OpEdNews » When Is a Shoah not a Shoah?

Support OEN
With Your
Tax-Deductible Donation

Tags for This Article:

Populum Tag Cloud Control Panel
	Fine tune your search to access content

Articles	Links
Diaries	Products
Events	All

All time
Last 6 mos
Last month
Last week
Last 24 hrs

From:
Month Day Year

To:
Month Day Year

Alphabet Popularity	Count ON Count OFF
This Level	Sub-levels

Tag(s): Gaza; Israel; Palestinian
Add to My Group

March 4, 2008 at 09:48:54

When Is a Shoah not a Shoah?

by Deborah Emin Page 1 of 1 page(s)

www.opednews.com

SAVE FAVORITES

VIEW FAVORITES

View Ratings | Rate It

It must depend on who is using the word. A war of words would of course be preferable to what is going on in the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation. Now there is the threat of a Shoah against those in Gaza for the firing of rockets into Israel on a more consistent basis, they say, than in the past. What this means is that Israel’s Deputy Defense Minister, Matan Vilnai, has used this word but then his spokesperson in trying to clarify the issue said that Vilnai just meant that the Palestinians were going to bring a disaster upon themselves (as reported in The Guardian over the weekend).

Do you find all of this as hard to take as I do?

I read about what is going on in Israel and the situation begins to look like a very long boil that never burns off any of the noxious fumes but seems to increase them. Visually you can picture this as some kind of burbling pot where the foam that rises brings the violent ones to the surface and the more moderate ones remain at the bottom of the pot and receive whatever misfortunes trickle down from the bomb throwing ones who flourish at the top of the pot.

Where are the voices of our government? I know that Robert Gates told the Turks last week that they had to end their incursion into northern Iraq. But where is he now while the military in Israel is promising the Palestinians the new Shoah? Where is our peacemaking president who had sworn to make a peace deal before the end of his term in office? What do we know of his efforts at this moment to try and stave off the latest announced incursion by the Israeli military into the Gaza Strip to further decimate a group of people who are being destroyed daily even if no military force were being used against them? We now know that the Secretary of State will make an appearance there but it seems that there are others in the region doing more than we in the US, despite our promises, intend to do.

Do you recall that Israel last month cut off all electric power to Gaza? This is in clear violation of international law. Where was the outrage from this government, from these candidates running for office, from the American Jewish community, from the international world? When the Gazans broke through the border into Egypt to buy the necessities of life, where were you, where was I?

We say so often, never again, we, the Jews who were destroyed in gas ovens and treated like dogs, but we sit still, don’t we, and we try to use some kind of Clintonian logic to figure out the best way to solve this 60-year-old problem, rather than learning what Solomon tried to teach us about fairness. We seem to have no further need of Solomon, not in Israel and not here in the United States.

We just like the banners, the slogans and the self-righteous way it makes us feel. We can send letters, sign petitions or even make a donation. But the real physical exertion of boycotting things and refusing to participate in the wasteful military use of our minds and our creativity, that doesn’t seem to find its expression.

Last night at dinner, my partner, Suzanne, said she had been thinking. This is her way of announcing that something important is on her mind and needs to be said immediately. She had been noticing, she said, how much money was taken out of her paycheck every payday that went to the Federal government. Not being good at math, she knew not to try to figure out the exact amount but she knew it was large. It made her sad because she knew that it was going towards the killing of people in Iraq. (And of course, that same military budget helps to arm the Israeli Army as well.) She was not going to be a Thoreau and refuse to pay her taxes but she felt that she had not been duly consulted over these expenditures and she wanted to have a voice in it. Today we learn that it is going to cost each American family $50,000 for the war in Iraq.

I listened and remembered when I had suggested a year ago that we not pay our taxes due to the war and the escalating costs but I said nothing and did nothing.

Now we are still in that same conundrum. What do we do? And what do we do when the men and one woman running for president don’t speak up right now to say what they think of this announcement. What are we to do when Israel announces that they are about to present the people of Gaza with a Shoah?

Any and all suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Deborah Emin is the author of the novel, Scags at 7, which is currently out of print. She also has had articles on the Huffington Post, Mediachannel.org as well as in Gay City News, and NYCPlus. During the Kucinich presidential campaign, she worked as his official campaign blogger and is currently writing a book about those experiences. After getting her feet soaked in that campaign, Deborah has returned to the political work while also spending a good deal of time teaching and writing. Deborah also teaches in a one-on-one setting with those who want to write a story but do not know how to structure it. Her techniques for helping with this are fully explained on her website. www.deborahemin.com Please contact Deborah if you have any interest in learning how to find the best structure for your story and then how to get it written.

	Contact Author
	Contact Editor
	View Other Articles by Author

Bookmark this page: (what's this?)

(More...)

13 comments

A writer is a rogue goose. All other gees fly in a flock formation; every goose knows his place and time for honking. The rogue goose is undisciplined. He leaves the formation indiscriminately to have a look at it from aside. He roams back and forth, takes a peep at the leader, honks a little bit from behind, distracts everyone and writes on what he sees. Time passes and as he wants to return back to his place he discovers someone else there. Thus he either has to wait until they land for rest...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Mark SashineA writer is a rogue goose. All other gees fly in a flock formation; every goose knows his place and time for honking. The rogue goose is undisciplined. He leaves the formation indiscriminately to have a look at it from aside. He roams back and forth, takes a peep at the leader, honks a little bit from behind, distracts everyone and writes on what he sees. Time passes and as he wants to return back to his place he discovers someone else there. Thus he either has to wait until they land for rest...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Please

see my ' Slimy love' series in the diaries and Articles under Mark Sashine where I explain in detail the US /Western attitude towards Jews. Also, what are we to do? We might as well ask questions. Like for instance if you are a worshipping Jew how about rising in your congregation and asking a Rabbie how can Israel impose ' Shoah' on other people? Now, we also can on our side just ask our Arab neigbor to dinner. Not because we pity them. But because we both are miserable. And hear what they say. And we can also ask our Jewish neighbors, politely but firmly not to behave like rabid dogs on the pro-Israel rallies.

Everyone of us on his/her place must do at least something.

by Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3463 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 10:01:43 AM

I dare to put this here: from my diaries

Slimy Love 2: Slobbering and Smothering

Here is the link to Slimy Love 1.

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=1498

This is not to insult, just to warn.

Americans love the Jews. That is among other things. In the endless list of things an average American loves Jews occupy the place somewhere between Je.. zzus and Hef, surely much lower than, say Oprah or a 50- caliber gun but higher than big Mack. Surely higher than Hillary Clinton but lower than Lucy. Lower than breast cancer but higher than E-coli. Higher than Mark Twain but lower than Jackie O. Definitely lower than Apple- Pie. Somewhere close to yogurt: not very tasty but good for you.
It does not mean that Americans love Jews as people. In fact, loving people, humans, is not a natural trend in the traditional American character. They love symbols. Hannukah, for instance, has a nice symbol for it, a Menorah. If we, the Jews would have some strange symbol for it, like a dagger or a ritual spear, I doubt if my fellow- Americans would have slobbered about it so much. But it is nice and neat, so they ignore that there was a lot of those 'daggers' in the official Jewish history. Like that guy Navin, he kind off killed and killed people. And Moses was not some sissy either; how about all those snakes and those plagues? No wonder the Pharaoh let them go: imagine such a nasty little nation which causes famine, plague, produces snakes, etc in the US, for instance. Won't you let them go too? Or maybe Pharaoh did not have a concept of American love, I guess and he was not a Evangelical Christian either.
Yes, between Je.. zus and Hef. As a Jew myself I experience that slobbering every day.
'Oh, yup arre Jew,...wish, how nice. I have heard that those unfortunate Jewish people in the former USRRR ..rr never could read Torah. Poor thingies. We, the order of the Mediocre Christians of South Dakota had collected money for Israel so that Israelis could, you know, absorb those poor bastards and teach them spiritually..'
He had heard of us, that SD son of the 60 dogs... As I said, Americans do not know much and even less they want to know. They do not want to know that in the former Soviet Union as well as in the 'unfortunate Eastern Europe' Jewish people were and are among the most educated and the most knowledgeable. They do not want to hear that those Jewish people, atheists or not were and are much more spiritual than SD and Israel taken together.
But they know about Holocaust. They even claim to know more than I do, although I lived my childhood 15 minutes from the Baby Yar pit. Ever heard of that place? That's where those Jews of Kiev were massacred in two days, Sept 19,20, 1941 relatives of mine among them. And before the massacre they had to go there through the city on foot, all of them and the sun was shining brightly and the citizens, those others were looking at them when they were going to that place to be stripped naked, beaten and then machine- gunned. 50000 of them and most of them were atheists, maybe communists, children were young pioneers and knew very little if any about Torah, Je..zzus and Moses. Surely they knew less about that than, say Dr. Dobson. But I can swear on that ashes I smelled that even the worst character among them was incomparably better than Dr. Dobson. I will bet my life on it any minute.
But as I said, Americans know about Holocaust everything except that the actual word is the name of the movie. And why not? One museum, two museums, three museums, four... The US is peppered by the museums of Holocaust. I have not seen so far any museum of, say, Genocide of Indians (shall we name that one a Trail of Tears museum) or a museum of Pulverizing of Panama or a museum of Philippines massacres or a museum of, say tearing Serbia to bits... I have heard that recently they opened one(!) museum of Lynching, that glorious American institution but surely that museum has much less media attention than those I have mentioned. One movie, two movies, three movies, four.. Ah, Shindler's list, Ah, the Pianist, Ah, the Inside Man, Ah, Anna Frank (many, many movies, some even investigating Anna's sexual desires...). Millions of dollars at the Box offices.
Folks, I have a movie idea for you. The ME-109 that machine- gunned the refugees on the road where my future mother were in 1941 as a 10-years' old girl was made by a company named Messershmidt. Now, in the Y2006 the SAP system, the primary time-managing software in the world is a product of the company called ...Messershmidt. Those refugees are dead, that pilot who smirked at my mother is dead also but Messershmidt is very much alive and we, the Jew-loving Americans love SAP.
By the way, why aren't there any museums of the Nazi extermination of Gypsies, Homosexuals, Slavic people (Russians, Byelorussians, Poles, Checkhs, Serbs) Greeks, mentally ill, etc? Maybe because those people are not cool? They do not have a cool state of Israel or AIPAC to fight for their museums? I guess that's true. We, Americans love something tangible. Israel does exist, it has a government, it has an army, the Zionists claim to own all the Jews (whoever survived+ all generations to come) so, we can build museums and to Hell with everything else. It is not that we emphacise the specifics, like who exactly burned children alive or suffocated people by exhaust gases or boiled babies. Could be an embarrassment to find out that our 'democratic friends' like Ukrainians, Poles, Lithuanians, Croats, Latvians, Estonians did that. If any individual Jew has some problem with that, let the mighty Israel take care of it. We surely do not care what Israel does on the side with all those Arabs. We just give money to Israel, talk about Judeo- Christianity and condemn the anti-Semitism in Iran. Not that we know much about Iran. Who are those people? What is their language? Farsi, never heard of that one? Firdousi, Omar Chaiyam? Nope, never heard of those either. They have weird names, those folks in Iran. Take my name, Chip Cooky is easy to pronounce and all good folks of Alabama can understand what I say. We do not have any ant-Semitism in Alabama since all those New York Jews had left in 1960s. Peace and quiet since we killed MLK and we killed Medgar Evers and... whatever. So, now that Mahmoud guy brings together all those folks anti- Semites to discuss if there really was a Holocaust? How can he? Hadn't he seen a movie?

Wait a second, wasn't such a discussion taking place here too? Wasn't that guy Mel Melmershtein suing some white supremacist group about this and the US court(?) was ruling on whether such event did happen? Apparently, Nuremburg Trial was not enough; we needed our good folks to certify the Baby Yar. That is if they had decided that it did not happen, those 50000 people killed would somehow disappear from the records and our Holocaust museums would have scratched their names from the roster, right? I am sure the actual 300000 total victims of that place (1941-1943) would not exist in the rosters either.
But we here can do anything. We can put evolution on trial and it will be OK. We can in all seriousness debate if a woman has a right (just listen to these words) to her own body.
We can praise Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings and day after day we can salute our boys and girls(!) doing all those nasty things in Iraq. I have heard that the last Iraqi Jew had ran away from all those freedom-bringers. Jews were always people of common sense.
Oh, American love, we smother people to death! Because we love the Jews we insult them all the time. The actual Pat Robertson's or Dobson's even mentioning their love to the Jews is an abomination. Hey, they should join that Bradshaw girl in Sex and City who when asked about masturbation by a pickle asked back if it was Kosher.
And our chewing on the Jews is extraordinary, Only in the US we can find debates about Ashkenasim being smarter than others or about Jewish Lobby ( AIPAC is a pro- Israeli but if someone finds for me anything tangibly good coming from AIPAC for the average $30000- a year Jewish single mother, send me a postcard), and rabbies, rabbies, rabbies everywhere... It is as if the Jews in the eyes of our media are people who spend their time eating latkes, kissing Torah, chanting for Israel and helping those poor folks in Byelorussia. Did you notice that there were no more movies with the Jewish murderers, Jewish rapists, Jewish gangsters (since Goodfellas) or, God forbid, Jewish scoundrels?
We can make and show a movie Sleeper Cell with a horribly evil Arabic mother but Jews are taboo except if they are somehow Russians, that is a Russian mafia or like one character said 'mother$%^&ing Ukrainians'. Folks, I have news for you. As an immigrant I know for sure that about 90% of the immigrants from Russia are Jewish and those mafia folks you hear about are Jewish too. All of them are supporters of Israel, though, so we are hunky- dory, right?
And as for Ashkenasim, have you, folks ever visited the AKC website? All the breeds of dogs are there, glorious creatures as they are and all of them are ' smart' but no dog –lover in his good senses would call one breed smarter than another. Tell you what, I believe in the opinion of professionals. Mark Twain said that the stupidest people in the US lived in Arkansas. I do believe that Hillary Clinton is a living brilliant proof of that statement. But I exclude the dogs of Arkansas. Those are smart.

As for Jews, please, leave us alone. Take your slobbering and smothering elsewhere. Nobody, Jews or non- Jews need it. We all need respect and honesty. And that respect and honesty towards other people always starts with looking in the mirror. Look in the mirror and see for yourself if you can dare to judge others, people you do not know about their deeds. Look in the mirror and see your own history. Make an honest judgment on your own soil before lamenting about Auschwitz. In fact Auschwitz does not require lamenting. It requires the truth. It requires that all people in the world learn the primary lesson: this thing did happen, it tells us who we are, we ALL are capable of this( Jews including), nothing like this should happen to anyone, nation, group or individual, and the worst thing you can do is to earn money selling it for entertainment. End of the story.

by Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3463 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 10:24:16 AM

just for the fanatics of precision

I corrected myself in the diaries: Messershmidt did not make SAP systems but it was one of the first users and promoters. This does not affect my line of thought.

by Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3463 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 10:32:05 AM

connection to Slimy Love 3

http://www.opednews.com/maxwrite/diarypage.php?did=2520

by Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3463 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 12:28:28 PM

I have achieved nothing of consequence apart from raising children in a way that they would excel where I failed. And they are on good tracks.
ramsheyiI have achieved nothing of consequence apart from raising children in a way that they would excel where I failed. And they are on good tracks.

Palestinian Holocaust

Mass murder of innocent arabs, whose only crime is to be on their own land that jews want to steal and grab by force, this massmurder of innocents is happening every day NOW. Palestinian Holocaust is taking place under our eyes. These latter day Nazis are barbarians . There is no justification for their crime against humnaity.

by ramsheyi (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 467 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 12:29:09 PM

A 'senior' world citizen concerned about how badly our shared domicile is being ravaged by imperialists, dominionists, neo-cons and evangelists.
syed mahdiA 'senior' world citizen concerned about how badly our shared domicile is being ravaged by imperialists, dominionists, neo-cons and evangelists.

When is a Shoah not a Shoah?" by Deborah Emin

The article pasted hereunder was written by a Rabbi. It explains and justifies why Jesus is not accepted by Judaism as the promised Messiah. For 2000 years running they are still debating this and waiting for THEIR Messiah to appear. By using similar logic their Shoah is their Shoah and nobody in the World can use the word Shoah except them. Their Shoah at the hands of Hitler's Germany is the only Shoah worth the word Shoah. What Joshua did to the "Philistines" three thousand or more or less years, Gen. Custer style, was of course NO Shoah. What the neo-Joshu-ites have been doing to the Philistines of today and during the past 6 decades is again no Shoah. The results of their German Shoah and their own Palestinian Shoah of today are the same for those on either receiving ends. One would have expected that those having been at the receiving end of any Shoah would never ever carry out any Shoahs on others.

Quote:

Jews do not accept Jesus as the messiah because:

1) Jesus did not fulfill the messianic prophecies.

2) Jesus did not embody the personal qualifications of the Messiah.

3) Biblical verses "referring" to Jesus are mistranslations.

4) Jewish belief is based on national revelation.

But first, some background: What exactly is the Messiah?

The word "Messiah" is an English rendering of the Hebrew word "Mashiach", which means "Anointed." It usually refers to a person initiated into God's service by being anointed with oil. (Exodus 29:7, I Kings 1:39, II Kings 9:3)

Since every King and High Priest was anointed with oil, each may be referred to as "an anointed one" (a Mashiach or a Messiah). For example: "God forbid that I [David] should stretch out my hand against the Lord's Messiah [Saul]..." (I Samuel 26:11. Cf. II Samuel 23:1, Isaiah 45:1, Psalms 20:6)

Where does the Jewish concept of Messiah come from? One of the central themes of Biblical prophecy is the promise of a future age of perfection characterized by universal peace and recognition of God. (Isaiah 2:1-4; Zephaniah 3:9; Hosea 2:20-22; Amos 9:13-15; Isaiah 32:15-18, 60:15-18; Micah 4:1-4; Zechariah 8:23, 14:9; Jeremiah 31:33-34)

Many of these prophetic passages speak of a descendant of King David who will rule Israel during the age of perfection. (Isaiah 11:1-9; Jeremiah 23:5-6, 30:7-10, 33:14-16; Ezekiel 34:11-31, 37:21-28; Hosea 3:4-5)

Since every King is a Messiah, by convention, we refer to this future anointed king as The Messiah. The above is the only description in the Bible of a Davidic descendant who is to come in the future. We will recognize the Messiah by seeing who the King of Israel is at the time of complete universal perfection.

1. JESUS DID NOT FULFILL THE MESSIANIC PROPHECIES

What is the Messiah supposed to accomplish? The Bible says that he will:

A. Build the Third Temple (Ezekiel 37:26-28).

B. Gather all Jews back to the Land of Israel (Isaiah 43:5-6).

C. Usher in an era of world peace, and end all hatred, oppression, suffering and disease. As it says: "Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall man learn war anymore." (Isaiah 2:4)

D. Spread universal knowledge of the God of Israel, which will unite humanity as one. As it says: "God will be King over all the world -- on that day, God will be One and His Name will be One" (Zechariah 14:9).

If an individual fails to fulfill even one of these conditions, then he cannot be "The Messiah."

Because no one has ever fulfilled the Bible's description of this future King, Jews still await the coming of the Messiah. All past Messianic claimants, including Jesus of Nazareth, Bar Cochba and Shabbtai Tzvi have been rejected.

Christians counter that Jesus will fulfill these in the Second Coming, but Jewish sources show that the Messiah will fulfill the prophecies outright; in the Bible no concept of a second coming exists.

________________________

2) JESUS DID NOT EMBODY THE PERSONAL QUALIFICATIONS OF MESSIAH

A. MESSIAH AS PROPHET

The Messiah will become the greatest prophet in history, second only to Moses. (Targum - Isaiah 11:2; Maimonides - Yad Teshuva 9:2)

Prophecy can only exist in Israel when the land is inhabited by a majority of world Jewry, a situation which has not existed since 300 BCE. During the time of Ezra, when the majority of Jews refused to move from Babylon to Israel, prophecy ended upon the death of the last prophets -- Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi.

Jesus was not a prophet; he appeared on the scene approximately 350 years after prophecy had ended.

B. DESCENDENT OF DAVID

According to Jewish sources, the Messiah will be born of human parents and possess normal physical attributes like other people. He will not be a demi-god, (1) nor will he possess supernatural qualities.

The Messiah must be descended on his father's side from King David (see Genesis 49:10, Isaiah 11:1, Jeremiah 23:5, 33:17; Ezekiel 34:23-24). According to the Christian claim that Jesus was the product of a virgin birth, he had no father -- and thus could not have possibly fulfilled the messianic requirement of being descended on his father's side from King David. (2)

C. TORAH OBSERVANCE

The Messiah will lead the Jewish people to full Torah observance. The Torah states that all mitzvot remain binding forever, and anyone coming to change the Torah is immediately identified as a false prophet. (Deut. 13:1-4)

Throughout the New Testament, Jesus contradicts the Torah and states that its commandments are no longer applicable. For example, John 9:14 records that Jesus made a paste in violation of Shabbat, which caused the Pharisees to say (verse 16), "He does not observe Shabbat!"

____________________

3) MISTRANSLATED VERSES "REFERRING" TO JESUS

Biblical verses can only be understood by studying the original Hebrew text -- which reveals many discrepancies in the Christian translation.

A. VIRGIN BIRTH

The Christian idea of a virgin birth is derived from the verse in Isaiah 7:14 describing an "alma" as giving birth. The word "alma" has always meant a young woman, but Christian theologians came centuries later and translated it as "virgin." This accords Jesus' birth with the first century pagan idea of mortals being impregnated by gods.

B. SUFFERING SERVANT

Christianity claims that Isaiah chapter 53 refers to Jesus, as the "suffering servant."

In actuality, Isaiah 53 directly follows the theme of chapter 52, describing the exile and redemption of the Jewish people. The prophecies are written in the singular form because the Jews ("Israel") are regarded as one unit. Throughout Jewish scripture, Israel is repeatedly called, in the singular, the "Servant of God" (see Isaiah 43:8). In fact, Isaiah states no less than 11 times in the chapters prior to 53 that the Servant of God is Israel. When read correctly, Isaiah 53 clearly [and ironically] refers to the Jewish people being "bruised, crushed and as sheep brought to slaughter" at the hands of the nations of the world. These descriptions are used throughout Jewish scripture to graphically describe the suffering of the Jewish people (see Psalm 44). Isaiah 53 concludes that when the Jewish people are redeemed, the nations will recognize and accept responsibility for the inordinate suffering and death of the Jews.

For further reading, go to: http://www.jewsforjudaism.org/web/faq/faq-ss.html

______________________

4) JEWISH BELIEF IS BASED SOLELY ON NATIONAL REVELATION

Throughout history, thousands of religions have been started by individuals, attempting to convince people that he or she is God's true prophet. But personal revelation is an extremely weak basis for a religion because one can never know if it is indeed true. Since others did not hear God speak to this person, they have to take his word for it. Even if the individual claiming personal revelation performs miracles, there is still no verification that he is a genuine prophet. Miracles do not prove anything. All they show -- assuming they are genuine -- is that he has certain powers. It has nothing to do with his claim of prophecy.

Judaism, unique among all of the world's major religions, does not rely on "claims of miracles" as the basis for its religion. In fact, the Bible says that God sometimes grants the power of "miracles" to charlatans, in order to test Jewish loyalty to the Torah (Deut. 13:4).

Of the thousands of religions in human history, only Judaism bases its belief on national revelation -- i.e. God speaking to the entire nation. If God is going to start a religion, it makes sense He'll tell everyone, not just one person.

Maimonides states (Foundations of Torah, ch. 8):

The Jews did not believe in Moses, our teacher, because of the miracles he performed. Whenever anyone's belief is based on seeing miracles, he has lingering doubts, because it is possible the miracles were performed through magic or sorcery. All of the miracles performed by Moses in the desert were because they were necessary, and not as proof of his prophecy.

What then was the basis of [Jewish] belief? The Revelation at Mount Sinai, which we saw with our own eyes and heard with our own ears, not dependent on the testimony of others... as it says, "Face to face, God spoke with you..." The Torah also states: "God did not make this covenant with our fathers, but with us -- who are all here alive today." (Deut. 5:3)

Judaism is not miracles. It is the personal eyewitness experience of every man, woman and child, standing at Mount Sinai 3,300 years ago.

For further reading: "Did God Speak at Mount Sinai?"

WAITING FOR THE MESSIAH

The world is in desperate need of Messianic redemption. And to the extent we are aware of the problems of society, is the extent we will yearn for redemption. As the Talmud says, one of the first questions asked of a Jew on Judgment Day is: "Did you yearn for the arrival of the Messiah?"

How can we hasten the coming of the Messiah? The best way is to love all humanity generously, to keep the mitzvot of the Torah (as best we can), and to encourage others to do so as well.

Despite the gloom, the world does seem headed toward redemption. One apparent sign is that the Jewish people have returned to the Land of Israel and made it bloom again. Additionally, a major movement is afoot of young Jews returning to Torah tradition.

The Messiah can come any day, and it all depends on our actions. God is ready when we are. For as King David says: "Redemption will come today -- if you hearken to His voice."

For further study visit: Jews for Judaism

See also:

"You Are My Witness: The Traditional Jewish Response to Christian Missionaries" A booklet in pdf format by Yisroel C. Blumenthal

"The Real Messiah," by Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan

"The Path of the Righteous Gentile,"

by syed mahdi (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 125 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 1:30:03 PM

I think that all people must be held accountable for their actions under the law. Everyone must be treated the same under International Law, National Laws, and Local Laws, NO EXCEPTIONS! ----- Let only God enforce the laws created by God and let Humans only enforce the laws created by Humans. ----- www.CitizenAmendments.org ----- I support the Mike Gravel National Initiative for Democracy (WWW.NI4D.US) -----
Anton GrambihlerI think that all people must be held accountable for their actions under the law. Everyone must be treated the same under International Law, National Laws, and Local Laws, NO EXCEPTIONS! ----- Let only God enforce the laws created by God and let Humans only enforce the laws created by Humans. ----- www.CitizenAmendments.org ----- I support the Mike Gravel National Initiative for Democracy (WWW.NI4D.US) -----

Laws MUST BE ENFORCED equally on all people

Shortly after World War II there was a terrorist uprising against the British Mandate of Palestine. The result of this uprising was that land was taken from the Palestine People and given to the terrorists for the creation of the State of Israel.

In 1967 this Israel invaded its neighbors and still occupies the ill-gotten land. Israel is also in violation of International Laws, United Nations Resolutions, and has unregulated non-conventional weapons (i.e. Nuclear Bombs). The United States has invaded Iraq two times for their violations of UN resolutions, but is giving Israel over three billion dollars again this year in US taxpayer money and military equipment.

The United States also supports further rewarding Israel for the invasion by giving them more of the Palestine Land. The United States calls the Palestine People trying to get their land back terrorists. The United States refers to the Israeli occupiers as our friends. Do they have any idea why the Non-Jews of the World dislike the United States?

The United States must become a Nation of Laws ENFORCED equally on all people instead of being a Nation of Hypocrites.

When the Nazis Terrorists continued to violate International Law after Land was taken from Czechoslovakia and given to them, they were forced to accept unconditional surrender. Nothing less must be accepted from Israel.

Why is it that Israel can attack an American ship with no repercussions?

I am a 100% Citizen of the United States of America.

by Anton Grambihler (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 283 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 6:31:00 PM

Who are the Jewish Americans?

Are the Jewish Americans 100% United States Citizens or are they really rich Israeli Citizens wrapped in the American flag so they can Bribe and Blackmail the US Government Officials to fleece the 100% Citizens of their Blood and Treasure for the benefit of Israel?

How do you explain the United States turning a blind eye to the crimes of Israel?

Iraq was attacked because it invaded Kuwait, yet the United States gives Billions of dollars to Israel which invaded Palestine Land and will not allow the refuges to return to their land and homes.

Why does the United States block the investigation of charges of Mascares by Israel?

Why didn't the United States stop the Israeli slaughter of Lebanon Citizens by Israel?

Why doesn't the United States demand that Israel abide by ALL International Laws and United Nations Resolutions like it demands of other States and even goes to war to enforce them?

Are these some of the reasons which explains the actions of the Nazis?

by Anton Grambihler (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 283 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 6:59:32 PM

Jewish - Americans do not owe

to anyone any explanation about their loyalty. Please, do not use this perfectly legitimate place of discussion of the deep and important issue for cheap and shallow group attack. Israel is a country. Criticising of any country is a legitimate right of any free citizen. Attacking the ethnic group of the citizens of THIS COUNTRY is malice. Please, stop. You are discrediting yourself and making harm.

by Mark Sashine (51 articles, 19 quicklinks, 244 diaries, 3463 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 7:24:53 PM

Deborah Emin is the author of the novel, Scags at 7, which is currently out of print. She also has had articles on the Huffington Post, Mediachannel.org as well as in Gay City News, and NYCPlus. During the Kucinich presidential campaign, she worked as his official campaign blogger and is currently writing a book about those experiences. After getting her feet soaked in that campaign, Deborah has returned to the political work while also spending a good deal of time teaching and writing.
D...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Deborah EminDeborah Emin is the author of the novel, Scags at 7, which is currently out of print. She also has had articles on the Huffington Post, Mediachannel.org as well as in Gay City News, and NYCPlus. During the Kucinich presidential campaign, she worked as his official campaign blogger and is currently writing a book about those experiences. After getting her feet soaked in that campaign, Deborah has returned to the political work while also spending a good deal of time teaching and writing.
D...

to see more of bio, click on member name

Not all Jews are rich

I appreciate the kind of anger you feel but I have to object to any kind of stereotyping and relegating Jews to an outsider status in this country, or any country. If you want to discuss war and what it does to people that would be fine but it is not an issue of ethnicity or religion here. What is happening is that humans are behaving badly towards each other whether here or in Israel or in the Sudan or in India. Anywhere we live, we have a tendency to behave badly and what we need to learn is how to resolve these problems, not create more anger and hatred of each other. Okay?

by Deborah Emin (17 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 68 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 7:30:05 PM

Deborah Emin is the author of the novel, Scags at 7, which is currently out of print. She also has had articles on the Huffington Post, Mediachannel.org as well as in Gay City News, and NYCPlus. During the Kucinich presidential campaign, she worked as his official campaign blogger and is currently writing a book about those experiences. After getting her feet soaked in that campaign, Deborah has returned to the political work while also spending a good deal of time teaching and writing.
D...

to see more of bio, click on member name
Deborah EminDeborah Emin is the author of the novel, Scags at 7, which is currently out of print. She also has had articles on the Huffington Post, Mediachannel.org as well as in Gay City News, and NYCPlus. During the Kucinich presidential campaign, she worked as his official campaign blogger and is currently writing a book about those experiences. After getting her feet soaked in that campaign, Deborah has returned to the political work while also spending a good deal of time teaching and writing.
D...

to see more of bio, click on member name

my comment to all who commented thus far

It is obvious that much of what I wrote has stirred up strong feelings in some readers. Many of the words, Shoah, Messiah, etc. also seem to be making people feel the need to go on and on about something they feel very strongly about and that is the way of the web. However, may I please point out that sometimes a little less need to be correct and a lot more time spent wondering how we are going to fix some of the messes we are in would be more helpful to us all.

I am glad that people want to sink their teeth into some of these issues, but it is the issues that need to be fixed. Now. And lest we forget, the universe is always good at throwing out some very unexpected curve balls. While we are watching with horror what is going on in Israel and in the Palestinian Lands, there is another new war about to break out between Venezuela and Columbia for Columbia's incursion into Ecuador to kill a radical they have been looking for. This is what I was trying to point out, we need to just stop the wars and then we can figure out how to define who is who and what means what.

by Deborah Emin (17 articles, 1 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 68 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 7:22:46 PM

No Justification For Crimes Against Humanity

Deborah Emin,

You seem to be an apologist of Zionist's crimes against humanity perpetrated for 60 years now inside Palestinian land. You can not rationalize or justify a ruthless massacre commited for land grab. Why don't you go on rationalizing and justifying Hitler's massacres in the same way? Was Hitler right in doing what he did ? If not , then get the hell out of their land and leave them alone. That land does not belong to Jews and has never been. They invaded that land and stayed there for some time before being kicked out for unruly behavior. Stop your mythology stuff. Who wrote the Torah by the way ? God himself? And the rainbow is his signature and a testimony to the authenticity of the legend? You want us to believe that?

And stop taking our attention away from the main issue by your tricky comment about what goes on in South America. South America is not the point. The point is massmurder of Palestinians for illegitimate and illegal lang grab. Let us be focused on this. Your tactic betrays your intentions.

by ramsheyi (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 467 comments) on Tuesday, March 4, 2008 at 8:57:22 PM

Mr. Danforth is a supporter of the Constitution of the United States of America, as defined by Thomas Jefferson.
John DanforthMr. Danforth is a supporter of the Constitution of the United States of America, as defined by Thomas Jefferson.

This Says A Lot

The comments on this blog illustrate why there will never be any peaceful solution. As long as religion is involved, there will be blood. If bombs were indiscriminately being lobbed into your neighborhood, you would be looking for some way to stop it. Now, which side respects individual rights?

by John Danforth (1 articles, 0 quicklinks, 4 diaries, 93 comments) on Wednesday, March 5, 2008 at 7:05:31 AM