Jerusalem News (27 November 2016, 26 Cheshvan, 5777)
Contents:
1. Why is Syria so important to Russia?
2. Reports: Trumps Donated Bigly to Jewish, Israeli Causes
3. SENIOR IDF OFFICER: WOMEN IN ARMORED CORPS MEANS A WEAKER IDF
4. GAY FLAG HUNG UP AT RABBINATE. The Torah punishes it [homosexuality] with death.
5. The Henny Machlis Guide to Character Improvement
6. Why is Israel receiving tons of aid from the U.S.? by Yoni Friedman
7. Arnold Roth: What lies behind the conflagration
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1. Why is Syria so important to Russia?
Gilad Sabo
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Syria-so-important-to-Russia/answer/Gilad-Sabo-1
Extracts:
Syria itself is not important for Russia. But it serves a few of Russia's interests.
Syria borders Turkey' s southern region. Turkey in turn controls part of the Black Sea. Crimea is very close to Turkey's territorial waters. Turkey is also a member of NATO. Controlling Syria means that the Russians have a kind of geographical continuum (not exactly because Turkey is in the middle) in a strategic NATO region.
Easy access to the Mediterranean. Instead of using the Dardanelles when they want to get to the Mediterranean (which basically border with all of South Europe) they use their naval facility in Tartus .
Their economy is crippled, the West is too fast for them. They can't keep with the rate of both financial and military development of the west. In addition they invaded Crimea and now have to deal with sanctions....
Vacuum - there is a vacuum in the Middle East.... Russia sees it as opportunity that it cannot miss.
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2. Reports: Trumps Donated Bigly to Jewish, Israeli Causes
http://www.jewishpress.com/news/breaking-news/reports-trumps-donated-bigly-to-jewish-causes/2016/11/21/
By: JNi.MediaÂ
Published: November 21st, 2016
Israeli media have reported several important donations made in years past by both the late Fred Trump and his son, now President Elect Donald Trump.
Some 50 years ago, real estate developer Fredrick Trump donated the land for the Talmud Torah of the Beach Haven Jewish Center at 723 Ave. Z in Flatbush, NY, as can be seen from a promotional image released by that institution. The center is open and active to this day, offering programs for youth and the elderly, as well as an active synagogue.
And Fred's son, as reported by Yediot Ahronot, donated heavily on both occasions when Israelis who had been expelled from their homes by their own government needed assistance to resettle.
Donald Trump donated in the 1980s, to help build new infrastructure for the Israelis removed from the northern Sinai by the Begin government, which returned the peninsula to Egypt as part of the peace agreement. Then, in 2005, Trump gave again, to help resettle the Jews of Gush Katif in the Gaza Strip, exiled by the Ariel Sharon government.
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3. SENIOR IDF OFFICER: WOMEN IN ARMORED CORPS MEANS A WEAKER IDF
by Arutz Sheva Staff
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/220564
Extracts:
Reserve Major-General Yiftach Ron-Tal, formerly the commander of the IDF's ground forces, fiercely criticized the decision to integrate female soldiers into the Armored Corps, saying those who push for it are out to weaken the IDF.
Ron-Tal said the decision to integrate women into the Armored Corps was a "scandal that will harm everything you can even think of, including the IDF's abilities to fight."
Ron-Tal also revealed that there are several groups who have a vested interest in pushing women into all divisions of the IDF, in order to weaken it.
Ron-Tal is not alone. The number of women joining combat units is at a record high, and experts suggested several months ago that women in combat would mean decreased fighting abilities for the IDF as a whole.
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4. GAY FLAG HUNG UP AT RABBINATE
by Shlomo Pyutrikovsky
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/374042
The Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transexual was hung up outside the offices of the Rabbinate last night in downtown Jerusalem and an additional flag was painted on the floor at the entrance. The police have opened an investigation.
The incident comes in response to the remarks of Chief Rabbi Shlomo Amar to Israel Hayom in which he called the LGBT community a "cult of abomination." According to the interview, Rabbi Amar said "It is a cult of abomination. It is clear that it is abomination. The Torah punishes it with death. This is in the first line of serious sins. They say 'tendency,' 'perversion' -- nonsense. There is lust, and a person can overcome it if he wants, as with any other kind of lust. This is one of the most forbidden types of lust. The most grave."
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5. The Henny Machlis Guide to Character Improvement
http://www.aish.com/sp/so/The-Henny-Machlis-Guide-to-Character-Improvement.html?s=mm
[ Henry Machlis passed away recently. Henry was the wife of Rabbi Mordecai Machles and the mother of their children.]
Henny's loving-kindness, generosity, and exemplary character were the product of a lifetime of striving and working on herself.
by Sara Yoheved Rigler Â
Extracts:
It would be easy to think that Henny Machlis was born righteous. Her loving-kindness, generosity, and exemplary character were, in fact, the product of a lifetime of striving and working on herself.
Happiness
At a memorial event for Henny Machlis, who passed away one year ago at the age of 57, Rebbetzin Rena Tarshish testified: 'Anybody who ever knew her knew that she was the happiest person in the world. The happiest person. She always walked around with a smile.'
A Good Eye
Many people are critical. They look at a person or a situation and instantly zero in on the defects. In Judaism, the opposite of this trait is called, 'ayin tova ' Â a good eye. ' Ayin tova' Â assumes that human beings choose what they see. Since in this world it's impossible to see the total picture, people make a (usually unconscious) choice whether to see the good or the bad in the people or situations they encounter.
One time I walked into the house and there were broken cabinets and debris all over the place. I received the usual, 'Shalom!' but this time it was followed by, Â 'Boruch Hashem, a pipe burst and it leaked downstairs, but the Baal Shem Tov says where there's water, there's blessing!'
Gratitude
For Henny, gratitude was the most potent weapon against sadness. She used gratitude not just when facing the ordinary hassles of life, but even when suffering the intense pain of cancer.
Not Blaming
One of the most prevalent human weaknesses is blaming other people. Whenever something goes wrong, the default response for most people is to look for someone to blame.
Henny, by contrast, truly believed that everything that happens comes, Â directly or indirectly, Â from God. Therefore, blaming a human being is like the rabbinic metaphor of a man beating a dog with a stick and the dog bites the stick, not the man. In Henny's view blaming anyone is a repudiation of emunah, faith in God.
Overcoming Anger
Her Daughter Yocheved's Story
My mother worked on her temper her whole life. You're amazed that my mother had a temper? This was her #1 thing that you would never know.
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6. Why is Israel receiving tons of aid from the U.S.? by Yoni Friedman
https://www.quora.com/Why-is-Israel-receiving-tons-of-aid-from-the-U-S/answer/Yoni-Friedman-2
Extracts:
You see, the terror organizations and other factions of radical Islam have a cute name for Israel - we're affectionately called 'the little devil', and labeled for extinction. A lot of their time and energy is focused on us, and trying to wipe our puny little country off the world map.
Let's say, though, that we didn't exist, that this 'little devil' is taken care of.
Guess who the 'big devil' is.
Yup, I'm sure that wasn't that hard. That would be the US, and Western society. Imagine if all of the terror organizations had you on their radar, and were plotting attacks which would make 9/11 look tame. How much more do you think you'd be spending on defense than the already exorbitant sums you're dishing out now?
Instead, you guys conveniently have an allied country in the middle of extremist hell, which is getting a heck of a lot of experience in dealing with these nutjobs, amassing vital information which it feeds back to you, develops technologies which you're more than happy to acquire, and is forced to use at least three quarters of our aid anyways on US products, effectively keeping some of your industry alive. In addition, you guys get some serious leverage on what goes on in Israel on a political level, and the freedom to meddle in Israeli affairs, some of which are really none of your business.
You pay $3.8 billion annually for this pleasure. That might seem exorbitant, but it sure as hell beats having to purchase another couple of these: [picture of aircraft carrier]
How much does it cost to build and to maintain one aircraft carrier?
In fact Israel is sometimes called 'the US's permanent aircraft carrier' for that very reason, except that we're far more adept at counterterrorism than a floating bit of metal, technologically advanced as it may be.
So there's the answer to your question. Israel receives tons of aid from the US because, quite frankly, it pays for you guys to invest your money here.
Happy we could help.
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Isaiah 9:
18 For wickedness burns like a fire;
It consumes briars and thorns;
It even sets the thickets of the forest aflame
And they roll upward in a column of smoke.
7. Arnold Roth: What lies behind the conflagration
Posted: 26 Nov 2016 09:18 PM PST
 http://thisongoingwar.blogspot.co.il/
Extracts:
The New York Times' assessment of the massive fires that had erupted all over Israel in the previous 48 hours was summed up in these striking opening sentences of Isabel Kershner's report this past Friday:
Parts of the port city of Haifa in northern Israel were ablaze on Thursday as wildfires raged through the country for a third day, devouring forests, damaging homes and prompting the evacuation of tens of thousands of people.
Asked how long Haifa was likely to be battling the blazes, Mayor Yona Yahav told reporters, "This is a question that has to be referred to God."
Israeli officials said the fires had been fanned by unusually strong winds and made worse by a dry atmosphere, but they also said they suspected that many of them had been caused by arson and negligence. Dozens of people have been slightly affected by smoke inhalation, but no serious injuries or fatalities have been reported.
["As Wildfires Rage, Israel Suggests Arson and Asks for Foreign Help", New York Times, November 24, 2016]
For us, the tone of that piece was set by "Israel Suggests Arson" in the headline and the words we have bolded above: "slightly affected by smoke inhalation, but no serious injuries..." Knowing the scale of the massive blazes and which places were - and which were not - affected makes the wording appear especially shabby. It goes on to make mention of Israeli concerns, articulated by the government minister in charge of public security, Gilad Erdan, that
"the professional assessment was that almost half the fires were the result of arson."
It's now early Sunday morning, and those fires and the price paid by Israeli society are very much in the news here. Much less reported are the very widespread sounds of celebration from right across the Arab world, particularly via the social media.
Â
On Friday we Tweeted [here] a link to a Twitter search of the Arabic words for "Israel burns", calling the many ugly posts a "glimpse into the hatred at the core of the generations-long confrontation of the Arab world with Israel". We also noted [here] that although the search results were all in a language most of our readers probably don't understand, "No Arabic language skill needed to absorb what's in the air".
Here's a situation update [Sunday November 27, 2016 at 2:30 am], with direct quotes from various sources. Note that the New York Times' choice of descriptor - the word "slightly" - somehow doesn't appear even once in any of these reports:
"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â As of Saturday night, security forces had arrested more than 35 people suspected of either arson or encouraging others to commit arson since Tuesday... Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan (Likud) said Saturday that most of those arrested in connection with the fires are Palestinian residents of the West Bank. A "small minority" of the suspects are Arab Israelis, he added... He called the cases of arson "a new kind of terror," and said that whereas in the past there was incitement on social media that "encouraged people to go out and stab and car-ram" Israelis, this new version "now encourages them to go out and burn people alive, burn communities alive." [Times of Israel]
"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The IDF and police captured a suspect that was sighted by a Nature and Parks Authority worker starting a fire in the north-western Etzion region. The suspect was handed over to the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) for investigation. The IDF spokesperson's unit stated that during the night an IDF force near Dir Kaddis in the Ephraim region captured three suspects in a vehicle that had two full bottles of fuel, one empty bottle of fuel, a sack with fabric, gloves and lighters... [Jerusalem Post]
"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The wildfires that have raged across Israel over five days have left at least 133 people injured, rendered hundreds of homes unlivable and consumed tens of thousands of dunams of protected parks and nature reserves. The Magen David Adom rescue service reported Saturday that among the 133 people treated by the organization for fire-related injuries, one was seriously hurt and three others were moderately injured. The overall tally is likely higher, officials said, as some people - one estimate suggested as many as 50 - may have gone to hospitals on their own for injuries such as smoke inhalation. [Times of Israel]
"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Some 2,000 firefighters battled the fires since Tuesday, many of them working in grueling 24-hour shifts alongside 450 soldiers from the Home Front Command and 69 Cypriot firefighters... The battle to push back the flames marked among the most difficult operations ever undertaken by Israel's firefighters. [Times of Israel]
"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, the United States, France, the United Kingdom, Greece, Cyprus, Italy, Croatia, Russia, and the Palestinian Authority have sent planes, helicopters, trucks, and ground crews to assist the some 250 Israeli firefighters and soldiers who have been working for days to extinguish fires in areas surrounding Beit Shemesh, Modi'in, and Jerusalem, as well as in Haifa, Hadera, Zichron Yaakov, Umm al-Fachm, Lachish, Nesher, the Etzion settlement bloc, and outside the northern town of Kfar Vradim... [i24news]
"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Haifa was the worst-hit city from the blazes, with 527 homes completely destroyed, according to a Ynet News tally. Other reports have indicated a lower number, more than 400 homes, that were rendered unlivable in the northern city. Some 1,700 Haifa residents are not able to return home by late Saturday, Channel 2 said, because their homes are unlivable... Haifa city officials said Saturday that the fires ravaged some 28,000 dunams (6,900 acres) of land in the city since Thursday. The evacuation of some 60,000 Haifa residents from about a dozen fire-threatened neighborhoods on Thursday was said by Mayor Yona Yahav to have been the biggest such operation in Israeli history... [Times of Israel]
"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â In all, as much as 130,000 dunams (32,000 acres) of natural forests and bushes were destroyed, about 30 percent more than the territory affected by the Carmel Forest fire of 2010. A great deal of the Judean Hills National Park and the Kfir Nature Reserve were burned... [Times of Israel]
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"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â On Friday night, all the residents - 350 families - of the town of Neve Tzuf (Halamish) in Samaria were forced to leave their homes after arsonists set fire to 3 different locations throughout the town. Fifteen houses were completely destroyed and collapsed, while 25 other houses were seriously damaged from the flames. Four civilians were lightly injured, including two firefighters... [Israel National News]
"Â Â Â Â Â Â Â The fires that devastated Halamish were "apparently the result of arson by a gang of Palestinians," Channel 10 reported on Saturday night. Security officials were quoted as saying that petrol bombs had been found at the scene... [Times of Israel]