THE GREAT SEAL - PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH

As America decays into a nation obsessed with identity politics, tribalism is weakening the USA. The best reminder of what made America strong is symbolized on our Great Seal.
Peace through strength - peace in the right talon represented by the olive branch. And strength represented by arrows in the left. Preferring peace
But above all the source of our greatness - Unity and the Almighty. ONE God is symbolized through the Stars, a star for each of the 13* original colonies, that form to shape the Star of David for the people who introduced Monotheism to a world filled with competing gods. MANY PEOPLE UNDER ONE GOD as expressed in the words E. PLURIBUS UMUM - "Out of many, one."
The Torah tells us of a "mixed multitude" who departed Egypt on a great EXODUS for Freedom in the Promised Land guarded and cared for by the Almighty. As we stood at the base of Mount Sinai, for the first time we were UNIFIED and accepted the Ten Commandments and the oral Torah as transferred to us by one of only two humans to see God's face and survive. The kindest man, Abraham was the first to see God. The man with the greatest humility, Moses was the second.

At Sinai, under a great cloud with the thunderous sound of the Shofar, God's presence was felt, the people trembled in awe, and the people Israel became a Covenant Nation. (Notice the cloud that the Star of David is surrounded by in the Seal.)

The Nation of Jacob's many Tribes United under the great King David. But again, as the Nation of Israel was divided by Tribal disagreements, it became weak and suffered terrible losses, including the loss of our Temple in Jerusalem. America today is being torn apart by tribalism. Identity politics and progressive multiculturalism is weakening America. The Democratic Political Party is idolizing their political leaders. They speak of Democracy as they seek to silence those who disagree with them. The Right, which strongly emphasizes the higher power of God, is often mocked and scorned for their faith and elevating God and family. The Left ridicules Trump and Pence who often evoke God in their speeches. They regularly speak of America's power and greatness coming from God. AND CLEARLY, Trump has chosen to "bless Israel and curse those who curse Israel," most notably Obama, Hillary Clinton, John Kerry and most of all IRAN! BUT I GO ONE STEP FURTHER. As I see it, the problem is that Government has grown too large. The freedom of the individual and states is being subordinated to the massive size and cost of Federal bureaucracy. And as a direct result, Americans are becoming more tribal and divided. The answer America isn't which "tribe" controls which Party. And it certainly isn't the Socialists who believe in increasing the size and cost of the Federal government! The answer my friends is LESS GOVERNMENT. MORE FREEDOM. ALONG WITH FOCUSING ON THE PRINCIPLES IN OUR NATIONAL SEAL. It is really quite simple - Peace through strength. Unity around the fundamental guiding principles set forth by our Founding Fathers in our Declaration of independence and the American Constitution. LIBERTY AND FREEDOM TO PURSUE HAPPINESS. * At the start of this post I mentioned the 13 stars above the Eagle's head which form a Star of David. While it is true that they represent the 13 original colonies, the number 13 is also a very special number is Judaism. Unlike popular belief that 13 is an "unlucky" number, in Judaism, 13 is actually a very special number! Here's more on that. I shutter to think what would happen to America if God were ever to stop "favoring our undertakings!" Below is the reverse side of the Great Seal. On it is the phrase "Annuit coeptic" which comes from the Latin words annuo, "to nod" or "to approve", and coeptum, "commencement, undertaking." It is literally translated, "[providence] favors our undertakings" or "[providence] has favored our undertakings."  It should look familiar!  In case you don't recognize it, look on your USA dollars.  The Mason's say it is forms an hexagram, also in the Star of David.   

Here's the hexagram that Mason's point out:

D-DAY IRONY - A LESSON LEARNED IS BEING FORGOTTEN

The fascist dictator Hitler sought specific objects:
1. Eugenics and Racial Purity
2. German Domination
Sovereignty was NOT one Hitler's objectives!

Hitler was determined to solve what the Nazi's called the Jewish problem, while also murdering gypsies, gays, mentally ill, handicapped and others.

The Ayatollahs in Iran, who wanted to dominate the Middle East, and who shared Hitler's views about the Jews being a subhuman problem, aligned with Hitler and the Nazis.

In spite of the tens of millions who died to stop the quest of the Nazi's, Europeans today allow radical Islamic protesters to publicly chant on streets their wish for the destruction of Israel and all Jews.  Too many Europeans harbor vile anti-Semitic beliefs.

Instead of flying balloons over London against Trump, the strongest supporter of Israel to be in the Oval Office ever and who also greatly strengthened NATO, the balloons should be denouncing Hamas and Hezbollah.  Those terrorists organizations have the same basic mission as the Nazi's - to kill every Jew and destroy the fruit of the allied victory - the State of Israel.  TRUMP IS THEIR GREATEST ENEMY and so they along with followers of the anti-Semite Jeremy Corbyn who leads the United Kingdom's Labor Party are front & center and organizer of the protest rallies.

Trump is also a huge supporter of sovereignty for Great Britain, France, Italy, Greece and of course the United States.  Sovereignty is the antithesis of what Hitler tried to destroy and Americans fought to restore in Europe.

Sovereignty is treated like a dirty word by the European Union in which countries subordinate their National identity to unelected bureaucrats controlling their Laws, trade and borders.

WWII WAS FOUGHT TO RESTORE SOVEREIGNTY.  A POINT LOST ON MANY OF THOSE WHO PROTEST BREXIT AND TRUMP, MANY OF WHOM HATE ISRAEL AS WELL. 

HAVEN'T WE LEARNED OUR LESSON?

FORGETTING OUR HISTORY IS TO LOSE OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY

WE ARE LOSING OUR NATIONAL IDENTITY.  PATRIOTISM IS BEING REPLACED BY PARTISANSHIP. HISTORY IS BEING REPLACED BY POLITICS.  UNITY IS LOST.  PROBLEMS ARE NOT SOLVED THIS WAY -- THEY ARE INCREASED.

Please read this article before reading my post.

Very sad.  Americans seem to be shifting our focus away from the common history that unites us. Iconoclasm, tearing down the public symbols of our past, goes dangerously further by wiping out the past. Taking it's place is multiculturalism and Partisan loyalties.  These movements divide us. Identity politics accentuates our divisions and ranks us by them.

Ironically, we spend more money than any other nation to defend ourselves from external threats when the greatest threat to our nation is internal.  We've ignored the wisdom and warning of our Founding Father General George Washington about Partisanship.

A perfect example of this is President Trump's Historic State visit to mark the Anniversary of D-Day, one of the most important moments in history for the world, not just the USA and England. The President is there to strengthen our relationship with the United Kingdom which has more invested in the USA than any other country.  His mission is both Historic and economically important  -- history in the making. Yet all the Left Media does is target him to bash him.  Their focus is on Partisan differences for political gains. Party over Nation. The news media could and should be using these currents events about past events as an historical teaching moment.

History is being lost in our schools and in our media culture.  It's no wonder there is this story about the difficulties at America's Historic sites.  Very sad indeed.  Frightening too.

GIVING PEACE A CHANCE REQUIRES NEW PALESTINIAN LEADERSHIP

There are glimmers of hope -- milestones of a shift -- and signs that the greatest barrier to peace is the Palestinian Authority itself.

Please refer to the following article by
Yishai Fleisher, an International Spokesman for the Jewish Community of Hebron.

Negotiations with the present top Palestinian leadership is futile.  Peace can not come to Israel without a change in Palestinian leadership.  Abbas, Fatah and Hamas must go.

There needs to be more to attract moderates to coexistence at the grassroots level.  They are out there, as the article states, "... there are thousands of people in the city, Jews and Arabs alike, who are seeking new leaders and a new path."

The next big "Palestinian Uprising" will be internal.  And when it happens, Israel must provide them security.  For too long such decent meant arrest, torture and even death. When Palestinians who want peaceful coexistence and cooperation with Israel can feel safe standing up against other Palestinians who only want war and the destruction of Israel, that is when the public tide will truly change in the right direction.

What scares the Abbas, Hamas and Hezbollah most is that Kushner's plan could actually work. That and the fact Egypt and Saudi Arabia and other Middle East Muslim countries are recognizing and supporting it.  If Europeans give their endorsement the end has arrived for Abbas and Hamas -- and they know it.

Regarding that last point, the question is whether anti-Semitism in Europe squelches support for a peace plan that may actually work and lead to a better life for Palestinians as well as Israelis. Europe is being tested, which is rather frightening given that the last time they were tested 60% of the worlds Jews were murdered.

http://dlvr.it/R5w9dd

SETTING THE WORLD ON FIRE WITH OUR EYES

Lag B'Omer, is a Jewish holiday celebrated on the 33rd day of the "Counting of the Omer," the forty-nine days between the Jewish holidays of Passover and Shavuot as stated in the Hebrew Bible: Leviticus 23:15–16.  It occurs the 18th day of the Hebrew month of Iyar.  This year LagB'Omer falls on the evening of Wed, May 22, 2019 – through the evening of Thu, May 23, 2019.

In Israel on Lag B'Omer tens of thousands of Jews go to the burial place of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai, for whom the holiday is about, in the small town of Meron in northern Israel where they have great celebrations of his legacy.  Very religious Jews sing and dance around campfires and totally whoop it up.  

But most Americans have never even heard of this significant holiday.  To be frank, I hardly even considered it, let alone understood it until recently.  And, now that I do, I think the message of the holiday is profoundly important to today.  

The Parsha of Lag BaOmer is extremely timely to current events related to the battles raging this very week over Alabama's new highly restrictive abortion laws.  In my personal opinion, Alabama law makers have gone too far!  But I want to zoom out to the more broad meaning of the holiday and then you can make your own associations. 

For many years now, politics is becoming increasingly partisan. The debates are very often between parties on the two ends of the extreme on many issues, whether it is gun control or abortion or illegal immigration, or whatever.  I believe the holiday of Lag B'Omer can teach us something very important and that we need to correct today.

I've posted the Hebrew and English translation of Lag B'Omer, below if you care to read the scripture.  There are also some remarks inserted by a Rabbi that I study with throughout the week, Rabbi David Fohrman's. For brevity sake, I'm going to get right to the conclusion about the meaning of the holiday, which I agree with. 

In the beginning Rabbi Shimon looked at the world with very harsh critical eyes - so harsh was his vision that it would set what he stared at on fire. After further study and consideration, Rabbi Shimon saw the world differently and he looked at the world with healing eyes.  

At that point in the scripture, Rabbi Shimon told is his son: די לעולם אני ואתה. "You and I are enough for the world."  According to Rabbi David Forhman,  what Rabbi Shimon found is "a new way to look at other people. The rest of the world, sure, they're crazy, and they're wrong, and it's an unimaginable tragedy that they're wasting their lives the way they are. But it doesn't mean we need to confront the tragedy and stomp it out. די לעולם אני ואתה – the two of us can just live our lives the right way, and let that be enough."

According to Rabbi Forhman, this became Rabbi Shimon's basic approach: "I can bear other people's existence, as long as I just accept that they're woefully misguided, and learn to expect nothing from them. I'm very tolerant." 

But the story doesn't end with just a message of tolerance, because Rabbi Shimon has one more encounter – Rabbi and his son meet an old man carrying myrtle branches just before Shabbat. This time, they don't just observe and judge or even tolerate. They are curious!  They ask questions and listen in order to try to understand the old man's perspective. As a result, they come to appreciate the old man's different way of serving God. 

The moral from Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai's life is that zealotry is not so good. We need to listen and respect different opinions. We need to see and try to understand other perspectives that are different than our own, rather than setting the world on fire with our eyes.   

I believe our world today would be better off if politicians and many citizens took a lesson from Lag B'Omer. Instead of moving to the outer extremes of the issues today, and holding fast to our zealous positions, we need to ask questions, listen more and have a more open mind.  The extreme partisanship in politics and the media today has gotten so viscous that is destroying everything in it's sight. 

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The Story of Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai:

The story, found in Masechet Shabbat, is set at a point in history when the Romans were occupying Israel. The Romans hear that Rabbi Shimon was criticizing them, and they sentence him to death. So Rabbi Shimon and his son, Rabbi Elazar, go into hiding in a secluded cave, where they spend their days doing nothing but studying Torah and praying. They're in the cave for twelve years, miraculously sustained by a spring of water and a carob tree, until one day, Eliyahu haNavi, Elijah the prophet himself, informs them they are no longer being pursued.

Now let's see what happens when they leave the cave, and reenter the world:

נפקו

They emerged

חזו אינשי דקא כרבי וזרעי

And they saw people plowing and sowing seeds. But Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai doesn't like what he sees:

אמר מניחין חיי עולם ועוסקין בחיי שעה

He cried out, "These people are abandoning eternal life for life of this world! They're putting aside Torah study, to work their fields – worthless, earthly pursuits!"

He couldn't imagine why anyone would do that.

כל מקום שנותנין עיניהן מיד נשרף

And suddenly, any place Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son would turn their gaze, it immediately went up in flames.

יצתה בת קול

A voice from Heaven called out to them,

ואמרה להם

And it said,

"להחריב עולמי יצאתם?"

"Did you come out here to destroy My world?"

"חיזרו למערתכם!"

"Go back into your cave, before you cause any more damage!"

After this Heavenly rebuke, Rabbi Shimon and his son return to the cave for one more year, and then emerge once again. But this time, things go a little differently.

נפקו

They came out.

כל היכא דהוה מחי ר' אלעזר הוה מסי ר"ש

Whatever Rabbi Elazar damaged, Rabbi Shimon repaired.

In other words, Rabbi Elazar is still burning things left and right. But for Rabbi Shimon, something has changed. Not only is he not spitting fire from his eyes anymore; all the damage that his son causes, he's able to undo. Rabbi Shimon then turns to his son and says:

די לעולם אני ואתה

"My son; you and I, we're enough for the world."

One Friday afternoon, as the sun was setting and Shabbat was arriving,

חזו ההוא סבא

Rabbi Shimon bar Yochai and his son saw an old man

דהוה נקיט תרי מדאני אסא ורהיט בין השמשות

And he was holding two big bundles of hadassim, fragrant myrtle branches, and running at twilight.

אמרו ליה

They said to him

הני למה לך

Why do you have these branches in your hands?

אמר להו לכבוד שבת

He responded: They are in honor of Shabbat.

(Apparently, hadassim were the second-century version of a fragrant bouquet of flowers.)

ותיסגי לך בחד

They asked him: Wouldn't one bundle be enough?

חד כנגד זכור וחד כנגד שמור

The old man explained: One bundle corresponds to Zachor – the commandment to remember Shabbat; and the other, to Shamor – the commandment to guard Shabbat.

In other words, he seems to be saying that since the Bible uses two different words when it commands us to observe Shabbat, it deserves a double honor.

א"ל לבריה חזי כמה חביבין מצות על ישראל

After hearing this, Rabbi Shimon turned to his son and said: Look how beloved the commandments are to the children of Israel. Finally,

יתיב דעתייהו

Their minds were put to ease, and they lived happily ever after.

THE TORAH AND THE RUSSIAN COLLUSION HOAX - ARE THEY RELATED?

This sums up the Russian Collusion Hoax against Trump.  Now the tables have turned on the haters. 

Spygate evidence is overwhelming and damming.  But it has taken years to expose because the conspirators held top positions in the highest powers of our Land - the DOJ, FBI, CIA, IRS, and Executive Office.  

To begin with, culprits destroyed huge volumes of evidence with bleach bit and hammers AFTER IT WAS SUBPOENAED.  Then they purposely botched investigations into their candidates illegal acts.  Plus, it has taken years and dozens of court orders to get thousands of the critical documents released.

When AG Barr obtains indictments they won't be based on rumors and lies.  They won't be on unrelated crimes in order to get insiders to perjure themselves.  They will be based on the highest crimes against America ever committed!

Democratic and Deep State haters violated the central tenet of the Torah from Leviticus.  They "hated in their heart" and protected their hate by holding a grudge.  AND then they brought a sin upon themselves!  

The Commandments in Kesdoshim, last weeks Torah portion (parsha) is the first time in the Torah that G-d formally addresses the entire Nation of Hebrews.  YOU KNOW IT as the Golden Rule.  "LOVE YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF, I AM YOUR G-D."

There is much more to Pasha Kedoshim and the "Golden Rule."  I wrote about this passage from Leviticus last week. 

D'var for Parsha Kedoshim 

By Jonah Ritter 5/8/19

With all the talk of hate and stopping hate that we hear these days, I'm pleased to have this opportunity to do the D'Var because true to form, the Parsha and the Torah has relevance to our lives.  

This week's Parshat, Parsha Kedoshim, contains one of the most famous verses in the entire Torah: ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha, "love your neighbor as yourself." According to Rabbi Akiva. "this is the great principle of the Torah."  

According to the Sages, Kedoshim is the first time in a formal gathering that the entire nation (hak’hel) as a whole is commanded to “be holy,” The whole society is to be governed by love, without resentments or revenge.  “Judaism is fundamentally an equality of dignity. We are all equal citizens in the nation whose sovereign is God.”  Such an important message for today, where allegiances are to Political parties, and there is so much hate.  
  

In my D'var rather than focusing on the commandments in Leviticus 19:1 - 20:27, regarding holiness, ethical behavior, and sexual transgression, I'd like to focus on the actual versus in Leviticus chapter 19. 

I'm going to start from verse 17. Lo-tisna et-achicha bilvavecha, "do not hate your brother in your heart." Hoche'ach tochiach et-amitecha, "reprove your fellow." You see somebody doing something wrong, tell them about it. Hoche'ach comes from the word 'to show, to point out.' Velo-tisa alav chet, "and do not carry upon yourself a sin." Lo-tikom velo-titor et-benei amecha, "do not take revenge, do not nurse a grudge against your people." Ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha ani HASHEM, "and love your neighbor as yourself, for I am God." 

When you look at how the phrase "AND love your neighbor as yourself" follows the other points, it can almost be viewed as a "therefore" or "so you can" 

Let's break this down.  

Part #1: Lo-tisna et-achicha bilvavecha, "do not hate your fellow in your heart."  -  Does the Torah consider it okay to hate someone?  The Torah doesn't forbid us to hate. It doesn't say "don't hate your fellow," it says "don't hate your fellow in your heart." What does "in your heart" add?

According to Moses ben Nahman, commonly known as Nachmanides, and also referred to by the acronym Ramban: Things go wrong between people. Things make you annoyed, it is okay to feel hatred. What's not okay is to smile when we feel hatred is to: 

• Keep it in your heart. 
• To bury it deep inside
• To pretend that everything is fine. 
• To deny our feelings.  
• To rationalize bearing the hatred.  

The Ramban says that Hatred likes to be secretive, to bury itself.  But Ramban tells us not to give in to that impulse.  We must resist the inclination to nurse a grudge. The Hebrew lo-titor means "to protect, to nurture."  

What's the alternative?  That's revealed in the next phrase - Hoche'ach tochiach et-amitecha, "reprove your fellow."  

If someone is doing something wrong we need to be upfront. Find a way to tell them about it. 

One way or another it will come out.  It will either come out overtly in the form of revenge, or it will come out covertly in the form of a grudge that lurks behind your smile.  

Which is why in Kedoshim we are told, Velo-tisa alav chet, "and do not bear a sin upon yourself." 

We are also told, Lo-tikom velo-titor et-benei amecha -- "do not take revenge, do not bear a grudge."

As we all can appreciate, telling someone you hate them can be risky, to say the least.  Rashi provides us guidance.  

Rashi says we must be careful in how we show our feelings of hate.  For one thing, we must not do it in a way that causes us to transgress. Don't cause sin upon yourself by how you handle the hate. So even if someone has sinned against that is a way to handle it - there are rules to follow. Don't embarrass them in public. Don't express your hate in way that's meant to be hurtful. We need to be constructive - to figure out a way that they can hear what it is that you want to tell them. 

So, if you want to hate, fine! But don't hate them in your heart. You can hate, no problem, hate away!  You just have to lay out carefully and constructively, in the best way you can, what it is that's bothering you. 

But whatever you do, don't bury your hatred and hate your fellow in your heart while you smile on the outside. If you do that, your hatred is doomed to come out as revenge or as a grudge.  Put your cards on the table; that's the way hatred gets dissipated.

The section concludes, ve'ahavta lere'acha kamocha, "love your neighbor as yourself." The Torah is giving you a path to love your neighbor as yourself.

Sometimes bad stuff happens with people you like. The Torah is giving you a recipe for love in the face of bad stuff.

That's how you get to love, love that works through the problem and takes the misunderstandings of the little slights and all of the little things that can destroy love, and instead turns them into building blocks for a true love that's not built on a smile pasted upon resentment but that is true affection, through and through.

"Real friends will tell you the ugly truth, not pretty lies."

"A true friend will say good things behind your back and bad things to your face."

TRUMP BEING TRUMP. CHINA BEING CHINA.

Brinkmanship is a classic negotiating tactic, one that Trump is famous for. 

In order for Trump's threat of tariffs to be effective, with the Chinese or others, he must be credible for following through. Otherwise it is perceived as a bluff and he loses in the negotiations and his reputation suffers.

A prime example of a brinkmanship failure is Obama and his infamous failure to enforce the "Red Line" in Syria. Contrast that to Trump who reversed that failure at the very start of his Presidency.  By launching Tomahawk Missiles against Syria without hesitation after another poisonous gas attack, Trump immediately earned "street cred." 

Trump leveraged his negotiating credibility and the tactic of brinkmanship in negotiating the USMCA trade agreement with Canada and Mexico. He did the same with NATO and N. Korea. Those were all important in their own right. But they were also a setup for his next and tougher target, CHINA.  And ultimately, for what's to come with the Israel and the so called "deal of the century."

The Chinese are tremendous negotiators.  They turn brinkmanship into a game of chicken. By raising the stakes, as they typically do, they scare their opponents into backing down. It has worked for them time and again.  But Trump is a different negotiator and leader than the Chinese have had to deal with before. He is predictably unpredictable - which drives them crazy.  By they same token, I suspect they respect Trump the way they respect Sun Tzu (Art of War.)

The China trade negotiations are extremely significant and important. The USA has to protect it's intellectual property and cyber security.  The outcome of these negotiations will have profound impacts on both of our economies and the world. The USA can not afford to fail. Trump knows that. He has spoken passionately about this for decades, long before he ran for President.  He is not going to let America lose.

I don't know if my thoughts fall into the category of sanguine.  I think of my view as pragmatic. Both the USA and China need one another - we both need a deal.  Which one needs the other more is debatable - and it is akin to chasing one's tail. Or arguing who would win a nuclear war based, based on the number of missiles.  

Some say time is on China's side.  And, the fact that Xi doesn't need to win an election let's them wait us out.  There's so many arguments, pro & con, on behalf of who wins a tariff war.  But I don't believe China flew over this time to save face.  They flew over because they want to save the deal.  They are testing the boundaries of the deal.  Trump said we're in "no rush to make a deal."  That was the smartest thing he could have said.  The tariffs hurt everyone .... but once a USA a manufacturer moves sourcing out of China, Xi knows it is hard to get it to go back.