Tisha Be’av: What’s changed over time for Jews and Israel?

AHARON E. WEXLER

This Tisha Be’Av, we mourn, not because of our situation today but because we tie ourselves to the past and see ourselves as a link to it; but we also see ourselves as a link to the future.

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‘THE JETSONS’ world of the future is the world we already inhabit.
(photo credit: MARK ANDERSON/FLICKR)

I recently saw a meme pop up on my Facebook feed a few times. It shows a picture of the airplane flown by the Wright brothers at Kitty Hawk and another picture of a man on the moon and makes the rather remarkable point that only 66 years separate those two photos. It made me immediately think about that famous picture of the liquidation of the Warsaw Ghetto; you know, the one where the boy is raising his hands in terror while the SS officer points a machine gun at him.

It is far more remarkable to me that less than 25 years separate between that photograph and David Rubinger’s photo of the soldiers liberating the Western Wall in the Six Day War. (By the way, that SS officer, identified as Josef Blosche, would live to see both Jerusalem liberated and a man walk on the moon! Blosche was only executed for his crimes on July 29, 1969.)

I share this with you because this Shabbat marks the 1,952nd year since the destruction of the Temple on the 9th of Av in the year 70 CE. (Because of the sanctity of the Sabbath, there is no mourning on that day and all observances and commemorations of that catastrophe are pushed off till the next day.) If you think about it, there are less than 50 generations separating us from Jerusalem’s destruction. This is but a blink in the eye of human history.

We live in a generation of incredible fast-paced change.

Did you know that according to “the Internet” (and we all know everything written there is true) George Jetson was born this week on July 31, 2022? The world of the future depicted in the cartoon show, The Jetsons, is the world we already inhabit even though it is set 40 years from now.

These changes are happening so swiftly that it is difficult to navigate them and adjust the scripts of our lives to accommodate those changes. The return to the Land of Israel and Jewish Sovereignty is one such change, and it is really hard to understand how to fit Israel into our lives as Jews. So much of Judaism as we know it today was forged in the Exile and in response to the harsh conditions of Exile that it makes incorporating Israel a very difficult task.

‘THE DESTRUCTION of the Temple of Jerusalem,’ Francesco Hayez, 1867 (credit: Wikimedia Commons)

Does the return of the Jews to the Land of Israel mean we are in the messianic age? On the one hand the messianic age had always been defined by that return, on the other hand, we are not yet beating any swords in plough shares.

Keep in mind that the actual return to Zion has been beyond anyone’s imagination. We are stronger and more powerful militarily and economically than most countries in the world. Israel is flourishing in ways unimaginable even 25 years ago! Had Israel been established as some third world country where kids played kick-the-can in the streets while raw sewage flowed beside them, one could still point to Israel as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy. And yet, while we are so beyond that, we still have not had any real change in Jewish practice.

BUT IS that, perhaps, a good thing?

I get that there is a real disconnect in praying for the restoration of Israel while standing in the Knesset. I also get that mourning for the Temple’s destruction in modern Jerusalem seems incongruous and yet I feel privileged to do so.

As history does change, these rituals help anchor us to our past which in turn gives us a compass for the future. One of the most important missions we have as Jews is to prevent ourselves from becoming unrecognizable to our future selves. That does not mean we cannot change but that change must be evolutionary and not revolutionary. Thomas Jefferson would have been startled to have seen a black man sitting in his seat in the White House, consulting a female member of his cabinet, but if we were to explain to him that we have now expanded his words that “all men are created equal” to include every human being, I think he would be very happy.

The Talmud imagines Moses magically transported to the classroom of Rabbi Akiva 1,000 years in the future and Moses cannot follow the lecture. He is growing frustrated until a student raises his hand and asks as to the source of a particular teaching to which Rabbi Akiva replies that it was a tradition handed to Moses at Sinai. At that point, Moses breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that what Rabbi Akiva was teaching was the evolution of the very same Torah taught by Moses.

It is our ties to the past that allow us to move forward and we can do so with confidence because of how firmly connected we are to what came before us. I think this is one of the hallmarks of Orthodoxy as well. If Rabbi Akiva would be transported to our time, I have no doubt that the synagogue, study hall, and home he would feel most comfortable in would be Orthodox. Yes, he too would be taken aback by some of our practices, but we would be able to open the Talmud together and trace the interpretation and observances through the development of Halacha through the millennia.

This Tisha Be’Av, we mourn, not because of our situation today but because we tie ourselves to the past and see ourselves as a link to it; but, more importantly, we also see ourselves as a link to the future. Our acceptance of the Torah in our day is really only a responsibility to give it over to the next generation. We mourn, not just for a distant past but to remain true to ourselves and our progeny. ■

The writer holds a doctorate in Jewish philosophy and teaches in post-high-school yeshivot and midrashot in Jerusalem.

UN on track to violate both Charter and Staff Rules – opinion

ALAN BAKER

Serious consideration should be given to terminating the functioning and financing of this ill-advised and damaging Inquiry Commission.

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Human Rights and Alliance of Civilizations Room of the Palace of Nations, Geneva (Switzerland). It is the meeting room of the United Nations Human Rights Council. / (photo credit: Wikimedia Commons)

In May 2021, the UN Human Rights Council established an “ongoing independent, international Commission of Inquiry” to investigate “all alleged violations of international humanitarian law and all alleged violations and abuses of international human rights law leading up to and since April 13, 2021, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including east Jerusalem, and all underlying root causes of recurrent tensions, instability, and protraction of conflict, including systematic discrimination and repression based on national, ethnic, racial or religious identity.”

This clearly biased and one-sided mandate, in and of itself, says much about the hypocrisy and double standards throughout the UN system, and the penchant for singling out Israel. This fixation of the Human Rights Council, as exemplified in the mandate of the Inquiry Commission, is not new, and is repeated annually, having sadly become accepted UN practice.

Such questionable practice is totally irreconcilable with one of the basic purposes of the UN itself, as set out in the opening article of its charter, of “harmonizing the actions of nations,” as well as the “principle of sovereign equality,” so essential to the functioning of the organization.

Lack of objectivity

In addition to this violation of the UN’s founding principles, the appointment and functioning of the three members of the Inquiry Commission – former UN human rights high commissioner Navi Pillay as chair, and human rights “experts” Miloon Kothari (India) and Chris Sidoti (Australia) – reeks of bias, lack of objectivity and acute partiality.

United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield speaks during the security council meeting due to the situation in Middle East and Palestine, at the United Nations headquarters in New York, US, August 8, 2022 (credit: REUTERS/EDUARDO MUNOZ)

These commission members have never concealed their negative predilections against Israel. On the contrary, they are openly on record promoting harsh and libelous accusations against Israel, and even antisemitic slurs and tropes.

The appointment and continued functioning of these people violates both the UN Charter itself, as well as the official UN Staff Rules and Regulations that implement the charter provisions and regulate the administration and performance of UN staff members and officials.

Appointing these people to a UN Inquiry Commission contravenes articles 100 and 101 of the UN Charter requiring officials to exercise “highest standards of efficiency, competence and integrity” and to “refrain from actions that might reflect on their position as international officials.”

It also contravenes those provisions of the official UN Staff Rules and Regulations which require that political and religious views and convictions of UN officials and staff do not adversely affect their official duties or the interests of the UN. 

These rules prohibit engaging in activity that is incompatible with the proper discharge of their duties, including the requirement to “avoid actions and public pronouncements that may adversely reflect on their status, or on the integrity, independence and impartiality that are required by that status” (Staff Regulations 1.1 and 1.2).

The appointment and activity of these commission members also contravene internationally accepted Codes of Conduct and Standards of ethical behavior and professional conduct applicable to the Human Rights Council. These all require that UN officials conduct themselves with the highest standards of objectivity, fairness, impartiality, transparency, moral authority, integrity, honesty, good faith and credibility, as well as avoidance of double standards and politicization.

Violation of the charter

IT IS inconceivable that the UN permits the continued functioning of the Inquiry Commission, in light of the inherent incompatibility of the commission’s mandate with, and violation of the purposes and principles of the UN as set out in its charter. 

By the same token, its continued functioning violates those provisions of the UN Charter and UN official Staff Rules and Regulations prohibiting the acute and public bias and double standards voiced by all members of the commission. 

The continued functioning of the Inquiry Commission, as well as the continued engagement of those hostile and antisemitic commission members, not only prejudices any integrity and credibility that the UN’s Human Rights Commission might have, but also places in further question the very integrity and credibility of the UN itself.

Serious consideration should be given to terminating the functioning and financing of this ill-advised and damaging Inquiry Commission.

The writer, a former legal officer in the UN’s Office of Legal Affairs, served as the legal adviser to Israel’s Foreign Ministry and as Israel’s ambassador to Canada. He presently directs the international law program at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs.

News From Israel- September 18, 2022

ILTV Israel News

Fatah Announces Return to Terrorism

Itamar Marcus

Supporters celebrate Fatah’s 55th anniversary in Gaza City on January 1, 2020. Photo: Fatah. http://fatehorg.ps/?p=16727

Earlier this week, Palestinian terrorists — one a member of the Western-funded Palestinian Security Services — shot and killed an Israeli officer, before they were killed themselves.

Palestinian Authority (PA) official media outlets and the Fatah party — both headed by Mahmoud Abbas — have responded with support for the attack that killed the Israeli officer.

Most significantly, following the attack, Fatah officially announced that it is returning to terror.

Right after the attack, Fatah released a video on its official Facebook page celebrating the terror attack. During the video, a text appeared on the screen with three important messages:

1. “The Al-Aqsa-Palestine [Martyrs’] Brigades is officially announcing its operations”

2. “The Fatah movement takes responsibility for the operations of its military arm [the Al-Aqsa-Martyrs’ Brigades]”

3. The Fatah leadership announces that it has returned to the phase of the armed struggle [ i.e., Fatah’s euphemism for terror]”

The Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades is an internationally-designated terror organization. For years, the United States, Europe, and other funders of the PA have tried to differentiate between Fatah — which is headed by PA leader Mahmoud Abbas — and its terror branch, the Brigades.

Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) has argued all along that this differentiation is false and artificial. Now Fatah has officially confirmed that they are one organization, and that Fatah is taking credit and responsibility for its murderous terror attacks.

The third part of Fatah’s announcement is also significant. For years, PMW has been reporting that Fatah regularly declares that the pause in “armed struggle” is temporary, and that the phase of the “armed struggle” will return. Now Fatah has officially announced that it has returned to terror.

The implications of this announcement on international funding and support for the PA/Fatah should be significant. This may explain why shortly after posting the video, Fatah removed it from its Facebook page. However, PMW had already copied the post and downloaded the video, and will be releasing it.

While Fatah removed the video, they also posted many items on Facebook celebrating the terrorists and displaying their pictures. In the following post, it can be seen that one of the terrorists is wearing the uniform of the PA Security Services:

Facebook page of the Fatah Commission of Information and Culture, Sept. 14, 2022

The United States and many Western countries fund the PA Security Services to fight terror against Israel. PMW has reported numerous examples of members of the PA security services’ involved in terror. This time, official PA TV and other sources are acknowledging and even praising the involvement of the Palestinian police in terror.

tamar Marcus, Founder and Director of Palestinian Media Watch, is one of the foremost authorities on Palestinian ideology and policy. A version of this article first appeared at PMW

International Junior Track Cycling Championships in Israel for First Time

JNS.org

Hundreds of fans and supporters cheer the bicycle riders of the 101st Giro d’Italia, one of the most prestigious road-cycling races in the world, as they begin the race in Jerusalem on May 4, 2018. Photo: Yonatan SIndel/Flash90.

The 47th Junior Track Cycling World Championships has begun at the Sylvan Adams National Velodrome in Tel Aviv, marking the first time that the competition is being held in Israel.

The competition started on Tuesday and features roughly 300 under-18 cyclists from 40 countries and five continents. Those in attendance at the opening ceremony included Olympic Committee chair Yael Arad, philanthropist Sylvan Adams, Israeli Cycling Union chair Dafna Ling, Tel Aviv-Jaffa Mayor Ron Huldai and Knesset member Simon Davidson.

Team Israel is being led by Uri Besh-Duvinsky from the Tel Aviv Cycling Club, who won a medal in July at the European Youth Championships in Serbia, and Oron Argoc, the Israel youth champion from the Masters Haifa team. Other athletes on the Israeli team include Noa Schweki, Hilli Biderman, Uri Bahri and Ron Ben-Efraim.

The competition is being held in Tel Aviv as part of efforts by Adams and the Israeli Cycling Federation to make Israel a leading contender in track cycling.

“The Junior Track Cycling World Championships here at the new Sylvan Adams Velodrome in Israel is an important event in the development of track cycling in Israel,” said Arad. “The exposure to professional levels and inspiration for our sportspeople, and the incredible professional work that is being done in track cycling, will lead to achievements in the future.”