Post-Prayer Links of Interest

Treppenwitz remarks: It's Time An excellent blog post commenting on Israel's brilliant media strategy:

As I drifted off to sleep I started thinking about the fact that for most of yesterday the news had been perfectly silent about what our troops were doing up there in the north. Nearly every media outlet on the planet is up on the Lebanese border with a voracious 24 hour news cycle to feed, and... nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

No reports of what all these thousands of Israeli soldiers were doing during the lull in hostilities. No human interest pieces about the idle artillery crews and tank battalions playing football or calling home. Not one little anecdote about the soldiers... while the international spotlight shifted to Jerusalem and the pas de deux between Olmert and Rice.

Then it hit me. It's time.

I sat up in bed and practically knocked my laptop off it's stand. There was no news from the north because the military censors had placed a blackout on the area while the ground war Robert predicted got fully underway. And whether by accident or design, the choreographed meetings between Olmert and Rice in Jerusalem provided perfect misdirection to divert the world's attention.

The perfect magic trick... "look over here, not over there!"

Read it all.

Shma Yisrael!

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Did You Say Your Tefilim Today?

After praying at noon for the Zahal, I tuned into the Kotel Kam at AISH as thousands gather at the Kotel to pray for the IDF. At nearly 9 pm, the crowd was still going strong. Here are some still shots from the AISH Kam:



I love the flags flying in front of the open Torah Ark.



The three flags here immediately reminded me of the Three Matzoh at Pesach. I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought of this and wonder if they didn't do the three intentionally to represent Avraham, Yitzach, and Yaakov. I love seeing Israeli patriotism associated directly with Torah. Too often we have one without the other, but we need BOTH if we are to survive and thrive, because the gifts of Torah and our identity as Am Yisrael go hand-in-hand; if we are the tenants of Eretz Yisrael, Torah is our lease agreement. It's all in scripture, Deuteronomy 30:15-20 to be precise.



Love the huge yellow Moshiach flag flying here. If anyone hasn't seen one, they're becoming pretty standard among some Orthodox sects-- a yellow flag with a crown that says "MOSHIACH" in Hebrew or English on it. Love it.

In Other News

In light of the Mel's anti-Jewish rage, Israel National News reports that ABC Cancels Plans for Holocaust Programs. Meh, no biggie. The current victory of the IDF is giving them fresh miniseries material, anyway. It's about time the Jews of the galut get out of the Holocaust mindset.

Israel National News is also reporting that Arab MK: Ninth of Av Entry to Temple Mount Will Ignite Intifada:

Arab Knesset Member Talab El-Sana warned Tuesday that the police permit for Jews to visit the Temple Mount on the Ninth of Av, Thursday, will ignite a "third Intifada."

Yeah, I know, I'm supposed to be a peace-loving Jew and say, "Okay, no Temple Mount for me in the name of peace." But I'm not. I'm not interested in brokering peace with people who want to murder us, who feel perfectly fine parading the bodies of their children around in front of Al-Reuters, who are happy to give aid and comfort to terrorist guerilla fighters that live off of Jewish blood. Instead, I'm going to grab onto the boldness of my people and say, "BRING IT ON!"



Israel
Kotel
war
IDF
Temple Mount