Wednesday, September 24, 2014
Adolf Eichmann Is Alive and Well and Living in the Middle East
After 50 years of controversy, and many paperback editions, Hannah Arendt’s Eichmann in Jerusalem has now been consigned to the dustbin of history. The final nail in the coffin of Arendt’s thesis is Bettina Stangneth’s Eichmann Before Jerusalem, which appeared in German in 2011 and has just been released in English. She has produced an eloquent, riveting work of history, which supersedes even David Cesarani’s excellent Becoming Eichmann.At UN, Obama says too many Israelis ready to abandon peace
Stangneth, an independent scholar based in Hamburg, spent 10 years combing through the Eichmann archives, reading many hundreds of pages of his impossibly messy handwriting, and listening to the taped conversations that Eichmann made with Willem Sassen and other Nazi exiles while they drank wine, reminisced, and defended the goals of National Socialism. She argues that the real Eichmann is the one revealed in the 29 hours of interviews recorded in Argentina in 1957, while he made his living as a rabbit farmer called Ricardo Clement (though everyone in the large Nazi community in Argentina knew Eichmann’s real name and history).
The case against Arendt, and the portrait of Eichmann that she gave to the world, is by now familiar: She coldly insists that the Holocaust was not a Jewish tragedy but a general human one, even while she demands superhuman ethical standards from the Jews. (h/t Elder of Lobby)
Declaring the world at a crossroads between war and peace, US President Barack Obama said at the UN on Wednesday that the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is not sustainable, and that Israelis must not give up on peace.Europe’s Anti-Semitism Comes Out of the Shadows
“The violence engulfing the region today has made too many Israelis ready to abandon the hard work of peace,” he said. “That’s something worthy of reflection within Israel. Because let’s be clear: the status quo in the West Bank and Gaza is not sustainable.”
Obama also vowed to lead a coalition to dismantle an Islamic State “network of death” that has wreaked havoc in the Middle East and drawn the US back into military action in the region.
Speaking to the annual gathering of the United Nations General Assembly, Obama said the US would be a “respectful and constructive partner” in confronting the Islamic State militants through force. But he also implored Muslims in the Middle East to reject the ideology that has spawned groups like the Islamic State and to cut off funding that has allowed that terror group and others to thrive. (h/t MtTB)
From the immigrant enclaves of the Parisian suburbs to the drizzly bureaucratic city of Brussels to the industrial heartland of Germany, Europe’s old demon returned this summer. “Death to the Jews!” shouted protesters at pro-Palestinian rallies in Belgium and France. “Gas the Jews!” yelled marchers at a similar protest in Germany.
The ugly threats were surpassed by uglier violence. Four people were fatally shot in May at the Jewish Museum in Brussels. A Jewish-owned pharmacy in this Paris suburb was destroyed in July by youths protesting Israel’s military campaign in Gaza. A synagogue in Wuppertal, Germany, was attacked with firebombs. A Swedish Jew was beaten with iron pipes. The list goes on.
The scattered attacks have raised alarm about how Europe is changing and whether it remains a safe place for Jews. An increasing number of Jews, if still relatively modest in total, are now migrating to Israel. Others describe “no go” zones in Muslim districts of many European cities where Jews dare not travel.
The UN Honors the Group that Spawned the Fogel Massacre Giulio Meotti
It doesn’t matter that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) has been designated as a terrorist organization by the EU, UK, US and Australia.JPost interview with PM Netanyahu: ‘Who turned out to be right?’
It doesn’t matter that this organization was responsible, among other attacks, for the 1972 hijacking of an airliner from Lod airport that resulted in the deaths of 28 passengers.
It doesn’t matter that PFLP’s members slaughtered five members of the Fogel family in Itamar.
The United Nations’ 2014 Equator Prize is to be awarded to the Palestinian Union of Agricultural Work Committees, which is closely affiliated to the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine with shared leadership, assets and coordinated political activities.
Having now spent nearly nine years as prime minister, without a serious political challenger anywhere on the horizon, Netanyahu is a man who feels not only confident, but vindicated. He is looking out at the world with a barely suppressible I-told-you-so attitude.Ambassador Daniel Shapiro: Together Israel, US will bring peace and security
Netanyahu is a leader who feels he has correctly predicted the future, often going very much against the grain to do so.
He accurately foresaw the disastrous consequences that would follow the 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip; he predicted the Arab Spring would not – as the Thomas Friedmans of the world gushed – give birth to “Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” in the Arab world; and he pushed hard, and successfully, for tough economic sanctions against Iran, saying this would have a significant impact on the country.
He also feels vindicated by the recent Gaza operation – that it proves to all the absolute necessity of the security requirements he has so long demanded from the Palestinian Authority, before signaling a willingness to withdraw from any additional territory .
Rosh Hashana is a time for gathering with family and friends, to take stock of the year that has passed and set our sights expectantly on the promise of the year ahead. As we look to the year 5775, with all its challenges and opportunities, one thing Israelis can be confident of is the deep, unbreakable bonds of friendship and cooperation between Israel and the United States.Israel’s Unspoken Problem: Money, Oil, and Influence
Over the past three months, Israelis, particularly those in the South, endured the onslaught of rockets and mortar shells that terrorist organizations in Gaza fired indiscriminately at men, women and children. Hamas operatives attempted to infiltrate Israel via elaborate tunnels methodically excavated for purpose of conducting terrorist attacks. Nearly 70 IDF soldiers were killed and roughly 470 injured while bravely defending their fellow citizens from these attacks; civilians were also killed and injured by rockets and mortar shells. There were also many civilians among the casualties on the Palestinian side. Each civilian death, on both sides, represented a tragedy.
In Gaza, Palestinians were deliberately put in harm’s way by a regime that intimidates its own people, brutally suppresses dissent, and uses civilians as human shields. During the months and years preceding the most recent conflict, when Hamas had the opportunity and the governing responsibility to improve the lives of the people of Gaza through investments in health, education and infrastructure, it chose instead to dig tunnels, build rockets and stockpile weapons.
Israelis showed remarkable resilience in the face of those attacks launched from Gaza. No nation can accept such aggression against its people. They demonstrated extraordinary unity and compassion, which touched Americans through the outpouring of support for the families of the two American lone soldiers who lost their lives during the conflict, a poignant illustration of the bonds between our two peoples.
Mr. Indyk has recently suggested that governments should consult objective institutions like his about foreign policy.” He has, but can Mr. Indyk and Brookings be objective about issues involving Qatar’s interests? Are strings attached to Qatar’s money?No, it’s not the Jews. Not the US. Look instead at Islam
Explicitly, the answer is no. But there are strings – they are just implicit. Will Qatar’s grant continue to be funded if Mr. Indyk frustrates the Emir? Will there be a next gift from Qatar? If Brookings members strike Qatar as unhelpful, oil money will cease to flow. That “if” clause is not a possibility but a fact.
And Qatar is not alone. Saudi Arabia is a long-term supporter of Jimmy Carter’s foundation, and Carter has been a long-time basher of Israel. Indeed, individuals like Mr. Indyk and Mr. Carter are just the edge of the problem. Universities are beholden too. The University of California at Berkeley and Los Angeles and Columbia University, just to name three, are deeply indebted to Arab oil money. The Middle East faculty they hire and the “independent” positions of those academics are colored by financial gifts. No strings attached, but can it be doubted that future gifts will be determined by the cordiality of university positions and faculty statements to the giver’s vision of events?
The problem is larger still. Saudi Arabia, for example, has huge investments in places like England. It owns Harrods among other ventures. Its royalty attend American, British, and other European universities, pay full tuition and doubtlessly support this program and that. It is in the financial interest of nations in which the oil rich study and play to support their countries.
The Australian debate is bedevilled by three truly ludicrous myths peddled variously and in different combinations, by Greens, lefties, professional anti-Americans, and that great undifferentiated and largely uninformed cadre of general commentators on everything who figure so ubiquitously, and so repetitively, on the ABC.Livni: It was always clear Palestinian state would not have full sovereignty
The myths are: that the rise of Islamic State in Iraq is a consequence of the 2003 US-led invasion of Iraq; that recent US counter-terrorist activities and aggressive actions in the Middle East have spurred the terrorist threat on; and that Israel remains the core issue, or the root cause, of the Middle East’s problems…
Professing, as opposed to actually believing, these myths offers a high level of psychological comfort, because they give you the two favourite pantomime villains of international politics: the US and Israel…
The most important and destructive dynamic in the Middle East today is the sectarian conflict between Sunni and Shia… Israel’s role in the basic Shia-Sunni hostilities is absolutely zero…
Israel is the licensed grievance in many Arab nations, which the public is allowed to talk about. Criticising Israel is also a good way for Westerners to demonstrate their concern for the Middle East without having to take any difficult decisions.
Israel’s insistence on ongoing security precautions in the West Bank does not constitute an insurmountable obstacle to Palestinian statehood and sovereignty, Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told The Times of Israel. But it was always clear, from the start of negotiations, she added, that due to Israel’s security needs a Palestinian state would not enjoy “full and complete sovereignty.”Abbas Will 'Drop a Bomb' on Israel at the UN
In an interview ahead of Rosh Hashanah, Livni, who led Israel’s negotiating team in this year’s failed negotiations with the Palestinian Authority, said the collapse of the peace process was deeply disappointing, but that it was “not too late” to restart talks. (The full interview appears here.)
“Always, from the first day of the negotiations, it was clear that any agreement (on Palestinian statehood) would not include full and complete sovereignty,” the Hatnua party leader said. “We are speaking in terms of a sovereign Palestinian state, but it’s clear that the sovereign Palestinian state must accept limitations. Certainly demilitarization. By the way, that’s also what we’re demanding now for Gaza. Limitations and arrangements that will ensure, in the long term, that no threat is created of the kind we have been witnessing.”
A senior member of Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction said that Abbas will "drop a bomb" against Israel at the UN General Assembly on Friday.Abbas’s Fake Civil-Rights Struggle
The senior official, Jibril Rajoub, said in an interview on Palestinian Arab media that the move would be an integration of the international community into "the strategy of the Palestinian people."
It is worth noting that Rajoub in mid-August said the PA had made a "political decision" to support Arab terrorists "slaughtering" Jews living in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem - an announcement that has been accompanied by a steep rise in terror attacks in the region.
Abbas is currently in New York for the UN General Assembly that starts on Wednesday, and which he will address on Friday in a call for a "new political reality."
The basic difference between the civil-rights movement and Palestinian nationalism is that the former laudably sought to gain the rights of blacks without prejudice to those of their white neighbors. The Palestinian drive for self-determination has, unfortunately, always been inextricably linked to the century-long campaign to eradicate the Jewish presence in the land. If Israelis now hesitate to replicate its Gaza experiment in the West Bank it is because Hamas has shown them what happens when withdrawals occur.Campus Hate Group Receives Endorsement From Mahmoud Abbas
Instead of making false analogies about Israel, Abbas should be publicly denouncing the way Hamas used the population of Gaza as human shields and its commitment to terror, not to mention ensuring that the broadcast and print outlets he controls cease fomenting hatred and delegitimization of Israel and Jews.
If Israelis are no longer that interested in Abbas, it’s because the Gaza war proved his irrelevance. If he wants to persuade them to take him seriously, he needs to work for peace among his own people, not waste time smearing Israel when not even his foreign cheerleaders are particularly interested in him.
Campus hate group Students for Justice in Palestine and the fringe activist group J Street, which claims to be pro-Israel, received endorsements from Palestinian Authority leader and terrorist-supporter PA President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday evening.Munich Olympics terrorists get BBC rebranding
Addressing a crowd of students at Cooper Union, Abbas referred to the groups as the "seeds of peace" on college campuses.
SJP has a long-documented history of hatred and intimidation on campus and has even gone as far as to physically threaten supporters of Israel on campus. Some of the more recent exploits of SJP were highlighted by Roz Rothstein, president of StandWithUs, earlier this year:
On September 22nd the BBC News website’s Middle East page carried an article titled “Israeli Mossad spy Mike Harari dies, aged 87“.Why did Arab Bank stand and fight when Iran ran?
Remarkably, in that report the terrorists responsible for the murders of eleven Israeli athletes at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games are rebranded “militants”, the terrorist organization to which they belonged is termed merely a “group” and no mention is made of the Black September Organisation’s links to Fatah and the PLO.
One of the incredible characteristics of Monday night's historic terror financing jury verdict against Arab Bank was that there was a trial at all.British Labour party bias is appalling
Shurat Hadin – Israel Law Center is likely the leader in the field of lawsuits related to terror financing and while it has collected significant damages in some rare cases, it has never gone to a full trial against a bank with the statute of Arab Bank (though it is working hard against Bank of China.)
Most typically, the NGO or some of the few other players in this field, get default judgments against countries or financial institutions associated with Iran, Syria, North Korea or other rogue parties, some in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but they cannot collect on them.
The countries or parties do not show up to defend the case and essentially disappear.
They move their assets or never had significant enough assets in the US in the first place to make a meaningful seizure, or as in one rare case in Italy, courts allow the countries to remove their funds on an honor pledge by the party to continue to show up for hearings (which countries can break once the assets are moved.)
Statements made by Ed Miliband and his Shadow Foreign Minister, Douglas Alexander at the Labour Party Conference on Monday, September 22, were appalling for their one-sided bias against Israel.Pursuing Israeli "War Criminals" - The Theme Of Meeting Held At UN Headquarters In Geneva
Although they paid lip service to a condemnation of “Hamas rockets and the terrorization of civilian populations” the only use of the word “illegal” was in reference to Israeli building, and the only use of the word “immoral” was for settlements, which they described as being done “on other peoples land.”
No room for doubt or uncertainty there. No consideration for a view that the land belongs, both historically and legally, to Israel under international law dating back to 1922 and beyond. No mention of the fact that this is enshrined in the United Nations Charter, including the reference to “close Jewish settlement” of the land. All that, and more, was wiped away by a Labour leadership that ignores facts and history, overlooks Palestinian crimes and rejectionism, in favour of condemning Israel of criminality.
A banner encouraging the pursuit of Israeli "war criminals" was displayed at the Palais des Nations in Geneva, Switzerland on September 22, 2014. The occasion was "an informal meeting held in parallel to the session" of the UN Human Rights Council. The meeting was entitled "Human rights violations in the Gaza strip during the Israeli military operation 'Protective edge' and measures to pursue war criminals." It was organized by the so-called "national human rights institution," the Palestine Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR). Though the UN bulletin announcing the event carries a standard disclaimer for what may or may not be said, the application to hold the meeting in the first place must have been vetted and approved by UN staff. In addition, the UN itself advertises the event widely to government and non-governmental organizations.Several Hundred Protesters Call for Met Opera to Cancel ‘The Death of Klinghoffer’
At the rally, protesters held signs reading “Klinghoffer Opera: Propaganda Masquerading as Art” and “The Met Opera Glorifies Terrorism.”Over a Thousand Protest the Met's Obscene Opera
High-ranking New York political leaders—including former New York governor George Pataki, former U.S. attorney general Michael Mukasey, U.S. Rep. Eliot Engel (D-NY), and New York State Assemblyman Dov Hikind—joined the protesters.
Additionally, several Jewish and Christian organizations such as the Zionist Organization of America, the Simon Wiesenthal Center, the Catholic League, and the Christians’ Israel Public Action Campaign, co-sponsored and attended the rally.
The protesters read a letter denouncing the opera that was written by the father of Daniel Pearl, a Wall Street Journal journalist who was executed by terrorists in 2002. “We do not stage operas for rapists and we do not compose symphonies for penetrating the minds of ISIS (Islamic State) executioners,” the letter reads.
“This anti-Semitic opera viciously falsifies history to malign and incite hatred against Israel and the Jewish people. The opera is a disgrace and should be canceled immediately,” Morton Klein, national president of the Zionist Organization of America, said in a statement.
There was media coverage of the event, with The Wall Street Journal accurately reporting that “more than a thousand people protested.” It is not surprising that The New York Times downplayed the protest turnout, saying that only “several hundred” participated. Of course, The Times had bemoaned the cancellation of the simulcasts in an editorial earlier in the year and recently endorsed the antisemitic production itself.J Street U Member: 'We Are Responsible' For Deaths Of Young Children
Several times during the course of the protest, the police had to move the barriers and expand further into the street to accommodate the crowd. The pictures speak for themselves.
On the campus of Indiana University, one J Street U student asserted, “we are responsible” for the deaths of young children killed during Operation Protective Edge. The Indiana Daily Student covered the “Vigil for Israeli and Palestinian Victims” which was organized by J Street U:International Day of Action Against Israel, UC Berkeley: A photo essay
It is unclear whether Taussig holds J Street responsible for failing to confront Hamas’ tactic of using human shields or if she blames Israel for the loss of Palestinian lives.
Today was the "Day of Action" against Israel on the University of California at Berkeley campus. The Muslim Students Association and Students for Just Us in Palestine shrieked "from the River to the Sea", and "We support the Intifada" They bolstered their numbers with career anti-Israel activists from the community, but they were largely ignored by the students hurrying off to Top Dog for lunchRutgers College Republicans Call On School To Condemn SJP's Call For Violence
On Tuesday, The Rutgers University chapter of College Republicans called on president Dr. Robert Barchi to condemn calls for violence that the student group Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP) expressed earlier in the afternoon.UCLA Students Stand Up To SJP
As first reported by TruthRevolt, SJP tabled on the Rutgers campus with a number of anti-Israel signs, with one sign encouraging violence through an intifada. Previous Palestinian intifadas have included bus bombings, suicide bombers and the murders of hundreds of men, women and children by Islamic extremists.
“The Rutgers College Republicans are disappointed by Rutgers University for allowing Students for Justice in Palestine table today on the steps of Brower calling for an Intifada from "Ferguson to Gaza," wrote the College Republicans. "Last semester we spoke out against the culture of intolerance that prevails at Rutgers University. We believe their needs to be a civilized debate on-campus, no one should be allowed to call for violent actions. When protesters resort to calls for violence it prohibits the free exchange of ideas at Rutgers University.”
“We encourage Rutgers University and President Barchi to condemn the conduct of these students,” the group concluded.
Students at University of California at Los Angeles made a bold statement earlier this morning when they gathered in front of the iconic Bruin Bear at the UCLA campus to demonstrate the hypocrisy of Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). With the help of TruthRevolt, students held a mannequin, hanging, with the sign, "I'M A GAY IRANIAN. SJP DOESN'T CARE ABOUT ME." Students quickly took notice.Australian Jews on Edge After Islamic State Arrests and Rise of Anti-Semitism
SJP is a national anti-Semitic student group which falsely advertises that it stands for justice and human rights in Palestine -- and today, they called for the complete boycott of Israel, coincidentally (or not) on the eve of the Jewish New Year. SJP founder Hatem Bazian announced that it would be an "International Day of Action." Other supporters of groups like SJP have called for an "Intifada", attempting to paint Israel as an apartheid state.
Despite the rise of anti-Semitism across Europe in the wake of Operation Protective Edge, it is still easy to think that this kind of sentiment is confined to that part of the world. The Australian Jewish community might disagree.Emergency Aid Dispatched to Ukrainian Jewish Refugees
This week a group of Australian Jews launched the Anti-Semitism Action Plan (ASAP), a joint initiative by the Jewish Communal Appeal (JCA) and the Jewish Board of Deputies in Sydney, to try to prevent manifestations of anti-Semitism in the country.
“Sadly, for the first time in living memory, a small number of Jews in Sydney are scared to be Jewish publicly,” Daniel Grynberg, the chief executive of the JCA, told Haaretz.
As a shaky ceasefire continues to hold in Ukraine between government and pro-Russian rebel forces, many civilians caught in the middle of the conflict are still homeless refugees in their own country.How Israeli app technology helps beat Ebola
Among them are some 5,000 Jews who fled fierce battles in the cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, where several community members were killed in the fighting.
In order to help those refugees still languishing in camps as the High Holidays approach, the International Fellowship of Jews and Christians (IFJC) has taken the decision in recent days to extend an emergency humanitarian aid pack for the upcoming Rosh Hashana (Jew New Year) and Sukkot holidays, to the tune of two million shekels.
About Ebola, an app built using a programming platform developed in Israel and abroad, is providing medical workers in the field with what is turning out to be one of their most effective tools available for preventing the alarming spread of Ebola in the villages of in West Africa. Using the Snapp platform, it took volunteers only about three days to build a mobile app that provides information on what Ebola is, what to do if symptoms associated with Ebola appear, and how to avoid catching it in the first place.‘Exceptional’ gold medallion goes on display at Israel Museum
Most important, said Asaf Kindler of Snapp – the platform is so easy to use that it was a simple matter for volunteers to reprogram for the languages used by villagers in the back-country villages of Liberia, Sierra Leone, and other affected countries – languages like Jola, Krio, Liberian English, and Wolof. “It’s essential that people understand exactly what is going on, and to do that you have to communicate with them in their own language,” said Kindler. “Using Snapp, anyone can build an app by clicking on a few buttons on their mobile device, so it was easy for the volunteers to install the languages into their app.”
A huge gold medallion and a trove of gold pieces went on display at the Israel Museum for the first time since their discovery last year at the base of the Temple Mount, the museum announced Monday.Start-Up Nation — land of opportunity for philanthropy
The find, made last year by a Hebrew University team led by Professor Eilat Mazar near the Temple Mount’s Southern Wall, was dated to the early 7th century CE, in all likelihood the time of the brief Persian conquest of Jerusalem in 614 CE. It includes 36 gold Byzantine coins, gold bracelets, earrings, a silver ingot, a gold-plated hexagonal prism and the large golden medallion embossed with Jewish motifs.
David Mevorach, senior curator of Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine Archaeology, said that the special exhibit showcasing the rare artifacts was open in time for the Jewish High Holidays, which is appropriate given the decorations on the medallion. The gold disk, which is believed by Mazar to have served as ornamentation for a Torah scroll, is emblazoned with a seven-armed menorah, a shofar — the ram’s horn traditionally blown on the Jewish New Year and Day of Atonement — and what Mazar identified as a small Torah scroll.
Last week, Rewalk Robotics became the 64th Israeli company listed on NASDAQ. Famous for developing the ReWalk exoskeleton – which enables paraplegics to walk again – the Rewalk Robotics’s team embodies the mix of chutzpah and talent that has earned Israel the reputation as “the Start-Up Nation.”Golda and Ben-Gurion, the toys
Tiny Israel – with a population of less than eight million and few natural resources – has more companies listed on NASDAQ than any other country besides the U.S. and China. The same qualities driving investors to the Start-up Nation make Israel a philanthropic land of opportunity as well.
In an era when social entrepreneurs are choosing among a global pool of innovative institutions focused on making the biggest impact, Israel’s reservoir of brainpower, out-of-the-box thinking, and relentless drive to tackle seemingly insurmountable problems is particularly attractive. Whether philanthropists are looking to advance cutting-edge medical research, develop technologies to bring about U.S. energy independence, or help small farmers to move from poverty to prosperity in Africa and Latin America, Israeli organizations are often the best equipped to deliver results.
Need a new tchotchka?PreOccupied Territory: Abraham Arrested After Nearly Sacrificing Son (satire)
Asaf Harari has one for you.
The 29-year-old graphic designer makes plastic figurines of famous Israeli historical figures. Think Golda Meir, David Ben-Gurion and Theodor Herzl.
Harari has had a lifelong love for figurines, having grown up with his mother’s collection assembled in the family’s breakfront in Yavneh.
Her taste ran more to Andy Warhol and Tintin. But Harari was always bothered by the fact that there was no pop culture representation of Israeli politics and history. In fact, the closest Israelis got to statues and figurines in their living rooms were their menorahs and candlesticks.
“I wanted to bring some spice into people’s cabinets,” said Harari.
His first figurine was Herzl, standing on a European-style balcony (as the father of Zionism was famously pictured doing in a 1901 photo from Basel). Harari posted the first models on eBay, and immediately sold them to a buyer in Toronto, who told him to stop selling on eBay.
Think everyone goes in for apples and honey, or pomegranates and fish heads? Think again. The array of simanim goes way beyond what you’ll find in a standard siddur, or those silly laminated cards. You just have to know where to look. These traditional but obscure Rosh Hashanah symbolic foods will make your table more exotic and start fascinating conversations about language, tradition, and history. If you’re into that sort of thing.PreOccupied Territory: 10 Rosh Hashanah Simanim You’ve Definitely Never Encountered (satire)
1. Marmite
Yeast extract, a by-product of beer production, has been sold in Britain as Marmite since 1902. Yeast in Hebrew is shmarim, which uses the root sh-m-r, to keep or protect. Since at least the 1920′s, British Jews have been spreading Marmite on their round Rosh Hashanah challah and asking God to protect them from enemies and misfortune. Love it or hate it, your year will be strongly flavored.
Canaanite authorities have placed Abraham under arrest today, alleging that he recklessly endangered the life of his son by almost sacrificing the child to the LORD.8 French friends say bonjour to IDF
Abraham, a father of two residing in the town of Hebron, was taken into custody yesterday afternoon by the Negev Division of the Canaanite Police Department, after his description was given to police in the Moriah District, where the incident is said to have occurred. He is scheduled to be arraigned later today, under a charge of reckless endangerment. The child’s age is unclear, and his identity is being withheld until the legality of releasing it can be clarified. He has been placed in protective custody by Jebusite welfare authorities.
Eight friends in France decided to make aliyah two years ago on Rosh Hashana. Last November, they fulfilled a childhood dream and enlisted in the Israel Defense Forces. The group of friends has since remained together, and serve in the same company in the Kfir Infantry Brigade's Nahal Haredi battalion.Shana Tova From the IDF's Soldiers
"We are going through a long journey together," Dan Maimon, one of the eight, said on Tuesday. "We decided to realize our dreams and make aliyah to enlist in the IDF and have a fulfilling service in a combat unit."
Like his friends, Maimon left his parents and siblings behind in France to come join the IDF.
