1. Tzedek-Tzedek on Israel being Turkey's wet rag..

2. Billboard advertisements for a television show being placed in genizah? Muqata has the info on this crazy story...

3. Not Brisker Yeshivish talks about the lack of people expressing true haredi viewpoint, and says it is not a new problem...

4. Geulah Perspectives has part 2 of the Chofetz Chaim's opinion on living in Israel..

5. Going Home to yerushalayim has a piece on Yemenite Jewry....

6. The Wolf on the Internet ban..

In recent past, we have heard a lot about things like gilguls and dybbuks. There has been lots of debate and arguing, all over the place, between those who believe in there things and those who dont.
Now we have the story of a "cursed" tank. Yisroel Hayom reported today that there is a specific tank many people are considering to be cursed. To the point that the army has removed it from active duty.
This tank was hit and damaged by mortar fire a number of years ago.
The tank then was hit in 2006 by Hamas militants and two soldiers were killed and Gilad Shalit was taken captive, was later repaired and sent back to the front lines and active duty.
The same tank was later attacked, during Cast Lead in Gaza and damaged by anti-tank missiles. The tankist miraculously got out ok.

The tank was then repaired again. Just a short time later it was sent back in and the same tankist was in Gaza in that tank. Hepoked his head out of the tank and was killed by a Palestinian sniper.

Is the tank possessed by a dybbuk? Is it just a "bad luck" tank, like someone's lucky shirt? Is it cursed?

There are a lot of issues in the Nachman Inshin case in which he was mentally ill, only sort of getting treatment only some of the time, and killed his child.

What is strange to me is how they kept it so quiet that even his wife did not know.

She has now filed for divorce. She claims they kept it secret from her not just during the shidduchim period, which is common and easily possible, but also during the marriage itself - she says she never had any idea and they kept it very secret.

I don't understand how that is possible. Wouldn't she have seen him in his "crazy" state at times, if he wasnt taking his medicine or was in a period in which he was not getting any treatment? How could he get the treatment and take the pills he was taking for so long without her noticing and wondering what he was doing?

What a sad and tragic story.

If you thought full body scanners in the airport was bad, get a load of this. In Jerusalem they have been installing security cameras in the womens mikvahs.
Actually they say that the cameras are only in areas where the women are dressed, such as in the entrance, but it is sure to make them feel very uncomfortable, if not worse.

There is a lot of excitement right now about the new situation of Nahal Haredi soldiers doing reserve duty. They just started their first ever session of miluim. Much of the news media has written about it.

Kikar asked an interesting question in their article on the subject. They asked how this unit, with many of the soldiers being haredim, would deal with the "refuse orders" debate. If they would be commanded to dismantle settlements, would they do so or refuse?

One of the soldiers, someone described as being a Litvishe avreich from Bnei Brak (to digress for a moment, if they have already left kollel and joined the army and are even doing reserve duty why are they still being called "avreich"?) answered the question saying "Most of the miluimnikim would grow hair on their hands before they would refuse an order, and it doesn't make a difference if it is an order about settlements or about shabbos. Whoever comes here, to him the army is holy and we come here to give with all our hearts."

I can see a number of problems caused by this statement.

1. This avreich who has joined the Nahal Haredi is saying that anybody, in the haredi community, who joins the army thinks its holy and wouldn't do anything against it. I can see that causing a storm. It is one thing to say the army is a necessary evil that has to be done so those who will not sit in learning can contribute their part and get on with their lives to go to school and get jobs... It's another thing to suddenly call the army "holy". Those who oppose Nahal Haredi can have a field day with this statement - it basically justifies for them every reason they have had to oppose it.
2. saying they would never refuse orders - that is a legitimate position, but it is sure to raise the ire of many. If an order is immoral (without getting into the issue of what is called immoral - immoral to one is not moral to the next), perhaps it should be refused.
3. they would even uproot settlements - also sure to get people angry. Many are already angry that the haredim at minimum sat idly by while settlements were dismantled, and at worst even might have been partially responsible (by keeping the government propped up at the time), and now they are stating in advance that they would physically uproot settlements in the future if called upon to do so?
4. even if they are told to operate on Shabbos they would not refuse - obviously this is not referring to a pikuach nefesh situation as then there would be nothing to talk about. This might be the most shocking point in the whole piece. Haredi soldiers would work on shabbos just because? they would not stand up against the orders when the whole framework is meant to support their level of religion and such a situation would go against that? And for no good reason? This too seems to be a point that can raise the ire of many who oppose the concept of Nahal Haredi.

Of course that was simply the opinion of one person who is serving in the unit. It does not necessarily speak for everybody.

Sometimes, nations have their differences, but we cannot abide such humiliation. Only kings would place commoners on lower chairs. You're lucky you have Peres, the wise man of the Middle East.

----- Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman

Whew. What a relief. Turkey accepted our second apology. I wonder why they didnt make us grovel some more and apologize a third time.

Now our relations can get back on track and Turkey can stop sidling up to Syria, Lebanon and Iran and get back to being our friend.

Whew. What a relief.

1. Artzeinu has compiled a list, a long list, of 100 tips for a successful aliyah...(no, I did not read them all)

2. Ben Chorin has an unusual story about a group that met to air grievances and solve problems...

3. Hubscubs speaks out on Mark McGwire's recent admission to using steroids during the chase for the home run title... Say it ain't so...

4. Geulah Perspectives quotes some correspondence from the Chafetz Chaim regarding living in Israel...

5. The Muqata on a rock attack, and on how Ynet reported it...

MK Mohhamed Baracha has requested being on the delegation, as the representative of the Arab parties, in the trip to Auschwitz this year. He was quoted as saying that the Holocaust was the worst thing that ever happened to humanity and it is important to become more aware of what took place. He also pointed out that 6 million Jews were killed, but it was not limited to Jews. Overall 50 million were killed by the evil Nazis.

As you can see in the quote excerpted in the previous post, some on the right wing are against someone like Baracha being part of the delegation.

I see this as having two possibilities of potential outcomes, and what his intentions might be.

It could very well be, as he claims, all innocent. Perhaps he really wants to get a deeper understanding of what happened in the Holocaust. if this is the case, I see it as a positive opportunity for education.

It is possible though that he has ulterior motives. He might want to be part of this so that later he can use it in his attacks against Israel, claiming things didnt happen or saying how they are exaggerated in the trips to Poland, or other ways.

I don't know how to decide whether his intentions are pure or less pure, but I hope that the experience of him going will have an effect on him and even if his intentions were not really pure, it will bring out some of the humanity within.

I see this as very serious that a Member of Knesset who has spoken out, time after time, against the State of Israel and the IDF and State institutions has requested to represent the State of Israel in an official delegation, and as part of a significant and sensitive ceremony for the Jewish people that expresses more than anything else the importance of the State to the Jewish nation.

----- MK Danny Danon

---- Galei Tzahal News

Perhaps the real point of all those tunnels dug out by Hamas was really just for this one case.

An Israeli woman married a Palestinian man and has been living in Gaza for a number of years. Her husband was arrested in Egypt a while back for being involved in cross-border smuggling.

She and her four children were smuggled, with the assistance of Yad L'Achim, through the tunnels from Rafiah into Gaza, and from there they made their way to the Erz Checkpoint along the border with Israel.

They managed to convince the Hamas policemen that her father, in Israel, was sick and on his deathbed, and they allowed her to go visit him. After she crossed the Erez Checkpoint, the waiting Israeli police interrogated her, and then released her. Yad L'Achim helped her hide and now is starting her new life.

Perhaps all those tunnels were created for the sole purpose of saving a Jewish family....

Housing Minister Ariel Attias is in a fight with the Finance Ministry over money. Attias wants the Finance Ministry to release some of its surplus money to the Lands Registry.

Attias blames the FM for being greedy. Attias said, "The Lands registry has a budget surplus of 1.5 billion shekels. there is no problem of money, but the Finance Ministry sees the land as a source of income".

Without getting involved in who deserves that money (I have no idea and no opinion on the matter), I just want to comment that I think the Finance Ministry is correct in such an approach, if that is their approach. Why should they see the land as anything but a strategic asset or as a source of income? Why should the land be given away for free, just because Attias wants to help some people, when it can be sold and bring millions of shekels to the State?

Giving the land away to lower income families might be something they decide to do as a form of welfare and State assistance, but that does not mean it should not be looked at as a source of income. Without any other issues, such as helping the needy, the State should not look at the land as anything but a source of income (referring only to land intended for building)

Israel is at the cutting edge of battlefield technology. The Wall Street Journal has an article about how Israel is developing robotic weaponry for the different divisions of the army.

U.S. and Japanese robotics programs rival Israel's technological know-how, but Israel has shown it can move quickly to develop and deploy new devices, to meet battlefield needs, military officials say.

"The Israelis do it differently, not because they're more clever than we are, but because they live in a tough neighborhood and need to respond fast to operational issues," says Thomas Tate, a former U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who now oversees defense cooperation between the U.S. and Israel.

Among the recently deployed technologies that set Israel ahead of the curve is the Guardium unmanned ground vehicle, which now drives itself along the Gaza and Lebanese borders. The Guardium was deployed to patrol for infiltrators in the wake of the abduction of soldiers doing the same job in 2006. The Guardium, developed by G-nius Ltd., is essentially an armored off-road golf cart with a suite of optical sensors and surveillance gear. It was put into the field for the first time 10 months ago.

In the 2006 Lebanon War, Israeli soldiers took a beating opening supply routes and ferrying food and ammunition through hostile territory to the front lines. In the Gaza conflict in January 2009, Israel unveiled remote-controlled bulldozers to help address that issue.

Within the next year, Israeli engineers expect to deploy the voice-commanded, six-wheeled Rex robot, capable of carrying 550 pounds of gear alongside advancing infantry.

After bomb-laden fishing boats tried to take out an Israeli Navy frigate off the coast off Gaza in 2002, Rafael designed the Protector SV, an unmanned, heavily armed speedboat that today makes up a growing part of the Israeli naval fleet. The Singapore Navy has also purchased the boat and is using it in patrols in the Persian Gulf.

After Syrian missile batteries in Lebanon took a heavy toll on Israeli fighter jets in the 1973 war, Israel developed the first modern unmanned aerial vehicle, or UAV.

When Israel next invaded Lebanon in 1981, the real-time images provided by those unmanned aircraft helped Israel wipe out Syrian air defenses, without a single downed pilot. The world, including the U.S., took notice.

1. The Astrologer's Wife says there will be a partial solar eclipse this Friday....

2. Parsha blog, in jest, suggests an alternate explanation to the reward the midwives in Egypt received for their efforts - VaYaas Lahem Batim...

3. Mystical Paths responds to a commentors question about why he has the right to make, and promote, aliyah...

4. The Bet Shemesh Employment Initiative has an online review of an offline meeting held last night about controlling your finances and cutting expenses...

5. Crossing the Yarden just ran the Israel Marathon in Tiberias last week. Yes, the one that had unusual hot weather and dozens of runners were treated for dehydration and some collapsed and were hospitalized. Here is Yarden's review of his marathon experience, and what he thinks about putting yourself in danger.

6. Frum N Flipping explains the source of the shidduch crisis is simply a colossal mismatch...

Dear Rafi,

Thank you again for allowing me space on your blog a lot has transpired since the last time I wrote. Like you say a few days in the blog world is a long time so certainly a month is like an entire lifetime.

I appreciate all the responses that I received and I see that many people share the same issues. Just as an update my daughter has applied to 3 schools. The 3 schools are all non-charedi schools. Like some of you had written my daughter has to have a say in the matter and was not interested in going to a Bais Yaakov and I am not one to force.

I visited 2 of the schools where she applied to. The first school I went to is in Yerushalyim and I and my wife met with the menahelet and she felt necessary to say that the school is not charedi they have their Rabbonim who they follow - those of you who are familiar with Har Hmor and the Rosh Hayeshivah Rav Taub this is who they consult with.

I should point out that even in the DL world you have different segments; there is chardal, but by Charedim I think Dl and chardal are all the same. I very much dislike the term Charedi and I said to her that to be real charedi this should be every god fearing Jew's goal then she went on to explain the issues in the so called charedi world. I am very disappointed that each camp has an agenda. ( There is no reason to list the problems - most of you are aware of them.)

My friends who thinks of themselves as Charedi have still not given up on me yet and still want to convince me how I am making a mistake. I would like to know what happened to tolerance? I studied in Yeshivas Brisk in Chicago and Rav Ahron was extremely tolerant and very few students were asked to leave. In Yeshivah you had students who went to Bnai Akiva to students who were to the extreme right and everyone managed to get along. I would like such a place for my daughter but I am not naive and I don't think such a place exists.

I would like to address those people who live in the diaspora and because of the type of issues I wrote about they are not interested in coming. These are not reasons not to come and I feel you are using this as an excuse. There a lot less problems raising kids here in Eretz Yisroel then there are in Chutz La'aretz and if you need me to spell them out you can write me (you can get my email address from Rafi). It is so much easier to learn because here everyone knows Hebrew so when you go to school it is that much easier to learn. The kids know chumash well, and nach as well.
I invite all of you to come on the next plane and make aliyah and things will work out (easy for me to say). We are here a little over 7 years and for the most part we are making it. I am not sure to be honest if we were to have stayed in the US who is to know how would we make ends meet with the high tuition costs and insurance etc.

The last couple of weeks we have seen here in Israel that the askanim are trying to assur the internet. I say the askanim and not the gedolei Yisroel because many of the gedolim receive their information from these people. The internet is a brocha and of course it has some things that are less than desirable but with proper controls one can use it and not fall in.

With all this attention that is being given to the internet, if one never heard of it before he now has a yazter horah to see it and find out what it is all about. The internet is here to stay. I spoke to a prominent Rov and years ago while the internet was still in its infancy he saw the potential of all the torah that could be broadcast and learned through the internet and he opened a site. Many people because of this site and the others that have opened since then have learned much torah. Technology is a great thing and we have the potential to use it for good things.

The internet is very good in the sense that it makes people tow the mark. Many issues that were not addressed for years on account of the internet these issues were finally addressed. There are dangers to the internet but with proper care they can be avoided. The internet and technology are here to stay and we have to channel the good of them for positive things.

I will end with this if the Askanim are looking to assur things, I think the first thing to go should be money. Too much money and not enough money has caused tremendous problems. I do not want to mention specifics I believe that most you know what I am talking about. We seem to put people who have money on a high pedestal. People worship the people who have money. This is truly against the torah - whether someone is rich or poor is by large based on Mazel. Some of the brightest Doctors are not necessarily the wealthiest.

I will not solve all the ills of the world, at least on the account of the internet, and because my friend Rafi has a blog I do not have to repress my feelings. I can speak out and not get sick. Like it says in the פסוק in משלי

דאגה בלב איש ישחנה - If one has a worry in his heart he can talk to someone about it or he is bent over about it.
I appreciate that Rafi allows me space on his blog so I do not have to repress my feeling s but that I can express myself and not get sick.

Kol tuv,
Yehoshua