For those that are in Jerusalem or can get here easily, the Formula One event is happening next week, on June 13 and 14th. Legendary racing manufacturer Ferrari is sending technicians and drivers directly from Italy to race in the event, bringing some of the greatest professionals in the motorsport world to Israel.

YFS Week 97
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_97_Q1.mp3

YFS Week 97
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_97_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 97
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_97_Q4.mp3

YFS Week 96
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_96_Q1.mp3

YFS Week 96
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_96_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 96
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_96_Q3.mp3

YFS Week 96
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_96_Q4.mp3

To fight there are three main qualities that are necessary: the first one is knowing that you are right and that justice is on your side. For that you need to be educated and know the truth because Israel’s enemies pray on our ignorance. The second quality you need for fighting is obvious: courage! To get into the ring, to respond when the easier path is to back off, to face the bully, you need courage. But the third thing you need when its time to rise up is, surprisingly, joy.

Yes, you need joy to know that victory is already ours, and that Gd’s promise will never leave us. You need joy to get back up when you have fallen and your fighting spirit is down. Joy of life gives us the power to rise up again and face the world. Music gives us that empowering joy, Shabbat fills us with that happy energy, as does nature. All these things comes to their full potential in the land of Israel where the justice, the courage, the joy, the music, the Shabbat, and the nature are all in harmony.

I can hear the song of the land of Israel right now here in Toronto, and it calling all of us to Kumah, rise up, and be a part of the amazing rebirth of the Jewish people in our homeland, united as a nation, under the heavens and the eyes of HaShem.

Shabbat Shalom from Toronto, and don’t forget to Kumah!
Yishai

Photo at Toronto restaurant called Salfa

YFS Week 95
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_95_Q1.mp3

YFS Week 95
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_95_Q3.mp3

Yehuda HaKohen

YFS Week 95
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_95_Q4.mp3

YFS Week 95
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_95_Q2.mp3

The Netivot Shalom, a great Chassidic master – buried not far from our home on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem, explains that just as there are 600,000 letters in the Torah so too there are 600,000 original souls in the Jewish people and in order to prepare for the receiving of the Torah in its entirety so too the Jewish people have to be unified in their entirety. Therefore an account verifying the completeness of our people – which also bespeaks of our unity – is also to be done right before the giving of the Torah.

Today there are many who think that the fact that our nation is divided in two camps (at least): that is N. American Jewry and Israeli Jewry is a useful defense strategy. According to this logic, if one part of our nation will be G-d forbid be killed – the other one will survive. This is a strategy of the Diaspora (Galut) in which small pockts of Jews ensure their survival literally by living separately. This strategy does not fit today’s period of ingathering to our land and national liberation of the Jewish people.

In fact, this way of thinking stymies the progress of building our country, undermines our strength, and simply does not comport with the very different reality which G-d has granted us. To believe in a Jewish division as a strategy is to be living in the past. There are now over 6 million Jews living in the land of Israel – a fact which no earthly demographer even remotely believed would ever happen. This Shavuot tens of thousands of Jews will be standing at the Western Wall (Kotel) trying to recreate the experience of receiving the Torah as one nation with one heart. It is up to each and every single one of us to actualize the potential of the time that we are lving in. There are voices that want to keep us from attaining that unity. There are also voices calling for our nation to reunite. Which will you heed?

Shabbat Shalom!!!! I am in Edison, NJ tonight – come to celebrate Shabbat, Chodesh Sivan, and Yerushalayim with me. http://yishaifleisher.com/events

Photo of Cherries in the Golan (by Madeleine’s sister who lives in the Golan)

Video Edited by Tom Chaffer
Unity Coalition for Israel website http://www.unitycoalitionforisrael.org
Esther and UCI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/voicesunited
More videos from UCI http://www.youtube.com/user/uc4i

Cover photo:  Jess Nowlin — @MrJNowlin

Yishai on Twitter: https://twitter.com/YishaiFleisher
Yishai on Facebook: http://facebook/yishaifleisher
Sign up to win 2 free tickets to Israel on our website!! Click and enter – come visit the Jewish homeland. http://yishaifleisher.com

YFS Week 94
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_94_Q1.mp3

YFS Week 94
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_94_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 94
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_94_Q3.mp3

YFS Week 94
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_94_Q4.mp3

Video Edited by Tom Chaffer
Unity Coalition for Israel website http://www.unitycoalitionforisrael.org
Esther and UCI on Twitter: https://twitter.com/voicesunited
More videos from UCI http://www.youtube.com/user/uc4i

Yishai on Twitter: https://twitter.com/YishaiFleisher
Yishai on Facebook: http://facebook/yishaifleisher
Sign up to win 2 free tickets to Israel on our website!! Click and enter – come visit the Jewish homeland. http://yishaifleisher.com

YFS Week 93
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_93_Q1.mp3

YFS Week 93
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_93_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 93
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_93_Q3.mp3

YFS Week 93
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_93_Q4.mp3

http://audio.yishaifleisher.com/GY_Yishai_Show_Week_93_Q4.mp3

I expected to see a moderately attended event. But to my surprise, the venue was packed with over 1,300 people, exploring the forty-one different communities represented. There was so much noise, I had to stand close in order to hear community leaders make their pitches.
(READ MORE…)

YFS Week 92
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_92_Q3.mp3

YFS Week 92
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_92_Q4.mp3

So, Friday morning I was walking from the Young Israel of Brookline to the corner Kosher bakery, called Kupels, where I had breakfast every day while in Boston. I must admit I was a bit unplugged from the steady stream of breaking news tidbits and was walking around innocently, when I noticed that there were unusually few cars on the road and that stores seemed to all be closed.

I asked a young lady who was smoking nervously what was going on. “Didn’t you hear?” she said, and proceeded to fill me on everything that had happened overnight: the murder of a police officer, the shootout, the killing of the first suspect and the subsequent manhunt underway for the younger brother. Two things struck me about her tale, the first was the reality of what was happening around me and the strange providence that brought me from “dangerous” eastern Jerusalem to usually-calm Boston to be a witness to this tumultuous and historic time – and hopefully allow me to offer support as well.
(READ MORE…)

YFS Week 91
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_91_Q1.mp3

YFS Week 91
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_91_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 91
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_91_Q3.mp3

YFS Week 91
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_91_Q4.mp3

YFS Week 90
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_90_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 90
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_90_Q3.mp3

YFS Week 90
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_90_Q4.mp3

From the outset, a clarification is needed: the law school, as such, is not granting Carter the peace prize. Nor is the administration. Rather, it is the the Journal of Conflict Resolution — a student publication with a long history of honoring problematic public figures. This is a very important distinction: there are a lot of student-run journals (think of it as a type of club) on the Cardozo campus, and they enjoy the autonomy to run events such as this one.

READ ON HERE

While they were here, we got to act like tourists, that is, we got to see the amazing things that exist right under our noses. So we walked from the Mount of Olives (where I live) to Ir David (City of David Archaeological Park in Silwan, 15 minutes away) and had a tour there.

Here is the image that I wanted to share with you from that trip:

READ ON HERE

More from Yishai at www.yishaifleisher.com
Follow Yishai on Twitter @yishaifleisher

“Like” us on Facebook : http://facebook.com/yishaifleisher

YFS Week 89
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_89_Q1.mp3

YFS Week 89
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_89_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 89
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_89_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 89
GY_Yishai_Show_Week_89_Q2.mp3

YFS Week 88

YFS Week 88

YFS Week 88

YFS Week 88

Camera: Alex Traiman (Thank you Alex!)

follow Yishai on Twitter @yishaifleisher
join us on Facebook at http://facebook.com/yishaifleisher

YFS Week 87

YFS Week 87

YFS Week 87

Photo:  General Mohammad Naguib, Head of the Republic of Egypt, visiting Shaar Ha-shamayim Synagogue on Yom Kippur – Cairo, 1952. (From the book “The Golden Era of the Jews of Egypt” by Levana Zamir)

YFS Week 87

Photo: Rachamim Clement Soffer and Yishai Fleisher in Florida

YFS Week 86

YFS Week 86

YFS Week 86

YFS Week 86

The prisoner, Jonathan Pollard, was cleaned up and rushed from his prison cell in Butner, North Carolina, to the White House.

“Jonathan, can you help me with this?” asked the President.

Pollard went on to interpret the dream as referring to an imminent collapse of the American economy, but also gave recommendations as to how to avert the mess. In a novel approach, Pollard recommended that the US government not spend money more than it has.

When the President heard of this great wisdom, he immediately appointed Pollard as Secretary of the Treasury. At the confirmation hearings, in which Pollard did better than any of the other Obama appointees, Pollard promised to get the US economy back in shape within 7 years.

As the new influential man in Washington, Pollard helped Israel clear hurdles to attack the Iranian nuclear bomb making facilities.

However, just before Israel could launch the attack, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Ayatollah Khomeini and eight other top officials in the Iranian regime were found hanged in a secret bunker. It is presumed that the 10 committed suicide rather than face the fallout of the Israeli attack. The people of Persia held parades and celebrations in the streets of Teheran, and marked the day for all future generations as the Day of Freedom.

With the collapse of the Mullah era, Israel and Iran became great friends and created a new super-successful oil and gas conglomerate called IPOAG (Israeli/Persian Oil and Gas) which put OPEC out of business, and subsequently defunded the Saudi global terror efforts. The UN also was forced to close its doors after funding dropped out from both Arab oli states and the US, which stopped paying dues under new directives of the Treasury. Plans are now being drawn up for a new international body, and a new international court of justice based out of Jerusalem.

Jonathan Pollard’s release from prison was certainly seen as a great victory for Jews. However, the amazing chain of events which emanated from the freedom of just one man, that is, the betterment of the American economy, the fall of the Iranian Mullah regime, the success of the Israel/Persian alliance, the end of global terror, and the creation of a healthy international body, in the end furthered and bettered the lot of all mankind.

YFS Week 85

YFS Week 85

YFS Week 85

This week’s Yishai Fleisher Show brought to you by Advanced Behavioral, top provider in psychological and rehab services, find them at get yourself on target! http://www.advancedbehavioral.com/

YFS Week 84

This week’s Yishai Fleisher Show brought to you by Advanced Behavioral, top provider in psychological and rehab services, find them at get yourself on target! http://www.advancedbehavioral.com/

YFS Week 84

This week’s Yishai Fleisher Show brought to you by Advanced Behavioral, top provider in psychological and rehab services, find them at get yourself on target! http://www.advancedbehavioral.com/

YFS Week 84

This week’s Yishai Fleisher Show brought to you by Advanced Behavioral, top provider in psychological and rehab services, find them at get yourself on target! http://www.advancedbehavioral.com/

YFS Week 84

(It is now Shabbat in Israel – this message was written by Yishai and posted by friends in North America)

Jerusalem and Torah

YFS Week 82

YFS Week 81

YFS Week 81

Candidate Round-up at Jerusalem Great Synagogue (Pt. 1): Hosted by Jerusalem Post & Assoc. of Americans & Canadians in Israel (AACI)

Candidate Round-up at Jerusalem Great Synagogue (Pt. 2): Hosted by Jerusalem Post & Assoc. of Americans & Canadians in Israel (AACI)

Aryeh talks about his relationship with the Arab residents in eastern Jerusalem – if you want to get a deeper understanding of the Middle East tune in to minute 17:00.

Aryeh King visits the Mount of Olives Studio for an interview on the Yishai Fleisher Show (Jan. 15, 2013)

YFS Week 80

YFS Week 80

YFS Week 79

DANON INTERVIEW

Following the interview with MK Danon (minute 19:00), Yishai presents a recent interview with Knesset hopeful Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel of the HaBayit HaYehudi (Jewish Home) party. Gimpel discusses how his party is not only considered by many to be the up and coming party within the Knesset, especially among younger voters but also is the youngest party in regards to the age of the members running for office. Yishai and Gimpel end by talking about the need for a true Zionist party in Israel.

GIMPEL INTERVIEW

YFS Week 79

Yishai gets brief interviews during the conference from many leading thinkers including Yisrael Medad of the Menachem Begin Heritage Center, former Jerusalem city council person Nina Fenton, Jerusalem Post columnist and fellow radio host Josh Hasten, Director of the Israel office of the Zionist Organization of America Jeff Daube, Creator of Dapei Katom business directory Elisheva Bloom, Former Israeli Ambassador Yoram Ettinger, Alternative Peace Activist Yehuda Hakohen, and Co-founder of Women in Green along with co-organizer of the conference Nadia Matar. Don’t miss this segment!

YFS Week 79

• Israel’s sovereignty in Judea and Samaria has become mainstream and this year’s Sovereignty Conference was bigger than ever and abuzz with excitement.
• The Likud has moved into a more nationalistic frame of mind. Why?
• Naftali Bennett and Benyamin Netanyahu have a lot in common.  What are the critical differences? What do they tell us about Israeli voters today?

Note: To hear Yishai’s original interview with Erik Ross when he was a Friar during his time in Israel in September 2010 click here.  Father Ross is now a Monk living in Poland.

YFS Week 78

YFS

YFS Week

YFS Week 78

YFS Week 77

YFS Week 77

YFS Week 77

YFS Week 77

YFS Week 76

YFS Week 76

YFS Week 76

YFS Week 76

FM RADIO STATIONS IN ISRAEL (LIVE MIDNITE TO 2AM):
106.5 FM (J-lem), 102.5 FM (Central), 89.3 FM (South), 94 FM (Tel Aviv)

STREAMING ON NACHUM SEGAL ONLINE NETWORK (5PM – 7PM ET Tues) 
http://www.nachumsegal.com/nachum-segal-stream/

STREAMING ONLINE AT GALEY YISRAEL LINK (works for recent Windows – Mac solution below):
http://www.srugim.co.il/galeyisrael/live_broadcast.php

iPHONE OR iPAD, use Visual Radio App & tune it to Galey Yisrael 106.5.
http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/visual-radio/id349946750?mt=8

ANDROID also use Visual Radio App – link below
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ai

FOR MAC OR LINUX USERS TO LISTEN LIVE ONLINE:
If you are using a Mac you need to download the 32/64 bit VLC player. FREE -> http://bit.ly/486fdF
After u have VLC player downloaded, click on File>Open Network
Now paste in mms://212.199.67.135/galeyisrael & hear the show
If you have any problem with this please write to us at show@yishaifleisher.com

WHAT TIME? (example times below – check your local time corresponding to Midnight in Israel)
5-7PM NY
4-6PM Chicago
10-12PM: London
9-11AM (Wed.): Sydney

Yishai Fleisher Show: How To Listen on Podcast?

All segments of the show are on http://yishaifleisher.com/radio for listening online and download.
All segments are on itunes and you can subscribe to our feed in itunes
You can also get a great weekly update email with links to the podcast – simple, click & listen.
Sign-Up Here or in form below.  See what you will get in the weekly update here.

The last night of Chanukah (#8), I took this photo of our Menorah and the view of the Temple Mount out the window of our home on the Mount of Olives with the reflection of an Israeli flag against the glass.

Our Zot Chanukah adventure this year started at the kever (tomb) of Shimon HaTzadik who was the Kohen Gadol (high priest) for 40 years straight. He greeted Alexander the Great as he arrived in Israel and welcomed Alexander’s religious tolerance. When Alexander’s empire was broken apart, the Seleucid Greeks controlled Judea and it was Shimon HaTzadik’s descendent Mattityahu who began the rebellion against the Syrian Seleucid Greeks. Today we went to daven (pray) at Shimon HaTzadik’s kever (tomb) where we found a large Chassidic gathering and a Sephardic chaleke (upsherin) {the celebration of the 1st haircut of a 3 year old Jewish boy}.

With two hours left of Zot Chanukah we went to the Tabachnik lookout on Mt. Scopus with an incredible view of the Temple Mount and all of Jerusalem – the Temple Mount of course is where the Macabbes re-dedicated the Beit HaMikdash (Temple) and lit the Menorah with the last cruse of oil with the seal of the Kohanim intact.

With one hour left (!) we drove quickly to Burger Bar where we indulged in onion rings, fries (“cheeps” in Hebrew), chicken wings, and schnitzelonim (mini-schnitzel – think chicken strips but better). At the table Malkah out of nowhere brought out two dreidles – and chocolate gelt (parve). We enjoyed the last delicious moments of Chanukah with our fried delights and a little game of dreidle. We even left some chocolate gelt as a tip. We hope you will join us in Jerusalem for your Chanukah adventure next year!

We went out to Modiin this week with the family for a traditional Israeli Chanukah day hiking and visiting the Macabees Tombs.

Along our hike in Modiin we met outdoor latke chef and Israeli saba (grandfather) and his family cooking up some latkes for the kids in the forest on Chanukah.

Saba (Grandpa) the latke chef at work in Modiin forest. Do you think he learned this in the IDF? They are getting crispy!

We got hungry and stopped during our hike outside the tombs of the Maccabees for a great lunch! Amaaaazing falafel outside moshav Modiin. Fried-to-perfection falafel balls definitely count as a Chanukah food! Paired with locally made “gazoz” fruity drinks, owner moshe cohen gets no breaks. The highway-side falafel stand is getting nonstop customers.

Families preparing Chanukiah on the fifth night of Chanukah 5773 at Modiin, Macabees Tombs in Israel. There was music and singing and lots of family fun on this traditional outing to Modiin on the holiday.

Families preparing Chanukiah on the fifth night of Chanukah 5773 at Modiin, Macabees Tombs in Israel. There was music and singing and lots of family fun on this traditional outing to Modiin on the holiday.

YFS Week 75

YFS Week 75

YFS Week 75

YFS Week 75

Chanuka Menorah outside the walls of the Old City of Jerusalem.

Today at Um El Umdan — site of the Hasmonean Period beit knesset unearthed in Modiin and believed to be the site of the beit knesset of the Maccabees. Residents of the surrounding Buchman neighborhood will conduct Kabbalat Shabbat services on this site on Friday night this week (Dec 14, 2012).

Soldiers learn about Chanukah right outside the wall of the Old City of Jerusalem in Israel.

Family taking a photo with the Menorah at the Kotel (Western Wall of the Temple Mount) in Jerusalem, Israel

Chanukah Night Number 3 at the Kotel in Jerusalem, Israel

City workers spreading Chanukah decorations across Jerusalem in preparation for Chanukah in Israel

Chanukah Sufganiyot in Israel – these are at Shifon at Shaar Binyamin.

Whole lotta gelt ready for Chanukah in Israel.

Chanukah Menorah in Israel in the Givat Shaul area of Jerusalem.

Proudly shining lights will fill the 8 nights of Chanukah on the ancient streets of Jerusalem.

Treat boxes for the kids filled with kosher delights. They are “badatz” for those who are interested in l’mehadrin yummies.

The Jewish country gets ready to make an explosion of Chanukah Light. Olive oil bottles for lighting the menorah in a store in Jerusalem.

This is the olive oil grown and processed 100% in Israel. That is the one we buy!

Sufganiyot (donuts fried in oil) are a traditional food in Israel at Chanuah time. Here is one of the thousands of varieties Israelis are enjoying during the weeks leading up to Chanukah. Here is me (the photographer) eating sufganyiot in Jerusalem last year.

The sign above the bakery department in the grocery store in Israel says, “He who goes out weeping, carrying seed to sow, will return with songs of joy, carrying sheaves with him” which is a line from the Tehillim (Psalm 126). In Israel the spiritual and the physical are found together in the places of daily life not only in the synagogue.

Even though it is just a Coke box the Jewish people spread Light with it! Coca Cola package in Israel (photo 1 of 2)

Coke packages in Israel (2 of 2)

YFS Week 74

YFS Week 74

YFS Week 74

YFS Week 74

YFS Week 73

YFS Week 73

YFS Week 73

YFS week 72

YFS Week 72

YFS Week 72

YFS Week 72

Indeed, there are a lot of intense emotions in the county right now: on the one hand there is the ever present thought of our fellow soldiers and civilians under fire, and the fear for their, and our, lives. And on the other hand there is the need to fight, to push back the threat, to repel the war machine that has surfaced against us, right next door.

So many of us Israelis are tired of allowing our people to be terrorized, and that is what motivates us to overcome the fear of the here and now, the fear of the loss of our lives today in the hopes of a better tomorrow. We are a nation who takes proclamations and efforts to kill us seriously. And we are tired of the fear. We have come a long way to have our country, and we are not about to give it up. We know it is time to destroy the threats that we live with daily. This is a message to Iran. To Egypt. To Syria. Even to Saudi Arabia. We will survive and we will not be pushed around.

Right now, as a nation, we must set personal issues aside. Personal pains and challenges should give way to the national issues, on helping the other and coming together. My wife Malkah signed us up to receive guests for Shabbat from the South, people fleeing from the war zone. I really hope they don’t need it, but if they do, I hope they come to me, so that I can feel that I am helping. We all want to help. Many are saying Psalms on the buses and trains and others pray in any way they know how.

There are tanks, and choppers, and rockets and guns out there, and they are very real. But this is a spiritual war. It’s about what this world wants to be. Does this world want to be cowed into submission, or does it want light to finally penetrate the gloom and dread of terror. This is a fight for the victory of justice over lies -  Israel is a just cause and a force for good in this world. The enemy are those who want to stamp out our nation, our country, and the goodness we stand for. But our goodness is willing to fight evil, willing to stand up to it. Our goodness, and our will to fight for it, overcomes our fears, and instead fills us with pride. We should be proud of this war, because it is a point of pride to merit to combat evil instead of being a victim to it.

This is the month of Chanukah, the time in which we remember the unlikely rebellion of one Jewish family against a whole civilization that wanted to eradicate the Jewish way. The courage of the Maccabbees gives us light to this very day in the form of the Chanukiah or Menorah with eight candles that reminds us of the miracles: The miracle that the light of Israel could not be stamped out, and the miracle that there were a group of Jews who stood up and were willing to fight for that light.

God bless the soldiers of Israel.

Indeed, there are a lot of intense emotions in the county right now: on the one hand there is the ever present thought of our fellow soldiers and civilians under fire, and the fear for their, and our, lives. And on the other hand there is the need to fight, to push back the threat, to repel the war machine that has surfaced against us, right next door.

So many of us Israelis are tired of allowing our people to be terrorized, and that is what motivates us to overcome the fear of the here and now, the fear of the loss of our lives today in the hopes of a better tomorrow. We are a nation who takes proclamations and efforts to kill us seriously. And we are tired of the fear. We have come a long way to have our country, and we are not about to give it up. We know it is time to destroy the threats that we live with daily. This is a message to Iran. To Egypt. To Syria. Even to Saudi Arabia. We will survive and we will not be pushed around.

Right now, as a nation, we must set personal issues aside. Personal pains and challenges should give way to the national issues, on helping the other and coming together. My wife Malkah signed us up to receive guests for Shabbat from the South, people fleeing from the war zone. I really hope they don’t need it, but if they do, I hope they come to me, so that I can feel that I am helping. We all want to help. Many are saying Psalms on the buses and trains and others pray in any way they know how.

There are tanks, and choppers, and rockets and guns out there, and they are very real. But this is a spiritual war. It’s about what this world wants to be. Does this world want to be cowed into submission, or does it want light to finally penetrate the gloom and dread of terror. This is a fight for the victory of justice over lies -  Israel is a just cause and a force for good in this world. The enemy are those who want to stamp out our nation, our country, and the goodness we stand for. But our goodness is willing to fight evil, willing to stand up to it. Our goodness, and our will to fight for it, overcomes our fears, and instead fills us with pride. We should be proud of this war, because it is a point of pride to merit to combat evil instead of being a victim to it.

This is the month of Chanukah, the time in which we remember the unlikely rebellion of one Jewish family against a whole civilization that wanted to eradicate the Jewish way. The courage of the Maccabbees gives us light to this very day in the form of the Chanukiah or Menorah with eight candles that reminds us of the miracles: The miracle that the light of Israel could not be stamped out, and the miracle that there were a group of Jews who stood up and were willing to fight for that light.

God bless the soldiers of Israel.
Yishai

(Webmaster note: This letter was published in the Jerusalem Post online and print editions on Nov. 20, 2012)

YFS week 71

YFS Week 71

YFS Week 71

YFS Week 71

Links: http://www.israelcng.co.il/

YFS Week 70

====================================

Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Former Bureau Chief of Netanyahu, Uri Elitzur, on Election of Obama: Better Without Chemistry

[Dr. Aaron Lerner - IMRA 7 November 2012 - IMRA translation from Op Ed appearing in Makor Rishon on 2 November 2012]

[Uri Elitzur, served as Benjamin Netanyahu's bureau chief during his first term as prime minister]

Second headline: The Foreign Policy Of The USA Is Not Set By The Personal Sympathy Of The President. Tense Personal Relation Are Preferable For Israel.

Further to this another remark before we know who will be the next
president. Most Israelis, and me among them, justifiably wish a victory for Romney. But there is a huge exaggeration in the fears and the oy –vavoy (oh my God) that are expected for us in the event that Obama wins.

Obama doesn’t like us in general and can’t stand Netanyahu in particular,but the time has come to free ourselves from the childish thoughts as if the policies of the Unites States are set according to the personal loves and hates of the president.

The foreign policy of the USA is set somehow via the balance of powers between the State Department that always was against us and the Congress that was always for us. The world view of the president sets something, but not his personal loves and not what is called “chemistry”.

During the period of Obama, who didn’t love us, the security ties between the two states strengthened greatly, America cast a veto in the UN on our behalf, and on the matter of Iran the US went on the path that Netanyahu pushed with great effort, even if not with joy or enthusiasm.

None of these had anything to do with personal chemistry.
If there is a connection it is the opposite.

It is not a healthy situation for Israel to be in a situation in which the president of the United States is hugging our prime minister and pouring love on him.

When a big and small figure are good friends, the small one fulfills every request of the big one because it is unpleasant to refuse him, this while the big one can easily allow himself to say “no” to the requests of the small one.

When a big figure and small figure carry out negotiations in an atmosphere of distance and reservations, it is easier for the small figure to take a stand, defer proposals, make conditions and sometimes refuse.

The overt and publicized friendship between Bush and Sharon completely crippled Sharon against every American request and pressure. In contrast to this the personal hostility between Clinton and Netanyahu gave Netanyahu the ability to maneuver when dealing with Clinton and not once and not twice, I saw with my own eyes, that this put the two of them in the position of two
traders bargaining between themselves in a give and take of equals.

Facing Obama, whose worldview is conciliatory and pro-Islamic and for whom Israel is a kind of impediment, this is particularly true.

On a diplomatic level the prime minister of Israel must be armed with good ties with other elements in the government and public opinion. On a personal level it is preferable and desirable for him to develop cold and suspicious relations, to always face the president for a diplomatic duel and never for a love fest, and to whisper to himself at every meeting: “just not chemistry”.

============

iVoteIsrael: Doing good work for all the wrong reasons: Can a non-partisan organization clandestinely funded by Republican money still be considered non-partisan?  (originally published in Haaretz Oct. 23, 2012)  By Allison Kaplan Sommer

It’s hard not to like Elie Pieprz, the national director of iVoteIsrael. He has a friendly face and a wide smile. His team of dedicated young people who are working to register Americans living in Israel to vote and get their ballots properly filed are as sweet and well-intentioned as he is. He will chat enthusiastically of his dream of tripling or quadrupling the number of U.S. citizens in Israel voting in presidential and congressional elections – boosting it from the 30,000 who cast ballots in 2008, to 100,000 or higher.

But ask Pieprz who funds the organization and suddenly he gets quiet.

I asked him face-to-face who is footing the bill for his office, staff, phone lines, website, Facebook and Twitter activity, debate events, and the production of videos warning that “Muslim and Arab American mobilize their voters to the polls to oust pro-Israel Representatives from office” and  “we, American-Israelis have the power and the numbers to help elect a pro-Israel Congress and President.” Not to mention the cost of his trips from Israel to the Republican and Democratic conventions over the summer.

Utter silence.

If you check out the iVoteIsrael website, there are no names. It’s not just an absence of the names of board members or donors – even the names of the friendly staff members are absent. There is not even a trace to the name of Pieprz himself, even though he appears publicly in press appearances, on press releases, and it’s not exactly a secret that he’s running the show. As well-meaning as they seem, and as innocent as their activity appears, I have to listen to Dr. Phil when he says, “People who have nothing to hide, hide nothing.”

What exactly are they hiding? From the beginning, they have been suspected of pro-GOP partisanship. Evidence to support that theory was uncovered recently by the Sunlight Foundation, when they reported that corporate filings showed “that the group lists the same Manhattan address as that used by the Ronald S. Lauder Foundation” which was widely covered in the Israeli media. Lauder is a longtime Republican political force, and the report showed that his aide and another prominent Republican strategist sit on the board of iVoteIsrael’s parent organization Americans for Jerusalem.

All along it seemed pretty clear that Pieprz was cozy with the GOP. You didn’t need to be an investigative journalist to Google Eli Pieprz and discover that he donned his ‘non-partisan’ hat very, very recently, after he moved to Israel on July 4, 2010. As recently as this press release, marking the beginning of the 2012 election campaign he was identified as ‘director of media relations’ for Republicans Abroad in Israel. And his GOP ties aren’t recent. As far back as 2006, he was quoted in the New York Times as being a ‘close friend’ of disgraced Republican superlobbyist Jack Abramoff.

But this doesn’t stop him from looking you in the eye and arguing with the utmost sincerity that ever since he took the helm of iVoteIsrael, he’s done everything in his power to keep the organization non-partisan, registering all who ask for help regardless of their politics, and featuring representatives of both parties at debate events held across the country.

After hosting an event with Republicans Ari Fleischer and Matt Brooks in July, he said that the group would host a Democrat-oriented event in the near future. The Democratic event never materialized. Pieprz will tell you it’s not for lack of trying – he contends that that the Democrats were not interested in coming to court the American-Israeli vote, and he has evenreleased Email exchanges attempting to set up such a visit to prove it. The organization also denies assertions that people who signed up for ballots with iVoteIsrael ended up on a Republican mailing list are categorically untrue. Pieprz  told the Jerusalem Post that: “The accusation that we’re acting secretly [as Republicans] is problematic and disenfranchising people.”

But not problematic enough, to remove the secrecy and simply disclose who the group’s backers are.

And the question still stands: can a non-partisan organization clandestinely funded by Republican money with pro-GOP goals still be considered non-partisan? Even if iVoteIsrael’s sugar daddies aren’t telling the people registering to vote that they should vote Republican but are hoping that this is what will happen, is this a problem?

The truth is that it’s not the issue of whether the group is pro-GOP political orientation that really troubles me.

After living in Israel for 20 years, I have come to view the decision of every American citizen living abroad permanently whether or not to exercise one’s vote, as a very personal matter – both the decision of whether or not you choose to vote and exactly how you make your choice.

It’s not simple. As a dual citizen, you must ask yourself your vote reflect what you think is best for the U.S. or what is best for Israel? If you feel these two things conflict, whose interests do you choose at the ballot box? I’ve wrestled with these questions every four years since I moved to Israel.

iVoteIsrael’s party line leaves no room for such ambivalence. Their message: the votes of U.S. citizens in Israel are a potential tool to make life better in Israel and we’d be crazy not to use it. They view my vote – whatever it may be – as part of a pro-Israel muscle they want to flex.

In an interview back in May, with a podcaster for the Jewish Press, Pieprz made this position clear to Yishai Fleisher:

“I think you could make a strong argument that frankly for the average American Jew in Far Rockaway versus the average American Jew in Gush Etzion where I live, the President of the United States will have a more direct, a more acute impact on my day-to-day life than the American Jew in Far Rockaway, and I think that’s something that we really should be thinking of, that it’s not so much about America …. We’re not voting in the Israeli elections, we’re voting in the American elections to enhance Israel, to benefit Israel on a day-to-day basis here and also to hopefully enhance and bolster our political capital back in the States to affect decisions that affect our lives.”

Really? Should a vote by an American citizen in a U.S. presidential or congressional election be “not so much about America” and be done strictly “to enhance and benefit Israel” and his own “day to day life?” (whether or not he lives over the Green Line)

If that didn’t make me uncomfortable enough, the fact that the effort to double, triple or quadruple the number of American voters living in Israel is only the first step in his grand plan to sway presidential and congressional elections made me still queasier.

Pieprz continued in the radio interview: “Part of what we are going to be pushing for is changing the terminology. If we get 100,000 Americans (to vote) we are going to have 10,000 or 15,000 American citizen voters living in Israel who are the constituents of a congressman from Brooklyn or the constituents of a congressman from South Florida. When you have 10,000 or 15,000 voters in a given congressional district, those become constituents: those are not people who are living in an allied country. Ten thousand or fifteen thousand is a huge neighborhood when you only need eighty or ninety thousand votes to win a congressional election. When you have 10,000-15,000 in one area, that changes things. We have a lot of friends of Israel in Congress who would love to be able to address Israel from the perspective that ‘these are our constituents, not, these are merely our allies.’”

“Allies are great – hopefully Israel and America will continue to be allies for a very long time. But if we could add the concept that we are constituents, we are active, we vote, we are informed. With 100,000 American voters in general and 10,000-15,000 in specific congressional districts, or even more in given states, I think we could have a very significant impact that goes to Israel’s advantage.”  While I appreciate their efforts to make it easier and more convenient for U.S. citizens living in Israel to exercise their individual right to vote, their endgame – turning those who have made aliya into overseas electoral foot soldiers, isn’t good for either country.

I think I’d rather figure out how to cast my vote myself – without the help of Ron Lauder, or any of their other mystery funders.

YFS Week 70

This segment was selected for production of a highlight video for this week (link below).  Please feel free to share the short version of this interview to introduce the Yishai Fleisher Radio to friends and contacts.

YFS Week 70

Regavim http://regavim.org.il/en/

Regavim is an organization whose raison d’etre is to ensure responsible, legal & accountable use of Israel’s national lands and the return of the rule of law to all areas and aspects of the land and its preservation. It was established to promote a Zionist agenda for the State of Israel and it’s most precious resource, the Land of Israel. The land issue is so important, complex and widespread that we believe that only the state holds the key to a realistic implementation of a system that works. Based on this assumption, Regavim’s activities are directed at influencing all the State of Israel’s government systems in order to bring them, and effectively the whole country, to act based on the fundamental principles of Zionism and protect Israel’s lands and national properties.

Tazpit News Agency  http://www.tazpit.org.il/en/

Tazpit News Agency is dedicated to monitoring and reporting news events in Israel, disseminating to the world the most up-to-date and unbiased information. The war these days is primarily one of publicity. Surrounded by a sea of falsehoods and out right lies about the Nation of Israel and its citizens, we have taken upon ourselves the responsibility to combat these negative trends by exposing the truth, bringing the complete story to light. Our focal point is centered on Judea and Samaria, where the world’s media focuses its attention. Tazpit’s objective is to strive and change the imbalance in the media, insuring the coverage of news events which otherwise would not receive any exposure, and by covering all angles of these events, bringing to light the complete story. Tazpit’s articles, footage and photos are provided to media outlets in Israel and abroad, bringing a new and refreshing spirit to the media. Dozens of volunteers all around Israel are working with Tazpit. Our volunteers are always the first to arrive on the scene.

From Rosh Chodesh Elul, when the Shofar was first blown, through the conclusion of the Neila prayer on Yom Kippur, the main theme is Teshuva – traditionally defined as repentance. When one considers the purpose of teshuva, the idea is that through confessing our sins, experiencing true remorse over having commited them in the first place and resolving not to commit them again in the future, that we are bringing ourselves closer to Hashem.

The Rebbi m’Slonim, in his Sefer Netivot Shalom, says that the purpose of all the mitzvot is for one, through observing the mitvot to become closer to Hashem. If closeness to Hashem is the purpose of performing mitzvot, as well as being the goal of teshuva, then I suggest, that we approach this idea of teshuva from a different perspective.

If our goal (and purpose) as a Jew is to strive to become close to Hashem, then there is no other place more conducive towards this end more so than Eretz Yisrael. Teshuva should be defined, not as merely repentance, but as an actual call for us to return Home – to return to the place where we can experience true closeness with Hashem.

“Hashiveinu Hashem Eilecha V’nashuva, chadeish yemeinu kikedem” – “Return to us Hashem, and we shall return to you, restore things to how they once were”. Hashem has returned to us – He has given every Jew in the world the chance to come home – it is up to us to make the move.

May this year be a year where “V’shavu banim l’gvulam” – “where the children (the Jews) return to their borders”.

Shanah tova!

Videography: Yishai Fleisher
Video Editing: Yocheved Seidman
Background Music: Michael Levy

for more from the Arava Institute: http://arava.org
for more from Michael Levy: http://www.ancientlyre.com/

This video is a partnership production of JewishPress.com and Yishai Fleisher Projects
http://jewishpress.com @jewishpress http://facebook.com/jewishpress

http://yishaifleisher.com

Follow Yishai on Twitter: @yishaifleisher
Yishai on Facebook: http://facebook.com/yishaifleisher

Visit our distribution partners:

http://unitedwithisrael.org

http://shalomtv.com

It makes sense that some level of happiness is in the air, because after all, we are bewailing the destruction of Jerusalem in a big, beautiful and built Jerusalem. This contrast is highlighted in the Jewish liturgy on the 9th of Av when we say the “Nachem” prayer referring to mournful, destroyed and desolate Jerusalem. However, we say that prayer in one of the hundreds of beautiful Synagogues in the city, or at the courtyard of Jerusalem’s city hall, or at the Western Wall with thousands of our fellow Jewish Israeli citizens who have travelled from other thriving Israeli cities on the paved roads of the Jewish state to pray for the future of Jerusalem.

Indeed, a major change has taken place in Jewish life, and while we keep the same rites as we have kept for 2000 years, our reality is vastly different. To understand the change, here is a parable: Two women are in a room and both are single. One’s husband has just died, while the other is engaged to be married – both are indeed single, but they are in totally different states of mind.

So, too, is the Jewish nation: We have mourned for the last two millennia because we were forcibly dispossessed of our land, our capital was sacked, our Temple destroyed and it was as though our husband was murdered. But now with half the Jewish people in the land of Israel and Jerusalem standing in earthly beauty, we are engaged to be married and await the next stage of fulfillment. Our mourning now is the yearning for a final redemption – like a bride waiting for the wedding canopy, we impatiently await the completion of this great process.

Yet, so many Jews deny the obvious reality. Almost like a mantra, they tell you that nothing has changed, that we are still in exile, that there is no difference between living in Israel and living in the Diaspora. Our own people somehow don’t see the transformation that has opened the doors for our nation to return to lost tradition, speak our national language, fight in a Jewish army, and create a culturally Jewish state on our ancestral land. One gets the impression that some prefer not to see it, lest it break their romance with other dreams, namely, the American Dream.

Recently, I caught an article in the Jewish Journal and it was titled: “They just want kosher Dodger Dogs”. The article went on to say that a consortium of six “accomplished professionals” who are also “season ticket holders” are working to remedy the lack of kosher hot dogs at Dodger Stadium in LA. “We are really just a group of people who feel very strongly that the second-largest Jewish community in the country should have the ability to eat a Jewish hot dog at a ballgame…” said a member of the committee, an attorney.

Seriously? Is this what grown men spend their time on? The Jewish people are engaged in the most exciting project in two thousand years – building a Jewish State. We face enormous challenges to build up, educate, and protect our people, and all this is happening while wealthy season-ticket Kosher-eating Jews are fighting for Kosher hot dogs in Dodger stadium? Are we so comfortable with the status quo that Jewish leaders can spend their time on nonsense?

Even closer to their home, in the great state of California there are serious problems with antisemitism at many colleges, high intermarriage rates, and scores of Jews who are losing all connection with Judaism. Some young Jews don’t stand a chance of getting Jewish schooling, while others are afraid to show their Kippah on campus. Yet a group of wealthy Kosher-eating Jews is not ashamed to go public with their efforts to bring fresh Kosher dogs to their box seats?

It is painful to see good people be so misguided, so flippant with their time and money. I bet they even see their hot dog fight as some kind religious victory, an effort to win equal treatment in public venues. But really the hot dog war is a loud proclamation that even the Kosher-eaters are missing the point of this amazing era.

We are not in the era of securing Kosher dogs, we are in the era of reestablishing a Jewish commonwealth and building a country. This project needs us to focus our collective energies so that we can overcome the multiple challenges that stand in our way. Instead of watching overpaid athletes run bases after hitting a ball, we need all those Kosher-eating “accomplished professionals” to “feel very strongly” about their place in the fight for Israel!

Eight years ago Rabbi Shlomo Riskin wrote:

“The formative and formidable challenge of Tisha B’Av is the word Eicha, the first word of the Scroll of Lamentations, which means Wherefore (wherefore is the Sacred City alone and desolate ), our challenging question to G-d after the destruction.”

“But the Hebrew letters Eicha also spell Ayeka, ‘where are you’, i.e. G-d’s challenge to us: where are you in these fateful times fraught with possibility for redemption?”

Yes, we live in fateful times, fraught with possibility for redemption, and we are being asked by Jewish history to engage. But while there is much to do in our time, and lots of power and resources to do it, it is also an era of unprecedented comfort and convenience. Today, we live in a built Jerusalem and we have the leisure to fight for Kosher hotdogs in LA and it’s almost as though life is perfect and we have nothing to worry about.

Now more then ever we need a reminder that there is a lot of work yet to be done in the Jewish home and the 9th of Av is a perfect opportunity to get us back on track for the mission of our generation. The Jewish state needs our input and energy, our money and our sweat. We have to put resources into education, security, infrastructure, health and finance. We have to to take our nation and our country to the next stage.

And that is why we still cry on the 9th of Av in today’s beautiful Jerusalem. We mourn because we are so close and yet so far. Yes, Jerusalem is united, but our nation is divided, physically and spiritually. We are still so often under verbal and physical attack while many Jews continue to marry and others don’t know or don’t care about the beauty of our heritage. We weep because with all our success, there is still so much pain and loss.

Yet, I do not resent the merry atmosphere on the 9th of Av in Jerusalem. There is a confidence in the air that the Jewish story is victorious and that we are approaching a great day. Our much awaited bride is already at the wedding canopy.

Jerusalem is waiting.

Background Music by RebbeSoul. http://rebbesoul.com

Bracha Barbara Goldman: fascinating article – but I grew up in the days when Reform Judaism rejected Zionism, even more than it rejected Jewish tradition. It would probably be “mission impossible” to get them to change their stripes and embrace Zionism – even though there are, as you say, a few kibbutzim in the Arava. Reform leaders who are here in Israel are out to attack the religious establishment, and that seems to be their main raison d’etre.
July 2 at 12:21am · Like · 3

Sarah Bessie: Reform is not easy, especially if it relates to human understanding of G-d. Reform does not necessarily mean to simplify what is already there, but should increase each existing and ever existed. Alas, the reform of Judaism made to simplify what is already there, just to make it easier and more preferred by people who are not Jewish. Zuckerberg is one of many. If these reforms, has been recognized as a weakness, it may need to be discussed or may be reformed again.
July 2 at 1:35am · Edited · Like

RavRonami Meyers (Rabbi of Congregation Ezra Bessaroth in Seattle where I had the honor of speaking at a Shabbaton in 2011):  Unfortunately, I think that your open letter to Rabbi Kaplan is somewhat lacking. While it may be true that many secular Israelis’ identity is wrapped up in serving in Tzahal and in service to the people of Israel, this is largely a product of having been born and raised in Israel. The American Reform Jew’s default position is secular life in America. What imperative, impetus, is there for Reform Jews en masse to pick up and move to Israel, to build the ancestral homeland? Reform was, as you know, originally anti-Zionist, and only changed its direction several decades ago once it saw that such a stance was untenable in a post-Holocaust reality. But there is no theological basis for Reform to embrace Eretz Yisrael, barring a concept of a unique Jewish mission best achieved in the context of a such a homeland.

If Reform cannot articulate a meaningful Jewish religious identity, what makes you think they will be able to – sans the Torah – inspire their youth to leave the material level of American life for a materially tougher life in Israel?

Moreover, I think that by publishing such articles, you do a disservice to the religious Zionist enterprise. Rav Nebenzhal, in his Sichot L’Sefer Bamidbar, says that the following is problematic: “He’s a devout Jew, and a real (Ohev Yisrael) (Ohev Eretz Yisrael)” This kind of a statement implies that devout commitment to Torah and Ahavat Yisrael, and Ahavat Eretz Yisrael are two separate tracks. But our mitzvah of Ahavat Re’a and Ahavat Ha’aretz stems from the Torah imperative! So by publicly sanctioning a Jewish identity void of Torah and Mitzvot – a Jewish cultural identity as a L’chatchila – you are misrepresenting Judaism as well as creating a moral equivalence between Torah Judaism and Secular Zionism….

The great advantage of “marrying Jewish” for Reform Jews who move to Israel, while understandable and appreciative by Orthodox Jews, cannot have great meaning for Reform Jews, whose rabbis sanction, and perform intermarriages, and for whom patrilineal descent is a religious truth….
July 2 at 2:42am · Like · 3

Adam N Nesenoff: We should call on them to follow Torah and Mitzvos to save the next generation of Jews
July 2 at 7:21am via mobile · Like · 2

Matthew Rosen: When our orthodox jewish cousins stop telling us we are less jewish than them, perhaps young reform jews will be more willing to listen to what you have to say, we feel perfectly close to God as we are, we lead fulfilling lives, we are not lacking, we do not feel your way of life offers us anything better, when you understand that there is more than one way to live a fulfilling life, more than one correct way to be, then perhaps your more observant religion will become more appealing to those who share your bloodline. hostility and judgment will never be met with conversion, the orthodox trope that reform jews are just lost is untrue, we are not waiting to discover God many of us have that relationship, we are reform, we are largely secular, and we like who we are just fine. I am reform, I know full well I am Jewish, I’ve got more Jewish education than 95% of conservative Jews under my belt, I love Israel but don’t need to move there, and there is nothing wrong with me.
July 2 at 9:40am · Edited · Like · 4

Yishai Fleisher: Dear Matthew Rosen, Thanks so much for writing me on this important topic. As far as I can tell you must have read someone else’s article. In my article, the person who was most judgmental about Reform was a Reform rabbi who wrote in the Forward. His claim was that Reform’s religious policies were too amorphous and his conclusion was that Reform needed to be more religious in order to keep young people Jewish. My claim was that Zionism was a much faster and more natural movement within Judaism which has the power to excite Reform youth. I think that my article was full of love, wanting my brothers and sisters to join me here in Israel. If you are upset that I, along with most Jewish leaders, thinkers, writers, are concerned about the fate of American Jewish youth, and the rampant rate of intermarriage, then I am sorry. I think that marrying Jewish is an important value, and it is my right to think so because it has been a value for three-thousand years. The American Exile is so anomalous because instead of anti-Semitism our children are being drawn in to marry the gentiles. Far from insintuating that anyone is a lesser Jew, my article called on the Reform youth to be part of building a Jewish State no matter what their religious affilitaion. Finally, your note was quite abrasive, and I dare say, judgemental – much more so than my article. Here’s to loving fellow Jews, and here’s to amicable dialogue. I appreciate the passion, but let us have a conversation built on mutual respect. I would love nothing more than to see you and your friends happy and fulfilled and part of the story of our people. Yours…
July 2 at 10:39am · Like

Matthew Rosen: I disagree Yishai, this question, indeed the central question of your article “what can deliver powerful Jewish identity to millions of young American Reform Jews?” is a fair question perhaps in your mind, but the reality for many million of young American Reform Jews is that we already have powerful Jewish Identities. American Jews don’t live in a world absent anti-semitism, the so called glue to hold us together. we are very much aware that we are not WASPs. If you can not see the idea that Reform Jews need to be pushed something, you favor pushing Zionism versus Judaism, is in itself offensive, as if we are lacking something, then I do understand why my tone comes off as hostile. America’s reform jews are some of the most highly educated, prosperous people ever to walk this planet, the idea that we as a group do not know who we are is simply untrue. i certainly don’t want to offend my family, but i don’t spend my time writing articles on how to fix the mindset of Israeli Nationalist Settlers, and if I did, I would fully expect you to comment on it!
July 2 at 12:21pm · Edited · Like · 2

Matthew Rosen: Furthermore, read the comments to your article, it is rife with the sentiment that reform Jews do not know anything about their religion, i don’t profess to be a talmud scholar, but “i’ll take Judaism for 2000 any day of the week, alex” and i’m 98% sure i’d kick the tar out of 75% of Israelis. personally, i think reform religious schools would benefit from more judaism and more zionism, but the premise that there is a lost generation of american jewery out there, and what are we gonna do about it?!, it’s just false…
July 2 at 12:30pm · Like

Yishai Fleisher: ‎Matthew Rosen — I am happy that you feel that the generation is well adjusted and learned. But I don’t think you should project yourself on the wider community. To not see that Jews are struggling to find Jewish identity is blindness. I have been to many campuses and most kids have a great heart but don’t have a clue about Jewish history, Jewish lore, or Jewish law. In any case, I did not try to limit you from commenting, just wanted the tone to be warmer, and I am not responsible for the other comment opinions as this is an open forum. Finally, I am a Zionist, and I want to see more of your generation making an impact here. I want to see more Jewish neighbors (no matter what denomination) with more Jewish babies. Sue me!
July 2 at 2:13pm · Like · 2

Yishai Fleisher: Thanks RavRonami Meyers for your thought-out response. A few points: I did not say that Zionism without Judaism is Lechatchila. Being an traditional Torah Jew it is easy to guess what my life preference is. But here I am dealing with a group who is asking for direction and I think Zionism is a closer fit for them and will speak to the youth and help them attain an identity that will keep them Jewish. Intermarriage rates drop significantly after a trip to Israel. So in writing this article I thought my job is to inspire a direction which could work and get Reform minds to think about the possibility of Israel. And who knows, maybe it will inspire one rabbi and one congregation to connect their children with Israel. Staying Jewish in America is a huge accomplishment today and we have to do everything in our power to help young people have Jewish pride and Jewish preference when it comes to marriage. Israel is so exciting, so real. I think with minimal exposure, American Jewish college kids will jump at the opportunities we give them.
July 2 at 2:51pm · Like · 1

Malkah Fleisher:  ‎Matthew Rosen, my dear cousin, and Yishai, my dear husband – it’s fun to see family getting together, even if it’s only digitally. I’d like to add my two cents here (it wouldn’t be very Jewish of me not to) to this interesting conversation. For starters, let’s go back to the beginning. Yishai did not write this article independently. He wrote it in response to a somewhat frantic article written by a Reform Rabbi. That rabbi – an expert at least in his little corner of the Reform Jewish universe – expressed his worry about the future of youth in the reform movement, and used Mark Zuckerberg as an example of how so much is right with them (as you mentioned, Matt, one “of the most highly educated, prosperous people ever to walk this planet”), and yet how much is so terribly wrong (in this case, a lack of interest in Judaism and intermarriage to a non-Jewish woman).
Because we are cousins, I know, Matt, that you are really one of the lucky ones. Your parents went to great lengths to ensure that you were raised with as much Jewish education and identity as possible, all the while proudly adhering to Reform Jewish principles and practices. In your higher education, you went to two schools which are famous for being packed to the gills with Jews. Between these facts, your big Jewish heart and your soul which I know deeply connects to and thirsts for Judaism, you may assume that every Reform Jew feels like you. You may not believe that many Reform Jews don’t really associate with Jewish faith, that they will marry out of Judaism, or that if they did that it would present a problem.
But the facts do not bear this out. The statistics in the US are that 70% of non-Orthodox Jews marry non-Jews. And while Yishai and I know Jewish couples which began when a Jew married a non-Jew and brought him/her into the faith, I’m sure we can all agree this is far from the norm. The prevalent experience is that a Jew marries a non-Jew, and in a few generations, the children are gone from Judaism. If you think being/staying Jewish is a positive value, you cannot deny that this is majorly concerning.
However, you are right about another matter of critical importance. Reform Jews must always be treated with the respect and acknowledgement that they are just as Jewish as any Orthodox Jew. Surely I can attest that you have a very good Jewish soul, and would never stand for anyone else saying otherwise. Moreover, I can see why an Orthodox Jew suggesting that a Reform Jew bump his Jewish identity up a notch could seem aggressive or condescending. But those of us who really want to operate on the field of equality should be ready to be looked in the eyes and give – and get- real critique. If you reread Yishai’s article, I hope you will see that the overwhelming sentiment there is one of brotherhood – not the just the sappy kind, but the tell-it-like-it-is-cuz-we’re-family kind. Yishai wrote assuming that Reform Jews on the reading end would not be eggshells – that they would understand that he views them as equals and wants them to be strong and successful, that he values their contribution to our nation, and that he is not going to give them a pass out of the story of Israel just because their lifestyles don’t jive in totality with his own. He wants to hold Reform Jews accountable to the nation just as much as he does to Orthodox Jews, to include them just as much, to work with them just as much. And he wants them to stay Jewish – is that so wrong, a little Jewish pride? I know you have it. I have it. And I feel good about that.
I’m sorry this is so long. If nothing else this caused a nice – albeit feisty – conversation to happen in one Jewish family. I hope it will do the same for the greater Jewish family, too.
July 2 at 3:52pm · Like · 2

Avigdor Rudofsky: And what % of Reform believe in Hashem?
July 2 at 5:19pm · Like

RavRonami Meyers: Thanks Yishai and Malka for your comments; I am enjoying monitoring this discussion…but Yishai, the entire premise of your position is that it is somehow an imperative to “stay Jewish”. True, once one accepts that premise, he would see the great advantage in moving to Israel, where intermarriage rates are obviously lower. What you are either ignoring or perhaps diplomatically avoiding is the central point of Rabbi Kaplan’s article – the “Elephant in the room” that you are sidestepping, and that is the lack of a theological basis for Jews who do not subscribe to Torah M’Sinai to live uniquely Jewish lives and to marry Jewish people with the aim of perpetuating the Jewish people. Kudshah Brich Hu, Yisrael, and Oraita are “חד” – they are one – inseparable. While not detracting from your cousin Matthew’s sincerity and inherent goodness (I’m sure he’s a great guy!), his movement provides no theological basis for living a uniquely Jewish life, as defined by Torah – ie mitzvot, both the Written and Oral Torah, given on Har Sinai. Included as one of these mitzvot (debate in the Rishonim about D’oraita or D’rabanan) is the prohibition of intermarriage. Now, this prohibition of intermarriage – or phrased positively, the obligation to marry Jewish – has no context for one who does not prescribe to Torah Judaism. This point is driven home beautifully by Reform Rabbi Kaplan
July 2 at 11:22pm · Like

RavRonami Meyers : When he says and I quote: “Also, as a Reform rabbi, it would be hard for me to tell a congregant not to date anyone who was not already Jewish. I would urge congregants to talk about their commitment to Judaism with any potential romantic interest and make it clear from the beginning that Judaism is an important and hopefully central part of their life. But it is simply impractical to tell single people to restrict their dating gaze to those who are of the Jewish faith. Even if we wanted to say such a thing, the reality in our congregations would make such exhortations antiquated and irrelevant.”
July 2 at 11:25pm · Like

RavRonami Meyers: So now you are asking congregants of similar rabbis, who themselves have no theological leverage with their congregants — to move to Israel so they can prevent intermarriage?
July 2 at 11:25pm · Like

RavRonami Meyers: It’s also only the Torah that defines us as a nation, and not merely a religion. So if one is not working according to classical Torah definitions, how is an American Jew part of the “nation of Israel” if he does not hold an Israeli passport?
July 2 at 11:27pm · Like · 2

Zeev Kahanist:  But “Reform Movement” is NOT Judaism.
July 2 at 11:36pm · Like · 1

Yishai Fleisher: Um, RavRonami Meyers? Are you saying that Jews who do not keep Torah are not Jewish. That is simply not true according to Jewish law. We have a concept called Teshuva which is always available. My parents are Russian Jews who lost their connection to Judaism and then regained it years later. Your assertion that “only the Torah that defines us as a nation” is simply false. Being the children of Yaakov defines us a nation period, while, to be sure, the Torah is our raison d’etre. And by the way Zionism is Torah, and when Jews chose to settle outside of the land they too are not exactly following Torah (See Ramban Hilchot Melachim Ch.5). Should we therefore say that Jews who live outside the land are not Jewish? I mean the Rambam does say that it’s like practicing idolatry. So instead of insulting each other calling each other not Jewish, let us embrace our brother and sisters, not judge them, and come together in a return to our our land and a return to our roots. We have enough people who hate us out there, let’s well us our love instinct instead, and that too is Torah.
July 2 at 11:57pm · Like · 3

Yishai Fleisher: Hey Matthew Rosen: for a sobering snapshot of the broader Jewish community in the NY area please check out this article which discusses the new UJA population and affiliation survey – a must read: http://www.thejewishweek.com/news/new-york-news/sweeping-changes-ny-jewry-seen-first-decade-survey
July 3 at 12:20am · Like

RavRonami Meyers: Yishai….I think you are reacting emotionally and not rationally to the comments I made above. Nowhere in my comments did I, G-d forbid, saying that Jews who do not keep Torah are not Jewish. That’s preposterous. ישראל אף על פי שחטא ישראל הוא – a Jew who transgresses is of course still a Jew. I myself grew up with partial Jewish observance and only at the age of 20 began to observe Torah and mitzvot at a more intense level. I also recognize that inside of us, each Jew has the potential to connect to our people, and act on behalf of our people, even if not observant. What I did say, and you did not relate to – is that theologically, the Reform movement, which does not accept Torah M’Sinai, has no theological leverage to mandate marrying a Jewish person, as reform Rabbi Kaplan’s article so clearly pointed out; his hesitation stems not from the impracticality of trying to argue the point, but from his inability to call upon any objective imperative to do so. All I said is that the argument to move to Israel, so that they could marry Jewish, is a strange plea to Reform Jews, whose standards facilitate intermarriage, whose definition of who is a Jew is not in accordance with the Judaism, that you, Yishai, subscribe to, and whose conversions are not recognized by Orthodox Jewish law. As such, the plea that you are making has little appeal to a thinking Reform Jew.
July 3 at 12:35am · Like · 1

RavRonami Meyers: Regarding your comments about living outside of Eretz Yisrael, it’s actually the Gemara at the end of Ketubot that’s the source of the idea that one who leaves Israel either a) is like he has no G-d; or b) serving idols. But by the way, the same Rambam (see the whole perek) says that is permissible to live anywhere in the world, except in Egypt. So the question of course is how could the Rambam simultaneously say that one must live in Israel and then say that it’s permissible to live anywhere in the world? After all, if living in Israel is a positive mitzvah in the classic sense of the word, then living outside of Israel is a bitul of a mitzvat Aseh, like refraining from putting on Tefilin on a given morning! It would be, ipso facto, forbidden to live outside of Israel! So the answer that has been offered is that it’s a mitzvah kiyumit, ie a mitzvah when you are performing it – but not an issur if you are not. Now, this may be hard to swallow for someone so beautifully ideologically committed to living and promoting living in the Land of Israel as you are….but as in any halachic issue, this is a complex matter that resists sweeping comments.
July 3 at 12:44am · Like · 1

RavRonami Meyers: BTW, four of children live in Eretz Yisrael, and an additional three are there for the summer, and we have a Chatuna in Bet Shemesh of our son in August. Please join us!
July 3 at 12:45am · Like

Yishai Fleisher: Dear RavRonami Meyers: Would love to join you for the wedding, thanks for the invite, and Mazal Tov!! Regarding Reform’s lack of theological motivation – I don’t for one second deny that point – but for Rabbi Kaplan who is asking what can be done to keep his congregants Jewish, I am offering him a thought: help your kids choose Israel. They already love birthright, and they can get excited about many of Israel’s secular accomplishments, and by choosing Israel they can stay Jewish without being challenged theologically to accept more observance. Regarding Mitzva Kiyumis, YU’s Rabbi Shachter has a very hard time with this concept. But the bottom line we can all agree on: To live in Israel is something to strive for and it is a higher level of Torah observance and a closeness to HaShem. In His great mercy, God is ingathering the Jewish people from the four corners of the globe and the next wave of returnees will come from North America. I am sure we can also agree that our job is to love fellow Jews, and embrace them wherever they live, and whatever their level of observance. I for one, have a lot to learn in Torah and in keeping the commandments, and in serving HaShem properly. I am looking forward to hearing Torah from you in the Holy Land. Yasher Koach!!!!
July 3 at 1:28am · Like

Emet Sheva: Zionism itself must be redefined as it bagan in Herzilian anti-Judaism and all its early proponets (Jabotinski, Ben Gurion, etc) discriminated against religious Jews. I am NEW Zionist and I hope everyone takes time to re-examine this term and where it began and where it is nowadays!
July 3 at 3:42am · Like · 2

Zvi Gary Jonathan: Did Zuckerberg renounce his Judaism?
July 3 at 4:24am · Like

Leon Yoseph Leiner: I have to agree with Emet Sheva that the term zionism NEEDS AND REQUIRES NEW DEFINING; as the term i have come to find it relates to is JESUITIC ORDERS INFILTRATING JEWISH GROUPS CLANDESTINELY TO GAIN INSIDERS’ CONTROLS OF OTHER JEWS… it’s a sad angle, but it’s coming out to be true-er and true-er … i post something to add ”perspective” to this claim, even though i don’t agree with a few points brought in this article about who and what ”Israel” is, though it merits ”comparing” … http://geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.co.il/2010/07/albert-pike-letter-to-mazzini.html .. did you ”know” or hear that ”zionism vs islam” has been ”an agenda” since BEFORE THE JEWISH ZIONIST MOVEMENT came to take roots ???

Albert Pike letter to Mazzini, The Illuminati plan for World War 3 August 15, 1871 | Gerald Celent
geraldcelentechannel.blogspot.com
Revolution and social chaos is coming. For anyone who is reading this page, plea…See More
July 3 at 8:18am · Like · 1 ·

Emet Sheva: Leon and All – I think you would appreciate this video from Rav. Amnon Yitzhak’s SHOFAR group, if you have 85 minutes to devote to it. It delves into ZIONISM OF FOUNDERS OF ISRAEL and THEIR NEGATIVE ATTITUDE TOWARD HEREIDIS EVEN IN CHOOSING TALLIT AS FLAG as to say :”Its a flag so you no longer have to put it on your body”.
July 3 at 10:20am · Like

Emet Sheva: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1UL-YD_TTE
July 3 at 10:21am · Like · 1

Kristalyn Frey Leonard: I am sick and tired of frummies telling me I am not Jewish enough. What does that mean? “Jewish Enough”…..you either are or you are not. How lame. The reformed shul here supports Israel 100% and many of us who are conservative or modern orthodox attend. You starting sounding like christians when you do that to us. Please stop. Thanks.
July 3 at 11:19am · Like

Yossi Zucker:  The article seems to be implying if you want to end up on a Jewish path and possibly frum, disregard reform – u have a better chance to connect to Gd and return to your roots through Zionism. Traditional Israelis would rather go to a halachic synoguague once a year than a reform temple every week, because they dont fool themselves into thinking that practicing reforms version of judaism is practicing judaism.
July 3 at 2:11pm · Like

Salomon Elguera: I think pushing Zionism is good. But also pushing reform Judaism is a big mistake. We need more Jews to become Frum and Torah Observant. In the article you write about how Israel is a great place for Reform youth movements. But, it is also a big problem because with the reform movement comes the acceptance of Gay marriage, not keeping the Mitzvot and picking and choosing what to do and not to do in Torah. This has detrimental effects on all the Jewish people in the world. The Less people studying Torah in Yeshivot, the less people keeping Shabbat, the less people will have shalom Beit and be able to enjoy the world Ha Kadosh Baruchu wanted us to enjoy. We must stand up against all types Koffers who speak against Torah and lead Am Yisrael astray. Reform Judaism and every heretic Jewish movement that move away from Torah is the problem. Every Heretic movement Hashem has destoryed and will destory. The Karaites and all most done with. Sadduccees have disappeared. The Other groups who went away from Torah have been perished from the face of the earth. If we want to inspire Jews to be Jewish we must push for Zionism, learning Hebrew and serving in the Israeli Military and to live and be part of Israel. But we must also push for Jews to become observant. The only thing that will lead to salvation is when all Jews keep all the Halakhot. This will prevent the spiritual down fall of israel. Bring us closer to Medinat Halakhah and bring us closer to the Time of Mashiakh. BS”D
July 3 at 8:40pm · Like · 1

Zeev Kahanist: Don’t forget, aside from “gay marriage” feminism and all the other ridiculous political agendas the reform movement pushes for in Israel, they are also very pro arab!
July 3 at 9:18pm · Like · 1

Marshall Winkler yasher koach!
July 4 at 9:26am · Like

Tzvi Fishman: Please share this article with everyone. Yishai has been traveling all over America with great maserut nefesh and love for the Jewish People to spark what he calls an “Aliyah Revolution” and everyone can play a part by promoting this idea on Facebook. So please SHARE NOW!
July 4 at 9:26am · Like

Viva La Jewpacabra: No offense but I don’t think so – without Torah, there can be no Jewishness. You see how Zionism has fallen today. Look at the debacle secularists have made of Zionism – look at all the secular leaders whose children flee the country at first opportunity. I’m kind of surprised you wrote this.
July 4 at 9:38am · Edited · Like

David Haser Hasday: bs”d
There is no Zionism without Torah.
Zionism without Torah is baseless.
Actually Torah is Zionism.
And the first Zionist is Kadosh Baruh U Himself.
July 4 at 9:42am · Like · 1

Daniel Tauber: Yishai is correct: Judaism without Zionism doesn’t work. The Torah is a fundamentally Zionist document and if you remove Zionism you remove a primary part of Judaism.
July 4 at 9:51am · Like · 1

Fredrick Murphy: I watched an interview last night, recorded on ShalomTV with you and the founder…and if i was a non-Zionist i’d say he kept pulling you into corners with his older wisdom and then spanked you Yishai several times. HOWEVER, since i’m a complete Zionist, i think you are struggling to do the right thing and many will benefit by it…you make good points for both Jews and non-Jews. The founder of ShalomTV is interested in social Judaism, and not in restoring Israel….nor restoring a BASIC Torah lifestyle in the Land. You are. May HaShem continue to mold you and use you towards Restoration. Ah-mayn.
July 4 at 10:36am · Like

Yishai Fleisher: Thanks Frederick for your comment! and glad you are seeing ShalomTV. What points that Mark – who is wise without doubt – made did you find compelling?
July 4 at 10:38am · Like

Viva La Jewpacabra: Judaism without Zionism doesn’t work but Judaism without Torah is meaningless
July 4 at 10:47am · Like

Fredrick Murphy: Don’t get me wrong Yishai, i’m not saying i think Mark was correct IN MY OPINION….for i think you are closer to the Truth. What i’m saying is that Mark does a typical show (we watch things on Roku channel they just opened up for ShalomTV, or we use a PC) where he knows what buttons to push and how to “handle” his guests towards a certain end. I think Mark does many wonderful things, and is no dummy by any means, but i think a huge difference between you and he is…well, summarized by secular and non-secular. Let me put it this way, i have my family watch your programs often times (YouTube, Roku’s different Jewish (& Messianic Jewish) channels, etc…), and a person can get a sense of who you are “overall.” When we look at Mark’s /ShalomTV’s overall programming, verses looking at your overall programming, we would say you are a religious man whereas Mark is a secular man…..both with a “Jewish bent.” Does that make sense?
July 4 at 11:25am · Like

Fredrick Murphy: I also think, though i know there is much i don’t know about you Yishai…so maybe take this as a grain of salt, if you are struggling to keep a balance between being “Biblically committed in deed and heart” while yet not trying to be “letter-of-the-law legalistic in a Khassidic fashion.” I think you are striving for balance, and growing, and that’s what makes you appealing and encouraging. My family loves your passion for “all things Torah,” yet without being purely built on man’s religious requirements. You are genuine, also, in your love for people…Jewish people as well as all mankind. So you have some like-minded friends who are attracted to your messages…. Keep it up friend. Off to some more heat with family….. Shalom for now.
July 4 at 11:31am · Like

Nehemia Stern: All of you miss the point. Zionism,like any other political movement, is only a means to an end. ארץ ישראל איננה דבר חיצוני. והמבין יבין
July 5 at 4:41am · Like

Barry Verstaendig: Judaism survived for 2,000 years without Zionism…but after a few generations, Zionism without Torah is disintegrating…Zionism without Torah isn’t going to guarantee the survival of either one…
July 5 at 4:54am · Like

John Raymond Mayo: Religious Zionism or simply Zionism would be a breath of fresh air, so to speak, in Reform Judaism. I think they may have gone off on a tangent over racism and anti-occupation views and these have bent their pluralistic paths away from Judaism and a passion and desire to live in and build the Land of Israel and to a sad end of not passing on their tradition. And I like how you compare and contrast your own life experience and include it as your suggestions, Yishai.
July 5 at 1:06pm via mobile · Like

Boris D. Maslovsky: Zionism alone is no solution. There are many zionists who have no Yiddishkeit. Many of the early zionists were atheists who intermarried. Zionism is not a substitute for Torah and Mitzvahs. Maybe if reform Judaism stopped giving people superficial explanations that lack any spirituality and gave people an authentic Jewish experience, people would respond and be drawn closer to it. In the end, reform Judaism, like the Karraites, and other deviants sects is doomed to ruin and will be relegated to the annals of history. Unfortunately it’s taking a lot of wonderful Neshamas down with it.
July 6 at 11:40am · Like

Fanny Rosellon Druker:  We must do aliyah in a land where there are hundred of thousands of homosexuals a land with more abortions than in America, a land with a lot of traffic of drugs to europe and even in Israel a land that you can get jazir and nonkosher wines in almost any supermarket? i grew up in a liberal orthodox enviroment and now I do understand the jaredim and the jasidut that are against the state of israel!!!!

“Some 3500 years ago, on the 29th of Sivan, Israel dispatched 12 spies to go spy out the land of Israel for 40 days. On the 9th of Av, they returned with a negative report about the great land that G-d gave them, and Israel was punished terribly. What exactly was the sin of the spies? Perhaps an attitude of complaining too much, or a refusal to take responsibility for our national mission. However you want to say it, one thing is for sure: we don’t seem to have learned our lesson.

This year, lets spend the same 40 day period correcting our mistake. Instead of complaining about the people and things we love to complain about, lets promise ourselves we won’t complain. That’s the 40Days4Israel Challenge. You can tweet positive comments about Israel at #40days4Israel, or just make an extra effort on your own to say good words about our land and people every day. Your small efforts can bring Israel one step closer to acheiving our national goals.”

And here is Zev with another face grabbing happy baby. Baruch Hashem and Thank G-d for the little bundles of goodness.

Rabbi Chaim Richman focuses on “Continuity – That’s the concept that is embodied in multiple levels in the Torah reading of Pinchas. The experience of Israel in the desert is coming to a close, but the desecration of Zimri and Cozbi threatens everything, Pinchas’ swift and certain response guarantees the continuity the sanctity of Israel. The daughters of Tzelaphchad and the designation of Yehoshua to succeed Moshe as leader of Israel naturally follow Pinchas’ heroic act.”

Painting at top of this post by Yoram Raanan

“Sepsis is a huge issue — one of the top killers, often as a complication of pneumonia or urinary tract infection and at times due to an infection acquired in the hospital,” says Dr. Yoav Avidor, CEO of Tel Aviv-based Cheetah Medical. “It progresses rapidly and is difficult to treat. In advanced sepsis, all the body’s organs start to fail. Septic shock sets in and the mortality rate is about 40 percent.”

Doctors can reduce mortality up to 40 percent by treating each case of sepsis right away with exactly the amount of intravenous fluids needed to correct imbalances of oxygen and other nutrients being delivered to the organs through the bloodstream.

“The physician must stabilize the hemodynamic system so that all the organs get exactly what they need — not too much and not too little,” explains Avidor, a urologist by training.

But until Cheetah’s NICOM device came along, the only way to determine the right amount was through an expensive and invasive procedure that can itself cause infection. Since doctors prefer not to do this, a better way was clearly needed.

As soon as NICOM’s uniquely non-invasive system received FDA and CE Mark approval four years ago, it was bought by hundreds of hospitals in the United States, United Kingdom, Italy, South Korea, Israel and France for ICU and anesthesia units. Just by sticking four sensors to the skin on the patient’s chest or back, the staff can continuously collect all the data needed to determine how much fluid to administer.

Now, trials at a dozen US hospital emergency departments are testing the assumption that using NICOM earlier would keep more patients from the ICU. This would save both lives and money, since one in four hospital deaths is caused by sepsis, and it’s the reason for about half of the admissions to medical ICUs.

The only system hospitals buy

Several other medical device companies in the 1980s and 1990s offered non-invasive ways to monitor hemodynamics, yet none worked well enough to be adopted widely. “NICOM is the first advance since then. Practically, it’s the only non-invasive system that hospitals actually buy and use on the really sick patients,” Avidor tells ISRAEL21c.

The genius behind the invention is Hanan Keren, a Weizmann Institute of Science physicist who helped commercialize MRI technology at the Israeli company Elscint. The device is made in Israel and marketed through Cheetah’s US headquarters in Vancouver, Washington.

“In medical devices, the big competitive advantage is the interface between technology and clinical need, and bringing the product to market with a business model that works,” says Avidor. “Many Israeli companies have exciting technology but few have experience with market interface, so they either try to sell the company or go in another direction.”

The COMMIT (Cardiac Output Monitoring Managing Intravenous Therapy) study begun in February could significantly enhance Cheetah’s marketing position.

“NICOM provides an effective method of optimizing fluid treatment in the emergency department, a vital step in the management of sepsis,” says Avidor.

In 12 leading US hospital emergency departments for the next year or two, half of the sepsis patients will randomly get the standard of care (no hemodynamic monitoring), while the other half get the protocol based on NICOM. The Israeli system will help determine whether the patient can handle the large amounts of fluids that can prevent progression of sepsis. If not, extra fluids would dangerously overwhelm the heart the way a car engine gets flooded.

Avidor expects that COMMIT will show a reduction in deterioration of sepsis; the number of admissions to the ICU; intubations; and kidney and liver failure that are common complications of sepsis.

“In general, I hope to see significant reductions in the cost of treatment for these patients, as well as mortality and complications,” he says.

• “There is no love like the love for the Land of Israel.” (Bamidbar Rabbah 23:7)

• “All who walk four cubits in the Land of Israel are assured a place in the World to Come…” (Ketuvot 111a)

• “Even the mere conversations of the residents of the Land of Israel is Torah.” (Vayikra Rabbah 34:7) Especially the cab drivers in Jerusalem!

• “There is no Torah like the Torah of the Land of Israel, and no Wisdom like the Wisdom of the Land of Israel.” (Bereishit Rabbah 16:4; Vayikra Rabbah 13:5; Yalkut Shimoni, Bereishit)

• “If you desire to see the Divine Presence in this world, study Torah in the Land of Israel.” (Midrash Tehillim, 105)

When she was three years old, Peled’s parents noticed a large mark on her bottom. “The next day, we got up early and went to Tel Hashomer, where they did a bone marrow exam,” she remembers. The results came in that evening – Shira was suffering from a type of leukemia called APL, a diagnosis that would have been fatal two years earlier. However, a new medicine had recently been discovered. 

In her book, Peled writes about how the chemotherapy treatments weakened her body, raised her temperature and made it hard for her to eat and breathe.

“I didn’t eat anything for almost five days straight,” she says. When she finally did feel hungry, the first thing she asked for was “pastrami and a pickle.”

Peled’s book also describes the pain of losing her hair, which prior to her disease hadn’t ever been cut. Her long blonde locks were replaced by a “cute pink hat.” But within a year, her hair started growing back and when she started first grade she already had a ponytail.

“The treatments took six months and that’s it, I was saved. I went back to kindergarten and I’d sit in the doll corner – I was the doctor and they were the patients,” she says.

“Today, I’m almost 12, a happy girl. I didn’t let the disease affect me. So what if I was sick? It doesn’t mean I’m defective. I’m different from you. I’m special.”

Peled’s book won a great deal of attention during Hebrew Book Week’s primary school reading campaign, including a prize in the “Especially Exciting” category.

Haya Shitai, director of the Education Ministry’s Tel Aviv District, praised Peled at the prize ceremony. “It’s important that as many children as possible read this book – some will find strength to deal with a disease or other difficulties, and others will understand how important friendship is and how important it is to support a sick friend,” she told the young author.

Peled’s book will be distributed at hospitals throughout Israel.

Photo of Cherries in Kibbutz Ein Zivan, Golan Heights from Dr. Avishai Teicher via the PikiWiki – Israel free image collection project

The programming, which is offered 24/6, is top notch and includes Torah, talk, and a fine sampling of the best music from today’s jam band scene along with homegrown Israeli music and the scoop of the classics.

Listen in live on their website and be sure to read the interesting blog posts that cover news in both the Jewish and music worlds. Tune in at http://www.radiofreenachlaot.com and enjoy!

For 2 great stories about the Or HaChaim HaKadosh click “more”

One from Chabad:

http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/112384/jewish/Rabbi-Chaim-ibn-Attar.htm

One from Rav Pinto’s website:

http://www.hevratpinto.org/tzadikim_eng/037_rabbi_chaim_ben_attar.html

Listen to the first week of the Yishai Fleisher Show below!

The song was composed by Naftali Kalfa and performed by Naftali and Rabbi Shlomo Katz.

Lyrics:
The One who restores His Presence to Zion.
May you build it up in our days an everlasting sanctuary.
And prepare the throne of David your servant.
May the Temple be built and the City of Zion be filled.
And there we will sing a new song, and with joy ascend.

A great new Jewish music video for everyone to enjoy – the music is fresh and original, and the video is well made and thought provoking and rated G (no need to worry about watching it with your kids). Moshe grew up in the Lubavitch world and he brings the core Chabad themes of sensitivity to Jewish identity and connecting to every Jews into his music in a natural way that works. Here is more information about Moshe Hecht.

Thank you for your article in the Forward entitled “Losing Zuckerberg – Why Did Facebook King Move Away From Reform Judaism?” In the article you lament the intermarriage of Mark Zuckerberg and ask why a young man who comes from an affiliated Reform background would call himself an atheist and choose to marry out of our nation.

Poignantly you write: “For those in the Reform movement and for those who are committed to non-Orthodox American Judaism generally, we need to take the sudden interest in Zuckerberg’s personal life as an opportunity to perform cheshbon hanefesh, to take an accounting of our accomplishments and, as in this case, our failings.”

As one who taught Reform Hebrew school for many years at the flagship Temple Emanuel in Manhattan, I agree with your concerns that Reform Judaism is too lax, too undefined, as you write: “We failed Zuckerberg and will continue to fail young people like him because the pluralistic theologies of Reform Judaism articulated since the 1960s make it difficult to grasp what we Reform Jews believe on any given issue. Our faith is too amorphous… we have lost our way, ignoring scholarship in favor of any type of “spirituality,” no matter how vacuous.”

Indeed. Even in your own article you admit that as a Reform Rabbi you would not be comfortable asking a congregant to observe some form of the Sabbath or even refrain from marrying a non-Jew. These are two Jewish fundamentals, one dealing with the culture of Judaism, the other with the perpetuation of our nation, yet you feel powerless to call for adherence. And as a result, a young Jew whom you train grows up to be less of a Jew and more of a secular humanist and is it a surprise when you raise a secular humanist that he or she looks to marry a co-religionist of that faith and not the Jewish one?

But my critique is not about Reform’s rejection of classical Judaism, because that polemic has been hashed out time and again.

My argument is that in our times there are two separate tracks of Jewish continuity: Traditional Judaism and Zionism. The real failing of Reform Judaism is that it rejected both of them. You can reject one and still survive, but you can’t reject both and make it.

To remain Jewish in America, without the external aid of anti-semitism, there needs to be a glue which keeps ideology and peoplehood at the forefront of a young Jewish mind. The traditional Torah world has strong ritual, ideology and a social matrix within the community, making intermarriage almost impossible. But an American Jew who lacks tradition does not have much to separate him or her from a philo-Semitic American gentile and he or she is likely to end up marrying one.

So the question stands: barring the super-success of Chabad and other such religious movements on campus, what can deliver powerful Jewish identity to millions of young American Reform Jews?

Your conclusion, Rabbi Dana, is that Reform Judaism needs a new infusion of Judaism: “We need to ask ourselves why he [Zuckerberg] is apparently not committed to the God of his ancestors, and to take drastic steps to rebuild our religious ecosystem.”

I applaud your sentiment, but I am skeptical. Do you really think the Reform movement will abide a “Kosher-style” surge? And even if that infusion comes, do you think that it will be attractive to young people? Conservative Jewry, ostensibly more traditional, has not fared much better than Reform.

Permit me to suggest that there is a more natural and faster track to keeping young Reform Jews Jewish. Instead of trying to rebuild a ‘religious ecosystem’, how about steering our youth to take part in the rebuilding of the physical and social ecosystem of our people in our ancestral homeland? In other words, instead of pushing more Judaism in the Reform world, why not push more Zionism?

There is a future for Reform youth in Israel. In Israel, you can be a secular humanist and still remain Jewish because you will marry Jewish. Moreover, secular Israelis do not remain Jewish only by virtue of living in a Jewish society that is rejected by the neighboring gentiles. Being a secular Israeli is very much a Jewish cultural identity. Most secular Israelis connect to the beautiful narrative of being Israeli, fighting in the Israeli army, getting married under a Chuppah, having a family Seder, and building a home in the land of Israel.
Furthermore, Reform youth can buy into Israel because Zionism is a short leap away from the Reform conception of Tikkun Olam – what is more Tikkun Olam then building a model country in the Middle East? Reform youth can be galvanized to take part in building a Jewish country, especially if we show them that their input and fresh ideas are needed and respected. Israel has all they are looking for: from Yad VaShem to lively beaches, from great hospitals to great theater, from a great history to a great future. Send them over here and let them fall in love with the land, with the language, with the culture, and with each other.

Finally, this direction is not new or alien to the Reform movement – in the 40’s Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver was one of the most important American Jewish leaders and his work assured the support of the American Jewish community, and President Truman’s, for the establishment of the Jewish state. There are many streets in Israel named after him. Today, Rabbi Richard Jacobs, the newly elected President of the Union of the Reform Judaism of the United States, with his fluent Hebrew, strong ties, and vocal support for Israel, appears to be a leader capable of implementing this directional change. With Reform rabbis making inroads in Israel, and successful Reform Kibbutzim settling the land, the path is opening up for Reform youth to buy into Israel on a larger scale.

Had Mark Zuckerberg been told that the Jewish people have a mission to rebuild a Jewish state, and that his creative talents are needed, he may have harnessed his mind in that direction. He could have been a cyber-warrior in the IDF, or may have started a start-up in the start-up nation. Had he been offered an opportunity to take part in the most exciting project of the Jewish people in two-thousand years, he probably would have taken it. (Notice, by the way, how involved Mark was in the launching of President Shimon Peres’ Facebook page. It seemed to me that he was proud to be helping Israel and thereby expressed his pride in being Jewish.)

Rabbi Dana, with great respect to your admirable mission of bringing in more concrete Judaism back to the Reform, I think that Israel holds a lot more Jewish sex-appeal for the average teenager and college student, and it is an easier fit with their current non-observant mindset. If we care about keeping the next Zuckerberg in the fold, we must help the next generation choose life by plugging them into the exciting story of the Jewish State.

Looking forward to your response,

Yishai

“My Father Sent Me”

“Delights”

“Everyday Life : A PhotoBlog”

“G-d Work”

This is our favorite photo from the blog so far (from “Everyday Life” post above)… “the sign reminds customers in this produce store not to forget to say “In honor of the Holy Sabbath” when selecting fruits and vegetables that will be served on Shabbat.”

From Rabbi Chaim Richman on Parshat Chukat, “The Role of The Snake”. Going through all these things twice: The generation of the desert, like Adam, the first man, failed to appreciate the gifts that G-d gives us. Adam blamed the woman G-d gave him for his own eating of the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, and the Israelites in the desert complained about the spiritually refined nourishment known as manna, with which G-d kept them fed for forty years. Is it any wonder that the evil-tongued snake made an appearance in both cases, here being used by G-d as an instrument to exact from Israel a price for their flagrant disregard?

So we are excited to bring you a brand fresh new blog started by this wonderful writer and observer of Israeli life, Reesa Stone…  Here is the truly engaging and fun ReesasWorld.  If you want to share your content, please send to info@40Days4Israel.com

Here’s something I was thinking about this morning, as I reviewed the weekly Torah portion: It seems like whenever Israel complains in the desert, they always seem to compare it with where they were before, Egypt. Even 39 years after their exodus from slavery, they compare their miraculous manna food to the “delicacies” they enjoyed in Egypt. The fact that they were being fed meager slave rations by wicked taskmasters who were abusing their bodies totally slips their minds.

There are a lot of reasons why people complain, and almost all of them are bad and harmful. When we olim complain about how certain things aren’t the way they were in the old country, we hurt ourselves and our nation- especially ironic when we chose to leave the places we grew up to seek better lives here.”

@TziviaBerow309: Being in Israel makes me want to be a better person.

@haivri: Israel, I am just glad to be part of it!

@rabbinadel:  “It is better to live in the deserts of the Land of Israel than the palaces of the Diaspora.” (Bereishit Rabbah 39:8)

@arimoshko: The Land of Israel is inspiring my children!

@pctetel RT @JSSNews: Miracle israélien dans le désert colombien http://t.co/b3OujuoH”

@rabbinadel: “The Land of Israel lacks nothing.” (Sifrei, Ekev, 37)

@jerryman789 “I’d take a garbage dump in Eretz Yisrael over the biggest mansion in NY” http://t.co/HKaJ0uAr

…and much more… If you want to get started on twitter and feel it is a foreign land and a bit scary, we can help you! Please get in touch with Yocheved at info@40days4Israel.com

Rabbi Shlomo’s Message: Amongst the hundreds of choices we have to make on a daily basis, there is one choice none us can afford to avoid making. How do I choose to view all that which I have? Do I have what I have because I deserve it, or is everything in my life considered a gift?

Rabbi Richman’s Message: In praise of women: They avoided the sin of the golden calf; they did not participate in the badmouthing of the land of Israel. And in parashat Korach, we learn how the wife of On ben Pelet prevented her husband from taking part in the rebellion of Korach and helped him to repent of his original intentions. Stand by your man? Stand by your woman!

This thought pattern exists today even with the apparent success of the Jewish State. Rabbi Shmuly Yanklowitz, whom Newsweek called one of the most influential rabbis in America, wrote in the Florida Jewish Journal: “While Israel remains the destiny of the Jewish people, we also must not abandon the Diaspora. Firstly, the Torah demands that we, as a nation, commit to pursuing justice; to be warriors against injustice, it behooves us to be stationed everywhere around the globe. This work as an ohr l’goyim, a light unto the nations, is our raison d’être.” (Hat tip Rabbi Shimshon Nadel)

While Rabbi Yanklowitz’s statement seems logical, it is in contradiction to the biblical vision of ingathering. We are all destined to come home. And while being a light unto the nations is a paramount value, it is not in conflict with God’s promise that the Jewish people would one day be reunited on their soil.

So how do you answer the concerns that the Jews will no longer come in contact with the gentiles, how could you be a light unto the nations, if you do not live amongst the nations?

God has a plan: notice the amazing historical confluence of the ingathering with the communications revolution: just as the Jewish people were set to start off on the adventure of building a state in the Middle East, so too did the technology to communicate and broadcast globally explode – from the wire, to the radio, to the TV, to the internet, to the iPhone – there are no boundaries to the exchange of information.

Indeed, the Jewish people’s ability to influence and to transmit knowledge has never been paralleled. The internet has allowed the Torah to flow forth from Zion, and the news cycle never seems to get enough of Israel. Jews need not live in Poland, Germany or the US to effect change in nations around the world. Just start a picture blog or a successful Facebook account from Jerusalem and you can touch the lives of millions and be right in their Kansas or Kyrgyzstan home. Now, the dual missions of the Jewish people, to ingather and to be a light unto the nations, need not be bifurcated – the story of the Jewish people today is more famous than ever.

Sadly though, one cannot be blind to the fact that most of the reports dealing with Israel, most of the YouTube videos, and most of the images coming from the Holy Land are far from positive. This puts a little dent in the theory that we can be a remote light unto the nations. If all the channels of broadcasting are actually used to disparage Israel, then what have we achieved?

And in this instance, we are our own worst enemies, with Israeli and Jewish media outlets being the harshest critics of Israel, often unearthing subterranean dross for all to see. It is amazing to see how negative Israeli radio, even army radio is. From listening to it, you’d think the whole country is made up of corrupt politicians and rapists.

It is interesting to note that the Exile itself is a product of negative marketing and broadcasting. When the spies Moses sent into Canaan returned to camp, they brought back a frightening report they repeated in all the tents. They created an atmosphere of dread and doom which melted the hearts of the Children of Israel, causing them to doubt their ability to enter the land. At this point, God’s wrath was kindled. He sentenced that generation to die in the wilderness, because they could not be cured of the slave mentality keeping their minds shackled to Egypt.
Furthermore, the night of the missleading report was the 9th of Av. God was so disgusted with the unwarranted tears of unfounded fears that He decreed that in the future, the 9th of Av was to be a date of real crying. It would be the date on which Jerusalem would twice be destroyed and the Children of Israel would be exiled for millennia.

So false messaging, fear mongering, and the broadcasting of doubt, brought down a generation and led to the Jewish people’s worst tragedies. The Israelites were about to enter the land, but were instead sentenced to a 40-year desert death march and destined to endure a long and painful exile. A missed opportunity if there ever was one.

But now, our generation has the ability to rectify. We are ingathering and broadcasting at the same time. We have a second chance to take up the land of Israel and to harness the power of communication – this time to encourage, empower, vivify, and enliven!

As I was writing this article, my neighbor Rabbi Avishai Tzruya showed me this quote from Rabbi Shlomo Yissachar Teichtal’s famous Holocaust-era treatise, Eim Habanim Semeichah: “The generation of the spies united the entire congregation against the Land of Israel and put a great deal of effort into propaganda. They established an entire propaganda organization – what we would call today a propaganda department – which organized people to convince others to oppose the Land of Israel. Similarly, we must establish a propaganda apparatus which will permeate every Jewish home and try to convince every Jewish soul to support the Land of Israel.”

And so, here is my challenge to our nation, individually and collectively: in order to repair what has been damaged, we must take the harmful actions of the 10 Spies, and turn them around. Instead of doling out slanderous speech against the Land of Israel, we will refrain from negative portrayals of the land or the life in Israel, we will avoid fear-mongering, we will not accept “dibat HaAretz” – defamatory speech about Israel, and we will stress the positive. We will actively search out and hype positive experiences, stories, places and individuals. We shall promote positivity.

And we will do all this on exactly the same days on which the spies conducted their ill-fated mission.

Starting on the date on which the spies left the encampment, the 29th of Sivan (this year it falls out on 18th of June at night) and for 40 days until the date of the bad report, the 9th of Av, we will rectify the sin of the Spies.

This is a speaking diet, designed to cleanse us from the false paradigm the media, and our own Jewish cantankerousness, have fashioned. It need not bleed to lead. We cannot ask CNN to stop bashing us if we are going to do it in our own outlets and around our own dinner tables. If we are to be a light unto the nations, then let us broadcast light. By challenging ourselves to amend our speech we can help close a wound that wants to heal after two-thousand years of pain. And by speaking well of the land of Israel, we will melt all the fears and the doubts that fill our hearts today and we will ignite a burning desire in our nation to fall in love with our homeland, and to finally make it our home.

UPDATE:

For those who Tweet – add #40Days4Israel to your tweets during the 40 Days.

Check out our Facebook Page for some of the great comments, quotes, photos etc. from all over during the campaign.

Send us your thoughts to post.  We will be adding more info about partners in the campaign and would love to put your ideas on Facebook or the blog dedicated to this campaign

Dear Pastor Hagee and Christians Zionists,

Thank you for the work that you are doing. Christians supporting Israel is a beautiful phenomenon and it is beginning to heal the many wounds that Jews suffered at the hands of persecutors in the name of the Church for almost two-millennia. It is amazing to see Christians singing Israeli songs in beautiful harmony, waving the flag of Israel along with the flag of the USA, and even donating their hard-earned money to many causes of Israel. It is a sight that past generations could not have imagined, and it is a blessing for Israel and a blessing for Christians as well.

To be sure, there is still lingering suspicion between our two worlds. Among the Jews, there are many who doubt the sincerity of Christians with regard to Israel. Jewish skepticism is understandable since the dark past is still fresh while some Christian circles continue to practice underhanded missionizing tactics against Jews and maintain a goal of infiltrating Israel. These keep many Jews from believing that there are Christians who truly love Israel without ulterior motives.

For its side, the Christian world is certainly not homogeneous. While Israel-lovers make their voices heard, Israel-haters, like those who recently organized the “Christ at the Checkpoint Conference” in Bethlehem seek to undermine Israel’s sovereignty. These Christians do not see the ingathering of the Jews to the land of Israel as a fulfillment of prophecy but rather an obstacle to their theological supremacy. For them, replacement theology is alive and well, with Christianity attempting to best Judaism and Palestine aiming to replace Israel.

This is why true Christian Zionism is so important: it gives a platform for Bible-believing pro-Israel Christians to show their real love for Israel, to heal the painful past, and to offset the forces that want to use Christianity to bring Israel down.

However, if Christian Zionism to is win the ideological war against replacement theology, and earn Jewish trust, Christian Zionism needs to take a stand on real issues. Standing with Israel means backing Israel when we face our enemies. Today, those enemies use, more and more, the tool of delegitimization to remove the underpinnings of the Jewish State. Shockingly, some of the US Government’s own policies lend a hand to the delegitimization campaign, and it is in this arena where Israel-loving American citizens in general, and American Christian Zionists in particular, can make a difference.

Here is one example among many:

When I speak with American Christian groups I ask: “Do you know that the US is the number-one delegitimizer of Jewish sovereignty in Jerusalem?”

People are invariably shocked when I explain that the US refuses to place its embassy in Jerusalem because it does not recognize Jerusalem as part of Israel, let alone the capital of Israel. The State Department does not even add the word “Israel” to the word “Jerusalem” in any official document including birth certificates, passports, and death certificates, so that children born in Jerusalem (like my daughter) have no “country of birth” listed in their American papers.

As Ambassador Yoram Ettinger has written: “Israel is the only country in the world, whose (3,000 year old) capital is not recognized by the State Department and by the Presidents of the US. However 71% [of the American people] support (and 9% oppose) Jerusalem as Israel’s indivisible capital.”
I also remind American Christians that it is not only about paper work. US government representatives make a point to tell Israel not to build in Jerusalem. This was the case in August 2010 when Vice President Biden slammed Israel for planning to build additional housing in a well established residential neighborhood in the capital.

This State Department position sends a signal to the world that if America, Israel’s friend, rejects the legitimacy of Jewish Jerusalem, certainly the Irans of this world have a right to challenge it as well.

But the American people did not accept this toxic status quo. They fought and passed a new law in Congress entitled the Jerusalem Embassy Act of 1995 which calls for the embassy to be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem no later than May 31, 1999. The law also said that “Jerusalem should remain an undivided city…[and that] Jerusalem should be recognized as the capital of the State of Israel.”

But this act has a proviso which allows the president to waive the law every 6 months. And, sadly, Presidents Clinton, Bush, and Obama, have not missed an opportunity to deny the American people the fulfillment of the law which reflects their will and has been passed by their representatives. In fact, President Obama just signed the waiver again, and regarding Mitt Romney, JTA writes: “the Republican presidential candidate, has privately told Jewish leaders he would not commit to moving the embassy as president.” So the US embassy is still in Tel Aviv, and my daughter’s US passport is still countryless.

At this point of the talk, members of the American Christian group I am addressing are really mad and they want to know only one thing: “How do we engage? Our own government delegitimizes Jewish rights to Jerusalem and thereby delegitimizes the State of Israel! How do we combat our government which is taking our money to curtail policies we voted for, and fulfill policies that we abhor?”

And that is the beauty of American civil society – being suspicious of power in the hands of government and keeping that power in check is hardwired into the American system, and into the American psyche. As the long history of American politics and jurisprudence shows: US government policy can actually be changed by the people. They just need to be empowered.

With that in mind, I turn to you, Pastor Hagee.

At the top of your website one finds a quote from Isaiah: “For Zion’s sake I will not keep silent, And for Jerusalem’s sake I will not keep quiet.” This begs the question: where is CUFI and the Christian Zionist community on the Jerusalem issue? Where is the American people’s voice, and especially the Christian voice, saying “Hey, US Government, fulfill your mandate, end the waiver charade, and follow the law. The American people want the US to recognize Jerusalem as the unified capital of Israel now!”

Pastor Hagee, I once heard you say at a fundraiser in Jerusalem: “Don’t tell me you love me, show me you love me.” Now I say that very phrase back to you – Don’t tell me you love me, show me you love me by harnessing the power of CUFI and Christian Zionists to defend Jerusalem from bad US policy. American Christian Zionists are in a unique position to be part of the struggle against Israel’s delegitimization and they are waiting for you to empower them and If CUFI gets behind the issue, you can be sure the White House will listen.

A success in this arena will be a historical achievement for CUFI and for American Christian Zionism, and it will go a long way to building bridges and healing age-old wounds. In short, this is your fight.

With Sincere Respect,
Yishai

[Editors note: The movement for US recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel is beginning to take root in the Christian world. On June 6, 2012, the International Israel Allies Caucus Foundation together with members of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus held the second annual Jerusalem Day Prayer Breakfast hosted Jewish and Christian leaders, addressing the importance of Jerusalem as the eternal, undivided capital of the Jewish people.

Members of the Congressional Israel Allies Caucus and co-chairs Rep. Trent Franks (AZ-02) and Rep. Doug Lamborn (CO-05) spoke together with Rep. Michelle Bachman, Rep. Louie Gohmert, Rep. Allen West, Rep. Joe Walsh, Rep. Randy Hultgren, and Rep. John Flemming along with his wife Cindy Flemming. They declared support for a united Jerusalem and the legislation that is currently in the House and Senate to recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Erick Stakelbeck of CBN reported on event.]