The Modern Orthodox are gaga for the state of israel. Just go to any website of a MO school and look at their mission statements:
Ramaz: "Still, the essence of Ramaz resides in our mission, our commitment to menschlichkeit, to the values of human dignity and mutual respect. This is bound together by our commitment to the Jewish people, to Medinat Yisrael, and to Orthodox observance—the strength of our heritage."
Not Eretz Yisroel but Medinat Yisrael, And that comes before Orthodox observance. And Hashem is not mentioned at all.
SAR Academy: "Raising our students’ connection to Hashem (Ahavat Hashem and Yir’at Shamayim), commitment to Talmud Torah, observance of Mitzvot and connection to Medinat Yisrael."
That's better, Hashem is first, and Torah and mitzvos precede Medinat Yisroel. But again, since when do Jews historically have an allegiance to a secular state? And why is Eretz Yisroel replaced by Medinat Yisroel?
Maimonides: "Maimonides is more than a school; it is a vibrant community whose members embody chesed, middot tovot, compassion for others, and an unconditional love for the State of Israel."
That one takes the cake. Note the photograph that sits under the mission statement. It shows you what excites them. Unconditional love for a state? Huh? It's ironic because Rabbi Soloveitchik founded Maimonides and he said this:
“Emotionally, I feel Zionism – religious Zionism – has replaced Torah.” [This obviously is meant as a criticism of religious zionism.] (The Rav Thinking Aloud, Transcripts of Personal Conversations with Rabbi Joseph B. Soloveitchik, p. 171, editor David Holtzer.)
Not only that, it has replaced Hashem. Unconditional love? That's what you reserve for G-d.
Rabbi Avigdor Miller was, as usual, on to all of this. He said,
When you replace God with anything else, in particular something very secular, you have idol worship. What we here is a form of Christianity. In reality, Hashem is mysterious, but we find Him through Torah observance. It's very complicated. Xtians wanted something simple. Gentiles can appreciate complexity when it comes to technology and launching rockets. But when it comes to religion, they are very simple. "If someone tells you the gentiles have chochmah believe them. If they tell you that they have Torah, don't believe them." (Midrash) They wanted a picture they could place on the wall. That's JC.
Pictures of Medinat Israel you can also place on your wall. There's a synagogue in Teaneck that has photos of various parts of Medinat Israel all over the lobby. The Agudah in Passaic decorated the bima and front wall in Jerusalem stone. You can hang symbols of the Medinah around your neck, like a cross.
These people have all been captured with a religious materialism, which of course is not religion at all. It is idol worship. The early Christians were Torah observant, but the Christianity took on a life of its own, and pulled them from that. It's the same with Zionism. This is evident throughout the Modern Orthodox world. They are gaga for the state, no matter what it does. Hashem, Torah, and mitzvos, not so much.
More tragically, you see this in the children of 'olim' as they call themselves. In home after home, the children are less religious than their parents. The parents come in all YU, Torah u-maddah, religious zionist and the kids become soldiers, some of the men wearing tzitzis, many not even wearing yarmulkas. The biggest day of the year is yom hazmut (yom haschmutz). Rosh Hashanah, not so much.
Olim? I don't think so? Yordim, is the more accurate term.
The Gemara says not to go up like a wall and not to take the land by force. There's no debate in the Gemara about that. And we cherish every word, right?
The early settlers didn't go up like a wall. They came in small numbers and settled in open spaces. That's cool.
But the rabid Zionists came along in big numbers and then worst of all declared a state against the will of the people who live in EY and near it. That's a violation of the oaths. And all the trouble we have had since then is a result of this violation. How do I know that? The Rambam says so in his letter to Teman:
Solomon, of blessed memory, foresaw with Divine inspiration, that the prolonged duration of the exile would incite some of our people to seek to terminate it before the proper time, and as a consequence they would perish or meet with disaster. Therefore he warned them (to desist) from it and adjured them in metaphorical language, as we read, "I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and by the hinds of the field, that ye awaken not, nor stir up love, until it please."Now, brethren and friends, abide by the oath, and stir not up love until it please.
In my opinion, any move to Israel except to save one's life, say during and after the Holocaust as a refugee, is going up like a wall and rebelling against the nations. I have always wondered how yeshivish rabbis permit anybody to move to Israel. Even when in a crowd, you are being propelled by your own feet. People deboard a plane or ship 1 by 1. It's never 1,000 people at once. So if you come to Israel at a time when many others come then you are going up like a wall.
And all the trouble we have had because of it. War after war. The strife is unreal in EY. In my opinion the answer is to start keeping the mitzvos and for the aliyah movement to cease. As for people leaving or the state becoming a universal democratic thing, I don't know. It's hard to unwind what has been done safely. I won't touch that issue.
But what the Zionists do is double down on their bad bet. Even after Oct. 7, they say that everyone must move to Israel now. RHS tells us that he feels safer in Israel than in Washington Heights. Maybe that's because he comes here on vacation, gets the royal carpet treatment, and doesn't deal with Israelis or Arabs. Aliyah pushers claim Jews aren't safe anywhere. Oh yeah, are Jews in America getting killed every week? These people don't consider facts. They operate from mythology. And leaders must never do that. They act like children playing poker.
When you were wrong admit it. Zionism was a stupid idea from the get go. Cut your losses. Don't double down on a bad bet.
Just so you don't think I hate everything about Israel, today I was on a bus and saw a couple racing for the bus. They were far from the stop though. The driver, a young man with a Greek warrior beard and a chup - IOW a chiloni - saw them too. And when the bus came to a stop, he waited a good while for them to catch up and board. I thought, what a good natured fellow.
Sure enough when I was getting off at my stop, I found a credit card on the street. The driver saw me pick it up, and he said that maybe it belonged to one of the ladies who just got on the bus. So he opened the door so I could inquire.
A good natured fellow. I do meet them here. Actually many of them are much nicer than the Anglo olim, who oftentimes are materialistic and selfish and violent people.
We all know of the dangers of the Internet. It's tearing apart the frum world. Imagine if in 1970, you were told that you couldn't deal with your bank unless you had a TV in your house. That's the Internet today.
So what to do? I don't know, but I do know that the challenges are far worse for olim in Israel. Here's why. If you come here without knowing Hebrew, you are likely to get a job -- if you can get one -- online working at home and probably with American hours. This means your kids will see you on the Internet all day long. And they'll want to be on it too. How many times can you say no to an activity that you are doing?
Oh you're working. They don't know the difference. And you'll check the news. You'll shop, because computer jobs are boring as you sit there all day long working by yourself.
And then there's the over-the-top response to COVID where so-called Charedi schools forced children to be on the Internet in response to school lockdowns by the over-the-top government. Kids who you had kept from the Internet despite your online job are now on Zoom staring at their school mates. Just as marijuana is an entry drug into the harder stuff, school via Zoom brought thousands of frum kids onto the Internet. Thanks principals.
There's another problem with Israel that ties into this. You live in an apartment without a yard of your own. Your kids try to play in the parking lot, but they get bullied. The parents of those kids don't care. I have dealt with this. I told the parents, can you at least come outside to see what's going on? Answer no. You can't grasp how much people over here just really don't care about anything or anyone. It's appalling. That their kids are bullies doesn't seem to bother them at all because the culture is all about aggression and striking first at your enemies and everyone is the enemy.
So the kids stay inside and want to go online. So much for those chugs. So much for their being more independent in Israel.
Once again, we return to the aliyah salespeople, aka liars, who told you of the wonders of those chugs and independence for children. It's effectively nothing. The Internet becomes everything. And your religious observance continues to go out the window.
This out of control man was just so happy that he believed he got permission to behave like a beast. How did his own conscience give the permission? Oh, he surrendered that long ago.
I can tell you so many scary police stories over here. In all my years in America, I knew only one frum Jew who was ever arrested. He had a crazy ex-wife that would call the police if he ever passed her in the street. The police would apologize to him before the arrest.
Here, I know two dozen people who have been arrested. One was davening outside during COVID. Nobody was within 20 feet of him. Another was arrested after a social worker called the police on him for nothing he ever did. They shackled him, hand and foot, they wouldn't let him use the bathroom. They denied him water. In Israel, the arrest is the punishment.
Israelis are big on calling the police. I have a friend whose landlord called the police on him for being one day late with the rent.
I have seen Israeli teenagers threaten to call the police on a man who snatched a soccer ball from them and held it for about 10 seconds after they invaded a playground where small children were playing and kicked the ball around as if nobody was there.
This is a militaristic, police state of sorts. And they are not your friends. They are very rough. They don't have Constitutional standards. The US Bill of Rights is one of those things that you start to appreciate once you leave the US. Wow, did I once upon a time have rights? Should have appreciated it.
In America, I had two cars. Now I ride the bus and train. And here's how that works. I had a simchas bat today, 20 miles from my home. So at 7 AM I headed for the 7:10 bus, which got me to the 7:51 train, which had a layover, which got me to the other town at 9:15. Then I waited in the heat for a 1/2 hour for a bus which took a 1/2 hour. But it wasn't the bus I planned to take, that one never came. So I took another one that got me in the vicinity. So there was a 1/2 hour walk, but I couldn't find that shul because it wasn't actually at the address that was on the invitation and wasn't on google maps either. In fact most of this new development isn't on maps. So much for all the modern conveniences. So I walked around in the heat for an hour until finally finding a guy who told me where to go. Travel time 4 hours! I spent 1 hour with Modern Orthodox people who looked at their phones more than the other people, then headed back. Return trip 3.5 hours. That's 7.5 hours round trip travel for 20 miles. Took the entire day, because I don't have a car. Why don't I have one? "Purchasing a car in Israel can be expensive, due to very high taxation. Permanent residents pay close to 100% tax on their cars." So figure it's more than twice the price. Again, so much for all the modern conveniences. You hear that RHS?
Was introduced today to a lady who engaged me in some where have you lived in EY chatter. Every answer invoked giggles of joy as if each of the dumpy little towns is paradise. She said, isn't it wonderful to live here? I said, maybe. That set her off on to deliver a litany of Baruch Hashems and she gives thanks every day and all that garbage. I mentioned the danger. She said she feels safe and asked sarcastically if I have seen any missiles in my central Israel town. I told her, I worry for the soldiers. See, she hadn't thought of that. She just thinks of herself. And that is typical of so-called Zionists, especially the women I'm sorry to say. They don't deal with Israelis so much, with mean teachers, with screaming bus drives. They live in Anglo enclaves and drive around in their fancy cars. They are not Zionists really. They fantasize that they are some kind of chalutzim but they are just materialists who want a Jewish flavor to their materialism. They want their own army, their own highways. It's not Zionism. It's materialism. And that's why they are selfish. They are Jewish Karens. As usual, I had to find my way home. No rides offered.
Zionists always throw that Ramban at ya, even though the Ramban himself didn't move to Israel until the last 2 years of his life.
The implication is that you gain a mitzvah by living here. But you lose so many. Example, Ahavas Yisroel. Anglos have so many terrible experiences with Israelis that they develop serious hostility to Jews in Israel. You have to be quite the tzadick to love these people.
You might even come to harbor hostility to the land when you see it covered in traffic and ugly buildings and when your entire experience is negative even the mitzvah of yishuv ha'aretz becomes unpleasant.
You lose Torah study because you work 6 days a week.
You lose hachnachas orchim because your tiny apartment has no room for guests.
You lose tzedukah because you have little money for it.
You lose middos because you learn to be pushy and argumentative. You learn to hate.
And all of this is magnified because you are doing it in the Holy Land.
So don't fall for this Ramban says schtick. There's a reason so many tzadickim didn't come here. I know that the average Zionist who moves to Israel sees himself as the greatest tzadick just because he lives in Israel. Hard to argue somebody out of their delusions.
So you want to mail a letter? First you need a stamp. I have never found any way of acquiring them other than going to the post office. In my town, nobody sells stamps. But the post office won't talk to you without an appointment. Yes, an appointment. You can't just stop by and use a vending machine. They don't have that. You have to go online and make an appointment which is never less than half a week away. You must arrive within a ten minute window or you missed your chance. So you come on time, wait, and then go to the service desk and deal with the grumpy, scowling Israeli clerk.
OK, so you got your stamps. If you took them home to say stick them on several letters, you now have to go back to the post office because there are no mail boxes in town and the postman surely isn't taking them from your house. Yes, you can only mail letters from the post office itself, at least in the town where I live. Since I don't have a car, I have to wait for the bus, or take the 10 minute walk to mail a letter. Sometimes, letters sit with me for weeks because I didn't have a chance to schelp to the post office.
This is episode 25 on the "they have all the modern conveniences" sham.
Has a nice ring to it, no? Parents and teachers. You picture love and concern. Not in Israel. I was talking to a teenage girl recently. She told me she can barely cope with the screaming of the teachers. Some of them yell every day, over the dumbest things. And they embarrass they kids, telling a 16 year old girl to go outside in the hall because she looked out the window, or fidgeted. Won't let them eat or drink. I get reports of meanness all the time.
A guy just told me, "I have been working with Israelis in the Cheder. Israelis. Oh my gosh. I'm not sure how these kids survive Israeli parents."
I guess that's how Israeli students deal with their teachers. They are used to the rough treatment from their parents.
Message to Americans, don't put your kids through this. They'll become angry and rude, just like Israelis. They might even become disturbed. Surely they'll hate school.
We should encourage each other in mitzvos, even when done in ways that are not our way. Thus, if a bochur wants to learn the tikun on Shavuous, the Yeshivish rabbi shouldn't discourage him. If a boy says he's a Chabad shliach, a Litvish rabbi shouldn't discourage him. He should say, wonderful!
Sadly, that's oftentimes not what happens. But we do the reverse. We encourage foolishness. For example, name any city in Israel to a Zionist and he starts yelping with glee. Ooh, aah. You lived in Afulah! Aah.
Yeah, dumpy Afulah. Every town here is a dump. What's the excitement about?
Now if you want to praise actual Eretz Yisroel, the Negev, the Galil, those places somewhat untainted by secularity, that I get.
The result of the oohing and aahing is you get the deceptive sales pitch. Modin! Ah. Like it's some magical place, instead of another boring Israeli city full of sinners. And you wind up moving there and learning the hard way, not to trust the ooh and aah.
Tried to go to the Israel musuem today. Took a long time to get there. It's not a good location. But for those who are interested, you get on the 66 aleph at the Chords Bridge.
But guess what. They were closed. Closed on Sunday. Here are the hours
Opening hours
Sunday | Closed
Monday | 10 am – 4 pm
Tuesday | 4 pm – 8 pm
Wednesday | Closed
Thursday | 10 am – 4 pm
Friday | 10 am – 2 pm
Saturday | 10 am – 4 pm
That's 26 hours total.
Let's compare to the Detroit Museum:
Hours
Monday Closed
Tuesday-Thursday 9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Friday 9 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Saturday-Sunday 10 a.m. - 5 p.m.
That's 43 hours total.
NY Metropolitan Museum of Art
Hours: Sunday–Tuesday and Thursday: 10 am–5 pm
Extended Hours: Friday and Saturday: 10 am–9 pm
That's 55 hours total.
British Museum
Daily: 10.00–17.00 (Fridays: 20.30)
That's 73.5 hours total.
You get the point. Israel is not the land of culture and intellect that you assumed it would be.
A little while back, a neighbor of mine, a rabbi, gave me a lift in his car. He asked me what I have been doing lately. I said "mitzvos." He countered, "Torah and mitzvos." Evidently, it was not exciting to him that a Jew is doing mitzvos (even though Torah study is a mitzvah). You know and I know that if I had answered, "Torah," he would have said, "great, what mesechta?" He wouldn't have said, "What about mitzvos?"
I was at bar mitzvahs simcha, and the father kept talking about how his son is shteiging in Gemara. We heard nothing about the boy doing mitzvos. Even a bar mitzvah isn't about mitzvos anymore. I wanted to tell the father, it's not a bar Gemara, it's a bar mitzvah. Of course, the main subject of the Gemara is mitzvos, but people have found a way to get around that by turning all Gemara study into abstract lomdus. I don't blame the father really. He has been conditioned to ignore mitzvos. He gets propagandized constantly.
It is quite amazing that a person should be made to feel like an apikoros only for asking that mitzvos be mentioned from time to time in the yeshiva world. As for mentioning Hashem, that's a dream. I have sat through multi-hour fundraising dinners for yeshivas where Hashem wasn't mentioned even 1 time! That includes Ohr Yehoshua dinners.
The Chofetz Chaim, who was a yeshiva man, wrote an entire book for baalei batim about mitzvos. Evidently, he deemed the topic worthwhile. Times changed from the days of the Vilna Gaon, in whose time everyone did mitzvos, but maybe didn't study enough Torah.
And long before that, Shlomo the king wrote, "The end of the matter, everything having been heard, fear God and keep His commandments, for this is the entire man." So I am going with Shlomo, the wisest of men, and with the Chofetz Chaim. We must value the mitzvos. And we talk about whatever we value. And if we don't talk about it, we don't value it.
Here's what you see when you register on the Israel tax site:
כללי
רשות המסים מעניקה לך אפשרות גישה למידע אישי וביצוע פעולות באופן מקוון. לצורך ביצוע הפעולות עליך להזדהות ולהירשם באתר האינטרנט של רשות המסים.
במסגרת הרישום לקבלת שירות ברשות המסים, תתבקש למסור את מספר הטלפון הנייד שלך ו/או את כתובת הדוא"ל שלך. נתונים אלה ישמרו במאגרי המידע של רשות המסים לצורך העברת דיוור ו/או הודעות. עליך לדעת כי מסירת הפרטים אינה מחויבת על פי חוק, אולם ללא מסירת פרטים המוגדרים כ"חובה" לא תוכל לבצע את הרישום ולהשתמש בשירותים המוצעים.
במהלך הרישום תתבקש לבחור בשאלות מזהות, ולספק את התשובה להן. פעולה זו מאפשרת ביצוע זיהוי טוב יותר ושימוש בטוח יותר בשירותים. בסיום התהליך תקבל מהמערכת סיסמאות אישיות אשר יזהו אותך בעת השימוש בשירותים המקוונים והטלפוניים.
עליך לנקוט בכל האמצעים לשמירה על הסיסמאות והתשובות לשאלות המזהות בסוד, ולפעול בהתאם להנחיות רשות המסים כפי שתהיינה מעת לעת.
במקרה של חשש לחשיפת הסיסמאות האישיות של רשות המסים יש לבצע החלפת סיסמה באופן יזום ומיידי באתר האינטרנט של רשות המסים, ע"י פעולת "שחזור סיסמה".
הגבלת אחריות
השימוש במערכות ממוחשבות ובכלל זה באתר רשות המסים ו/או באפליקציה סלולרית שרשות המסים מפעילה, חשוף לסיכונים הטבועים במערכות ממוחשבות המבוססות על תוכנות, חומרות ורשתות תקשורת וזאת על אף שרשות המסים נוקטת באמצעים למניעתם. לאור זאת, אין אפשרות למנוע לחלוטין את התקלות והסיכונים האמורים. לפיכך, רשות המסים תהיה פטורה מאחריות לכל נזק, הפסד או הוצאה כלשהם העלולים להיגרם כתוצאה, בין היתר, מהגורמים הבאים: הפסקות זמניות במתן השירותים בקווי תקשורת, ו/או משיבושים ותקלות אחרות בקווי התקשורת, ו/או שיבושים ביישום ו/או מזמינות היישום ו/או בזמני התגובה של המערכות הממוחשבות, ו/או משיבושים במידע ו/או בנתונים ו/או בהעברת ו/או בקליטת המידע אל ומאת הלקוח ו/או תקלות אחרות.
בעת הרישום למערכת הממוחשבת, תקבל פרטי זיהוי שנועדו לשימושך האישי בלבד והם מהווים עבור רשות המסים את אמצעי הזיהוי שלך. לאור זאת, היה ותמסור אותם לצד שלישי כלשהו או תאפשר לצד שלישי כלשהו גישה אליהם, אין רשות המסים אחראית לנזק שייגרם לך מחשיפת המידע לצד שלישי. בחירתך להירשם כאמור משמעה שהתחייבת לשמור את פרטי הזיהוי בסוד. יובהר כי רשות המסים לא תישא בכל אחריות לשימוש של אחר בפרטי הזיהוי הנ"ל, לרבות שימוש בלתי מורשה.
התחייבויותיך בעת השימוש בשירותים
הנך מתחייב לא לבצע את הפעולות הבאות (כולן או חלקן):
התחזות לכל אדם או ישות משפטית אחרת המשתמש בשירותים, ו/או לעשות כל שימוש שאינו חוקי בשירותים.
הטענה, שליחה או שידור של כל חומר המכיל כל סוג של וירוס מחשב, או כל קוד מחשב אחר, המתוכנן להרוס, להפריע, או להגביל את השימוש (ובכלל זה כל שימוש אחר מלבד שימוש הוגן וסביר באתר) בכל אחד מן המחשבים, השרתים, החומרה והתוכנה אשר מצויות בשימוש רשות המסים לצורך אספקת השירותים.
להפריע בכל דרך אחרת, או לקטוע את השירותים ו/או את האתר, ובכלל זה על ידי הפרעה לפעולות השרת, ורשת המחשבים המחוברים לשירותים ו/או האתר או של רשת המחשבים המחוברת אליהן.
שונות
למען הסר ספק, מובהר בזאת כי כל התנועות והפעולות המבוצעות באמצעות השירותים נרשמות ומתועדות על ידי רשות המסים.
רשות המסים שומרת לעצמה את הזכות להשעות, לבטל או לסרב לספק את השירותים, כולם או חלקם, בכל מקרה של אספקת מידע שאינו אמיתי, מעודכן, שלם או נכון בזמן הרישום או לאחריו, או אם יש לרשות המסים את היסוד הסביר להניח כי כך קרה.
רשות המסים שומרת לעצמה את הזכות לעדכן ולשנות את תנאי תקנון זה, לרבות מדיניות הגנת הפרטיות, המצוינת בתקנון זה בכל עת.
סמכות שיפוט
על תקנון זה, תוקפו, פרשנותו, ואכיפתו יחולו דיני מדינת ישראל. סמכות השיפוט הבלעדית בכל מחלוקת בקשר עם תקנון זה היא לבתי המשפט המוסמכים בישראל.
כל האמור בתקנון זה בלשון זכר יחול במידה שווה לגבי לשון נקבה.
בברכה, רשות המסים בישראל
Can you translate that? If not, don't move to Israel, because this is what you get from banks, from insurance companies, from landlords, from attorneys, from employers, from the city even an Anglo city, and from the Israeli government. You'll even get this from your kids' school. Want to generate some stress in your life? Move to a country where you don't speak the language, and a country that is punitive too. Great way to send your anxiety through the roof.
You think you'll be able to learn to read this? If you are over 40 it will not happen. If you are over 30, it likely also will not happen. I know 50 people who moved here and their Hebrew has barely improved. It reduces you to a child, and your own children will laugh at you.
You probably have heard of Maale Adumim. It's one of those towns that you hear somebody is living in. It's said with a smile, with a familiarity as if they said, he's living in St. Louis. And you think, nice Jewish town.
But this isn't America. It's Israel. Maale Adumim is 10 miles from Jerusalem. It's in Area C of the West Bank. It's a town that the Zionists built as part of their plan to insert themselves into the West Bank. There's plenty of room for cities within the Green Line. Plenty of open space. No need to build in Area C. But build they did. And with that comes pain.
Let's first talk about the transportation. Took me 3/4 hour to get to Jerusalem, where I got on a local bus that took me to the light rail, where I traveled to Munitions Hill (so much is named after war here). A bus took me to the entrance of Maale Adumim. I'm traveling 2 hours thus far.
At the entrance is the checkpoint. Two soldiers boarded the bus and came looking for Arabs. These guys had murder in their eyes. I did my best not to feel fear, but they were scary. I imagine that they parade around all day long with that attitude. The Arabs I see in Israel look like shells of people. They have been through so much abuse. They tremble. They live in fear. It's really sad.
So we got through the checkpoint but I had to get out after a few stops because the bus wasn't going all the way to the wedding hall, where I was going. I waited in the dark on a semi-deserted road for 1/2 hour. Finally a taxi passed. For 50 NIS (14 USD) he took me to the wedding hall, which actually wasn't in Maale Adumim but on the outskirts. I arrived three hours after my original departure. 3 hours to go 15 miles. Of course, I wasn't able to communicate with the driver because he didn't speak English and I didn't speak Hebrew.
In the parking lot of the hall were two young ladies that were there to help visitors navigate the confusing parking area. They only spoke Hebrew.
I made my way to the hall, which was pretty plain, I greeted the baal simcha, stayed for an hour. He encouraged me to get a ride home, which I was reluctant to do because one feels like a beggar. And sure enough, every car was full, and people didn't seem to feel bad that they had no space for me. In America I owned a Honda van and an Accord. Two cars. Here I'm spending 3 hours on the bus and begging for rides.
Finally, I got on a shuttle, which packed with women took me to Jerusalem, where I took a bus home. 2 hours to get home. That's 5 hours of travel, 1 hour of wedding.
On the elevator going down to the shuttle, a bunch of Israeli men got on. They were very chiloni, coming from gym it seemed. They smelled of sweat, they wore tank tops, and showed big muscles with tattoos all over. One had boxing gloves. Another walked a pit bull. he wasn't a bad guy. He asked the lady if she was scared of dogs. I couldn't hear her answer, but when I joked that I scared, he said something about not need to be afraid Am Yisroel Chai, or something like that. He was a nice guy. Sometimes the Chilonim are pretty decent and the Charedim not so nice. Depends on the person. But I did note to myself how much of this country is about fighting and war. It's unreal. Everybody is take krav maga classes and building muscles. T
My thought is this: Hashem kicked us out because we weren't keeping mitzvos properly. He said don't battle your way back in, do teshuvah. The Zionists ignored that warning and shot their way back in. So now, Israeli society is all about war, bombing, terrorism, killing, shooting, muscle building, army service. It's relentless.
I felt all that in Maale Adumim. It's not St. Louis. It's a scary place. And it's bland, with the boring buildings like most of Israel society.
I hear people say that Israel is a high-tech country. I think they are assuming that because it's full of Jews that they must be brilliant (even though obnoxious). I live in Israel. It is not a high tech country. A few weapons have been developed there, as well as another invention or two that they tell you about every chance they get. Otherwise, this place is like Arkansas circa 1950. Go to the Tel Aviv bus depot some time. That's the main bus station in the main city. It looks like the Congo in there. It's a mess. It's damp, dirty, and primitive. Cheap wares for sale.
Try out some Israeli web sites. The main Israel bus information website hasn't worked in years. In each big city, the electronic boards that are supposed to tell us when buses are coming are unreliable most of the time. The bank machines are unable to receive deposits about half the time and most of the time they are unable to issue receipts. If there's any decent medical care, it's all equipment from America, but not a lot of it. You wait 4 months for an MRI. I was at the Dead Sea this week and the temp. sign that's supposed to warn us about the desert heat said 50 degrees C. which is 122 F. I asked a bartender about this. He said, that sign is always wrong. I could go on. This is not a high tech country.
Wikipedia claims that Israelis have won 13 Nobel prizes. Let's examine this. 3 were peace prizes for killers. 1 was in literature to a man educated in Europe. That leaves us with 9 in economics or chemistry.
Joshua Angrist was born to a Jewish family inColumbus, Ohio, and raised inPittsburgh,Pennsylvania, where he graduated fromTaylor Allderdice High Schoolin 1977.[7][8]Angrist received his B.A. in economics fromOberlin Collegein 1982. He lived inIsraelfrom 1982 until 1985 and served as aparatrooperin theIsraeli Defence Forces.[9]Angrist received anM.A.and aPh.D.in economics fromPrinceton University in 1987 and 1989, respectively. After completing his Ph.D., Angrist joined Harvard University as an assistant professor until 1991, when he returned to Israel as a senior lecturer (equivalent to an Assistant Professor in the US system) at the Hebrew University.[12] After being promoted to associate professor at Hebrew University, he joined MIT's Economics Department in 1996 as associate professor, before being raised to full professor in 1998. Since 2008, he has been MIT's Ford Professor of Economics and teaches econometrics and labor economics to its students. Verdict: An American
Daniel Kahneman Raised in Paris. Hebrew University (BA) University of California, Berkeley (MA, PhD) - semi-Israeli.
Aaron Ciechanover - Israeli
Avram Hershko - Hungarian, most of his education in Israel semi-Israeli.
Ada Lifshitz- Israeli
Dan Shechtman - Israeli but much of his education and experience is in America. semi-Israeli.
Michael Levitt - S. African, British Education - Anglo
Arieh Warshel - Israeli born but much of his education and work has been in America. semi-Israeli.
Robert Aumann - Born in Germany, Education City College of New York (BS) Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MS, PhD) GermanAmerican
That's two real Israelis. Most of the rest a blend with America or Europe. A few aren't Israeli at all. They just have some association with the place.
Remember this country is 70 years old. Meanwhile 214 Jews have won Nobel prizes out of 965. That's 22%. If you remove the so-called Israelis that leaves 201. So while Jews are notable for their ability to win Nobel prizes, Israeli Jews are undistinguished to say the least. Half of the world's Jews live in Israel, but they aren't winning any prizes there except for a few who were educated mostly in America or England. Dare we say that Israel is holding them back.
There's also very little culture. Try to find a real symphony. You might get a chamber music ensemble all with middle aged Russians. Israel is not producing musicians.
Israel is second world really. Don't assume because there's so many Jews there that it's full of brilliance. When Jews live in civilized affluent countries that aren't obsessed with war they can do very well. Israel isn't one of those countries.
"Hannibal at Erez, dispatch a Zik [attack drone]," came the command on October 7.
Those words, reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz in July, confirm what many Israelis have feared since the Hamas attacks on October 7 in southern Israel.
Israeli forces have killed their own citizens.
Israeli authorities say more than 800 civilians and around 300 soldiers were killed on October 7.
A number of Israeli hostages have since died in Gaza.
Israelis are still reeling from the horror and pain of the Hamas-led terror attack, which was the bloodiest single day in Israel's history.
But the Israeli military is coming under increasing pressure to reveal just how many of their own citizens were killed by Israeli soldiers, pilots and police in the confusion of the Hamas attack on southern Israeli communities.
Survivors and relatives have been asking not just "what went wrong", but whether the military invoked the controversial — and supposedly rescinded — "Hannibal Directive".
Relatives of hostages held by Hamas in the Gaza Strip and their supporters protested near the hotel where US Secretary of State Antony Blinken stayed during his visit to Israel in August. (AP: Ohad Zwigenberg)
What is the Hannibal Directive?
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said the directive was named at random by a computer program, but Hannibal was the famous Carthaginian general who took poison rather than be captured by the Romans.
The doctrine, written in 1986 in response to the kidnapping of Israeli soldiers in Lebanon, gave permission for Israeli forces to fire on enemies holding their comrades hostage — even at risk to those hostages.
Its authors said the directive did not allow captives to be killed, but critics say that over time an interpretation spread through the military that it was better to kill comrades than to allow their capture.
"They interpreted it as if they are [meant] to intentionally, deliberately kill the soldier in order to foil the attempted abduction, and that was wrong," Israeli philosopher Asa Kasher, who wrote the IDF code of ethics, told the ABC.
"That is legally wrong and morally wrong and ethically wrong, it's wrong on all accounts."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu met freed Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit after the 2011 swap. (Reuters/Israeli Government Press Office)
After October 7, there were some testimonies from Israeli civilians and military personnel that Israeli forces responding to the Hamas attack killed their own citizens.
Nevertheless, many Israelis and supporters of Israel condemned anyone who suggested it had occurred, before more testimonies and Israeli media reports confirmed it was true.
The IDF has not confirmed or denied a version of the Hannibal directive was applied on October 7, only saying it is one of many things from that day under investigation.
In response to questions from the ABC, the Israeli military provided a statement saying: "The IDF is currently focused on eliminating the threat from the terrorist organisation Hamas."
"Questions of this kind will be looked into at a later stage."
One former Israeli officer, Air Force Colonel Nof Erez, told a Haaretz podcast the directive was not specifically ordered but was "apparently applied" by responding aircrews.
Panicked, operating without their normal command structure and unable to coordinate with ground forces, they fired on vehicles returning to Gaza, knowing they were likely carrying hostages.
"This was a mass Hannibal. It was tons and tons of openings in the fence, and thousands of people in every type of vehicle, some with hostages and some without," Colonel Erez said.
Air force pilots described to Yedioth Ahronot newspaper the firing of "tremendous" amounts of ammunition on October 7 at people attempting to cross the border between Gaza and Israel.
"Twenty-eight fighter helicopters shot over the course of the day all of the ammunition in their bellies, in renewed runs to rearm. We are talking about hundreds of 30-millimetre cannon mortars and Hellfire missiles," reporter Yoav Zeitoun said.
"The frequency of fire at the thousands of terrorists was enormous at the start, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow their attacks and carefully choose the targets."
Israel reportedly enacted the Hannibal Directive at midnight on October 7. (Reuters: Ammar Awad)
Tank officers have also confirmed they applied their own interpretation of the directive when firing on vehicles returning to Gaza, potentially with Israelis on board.
"My gut feeling told me that they [soldiers from another tank] could be on them," tank captain Bar Zonshein told Israel's Channel 13.
Captain Zonshein is asked: "So you might be killing them with that action? They are your soldiers."
"Right," he replied, "but I decided that this is the right decision, that it's better to stop the kidnapping, that they won't be taken."
"The IDF instructed all its fighting units in practice to follow the 'Hannibal Directive', although without clearly mentioning this explicit name," he said.
"The instruction is to stop 'at all costs' any attempt by Hamas terrorists to return to Gaza, using language very similar to the original 'Hannibal Directive', despite repeated assurances by the security establishment that the procedure has been cancelled."
Bergman's investigation found 70 vehicles were destroyed by Israeli aircraft and tanks to prevent them being driven into Gaza, killing everyone inside.
"It is not clear at this point how many of the abductees were killed due to the activation of this [Hannibal] order on October 7," he wrote.
The original Hannibal Directive, while confidential, reportedly recommends small arms and sniper fire towards enemies holding hostages — and not to use bombs, missiles or tank shells.
In 2015, Israel's attorney-general said it specifically prohibited killing a hostage.
It wasn't just soldiers under fire on October 7, though.
Tank ordered to fire on house
In two incidents, Israeli civilians survived Israeli forces firing on them and killing other hostages.
One survivor of Kibbutz Nir Oz, a Gaza border community, described being fired upon by the Israeli military as Hamas members tried to take her and other hostages across the border in an electric wagon.
Homes in Kibbutz Nir Oz were destroyed on October 7. (Reuters: Amir Cohen)
"[An] IDF helicopter appeared above us. At some point the helicopter shot at the terrorists, the driver and the others. There was screaming in the wagon," Neomit Dekel-Chen told Israeli news site Ynet.
Ms Dekel-Chen said one woman, her friend Efrat Katz, was shot and killed.
Six months later, an Israeli Air Force investigation acknowledged that it was likely an attack helicopter, which had targeted the wagon, had killed Efrat Katz.
The probe found that the hostages could not be distinguished from terrorists.
Nevertheless, Air Force chief Major General Tomer Bar said he "did not find fault in the operation by the helicopter crew, who operated in compliance with the orders in a complex reality of war".
The military has also confirmed troops were ordered to fire at a home, despite knowing there were civilians being held hostage inside.
In Kibbutz Be'eri, where 101 Israeli civilians died, a tank was ordered to fire upon at least one house, after a prolonged firefight with around 40 Hamas gunmen who had been holding 15 hostages inside and outside.
A Kibbutz resident describes the Hamas attacks.
The "Pessi's house" incident has become notorious in Israel, named after the resident, Pessi Cohen, who was killed along with other hostages being held there.
It was the two survivors who revealed the Israeli military had fired on the house.
"We know that at least one hostage was killed by one of the shells," relative and October 7 survivor Omri Shifroni told the ABC.
Three of Mr Shifroni's relatives were killed in Pessi's house while he was hiding on the other side of the kibbutz with his wife and children.
"There are a few others that we still don't know and we may never know what exactly killed them," he said.
Mr Shifroni's aunt Ayala and her grand-niece Liel and grand-nephew Yanai were all killed at Pessi's house — he believes by terrorists.
But he remains upset about the Israeli military's decision to use heavy munitions on homes in Be'eri.
"I think the real question, the moral question, is whether it's the right thing to do — to fire tank shells on a house with hostages — even though it's selective shooting," he said.
"I think it was not the right decision, not a good decision and not moral.
"But I can also understand there was great chaos in Be'eri and there was a lot of pressure to end the event there.
"I think they didn't intend to shoot and to kill hostages, but when you shoot a tank shell on a house, you need to take into account that that is likely to happen."
Israeli philosopher Asa Kasher told the ABC the directive did not apply to civilian hostages
"That's a new situation, and all the considerations are different," Professor Kasher said.
"Killing the civilian in order to foil the attempted abduction is really [wrong] … everyone understands that that's way outside of what is allowed in a democracy."
Professor Kasher said he was dismayed by reports soldiers had applied the Hannibal Directive on October 7.
"They acted on very low professional standards," he said.
"That's insane, it's not the nature of a democracy, it's not the nature of the IDF, it's not the nature of the command."
Military clears itself of wrongdoing
In response to repeated requests from Be'eri survivors and relatives of those killed there, the IDF has opened an investigation into its actions in the kibbutz.
The route taken by Hamas gunmen to enter Kibbutz Be'eri and where subsequent killings and kidnappings happened, according to the IDF. (Supplied: IDF)
The military cleared Israeli forces of any wrongdoing, finding that a tank only fired "near" the house when negotiations to release the hostages had failed.
"The team determined that, based on the information reviewed and to the best of their understanding, no civilians inside the building were harmed by tank shell fire, except for an isolated incident outside the building where two civilians were harmed by shrapnel," the report stated.
"The team determined that most of the hostages were likely murdered by the terrorists, and further inquiries and reviews of additional findings are necessary."
Sharon Cohen, the daughter-in-law of Pessi Cohen, told Israeli radio she did not accept the investigation's conclusions.
"That's not really true [that hostages were not harmed by tank shells]," she told Israel's Radio Bet on July 14.
"Out of personal privacy issues, I can't really get into the details. These are details that we were told would be investigated again.
"In addition, I'll say that because the incidents in the kibbutz were so exceptional and strange and difficult, the whole issue of removing the bodies, and autopsies, and all those things — essentially were not done."
The IDF review also contradicts testimony from one of the two survivors of Pessi's house, Yasmin Porat, who told Israel's Kan radio on October 15 that the Hamas gunmen had not threatened the hostages and had intended to negotiate with police for their safe return to Gaza.
She said an Israeli police special unit had started the gun battle by firing upon the house, catching "five or six" kibbutz residents outside in "very, very heavy crossfire".
In the interview, she was asked: "So our forces may have shot them?"
"Undoubtedly," she replied.
"They eliminated everyone [in the house], including the hostages."
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