Six Jews Who "Illegally" Blew The Shofar At The Kotel

Toldot Yisrael presents a video that tells the story of six Jewish heroes who defiantly blew the shofar at the Kotel (Western Wall) over sixty years ago, when it was illegal to do so in British Mandatory Palestine. The British passed a law in 1930 forbidding Jews to blow the shofar at the Kotel, pray loudly there, or bring Torah scrolls, so as not to offend the Arab population.

Despite this restriction, for the next seventeen years, the shofar was sounded at the Kotel every Yom Kippur. Shofars were smuggled in to the Kotel where brave teenagers defiantly blew them at the conclusion of the fast. Some managed to get away - others were captured and sent to jail for up to six months.
Six of these men are still alive.
Two weeks ago, these six men returned to the scene of their "crime". Armed with shofars, they recounted their individual stories and blew shofar again at the Kotel.
Echoes of a Shofar is the premiere episode in the "Eyewitness 1948" short film series produced by Toldot Yisrael and the History Channel. It is the centerpiece of an educational pilot program developed with The iCenter and made possible through the generous support of the Jim Joseph Foundation and others.

Here is the video:


Hat tip: LR

via daledamos.blogspot.com

Muslims upset at Putin's visit to the Kotel

(EOZ)Vladimir Putin visited the Kotel on Tuesday night:

Throughout the visit, Putin demonstrated curiosity, asked many questions on the history of the place, and spoke about the Jewish connection to the holy site: "You can see how the Jewish past is engraved in the Jerusalem stone," he said.

As you can imagine, Muslims were very unhappy at a world leader saying that Jerusalem has anything to do with Judaism. Hamas called it a cheap stunt, and the Al Aqsa Heritage Foundation said:

We say to Putin and his ilk, that the Wailing Wall is purely Islamic, and is part and parcel of the Al Aqsa Mosque, and non-Muslims have no right to the wall or in the Al Aqsa Mosque. All the historical facts and international documents confirm that the Al-Buraq Wall is Islamic, including the British Shaw Commission. Remember, the Israeli occupation of East Jerusalem and the al-Aqsa mosque is 45 years old, and they demolished the buildings and around the Square unjustly for the prayer of the Jews, then carried out the excavations, including the excavation along the bottom of the Al Aqsa Mosque, and during the excavations many of the Islamic and Arabic findings were suppressed, not to mention that these excavations led to the cracks and collapses in the vicinity of the Al Aqsa Mosque and some of its buildings, and the occupation is engaging in Judaization of the place, and we affirm that all rocks the Al Aqsa Mosque and every stone of Jerusalem proves the Arab identity of Jerusalem.

Other Arab media pointed out that Putin wore a kipah.

I'm starting to have sympathies for Assad murdering these people... I shouldn't, but I do. It's obvious that Putin knows how to do what Obama can't... show up in Jerusalem.

Next Time They Compare Israeli Ultra-Orthodox To Muslim Brotherhood--Show Them This

That's right: Only in Jerusalem Don't try this in Mecca. Or Gaza Or Egypt Or West Bank Or Lebanon Or... True, it's on Purim--but still, when during the year does a mosque allow this? via daledamos.blogspot.com

The Muslim Brotherhood in America: Part I: Understanding the Threat

The Muslim Brotherhood in America: Part II: MB History & Their Arrival in America

The Muslim Brotherhood in America: Part III--'The Settlement Process'

Amish community asks forgiveness of Jews at Kotel

Representatives of the Amish community from the United States and Switzerland paid a visit to the Western Wall on Saturday night, during which they asked the forgiveness of the Jewish people over their group's silence during the Nazi's extermination of Jews during the Holocaust.

Representatives take highly unusual step of using modern transportation to make journey to the Holy Land; commit to loudly supporting Jews.

via jpost.com

Posted via email from noahdavidsimon's posterous

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization aka UNESCO says Rachel's Tomb is a Mosque

Referring to the structure as the "Bilal bin Rabah Mosque/Rachel's Tomb", UNESCO's board voted 44 to one, with 12 abstentions, to reaffirm that the site was "an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territories and that any unilateral action by the Israeli authorities is to be considered a violation of international law".

via haaretz.com

...Director Irena Bokova had previously stated “concern” at Israel's decision to treat the tomb as a heritage site.

The vote called for Rachel's Tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs – the burial site of the other Biblical Patriarchs and Matriarchs – to be removed from Israel's National Heritage list.

The Palestinian Authority has claimed that Rachel's Tomb is holy to Muslims as the site of a mosque called the Bilal Bin Rabah Mosque. The PA demands control over both the tomb and the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hevron, as well as the Temple Mount in Jerusalem.

UNESCO appeared to support the PA demand for the Temple Mount as well, asking that Muslim officials be allowed to examine the Mughrabi Gate near the Western Wall (Kotel). Muslim leaders have accused Israel of attempting to damage the Al-Aksa Mosque on the Temple Mount under the guise of repairs to the Mugrabi Gate. Israeli officials have warned that if the gate is not repaired, it could collapse, putting worshipers at the Western Wall at risk.

Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovich, Rabbi of the Western Wall, termed the decision “outrageous.”
“They have never said in the past that this was a Muslim holy site. The [UN] organization responsible for heritage has turned heritage into politics.” Israel should think carefully about whether or not to cooperate with UNESCO in the future, he said.
Israel's Foreign Ministry denounced the UNESCO ruling.

via israelnationalnews.com

the denied correlative is that Mohammad himself blamed the Jews for turning prominent graves into religious sites.

 "Allah cursed the Jews and the Christians that they took the graves of their prophets as mosques. She ('A'isha) reported: Had it not been so, his (Prophet's) grave would have been in an open place, but it could not be due to the fear that it may not be taken as a mosque."

noahdavidsimon's posterous

Israel's reaction was not quite as serious as it first appeared. Ayalon's spokeswoman said that Israel would cut off relations with UNESCO altogether - but shortly after said that the announcement had been made in error and retracted the statement.

360 View of the Kotel.

Click on the Kotel below (or go to this site), and you can rotate these photos, 360 degrees in all directions.

via muqata.blogspot.com

Quoted by email using noahdavidsimon's posterous

Police block thousands of yeshiva students from marching to Kotel

Jerusalem Police announced that it will not allow an annual march held on Jerusalem Day through Nablus Gate in the Old City to the Western Wall, claiming that the march will likely increase tensions in the area and even cause riots.   Thousands of yeshiva students in the city partake in the march every year. The organization Am K'Lavie, which organizes the event, was outraged by the decision. (Shmulik Grossman)

via ynetnews.com

And police are now considering closing off the Damascus and Lions Gates altogether during the parade.

The police are considering closing off the Shechem and Lions Gates of the Old City gates to Jews during the annual Jerusalem Day parade in two weeks. Public Security Minister Yitzchak Aharonovitch told National Union Knesset Member Uri Ariel Tuesday a final decision will be made after assessing the situation.
The annual parade features a “flag dance,” which is scheduled to pass through the gates

The Lions Gate, which is located on the eastern side of the Old City, is the gate through which IDF troops entered the Old City in 1967.

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

image via ArielaRoss

walk with your arms in a lock. get it on video. the media might ignore it, but get it on the internet. the police do not have a right to stop a celebration merely because they are Jews

Israel may let sponsors beam messages onto Western Wall - Haaretz - Israel News

Most people go to the Western Wall to pray, but now some will also head there to pay.

The cabinet is set to approve a plan that would allow for sponsorship messages to be beamed onto the Western Wall, sources in the Prime Minister's Office told Haaretz Saturday.

If the law is passed by the Knesset, any company will be able to project the image, logo or slogan of its choice on the ancient stones, for a price. Advertisement The proposal, drawn up by MK Mordechai Hidud, will take advantage of technology being developed by Kfar Sava-based start-up Kotelad. The company - the brainchild of U.S.-born Joe King - has come up with an innovative laser projector capable of beaming high-quality images onto walls, domes, minarets and steeples. "After thousands of years of just being there, the Western Wall will finally be able to fulfill its commercial potential," King said. "The religious and spiritual center of the Jewish people should reflect Jewish heritage - and thus be dedicated to bringing in a healthy profit." Kotelad held a trial run of the system last week, beaming the Coca-Cola logo onto the Wall, much to the bemusement of worshipers gathered below. And it seems that the trial was not only a technological success, with local vendors reporting a 14 percent increase in the sale of soft drinks. The Western Wall Heritage Center plans to open an ad sales division, and sell wall space on a per-stone basis. Prices are expected to be upward of NIS 1,000 per stone per day. When no advertising is running, the wall will have the message "What are you waiting for? The Third Temple? Advertise now!" a source in the Heritage Center said. Some companies that have already expressed an interest in the project, including Bank Discount ("Feel like you're talking to a brick wall? Talk to us instead"), Netvision ("If God didn't get your note, why not send an e-mail?") and Ytong ("If it's not Ytong, I'm not praying"). G. Yafit is reportedly also in talks to have her likeness beamed onto the wall 24 hours a day. According to Hidud, the money raised will be used to replace the paper skullcaps that are stolen by the thousands by visitors to Judaism's holiest site, to set up a searchable online database of the notes that people place between the stones of the Wall, and to build a 14-foot high partition between sections reserved for men and women.

via haaretz.com

UPDATE:

In his zeal to find something wrong with Israel, Leftist Richard Silverstein posted a Haaretz spoof about selling ads to be beamed on the Western Wall as a real story.

Details (with screen capture of the ranting post) here.

via israelmatzav.blogspot.com

Enter anti-Israel blogger Richard Silverstein, whose hatred of all things Israel is so overwhelming, he failed to see this Purim spoof for what it was (http://tinyurl.com/yl25tyz).

In case any of you actually still take this numbskull seriously (hat tip: Amir).

Update: Wow. After finding out about his mistake, Silverstein has taken down his original post instead of posting an update to it, and then provided one of the most laughable excuses I have seen. Ever.

http://tinyurl.com/yddt5sk

For the sake of my honor, I’ve got to explain a real boneheaded set of errors that happened last night, which happened to also be Purim. This holiday is the equivalent of April Fool’s and it’s common to read wild newspaper stories attempting to take in the reader in a good natured way. Of course, I was silly not to realize that Haaretz wrote just such a story claiming the Israeli government was planning to beam high tech ads onto the stones of the Kotel (Western Wall). I got halfway through writing a post criticizing this plan when I realized the article was a Purim joke. And a very funny one that took me in for the few minutes it took me to get halfway through writing the post.

I hadn’t published the post yet, so I saved it as a Draft. For some strange reason insted of deleting the post (that’ll teach me) I decided to make some formatting changes and after one of those changes instead of hitting Save Draft out of habit I clicked on the Publish button. I immediately realized my error and changed the status of the post from Published to Draft, but I didn’t realize that I needed to click another button, Update, in order to change the post back from Published to Draft. So unbeknownst to me the post was still sitting out there for all of the pro-Israel right-wing to see, and call me a fool.

via israellycool.com

Israeli Ambassador Oren wants to push Gender Engineering to appease the Judenhass

...This type of thinking assumes that men and women are different then they were for thousands of years. Can anyone find any evidence that women don't tease and gossip any less the they did one hundred years ago? Can anyone find any argument that men are any less distracted by these Divas? I suggest before we ask for change because of people that simply hate us for being Jews that we take a look at ourselves in relation to our codes and see for certain if these boundaries do or do not have a purpose. If these traditions do have a function then I suspect that we should respect them. That said I appreciate the great job Oren is doing representing the Jewish people, but I don't think being pressured into failure is prudent.

Michael Oren, Israel's Ambassador to the United States, seeks to use his position -- which is designed to maintain good relations with the U.S. government -- as a base for pushing for a revolutionary change at the Western Wall (Kotel) that may challenge Orthodox tradition.

Oren told the Jewish Council for Public Affairs in Dallas this week that the recent disruption at the Western Wall by a woman wearing a prayer shawl and demanding a Torah scroll for prayers will require compromise. Women and men traditonally pray separately to maintain modesty and prevent unnecessary mingling that could interfere with the sanctity of prayers. Limits in Jewish law also exist concerning the use of Torah scrolls by women.

Responding to a question about the woman's arrest for causing a disturbance by trying to change long-standing Orthodox tradition at the Western Wall, Oren stated, "I will only assure you that I think there are good solutions for the problems at the Kotel. They are at the top of my agenda. And that at the end of the day, it will require compromise on everyone's behalf."

The report was carried by the Jewish Telegraph Agency, heavily funded by the Jewish Agency and which often promotes the agenda of Conservative Jews. Oren grew up in the United States, was active in the Conservative movement and also attended Reform temples.

The JTA added that Steven Wernick, the president of the Conservative movement’s congregational arm, stated that Oren’s remarks “show he understands that the status quo isn’t working and that some changes and compromises need to be made."

Israel National News asked the Foreign Ministry why the ambassador to a foreign country made public comments on religious practices at the Western Wall, but no one was available to speak.

Oren (pictured) recently stated that he wants to involve all elements of American Jews. He told the Los Angeles Jewish Journal earlier this month, “I want to reach out to those parts of the Jewish community, especially the young American Jewish community, that have grown distant from Israel.”

He also specifically included the controversial New Israel Fund, a liberal group that has funded several pro-Arab groups that are blatantly anti-Israel and provided biased information for the Goldstone Report that accused Israel of committing war crimes in the war against Hamas terrorism.

“One of the first things I did when I took office is meet with New Israel Fund,” Oren told the Journal. “They were in my office. I want to be as inclusive as possible. With that, I also have to uphold what I see as Israel’s essential security interests. It’s a bit of a balancing act."

“And I thought coming myself from an American Jewish background, having gone to a Conservative synagogue and a Reform synagogue, that I would be a natural nexus between Israel and the American Jewish community…With the American Jewish community, I’ve been surprised by the complexity of it.”

via israelnationalnews.com