RUTHFULLY YOURS

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1. Yom Kippur commemorates God’s forgiveness for the sin of the Golden Calf. Forgiveness applies to everyone, including non-religious persons. In addition, Yom Kippur commemorates God’s Covenant with the Jewish people.

2. Yom Kippur is a day of forgiveness only for sins committed against God. It is customary to dedicate the eve of Yom Kippur to apologies for sins committed against fellow human-beings. However, an apology or compensation are not sufficient if they do not elicit an expressed forgiveness by the injured person. One should not be selfish, and therefore one is commanded to invite transgressors to participate in Yom Kippur services.

3. Yom Kippur’s focus on seeking forgiveness highlights humility (admitting fallibility), faith, soul-searching, thoughtfulness, being considerate, compassion, accepting responsibility, magnanimity. Speaking ill of other people (“evil tongue” in Hebrew) may not be forgiven. In order to provide more time for seeking forgiveness, there are five services conducted on Yom Kippur, compared with three daily services and four on Shabbat and other holidays.

4. Yom Kippur is a Happy Jewish Holiday, replacing vindictiveness and rage with peace-of-mind and peaceful co-existence between God and human beings and, primarily, among human beings.

5. Yom Kippur is observed on the tenth day of the Jewish month of Tishrei, whose astrological sign is Libra (♎). Libra symbolizes key themes of Yom Kippur: scales, justice, balance, truth, symmetry, sensitivity and optimism. Libra is ruled by the planet Venus (Noga, נגה, in Hebrew), which reflects divine light and love of the other person. It is the name of my oldest granddaughter! The numerical value of the Hebrew letters of נגהis 58, just like the numerical value of אזן, which is the Hebrew root of “balance” and “scale.” Tishrei and Libra are dominated by the Hebrew letter ל, which is the tallest Hebrew letter, consisting of 3 parts, aiming upward, reflecting the need to elevate-oneself morally, self-enhancement. Yom Kippur is not driven by punishment, but by behavioral-enhancement.

6. Three holidays – Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur and Sukkot (Tabernacles) – are celebrated during the Jewish month of Tishrei. The number 3 is identified with balance, stability and The Essence. The triangle is a symbol of stability.

7. The first human being, Adam, was created on the first day of Tishrei. Human-beings are accorded an opportunity to recreate themselves spiritually, each year, on Yom Kippur, the tenth day of Tishrei – an Acadian word for forgiveness and Genesis. Yom Kippur culminates ten days of genuine, heart-driven atonement/repentance, which begin on Rosh Hashanah. Ten has special significance in Judaism: God’s abbreviation is the tenth Hebrew letter (Yod – י); Ten attributes of God – Divine perfection – were highlighted during the Creation; the Ten Commandments; the Ten Plagues; Ten reasons for blowing the Shofar; 10% gift to God (tithe); the Ten Martyrs (Rabbis who were tortured/murdered by the Roman Empire); the ten generations between Adam and Noah and ten generations between Noah and Abraham; a ten worshipper quorum (Minyan in Hebrew) is required for a collective Jewish prayer; etc.

8. Yom Kippur and the Jubilee highlight liberty and the subordination to God. The Jubilee – sanctifying each 50th year by proclaiming liberty, as also inscribed on the Liberty Bell – is announced by blowing the Shofar (a ritual ram’s horn) on Yom Kippur. The Jubilee liberates people physically and spiritually. The word “jubilee” (יובל) is a Hebrew synonym for Shofar.

9. The Hebrew word Kippur כיפור (atonement/repentance) is a derivative of the Biblical word Kaporet כפורת , the cover of the Holy Ark at the Sanctuary, and Kopher כופר, the cover of Noah’s Ark and the Holy Altar at the Temple. Yom Kippur resembles a spiritual cover (dome), which separates between the holy and the mundane, between spiritualism and materialism. The Kippaכיפה (skullcap, Yarmulke), which covers one’s head during prayers, reflects a spiritual dome.

10. Yom Kippur calls for repentance – Teshuvah, תשובה in Hebrew. The root of Teshuvah is similar to root of the Hebrew word for Return שובה – returning to positive values – and Shvitah שביתה – cessation (strike) of mundane thoughts and actions and eating. It is also similar to the root of Shabbat שבת. Yom Kippur is also called Shabbat Shabbaton – the supreme Sabbath. The last Sabbath before Yom Kippur is called Shabbat Teshuvah (based on Hosea’s prophesy, chapter 4). While the Sabbath is the soul of the week, Yom Kippur is the soul of the year.

11. The Hebrew spelling of “fast” (צם/צום) – abstinence from food – reflects the substance of Yom Kippur. The Hebrew word for “fast” is the root of the Hebrew word for “reduction” and “shrinking” (צמצום) of one’s wrong-doing. It is also the root of the Hebrew words for “slave” (צמית) and “eternity” (צמיתות) – enslavement to God, but not to human-beings. “Fast” is also the root of עצמי (being oneself), עצום (awesome), עצמה (power), עצמאות (independence), which are gained through the process of fasting, soul-searching, spiritual enhancement and faith in God.

12. The prayer of Veedooi -וידוי (confession/reaffirmation in Hebrew) is recited ten times during Yom Kippur, re-entrenching genuine repentance and the plea for forgiveness. The prerequisites for forgiveness are the expression and exercise of repentance; assuming full-responsibility for one’s (mis)behavior, and significantly altering one’s behavior. King Saul sinned only once – ignoring the commandment to annihilate the Amalekites – but was banished from the crown and killed, because he shirked responsibility, while responding to Samuel’s accusation. King David sinned twice (The “Bat-Sheba Gate” and the “Census Gate”), but was forgiven, because he accepted full-responsibility and the death sentence (as proclaimed by Nathan the Prophet), which was promptly rescinded.

13. A Memorial Candle, commemorating one’s parent(s), is lit during Yom Kippur. It reaffirms Honor Thy Father and Mother, providing another opportunity to ask forgiveness of one’s parent(s), as well as asking forgiveness on their behalf.

14. The Scroll of Jonas is read on Yom Kippur. It demonstrates that repentance and forgiveness is universal to all peoples. Among its lessons: commanding one to assume responsibility; getting involved socially/politically; sounding the alarm when wrong-doing is committed anywhere in the world; displaying compassion for all peoples and adhering to faith and optimism in defiance of all odds.

15. A long sound of the Shofar (תקיעה גדולה) concludes Yom Kippur. It commemorates the covenant with God (the almost-sacrifice of Isaac), the receipt of the Torah on Mt. Sinai, Liberty (Jubilee) and the opening of Gods gates of forgiveness. The Hebrew root of Shofar שופר means to enhance/improve oneself (שפר). A Hebrew synonym for Shofar is Keseh כסה, which also means cover-Kaporet-Kippur.

Shabbat Shalom, have a pleasant weekend and may you, and your family, be inscribed and sealed for a good year!

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/nilegardiner/100235335/barack-obamas-syria-speech-was-an-incoherent-mess-he-is-outperforming-jimmy-carter-as-the-most-feeble-us-president-of-modern-times/ Barack Obama’s Syria speech was an incoherent mess – he is outperforming Jimmy Carter as the most feeble US president of modern times Billed as a game-changer on Syria, the President’s White House address landed with a thud that could be heard as far away as Damascus. Barack Obama has a huge credibility problem […]

http://www.commentarymagazine.com/article/provocation-at-the-wall/ In an interview with Haaretz shortly before finishing his term as Israel’s ambassador in Washington, Michael Oren said he had been devoting considerable effort to convincing Israeli leaders that the battle over the attempt by a women’s group to hold prayer services at Jerusalem’s Western Wall “could have strategic implications.” In Israel, Oren explained, […]

Pavel E. Felgenhauer is a Russian journalist. He is known for his publications critical of Russia’s political and military leadership. Translated from Russian
Moscow Elated with a Diplomatic Scoop on Syria

Moscow was elated by the success of an unexpected diplomatic initiative this week on Syria that has postponed indefinitely a seemingly inevitable military assault by the United States. The strike would have been aimed at punishing the forces of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad for using chemical weapons to attack a Damascus suburb on August 21, allegedly killing hundreds of civilians. On Monday, September 9, after intensive negotiations in Moscow with a Syrian government delegation led by Foreign Minister Walid al-Moualem, Russia’s foreign ministry chief, Sergei Lavrov, told journalists that Syria must agree to place its chemical arsenal under “international control” and eventually destroy it after signing and ratifying the Chemical Weapons Convention and joining the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) (http://www.interfax.ru/world/txt.asp?id=327989). Al-Moualem and the government in Damascus promptly agreed to disclose the Syrian chemical arsenal, place it under “international control” and eventually destroy it. Lavrov disclosed that Presidents Vladimir Putin and Barack Obama discussed the idea of placing Syria’s chemical weapons under international control on the sidelines of the G20 summit in St. Petersburg last week and that the “Russian initiative on Syria is not entirely Russian” (http://www.interfax.ru/print.asp?sec=1446&id=328121).

Another Tack: Flat Earth – 20 years on Time was when sensible folks truly believed that if you venture too far, you’ll fall off Earth’s jagged edge into the endless void below. That was the majority view, the widely-accepted and fundamentally unquestioned conventional wisdom. By today, though, one would assume that nobody swallows that any more, […]

http://www.nysun.com/foreign/israel-awaits-an-apology-from-architects/88410/

Twenty years ago this week, Israel committed one of the greatest strategic blunders in its modern history, one that is still casting a long and painful shadow over the entire Middle East.

Ignoring military intelligence, moral principles, and basic common sense, Prime Minister Rabin signed the Oslo Accords with Palestine Liberation Organization’s terrorist-in-chief, Yasser Arafat, on the White House lawn on September 13, 1993, setting the stage for unprecedented bloodshed and unparalleled instability.

Nonetheless, despite the passage of two decades, the architects of Oslo stubbornly refuse to acknowledge the error of their ways and continue to ignore the damage they have wrought. It is time for them to do so.

Under Oslo, Israel allowed Arafat and his cohorts into Gaza and gave them weapons as well as territory to control. In return, we received the worst wave of violence and terror in the nation’s history.

Instead of harmony, Oslo brought horror, resulting in an immediate, predictable, and painfully prolonged wave of stabbings, shootings, and suicide bombings.

Here is a simple fact which speaks volumes: in the five years after Oslo, more Israelis were killed by Palestinian terrorists than in the 15 years prior to the signing of the agreement. A total of 279 men, women and children were murdered in the half-decade following the accords, while 254 were killed in the previous 15 years.

http://www.carolineglick.com/e/2013/09/israels-twenty-year-nightmare.php?utm_source=MadMimi&utm_medium=email&utm_content=Israel%27s+twenty+year+nightmare&utm_campaign=20130913_m117212046_Israel%27s+twenty+year+nightmare&utm_term=Continue+reading___
Twenty years ago today, Israel’s so-called peace process with the PLO was officially ushered in at the White House Rose Garden.
A year or so later, when the death toll of Israeli victims of the massive terror offensive that the PLO organized shortly afterwards reached what then seemed unbearable heights, a popular call went out to “Put the Oslo Criminals on Trial.”
Needless to say, with Shimon Peres, the architect and godfather of the so-called peace process now serving as the President of Israel, nothing ever came of the call.
The demand for an accounting was not unprecedented. There was no reason, on the face of things for those who made it to be perceived as anything other than reasonably enraged, and responsible citizens insisting that those responsible for the largest, most destructive strategic error Israel has ever made pay a personal price for their actions.
Twenty years before that ceremony at the White House, Israel suffered the worst military defeat in its history.
Israel did win the Yom Kippur War, in the end. It was a sloppy, painful, tragic and costly win. Victory owed to tactical errors by the Syrians; to the unbelievable heroism, and dogged determination exhibited by the IDF’s junior officer corps and line soldiers, particularly on the Golan Heights; and to the emergency resupply of war materiel Israel received midway through the war from the United States.

Just as was the case twenty years later, when Israelis (having been introduced to the suicide bomber), decided their leaders had betrayed them; following the Yom Kippur War, the demobilized soldiers, the bereaved families and the general public demanded an accounting from the senior political leaders and the IDF brass that had led them down the vicious, deadly garden path.

WASHINGTON, DC (September 12, 2013) — The so-called “chilling effect” immigration enforcement is alleged to have on police trust in immigrant communities is a myth, concludes a new publication from the Center for Immigration Studies (CIS) presenting a collection of government and academic research.

The Center finds that many law enforcement leaders believe that robust immigration law enforcement produces significant criminal justice cost savings as well as public safety benefits. Many of these leaders advocate for local officers to assist and participate in immigration enforcement, and welcome U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) as a public safety partner agency. A diverse group of local law enforcement leaders has endorsed the SAFE Act (H.R. 2278), which would mandate better cooperation between ICE and local police agencies and increase and expedite the removal of criminal aliens.

“Career law enforcement professionals understand that the best way to build trust in the communities that they protect is to enforce all laws in a predictable, fair and non-discriminatory manner, and not to pick and choose based on the demands of grievance groups,” says Jessica Vaughan, Director of Policy Studies at CIS. “And given the irrefutable connection between illegal immigration and certain crime problems, it is no wonder that local officers feel compelled to participate in immigration enforcement. In my experience, most local officers want to help ICE, not obstruct them from doing their job. ”

View the entire publication at: http://cis.org/Immigration-Policy-Fact-Sheets/immigration-enforcement-and-community-policing

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/10304285/Nick-Clegg-backs-teachers-who-want-pupils-to-remove-veils-in-class.html By Peter Dominiczak, Political Correspondent The Deputy Prime Minister said that he can “totally understand” why people say that children should not to be allowed to wear full-face veils during lessons. Mr Clegg said that teachers “want to be able to make contact” with their pupils. His comments came after he said that he […]

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By Nathan Harden

Richard Dawkins, an Oxford University professor and author of a bestselling book defending atheism entitled, “The God Delusion,” has provoked outrage with his comments on child sex abuse:

Salon.com reports:

In a recent interview with the Times magazine, Richard Dawkins attempted to defend what he called “mild pedophilia,” which, he says, he personally experienced as a young child and does not believe causes “lasting harm.”

Dawkins went on to say that one of his former school masters “pulled me on his knee and put his hand inside my shorts,” and that to condemn this “mild touching up” as sexual abuse today would somehow be unfair.

“I am very conscious that you can’t condemn people of an earlier era by the standards of ours. Just as we don’t look back at the 18th and 19th centuries and condemn people for racism in the same way as we would condemn a modern person for racism, I look back a few decades to my childhood and see things like caning, like mild pedophilia, and can’t find it in me to condemn it by the same standards as I or anyone would today,” he said.

Plus, he added, though his other classmates also experienced abuse at the hands of this teacher, “I don’t think he did any of us lasting harm.”

Read the full story here. [1]

I find these comments as sad as they are infuriating. But they are the logical extension of Dawkins’s belief system. In a world without God, there is no such thing as an absolute right and wrong. In this sense, though we may rightly be shocked by his remarks, we shouldn’t be surprised by them. This is what moral relativism means–plain and simple. At least we can say this for Mr. Dawkins–he is being logically consistent.

Normally, Dawkins’s brand of cocky, biting atheism angers me. But today, as I read his words, I can’t help feeling sorry for the man. His life no longer has moral meaning, even to himself.

It’s sad.

Nathan Harden is editor of The College Fix and author of the book SEX & GOD AT YALE: Porn, Political Correctness, and a Good Education Gone Bad [2].