On Jonah, Iran and Atonement

The High Holy Days will soon be upon us. One of our readings for Yom Kippur is the Book of Jonah. God gave Jonah responsibility for travelling to Nineveh, to tell the people there that they must either repent for their wickedness or face God’s wrath. After attempting to run away and then spending three days in the belly of a large fish, Jonah begrudgingly and resentfully fulfilled his responsibility. Nineveh repented and was forgiven by God. Repentance and forgiveness makes this a fitting story for Yom Kippur. But there’s more to this story than three days in the belly of a fish and a universal message of forgiveness.

Jonah ran away from his responsibility to speak out against wrong doing. He was angry about losing a tree that he felt entitled to, even though he didn’t work for it or cultivate it. Losing the shade of the tree, Jonah was exposed to the heat of the sun. It’s those elements of the story that contain a message for us in these times.

We are living in some of the best times in the history of our people. For the past 7 decades we’ve had the luxury to live in the comfort of the shade cast for the Jewish people by the tree of life known as the State of Israel. And our people have flourished.

Yet for the past several years Israel has been under unprecedented attack. It is on the defensive, not only militarily, but for its very legitimacy, including its right to defend itself from those who seek to destroy it. Israel has been weakened and made more vulnerable than ever on the international stage. The tree that shelters us from the raging heat of anti-Semitism is itself straining under the heat of being the Jew among the nations.

At the same time, and in no coincidence, anti-Semitism is raging across the globe. It is a rising tide of hate that seeks the destruction of Israel and the destruction of the Jewish People. Run a search on Google news with the term “anti-Semitism” and you’ll see a distressing stream of headlines. 

Attacks on Israel coincide with attacks on Jews everywhere. Weakening of Israel weakens the Jewish People. We are inextricably connected. 

Jonah turned away from his responsibility to speak out, and was angry when he lost a comfort that he took for granted and felt entitled to.

What obligation or responsibility to speak out have we turned away from? What respite from the heat do we take for granted?

We are not simply entitled to shelter from the heat. We are obligated to work for it. The relief from the heat of anti-Semitism, that we have enjoyed these last six decades, is the result of words and actions by people who believed that our right, Lihyot ‘am chofshi be’artzeinu, to be a free people in our land, Eretz-Tziyon v’yerushalayim, the land of Zion and Jerusalem, was not merely a dream, but our need and our destiny. If we and our children expect to continue to have shelter from the heat of anti-Semitism we must also work for it with words and action. 

But we are not sufficiently using our voices in service to each other and in keeping with the obligation that God bestows upon us as Jews. Instead, many of us are like Jonah, literally running in the opposite direction, distancing ourselves from Israel and from the Jewish People. And like Jonah we may find ourselves without respite from the heat.

We must speak out against anti-Semitism. We must speak out against anti-Zionism. We must speak out against the denial of Israel to self-defense, we must speak out against the attacks, military attacks, terror attacks and political attacks, that require constant self-defense, and we must speak out against a deal that will lead to a nuclear Iran.

In the coming days or weeks, Congress will have the chance to examine the terms of an agreement with Iran to ensure that it advances U.S. interests and that it blocks every Iranian path to a nuclear weapon. This is a crucial decision for the United States and a survival issue for Israel. You must speak out and express your opinions about this deal to Congress. 

It’s easier than ever to make your voice heard to our president, to our senators and to our representatives in Congress. Send an email. Write a letter. Make a phone call. Donate to strengthen Jewish and Israeli causes. Attend a rally.

However you choose, you must speak and act. If we are to continue to enjoy shelter from the heat we must work for it.

Jonah was one person. His one voice turned a nation and a king. One voice alone is not powerless, many voices together are powerful. Many voices united in purpose and message can turn politicians. Presidents and dictators alike.

God waited for Jonah to say his piece before passing judgment on Nineveh. There is still time for us to make our voices heard, but time is of the essence. 

I pray we must never atone for our own inaction.

By the way, Jonah has not disappeared from the pages of history. Neither has Nineveh. Jonah is mentioned in the Koran and recognized as a prophet in Islam. Nineveh is part of the city of Mosul in a country we still call Iraq. It was the home of a site recognized as the Tomb of Jonah. On July 24, 2014 Jonah’s tomb was destroyed by the Islamic State. 

Why Israel is an amazing place for a holiday, and far more than a bible story

The Holy Land has never been more accessible. It's a must-see for 2014!

Temple Mount Sifting Project Suffers Major Damage from Snow Storm

The heavy snow storm in Israel caused major destruction to the Sifting Project site. The greenhouse frame structure could not hold the weight of the snow and it collapsed. Much of the equipment and infrastructure installations were destroyed.

Renown Israeli archaeologist and Sifting Project founder Dr. Gabriel Barkay toured the US and Canada from September through November, giving over 40 presentations about the importance and findings of the Sifting Project.

Whether you attended one of his the presentation and saw the value in the unique work of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, or have just read about it for the first time, now is the time to offer your support for this important work.

Donations to support the project can be made online at www.gabrielbarkay.com/donate.html or templemount.wordpress.com/contributions-to-the-sifting-project.

Visit the Sifting Project web site to learn more.

Fundamental Rights Agency spotlights rising anti-Semitism, then buries its own working definition of anti-Semitism

Europe’s Fundamental Rights Agency, which last month released a study on rising anti-Semitism in Europe has now discarded its own definition of anti-Semitism and removed the definition from its website.

The FRA study reported that:

• 76% of survey respondents said the situation had deteriorated over the last five years
• 66% consider anti-Semitism to be a major problem in their country
• 38 % said they avoid displaying symbols identifying them as Jews in public
• 23 % said that they occasionally avoid visiting Jewish events or sites because they do not feel safe there or the way there because they are Jewish
• Fear of rising anti-Semitism in Europe has prompted nearly a third of European Jews to consider emigration because they do not feel safe in their home country

“We are not aware of any official definition [of anti-Semitism],” Blanca Tapia of the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency told JTA after the definition was removed from the FRA website.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry called on the EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency to return the working definition of anti-Semitism to its website.

With European Jews facing increasing difficulty, the Jerusalem Post published an editorial in October calling on Israel to “prepare both operationally and conceptually to absorb thousands of European Jews.”

A paper published in March by JPPI titled European Jewry – Signals and Noise, reported on the situation and trends facing European Jewry and proposed ways to improve Israeli capabilities to welcome and absorb large numbers of Jews fleeing Europe.

You don’t have to visit Washington to lobby your government – do it now

If you’d like to express your displeasure to your elected representatives about the low state of US relations with Israel and Saudi Arabia, the proposed (there appears to be some confusion about whether the agreement was actually signed) agreement with Iran that would allow it to maintain its nuclear capabilities in exchange for reduced US sanctions, the deal allowing the Syrian government to continue is massacre, or Egypt’s turn to Russia for a new military alliance, you can do it right from your telephone and your computer. Find your Representative in the House and find your Senators, then email, write, fax or call their offices. Here’s a suggested letter that you are free to use:

Dear <Senator or Congressperson’s name>

Please support the Nuclear Weapon Free Iran Act.

I am deeply concerned about the way the President and Secretary of State have been damaging US relationships with our allies in the Middle East. They have betrayed Israel and Saudi Arabia and other allies in negotiations with Iran. I urge you to pass new and stronger sanctions against Iran, and I urge you to call this administration to account for turning back the clock on over 50 years of American diplomacy.

Why is our country sacrificing its relationships with its allies so that it can free Iran to at the very least always remain on the edge of nuclear weapons development, and at worst develop a stockpile of nuclear weapons? Have we learned nothing from Pakistan and North Korea?

Why have we turned Egypt, a critical ally for peace in the Middle East, back to an alliance with Russia that last ended in the 1970s?

Why in Syria have we redeemed a war criminal who used poison gas from punishment, while at the same time allowing him to continue his massacre by other means?

You must work with Congress to act before it is too late. Before Iran has the capacity to develop nuclear weapons. Before other countries in the Middle East embark on a nuclear arms race to counter Iran.

Sincerely,

<your name>

Israel, the Pilgrims and the Maccabees

Israel, the Pilgrims and the Maccabees - Caroline Glick

The Festival of Lights is a celebration of Jewish religious freedom and national liberation. The Maccabees freed the Jews from the tyranny of Greece, the world’s greatest superpower, which denied them their right to remain Jewish. The Maccabees, a small band of heroically tenacious Jews who suffered extraordinary hardship in their war against the far superior Greek forces, took strength and comfort in their faith. It was their faith in God that empowered them to face impossible odds and emerge victorious. It was their faith in God that gave them the ability to stand up not only to the Greeks, but to the Jewish elites who preached submission and appeasement as the better part of virtue, castigating them as warmongering zealots for refusing to bow before false gods.

Fitch revises Israel rating outlook to positive | Reuters

Fitch revises Israel rating outlook to positive | Reuters

The issue ratings on Israel's senior unsecured foreign and local currency bonds have also been affirmed at 'A' and 'A+' respectively. The Outlook on the Long-term foreign currency IDR has been revised to Positive from Stable. The Outlook on the Long-term local currency IDR is Stable. The Country Ceiling has been affirmed at 'AA-' and the Short-term foreign currency IDR at 'F1'.

In Israel, a Dream Made Real

Ari Shavit: In Israel, a Dream Made Real - WSJ.com

Against all odds, Zionism has allowed an almost extinguished people to renew itself

In Israel, centuries of pain have burst out into gaiety and creation. Here is the demography of hope: an almost extinguished people renewing itself. Unlike the affluent societies of Europe, Israel's affluent society reproduces and grows—we have babies in great numbers.

Israel is no utopia, but it is an amazing expression of vitality.

Once one steps back from the ongoing friction of a conflict reported daily around the world, one can see the transformation of the Jews in the Zionist century. We had to come here, and once we came, we did wonders.

The Jewish nation state has brought neither peace nor peace of mind to the Jews. But it has provided us with the intensity of life on the edge—the adrenaline rush of living dangerously. Threatened with death, we have built a spectacle of life. We have converged on this shore and cling to this shore, come what may.