Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

Yom Kippur: Israel Stops and Reflects
Oct 7th, 2011
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Staff
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

The highest of the High Holidays – Yom Kippur – is to begin on Friday night, and Jews around the world are completing their last preparations for the solemn day that ends the Ten Days of Penitence.

Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, is a Divinely-designated day that the Torah explains “will atone for you [plural] to purify you from all your sins before G-d.” Such atonement, however, must generally be accompanied by teshuvah, a process that must include introspection, admission of sins, remorse, and a commitment not to repeat them.

One must also appease and ask forgiveness from those he has harmed or insulted over the year.

Many people visit the graves of their parents on the days before Yom Kippur, in preparation for the Yizkor service memorializing lost parents which is said during the fast.

The prayers for Yom Kippur, which begin with the Kol Nidre prayer said at night, then take up most of the day, are replete with the various concepts of teshuvah, as well as acknowledgement of G-d’s goodness in affording mortals this opportunity to exonerate and improve themselves. One of the dramatic prayers is a review of the High Priest's preparations and one time yearly entering the Holy of Holies in the Temple, during which the each member of the congregation prostrates himself before G-d. There is also a piyyut, liturgical poem, recalling the ten martyrs killed by the Romans, one of whom was Rabbi Akiva.

The fast begins just before sundown on Friday night, and ends some 25 hours later, after the special Ne’ilah (locking, signifying that the gates of heaven are to be locked at the end of the fast) prayer, said standing. At the prayer's end, the Shma Yisrael - Hear O Israel the Lord our G-d, the Lord is One - is recited aloud by the entire congregation, followed by another two verses, including sevenfold loud repetition of the words "G-d is the Lord".

The end of the fast is signalled by a dramatic, lone shofar-blast and the immediate singing of "Next year in rebuilt Jerusalem". In many Israeli synagogues, this is a signal for joyous dancing as the fast's end signals a lightening of spirits.

In addition to eating and drinking, also forbidden on this day are wearing leather shoes, washing up, make-up and perfumes, and marital relations.

The prohibitions notwithstanding, the day is considered a festive day, in that we celebrate G-d’s beneficence in going against natural law and allowing us to revoke and nullify our misdeeds. It is also a “day of friendship and love," according to the prayer liturgy.

The day before Yom Kippur, the 9th of the Jewish month of Tishrei, is also considered a special day, and we are required to eat and drink even more than we normally do. "Whoever eats and drinks on the 9th,” the Talmud states enigmatically, “is as [meritorious as] if he had fasted on both the 9th and the 10th." The custom of kaparot is done on the 9th.

The State of Israel is essentially closed down on Yom Kippur, with no public transportation or electronic broadcasts, and practically no open stores or services. Bicycling on main roads and city streets has become a popular pastime on the holy day, to the dismay of many, as there is no traffic to be seen, but the Tel Aviv municipality has decided to close the rental facilities over the fast.

Even more prevalent on this day are prayer services. Organizations make arrangements for secular-friendly prayer services around the country, which have become extremely popular and well-attended in recent years.

Israelis who are old enough to remember Yom Kippur 1973, recall how people were shocked to see cars driving down the streets in the early afternoon. They were rounding up soldiers as the Yom Kippur War had broken out during the day - almost all of the soldiers, religious and secular, were at their local synagogues and army cars went from synagogue to synagogue with lists, while sirens wailed shortly afterwards in Jerusalem and worshipers raced to shelters,

Memorial services for the war's fallen soldiers will be held on Sunday.

World Facing Worst Financial Crisis in History, Bank of England Governor Says
Oct 7th, 2011
Daily NewsThe Telegraph - James Kirkup
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The world is facing the worst financial crisis since at least the 1930s “if not ever”, the Governor of the Bank of England said last night.

The Source of Israel's Problem is Israel
Oct 7th, 2011
Main StoriesArt Sadlier
Categories: Printed Newsletter;The Nation Of Israel;Commentary

The entire world is against Israel. There is not a single leader that I know of that is not endorsing the two state solution. I know of no political leader in Israel who is not willing to give the Palestinians a state on the land of Israel. Every Prime Minister of Israel for the last 20 years has sought to give away parts of the Promised Land. Prime Minister Netanyahu is willing to do the same.

Almost all of Israel’s politicians are in favour of giving up much of the Promised Land to Israel’s enemies in the vain hope of peace with Islam. They have no vision of the restoration of the kingdom promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob.

Israel is a badly divided nation. At times it seems almost like a civil war in Judea and Samaria as the IDF, at the urging of liberals, set about to destroy the homes of those Jews who have a vision of occupying the Promised Land.

The two state solution calls for Israel to abandon Judea, Samaria and East (Biblical) Jerusalem. Abbas is also demanding that the temple mount be included in the terms of settlement. That is an all out attack on God’s program and purpose for Israel. That is a rejection of God’s Word. Whatever may be negotiated after that is meaningless.

The major political leaders of Israel are secularists who want a secular democracy like the nations of Europe. For example a recent news item demonstrates the attitude of Israel’s leaders to the temple and the God who dwelt in the temple in the past, “A 76-year-old Jewish man was arrested and questioned for the crime of reciting a brief blessing over a bottle of water while touring Jerusalem's Temple Mount on Sunday.” The temple mount is the only place in the world where it is illegal for Jews to pray. Israel has moved away from God and God’s purposes for them. It is only by the hand of God that Israel even exists today. Despite Israel’s disobedience God’s hand is still working to restore her. Israel’s problem is Israel.

Israel is like the nations around her in many ways. One of those ways is in the area of abortion. Since Israel became a nation 63 years ago they have averaged 43,000 babies aborted each year. That equals well over two million children terminated, more than the number of Jewish children killed in the holocaust. If those two million babies had not been killed in their mother’s wombs, considering the rate of population growth, there would be another 10 million Israelis today. That would have meant that today there would be 16 ½ million Jews in Israel and 1 ½ million Palestinians. The whole idea of a Palestinian state would not even be a consideration.

The source of Israel’s problems is her disobedience and rebellion against her God.

The question is why does God bother with Israel? Since her birth as a nation she has rebelled against her God. Are the amills, the mainline churches, the Catholics and the dominionists right?  Has God given up on Israel because of her disobedience?

The answer is found in Ezekiel 36:18-25, “Wherefore I poured my fury upon them for the blood that they had shed upon the land, and for their idols wherewith they had polluted it: And I scattered them among the heathen, and they were dispersed through the countries: according to their way and according to their doings I judged them. And when they entered unto the heathen, whither they went, they profaned my holy name, when they said to them, These are the people of the LORD, and are gone forth out of his land. But I had pity for mine holy name, which the house of Israel had profaned among the heathen, whither they went. Therefore say unto the house of Israel, thus saith the Lord GOD; I do not this for your sakes, O house of Israel, but for mine holy name's sake, which ye have profaned among the heathen, whither ye went. And I will sanctify my great name, which was profaned among the heathen, which ye have profaned in the midst of them; and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, saith the Lord GOD, when I shall be sanctified in you before their eyes. For I will take you from among the heathen, and gather you out of all countries, and will bring you into your own land. Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you.”

Paul taught the same thing in Romans 11. Verse 1-2, “I say then, Hath God cast away his people? God forbid. For I also am an Israelite, of the seed of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God hath not cast away his people which he foreknew....”

Paul continues in verses 25-26, “For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles be come in. And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob.”

For 2,000 years the nations of the world have said to Israel, “Leave our lands and go back where you came from.” Now that Israel has gone back where they came from, the world is saying, “There is no place for you here.”

The hard road that lies ahead for Israel is the road that her God will lead her on to bring her back to Him, and to the place of blessing. God will continue to work to draw Israel to Himself. He will allow Israel to continue to stumble from one crisis to another, intervening to preserve her and attempting to prove Himself to her.

Zechariah describes the drastic judgment that so soon to be poured out on Israel. "

Israel’s problem is Israel.

Sarkozy: Jewish State a 'Silly' Idea
Oct 7th, 2011
Daily NewsArutz Sheva - Gavriel Queenann
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

According to the oft-controversial French magazine Le Canard Enchaîne, President Nicolas Sarkozy thinks the idea of a Jewish state is "silly."

"It is silly to talk about a Jewish state," Sarkozy said in reference to Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's assertion no true peace could be made until officials in Ramallah accepted Israel's essential Jewish identity.

"It would be like saying that this table is Catholic," he added. "There are two million Arabs in Israel."

Sarkozy also placed sole blame for failed negotiations between Israel and PA officials on Netanyahu's shoulders.

"The US has been asking Abbas for years to come to the negotiating table. He is willing to do it because he is a statesman. Netanyahu, on the other hand, never fails to disappoint us," Sarkozy said. "Only now, he announced the construction of 1,100 housing units in the Arab part of Jerusalem."

Sarkozy seemed to deem two years of mounting preconditions for negotiations by PA chairman Mahmoud Abbas immaterial to failed talks.Nor did he concede Israel has frozen construction in the disputed territories for 10-months in a bid to bring Abbas to the negotiating table only to find new preconditions existed.

"The Palestinians have been waiting for a state they deserve for 60 years now," Sarkozy said. "Is it not fair that Palestine is recognized by the UN even in an observer status?"

Sarkozy, whose statements were strongly reminiscent of comments made two weeks ago by former US president Bill Clinton, had previously (like Clinton) presented himself as a staunch ally of Israel.

Now, observers say, Sarkozy has removed his mask and made his true face concerning Israel clear.

IMF Advisor: Could See Eurozone 'Meltdown' in 2 or 3 Weeks
Oct 7th, 2011
Daily NewsBusiness Insider - Simone Foxman
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

In an interview on the BBC (via ZeroHedge), IMF advisor Robert Shapiro said some incredibly alarmist things.

He tells broadcasters that if eurozone leaders don't address the crisis properly we will see a meltdown as soon as later this month.

In his words:

"If they can not address [the financial crisis] in a credible way I believe within perhaps 2 to 3 weeks we will have a meltdown in sovereign debt which will produce a meltdown across the European banking system.

We are not just talking about a relatively small Belgian bank, we are talking about the largest banks in the world, the largest banks in Germany, the largest banks in France, that will spread to the United Kingdom, it will spread everywhere because the global financial system is so interconnected. All those banks are counterparties to every significant bank in the United States, and in Britain, and in Japan, and around the world.

This would be a crisis that would be in my view more serious than the crisis in 2008.... What we don't know the state of credit default swaps held by banks against sovereign debt and against European banks, nor do we know the state of CDS held by British banks, nor are we certain of how certain the exposure of British banks is to the Ireland sovereign debt problems."

And Shapiro is not just some random guy.

Aside from being an advisor to the IMF, Shapiro is the co-founder and chairman of Sonecon, LLC, and was formerly the U.S. Undersecretary of Commerce. He has a Ph.D. from Harvard, among other degrees, oversaw the Census Bureau, and has been a Fellow at Harvard, Brookings, and the National Bureau of Economic Research.

Assad Warns Jordan Against Holding a War Game Like Turkey and Israel
Oct 7th, 2011
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Tensions peaked again around Syria's borders with Israel, Turkey and Jordan as the first two embarked on large-scale mobilization maneuvers near those borders Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 5-6 and the Jordanian armed forces prepared to follow suit.
debkafile's military and intelligence sources report that the United States and Turkey urged Jordan's King Abdullah to hold a similar maneuver or reinforce his units on the Syrian border. But Bashar Assad decided that being forced to build up his forces on Syria's borders with Turkey and Israel was enough and a Jordanian exercise must be stopped.

Thursday, he sent his powerful brother-in-law Gen. Asef Shawqat to Amman with a stern warning for the king: If the Hashemite Kingdom lines up with Turkey and Israel and deploys extra troops on the Syrian border, Assad will order his air force to bomb Jordanian towns.

And if Israel intervenes to engage Syrian bombers, Damascus would launch surface missiles against Jordanian cities.

It was the second time this week that the Syrian ruler had threatened to punish an enemy with ground-to-ground missiles. Tuesday, Oct. 4, debkafile revealed that Assad had threatened to demolish Tel Aviv by missiles within six hours of an attack on Syria.

Jordan's Abdullah told Gen. Shawqat he agreed to give up his planned military exercise, but not his opposition to Assad actions.
In Washington, Ankara and Jerusalem, the Syrian message to Jordan was taken as an implied warning to Turkey and Israel alike that Assad had no intention of taking their military exercises lying down either and a military response was coming.

The Turkish war game is taking place in the Hatay province which borders on northern Syria. It is scheduled to last nine days. Israel ended its two-day maneuver Thursday, deploying troops within sight of southwest Syria and Jordan.

Israeli and Turkish military movements were coordinated by NATO's European commander Gen. James Staviris who he visited Tel Aviv and Ankara for this purpose in the last week of September.

US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta gave the exercises a seal of approval during his visit to Israel Monday, Oct. 3.

The next day, both armies were in the field. The United States informed both governments that US warships had been deployed in the eastern Mediterranean against any unforeseen events.

Turkish-Israeli military ties remain frozen and relations sour. But Ankara did not refuse American mediation for coordinating their exercises for the first time in more than a year.
The two-day Israeli war game was not announced. It entailed the call-up of the Northern and Central Commands reserve brigades without prior notice. The units were directed to collect the men and officers from home and drive them to their units on the assumption that a missile attack on Israel was already underway and road disruptions prevented them from making their own way.
Chief of Staff, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, summed up the exercise by telling the troops: "In the current instability around us, we must be sure that our forces are on the highest level of readiness and keep on enhancing it."