Rabbi Furman

He certainly was not the typical Rabbi you would expect. In fact everythng about him was different but that did not seem to bother him one bit. The Rabbi of the Tekoa settlement passed away yesterday after along battle with Cancer. He met with Israels greatest enemies and no one seemed to understand what he really stood for, He claimed he was trying to solve the unsolvable Arab Israeli conflict. Truth be said that though trying very hard he did not really make any inroads in this regard though his tenacity and conviction seemed out of the ordinary. Even those who thought him eccentric were deeply hurt and sad on his passing, He loved the land of Israel, of that there is no doubt and tried to make the Jewish world and entire world a better place to live. Few have those lofty goals as their moral compass. Thought the writer of these words did not agree with his tactics one can certainly agree with his goals. That should be inspiration enough for most.

Obamas visit

We are told that Obama is planning to create a new framework for Palestinian statehood by 2014. That being on the stated purposes of his visit to Israel in a few weeks. It is the theater of the absurd to thnk that this is till possible to do. According to some reports Obama will demand a set timetable for Israeli withdrawals from Judea and Samaria as part of this plan. This possibility is so absurd that it boggles the mind. There is zero chance that any Jewish settlement will be dismantled in the near future anywhere in Judea and Samaria for a few simple reasons. 1. The Prime Minister has said repeatedly that he will not do any more unilateral withdrawls without a clear security based peace treaty 2. The Arab side refuses to comply with any of the major conditions The Prime ?inister has put forth for a final staus agreement 3. Israels new government will surely be against any unilateral withdrawal so even if Netanyahu changed his mind it would be politically impossible. It just can't happen. What happens if Obama uses the release of Jonathan Pollard as a bribe to Netanyahu to do something?? Interesting question indeed.

10k in Jerusalem

Its scary to hear stories of people your age who have undergone heart procedures like angio plasties or bypasses or even worse. If these people had thought ahead and lived a healthier lifestyle they could have avoided those life threatening medical interventional episodes. Excersise is the single most important thing that one can do to avoid medical compalictions. Now to the 10k run. There were 8,000 people who decided to sign up to run 10k in Jerusalem 2 days ago. It was not a easy course but then undergoing a triple bypass or worse is much more difficult. After training for many months my partner and I started intensive training about 6 weeks before the race to raise stamina and endurance. After that we thought we were ready. The morning of the race I was jumpy and nervous. I was worried about the difficulty I often have in these races and finishing in a respective time. The enormous crowds did not help the cause as we needed to wait around before they let us go. The first three Kilometers may have been the most difficult as your body warms up but even after that the steep hills never let you get into a rythym that you need and want. The last hill before the finish was very difficult and made it difficult to end with a burst of speed. Final time 1:06:31 Try to do better next year. Keep moving and keep healthy.

Here we go again

President Obama is on his way. Expect calamity and much violence to come with him. Every time an American president comes here there is death and destruction. It will most likely be the same again. High expectations to solve an impossible problem will lead to violence and more misery. The Prime Minister certainly has his hands full will forming a government and deciding when to attack Iran and convincing the United States to do so. The fact that a seemingly anti-Iran attack defense secratary has just been sworn in does not make Bibis job any easier. If we are lucky Obama will chnage his mind. Not likely.

The Event

Many Israeli supporters are nervous over the upcoming attempt in September to announce a Palestinian state at the United Nations. As negotiations with Israel have broken down the Arab side seeks unilateral recognition of a state in all of Judea and Samaria that came under Israeli military control in the 1967 six day war.

There is little to worry about.
The entrance of Palestine to the league of nations at the UN will have little effect on the ground, if any at all. Those who believed that negotiations could bridge or solve any problems may be disappointed. Those who never believed in the viability of such talks are not surprised.
It’s a paper tiger this threat of the Palestinians and no more.
What might happen the day after the announcement?

1. All Palestinian police cars will be off limits on Roads in Judea and Samaria
2. Serious rioting in different places in Judea and Samaria
3. Israel starting the process of annexation of large parts of Judea and Samaria
It’s only a few months away

Should be interesting.

Mark Madoff

How could he?

How could a man even in the greatest of distress leave his 2 year old son alone and deny him a father?

What kind of a selfish monster could do that to a little boy. Even most animals will never leave their young till they can fend for themselves. He had an upbringing that looked at money as the ultimate goal, people were not important. His father the most famous swindler that may of ever walked the face of the earth destroyed peoples lives. This is all true but the father may have had a plan to extricate himself from his giant mess but things just got out of hand. What the son did was worse than the father! The son knowingly abandoned his baby son and as the coward that he was took his own life.
He of course could not and should not be blamed for the deeds of his father but he certainly can be blamed for being so selfish to his own children.
The Bernie Madoff story started out a little funny in the beginning then turned sour. It then became a nightmare and has turned into a monstrous tragedy.

Bernie destroyed his own life even more than he destroyed other lives.

For some it’s really all about money.

Argentina and Palestine

Now there is nothing to worry about. Argentina has announced it recognizes Palestine as an independent country ( Brazil did this a few days ago ) based on the pre 1967 borders.
How wonderful!

This laconic seemingly simple statement has more meaning that one may think. It ostensibly says that Israel needs to unilaterally expel 500,000 people from different parts of Israel including about 200,000 form its own capital Jerusalem. This of course cannot and will not happen under any constellation no matter what. That being the case what does this really mean?

The fact that this third world country with a very deep history of hatred to Jews and deep- history of embracing Nazis after WW2 is practicing Jew hatred again. The fact that the foreign minister of Argentina is Jewish is completely irrelevant to all this. He is a fig leaf as Argentina’s government is backing the slow destruction of the Jewish state.

As I have visited in the country of late and see the immense poverty there it is astounding that this is what is on the agenda of the Argentinean government. Israel bashing.

This backword corrupt country who could not even defend itself when attacked by Britain a few years ago is a joke. A bad joke.

Israel should reassess its diplomatic ties with this third world country.