Friendly Foes: The Subtle Missionary

In our war with the Arabs, the Jewish Achilles heel is personified by the neurotic need for gentile friends, and the desire to create such friends where there are none. In a world where too many Jews ignore the timeless truism, “Esau hates Jacob” we should ask ourselves the following: Who are our true gentile friends? Perhaps a better question would be: can Jews truly have friends whose views are contrary to Torah and the ideal values of a Jewish Israel? All too often, Jew label others as friends, even when these same groups have ulterior motives. Here are a few of my thoughts on such friendships and how to discern the validity of a friendship.

#1: True friends don’t have agendas. That’s the litmus test to determine if one has a true friend. True friends gain and benefit from the friendship itself, and require nothing in return. The friendship isn’t a forum for their own causes and agendas, or a platform to define their vision for Israel on our behalf. Nor is it a vehicle to profit and fund-raise for themselves. If a supposed friend is creating a false association to perpetuate an agenda, he may not be a friend. Not every person has the most nefarious motives. Oftentimes self-interest alone defines the supposed friend. An important note. A true friend has no interest in molding you, patronizing you, or defining you.

#2: Friends don’t have ulterior motives. Certainly not theological ones. The Jew has few if any real gentile friends in the world. I say few because there are gentiles who support Israel without dark motives. Yet the evangelical is not one of them, despite the millions of dollars pouring into Israel, and the sea of Christian pilgrims happy to take a dip in the Yardenit. The definition of evangelism precludes this possibility. One who desires to see Jews embrace Jesus can never be a friend. The Jew in Israel thinks he has a friend in the evangelical. The evangelical would not give a shekel (or a half shekel!) to Israel if his shekel didn’t earn him entrance. The millions thrown at Israel come with a heavy price. A foothold in the land. Without the latter, they would abandon Israel for other targets. If Israel’s missionary laws had any teeth, the evangelicals would love us from afar.

#3: True friends don’t associate with missionaries. Friends don’t align with those who openly declare their intent to convert Jews. And friends don’t ignore a telling honest website because of a smiling face, and the pastor’s ability to discuss the NBA, or a shared appreciation for American conservative values. The first and second degrees of separation are telling enough. “Woe to the wicked, woe to his neighbor.” Associations define us. If your parve evangelical friend has ties to missionaries, it means you didn’t heed Rule #2.

This should be obvious to any self-respecting person, but the lure of cash and benefits is enticing for many Jews. True friends aren’t interested in land deals or real estate in Israel. True friends don’t desire Israeli citizenship or long-term visas. Certainly, they have no interest in building missionary centers in Jerusalem. Those Jews who think evangelicals are our friends betray their ignorance of what it means to be evangelical.

The most dangerous missionaries in Israel today are not the coarse street missionaries (dangerous as they are) whose aggressive tactics are apparent. The clever ones are far more dangerous because they have a foothold and respectability. They are in our communities. They are even in our vineyards praising “The Father.” Torah Jews need to open their eyes. Stop fixating solely on the lightning rod of “Jews for Jesus.” The subtle ones are more dangerous.

We have enough problems in Israel with a skewed law of return, and the complicated problem of proper conversions. Our missionary laws are toothless, and yet they are the only tools to stop the predators. The spiritual dangers facing Am Yisrael threaten our spiritual integrity, and ultimately our physical survival as a Divine consequence, as surely as the Arab Amalekites who want to slaughter us.

The evangelicals have gotten Rabbis to declare that their presence is a sign of prophetic fulfillment. Social Media is inundated with more than a few Jews defending “Christian Zionists” and accusing those of us who oppose them as hateful, liars. The evangelical has learned that he can get away with murder if he tempers his word and his exuberance, and is quick to remove the occasional problematic video that an overzealous pilgrim posted. If he learns to constantly change the lingo for more parve semantics, he can go very far. Don’t say Jesus. Say “the Father”. Don’t talk about the new covenant. Say “Restoration".

The evidence is all around us in Israel, in every park with a CUFI plaque, and every interfaith-conference and prayer service comprised of Christian and Jew. Today, there are evangelicals living in Israel in a prominent Torah community, all with the collusion of religious Jews & rabbis. The few Jews who opposed them were cast out of the community. The hope of 2000 years? This is a veritable nightmare.

And the repercussions of these harmful unions are not monolithic. Those of us who are privy to the problem recognize that the infection will spread in unforeseeable ways. The day will come when Israel gives hundreds and perhaps thousands of evangelicals’ honorary citizenship as righteous gentiles. Jews will shake their heads and kvetch when the issue becomes a problem. They will say “you cannot do anything today; they should have done something then”. Today is tomorrow’s “then”. 

There is still time to rectify the mistakes. However, we need to get aggressive in exposing this multifaceted threat. As long as Likud leadership cozies up to evangelical money, then we have no recourse via the government. And as long as kipah wearing Jews shill for these predators, and Rabbis are blinded by a modern form of false messianism, things will only get worse.

The Heartland of Israel is riddled with missionaries who want Israel to retain every inch of our liberated land for a theological agenda. Jews who turns to Esau to fight Ishmael, has simply exchanged the armed crusader for the olive branch of evangelism. This is no victory.

I’ve heard more than a few of these Jewish enablers denying the danger of these groups, and assuring the public that neither they nor these groups have any association with missionaries. A proper search of the web reveals that these same individuals have on many occasion been caught on camera with overt missionaries. And their “parve” friends aren’t shy either when it comes to associating with the crudest missionaries. These self-appointed Jewish leaders recognize no boundaries. In truth, they are a byproduct of the collective rabbinic silence and reticence to discuss what they often bemoan in private.

In truth, the Jew has few genuine friends who come in the name of religion. The Bnai Noach represent the lone gentile community that can genuinely call himself a friend, since they desire the sanctification of Hashem’s name in the framework of the Torah. Of course, gentiles identified as Bnai Noach are hard to find, small in number, and they aren’t as well financed.

Choosing the hand of Esau to defeat the sword of Ishmael is suicide. The scourge of missionizing both classical and clever, and Heaven forbid the eventual likelihood of Jewish apostasy, idolatrous admixtures, deceptive conversions, and even Christian Jewish unions resulting from such poison alliances, will ensure Divine punishment. In the war with Amalek, we don’t arm ourselves with idolatry.

If we ignore the problem, and Jews today are ignoring the problem, our children and grandchildren will pay the price. And it will be a heavy price for the Jewish people. If we learn anything from the zealous Maccabees, it is that we Jews never traded Jewish blood for the Jewish soul. We fight for the latter with our dying breathe.

#withfriendssuchasthese

The New Peace Movements

My reflections on a pernicious movement coming from the camps of Jewish indigenous rights activists.
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We Are Jewish, Not Jebusite.

A reminder for those who may have forgotten. Or for those who never knew. A few general ruminations to identify the self-serving hasbara snake-oil salesmen.

Blogging about "Jewish indigenous rights" is the domain of today's career social media jackass, both jewish and gentile. An expression of Irrelevant, irritating braying, which detracts from logical discussions Jews should be having, and creates false proofs for our Jewish reason for being. One who has zero knowledge of Torah or Jewish history should stick with issues he understands. One who does not, should shut his mouth and mind his own damn business. Seriously. HIS business, is not OUR business.

One example of this perversity is the chutzpadik tendency of outsiders to tell good dedicated Jews how they need to "find their true identity". These ugly people denigrate the long rich history of Ashkenazic Jewry which perpetuated some of the most vital, creative expressions of Judaism throughout our continuing exile, and enriched Judaism with a universe of Torah. To the Jewish frauds who run with this diseased way of thinking, I encourage them to study Torah and keep their naked ignorance to themselves. To the outsiders I say: find your own tortured identity (such as it is), and clean up your own dysfunctional house. Start with the withered tree out front, and ask it the critical questions.

There are real issues out there affecting Jews, both in Israel and the diaspora. In Israel, we have many physical and spiritual threats, and we don’t need those who align with missionaries and are anti-Torah to lecture us. Our own repressive government is more concerned with looking decent and appeasing anti-Semites than protecting Jews. While Arabs prey on Jews with knives, guns, stones, and explosives, our "Jewish government" continues the systematic abuse and incarceration of innocent Jews. Even an heroic soldier is punished for doing his job and destroying an Arab terrorist. These are the things that should inspire outrage. Not folk biology and pseudo-history.

In truth, the attempt to make Jews appear more exotic or native by presenting foolish arguments makes no sense to anyone with his head screwed on straight. It is a distracting ploy for hasbara shills to exploit foolish Jews. And it does nothing to help Israel. On the contrary, it merely lowers the collective Jewish I.Q. And we need every brain-cell at our disposal.

G-d gave the land of Israel to B'nai Yisrael. If you like this, or agree with this concept, good for you. Stick with it. If you don't, that's too damn bad. Go start your own indigenous country comprised of the descendants of savages who ate one another, but were displeased (hypocrites!) when the gun crushed their native forms of violence. Or go to a comic book convention and indulge in other fantasies. Or get a decent job and settle down. Find a good woman to love and live with. But mind your own damn business.

#wearenotaztecsnorincasnorcommanches

Reflections on Concerts

After reading about the recent concert in support of our imprisoned hero soldier Azariya, a few thoughts came to mind. 

While it is always commendable when Jews take public measures to highlight injustice against fellow Jews, I want to point out the following. Concerts will not help free this heroic innocent soldier, nor will any "civil" protests, which mean nothing to the government. The system is notorious for crushing all efforts which use the system to bring genuine change.

Nothing short of mass civil obedience will ever make a dent in the government's armor. When society wakes up and rises in unprecedented numbers to take to the streets, only then will we see the possibility for change. I thoroughly disagree with those well-intended people who view the recent concert as a new page in Jewish indignation against government corruption. It is a knee-jerk reaction to something which affected many people. It has happened before and will happen again. 

On a similar note, articles and video posts are not enough to bring about change. No matter how provocative, powerful, or reasoned. They may cause people to think and hopefully to act. They may inspire people. But nothing short of authentic Jewish activism, a societal grassroots effort on the ground, are the real means for rehabilitating the sickness which pervades our government, and our collective Jewish soul. 

A friend of mine agreed with my recent video which addressed the "sick nature" of the governments of Israel, but added that the Nation is also sick because it tolerates the abuse. I agree wholeheartedly. We are a sick and beaten people. My friend and fellow blogger at "Esser Agaroth" uses the psychological term "learned helplessness" to describe what is going on in Israel.

While the morally defective leftist editor of "Walla News", Roy Baharir Perl can call for Arab terrorists to attack a Jewish concert without consequence, Bibi and his cadre of traitors are torturing and imprisoning innocent Jews, and seeking our supposed "Jewish terrorists cells" which exist in their minds alone. If Perl was deemed a right-winger, he would be hanging upside down at this very moment while Shabbak capos pummeled him in his privates and vitals. A normal society would throw this judenrat to the sharks, or better yet, hang him for treason.

The real question remains: How precisely to coordinate and implement the proper framework for causing genuine change in Israel? This is the discussion we need to start having among ourselves. The answer will not be found in the sudden rise of concerts or the respectable efforts of social media activism,which may be important tools in disseminating the message but are insufficient themselves. In truth, this is the ultimate goal of this blog. To graduate to a grassroots movement engaging in more than intellectual ruminations. To become something more. 

Feel free to share your views. but do so with reason and discretion. Don't play into the hands of Israel's Bolshevik "Big Brother".

Chag Sameach. 

Hasbarite Syndrome (Guest Post) by Moshe Schwartz

In this guest post for "The Judean Hammer" Blog, my friend Moshe Schwartz shares his thoughts on the phenomenon he has coined as the "Hasbarite Syndrome". Click the link: https://www.facebook.com/notes/moshe-schwartz/hasbarite-syndrome/10154181330628534 and find out more about this pernicious malady.

Make sure you don't have the symptoms, and that you don't associate or support those who do. At the end of the day, most hasbarites are not interested in Zionist sweet potatoes.

He Picked The Wrong Jew To Murder

Torah demands that we slay human monsters who have no regard for humanity, not subdue or neutralize them. The notion of detaining a murderer and then releasing him in a few Ramadan cycles to prey again is beyond perverse. The Jewish response to total corruption is a bullet in the head, and the most basic fundamentals of Judaism confirm this. Judaism does more than assure the right of self-defense. Halacha requires that we pre-emptively strike before an attack.

Unfortunately, Israel’s politicians and the ever-growing “hasbara machine” are always touting Israel’s willingness and commitment to endanger Jewish soldiers to protect Arab civilians. We will never have a total count of how many precious Jews were lost to this mad philosophy. The same Judaism that abhors misplaced violence, demands and celebrates the application of proper use of force against the enemy.

The Arabs continue to prey on Israel’s Achilles heel, knowing that they can get away with an extraordinary tally of murdered Jews without a proper Jewish response. And even when Israel’s thresh-hold is reached, they know that any response will be muted. After all, they understand that even armed Jews are afraid to use their guns, lest the government imprison them for over-reacting. Even when assaulted, many armed Israelis have shown a reluctance to pull their weapon. 

And in urban areas, the timing is terrible. An Arab armed with a kitchen knife will always have the element of surprise over an armed citizen or soldier. The famous experiments are tragically replicated in Israel, where highly trained security personnel are gutted by Arabs with knives, who close the distance before they can unholster their weapons and fire. And far from the reputation abroad of Israel being a “gun friendly” country, anyone who lives here knows that the laws are extremely draconian. Only the elitists and an ever shrinking populace can legally obtain guns today, and those who are given guns are given a small leash.

Fortunately, not everyone in Israel is affected by these corrupt notions of self-restraint. Consider the heroic action of Yonatan Azarihab last week, a true Jewish warrior, with a beard and kipah to boot. An Arab Amalekite stabs him in the neck and leaves him for dead. On this occasion, the terrorist chose the wrong target. This beautiful Jew reacts in a most extraordinary fashion. He pulls the knife out of his neck, against the most rudimentary basics of street survival (for fear of bleeding out). He proceeds to chase down his would-be-murderer and kills the Amalekite beast with his own weapon.

Purim approaches, and the mandatory reading of Parshat Zachor will compel us to revisit and our eternal war with our age old enemy, Amalek. It would behoove us to celebrate and internalize the actions of great Jewish gibborim (warriors) past and present who dealt with Amalek appropriately.

I only wish I could have seen the Arab’s face when his “victim” rose up and slaughtered him before sending his evil soul to face the true judgment. Clearly, this holy Jewish warrior is obviously made from something else. The kind of stuff that Samson was made of. A normal country would hire him and have him share his internal fire with young soldiers in training. A portrait of righteous zealousness and unrelenting ferocity (common sense and self-preservation be dammed) against our accursed enemies, may they all be destroyed. If more Jews had this tzaddik's DNA, the Arabs would run screaming towards the Mediterranean.

Yonatan is a new Jewish hero for our times, and his actions should inspire more opportunities for gevurah. May he live and be well. And may his mesirut nefesh be the catalysts to reawaken the fire of King David.

A few thoughts in response to “‘Response to “Jews are NOT indigenous’”

The Judean Hammer Commentary: From the incomparable Nathaniel Feingold.

"Avraham and his ancestors originated beyond the Euphrates River in the lands of Aram. Avraham and his earliest descendants sojourned in the land of Kena'an as strangers. Am Yisra'el received the Torah at Har Sinai and learned to observe much of it in the wilderness, all outside the land. Then Am Yisra'el conquered the land from the Kena'anim and established Torah law over the conquered lands and peoples. This is what the Torah, the Prophets, and the Sages unapologetically affirm.

The millennia of Jewish history as strangers before conquest and as rulers after, the centuries of Jewish kingdoms and Temples, the feeling of a deep connection to the land, Jews should know and be proud of these things, but none of it has anything to do with being indigenous. Jewish people, culture, language, etc. developed in Bavel no less than anywhere else, but that does not make Jews indigenous to Bavel either.

The idea that the Kena'anim were conquering Eretz Yisra'el from the descendants of Shem in the days of Avraham seems to find little support outside of Rashi's comment on Genesis 12:6, even elsewhere in his own commentary. For instance, in his commentary on Numbers 13:22, Rashi indicates that Hevron was built by Ham for Kena'an, rhetorically asking if it is possible that Ham built Hevron for Kena'an, his youngest son, before he built Tzo'an for Mitzrayim, his eldest.

More explicitly, in his commentary on Genesis 1:1 and Psalms 111:6, Rashi reminds us that HaShem, the Creator of the earth, gave the land to the Kena'anim before He took it from them and gave it to Yisra'el:

"Rabbi Yitzhak said, "It was not necessary to begin the Torah except from “This month is to you” (Exodus 12:2), which is the first commandment that Yisra'el was commanded. Now for what reason did He commence with “In the beginning?” Because of [the verse] “The strength of His works He related to His people, to give them the inheritance of the nations” (Psalms 111:6). For if the world should say to Yisra'el, “You are robbers, for you conquered by force the lands of the seven nations [of Kena'an],” they will reply, "The entire earth belongs to the Holy One, blessed be He; He created it and gave it to whomever He deemed proper When He wished, He gave it to them (the Kena'anim), and when He wished, He took it away from them and gave it to us (Yisra'el)." (Rashi on Genesis 1:1)

"When He gave them (Yisra'el) the inheritance of the nations (Kena'anim), He let them know His strength and His might. And Midrash Tanhuma (Buber, Genesis 11): He wrote for Yisra'el [about] the Creation to let them know that the earth is His and that it is in His power to settle in it anyone He wishes, and to move these out and settle others, so that the nations will not be able to say to Yisra'el, “You are thieves, for you conquered the land of the seven nations [of Kena'an].” (Rashi on Psalms 111:6).

This does not say that the nations will not say Yisra'el are thieves. They do, and will continue to say this. Just as they say it when it comes to the particular locations of the Cave of Makhpela, the tomb of Yosef, and the Temple Mount, which were purchased by Avraham, Ya'akov, and David. The point is that Yisra'el should know better than to be convinced by or get sucked into the arguments of the nations. Because it is to Yisra'el that HaShem relayed His creation of the world, and to Yisra'el that He chose to give the land with the conditions of the Torah.

That Avraham and his descendants dwelled in the land of Kena'an as strangers is explained in Rashi's commentary on 15:13: "It does not say, “[strangers] in the land of Mitzrayim,” but “[strangers in a land] that is not theirs,” and from the time Yitzhak was born (Genesis 21:34): “and Avraham sojourned, etc.” (Genesis 20:1): “And [Yitzhak] sojourned in Gerar.” (Psalms 105:23): “And Ya'akov sojourned in the land of Ham.” (Genesis 47:4): “To sojourn in the land we have come.” - [from Midrash Abchir]"

Ramban also explained that the Avot dwelled as strangers in the land in his commentary on Genesis 37:1: "The explanation for "and Ya'akov settled in the land of his father's sojournings" (Genesis 37:1) is that [Torah] is saying that the chiefs of Edom settled "in the land of their inheritance" (Genesis 36:43), the land that they took for themselves as an eternal inheritance, but Ya'akov dwelt as a stranger, as his fathers [Avraham and Yitzhak] did, in a land that was not theirs but Kena'an's. And the intention is to tell us that they [Ya'akov, Yitzhak, and Avraham] chose to sojourn in the chosen land. And it tells us that, "that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own" (Genesis 15:13) was fulfilled through them [Ya'akov and Yitzhak], and not Esav. For it was through Ya'akov alone that offspring was considered theirs [Avraham's and Yitzhak's]."

Contrary to the claim that Ramban explains the journey of Avraham's family to the land of Kena'an as a return to their homeland, Ramban explains in his commentary on Genesis 11:28 that Avraham and his fathers had always dwelled beyond the Euphrates River prior to Avraham:

"It is written, "Beyond the [Euphrates] River your forefathers always dwelled" (Joshua 24:2), and the word "always" (me'olam) implies that his forebears had always been there. And it is written, "I took your father Avraham from Beyond the River (me'Ever HaNahar)" (Joshua 24:3) ... Rather, the truth is that their native land was the land of Aram, in the area known as Beyond-the-River (Ever HaNahar), and that was [Avraham's] ancestral inheritence from antiquity. As Scripture says of the descendants of Shem, "Their dwelling place extended from Mesha going toward Sefar, the mountain to the east" (Genesis 10:30), the "mountain of the east" being a general name for a large area, as is written of the descendants of Shem, "in their lands by their nations" (Genesis 10:31). And it is written, "From Aram did Balak, king of Mo'av, lead me, from the mountains of the east" (Numbers 23:7). Thus you see that he (Avraham) and his fathers were from that land (Aram) from antiquity." (Ramban on Genesis 11:28)

And in his commentary on Genesis 14:18, Ramban brings up and dismisses Rashi's interpretation of Genesis 12:6 (that the Kena'anim were conquering the land from the descendants of Shem) based on the peshat of the Torah, which explicitly describes the land as belonging to the Kena'anim prior to Avraham:

"According to our Sages (TB Nedarim 32b), who say that Malki Tzedek was Shem ben-No'ah, he went from his land to Yerushalayim to serve HaShem there, and was a kohen to the Supreme God for them (the Kena'anim), because he was the venerated brother of their father (Ham), for Yerushalayim was always within the border of the Kena'ani. Rashi wrote above [regarding] "the Kena'ani was then in the land" (Genesis 12:6): "[the Kena'ani] was going and conquering the land of Yisra'el from the offspring of Shem, ancestor of Avraham, for it fell in the portion of Shem when No'ah apportioned the earth to his sons, as it says, "and Malki Tzedek, king of Shalem" (Genesis 14:18)." But this is not correct, for "the border of the Kena'ani extended from Tzidon [going toward Gerar, as far as Aza, going toward Sedom, Amora, Adma, and Tzevoyim, as far as Lasha]" (Genesis 10:19) encompassing all of the land of Yisra'el, while the border of Benei Shem was east of Mesha (Genesis 10:30), far from the land of Yisra'el. But if No'ah apportioned the lands to his sons, and gave the land of Yisra'el to Shem, it was as "one who apportions his possessions by his mouth [for distribution after his death]" (a phrase used in TB Bava Batra 126b), and Benei Kena'an would dwell in it until HaShem would endow it to the offspring [of Avraham] who loved Him, as I have mentioned [on Genesis 10:14]."

In other words, while HaShem always intended to eventually give the land to Shem's descendants, the land belonged to the Kena'anim in the days of Shem, Avraham, Yitzhak, Ya'akov, and his descendants, who went from their own lands to dwell in the land as strangers, until He brought Yisra'el out of Mitzrayim, and brought them into the land to conquer it from the Kena'anim. That Yosef refers to "the land of the Ivrim" in Genesis 40:15 does not change that he and his fathers all sojourned in the land as strangers, just as Yisra'el did in the land of Goshen, which was known to be their dwelling place in Mitzrayim.

But even if, for the sake of argument, the nations were convinced that Jews are indigenous to the land, what tangible results do those who push this argument envision? Do they expect these nations to then conclude that the descendants of pre-state and pre-modern aliyot non-Jewish communities are not indigenous, or are less indigienous than Jews? Do they expect the nations to accept the annexation of Yerushalayim and Golan? Do they expect the nations to expect continued military rule of Yehuda and Shomron?

A majority of voting nations supported the establishment of Jewish and Arab states between the Jordan and Mediterranean long before this indigenous fad, and they will continue to demand the establishment of an Arab state in Yehuda, Shomron, and Aza whether they argue that the Arabs are indigenous or not. No matter how you slice it, they demand an Arab state next to Israel, and will not be convinced otherwise by any argument. And those who demand an Arab state on Israel's ruins will not be convinced by any argument either."