Bring in more chairs!
What a week!
So on Tuesday we got to hear words of inspiration from
Rabbi Shalom Gold. If you missed the last Kumah event don't worry - you can still hear his complete lecture
here. (And him answering questions
here.) [Keep trying those links - if they aren't uploaded there yet - they will be there shortly.] And yesterday
Tehilla had a chug [meeting] in Kew Gardens Hills on buying houses in Israel. Let me tell you, both events had one thing in common besides Aliyah. Both were packed. There weren't enough chairs set up! Yes, "bring in more chairs" was heard at both events. Can you imagine? What a simcha - more chairs! If this is not a sign that the revolution is gaining momentum I don't know what is. Indeed the
Aliyah Revolution is picking up steam - as it sweeps across the globe.
Be part of it!UPDATE: The link to the complete lecture is now working.
Oh, Gaza's not part of Eretz Yisrael? How about Cypress?
I keep hearing people saying, "but Gaza isn't even part of Eretz Yisrael" - both from Hareidi and not-as-outwardly religious friends. Now, I am not going to go into all the historical ties we have with Gush Katif (which are far deeper then our ties to Tel Aviv - not to rag on Tel Aviv, but just to use it as a straw man) - but I would like to just wonder out loud what people think God is talking about when He describes our borders to our forefathers.
I saw an interesting book two Shabbatot ago at Rabbi Yoel Rackovsky's house which delineates the differing opinions as to the borders of Eretz Yisrael. One of the minimalist views is shown in the picture above - but one view held that the entire Latitudinal height of Eretz Yisrael carried forth to the West (I guess until the Yam HaGadol - Atlantic), including chunks of Greece, Turkey, Italy and Spain (not to mention Cypress).
Can't wait to show up on all the google searches for "Neo-Zionist Expansionism"
JPost reports that Tommy Lapid wants every Israeli teenager to go on the March of the Living. Seems like a worthy goal, until he says:
Only those who go there and see the death camps "can truly understand why we are here [in Israel]," Lapid said.
Avraham must have been very confused at the
brit bein habetarim, having lived some 3700 years before the Holocaust.
Jewish Leadership
The JPost
reports that only 41% of the registered Likud voters, or 79,000 people, voted in today's referendum. (It's hard to believe that so many people were apathetic; perhaps people felt conflicted, and reluctant to take responsibility for this monumental decision.) That means that the difference between the two sides was about 15,000 people. This is not far from the number of people who joined the Likud through
Manhigut Yehudit - Jewish Leadership. In addition, it is quite possible that the influence of Manhigut Yehudit in the party is the very reason why Sharon called for this vote.
We don't know what developments will occur in the coming days, but we do know that the possiblity for the believing public to influence the course of events is much stronger today than it ever was. This should encourage everyone: from the Israeli who feels that he has no voice, to the potential oleh who thinks he can do nothing to stop the apparent collapse. The future is in our hands!
UPDATE: It looks like Sharon is
considering modifications to the plan, which may be similar to the plan I
suggested.
First polls in from referendum
Maariv is showing four exit polls, showing the plan being
defeated with between 56% and 62% voting against the plan. Official results are expected in a few hours.
UPDATE: With 94% of the results counted, 59.8% voted against the disengagement plan.
