is, a return to the days before Israel became a new nation.

Fayyad suffers heart attack in US

May 12, 2011: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad declares Palestinians have created all conditions for establishing a Palestinian state.

“The mission has been accomplished."

"We presented our plan in August 2009 to enable setting up a state in September 2011. But already on April 13, at the donor states’ meeting in Brussels, the UN, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund stated that we crossed the statehood line. Our vision had become a reality."

“I imagine myself celebrating our Independence Day in Jerusalem, in the east of the city, in the heart of the Old City."

Palestinian independence day, in the heart of the Old City?

Ten days later...

May 22, 2011 (Lag Ba'Omer): Palestinian PM suffers heart attack

Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad suffered a heart attack while visiting the U.S. and is recovering at a Texas hospital, a spokesman said Monday.

...Fayyad has developed close ties with Western leaders, who would like him to stay on as prime minister. The Palestinians receive hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid every year, and Fayyad has won praise for his efforts to build a Palestinian state from the ground up.

A Palestinian state side-by-side Israel is a mirage in the desert. Israel was not under control of the territory in question in 1967, and yet it was nonetheless drawn into a war. A Palestinian state - and all the more so a unilaterally declared one -- is an existential threat to Israel. David Frum from CNN writes today:

It's not just the geography. It's the topography.

When you look at maps of the Middle East, you see at once that pre-1967 Israel was very narrow -- just nine miles across. The Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport stretches wider than that.

But what you do not so easily see is that pre-1967 Israel was low as well as narrow. Israel emerged from the 1948-49 Arab invasions holding the coastal plain along the Mediterranean. The invaders grabbed and held the highlands between the plain and the Jordan River Valley.

Those highlands rise almost 3,000 feet above the coastal plain. Whoever controls them can shower missiles and rockets upon Israel's cities and factories -- with much greater accuracy and lethality and much less vulnerability to retaliation from ground forces than a rocket fired from level ground.

Israel experienced such a barrage in the three years leading up to the 2008 Gaza war. Thousands of rockets were fired from Gaza into southwestern Israel. Southwestern Israel is relatively lightly settled, so most of the rockets exploded without killing anyone. Even so, Israel suffered 16 killed and dozens wounded by rocket fire between 2005 and 2008. Had those rockets been fired into central Tel Aviv -- or against the runways of Ben Gurion Airport -- they would have inflicted horrific human and economic damage.

Holding the highlands matters for external as well as internal security. The West Bank boundary with Jordan extends for almost 100 kilometers (more than 60 miles). Yet in all that length, Israeli military experts assess that there only three routes across which an armed force can travel. Whoever holds those controls land access to Israel from the east.

The Arab Revolutions and Jerusalem

Revolution in the Arab world is just getting started. In Libya, a NATO airstrike killed Qaddafi's son and grandchild, drawing criticism from Russia for going beyond the U.N. mandate. And yesterday in Daraa, Syrian troops were ordered to use "any means necessary" to crush the rebellion against President Bashar Assad. Meanwhile, Egypt's new justice minister has determined that Mubarak's wealth derived from profits from the country's gas deal with Israel.

Still under the impression that Arab revolutions are "good for Israel"? Now that the revolution momentum has spread, and the West has demonstrated its readiness to defend rebel groups, Palestinian leaders are eager for their slice of the cake, seeking to solicit support for their violent struggle for the heart of two thousand years of Jewish faith and peoplehood--Jerusalem (via Israel National News):

Sheikh Raed Salah, leader of the northern branch of the Israel Islamic Movement, said Sunday that the revolutions in Arab countries are the preliminary phase of the liberation of Jerusalem from what he called "the occupation". Speaking to reporters following a visit to Jordan on Friday, Sheikh Salah said that the government changes in Tunisia, Egypt and other countries came from the will of the people must be channeled against Israel, noting that the revolutions had returned the issue of Jerusalem and the Al-Aksa mosque to their natural place.

Salah went to Jordan to take part in an event commemorating the 7th century C.E. conquest of Jerusalem by Caliph Omar ibn Al-Khattab, the namesake of the Mosque of Omar on the Temple Mount, whose conquest went as far as Egypt, Syria and Iraq. Salah said Omar's conquests should not just be celebrated but should be remembered to bring about a new reality.

Jerusalem, in all its glory, is no more than a pawn in Islam's struggle against the presence of Jews in the land of Israel. For anyone who needs a refresher on the true place of Jerusalem in Muslim tradition, here is The Video They Don't Want the World to See (via Shirat Devorah).

Jerusalem, no man's land?

The Supreme Court has agreed to hear an appeal over whether Jeruslaem-born Menchem Zivotofsky can have Israel listed as his birthplace on his passport, after State Department officials refused to recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel on his official documentation. According to the State Department's guide, consular officials are instructed: officials, "For a person born in Jerusalem, write Jerusalem as the place of birth in the passport."

The Zivotofskys' attorney Nathan Lewin told JTA on Monday that "We are gratified that the Supreme Court added the ultimate question whether the passport designation truly interferes with the President's power over foreign relations."

In 1995, Congress ruled that the U.S. should recognize a united Jerusalem as Israel's capital, and provisions were voted in allowing Americans born in Jerusalem to have Israel listed as their birthplace. Yet shortly after, George W. Bush issued a statement overruling Congress and dictating that "U.S. policy regarding Jerusalem has not changed." As a result, 9-year-old Menachem's birth certificate lists his birthplace as 'Jerusalem', in contrast to births in other countries which list the country, rather than city. 

Obama has thus far upheld the Bush administration's overruling of Congress' decision in favor of a purposefully ambiguous and non-committal policy on Jerusalem, essentially promoting Palestinian lunacy and surrealism, which does anything but set the stage for peace.

And so, while Obama effectively distorts the accuracy of 9-year old Menachem's birth certificate, he cannot even present the world with his own.

As originally seen on Israel Matzav 

Tefillos Needed! Names of children in critical condition after Jerusalem bombing

URGENT!! There are still a number of children who are in critical condition after the terror attack on Wednesday. Tragically, the terrorists yimach shmam v'zichram detonated the bomb as many young people waited for the bus, including three 8th-graders from a cheder in Netivot had been in Yerushalayim for an exam to get into yeshiva. The One Family Fund has issued a call to pray for their quick and complete recovery (via Arutz Sheva).

• Odelia Nechama bat Michal suffered serious head injuries and is in intensive care. Her life is still in danger.
• Natan Daniel ben Shulamit, a 17-year-old student, suffered massive internal injuries and has had a number of internal organs removed.
• Leah Bracha bat Shoshana, a 19-year-old seminary student, suffered burns to her legs and arms as well as serious shock.
• David Amoyal (David ben Sara), the owner of the snack stand next to the bus stop who told the people who were in the area to run away and then called the police, and was on the phone with them when the bomb exploded.  Amoyal suffered injuries to his legs, feet and lower body and is listed in moderate condition.
• Sasson ben Shulamit suffered lower body injuries and serious post-traumatic symptoms.
• Ad Shapira, an 18-year-old who is about to complete high school, suffered light orthopedic injuries and is in good condition in hospital.
• Shilo ben Ofra, 15 years old, suffered burns and fractures to his legs and lower abdomen.  He is sedated in intensive care.
• Daniel ben Nurit, 13 years old, suffered lacerations and shrapnel injuries to his lower extremities, and is likely to be released from the hospital before Shabbat.
• Elchanan ben Alona, 14 years old, suffered serious injuries to his feet. One ankle and three of his toes were crushed. He has had one operation and will require more surgery. He will likely be in the hospital at least 2-3 weeks.
• Netanel ben Shlomit, an 18-year-old who works as a security guard at the bus station, was injured in the abdomen had surgery.  He is now recuperating in the hospital.
• Yisrael ben Dina - 8th-grader from Netivot (via I'm a mother forum) 
• Shaindel bat Raizel - Another seminary (post high school) girl learning in Israel this year was operated on last night from the Jerusalem bombing yesterday. (from the Har Nof list via I'm a mother forum)

To pray for the victims:

• Say a chapter or several chapters of Tehillim - Psalms (especially Pslams 6, 10, 20, 41, 121, or if you have more time, say the verses of Psalm 119 corresponding to the letters of the name of the victim), and then after your reading, say the following: Please, Ribbono shel Olam (Master of the World), may the merit of saying these Psalms go to the healing of Odelia Nechama bas Michal and...

• Write their names on a slip of paper, and insert them in the 5th blessing of the Amidah (Refa'enu), right before the words 'ki el rofe'. Before the names, if your siddur does not have it, you can say: Yehi Ratzon Milfanecha Adonai Eloheinu v'Elohei Avoteinu, shetishlach mehera refuah shlema min hashamayim, refuat hanefesh u'refuat haguf lacholah [name of a girl] v'lacholeh [name of a boy]... (and so on v'lacholah or v'lacholeh followed by the names)

• Women: write their names on a slip of paper, and pray for them when you light the Shabbos candles. You can also ask for their healing in the memory of the Baba Sali, the great tzaddik who did much chessed for Am Yisrael from the town Netivot, where some of the boys are from. If you don't do so already, consider starting to light Shabbos candles (18 minustes before sunset on Friday evening) for the healing of these children.

May Hashem send all of the injured a complete and speedy healing, and in the merit of these children and all of the tefillos, mitzvas, and yesurim b'ahava (sufferings of love) of Am Yisrael, may we merit to see a complete and speedy geulah, with no delay!! To stay strong during these times, see Shirat Devorah on the Rebbe's prophecy unfolding before our very eyes.

Mary Jane Gardner, 55, Bible Translator

Note: For the names off the victims of the Jerusalem bombing, many of whom are children in critical condition, see here.

The name of the woman who was killed in the attack has been released. Mary Jane Gardner, 55, was a Scottish woman studying at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

According to the Telegraph, Ms. Gardner was a well-regarded Bible translator, who came to Israel in January to study Hebrew. She was working on a project to translate the New Testament int Ife, a language spoken in Togo, West Africa, most likely for missionary purposes. Although the students from her school are normally bussed to school and back for security, Ms. Gardner was in town to meet a friend at a restaurant, and passed the scene on foot the moment the bomb exploded.

After learning of her tragic death, the founder of the Home for Bible Translators where Ms. Gardner was studying said: "The shock of the evil behind the killing of civilians for the sake of killing is hard to take."

Meanwhile, the Islamic Jihad claims that the Palestinian Authority arrested two of the group's members on the suspicion that they were involved in yesterday's bombing in Jerusalem. (Galei Tzahal Radio)

DEBKA, however, claims the following:

DEBKAfile's counter-terror sources report that the attack was professionally executed by a team of three to five with local aid from East Jerusalem Palestinians. While the authorities have reassured the city that it was a one-off attack, intelligence and terror experts are certain a terrorist organization activated trained bombers and may do so again.

Victims of the Jerusalem attack

Update: Please see latest post: Tefillos Needed! Names of Children in critical condition after Jerusalem bombing

 Update: The woman killed in the Jerusalem bombing was Mary Jane Gardner, 55, a Scottish Bible translator studying at the Hebrew University.

Update: Thank you for your tefillos! Arutz Sheva reports that Thursday morning there are still five injured at Beit Holim Hadassah Ein Karem, two of them in critical condition. In other hospitals around the city there are still nine injured victims who sustained moderate to light injuries. Meanwhile, the 60-year-old woman who was killed in the attack has been identified by the UK foreign office as a British national. Her name has still not been released to the press. 

Arutz Sheva reports:

One of the many people wounded in a bombing in Jerusalem on Wednesday was also wounded in a terrorist attack eight years earlier, outside Cafe Rimon in downtown Jerusalem. The man, Sasson Tzedaka [correction: Tzedka], spoke to Arutz Sheva from his bed in Bikur Cholim Hospital. After the bombing Wednesday “I saw images from the first terror attack, and I was sure it was a flashback. I didn't think that I was in a second attack,” he said. Tzedaka said he believes he was saved in the merit of his grandfather, Rabbi Yehudah Tzedaka [Tzedka].

From Facebook:

Please pray for an American seminary girl who was hit by shrapnel from the terrorist attack this morning @ the central bus station in Jerusalem. She is in surgery now. Leah Bracha bas Shoshana Basya.

The Yeshiva World reader comments confirm that Leah Bracha bas Shoshana Basya is from the Cleveland area, and was on Bus #74, which goes to her seminary in Har Nof, when the bomb right outside exploded.

The following names of victims of the attack are also provided by one reader (with additional info from I'm a mother):

Odalia Nechama bat Michal - 14-year-old frum girl, badly injured
Shilo ben Zehava Ophra - 8th grader, his legs are badly injured
Daniel Yehuda ben Rachel Nurit
Elchanan Ovadia ben Alona
Yisrael ben Dina
Oriya bat Michal
David ben Zohara (this may be the David below, not sure)
Sheindel bat Raizel
Daniel Natan ben Shulamit 
Sasson (ben Sarah) - described above

Another man severely injured by the attack, David Amuyal (according to the Hebrew press, or Amuyav according to JPost), was working at his brother-in-law's store at the time of the attack. Amuyal noticed the suspicious bag and started warning people nearby, including a large group of boys, to move away from the area. As he called the police to report the bag, the bomb exploded. This man's alacrity and heroism saved many lives today, and prevented a horrific attack from being much worse.

Meanwhile, schools and daycare centers will be closed Thursday in Be'er Sheva, Ashdod, and Ashkelon. Now reports are that the market in Ashdod will be closed as well, after fifteen more mortars fell on the Western Negev today. MK Silvan Shalom told Channel 2 news tonight that the rocket that hit Beer Sheba this morning fell 50 meters from his childhood shul. A miracle occurred: the Shaliach Tzibbur was delayed in approaching the amud, and before he stepped up, the rocket fell, and the windows of the shul were smashed and no one was injured.

May Hashem have mercy and send all the victims a complete and speedy refuah!

Terror attack in Jerusalem, 1 woman killed

(updated) A terror attack occurred at 3:05pm at Binyanei HaUma in Jerusalem. One woman was killed in the attack and thirty-nine people have been injured. Two of the injured were pregnant women, and a hospital spokesman said many of the injured are young. The bomb was in a suitcase left near a telephone booth next to the a bus stop across from Binyanei HaUma. Channel 1 has reported there is a suspicion that the bomb came from Hevron. A police spokesman is now saying that this is uncharacteristic of Hamas.

We are a bit shocked here.

God, do not be silent and do not be still, O God
For behold, Your enemies stir, and those who hate You raise their heads
Against Your people they plot cunningly, and they take counsel against Your protected ones.
They said, "Come, let us destroy them from being a nation, and the name of Israel will no longer be remembered.
For they have taken counsel with one accord; against You they form a pact...

Do to them as to Midian; as to Sisera, as to Jabin in the brook Kishon. 
They were destroyed in En-Dor; they were as dung on the ground.

Make them, their nobles, as Oreb and as Zeeb, and as Zebah and as Zalmuna all their princes
Who said, "Let us inherit for ourselves the dwellings of God."
My God, make them like thistles, like stubble before the wind.
As a fire that burns in a forest and as a flame that burns mountains.
So will You pursue them with Your tempest, and with Your whirlwind You will terrify them.
Fill their faces with shame, and they will seek Your countenance, O Lord.
Let them be ashamed and terrified forever; let them be disgraced and perish.
Let them know that You-Your name alone is the Lord, Most High over all the earth (Psalm 83)

The Dialectic of Rome and Jerusalem

Sack of Jerusalem, from the Arch of Titus in Rome

If someone tells you that both Caesarea (the Roman colonial capital of Judea) and Jerusalem are in ruins or that both are inhabited, do not believe him. But if he says that Caesarea is in ruins and Jerusalem is inhabited or that Caesarea is inhabited and Jerusalem is in ruins, believe him, as it says, 'I shall be filled with her that is laid waste' - If one is full, the other is in ruins, if one is in ruins, the other is full (Megillah 6a)

Rav Nachman said: Initially, when they brought wine libations from Judah , their wine never became sour. but now it is the wine of the Edomites that does not become sour, as it says: 'I shall be filled with her that is laid waste' If one is full, the other is in ruins, if one is in ruins, the other is full (Pesachim 42b)

Rashi: 'I shall be filled with her that is laid waste' this verse (Ezekiel 26:2) begins with 'Tzor said to Jerusalem...I will become full from her destruction' and Tzor is from Edom.

According to Rabbi Avraham Yehoshua Greenbaum, on the pshat level, the Tzor from the verse in Ezekiel that capitalizes on Jerusalem's destruction refers to the Lebanese city of Tyre, the center of maritime trade in the Mediterranean (note the passage of Iranian warships this week through the present-day centers of Mediterranean trade).

However, according to Rabbi Eliezer, "every place in the Bible where tzor is spelled chaser (i.e. without the vav, i.e. tzr instead of tzr), it refers to Edom." (Tanchuma Va-Era ch. 13) Without the vav, Tzar means oppressor, or Rome, which became present-day Western civilization, while the root tzor with a vav means to create, as in the center of trade. 

On the pshat level, "Aha! I shall be filled with her that is laid waste" refers to the destruction of Tyre in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. However, according to the rabbinic interpretation of the verse in Pesachim and Megillah, the verse refers to Rome's glee at the destruction of Jerusalem and the downfall of Israel. Hashem does not forget; because Rome used Israel's destruction for its own advantage, history will proceed according to the dialectic tension between Rome and Jerusalem.

"אמלאה החרבה"  (יחזקאל כו, ב) אם מלאה זו חרבה זו ואם מלאה זו חרבה זו  (פסחים מ"ב ע"ב)

רש"י: אמלאה החרבה - רישא דקרא יען אמרה צור לירושלים האח וגו' אתמלא מן חורבנה של ירושלים וצור מאדום היא:

אם יאמר לך אדם חרבו שתיהן אל תאמן ישבו שתיהן אל תאמן חרבה קסרי וישבה ירושלים חרבה ירושלים וישבה קסרי תאמן שנאמר (יחזקאל כו, ב) אמלאה החרבה אם מליאה זו חרבה זו אם מליאה זו חרבה זו (מגילה ו ע"א)

בן אדם יען אשר אמרה צר על ירושלים: האח! נשברה דלתות העמים, נסבה אלי אמלאה החרבה (יחזקאל כו, ב)

והמבין יבין She who is wise will understand

It's a sunny day in Jerusalem

While the world is in turmoil at every corner (Iranian ships are entering Suez, Egypt is bolstering the Egypt-Libya border after what the Hague has called Libya's crimes against humanity, New Zealand has been hit by what tourists have called New Zealand's '9/11')...

...It's a beautiful, sunny day in the middle of winter in Jerusalem!

ליהודים היתה אורה ושמחה ששון ויקר כן תהיה לנו = לכל עם ישראל

US Storm to Affect 100 Million this week

From weather.com:

A storm beginning Monday night through Thursday could affect 100 million people across the U.S.: 

- Snow up to 6" from Colorado to Ohio + powerful winds = blizzards

- Severe storms containing damaging winds and tornadoes from Texas to Alabama.

- On Wednesday the storm could move from the midwest to the Northeast, bringing heavy snow and icing

Meanwhile in Jerusalem there are strong winds and heavy rain, reminiscent of the first big rain of the year, which followed the Carmel Fire.

Brazil floods deathtoll likely to hit 1k

Flood stream in Terespolis, Jan. 12th
Vladimir Platonow / Agencia Brazil

The final deathtoll from Brazil floods and landslides is likely to hit 1,000 as hundreds are still missing, with entire towns buried and entire families wiped out. 'There are families that were so decimated that there is no one left to confirm who is missing,' said a spokesperson for the Nova Friburgo Civil Defense agency. Hundreds are still at risk of fresh mudslides, cut off by damaged raods and bridges.

Destroyed homes in Nova Friburgo
Valter Campanato / Agencia Brasil

Icaro Moreno, president of EMOP, a government public works company described the damage: 

Streams turned into wide, deep rivers. There is a huge geographical change; it's as if towns were completely reshaped.

Meanwhile, yesterday Brazil blamed Israel for the demise of talks with the Palestinians and condemned Israeli construction in Judea and Samaria, which includes Jerusalem. Brazil is also leading the current trend of South American countries recognizing a Palestinian state outside of the context of negotiations with Israel.

We will not fear when the earth changes and when mountains collapse into the heart of seas. His waters shall stir and be muddled, mountains shall quake from His pride forever. 

The river's streams shall cause the city of God [Jerusalem] to rejoice, the dwelling-place of the Most High.
God is in its midst that it should not tremble; God shall help it as morning approaches.

- Psalm 46

 

תהילים מו

לַמְנַצֵּחַ לִבְנֵי-קֹרַח--    עַל-עֲלָמוֹת שִׁיר

אֱלֹהִים לָנוּ, מַחֲסֶה וָעֹז;    עֶזְרָה בְצָרוֹת, נִמְצָא מְאֹד

עַל-כֵּן לֹא-נִירָא, בְּהָמִיר אָרֶץ;    וּבְמוֹט הָרִים, בְּלֵב יַמִּים

 יֶהֱמוּ יֶחְמְרוּ מֵימָיו;    יִרְעֲשׁוּ הָרִים בְּגַאֲוָתוֹ סֶלָה

נָהָר--פְּלָגָיו, יְשַׂמְּחוּ עִיר-אֱלֹהִים;    קְדֹשׁ, מִשְׁכְּנֵי עֶלְיוֹן

אֱלֹהִים בְּקִרְבָּהּ, בַּל-תִּמּוֹט;    יַעְזְרֶהָ אֱלֹהִים, לִפְנוֹת בֹּקֶר

הָמוּ גוֹיִם, מָטוּ מַמְלָכוֹת;    נָתַן בְּקוֹלוֹ, תָּמוּג אָרֶץ

יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת עִמָּנוּ;    מִשְׂגָּב-לָנוּ אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב סֶלָה

לְכוּ-חֲזוּ, מִפְעֲלוֹת יְהוָה--    אֲשֶׁר-שָׂם שַׁמּוֹת בָּאָרֶץ

מַשְׁבִּית מִלְחָמוֹת,    עַד-קְצֵה הָאָרֶץ: קֶשֶׁת יְשַׁבֵּר, וְקִצֵּץ חֲנִית;    עֲגָלוֹת, יִשְׂרֹף בָּאֵשׁ

הַרְפּוּ וּדְעוּ, כִּי-אָנֹכִי אֱלֹהִים;    אָרוּם בַּגּוֹיִם, אָרוּם בָּאָרֶץ

 יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת עִמָּנוּ;    מִשְׂגָּב-לָנוּ אֱלֹהֵי יַעֲקֹב סֶלָה

Brazil's world

On Wednesday, Brazil and Malaysia's ambassadors blamed the collapse of negotiations on Israel's refusal to extend the building freeze, and called to halt all building in Judea and Samaria. "We once again reiterate our call on Israel to heed the unanimous call of the international community in this regard," Brazil's permanent representative to the UN, Maria Luiza Ribeiro Viotti, said in an address to the Council. 

According to the World Politics Review, Brazil is the country responsible for the trend of Latin American countries' recognition of a Palestinian state. Lula, Brazil's past president, assembled a constituency of developing nations in Latin America, Africa and the Middle East, all supportive of Brazil's worldview. According to the Review, Palestinian state recognition gains Brazil positive political momentum on a global scale. For the new administration, it gives President Dilma Rousseff political leeway among Arab countries of the Middle East. As more developing-world countries recognize Palestinian independence, Brazil could again find itself as vanguard of the trend.

What lies behind the various countries' support of the Palestinian cause? According to the Review, Argentina and Uruguay tend to follow Brazil's lead in global politics. Bolivia, Ecuador and Venezuela are ruled by leaders with ties to the radical left dominated by anti-imperialist rhetoric. Chile's support was less predictable - as an ally of the U.S., it does not normally follow Brazil's lead. However, in this case, Pinera caved to the largest Palestinian community outside the Arab world.

According to the Review, continuation of the trend of South American countries can be traced to Brazil's leadership and commercial interests in the Arab Middle East.

According to Foreign Policy's Josh Keating, if the traditionally pro-U.S. Colombia hops on the train, the Lula foreign-policy legacy will be further solidified.

Russia calls for unified Palestinian state with East Jerusaelm as its captial

On Wednesday, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and King Abdullah II of Jordan vowed to work together to achieve an independent Palestinian state and boost energy cooperation. Before the talks, Medvedev announced: "I have told my Palestinian friends that the eventual target will be the establishment of a modern, unified and sovereign state with East Jerusalem as its capital."

On Tuesday, Medvedev visited Jericho, where he met with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas. There he used the opportunity to call on Israel to stop building in Judea and Samaria. Medvedev said there would be "no progress" without an Israeli decision on "settlement building".

Medvedev and Abdullah also discussed ways to spur Russian investments in Jordan's nuclear industry. Russia's ZAO Atomstroyexport is one of three companies which is vying for a role in building Jordan's first nuclear reactor by 2019. The others include France's Areva and Japan's Mitsubishi. In recent years, Jordan signed nuclear cooperation treaties with Russia and nine other countries in preparation for its nuclear reactor. According to government estimates, Jordan has 70,000 tons of uranium deposits. (Bloomberg)

Australia calls for a halt to settlement building

On Tuesday, Australia and Britain called on Israel to halt settlement building. The remarks were made at a summit between British Foreign Secretary William Hague, his Australian counterpart Kevin Rudd and Australian defence ministers Liam Fox and Stephen Smith. “Our joint belief (is) that the parties involved should return to direct talks and refrain from acts that undermine confidence such as settlement building,” Hague said.

Jersusalem Palestinians prefer Israeli citizenship

The Washington Post reports:

A poll suggests that a plurality of Jerusalem Palestinians would rather remain in Israel even after a peace deal and the creation of a Palestinian state. A poll this week shows that 35 percent of Jerusalem's Palestinian residents would choose Israeli citizenship over Palestinian citizenship. Thirty percent said they preferred Palestinian citizenship. Another 35 percent said they did not know. Respondents who chose Israeli citizenship cited freedom of movement, higher income and Israeli health insurance as the reasons behind their choice.

Jaffa Road in Jerusalem becomes pedestrian walkway

Jaffa Road in the 19th century / American Colony

From Sunday, Jaffa Road, the main street in Jerusalem, will become a modern pedestrian walkway free of car traffic, lined with retail and ready for the light rail, INN reports. Jaffa Road serves as the main route for foot travel to the Western Wall and Temple Mount, and by bus and rail it connects the Old City, the city center, the Central Bus Station and the Jerusalem-Tel Aviv highway. The new developments are widely expected to boost business for Israeli stores along the road, which serve the millions tourists who pass through Jerusalem every year.

בונה ירושלים ה' נדחי ישראל יכנס
Hashem builds Jerusalem, gathers in the exiles

The Dark Legacy of the Shephard Hotel

The Shepherd Hotel in Jerusalem, 2010

The world should be celebrating the transformation of a Nazi collaborator's home to a synagogue; instead, it is attempting to cast a legal sale of land as Israeli aggression. Pitiful.

The dilapidated hotel was once home to the Nazi collaborator and Muslim leader Mufti Haj Amin Al-Husseini (y"s). In 1985, the hotel and surrounding area was legally purchased for $1 million by US Jewish philanthropist Irving Moskowitz. In the building plans, the untried Nazi's collaborator's home will be renovated into a synagogue in memorial of Holocaust victims.

Yet rather than atone for its past in protecting Al-Husseini, the world is decrying the delapidated building's transformation into a place of Jewish worship.

During WWII, Al-Husseini broadcast propaganda for the Axis Powers with the aim of influencing Arab public opinion. In 1941, he participated in efforts to convince Bosnian Muslim leaders that a Muslim S.S. division would be in the interest of Islam, and helped recruit Bosnian Muslims into SS units, one of which committed atrocities against Christian Serbs during operations in the Balkans in 1944.

Al-Husseini on Radio Berlin, March 1, 1944: 'Arabs, rise as one man and fight for your sacred rights. Kill the Jews wherever you find them. This pleases God, history, and religion. This saves your honor. God is with you.'

So Al-Husseini was a nut, but Europe must have condemned him after the war, right? Wrong. Europe's condemnation of Israel's renovation of this testament to crimes of humanity is hardly new. After WWII Al-Husseini fled to Switzerland, but was detained and sent back to Germany, where he was arrested by French troops in May 1945. Ah, the French. They'll put him to justice, right?

Wrong. Discussions with Mufti post-arrest were put in the hands of Henri Ponsot, a former ambassador of France in Syria. France sought status in the Arab world through Al-Husseini's wide connections, and ended up handing him benefits, priveleges, special detention conditions, and constant concern for the well-being of him and his entourage. Despite British requests for his extradition, and his presence on the list of names of war criminals, France considered him a political prisoner and denied British requests.

In September 1945, realizing they were holding a hot potato, France organized the transfer of Al-Husseini to Egypt. On May 29th, al-Husayni left France on a TWA flight for Cairo using a fake Syrian passport. Once in Egypt, the British could no longer arrest him.

In August 1947, Al-Husseini thanked French Foreign Minister Georges Bidault in a letter and suggested France continue its policy to increase prestige in the Muslim world. One month later, an Arab Higher Committee delegation proposed to Paris an neutral Arab position on North Africa in exchange of France's support in the Palestinian question. 

Catherine Ashton, British Labor Politiciana and EU Foreign Policy Chief, 2011, in today's statement: "I strongly condemn this morning's demolition of the Shepherd Hotel and the planned construction of a new illegal settlement. I reiterate that settlements are illegal under international law, undermine trust between the parties and constitute an obstacle to peace. Furthermore, we recall that East Jerusalem is part of occupied Palestinian territory."

Sources:
Mohammad Amin al-Husayni 
Tsilla Hershco, Le grand mufti de Jérusalem en France : Histoire d'une évasion, Revue Controverses, n°1, mars 2006