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Israel Approves Mass Surveillance to Save Lives

YNET: Israel approves mass surveillance to fight coronavirus
Shin Bet director says security agency would not use new measure to enforce or supervise quarantine and its purpose is to ‘save lives’; data will be stored much longer than the 30 days promised by the PM

Itamar Eichner, 03.17.20

The government amended and unanimously approved early Tuesday a motion allowing authorities to utilize advanced digital monitoring tools to track and surveil Israelis infected with coronavirus.

The Shin Bet security agency will document and examine the location patients had visited before entering quarantine or being hospitalized and whether they had broken any government directives related to the spread of COVID-19 (cont.)

JPost: AG Mandelblit: Digital tracking legal, meant to save lives
Staff, March 17, 2020

Mandelblit stressed on Tuesday that emergency measures implemented by the government to allow the Shin Bet to track those infected with the novel coronavirus are legal and are meant to “save lives during an emergency.”

The new measures were checked by Mandelblit’s office with continued dialogue with Health Ministry officials, the political echelon, Israel Police and the Shin Bet in order to ensure that the measures would strike a balance between preserving the health and safety of the public and protecting privacy rights.

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
its purpose is to ‘save lives’

How many times have we heard that one before? Sometimes it’s even true. After all, the best lies are grounded in true. The “potential” lie here is not relating to the saving of lives. Rather, the underlying motive for the increasingly stringent restrictions on our movements is suspect. Control, keeping us off the streets so it will be easier to hide something from us. Who knows?

How many people in the world believe that their governments’ first and foremost concern is the health of their citizens, and without any ulterior motives?

There are even those who would suggest possible motives of governments of the world to include population reduction, particularly older members of the population, as well as yet another excuse to shoot us all up with a new fangled vaccine.

As I write this on the bus commute home, I am listening to a radio interview with Avi Dichter. Avi Dichter is currently the Assistant Minister of Defense, as well as a former chief of the Shabba”k (General Security Service), “affectionately” known Israel’s “secret police.”

The interviewer is questioning Dichter over these increasingly stringent restrictions on our movements. She reminds him how Israelis are not used to such restrictions, even with all of our experience with war and terrorist attacks. We have cowered in bomb shelters, we have dodged missiles, and our armed neighbors have saved many lives, when police and military were not in the immediate vicinity.

We like being outside. Even most apartments have been built with balconies, or huge salon (living room) windows. The idea of not being able to go to a local or national park is foreign to us. And now, the government has added beaches to the list of forbidden destinations. Several people have pointed out that since the coronavirus cannot live in the sea, the beach might be exactly what we need.

Those of you who know me, will already correctly assume that this native San Diegeño very aggrieved regarding this beach ban.

But, I digress…

The other day, I saw an interview with MK Ayelet Shaked (Yamina), former Minister of Justice. She was questioned about the use of smartphones to track the movements of those testing positive for the coronavirus. The interview questioned her on how this compromises the privacy of citizens. Her response was that she hoped the infected person would agree voluntarily to the tracking. Although pushed, Shaked never quite answered this question, at least not to my satisfaction.

Back to the interview with Avi Dichter, the interviewer expressed concern over seeing IDF troops on the streets to maintain order and abiding government restrictions. Ditcher started becoming agitated, continued to harp on the “saving lives” aspect of the restrictions, and reminded the interviewer of troops on the street during times of increased terrorist activity. The two of them went back and forth, but Dichter stuck with his story.

I will let the readers fill in the blanks themselves.

The truth is governments are already following their citizens.

They just want to perform surveillance more effectively and get us used to such a culture.

From Esser Agaroth, here.

Wife subordinate to husband to degree he is subordinate to G-d

פריחה בגבע בנימין Blossom in Gevaa Benjamin

Premiered Mar 9, 2020

נעמי שמר כתבה : “תפקחו את העיניים, תסתכלו סביב פה ושם נגמר החורף ונכנס אביב” (אנשים טובים, נעמי שמר)…
בוקר אחד בדרכי לעבודה גיליתי לא רחוק מהבית שדה עם אלפי פרחי “עירית גדולה”. לצד פרחים אחרים.
בערב חזרתי לשם לבקר ולראות את הפריחה מקרוב, כפי שתוכלו לראות בסרטון. לאחר מכן חשבתי לעצמי כמה מוזר שאנו נוסעים למרחקים כדי לראות פריחות ודרום אדום. כשבסמוך לבית יש פריחה לא פחות מדהימה.
אם אהבתם שתפו ושלחו לחברים ומשפחה. כמו כן הרשמו לערוץ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqf4…

Naomi Shemer wrote: “Open your eyes, look around here and there, winter ended and spring” ) .is here” (anashim tovim Naomi Shemer
One morning on my way to work, I discovered not far from home a field with thousands of flowers named “Common Asphodel” beside other flowers. In the evening I returned to visit there to see the bloom from up close, as you can see in the video.
Hope you enjoy the video. If you liked it Share and send to friends and family. Also subscribe to the channel -https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqf4…

From YouTube, here.

The Little Baby Girl Found in A Coat During the Holocaust

The Most Amazing Story…

When a train filled with a large transport of Jewish prisoners arrived at one of the Nazi killing centers, many Polish gentiles came out to watch the latest group as they were taken away. As the disoriented Jews were gathering their possessions to take with them into the camp, a Nazi officer in charge called out to the villagers standing nearby, “Anything these Jews leave behind you may take for yourselves, because for sure they will not be coming back to collect them!”

Two Polish women who were standing nearby saw a woman towards the back of the group, wearing a large, heavy, expensive coat. Not waiting for someone else to take the coat before them, they ran to the Jewish woman and knocked her to the ground, grabbed her coat and scurried away.

Moving out of sight of the others, they quickly laid the coat down on the ground to divide the spoils of what was hiding inside. Rummaging through the pockets, they giddily discovered gold jewelry, silver candlesticks and other heirlooms. They were thrilled with their find, but as they lifted the coat again, it still seemed heavier than it should. Upon further inspection, they found a secret pocket, and hidden inside the coat was …. a tiny baby girl!

Shocked at their discovery, one woman took pity and insisted to the other, “I don’t have any children, and I’m too old to give birth now. You take the gold and silver and let me have the baby.” The Polish woman took her new “daughter” home to her delighted husband.

They raised the Jewish girl as their own, treating her very well, but never telling her anything about her history. The girl excelled in her studies and even became a doctor, working as a pediatrician in a hospital in Poland.

When her “Mother” passed away many years later, a visitor came to pay her respects. An old woman invited herself in and said to the daughter, “I want you to know that the woman that passed away last week was not your real mother …” and she proceeded to tell her the whole story. She did not believe her at first, but the old woman insisted.

“When we found you, you were wearing a beautiful gold pendant with strange writing on it, which must be Hebrew
I am sure that your mother kept the necklace. Go and see for yourself” Indeed, the woman went into her deceased mother’s jewelry box and found the necklace just as the elderly lady had described. She was shocked. It was hard to fathom that she had been of Jewish descent, but the proof was right there in her hand. As this was her only link to a previous life, she cherished the necklace. She had it enlarged to fit her neck and wore it every day, although she thought nothing more of her Jewish roots.

Some time later, she went on holiday abroad and came across two Jewish boys standing on a main street, trying to interest Jewish passersby to wrap Tefillin on their arms (for males) or accept Shabbos candles to light on Friday afternoon (for females). Seizing the opportunity, she told them her entire story and showed them the necklace. The boys confirmed that a Jewish name was inscribed on the necklace but did not know about her status. They recommended that she write a letter to their mentor, the Lubavitcher Rebbe ZT”L, explaining everything. If anyone would know what to do, it would be him.

She took their advice and sent off a letter that very same day. She received a speedy reply saying that it is clear from the facts that she is a Jewish girl and perhaps she would consider using her medical skills in Israel where talented pediatricians were needed. Her curiosity was piqued and she traveled to Israel where she consulted a Rabbinical Court (Beis Din) who declared her Jewish. Soon she was accepted into a hospital to work, and eventually met her husband and raised a family.

In August 2001, a terrorist blew up the Sbarro cafe in the center of Jerusalem. The injured were rushed to the hospital where this woman worked. One patient was brought in, an elderly man in a state of shock. He was searching everywhere for his granddaughter who had become separated from him.

Asking how she could recognize her, the frantic grandfather gave a description of a gold necklace that she was wearing.

Eventually, they finally found her among the injured patients. At the sight of this necklace, the pediatrician froze. She turned to the old man and said, “Where did you buy this necklace?”

“You can’t buy such a necklace,” he responded, “I am a goldsmith and I made this necklace. Actually I made two identical pieces for each of my daughters. This is my granddaughter from one of them, and my other daughter did not survive the war.”

And this is the story of how a Jewish girl, brutally torn away from her Mother on a Nazi camp platform almost sixty years ago, was reunited with her Father.

Source Yad Vashem.
Adapted from the book “Heroes of Faith”

From Dus Iz Nies, here.