Obama in Arabia

If I were more tech saavy (coming soon) I'd have embedded a video clip of Obama getting off air force one with the Saudi goon squad waiting to shake his hand. I don't know if this trip will succeed or fail but I do know one thing--those Saudi's are proud to be who they are. They are wearing traditional dress, looking their Saudi way. Cut to Netanyahu and his merry men, Western suits, bare heads, ritual fringes or tefillin in the morning--horrors! never. I'd say that watching this scene is a not so subtle hint. C'mon Israel lets stand up and be proud of who we are. Lets wear our tzitzis and sheitels and yarmulkas and borsalinos and shteimels with pride. Maybe then, we'll have some chance of attracting some more heavenly help---He likes it when we take pride in who we are--His chosen ones, the First born sons and stop pretending to be something other than who we are.

Dead Lead

Everyone I know seems to be full of self righteous enthusiasm for this war. The government is acting like a parent giving it to a recalcitrant child. "I'm going to show them....ground them for life Make them into minced meat etc." Of course the idea of a permament, dare I say it final solution for the naughty Gaza strip Arabs is very appealing considering they way they have been treating us , but the whole thing is fundamentally wrongheaded.
We Jews don't do force well. That is the path of Esau and Ismael, not us. Look back over our history recent and ancient. Our brief shining moments of victory in 48 and 67 were the only moments and and also Purim miracle, the brief Maccabean victory were preceded by a recognition of our own powerlessness and a fervent appeal to G-d. Even during the Gulf War there was more of a spiritual feeling in the air than there is today.
From what I can see, Operation Cast Lead is being conducted by Zionists who still suffer from the post 67 swelled head syndrome. When I hear our leaders over the radio I sense an overflow of bombastry and bluster which is why , I expect that this campaign will ultimately and tragically fail. Sadly, our aggression is just making our enemies even stronger as the entire Arab world rallies round the poor victims of "Israeli aggression." I'm not saying that we should'nt defend ourselves, but in doing so we shouldn't forget that we are Jews. Whatever steps we take whether it be military action or quiet diplomacy we must always take our cue from Joseph, whom the bible calls a Tzaddiq a righteous person because the name of G-d was always on his lips. Interestingly he is also known as an "Ish Matzliah," a successful person because that ultimate humility creates a space for G-d to bless his efforts with success. If we want to succeed in this one, we've got to follow his lead admit powerlessness, and to turn this over to G-d.