Stop Being So Paranoid!

I know a wise Jew living in the US who can contribute to exposing the anti-Jewish nature of politics here on Hyehudi.org. He agrees with me, but he is too fearful to type anything up, because of current mass-surveillance.

He once put his name on a letter to the paper and suffers “random” extra “scrutiny” in airports ever since. מי שנכווה ברותחין מושך ידו בפושרין. Well, don’t use your own name next time! He is not alone, either. Maybe if I summarise my counter-claim, this will prove helpful.

A major criticism of authoritarianism and central planning is the “Pretense of Knowledge”. But this is not just about prices. The accursed NSA’s slogan is “Collect It All”. But this itself handicaps them!

If they put the magnifying glass on someone, he is going to be roasted (אי אמר מלכותא עקרנא טורי עקר טורי ולא הדר ביה). But, unless one is super-effective in the ideological revolution in the here and now (bureaucracies have high time-preference), what are the chances they aim davka at him?! Importantly, you can be the worst toady to authoritarians and still get marked as a false positive!

Even if they wanted to stop something like terrorism, they couldn’t, because the more they know the less they assimilate:

  1. Stovepiping and turf wars.
  2. Tech problems are legion in government; trust me.
  3. Incompatible computer systems among different agencies.
  4. The quality of the workers is usually just “good-enough-for-government”.
  5. They are choked by their own ever-growing rules.

In one marvelous metaphor: Signal to noise ratio!

And when the victims don’t impute legitimacy to government spying, they don’t assist external sanctions with false-guilt self-governance, so the state lacks enough resources, or, to be more precise, they lack the right kind of resources. NSA spying is useless, so don’t let it stop you. Compare American SIGINT and the Israeli state’s HUMINT against the Jews and Arabs. One works; the other doesn’t.

People are actually spying back on the state some, like James O’Keefe, car-cams, etc.

Bottom line: Pardon me, but if you won’t expose the monsters, this is either unimportant to you, or you lack Bitachon.

The Difference Between the Truth and the TRUE Truth

Siach Sarfei Kodesh 1:175 (translated by Rabbi Chaim Kramer, Through Fire and Water – The Life of Reb Nosson of Breslov, p. 99):

… In the circumstances, Reb Nosson’s father-in-law, Rabbi Dovid Zvi Orbach, was urging him to take a position as a Rav.

Reb Nosson turned to the Rebbe for advice. The Rebbe told him to accept the position. Reb Nosson told the Rebbe that he was afraid of the awesome responsibility. Rebbe Nachman said to him, “Who then should be a rav if not one who is afraid?!”

Reb Nosson then asked:

Is this the emes – is it the right thing for me?

“Yes!” said the Rebbe.

Reb Nosson then pressed him:

“But is the emeser emes – is it really right for me?

“You want the real truth?” replied the Rebbe. “Then don’t become a rav”.

Reb Nosson later wrote that he was grateful to God that he was saved from taking the position, since it would have hindered his own spiritual growth and the subsequent spreading of Reb Nachman’s teachings.

The end.

Reb Nosson knew to press the question because Reb Nachman had earlier explained this idea of “true” truth. See too Likutei Halachos’ vitally correct explanation of the Medrash on “ותשלך אמת ארצה” (Ribbis 5:16).

If only Jews loved and feared Hashem enough to not be satisfied with appearances or suffice with tradition and legal fiction, Oness and Dochak, we would listen carefully, and read between the lines, and seek to obey Hashem’s True will. And Hashem would listen back.

Reb Nachman of Breslov placed Halacha above all else. As a friend just said to me (a la “Lubavitch is the closest religion to Judaism”): “Breslovers are the closest Litvaks to Chassidus!”

How the ‘Jewish’ State Disarms Its Most Vulnerable Jews

An excerpt from The Torah Revolution:

I am a Shomron resident and after ten years of gun ownership the police called me up, telling me to surround my gun to them, my license has expired. What happened was that up until now the Ministry of Interior sent out a notification, with a related form to pay a fee at the post office, to renew the license of gun ownership in every two or three years. Now, and without notice, they changed this practice and stopped sending out notifications of renewal, effectively disarming thousands of people with this cowardly bureaucratic trick.

See the rest here.

Religious Zionists: Neither Religious, nor Zionist

Do you Want a Barrier Running down the Middle of your Country?

ראש החודש השני תשע״ח

Times Of Israel Blogs: Israel’s separation barrier: legitimate in theory, malicious in practice

Michael Aarenau, March 22, 2018

“The Apartheid Wall,” “The Security Fence,” “The Border Wall.” All of these words and more have been used to describe the barrier that separates parts of Israel Proper from the Occupied West Bank. Interestingly enough, how one titles the structure is often a key indicator of how they view the conflict overall.

Anti-Israel activists will typically refer to it as The Apartheid Wall, focusing on the different realities faced by Israelis inside Israel Proper compared to those of the Palestinians living on the other side of the barrier in the West Bank. On the other hand, Israel advocates typically refer to it as The Security Fence, focusing on the defensive purposes of the structure, and underscoring that the vast majority of the structure is not a wall at all, but rather, barbed wire fencing. Some Israel advocates (and even some Israeli diplomats/peace negotiators) refer to it as The Border Wall, noting its purpose in dividing boundaries between a sovereign state and a hostile non-sovereign entity that may one day come to be autonomous in its own right.

I, however, will be using the term “Separation Barrier” throughout this article as it’s more politically neutral and more importantly, it addresses the central themes that I’ll be focusing on throughout this piece. (cont.)

Esser Agaroth (2¢):
Sometimes, I just don’t know why I bother writing responses to opinion pieces like this. The author probably won’t read it. And even if he does, it will just make his eyes roll, and he’ll employ the strategy I myself often employ, which is to ignore and discount responses. Well, in my case, I often ignore responses, which do not include Torah-based sources to support their case.

And although I am sure I should be devoting my time and energy into writing something else, I do believe that it is worth it to point out some details about the “security fence,” or as Aarenau refers to it, the “separation barrier,” which you will not see reported by the mainstream news media.

First off, there are just so many problems with the logic of this piece, I will just hit on a few of my favorites.

But before I do that, I will point out the irony which rarely, if ever, gets picked up by the news media. The left-wing Jews, European non-Jews, and self-identified anarchists may be the primary force in protesting the existence of Aarenau’s “separation barrier.” However, they do so for the wrong reasons.

On opposite side of the barrier battle, the so-called “right wing” supports the wall. But, of course, they do so, for the wrong reasons.

The Torah nationalists — you know, those Jews who are demonized for being right-wing extremists, even though they no longer see things as being right or left — do not want a wall running down the middle of their homeland. Most of them are focusing on other crucial issues, and so they are quite happy to let the anarchists and other assorted activists take one for the team,… so to speak.

The term Apartheid Wall is also quite ironic, in and of itself. Jews get upset at this term, mostly Jews on the so-called “right,” as they are offended that we would be accused of violating anyone’s human rights. They are quick to point out Jewish participation in the anti-Apartheid movement in South Africa, not to mention those of us on college campuses in the 1980’s demonstrating for “Divestment” from South Africa, and boycotting companies doing business there. Sound familiar? (Hint: #BDS)
In spite of these Jews getting it right (this one time), they forget that Jews are supposed to be a separate and distinct people. In an ideal, geulah (redemption) based world, only certain non-Jews will be allowed to reside in Eretz Yisrael (the Land of Israel). But, even these gerei toshav (resident aliens) will have limitations set upon them, including where they may live, and who they may marry, according to halakhah (Torah Law).
Hmm… Sounds like Apartheid to me.

I thought Religious Zionist meant being a part of the geulah (redemption) process, and actively working toward the goal of making Torah a reality in This World, instead of waiting for Mashi’ah to come and do all of the work for us. But the rhetoric of these “Religious Zionist” Jews, indoctrinated from a young age in the Israeli public, “religious” education system, seems much more like the very groups of Haredim* they often like to bash. Sure, they encourage aliyah(Jewish immigration to Israel). But, then that’s it.  (*Haredim are often referred to by the silly term “ultra-orthodox.”)

  • “We cannot ascend Har HaBayith (the Temple Mount).”
  • “We cannot build Beth HaMiqdash (The Temple).”
  • “We cannot bring the Qorban Pesah (the Passover offering).”
  • “[We can annex land, but] ‘Im lo torishu’ of (Num. 33:50-56) does not apply today.”
  • “The mitzvah of ‘lo tehonem’(Deut. 7:2) does not apply to Muslims or Christians.” -even though the Ramba”m(Shu”T 148), the Tur (Hoshen Mishpat 249), the Beth Yosef, and Ba”Ch all say that it does.

Until when? Until Mashi’ah comes? THAT is not even clear when you ask various Religious Zionist groups.

Well, I guess, so far, I haven’t actually gone after the author of this piece himself. Rather, I have gone after the ridiculous logic used by the quasi-right-wing, including those of whom I like to refer to as Religious Zionist Light, Mamlakhtim (diehard State loyalists),…or worse. In fact, Aarenau quite correctly criticizes the separation barrier going through [east] Jerusalem and even correctly criticizes the lack of logic in this. I will go far as to call it hypocrisy. Even though Aarenu himself does not use this word here.