Quantico should be cancelled

Jewish date:  5 ’Adhar Sheni 5776 (Parashath Wayyiqra’).

Today’s holidays:  Bahá’í Month of Fasting, Tuesday of the Fifth Week of Lent (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Edward G. Wood (Church of the SubGenius), Bacchanalia (Roman Religion).

Greetings.

When I first saw promos for Quantico, I thought the show was nothing worthy of attention.  However, since then, accusations have been made of the show being anti-Semitic, e.g., “Major Jewish Group Demands ABC Cancel ‘Quantico’ for ‘Vicious Defamation of Jews, Israel and the IDF’”.  The Zionist Organization of America even compiled a long list of anti-Semitism and apologetics for Islamic terrorism in the show, ending it with urging readers to complain to the network responsible, ABC.  In the name of fairness, I have watched Quantico (all 12 episodes which as of this writing can be viewed by someone who is not currently paying on Hulu), and the accusations are completely true.    As I do not believe I can reasonably write a better review than the Zionist Organization of America’s, I refer my readers to their “ZOA: ABC’s Anti-Semitic Terrorism Soap-Opera “Quantico” Defames Jews & Israel, Should Be Cancelled” and urge them to follow their instructions to complain to ABC.

To the people at ABC, who are going to get a copy of this:  Quantico deserves to be cancelled.  I realize it is a piece of fiction, but in this fiction lies are presented as if they are fact.  Lies are not harmless.  These lies condemn the innocent and exculpate the guilty.  Sadly, people do believe things from fiction, even fiction as blatantly unrealistic as The X-Files.  And when people believe lies like those presented in Quantico, the result is unfair prejudice against Jews and a blindness towards Islamic terrorism.  Please do the right thing, cancel the show, and make the public apology you owe to Israel and the Jewish people.  Thanks in advance for your attention.

Peace.

’Aharon/Aaron

מכתב פתוח לממשלת ישראל • An open letter to the government of Israel

Jewish date:  23 Tishri 5774 (Parashath Bere’shith).

Today’s holidays:  Vincent de Paul (Roman Catholicism), Feast of Cosmus & Damianus (Thelema), Feast Day of St. Hieronymous Bosch (Church of the SubGenius).

Note:  The following letter has been sent to the office of the Prime Minister of Israel and (I hope) every member of the Keneseth.  The English version follows the Hebrew version.

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פקידי ציבור נכבדים:

ביום הרביעי של חול מועד סוכות ניסיתי לבקר בהר הבית, וסירבו אותי משתי סיבות.

הסיבה הראשונה היא שאני יהודי דתי בעליל. והנה ידוע שהמשטרה מפלה ביהודים שומרי מצוות בהר הבית.  כל יהודי מנסה לבקר כפוף לביקורת הרבה יותר מכל נכרי, גם לפני וגם בהר הבית.  השעות שבהן עליה מותרת מוגבלות.  את מי שהמשטרה מאפשרת בהר הבית אחריו הולכים שוטרים ואנשי וקף במאמץ כדי לוודא שלא יבצע כל פעילות דתית.  זוהי הפרה ברורה של חופש הדת וכבר נקבעה שוב ושוב לא־חוקית.

הסיבה השנייה היא שכאשר מוטי גבאי, קצין המשטרה האחראי, ואמר אלי ואל יהודים אחרים המנסים לבקר בהר הבית, שאסור ליהודים להתפלל בהר הבית, ציינתי במאמר (http:// lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/2013/09/police-chief-says-jewish-prayer-is.html) המצטט את מפכ״ל המשטרה יוחנן דנינו טוען כי תפילת יהודים בהר הבית מותר באופן מפורש.  במקום לאשר או להכחיש כי דנינו או הכתב שיקר, גבאי צעק עליי לעזוב.  התנהגות כזאת היא מגונה לקצין של החוק, כאילו קצין המשטרה עובר על החוק במקום הראשון היה הגון לסלוח.

הסיבה תמיד ניתנה לאפליה אי־חוקית נגד יהודים בהר הבית היא שהמוסלמים הם כל כך לא־סובלניים של דתות אחרות שהחשיפה הקטנה לפעילות יהודית דתית עלולה לגרום למהומות.  זה הוא מטבעו  נגד הדין.  אם המוסלמים הם תמיד אלה שמשתגעים ומתנהגים באלימות, מדוע היהודים נענשים? למה אין המוסלמים שעוקבים אחריהם למאן אותם מעשיית כל דבר אי־חוקי?  למה אין למוסלמים שעות מוגבלות על הר הבית?  למה אין אוסרים את המוסלמים  מעלות אל הר הבית?  הפרקטיקה של הגבלת יהודים למען שהמוסלמים יהיו בשליטה היא גם מוטעה מהיסוד:  מוסלמים מעת לעת משתוללים בכל מקרה, בפעם האחרונה ביום רביעי שעבר, במקרה שבו הם תקפו את המשטרה.

אין שום סיבה כשרה למשטרה לפעול באופן בלתי־חוקי ובלתי־מוסרי; כל מטרתם היא לאכוף את החוק ואת הסובלנות, לא משנה כמה קשה המשימה.  אם המשטרה לא יכולה לעשות את התפקיד שלהם, אתם חייבים לפטר אותם ולשים במקומם מי שיכולים.

תודה על תשומת הלב שלך.

אהרן שלמה אדלמן

אזרח ישראל

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Honored public officials:

On the fourth day of Ḥol hamMo‘edh Sukkoth I attempted to visit the Temple Mount, and I was refused for two reasons.

The first reason is that I am a visibly Orthodox Jew, and it is well-known that the police blatantly discriminate against observant Jews on the Temple Mount.  Those who attempt to visit are subject to much more scrutiny than any non-Jew, both before and on the Temple Mount, and the hours during which ascents are allowed are limited.  Those whom the police allow on the Temple Mount are followed around by police officers and Waqf officials in an effort to make sure they perform no religious activities.  This is an obvious violation of freedom of religion and has been repeatedly ruled illegal.

The second reason is that when Moṭi Gabba’y, the police officer in charge, told me and a number of other Jews attempting to visit the Temple Mount that praying on the Temple Mount is forbidden, I pointed out an article (http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/2013/09/police-chief-says-jewish-prayer-is.html) which quotes police commissioner Yoḥanan Danino as claiming that Jewish prayer on the Temple Mount is explicitly permitted.  Rather than confirm or deny that Danino or the reporter lied, Gabba’y yelled at me to leave.  Such behavior is indecent for an officer of the law, as if a police officer violating the law in the first place was excusable.

The reason always given for illegal discrimination against Jews on the Temple Mount is that Muslims are so intolerant of other religions that the least exposure to Jewish religious activity may cause a riot.  This is inherently unjust.  If the Muslims are always the ones going crazy and acting violently, why is it the Jews who are punished?  Why is it never the Muslims who are followed around and constantly monitored?  Why is it never the Muslims who have their hours on the Temple Mount limited?  Why is never the Muslims who are wholly banned from the Temple Mount?  The practice of restricting Jews to keep Muslims under control is also fatally flawed:  the Muslims periodically riot anyway, the last time being last Wednesday, in which case they attacked the police.

There is no valid reason for the police to act illegally and immorally; their whole purpose is to enforce the law and tolerance, no matter how difficult the task.  If the police cannot do their duty, they should be fired and replaced with those who can.

Thank you for your attention.

Aaron Solomon Adelman

Israeli citizen

Women of the Wall and a Temple Mount protest

Jewish date:  3 ’Elul 5773 (Parashath Shofeṭim).

Today’s holidays:  Feast Day of Teresiae Benedicta of the Cross (Roman Catholicism), Day of Rey Radbod (Germanic Neopaganism), Feast Day of St. Rozencranz/St. Gildenstern (Church of the SubGenius).

Greetings.

I would like to note what happened on Wednesday, or rather what did not happen.  Two events were scheduled:

1. Wednesday was Ro’sh Ḥodhesh, the start of a new month on the Jewish calendar, in this case ’Elul.  Ro’sh Ḥodhesh is traditionally an extra day off for women.  As such, it has been chosen as the day for a Reform “feminist” group, Women of the Wall, to descend on the Western Wall and to hold services according to Reform norms (women leading services, wearing ṭallithoth and tefillin).  Now, I have witnessed people praying at the Western Wall who were clearly not Orthodox Jews, but always with respect for the other people there and the holiness of the site; in such cases, no one, even Ḥaredhim, complained.  The Women of the Wall are different.  On Ro’sh Ḥodhesh Tammuz (two month ago), the police (in their tradition of sucking when it comes to freedom of religion) evicted many Orthodox Jewish women doing nothing offensive from the women’s section so the Women of the Wall could enter and hold a service, very loudly and trying to get the attention of reporters and promote imposing Reform norms at the Western Wall.  Needless to say, there were a lot of complaints about this.  They also did not have much local support, as nonreligious Israeli Jews tend to be honest about their not being religious rather than try to dress it up as being “Reform”.  A new group was formed of Orthodox Jewish women in opposition to the Women of the Wall:  Women for the Wall.  On Ro’sh Ḥodhesh ’Av (one month ago), the Women for the Wall collectively got up early and got to the Western Wall first, filling up the women’s section.  This time the police actually respected the few thousand women who were already there, and the 150-200 Women of the Wall were forced to be ostentatious and complain in the back of the Western Wall plaza.  I thus wanted to see what would happen in the next round.
2. The police closed the Temple Mount to Jews for the second half of Ramāḍan, the closure lasting until this coming Sunday.  This was simple caving into Muslims getting violent over Jews on the Temple Mount again, something which I have complained about frequently in the past, both on this blog and on Facebook.  Thus there was a protest scheduled at the (locked) entrance for Jews to the Temple Mount at 7:30 AM.

So what did I see?

1. I got to the Western Wall around 8:30 AM.  The women’s section was filled with women praying respectfully.  There was no sign of Women of the Wall.  Reportedly pretty much what had happened on Ro’sh Ḥodhesh ’Av had happened this month, too:  Women for the Wall got to the Wall first, and the Women of the Wall had to pray in the back and grumbled about lack of support from other women.
2. The protest at the entrance to the Temple Mount was going strong at the time and continued for about another hour.  Several dozen Orthodox Jews were there.  Many were praying.  Others had protest signs.  There were a over a dozen police officers there, but they did little but stand around, remove a Torah scroll which had been brought in to read, and ask the protesters not to block foot traffic.  Why there were so many police officers was not explained.  See “Jews protest visitation restrictions at Temple Mount during Ramadan” and “Activists Protest Closure of Temple Mount - Inside Israel” for more details.

In short:  Not much happened.

Peace and Shabbath shalom.

’Aharon/Aaron

Star Trek Into Darkness, The Key of Solomon the King, and Save Me

Jewish date:  24 ’Av 5773 (Parashath Re’eh).

Today’s holidays:  Feast Day of Ignatius of Loyola (Roman Catholicism), Lughnasadh Eve in Northern Hemisphere/Imbolc Eve in Southern Hemisphere (Neopaganism), Feast Day of St. Bill Gates (Church of the SubGenius).

Greetings.

I know posting on this blog has gotten irregular. Sorry about this.  Life is busy.

I would like to comment on a number of different things relevant to this blog:

1) Star Trek Into Darkness:  Preemptively, your humble blogger would like to note that he eventually wants to write a great grand review of religion in Star Trek, all series and movies, but as he saw it recently, he would like to jot down some thoughts on it now so they do not get forgotten.

Much ink (or rather the electronic equivalent thereof) has already been spilled on what is right and wrong with this film.  Considering the focus of this blog, I will note that what Harrison did with the photon torpedoes is such an obviously bad idea that he should never even considered it (duh!) and proceed to discussing religion.  This is not an especially religious film, but like Star Trek in general, it touches on it.  The movie starts out on the planet Nibiru, which is inhabited by humanoids who have not yet developed warp technology and thus, according to the Federation’s Prime Directive, must not be contacted at any cost.  Spock gets quickly trapped in an active volcano with a device meant to freeze the molten lava so the volcano does not erupt and kill the natives.  Due to the Enterprise being hidden under water—something which everyone says makes no sense—Kirk faces the dilemma of whether he uphold the Prime Directive, in which case Spock dies, or get the Enterprise out of hiding and where the transporter will work properly to save Spock, in which case the natives will probably see the ship—a clear violation of the Prime Directive.  Kirk being Kirk, the natives see the Enterprise rising out of the ocean.  The natives’ behavior soon afterwards suggests they believe they have seen a divine being or have had a prophetic vision.  To say the least, Admiral Pike is not happy.  

Religious misinterpretation of Federation activity actually has been done at least once before in the Star Trek universe.  The Star Trek:  The Next Generation episode “Who Watches the Watchers” revolves around someone on a technologically primitive planet inhabited by Vulcanoids mistaking Captain Jean-Luc Picard for a god known as the Overseer.  That episode deals with the consequences of such a mistake and how to deal with it—not to mention religious epistemology—in far greater length and detail than Star Trek Into Darkness, which says nothing about what, if anything, Starfleet does to clean up the mess on Nibiru.

Your humble blogger is not aware of anything quite like either of these fictional incidents happening in reality, though cargo cults approximate them to some degree.

Also noted is a little peek into the Vulcan belief system.  Whether Vulcans believe in the supernatural or not has never been discussed, albeit Mr. Spock once claimed to specifically not believe in angels.  However, the Vulcan belief system includes things like monasticism and mysticism which would normally be religious on Earth.  There is some arguing in this film over whether the needs of the many really do outweigh the needs of the one (reflecting Star Trek II:  The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III:  The Search for Spock).  Also, Spock claims that war is “by definition” immoral, which sounds like an all-too-human attempt to skirt the problem that morality is intrinsically a matter of opinion.  Certain properties, such as weight and temperature, are matters of objective fact.  But whether an action is good or bad cannot be objective in the same way; no matter how hard one looks, one will never find goodness particles or evilness waves.  Spock seems to be trying to make morality objective by defining what is and is not moral.  One can argue about whether some action objectively fits this definition.  (And your humble blogger assumes that Spock, being no mental slouch, has a definition for war and every other relevant term.)  However, since the definition is not rooted in objective reality, it remains an opinion.  Klingons just as easily can claim that war is by definition moral (and act on this presumed morality, too).  Defining what is moral or immoral does not make it objectively so.

Also:  Considering that Vulcans have been depicted at times waging war, the Vulcan belief system appears to have a priority system.  Vulcans may consider war immoral, but they may well consider other things, such as being murdered by enemy soldiers, to be worse, thus making war the lesser of two evils.  Real humans tend to agree on this issue, though there are a few true pacifists.

2) The Key of Solomon the King (Clavicula Salomonis) translated by S. Liddell MacGregor Mathers:  This is a grimoire repeatedly mentioned as source material in your humble blogger’s previous reading on Neopaganism.  It certainly looks like the source for Gerald Gardner’s High Magic’s Aid, the procedures for working magic being largely the same.  Unlike High Magic’s Aid, The Key of Solomon deals with working magic in a Jewish (or pseudo-Jewish) context.  There is none of the Neopagan business of duotheism, polarity of the sexes, or ritual nudity.  Magic instead is presented as an exercise in manipulating spirits for one’s purposes.  Much emphasis is put on the necessity of piety to work magic.  Consistent with this is the lack of any procedure for divination; after all, the Torah explicitly forbids several kinds of divination.

And, no, there is no convincing reason to believe that King Shelomoh (Solomon) actually wrote this book.  There is nothing in the Hebrew Bible to suggest he practiced any form of magic.

3) Save Me:  This gem of a show showed up recently on Hulu.  It is story of a woman with poor moral habits (such as drunkenness, petty theft, and embarrassing behavior) named Beth who accidentally chokes.  She survives, though feeling like she died in the process.  Reborn, she finds herself religiously moved and believes that God communicates with her.

One major issue that this show deals with is how would someone who experiences a sudden conversion would behave.  (This sort of thing does happen in real life at times.  See The Varieties of Religious Experience by William James.)  Given the profundity of Beth’s conversion, she tends to go to extremes—absurd ones, as this is a comedy.  Having no previous religious experience, Beth frequently has no idea how a religious person is supposed to behave and makes some very strange mistakes.  For example, in one episode she prays constantly.  She also embraces love for her fellow humans and other creatures to the point of loving her husband’s ex-mistress Carlise and a spider.  At one point, she decides to read the (Christian) Bible, but finding the King James Version too hard, she turns to The Children’s Bible and proceeds to misinterpret the parable of the Good Samaritan.  (Come to think of it, she never seems to get very far in either version.)  In another, she “honors” her parents by calling them excessively.  Trying to “honor” her daughter Emily into honoring her back proves socially embarrassing for the latter.  Despite everything being played for laughs, religious behavior Beth undertakes on her own really is no stranger than what a lot of converts do.

(And to be fair to Beth, none of the other main characters displays much knowledge of Christianity or religion in general, which is sadly normal for Americans these days.  (See Religious Literacy by Stephen Prothero.)  Emily even hollows out a Bible to hide marijuana in.)

The other major issue is the nature of prophecy.  For Beth, this is something in the way of a comedic version of the sorts of things one would expect in Ezekiel and Jonah (or Evan Almighty):  She is told to do all sorts of strange actions in a gender-neutral voice, and she is not allowed to shirk her duty.  Refusing to do what God demands only results in pain for Beth, and compliance is quick.  Beth is assumed to be some sort of crackpot for claiming prophecy, though with the lack of theological sophistication of the characters, none of them ever thinks about empirically testing whether she can consistently make correct predictions.  This is despite that around Beth periodically occur unusually well-timed events (lightning striking Carlise, Beth’s car hitting a squirrel, various injuries to Beth, rain falling, the power in various houses going out, etc.) which serve to progress the plot, tie up loose ends, and bring Beth together with her family and friends.  Beth’s husband Todd is unusually generous in interpreting what happens to Beth and chalks her prophecies up to intuition.  Untraditionally, Beth prophetically has access to knowledge about people which she should not have.  Semi-traditionally, she actually has two visions of God, once in the form of Betty White(!) and the other as a black man.  (For comparison, YHWH or some suitable representative has a form which looks like it is practically on fire in Ezekiel.)  Less traditional is God claiming to have taken corporeal form when Beth was a child and played friend with her; while Christians generally regard Jesus as God somehow become corporeal, your humble blogger is not aware of them promoting the idea that He has made a habit of pretending to be human.  Then again, God in this series never claims to be the god of Christianity or any other religion, so some flexibility is warranted.

All in all, an enjoyable effort in theological fiction.  I am saddened that its run seems limited to just seven episodes.  I hope NBC changes its collective mind and continues the series.

’Aharon/Aaron

Thoughts on the Fast of ’Av

Jewish date:  9 ’Av 5773 (Parashath Wa’Ethḥannan).

Today’s holidays:  The Fast of ’Av (Judaism), Feast Day of Our Lady of Mount Carmel (Roman Catholicism), Display of the Embarrassing Swimsuits (Church of the SubGenius).



Today is the Fast of ’Av, the saddest day in the Jewish calendar, marking some of our worst tragedies.  When one reviews the laws for fast days, one of the first things one reads is that fasting and associated practices, while obligatory on certain days, are not an end in themselves.  Thus to spend a fast day touristing or playing video games is forbidden. because that would be missing the point.  Fasting and suffering are a means to the end of repentance.  This post is meant to comment on a contemporary mistake that we have yet to correct.

In previous generations, our ancestors saw fit to act on what they believed was going to happen soon.  YHWH forbade King Dawidh to build the First Temple, but since Dawidh’s son Shelomoh was supposed to build it, Dawidh made all the preparations he could ahead of time.  When many thought that Shim‘on “bar Kokheva’” bar Koziva’ was Mashiaḥ, many took up arms against the Romans to fight the wars that Mashiaḥ is supposed to fight.  And when many thought that Shabbethay Ṣevi was Mashiaḥ, many repented their sins and prepared to move to Israel.  The attitude was that one should act to move events along.  The fact that Mashiaḥ did not actually come at those times is irrelevant to this point.

We are closer to the fulfillment of Messianic prophecies now than at any time in the past 2,000 years.  Not only have we reestablished the Jewish state, but it has survived despite the constant hostility of its neighbors, including terrorism and unprovoked warfare.  All three of the major Abrahamic religions are scrambling to deal with this unprecedented historical change, with adherents trying to adjust their beliefs to the altered situation on the ground or rationalize their way around it.  And while we Jews have been a big winner in this new era, for too many of us the consequences of this new era have not sunk in.

As happened at the start of the Second Temple Period, few of us have returned home to Israel voluntarily, preferring to remain in the Diaspora.  Many of us who did come came because they had little choice in the matter.  Persecution and genocide, both before and after the formation of the State of Israel, have given Jews every reason get out of Europe and the Muslim world.  Those living in places of tolerance, such as the United States, have felt less motivated to make ‘aliyyah.  In such comfortable places, it is very easy to claim to be a Zionist but never act upon it.  Moving to Israel may be a dream or an ideal, but “maybe sometime in the future” very easily becomes “never” in practice.  I myself was guilty of this error until YHWH coerced me into reconsidering.  It is one thing to say one believes that Israel is where Jews belong; it is an entirely different thing to live it.

Even among those of us who live in Israel, the consequences of what we are supposed to be doing have generally not sunken in completely.  Yes, we tithe our produce, and we do not celebrate an extra day of major holidays.  But ever since the destruction of the Second Temple, we have not been able to fully practice Judaism.  Without the Temple, or at least proper access to the Temple Mount, many of the rites that are supposed to performed daily, on Shabbath, and on major holidays cannot be performed.  Part of the problem is the government, or to be specific, every government Israel has had, starting in 1967.  Almost immediately after the Temple Mount was liberated, Mosheh Dayyan returned it to Islamic control, where it has remained, aided and abetted by the police.  The police would rather violate freedom of religion to keep Muslims relatively happy in the short term, even though it is their job to enforce religious tolerance and pandering to violent Muslims never works in the long term.  Muslims are essentially allowed to do anything they want up there, even blatant violations of Israeli law, such as destruction of antiquities, while Jews are openly discriminated against.  Many Jews are turned away for no valid reason, while those who do ascend are warned not to pray and may be harassed by the police and Muslims.  Bringing sacrifices is something the police cannot conceive of permitting at all.

The strange thing is a general lack of concern, even among the observant, for the Temple Mount and the Temple service.  Many of us pray for complete redemption and sing about how we want Mashiaḥ now, but we expect YHWH to do everything and ourselves to do nothing—unlike what our ancestors did.  Very few of us bother to visit the Temple Mount.  Very few of us protest against Muslim desecration of our most holy site.  And very few of us have done anything to get ready for restarting the Temple service.  When confronted with their indifference, many will make excuses based on ritual purity (in contrast with what Jews did in earlier times or that certain sacrifices can be made even while ritually impure) or feign fear of Muslims should Jews reclaim the Temple Mount (despite Muslim complaints about Jews having little to do with reality).  Simply ignoring a large chunk of our religion is irrational, and I can see no way around the problem other than to reclaim the Temple Mount.

May YHWH help us get past the delusion that the status quo must be preserved and lead us to repent.


Various relevant articles:

• “The 9th of Av: A Time to Mourn... A Time to Build”
• “The Temple taboo”
• “Danon: Equal Prayer Rights on Temple Mount Now” (Someone is trying to get my vote.)
• “Muslim Extremists Force Jews From Temple Mount”  (As I keep saying on my Facebook account, the police suck.)
• “A historical description of Tisha Be’av”
• “Weeping in the silence – Tisha Be’av”

Also note the Temple Institute, who are working to get ready everything needed for the next Temple.

מחאת בני עקיבא למען הר הבית (עם המשטרה אדישה) • Bene ‘Aqiva’ Temple Mount protest (with the police apathetic)

תאריך יהודי:  ה׳ אלול תשע״ב (פרשת שופטים).

Jewish date:  5 ’Elul 5772 (evening) (Parashath Shofeṭim).

החגים של היום:  מלכהות של מרים (הקתוליות הרומית), יום החג של סנט איגנציוס ריילי (כנסיית תת־הגאון).

Today’s holidays:  Queenship of Mary (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Ignatius Reilly (Church of the SubGenius).

שלום.

Greetings.

הייתי בהפגנת הר בית ביום שני. (המשטרה עדיין גרועה כשזה בחופש דת ליהודים בהר הבית.) המחאה הזאת הייתה יוצאת דופן בכך שהיא אורגנה על ידי קבוצת נוער בני עקיבא. היו גם הרבה מצלמות שם, של צוותות חדשות ושל משתתפים.

I was at a Temple Mount protest on Monday.  (The police still suck when it comes to freedom of religion for Jews on the Temple Mount.)  This protest was unusual in that it was organized by a youth group, Bene ‘Aqiva’.  There were also a lot of cameras there, both of news crews and by participants.

אולי שמעתם שהמשטרה, עובדת קשה למען למחוק את כל התקדמות שאולי הם עשו, מתייגת כל מחאה בסיסמה: ״הר הבית בידינו״ (במקור נאמר על ידי מוטה גור בהתאחדות ירושלים בשנת 1967), שוקלת את זה ״הסתה״.  (כאילו שהמוסלמים צריכים הסתה להתנהג רע.  כשהם ממציאים דברים שלא קיימים להתלונן עליהם, ״הסתה״ היא רק אמתלה ולא סיבה.)  המשטרה הגידה לילדים לא להשתמש בסיסמה.  כמה שלטים הובאו שלא היה נוחים למשטרה, והוויכוח היה קולני, יותר מדי.  תודה לה׳, המשטרה לא עשתה דבר בתגובה ל״הסתה״ הזאת.  מצד השני, אף על פי שהיו כמה שוטרים בקרבת מקום, לא ראיתי אותם שמים לב למחאה בכלל.

You may have heard that the police, working hard to erase any progress they may have made, have taken to labeling protesting with the slogan “The Temple Mount is in our hands” (originally said by Moṭah Gur when Yerushalayim was reunited in 1967), considering it “incitement”.  (As if the Muslims needed any incitement to behave badly.  When they invent nonexistent things to complain about, “incitement” is just an an excuse, not a cause.)  The children were told by the police not to use the slogan.  A few signs were brought which disagreed with the police, and the disagreement was vocal, too.  Thankfully the police did nothing in response to this “incitement”.  On the other hand, even though there were a few police nearby, I did not notice them paying any attention to the protest whatsoever.

המחאה התקיימה בסוג פרק, הטיילת.  תמונות אלו, שעבורן שימשתי ברמות שונות של פונקצית הזום, יתנו מושג כלשהו על מקומו ביחס להר הבית.

The protest took place at a sort of park known as the Ṭayyeleth.  These pictures, for which I made use of various levels of the zoom function, should give some idea of its position to the Temple Mount.

פסל ליד הטיילת.  אני רק צלמתי אותו.  אני לא יכול להסביר את זה.

A sculpture near the Ṭayyeleth.  I just photographed it.  I cannot explain it.

בניין ארגון הפיקוח על הפסקת אש של האומות המאוחדות הקרוב.

The United Nations Truce Supervision Organization building nearby.

כמה מהילדים עם שלטי מחאה:  ״אבן השתייה הוא לא הפקר!״ ו״לא מקילים ראש במקום קדוש!״

Some of the kids with protest signs:  “The Foundation Stone is not ownerless property!” and “Do not belittle a holy place!” 

גרפיטי בערבית באנגלית.

Graffiti in Arabic and English.

מפגין עם שלט שואל ״הר הבית לא בידינו?!״  המשטרה לא עשתה שום דבר לעצור אותו.

A protester with a sign asking “Is not the Temple Mount in our hands?!”  The police did nothing to stop him.

עוד סטודנטים מפגינים.

More student protesters.

השלט החדה הוא ״שומרים מפקד לירך!״

The new sign is “Maintain control of your city!”

השלטים החדשי הם ״לא עוד לביזוי מקדשנו!״, ״מדינה יהודית?!״, ודבר מה שאני לא יכול לקרוא די ממנו בתמונה הזאת.

The new signs are “No more demeaning our Temple!”, “A Jewish state?!”, and something I cannot read enough of in this picture.

השלטים החדשים הם ״די לביזוי באבן השתיה״, ״ואין פוקד את הר הבית בעיר העתיקה!״ (ציטוט מ״ירושלים של זהב״), ו״מדינה בלי עבר—היא ללא עתיד!״

The signs are “Enough demeaning the Foundation Stone”, “And there is no visitor of the Temple Mount  in the Old City” (a quote from “Jerusalem of Gold”), and “A state without a past is without a future!”

שלט שהוזכר לעיל שונה ל״הר הבית בידינו!״  המשטרה עדיין לא עשתה שום דבר.

A sign mentioned above was modified to read “The Temple Mount is in our hands!”  The police still did nothing.

דובר מכנסת.

A speaker from the Keneseth.

העיתונות ״האמיתית״ הייתה שם באמת.

The “real” press was actually there.

ראו גם:  ״‪Bnei Akiva Rally on Behalf of the Temple Mount‬״.  לא הייתי יחיד שם עם מצלמה.

See also:  “‪Bnei Akiva Rally on Behalf of the Temple Mount‬”.  I was not the only one there with a camera.

האם אני מצפה להרבה בדרך של תוצאות מהמחאה הזאת?  לא.  זאת נערכת במקום מחוץ לדרך עם רק עוברי אורח אחדים.  אבל זוהי התחלה, במיוחד משום שהרבה בני נוער היו שם.  יהי רצון ה׳ שילכו מעורבות פוליטית גדולה יותר וטובה יותר ולעזור לשנות את המדינה לטובה יותר.

Am I expecting much in the way of results from this protest?  No.  It was held in an out-of-the-way place with few passersby.  But it is a start, especially since a lot of youth were involved.  May they go on to bigger and better political involvement and help change the country for the better.

שלום.

Peace.

אהרן

’Aharon/Aaron

The mystery of 15 ’Av

Jewish date:  14 ’Av 5772 (Parashath Wa’Ethḥannan).

Today’s holidays:  Feast Day of Eusebius of Vercelli and Peter Julian Eymard (Roman Catholicism) Feast Day of St. Robert Goddard (Church of the SubGenius).

Greetings.

Tomorrow is 15 ’Av, commonly called Ṭu be’Av or Ḥagh ha’Ahavah (“the Festival of Love”).  My posting has three purposes:

1) As I posted two years ago for the same holiday, 15 ’Av has become something of the Israeli equivalent of Valentine’s Day.  Every Jewish man with a special woman in his life is hereby forewarned to prepare a romantic gesture for her.  The consequences for forgetting may be severe.

2) I find myself trying to understand the celebration of 15 ’Av.  The primary text of interest is Ta‘anith 26b for the Mishnah and Ta‘anith 30b-31a for the Gemara’.  In the old days, young unmarried women in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) used to dress in borrowed white dresses and go out into the vineyards on 15 ’Av and Yom Kippur.  There they would dance and sing about why young men should marry them.  And the strange thing is that no one does this anymore.  There are matchmaking and romantic events scheduled, but the actual vineyard dancing is no longer practiced.  (Well, almost.  I have actually seen reference to a vineyard dancing event tomorrow—but it is for women only and thus completely misses the point of the ritual.)

The Mishnah and Gemara’ give no indication why the dancing is no longer practiced.  The Gemara’ concentrates on historical events that occurred on 15 ’Av:  permission for the 12 tribes to intermarry among themselves, permission for the tribe of Binyamin (Benjamin) to intermarry with the other tribes, cessation of deaths in the Desert, permission of Jews in the northern kingdom of Yisra’el to go into Yehudhah for Pesaḥ, Sukkoth, and Shavu‘oth (which is a very big deal in the days when there is a Temple where one is required to go to bring sacrifices), permission to bury those slain by the Romans at Bethar, and cessation of cutting wood for the altar for the year.  (See “The Meaning of Tu B'av” for an accessible summary.)  There is also some discussion of the garments the young women wore and what they would sing.  But there is nothing to indicate why the practice has ceased.  Rashi and Tosefoth, the standard commentaries, also are silent on this.

I asked a local rav about the possibility of resurrecting the practice.  (If the Talmudh acknowledges the practice as valid and lists not the slightest objection, it is easy to ask why we are not doing it.)  His answer was that people today would not react the same way to it and that Ḥaredhim would probably be outraged.  There is a lot of truth in this.  Women singing and dancing in public with the intent of getting the attention of men is unheard of among observant Jews today, and it is difficult to talk to other observant Jews about the idea of resuming the practice without them joking about modern secular dancing practices and (real or imagined) resultant improprieties.  What puzzles me is how something that used to be considered completely acceptable has come to be considered unthinkable, and I do not have a sufficient solution.  I suspect that at least in part this may be due to the influence of Christians and Muslims Jews have often lived—and still often live—among.  Christians have often had rather negative attitudes towards sexuality (thank you, Paul), and Muslims today periodically make the news over bizarre overreactions to real and imagined sexual offenses by women.  But a suspicion is not knowledge and may well be wrong.

If anyone has any information on this puzzle, please let me know.  (And, yes, I have read “Boy meets girl on Tu Be’av”, and it strikes me as rather speculative and does not really explain the cessation of vineyard dancing.)

3) Obviously I am not going to dance in a vineyard, first because I have been told not to resurrect the practice, second because I am a man, third because I do not have access to a vineyard, and fourth because I have not really learned how to dance.  However, the goal of finding a wife still remains for me, and it is the right time to be working towards this goal.  And since I have not accomplished this goal yet, I have to try new things until I am successful (at which point I will replace it with the goal of keeping said wife happy).  And so I am about to try something a bit unusual...

This is me standing under a grapevine.  (Actually, due to the heat and dryness of this summer, it is a raisinvine.)  And now for my singles ad:

39-year-old educated rationalist Dathi Le’umi nonconformist in Giv‘ath Shemu’el seeks intelligent, religious woman with compatible hashqafah and (preferably) a sense of humor. More details available upon request. Don't be shy; I don’t bite.  Referrals welcome.

Peace.

’Aharon/Aaron

The Israeli police still suck more than I thought

Jewish date:  10 ’Av 5772 (Parashath Wa’ethḥannan).

Today’s holidays:  The Fast of ’Av (Judaism), Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Brigham Young (Church of the SubGenius), Feast of Paschal Beverly Randolph (Thelema), Stikklestad Day (Germanic Neopaganism).

Short update on the police over here outright violating their job of enforcing freedom of religion and tolerance.  Not only did the police close the Temple Mount to non-Muslims on flimsy excuses about “provocations” (when to Muslims the very presence of Jews can be considered a “provocation”), but the Jewish reaction was refuse to go away and read the Book of Lamentations—the correct ceremony for the Fast of ’Av.  See “Police close Temple Mount to Jews on Tisha Be'av” and “Jews Read Lamentations Outside Temple Mount in Defiance of Ban” for details.  I congratulate the protestors for standing their ground and sending the police the message that “no” has consequences.  May it be the will of YHWH that every such baseless refusal of admission be met with even worse inconveniences.

’Aharon/Aaron

The Israeli police suck more than I thought

Jewish date:  10 ’Av 5772 (Parashath Wa’ethḥannan).

Today’s holidays:  The Fast of ’Av (Judaism), Seventeenth Sunday of Ordinary Time (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Brigham Young (Church of the SubGenius), Feast of Paschal Beverly Randolph (Thelema), Stikklestad Day (Germanic Neopaganism).

Today is the Fast of ’Av, the culmination of the Three Weeks and Nine Days commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temple.

Last week I posted “משטרת ישראל היא לא גרועה כמו קודם • The Israeli Police suck less than before”, which is about my visit to the Temple Mount last Sunday.  Ideally I would have liked to go today, but I am afraid to do much of anything outside during fast days due to dehydration and overheating, which are serious concerns in the summer.  (Especially the summer in Israel, which is hot and dry.  Even more especially during the summer in Israel feeling the effects of global warming, which make me not want to leave my apartment more than absolutely necessary.)  However, some brave souls do attempt to visit the Temple Mount on fast days.  It has been reported on Facebook that a large number of Jews showed up to ascend to the Temple Mount this morning, only to be turned away because the police decided to pander to Islamic supremacism rather than do their jobs.  I therefore declare the police to have increased their level of suck, and I encourage everyone to let the government, political parties, and anyone else relevant to know.

On the Fast of Tammuz, I posted “Pathological mourning”, arguing that we should not be ritually mourning as an end in itself, but, like all mourning, should be a means towards moving on and rebuilding the Temple.  I am not the only one who thinks mourning should not be an end in itself.  “Next Year in Jerusalem — Maybe”, “What Are We Fasting For?”, and “Ninth of Av Message on Moving to Israel – Rabbi Beryl Wein, Rabbi Zev Leff and Rabbi Shalom Gold” all argue for making ‘aliyyah (immigration to Israel).

And they have a point.  The destruction of both Temples was accompanied by exile.  The Hebrew Bible has an ideal that the Jewish people should live in Israel and YHWH promises that we will return.  However, we have done a lousy job of this.  The Book of Ezra records that when the Persian Emperor Koresh (Cyrus) allowed the Jews to return and rebuild the Temple, very few did so.  We are doing a better job today (about 50% of the way there), but life in the West is still rather comfortable, and it is easy even for religious Jews to put off moving to Israel indefinitely.  I know.  I used to be that way.  Food for thought.

’Aharon/Aaron

משטרת ישראל היא לא גרועה כמו קודם • The Israeli Police suck less than before

תאריך יהודי:  ו׳ באב תשע״ב (פרשת דברים).

Jewish date:  6 ’Av 5772 (Parashath Devarim).

החגים של היום: תשעת הימים (יהדות), יום חג ג׳ימז (נצרות קתולית), יום חג שיילוק הקדוש (כנסיית תת־הגאון), פורינאליה (דת הרומאים העתיקים).

Today’s holidays:  The Nine Days (Judaism), Feast Day of James (Roman Catholicism), Feast Day of St. Shylock (Church of the SubGenius), Furinalia (ancient Roman religion).

שלום.

Greetings.

הערה: זהו עוד הודעה שבה אני מתכנן לשלוח לאנשים שונים בממשל, בפוליטיקה, ובג׳רוזלם פוסט.  לפיכך, אני כותב את זה גם בעברית וגם באנגלית. רציתי לעשות את זה בשני טורים מקבילים, אבל Blogger מסרב לעשות טבלאות, ואני ממש לא רוצה לכתוב את ה־HTML באופן ידני. סליחה על הסגנון שבחרתי, שנראה לי להיות הפחות הבעייתי, למרות שיש לו מראה די מוזר.

NOTE:  This is another post which I plan to send out to various people in government, politics, and The Jerusalem Post.  As such, I am writing it both in Hebrew and English.  I would do it in two parallel columns, but Blogger has no built-in facilities for making tables, and I really do not want to write the HTML by hand.  Pardon the style I chose, which seems to me to be the least problematic, despite looking rather strange.

החלטתי לבקר את הר הבית ביום ראשון (ג׳ באב תשע״ב, 22 ביולי 2012). תשעת הימים הם לזכר חורבן בית המקדש הראשון והשני,  לכן זה נראה לי מתאים.

I decided to visit the Temple Mount on Sunday (3 ’Av 5772 AM, 22 July 2012 CE).  Given that the Nine Days commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples, it seemed appropriate.

היה כדאי לי להביא כרטיס הרשמי של בלוגר (הדפסתי חבילה של עשר) וגם תדפיס של הבלוג האחרון שלי על ביקור בהר הבית.  (יש תוצאות מסרב לי רשות כניסה, והודעתי אותן למשטרה.  בנימוס, כמובן, אבל הודעתי ​​להם.)  היה גם כדאי (בכנות) לעמוד על כך אני חושב על לעשות ספר צילומים אודות כל העיר העתיקה (כולל הר הבית) ורציתי לצלם את האדריכלות.  כמובן, הרעיון שלי של מה נחשב אדריכלות הוא כנראה קצת שונה מזו של המשטרה והוואקף—צילמתי פסולת בניין, חומרי בניין, גרפיטי, ועובדים, וגם כמה בניינים—אבל נכנסתי.  ברור שאני הפר איסור הבלתי חוקית של התפילה היהודית.  השוטר ופקיד הוואקף המלווים אותי ואת שני יהודים דתיים אחרים ברחבי הר הבית גם נתנו לי מרחב פעולה מספיק (אולי בשל איומים אמיתיים מאוד שלי) שנראה לי שאם רציתי עזבתי אותם.  אחד המבקרים האחרים ואני דיברנו על אדריכלות, מציינים איפה היו חלקים שונים של בית המקדש ומרגיזים פקיד הוואקף בהעובדה שזה לא כשלעצמו מהווה תפילה ולכן לא היה לו סיבה להתנגד.  הערה מוארת: נראה כאילו המוסלמים החלו לקרצף חלק גרפיטי.  מצד שני, הקבוצה שלי התקרב לבמה המרכזית ממה שהלכתי קודם לכן, ועוד יותר פנימה נראה שיש גרפיטי הרבה פחות. היה גם עדיין הרבה כתובות גרפיטי ברחבי בקצוות.

It really pays to bring an official blogger’s card (I made a batch of them) and a printout of one’s last blog post on visiting the Temple Mount.  (There are consequences to them refusing me, and I let them know it.  Politely, of course, but I let them know it.)  Not to mention sticking strictly to the (true) story that I am thinking about making a photo book about the entire Old City (including the Temple Mount) and want to photograph the architecture really pays.  Of course, my idea of what constitutes architecture is probably a bit different than that of the police and the Waqf—I photographed rubble, construction materials, graffiti, and workers as well as some buildings—but it got me in.  It should go without saying that I blatantly disregarded the illegal prohibition on Jewish prayer.  The police officer and Waqf official accompanying me and two other observant Jews around the Mount also gave me enough leeway (possibly due to my very real threats) that I could have probably wandered off.  And one of the other visitors and I did discuss architecture, noting where various parts of the Temple were and annoying the Waqf official with the fact that this did not in and of itself constitute prayer and thus was no cause for him to object.  Bright note:  it looks like the Muslims have started scrubbing off some of the graffiti.  On the other hand, my group went closer to the central platform than I had gone before, and further in, there seems to be a lot less graffiti.  There was also still plenty of graffiti around on the edges.

עמודות לפני הכיבוש המוסלמי.

Columns from before the Muslim conquest.

זה ברמדאן, ומאז מוסלמים שומרי מצוות הצום בחודש הרמדאן, הם שמו למעלה יריעות לספק צל כדי שלא ימותו מהתייבשות. זה מאפשר להם להמשיך חבלה ארכיאולוגית בזמן צום.

This is during Ramaḍān, and since observant Muslims fast during Ramaḍān, they put up tarps to provide shade so they do not die of dehydration.  This makes it possible for them to continue archaeological sabotage while fasting.

כפי שצויין בהודעות קודמות, עדיין יש הרבה הריסות במקומות רבים בהר הבית בתוצאת החבלה הארכיאולוגית.  פקיד הוואקף לא יכול לתת כל הסבר אמיתי מדוע עוד לא ניקו את זה. (לשם השוואה, אחד תימצא שום הריסות זרוקה ליד הכותל המערבי.)

As noted in previous posts, there is still plenty of rubble in many places on the Temple Mount due to the archaeological sabotage.    The Waqf official could not give any real explanation why they not cleaned it up yet.  (For comparison, one will find absolutely no rubble lying around at the Western Wall.)

חומרי בניין.

Building materials.

נראה כי הם באמת עושים עבודה בתוך מבנה כיפת הסלע.

It appears that they really are doing work on inside the Dome of the Rock.

על הקצוות, אין הריסות בלבד, אלא שפע של צמחים גדלים בין האבנים.

Out on the edges, there is not only rubble, but plenty of plants growing between the stones.

ספונסרים גאים של חבלה ארכיאולוגית.

Proud sponsors of archaeological sabotage.

עובד על הגג. הוא לא היה שמח להצטלם, אבל אף אחד לא עצר אותי ואחד מהמבקרים היהודים הדתיים האחרים מצלם אותו.

A worker on a roof.  He was not happy being photographed, but no one stopped me and one of the other observant Jewish visitors from photographing him.

מכונת ניקוי.

A cleaning machine.

יש עדיין הרבה כתובות גרפיטי בערבית. המוסלמים עדיין נראה הרבה יותר לכתוב על המקומות הקדושים מיהודים.  (נראה לי שאולי טוב לי לחפש גרפיטי גם בכנסיית הקבר ובמסגדים…)

There is still plenty of Arabic graffiti.  Muslims still seem to write much more on holy places than Jews.  (Come to think about it, arguably I ought to also look for graffiti at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and at mosques...)

זה היה בשער של הר הבית שבו יצאתי. מישהו לא יודע בבירור שיש חדל להיות גבול בתוך ירושלים בשנת 1967.

This was at the gate of the Temple Mount where I exited.  Someone clearly does not know that there ceased being a border inside Yerushalayim (Jerusalem) in 1967.

תקציר:

Summary:

ניסיון ביקור:  6.

Attempted visit:  6.

ביקור מוצלח:  3.

Successful visit:  3.

מצב פיזי: הרס מתמשך של כל דבר שאינו מוסלמי, עם ההריסות שנוצרה.

Physical state:  Ongoing destruction of anything non-Muslim, with resulting rubble.

התנהגות המשטרה: משופרת, אבל עדיין בכניעה לעליונות האיסלאמית.

Police behavior:  Improved, but still kowtowing to Islamic supremacism.

התנהגות הוואקף: עדיין באשליה שהם מחזיקים במקום. פרנואיד עדיין על יהדות, גם על הדיון של האדריכלות הדתית היהודית היסטורית.

Waqf behavior:  Still under the delusion they own the place.  Still paranoid about Judaism, even the discussion of historical Jewish religious architecture.

עיין עוד:

See also:

ניסיון ביקור בהר הבית מספר 5 • Attempted visit to the Temple Mount #5

An open letter of complaint to the Israeli Police

Yiṣḥaq Rabbin Memorial Day and a would-be visit to the Temple Mount

Visit to the Temple Mount #2: The Waqf still sucks

Temple Mount infiltration and vandalism

Peace.

’Aharon/Aaron