Leave Europe or Get Shot!

An Open Letter to My Sisters and Brothers in France

There is no future for you in France. I appeal to you, come home to Israel.

by

To My Sisters and Brothers in France,

My heart weeps as I read about the ghastly attack on the kosher supermarket in Paris – the tragedy of the murdered, the precarious condition of the wounded, the panic of the hostages. I remember with fondness how you, the Parisian Jewish community, welcomed me when you invited me to speak there three years ago. Your warm smiles and your enthusiastic greetings made me feel like we are indeed one family, the Jewish People.

That visit seems like a lifetime ago. It was “before Toulouse,” where Rabbi Sandler and his two young sons, as well as 8-year-old Miriam Monsonego, were murdered in front of the Jewish school. It was “before the quenelle” anti-Semitic salute swept France. It was “beforethe attack on the Don Isaac Abravanel synagogue,” when thousands of kefiyeh-clad rioters, armed with axes, knives, and iron bars, kept 200 Jewish worshippers trapped in fear for more than two hours. It was before Jewish men had to take off their kippot on the streets of French cities to avoid being assaulted, and Jewish girls had to fear being pepper-sprayed or worse.

As I read about your plight, I am haunted by a story told to me by a family friend in Los Angeles. All four of his grandparents were wealthy, assimilated, upper class German Jews before World War II. Yet the two families suffered very different fates.

His father’s family, the Adlers, owned a factory that employed a thousand workers. In 1936, a year after the Nuremberg Laws were enacted, the German government confiscated the family’s passports. Herr Adler was well connected. He managed to get the passports back. But he understood that, although his ancestors had lived in Germany for centuries, his family was now in danger because they were Jews. He decided they had to flee Germany without delay, but he suspected that the Nazi authorities were keeping a close eye on his movements. So he devised a plan.

For their son Heinz’s Bar Mitzvah, they threw a lavish party in their mansion, complete with a band and hundreds of guests. In the middle of the party, as crowds of people were coming and going, Herr Adler, with his wife, and two sons, slipped out the back door where a trusted employee was waiting in a car with a few suitcases. They had told no one, not even their servants. By the time their disappearance was discovered, they were safely over the Swiss border.

They left behind everything – their fancy automobiles, their mansion, their rich furnishings. They took with them only diamonds sewn into their clothing that they used to bribe their way from Switzerland to England to America. By the time the fugitives arrived in the United States, they had only enough left to buy a chicken farm.

Frau Adler had never washed a dish in her life. Seeing her shoveling chicken manure in the late 1940s, someone asked her if she was bitter about all she had lost. She was abashed by the question. She had her life, and the lives of her husband and children.

Our friend’s other set of grandparents had a very different saga. Even after the Nuremberg Laws and Kristallnacht, they harbored the illusion that Jews in Germany were not in mortal danger. Only in 1939 did they send one of their daughters (who would become our friend’s mother) to England. By the time the rest of the family tried to escape Germany, it was too late. They all were murdered in the Holocaust.

From this story I learned, if you don’t leave “in the middle of the party,” you may not be able to leave at all.

There is no future for the Jews in France, or in the Ukraine, or anywhere in Europe.

Of course, France in 2015 is not Germany in 1939. In today’s France, the anti-Semitism is not state-sponsored. But for too long it has been state-denied. Until last summer’s two synagogue attacks, one French government leader after another denied that the violence against you was anti-Semitism. They claimed it was anti-Zionist. But you, my French sisters and brothers, know that anti-Zionism is thinly veiled anti-Semitism. You know that the French police, as much as they may try, cannot protect you from the rabid hatred of hordes of rioting Muslims, who make up 10% of France’s population. You know that the French police, as much as they may try, cannot protect you from the barbarism of the lone jihadist trained by Al-Qaeda or ISIS.

The truth – the painful truth – is that there is no future for the Jews in France, or in the Ukraine, or anywhere in Europe.

So I appeal to you, my Jewish brothers and sisters, come home to Israel. This is a choice I made 30 years ago. I moved here not because I was fleeing anti-Semitism in my native America. Not because I was brainwashed by the dream that life here is a Zionist utopia. Not because I was unaware that Jews here are also beset by terrorism. I moved here 30 years ago because I was convinced, as the Torah states over and over again, that God wants the Jewish people to live in the Land of Israel.

Of course picking up and moving to Israel is no easy enterprise. It requires courage and resolve to leave everything — your home, your job, your community, for an uncertain future. I know. I left “in the middle of the party.” I was 37 years old and single. I came with no savings and no friends or family in Israel. However, I trusted the Torah’s promise that “God’s eyes are on the Land of Israel from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.” This means that everything that happens here in Israel is under direct Divine supervision. Those of you who have spent time in Israel know this. You feel it. Both our manifold blessings and our difficult challenges in this God-soaked Land come directly from God. As Chaya Levine, who moved to Israel from the United States, said a month after her husband was murdered in the Har Nof terror attack: “We are not victims of circumstance or of terror. We are people of choice.”

The choice of the Jews of Israel is to live with the Jewish people in the Jewish homeland. Please, come join us.

With love and pain, your sister,
Sara Yoheved Rigler

Sara Yoheved Rigler’s new book Heavenprints is available from your local Jewish bookstore.

From Aish.com, here.

How To Stock Up On Supplies

Create a Collapse Supply List Based on the Things They Are Out of in Venezuela

By

The Organic Prepper

May 18, 2016

Sometimes a cautionary tale is more motivating than any amount of positive reinforcement every could be, and the horrifying reports from Venezuela are a perfect example. If you’re paying attention to the things they’ve run out of, you can put together a collapse supply list to see you through the crisis in the event of a breakdown in our own country. The time to prepare is now, well before the situation devolves to one that is similar.

Every day, there is more dire news out of Venezuela.  It’s so bad there that even the mainstream news can no longer ignore that the country is in the midst of an economic collapse. Thousands have turned to looting in order to feed their families. Even their soldiers have been stealing food. Long lines, empty stores, and hospitals without electricity are the norm instead of an unusual occurrence.

It wasn’t always like that. Life before Venezuela devolved into socialism looked a whole lot like our lives do today. In fact, as recently as the 1970s, Venezuela was one of the top 20 richest countries in the world.

So, today, our financial situation certainly looks far brighter than that of Venezuela, but according to a lot of experts, that is a glossy veneer over a crumbling foundation.  Obama calls it “peddling fiction” but the outlook here is not good. Financial statistics are massaged and many of them hidden to keep us in the dark. Jobs are nearly impossible to find, and heaven helps you if you lose one.  The price of living is going up, but financial solvency is going down as personal debt outstrips the ability to pay it. Pension funds that people rely on are going bankrupt, one after another.

It really isn’t a question of if, but when.

Economic collapse starts out as “going through hard times.” It isn’t mobbed on the streets or regression to Third World status initially. Before it ever gets to that, you have time to prepare. So let’s get started.

Pay Attention to What They’re Out of in Venezuela

The best way to make your supply list is to figure out what they’ve run out of in Venezuela.  Below, you can find a list of the things they do not have, along with suggestions for stocking up or educating yourself.

If we never have a problem in the United States, you can rest assured that none of these supplies are crazy things you’ll never use. Most are the most basic of necessities and you’ll find it’s very convenient to be able to “shop in your pantry” whenever you need something. As well, learning to be more self-reliant is a great way to save money, live simpler, and often be healthier than those who depend on the store to meet all their needs.

Food

The first thing we saw as Venezuela began going down was that the government cracked down on the ability to stock up on food.  They instituted a fingerprint registry for buying food, made prepping illegal, and began to dole out supplies. The government took over most of the stores, then forced farmers to hand over the majority of their crops at the price the government chose to pay. These crops were then marked up extravagantly and sold to people who suddenly found they could no longer afford to eat. Eventually, the government announced that the country was out of food and that if people wanted to eat, they’d better grow their own.

Supplies mentioned in articles that people have stolen and waited all day in line for are milk, bread, chicken, rice, and flour.

Here’s a list of food and related supplies you should stock up on.

  • Long-term emergency food buckets: I never used to stockpile these because most of them have horrible ingredients. However, Preppers Market products are non-GMO, have few additives, and even have gluten free buckets. They’re packed in square containers for easy stacking at the back of your closet, and each container is a month of food for one person. You can build up quite a stockpile this way that doesn’t take up a lot of space. As well, it’s packaged to last for up to 30 years, so you can get it and forget it. (ORDER HERE)
  • Build a pantry: Purchase things on sale to build your first line of defense against food instability. The pantry you build today can help you weather difficult times in the future. Stock up on shelf-stable versions of the things you generally consume in your family. You want to create at least a couple of months’ supply where you can supplement what you get at the store with what you have in your kitchen cupboards. Check out my book The Pantry Primer: A Prepper’s Guide to Whole Food on a  Half Price Budget for details on building your short-term supply. Be sure to focus on pantry staples (here’s a list) so that you can combine ingredients for delicious, from scratch meals.
  • Gardening Supplies: Once everyone wants them, the price will skyrocket. Stock up now on seeds, tools, compost bins, soil amendments, and testing kits.These books can help for those who want to start a small-scale homestead:

Also, check out this article: The Self-Reliance Manifesto: More Than 300 Resources to Guide You on the Path to Radical Freedom

  • Ways to Garden in an Apartment: I frequently suggest that people take more steps toward self-reliance and there are always folks who say, “That’s fine for you – you live in the country. I can’t grow food in an apartment.”  Well, you’d better figure out how to grow food in an apartment, because I can tell you quite clearly, President Maduro’s suggestion that people grow food didn’t have the caveat of “if it’s convenient and you live in the country.”  I understand that you can’t raise all of your food in a tiny apartment with a postage stamp balcony. But you can raise something. Lettuce for salads, sprouts that can be used in many different ways, or if you’re really industrious you could try aquaponics and/or rabbits. Everything you do produce can help to supplement the meager rations you may be forced to live on. These books and supplies can help:
  • Milk: One of the first things people run out of is milk. If your family regularly drinks milk, or if you add it to your coffee, the lack of it is something that will be immediately evident and make them feel deprived in an already unsettling situation. You can freeze milk when it’s on sale, and you should also stock up on shelf-stable dry milk. That’s the best way to have it on hand for the long haul. (Order Hormone-free dry milk HERE)

Hygiene Items

It’s important to be able to remain clean if you want to stay healthy. Following are some of the supplies that have been in shortage in Venezuela for months now.

  • Soap
  • Laundry detergent
  • Toilet paper
  • Diapers
  • Feminine hygiene supplies

For some of these items, you can learn to make them yourself. For others, you can make or purchase reusable versions.

Public Utilities

The country is rationing electricity and has been for quite some time. Currently, there are mandatory rolling blackouts. This is affecting everyday life, in that food can’t be kept in freezers, they are dealing with the hot humid weather without air conditioning, and they must use alternative lighting.

Stock up now on ways to deal with those concerns. These articles, books, and supplies can help you make your plan.

Medicine and Medical Care

Your heart will break into a million pieces, but this article from the front page of the NY Times (hat tip to Mary) tells you the real nitty gritty of the situation in Venezuela. A hospital is just as likely to kill you as make you better now, due to terrible sanitation and a lack of supplies.

They’re out of antibiotics, cancer medicine, and equipment. They can’t do dialysis or other life-saving treatments. They have no running water so they’re doing operations on a table still covered with blood from the last patient. The rolling blackouts mean that every single day, babies and other patients dependent on respirators are dying. Doctors are making lists of supplies for the families of patients go out and attempt to procure from the black market.

It is essential that you keep some supplies on hand and that you begin learning all you can about survival medicine.

The best book for that is Cat Ellis’s book, Prepper’s Natural Medicine. It isn’t dependent on expensive, difficult-to-find supplies, but on things you can find in your area. This book is something you absolutely must add to your stockpile. If you can treat most ailments at home and stay away from hospitals, you’re far more likely to survive in a scenario like the one described above. A trip to the hospital in that situation is probably more likely to result in your death than avoiding it altogether.

  • Stock up on over the counter medications for pain relief, allergies, colds, diarrhea, and inflammation.
  • Some people purchase veterinary antibiotics like this.
  • Create a kit of wound treatment supplies to help prevent infection. (This fantastic article can help you decide what you need.)
  • I’m a huge fan of Vetricyn. We spray it on human wounds as well as animal ones.
  • Besides Cat’s book of natural medicine, look into adding other guides to your stash. I like the field manuals from the US military, which are available on Amazon.

Reprinted with permission from The Organic Prepper.

From Lewrockwell.com, here.

Come, Let’s Renew the Kingdom!

Could Israel have a king?

BY ON

Elections have come and gone, yet there always remains talk of changing the electoral system in Israel. So what about the monarchy proposed in the Torah- is it relevant today? And how would we implement it given that we no longer have prophecy? Could we hold elections for a king?

During election season and after, between all the politics, there often arises the question of changing the electoral system in Israel. One or more parties promise to change the system in some way while other parties propose more but different changes. Often times these proposals are positive (assuming they’re not just empty rhetoric), yet all this talk should raise the question of what is the preferred governing method according to the Torah. It’s time we discuss not only who we should vote for within the current system, but also to think about a new system entirely.

Government and its power is a very large topic in Halacha, but for now let’s focus on the idea of a king. Instinctively we assume that the idea of monarchy belongs in the distant past. In the past we had kings but for thousands of years talk about kings has been relegated to stories and legends. Overcoming this presupposition is crucial in order to have a serious discussion about a king as a practical alternative.

Understanding the difference

The idea of a king brings many questions with it, most of which are based on a comparison with historical monarchies of the world both from the past and present (yes, even today there exist monarchies in many Western countries such as England).

This comparison is not necessarily wrong and the Gemara clearly states, “A person should rush to greet Jewish kings. And not only Jewish kings, but even non-Jewish kings, for if he merits to see them he will understand the difference between Jewish kings and non-Jewish kings” (Brachot 9B). This statement has clear halachic implications (as explained in the Gemara itself), but the general point is that we are obligated to study the idea of monarchy and government (“political science”) through comparisons to the non-Jewish world.

With that knowledge, we would like to explore the question of how to choose a king and more precisely the connection between prophecy and appointing a Jewish king. This question has clear implications to our modern world. While it is possible that a prophet could arrive tomorrow, in our current situation where we don’t have prophecy, the question arises of if it is even possible to appoint a king and what are the limitations of such a king.

Who chooses a king

The idea of a king is first mentioned in the Torah “When you arrive in the land… and you say ‘I will place a king above myself as all the nations around me.’ You will surely place a king whom G-d has chosen, from among your brothers you shall choose a king. You shall surely not appoint a foreigner, who is not your brother, over you” (Deuteronomy 17). The Torah speaks about a king “chosen by G-d,” yet how are we supposed to know who G-d has chosen? The Rabbis explain “chosen by G-d through his prophet.” But what happens if we don’t have a prophet to tell us?

The answer is in the words of the Ramban. At first, the Ramban interprets the words “chosen by G-d” to mean selection by a prophet, yet immediately he raises difficulties with this. “If that is the case [the prophet is selected by G-d through a prophet]then why do we need the warning ‘do not place a foreigner over you’? G-d will simply not select a foreigner.” In other words, why are we commanded not to select a foreigner if the entire process is out of our hands and only comes from G-d through a prophet? The Ramban continues, “Our Rabbis understood that there is a deeper explanation. You shall surely appoint a king chosen by G-d, if you can do so, i.e. if G-d has told you through a prophet, but either way you can never place a foreigner over you.” In other words the Torah is describing two different ways of appointing a king. The first is a clear appointment by G-d through a prophet and the second is if there is no prophet, for us to choose. For the case where we are given the power of choosing, we are warned who we are forbidden from selecting.

According to the Ramban, a king chosen by the people (if there is no prophecy) has the same power as any other king. The Ramban himself counts “appointing a king” as a mitzvah, and we are obligated to perform this commandment even without a prophet.

The choice is in our hands

In simple terms, it is clear that there is a strong preference for G-d to choose the king as was done in the case of King Saul and King David, who were chosen by the prophet Samuel. In such a situation we are exempt from the difficulty of selecting a king and instead the optimal choice is revealed to us.

However there is also an advantage in the case where there is no prophet. One can imagine the representatives of the people gathering and struggling together to decide who should lead the nation and pave the way forward. In such a reality we are forced to align our own will with the will of G-d and ‘guess’ who G-d would have us select. In truth, this is a Jew’s struggle in his daily life- to align our own will with the will of G-d.

If the Ramban’s description is our current reality, then our disadvantage is really to our benefit. Specifcally because we do not have a prophet are we able to reach closer to G-d by aligning our will with His and thus come closer to the Divine.

From Hakol Hayehudi, here.

משענת קנה לבית ישראל

“ידידתנו ובעלת בריתנו” – ארצות הברית

אין מנהיג ישראלי שלא השמיע אמירה זו בתורו, כחלק בלתי נפרד מהתבטאויות הנאותות הדיפלומטית – האומנם כך?

דר’ הנרי קיסינג’ר, יהודי מוכשר וחריף שכל, יליד גרמניה, שימש כיועץ בכיר הלוחש לאזנם של הנשיאים קנדי, ג’ונסון, ניקסון ופורד. קיסינג’ר היה גם ראש המועצה לביטחון לאומי ושר החוץ של ארצות הברית. לקיסינג’ר מיוחסת האמרה: “לאמריקה אין ידידים או אויבים, אלא אינטרסים בלבד” “America has no permanent friends or enemies, only interests”. (אין לו זכות יוצרים על האמרה שצוטטה כבר לפניו).

פרופ’ עזרה זהר הוציא לאור ספר בשנת 1994 – “פילגש במזרח התיכון” – על יחסי ישראל ארצות הברית. לקראת יום העצמאות נצטט מספרו (ציטוט מקוצר וערוך) את מערך היחסים לפני ואחרי שנת הקמת המדינה, 1948.

פרנקלין רוזוולנט כיהן כנשיא ארצות הברית ממש במקביל לעידן הנאצי בגרמניה (1932 – 1945). אין ספק שהנשיא וממשלו ידעו על השתלשלות ההתעללות ביהודים מליל הבדולח ועד ל”פיתרון הסופי” בשנות הארבעים. הנשיא ג’ימי קרטר העניק שי למנחם בגין, תצלומי אוויר מפורטים של מחנה אושוויץ. האמריקאים נמנעו מ”לבזבז” פצצות על האטת מכונת השמדת היהודים בטיעונים שונים והמשיכו בקו ש”היהודים לא מעניינים”. ערב המלחמה הורה הנשיא רוזוולנט להחזיר לאירופה את אוניית הפליטים היהודיים, “סנט לואיס” שהגיעה לחופי אמריקה, ארץ המהגרים. חלקם נספו בשואה.

עם מותו של רוזוולט ב-1945 הושבע הארי טרומן כנשיא עד 1952. משרד החוץ האמריקאי (“מחלקת המדינה”) מאמצת כמעט באופן עקבי, מאז ועד לימינו, עמדה פרו-ערבית. עמדת משרד החוץ שהתנגד להקמת מדינה יהודית, ולאחר הקמתה דרש להצר את שטחה – השפיע רבות על עמדתו הפתלתלה של טרומן.

כל ראשי הצבא האמריקאי אמרו לטרומן שליישוב היהודי בארץ ישראל אין כל סיכוי מול מדינות ערב ותמיכה בהקמת מדינה יהודית עלולה לסבך את ארה”ב. טרומן הודיע במכתב לרבנים אמריקאים (ערב הבחירות ב-1946) על תמיכתו בחלוקת ארץ ישראל ובעליית פליטים יהודיים לארץ ישראל, אך מיד הודיע לבריטים שארצות הברית לא תהיה מעורבת מעשית.

בכ”ט בנובמבר 1947 הצביעה ארצות הברית בעד תוכנית החלוקה, אבל מיד לאחריה הטילה אמברגו על משלוח נשק “למזרח התיכון”. זהו הצעד החמור ביותר שאמריקה נקטה אי פעם נגד ישראל. “המזרח התיכון” זה ישראל! כי לכל מדינות ערב שסבבו את ישראל היו צבאות סדירים מצוידים בטנקים ובמטוסים. לרשות ה”הגנה” היהודית עמדו בעיקר רובים, חלקם מיושנים. כל זאת על רקע הערכות אמריקאיות שצפויה “שואה” שנייה בארץ ישראל. נראה שמשרד החוץ האמריקאי פעל כדי שתחזיותיו על “תבוסת היהודים” יתבררו כנכונות.

בתחילת 1948, בעיצומו של המאבק מול ערביי ארץ ישראל, לחץ משרד החוץ האמריקאי שהמנדט הבריטי יוחלף במנדט של האו”ם במקום חלוקה לשתי מדינות. טרומן סרב בתוקף להיפגש עם נשיא ההסתדרות הציונית פרופ’ חיים וייצמן. טרומן נאות לפגישה רק לאחר שידידו ושותפו לשעבר לעסקים, יהודי בשם אדי יעקובסון, שכנע אותו. הפגישה החטופה (וייצמן הוכנס לבית הלבן מכניסה עורפית) לא הועילה וארצות הברית בעצם נסוגה מתמיכתה בתוכנית החלוקה ובהקמת מדינה יהודית ואף הביאה הצעת החלטה ברוח זו למועצת הביטחון של האו”ם. עקב התנגדות ברית המועצות ומדינות אחרות ההצעה לא הועלתה להצבעה.   

עד למאי 1948 הופעל לחץ אמריקאי כבד על בן גוריון, גם באמצעות ארגונים יהודים אמריקאים, להימנע מהכרזה על הקמת המדינה. אליהו אילת שהיה נציג הסוכנות היהודית בוושינגטון, ולאחר מכן השגריר הישראלי הראשון בארה”ב, כתב בספרו שבכירי הממשל האמריקאי היו האיום החמור ביותר למפעל הציוני וראו בהקמת מדינה יהודית, בחלק קטן של ארץ ישראל, סכנה לאינטרסים האמריקאים.

הניצחונות הצבאיים של ישראל בשלבים הראשונים של מלחמת השחרור יחד עם שנת הבחירות באמריקה שכנעו את טרומן להכיר במדינת ישראל שהוכרזה בהא באייר. גם הכרה זו הייתה מסויגת: ארצות הברית הכירה במדינת ישראל דה-פקטו אך לא דה-יורה. הכרה כעובדה קיימת אך לא מכוח זכות וחוק.

אליהו אילת כותב שאמריקה שלאחר מלחמת העולם השנייה יכלה בקלות למנוע את פלישת צבאות ערב לישראל ב-15 למאי, פלישה שהייתה צפויה. הערבים קיבלו חיזוק מצעדי האמברגו וההיסוס האמריקאי להכיר במדינת ישראל.

המשך לקרוא…

מאתר קו ישר, כאן.

The Indirect Compliment Bad Pays Good

Rav Sternbuch recently told a secular questioner that the current situation in this country with all the anti-religious legislation is reminiscent of Mordechai who refused to bow down to Homon. On the face of it, it seems difficult to understand why Homon paid any attention to this act on the part of a “mad” tzaddik of a Jew. Why should Homon have cared about it so much that this failure by Mordechai to honor Homon created a desire inside him to annihilate the entire nation of which Mordechai was a representative? The answer is that deep inside Homon knew that Mordechai represented the truth, and he was afraid of it.

Similarly, deep down the secular government knows that we represent the truth, and they cannot abide it. Their reaction is to attempt to cow us into submission, but, with the help of Heaven, they will not succeed.

  • From Rabbi Sternbuch’s English Parsha sheet