Yesterday, the people of Israel took time to remember the 22,682 soldiers and victims of terror who have died either defending the country or merely living in it. Today, Israel celebrates Independence as a modern nation, but the truth is Israel is closer to 3,500 years old rather than 62. By the "62" reckoning, the United States would be a toddler 4.2 years old.

I have a brief article of forgotten origin (thanks to whoever wrote it) about two men who struggled against the pro-Arab British in the days leading up to 5 Iyyar in 1948...

Mot Kedoshim: The Death of the Righteous

Iyar 8, 5767/April 26, 2007

"And Samson said: 'Let me die with the Philistines.' And he bent with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life." (Judges 16:30)

The year was 1947. Their original plan was to blow themselves up at the gallows, taking with them as many of the enemy British jailers as they could. When it became clear that they could not carry out their plan without also endangering the rabbi who was to accompany them in their final moments, a last minute change was made. Nineteen year old Meir Feinstein, a member of the Etzel underground, and 19 year old Moshe Barazani, a member of the Lechi underground took the hollowed out orange peel in which they had smuggled explosives into their cell, placed it between them, sang the traditional Adon Olam, embraced, and lit the fuse. A huge blast was heard throughout the Jerusalem Central Prison. The British guard raced to the cell. But it was too late. The two boys had robbed the British Mandatory Government of the fruit of its relentless policy toward the Jews. They were to have been the first two Jews to be hung to death in the holy city of Jerusalem, all the other eleven olei hagardom - "those who went up to the gallows" - had been or were to be hung in the northern city of Acco (Acre). The courage of the two boys, with the help of G-d, snatched from the bloody jaws of the British their "victory" of executing Jews in the holy city.

Meir Feinstein and Moshe Barazani were buried in twin graves on the Mount of Olives. Their story became legend in Israel. When Menachem Begin, Israel's sixth Prime Minister died in 1992 his final wish was to be buried in a simple grave alongside the two boys. Thus the legend remained. Until recently.

Several months ago, Thomas Goodwin, the British guard whose life Feinstein and Barazani had spared by asking his to leave their cell just moments before they blew themselves up, so that (as they explained to him), they could pray, passed away. Before he left the boys' cell, Meir Feinstein handed him his Tanach (Hebrew Bible). Of the two British jailers that kept watch over Feinstein and Barazani, Goodwin was admired by the two as "the good jailer" because of the humane and respectful manner in which he treated the condemned men. Only after the two had taken their own lives did he notice the inscription Feinstein had addressed to him, both in English and in Hebrew:

"In the shadow of the gallows, 21.4.47. To the British soldier as you stand guard. Before we go to the gallows, accept this Bible as a memento and remember that we stood in dignity and marched in dignity. It is better to die with a weapon in hand than to live with hands raised. Meir Feinstein"

It had been Thomas Goodwin's wish to return the Tanach to the Feinstein family, and after he died, his son Dennis made contact with the office of the Prime Minister of Israel, which directed him to the Feinstein family in Jerusalem. I had the privilege of being invited to attend the ceremony on Thursday evening, April 20th (the 2nd of the Hebrew month of Iyar), when Dennis Goodwin and his mother presented the Tanach to Meir Feinstein's nephew Eliezer. The ceremony took place in the very prison where the two were held, adjacent to the Russian Compound in Jerusalem. The former prison is now the Underground Prisoners Museum, dedicated to preserving the memory of the underground members who fought and died for the Jewish people's independence. The day was the 60th anniversary of the boys' death.

The following Monday, Israel's Memorial Day for its fallen soldiers, a small group of people visited the graves of Feinstein and Barazani at the Mount of Olives, where Eliezer Feinstein and Moshe Barazani's brother recited the Kaddish prayer. In a private moment,  Eliezer Feinstein remarked that over the past few days he had repeatedly looked through his uncle's Tanach. Each time he opened it, it opened automatically to Judges, chapter sixteen, and the verse: "And Samson said: 'Let me die with the Philistines.' And he bent with all his might; and the house fell upon the lords, and upon all the people that were therein. So the dead that he slew at his death were more than they that he slew in his life." (ibid) Thus testifying to the two boys' original plan to blow themselves up at the gallows.

The long history of the Jewish people is lined with the names of martyrs who fell for the right of every Jew to live his life in freedom and dignity and in accordance to the will of the G-d of Israel. Some names are household names in Jewish homes the world over. Others not. There is no better time to consider their selfless acts of courage than on Yom Atzma'ut - Israel Independence Day. For without their willingness to give of themselves entirely for their people, the Jewish nation would not be dwelling today in the land of Israel.

The challenges facing Israel today are enormous. A new generation of Feinsteins and Barazanis, willing to give their all for the people of Israel, the land of Israel and the Torah of Israel, is rising up. We see them in their hilltop villages, ("outposts"), manning the barricades at Amona, astride the ruins of Chomesh, and yes, fulfilling the commandment of "My Holy Temple you shall revere" (Leviticus 19:30), by ascending the Temple Mount. As we stride toward tomorrow we will surely achieve the hope of our people:

"The hope of two thousand years,
To be a holy nation in our own land,
The land of Zion : Jerusalem."
(Hatikva)

Here's a report from November 2000 that relates the perspective of Rav Lior (Rabbi of Kiryat Arba) on dealing with the enemies of Israel and occupiers of Eretz Israel:

Rabbi Dov Lior, the Rabbi of Kiryat Arba and Hevron, related today to various questions connected with our relationship with the Palestinians. He told Arutz-7's Tuvia Rosenfeld that the government's policy of restraint and 'not hitting innocent civilians' does not "jibe with the Torah's outlook:" "It is true that Nachmanides [13th century Torah giant] rules that the army must not encircle the enemy and must allow it an opening from which to escape, but Maimonides [12th century Torah giant] differs and says that this is merely strategic advice - in that an army with no means of escape will fight more strongly. In war, when one nation attacks another nation, there is no such thing as 'innocent civilians...' Even collective punishment is allowed, according to the decisions of the military leaders. If, for instance, it is decided that the proper military response to the constant shooting at Gilo would be to bomb Beit Jala, or even to bomb large parts of Gaza, then this is what should be done. Of course, it could be that because of various weaknesses, the army does not make these decisions... It is clear to me that we are being too merciful, and in the wrong places - such that it is a 'mercy of cruelty;' as our Rabbis teach us, 'Whoever is merciful to the cruel, will end up being cruel to the merciful.' ... Furthermore, it's not enough to learn Eastern Affairs in universities - we must know our enemy and his characteristics. Maimonides wrote in his Epistle to Yemen, 'Whenever we try to seek their [the Moslems'] welfare, they will respond with curses and war.' This means that if we behave toward them with proper manners and with gentleness, they don't take this as a sign of strength - but rather as weakness, and it will actually invite further attacks upon us."

Rabbi Lior also related to the claim by the left-wing that "conquest corrupts," and that we should therefore rid ourselves of the "conquered territories." He said, "The Torah promises us, as explained by various commentaries to Deut. 13, 18, that when we are engaged in a Torah commandment, we need not worry that it will leave any immoral defects in our character. If we were engaged in military conquest of other lands, this would be against the Torah and basic ethics. But in this case, it is not conquest - it is the liberation of our own land, and the protection of our own people from enemies who threaten our very existence. I have no doubt that whoever is engaged in this act for the purpose of saving the People of Israel will be saved from any character blemishes, as the Torah promises."

 

Greg Sheridan, of The Australian, connects US contempt of its relationship with Israel with the Obama administration's decision to do nothing about Iran acquiring nuclear weapons:

This is where the Obama-Israel dust-up comes in. By so isolating Israel, by irresponsibly unleashing a global wave of anti-Israel sentiment, especially in nations which normally support Israel, Obama has made the possibility of Israel considering unilateral action against Iran much more unlikely. The Israelis would weigh such action very carefully. There are many pluses and minuses. By creating the impression of Israel as a besieged, isolated and reckless nation, which the wildly disproportionate reaction to the East Jerusalem apartments accomplished, Obama has made the potential cost to Israel of action against Iran much greater.

You can read the whole thing here.

I received a tweet this morning about an organization dedicated to helping Jewish families in need at Passover. What struck me about the Bnai Israel Matzoh organization is its focus on families living in Judea and Samaria.

I thought it would be great if we could take up a collection and send it to Bnai Israel Matzoh to help these families who are building up Jewish life in Judea & Samaria so I spoke to Pastor Diaz and he agreed. Obviously, time is short (Passover starts early next week), so if your heart moves you can:

Donate with a Check

(100% of all donations accepted by check will be sent to Bnai Israel Matzoh). You can mail a check to

PO Box 181191, Casselberry, FL 32718 USA.

Please fill out the following pledge form so that we know to expect your donation.

Donate Online

Using a credit/debit card or your PayPal account (100% of all online donations, less the small PayPal processing fee, will be sent to Bnai Israel Matzoh). Just click the following "Donate Button":

If you plan on making a donation of $100.00 or more, please consider making it by check. The PayPal fees, though only a small percentage, start to make a difference at that point.

Click here if you would like to find out more about the work of Bnai Israel Matzoh.

The US is Israel's Most Dangerous "Friend"

The US looks like a friend to Israel but attacks the heart...

Read More...

I had hoped to post more as-it-occurred videos from the fifth annual workgroup that is helping to build HaTznirim park on the outskirts of the Jewish community of Kedumim (about five miles from Shechem/Nablus). the team had some trouble uploading the videos while in Israel and so I hope to be posting some meaningful videos when the camera returns (it should be landing in Orlando right about... now!) Well, to my shock, not everyone is thrilled that we are there building up Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria.

I have completely replaced the explicatives in the hopes of not putting any words in your mind that are better off not being there, but I don't think taht it will obscure the meaning of the comment:

**** those haters its nablus and its palestiane and the Samaria community are palestinian holding palestinian passports and attending palestinian schools these americans who just come to nablus and palesine (sic) to spread hate should not be welcome and should get the **** (sic – he misspelled this particular explicative though he spelled it right the first time) back to their stupid raciest (I assume "sic" belongs here to) america .

It's amazing to me that Israel can't make peace (at least not by the means suggested by the nations of the world) with people like this. /sarcasm

I hope to post more videos soon, but here is a brief one that made it out of Israel ahead of the group:

The actions of the United States government vis-a-vis Israel betray the worn out mantra that the US is a friend to Israel.

From the Dry Bones cartoon blog:

 

Today's Golden Oldie is a Dry Bones cartoon I did 20 years ago, in 1990.

"On that day, when all the nations of the earth are gathered against her, I will make Jerusalem an immovable rock for all the nations. All who try to move it will injure themselves." Zechariah 12:3

Check it out in your own Bible. And if you don't have one, how on Earth are you going to understand the latest news?

 

(Originally published at Project Shofar)

Whether or not you like it, Mrs. Clinton, Israel is the sovereign Jewish State. How would you feel if our foreign minister condemned you for building homes in Arizona because it may offend the sensitivities of Indians who hope to eventually build their own homes there? It is an absurdity.Madam Secretary, you certainly have the right to express opinions which vary with ours, but you have no right to issue demands as to where we may or may not live in our own country, nor how we conduct our efforts to defend our citizens from murderers. You certainly have no business telling us to release murderers who we have already caught and imprisoned! And you have the gall to tell us that by deciding to build Jewish homes on a barren mountainside adjacent to an existing Jewish city in the Jewish State that we insult you?!