What to do when we feel that we have no words left — and the truth has disappeared . . . .
Torah: Numbers 20:11
קַ֣ח אֶת־הַמַּטֶּ֗ה וְהַקְהֵ֤ל אֶת־הָעֵדָה֙ אַתָּה֙ וְאַהֲרֹ֣ן אָחִ֔יךָ וְדִבַּרְתֶּ֧ם אֶל־הַסֶּ֛לַע לְעֵינֵיהֶ֖ם וְנָתַ֣ן מֵימָ֑יו וְהוֹצֵאתָ֨ לָהֶ֥ם מַ֙יִם֙ מִן־הַסֶּ֔לַע וְהִשְׁקִיתָ֥ אֶת־הָעֵדָ֖ה וְאֶת־בְּעִירָֽם׃
“You and your brother Aaron take the rod and assemble the community, and before their very eyes speak to the rock to yield its water. Thus you shall produce water for them from the rock and provide drink for the congregation
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וַיָּ֨רֶם מֹשֶׁ֜ה אֶת־יָד֗וֹ וַיַּ֧ךְ אֶת־הַסֶּ֛לַע בְּמַטֵּ֖הוּ פַּעֲמָ֑יִם וַיֵּצְאוּ֙ מַ֣יִם רַבִּ֔ים וַתֵּ֥שְׁתְּ הָעֵדָ֖ה וּבְעִירָֽם׃ {ס}
And Moses raised his hand and struck the rock twice with his rod. Out came copious water, and the community and their beasts drank.
וַיֹּ֣אמֶר יְהֹוָה֮ אֶל־מֹשֶׁ֣ה וְאֶֽל־אַהֲרֹן֒ יַ֚עַן לֹא־הֶאֱמַנְתֶּ֣ם בִּ֔י לְהַ֨קְדִּישֵׁ֔נִי לְעֵינֵ֖י בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֑ל לָכֵ֗ן לֹ֤א תָבִ֙יאוּ֙ אֶת־הַקָּהָ֣ל הַזֶּ֔ה אֶל־הָאָ֖רֶץ אֲשֶׁר־נָתַ֥תִּי לָהֶֽם׃
But יהוה said to Moses and Aaron, “Because you did not trust Me enough to affirm My sanctity in the sight of the Israelite people, therefore you shall not lead this congregation into the land that I have given them.”
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‘Speaking’ of myths, lies, and the truth . . . what do we accept from these myths
Note: there are several commonly held myths/lies emanating from Israel and Gaza that have a direct impact on the way world Jewry is perceived and all of which appear to increase the levels of antisemitism to an ever higher level. As a result, these myths/lies require closer attention for us to better understand how the Jewish community is experiencing these mythic surges in what I would contend as ever more concentrated antisemitic tropes and blatant Jewhatred(s).
There have been from the earliest times of classical antiquity until this day any number of widely held accusations that Jews tend to cause suffering wherever they find an opportunity to inflict harm, especially to non-Jewish children and ‘vulnerables’, especially through Jewish perfidy and conniving. We see this now much more clearly surface during the Gaza War in the form of Israel (the Jews) starving poor innocent children in Gaza, all of whom have done nothing to deserve this terrible Jewish treatment, much. of which the Jews are well known to have practiced against innocent Christian children and other vulnerable and innocent members of Gentile societies for millennia -(for contextual sources, see Blood Libel and further reading, Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice for a classical version of these perverse blood libelous accusations).
These libels are nothing but a continuation and regurgitation of the age-old accusations that those perfidious Jews cause suffering to innocent non-Jews and especially vulnerable non-Jewish women and children, all of which is a continuation of a Jewish blood lust that can be found even in early echoes of Herod’s ‘Slaughter of the Innocents’ of Bethlehem and later in the blood-lust-Jewish-demand that Roman Procurator Pontious Pilate crucifies Jesus (due to horde like Jewish demands) in the Gospel of Matthew (see Chater 2 for the Slaughter and Chapter 27 for the response of the Jewish horde’s Blood demand and acceptance).
This so-called-“Gazan-Jewish-caused famine” is more of the same — blatant lies, libelous, and overly saturated and dripping with overt Jewhatred. Historically, the Jewish People have had no recourse to these libels nor to the recompense from Gentile communities who have sought out the Jews to murder, rape, pillage, and destroy. Much in the name of a god or two in order to make the Jews pay . . . . with Jewish blood.
I think of speaking — I think of striking . . . .
I think now of the waste of the American Gaza food relief pier that became ‘the pier that never was’ — as it floats away in vain attempts to circumvent the starving objectives of those terrible blood-lusting Jews. I think of the aid workers who were killed in Gaza — as I await the truth, the truth that they have essentially died in vain — as blame has floated over to the Jews who most assuredly and purposely killed them. The truth of that story will eventually come out . . . but the tears for their souls will have been misdirected.
I think of this as I think about aid for Jews sequestered away in squalid caverns, medicines intended for Israeli hostages, all of which have been seized by Muslim savages with no accounting for their final destination, nor for their use. I think of the people of Gaza who have lost their lives with no shelter, all of whom have been shut out of tunnels built with cement intended for housing. I think of the oxymoronic Gaza Health Ministry, whose pronouncements are worthy of the book 1984 in its description as a ministry of truth — it is nothing but a morgue where human truth goes to die.
Hospitals that should serve as places for the saving of lives have become criminal and terror operational centers — and not coincidentally places where Jews were kept as hostages — of course, only until the Israeli army got too close. Yes, even homes in which Jews were held in unconscionable and wretched conditions, have become prison cells worthy of Andersonville Prison during the American Civil War: when the tormentors and captors of Jews . . . who were killed when the IDF rescued Jews — these captors suddenly became innocents and the world wept for these dead hostage guards . . . . not to even begin to mention Jewish women repeatedly raped over and over again (even as I write this) all the while, the world still refuses to believe them — or more pointedly, refuses to believe us and to care, at all.
This list could go on forever and in essence, it is endless.
All of this and more, not simply because this is Israel — nor because the world hates Netanyahoo — but because it is the Jews, it is always the Jews.
I offer this brief article below, not as an answer — but to remind everyone that it is up to us to speak the truth in the face of overwhelming adversity. The Talmud reminds us, that while the truth often leads a wretched life, it never dies. It only does so when we ourselves absorb these lies and prevarications as the truth — and when we accept them — and I am here to remind everyone that we must not allow that to happen, for the sake of Am Yisrael and our children and ultimately for the sake of the world writ large. This war will end soon enough, and then the real work will begin.
As I often will remark — what begins with words — never ends with words — there are times that demand both. There are times in which we ‘speak’ and times in which we strike — For us, here, we demand the truth, not the ‘newspeak’ myths of the antisemites. And when the time comes, we must come to know when to strike and when to speak — and how to know the difference — and to do so with a clear head and a clear mind.
Long before any of us were born, the Jewish people faced the myths and lies of others — but the times have shifted and we would be wise now to remember, in the words of Golda Meir to Henry Kissinger, recalling an earlier time in which Jews hid under their beds paralyzed by fright . . . .
She said in very clear terms: “I am not that little girl anymore”
We too are not that little girl . . . any longer.
We live in a time of lies, manipulations, and myths . . .
and we can no longer afford to accept nor absorb the lies — as we know where all of this can lead.
In truth, we will live — we have no other choice.
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In Gaza, the famine that never was
https://worldisraelnews.com/in-gaza-the-famine-that-never-was/
excerpt:. . . the total number of deaths reported from “famine” in all of Gaza, over the eight months of this war, comes to 37, or about one death a week, out of a population of 2.2 million.
World media has for months been proclaiming that Gaza is “on the brink of famine” and that Israel is deliberately preventing food from entering the Strip, that thousands of Gazans are dying of malnutrition.
But there is not now, and never has been, a “famine” in Gaza.
There is, however, a problem with the distribution of food, because once the food trucks enter Gaza, Hamas operatives have been seizing much of the aid for themselves, their extended families, and fellow Hamas members, than is their due.
That misallocation is a different thing. And even with those seizures, enough food is left over to ensure that ordinary Gazans do not suffer “famine.”
More on the “famine” that never was can be found here: “Experts: ICC, UN blamed Israel for a famine that never happened in Gaza – exclusive,” by Seth J. Frantzman, Jerusalem Post, June 18, 2024:
Columbia University Professors Awi Federgruen and Ran Kivetz have analyzed available data and conducted research whose “findings demonstrate that sufficient amounts of food are being supplied into Gaza,” they noted in a summary of their findings presented to The Jerusalem Post.
They note that it is “a myth that Israel is responsible for famine in Gaza.” They argue that the International Criminal Court and UN have joined Hamas in blaming Israel for a “famine that never was, hoping to stop the war [in Gaza].”
The two professors spoke to the Post in early June and they provided an abstract and details about their findings regarding the issue of famine in Gaza.
Professor Awi Federgruen is the Chair of Columbia University Business School’s Decision, Risk and Operations Division. He is an expert in supply chains, logistics, and data science.
Ran Kivetz is the Philip H. Geier Professor at Columbia University Business School. He is an expert in decision-making, including the intersection between behavioral economics and political science.
The two experts noted that the ICC has sought arrest warrants for senior Israeli officials, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The ICC claimed that Israel is “causing starvation as a method of war including the denial of humanitarian relief supplies [and] deliberately targeting civilians in conflict,” they note in their abstract.
The two professors dispute this.
They examined the “hard data, available from such sources as COGAT [Israel’s Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories] and the UN,” they note.
Federgruen and Kivetz’s research and findings demonstrate that sufficient amounts of food are being supplied into Gaza.
According to their research they “demonstrate that 250 truckloads suffice to feed the entire Gazan population, in accordance with a normal diet in North America.”
Hamas fired rockets at the Kerem Shalom crossing on May 5, killing five soldiers and causing the border to be shut briefly.
However, the supplies have resumed since then. “Israel intends to increase it further to the 400-500 truck/day level. Further, Israel regularly halts offensives for 4 hours a day to facilitate these deliveries,” they note….
