Shabbat Nowruz

Shabbat Nowruz

Shabbat Shalom / Happy Nowruz

Nowruz Nah RuzNowruz is the new year celebration for Iranians which comes on the Spring Equinox – which is today. It is a time for joy, hope, celebration, presents. President Obama called out “Happy Nowruz” yesterday, as this day arrived in the region formerly known as Persia, due to the Earth reaching that designated place in its orbit around the sun. This day is also significant to the Zoroastrian Faith, The Baha’i Faith, and others.

Lunar Eclipse 2015 / Blood MoonToday also, however, happens to be the first Jewish Sabbath after the recent elections in Israel. And it comes during a cycle of Blood Moons that many believe have historic prophetic significance. In other words, this day is at the center of a swirl of real-world and symbolic happenings. Let’s take stock of the situation

Israel faces greater uncertainty in the region, including the fear that the $5B in funds to rebuild Gaza, and the efforts of Abbas at the UN continue to pose an existential threat to the Jewish state. The Middle East Forum recently published an excellent summary of this – a balanced representation of the challenges facing the new government in Israel. Obama and IranHere in America the President and other elected representatives are at odds over what is to be done in the region as he pursue negotiations with Iran that many feel will lead to disaster. One reason this seems to be a valid concern is related to the New Year beginning now in Iran. Their New Year holiday coincides with that of the Baha’i Naw-Rúz, and they are a sizable religious minority in Iran, to which I happen to belong. And yet Iran has a long history of persecuting the Baha’is – including murder, terror, torture and incarceration. This does not bode well for the future of mankind.

Thankfully, there is a God in heaven who will see to it that His Will is ultimately fulfilled.

The random virtues card I drew was cooperation. “Working together for the good of all… the willingness to stand side by side and use the different gifts each of us has to offer.” Though force can protect in emergency, only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can finally lead men to the dawn of eternal peace.” General Dwight David Eisenhower, 34th President of the U.S.A.

Amen.

Dwight D. Eisenhower EisenhauerFrom the linked article above “The Eisenhauer (German for “iron hewer/miner”) family migrated from Karlsbrunn, Germany, to North America, first settling in York, Pennsylvania, in 1741, and in the 1880s moving to Kansas. Accounts vary as to how and when the German name Eisenhauer was anglicized to Eisenhower.”

Two thoughts come to mind. Christ was to return with a Rod of Iron, to set up 1,000 years of peace. And and “they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks:” which would require an Eisenhauer.

Netanyahu has been referred to as a modern Churchill, who also comes to my mind in this context, but I had not thought to compare him to Eisenhower, who served in WWI and was the supreme allied commander in WWII. It was the US entry in WWII that ultimately saved what was left of the Jewish population in Europe and elsewhere, enabling the establishment, in 1948, of the Jewish state, which collected the desperate and dying remnant of the people still clinging to the Covenant of Moses.Juif

There is much in the news about Netanyahu’s approach to cooperation, and a two-state solution. The controversy is related to whether more pressure should be put on Israel or its enemies to cooperate. Many feel that a certain minimal standard of cooperation needs to be applied to both parties, rather than the path taken by my heritage-nation, Sweden for there to be more cooperation by the Israeli’s.

Beat their Swords into PlowsharesThese are important topics, because, to reverse the Iron hewer’s quote,  only justice, fairness, consideration and cooperation can prevent the need for force, as men look towards the dawn of eternal peace.

 

Netanyahu’s Moment

Netanyahu’s Moment

Benjamin Netanyahu will soon address Congress in a polarizing Polaroid moment. He’s a lightning rod for US internal politics highlighting tension between the three branches of Government and the US population.  Crossroads MediumThe Executive Branch is livid, and overreacting.  The Legislative Branch is divided, but pulling strongly against the President. The Judicial Branch may become embroiled in challenges to Executive Branch actions. The Red / Blue state divide is mixing and morphing to purple as issues collide and alignments slide.

In short, the US, Israel and the world stand at a major crossroad.

Where do you stand?

This Article might provoke some thought in that regard.

My 6 year old daughter pulled Mindfulness as the Virtues Card for me to reflect upon. It is “living reflectively, with conscious awareness of our actions, words and thoughts – attentive to others needs. Living mindfully lightens our lives by helping us to detach from our emotions. We transform anger to justice. We cultivate our inner vision, aware of life’s lessons as they unfold.”

Wow.Netanyahu's Moment

On the back of the card “Can you cleanse your inner vision until you see nothing but the light?… Can you step back from your own mind and thus understand all things?”

Tao Te Ching

“Mindfulness brings us serenity.”

Amen

Plus Jamais

Plus Jamais

I’m gratified by the generally favorable attention garnered by the Je Suis Charlie Who? – aka “Onion” blog. At the same time some were puzzled and a few were angry. Two types of people responded “Quoi?”.Anti Zionist Symbol

Some found my meandering post hard to follow. Others twisted what I wrote, creating an opportunity to loudly and proudly use the “Zionist” epithet.  Many automatically lob that stone at anyone daring to discuss antisemitism.  They do so with impunity.  It is politically correct to harbor this particular brand of hate.The irony is not lost on those able to discern double standards and false equivalencies. This followup blog is an explanation to the confused and a challenge to Anti-Zionists.”

Je Suis Charlie” is a wonderful hope-filled phenomenon. But declaring to “Suis” Charlie begs the question of whether France and the Western world are committed to “Plus Jamais” (Never Again) disassociate themselves from the Jews. We need to l
ift up the onion layers donned by emperor Charlie to find out if  Je Suis solidarity will be enough to cover up France’s shame.

Shame?  What shame?

The shame that comes from having apologized for delivering Jews to the Nazis while failing to defend them from the  kinds of attackers that massacred the Charlie cartoonists. Attackers who target Jews systematically.  Deliberately. With malice, forethought, and genocidal intensity. And without provoking them with offensive cartoons.

JuifAfter the Holocaust the world exclaimed “Plus Jamais” and invited the Jews to establish a homeland called Israel in what was then called Palestine.  The Jews have been mercilessly attacked and brutally murdered for having done so. The “Je Suis” movement should have started years ago.  And it should be called “Je Suis Juif”. To those who think I’m over reacting – yesterday the Wall Street Journal ratified my onion blog.

Here’s a shout out to my friend Mike Rochelle, for pointing out the WSJ video to me! Do me, him and the world a favor – vote for his book “Lead with Love and Peace“.

And as my regular readers know, I challenge myself at the end of each blog to take a fresh look at the topic, by pulling a random Virtues Card. Today I pulled  Righteousness. The first four sentences in the lengthy description are as follows.

“Righteousness is living by a code of moral rectitude. It is practicing impeccable integrity in light of what we know is right. We don’t allow the fads of the day to sway us from doing the right thing. Nor do we stand in judgment of others.”

Wow. It brings another French word to mind. Apropos.

Even though some may judge me as standing in judgment of others. To that idea, I say “non”.  This blog merely peels off an onion layer or two, shedding light on a topic that invites us to judge ourselves. Only we know who and what we are, and whether what we say we are is true or not.

 

bytdvd – House of David

bytdvd – House of David

bytdvd house of davidAncient Rock adds Evidence of King David’s Existence” is the headline in the Times of Israel.  It may not be big news, but it got my attention.  I was on the City of David Archaeological Expedition and know that doubt was cast on  the Biblical account because archaeological mention of bytdvd – “House of David” is rare.

Steven Fine, a professor of Jewish history and director of the Center for Israel Studies at Yeshiva University, said “It’s astonishing how little the Jewish press has noticed it.” This blog is my modest contribution to getting it noticed.

In my humble opinion, it’s material, at this juncture in history, that we are finding more evidence of King David.  I  believe we are entering a convergence of Science and Religion, in which the secular West will have ample opportunity to rethink our decision to erect a Science that denies God by excluding Him and to create a Global political landscape that is Antisemitic.

Will this little rock change this?  No.  But it might encourage a few people to take a fresh look at the historical evidence for bytdvd and it’s implications.  After all, even Science accepts what John Adams said about facts, that they are “Stubborn Things”.  The facts around that quote are blurry too.  A bit of literary archaeology reveals that Tobias Smollett translated the phrase from a book by Frenchman Alain-René Lesage.  And there are even earlier usages.  In this case, it’s not about who chiseled the term “bytdvd” into the stone, but that it was chiseled at all.

bytdvd house of david commonsWhat Virtue did I randomly choose, after writing the above, for my closing comments? Modesty.

I love “coincidences” and was pleased to have used the word modest to describe this blog and the modest lowercase rendering of the Hebrew for House of David in the title.

Digging deeper (Archaeological pun intended) the card states “Modesty is a sense of quiet confidence and self-respect, which allows us to enjoy our accomplishments without inflating our self-importance.”  For Jews, modesty is a hard-won-virtue.  They have suffered for Millennia for the audacity of having a religion that claims they are “chosen”.   At the same time, they know their history, that there was a bytdvd, and that their modern nation rests on a firm foundation of international law.

And while I’m not a Jew, and I know this ancient rock is not the Rock of Salvation, it is nice that although it once was lost, now it is found.