What did Moses tell the twelve spies to do? “Check out the land – and find out if there are any trees” (Num. 13:20). Trees? How do trees connect with the strength of a land?
Rashi recognises the problem and, quoting earlier sources as usual (BB 15a), says that trees are symbolic of human beings. Moses’ question was not really about the vegetation but a deeper issue: in Rashi’s words, “Whether there is amongst the inhabitants an honourable man who will protect them by his merit like a tree protects people by its shade”.
What gives a country its quality is not its trees and flowers – not that these are not important assets – but its citizens. If a country has high-minded people, thinkers, visionaries, men and women of faith and conscience who guard the ethos and ethics of the nation, the people are safe.
Tragically it must be said that our present generation is sadly lacking in “trees”. We have plenty of mediocrities, some of them even impressive administrators, shrewd negotiators and political manipulators, some of them great masters of oratory and rhetoric, but all too few people of integrity, faith and wisdom, able to inspire great dreams and enable great deeds. The sages say that when there is a tzaddik in the city, “he is its glory, he is its splendour, he is its crown” (Rashi on Gen. 28:10).
by Rabbi Dr. Raymond Apple at http://www.oztorah.com/2011/06/are-there-any-trees-shlach-lcha/
Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz was asked today why Anthony Weiner should resign but Bill Clinton didn't have to. Click here for her answer.
I prefer the answer given by someone who posted a comment.
Of course it's expediency. And equating Weiner's situation with Clinton's is absurd, but not unexpected, given who asked the question. The resignation of a member of the House of Representatives vs. the resignation of the President? I just wish politicians and reporters would just acknowledge that much of what they do is guided by sheer political expediency, and not something more profound.
In an article about legalizing same-sex marriage in New York, the following sentence caught my attention.
Each side is funded by more than $1 million from national and state advocates that's being used in media blitzes and in promised campaign cash for lawmakers who side with them.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110614/ap_on_re_us/us_gay_marriage_ny_2
My question - Are there any "trees" among our political leaders?
15 Jun 2011
Blaming the hand that feeds them
The following is an excerpt from an email I received last night.
The Arabs aren't happy!
They're not happy in Gaza. They're not happy in Egypt. They're not happy in
Libya. They're not happy in Morocco. They're not happy in Iran. They're not
happy in Iraq. They're not happy in Yemen. They're not happy in Afghanistan.
They're not happy in Pakistan. They're not happy in Syria. They're not happy
in Lebanon.
So where are they happy?
They're happy in England. They're happy in France. They're happy in Italy.
They're happy in Germany. They're happy in Sweden. They're happy in the USA.
They're happy in Norway. They're happy in every country that is not Muslim.
And who do they blame? Not Islam. Not their leadership. Not themselves.
THEY BLAME THE COUNTRIES THEY ARE HAPPY IN.
The Arabs aren't happy!
They're not happy in Gaza. They're not happy in Egypt. They're not happy in
Libya. They're not happy in Morocco. They're not happy in Iran. They're not
happy in Iraq. They're not happy in Yemen. They're not happy in Afghanistan.
They're not happy in Pakistan. They're not happy in Syria. They're not happy
in Lebanon.
So where are they happy?
They're happy in England. They're happy in France. They're happy in Italy.
They're happy in Germany. They're happy in Sweden. They're happy in the USA.
They're happy in Norway. They're happy in every country that is not Muslim.
And who do they blame? Not Islam. Not their leadership. Not themselves.
THEY BLAME THE COUNTRIES THEY ARE HAPPY IN.
14 Jun 2011
Shelach
Rav Chaim Brisker, the Rosh Yeshiva of Volozhin, once sent someone abroad to raise funds for the Yeshiva. A few months later when the fundraiser returned and they counted up all the donations and calculated all the expenses, it turned out that the expenses were as much as the amount spent by the fundraiser on his trip, leaving the Yeshiva with no money from this campaign.
Rav Chaim Brisker lightheartedly said that the lesson learned from this experience can be found in the pasuk. “Shelach Licha Anashim ViYasuru”. Literally, send people and they will “spy”. However, the word, ViYasuru, can also be interpreted to mean and they left over. From here, said Rav Chaim, we see that the Torah tells us to send Meshulachim who will have some money left over when they return and not spend it all on the way. (Pninim - Reb Yosef Berger)
http://revach.net/article.php?id=2360
Rav Chaim Brisker lightheartedly said that the lesson learned from this experience can be found in the pasuk. “Shelach Licha Anashim ViYasuru”. Literally, send people and they will “spy”. However, the word, ViYasuru, can also be interpreted to mean and they left over. From here, said Rav Chaim, we see that the Torah tells us to send Meshulachim who will have some money left over when they return and not spend it all on the way. (Pninim - Reb Yosef Berger)
http://revach.net/article.php?id=2360
Only the best
I just finished reading an LA Times article titled Sarah Palin's letter from God.
Click here for those of you who missed it. You might want to have some tissues next to you. It is absolutely inspiring. What a brave woman full of faith that G-d gives us only the best.
Click here for those of you who missed it. You might want to have some tissues next to you. It is absolutely inspiring. What a brave woman full of faith that G-d gives us only the best.
Pressuring Israel
American Thinker has an article by Thomas Lifson titled Reports: Obama pressuring Netanyahu on negotiations based on '67 borders.
The following is one of the comments posted in the article.
As I've mentioned here before, Israel going back to 1967 borders is fine as long as they are POST-Six-Day War borders. Granted, in the State Department speech, Barry assumed everyone understood that his reference to 1967 borders meant Pre-Six-Day War borders, but he wasn't specific. Take advantage, Bibi! You know what is said about "assume."
Here's Barry Rubin's take on the President pressuring Israel.
Maybe people are beginning to see the light as evidenced by the title in an article Obama fundraiser underwhelms.
The following is one of the comments posted in the article.
As I've mentioned here before, Israel going back to 1967 borders is fine as long as they are POST-Six-Day War borders. Granted, in the State Department speech, Barry assumed everyone understood that his reference to 1967 borders meant Pre-Six-Day War borders, but he wasn't specific. Take advantage, Bibi! You know what is said about "assume."
Here's Barry Rubin's take on the President pressuring Israel.
Maybe people are beginning to see the light as evidenced by the title in an article Obama fundraiser underwhelms.
13 Jun 2011
Two questions
Two questions posed in the media today.
Beyond that, the question persists in 2011: Why have the media — even some non-liberal ones — not followed up on the information that the man who heads our premiere spy/counterspy agency was a good friend of a Communist Party member?
Read full article: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/vernon/110613
If the “Kach” or “Kahane Chai” parties are considered by the state of Israel to be “far right,” “terrorist,” “a danger to the state,” and are barred from the Knesset, then why is Ibrahim Sarsur of the”Ra’am-Ta’al” party allowed to keep his seat?
Read full article: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/why-does-israel-allow-a-seditious-man-to-serve-in-the-knesset/
Beyond that, the question persists in 2011: Why have the media — even some non-liberal ones — not followed up on the information that the man who heads our premiere spy/counterspy agency was a good friend of a Communist Party member?
Read full article: http://www.renewamerica.com/columns/vernon/110613
If the “Kach” or “Kahane Chai” parties are considered by the state of Israel to be “far right,” “terrorist,” “a danger to the state,” and are barred from the Knesset, then why is Ibrahim Sarsur of the”Ra’am-Ta’al” party allowed to keep his seat?
Read full article: http://pajamasmedia.com/blog/why-does-israel-allow-a-seditious-man-to-serve-in-the-knesset/
The absence of revolt
Leo Rennert at American Thinker discusses a NYT article by Helene Cooper about "the absence of any serious revolt by Palestinians against Israel on the same order as revolutions convulsing other parts of the Arab world."
He points to Ms. Cooper's consulting Robert Malley "to buttress her anti-Israel thesis."
The following is an excerpt from an article writen during the 2008 election campaign about Robert Malley.
One of Barack Obama’s Middle East policy advisers disclosed yesterday that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group Hamas – prompting the likely Democratic nominee to sever all links with him. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3897414.ece
After reading Obama: Robert Malley Connection to Iran Syria and Hamas by Maggie Thornton, I learned that the International Crisis Group, where Mr. Malley works, is funded by billionaire, George Soros.
She also mentions an article that was written one day after the 2008 election.
Presidential-elect Barack Obama has promised to improve U.S. relations with Egypt and Syria. Aides said Obama had sent senior foreign policy adviser Robert Malley to Egypt and Syria over the last few weeks...
http://www.menewsline.com/article-1902-Obama-Promises-Improved-Ties-With.aspx
He points to Ms. Cooper's consulting Robert Malley "to buttress her anti-Israel thesis."
The following is an excerpt from an article writen during the 2008 election campaign about Robert Malley.
One of Barack Obama’s Middle East policy advisers disclosed yesterday that he had held meetings with the militant Palestinian group Hamas – prompting the likely Democratic nominee to sever all links with him. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/us_elections/article3897414.ece
After reading Obama: Robert Malley Connection to Iran Syria and Hamas by Maggie Thornton, I learned that the International Crisis Group, where Mr. Malley works, is funded by billionaire, George Soros.
She also mentions an article that was written one day after the 2008 election.
Presidential-elect Barack Obama has promised to improve U.S. relations with Egypt and Syria. Aides said Obama had sent senior foreign policy adviser Robert Malley to Egypt and Syria over the last few weeks...
http://www.menewsline.com/article-1902-Obama-Promises-Improved-Ties-With.aspx
12 Jun 2011
NYT Techiyat HaMetim
"Techiyat HaMetim" - (f.); Revival or resurrection of the dead; one of the fundamental beliefs of the Jewish Religion, and the last of the RAMBAM's list of thirteen such beliefs (one source of this list is the set of "Ani Maamin"s at the end of "Shacharit," the Morning Prayer).
The Talmud asks, "What is the Biblical source for "Techiyat HaMetim?"
Read full article: http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/techiyat.htm
I have found a New York Times source for belief in the resurrection of the dead.
A 1994 NYT report about Jewish fighters attacking the village of Deir Yassin lists that 200 Arabs were killed.
However, a NYT article published over the weekend states that 120 Arabs were killed. A miraculous resurrection for 80 people!!!
April 9, 1948 -- Radical underground Jewish fighters massacre more than 200 Arab men, women and children in the village of Deir Yassin,...
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/26/world/west-bank-massacre-decades-of-violence.html?scp=3&sq=deir+yassin+april+6&st=nyt
Jerusalem Outings Go Beyond the Biblical
After the April 1948 massacre by Jewish paramilitary forces of 120 Arab civilians in the nearby village of Deir Yassin...
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/travel/near-jerusalem-visits-to-abu-ghosh-ein-karem-and-ein-sataf.html?seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimestravel&pagewanted=all
The Talmud asks, "What is the Biblical source for "Techiyat HaMetim?"
Read full article: http://www.ou.org/about/judaism/techiyat.htm
I have found a New York Times source for belief in the resurrection of the dead.
A 1994 NYT report about Jewish fighters attacking the village of Deir Yassin lists that 200 Arabs were killed.
However, a NYT article published over the weekend states that 120 Arabs were killed. A miraculous resurrection for 80 people!!!
April 9, 1948 -- Radical underground Jewish fighters massacre more than 200 Arab men, women and children in the village of Deir Yassin,...
http://www.nytimes.com/1994/02/26/world/west-bank-massacre-decades-of-violence.html?scp=3&sq=deir+yassin+april+6&st=nyt
Jerusalem Outings Go Beyond the Biblical
After the April 1948 massacre by Jewish paramilitary forces of 120 Arab civilians in the nearby village of Deir Yassin...
http://travel.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/travel/near-jerusalem-visits-to-abu-ghosh-ein-karem-and-ein-sataf.html?seid=auto&smid=tw-nytimestravel&pagewanted=all
Eggcorns and malapropisms
This post is off topic from the Mashiachiscoming blog theme but I learned a new word yesterday and thought I would share it with you.
As I read an article last night in the IHT, my attention was caught by the headline, "Russians Home In on Abortion."
Was "home in" a misprint? I thought to myself. Shouldn't the word be "hone"?
I googled the expression, "home in on" and came across the following article.
The exact expression to home in on began to appear during World War Two. American researcher Ben Zimmer has discovered the earliest known example in the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1944: “The Oahu radio was coming in strong. They had left the station on all night so we could ‘home in’ on its frequency.” After the war, people began to use it in the current figurative sense of focusing one’s attention on a single matter.
That’s now the only situation in which most people encounter it. It’s hardly obvious to somebody who hasn’t come across it before or who doesn’t know the background. Why home? This lack of context makes it easy for speakers to change the word into something that seems to be more appropriate or make more sense. Hone in on is a classic example of the type of word shift that has become known in recent years among linguists as an eggcorn: a change in word form due to error or misunderstanding.
...It came to public attention and gained some notoriety when George Bush used it in the presidential campaign of 1980 — he spoke of “honing in on the issues”.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hom1.htm
In linguistics, an eggcorn is an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker's dialect. The new phrase introduces a meaning that is different from the original, but plausible in the same context, such as "old-timers' disease" for "Alzheimer's disease". This is as opposed to a malapropism, where the substitution creates a nonsensical phrase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn
A malapropism is the grotesque or inappropriate misuse of a word. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes." The malapropism is of the word "electrical" being used instead of the correct word "electoral."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism
It reminds me of when my son, who was three at the time, spoke about the conservative versus the polka dots Jews.
As I read an article last night in the IHT, my attention was caught by the headline, "Russians Home In on Abortion."
Was "home in" a misprint? I thought to myself. Shouldn't the word be "hone"?
I googled the expression, "home in on" and came across the following article.
The exact expression to home in on began to appear during World War Two. American researcher Ben Zimmer has discovered the earliest known example in the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1944: “The Oahu radio was coming in strong. They had left the station on all night so we could ‘home in’ on its frequency.” After the war, people began to use it in the current figurative sense of focusing one’s attention on a single matter.
That’s now the only situation in which most people encounter it. It’s hardly obvious to somebody who hasn’t come across it before or who doesn’t know the background. Why home? This lack of context makes it easy for speakers to change the word into something that seems to be more appropriate or make more sense. Hone in on is a classic example of the type of word shift that has become known in recent years among linguists as an eggcorn: a change in word form due to error or misunderstanding.
...It came to public attention and gained some notoriety when George Bush used it in the presidential campaign of 1980 — he spoke of “honing in on the issues”.
http://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hom1.htm
In linguistics, an eggcorn is an idiosyncratic substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker's dialect. The new phrase introduces a meaning that is different from the original, but plausible in the same context, such as "old-timers' disease" for "Alzheimer's disease". This is as opposed to a malapropism, where the substitution creates a nonsensical phrase.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eggcorn
A malapropism is the grotesque or inappropriate misuse of a word. An example is Yogi Berra's statement: "Texas has a lot of electrical votes." The malapropism is of the word "electrical" being used instead of the correct word "electoral."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malapropism
It reminds me of when my son, who was three at the time, spoke about the conservative versus the polka dots Jews.
11 Jun 2011
A blind eye
Navi Pillay gives a free pass to some of the world's worst abusers while the media gives a free pass to the President.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has turned a blind eye to most of the world’s worst abusers, UN Watch has found.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144859
LA Times Won’t Release Obama-Khalidi Tape But Posts 24,000 Sarah Palin Emails
Read full article: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/06/la-times-posts-24000-palin-emails-but-wont-release-obama-khalidi-tape/
It is also interesting to scroll down the article and read some of the comments about the mainstream media.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay has turned a blind eye to most of the world’s worst abusers, UN Watch has found.
Read full article: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/144859
LA Times Won’t Release Obama-Khalidi Tape But Posts 24,000 Sarah Palin Emails
Read full article: http://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2011/06/la-times-posts-24000-palin-emails-but-wont-release-obama-khalidi-tape/
It is also interesting to scroll down the article and read some of the comments about the mainstream media.
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