Today is Yom Ha’Shoah, holocaust remembrance day. A few thoughts and some more information for you on Yom Ha’Shoah. This is quite a good little article.
Yom Ha’Shoah
Category Archives: Jewish history
Let My People Go, That they may hold a feast to me
1 Afterward Moses and Aaron went and said to Pharaoh, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel, ‘Let my people go, that they may hold a feast to me in the wilderness.’” 2 But Pharaoh said, “Who is the Lord, that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I do not know the Lord, and moreover, I will not let Israel go.” 3 Then they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Please let us go a three days’ journey into the wilderness that we may sacrifice to the Lord our God, lest he fall upon us with pestilence or with the sword.” 4 But the king of Egypt said to them, “Moses and Aaron, why do you take the people away from their work? Get back to your burdens.” Exodus 5:1-4 Shemot 5:1-4
Tomorrow begins Pesach.
The original Pesach began when G-d decided his children had suffered enough of living in a land different than that he allotted to them. G-d sent Moshe to those in power over them to let them go and worship him as he had instructed them.
Pharaoh said “NO, it would threaten the Al-Aqsa mosque”. Actually that’s crap. Pretty much the same crap that muslims have been saying violently for years now. Long since before Israel was re-established as a state.
A quick history lesson. The first Temple was built by King Solomon in 957 BC. It was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Construction on the Second Temple was authorized by Cyrus the Great and began in 538 BC. It was completed 23 years later under the reign of Darius the Great. See the Purim story for more on this little gem. It was destroyed again by the Romans in 70 AD.
Mohammed the founder of the religion of pieces known as Islam lived from 570 AD – 8 June 632 AD. Around 613 AD he started preaching Islam. The first two Al-Aqsa mosques were built in 705 AD and 780 AD. They were destroyed by earthquakes. The third and still standing was built in 1035 AD. It is the 3rd holiest site is islam, and interestingly, at least to me, is there are Arab scholars which say that the mosque located on the Temple Mount is NOT the Al-Aqsa talked of in the Koran, it is not in the right location.
So, just in time for Pesach, the anti-Israel, anti-Semitic UN branch, specializing in anti-Israel actions, known as UNESCO has released a new resolution. It denies Jewish connection to the Temple Mount. You know, the Temple that was constructed to replace the Tabernacle Moshe built in the desert? But it goes a lot further than that. It
refers to Israel as the “occupying power” at every mention and uses the Arabic al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram al-Sharif without ever calling it the Temple Mount, as it is known to Jews. The text does refer to the Western Wall Plaza but places it in quotation marks, after using the Arabic Al-Buraq Plaza.
And
The resolution accuses Israel of “planting Jewish fake graves in other spaces of the Muslim cemeteries” and of “the continued conversion of many Islamic and Byzantine remains into the so-called Jewish ritual baths or into Jewish prayer places.”
Currently on the Temple Mount, holiest site in Judaism and holy to Christians, THIRD holiest site to muslims (if it is the right mosque, debate on that) Jews and Christians are NOT allowed to pray, recite verses from our Tanakh/Bible or wear any religious or Israeli symbols on our clothing. The Israeli police, yes Israeli will arrest you in a heartbeat. Yours or anyone’s. The muslim waqos, (hmm, may have left an “f” out of that somewhere) make sure the screaming harridans can yell “allah hu akbar” at visitors and safely stash rocks and incendiary devices to throw in their sacred Al-Aqsa. Pretty much like most Synagogues and Southern Baptist Churches, right?
Ok, I’ll stop. But the point is, Pesach began when the children were told to go and worship HaShem as he had commanded and the ruling powers tried to prevent it. Thousands of years later and what has changed? Moshe Dyan, you were an IDIOT!
But, there was a Pesach, and tomorrow night there will be a Pesach and I believe HaShem has still got a plan and has this covered. And so I will wish you Happy Passover, Pesach.
חג פסח שמח
73 years ago today, Warsaw
Today, 73 years ago began the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Some say it ended on May 16th, but there are other sources that say that it lasted on until fall. But the Jews in the ghetto held out longer than the nation of Poland.
The thing was, everything had been fine in Poland. Until it wasn’t.
Photo from the Ghetto Fighters House in Acco, Israel
As candidates debate how best to get America disarmed, this is worth remembering.
Not only were there precious few weapons available, most of the Jews in the ghetto didn’t know how to use them.
But I will leave you with something strong, proud and brave.
Zog nit kein mol- Jewish partisan song, but that’s Yiddish.
THIS, is Hebrew!
NEVER.AGAIN.
Reflections on/of Purim
Yes, I do realize Purim was a week ago, but we still need a column on Purim, because, well Purim is amazing. It does seem like a fairy tale. Kings, beautiful orphan girls becoming a queen (without needing a glass slipper) and a evil toad Amalekite, fancy dress balls and lots of chocolate.
Two easy fun ways you can become familiar with Purim if you don’t know what the big deal is. A cartoon, cartoons are usually good.
OR your can see this very cool memegillah. It’s the story of Ester told in memes, like Facebook. I must say, the kitten ones are very cute, as are the squirrel ones. I thank Y.B. for steering me to this.
A couple of interesting points I learned from reading this year. When King Achashverosh commanded Queen Vashti to come to his six month long party celebrating that the temple would never be rebuilt, he didn’t just say, “Hey, it’s a happening party babe, come on over”. Nope, I just learned he commanded her to come wearing her royal crown. Nothing else, just the royal crown. I have sympathy for Vashti. Till I read further and find out she is the granddaughter of Nebuchadnezzar who had conquered Judea and destroyed the Holy Temple and convinced King Achashverkerchoo not to allow the Temple to be rebuilt. The party was to celebrate that the Temple would never be rebuilt. Sympathy for Vashti now =0.
Hamen, he was a decedent of the Amakalites. So there may be some historical reason behind evil Haman’s hatred of Mordachai. He initially offered King Achashverkerchoo money to be allowed to kill all the Jews. King Achashverkerchoo said “naw, good plan, you can do it for free”. The king is no hero.
The king can’t just “undo” his order to his kingdom to kill all the Jews and seize their property. No, that takes ANOTHER special memorandum. I chewed on that one. Without the government permission slip saying Jews were allowed to defend themselves they were just going to be slaughtered. Wow. Life was cheap to King Achashverkerchoo, at least Jewish life. The UN must be a descendant of King Achashverkerchoo because they don’t believe that self defense is a human right either.
So G-d worked through Mordachai and Esther to save the people because they were willing to do as he asked.
And the Temple? King Achashverkerchoo and Esther had a son, Daryavesh, (Darius). Daryavesh commanded the Temple be rebuilt. HAHAHAHA! Take that King Achashverkerchoo!
So that’s my reflections ON Purim.
But wait, there’s more.
In a recent newspaper column Hamass claimed murder of pieceful palestinians is part of Purim.
He added that the “settlers” celebrate their Jewish holidays by performing “horrible crimes of murder with the support of the occupation government and military commanders” and that there is a rabbinic “blessing” which “permits murdering and executing every Palestinian without discretion.”
The column tells us that the attacks in Ankara were committed by a terrorist that had followed the Israeli tourists from the time they left the hotel.
This column warns that Jews & Christians have been warned by Turkish police:
Jews and Christians are believed to be the target of the terror organization’s future terror attacks in the country. The warning comes just a week after three Israelis were murdered in a terror attack that took place in Istanbul, which was carried out by an ISIS terrorist.
And as we know now, there was a horrible bomb blast on Easter directed at children on a playground.
Antisemitism is on the rise in Europe and campuses across the US, often masquerading as Boycott Divest & Sanction.
Yes, the spirit of wicked Hamen is still alive and doing well, doing very well indeed.
A refection OF Purim I would say.
But it is a column about Purim, I don’t want to leave you on a down note. So think about your costume for next year, remember “They tried to kill us, we won, let’s eat. “ and enjoy this.
Never Again? Well, That Didn’t Take Long.
Holocaust Remembrance Day is observed on January 27th, according to the U(seless)N, Germany and many parts of the world. It’s observed on 27th of Nisan which is usually in April or May in Israel. I went to a Holocaust Remembrance service at Ben Gurion University a couple years ago. Phrases you hear often are “Never Again”. The date was chosen because it was the day that the liberation of Auschwitz-Birkenau occurred. January 27, 1945.
For Germany, “Never Again” didn’t take long. The Munich massacre was September 1972. I can still remember waking up that morning and hearing the news on the radio. I didn’t understand why someone didn’t shoot the terrorists. Young and naive wasn’t I? It just made no sense! The Israelis had a shooting team and a coach. So it was a span of about 27 years before Jews were bound and herded helplessly into the cattle cars of the helicopters.
There are many kinds of hot mess around this additional shameful saga of Germany’s history. Israeli delegation head Shmuel Lalkin had warning bells going off like crazy when he saw the accommodations for the Israeli athletes. Ground floor, no armed guards, anyone could access the hallway, it led to a garage. He howled to the West Germans and the Israelis about it. He begged to be allowed to carry his sidearm, he was recently out of the IDF as a Major. Denied. The West Germans didn’t have any armed guards anywhere in the olympic village. It might make people “feel bad”. They wanted everything to “feel friendly”. So, no armed guards, no moving the Israelis to a higher floor. Nothing that he wanted that would have been sensible preventative safety precautions was done. It might “look bad”. In addition to all this, Der Speigel ran a article in 2012 that said the German authorities had been tipped off something was going to happen.
After the Israelis were taken hostage the “negotiations” such as they were, began to take place. Finally the Germans assembled their crack hostage rescue team. They didn’t have one actually, so candidates were selected by asking them “have you ever fired a gun before?” Not have you ever fired THIS type of gun before, but just sort of asked the willing police officers, “have you ever fired a gun before”. This was after they turned down Golda Meir’s request/beg to be allowed to send an actual Israeli hostage rescue team that did know very well what the heck they were about and what to do. So these Germans are crawling around on the top of the building trying to figure out how to break in and listening for the code word which never came. Probably a good thing. The terrorists peaceful Palestinians who just wanted to liberate their friends and relatives unfairly imprisoned for killing people and blowing up things watched the whole thing on TV, live. TV cameras were set up across from the building and broadcast everything.
Eventually the hostages were bound, herded onto a bus and taken to Fürstenfeldbruck air force base. Where the German rescue attempt continued to exhibit the same finely tuned precision as at the Olympic Village. The police had miscounted the terrorists, they had no night vision equipment, or training and had never worked together before. One terrorist mowed the hostages in his helicopter down with his gun as they sat helpless tied together. The other terrorist threw a grenade into his.
The German government then proceeded to lie and cover up information for many many years. The only reason much of it came to light was Ankie Spitzer who had been married to Israeli fencing coach Andre about a year and a half is a bulldog. The woman never stopped. She kept pressing and going at them and finally an anonymous source called her lawyer and the delivery of information began to flow in. Ankie is amazing. Andre married well.
In the documentary One Day In September, Jamal Al-Jishey, the only surviving terrorist of the attack gave an interview. He was proud of the work he did, the peaceful palestinians did a great thing.
Now we have the shocking news coming from Angela Merkel’s government that Antisemitism is on the rise.
Shocker that. Who could have possibly foreseen that bringing in millions upon millions of people that hate Jews would result in a rise in Antisemitism in a country that has a long proud history of it’s tolerance towards Jews. So ALL possible efforts to combat Antisemitism will be used. Well, except of course re-examining that open door “refugee” policy thingy.
In Israel the stabbing attacks are indiscriminate. Against men women and children. Out in public and in front of their homes, where they die fighting like a tigress to stop the terrorist from going after her children. If you don’t know the name Dafna Meir H”YD, she deserves 2 minutes of your time. Amazing woman.
This has nothing to do with frustration, repression or any other garbage. This is how the peaceful palestinians are brought up. The father of the murderer of Dafna said he is proud of his 15 year old son who stabbed the mother of 6 to death.
Jews in France aren’t especially safe, or Sweden (or Swedish women either for that matter) but at least in America it’s different. Abe Foxman of the ADL will be quick enough to tear you a new one for something said, but be prepared to defend yourself or family against a life threatening attack? With a GUN??? Perish the thought! Same for the congressional professional victim creation class.
Still, it’s different in America.
Well, except in Michigan. Where former state department employee Lina Allan defended the stabbing of Jews as killing animals and was miffed at muslim who aren’t doing so. She’s talking about killing Jews, Israel didn’t really come into it.
Considering Abu Mazen head of the Palestinian Authority financed a chunk of the Munich Massacre, you would think we would examine links a bit more closely, but apparently, no.
At least in America our own government will never attack unarmed defenseless citizens. Countries that have embarrassing records when it comes to protecting a certain ethnic group charged with spreading Torah will certainly learn from their mistakes and correct lapses in the future exercising all vigilance.
And now I’m going to go pet my unicorn and go to sleep!
Whispers from the Nabiloka
Guest commentary
Exclusive to The Zelman Partisans
by Historian
During the Second World War, a variety of partisan groups arose in the territories occupied by Nazi Germany. In the East, Poland, the Ukraine and Byelorussia, and into Russia itself, some of these partisan organizations were partially or primarily composed of Jews who had fled German attempts to concentrate them into ghettos or who had fled the ghettos themselves. One of these was made famous by the movie Defiance, starring Daniel Craig as Tuvia Bielski, the leader of this partisan group. This fictionalized account of the Bielski Otryad, which hid in the Nabiloka forest in what is now western Byelorussia I found compelling, and it awoke an ongoing interest in the history of the partisan groups that arose from the German invasion.
These groups varied considerably, as one might expect. Some were comprised of mainly young more or less healthy males, and geared towards military action against the Germans. Other groups, such as the Bielski Otryad, were more inclusive, taking in any Jew that wished to join, regardless of their fitness or prior employment. I was impressed at the survival of Bielski’s group in the face of both anti-semitism from the Soviets and ongoing attacks from the Germans, but I found it surprising to learn that partisan groups composed almost exclusively of young strong males, dedicated to fighting the Germans and resisting the invaders, fared much worse than groups like the Bielski Otryad whose members had widely varied backgrounds, and whose primary goal was survival.
Most of those young fit men died and their groups were wiped out, while the Bielski Otryad survived the war, growing even as the Nazis chased them through the Nabiloka forest. Some of the Bielski Otryad members died during the war, but when they were met by advancing Russian troops, they numbered 1200 Jews, the largest number of Jews saved by Jews during the war. Two of the three Bielski brothers (Tuvia and Zus; Asael was killed in 1944 fighting for the Soviets) survived also, traveling to Israel and ultimately emigrating to these presently united States in 1956.
It appears that there were two key factors at play; one was that the primary goal of the Bielski Otryad was not to kill Germans, but to help Jews survive. The other was that even deep in the taiga, there was survival value in having a wide range of skills available to the group. A wide range of outlook, experience and opinion allowed the group to better cope when conditions or circumstances changed.
There is a lesson in this for the Liberty Movement.
Today, I see a wide range of opinion about the path forward for individual freedom. Many of those espousing these various opinions bitterly attack others in the Liberty movement for their ‘impure’ or ‘imperfect’ ideas, or slather acid criticism on those who disagree in one particular or another. Topics ranging from the ideal caliber for pistols or rifles to whether or not we need or should have a Constitution and everything in between are viciously debated, and barbed words fly back and forth growing more heated with each exchange.
To what end? Cui Bono?
What is the goal of the Liberty Movement? More personally, what is YOUR goal, in the pursuit of freedom? Each one of you will have to answer that question for yourself, but my goal is: to create a system that allows each person to do as they wish, to speak as they wish, to do with their bodies, their lives and the fruits of their labors as they choose, as long as they grant others the right to do the same. As Enlightenment philosophers put it- Life, liberty and property. If someone who shares this goal with you disagrees with you as to how best to accomplish that, so what? Isn’t the whole point to allow others their otherness? Aren’t we trying to help individual Liberty survive?
Or are we?
Tuvia Bielski made his goal the survival of Jews. He did not cast out the old, the infirm or those whose politics differed from his, and as a result, a community of 1200 Jews, anarchists, socialists, communists and individualists survived the Holocaust. He made a place for a wide range of opinion, and the Jewish community he built in the Nabiloka forest was stronger and more resilient as a result.
There is much to be said for earnest discussions about the paths forward for individual Liberty. This is, after all, a war of ideas. There is no doubt that the American experiment is in trouble and we need to carefully consider how we went wrong, and what must be done to make things better. But are the paths leading to the restoration of American Liberty to be found in the stifling of dissent, or in bitter vituperation among those who agree on the big issues? This country was founded on dissent and disagreement; rather than weakness, it may be our greatest strength.
Put it another way. If this is a war of ideas, and ideas are weapons, don’t we want the forces of tyranny to have to face as many different threats as possible? Don’t we want to see statism attacked on as many fronts as we can manage? Do we want to let the perfect become the enemy of the good?
Tuvia Bielski welcomed Jews of all social classes, ideologies, ages or abilities. They followed different paths through the Nabiloka forest to reach their refuge with other Jews, and this was again, part of their protection. Imagine how easy it would have been for the Nazis to exterminate them all if they had all followed one path. Regardless of how they got there, where they came from, or what baggage they carried, they were all welcomed. As far as I can tell from my reading, Tuvia Bielski only asked that each person work as they could to support the goal of the group, which was to ensure that the Jews survive. And they did. He won.
What is your goal, gentle reader?
Will you be like Tuvia Bielski, and make your goal the survival of Liberty, welcoming and protecting all those who love individual freedom, benefiting from each person’s unique outlook?
Or will you conduct intellectual auto-da-fé against all who disagree with you, seeking to crush disagreement and to force all to goosestep to the truth as you see it?
Do you view differing opinions within the Liberty movement as a threat, or as an opportunity?
I wonder what Tuvia Bielski’s Jewish partisans would say to the enraged ideologues among us?
Can you hear the whispers from the Nabiloka forest?
With regard to all who serve the Light,
Historian
—–
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Oh, it’s probably nothing…
Dear Aharon,
I’m sorry to bother you again. But Hanukkah and Christmas are both over and this year it just seems like I’ve seen more than a few things that bother me. I’m really trying to be understanding, but I guess some of this just eludes me and I was kind of hoping you could help me clear it up.
In the America I grew up in, it seemed like December was always just such a joyous time of year. There is Hanukkah, with parties and dreidels and Christmas with Santa and trees and gifts. Of course I know that Hanukkah is not about gelt, dreidels, latkas and sufganiyot. I know Christmas isn’t about gifts, trees and hot chocolate.
Hanukkah was about the freedom to be a Jew, practice your religion and live. All at the same time. The Greeks weren’t so interested in killing the Jews prior to the Maccabbean rebellion as forcing assimilation. As long as you were willing to give up the practice of Judaism as commanded by G-d through the Torah and adopt the Hellenistic ways, as many of the more liberal Jews were, it was all cool beans.
Christmas was about the celebrating the birth of Yeshua, the son of G-d. Churches had nativity scenes out in front and often there might be one by the courthouse as well. Schools would have trees, kids would sing songs, there would be little parties with cookies, and parents would beam as the children did their Christmas plays.
But not this year. It’s been harder and harder to see the symbols in public the last few years, because they aren’t there. This year has been the worst it seems. So many things canceled for fear of offending another religion.
This is the year of the offended. Or fear of offending. It’s so bad that a teacher was told to take down her Hello Kitty Christmas tree. Yep, Hello Kitty. No angels, or baby Yeshua or anything like that, just little cartoon kittys on a pink tree that were dangerously offensive. At another school the Charlie Brown Christmas play was heavily edited due to the complaint of one person. There were many more complaints against it, but they didn’t matter. So it would seems the schools are safely sanitized of religion now.
Well, except for one. While many schools have decided to quit teaching cursive handwriting because it isn’t needed, some school districts are teaching calligraphy. To teach calligraphy, they are teaching the children to write in Arabic. In Arabic the children are learning to write “There is no god but Allah. Muhammad is the messenger of Allah.” The first pillar of Islam. The girls in class were also treated to a lecture on how to dress modestly like a muslim, and invited to try on a headscarf while learning. This lesson was not well received by parents, and the school decided to avoid classes the next day and close. Parents were not informed what their children would be told to write, or given a chance to opt out. While a Koran was provided in class for the children to look at, the teacher declined to provide a Bible saying it wasn’t necessary. So I guess that’s how a school in VA observed December. But it’s not just Virginia, in Tennessee in September the schools went even further and made the children learn and recite all five pillars of Islam. They spent three weeks studying Islam, but skipped over the lessons concerning Christianity and Judaism. Doesn’t quite seem equal in the schools to me.
In business, mulsim cabbies refuse passengers with guide dogs and alcohol. Because it’s for religious reasons. However, religious reasons don’t seem to matter when it comes to Christian bakers who don’t want to make a cake. Then it’s all different.
What about obamacare? In 2016 the penalty for an individual is $695 for someone who’s insurance doesn’t match what the government says they must have. The Amish and Muslims are not required to buy obamacare, or have penalties. They believe insurance is gambling. Well, if insurance is gambling and they don’t have to buy it, what about auto insurance? Most states require you to have auto insurance to drive. Are they exempt from that as well?
When there is a crime committed, especially one with guns involved, it seems the media rushes to find a conservative or tea party angle. Yet when it appears the perpetrator is a muslim, the media and the government rush in to decry the connection saying it isn’t islam. In fact, barry still says ISIS has nothing to do with islam. When the woman ran over all those people in Las Vegas? The Sheriff isn’t comfortable discussing motive. Ok, maybe it has nothing to do with terrorism, or islam. Other people may scream “Allahu Akbar”, but seems it could be a clue. I mean that’s how they do it in Israel on a daily basis. The media talking heads and politicians will all trot out and tell us it wasn’t islam, had nothing to do with islam. And then call for more gun control. As a favorite radio show host of mine pointed out, why don’t all those people just hush about it, and let them tell us what islam is and isn’t. The ones doing the terrorist acts says it’s in the name of allah. I’m guessing they would know. No, I don’t think all muslims are terrorists. But the state department hasn’t a clue who is and who isn’t either. Nor does DHS or any other acronym. I’m still waiting for the million muslim march decrying the violence. Oh wait, they probably won’t do that, because it could mean their death as well.
No, islam in America seems to be hoping to force America to change to suit them. And in areas where there are large concentrations of them, they are getting quite brazen about what they insist taxpayer fork over.
So, Aharon, that’s the educational system, the business sector, the health care sector and the criminal arena and even charity and benefits. In all of those one group of people is giving preferential treatment over another. Does this mean we are already living in “dhimmitude” and no one has told us yet? And if the restrictions are applied I guess we will understand why barry tried so hard to take guns away from law abiding citizens. It’s going to be hard to impose the rest of some of those restrictions till he gets that one in place.
It just seemed so sad this December, and I guess I wonder if it is just the start of things? It’s not like we’ve ever seen a time where people are forced to give up the practice of their religion, covert or die right? It’s not like we need to be paging Judah Maccabee, right? No, it’s probably nothing, right?
Sincerely,
נצ
Dear נצ
You really are a glutton for punishment aren’t you? Yes, I can understand why you see things this way. I can understand why you are sad and concerned. But all you can do is keep trying your best to keep the concept of freedom and liberty alive. People have to have the mindset they want to live free. To keep those things alive you have to keep the right to have defensive tools. There are plenty of examples of civilizations that didn’t have enough, or good enough defensive tools and how that turned out. Keep doing those things. That is what you can do. Now, go have a nice cup of Israeli coffee, maybe a piece or two of halva. You’ll feel better.
Regards,
אַהֲרֹן
Ask the Jews of Warsaw
Guest commentary
Exclusive to The Zelman Partisans
by Historian
My wife and I attend get-togethers of her extended family, a fairly large clan, almost all of whom are urban or suburban Reform Jews, many with non-Jewish spouses. Her family is pleasant, intelligent, fun to talk to, and polite. And largely liberal. While there is little overt criticism of my libertarian politics, or my stance in support of the Second Amendment, few of her family are comfortable talking about guns; they used to view my JPFO pin more than a little askance. ( I no longer wear it, for reasons every TZP reader understands.) At one of these gatherings some years back, I was privileged to be seated next to one of my wife’s aunts, a beautiful and bright woman who converted to Judaism when she married.
As soon as she was seated next to me, she turned and said, “ Historian, did you know that there are instructions on how to build bombs, and make poison gas, and MACHINE GUNS on the Internet?”
“Well, yes, Aunt Marie, I do; there are books published on all those topics and more besides, and I own some of them.”
“That’s outrageous,” she spluttered, “absolutely outrageous!”
“ Aunt Marie,” I began diplomatically, ‘We’re Americans, and we have the right to freedom of speech and freedom of the press. Besides which, lots of people already know how to make those kinds of things. You can’t repress the knowledge even if you tried.”
“Ridiculous,” she snorted,”Nobody needs to know to know how to build weapons!”
A bit nettled, I leaned toward her and said, “Aunt Marie, why don’t you tell that to the Jews in Warsaw?”
She looked puzzled, and said “The Jews in Warsaw? Historian, I’ve been to Warsaw, and there aren’t any Jews in Warsaw!”
Her gun-owning Jewish husband leaned over to her and very quietly murmured into her ear “Dear, I think you had better quit while you are behind.”
—–
Starting in the Middle Ages, Poland was a refuge for Jews, being the most religiously tolerant European country up until the 17th Century. Even after the Russian takeover of Poland, and the rise of anti-semitism, Poland generally and Warsaw particularly were still friendly to Jews; while estimates vary, over 300,000 Jews lived in Warsaw ( about 3.3 million in Poland) before the start of World War II.
After Poland was invaded by the Russians and the Germans, and divided between them, Warsaw became the site of the largest of several ghettos, where Polish Jews were confined before being shipped to extermination camps. Hundreds of thousands of people were sent from Warsaw to the East for ‘resettlement’ in 1942. In reality, these people were sent to Treblinka and murdered, but since the government controlled the press, few knew.
In April of 1943, the SS again entered the Warsaw Ghetto to send more Jews to Treblinka for extermination, but this time, the Jews knew where they were to be sent, and with death as their only alternative, they resisted. Estimates vary widely, but according to the sources I have read, there were almost certainly fewer than a thousand guns in the Ghetto, probably less than three hundred, most of which were small caliber pistols and revolvers with just a very few rifles, probably less than a couple of dozen all told.
In the event, after a month of fierce resistance, dozens to several hundred German troops were dead, and the Warsaw Ghetto was burnt to the ground. Few of the about 60,000 Jews left in Warsaw in April 1943 escaped the Nazis, and fewer still survived the war. In 1938, there were as many as 330,000 Jews in Warsaw. Today, in 2015, there are about 2,000; just after the War, there were perhaps 150 or 200 Jews left.
It is impossible to truly comprehend the magnitude of this horror, but the following is just one tiny taste.
My two nephews read their Bar Mitzvah text from a rescued Polish Torah scroll recovered after World War II and sent here to these presently united States. I asked the rabbi whether she knew exactly where the scroll came from, or anything about the history of this Torah, and she did not. So many were lost, and so much was lost with them. It was deeply moving and wonderful to see this beautiful handmade three hundred year old scroll inscribed with the words of Torah, and at the same time it was heartbreaking to realize that no living person would ever know how it came to be, who scribed it, how it survived, who hid it, or how it survived to be brought here to these presently united States. It was enough to make an Historian weep. One Torah, from the thousands that existed in prewar Poland, from one of the thousands of Jewish congregations that are no more.
I wonder, if we could ask them, what the Jews of Warsaw would say to us about needing to know how to make and use weapons. I wonder, if the dead could speak, what they would say about the wisdom of allowing those who seek power over others to take your weapons from you. I wonder whether they would protest against people having books on marksmanship, or ammunition reloading, or on making bombs. I wonder whether they came to understand that it is not the weapon but the wielder that is good or evil.
It has been said that history does not exactly repeat itself, but it often rhymes. Today, Europe is again under attack. Collectivism is again on the march. One has only to watch the online video and read the eyewitness reports to understand that. My understanding is that in Europe today, there is not a gun or ammunition to be had; reports I have read online say that there is a 12 week backlog for rifles and shotguns in those places, such as Austria, where (some) guns may legally be purchased. Yet those who resist can protect themselves only by permission, not by right. Those who protest this invasion are persecuted, thrown into jail for telling the truth.
I wonder, if we could ask them, what the Jews of Warsaw circa April 1943 would say about this ongoing Islamic invasion? I wonder what the Jews of Warsaw would say about free people being imprisoned for their opinions, about being kept helpless in the face of those who would destroy them? What would the Jews of Warsaw say about these insidious attacks here in these presently united States on our Bill of Rights, on our right to free speech, freedom of the press, and especially about our right to own, carry, buy, sell, trade, or loan weapons and ammunition? What would the Jews of Warsaw say to those who refuse to criticize their government?
My curiosity must remain forever unsatisfied, for as my aunt unknowingly said, those Jews are dead. They cannot answer my questions, and their stories will remain forever untold; I can never know what they might say.
But I do know what I say. I say that government exists to protect the rights of individuals, and for no other purpose. I say that all of the powers that legitimate government wields come from the individuals governed, and with their consent. I say that violations of our rights, including but not limited to our rights to free speech, a free press, the right to own and carry weapons of all sorts must be resisted by any means necessary.
To the forces of tyranny, in memory of the dead Jews of Warsaw, I say “Never again.”
What do YOU say?
With regard to all who serve the Light,
Historian
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Historian is a middle aged grouchy engineer, who writes about the history of liberty and politics. His web log may be found at www.libertyhollow.weebly.com.
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Twas a Night During Hanukkah
Twas a night during Hanukkah and all through the house, not a creature was stirring except for a mouse.
And Cowgirl Kitty killed it.
My Hanukkiah had been lit, and into sufganiyot and latkas I had bit and I smiled with joy that the three of them bring.
Little Marlowe gently snored on his puppy bed, and I snuggled in, with thoughts of Hanukkah in my head.
And who to my wondering eyes should appear? Judah Maccabee, it WAS him, I swear!
I sat up quite started, “Sir, you give me quite a fright, why do you appear here in the dead of the night?”
He regarded me gravely and tugged on his beard, he said so very softly “It’s the things I have heard”.
My eyes widened just as his narrowed, and I shivered in my bones, clear down to the marrow.
Judah, what has you so troubled I asked with a frown, you know you’re one of my heroes, you know it deep down!
He sighed as he listed the attacks both great and small, in France, in England, the USA and Israel, worst of all,
Hannah and her sons, my father, my brothers and I did not fight and give our lives, so that latkas you could fry. The dreidels you do spin, the songs you do sing, they should be a strong reminder there are still evil things.
We loved G-d our father, he created this earth, to serve him we certainly have proven our worth.
Those that would keep us from observing his rules, have mistaken our courage, they must have been fools.
He gave us great victories, he gave back our Temple, you should have held on, it is just that simple.
No Jew may pray there, nor Christian it seems, Beit HaMikdash lives only in my dreams.
In France Jews are told no Menorah to light, so as to avoid the evil in the night.
G-d gave us the miracle of such great victory, he gave us the miracle of the oil, it is our history. To turn our backs and ignore? What a sad mystery!
Judah smiled sadly, and said “The Zelmans Partisans, it fights the good fight you are warriors all. My spirit is beside you, you must heed the call!” We were partisans, we Maccabees, we know of your struggle, we’ve made the same pleas.
Freedom comes dear, without effort it won’t last. Keep your sword sharp and ready, be prepared to draw fast.
Your weapons they will try to seize, your faith try to shake, and you must hold both close. Make no mistake.
Judah then brightened and said with a smile, you all are doing good work. You all spread the word, keep it up and you will be heard.
He then began to fade and my eyes began to tear, Oh Judah I said, why did you come here?
It was then Marlowe barked and I awoke with a start, and I began to rethink the idea that Chipotle pepper Tabasco in latkas was a good idea.
חג חנוכה שמח
chag chanukkah sameach
Happy Hanukkah Holiday!!
With sincere, abject and humble apologies to Clement Clarke Moore. And probably a few of you that just suffered through my attempt at poetry!
The Double Edged Standard Sword
I started collecting stories I wanted to use to write a column a few weeks ago.
Since then there have been the attacks in Paris and the attack in San Bernardino.
The rest of the world has begun to see what Israel has been living with for a very long time.
There is such a difference in how things are portrayed in the media. In America predictably if a gun is involved, conservatives, gun-owners, Christians, whites or some variation or combination of the listed will be blamed. It will be acceptable to call for violence, the internment or a combination of things against law abiding people that have committed no crime and are just trying to go about living their lives and mostly want to be left the heck alone.
Liberals, leftists, communists, socialists etc will not allow this to happen because they see the list above an a real impediment to their ultimate goal which is control, power and domination. So the ability of the list above must be limited, or they must be muzzled or eliminated.
I listened to a radio show within the last few weeks and the host made the point that Anti-Zionism is always the precursor to antisemitism. Anti-Zionism is the polite socially acceptable mask for antisemitism which will reveal and show itself in time.
And antisemitism is alive and well in the world. It flourishes under the guise of the “enlightened”, and while overt antisemitism would perhaps be challenged by Abe Foxman, as long as it wasn’t one of his friends that said it, Anti-Zionism is applauded in the UN, and the European nations, campuses in the US and a large chunk of the demoncratic party.
Let’s have a look-see shall we?
We are told by the media and other “authoritative” sources that the poor Palestinians just want their own home land, they were displaced by the Jews.
I’ll let the always eloquent Dennis Prager answer this from a lecture at Oxford. It has subtitles, we’re good. One thing I find really amusing, though it has nothing to do with the subject. If the little flower that is so anxious to speak against Mr. Prager had worn that dress in a sharia ruled country, she would be dead, eventually. Not sure what would happen first.
Double standard much? Nawww.
Now lets look at the peaceful Palestinians are so disenchanted because they are forced to live in poverty. Ok, why?
Job opportunities suck? Well, many of them collect dole from Israel. American tax dollars going to the PA are given out most generously to terrorists. But some did have jobs. Until the enlightened liberals interfered. The Boycott Divest & Sanction movement? Supported by some churches, buckets of liberals, and the brain dead on campuses all over. Let’s walk it out.
I read a very interesting interview with a Palestinian human rights activist Bassam Eid. He has nothing good to say about the BDS movement. He pointed out that it is hurting the Palestinians the most. Take for example Soda Stream. It moved from the settlement of Mishor Adumim near Jerusalem to Be’er Sheva due to BDS pressures. Some of the former workers had talked with Mr. Eid. The told him at Soda Stream they earned around 5,000 shekels a month, about 1,300 USD. Today they can receive the princely sum of 1,400 shekels (365 USD) from the Palestinian Authority. Sadly, they had taken on financial commitments based on the belief that their work at Soda Stream would continue. The interview ended with him saying to the BS BDS people “As long as the Palestinian people aren’t boycotting Israel, they don’t need to do so for us”.
The mayor of Nazareth has similar sentiments.
The Arab members of Knesset had been coming to Nazareth to meet, photos, rally, hate the Jews, the usual. But a odd thing happened, completely unexpectedly, the Jews quit coming to visit Nazareth.
Salam told the Israeli business newspaper Globes that “on a regular weekend, 20–30,000 Jews come to Nazareth, but yesterday there were none. One a regular weekend, they [the Jewish visitors] spend a minimum of 10 million shekels. Yesterday not one shekel was spent.”The impact has been devastating.“Restaurants are closed. Businesses are closed. They [the business owners] come to the municipality and weep,” said the mayor, noting that it will now take months to return business to where it was before the most recent outbreak of violence.
In fact, Mayor Ali Salam made his point loud and clear on live TV.
In the live broadcast, the mayor could be heard shouting at a shocked Odeh, “Take your ‘business’ elsewhere. …You have destroyed our city. …Not one Jew came [to Nazareth] today. Not one! …Shut up and get lost!”
The left takes great delight in trying to cripple Israel, but because they live in the liberal world they don’t know that things sometimes look good on paper, but that’s not how they plays out in the real world.
The latest is the European Union’s decision to brand Israeli products made in East Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and the Golan Heights. They are branding them to make the easier to boycott. Despite the fact that there are currently over 200 territorial disputes going on world wide, Israel is the only country the EU is requiring to label products. The PU ambassador to Israel said that the branding was pretty common, gave a load of baloney and when asked what other countries were required to do this (got a choice of 200 there Lars) replied, well, none. That’s a different situation. Of course it is Lars. Because the EU certainly isn’t antisemitic is it?
Now let’s move on to how the world treats the attacks that happen often in Israel. It is such a glaring difference that a magazine I subscribe to has a regular feature each month called “News From Pallywood”. If you aren’t familiar with this, it is very real. The media will show a photo of some poor innocent arab muslim being dragged off by her hair, or some poor child laying bloody in the street. Obvious victims of vicious Israelis. They just don’t run the photos of what happened moments before with the grinning arab woman hurling stones at soldiers and civilians. Or the cherubic looking child in the street having just stabbed a 13 year old Jewish child. There having even become well known stars of Pallywood. One little girl can turn on the tears at a moments notice. They are very media savvy. I’ve covered some of these attacks before. But since we in the US are currently being told by the obama regime that we are being silly being concerned about women and children let’s have a look at how that works out. Israel has a lot of experience with arab muslims.
A quick 47 second guide on how to avoid Israeli Brutality.
These girls were 14 and 16 years old. Their attack was carried out at Mahane Yehuda, which is a very large old market in Jerusalem. I love Mahane Yehuda, I love shopping at Mahane Yehuda. I’m making my list for my next visit. Many of these precious moments children that go out to stab Jews are in schools, getting an education and could have had prospects for a decent life. But for some reason have decided stabbing Jews is the best thing they could ever do with their lives.
תיעוד הפיגוע בירושלים: 2 המחבלות במסע הדקירות עד שנוטרלו. pic.twitter.com/9Ig2LrnRGx— הערוץ הראשון (@Channel1Iba) November 23, 2015
Here’s what “lightly wounded” looks like, from a magazine.
Just to put things in context.
Most of these are quite short. A few times you will notice the children had to be reminded to say “zionist” and not “Jews”. But some flat out said what they had been taught.
This one was kind of embarrassing for the TV hostess. It’s bad when your grieving guest star whips a knife out of her maidenform bra and says she’s waiting for her chance to stab Jews. Her son was killed stabbing Jews on a bus. He was stabbing Jews on a bus because his cousin was killed a month or so before stabbing Jews. This is the cycle of violence John Kerry and obama talk about. Jews get stabbed, they die, soldiers, armed citizens, the Jerusalem mayor, the police try to stop the stabbing and kill the assailant and another peaceful Palestinian will come and stab more Jews.
But, so the Christians won’t feel left out, these adorable tykes are playing behead the Christians in Turkey.
The media talks about “disproportionate” response. A parody news station called MSNBC uses propaganda maps put out by an anti-Israeli pro-Palestinian group to discuss land and territories.
There are a whole laundry list of helpful tips for journalists in this article, so you can report the news from the Middle East and not look like the usual media buffoons. And since it’s pretty humorous with links to pretty much back up all it’s claims it’s well worth reading.
Compare what you read in there with how the world and France reacted to the Paris terror attack. Just forget the part about barry recently standing on the stage in Paris and telling the French that mass shooting attacks don’t happen in other places in the world as he committed to more American gun control. France’s President said he would be “Ruthless” in response to the attacks. But no one questioned the proportionality of his response, the EU didn’t demand French wines be labeled. In fact everybody but barry was supportive. MSNBC didn’t call them to task, barry may or not have muttered something about not judging all the the response of the “extremists” which have nothing to do with Islam.
Many in our country have not taken a strong stand with Israel and her citizens under attack. They listen to CNN or MSNBC, or university Professor Biotch and don’t know what it’s like to live under constant threats. I think that is going to be changing as our populations demographics change. As the radio show host pointed out, Jews tend to be the canary in the mine. When attacks are beginning to start, they often start with the Jews. And, there was the HyperKosher attack with Charlie Hebdo, and what was done in response? Nothing. Well, not nothing. Nothing really from the French government as far as stopping Islamic attacks, but there has been a response from France’s Jewish population. There has been a 2400% increase since 2013 of young French Jews traveling to Israel. Some of those will consider making Aliyah.
We listen to politicians tell us we’re afraid of women and children. So? They kill the same as men. They are raised to do so. Look at the couple involved in the attack at San Bernardino.
As everyone tries to figure out why the attack happened, because it’s not radical Islam, probably more workplace violence. But a normally relatively clever British paper may have figured it out. A Messianic Jew may be responsible. A good first bit of the article describes what sort of things the man posted on his Facebook page (not the killer, one of the victims) and that he was a strong supporter of Israel (well, there ya go). He and the killer had been friends. Until the killer snapped ran home got his wife and the few little IEDs and pipe bombs he had laying around and donned his “assault clothes”. I’m actually impressed, it takes me longer to make an Israeli dish with quinoa, cauliflower & carrots. But we certainly can’t hold the innocent arab responsible! NO NO!! It’s what that EVIL Messianic Jew said! We must learn to watch what we say around the peaceful muslims, lest they snap & kill people!
I learned a couple things last week. In parashat Vayishlach in Genesis 32:11
11 Please deliver me from the hand of my brother, from the hand of Esau, for I fear him, that he may come and attack me, the mothers with the children.
The question was raised why did Yaakov say Esav the name, and then the title my brother? Why did he ask G-d to save him from both? Because he knew Esav, the wild man who could be a killer, who didn’t value his birthright, he knew to be on guard around him. But he also was afraid of his brother, the man he grew up with. Because he might not see the threat coming from his “brother” in time.
The attacks in Israel now are being perpetrated by the arabs that live among the Israelis. They work in their phone companies, attend their schools, work in their restaurants. They are the brothers and sisters living among them with the scissors hidden in their skirts.
And now they are the men who work in San Bernardino, the army Majors that are psychiatrists, the brothers that are living among us, that grew up here. We are bringing in more by the boatloads. And I’m guessing there will be a few Esavs among them.
What will be the result? Well, it’s almost Hanukkah now. And in Paris the police are telling Chabad not to light the Hanukkah candles. Seriously. And why do we celebrate Hanukkah? Oh, because the Maccabees were victorious over the Syrian Antiochus who wanted to wipe out Judaism and force the Jews to worship false G-d’s. Antiochus’s goal was to prevent the observance of Judaism and thus the revolt. Guess we best not say “You’ve come a long way baby” considering Chabad is now being told they can’t observe the festival that commemorates the war to practice Judaism.
So since France seems to be taking the wrong approach to dealing with Islam, I will provide the helpful information I got from another web site. Perhaps if they can do this, they won’t have any more attacks.
The irony of course, is that France has been very condemning of Israel and her long standing plight.
IF FRANCE WANTS PEACE WITH THE ARABS, THEY MUST DO THE FOLLOWING:
BORDERS
Return to the 1,420 borders
SETTLEMENTS
Stop building French homes on French soil
CAPITOL
Divide Paris into two Capitals for two peoples
Via Daniel Pipes.
So why do I call it the “Double Edged Standard Sword”? Because there is most certainly a double standard when it comes to how the world sees and judges Israeli Jews and her responses to terror attacks and how it treats other nations. And that difference has become a sword to be used against the Israelis. They need to defend themselves, the citizens need to defend themselves and the current American regime needs to quit asking their media lap puppies to skew their reporting to support the anti-Israel white house narrative. The double standard has become a double edged sword that is costing lives.
שבת שלום
Shabbat Shalom
