tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-64097801508937994662024-03-13T07:56:52.928-07:00Israel & Judaism'If the Arabs put down their weapons today, there would be no more violence. <br>If the Jews put down their weapons today, there would be no more Israel'
~Benjamin Netanyahu~Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.comBlogger309125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-65437860824081423362023-01-15T10:43:00.001-08:002023-01-15T10:43:29.287-08:00The Truth About the Temple Mount<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03605684781038659805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-65465588920505451302014-02-13T10:11:00.002-08:002014-02-13T10:11:44.022-08:0010 Absurdly Crazy Jewish Conspiracy TheoriesFew people in history have been the target of conspiracy theories as often as the Jews. From well-poisoning to take-over-the-world plots, the Jews have it all planned—according to racists and conspiracy theorists. Yet in the vast potpourri of already-crazy Jewish conspiracies, a few have stood out due to their sheer insanity. These are conspiracies so insane that even the most fanatical believers would find them hard to believe.<br />
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<strong>10. The Stab-In-The-Back Legend</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ATq0sPaMW3M/Uv0DPjMlUvI/AAAAAAAAC8E/VFfqmXE-hZc/s1600/1-back-stab.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ATq0sPaMW3M/Uv0DPjMlUvI/AAAAAAAAC8E/VFfqmXE-hZc/s1600/1-back-stab.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a>According to this myth, Germany lost World War I not because of the lack of soldiers and resources, but because the nation had been “stabbed in the back” by conspiratorial organizations at home. Militarists and right-wing groups—and, later, the Nazis—maintained that these organizations effectively broke the fighting will of the people and caused the Germans to accept the humiliating terms of the armistice. The ones who singlehandedly engineered the collapse of the German war effort were none other than the Communists, Jews, and various defeatists. The Jews were particularly vulnerable—for the Germans they exemplified the perfect traitors, just like Judas Iscariot.
Of course this legend was just a ruse to find a scapegoat for Germany’s impending military defeat. Although the German army remained highly organized and even occupied large swaths of enemy territory near the end of the war, they lacked enough reserves and material to defend it. Conversely, fresh American troops were reinforcing Allied lines and were in the process of retaking German-held areas. Rising casualties, a flu epidemic, and an economic blockade also added to the German woes—simply put, they were just in no shape to continue the war any further.<br />
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<strong>9. Israeli-Egyptian Peace Treaty Brought Diseases To Egypt</strong><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K3l8e1eU--4/Uv0DrVogZhI/AAAAAAAAC8M/RLKoDdiotmI/s1600/2-diseases.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-K3l8e1eU--4/Uv0DrVogZhI/AAAAAAAAC8M/RLKoDdiotmI/s1600/2-diseases.jpg" height="131" width="200" /></a>Remember when a Saudi cleric announced that women who drive risked destroying their pelvises and ovaries? As it turns out, he wasn’t the only one who excelled at putting his foot in his mouth. Back in August 2012, a spokesman for the Muslim Brotherhood named Ahmed Subei stated in an interview on Iranian television that Egypt’s Camp David Accords and the resulting peace treaty with Israel increased the incidence of diseases among the Egyptians. Since the peace treaty of 1979, more Egyptians have been afflicted with “endemic diseases, such as various types of cancer, hepatitis, and kidney infections.”
Subei attributed this to the influx of pesticides from Israel to Egypt, which he believed led to the gradual deterioration of the country’s agriculture and the current trend of diseases. To solve this dilemma, he recommended that the Egyptian government review and amend the “unfair” provisions of the treaty.
In spite of their regular anti-Semitic slurs, the Muslim Brotherhood itself isn’t immune to such conspiracies—the group itself is alleged to be an Israeli front.<br />
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<strong>8. Host Desecration</strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZO5Um6wjns/Uv0D55GvVrI/AAAAAAAAC8U/Gk9W6YIJR3Q/s1600/3-desecration.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WZO5Um6wjns/Uv0D55GvVrI/AAAAAAAAC8U/Gk9W6YIJR3Q/s1600/3-desecration.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a>Host desecration—one of the oldest (and most serious) accusations against Jews—refers to the alleged Jewish practice of desecrating the host (or bread) used by various Christian groups that represented the body of Jesus Christ. The Jews would mutilate the host in a manner similar to Jesus Christ’s torture and crucifixion. Accusations against the Jews began after the Catholic Church established the doctrine of transubstantiation in 1215. Afterward, Jews were frequently charged and persecuted for this practice. Later on, the accusation became the perfect excuse for people to kill and expel the Jews from the community.
The Reformation of the 16th century alleviated the suffering of the Jews somewhat—when the Protestants denied the doctrine of transubstantiation, the whole thing became moot and academic. However, isolated cases of host-desecration accusations continued well into the 19th century—the last known incident happened in Romania in 1836. <br />
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<strong>7. The Kosher Tax Conspiracy</strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3adROebAFak/Uv0EVGxTd0I/AAAAAAAAC8c/CZvucCMLUUI/s1600/4-kosher.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3adROebAFak/Uv0EVGxTd0I/AAAAAAAAC8c/CZvucCMLUUI/s1600/4-kosher.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a>According to believers of this conspiracy, kosher-certified foods are one way the Jews collect money from unwitting consumers around the world. Proceeds then go to Israel and various Jewish organizations for their nefarious purposes. In the West, the belief in a kosher tax took root during the 20th century, when Jewish organizations gave out kosher certifications to food manufacturers. And since kosher-certified foods are priced higher than non-kosher ones, well, that extra money has to go somewhere.
Unfortunately for conspiracy theorists, the truth couldn’t be any more mundane. While kosher-certified foods are indeed expensive, virtually all the profits go to the manufacturer. A small portion goes to the salaries of the kosher-accrediting organization’s members (most groups work as non-profit).
Historically speaking, a kosher tax has existed before—on the Jews themselves. Several European states imposed different variations of the kosher tax on the Jews. The Russian Empire in particular established the Box Tax—so called because the Jews had to put their money in a collection box.
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<strong>6. Israel Caused 9/11</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E14oo9_2608/Uv0EecdYJAI/AAAAAAAAC8k/XMjxJtnZ7o0/s1600/5-911.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-E14oo9_2608/Uv0EecdYJAI/AAAAAAAAC8k/XMjxJtnZ7o0/s1600/5-911.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a>No, it wasn’t the US government who attacked the World Trade Center in New York; it was Israel—or at least that’s what a good number of Muslim conspiracy theorists believe. According to them, Israel initiated the attacks with the hope that the West would launch a military intervention against what they perceived to be rogue Islamic states.
Rumors of the Israeli connection began shortly after the attacks when Middle Eastern newspapers cited a report that said some 4,000 Israelis did not go in to work at the Trade Center on that fateful day. They also pointed out the extremely low casualty rate the Israelis took in comparison to other nationalities in the attack.
In reality, the 4,000-person figure represented the number of Israelis believed to be in the vicinity of the attacks. Also in stark contrast to the low-casualty rumor was the fact that hundreds of the dead or wounded during the attack were of Jewish origins. Sadly, the figure became subverted by some Muslims who did not want to face the fact that it was Islamic terrorists who spearheaded the attack that took thousands of innocent lives.
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<strong>5. Jews Keep Switzerland Neutral</strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LLL45BYuLZE/Uv0Fa41fgQI/AAAAAAAAC8s/LxSj0yxlSs0/s1600/6-neutral.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-LLL45BYuLZE/Uv0Fa41fgQI/AAAAAAAAC8s/LxSj0yxlSs0/s1600/6-neutral.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a>Ever wondered how Switzerland has managed to remain neutral, avoid major wars, and still remain such a rich and powerful country? Apparently, it’s all thanks to the Jews. A Saudi journalist named Fahd ‘Amr Al-Ahmadi wrote that the Jews were the moving force behind Switzerland’s centuries-long neutrality. He contended that Switzerland provided the perfect place for the Jews to hoard their wealth and plan their next move for world domination. Through their machinations, Switzerland became a neutral and extremely wealthy country while the rest of the world burned around them.
As with most conspiracy theorists, Al-Ahmadi left out a few important notes, most notably the fact that Switzerland connived with the Nazis during World War II in order to remain neutral. That collaboration included harsh laws against Jewish refugees and the storage of ill-gotten Nazi loot.<br />
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<strong>4. Judeopolonia</strong><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Za6bsvFrfzM/Uv0FoYY8VvI/AAAAAAAAC80/7nCmCzswIHc/s1600/7-kings.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Za6bsvFrfzM/Uv0FoYY8VvI/AAAAAAAAC80/7nCmCzswIHc/s1600/7-kings.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a>Will there really be a future Jewish homeland in Poland? In a book written by Polish writer Julian Niemcewicz in 1858, by the year 3333 A.D., the Jews will have total control over Poland through deceit and treachery. Judeopolonia—as it will be known—will consist of Jews ruling over the Gentiles from their capital of Moszkopolis (formerly Warsaw). The bottom of the new social order of Judeopolonia will consist of the rest of the Polish population. The aristocrats especially will be forced to serve the Jewish ruling class. Judeopolonia will be run like a dystopian wasteland—all buildings and structures will either be defaced or destroyed, while the streets will be littered with dirt.
The book sparked great paranoia against Polish Jews for several years. A similar fear rose up during the pre-World War II years with the belief in “zydokomuna,” or a Jewish-Soviet collaboration—a fear made more realistic after the Soviets fought and occupied several parts of Poland in the 1920s and ’30s.<br />
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<strong>3. The Andinia Plan</strong><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJnwyJv-sXs/Uv0F5P4-wKI/AAAAAAAAC88/NrK6KcLVCuA/s1600/8-argentina.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wJnwyJv-sXs/Uv0F5P4-wKI/AAAAAAAAC88/NrK6KcLVCuA/s1600/8-argentina.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a>Argentina is another alleged preferred destination for a Jewish state. According to the Andinia Plan, the Jews mapped out Patagonia in Argentina for the creation of an independent Jewish Republic of Andinia—effectively, a state within a state. The main author of this belief—an Argentinian politician named Walter Allende—alleged that during the 1970s, the Israelites were searching for a second Jewish homeland far away from the turmoil in the Middle East. Argentina, with its large Jewish population, would have been the perfect settlement.
During the reign of the military junta, large numbers of Jews were often abducted and tortured because of their supposed invasion plan. As Jews, they were subjected to greater physical and psychological abuse than usual—one form of torture involved the jamming of small animals into the bodily orifices of Jewish prisoners. All told, more than a thousand Jews disappeared, along with several thousand dissidents, during that time period.
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<strong>2. Jerry The Mouse Is A Jewish Invention</strong><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HfaevjzPbU/Uv0GBwu1kfI/AAAAAAAAC9E/FiNl6FTzK34/s1600/9-tom.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0HfaevjzPbU/Uv0GBwu1kfI/AAAAAAAAC9E/FiNl6FTzK34/s1600/9-tom.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a>At some point in our childhood, most of us have watched at least one episode of Tom And Jerry. Although the show did have its fair share of controversies (including some politically-incorrect episodes), the lighthearted cat-and-mouse capers have remained a hugely popular (and relatively harmless) show for generations of children. Enter Iranian professor Hasan Bolkhari, who basically ruined it for every kid on the planet when he implicated Jerry as nothing more than a tool for the Jews.
In a lecture he gave in 2006, Bolkhari outlined his belief that Jews created Jerry for the purpose of changing how Europeans perceived mice. According to him, Europeans began calling the Jews “dirty mice” during the Nazi era. To counter this, the Jews created the show and have been using it ever since to flip the common perception of the “stupid” mouse. Maybe this revelation also justifies the totally insane fatwa issued by a Saudi cleric that called for the killing of not only Jerry, but Mickey Mouse as well. <br />
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<strong>1. The Jews Dominated The Slave Trade</strong><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KojxP5KIMKY/Uv0GK5AGGOI/AAAAAAAAC9M/oWa3QbzJIg8/s1600/1-slave.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-KojxP5KIMKY/Uv0GK5AGGOI/AAAAAAAAC9M/oWa3QbzJIg8/s1600/1-slave.jpg" height="132" width="200" /></a></div>
Were the Jews responsible for New World slavery? The Nation Of Islam seems to think so. In their book, titled The Secret Relationship Between Blacks And Jews, it was the Jews who financed the operations that saw millions of African natives shipped from their homes to the Americas up until the Civil War. From the ports to the ships, the Jews were in control of everything—not only that, but they also personally owned thousands of slaves and vast plantations. Accordingly, the NOI contended that without support of the Jews, the vast slave network would have essentially collapsed on itself.
Several scholars disputed the NOI’s assertion and stated that the participation of the Jews in the slave trade was “minimal” at best. While some Jews did own slaves and engaged in the trade, their involvement paled in comparison to that of the Europeans. Also conveniently forgotten was the fact that the Jews themselves were subjected to slavery multiple times throughout their history. Conclusively, while the Jews were guilty of slavery, they were not the only ones—virtually everyone was in on this horrid practice at some point in time. <br />
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Read More: <a href="http://listverse.com/2014/02/09/10-absurdly-crazy-jewish-conspiracy-theories/" target="_blank">Listverse.Com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03605684781038659805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-10087937485126661032014-01-25T07:19:00.001-08:002014-01-25T07:19:04.528-08:00Israel Apartheid Week: One Big Anti-Semitic Lie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x1WaNTAxKyE/UuMUSm9w6bI/AAAAAAAAC6s/GREn4eBy-BI/s1600/Israel+Apartheid+Week.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-x1WaNTAxKyE/UuMUSm9w6bI/AAAAAAAAC6s/GREn4eBy-BI/s320/Israel+Apartheid+Week.jpg" /></a></div>
Anti-Israel students and faculty hold “Israel Apartheid Week” (IAW) every year to try to persuade others that the Jewish state acts as an apartheid regime. The movement is nothing more than an attempt by its anti-Semitic organizers to delegitimize the Jewish state.
By harassing Jewish students and Jewish organizations, IAW “activists” spread falsehoods and hate speech about Israel. Even though this movement is based off hatred and lies, it is growing and must be countered.
See examples below of how IAW acts as an anti-Semitic movement and how different individuals and organizations stand up to it:
- GIYUS (Give Israel Your United Support) has a short article and video that describe how Israel Apartheid Week is a form of anti-Semitism. The author explains that during IAW, Jewish students on campuses throughout the US experience anti-Semitism from these IAW “activists.” Watch the video as well to hear from current college students about their experiences with anti-Semitism during IAW.
- The National Post published a letter to the editor by Jonathan Kay, fellow of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, which shows how Israel Apartheid Week is rooted in anti-Semitism and the goal of destroying the Jewish state. He quotes a former supporter of IAW who says that IAW is nothing more than a cult that wants to destroy Israel. Kay also discusses how it is ridiculous that these “activists” are so focused on the only democracy in the Middle East, while Arab regimes all over the region are murdering their own people. Check out the article to learn more about Israel Apartheid Week’s anti-Semitic roots.
- YNet News published an op-ed by Dore Gold (President of the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs and Israel’s former ambassador to the UN) that counters Israel Apartheid Week and exposes it as a nothing more than hate speech. In addition to IAW being rooted in hate speech and lies, Gore talks about how the Jewish people, as well as the Jewish state, promote the exact opposite of apartheid. Gore discusses how the Jewish people and Israel have always stood up for equality and have always fought oppression; in fact, no nation has done more to fight racism than Israel. Read Gore’s article to learn more about how Israel Apartheid Week is hate speech and how you can fight it.
- Stand With Us provides lots of information about Israel Apartheid Week and how to counter it. Specifically, it provides booklets about apartheid and how while Israel is far from an apartheid state, there are many countries (specifically in the Arab World) that do practice apartheid. Click here to learn about the Arab apartheid regimes. Another booklet on the Website contrasts the South African apartheid regime and Israel and proves that Israel is NOT an apartheid state.
<a href="http://fighthatred.com/profiles-in-hate/historians-authors/1150-israel-apartheid-week-one-big-anti-semitic-lie">Fight Hatred.Com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03605684781038659805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-50673387734107143902014-01-25T07:17:00.001-08:002014-01-25T07:17:10.069-08:00Sudanese Refugees in Israel<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d5pvfDvIL9Y/UuHicCnIt9I/AAAAAAAAC6c/3U1YbpWI75g/s1600/Sudanese+in+Israel.jpg" imageanchor="1" ><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-d5pvfDvIL9Y/UuHicCnIt9I/AAAAAAAAC6c/3U1YbpWI75g/s250/Sudanese+in+Israel.jpg" /></a>For many years, the Arabs in Sudan lived peacefully alongside the native Africans in the region. After a severe drought in the 1980s, the situation deteriorated and African villages were regularly attacked by government forces. In 2003, as a response to the attacks, the Sudan Liberation Army, a rebel group consisting primarily of Africans from the Darfur region of Sudan, attacked government forces in Darfur. In retaliation, the central government in the capital city of Khartoum, armed and funded Arab militias called Janjaweed. They rampaged across the country, murdering native Muslim and Christian African men, women and children throughout Sudan. The militias raped women, burned villages, and terrorized all non-Arabs they encountered. The conflict began in 2003, and today, an estimated 480,000 people have been killed, over 3,200 African villages have been destroyed, and 2.8 million people have been displaced. Nearly five million Sudanese depend on humanitarian aid.
In July 2007, the UN Security Council unanimously approved Resolution 1769 which called for a 26,000 member peace-keeping force consisting of 20,000 troops and 6,000 civilian personnel. A year later however, only 9,000 of the authorized 20,000 troops were on the ground in Darfur. Many Sudanese refugees have fled to the Republic of Chad and Egypt. As of December 2013, nearly 275,000 had escaped to Chad and about 18,000 to Egypt, where they continue to suffer from a lack of basic rights and live on the verge of starvation under constant threat of harassment, persecution, and violence from authorities and locals alike.
Sudanese refugees began fleeing Egypt for Israel in 2005. They crossed the Sinai on a rigorous and harrowing journey, led by Bedouins who often charged $100-$300 for their guide services. As refugees first began crossing the porous border between Egypt and Israel, Egyptian border police were ordered to shoot anyone they saw and diligently followed their command. Those who managed to enter Israel alive were often wounded or starving. The Israeli military treated those in need of food and medical attention and then detained the refugees.
According to a 1954 Israeli law, all infiltrators from enemy states, such as Sudan which harbors terrorists, must be detained until their refugee status can be confirmed. Israel took in less than 2,000 refugees in 2007. Many of these refugees were caught in Be’er Sheva crossing the border. They spent time in prison or detention centers, such as the Ketziot Prison complex which was set up to hold 2,000 refugees in small trailers of the sort used in construction sites. Supporters of the detention camp argued it was necessary to enable authorities to sort all those caught infiltrating Israel through its border with Egypt. Non-refugee infiltrators include an estimated 1,500 illegal immigrants from Africa who came in search of work and hundreds of Eastern European trafficked in for sex trade industry.
Many refugees have been sent back to Egypt, where they faced further detention or deportation back to Sudan. Critics claimed Israel violated international law and the 1951 United Nations Refugee Convention, which prohibits the expulsion of refugees without assessing their claims for asylum. The UNHCR, the United Nations Refugee Agency’s responsibility is to find a permanent solution for the refugee problem. Israel argued that its small country could not take in more refugees and UNHCR should play a more active role in helping the refugees.
Those who were released from detention and allowed to stay in Israel met a harsh reality. Jobs were hard to come by and living conditions squalor. The Hotline for Migrant Workers says 17,000 African refugees have entered Israel via the Egyptian border since 2006, including 5,000 Sudanese migrants, 3,000 of whom were Christians who settled in Israel. Currently about 1,200 Darfuris live in Israel with about 500 in Tel Aviv and the rest primarily working on kibbutzim in the South and in hotels in Eilat. Those who found lives in on kibbutzim and in hotels in Eilat find themselves happier than those in Tel Aviv, where jobs are scarce and living conditions harsh. A rundown bomb shelter across from the central bus station in Tel Aviv has become a home for many Africans until they can find work or proper housing. After granting refugees asylum, the Israeli government’s efforts to help the integration of Africans into society was minimal. Instead, Israeli charities, churches, synagogues, legal and medial aid organizations, and the Tel Aviv municipality lend a large hand.
Several organizations help aid refugees in Israel. B’nai Darfur (Sons of Darfur) started in 2007 as a non-profit humanitarian organization that provides social opportunities, health care, education, and cultural programs. They aim to empower the Darfurian, as well as the Sudanese and Eritrean, communities and provide economic aid. The organization was established by some of the first Darfurian refugees to arrive in Israel and began taking roots while its founders were still detained in prison. The organization helps refugees find jobs, learn Hebrew and English, and attend school while and raises awareness of the genocide occurring in Darfur.
In addition to absorbing refugees, Israel has sent financial aid for refugees in other countries. By November 2, 2006, the Israeli Government and American Jewish organizations had contributed a combined total of $75,000 USD to assist Sudanese refugees who had settled in UNHCR camps in Chad. In the US, the Jewish American community has been one of the most outspoken and active groups in fighting genocide and lobbying the nation’s leaders. For example, American Jewish World Service and the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum founded the Save Darfur Coalition, the biggest raiser of private funds for Darfur in the United States.
In January 2014, over 20,000 African migrants and asylum-seekers marched in Tel Aviv in an effort to garner the support of Western governments to denounce Israel's detention policy toward migrants who enter the country illegally, to be recognized as refugees and persuade Israel to stop arresting them and free those currently imprisoned. Protesters marched to the embassies of France, Britain, Italy, Canada and Germany with letters appealing to these countries' support. The protests follow a December law that Israel's parliament approved, which enables authorities to detain migrants without valid visas indefinitely. Since then, more than 300 migrants were arrested and others summons to be detained. Since 2006, approximately 60,000 migrants - mostly from Eritrea and Sudan, have crossed into Israel through the then-porous border with Egypt. After the 2011 Egyptian Revolution, Israel began constructing a border fence along its border with Sinai. The fence has dramatically reduced if not completely halted illegal immigration, as of the summer of 2013, and also serves as a counterterrorism blockade.
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http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03605684781038659805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-76880358960922409982014-01-22T19:23:00.002-08:002014-01-22T19:32:07.212-08:00Noam Chomsky: A Jewish Anti-Semite (S.H.I.T Jew)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vmFgkg2rQ74/UuCGZA9NXQI/AAAAAAAAC6M/xsNIRiD3VQ4/s1600/noam_chomsky.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-vmFgkg2rQ74/UuCGZA9NXQI/AAAAAAAAC6M/xsNIRiD3VQ4/s320/noam_chomsky.jpg" /></a></div><b>S.H.I.T - Self Hater Israel Threatening</b>
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Noam Chomsky is one of the most violent-thinking anti-Semites around today. He speaks at college campuses throughout the world and spreads anti-Semitic messages to students. The hardest thing about combating Chomsky’s messages is that he is Jewish, and he denies his messages are rooted in anti-Semitism, even when he stands up for Holocaust deniers, supports terrorism, and praises genocides.
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See below for examples of Chomsky's hate speech and different organizations countering his messages, followed by questions students should ask him when he speaks on campus:
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- Nativ Online published an article that outlines Chomsky’s beliefs and explains how <a href="http://www.acpr.org.il/ENGLISH-NATIV/04-issue/bogdanor-4.htm">Chomsky’s ideas are rooted in anti-Semitism, hypocrisy, and lies.</a>
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<b>Here are some examples, the article notes, of what Chomsky says and does that show how he is anti-Semitic and hate-filled:</b>
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- Chomsky rejects the idea of a Jewish state and wants the destruction of Israel. He believes Jews do not deserve a homeland, while every other ethnic/religious group in the world does. He believes that Arabs should be able to settle in Israel at will, but Jews should not be able to settle in Arab countries (keep in mind that more than 800,000 Jews were kicked out of Arab countries in 1948).
<br/>
- Chomsky called the Yugoslavian revolution in the 1990s that included a genocide of tens of thousands of people a “successful social revolution.”
This is pure hate speech.
<br/>
- Chomsky sponsored a party in Israel (Matzpen) that advocates for terrorism. Matzpen partnered with a terrorist group that carried out an attack on an elementary school that killed 22 children.
<br/>
- Chomsky calls the PLO the “heroes” of the 1982 Lebanon War. Meanwhile, the PLO raped and killed tens of thousands of Lebanese civilians before Israel kicked them out of Lebanon (http://www.acpr.org.il/ENGLISH-NATIV/04-issue/bogdanor-4.htm read the article for details, although the details are very graphic).
<br/>
- This video talks about an instance where Chomsky defended a Holocaust denier SaveFrom.net. Robert Faurisson (a French professor) published a book denying the Holocaust; Faurisson was then convicted of inciting hate and was kicked out of his university. Chomsky signed a petition that declared Faurisson a “respected professor of literature who merely tried to make his findings public.” Saying this about a man who devotes his career to denying the Holocaust is simply anti-Semitic.
<br/>
<b>Watch the full video to learn more about this case.</b>
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<br/>
- Werner Cohen, professor emeritus at the University of British Columbia, writes about how Chomsky compares the United States’ “war crimes” to the Nazis. Chomsky exhibits pure hate speech here, as the two are complete opposites and he is unable to back up his claims with any reputable sources. Cohen then discusses <a href="http://wernercohn.com/Chomsky.html#anchor26235">Chomsky’s connections to neo-Nazis in Europe</a> and how Chomsky has stood up for Holocaust deniers.
<br/>
<b>Embarrassing questions to ask Chomsky while he is on campus:</b>
<br/>
1) Many years ago, you signed a petition that referred to Robert Faurisson (a Holocaust denier) as a “respected professor of literature who merely tried to make his findings public.” Would you sign that same petition today if you had the chance to do so?
<br/>
2) You seem to blame most of the problems in the world on either the United States or Israel, which is exactly what al-Qaida and Iran do.
Do you hold other views that are similar to those of al-Qaida and Iran?
<br/>
3) You have in the past compared the United States to Nazi Germany. Can you explain how the two are alike?
<br/>
4) The PLO raped, tortured, and murdered innocent civilians in Lebanon for years before the 1982 Lebanon War. Estimates put the death toll of civilians at the hands of the PLO at 100,000, with 250,000 wounded. You referred to the PLO as “heroes” in Lebanon; why do you consider them heroes?
<br/>
5) In the past, you referred to the Yugoslavian revolution in the 1990s that resulted in a genocide of tens of thousands of people as a “successful social revolution.” What makes this genocide a “successful social revolution”?
<br/>
<a href="http://www.fighthatred.com/profiles-in-hate/historians-authors/1148-noam-chomsky-a-jewish-anti-semite">Fight Hatred.Com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03605684781038659805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-35311919957698974452014-01-14T15:28:00.000-08:002014-01-14T15:28:41.243-08:00The Most Stupid Conspiracy Theories of Muslims and Anti-Semites<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-va1e_wym628/UtXF8QllPBI/AAAAAAAAC5k/Hz-zWiBurHE/s1600/The+Protocol+of+Elder+of+Zion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-va1e_wym628/UtXF8QllPBI/AAAAAAAAC5k/Hz-zWiBurHE/s320/The+Protocol+of+Elder+of+Zion.jpg" /></a></div>Not long after September 11, it wasn’t uncommon to encounter Muslims chatting on the internet and proclaiming, with apparent sincerity, that Muslims couldn’t possible have pulled off the attacks because, well, Muslims weren’t that smart.
Only one group of people were, and those people were… the Jews!!
The good news is, some Muslim commentators have condemned 9/11 conspiracy theories. One asked rhetorically:
Didn’t Arabs try to blow up the World Trade Center in 1993? Aren’t Arabs capable of flying planes? Aren’t Arabs responsible for suicide operations in Southern Lebanon and in occupied Palestine? Didn’t Arabs come up with the idea of hijacking and blowing up civilian planes in the late 1960s and early 1970s, and then give it up after it turned out that this method failed abysmally in achieving their political goals…?’”
Another wrote with palpable exasperation:
“The Arabs keep insisting on their innocence and accusing the Mossad of planning the deed with the aim of launching an aggressive war against the Muslims in Afghanistan and Iraq… But this tale clashes with the fact that Jews are cowards and do not commit suicide. So the theory was amended, and it was claimed that the Mossad had planned and funded [the operation], and a group from among our innocent young people was deceived and ensnared by the Mossad, and that it was they who carried out [the operation].
“I do not know how long this [Muslim] arrogance will continue. Why don’t we want to acknowledge that these young people were the sons of a culture that is hostile toward the world, not idiots or mad. No one enticed them, and they did not suffer from oppression, repression, or poverty. They carried out the operation because of their belief that it was Jihad and martyrdom. They were our young people and our sons, and they were our responsibility.”
The bad news is that these condemnations were more frequently heard in the years following the attack. If anything, belief in “9/11 conspiracies” has increased in the intervening years.
That doesn’t mean we should give up debunking these theories at every opportunity. However, we have to acknowledge that we are trying to educate people who, in many respects, either cannot or will not change their minds, no matter how much evidence we present or how much mockery we employ.
<b>1) Jewish Leaders Deliberately Engineered The Holocaust</b>
As anyone who has ever had to listen to one knows, racists aren’t the most logical of people. So when a crazy anti-Semite comes out with a theory along the lines of “the Jews deliberately caused the Holocaust,” sadly some people actually take notice.The theory goes that an international cartel of evil Zionists planted Hitler in Germany, with specific orders that he become a world-class douchebag and slaughter six million of their coreligionists. Just think about that for a minute. It’s like an extract from the idiot’s guide to casual racism: Take a group of people you hate, add a historical “bad thing,” and try and claim the first group caused it. Only they’ve somehow missed the part where it needs to make any rational sense. When you’ve gone this far down the conspiracy theory chain, there’s really nothing you can say to change the minds of those who believe it. No matter how slowly and patiently you go over the historical evidence to suggest they’re talking crap, they’ll still insist that Jewish/Zionist bankers engineered the Holocaust, which didn’t kill that many people anyway, simply to justify Israel’s something-something-something anti-Semitism. That’s it: If there’s any conspiracy theory dumber than this one, I don’t really want to hear about it.
<b>2) Sandy Hook Was An Israeli Attack</b>
Late last year, Adam Lanza took a gun into Sandy Hook elementary school and proceeded to commit one of the worst atrocities in US history. All told, 26 people died, including 20 children. In the face of such a pointless tragedy, mouth-breathers everywhere naturally decided it had to be a conspiracy.Chief among these soulless idiots was former GOP gubernatorial candidate Michael Harris, who claimed the massacre had been carried out by Israel as part of a revenge attack. Rather than just being a lonely, stupid kid, Adam Lanza was a fall guy whose corpse was used to cover up the involvement of Israeli death squads, while Obama (obviously) knew about the whole thing. Despite the idea that Israel would murder American children for an unspecified reason being literally insane, the theory continues to do the rounds both online and in the official Iranian press. As a concept, it’s idiotic. As a response to the murder of 20 children, it’s downright offensive.
<b>3) The Protocols of the Elders of Zion</b>
I haven’t much to add to the thorough debunking of the notorious Protocols of the Elders of Zion. Here’s some background, on the off chance you aren’t familiar with this book:
The Protocols of the Elders of Zion is a forgery made in Russia for the Okhrana (secret police), which blames the Jews for the country’s ills. It was first privately printed in 1897 and was made public in 1905. It is copied from a nineteenth century novel by Hermann Goedsche (Biarritz, 1868) and claims that a secret Jewish cabal is plotting to take over the world. (…)
The Protocols were published in 1920 in a Michigan newspaper started by Henry Ford mainly to attack Jews and Communists. Even after they were exposed as a forgery, Ford’s paper continued to cite the document. Adolf Hitler later used the Protocols to help justify his attempt to exterminate Jews during World War II.
Alas, news of the debunking hasn’t reached many areas of the Muslim world.
And even if the facts were presented there, the Protocols are such a handy tool I doubt it would make any difference. The book is so popular that it has been adapted as a TV mini-series for broadcast in various Muslim countries.
<b>4) Sharks Attack</b>
In December 2010, several shark attacks occurred off the South Sinai resort of Sharm el-Sheikh in Egypt.
Following the attacks, in an interview on Tawfik Okasha's popular but controversial Egypt Today TV show, a Captain Mustafa Ismail, introduced as "a famous diver", alleged that the GPS tracking device found on one of the sharks was in fact a "guiding device" planted by Israeli agents.
Describing the conspiracy connection to Israel as "sad", Professor Mahmoud Hanafy, a marine biologist at Suez Canal University, pointed out that GPS devices are used by marine biologists to track sharks, not to remote-control them. Egyptian officials suggested that the attacks were due to overfishing, illegal feeding, the dumping overboard of sheep carcasses, or unusually high water temperatures.
<b>5) Birds carrying Israeli tracking devices and tags</b>
Birds (as well as other animals) are often tagged with GPS tracking devices or identification bands to record their movements for animal migration tracking and similar reasons.
Ohad Hatzofe, an avian ecologist for the Israel's Nature and Parks Authority, said the idea that tagged birds are used for spying is absurd, and stated that "Birds and other wildlife belongs to all of us and we have to cooperate... Ignorance causes these stupid beliefs that they are used for spying"
Animal spies to Israel.... And so it goes on... and on... and on...
<b>6) Israeli Sex Gum and the Sodas of Doom</b>
Given strict Islamic rules about food consumption, it isn’t surprising that a number of conspiracy theories concern food, drink — and even chewing gum:
Hamas suspects that Israeli intelligence services are supplying its Gaza Strip stronghold with chewing gum that boosts the sex drive in order to “corrupt the young,” an official said on Tuesday.
Last time I checked, sex was still, you know, where babies come from. Are more Palestinians really in Israel’s best interest? (Silly me: even that “side effect” must be part of the Jews’ cunning plan. I’m just too stupid to understand the nuances.)
Many Muslim conspiracies involve big brand names, like Coke and Pepsi. In some cases, these theories hold that these soft drinks contain forbidden pork products:
According to a report published in Jordanian magazine, the head of Delhi University’s Science and Technology Center , Dr. Mangoshada scientifically proved that the key element in Pepsi and Cola contains extract from the intestines of Pig which causes cancer and other deadly diseases.
The Indian university conducted tests on the impact of drinking Pepsi and Coca Cola which proved that drinking them lead to more rapid heart rate and low pressure. Also drinking 6 bottles of Pepsi or Cola at a time causes instant death.
Other conspiracy theories take advantage of the habit mentioned above, of seeing things that aren’t there, in this case in the products’ logos: some Muslims believe “Pepsi” is an acronym for “Pay Ever Penny Save Israel” or that “Pepsi” really spells “Israel.”
I guess if you haven’t invented anything important in the last thousand years, the next best thing is to slander those who have.
<b>7) Zionist Conspiracies</b>
The Anti-Defamation League lists Zionist conspiracies including spreading poisons (Jan 1995, Al-Ahram), spreading AIDS (Al-Shaab), blood rituals (June 1995, Al-Ahram), leading an international conspiracy against Islam (March 1995, Al-Ahram), and creating the myth of the Holocaust (Dec 1995-Feb 1996, Egyptian Gazette).
Conspiracy theories holds the Jews responsible for killing Lincoln and Kennedy, and causing the French and Russian revolutions. Zionists are seen as a threat to the world. A widespread conspiracy theory after the September 11 attacks blamed Israel and Mossad for the attacks.
<b>8) Zionist Occupation Government (ZOG)</b>
Zionist Occupation Government or Zionist Occupied Government (abbreviated as ZOG) is an antisemitic conspiracy theory that holds that Jews secretly control a given country, while the formal government is a puppet regime. The expression is used by antisemitic groups such as white supremacists in the United States and Europe, ultra-nationalists such as Pamyat in Russia, and various far-right groups, including some in Poland.
One early appearance of the term was in 1976 in an article, Welcome to ZOG-World, attributed to an American neo-Nazi Eric Thomson.[a] The term came to the attention of a larger audience in a December 27, 1984 article in The New York Times about robberies committed in California and Washington by a white supremacist group called The Order. According to the newspaper, the crimes "were conducted to raise money for a war upon the United States Government, which the group calls 'ZOG,' or Zionist Occupation Government."
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P2i3zPkQ9Nk/UtXGQeVFu-I/AAAAAAAAC5s/uZ55iCA2zzg/s1600/anticoke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-P2i3zPkQ9Nk/UtXGQeVFu-I/AAAAAAAAC5s/uZ55iCA2zzg/s320/anticoke.jpg" /></a></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03605684781038659805noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-7423227225719527952012-07-15T09:23:00.003-07:002012-07-15T09:23:53.914-07:00Jewish Quotes AND Quotes about JewsFamous Judaism Quotes Quotations<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “I will insist the Hebrews have [contributed] more to civilize men than any other nation. If I was an atheist and believed in blind eternal fate, I should still believe that fate had ordained the Jews to be the most essential instrument for civilizing the nations ... They are the most glorious nation that ever inhabited this Earth. The Romans and their empire were but a bubble in comparison to the Jews. They have given religion to three-quarters of the globe and have influenced the affairs of mankind more and more happily than any other nation, ancient or modern.”<br />
<br />
- John Adams, Second President of the United States<br />
(From a letter to F. A. Van der Kemp [Feb. 16, 1808] Pennsylvania Historical Society)<br />
(See the Jewish impact on the world)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “This is an exceedingly strange development, unexpected by all but the theologians. They have always accepted the word of the Bible: In the beginning God created heaven and earth… [But] for the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; [and] as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.”<br />
<br />
- Robert Jastrow<br />
(God and the Astronomers [New York: W.W. Norton and Co., 1978], 116. Professor Jastrow was the founder of NASA’s Goddard Institute, now director of the Mount Wilson Institute and its observatory.)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> ”...If statistics are right, the Jews constitute but one percent of the human race. It suggests a nebulous dim puff of stardust lost in the blaze of the Milky way. properly, the Jew ought hardly to be heard of, but he is heard of, has always been heard of. He is as prominent on the planet as any other people, and his commercial importance is extravagantly out of proportion to the smallness of his bulk. His contributions to the world’s list of great names in literature, science, art, music, finance, medicine, and abstruse learning are also away out of proportion to the weakness of his numbers. He has made a marvelous fight in this world, in all the ages; and had done it with his hands tied behind him. He could be vain of himself, and be excused for it.<br />
<br />
The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then faded to dream-stuff and passed away; the Greek and the Roman followed; and made a vast noise, and they are gone; other people have sprung up and held their torch high for a time, but it burned out, and they sit in twilight now, or have vanished. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts, no slowing of his energies, no dulling of his alert and aggressive mind. All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains. What is the secret of his immortality?” <br />
<br />
- Mark Twain<br />
(“Concerning The Jews,” Harper’s Magazine, 1899 <br />
see The Complete Essays of Mark Twain, Doubleday [1963] pg. 249)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “If we were forced to choose just one, there would be no way to deny that Judaism is the most important intellectual development in human history.”<br />
<br />
- David Gelernter, Yale University Professor<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “It is against their own insoluble problem of being human that the dull and base in humanity are in revolt in anti-Semitism. Judaism, nevertheless, together with Hellenism and Christianity is an inalienable component of our Christian Western civilization, the eternal “call to Sinai” against which humanity again and again rebels.”<br />
<br />
- Herman Rauschning, The Beast From the Abyss, pp. 155-56<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “If we had lived in the second millennium BC, the millennium of Abraham, and could have canvassed all the nations of the earth, what would they have said of Abraham’s journey? In most of Africa and Europe, they would have laughed at Abraham’s madness and pointed to the heavens, where the life of earth had been plotted from all eternity ... a man cannot escape his fate. The Egyptians would have shaken their heads in disbelief. The early Greeks might have told Abraham the story of Prometheus ... Do not overreach, they would advise; come to resignation. In India, he would be told that time is black, irrational and merciless. Do not set yourself the task of accomplishing something in time, which is only the dominion of suffering. On every continent, in every society, Abraham would have been given the same advice that wise men as diverse as Heraclitus, Lao-Tsu and Siddhartha would one day give their followers: do not journey but sit; compose yourself by the river of life, meditate on its ceaseless and meaningless flow.”<br />
<br />
“The Jews started it all—and by ‘it’ I mean so many of the things we care about, the underlying values that make all of us, Jew and Gentile, believer and aethiest, tick. Without the Jews, we would see the world through different eyes, hear with different ears, even feel with different feelings ... we would think with a different mind, interpret all our experience differently, draw different conclusions from the things that befall us. And we would set a different course for our lives.”<br />
<br />
- Thomas Cahill, The Gifts Of The Jews<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Mankind, East and West, Christian and Muslim, accepted the Jewish conviction that there is only one G-d. Today it is polytheism that is so difficult to understand, that is so unthinkable.”<br />
<br />
- T.R. Grover, The Ancient World, p. 186<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> There is a famous story in which the Kaiser asks Bismarck, “Can you prove the existence of God?” Bismarck replies, “The Jews, your majesty. The Jews.”<br />
<br />
“The Jews, however, are beyond all doubt the strongest, toughest, and purest race at present living in Europe; they know how to succeed even under the worst conditions (in fact better than under favorable ones) by means of virtues of some sort, which one would like nowadays to label as vices-owing above all to a resolute faith which does not need to be ashamed before “modern idea…<br />
<br />
It is certain that the Jew, if he desired-or if they were driven to it, as the antisemites seem to wish-could now have the ascendancy, nay, literally the supremacy, over Europe; that they are not working or planning for that end is equally sure… The resourcefulness of the modern Jews, both in mind and soul, is extraordinary…”<br />
<br />
- Friedrich Nietzsche<br />
German Philosopher (1844 - 1900)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Asked to make a list of the men who have most dominated the thinking of the modern world, many educated people would name Freud, Einstein, Marx and Darwin. Of these four, only Darwin was not Jewish. In a world where Jews are only a tiny percentage of the population, what is the secret of the disproportionate importance the Jews have had in the history of Western culture?”<br />
<br />
- Ernest van den Haag, The Jewish Mystique <br />
(New York: Dell Publishing Company, 1971, pg. 13)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Energy is the basis of everything. Every Jew, no matter how insignificant, is engaged in some decisive and immediate pursuit of a goal… It is the most perpetual people of the earth…”<br />
<br />
- Johann Wolfgang von Goethe<br />
German dramatist, novelist and poet (1749 - 1832)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> ”...whatever other qualities Jews may posses, likable or the reverse, no one who knows them well can deny that they are personally interesting. By that I mean, specially alive, alert, quick at comprehending people or events and at making pungent or witty comments on them… One might at times find the rather hothouse family atmosphere, with it intensities and frictions, somewhat trying, but one could be sure of never being bored.”<br />
<br />
- Ernest Jones - British psychoanalyst (1879-1958)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “For the Jews have long been in revolt not only against the Romans, but against humanity; and a race that has made its own life apart and irreconcilable, that cannot share with the rest of mankind in the pleasure of the table nor join in their libations or prayers or sacrifices, are separate from ourselves by a greater gulf than divides us from Sura or Bactra of the most distant Indies.”<br />
<br />
- Philostratus - The Life of Apollonius of Tyana, 3rd Century CE Teacher<br />
<br />
“The Jews proved not only unassimilated, but inassimilable, and… the demonstration that this was so proved one of the most significant turning points in Greek history, owing to the gigantic influence exerted throughout subsequent ages by their religion, which not only survived intact, but subsequently gave birth to Christianity as well.”<br />
<br />
- Michael Grant,From Alexander to Cleopatra: the Hellenistic World, <br />
(New York: Charles Scribner & Sons, 1982., p. 75)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The dispersion of the Jews was both a boon and a bane; their nation was disjoined, but their culture was enormously enhanced. Whereas a unique omneitic outlook set the Jews apart from other peoples, a common language, literacy and learning bound the disparate Jewish communities together and provided a firm foundation for further creativity. The exercise of this multifaceted creative propensity rebounded to benefit not only the societies that harbored the Jews, but all humankind.”<br />
<br />
- Samuel Karlinsky, The Eight Day - The Hidden History of the Jewish Contribution to Civilzation (Northvale, New Jersey: Jason Aronson, Inc., 1994.), xviii.<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Wishing to make Speyer into a city, I thought to increase its honor a thousand fold by bringing in the Jews.”<br />
<br />
- Bishop Ruediger - Huozmann - 1084<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “So prominent was the Jewish role in the foreign commerce of Europe that those nations that received the Jews gained and the countries that excluded them lost in the volume of international trade.”<br />
<br />
- Will Durant, The Story of Civilization - The Reformation. (New York: Simon & Shuster, 1953)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The preservation of the Jews is really one of the most signal and illustrious acts of divine Providence… and what but a supernatural power could have preserved them in such a manner as none other nation upon earth hath been preserved. Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in the destruction of their enemies, than in their preservation… We see that the great empires, which in their turn subdued and oppressed the people of God, are all come to ruin… And if such hath been the fatal end of the enemies and oppressors of the Jews, let it serve as a warning to all those, who at any time or upon any occasion are for raising a clamor and persecution against them.”<br />
<br />
- Thomas Newton - British Clergyman: Bishop of Bristol (1704-1782)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The brief legal emancipation of Jews during the Napoleonic wars released unparalleled economic, professional, and cultural energies. It was though a high dam had suddenly been breached.”<br />
<br />
- Amos Elon, The Pity of It All - A portrait of the German-Jewish Epoch 1743 -1933 (New York: Picador, 2002) pg. 6<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “For the Jewish impact on humanity has been protean. In antiquity they were the great innovators in religion and morals. In the Dark Ages and early medieval Europe they were still an advanced people transmitting scarce knowledge and technology. Gradually they were pushed from the van and fell behind, by the end of the eighteenth century, they were seen as a bedraggled and obscurantist rearguard in the march of civilized humanity. But then came an astonishing second burst of creativity. Breaking out of the ghettos, they once more transformed human thinking, this time in the secular sphere. Much of the mental furniture of the modern world too is of Jewish fabrication.”<br />
<br />
- Paul Johnson<br />
(Christian historian, author of A History of the Jews and A History of Christianity pg. 585-6)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “For many people during many centuries, mankind’s history before the coming of Christianity was the history of the Jews and what they recounted of the history of others. Both were written down in the books called the Old Testament, [the Torah] the sacred writings of the Jewish people ... They were the first to arrive at an abstract notion of God and to forbid his representation by images. No other people has produced a greater historical impact from such comparatively insignificant origins and resources ...”<br />
<br />
- J.M. Roberts, History Of The World<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The Jew lends himself easily to Communism because it enables him to devote himself to a high cause, involving all of humanity, characteristics which are natural to him as a Jew.”<br />
<br />
- Edmund Wilson - U.S. literary critic and author (1895-1972)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “People often avoid making decisions out of fear of making a mistake. Actually, the failure to make decisions is one of life’s biggest mistakes.”<br />
<br />
- Rabbi Noah Weinberg, 48 Ways To Wisdom, Way #4<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Some people like the Jews, and some do not. But no thoughtful man can deny the fact that they are, beyond any question, the most formidable and the most remarkable race which has appeared in the world.”<br />
<br />
- Winston Churchill - Prime Minister of Great Britain<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Our survey of three and a half millennia of Jewish history is closed. But the story which we have set ourselves to tell is unending. Today, the Jewish people has in it still those elements of strength and endurance which enabled it to surmount all the crises of its past, surviving thus the most powerful empires of antiquity.<br />
<br />
Throughout our history there have been weaker elements who have shirked the sacrifices which Judaism entailed. They have been swallowed, long since, in the great majority; only the more stalwart have carried on the traditions of their ancestors, and can now look back with pride upon their superb heritage. Are we to be numbered with he weak majority, or with the stalwart minority? It is for ourselves to decide.”<br />
<br />
- Cecil Roth, A History of the Jews <br />
(Oxford University: Shocken Books, 1961) pg. 423<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Small minds discuss people. Average minds discuss events. Great minds discuss ideas.”<br />
<br />
- Unknown<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> ”...it would be a mistake…to ascribe to Roman legal conceptions an undivided sway over the development of law and institutions during the Middle Ages… The Laws of Moses as well as the laws of Rome contributed suggestions and impulse to the men and institutions which were to prepare the modern world; and if we could have but eyes to see… we should readily discover how very much besides religion we owe to the Jew.”<br />
<br />
- U.S. President Woodrow Wilson in his The State<br />
<br />
“In the facades we put on for others we demonstrate our potential; through our children we reveal our reality.”<br />
<br />
- Lawrence Kelemen, To Kindle A Soul p. 195<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “It’s not how much or how little you have that makes you great or small, but how much or how little you are with what you have.”<br />
<br />
- Rabbi Samson Raphael Hirsch<br />
(Horeb, vol. 1, pg 46)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> Intolerance lies at the core of evil.<br />
Not the intolerance that results<br />
from any threat or danger.<br />
But intolerance of another being who dares to exist.<br />
Intolerance without cause. It is so deep within us,<br />
because every human being secretly desires<br />
the entire universe to himself.<br />
Our only way out is to learn<br />
compassion without cause. To care for each other<br />
simple because that ‘other’ exists.<br />
<br />
- Rabbi Menachem Mendle<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Intelligent people know of what they speak; fools speak of what they know.”<br />
<br />
- Minchas Shabbos Pirkei Avos 3:18 / Ethics Of The Fathers<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> A renowned genius once asked a student, “What are you watching when you sit on a hillside in the late afternoon as the colors turn from yellow to orange and red and finally darkness?” He answered, “You are watching the sunset.” The genius responded, “That is what is wrong with our age. You know full well you are not watching the sun set. You are watching the world turn.”<br />
<br />
- Jeremy Kagan, “The Jewish Self”<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The entire purpose of our existence is to overcome our negative habits.”<br />
<br />
- Vilna Goan, Commentary to Mishlei 4:13<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> Rabbi Zusha used to say: “When I die and come before the heavenly court, if they ask me, ‘Zusha, why were you not Abraham?’ I’ll say that I didn’t have Abraham’s intellectual abilities. If they say, ‘Why were you not Moses?’ I’ll say I didn’t have Moses’ leadership abilities. For every such question, I’ll have an answer. But if they say, ‘Zusha, why were you not Zusha?’ for that, I’ll have no answer.”<br />
<br />
Until today (1888), no people has succeeded in establishing national dominion in the Land of Israel. No national unity, in the spirit of nationalism, has acquired any hold there. The mixed multitude of itinerant tribes that managed o settle there did so on lease, as temporary residents. It seems that they await the return of the permanent residents of the land.<br />
<br />
- Professor Sir John William Dosson<br />
Modern Science in Bible Lands, London: Harper and Brothers, 1889, pp. 449-450.<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “If a Jew doesn’t make Kiddush (to sanctify himself by maintaining a distinctly Jewish lifestyle), then the non-Jew will make Havdalah for him (by making the Jew realize he is truly different).”<br />
<br />
- R’ Chaim of Volozhin<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> Most people are servants of their passions, but the truly free person is the one who can control his desires. When the sages taught “Only one involved in Torah is truly free” (Pirkei Avos 6:2), they meant to say that only Torah allows one to free himself from the shackles of desire and to truly exercise free choice. Without Torah, one is not free at all, he is a slave, controlled by a master foreign to his better instincts. While intellectually he might have correct ideas of how to live, ultimately his master - his passion - will force him to act otherwise.<br />
<br />
Excerpt from: The Torah Treasury pg. 146<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> This people are not eminent solely by their antiquity, but are also singular by their duration, which has always continued from their origin till now. For, whereas the nations of Greece and of Italy, of Lacedaemon, of Athens and of Rome, and others who came long after, have long since perished, these ever remain, and in spite of the endeavors of many powerful kings who have a hundred times tried to destroy them, as their historians testify, and as it is easy to conjecture from the natural order of things during so long a space of years, they have nevertheless been preserved (and this preservation has been foretold); and extending from the earliest times to the latest, their history comprehends in its duration all our histories (which it preceded by a long time).<br />
<br />
- Pensees by Blaise Pascal (1623-1662)<br />
Encyclopedia Britannica, 1952 - Paragraph 620, p. 285<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> Only if you have some knowledge of the human sacrifices, the vicious temple rites, the degrading superstitions and customs that were practiced . . . can you realize how much the modern world owes to the Hebrew prophets, whose monotheism and moral teachings entered into Christianity and Islam….<br />
<br />
- from Ancient and medieval history,<br />
by Carlton J. H. Hayes and Parker Thomas Moon.<br />
New York: The Macmillan company, 1929.<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “All that is thought should not be said, all that is said should not be written, all that is written should not be published, all that is published should not be read.”<br />
<br />
- Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgenstern of Tomashov (the Kotzker Rebbe)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Certainly, the world without the Jews would have been a radically different place. Humanity might have eventually stumbled upon all the Jewish insights. But we cannot be sure. All the great conceptual discoveries of the human intellect seem obvious and inescapable once they had been revealed, but it requires a special genius to formulate them for the first time. The Jews had this gift. To them we owe the idea of equality before the law, both divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of human person; of the individual conscience and so a personal redemption; of collective conscience and so of social responsibility; of peace as an abstract ideal and love as the foundation of justice, and many other items which constitute the basic moral furniture of the human mind. Without Jews it might have been a much emptier place.”<br />
<br />
- Paul Johnson<br />
(Christian historian, author of A History of the Jews and A History of Christianity)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Death is merely moving from one home to another. The wise man will spend his main efforts in trying to make his future home the more beautiful one.”<br />
<br />
- Rabbi Menachem Mendel Morgenstern of Tomashov (the Kotzker Rebbe)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “No ancient people have had a stranger history than the Jews. ... The history of no ancient people should be so valuable, if we could only recover it and understand it. ... Stranger still, the ancient religion of the Jews survives, when all the religions of every ancient race of the pre-Christian world have disappeared ... Again it is strange that the living religions of the world all build on religious ideas derived from the Jews. .... The great matter is not “What happened?” but “Why did it happen?” Why does Judaism live?”<br />
<br />
T.R. Glover<br />
(The Ancient World, Penguin, pp. 184-191)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “This one book (the Bible) ... has attracted to it, and had concentrated on it, vastly more thought and has called forth more works, explanatory, illustrative, apologetic, upon its text, its meaning, its geography, its theology, its chronology, its evidences, its inspiration, its origin, than all the rest of the literature of the world put together. An immense bulk of the world’s literature owes its origin to this book.”<br />
<br />
- Carlyle B Heynes in The Bible, Is it a True Book<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The world says that time is money, but I say that money is time. In order to earn enough money to satisfy his desires, one must sacrifice inordinate amounts of time. For me, that sacrifice is too great.”<br />
<br />
- Chofetz Chaim<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “What is the Jew?...What kind of unique creature is this whom all the rulers of all the nations of the world have disgraced and crushed and expelled and destroyed; persecuted, burned and drowned, and who, despite their anger and their fury, continues to live and to flourish. What is this Jew whom they have never succeeded in enticing with all the enticements in the world, whose oppressors and persecutors only suggested that he deny (and disown) his religion and cast aside the faithfulness of his ancestors?!<br />
<br />
The Jew - is the symbol of eternity. ... He is the one who for so long had guarded the prophetic message and transmitted it to all mankind. A people such as this can never disappear.<br />
<br />
The Jew is eternal. He is the embodiment of eternity.”<br />
<br />
- Leo Tolstoy<br />
(What is the Jew? <br />
quoted in The Final Resolution, pg. 189, printed in Jewish World periodical, 1908)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “There is a striking point that runs through Jewish history as a whole. Western civilization was born in the Middle East, and the Jews were at its crossroads. In the heyday of Rome, the Jews were close to the Empire’s center. When power shifted eastward, the Jewish center was in Babylon; when it skipped to Spain, there again were the Jews. When in the Middle Ages the center of civilization moved into Central Europe, the Jews were waiting for it in Germany and Poland. The rise of the United States to the leading world power found Judaism focused there. And now, today, when the pendulum seems to be swinging back toward the Old World and the East rises to renewed importance, there again are the Jews in Israel…”<br />
<br />
- Professor Huston Smith<br />
The Religious of Man, New York: HarperCollins, 1989<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “When we scan the diaspora of Jewry over the entire globe and throughout the entire civilized world, we are surprised to see that this Nation, which is almost the most ancient in the world, is in truth the youngest in terms of the land under its feet and the sky above its head. As a result of the relentless persecutions and forced expulsions, most Jews are but recent new-comers to their respective lands of residence. Ninety percent of the Jewish people have lived in their new homes for no more than 50 or 60 years! (The Jewish People) are dispersed throughout over 100 lands on all five continents.”<br />
<br />
- Leschzinsky<br />
“The Jewish Dispersion”, pg. 9 (Heb.) click here for history<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The struggle for world domination is between me and the Jews. All else is meaningless. The Jews have inflicted two wounds on the world: Circumcision for the body and conscience for the soul. I come to free mankind from their shackles.”<br />
<br />
“When over long periods of human history I scrutinized the activity of the Jewish people, suddenly there arose up in me the fearful question whether inscrutable Destiny, perhaps for reasons unknown to us poor mortals, did not, with eternal and immutable resolve, desire the final victory of this little nation.” (Mein Kampf, p.64)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The Ten Commandments have lost their validity… Conscience is a Jewish invention. It is a blemish like circumcision…”<br />
<br />
- Adolph Hitler <br />
(Herman Rauschning, Hitler Speaks, p. 220) (click here for more)<br />
(click for why do people hate the Jews?) <br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The preservation of the Jew was certainly not casual. He has endured through the power of a certain ideal, based on the recognition of a Higher Power in human affairs. Time after time in his history, moreover, he has been saved from disaster in a manner, which cannot be described excepting as ‘providential.’ The author has deliberately attempted to write this book in a secular spirit; he does not think that his readers can fail to see in it, on every page, a higher immanence”<br />
<br />
- Cecil Roth, Oxford University<br />
(History of the Jews, New York, 1963, p. 424)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “I have already explained with clear proofs that the soul is the dominant factor in the nature of the Jew. For example, being stiff-necked is one of the bad qualities that Jews have. Practically speaking, that means that Jews refuse to accept criticism and will not listen to corrective advise. This is in fact because they are not essentially materialistic. Only something which is materialistic is readily altered. Consequently Jews are very resistant to change and will not accept the advise of others. Further, the Rabbis say (Talmud - Beitzah 25b) that they are the most aggressive and pushy people.”<br />
<br />
- Maharal of Prague (Rabbi Yehuda Loewe, 1526 - 1609)<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “Israel’s great achievement, so apparent that mention of it is almost trite, was Monotheism. It was an achievement that transformed subsequent history….One may raise the question whether any other single contribution from whatever source since human culture emerged from the stone age has had the far reaching effect upon history that Israel in this regard has exerted both through the mediums of Christianity and Islam and directly through the world of Jewish thinkers themselves”<br />
<br />
- from The Intellectual Adventure of Ancient Man,<br />
by H. and H. A. Frankfort, John A. Wilson, Thorkild Jacobsen, William A. Irwin<br />
<br />
<b>***</b> “The Jews have played an all-important role in history. They are pre-eminently an historical people and their destiny reflects the indestructibility of the divine decrees. Their destiny is too imbued with the “metaphysical” to be explained either in material or positive historical terms.<br />
<br />
I remember how the materialist interpretation of history, when I attempted in my youth to verify it by applying it to the destinies of peoples, broke down i the case of the Jew, where destiny seemed absolutely inexplicable from the materialistic standpoint. And, indeed, according to the materialistic and positivist criterion, this people ought long ago to have perished. Its survival is a mysterious and wonderful phenomenon demonstrating that the life of this people is governed by a special predetermination, transcending the processes of adaptation expounded by the materialistic interpretation of history.<br />
<br />
The survival of the Jews, their resistance to destruction, their endurance under absolutely peculiar conditions and the fateful role played by them in history; all these point to the particular and mysterious foundations of their destiny…<br />
<br />
The historical not only represented man’s external relations, but that it might also reveal the very noumenon and essence of his being. The peculiarity of Jewish destiny consists in its incommensurability with either the pre-Christian or the Christian era. Scientific criticism applied to traditional Biblical history can neither discredit the universal role played by the Jews nor offer a satisfactory explanation of their mysterious destiny. Nor does this criticism grapple with the absolutely peculiar tie existing between the Jews and the ‘historical,’ and their extraordinarily intense feeling for history.”<br />
<br />
- The Meaning of History by Professor Nicholai Berdysev<br />
Moscow Academy - London 1935, pp. 86-7<br />
<br />
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<a href="http://www.simpletoremember.com/articles/a/quotes/">Simple to Remember</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
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<br />
By Romeu Monteiro - Ynet News<br />
<br />
I’m a 22-year-old Portuguese gay activist and PhD student. I’m not Jewish, Israeli or even religious, but I am a Zionist and strong supporter of Israel, and I want to explain why.<br />
<br />
My story begins at the age of nine, when I went to the school library to get the Diary of Anne Frank. I had no prior idea about the Holocaust and I could not comprehend such persecution. I had never met a Jew, but I was raised to see other people as similar to myself. <br />
<br />
The book’s story haunted me: This girl, slightly older than me, hiding for years, confined, isolated, being persecuted for who she was, constantly fearful of being discovered... How horrible; how could this have happened?<br />
<br />
A few months later, I discovered I was gay. I was 10 and in Anne’s attic: Confined, isolated, hiding who I was, fearing what would happen if I was discovered... I felt strongly identified with Anne and the Jewish people, and this feeling never abandoned me.<br />
<br />
Shortly after, the second Intifada started. I began seeing Israel, a country which I knew almost nothing about, on the news constantly, for the worst reasons. I learned that the Jews had invaded Palestine after the Holocaust to get a country and were occupying and controlling the native Palestinians who lived in the remaining land. <br />
<br />
The TV showed us these people blowing themselves up inside buses and cafes and I, like most people around me, thought: “How desperate must someone be to kill themselves like this? How could the Jews go from being oppressed to oppressors? Have they not learned the lessons of History?” I grew up loving the Jewish people but hating Israel.<br />
<br />
In 2008, when I was 18 and in college, I found myself criticizing Israel and the Gaza Strip blockade in a YouTube video about the death of Rachel Corrie. I got an answer from an Israeli commenter about my age, who wrote that there was no blockade, as several trucks were crossing into the Strip daily.<br />
<br />
This greatly confused me and I asked him to present me with his arguments in defense of Israel. I said I would change my mind if they were convincing. He wrote me a long message, telling me about the massacres of Jews in Palestine before Israel existed, the wars of extermination, and the indoctrination for hate of Jews and Israel in the Middle East, among other things, which he compared to several examples of the humanist character of Israel and its society.<br />
<br />
I read it all and, after verifying the information, I was convinced...<br />
<br />
<b>Angry and betrayed</b><br />
<br />
My world shook. I became aware that I was making unfair judgments and spreading hate and false propaganda about Israel... I was sad with myself and I felt angry and betrayed that I had trusted so much in organizations I thought were fighting for peace, equality and against prejudice, like I saw them doing for gay rights.<br />
<br />
I realized I was being fed ignorance and hate by people who were, at best, as ignorant and prejudiced as those they were "fighting" against while believing themselves to be enlightened individuals and making me believe it too...<br />
<br />
I read more and more about Israel, and I became fascinated with the amazing story of a people who, against all odds, had managed to survive and remain united through centuries of persecution, fight for their homeland, rebuild their country and revive their language - just like a phoenix rising from the ashes, striving for freedom and peace.<br />
<br />
I realized Israel is a democratic, tolerant, multi-ethnic, multi-religious, rapidly developing nation. A place I could live in free and more accepted than in my home country, and the only place I could safely set foot at in the Middle East.<br />
<br />
I found myself in love with Israel, something I never thought I would do and never really want to be.<br />
<br />
In 2010, there was the flotilla incident. Suddenly, all media were reporting about Israel. The news reports were grossly distorted and I knew I had to do something. I found myself arguing about it with professors at the university and I started sharing videos of the IDF through my Facebook account.<br />
<br />
I thought I would be risking much socially, but I knew it was a matter of justice, as someone had to tell the truth and not allow Israel to be demonized with no right to defense once again. After the flotilla I kept posting pro-Israel stuff, and had serious and even ugly discussions about this issue with several people.<br />
<br />
Each discussion revealed more ignorance and double-standards and made me a stronger Zionist and supporter of Israel and its people. I thought I was the only one defending Israel but I gradually discovered other people doing it.<br />
<br />
Once, a friend whispered in my ear: “I am also more on the side of Israel... but, please, don’t tell anyone!” She was scared to voice her opinion, and this reinforced my conviction that I had to be vocal about my defense of Israel; I was speaking for many people who were afraid to do it.<br />
<br />
At the end it’s a matter of justice. If there’s a people that fights for its right to self-determination and to live in peace, I will be on their side. If there’s a group that is demonized by prejudice and ignorance, I will fight prejudice and ignorance with them. If there’s a culture whose main values include tolerance for different sexual orientations, races and religions - clashing with another one that educates for intolerance and hate - I know which side I'll support.<br />
<br />
I am a Zionist and I support the right of the Jewish people to self-rule and to life in peace, like I believe every thinking human being should.<br />
<br />
Romeu Monteiro is an electric engineering Phd student at Carnegie Mellon University. You can see his blog <a href="http://romeumoskowitz.posterous.com/">here.</a><br />
<br />
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His father praised Hitler, but Kasim Hafeez writes about love for Israel, Jewish people By Kasim Hafeez - Ynet News I am a Zionist, a proud Muslim Zionist, and I love Israel, but this was not always the case. In fact, for many years I was quite the extreme opposite. I experienced the high levels of anti-Semitism and anti-Israel activity taking place on British university campuses, because I was the anti-Semitic, anti-Israel activist. Growing up in the Muslim community in the UK I was exposed to materials and opinions at best condemning Israel, painting Jews as usurpers and murderers, and at worse calling for the wholesale destruction of the "Zionist Entity" and all Jews. In short, there was no accommodating a Jewish State in the Middle East. To grow up around this constant barrage of hatred directed at Israel has a massive effect on an individual’s own opinions. More disturbingly, many of these people weren’t radical or extreme, but when it was about Israel the most vicious of rhetoric poured out, coupled with the casual anti-Semitism that seemed too prevalent, when the phrase "stop being a Jew" used as an insult. My father, however, was much more brazen in his hatred, boasting of how Adolf Hitler was a hero, his only failing being that he didn't kill enough Jews. By the time I had reached 18 I was completely indoctrinated to the fold of radical Islamism. My hate for Israel and for the Jews was fuelled by images of death and destruction, set to the backdrop of Arabic melodies about Jihad and speeches of Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah or Osama Bin Laden. These views were reinforced when I attended Nakba Day rallies, where speakers predicted Israel's demise as Hezbollah flags were waved proudly in the centre of London.<br />
<br />
<b>The Case for Israel</b><br />
<br />
Was there a case for Israel? In my mind, of course not, there was no shadow of doubt. Even the most moderate clerics I came across refused to condemn terrorism against Israel as unjustified; the Jews must obviously deserve it, I believed. So what changed? How could I go from all this hatred to the great love for and affinity with Israel and the Jewish people? I found myself in the Israel and Palestine section of a local bookstore and picked up a copy of Alan Dershowitz’s The Case for Israel. Given my worldview, the Jews and Americans controlled the media, so after brief look at the back, I scoffed thinking "vile Zionist propaganda." I did, however, decide to buy it, content that I would shortly be deconstructing this propaganda piece, showing that Israel had no case and claiming my findings as a personal victory for the Palestinian cause. As I read Dershowitz’s arguments and deconstruction of many lies I saw as unquestionable truths, I searched despairingly for counter arguments, but found more hollow rhetoric that I’d believed for many years. I felt a real crisis of conscience, and thus began a period of unbiased research. Up until that point I had not been exposed to anything remotely positive about Israel. Now, I didn't know what to believe. I'd blindly followed others for so long, yet here I was questioning whether I had been wrong. I reached a point where I felt I had no other choice but to see Israel for myself; only that way I’d really know the truth. At the risk of sounding cliché, it was a life-changing visit. <br />
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<b><br /></b><br />
<b>No apartheid state</b><br />
<br />
I did not encounter an apartheid racist state, but rather, quite the opposite. I was confronted by synagogues, mosques and churches, by Jews and Arabs living together, by minorities playing huge parts in all areas of Israeli life, from the military to the judiciary. It was shocking and eye-opening. This wasn't the evil Zionist Israel that I had been told about. After much soul searching, I knew what I had once believed was wrong. I had been confronted with the truth and had to accept it. But I had a bigger question to confront, what now? I’d for years campaigned against Israel, but now I knew the truth. The choice was obvious: I had to stand with Israel, with this tiny nation, free, democratic, making huge strides in medicine, research and development, yet the victim of the same lies and hatred that nearly consumed me. Doing this is not easy and that’s something that has become very obvious. I have faced hostility from my own community and even some within the Jewish community in the UK, but that’s the reality of standing up for Israel in Europe today. It is not easy, and that’s what makes it so necessary.<br />
<br />
<b>This isn’t about religion and politics; it’s about the truth.</b><br />
<br />
When it comes to Israel, the truth is not being heard, the ranks of those filed with blind hatred continue to swell, yet many have not been exposed to the reality, away from the empty rhetoric and politically charged slogans they are so fond of. We can change this situation but we need to be strong and united. Israel is not just a Jewish issue - it’s about freedom, human rights and democracy, all the values that Western nations cherish. It’s also about trying to be a light among nations. Israel’s international humanitarian aid work speaks for itself, but if we don’t get the message out there, no one will. We don’t have to be head-bowed apologists leading with :Israel’s not perfect…" - we should never be afraid to say: I am a Zionist and I’m proud. I stand with Israel. Now I ask, will you do that? Kasim Hafeez is a British Muslim and former Islamist who is now a proud Zionist and stands with Israel. He runs www.theisraelcampaign.org and has a blog on this site. He is also on the advisory board of StandWithUs in the UK and recently completed a university speaking tour . <br />
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http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-49803344611139948522012-04-01T16:01:00.002-07:002012-04-01T16:04:20.971-07:00Everything You Need to Know about Kosher WineIt’s not your parents’ syrupy sweet beverage any more.<br /><br />by Maurie Rosenberg <br /><br />I have enjoyed wine pretty much as long as I can remember. As a child I was allowed only a tiny bit on special occasions like Kiddush and Passover. In college I was not quite, shall we say, as flavor discriminating as I am now, being a wine critic and author of a guide to kosher wines.<br /><br />Kosher wine has come of age. Gone are the days when kosher wine could only be described as sweet, sweeter and so cloyingly sweet that it hurts my teeth just to think about it. So without further ado, let’s shatter some misconceptions.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. Wine is not “kosher” because it is blessed by a rabbi.</span><br /><br />This might be the most common misconception about kosher products in general. I know of a rabbi who provides a service in his local community, in cooperation with a regional supermarket, by marking the shelves of all the items which have kosher certification. He does this by placing a small sticker next to the shelf label of the appropriate item to make it simple and convenient to identify those products that qualify. One day a woman observed this activity and, startled with the speed with which he affixed the green dots on a group of similar items, commented: "Rabbi, you're saying those blessings awfully fast, aren't you?!"<br /><br />Kosher wine esnures the absence of problematic ingredients like ox blood.<br /><br />Kosher means “prepared” – i.e. processed according to Jewish law. When it comes to wine, various ingredients present kashrut challenges including: casein (a dairy derivative), enzymes (from animals), isinglass (from non kosher fish), and even ox blood (exactly what it sounds like). Further, kosher wine must have rabbinic supervision from the time the grapes become juice, up until the wine is sealed in the bottle.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Wine is a mitzvah (under certain conditions).</span><br /><br />Click here to receive Aish.com's free weekly email.<br /><br />Kosher wine is prescribed for use in many Jewish rituals: Bris Milah (circumcision), the wedding chuppa (canopy), the Kiddush that begins Shabbat and holiday meals. While most occasions call for just one cup, on the holiday of Purim, wine is the beverage of choice for the festive meal, recalling wine’s significant role in the "banquets" described in the Megillah story. On Passover we are required to drink four cups at the Seder (a challenge for many). As one rabbi said: "Who else but Jews would complain about how much they have to drink?"<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. Enjoy the variety.</span><br /><br />Some wines are great for desert, others for a quiet evening of sipping, and others are especially food-friendly with meat, fish or cheese. White wines are generally younger, fresher and fruity with hints of apple, pineapple, pear and the like. Red wines can be full-bodied with notes of black current, plum, tobacco, leather and wild berries, with months or years of aging in charred oak barrels and a big finish. They can be silky and smooth, or tart and astringent, or even perhaps both at the same time. Wines can be cool, sparkling, light and refreshing for everyday or special occasions.<br /><br />Two thousand years ago, a Talmudic sage said: "The best kind of wine is that which you enjoy." This rabbi might also have been the first known wine critic, as having rated a 200-year-old vintage "of the highest excellence."<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. Israel produces some of the world's best kosher wines.</span><br /><br />Drip irrigation enables grapes to thrive in deserts all over the world.<br /><br />Chalk, limestone, sand and volcanic soil can provide excellent growth medium for premium wine grapes. These conditions are often found in desert climates, which until recently were not sufficiently friendly to reliable vineyards. In the second half of the 20th century, two key developments allowed noble grape varieties to thrive in deserts all over the world:<br /><br />Stainless steel tanks and refrigeration allow grape juice and wine to be kept cool after the summer harvest in warmer areas, and during fermentation (the process by which microbes, called yeast, eat the sugar, converting it to alcohol and carbon dioxide).<br /><br />Drip irrigation, a process refined in the 1960s on an Israeli kibbutz in the Negev, allows a hungry world to be fed with far less water (agriculture places the largest demand on our global water supply) and far greater nutrient control. It also provides for consistent results from year to year in places that could not otherwise sustain agriculture.<br /><br />Israel is blessed with many state-of-the-art wineries that merge a synergy of technology and tradition. Israeli and other kosher wines are now recognized as "world class" from leading authorities, with many regularly receiving the highest awards and recognition.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. Don't cook with a "cooking wine."</span><br /><br />Just because a bottle says "cooking wine" doesn't mean it is better for cooking. In fact, it is usually inferior wine that is not good enough to drink. My rule is: Wine that is not good enough to drink is not good enough to cook with.<br /><br />When cooking, add wine early enough to allow the alcohol to evaporate and produce a subtle taste (except for fortified wines that you might want to add at the end). Reduce the wine to intensify its flavor; if you cook wine uncovered for 10 minutes, it will reduce to half or less. Use white wine for lighter-colored dishes and red wines for darker meats or stews.<br /><br />Wine offers uncommon value in a world of ever-rising costs. In 1940 a typical bottle of kosher Kiddush wine cost about one dollar. In today's terms that translates to $12-15 for a standard bottle. Today you can buy many sweet Kiddush wines for under $5, and in the $12-15 range you can find some very good to excellent wine.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6. Wine is good for you, body and soul.</span><br /><br />Almost every week there is another story about the health benefits of wine. Is it white wine or red wine, the tannins, anti-oxidant compounds, flavonoids, enzyme releasers or something else?<br /><br />“Kosher,” with its added levels of supervision and quality control, has established itself in a broad perception as cleaner, healthier, higher quality, and even safer. Of course, the real reason Jews keep kosher is because of our spiritual health. (Hence the term, “soul food.”)<br /><br />Wine is an exceptional beverage that can be a metaphor for so many profound ideas in life: balance, nuance, integrity. Wine can even be a metaphor for a completed and perfected human life: It starts off as a simplistic and immature product (grape juice represents childhood; it must develop character as it goes through fermentation (struggle represents the challenge of evil); only then does it become the mature product we call wine.<br /><br />We could discuss this in more detail over a glass of wine. As Tevya sang in Fiddler on the Roof: "Be happy! Be healthy! Long life! Drink, l'chaim, to life!"<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nsgaM07Qpjo/T3jeIxOB95I/AAAAAAAACTw/XBLfyQhKjio/s1600/Kosher-Wine.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 383px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-nsgaM07Qpjo/T3jeIxOB95I/AAAAAAAACTw/XBLfyQhKjio/s400/Kosher-Wine.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726571168434091922" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.aish.com/ci/s/Everything_You_Need_to_Know_about_Kosher_Wine.html">Aish.Com</a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Kosher Wine and Its Rich Flavor Explained</span><br /><br />When it comes to kosher wine, there are numerous misconceptions and one of the widest spread one is that this is a certain style of wine. The truth is that just any kind of wine could be made kosher in case it has been prepared according to the Jewish laws of wine making.<br /><br />Another really popular misconception is that the wine needs to be blessed by a rabbi. It is important to remember that there is no religious blessing involved in the process.<br /><br />The wine just needs to be certified as kosher to make sure that the wine is in accordance with the Jewish dietary laws.<br /><br />The concept of a rabbi blessing the wine is similar to thinking that the USDA blesses the steaks.<br /><br />There are some rules that need to be kept in mind when preparing kosher wine.<br /><br />The equipment and tools used in the process must be kosher, meaning that they cannot be involved in the making of non-kosher wine.<br /><br />The wine must be handled by Sabbath-observant Jews during the entire process, except the case when the wine is mevushal.<br /><br />The ingredients of the wine must be kosher, including the yeast, gelatin, casein, isinglass and other products used in the process. This is why the majority of the kosher winemakers are using bentonite for fining which is uncommon to regular wine making.<br /><br />In case of Israel there are some special rules that apply because of the Jewish laws. Naturally these regulations do not apply outside the country. Here the wine has to be at least four years old and the vineyard has to be left fallow once every seven years. The vineyard can only be used to grow grapes and no other agricultural plants.<br /><br />The reason for which only Sabbath-observant Jews are allowed to handle the wine is that the Jew people didn’t want to have wine that might have been used in pagan religious activities. The non-Jews weren’t really trusted so there was need for someone to supervise the procedures.<br /><br />The majority of kosher wine is made mevushal, or pasteurized. In case of white wine this happens before fermentation, while in case of red wine, it happens after. In our days this process is a quick one, and without the actual boiling of the wine.<br /><br />While in the past people have boiled it, in our days there are some other methods as well, to make sure that the flavor will not be altered.<br /><br />The wine that is usually served at special occasions is mevushal. This happens so because in many cases the caterers might be non-Jews, and if they would handle the wine, it would become non-kosher. The pasteurized wine might be handed by just any person, and it still remains kosher.<br /><br />To find kosher wine, you will have to be looking for a U inside a circle. This symbolizes that the wine in question is kosher. Also you might find some wine that have a K inside a circle. This symbol also certifies that it is kosher. The K could also be found in a star, and this symbol has the same meaning.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ULrIUUqZLog/T3jdCwqgjdI/AAAAAAAACTk/bBz1C6MIJ9I/s1600/Kosher%2Bwines.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 220px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ULrIUUqZLog/T3jdCwqgjdI/AAAAAAAACTk/bBz1C6MIJ9I/s400/Kosher%2Bwines.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726569965694258642" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.flavoreddelights.com/2011/05/kosher-wine-and-its-rich-flavor/">Flavor Red Delight</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-83821616027412419662012-04-01T15:18:00.000-07:002012-04-01T15:24:54.417-07:005 Most Important Things to Know About PassoverOur greatest contributions to the world summarized in five words: memory, optimism, faith, family, and responsibility.<br /><br />by Rabbi Benjamin Blech.<br /><br />Scholars have long wondered why Jews who number less than one quarter of one percent of the world – as Milton Himmelfarb memorably put it, "The total population of the Jewish people is less than a statistical error in the annual birth rate of the Chinese people” – have had such a profound influence on almost every field of human endeavor.<br /><br />What accounts for the remarkable fact that in the 20th century, Jews, more than any other minority, have been recipients of the Nobel Prize, with almost one-fifth of all Nobel laureates being Jewish?<br /><br />Perhaps it all goes back to the very beginning of the birth of our people and the Passover holiday that we will shortly be celebrating.<br /><br />Passover conveys five major concepts that became our mantras for how to lead successful and productive lives. They are the five most important things to know about Passover, and to incorporate into every day of the rest of the year. Because we’ve absorbed them into our national psyche for the thousands of years since the Exodus, we’ve been privileged to fulfill in great measure our prophetically mandated role to become a light unto the nations.<br /><br />They are our greatest contributions to the world and can be summarized in five words: memory, optimism, faith, family, and responsibility.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Importance of Memory</span><br /><br />The Irish Catholic writer Thomas Cahill was so overwhelmed by how the Jewish people literally transformed the world that he authored what proved to become an international bestseller, The Gifts of the Jews. One of the major gifts he credits to Jewish genius is the invention of the idea of history.<br /><br />"Remember that you were strangers in the land of Egypt." "Remember that the Lord took you out of the bondage of slavery." Remember is a biblical mandate that had never seemed important to anyone else before the Jewish people came on the scene. It was the Passover story that initiated a commitment to memory.<br /><br />Henry Ford was famous for his belief that "history is bunk." The Ford motor company is also famous for producing the Edsel. And both were probably equally stupid blunders. History is the only way we can learn from the past. History allows us to grow by standing on the shoulders of giants. Make a mistake once, and you’re human. Never learn from what happened before, and you’re brainless. That's why it's so important to heed the famous words of George Santayana that "Those who do not learn from the past are condemned to repeat it."<br /><br />Memory links our past to our future. It turns history into destiny.<br /><br />We know how horrible it can be to live without a personal memory of events that preceded. For an individual we have a name for it that fills us with terror: Alzheimer's. It is a disease we fear perhaps even more than death because it leaves us living corpses. Strangely enough, we don't have a similar word for the condition that describes ignorance of our collective past. Knowing what came before is almost as important in an historic sense as it is in a personal one. Only by being aware of our past as a people can our lives become filled with purpose and meaning.<br /><br />Memory links our past to our future. It turns history into destiny. Learning to treasure it was the first step in our climb up the ladder of greatness.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Importance of Optimism</span><br /><br />To study the Passover story in depth is to recognize that the most difficult task Moses had to perform was not to get the Jews out of Egypt, but to get Egypt out of the Jews. They had become so habituated to their status as slaves, they lost all hope that they could ever improve their lot.<br /><br />Without hope they would have been lost.<br /><br />The true miracle of Passover and its relevance for the ages is the message that with God’s help, no difficulty is insurmountable. A tyrant like Pharaoh could be overthrown. A nation as powerful as Egypt could be defeated. Slaves could become freemen. The oppressed could break the shackles of their captivity. Anything is possible, if only we dare to dream the impossible dream.<br /><br />In the story of America's Great Seal, a particularly relevant chapter is the imagery suggested by Benjamin Franklin in August 1776. He chose the dramatic scene described in Exodus, where people confronted a tyrant in order to gain their freedom.<br /><br />"Pharaoh sitting in an open Chariot, a Crown on his head and a Sword in his hand, passing through the divided Waters of the Red Sea in Pursuit of the Israelites: Rays from a Pillar of Fire in the Cloud, expressive of the Divine Presence and Command, beaming on Moses who stands on the shore and extending his hand over the Sea causes it to overwhelm Pharaoh."<br /><br />The motto he suggested, words based on the Passover story, inspired George Washington and the founding fathers of the American colonies to rebel against their British oppressors: “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God."<br /><br />It was the biblical record of the Exodus that enabled the spirit of optimism to prevail for the followers of Martin Luther King in their quest for equal rights, because they were stirred by the vision of Moses leading his people to the Promised Land. It was the hope engendered by recalling how God redeemed our ancestors that allowed even Jews incarcerated in Auschwitz to furtively celebrate the Festival of Freedom and believe in the possibility of their own liberation.<br /><br />That optimistic spirit, based on our own miraculous history, is the second great gift we have given to mankind and defines our identity.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Importance of Faith</span><br /><br />A pessimist, it's been said, is someone who has no invisible means of support.<br /><br />Jewish optimism is rooted in a contrary notion, a firmly held belief that we are blessed with support from above by a caring God. And that faith in a personal God gives us faith in ourselves, in our future and in our ability to help change the world<br /><br />The God of Sinai didn't say "I am the Lord your God who created the heavens and the earth." Instead, he announced, "I am the Lord your God who took you out of the land of Egypt, the house of bondage." The God of creation could theoretically have forsaken the world once he completed his task. The God of the Exodus made clear He is constantly involved in our history and has a commitment to our survival.<br /><br />The Passover story conveys that history is not happenstance. It follows a Divine master plan.<br /><br />Thomas Cahill credits the Jews not only for monotheism but for this additional groundbreaking idea of a Divine being with Whom we share a personal relationship. This, he points out, is key to Western civilization’s concept of personal accountability, conscience and culpability for ourselves and the rest of the world.<br /><br />The Passover story conveys that history is not happenstance. It follows a Divine master plan. It has a predestined order. “Order” in Hebrew is “Seder” – and that is why the major ritual of Passover is identified by that name. Coincidence is not a Jewish concept. Coincidence is just God's way of choosing to remain anonymous.<br /><br />Faith gives us the certainty that whatever our present-day problems, history moves in the direction of the final messianic redemption. That is what has always motivated us to believe in progress and to participate in tikkun olam, efforts to improve the world.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Importance of Family</span><br /><br />Passover taught us yet another major truth: the way to perfect the world is to begin with our own families.<br /><br />God built his nation by commanding not a collective gathering of hundreds of thousands in a public square but by asking Jews to turn their homes into places of family worship at a Seder devoted primarily to answering the questions of children.<br /><br />It seems all too obvious. Children are our future. They are the ones who most require our attention. The home is where we first form our identities and discover our values.<br /><br />More even than the synagogue, it is in our homes that we sow the seeds of the future and ensure our continuity. No wonder then that commentators point out the very first letter of the Torah is a bet, the letter whose meaning is house. All of the Torah follows only after we understand the primacy of family.<br /><br />The world may mock Jewish parents for their over-protectiveness and their child-centered way of life, but they are the ones chiefly responsible for the extraordinary achievements of their progeny.<br /><br />At the Seder table, the children are encouraged to be the stars and their questions are treated with respect. And that is the first step to developing Jewish genius.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Importance of Responsibility to Others</span><br /><br />One serious question begs to be asked as we celebrate our Divine deliverance from the slavery of Egypt. We thank God for getting us out, but why did God allow us to become victims of such terrible mistreatment in the first place?<br /><br />A remarkable answer becomes evident in numerous Torah texts. We were slaves in Egypt – and so we have to have empathy for the downtrodden in every generation. We were slaves in Egypt – and so we have to be concerned with the rights of the strangers, the homeless and the impoverished. We experienced oppression – and so we must understand more than anyone else the pain of the oppressed.<br /><br />The tragedy of our encounter with injustice was in no small measure meant to prepare us to serve throughout all future generations as spokesman for those with whose pain we can personally identify.<br /><br />The purpose of our suffering was to turn us into a people committed to righting the wrongs of the world, to become partners with God in making the world worthy of final redemption.<br /><br />We begin the Seder by inviting the hungry and the homeless to join with us. We conclude the Seder by opening the door for Elijah. It is our acceptance of responsibility to others that is the key to hastening the arrival of Messiah.<br /><br />From earliest childhood every Jew identifies with these five powerful ideas that are at the heart of Passover and its message. And precisely because memory, optimism, faith, family and responsibility have become such vital characteristics of our people, we have been able to achieve far beyond what anyone might have considered possible.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fzAweIbVvmo/T3jVa0XqwHI/AAAAAAAACTY/3VjN4qs-aHo/s1600/paassover_meal.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 264px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fzAweIbVvmo/T3jVa0XqwHI/AAAAAAAACTY/3VjN4qs-aHo/s400/paassover_meal.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5726561582912815218" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.aish.com/h/pes/t/g/The_5_Most_Important_Things_to_Know_About_Passover.html">Aish.Com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-68821731901262483312012-03-31T11:07:00.002-07:002012-03-31T11:10:24.847-07:00Israel's Top 10 Surfing BeachesBy Jessica Steinberg <br /><br />With 186 miles of sandy beaches, and a sea that is virtually free of seaweed and sharks, Israel is a great spot for surfers, say the country's experts. ISRAEL21c picks the top 10 beaches.<br /><br />Israel has a stretch of sandy beaches extending for about 186 miles, and a sea that is virtually seaweed- and shark-free. While conditions may not be up to scratch for pro surfers, local experts say it's a great spot for beginners and laid-back surfers.<br /><br />"The water's warm, there are no strange animals and you only have to worry about two weeks of jellyfish in July," says Nir Almog, known to many as the father of Israeli surfing. "We've got soft, weak waves and you can surf absolutely anywhere. You can't find that everywhere in the world."<br /><br />What's more, there's summer as well as ample winter surfing, thanks to the relatively mild Israeli weather conditions in the country's center, which is where most of the surfing beaches are located. The waves are actually higher during the winter following heavy rainstorms, and that's when the surfing swells show up, Almog tells ISRAEL21c.<br /><br />During the summer, the water temperature in the Mediterranean can be as high as 28 to 29 degrees Celsius, while the winter waters cool down to some 14 degrees. Wave height also varies, with summer waves ranging from about one and a half, to three feet on medium surfing days, while mornings consistently offer the best swells, with waves "breaking long and perfect," according to Almog. Fall and winter swells can reach from six to 10 feet, which is the time for the more experienced Israeli surfers to hit the waves.<br /><br />Almog should know. It was his father, Shamai 'Topsi' Kanzapolski, a Tel Aviv lifeguard, who was recruited by Dorian 'Doc' Paskowitz, a California doctor who came to Israel in the 1950s, hoping to create Israeli surfing champions. Paskowitz brought six long boards made partially from balsa wood, each depicting the blue-and-white national flag.<br /><br />At the time, Israeli lifeguards were catching the waves with the Hasake, a flat, wide board that had initially been used for near-shore fishing by Arab fishermen. Slowly, as the lifeguards and other locals began to use Paskowitz's offerings, a surfing tradition was born, with Almog riding along on his father's board.<br /><br />At the time, the waves on Tel Aviv's beaches were very high and would break right on the beach due to a lack of piers, creating a fairly dangerous setting for surfing.<br /><br />Increased development along the beachfront helped to create safer conditions, and now Tel Aviv locals "can stay put on their own shores" for decent surfing, says Almog, who can be found riding the waves when he's not in one of his two Intersurf stores. But there's surfing to be had in all the major beach towns and cities, from Tel Aviv and Herzliya to Haifa, Netanya, Ashkelon and even in Gaza.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. Hilton beach, Tel Aviv</span><br /><br />In Tel Aviv, locals are fond of the two Hilton beaches, named for the hotel that towers above this particular stretch of sand. With two jetties that protect the waves from incoming currents, the beach offers one of the best reef breaks in Israel. The reef can hold swells ranging from one to seven feet and while the waves start off weak, they strengthen closer to shore. The Hilton Bet shore, also known as Topsy, is a break directly north of the Hilton that is similar in makeup to the other Hilton beach, but with a slightly different reef that tends to be less crowded. According to local surfers, the break often performs better in small to medium swell conditions. Former Israeli skateboard champion and surfer Arthur Rashkovan grew up on the Hilton Beach, in what he calls a "mini-California, surfer's paradise."<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T7O0uc-33ko/T3B_U52FJ4I/AAAAAAAACGQ/lBVf3c0srhk/s1600/Hilton_2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-T7O0uc-33ko/T3B_U52FJ4I/AAAAAAAACGQ/lBVf3c0srhk/s400/Hilton_2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724215123489662850" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Maravi Beach, Tel Aviv</span><br /><br />If you're surfing in Tel Aviv, try the Maravi Beach, which means Western Beach and is in fact the city's southernmost beach, situated between Tel Aviv and Jaffa. Surfers like it during the summer, when there are numerous short boarders, long boarders and body boarders, and, according to a local blog, "everybody is really mellow, no localism to worry about." A structure fashioned of cement and stone poles that juts out of the water forms a manmade reef where waves break left and right, offering even better forms than the beach breaks of Herzliya.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VrUCQR5Ry9M/T3B_d_NnKOI/AAAAAAAACGg/z_PonG-_CDE/s1600/Maaravi%2BBeach.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VrUCQR5Ry9M/T3B_d_NnKOI/AAAAAAAACGg/z_PonG-_CDE/s400/Maaravi%2BBeach.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724215279549360354" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. Dolphinarium Beach, Tel Aviv</span><br /><br />Tel Aviv's Dolphinarium Beach, named for an old dolphin tank that is now used as a nightclub (that was the site of a suicide bombing in 2001), offers reasonably consistent surf during the summer months, but even better conditions in the winter. Also known as the drummers' beach for the drummers, free-style dancers and jugglers who gather there late on Friday afternoons, you can also rent surfing, windsurfing and para-surfing equipment at the water sports club located on this beach. With offshore winds from the southeast, wind swells are more typical than groundswells and there are great waves from the northwest with good surf during all stages of the tide.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHQsWfQVYo8/T3B_MkwbxOI/AAAAAAAACGE/G7WFNTWEou4/s1600/Dolphinarium_top_surf_girls.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 228px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fHQsWfQVYo8/T3B_MkwbxOI/AAAAAAAACGE/G7WFNTWEou4/s400/Dolphinarium_top_surf_girls.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724214980389881058" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. Zvulun and Dabush beaches, Herzliya</span><br /><br />Take a ride over to Herzliya where a selection of beaches offers decent surfing in winter and summer. Almog likes Zvulun and Dabush beaches, which offer good surfing early in the morning when there's a southern wind. Dabush is north of Herzliya's third sea break, while Zvulun is north of Dabush. Zvulun offers slightly longer rides than Dabush with larger waves and a sandy beach. For Almog, the favorite Herzliya beach is south of the Herzliya marina, known as Marina Beach and home to the yacht crowd. As the city's southernmost beach, it sits between the marina and the first of the three Herzliya wave breaks, and the waves that come in are perfect to ride. "It works the best when there are northern winds," says Almog, particularly on early winter mornings, at around five a.m., when all is silent except for the sound of the waves.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UsAFsNbZEUA/T3CNKLRgfOI/AAAAAAAACG0/u8KhbEq1fbk/s1600/Zvulun%2BBeach.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 275px; height: 183px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-UsAFsNbZEUA/T3CNKLRgfOI/AAAAAAAACG0/u8KhbEq1fbk/s400/Zvulun%2BBeach.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724230332352330978" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. Kontiki and Sironit beaches, Netanya</span><br /><br />Just up the coast a bit are the nine miles of Netanya beaches that don't receive the highest marks from surfer dudes, but have "okay waves for surfing," according to Almog. Look for Kontiki and Sironit beaches which are connected to the piers, offering decent waves. However, since the "sand moves all the time," on this open beach, it's considered a fickle surf spot for many. At the same time, Netanya Beach is a major site for sailing, diving and snorkeling, and there's ample opportunity to paraglide and parachute off the Netanya cliffs.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-90Atb_aQ-60/T3CNTbNCTJI/AAAAAAAACHA/-hjOOC0al6E/s1600/Netanya.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 266px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-90Atb_aQ-60/T3CNTbNCTJI/AAAAAAAACHA/-hjOOC0al6E/s400/Netanya.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724230491247365266" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6. Beit Yannai Beach, Netanya</span><br /><br />Just north of Netanya is a beautiful stretch of beaches connected to the Alexander Stream. Home to famed, giant soft-shell turtles, the banks of the stream are adjacent to the shifting sand dunes and a eucalyptus grove. The beach, where the stream meets the Mediterranean, is home to Israeli parachute surfers, where the wooden posts of what was once a pier, stand out against the waves. Local legend has it that the pier was used before the establishment of the state to land illegal immigrants arriving in defiance of British Mandatory restrictions, but Dudi Shani, director of the national park that contains the beach, says the story is untrue. There are always a few surfers in these waters, and it is the first beach in Israel designated exclusively for kite surfing. <br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XHDvHuSWkd8/T3CPyU5zu6I/AAAAAAAACHM/1SPmOuIVNqo/s1600/Beit%2BYanai.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-XHDvHuSWkd8/T3CPyU5zu6I/AAAAAAAACHM/1SPmOuIVNqo/s400/Beit%2BYanai.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724233221155306402" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7. Shonit, Sdot Yam beaches, Caesaria</span><br /><br />Almog doesn't weigh in on surfing in the town of Caesarea, but surf blogger Tzachi Paz has only glowing reviews for his childhood surf spot. Growing up on the beach between Caesarea and Givat Olga, Paz divides the Caesarea strip of beachfront into three major spots. He describes the Shonit Beach as a great beach for surfers, with rocks at a depth of about 328 feet and another point that sometimes creates a deep, long wave that long boarders like to use. Sdot Yam, another well-known beach in the area has great waves during winter storms, creating walls of waves for surfers.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0dC02BlmPFo/T3CUsELzXEI/AAAAAAAACHY/diXR5x4tJMg/s1600/Sdot%2BYam.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 175px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-0dC02BlmPFo/T3CUsELzXEI/AAAAAAAACHY/diXR5x4tJMg/s400/Sdot%2BYam.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724238611146300482" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">8. Arubot Beach, Caesaria</span><br /><br />The best spot for surfing in Caesaria is Arubot Beach, about a quarter of a mile to the south of Shonit. Located next to major wind turbines, surfers ignore the 'Do Not Enter' signs and make their way down to the beach. According to Paz, there's a myth that the waves only work during winter storms - and many surfers flock there during the winter. But it's also great during the summer, when the waves are perfect and there are few other surfers. Paz describes these waves as the types that are "long, open, start out flat and become a step and wall as you approach the beach."<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yI3hg_4crag/T3CU0o6d77I/AAAAAAAACHk/_H3dUaP_LzU/s1600/Arubot%2BBeach%252C%2BCaesaria.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yI3hg_4crag/T3CU0o6d77I/AAAAAAAACHk/_H3dUaP_LzU/s400/Arubot%2BBeach%252C%2BCaesaria.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724238758444658610" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">9. Bat Galim beach, Haifa</span><br /><br />Farther north brings you to the Haifa Bay, where the Backdoor and Casino surf spots are located on the Bat Galim (Daughter of Waves) Beach on the southern tip of the bay. They're considered to be very good beaches, particularly in the winter when the storms have strong southwest winds offshore. Protected by two jetties, Backdoor is considered Israel's best reef break, as it is covered with moss that feels soft when it rubs against surfing bodies. With a hollow right wave, it has gained the reputation for the best tube-riding wave in the country. A little further down is Casino, an open ocean break that lacks jetties but provides a great long boarding wave. As a 'split peak' - which means that you can ride both lefts and rights, the wave is at least one foot bigger then Backdoor when it's 'firing.'<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qSuMfDzh3UM/T3CU_VtPR9I/AAAAAAAACHw/XnxMS9q7Af0/s1600/bat%2Bgalim-haifa.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 222px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qSuMfDzh3UM/T3CU_VtPR9I/AAAAAAAACHw/XnxMS9q7Af0/s400/bat%2Bgalim-haifa.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724238942267459538" /></a><br />10. Goote, Delilah beaches, Ashkelon<br /><br />While Ashkelon has been a surfers' spot for some time, it's a newer beach destination. Goote Beach is the best surf spot in this southern beach town, with jetties around the marina that make the waves smaller, and a break just south of the marina that holds great waves during winter storms. With waves higher the farther south you head in Israel, Herzliya will have knee-high waves while Ashkelon will have waist- to chest-high waves. According to Grant Shilling, writing about surfing for This Magazine, Delilah Beach in Ashkelon, named after the biblical story of Samson and Delilah, said to have taken place on this spot, is another popular surfing beach. But surfing in Ashkelon has been affected by the rockets launched from Gaza, an ironic turn of events given that surfing lingo for catching a big wave is 'riding a bomb.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YS6jaoYoZEU/T3CVIq2Hf8I/AAAAAAAACH8/biGc_L1d1xY/s1600/goote_ashkelon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 165px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YS6jaoYoZEU/T3CVIq2Hf8I/AAAAAAAACH8/biGc_L1d1xY/s400/goote_ashkelon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724239102560665538" /></a><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">You Might Also Like:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/surfing-in-israel.html">Surfing in Israel</a><br /><br /><object width="540" height="396"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/PRJ3l3gt8Pc?version=3&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/PRJ3l3gt8Pc?version=3&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="540" height="396" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.israel21c.org/travel/surfs-up-israels-top-10-surfing-beaches">Israel21c</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-57865561038984290372012-03-31T11:04:00.001-07:002012-03-31T11:09:30.878-07:00Surfing in IsraelBy Adina Laufer<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hanging ten on blue and white waves</span><br /><br />Winter or summer, Israeli beaches offer just the right conditions for some 'epic' surfing. If you've never surfed in the sea, Israel should be your trial destination.<br /><br />If you've never surfed in the sea, Israel should be your trial destination. With a 300-kilometer stretch of sandy beaches, and a sea that is virtually seaweed- and shark-free, Israel is a great spot for beginner surfers, say the country's experts.<br /><br />"The water's warm and you only have to worry about a couple of weeks of jellyfish in July," says Nir Almog, a member of Israel's founding surfing family. "We've got soft, weak waves and you can surf absolutely anywhere. You can't find that everywhere in the world." Almog's father, Tel Aviv lifeguard Shamai "Topsi" Kanzapolski, was recruited by Dorian Paskowitz, a California doctor who came to Israel in the 1950s and wanted to create Israeli surfing champions. Paskowitz brought six long boards made partially of balsa wood, each depicting the blue-and-white Israeli flag. At that time, lifeguards were catching the waves with the Hasake, a flat, wide board that had initially been used for near-shore fishing by Arab fishermen. The lifeguards and other locals began using Paskowitz's boards, and slowly a surfing tradition began, with Almog junior riding along with his father.<br /><br />The Tel Aviv waves were very high in those days, and would break right on the beach due to a lack of piers, creating a fairly dangerous setting for surfing. Subsequent property development along the beachfront helped to create safer conditions, and now Tel Aviv locals can easily stay put for decent surfing, says Almog, who tends to surf along his city's shores. Beyond Tel Aviv, there's surfing to be had in all the major beach towns and cities, from Herzliya to Haifa, Netanya, Ashkelon and even Gaza.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Surf the water, not the Net</span><br /><br />What's more, Israel also offers year round surfing, given the relatively mild Israeli winter conditions in the country's center, where many of the surfing beaches are located. During the infrequent heavy winter rainstorms, the sea's waves are higher and that's when the surfing swells and local surfing stars show up, says Orian Kanzapolski, Topsi's youngest son. He's also a surfer and owner of Topsea, a Tel Aviv surfing school quirkily named after his father.<br /><br />The water temperature in the Mediterranean varies from winter to summer. During the hot summers, temperatures can rise as high as 82 to 84 degrees Fahrenheit (28 to 29 Celsius), while the winter waters cool down to some 57 degrees (14 Celsius). Wave heights also vary, with summer waves ranging from about one and a half to three feet (0.5-1 meters) on medium surfing days, and early mornings consistently offering the best swells, with waves "breaking long and perfect," in Almog's words. Fall and winter swells can reach from six to 10 feet (2-3 meters), which is the time for the more experienced Israeli surfers to hit the waves.<br /><br />"When I was a kid, we had to convince parents to bring their kids to learn how to surf," Orian recalls. "Now it's the opposite. Moms are trying to convince their kids to surf the water instead of the Internet. It's more mainstream."<br /><br />With its long sandy beaches, shark-free seas, and great surf, Israel is becoming an increasingly popular surfing destination (Photo courtesy www.goisrael.com)<br /><br />Surfing in Israel has become more popular because of these welcoming conditions, says Orian, explaining that given the relatively mild waves, Israeli waves are especially suitable for beginners. As more people have become interested in the sport, the number of surfing schools has grown, particularly during summer and winter vacations, when they offer special courses for kids and their parents. The Kanzapolski brothers estimate that there are some 30,000 surfers in Israel, about 20 surf shops and about two dozen surf schools.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">No surfing stars, yet</span><br /><br />Both Almog and his younger sibling helped to found the fledgling industry, after following in their father's footsteps, mastering the Tel Aviv waves and creating businesses built around the seaside sport. Their father first began making surfboards in a small shack on the Hilton beach in Tel Aviv that doubled as his makeshift store. The business and the sport received a boost when an army sergeant and fellow surfer told Topsi about a new material being used by the army, called polyurethane, which would be easier to mold and use than wood in surfboard production. It was the early 1970s, and Topsi began using polyurethane for the surfboards that he made, sold and rented to local kids. When Almog finished his army service, he apprenticed at a boat shop, learning how to work with fiberglass, and eventually opened Intersurf, his company that manufactures and sells surfboards in Israel. His younger brother, Orian, went in a different direction, opening a surfing school in Tel Aviv. What unites all the local surfing enthusiasts is their thrall and love for the still recreational sport of surfing. "There are some very good surfers in Israel but they don't surf for prizes," says Kanzapolski. "They love surfing as a sport, and they love the water."<br /><br />For now, there's little money in Israel for surfing as a sport, and both Kanzapolski and Almog say it's a recreational experience, in which learning is encouraged and newcomers are welcome. While there are some local celebrities, such as Adi Gluska, who trains on the O'Neill Europe junior team and Gili Zilka, another well-known local surfer, there aren't yet any career surfers and scant media attention is paid to the sport.<br /><br />What is changing is the number of people falling in love with surfing and wanting to learn how to surf up and down Israel's coast during all seasons. Almog notes that while many people try the sport once or twice, only a small number stick with it. Living near the sea is one necessity and even when one does, the water doesn't always oblige.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KvAE5HqdOkk/T3CCSN-EcyI/AAAAAAAACGo/KsGjofU40UA/s1600/gaza-surf-5-2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 200px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KvAE5HqdOkk/T3CCSN-EcyI/AAAAAAAACGo/KsGjofU40UA/s400/gaza-surf-5-2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724218375887156002" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Scouting out the best waves</span><br /><br />Still, surfing is considered a "cool" sport and with the combination of the popularity of the clothing, increasingly attractive surfboards and the freestyle surfing spirit, demand has grown. More surfing schools are opening and a "surfing scene" is emerging, with more people buying surf-style clothing or heading to the beach on the weekend to watch the fledgling surfers, if not to surf themselves. Most important to surfers is determining which beaches offer the best waves.<br /><br />In Tel Aviv proper, locals like Orian and Nir Almog prefer the two Hilton beaches, named for the hotel towering above that particular stretch of sand. With two jetties that protect the waves from incoming currents, the beach offers one of the best reef breaks in Israel, holding swells ranging from one to seven feet that become stronger closer to shore. The Hilton Bet shore, also known as Topsy in honor of Israel's first surfer, is a break that is similar to the one on the other Hilton beach, but with a slightly different reef that tends to be less crowded. According to local surfers, the break often performs better in small to medium swell conditions. At the southern end of the Tel Aviv beach is the Dolphinarium Beach, named for an old dolphin tank now used as a nightclub. It offers decent surfing conditions during the summer months and even better conditions during the winter. Known also as the "Drummers Beach" because drummers, free-style dancers and jugglers tend to congregate there late on Friday afternoons, this beach offers great waves from the northwest with good surfing during all stages of the tide.<br /><br />Almog favors Herzliya's Zvulun and Dabush beaches in both summer and winter, that offer good surfing conditions early in the morning when there's a southern wind blowing. His especially likes Marina Beach, just south of the Herzliya marina, which is also home to the yachting crowd. As Herzliya's southernmost beach, it sits between the marina and the first of the three Herzliya wave breakers, creating very ridable waves. "It works the best when there are northern winds," says Almog, and particularly during the dark, early mornings in winter, around five o'clock for 'dawn patrol,' when all is silent except for the surfers riding the crashing waves.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Literally "riding a bomb"</span><br /><br />Up the coast from Herzliya are the eight miles of Netanya beaches that generally don't receive the highest of marks from the surfer dudes, but are considered "okay for surfing," says Almog. The Kontiki and Sironit beaches are an open stretch of beach in which the sand moves all the time, making it a more fickle surf spot. At the same time, Netanya Beach is a major site for sailing, diving and snorkeling, and there's plenty of space to paraglide and parachute off the Netanya cliffs.<br /><br />The Caesarea strip of beachfront is divided into three major spots, including the Shonit, Sdot Yam and Arubot beaches. Orian Kanzapolski's favorite spot is Arubot, located near some major wind turbines, where surfers ignore the Do Not Enter signs and make their way down to the beach for some of the best Israeli surfing.<br /><br />Farther north brings surfers to Haifa Bay, where the popular Backdoor and Casino surf spots are located on the Bat Galim (Hebrew for "Daughter of Waves") beach on the southern tip of the bay. They're considered excellent surfing beaches, particularly during the winter when storms create strong southwest winds offshore. Protected by two jetties, Backdoor has a moss-covered reef break that makes it a soft landing for surfing bodies. And with a hollow right wave, it has gained the reputation as the best tube-riding wave in the country.<br /><br />At the other end of the coastline, Ashkelon has always been a surfers' spot for its locals, but is a newer beach destination for the rest of the country. Goote Beach is considered the best surf spot in this southern beach town, with jetties around the marina that make the waves smaller, and a break just south of the marina that holds great waves during rare winter storms. Surfing in Ashkelon has been affected in recent years by rockets launched from Gaza, an ironic turn of events given that surfing lingo for catching a big wave is called "riding a bomb."<br /><br />Finally, there are the waves of Gaza, which has some 50 or 60 surfers compared with the 30,000 in Israel. The previously mentioned Doc Paskowitz, along with his sons David, Josh, and Jonathan, headed for the Gaza border a few years back to deliver some surfboards. Now Explore Corps and Surfing4Peace have sent surfboards and wetsuits to the 20 or so Palestinian wave riders. The Gaza Surf Club is situated on the beach at Sheikh Khazdein, a beachfront neighborhood in southern Gaza City, which is the place where surfers hang out on Friday afternoons in the Gaza Strip.<br /><br />And so, north or south, winter or summer, there are almost always some waves to ride in Israel. They're not always "crackin'," but are fairly "epic," according to reliable surfing sources, who promise that it is definitely possible to "hang ten" on a surfboard on blue and white waves.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">You Might Also Like:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/israels-top-10-surfing-beaches.html">Israel's Top 10 Surfing Beaches</a><br /><br /><object width="540" height="396"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/p77Qm0nJVDI?version=3&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/p77Qm0nJVDI?version=3&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="540" height="396" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br /><a href="http://www.yourisraelexperience.com/weblogs.html&objID=14790">Your Israel Experience</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-50368341115203935942012-03-31T11:02:00.000-07:002012-03-31T11:03:17.522-07:00Israel’s Top 10 Extreme SportsIsrael offers thrill-seekers everything from surfing and spelunking to paragliding and parkour, in some of the world’s most spectacular scenery. ISRAEL21c takes a look at the top 10.<br /><br />Extreme sports – the popular term for a slew of inherently dangerous, sometimes counter-cultural activities – are disproportionately popular in Israel. Israelis love a challenge, and a bit of danger added to the mix is just perfect for thrill-seekers across the country.<br /><br />“This combination of adrenaline and nature is far more suitable to the Israeli mindset than any high-tech amusement park,” says Moshe Meyers, CEO of Israel Extreme, a company specializing in off-the-beaten-track tourism.<br /><br />“This tiny country has so many natural sites for every type of extreme sport. We have some of the most beautiful and challenging sites in the world. I don’t know any other country with so many participants,” Meyers tells ISRAEL21c.<br /><br />Fortunately, this small land has natural settings suitable for every type of extreme sport, from remote desert canyons to snow-capped peaks. And with such a keen local audience already paving the way, tourists from abroad are also rapidly discovering that the country is a great go-to destination for the thrill of their lives.<br /><br />Our picks for Israel’s 10 most challenging extreme sports:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. Down below </span><br /><br />Beyond the obvious airborne, waterborne or ground level sports, going underground is a rapidly developing extreme option in Israel.<br /><br />“Caving is possibly the most dangerous challenge sport there is,” says Sergey Shipitsin, one of Israel’s most accomplished speleologists (a scientific specialist in caves). “It’s also one of the few activities where you can still go where no one has gone before.”<br /><br />Shipitsin, 43, tells ISRAEL21c that “Israel is a dream country for the cave explorer,” ranking among spelunkers’ top 10 countries. Israel has four main caving areas: the Jerusalem Hills, Mount Sodom (unique in the world), the Upper Galilee and the Hebron Hills in the West Bank.<br /><br />Mount Sodom – basically a block of salt rising 230 meters above the Dead Sea – is pierced by labyrinth caverns and tunnels formed by rainwater, including the world’s biggest salt caves. If you know where to look, the Jerusalem Hills have thousands of caves, many of them eminently explorable.<br /><br />Caving (known as potholing in the UK), which includes climbing, hiking and rappelling, is not an activity to be attempted alone, or without the proper equipment and preparation.<br /><br />In 2004, Shipitsin and some fellow cavers set up Sarma, a non-profit organization dedicated to cave exploration and rescue, which now has some 3,000 members.<br /><br />“Israel has many people experienced in both cave exploration and rappelling. We organize challenge trips underground and training courses. You don’t have to be particularly fit – we had children aged seven and a 74-year-old in last weekend’s tour,” he says.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y6OoQQe3zrQ/T3CllY19c7I/AAAAAAAACII/SNKmZ8kT-Fs/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-2.59.43-PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y6OoQQe3zrQ/T3CllY19c7I/AAAAAAAACII/SNKmZ8kT-Fs/s400/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-2.59.43-PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724257188130419634" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Into the abyss</span><br /><br />Rappelling – the controlled descent down a rope known as “abseiling” in British English and “snappling” in Hebrew – against the cliffs of the Ramon crater in the Negev, or down wadis in the Judean Desert, produces an unbelievable adrenaline rush.<br /><br />Israel is blessed with some tremendous rappelling sites, not all of them in the desert. Try Khirbet Oren on Mount Carmel, where the stone wall rises from the valley almost vertically; the Kesh on the border with Lebanon; the prehistoric Pigeons Caves near Karmiel; or the notoriously challenging Black Canyon trail in the Golan Heights, which involves traversing rushing water and hiking through a unique nature reserve.<br /><br />For training, we counted 12 rock-climbing walls in Ashdod, Haifa, Jerusalem, Kibbutz Ha’Ogen, Kiryat-Ono, Kfar Blum, Petah Tikvah, Ramat Yishai and Tel Aviv.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xPOHbeif2hM/T3Cl1V0ctnI/AAAAAAAACIU/s038soqXtKg/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.00.22-PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 233px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xPOHbeif2hM/T3Cl1V0ctnI/AAAAAAAACIU/s038soqXtKg/s400/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.00.22-PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724257462196680306" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. Jump out of a plane</span><br /><br />“Anyone who doesn’t parachute once in his or her life is missing out,” says Ziv Kochva, a parachuting guide at the <a href="http://www.paradive.co.il/english.shtml">Paradive jump school</a> near Habonim Beach opposite the Carmel mountain range. Paradive is Israel’s largest jump school.<br /><br />“Parachuting is an empowering experience – a tremendous feeling of freedom. Fear that turns into elation: Nothing can be compared with it,” says Kochva.<br /><br />Israel has its own skydiving fraternity, many of them graduates of paratroop units or the Israel Defense Forces’ jump school at Tel Nof. Civilian skydivers must take a course and get at least 10 jumps under their belt before being allowed up to 12,000 feet. But the beauty of parachuting is that you don’t need to take a test – anyone can experience it through tandem jumps, harnessed to a guide.<br /><br />Free-falling is for the particularly strong of heart. “It can be the greatest experience of a lifetime,” Kochva exclaims. “You drop for 50 seconds at 200 kph, then spend five to seven minutes floating down in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s a closed area – a nature reserve and the only part of the Mediterranean coastline closed to flights.”<br /><br />Since opening a decade ago, Paradive has conducted more than 300,000 jumps. Parachuting is definitely not a cheap thrill, yet “all sorts of people – from 12-year-olds to some in their 70s, and not necessarily former paratroopers,” take to the air, says Kochva. “Often they come as a birthday present – it’s a present they never forget.”<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3GDEZwVDth4/T3CmEuYUMnI/AAAAAAAACIg/RTJ5KjbH_AA/s1600/pic70.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 258px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3GDEZwVDth4/T3CmEuYUMnI/AAAAAAAACIg/RTJ5KjbH_AA/s400/pic70.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724257726487605874" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. Fly like a bird</span><br /><br />“Anyone who doesn’t parachute once in his or her life is missing out,” says Ziv Kochva, a parachuting guide at the Paradive jump school near Habonim Beach opposite the Carmel mountain range. Paradive is Israel’s largest jump school.<br /><br />“Parachuting is an empowering experience – a tremendous feeling of freedom. Fear that turns into elation: Nothing can be compared with it,” says Kochva.<br /><br />Israel has its own skydiving fraternity, many of them graduates of paratroop units or the Israel Defense Forces’ jump school at Tel Nof. Civilian skydivers must take a course and get at least 10 jumps under their belt before being allowed up to 12,000 feet. But the beauty of parachuting is that you don’t need to take a test – anyone can experience it through tandem jumps, harnessed to a guide.<br /><br />Free-falling is for the particularly strong of heart. “It can be the greatest experience of a lifetime,” Kochva exclaims. “You drop for 50 seconds at 200 kph, then spend five to seven minutes floating down in one of the most beautiful places in the world. It’s a closed area – a nature reserve and the only part of the Mediterranean coastline closed to flights.”<br /><br />Since opening a decade ago, Paradive has conducted more than 300,000 jumps. Parachuting is definitely not a cheap thrill, yet “all sorts of people – from 12-year-olds to some in their 70s, and not necessarily former paratroopers,” take to the air, says Kochva. “Often they come as a birthday present – it’s a present they never forget.”<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F4lnnx8TvTg/T3Cmj0ywrFI/AAAAAAAACIs/OmWsdJMZkaw/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.01.43-PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 235px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-F4lnnx8TvTg/T3Cmj0ywrFI/AAAAAAAACIs/OmWsdJMZkaw/s400/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.01.43-PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724258260785081426" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. Bicycle country</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.israel21c.org/travel/a-nation-of-cyclists">Mountain biking</a> has become incredibly popular in Israel in the past decade – as has urban bicycling. The country has dozens of biking clubs boasting thousands of members, and as diverse a set of biking trails as you’ll find anywhere in the world.<br /><br />Myriad routes wind through some of the most distinct terrain, traversing dried-up desert wadis, wind-swept hilltops, lush vegetation and even snow. Downhill enthusiasts will love the Hermon Mountain, while the arid south of the country offers yellow-tinted vistas and the silence of the desert. Riding through the Negev by moonlight is particularly recommended as a unique experience.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6GdZVCDncOg/T3CmsirEUnI/AAAAAAAACI4/3EkvMkt_7ig/s1600/cycling-hermon.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 161px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6GdZVCDncOg/T3CmsirEUnI/AAAAAAAACI4/3EkvMkt_7ig/s400/cycling-hermon.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724258410539799154" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6. Just enough for the city</span><br /><br />Urban anarchists take to parkour, also known as freerunning — the non-competitive, utilitarian discipline of French origin in which participants use only their bodies’ natural abilities to negotiate a route lined with obstacles. City teenagers, in particular, can increasingly be spotted bounding, climbing, vaulting, rolling and swinging through their local concrete jungle. Sometimes they can even be spotted leaping from one rooftop to the next. But be warned – a few have already been injured and the police are on the lookout for participants.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2X3foGQw_cY/T3CnYWdM2wI/AAAAAAAACJE/8d3e9xRaFns/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.03.27-PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 340px; height: 375px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2X3foGQw_cY/T3CnYWdM2wI/AAAAAAAACJE/8d3e9xRaFns/s400/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.03.27-PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724259163174656770" /></a><br /><br /><object width="540" height="396"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/vAgiXxMAPAg?version=3&hl=en_GB"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/vAgiXxMAPAg?version=3&hl=en_GB" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="540" height="396" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7. Thrills on wheels</span><br /><br />You don’t see the same numbers of skateboarders tearing up Israeli streets that you do in North American cities, but skateboarding is alive and kicking in this corner of the Middle East. Israeli cities have many new marble-lined plazas that come alive after office hours. And unlike in other countries, skateboarding is not a crime in Israel and there is no police harassment of skaters.<br /><br />The Sporteque in Tel Aviv is the best and biggest park in the country with a vert, a mini-ramp, a mini-vert, four quarters, three fun boxes, four banks, two rails, a pyramid and a pro shop selling all the required paraphernalia. Head for Golda Park in central Tel Aviv for the country’s best unofficial skate spot.<br /><br />Jerusalem boasts a newly rebuilt concrete skate park at Gan Sacher, adjacent to the Supreme Court, while skaters also hang out at Safra Square, next to City Hall. Crazy Roller in Herzliya has a mini-half pipe and a 3.4 meter high vert, and there are also skate parks in Ra’anana, Katzrin and Shoham.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6aNxzKXXaPY/T3Cs2daZCbI/AAAAAAAACJQ/Vyc3uEKT_X0/s1600/skateboarding.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 319px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6aNxzKXXaPY/T3Cs2daZCbI/AAAAAAAACJQ/Vyc3uEKT_X0/s400/skateboarding.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724265177996134834" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">8. Above the metropolis</span><br /><br />Here’s a challenge for you: Running up to the top of Israel’s highest skyscraper, the Azrieli Tower in Tel Aviv. It started as a wager between a few local nutcases, and has since developed into every wannabe hunk’s rite of passage. The super-fittest can make it up the 1,144 stairs and 54 floors in seven minutes.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBWsOWzgaRQ/T3CtJ_5cvWI/AAAAAAAACJc/jiejRYoXipY/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.04.26-PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 342px; height: 258px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RBWsOWzgaRQ/T3CtJ_5cvWI/AAAAAAAACJc/jiejRYoXipY/s400/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.04.26-PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724265513670720866" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">9. Surfing safari</span><br /><br />When the waves are high, thousands of surfers and windsurfers flock to the Mediterranean waters all along Israel’s coastline, which is dotted with surf schools. It’s not Hawaii, but the sea often throws up sufficient swell and the shallow, sandy beaches are ideal places to learn how to surf all year round.<br /><br />The country has produced some fine surfers, including Israel’s first Olympic gold medalist in windsurfing, Gal Fridman. In fact, Israel is a major force in this sport, and has hosted international windsurfing championships. Surfing in Israel began in the 1950s when a young Californian, Dorian Paskowitz immigrated to Israel with six long boards and introduced the sport to Tel Aviv. Today surf schools dot the country’s coastline,<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bRopggS2MHU/T3CtfAFKUVI/AAAAAAAACJo/QLusyx52vek/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.05.02-PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 232px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bRopggS2MHU/T3CtfAFKUVI/AAAAAAAACJo/QLusyx52vek/s400/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.05.02-PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724265874497098066" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">10. Most incongruous sport in the Middle East</span><br /><br />The highest point in Israel, Mount Hermon, hosts Israel’s only ski slope, with three chairlifts and a wide range of ski trails at novice, intermediate and expert levels. But be warned: Not all Israelis are expert skiers even if they think they are, and accidents abound. More family-oriented activities at the ski slope include sledding and Nordic skiing.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J1pJ7Lu8vnE/T3CtswOHPlI/AAAAAAAACJ0/rMCvVOLw2Ik/s1600/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.05.44-PM.png"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 221px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J1pJ7Lu8vnE/T3CtswOHPlI/AAAAAAAACJ0/rMCvVOLw2Ik/s400/Screen-shot-2011-05-09-at-3.05.44-PM.png" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724266110757846610" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.israel21c.org/">Israel21c</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-91334992353923063662012-03-31T11:00:00.001-07:002012-03-31T11:00:56.956-07:00Israeli Music History<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0PCf-iJpLU/T3DMUhaKgOI/AAAAAAAACKA/1GBMZAx7TBA/s1600/israeli-music.gif"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 113px; height: 94px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j0PCf-iJpLU/T3DMUhaKgOI/AAAAAAAACKA/1GBMZAx7TBA/s320/israeli-music.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724299779325460706" border="0" /></a>In every country and among every people, music attests to national character and national ideals. The rhythms, harmonies, melodies, and poetry of music relate to and help to define personal characteristics, social customs and rituals, national religion, as well as national and personal identity. Most of today’s societies have had hundreds or thousands of years to develop a national music; the State of Israel has had only since 1948 to assert itself as a political, social, and cultural entity in a fast-moving world. In many ways, the history of Israeli music reflects the broad struggles of that young country.<br /><br />The early history of music in Israel was determined by two major forces: the Zionist movement, whose participants encouraged the creation and dissemination of Israeli "folk" music; and the political struggle against Fascism, which led many European-born musicians to flee to the Holy Land.<br /><br />Jewish immigrants to Palestine brought with them music of their various host countries. The leaders of the Zionist movement sought to inspire and unite these new olim (immigrants) with a common cultural identity. To that end, Zionist musicians composed hundreds of short and simple folk songs for dissemination among the immigrant communities and among Jews abroad. The songs’ lyrics spoke of the experience of living in the Holy Land, from stories about the agricultural cycle to lullabies to stories of love. Their musical qualities combined the sounds of European music with hallmarks of the "exotic" -- minor modes, the Yemenite trill, and Arabic instruments. Many of these songs are still sung today throughout the Jewish community; among the most well-known is the love song "Erev Shel Shoshanim" ("Evening of Lillies").<br /><br />The folk tradition dovetailed into a new form of national popular music, represented above all by Naomi Shemer. From the 1960s to the 1980s, Shemer sang of the uniqueness of the land of Israel. Her song “Yerushalayim Shel Zahav” (“Jerusalem of Gold”)--composed just before the Six Day War of 1967--spoke of Jews’ longing for Jerusalem. After Jerusalem’s unification, Shemer famously modified the lyrics to reflect Israel’s accomplishments in the war.<br /><br />Israel also has cultivated a rich tradition of classical European music. The Palestine Orchestra was founded in 1936 by Bronislaw Huberman, who anticipated the coming war against the Jewish people in Europe and took scores of other Jewish musicians from Europe with him to Palestine. The formation of the orchestra was a distinctly political move: Huberman stated that his goal was to produce a “materialization of the Zionist culture in the fatherland.” After the creation of the State of Israel, the orchestra changed its name to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.<br /><br />Classically trained Jewish artists from Israel and abroad--Koussevitsky, Bernstein, Heifetz, Rubinstein, Arrau, and many others--were naturally drawn to participate in the orchestra’s activities from its inception. It is no coincidence that the Philharmonic’s first recording project was of symphonies of Mahler, a Jewish composer. Together with music departments in Israel’s various universities and institutions such as the Jerusalem Music Center, the Israel Philharmonic continues to cultivate the country’s interest in European classical music.<br /><br />In addition, the Rimon School of Jazz and Contemporary Music, located in a suburb of Tel Aviv, serves as a hothouse for growing a new generation of musicians, creating a unique and contemporary Israeli sound. The school counts among its graduates the popular Achinoam Nini, an Israeli woman of Yemenite descent who spent her childhood in North America.<br /><br />Today, the population of Israel is divided over its national identity. Some Israelis think that Israel should attempt to be a country like every other, with no distinct religious or cultural identity; while other Israelis think that there is something unique about Israel as the Jewish homeland and that it should not necessarily strive to be like other Western countries. Israeli popular music reflects this struggle. In 1998, the Israeli singer Dana International won the Eurovision Song Contest seeing herself as a representative of Israel to the rest of the world; her music is very much like contemporary European popular music. Singers like Arik Einstein have further developed the musical style of Naomi Shemer, uniting a distinctive Israeli message with a more modern folk-influenced popular idiom.<br /><br />In addition, within the country, musical styles of Mizrachi (Middle Eastern) Jews have long competed with Western sounds. In recent years there has been a crossover in which Mizrachi--and even Ethiopian--music has become part of the popular Israeli music scene. Politics, also, is intertwined with the Israeli popular-music scene, with lyrics expressing all sides of the debate regarding the conflict with the Palestinians and the stresses of everyday life in a war-torn land.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">How much do you know about Israeli music? - Click on the picture below to take the Quiz!!!</span><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myjewishlearning.com/quiz/?tid=CL.AA.MU"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 150px; height: 200px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZiEvyJb800s/T3DM4vyQpJI/AAAAAAAACKM/ddYG6XJkuoo/s400/music_quiz.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724300401659913362" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myjewishlearning.com/culture/2/Music/Israeli_Music.shtml">My Jewish Learning</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-39102479620386161872012-03-31T10:56:00.000-07:002012-03-31T10:57:24.224-07:00Israeli SportsMoving into the international arena.<br /><br />By Gabe Roth<br /><br />While Israel is technically part of Asia, the sporting landscape makes the tiny nation more in line with the European continent. Soccer rules in Israel, as it does in the rest of the non-American world, and while the country has its own hierarchy of professional leagues, Israeli teams often face European competition in international matches through UEFA (Union of European Football Associations).<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Soccer: The National Sport</span><br /><br />The structure of Israeli soccer, which is governed by the Israeli Football Association, is similar to that of English soccer and a number of other continental soccer federations. The best teams play in Ligat Ha'al, the Premier League; second tier teams play in Liga Leumit, or the National League; and third tier teams play in Liga Artzit, or the Nationwide League.<br /><br />Each of these leagues has 12 teams. Big cities such as Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, and Haifa are typically represented by at least one or two teams in the Premier League, and teams from smaller cities populate the other leagues. At the end of the season, the teams in each league with the two worst records are relegated to a lower league, and the two best teams move up a league.<br /><br />Soccer has been a part of Israeli culture since before the modern state existed. Prior to 1948, men and women making aliyah from Europe founded social movements that they hoped would guide the cultural and political development of the future state. These movements were all encompassing--creating their own settlements, building their own infrastructure, establishing societal norms, and even fielding their own soccer teams. Two of the most prominent movements--the right-wing Revisionist Zionist Movement (Beitar) and left-wing Workers' Federation (Hapoel)--survive today on Israeli soccer fields.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Beitar and Hapoel</span><br /><br />As competing flavors of Zionism were becoming popular in Eastern Europe at the beginning of the 20th century, Zionist leaders established supporting youth movements. Right-wing Revisionist Zionist leader Ze'ev Jabotinsky founded the Beitar movement in Riga, Latvia, in 1923.<br /><br />Immigrants who had been in the Beitar youth movement came to Palestine and then Israel, and their Revisionist forebears aligned themselves with the right-wing Herut political party. Its main offshoot, Likud, still boasts a number of former Beitar leaders today. Following the creation of the state, as fewer people joined civic associations, the number of Beitar youth steadily decreased. However, the number of followers of the Jerusalem-based Beitar Yerushalayim soccer team--arguably the most popular soccer team in the country--continued to grow.<br /><br />Founded in 1936, the team did not achieve national success until the late 1970s, when, under the leadership of Uri Malmilian (Israel's closest thing to Pele), the team began to win its first State Cups.<br /><br />Since the end of the 1990's, the team's rabid fans in yellow and black hadn't had much to cheer. But in 2005, billionaire Arkady Gaydamak bought the team and filled the roster with expensive players from Israel and overseas. Only 21 months after purchasing the club, Gaydamak found himself hoisting the Ligat Ha'al trophy--Beitar's first in nine years.<br /><br />Founded in 1920 in Palestine, the left-wing political and social movement, Hahistadrut (the workers' federation), had its own sporting union called Hapoel (the worker). The first Hapoel soccer team sprang up in the 1920s in Jerusalem (Hapoel Yerushalayim) and became a natural competitor of Beitar Yerushalayim--a rivalry that still exists today.<br /><br />As the Histadrut movement spread across the country, numerous cities adopted the Hapoel name for both their soccer and basketball teams. Today, a dozen Israeli cities field Hapoel teams in various professional soccer and basketball leagues.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Maccabi</span><br /><br />Similarly, numerous cities across the country field soccer and basketball teams called Maccabi, named after the victorious Jews of the Hanukkah story. Started as an umbrella organization for all Jewish sports associations, the Maccabi World Union was created at the 12th World Jewish Congress in 1921. Maccabi Tza'ir, the Maccabi youth movement, was established to improve the physical and mental fitness of young Jews across the world. When Maccabi made its way to Palestine in 1933, it stressed sports as part of one's education, and promoted the establishment of youth and sports clubs throughout the fledgling nation.<br /><br />Today, seven Israeli cities are home to Maccabi clubs that play in professional soccer and basketball leagues. Maccabi Tel Aviv is the nation's most successful soccer team, having won a record 18 national championships in that sport. The Maccabi Tel Aviv basketball team also has a decades-long history of domestic dominance and international success.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Basketball: An American Influence</span><br /><br />While most of Israel's soccer culture derives from Europe and South America, basketball's popularity is due to an American influence. It's not uncommon for the top Israeli basketball teams to recruit talented former American college basketball players who were not able to make it in the NBA. A number of these players have settled in Israel and have become fluent in Hebrew. Derrick Sharp of Maccabi Tel Aviv, for example, became an Israeli citizen and is married to an Israeli woman.<br /><br />Israel's greatest international sporting successes have come in EuroLeague basketball, specifically with the Maccabi Tel Aviv team. Maccabi has won 5 EuroLeague championships, most recently in 2005. In that year the team featured a host of American stars--forward Maceo Baston and guard Anthony Parker who both were on the Toronto Raptors; former University of Illinois player Deon Thomas; and Sharp, who played at the University of South Florida.<br /><br />The team has won more than 45 Israeli titles, prompting a number of other clubs to try to pass measures to level the playing field. Efforts to enforce a salary cap have been unsuccessful. No other team has been able match Maccabi's wealth and, thus, its ability to sign top talent. However, to try to mollify anti-Maccabists, the league instituted a rule in 2006 that there must be at least two Israelis on the court at all times.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">International Competition</span><br /><br />Even with soccer and basketball's popularity, the most internationally successful individual Israeli athletes today are tennis stars. Andy Ram and Yoni Erlich have won 10 pro doubles tennis titles together and reached the semifinals at Wimbledon in 2003. Ram was the first Israeli to win a Grand Slam tournament, winning mixed doubles titles at Wimbledon in 2006 and in the French Open in 2007. <br /><br />Most professional Israeli tennis players spent their formative years as students at the Israeli Tennis Center, a non-profit tennis education organization with 14 locations throughout the country. Many of the centers are in outlying development towns or poor neighborhoods--consistent with the ITC's goal of promoting social development.<br /><br />In addition to gaining international prominence in tennis, Israel has recently begun a string of medal-winning performances at the Olympic Summer Games. Israel has competed in the summer Olympics since 1952, absent only in 1980, when they supported the US boycott of the Soviet Union.<br /><br />In one of the greatest tragedies ever to befall an international sporting competition, Palestinian terrorists killed 11 members of the Israeli delegation at Munich in 1972. The games were postponed for a day following the massacre and more than 80,000 people attended the memorial service in their honor.<br /><br />Israel won its first Olympic medals at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, when Yael Arad won a silver medal for women's half-middleweight judo and Oren Smadja won a bronze medal for men's lightweight judo. Israel finally struck gold in 2004 in Athens, as Gal Fridman finished first in sailing. It was the first time the Israeli flag was raised--and Hatikvah was sung--at an Olympic medals ceremony.<br /><br />Israel has a much shorter history at the Winter Olympics, only beginning to send athletes to the games in 1988. The country has never sent more than five athletes to any Winter Games, and most have been figure skaters or ice dancers from the former Soviet Union.<br /><br />Israel's varied sports history predates the State itself. The immigrants who settled the land brought rich religious and cultural traditions with them, as well as their own sports. Without a doubt, soccer still rules the land--just as it was when the first pioneers made aliyah more than a century ago. But as more and more Russians and Americans move to Israel, other sports, such as baseball and figure skating, are sprouting up and gaining popularity.<br /><br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-71-mZtanEc8/T3DQb78YkkI/AAAAAAAACKY/M9e_ZpVh-2M/s1600/israel-sport.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 263px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-71-mZtanEc8/T3DQb78YkkI/AAAAAAAACKY/M9e_ZpVh-2M/s400/israel-sport.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724304304753906242" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myjewishlearning.com/culture/2/Sports/Sports_and_Judaism/International/Israel.shtml">My Jewish Learning</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-52331529568982496972012-03-31T10:54:00.001-07:002012-03-31T10:54:55.828-07:00Incense in JudaismBy Rabbi Louis Jacobs<br /><br />Incense is mixture of aromatic herbs burnt twice daily on the golden altar in the Temple, Hebrew ketoret, from a root meaning "to smoke." The burning of the incense also formed an important part of the ritual performed by the High Priest when he entered the Holy of Holies on Yom Kippur (Leviticus 16:12-13). The biblical instructions for the preparation of incense are found in Exodus 30:34, where four ingredients are mentioned--stacte, onycha, galbanum, and pure frankincence. But the Talmud (Keritot 6a) records an ancient tradition according to which there were eleven ingredients in the incense. This passage is known, after its opening words, as pittum ha-ketoret ("compound of incense"):<br /><br />"The compound of incense consisted of balm, onycha, galbanum and frankincence, each in the quantity of seventy manehs; of myrrh, cassia, spikenard and saffron, each sixteen manehs by weight; of costus twelve, of aromatic rind three, and of cinnamon nine manehs; of lye obtained from leek nine kabs; though, if Cyprus wine is not available, old white wine may be used instead; of salt the Sodom the fourth of a kab, and of the smoke raiser [a herb that makes the smoke of the incense rise] a minute quantity. Rabbi Nathan says: Also of Jordan resin a minute quantity. If, however, honey is added, the incense is rendered unfit; while if one omits one of the ingredients he is liable to the death penalty [not by human court but by the "Court of Heaven"]. Rabban Simeon ben Gamaliel said: Balm is nothing but a resin which exudes from the wood of the balsam-tree, the lye obtained form leek was rubbed over the onycha in order to render it beautiful, and in the Cyprus wine the onycha was steeped that its odor might be intensified. In fact urine might well serve this purpose, but urine may not be brought within the precincts of the Temple."<br /><br />A Rabbinic comment on this is that galbanum has an unpleasant smell and yet is included in the ingredients of the incense, to teach that when the community assembles for prayer on public fast days the sinners, too, must be included. According to the Mishnah (Yoma 3:11) the incense in the Second Temple period was manufactured by the House of Abtinas who zealously kept their method secret. The Mishnah states that the sages objected to the House of Abtinas having a monopoly on the preparation of the incense but the Talmud comments that the reason for keeping it a secret was that it should not be manufactured by unscrupulous persons for profane purposes. The womenfolk of the House of Abtinas never used any perfume in case people would imagine that they were using the incense compound.<br /><br />Incense is found in the worship of most ancient societies, no doubt because of the pleasant aroma ascending upward s towards heaven and as a symbol of purification. Maimonides' explanation of the incense (Guide for the Perplexed, 3.43) scandalized the pious who considered it far too banal an explanation for so numinous a rite: 'Inasmuch as many beasts were slaughtered daily in that holy place, the flesh cut into pieces, and the intestines burnt and washed , there is no doubt that if it had been left in that state its smell would have been like that of a slaughterhouse. Therefore it was commanded in regard to it that incense would be burnt there twice daily in the morning and in the afternoon in order to improve its smell and the smell of the clothes of all who served there…This also preserved the fear of the Sanctuary. For if it has not a pleasant smell, and all the more if the contrary were the case, the result would have been the opposite of glorification. For the soul is greatly solaced and attracted by pleasant smells and shrinks from stench and avoids it.'<br /><br />For the Zohar, the incense has a profound mystical meaning. The smoke of the incense represents the ascent of all creation to the Sefirot and of the Sefirot to their Source in En Sof, the Zohar observes (ii. 218b): 'It is a firmly established ordinance of the Holy One, blessed be He, that whoever reflects on and recites daily the section of the incense will be saved from all evil things and sorceries in the world , from all mishaps and evil imaginings, from evil decrees and from death; and no harm will befall him that day, as the "Other Side" has no power over him . But it must be read with devotion.' Following this, the Talmudic passage of pittum ha-ketoret, referred to above, is recited in man y rites at the beginning of the morning and afternoon services.<br /><br />Incense itself, however, is never used in the synagogue, probably in order to distinguish the synagogue from the Temple, although synagogues have been known to spray the building with aromatic herbs. not as any kind of ritual but solely for aesthetic reasons. Some of the Hasidic masters used to smoke a pipe of fragrant tobacco when they meditated before their prayers.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5J91Q75VZoo/T3DTs9syE3I/AAAAAAAACKk/c0MaFSGyHbM/s1600/incense.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-5J91Q75VZoo/T3DTs9syE3I/AAAAAAAACKk/c0MaFSGyHbM/s400/incense.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5724307895817999218" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.myjewishlearning.com/history/Ancient_and_Medieval_History/539_BCE-632_CE/Palestine_Under_Persian_Rule_I/Palestine_Under_Persian_Rule_II/Second_Temple/Sacrifices/incense.shtml">My Jewish Learning</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-12816644693358324052012-03-31T10:45:00.000-07:002012-03-31T10:46:09.950-07:00Why Don't the Israel Haters Boycott Syria?By Arsen Ostrovsky<br /><br />This week begins an annual part of the global campaign to delegitimize and vilify the Jewish state, as anti-Israel activists and student groups on campuses around the world, including United States and Canada, mark the eighth annual Israel Apartheid Week [IAW].<br /><br />According to organizers of the IAW, the purpose of the movement is to "to educate people about the nature of Israel as an apartheid system and to build Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaigns."<br /><br />First, let's make one thing crystal clear -- attempts to brand Israel as an "apartheid" state or compare it to white South Africa are at best uninformed; and at worst, maliciously dishonest and anti-Semitic. It also does a great injustice to the real victims, who had to endure institutionalized segregation and apartheid in South Africa.<br /><br />The irony is that, despite problems in Israel (as in any democracy), Arab citizens still enjoy more rights, freedoms, and liberties than do their neighbors in any number of Middle East countries currently fighting and dying for these very same privileges.<br /><br />As the Muslim Arab Israeli journalist Khaled Abu Toameh says: "Israel is not an apartheid state...[it] is a free and open democratic country. The law of Israel does not distinguish between a Jew and an Arab... I would rather live as a second class citizen in Israel, even though I'm not, than a first class citizen in any Arab country."<br /><br />Notably, those using the IAW to demonize Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East, and which respects the rights of women, minorities, homosexuals, and people of other faiths, are holding no such events for Syria, where President Bashar al-Assad has already butchered some 7,500 pro-democracy protestors.<br /><br />Nor are they holding similar events against Saudi Arabia, where homosexuality is a crime, in Egypt, where the Copts continue to be persecuted both pre- and post-Mubarak, or Iran, where women and the Baha'i are repeatedly tortured and executed.<br /><br />Of course, other great bastions of human rights and democracy, like Russia and China, which recently vetoed a UN Security Council resolution calling for the ousting of al-Assad, get a free pass too.<br /><br />So why is Israel the only country singled out for special opprobrium?<br /><br />During the IAW, you will hear all sorts of lofty humanitarian labels like "justice," "equal rights," and "peace." But don't be fooled. It is all a charade. They have no such interest. The sole purpose of the BDS movement is the vilification, delegitimization, and destruction of Israel as a Jewish state.<br />Just listen to what their leaders say.<br /><br />Omar Barghouti, one the founders of the BDS Movement (and ironically, also a PhD student of ethics at Tel Aviv University), has said that the Palestinian refugees "Right of Return" is the "litmus test of morality for anyone suggesting a just and enduring solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict."<br /><br />To put it a little more bluntly, he added: "I clearly do not buy into the two-state solution...[I]f the refugees were to return, you would not have a two-state solution, you would have a Palestine next to Palestine, rather than a Palestine next to Israel."<br /><br />Other BDS leaders are equally forthright.<br /><br />Ali Abunimah is the executive director of the anti-Zionist website, Electronic Intifada, and one of the leading proponents of the one-state solution as a supposedly "just" and "non-violent" solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. He sees the BDS as key to achieving this. But only last month, he tweeted: "Isn't it the time for a popular Palestinian revolution in the form of a third intifada?" Is that because the first and second intifadas were so "non-violent" also?<br /><br />And then only two week ago, in what came as a major blow to the legions of Israel haters, anti-Zionist poster-boy Norman Finkelstein said the BDS Movement's call for the "Right of Return" was just "a cover for its desire to see the destruction of Israel," calling the movement "disingenuous" and a "cult."<br /><br />Granted, Finkelstein made these comments not out of a new found Zionism or desire to advance peace in the Middle East, but rather he believes there are other "more efficient" means for anti-Israel activists to achieve the goals.<br /><br />But undoubtedly the most illuminating of all the statements by BDS leaders came from Ahmed Koor (another proponent of the Palestinian "Right of Return'", who wrote in April 2010: "Ending the occupation doesn't mean anything if it doesn't mean upending the Jewish state itself...BDS is not another step on the way to the final showdown; BDS is The Final Showdown."<br /><br />The similarity between Koor's "Final Showdown" and Hitler's "Final Solution" is as unmistakable as it is chillingly revealing about the BDS Movement's true motives.<br /><br />Whereas Hitler's "Final Solution" sought to bring about the end of the Jewish people, the BDS Movement's "Final Showdown" seeks to bring about the end of Israel as the Jewish state, by endorsing a one-state solution and flooding Israel with millions of Palestinians.<br /><br />The BDS movement is nothing short of racist, insidious, and anti-Semitic. Its goal is not to advance Palestinian rights, but to deny and strip Israel of its rights, with the ultimate objective being the destruction of the Jewish state.<br /><br />The most unfortunate thing is that supporters of IAW and BDS do nothing to advance the cause of peace or well-being of Palestinians or Israeli Arabs. But then again, that has never been their goal in the first place. They only breed further hate and extremism at a time when peace and cooperation is needed most.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7i7mxLP5YHM/T3NuuUCdBpI/AAAAAAAACR4/2xObhP2DwKY/s1600/hater1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 314px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7i7mxLP5YHM/T3NuuUCdBpI/AAAAAAAACR4/2xObhP2DwKY/s400/hater1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725041293250070162" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/arsen-ostrovsky/israel-apartheid-week_b_1304686.html">Huffington Post</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-69429511272165183262012-03-31T10:43:00.000-07:002012-03-31T10:44:28.956-07:00A Response to Israel’s HatersBy Joseph A. Klein<br /><br />My article appearing in Canada Free Press last Friday entitled “Hamas apologist Norman Finkelstein attacks Israel again” (along with its publication by FrontPage Magazine under the title “Finkelstein’s Slander Against Israel”) has apparently brought the haters of the Jewish state of Israel out from under their rocks. And I mean that literally, since the terrorist organization Hamas, which they so zealously defend, still has its founding Charter in force which quotes the prophet Mohammed:<br /><br />“The Day of Judgment will not come about until Muslims fight the Jews (killing the Jews), when the Jew will hide behind stones and trees. The stones and trees will say O Muslims, O Abdulla, there is a Jew behind me, come and kill him.”<br /><br />Those who take what the Hamas Charter says seriously about the goal of obliterating the Jewish state are told not to worry. Hamas has changed and wants peace, its supporters argue. It is the villainous Jewish state that refuses to negotiate a peaceful resolution of the conflict, we are told.<br /><br />Yet, would any sane person trust an organization whose leaders have made statements in the last few years such as the following?<br /><br />Sheik Yunus al-Astal, a Hamas legislator and imam, in a column in the weekly newspaper Al Risalah in 2008 discussed a Koranic verse suggesting that “suffering by fire is the Jews’ destiny in this world and the next.” Astal concluded “Therefore we are sure that the Holocaust is still to come upon the Jews.”<br /><br />“We will not rest until we destroy the Zionist entity” stated Hamas leader Fathi Hammad in Gaza on Friday January 2nd 2009.<br /><br />In a sermon aired on Hamas’ Al-Aqsa television, cleric Yunis Al Astal stated, “Today, Rome is the capital of the Catholics, or the Crusader capital, which has declared its hostility to Islam, and has planted the brothers of apes and pigs in Palestine in order to prevent the reawakening of Islam.” He went on to say that Rome would become, “an advanced post for the Islamic conquests, which will spread though Europe in its entirety, and then will turn to the two Americas, even Eastern Europe.”<br /><br />Hamas has repeatedly refused to recognize the right of Israel to exist, refused to disown its Charter and refused to abide by the previous commitments of the Palestinian Authority. <br /><br />With that as background, let’s examine a few of the arguments that the Israel haters have thrown my way, when they weren’t engaging in their customary ad hominem attacks. <br /><br />The Jewish Zionists stole the Palestinians’ land and are not entitled to have a state of their own on any portion of “Palestine.” <br /><br />Hamas’ apologists love to cite international law when it suits their purposes in holding Israel to account, but then reject the international legal framework under which the Palestinians could have had their own state more than 60 years ago. They have nothing to say that would justify why the surrounding Arab states torpedoed the original UN-sponsored two-state solution in 1947-8.<br /><br />All they do is whine that the land of “Palestine” was stolen from the “Palestinian” Muslim inhabitants. Aside from the long historical connection of the Jewish people to the land, including Jerusalem, that pre-dated Islam by well more than a thousand years, the region the British called the Palestine Mandate (the area that included Jordan, Israel and the “West Bank”) and out of which the British offered the two state solution adopted by the United Nations, emerged out of the pre-World War I Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman Empire had been ruled for 400 years by the Turks who lost it when they, fighting on the German side, were defeated in World War I.<br /><br />Many Jews who were living in this area had bought their homes from the absentee Turk landlords. Arab masses immigrated from outside this area along with the Jews. Most of those who were called “Palestinian Arabs” were members of families who migrated into the same region that Jews were migrating into beginning in the late 19th century. And there had been a continuous Jewish presence in the region for many centuries.<br /><br />To say that European Jews had less of a right to emigrate to the ancient Jewish homeland starting in the late 19th century (and develop the land from a desolate swamp) than did Arabs who emigrated during the same period from other regions outside of the Palestine Mandate is racist, not Zionism. In any case, the majority of Jews living in Israel today are non-European – some from Africa and many expelled from their homes in surrounding Arab countries.<br /><br />Jordan was created on about 75% percent of the Palestine Mandate. The majority of its population was, and still is, Palestinian. Thus, even before the two-state solution was offered with respect to the 25% remainder of the Palestine Mandate, a state made up of a majority Palestinian population was already in existence. The fact that the minority rulers of a different Arab tribe run things in Jordan is a problem for the Palestinian majority that pre-dated the creation of the state of Israel.<br /><br />The 1947 UN Resolution 181 partition plan was to divide the remaining 25% of Palestine into a Jewish state and a second Arab Palestinian state (Trans-Jordan being the first) based upon population demographics. The partition was offered even though the Arab inhabitants’ leaders had sided with the Nazis in World War II.<br /><br />The Jewish inhabitants accepted the partition. The Arab inhabitants rejected the partition and the rest, as they say, is history. The Palestinians could have had their own independent state more than 60 years ago but for the rejectionism of their Arab neighbors who violated international law in trying to drive “the Jews into the sea” and the refusal of the Palestinian inhabitants themselves to negotiate a two-state solution in good faith.<br /><br />Israel has illegally occupied the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem since 1967 and “oppressed” the Palestinian people in violation of international law.<br /><br />Isn’t it strange how the friends of Hamas blithely skip over 20 years of history? Why weren’t the Palestinians living in the West Bank and Gaza, while those territories were in Arab hands, provided the land to create their own independent state? Where was the outcry for justice under international law back then?<br /><br />After Israel took over the territories following the June 1967 war, the United Nations Security Council passed Resolution 242 which (i) called on Israel to withdraw its armed forces “from territories occupied in the recent conflict”; and (ii) called for “termination of all claims or states of belligerency and respect for and acknowledgment of the sovereignty, territorial integrity and political independence of every State in the area and their right to live in peace within secure and recognized boundaries free from threats or acts of force.”<br /><br />The resolution deliberately omitted the word “all” before “territories” in (i) above to allow the parties to negotiate a peaceful solution that would best achieve the goals set forth in (ii) above.<br /><br />Israel has since returned the Sinai to Egypt as part of a peace treaty, normalized relations with Jordan, withdrawn unilaterally from Gaza and offered to give back 90% of the West Bank and negotiate the fate of Jerusalem – all of which was rebuffed by Arafat and his successors. <br /><br />There were no security fences or elaborate checkpoints in the years immediately following 1967. What has Israel received in return?<br /><br />Every year Israeli civilians have been murdered by Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, Al Aqsa Martyr’s Brigade, Hezbollah or some other terrorist group. Islamic terrorists use suicide bombers and increasingly sophisticated rockets, launched from lands relinquished by Israel to the Palestinians, to kill innocent Israeli civilians. Their killing machines of choice tomorrow will be whatever weapons of mass destruction they can get their hands on, including from their buddies in Iran whose president has vowed to wipe Israel off the map.<br /><br />Israel is falsely accused of ‘collective punishment’ when it strikes back to defend its citizens. Yet it is the Palestinian and other Islamic terrorists who continually violate the Israelis’ human rights under the Geneva Conventions, which state that “Collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism are prohibited.” The innocent Israeli women and children, who have been slaughtered while going about their daily lives in their homes, their schools, on buses, at shopping malls, and places of worship, have committed no wrong against the Palestinian people. They are the victims of the Islamic terrorists’ measures of intimidation and terrorism, which violate their most basic of human rights - life itself. The Islamic terrorists are pursuing nothing less than the collective annihilation of the Israeli people. Just look at the Hamas Charter and the statements of their own leaders.<br /><br />When the Israeli government responded with stern but non-violent, defensive measures to protect its most vulnerable citizens from murder – for example, with border closures, security checks, economic sanctions and a separation wall which came years after the 1967 war – the terrorists’ apologists complain that it is Israel which is violating the Palestinians’ human rights under international law. Although Hamas has controlled Gaza since 2005, it is Israel’s citizens who continued to suffer intimidation and terrorism launched from Gaza in violation of their international human rights. Israel ceded the Gaza Strip to the Palestinians in a good faith effort to advance peace. Gaza turned instead into hostile territory under Hamas’s control. More than 4200 rockets were launched from Gaza into Israeli residential areas after Gaza was no longer “occupied territory.”<br /><br />Israel broke the cease-fire with Hamas and launched Operation Cast Lead that turned into a “massacre” of innocent Palestinian civilians. Israel’s “war crimes” are incontrovertibly documented in the Goldstone Report. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hamas Does Not Honor Truces</span> <br /><br />Hamas, not Israel, unilaterally decided against extending the six month ceasefire that had expired in mid-December 2008.<br /><br />One fundamental problem overlooked by the Goldstone Report and other so-called “human rights” reports is that Hamas does not abide by truces or cease-fires for very long, even when it decides to enter into one. To Hamas, truces are just stalling tactics to use as lulls during which the terrorists build up their military capability. Don’t take my word for it. When asked if he could envision a 50-year hudna (cease-fire) with Israel, Hamas leader Nizar Rayyan (who was since killed in an Israeli bombing attack) responded, “The only reason to have a hudna is to prepare yourself for the final battle. We don’t need 50 years to prepare ourselves for the final battle with Israel. Israel is an impossibility. It is an offense against God.”<br /><br />Gaza’s fellow Arab neighbors in Egypt have witnessed first hand Hamas’s destructive ways. In the wake of the militants’ blasting of the barrier between Gaza and Egypt, more Egyptians finally realized themselves where the source of the Palestinians’ problems and of the real threat to peace lies.<br /><br />For example, Al-Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies director Dr. ‘Abd Al-Mun’im Sa’id criticized Hamas’s failed policies in a column he wrote for Egypt’s ruling National Democratic Party weekly Al-Watani Al-Yawm:<br /><br />“Hamas’s election by the majority of the Palestinian people has invested it with the formidable responsibility of leading the Palestinian people, protecting its interests, developing its abilities, and managing its relations with the world and with Israel. Its military coup against the Palestinian Authority and its [currently] exclusive control of the Gaza Strip have forced it to assume complete responsibility over the Gazans, in financial, social, and security matters.<br /><br />However, Hamas has failed to fulfill this responsibility, both after it was elected and following its [Gaza] coup. In fact, it has done nothing but publicly condemn Israel and the PA, on television and in daily communiqués to the world, and to the Islamic Arab countries…<br /><br />The rockets, [which are being used] as a means of opposing the peace process and applying pressure [on it], are not for pressuring Israel, but for gaining popularity among the Palestinians…”<br /><br />The editor of the Egyptian government daily Al-Gumhouriyya and Egyptian MP Muhammad ‘Ali Ibrahim was even blunter in his column:<br /><br />“The Hamas fighters are not satisfied with Abu Mazen’s [i.e. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas’s] way of reaching a permanent and definitive solution with the Hebrew state that will ensure the establishment and continuity of the Palestinian state. This is because the only aim of [Hamas Political Bureau head] Khaled Mash’al and his men is to keep this issue hot, so that regional [forces] such as Iran and Syria can continue playing the card of the Palestinian problem to promote their private interests – that is, Iran’s nuclear dossier, the liberation of the Golan Heights, etc… <br /><br />The Egyptians know their Gazan neighbors very well. They blame Hamas for sabotaging any prospects for peace with Israel and for the Gazan residents’ current suffering. Egypt wants to be left alone from Hamas’s aggression and interference with its sovereignty. So does Israel. And don’t tell me that Egypt is in cahoots with Israel. They have what is called a cold peace. They are barely on speaking terms. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hamas uses its own civilians as human shields</span><br /><br />This is not some wild charge of Israeli propagandists. It is based on the boasts of Hamas officials themselves. Following are excerpts from a speech delivered by Hamas MP Fathi Hammad, which aired on Al-Aqsa TV on February 29, 2008: <br /><br />Fathi Hammad: [The enemies of Allah] do not know that the Palestinian people has developed its [methods] of death and death-seeking. For the Palestinian people, death has become an industry, at which women excel, and so do all the people living on this land. The elderly excel at this, and so do the mujahideen and the children. This is why they have formed human shields of the women, the children, the elderly, and the mujahideen, in order to challenge the Zionist bombing machine. It is as if they were saying to the Zionist enemy: “We desire death like you desire life.” (Emphasis added)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">The Goldstone Report</span><br /><br />The Goldstone fact-finding panel, commissioned by the anti-Israel United Nations Human Rights Council, concluded that Israel “may” be guilty of war crimes based on the assumption that the country’s military forces and leaders deliberately targeted civilians. Israel’s enemies have seized on this conclusion to brand Israel’s military operation a “massacre,” to use Norman Finkelstein’s term. It is worth noting that not once in its 575 page report did the Goldstone panel actually use the term “massacre” to describe Israel’s actions during the Gaza conflict.<br /><br />One of the most serious charges leveled against Israel’s operation during Project Cast Lead was its use of white phosphorous. Yet while the Goldstone Report concluded that Israel was reckless in its use in built-up areas it also noted that “white phosphorous is not at this stage proscribed under international law.” The report cited one specific example of a family in which children were alleged to have died as a result of injuries from white phosphorous. This is tragic to be sure, but it hardly demonstrates a widespread pattern of deliberate and indiscriminate burning to death of Palestinian children by Israel’s military that Norman Finkelstein and his followers try to portray.<br /><br />It is curious why Israel’s enemies felt they had to exaggerate the Goldstone Report’s findings since the Goldstone panel was biased against Israel in the first place. It consisted of four members, three of whom considered Israel guilty before their investigation began. Judge Goldstone was outnumbered 3-1, even giving him all the credit in the world for his own objective judicial temperament.<br /><br />Here are just a few examples of the Goldstone Report’s distortions of the facts as compiled and written up by the Committee for Accuracy in Middle East Reporting in America: <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">REPORT:</span> <br />There is no evidence of Palestinian fighters using civilian clothes. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">FACT:</span> <br />Journalists and eyewitnesses repeatedly noted the use of civilian clothes by Hamas fighters. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">REPORT:</span> <br />There is no evidence of armed groups directing civilians to areas where attacks were being launched or forcing them to remain in the vicinity of attacks. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">FACT:</span> <br />Palestinian witnesses and video evidence reveal that fighters did direct civilians to areas where attacks were being launched.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">REPORT:</span> <br />There is no evidence that hospitals or ambulances were used for military activities.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">FACT:</span> <br />Eyewitnesses describe Palestinian firing from hospitals and using ambulances. Why, for example, did the Goldstone fact-finding mission choose not to visit the al-Shifa Hospital or investigate allegations that Hamas leaders and fighters used this hospital as a base, especially given the testimony by a captured Islamic Jihad fighter to this effect?<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">REPORT: </span><br />The mission could not determine whether mosques were used for military purposes.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">FACT:</span> <br />There is video evidence of weaponry stored in a mosque, and of secondary explosions of mosques consistent with the storage of explosives. While the Report refers to allegations of mosques being used for military purposes and notes that it cannot rule out the inappropriate use of other mosques by Palestinians, the Mission nevertheless chose not to fuhrther investigate these possible war crimes by Palestinians and dismissed or ignored the readily available pictorial and testimonial evidence indicating that this was indeed the case.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">CONCLUSION</span><br /><br />I could go on and on, but one thing is clear. There can be no real peace so long as the Palestinian terrorists and their state sponsors such as Iran want more innocent Jews to die for death’s sake and will settle for nothing short of Israel’s extermination. As long as they allow Hamas and other extremists to rule them, the Palestinians will remain their own worst enemies. <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Go_5y35ULFQ/T3Ny72uy8vI/AAAAAAAACSE/cDQ6cNNAAMY/s1600/apartheid9%255B7%255D.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 302px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Go_5y35ULFQ/T3Ny72uy8vI/AAAAAAAACSE/cDQ6cNNAAMY/s400/apartheid9%255B7%255D.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5725045923947672306" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/21883">Canada Press</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-24339208051011539662012-03-25T15:42:00.000-07:002012-03-25T15:43:12.451-07:0010 Reasons Why Caesarea is Worth Visiting<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R15a3wGHxZQ/T2-UBsZADEI/AAAAAAAACE8/wPlAakbKYTc/s1600/aqueduct%252C%2Btheater.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 265px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-R15a3wGHxZQ/T2-UBsZADEI/AAAAAAAACE8/wPlAakbKYTc/s320/aqueduct%252C%2Btheater.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723956408227990594" /></a>In Caesarea, ancient Roman ruins mingle with a spectacular Mediterranean beach town. From fascinating archeological wonders to incredible snorkeling and diving, this Northern Israeli city located between Tel Aviv and Haifa is well worth a visit. Here are the top 10 reasons why you should include a trip to Caesarea on your tour to Israel: <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">1. Impressive Archaeology</span> – As an ancient Roman port city equal to the likes of Alexandria and Antioch, the national park at Caesarea is an archeology lover’s dream. Impressive Roman aqueducts, a beautifully preserved complex of Crusader fortifications, Greek temples, Byzantine bath houses, and ancient palaces are just some of the sites that demonstrate the city’s rich history.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">2. Spectacular Beaches</span> – Caesarea’s aqueduct beach is considered one of the best – and best-kept secrets – in Israel. Located just north of the national park in residential Caesarea, the beach has a stunning ancient aqueduct running parallel to the clear blue Mediterranean Sea. There is also a phenomenal beach at the port, as well as the private Caesarea Beach Club, which you can pay to enter.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">3. Water Activities</span> – For those who want to do more than sunbathe, Caesarea’s Underwater Archeological Park provides an incredible experience for snorkelers and divers of all skill levels. Catch a glimpse of ancient remains and ships, all while enjoying the calm, mild Mediterranean waters.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">4. The Revitalized Port</span> – The ancient port at Caesarea retains its historical grandeur while simultaneously being home to swanky, contemporary galleries, boutiques, cafes, and restaurants. It’s the perfect spot to rest your feet, catch some rays, and do a little shopping.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">5. Museums</span> – Caesarea has no shortage of museums, which offer something for everyone in the family. The Museum of Antiquities, just outside the city on Kibbutz Sdot Yam, is home to a remarkable collection of ancient Roman and Byzantine artifacts. The Ralli museum, meanwhile, hosts an impressive round-up of Sephardic Jewish art from the middle ages. And the Time Tower, perfect for kids, combines sweeping views with interactive computer simulations and animations on the various rulers and periods of the city.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">6. Jazz Festival</span> – Held every summer, the three-day Caesarea Jazz Festival brings people from around Israel and the world to enjoy top tier jazz performers in a beautiful location right at the harbor.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">7. Modern music, ancient surroundings</span> – See a live concert at the ancient Roman Caesarea amphitheater, which attracts world-class musical acts. Jeff Beck, Deep Purple and George Benson are just some of the musicians who have recently graced the stage here.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">8. Golf</span> – If you want to hit the links during your tour to Israel then Caesarea, home to one of Israel’s only golf courses, is a must. Founded by descendants of the famous Baron de Rothschild family in 1961, the Caesarea Golf Club is home to an 18-hole professional course and offers a host of amenities, including a restaurant, country club and equipment rental.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">9. Hiking and Trails</span> – Caesarea offers a number of well-marked hiking and touring trails that are suited for all fitness levels. Many also include historical sites along the way, so you can fit some time in the great outdoors alongside your tour of Israel.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">10. Great Restaurants</span> – After a long day of touring, hiking and swimming, nothing beats a wonderful meal. And Caesarea boasts plenty of restaurants with superb food and incredible views. Grab an outdoor seat facing the sea if possible, and sample fine Mediterranean cuisine. Fresh fish is of course a specialty.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">If you liked reading this article, you might check more in this link:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/israels-top-10-beaches.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">***Israel's Top 10 Beaches***</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dEb5oWygLe8/T2-ULSOZtiI/AAAAAAAACFI/_Hh5PucKA2k/s1600/2290456524_e1b29bfd41.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 273px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dEb5oWygLe8/T2-ULSOZtiI/AAAAAAAACFI/_Hh5PucKA2k/s400/2290456524_e1b29bfd41.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723956573002905122" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://shalomisraeltours.com/10-reasons-caesarea-worth-visiting/">Shalom Israel Tours</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-21527275742759981962012-03-25T15:41:00.001-07:002012-03-25T15:41:53.555-07:00Dolphin Reef Eilat<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dPNW1NHDixM/T2-N57vVdLI/AAAAAAAACEw/CGl-JIi2_R8/s1600/dolphinskids.jpg"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 284px; height: 192px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-dPNW1NHDixM/T2-N57vVdLI/AAAAAAAACEw/CGl-JIi2_R8/s320/dolphinskids.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723949677839479986" /></a><span style="font-weight:bold;">“THE FREEDOM TO CHOOSE”</span><br /><br />On the shores of the Red Sea, is an ecological site unique in Israel and throughout the world where visitors can enjoy a natural atmosphere, magical views, secluded beach, together with the unusual opportunity of meeting and observing dolphins in their natural habitat.<br /><br />A group of “bottlenose” dolphins, including babies born at the site, maintain their daily routine of hunting, playing, courting and socializing. They are free to choose between human company or to continue their daily routine in the group. The fact that the dolphins choose to be with us reinforces, in our opinion, the true bond created between them and us. For our Dolphin News - <a href="http://www.dolphinreef.co.il/Default.aspx?tabid=28">click here.</a><br /><br />Visitors can enjoy getting close to the dolphins from our floating piers and observation points or during one of our guided swims or dives, suitable to anyone who is not afraid of getting wet.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.dolphinreef.co.il/Default.aspx?tabid=33">Contact with people</a> is based on the free will and choice of the dolphins. Their choice to approach guided groups of snorkelers or divers is not based on any reinforcement by feeding during these encounters. It is worth mentioning that the dolphins continually develop an even stronger connection with humans based only on curiosity, play, and spontaneous interaction.<br /><br />The desire to deepen the bond between man and his environment is put into practice at Dolphin Reef in a different way than in other places in the world, starting with the physical conditions at the site and continuing with the warm attitude towards the dolphins. <br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wYs5fPi-JwY/T2-NwGn6RmI/AAAAAAAACEk/Vb8VDdE0Cug/s1600/inthewter.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 284px; height: 192px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wYs5fPi-JwY/T2-NwGn6RmI/AAAAAAAACEk/Vb8VDdE0Cug/s400/inthewter.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723949508962436706" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Entrance fee:</span><br />Adult (from age 15) NIS 64<br />Child (age 3-15) NIS 44<br />Special rates for students, handicapped and groups.<br />Advance booking for snorkeling and diving with dolphins, and relaxation pools grants entrance free of charge.<br /><br />Please note: Children under the age of 15 have to be accompanied by an adult<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Hours:</span><br />Sunday - Thursday 09:00-17:00 <br />Friday-Saturday & Holidays 09:00-16:30<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Please note:</span> we are close on the Israeli National Memorial Day and "Yom Cipur".<br /><br />Entrance fee includes:<br />A day of enjoyment in an ambiance of nature, with magical views, secluded spots on the beach, observation of dolphins in nature and nature films. (No lifeguard on the beach)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Additional facilities at extra cost:</span><br /><br />* Snorkeling and Diving Center<br />* Restaurant<br />* Cafe/Bar on the Beach<br />* Relaxation Pools<br />* Children's Activity Center<br />* Underwater Photography Center<br />* Souvenir Shop<br /><br />All prices are subject to change without prior notice.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">If you liked reading this article, you might check more in this link:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/israels-top-10-beaches.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">***Israel's Top 10 Beaches***</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tFZRMeB1a80/T2-NnaLOI3I/AAAAAAAACEY/5dWUz1NfXhA/s1600/homepage.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 278px; height: 211px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tFZRMeB1a80/T2-NnaLOI3I/AAAAAAAACEY/5dWUz1NfXhA/s400/homepage.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723949359591990130" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.dolphinreef.co.il/">Dolphin Reef Eilat</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-31140203197126680122012-03-25T15:35:00.000-07:002012-03-25T15:36:50.290-07:00Southern Part of Israel and The Dead SeaThe Dead Sea is one of the world’s best-known and most unique therapeutic resorts. The region is characterized by an unusual combination of natural resources and climatic conditions – the saltiest sea in the world that is also mineral-rich; thermo-mineral waters; medicinal black mud; filtered sunrays; dry air rich in minerals; a pleasant temperature most of the year; a relatively high concentration of oxygen; air that is almost completely free of allergens and other air pollutants. Both a briefly bathing at one of the beaches or a stay for a pampering vacation at one of the hotels and guest rooms scattered along its shores are recommended.<br /><br />A thirty-minute ride from the Dead Sea is the city of Arad, whose cold, dry, clean air makes it a haven for people suffering from asthma, allergies and respiratory problems.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Mineral Beach</span><br /><br />In Mineral Beach, on a well-tended shore of the Dead Sea, are two little pools: a fresh-water pool for small children, and a sulphur-water pool with a fixed temperature of 39 °C whose water arrives from an adjacent spring. On the shore there are open-sided, chill-out style, shelter pavilions from around the world, and plastic chairs. Right on the shoreline is natural mud – when spread on your body, it stimulates blood circulation, strengthens hair roots, and renews skin cells. On the site are cloakrooms, showers, a treatment room, a cafeteria, and a small shop where you can buy Dead Sea products and plastic sandals for entering the sea. A treatment room also awaits visitors, offering various types of treatments and massages by prior arrangement.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ein Gedi Spa</span><br /><br />The Ein Gedi Spa, a well-established site on the shores of the Dead Sea, has six indoor thermo-mineral pools – two for women, two for men, and two for mixed bathing. There is also an indoor resting area facing the primordial panorama of the Dead Sea. The pools are refreshed by a constant flow of salt and mineral rich water, and have a steady temperature of about 38 °C. Outside the building is a large bath containing rich, heavy black mud, which is great for ridding the body of poisons. An all-terrain-vehicle-type train, waiting outside the indoor baths, takes vacationers to the ever-receding seashore, for bathing. There is also a natural freshwater pool outside, which operates in the summer, as well as a spa treatment center. Visitors can enjoy various treatments and massages in the private treatment rooms. It’s worth while to book your treatment in advance, and to inquire about the pampering packages, which include a visit to the facilities on the site, a treatment of your choice, and a packet of cosmetics manufactured from the Dead Sea water.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Neve Midbar</span><br /><br />Neve Midbar has baths extending over an area of 8,000 square meters. In the center is a splendid building, inside and around which are stylish pools full of thermo-mineral water drawn from a depth of some 900 meters. The temperature of the water fluctuates between 40 – 46 °C, and is rich in minerals, sulphur and magnesium. There are also saunas and treatment rooms, lawns and a cafeteria at the site. Next to them is Kibbutz Mash'abei Sade, which has guest units.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Khamam Tse’elim</span><br /><br />After using the thermo-mineral water for agricultural irrigation for years, the members of Kibbutz Tse’elim discovered its healing powers, and turned the natural resource into a therapeutic site. The small site on the grounds of Kibbutz Tse’elim comprises a little whirlpool, whose water temperature is 40 °C, a dry sauna, a treatment complex, as well as a regular swimming pool. The kibbutz operates as a tourist center, organizes trips in the vicinity and offers the experience of authentic Bedouin tent hospitality. Nearby are the kibbutz vacation apartments.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Ein Bokek</span><br /><br />A resort and a therapeutic site at the estuary of Nakhal Bokek, on the western http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gifshore of the Dead Sea. The site has some ten hotels, therapeutic baths, two beaches, and a few restaurants. Next to Ein Bokek are several sites, including Nakhal Bokek, Metsad Bokek and Ma’ale Bokek. At Ein Bokek is also located Solarium-400, a site for the natural treatment of skin and arthritic diseases, and psoriasis. The Solarium offers treatments combined with bathing in the Dead Sea and exposure to sun rays used for the healing and treatment of skin and arthritic diseases. The site is located in an enclosure, and has separate sunning courts for men and for women. The main building has four professional clinics that specialize in skin diseases, a workout gym, cafeteria, pub and shops. The site also offers table games and social games, while the workout gym also holds physical activities focusing on joint problems, proper breathing, and the like.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">If you liked reading this article, you might check more in this link:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/israels-top-10-beaches.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">***Israel's Top 10 Beaches***</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3li-o-nzcfY/T2-Cdmll8qI/AAAAAAAACEM/u6muWU3kiE4/s1600/0713pod14.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 267px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-3li-o-nzcfY/T2-Cdmll8qI/AAAAAAAACEM/u6muWU3kiE4/s400/0713pod14.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723937096497230498" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist%20Information/Discover%20Israel/Pages/Health%20Tourism.aspx">Go Israel.Com</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-49829987129034550872012-03-25T15:28:00.000-07:002012-03-25T15:29:54.419-07:00Coral Beach Nature ReserveOne of the world’s most beautiful marine reserves<br /><br />Level of difficulty: easy<br />Wheelchair-users <br />Walkers <br /> <br />At the Coral Beach Nature Reserve on the Red Sea south of Eilat, the moment you put your head in the water (with a diving mask, of course) you are captivated by the magnificent scene.<br />The reserve offers a spectacular combination of strange and beautiful corals that create colorful underwater ‘gardens’ navigated by a variety of wildly-hued tropical fish, These include butterfly fish, parrot fish, Julie fish, nocturnal fish, and many other species, along with sea lilies, giant shells and much more.<br /><br />The heart of the reserve is a coral reef some 1,200 meters long parallel to the beach. It is one of the most ‘densely populated’ coral reefs in the world and the only one in Israel.<br /><br />A coral reef is a complex and delicate ecosystem, all of whose components are interdependent and connected in terms of metabolism and energy with their environment. Damage to even one individual in the system can cause a chain reaction that can adversely affect many organisms on the reef and marine or beach pollution can cause an ecological disaster. Great care is very important to preventing such damage.<br /><br />Visitor numbers are managed by the reserve staff to allow visitors and divers to observe life on the coral reef.<br /><br />Guided snorkeling visits for groups of 30 people and above are available by advance reservation.<br /><br />How to get there:<br />The reserve is located opposite the Eilat Field School on the road from Eilat to the Taba border-crossing<br /><br /><table width="470;" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5"><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><h3 style="text-align: center;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Useful Informatiom</span></span></h3></td></tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Length of tour:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">one hour - all day</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Best season:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">year-round</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Don't miss:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">snorkeling!</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Other facilities and attractions:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">rental of snorkel equipment, souvenir shop; snack-bar, recliner (fee); beach chair; audiovisual presentation available soon.</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Hours:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">* April-September 9 A.M.-6 P.M.<br />* October-March 9 A.M- 5 P.M.<br />* Cashier closes one hour before above closing time. Return of rented equipment up to 15 minutes before cashier closes.<br />* On Friday and holiday eves the site closes one hour earlier than above.</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Phone:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">08-637-6829 (cashier); 057-855-2381, 057-776-2334 (INPA rangers)</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Fax / Email:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">08-637-5776 / moked@npa.org.il</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Entrance fee:</th> <th style="text-align:left;"><b>Adult:</b> NIS 33; <b>child:</b> NIS 20 <b>Israeli senior citizen:</b> 50% discount<br /><b>Group</b> (over 30 people): <b>Adult:</b> NIS 29: <b>child:</b> NIS 17<br /><b>Eilat resident:</b> NIS 10<br /><b>Student (with valid ID):</b> NIS 25<br /><br /><b>Equipment rental</b><br />Mask and breathing tube: NIS 16<br />Mask and breathing tube for groups (minimum 20 people) NIS 13<br />(upon deposit of NIS 100 or credit card per mask)<br />Chair: no charge<br />Recliner: NIS 10<br />Flotation device: NIS 10<br />All equipment must be returned 15 minutes before cashier closes.</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Overnight campground on the beach:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">the payment for the parking per each day.</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Entrance to dogs:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">leashed and muzzled</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Accessibility:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">Wheelchair-accessibility from the parking lot along paths to the bridge over the water; six steps to enter the water.</th> </tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">If you liked reading this article, you might check more in this link:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/israels-top-10-beaches.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">***Israel's Top 10 Beaches***</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pM7Czy1lAsw/T2951kPYZ9I/AAAAAAAACEA/BOnbRlDgbYE/s1600/410455042-L-V_335609587-L-V_almogim-doron.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 167px; height: 400px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-pM7Czy1lAsw/T2951kPYZ9I/AAAAAAAACEA/BOnbRlDgbYE/s400/410455042-L-V_335609587-L-V_almogim-doron.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723927612579407826" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?Cat=%7E25%7E%7E410455042%7ECard12%7E&ru=&SiteName=parks&Clt=&Bur=650581720">Parks.Org</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-57719964653415516002012-03-25T15:23:00.001-07:002012-03-25T15:27:00.664-07:00Bet Yanai National ParkAlexander Stream Hof Bet Yanai National Park<br /><br />Overnight Campgrounds<br /><br />A running stream with a charming beach<br /><br />Level of difficulty: easy<br /><br />Walkers<br /> <br />The Alexander Stream is one of the few year-round streams on the northern coastal plain. Located north of Netanya, the stream is home to soft-shell turtles, which can reach a size of 1.20 meters and a weight of 50 kilograms.<br /><br />The southern bank of the Alexander Stream is adjacent to shifting sand dunes, and both banks are blessed with a wealth of riparian vegetation. On the northern bank, within the park, is a eucalyptus grove where visitors can picnic and relax.<br /><br />An ancient ruin, Hurvat Samra, sits atop a small hill near the eucalyptus grove. It may have been an ancient customs station for goods being transported down the Alexander Stream to the port near the estuary. In the spring, the hill is carpeted with anemones, buttercups, and tulips.<br /><br />In the summer, the Bet Yanai beach, where the Alexander Stream meets the Mediterranean, has lifeguards and first-aid facilities. North of the beach are remnants of a quay constructed in 1938 (during the British Mandate period), supposedly for the use of grove owners, but in reality to moor boats carrying clandestine Jewish immigrants.<br />Overnight camping on the beach is allowed in the designated area only!<br />There are showers on the beach near the campground. Toilets are located 200 meters south of the campground. Fires are allowed only in the barrels provided.<br /><br />Payment for overnight camping is per night<br /><br /><table width="470;" border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="5"><tbody><tr><td colspan="5"><h3 style="text-align: center;"><br /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:red;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:large;">Useful Informatiom</span></span></h3></td></tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Length of tour:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">one hour - all day</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Best season:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">for swimming--summer; for nature--year-round</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Don't miss:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">watching for soft-shell turtles</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Other facilities and attractions:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">picnic tables, life-guard and showers in swimming season; restaurants; overnight camping</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Hours:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">* Weekdays 8:30 A.M.-6:30 P.M.<br /><br />* Saturdays and Holidays: 8:00 A.M.-6:30 P.M</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Phone:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">09-866-6230 / 09-8664238</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Fax / Email:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">moked@npa.org.il</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Entrance fee:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">Eucalyptus grove: free of charge</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Beach during swimming season:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">* Weekdays: Car NIS 23- minibus NIS 75- bus NIS 149<br /><br />* Saturdays and Holidays: Car NIS 32- minibus NIS 90- bus NIS 165</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Overnight campground on the beach:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">the payment for the parking per each day.</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Entrance to dogs:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">No</th> </tr><tr> <th style="text-align:left;" width="50%">Accessibility:</th> <th style="text-align:left;">Work is underway to make the Bet Yanai Beach accessible, including wheelchair access to the water.</th> </tr></tbody></table><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">If you liked reading this article, you might check more in this link:</span><br /><br /><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/israels-top-10-beaches.html"><span style="font-weight:bold;">***Israel's Top 10 Beaches***</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2lT-aQWtDjA/T29qRNYHU8I/AAAAAAAACD0/sYIssvbk1Dw/s1600/833855289-L-V_315547731-L-yanay.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 377px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2lT-aQWtDjA/T29qRNYHU8I/AAAAAAAACD0/sYIssvbk1Dw/s400/833855289-L-V_315547731-L-yanay.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723910495292314562" border="0" /></a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.parks.org.il/BuildaGate5/general2/data_card.php?Cat=%7E25%7E%7E833855289%7ECard12%7E&ru=&SiteName=parks&Clt=&Bur=829630994">Parks.Org</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6409780150893799466.post-11782538894960012232012-03-25T09:44:00.009-07:002012-03-25T15:44:25.758-07:00Israel's Top 10 BeachesBy Abigail Klein Leichman <br /><br />Dig out the sand toys and don't forget the sunscreen. It's time to hit the beach, and here are some of the best Israel has to offer.<br /><br />Life's a beach in Israel. This small country is blessed by three seas -- the Mediterranean, the Dead and the Red (the Sea of Galilee is really a lake, though it does have beautiful beaches too). With the help of recommendations from veteran tour guide Joe Yudin of Touring Israel and Hassan Madah of the Tourism Ministry, ISRAEL21c offers you the top 10 beaches in Israel, just in time for summer.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/bet-yanai-national-park.html">1. Beit Yannai Beach (Mediterranean - Netanya)</a></span><br /><br />Named after the ancient Judean king Alexander Yannai, the Alexander River north of Netanya was in a sorry state until a 1994 restoration project transformed the area into a lovely, wheelchair-accessible nature reserve. The beach is at the spot where the river runs into the sea.<br /><br />Considered by many to be Israel's most beautiful beach and kite-surfing locale, Yannai is pristine and quiet. The Israel Parks and Nature Authority has posted signs with information on the natural features of the beach and its wildlife.<br /><br />You can camp overnight here, and there are picnic tables, restaurants and showers. Don't miss the nearby eucalyptus grove and ancient ruins.<br /><br />Entrance fee. Information: 09-866-6230.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sKSMSzI9vTU/T29Nzt-tS8I/AAAAAAAACDo/e2uG7_njN_0/s1600/beit-yannai-top-beaches.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 236px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sKSMSzI9vTU/T29Nzt-tS8I/AAAAAAAACDo/e2uG7_njN_0/s400/beit-yannai-top-beaches.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723879202322467778" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/coral-beach-nature-reserve.html">2. Coral Reef Beach (Red Sea - Eilat)</a></span><br /><br />The best place to snorkel in Eilat, Coral Beach is a popular diving reef and a family-friendly beach. Its setting on the world's northernmost coral reef affords visitors an amazing place to see the multicolored coral garden and the Red Sea aquatic creatures that inhabit it.<br /><br />Rent a snorkel, mask, flippers and life jacket, walk along a short pier and step down into shallow warm water teeming with tropical delights. Sunshades and loungers, hot showers and a snack kiosk are available.<br /><br />Entrance fee. Information: 08-637-6829.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cy6hu23p6Mg/T29NoILPE3I/AAAAAAAACDc/yckhoxGWHRE/s1600/coral-reef-top-beaches.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 228px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cy6hu23p6Mg/T29NoILPE3I/AAAAAAAACDc/yckhoxGWHRE/s400/coral-reef-top-beaches.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723879003195904882" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.yourway.co.il/banana_beach_tel_aviv.html">3. Banana Beach (Mediterranean - Tel Aviv)</a></span><br /><br />The entire west flank of Tel Aviv is one long shoreline lined with beaches. Banana Beach, located on the southernmost edge near Jaffa, has become a sort of hippie bohemian sanctuary on Friday evenings. It's a great place to end a walking tour of Tel Aviv, as young people begin gathering here at sunset for drum circles, singing and dancing on the cliffs.<br /><br />The rest of the week, it's a fairly tranquil spot where you'll find people sunbathing or playing Matkot, Israeli beach paddleball. The Banana Beach café right on the sand screens films and sports events in the evenings for free. You can rent surfboards and wind surfers, or sign up for surfing lessons, at the Galim surf shop.<br /><br />No entrance fee; sand chairs available for hire or you can bring em' from home.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eGf5kvSosa0/T29NeRyJr3I/AAAAAAAACDQ/Nyevpzw1_To/s1600/banana-beach-top-beaches.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 217px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-eGf5kvSosa0/T29NeRyJr3I/AAAAAAAACDQ/Nyevpzw1_To/s400/banana-beach-top-beaches.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723878833976356722" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/southern-part-of-israel-and-dead-sea.html">4. Mineral Beach (Dead Sea)</a></span><br /><br />You want mud? You got it. Whereas at many Dead Sea beaches you can buy packets of its famous mineral-rich mud to slather on your skin, at Mineral Beach there's a huge mud pit to climb into. Prefer a natural Jacuzzi? There's one here, too, fashioned out of hot sulfur pools.<br /><br />When you get tired of floating on the Dead Sea, try the freshwater pool. At this clean and accessible beach, you can rent a towel or locker, get a health treatment or lie on a tanning bed.<br /><br />The site also has an amphitheater, a cafeteria and showers to wash off the mud and sand. Mineral Beach is on the northern end of the Dead Sea, so it's a fast destination from Jerusalem and the surface is less pebbly than at the more southern beaches. (If you're into sunbathing in the buff, nearby Neve Midbar Beach has a secluded section for nudists.)<br /><br />Entrance fee. Information: 02-994-4888.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RoieG-Ui4HY/T29NUFM01II/AAAAAAAACDE/8xlN-f5fgck/s1600/dead-sea-top-beaches.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 213px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RoieG-Ui4HY/T29NUFM01II/AAAAAAAACDE/8xlN-f5fgck/s400/dead-sea-top-beaches.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723878658799883394" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.tour-haifa.co.il/eng">5. Dado Zamir Beach (Mediterranean - Haifa)</a></span><br /><br />This central Haifa beach has pretty gardens along its long boardwalk promenade, beachside restaurants, pubs and coffee shops, free parking, benches and sitting areas, a dance arena (with weekly public dances and Israeli folk dancing on Saturdays), an amphitheatre for summer events, sports and playgrounds and a pool for toddlers. It's even got Wi-Fi.<br /><br />The picturesque boardwalk runs from its southern tip to the northern part of Carmel Beach next door. For the disabled, Dado offers reserved parking, adapted showers and bathrooms, and ramps for easy access to and from the beach.<br /><br />Information: 1-800-305-090; 04-853-5606/5.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SPDx7XUN_eY/T29NGYkYL2I/AAAAAAAACC4/h2_Lhd3f2JA/s1600/haifa-surfers-top-beaches.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 221px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-SPDx7XUN_eY/T29NGYkYL2I/AAAAAAAACC4/h2_Lhd3f2JA/s400/haifa-surfers-top-beaches.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723878423480774498" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.netanya.muni.il/Eng/?CategoryID=1742">6. Sironit Beach (Mediterranean - Netanya)</a></span><br /><br />Netanya has one of the longest coastlines in Israel, and offers eight beaches. What's particularly cool about Sironit, one of the city's southernmost beaches, is the glass-walled Beach Elevator that descends into it from the Rishonim Promenade along the cliff-top. This lets you get from the city center to the seashore in 20 seconds, for just one shekel.<br /><br />Two breakwaters opposite the beach create tranquil bays for safe swimming almost all year. Sironit has a restaurant, stage and fitness facilities among its other features.<br /><br />No entrance fee, but parking fee. Information: 1-700-709292; 09-882-7286.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z7WbAAVvSFs/T29M251aQHI/AAAAAAAACCs/iSvyI6QgVUI/s1600/sironitbeachnetanya.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 228px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-z7WbAAVvSFs/T29M251aQHI/AAAAAAAACCs/iSvyI6QgVUI/s400/sironitbeachnetanya.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723878157532676210" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.cityguide.co.il/tel-aviv-areas/west/tel-aviv-beaches/metzitzim-beach/">7. Metzitzim Beach (Mediterranean - Tel Aviv)</a></span><br /><br />This northern Tel Aviv spot overlooking the S'de Dov airfield used to be called Sheraton Beach for the hotel that once stood next to it, but was later renamed for the Israeli cult classic film of the same name ("metzitzim" means "peepers").<br /><br />It attracts a mix of hipsters and families, with calm, warm water due to a man-made lagoon. There's a café-restaurant and playground here, and just south of the main area is a separate section for the religious public, where women are admitted Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays; men on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.<br /><br />Also in the area you can find beaches catering to gay sunbathers and another where dog-owners are allowed to let their canines romp.<br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LlKsc4WMYU8/T29MkTcU9WI/AAAAAAAACCg/K8rm7CaFHmk/s1600/5889229-Metzitzim_Beach_Tel_Aviv_Tel_Aviv_Yafo.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 244px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LlKsc4WMYU8/T29MkTcU9WI/AAAAAAAACCg/K8rm7CaFHmk/s400/5889229-Metzitzim_Beach_Tel_Aviv_Tel_Aviv_Yafo.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723877837989279074" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://www.filination.com/blog/2010/02/13/habonim-beach-northern-israel/">8. Dor Habonim Beach (Mediterranean - Haifa)</a></span><br /><br />South of Haifa off Route 4, Dor Habonim ("Generation of Builders") is part of a coastal nature reserve, a relatively remote cove favored by nearby kibbutzniks and families.<br /><br />Natural rock jetties in the sea are perfect for kids to climb and sit on, and along with natural lagoons, they also keep the waves from getting too rough. The reserve has walking routes that pass through the bays, from which you can see sights including caves and wildflowers.<br /><br />There are no facilities here to speak of, and it's not accessible by public transportation. But these same qualities are what make it one of the most beloved beaches for Israelis in the know.<br /><br />Beyond the swimming area is the home of Paradive, where you can go skydiving with a tandem instructor.<br /><br />No entrance fee.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lf2OCNYvjQI/T29MVkAQo5I/AAAAAAAACCU/7Gut9UJCCy4/s1600/dor-beach-top-beaches.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 228px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lf2OCNYvjQI/T29MVkAQo5I/AAAAAAAACCU/7Gut9UJCCy4/s400/dor-beach-top-beaches.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723877584736920466" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/dolphin-reef-eilat.html">9. Dolphin Reef (Red Sea - Eilat)</a></span><br /><br />Eilat's public beaches tend to get quite crowded, but if you're willing to pay admission to the Dolphin Reef, you get the added benefit of a quiet beach where you can relax under an umbrella and watch the dolphins, or even join them in the water if you're age 10 or over.<br /><br />"You'll feel like you're in Jamaica," promises tour guide Joe Yudin. There is a snorkeling and diving center here, as well as an underwater photography center and beachside café/bar. Adults can take advantage of the site's music-infused relaxation pools as well.<br /><br />Entrance fee. Information: 08-630-0100.<br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HBgwxj163Vo/T29MH03PSpI/AAAAAAAACCI/82LfcCW28GI/s1600/eilat-observatory%2Bdolphins-top-beaches.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 214px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HBgwxj163Vo/T29MH03PSpI/AAAAAAAACCI/82LfcCW28GI/s400/eilat-observatory%2Bdolphins-top-beaches.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723877348744317586" /></a><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><a href="http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com/2012/03/10-reasons-why-caesarea-is-worth.html">10. Aqueduct Beach (Mediterranean - Caesarea)</a></span><br /><br />You can't beat this Caesarea beach for its setting among ancient Roman ruins. While sitting on the clean white sand, you'll marvel at the raised aqueduct built by order of King Herod in the first century BCE and expanded upon 300 years later to bring running water to the old city of Caesarea from the springs of Shummi six miles away at the foot of Mount Carmel.<br /><br />There are no restaurants here (just a kiosk), but neither are there loud music or crowds. Lifeguards are on duty on only parts of the long strip of seashore, which is sometimes also called Arches Beach.<br /><br />No entrance fee.<br /><br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-20XilQAvYUs/T29L15vgJVI/AAAAAAAACB8/9ub19ExZWQo/s1600/Aqueduct%2BBeach%252C%2BCaesarea..JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-20XilQAvYUs/T29L15vgJVI/AAAAAAAACB8/9ub19ExZWQo/s400/Aqueduct%2BBeach%252C%2BCaesarea..JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5723877040816399698" /></a><br /><br />Source: <a href="http://www.israel21c.org/travel/israels-top-10-beaches">Israel21c</a><div class="blogger-post-footer">Subscribe to IsraelNJudaism, get the new posts everyday.
http://israelnjudaism.blogspot.com</div>Speedyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04523180399246033551noreply@blogger.com1