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Showing posts from January, 2011

Heavenly Jerusalem on Earth

Haviva Pedaya writes on the heavenly Jerusalem in Eretz Acheret : A heavenly city as a system that moderates attitudes toward the earthly is perhaps an idea that was chiefly developed in apocalyptic literature and later in kabbalistic literature; however, the Torah itself contains aggressive legal systems aimed at moderating attitudes toward this world as the most important thing. For instance, there is the commandment to remember that we were strangers in the land of Egypt. Or, for instance, there are the laws governing shmita (sabbatical of the land, when it is lain fallow for an entire year) and yovel (the Jubilee year): “For unto me the children of Israel are servants” (Leviticus 25:55) and “The land shall not be sold for ever” (Lev. 25:23). In fact, it could even be said the heavenly Jerusalem is meant to remind all individuals that they are only temporary dwellers in this world: “I am a stranger in the earth: hide not thy commandments from me” (Psalms 119:19). The heavenly Jerus

The Future of the Middle East

From YNet News : The brothers Ayoub, Muhammad and Mussa Alian are the star defensive players for the Rebels. After moving from California to the West Bank city of Ramallah about three years ago, the brothers joined the Rebels, a team of settlers which is supported by Breslov hasidim. Typical Breslov hasidim, enlisting Arab toughs to join their football team.

Zion as Mandala

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Art from Tzfat Gallery of Mystical Art Even though Jerusalem and its temple lay in ruins, they lived on in the prophet's mind, and Ezekiel saw their mystical significance. . . . [Zion] was what the people of India would call a mandala, an icon for meditation . . . - Karen Armstrong, The Great Transformation

Jews for and Against Modernity

David Hume at Secular Right is worth quoting at length: Many Jews and anti-Semites are focused on the necessary and sufficient role of the Jewish people in the modern West. In the case of Jews I believe it derives in part from the same sense of national pride which is at the root of embarrassing imitations such as Afrocentrism. But the reality is that Jews did not become part of the mainstream of Western intellectual and cultural life until after their emancipation. For most of Europe this was at some point in the 19th century, and for Jews who did not convert to Christianity it was probably later in the 19th century at that. To put a not too fine point on it, Isaac Newton, Gottfried Leibniz, and Rene Descartes were not Jews. Jeremy Bentham, Immanuel Kant, and David Hume, were not Jews. John Stuart Mill was not a Jew. There were plenty of gentiles involved in the “invention” of modernity, and because of the social constraints placed upon Jews, there were very few of that people of any

Metaphysical Imitation Foreskins

A scholar reports : . . . the Hellenizing Jews who adopted the gymnasion and Greek athletic practices in Jerusalem in the runup to the Maccabean revolt, ashamed of their circumcised penises, wore imitation foreskins «in accord with the customs of the Greeks»· This practice outraged many of their fellow Jews but the Hellenizers persisted in the desire to act like Greeks and be accepted by the people who held the reigns of power. What Jews today wear metaphysical imitation foreskins?

The Once (and Future?) Judeo-Pagan Alliance

Israel's conduct toward the pagan peoples was such that they called its monarchs godly kings and trusted their generosity without hesitation. - Elia Benamozegh, Israel and Humanity Jewish anti-paganism is unfortunate. Before their ill-advised revolt, Judeans were treated far better under pagan Rome than they would be under any subsequent Christian or Islamic regime. Judaism and paganism share many common features absent or downplayed in other monotheisms: the intertwining of religion and ethnicity, fealty to blood ancestors (even converts adopt Abraham as their "blood" father), harvest festivals, lack of overt proselytization. Julian the Apostate, the pagan Roman emperor who attempted to overturn Christianity, even promised to rebuild the Temple in Jerusalem! According to the Jewish Encyclopedia : The recognition of Christianity as the religion of the state by Constantine the Great, uncle of Julian, about the year 312 had resulted in an increase of persecution for the Jew

The Islamic Republic of Philistia

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The Philistine not only ignores all conditions of life which are not his own but also demands that the rest of mankind should fashion its mode of existence after his own. - Goethe I never understood the rationale behind Jewish claims to Gaza. Gaza is the homeland of the Philistines, and so the reversion of Gaza to Philistine/Palestinian control is historically just. Hamas has every right to build up traditional Philistine culture in Gaza, as they seem to be doing with great aplomb.

The Persecutor's Persecution Complex

All the same, you need only consider, a little more closely, the pretty puss of the average kike, male or female, to remember it forever.... Those spying eyes, lyingly pale...that uptight smile...those livestocky lips that recall: a hyena.... And then out of nowhere there's that look that drifts, heavy, leaden, stunned...the nigger's blood that flows.... Those twitchy naso-labial commisures...twisted, furrowed, downward curving, defensive, hollowed by hate and disgust...for you!...for the abject animal of the enemy race, accursed, to be destroyed.... Their nose, the "toucan" beak of the swindler, the traitor, the felon...the sordid schemes, the betrayals, a nose that points to, lowers toward, and falls over their mouths, their hideous slots, that rotten banana, their croissant, their filthy kike grins, boorish, slimy, even in beauty pageants, the very outline of a sucking snout: the Vampire.... It's pure zoology!...elementary!... It's your blood these ghouls a

FREE MOSSAD AGENT R65 NOW!

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FREE MOSSAD AGENT R65 NOW! Spread the word.

The Fate of a Minority Without a Zionism

As Stalin asked, how many divisions does the pope have? None, so his fine words are useless : Pope Benedict XVI urged Christians to remain strong in the face of intolerance and violence in a New Year's appeal Saturday that came hours after a bomb blast outside an Egyptian church killed 21 people as worshippers left Mass. The pope condemned a widening campaign against Christians in the Middle East in his homily at St. Peter's Basilica, echoing comments last month in which he called a lack of religious freedom a threat to world security. "In the face of the threatening tensions of the moment, especially in the face of discrimination, of abuse of power and religious intolerance that today particularly strikes Christians, I again direct a pressing invitation not to yield to discouragement and resignation," he said. Benedict has repeatedly denounced a campaign against Christians in Iraq blamed on al-Qaida militants, including an October attack on a Baghdad Catholic church