Bloodthirsty Liberal

I hope you guys are sitting down (or kneeling, or whatever):

Two rare 3,000-year-old models of ancient shrines were among artifacts presented by an Israeli archaeologist on Tuesday as finds he said offered new support for the historical veracity of the Bible.

The archaeologist, Yosef Garfinkel of Hebrew University, is excavating a site known as Hirbet Qeiyafa, located in the Judean hills not far from the modern-day city of Beit Shemesh.

Garfinkel says the central finds presented Tuesday at a Jerusalem press conference — two model shrines, one of clay and one of stone — echo elements of Temple architecture as described in the Bible and strengthen his claim that the city that stood at the site 3,000 years ago was inhabited by Israelites and was part of the kingdom ruled from Jerusalem by the biblical King David.

Since Qeiyafa was first unveiled in 2008, it has become considered one of the most important ongoing excavations in the world of biblical archaeology. Garfinkel says the existence of a fortified city at the site around 1,000 BCE supports the idea that a centralized kingdom existed around that time, as described in the Bible.

One tenet of Arab rejectionism is that the Jews never really occupied this land. An absurd claim on the face of it, but if it puts the question of Jewish legitimacy in the land of Israel (proper and greater) into discussion, it serves a purpose:

Perhaps the most notable aspect of the Qeiyafa finds, he said, is not what has been found but what has not: The diggers have found none of the cultic figurines of animals or people common at other sites, he said, suggesting residents followed a prohibition against idol worship. And the archaeologists at the site have found thousands of bones of sheep, goats and cattle, but none of pigs, suggesting they followed a dietary prohibition on swine.

“The people at the site obeyed two biblical commandments — they didn’t eat pig, and they didn’t make graven images,” he said. This, he said, supported his view that the site was a fortified Israelite city.

No kidding! People observing Jewish rites and traditions, even in ancient times. I wonder if Tom Friedman knows this? Oh, of course. He knows everything.

The fortified nature of the settlement at Qeiyafa is important because members of the “minimalist” school in biblical archaeology, who claim there was no organized kingdom in Judea at the time David was supposed to have existed, have based that conclusion in part on an absence of fortified cities at the time. Building such cities requires centralized administration.

Qeiyafa would seem to show that such cities in fact existed, meaning that there could well have been a centralized kingdom like the one described in the Bible.

Other scholars have urged caution in reaching conclusions based on the findings from Qeiyafa.

…

“There’s no question that this is a very important site, but what exactly it was — there is still disagreement about that,” Maeir said.

The ruins at Hirbet Qeiyafa were first noticed in 2003 by Saar Ganor, a ranger with the Israeli Antiquities Authority. He contacted Garfinkel, and digging began in 2007.

The next year, Garfinkel unveiled the first dramatic find from the site – a ceramic shard that some scholars believe contains the oldest example of Hebrew ever found. He suggested the writing supported the case for the Bible’s accuracy, because it meant that 3,000 years ago the Israelites could record events and transmit the history that was compiled as the Bible several hundred years later.

I’d say this news deserves a song. Desmond Dekker, will you favor us please?

I thought about writing a post about the guy who got convicted of trying to blow up subway cars in NYC. Or about how Desmond Tutu, the creep, is encouraging Methodists to divest from Israel. (PS if that happens, should I try to figure out which local businesses are owned by Methodists, or employ Methodists, and avoid?) Lots of people have commented on the classless way Obama has handled the anniversary of bin Laden’s death.

So I think I’ll write about something inspiring instead.

Twelve-year-old Noa Weinzweig decided to use her bat mitzvah earnings to buy a 3-day holiday for survivors.

“You have done something exemplary,” President Shimon Peres told 12-year-old Noa Weinzweig of Herzliya as she sat opposite him in the reception hall at the President’s official residence in Jerusalem.

Tall, poised, polite and exuding a sense of maturity well beyond her years, Noa was engulfed in appreciation and admiration. Of the sixty or so other people in the room fifty were Holocaust survivors who belong to the Amha Club in Netanya and were the beneficiaries of Noa’s caring heart.

In her family of five siblings, it’s customary to give away one’s bar or bat mitzvah money – and that’s exactly what she did. When she celebrated her bat mitzvah, Noa who is the middle child, decided to forego the excitement of unwrapping gift parcels and asked everyone to give a donation. She ended up with NIS50,000. Her mother Nirit Gilboa who was born on Kibbutz Kfar Menachem, gave her a list of worthy causes from which to choose. But the truth was that Noa, a student at the American School in Even Yehuda, had already made up her mind that she wanted to do something for Holocaust survivors. As a little girl in Canada, she had learned something of the Holocaust, had read up as she could and asked her older relatives to tell her more.

“They’ve been through a lot,” she told Peres. “I though they deserve to be happy and peaceful and to have a good life.” NIS50,000 doesn’t go very far in providing a good life, but it can provide a good time – and that’s exactly what happened. Noa’s grandmother Rikki Gilboa who was born on Kibbutz Deganya Aleph belongs to the Herzliya Women’s Circle which adopted Amchja in Netanya. So when Noa, with three generations of kibbutz values of shared burdens in her genes decided that she wanted to help Holocaust survivors, finding them was no problem. She decided to finance a three day vacation for them in Jerusalem.

Isn’t that the nicest thing you’ve heard all day?

- Aggie

Hey all you Arab deniers, trying to commit an intellectual Holocaust by rejecting the Jews’ historic legitimacy in the land of Israel—yeah, you—suck on this:

Another amazing find on the Temple Mount: Archeologists digging under Robinson’s Arch in the archeological garden next to the Kotel have found remains of a structure from the late First Temple period, under the base of the drainage ditch currently being exposed.

This is the physically closest structure to King Solomon’s Temple ever unearthed.

On the floor of the ancient structure, the diggers discovered an ancient Hebrew seal from the late First Temple period. It is made of semiprecious stone and bears the name of the owner of the seal: “To Matanyahu Son of Ho…” (the rest of the name is not legible).

The name Matanyahu appears twice in Chronicles 1:25, in a section listing names of Hebrews whom King David had appointed to sing G-d’s praise and perform other functions at the Holy Tabernacle. A few lines away, the name Netanyahu also appears. Both names are etymologically very close and mean the same thing: “Gift to [or from] G-d.”

…

“These names are mentioned several times in Scripture. They are typical of names in the Judean Kingdom at the end of the First Temple period – from the late 8th century BCE until the Temple’s destruction in 586 BCE.

“Finding a First Temple seal in the location closest to the Temple Mount is very rare and a very moving experience. It is like a tangible message from the person Matanyahu who lived here over 2,700 years ago.”

It’s almost a little spooky that the day after Prime Minister Netanyahu lost his father (at age 102), he gained a great-great (etc., etc.) grandfather. Talk about a tangible lesson!

PS: I’m not aware of any archeological evidence tying Mohammed to the Temple Mount—I don’t think the mountain came to him, or he to the mountain—but we’ll report as soon as we hear any.

They say your sense of taste decreases at high altitude. That might make the bitter herbs more palatable:

Hundreds of Jews from Israel and beyond celebrated the Passover Seder in Jabel Musa in the Sinai desert.

The mountain is commonly referred to as Mount Moses, which some believe is Mount Sinai upon which the Torah was given to Israel.

Rabbi Menachem Feuerstein told Arutz Sheva about the special Seder at the top of Mount Sinai.

“We want to congratulate all 320 participants who came to celebrate the Passover Seder on the holy mountain of Mount Sinai in the Sinai desert,” said Rabbi Feuerstein.

“We met at the border crossing at Taba and drove the Bedouin village of Il Hokham. There we loaded our equipment on camels and ascended to the top behind kalafah. There were no problems.

“We had six large heated tents and all the food was kosher. People brought warm clothes because the summit is very cool.

“We wish Israel a happy and kosher Passover,” he added.

All very exciting, I’m sure, but why not “next year in Jerusalem”? You can do that now, you know.

If you have no history, no identity, no culture of your own, adopt someone else’s:

A Palestinian university lecturer taught during a recent Palestinian Authority TV program on religion that Moses, a Muslim, brought “the Muslims of the Children of Israel out of Egypt.” He refers to the subsequent Israeli conquest of the Land of Israel as the “first Palestinian liberation… of Palestine.” This conquest, he taught, was led not by Joshua, as the Bible tells, but by Saul (Talut) who is also said to have slayed Goliath.

While some of this is retelling of Islamic tradition, some of it is a distortion of even the Quran for political purposes. The Quran refers to the “Children of Israel” in their land in many chapters (e.g., Sura 5), but it never refers to them or anyone else as “Palestinians.” Likewise the Quran never refers to Israel’s conquest as a “Palestinian” conquest. The lecturer on PA TV, however, deviates from Islamic tradition, and calls the nation of Israel’s conquest of the Land of Israel “the first Palestinian liberation through armed struggle to liberate Palestine.”

I can relate. I used to split rails, until one day I chopped down a cherry tree. But I told the truth, and my father correctly predicted that one day I would lead the charge of the Light Brigade up San Juan hill on Iwo Jima.

Makes you wonder what other Bible stories could be told from a “Palestinian” perspective. Did Cain kill Abel for “dishonoring” the family? (In whose eyes? The family was the entirety of humanity!) Noah’s ark was really a Fleabitten Flotilla to bring aid to the besieged land of Nod or Lod or Sod(om). Job was afflicted by “workplace accidents”, clan rivalries, and being struck by bullets fired into the air at a wedding.

And Eve didn’t wear just a fig leaf over her privates. She was draped by an entire ficus tree.

The song has never made sense till now.

One of Queen’s greatest hits is getting a Passover twist: The iconic rock band’s Bohemian Rhapsody has been transformed into an Egyptian Rhapsody of the exodus from Egypt and a retelling of the Passover Haggadah.

The Aish HaTorah yeshiva which has its main center in Jerusalem but which has branches throughout the globe, is doing it again with a video clip they believe has the potential of going viral. One has to wonder what Freddie Mercury would have thought of the remake.

“It all started when one of the visitors to our website suggested the idea of bringing together the Bohemian Rhapsody and the storyline of the exodus from Egypt,” revealed Rabbi Nechemia Coopersmith, a teacher at Aish and editor in chief of the website. Rabbi Coopersmith saw the potential and together with the Aish team, rushed to create lyrics to the rhapsody melody.

…

“In the case of Queen, it’s a great way to revamp the song and give it an almost holy feeling. And that’s what we do: Use the internet, which is impure for a higher purpose so that anyone can enjoy it.”

Freddie Mercury impure? You take that back!

This got my attention:

A Connecticut condominium owner has been told by the complex’s management association that she must remove a Jewish religious symbol or face fines, advocates told FoxNews.com.

What, was she pimping out some oversized menorah? She wouldn’t take down her Sukkot tent? Nuh-uh:

Barbara Cadranel, an internationally-renown harpsichordist living in Stratford, Conn., contacted the Connecticut Regional Office of the Anti-Defamation League earlier this month to report that she had been told by the California Condo Association to remove the mezuzah — a small object inscribed with Hebrew verses from the Torah placed on the doorpost of a Jewish family’s home — or face fines of $50 per day, according to ADL’s Connecticut Regional Director Gary Jones.

“It’s pretty rare,” Jones said of disputes between condominium association and owners involving mezuzot. “The obligation to place a mezuzah on the doorframe or doorpost is a right in the Bible. Jewish people everywhere, including those in condominiums, post a mezuzah as a reminder of their religious obligations.”

Our Jewish readers will forgive me if I show the goyim among us (myself included) what a mezuzah looks like:

I’ll never forget the… well, not pride, exactly, but amazement my Jewish grandfather showed when I visited him once during college and he asked if I knew what the little doodad on his door frame was. I had been raised without any religious indoctrination whatsoever, so he had long since given up hope of my ever knowing the first thing about Judaism. But I had lived in New York City. “That’s a mezuzah!” I said without hesitation. (I only wondered where was the accompanying scent of cooked cabbage that filled every Upper West Side tenement I had ever been in.) Hanging out with my Jewish and Italian friends was my religious catechism in both Judaism and Catholicism. It’s a great city that way.

Cadranel told The Hartford Courtant she received the mezuzah as a gift last fall. She now feels “violated” after being told to remove it, she told the newspaper.

“I’m bullied and I’m saddened,” she told the Courant. “It’s changed my whole existence here.”

…

“It’s not a decorative choice, or a choice at all when a condo association or anyone says that a mezuzah can’t be put on a doorpost or doorframe. Basically, they are telling the Jewish person that he or she cannot live there.”

Attempts to reach representatives at the California Condo Association were not successful Friday. According to an agreement with its condo owners, the display of items like Christmas wreaths and crosses on doors is allowed, but the display of other items such as mezuzah on doorposts is not, the Jewish Ledger reports.

The association’s attorney has said that Cadranel was well aware of the bylaws when she purchased the unit on Aug. 31, 2010, the Courant reports.

…

Similar disputes have occurred at condominiums around the nation.

In the most well-known case, a Chicago couple sued after being told they couldn’t put the symbol on their door. The case dragged on from 2005 to 2009, eventually making its way to the Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals before the parties settled. The couple was permitted to keep the symbol in place.

The case led city officials and Illinois state Legislature to pass laws barring condominium associations from banning the symbols. Some states have enacted laws specifically protecting condo residents’ rights to put up mezuzahs.

When living in NYC, we once owned a co-op in a large apartment building, so I can relate. Oy. Such an experience would cure even Bill Ayers of any socialist tendencies.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery:

Official Palestinian Authority TV has produced and broadcast a music video imitating the Jewish tradition regarding Jerusalem, mimicking the Biblical expression “If I forget thee, oh Jerusalem, may my right hand forget its skill, may my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember thee,” [Psalms 137:5]. This verse from the Book of Psalms expresses Jewish longing for Jerusalem after its destruction and the Jewish exile.

The song broadcast on PA TV and performed by an Egyptian singer includes scenes from the markets in the old city of Jerusalem, Arab children playing, the Al-Aqsa Mosque, the Dome of the Rock and the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, blended with scenes of riots, stone-throwing, and clashes with Israeli soldiers in Jerusalem. No Jewish holy sites or landmarks are shown and the only Israelis seen are soldiers.

The song, which mimics the Jewish longing for Jerusalem described in the Bible, includes the following lyrics:

“May my right arm forget me, may my left arm forget me.
May the light of my eyes and the openings of songs forget me, if I forget Jerusalem.”

…

Palestinian Media Watch has documented a number of examples of the PA mimicking and expropriating Jewish tradition, while claiming Jewish history to be a falsification of the “authentic ancient Palestinian” history.

Last week, Palestinian Media Watch reported on the PA’s misrepresentation of Hebrew coins minted in 66 CE, four years prior to the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple by Rome, as Palestinian coins.

The Palestinian claim that Jerusalem has been the “capital” of a “state of Palestine” is another example of this misrepresentation. While historically there never was a Palestinian state and Jerusalem never was an Arab or Muslim capital, the PA Minister of Religious Affairs Mahmoud Al-Habbash warned in a Friday sermon that “unless Jerusalem will be Palestinian, as it was throughout history, the capital of the Palestinian state… there is no peace.”

May I make a suggestion? Instead of rewriting history, denying identity, or committing genocide—all of which have been tried—why don’t they just convert? Operators are standing by. If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em.

One other suggestion: when asked which branch of Judaism you’re interested in, check the box for Reform. They’re like Jewish Unitarians.

PS: While the title of this post recalls one TV show, now I’m thinking along the lines of another: The Jewish Apprentice. Donald Trump, wrapped in rabbinical garb, puts a team of hopeful Arabic converts through their payos to select a winner whose ultimate goal is a sanctioned conversion to Judaism (and maybe a two-bedroom flat in a “settlement” in Samaria). Each week a contestant is eliminated as The Donald mimics firing a Qassam missile launcher while snarling “Yuh fired.”

Thanks to reader Yerushalimey for alerting us to this “alternate” reading of the Book of Esther.

Which is why one of them continues to raise holy hell there:

Dozens of riot police were deployed to quell a Muslim riot on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City on Friday.

Israel Police spokesman Mickey Rosenfeld said more than 100 Muslims began throwing rocks at a police location following Friday prayers, prompting the police to enter the compound.

According to reports, police used tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the rioters.

Police, however, said they had used only stun grenades against the demonstrators and that “dozens of people” had barricaded themselves inside the Al-Aqsa mosque.

“We are negotiating with the Israelis not to storm into the mosque or the Dome of the Rock and to let people out,” Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib, head of the Jerusalem Waqf, told AFP.

…

Friday’s riot is only the latest in a series of clashes with police, and attacks on Jewish and Christian pilgrims, by Muslims on the Temple Mount this week

On Thursday, police arrested seven Arabs who instigated a series of confrontations with Jewish visitors on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City.

On Tuesday, Muslims on the Temple Mount hurled stones and shoes at police escorting Jewish and Christian visitors. One police officer sustained minor injuries.

Two Muslims were arrested in that incident, police said.

And on Sunday, police used tear gas to disperse Muslim rioters who were throwing stones inside the compound, arresting 18 people.

Islam has long had the habit of building mosques atop the ruins of the shrines and temples of the peoples it has conquered and ruled. That’s fine; to the victor belongs the spoils. But times change, and sometimes the conquered conquer back.

So, this is cultural suicide:

The Temple Mount is the site of the Al-Aqsa Mosque (705 CE) today. However, long before that, it was the site of the the First Holy Temple, built by King Solomon (stood from ~950 BCE to 587 BCE) and the Second Holy Temple (517 BCE to 70CE) and is indisputably Judaism’s most sacred site.

The Western Wall, where Jews are allowed to pray, is merely a remnant of an outside compound wall of Herodian days and not part of the Temples.

The Muslim Waqf, the religious Muslim authority, has systematically attempted to destroy all archaeological evidence of earlier Jewish presence on the Mount, illegally excavating and destroying priceless and irreplaceable relics.

Israeli archaeologists and volunteers sift painstakingly through the debris of the excavations, finding artifacts that are then transferred to Israeli museums.

The Muslim Waqf was allowed to manage the site after Israel succeeded liberating the Temple Mount in 1967 at the suggestion of then Defense Minister Moshe Dayan. It maintains a discriminatory policy seeking to bar Jews entry to the site.

The Israeli police, afraid of riots, allow Jewish worshippers to be discriminated against to the point of not being allowed to even whisper prayers on the Mount.

The next time a Jew gets arrested for praying under his breath on the Temple Mount, he should just say he was trying to pronounce “waqf”.

Waqf ages, cweft fohr me,
Wet me hide mysewf in thee