Pray in the Spirit and "with understanding of the times"
Titles are hyperlinked to the full article at the original news source

“Where there is no counsel, the people fall;
But in the multitude of counselors there is safety.”

Do You Really Know the Players?
The revived Sanhedrin:

Steinsaltz addresses event for revived Sanhedrin
By Matthew Wagner Jerusalem Post Mar. 1, 2007

Rabbi Israel Ariel, the head of the capital's Temple Institute and a leading member of the Sanhedrin, also addressed the conference. On Monday, he was arrested and questioned by police regarding alleged threats and incitement to violence against [Israeli Defense Forces] OC Central Command Maj-Gen Yair Naveh. Prof. Hillel Weiss of Bar-Ilan University, spokesman for the Sanhedrin said, "We are here to strengthen the spirit of the Jewish people and to show that we can take control of our destiny."


Far right and wrong, or how to ruin Judaism
By Bradley Burston Haaretz 3-9-07

Given free rein, in the end they'd [the radical right] ruin Judaism as well, replacing it with their own belief system . If the rest of us would only let them. How would it look? Something like this perhaps: THE NEW 13 ARTICLES OF FAITH.

A good short list of how regular Israeli citizens view some of the radical religious right positions.

Israel on Religious’ IDF Service

The following Op-Ed is a widely held opinion among Israeli citizens:

Thou shalt not serve
It's tantamount to treason to refuse your time in the Israeli army - unless, that is, you are an ultra-Orthodox Jew.
By Seth Freedman for the UK Guardian Unlimited 3-1-07

… change must come from within the Haredi world. They, and they alone, have to dismount from their high horses, connect with the real world, and see that the sons of the Hilonim [secular] are just as precious as their own. They need to "love thy neighbour as thyself", before sealing themselves up inside their yeshiva walls and sticking two fingers up at the rest of their country.

Seeking more black skullcaps and beards in Haredi battalion
By Yair Ettinger Haaretz (the Land) 2-17-07

The [Nahal Haredi] battalion was founded in 1999 as an attempt to allow Haredi Israelis to serve in the IDF in an atmosphere conducive to their religious beliefs…. Despite its rapid growth, the unit failed in its main goal: to be ultra-Orthodox. It did not enlist yeshiva students but those who dropped out of them…. About a year ago IDF OC Manpower Major General Elazar Stern gave ordered that 70 percent of recruits be ultra-Orthodox. As part of this new policy, the recruits must be graduates of ultra-Orthodox yeshivas from a list prepared with the help of the NGO.

Nahal Haredi recruits US, European youth
By Yaakov Katz Jerusalem Post Mar. 12, 2007

Most of the battalion's 650 soldiers are recruited in Israel and come from from a haredi or national religious background. For various reasons, they chose not to continue their yeshiva learning and enlisted. After completing their service, Nahal Haredi helps them complete their matriculation and pre-college studies, study for a profession or return to yeshiva. The Nahal Haredi Organization facilitates the enlisting process for haredi youth from abroad who come to Israel to serve in the IDF for just under a year in the Mahal program. The battalion has close to 100 Mahal soldiers, including 40 from France.

This is whose lead many follow? Oy veh.

Pullout leaders are cursed, argues the religious right
By Nadav Shragai Ha’Aretz (the Land) 3-12-07

In the "crime and punishment" part of The International Campaign to Save the Nation and the Land - associated with an offshoot of the Chabad movement [a branch of Hasidic Judaism] - the sin is "the crime of the disengagement" and the "expulsion" of 10,000 people from their homes. … The campaign called "There is Justice and a Judge," which the organization embarked on recently, asserts that everyone who was a partner to the "crime of expulsion" or did not act to prevent it has received or will receive his punishment from heaven.

…. one out of every four religious and ultra-Orthodox people in Israel believes former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's illness is a punishment from heaven in the wake of the disengagement plan. … However, within the religious and ultra-Orthodox public, there are those who are shocked and angered by the campaign.

Real Peacekeepers in the Making?
and Defectors Welcome!

UNIFIL wants ability to fight Hizbullah
By Yaakov Katz and Herb Keinon Jerusalem Post Mar. 8, 2007

"There is a feeling of frustration within UNIFIL that under the current rules of engagement they are not free to do their job, which is to prevent Hizbullah rearmament in southern Lebanon," an Israeli defense official told the Post.

‘Iranian general defected with classified documents’
By Roee Nahmias Yediot Aharonot – Ynet 3-9-07

Former colleague says Ali Rez Asgari left Turkey with documents, maps that shed light on Revolutionary Guards' links to Hizbullah, Islamic Jihad; defector was privy to confidential information regarding Iran’s plans in case of conflict with US, he adds

Former Iranian Defense Official Talks to Western Intelligence
By Dafna Linzer Washington Post Staff Writer March 8, 2007; Page A16

Asgari served in the Iranian government until early 2005 under then-President Mohammad Khatami. Asgari's background suggests that he would have deep knowledge of Iran's national security infrastructure, conventional weapons arsenal and ties to Hezbollah in south Lebanon. Iranian officials said he was not involved in the country's nuclear program, and the senior U.S. official said Asgari is not being questioned about it. Former officers with Israel's Mossad spy agency said yesterday that Asgari had been instrumental in the founding of Hezbollah in the 1980s, around the time of the bombing of the U.S. Marine barracks in Beirut.

I see the train a’comin’
It’s comin’ round the bend….

Reading and Writing and Ramadan
The Muslim Council of Britain's plan for "sensitizing" the schools.
by Irfan al-Alawi & Stephen Schwartz Weekly Standard 03/12/2007, Volume 012, Issue 25

The Muslim Council of Britain (MCB) is the leading institution representing Sunni Muslim fundamentalism in the United Kingdom….its authentic agenda is discernible in its new recommended guidelines for accommodating Muslim students in British state schools--equivalent to the public school system in the United States. Just published, the guidelines are entitled "Towards Greater Understanding--Meeting the Needs of Muslim Pupils in State Schools: Information & Guidance for Schools" and can be downloaded at www.mcb.org.uk. The guidelines call upon British schools to "respond positively to meeting the needs of Muslim pupils." It's a tall order.

War on Terror is Worth Fighting to Win

Cheney: Iraq withdrawal may harm Israel
By Jerusalem Post staff and AP Mar. 12, 2007

US Vice President Dick Cheney told the AIPAC annual conference in Washington on Monday afternoon that "President Bush is committed to the two-state vision, but will only agree to a peace accord that acknowledges Israel's right to exist, as well as the denunciation of all violence and terror." The vice president stated that such a withdrawal would "give extremists the taste of victory" and that they would act to overthrow any moderate forces in the region. [Bush’s pledge is uncompromised support of Israel]

Livni to AIPAC: U.S. can't show weakness on Iraq, Iran
By Shmuel Rosner Haaretz Correspondent and The Associated Press 2-14-07

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said Monday warned the U.S. not to show weakness in Iraq, during an address to the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington, D.C. In a region where "impressions are important," said Livni, countries must be careful not to demonstrate weakness and surrender to extremists.


18 arrested in IDF raid on PA compound
By Jerusalem Post, AP and Yaakov Katz Mar. 7, 2007

The IDF said that despite several requests the army had made that the official Palestinian security branches not provide sanctuary for wanted terror suspects, the Tanzim terrorists were being protected in the intelligence building, and the IDF requests were completely ignored.

Lost Tomb of Jesus…NOT

Losing respect over 'lost tomb of Jesus'
Millions of Christians are offended by the recent 'discovery' of the 'tomb of Jesus'
by Malcolm Hedding International Christian Embassy Jerusalem for Yediot Aharonot

The documentary "The Lost Tomb of Jesus" which claims that the burial cave of Jesus and his family, including a child, has been found in East Talpiot, in Jerusalem, has stirred controversy and drawn widespread media attention, much of it disturbing and even offensive. It has been disturbing because serious scholars in the disciplines of archaeology and related scientific fields here in Israel have long ago debunked this claim as, at the very best, sensational.

However, the glee with which some in the print and broadcast media in Israel 'latched on' to this story was not only irresponsible but worrying. The anchor on one evening news broadcast pressed a scholar in an interview to assert that this discovery would shake Christianity to its core. By this she meant that it would break the foundations of the faith, since Christianity rests squarely on the resurrection of Jesus! No resurrection, no Christianity! It is as simple as that.

The Other Controversial Dig

210,000 entries to site broadcasting Mugrabi Gate dig
By Ronny Sofer Yediot Aharonot YNET 3-7-07

“The government made a wise decision, allowing transparency to the world in general, and the Muslim world in particular, proving there was no harm to Islamic holy sites,” according to government Minster Jacob Edery.

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