I was in the car tonight driving to my softball game and they were talking to this guy on the radio. I did not catch his name because I turned it on in the middle of the discussion, but he had been a defense adviser to 4 previous Prime Ministers of Israel; Begin, Shamir, Peres and Rabin.

The discussion was about the latest smoking gun - the Winograd Interim Report being released tomorrow evening (actually tonight, as I am writing this after midnight) and whether the criticism is justified or not.

Despite the fact that the report is being released tomorrow, everybody already knows most of what is contained in the report, as it was partially leaked today. It is practically the only thing being discussed on the radio and in the media right now, rightfully so.

Anyways, this defense guy did not want to criticize the government for the decision making processes used during the war. As he said, he was not there and he only knows what he has heard, but was not part of it. So he was talking theoretically about the general situation.

He raised a very interesting point. He said that the issue is not that Olmert decided to go to war or how he came to the decision or that he was supported in the Cabinet in that decision. His issue is after that decision.

Olmert has been very big, in his attempts to spread the blame and try to tack some blame onto Tzippi Livni and at least make her share some of the fallout, on saying how all the decisions they made in the war were completely supported by the whole Cabinet.

This defense guy said that alone shows there was something wrong with the process. He says it means that probably nobody asked too many questions. maybe somebody pressured them all to just follow the lead.

He brought examples from many of Israel's wars and conflicts from the past 30 years, including Lebanon I, the Gulf Wars, the Intifadas, the attack on Osirak, etc. he showed that the decision making process was never unanimous, and often hanged on one vote in the Cabinet. It was always a battle to get approval for battles and procedures in war. Ministers wanted to know details, they asked questions they showed their disapproval when they felt something could be done better. Decisions were made, but they were always fights.

he said, if decisions in this war passed so easily and were unanimously supported, that indicates something was wrong with the processes used.

This thought of his reminded me of a concept in the Jewish court system. The Talmud tells us that when a beis din would be judging a case of a capital offense, with the death penalty on the line, there was an interesting condition. If the beis din unanimously voted that someone deserved the death penalty for his crime, the person would be let go unpunished. The reason for this, the gemara says, is that there is no way that not a single person on the beis din could not have found some merit by which the defendant deserved to be let off. If it is a unanimous decision to kill him, it means the procedure and discussion were faulty, and then no death penalty can be meted out.

It is important to have open discussions on weighty matters where all viewpoints are presented and considered. When that does not happen, something is being muted.

On another topic, I just want to mention that Tzippi Livni does not deserve to replace Olmert. If they give her the job (not that I think Olmert is going to give it up so quickly, but eventually it will come to it), she will only help destroy Kadima (a good thing in my opinion).

Livni has shown no leadership skills. As Foreign Minister we hardly hear from her. Regarding all the Olmert scandals, her method has been to sit quietly on the side and let Olmert stew. She has not given him her support, as other Kadima members have done, but neither has she criticized him. She is sitting quietly and letting others do the dirty work.

While that is a shrewd method of slipping into the job, she has shown absolutely no leadership. If she would take the high ground and talk against corruption and even against Olmert, she would deserve the job of replacing Olmert. But she is afraid to upset Olmert. I do not know why. Olmert's days as PM are numbered, no matter how you look at it, so I am not sure what she is afraid of.

If she would show leadership, she would be given the position of head of Kadima much sooner. She would help effect Olmert's downfall and she would be in the position to take over. Livni is not a leader.

That being said, depending on how harsh the actual wording of the report is, which we will only find out Monday evening after 5 pm, I think it is important that any of the other political parties in the Olmert government should resign from the government on the guise of not being able to support such a government of failure (supposedly the Report calls it that). If Lieberman (Yisrael Beiteinu), Labor, or Shas do not make any moves and only show support for Olmert, I think the backlash will be huge later.

Olmert, and right now Kadima by association, is very unpopular. If the government falls in a few months instead of now, the people will be upset at the other parties that let Olmert and his government of failure stay in power for no reason for so long. If the wording is as harsh as it is rumored to be, I hope the other parties will be smart enough to bring Olmert down.If they don't, it will hurt them later.

Of course, if the rumors are inaccurate and the report is not so harsh, then none of this applies.

SoccerDad has posted Haveil Havalim #114. Check it out.

According to Haaretz, Sandy Koufax has been drafted to play for the Modiin Miracle in the new Israel professional Baseball League. He is 71 years old and was the final player drafted.

Can you imagine sitting next to Sandy Koufax on the bench in a baseball game in Israel? Or even better - imagine homering off Sandy, or even hitting a double off of the great Sandy Koufax!

At least he will not have to worry about the dilemma of playing ball on Yom Kippur with his new team!

Ynet had an article about Hava Mond. Hava Mond is a fashion model originally from Tzfat (Safed) who is religious and has remained religious despite the profession she has chosen as one of Israel's top models.

The discussion around the internet and various forums, Areivim included, has centered on the question of whether such a woman can really be classified as religious or not. She chooses a profession in which it is nearly impossible to not do aveiros.
While true she might be performing admirably in many issues, as she says she only eats kosher which sometimes means she does not eat all day as the only food available is often not kosher (she shoots a lot in the international scene), she davens twice a day, she keeps shabbos, etc.. other problems arise. The greatest issue is modesty. While she has her limits, she does model in non-tznius attire.

So, is such a woman religious/frum is the question people are debating.

My thoughts on the discussion are, and I wrote this to the Areivim forum and another forum,:

I do not understand the discussion. Are we all perfect? Do none of us commit any aveiros, often willingly? Are the aveiros these people are committing any "worse" than the aveiros we might be committing in the privacy of our own homes without the newspapers letting everyone know?Would any of us consider ourselves not frum because of the aveiros we do?

We each have our pekalach and we each have the mitzvos we enjoy doing and do better than other people and we each have the aveiros that we are more prone to doing than other people. This is the aveira that this woman does. Does that make her less frum than me or you?

It is not for me to decide. My relationship with Hashem is between me and Hashem, yours is between you and Hashem and hers is between her and Hashem. Just like I do not know the details of your life, your mitzvos and your aveiros and it would be wrong and even impudent of me to assume I know how Hashem cherishes or not your relationship with Him, it is wrong of us to judge her and assume we know the details of her life and relationship with Hashem from one sketchy article and it is impudent to allow ourselves the liberty of judging the relationship she has with Hashem.

I am being lazy and not really writing a real post. I have a couple in the drafts section waiting to be completed and posted, and I have a couple in my head (especially considering the latest political events of this week in Israel), but I am just not in the mood right now.

So instead, I will share with you a few links for now.

1. head on over to the JIBs and vote for your favorite blogs (don't forget me in Best Small blog group D and Slice of Life in Israel group A) and find some new and interesting blogs you might never have heard of before.
2. Baleboostah put up the 6th edition of JPix carnival.
3. MizEllie has some news she shares. Go give her some words of encouragement.
4. Esser Agaroth wonders about some Yom Ha'Atzmaut happenings.
5. A Mother in Israel discusses women's equality.
6. Check out my dvar Torah on Parshas K'doshim
7. Neil at Modern Uberdox found something he doesn't like doing. He had to do it anyway.
8. Go wish Elchonon a refuah shleimah
9. LazerBeam analyzes the current political situation with glasses of emuna
10. Ari discusses the tutition crisis . I think he can solve it by moving to Israel. Tuition is bupkes here.
11. A Simple jew posts an amazing story in which history has closure right before Yom Ha'Atzmaut

I was not going to do this, but I now figure "why not?". It is not that big a deal.

The JIB awards are in full gear (practically). The site has even been hacked a couple of times. No website can claim any value or importance until it has been hacked, and now the JIBs have been hacked at least twice. So the JIBs are now important.

I am competing in a few categories, but my Torah blogs are competing against a couple of big boys and have absolutely no chance (though I would have liked for Torah Thoughts to have a strong showing), so I will not even mention those.

Life in Israel (this blog) is competing in Best Small Blog Group D and is still holding the Round 1 lead. The voting there is getting very close and my lead has been whittled down to just a couple of votes, so if you don't mind taking the time, head on over to the voting and vote for me.

I am also competing in Best Slice of Life in Israel Group A but don't really have much of a chance. This is the category I would have preferred to be recognized in and maybe, with your help, we can have a putsch and make a run for second place (or, who knows, maybe even first). So head on over to the voting and vote for me.

One thing I noticed differently about this years Yom Ha'Atzmaut from other years was the lack of Palestinian flags and black flags (mourning) flying in RBS B. Normally there are about a dozen or so PA flags and another dozen or so black flags flying in RBS B to protest Yom Ha'Atzmaut. This year, as far as I know, there were none.

Granted, they held their annual protest rally in sackcloth, but this year there were no flags flying from the windows in the neighborhood.

The debate rages every year. Both on a national level and on a personal level.

Do you say Hallel or do you not say Hallel? If you do say Hallel, do you do say full Hallel or half Hallel? Do you say Hallel with a bracha or without a bracha? It has become an emotional issue rather than a halchic issue.

I can easily say that in past years I have done pretty much every option ranging from no Hallel to full Hallel with a bracha. I seem to rethink the issue every year, though the past couple of years I have not said Hallel.

This year we find ourselves in a situation of declining patriotism. It was recently reported that flag sales are down about 50%. Maybe everyone still has their flags from previous years so there was no need to buy new flags this year, or maybe less people are hanging them.

People are upset at all the corruption being revealed in the government. People are upset at the way the government treats its citizens, from issues such as the disengagement to issues like the Second Lebanon War and many others. People feel they are treated as pawns while the leaders seem to be more concerned with their own political careers over the good of its citizens and the State.

People have made that into THE issue of the day.
If you don't say it they claim that you do not appreciate the State. They say you are an anti-Zionist. They say you are not thankful.
If you do say it, people say you are an ultra-Zionist. You are crazy after what the government has done. The State is led by evil, non-religious people. The State of Israel is the only place where Jewish blood flows freely. And more.

But the truth is that Hallel is not really that important of an issue. Say it or don't say it. There are halachic factors that can be used to come to either conclusion and you should study the issues and weigh the factors and come to your conclusions, and consult with your Rav as well.

There is plenty to be thankful for that, regardless of whether you say Hallel or not, you should consider and be grateful that we have returned and are in the process of returning to the Land of Israel.

In my opinion, the evil and corruption perpetrated by current and recent governments should not be a factor in whether or not you say Hallel, now in whether or not you rejoice at some level. The evil perpetrated by current governments does not detract from the greatness of the miracles that took place in the formation of the State and the formation of a homeland for all Jews.

About 100 years ago there were 50,000 Jews living in Israel/Palestine. In 1948 at the foundation of the State of Israel there were 806,000 Jews living here. Today there are 5,725,000 Jewish residents of Israel (of a total population of 7,150,000).

All these Jews have a place to call their own. Sure, plenty of Israelis make "yerida" and leave Israel for greener pastures. However, most of those all have a desire to come back. They are away usually because of the finances involved, not because they do not see Israel as being vital to our existence. On the radio you can now hear interviews with all sorts of people - about relatives who died in battle, with people who founded the State or fought for it or came to it, etc. Everybody, the most non-religious included, says this is our land and we have no other to replace it. This is the land Hashem gave us and this is where we are meant to live.

Despite the government being not-religious, the state is the greatest supporter of Torah learning in history. The State subsidizes almost all the Yeshivas and day schools in Israel. Even if it is a battle all the time to get improved religious services and more religious sensitivities from municipalities and State facilities, it is easy to live as a religious Jew, and it is supported by the State almost all the time.

Despite the government being not-religious, Israel pushed off its Independence Day and Memorial Day to avoid any Shabbos desecration. Can you imagine another country pushing off its Independence Day, for any reason let alone to avoid desecration of something it does not even believe in?

Sure its not perfect, it is far from perfect. But we still have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for.

Yom Ha'Zikaron has begun. The siren blared tonight at 8pm and will sound again tomorrow morning at 11am. We will have our ceremony at work after the siren.

Yom Ha'Zikaron, Memorial Day for the Fallen Soldiers, is a day of mixed emotions for me.

On the one hand I have not lost any family or friends in battle. t makes it difficult to relate, to a certain extent. Think of it like this - how many of us think of Memorial Day in the United States as a day of anything more than a great day for picnics and baseball? Not too many, unless you have a relative who served in the US Army or some other connection, which in the Jewish religious community today is not too common. So the Yom Ha'Zikaron day is missing the "oomph" for me.

On the other hand, we are all brothers, and it is not like the United States here. If you turn on the radio you will here somber music, as it is a day of national mourning and remembrance. You will here a list of names being read of over 22,000 fallen soldiers. You will hear stories of many of the soldiers who fell. So despite not being personally connected to the day, I still feel a national connection to the day. And even though I do not listen much to the radio (we do not get good reception at home, so basically I only listen when in the car and a bit at work), one cannot avoid but feeling the pain and grief of the families who have lost their sons and daughters, brothers and sisters.

I was in the car this evening as Memorial Day began and they were telling over stories of some soldiers who had died. Every single soldier has a story. Each one had his aspirations and dreams. One had just been accepted into Officers School and was overjoyed at his prospects for leadership in the army when he fell in battle. Another died while saving other soldiers in his unit. Another died trying to liberate Jerusalem. And on. And on. Everybody has a story. Each soldier was a person.

Yom Ha'Zikaron comes the day before Yom Ha'Atzmaut. We first mourn our fallen brethren and then rejoice in the gift they fell fighting for, either liberating or defending. It is a confusing juxtaposition of days. We go from a day of mourning to a day of joy.

I remember when I was younger, in Yeshivah, and in my curiosity I would go to downtown Jerusalem to see the revelers celebrating on the night of Yom Ha'Atzmaut. It was exciting as everybody was in the street having a great time. But it was strange, as they had just finished mourning a couple of hours prior. It was like people are expected to "throw the switch" and go from mourning mode to celebrating mode.

I think that placing these days so close to one another is similar to what we do in Judaism. When we have celebratory events, we are meant to temper them. We tone down our simchas by remembering the churban - the destruction of our temple. We often do not know what that means and just go through the motions.

I remember at my wedding when the Rosh Yeshiva put the ash on my head. Everybody is concerned about where to get the ash and who smokes and what to burn and where on the head to put it. Nobody told me what it was supposed to mean. Sure I knew it was to remember the churban, but that meant nothing to me. It was just a curious custom.

We break a glass under the chuppa. As soon as the glass is broken everybody screams out mazel tov and the band starts playing its music. Do we remember that breaking the glass is another custom meant to evoke thoughts of the churban?

When one builds or paints a house he is meant to leave a square unpainted in a place visible when he walks into the house. His joy is supposed to be tempered by remembering the destruction of the temple. But what do we do? Some of us decorate that square so it looks beautiful. Some of us just don't bother with the square at all (though it is more common in Israel).

These memories and thoughts are difficult to effect, as we get further and further from the destruction. Yet we are still supposed to recognize it as an embedded trauma in our nation.

There are many other similar customs in Judaism. They are meant to evoke these thoughts. At the time of our joy, we are meant to remember our sadness. No joy can be complete as long as the national trauma is still festering.

Our Yom Ha'atzmaut is joyous as we celebrate the gift of the Land of Israel. But we have to temper that joy by first remembering those who fell fighting for us. They fought so that we could live here safely. Today we will hear some of the names and some of the stories, and tomorrow we will celebrate.

I wish to conclude this post with some words my brother, the volunteer soldier in the Israeli army, wrote in his weekly email to his relatives and friends. While he wrote it for Yom Ha'Shoah, it is just as relevant for Yom Ha'Zikaron. And here it is:

yom hashoah was a very moving day. one of the things i never had was a proper Zionist education and i feel bad that there are religious jews that oppose these days so strongly. first, our commander sat down with us and we spoke about the day and what it means to each and every one of us. some guys said they didnt really relate to the day at all other than it has to be remembered. also, these kids are 18 years old and not really comfortable with saying how they really feel about things so i got up and spoke about what the day means to me.

i remember my bubby kupfer when she came home from the hospital after her alzheimers had gotten really bad. i remember her looking at my tzitzit, grabbing them and crying. she asked me if i was a jew and if there was kosher food. she asked me if there were other jews alive. she told me to take them off before someone catches me. she asked if i was allowed to go out in the streets with tzitzit on. i thought she would keel over and die when i showed her my tefillin. she asked if we were safe. if we were allowed to be jews.

i remember going to shul on that july 4th weekend in '99 the morning after the white-supremacist, Benjamin Smith, opened fire on members of my synogague as they were on their way home to their families and their friday night meals. in high-school, shortly after 9/11 when in the middle of the night someone threw Molotov cocktails at our dormitories.
i remember in college when a fellow student came up to me and said - "are you jewish? ive never met a jew before. they tell me you killed christ."

there are people that hate us for being jewish. just for being born a Jew. for having a heritage and history that is a foundation of modern western society. for writing a book that changed the world.

and i know that if not for medinat yisroel and tsaha''l, there isnt a single jew in the world who would have the balls today to walk in the streets with his tzitzit out. or to wear a black hat in public let alone to go visit our psychopath cousin Ahmajenidad. there isnt a single jew out there who doesnt feel the chills of pride when he hears the story of how the tsankhanim recaptured the kotel and Motti Gur shouting into the radio "har habayit biyadenu, ani chozer, har habayit biyadenu." tsaha'l and Medinat Yisroel give us in chutz la'aretz the strength, the pride, and the courage to stand tall. to be jews. secular or religious, it gives us the strength to be proud of who we are. it keeps us safe by providing a home that any jew at any time can go back to.

afterwards, there was a ceremony for the entire base. poems were read, songs were sung, yizkor was recited and a torch was lit. the M.C. had this clipboard painted black with a yellow magen david in the center. we had a moment of silence, saluted, and sang hatikvah.

The voting round for the JIB awards has officially opened. There are a lot of great blogs competing and you should be encouraged to check them all out and vote for your favorites.

If that might be me, I am competing in a few categories.

Life in Israel can be found in Best All Around subcategory Best Small Blog Group D.

In Best of Class in subcategory Best Torah Blog Group B I am actually competing against myself (and other blogs). You can find Yontiff Thoughts and Torah Thoughts there.

In Best of Class subcategory Best Slice of Life in Israel Group A I am competing with the Life in Israel blog.

Feel free to vote for me, or feel free to vote for any of the other great blogs. I am not much of a campaigner. The important thing is to go vote.

Soccer Dad is kicking around Haveil Havalim #113. Go check it out.

And don't forget to check out the JIB Awards and start voting as soon as voting season opens (should be sometime very soon)

Another Yair Nitzani clip talking to the "strange workers" in Israel. Hilarious... enjoy

The Chabad website Shturem.net posted about the Israeli funeral of the hero of the Virginia Tech shooting, Liviu Librescu, on April 16, 2007. As we all know, Librescu heroically gave up his life while saving his students from the shooter by physically blocking the shooter from entering his classroom.

They included some video footage of the funeral. I uploaded the video to Google Video so I could share it with you. It is mostly in Hebrew, so I apologize if you do not understand it, but there is some English near the end.

A very moving part of the video is when the Chabad Rabbi,Rabbi Cohen, says, "Until now you were a very small family. Now your family has expanded and includes the millions of people and hundreds of thousands of Jews that feel connected to you and feel connected to the Jewish Nation, due to the merit of your father."

At that point, his widow, Ms. Librescu, breaks down emotionally in tears.

By now pretty much everybody has seen the stunning photograph snapped by Israeli photographer Oded Balilty during the destruction of Amona last year. This photograph won Balilty a Pulitzer Prize. The photo is shocking in its contrast and shows the courage of a young woman standing strong (or at least trying to) against dozens of policemen.

MK Aryeh Eldad has submitted a proposal for a new law that would say that any government that has above 10% of its ministers under investigation, that government will be declared a "Government of Disgrace" and will be dissolved, as if the PM had resigned, and all the laws relating to effecting new elections in such a situation would apply.

The current government has 26 ministers. 3 of them (Olmert, Hirschson and Edri) are currently under investigation, not including Haim Ramon who has already been convicted. If the law passes, that would put this government in a very precarious position.

The only problem I see with this law (aside from possibly grandfathering the current government) is that the Prime Minister could simply appoint some new ministers (thereby lowering the percentages) or fire the ones under investigation and thereby avoid the repercussions. I wonder if the proposed law will deal with such manipulation.