A beautiful posting for Chanukah. It brought tears to my eyes reading about how your museum has helped people suffering from the war effects. May you continue to help אחינו כל בית ישראל and may you have much הצלחה in all your endeavors.
If he projected such weakness, how did gather together the coalition to shoot down all the Iran drones and missiles? And the coalition to isolate Russia on Ukraine?
That's actually exactly my point. He is only defensive minded, but nobody is scared of him actually coming after them in any significant way. Shooting down missiles that someone else shoots at you is not a show of strength, no matter how hard you shoot them down.
You didn’t answer the question. That was enormously important to Israel’s security and it was an international effort coordinated by the Biden administration. Why did other countries follow his lead with Iran and Russia if he was a weak leader?
David, I hear what you’re saying, but I think there’s a difference between tactical successes and projecting strength. Yes, the coalition efforts were important and credit is due for that coordination. However, I’d argue that true strength would involve making adversaries reconsider their aggression entirely, not just managing the defense of their aggressions.
Correct, people are so brainwashed that they cannot see reality anymore. Nobody was scared of the US during Biden's presidency but still, they consider this a great achievement.
I have no idea who was scared of whom. But for the sake of argument, you'd prefer no-cooperative allies scared of you instead of an effective strategic alliance against your enemies with allies who may actually think that they want to support your interests? Why is being "scared" of any independent value?
Given the increasing evidence coming out regarding Biden's significant cognitive impairment as early as the beginning of his term (before?), we don't yet know who was really in charge during Biden's term. No doubt more will be revealed.
And why was the 25th Amendment so ineffective? The real retrospective is yet to come.
The point of carrying a big stick is that your enemies consider that you may actually use it against them. Biden did not at all project that. He was only wiling to use his big stick to defensively knock down projectiles fired against us. Not much of a deterrent if you asked me
He can threaten that he will wreak havoc on Iran's military and economic assets if they shoot at Israel, or even if they enable their proxies to shoot at Israel.
He basically did that with his "DON'T" shtick, but because of his obvious weakness, nobody was scared.
Do you think threatening "don't!" and not doing anything in return is anything short of weakness?
You seem like an intelligent person, I'm surprised you're even taking issue with this obvious point
Or appreciate that way, way before anyone would stick him in an Al HaNisim, they'd have to thank God we had a Prime Minister who, despite his faults (or perhaps *because* of his faults) was able to stand up (more or less) to the pressure exerted by whoever is pulling the strings there.
Biden, we now know, has been out of it since at least 2020. Harris, of course, read the maps.
Only fools think Biden is out of it. He is dumb like a fox and his policies that made possible the end of the Russia Iran Syria Axis of Genocide were brilliant. This would not have happened under Trump.
Stop with the bs. Russia is not genociding anybody. The neocons and globalists triggered a war between Russia and Ukraine and have blood on their hands.
I really understand why people don't vote for trump, but to think Biden isn't totally senile, I'm sorry... even the biggest libs were saying better Biden in a coffin than trump. You are just as oblivious as he his.
I do believe that Biden was very pro-Israel. We saw that immediately after Oct 7. The problem was his wokized (not sure there is such a word) radical left advisors. Then, with his mental illness, they pushed him away from his position. His whole presidency was sad.
This is just talking points that have nothing to do with what actually happened wrt Israel. He pushed the Israel funding through Congress and he organized the anti Iran coalition who shot down the drones and missiles and he was the one who pushed giving Israel a free hand despite serious reservation within his party.
Really? Don’t remember what he said about going into רפיח? Remember Kamala’s infamous map statement? All his talk about not escalating in the north? Take the win. Remember his show walking arms? He was very pro Israel in terms of Israel not being destroyed. He was not very pro Israel in terms of supporting Israel actually winning.
Trump opposed the bill that provided tens of billions in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Vance and Rubio actually voted against it. Without that aid, the Russia-Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis would not have fallen.
No, it's a negotiating tactic. (meaning if it wouldn't pass they would have to split the bill.) Like not giving Hamas everything they want in a hostage deal. You could disagree with the tactic (my example included), that doesn't make him less pro-Israel.
No, it was held up for around 6 months for a variety of reasons; Ukraine was just the latest one. Splitting the bill into 4 was a measure that MAGA opposed and threatened Johnson with and then after splitting all 4 bills passed. And if they actually held up the Israel aid just for some symbolic splitting of the bills which accomplished nothing, as you described, that would be even worse.
This comment demonstrates the bankruptcy of your style of personal and partisan analysis. Despite his positions later in life, Carter was essential in brokering the peace treaty with Egypt which has been core to Israel's security throughout the year and specifically in this conflict. So however poor of a President he was or his later statements about Israeli apartheid, he was in the right place at the right time to improves Israel's security for almost 50 years. (And of course this followed a republican US administration forcing Israel to give up parts of the Golan as well as the Egyptian 3rd army at the end of the 1973 war; another step that turned out to be essential to Israeli security). The world simply doesn't fit into partisan boxes.
This confirms my point. Even in this one-sided "take", he has to admit that the Camp David accords were a huge accomplishment and thus Carter's presidency was a success for Israel, whatever came later. Which is why all this silly personalizing and partisanship hinders cleared-eyed analysis. Carter did good stuff and terrible stuff. Luckily Israel got the good stuff during his presidency when he had real power.
You sound like one of those dying computers in Star Trek TOS when Kirk catches them in a contradiction. Carter. Democrat. Democrat. Essential to a lynchpin of Israeli security for ~50 years? Does not compute. Does not compute. Anti-semite. Democrat. Anti-semite. Democrat. [fades out]
We don't appreciate sufficiently the fact that miracles aren't necessarily supernatural. It is a miracle that the State of Israel exists and continues to exist.
Oh. I thought you meant a miracle for one actually killed another. If that wasn't the case its no different how far one miracle is away from another tragedy, if you really want to get rationalist about it.
ואנו מודים לך על הניסים, על הגאולה, על המעשים האדירים, על מעשי ההצלה ועל הנפלאות אשר עשית לעמנו בימים אלו, בזמן הזה -
בימי נתניהו, יחד עם גלנט וכל צה"ל, כשהחמאס הרשע פתח במתקפה נוראית שישראל לא הייתה מוכנה לה להחריד, ואז קמו מיליציות וממשלות ערביות נגד עמך ישראל כדי לטבוח בהן ברובים ורקטות וטילים. ומזל"טים. אבל אתה, ברחמיך הרבים, עמדת לצד העם היהודי בזמן מצוקתו והקרבתו למען האומה. עזרת להם לנהל את הקרבות שלהם ולהגן על זכויותיהם. עזרתם למוסד לנטרל את לוחמי חיזבאללה באמצעות זימונים ומכשירי קשר, עזרתם לחיל האוויר לנטרל את ארסנל הרקטות שלהם, עזרתם להגנת האוויר של ישראל וחבריה להגן על המדינה בצורה מוצלחת מפני טילים בליסטיים מאיראן והחות'ים, עזרתם למוסד. חיילים אמיצים ומחויבים של כוחות היבשה בעזה ובלבנון. עשית נסים מסנוורים כשסוריה התמוטטה בן לילה וציר העבירות של איראן קרס. עשית ישועה וגאולה גדולה לעמך ישראל מפני איומים נוראים, והעולם יכיר בכך. יהי רצון שילדיך יוכלו לחזור במהרה לבתיהם בפריפריה ובצפון עזה, שחטופינו ישובו הביתה, שיהיו חיילינו בהצלחה ובטוחים, ונודה ונשבח לשמך הגדול".
NP. I know most people can do the same, but sometimes people here are lazy and ask for a link for something when it's the first result on a Google page so it was more for that.
Honestly, except for a few words the translation is pretty good, being that the English version wasn't that poetic to begin with, so the hebrew is actually better.
I would've wrote the whole thing like this to match:
בימי מדינת ישראל כשהיו ישראל מכל חוגים יושבים שם, כשעמד עליהם מלכות פרס וכל חבריו על עמך ישראל להשכיח זכרם מעל הארץ ולהעבירם מהאומות המאוחדות כאילו אין שומרים חוקים הבינלאומים. ואתה ברחמיך הרבים עמדת להם בעת צרתם וכו' מסרת העומדים בידי מגינים אנושיים ביד רחמנים, ומדינות רבים ביד מדינה קטנה, וטמאים ורשעים ביד צדיקים יחד עם פינטל'ה אידין, וזידים בזכות עוסקי תורתיך . כן תחיינו ותקיימנו ותעשה שם גדול וקדוש בעולמיך נגד המלעיגים על ישראל ועל שונאיהם, ואז תהיה תשועה גדולה. וכהיום הזה באו בן-גביר עם חביריו לחצרות קדשיך, בדעת לפנות את היכל קדשיך מאותם המטמאים את מקדשיך, ואי"ה כן נזכה להדליק נירות בחצרות קדשיך, וכל ישראל יחזרו בתשובה ויודו ויהללו לשמך הגדול.
I am sure some people will find some of this offensive, but I can't please everyone.
"Vered Noam is a professor of Talmud at Tel Aviv University. A native of Jerusalem, she earned her BA in Talmud and Archaeology before completing both an MA and a PhD in Talmud, all at the Hebrew University. She has held a visiting appointment in the Yale University Jewish Studies Program.
In 2020, Noam became the first woman to ever receive the Israel Prize for Talmud.
Her suggested text reads as follows, Hebrew and then English:
“אַנְשֵׁי חָמָס צָבְאוּ עָלַי”, “Violent men gathered against me.”
The word for “violent,” interestingly, is Hamas, or חָמָס. We first encounter this word in the Bible at the beginning of the Noah story:
תִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with wickedness.
So “hamas” here is a clear double entendre; it means “evil”, but it also names Hamas (which in Arabic is the acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Islamic Resistance Movement)) as the perpetrators of the October 7 attack that swarmed our country. The added imagery from the Noah story of “hamas,” or evil, overrunning the earth, is thus particularly powerful.
Line Two:
.בְּיוֹם עֲצֶרֶת בַּשְּׁמִינִי, On the eighth day of the assembly.
This is obviously a highly poetic reference to Hamas’ October 7th attack, which took place on the holiday of Shemini Atzeret.
Line Three:
Here we actually have a clever reference to the original words of Maoz Tzur. The line of the new stanza says
בְּרִשְׁעָתָם פָּרְצוּ גְּבוּלַי, In their wickedness, they breached my borders
But note that the second the last stanza of Maoz Tzur reads:
יְוָנִים נִקְבְּצוּ עָלַי אֲזַי בִּימֵי חַשְׁמַנִּים. The Greeks were gathered against me in the days of the Hasmoneans;
וּפָרְצוּ חוֹמוֹת מִגְדָּלַי וְטִמְּאוּ כָּל הַשְּׁמָנִים. They breached the walls of my towers, and defiled all the oils.
The use of the same word, פרצו or “breached” in Noam’s new stanza and the original Maoz Tzur seems intentional, and draws a connection between the Hanukkah story in which the Greeks breached and defiled the Temple and the ongoing war in Israel; walls have been breached, holy places defiled.
Is there perhaps also a suggestion about how this will end: the Hanukkah story ended with Jewish victory; is the suggestion here that the same will be true now?
A year ago, when she wrote this, that would have been a very bold suggestion, but it also would have been correct.
Line Four:
טָבְחוּ בָּנַי, שָׁבוּ צֹאנִי. They slaughtered my children, captured my flock
Throughout the Bible and in the classic liturgy, God refers to the children of Israel as His flock or sheep. Most famously, perhaps, is the line in Unetaneh Tokef (“Who will live, who will die…”), recited on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. The High Holiday liturgy describes the experience of trembling before God on the day of judgment, and describes us as the sheep passing one by one before Him:
כְּבַקָּרַת רוֹעֶה עֶדְרוֹ מַעֲבִיר צֹאנוֹ תַּחַת שִׁבְטוֹ As a shepherd herds his flock, directing his sheep to pass under his staff;
There are innumerable uses of “sheep” or “flock” this way in the Bible. If you’re interested, you can take a look at Psalms 78:52, 95:7, 100:3, as well as in Latter Prophets, specifically in the books of Jeremiah (50:6) and Ezekiel (34:6, 34:11, 34:13).
Line Six (skipping line 5 for today):
עַזַּת פָּנִים אֵרַרְתָּ You cursed the brazen-faced
There are many verbs Professor Noam could have used for “cursed.” Why this one? In two separate places in the book of Genesis, the root א. ר. ר. ״” is used to mean “cursed,” and the contexts seem to matter here.
In Genesis 4:11, as God punishes Cain for killing Abel, He says:
עַתָּ֖ה אָר֣וּר אָ֑תָּה מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ Therefore, you shall be more cursed than the ground;
God relates Cain’s curse to the curse of the ground which had to witness Abel’s murder and absorb his blood. This connection between the curse and the land figures in Genesis 9:25 as well, when God curses Noah’s son Ham after Ham defiled him following the Flood.
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָר֣וּר כְּנָ֑עַן עֶ֥בֶד עֲבָדִ֖ים יִֽהְיֶ֥ה לְאֶחָֽיו׃ He said, “Cursed be Canaan; the lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”
There is thus a clear connection between the root א. ר. ר. in the Torah and disputes over land and inheritance, specifically with regard to past crime and wrongdoing. Our conflict drips with those issues.
Line Seven:
The verbs in both halves of this line are reminiscent of those in the last line of the original Maoz Tzur. The first half of line seven reads:
מְחֵה חוֹטֵף. Erase the plunderer
Similarly, the original Maoz Tzur says:
דְּחֵה אַדְמוֹן בְּצֵל צַלְמוֹן, Push away the Red One in the lowest shadow
Note that the words “מְחֵה” and “דְּחֵה” sound similar: מְחֵה is pronounced “m’cheh”, while דְּחֵה is pronounced “d’cheh”. Secondly, their meanings in context are similar, since both implore God to banish or get rid of the relevant enemy.
Continuing to the second half of line seven, Professor Noam’s new text reads:
וּבְנֵה עוֹטֵף. and build the [Gaza] Envelope
While the last line of the original says:
הָקֵם לָנוּ רוֹעֶה שִׁבְעָה and establish for us the seven shepherds.
The parallel between “וּבְנֵה” (“and build”), and “הָקֵם” (“and establish”), is clear; both ask God to remake and renew what has been lost.
And finally, Line Eight:
Professor Noam’s stanza reads:
.רַחֵם צִיּוֹן כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ Have mercy on Zion as You have spoken.
The first half of the line, “רַחֵם צִיּוֹן” (“Have mercy on Zion”) is a refrain that appears throughout Psalms and also appears in the blessings following the Haftarah on Shabbat. Psalms 102:14 reads:
אַתָּ֣ה תָ֭קוּם תְּרַחֵ֣ם צִיּ֑וֹן כִּי־עֵ֥ת לְ֝חֶֽנְנָ֗הּ כִּי־בָ֥א מוֹעֵֽד׃ You will surely arise and take pity on Zion, for it is time to be gracious to her; the appointed time has come.
and points to a future redemption
The second half of the line, "כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ” (as You have spoken), is another common refrain that appears throughout the Hebrew Bible. It’s almost always a reference to promises and covenants made between God and Israel. If you’re interested check out Joshua 1:3, Samuel II 7:25, Kings I 8:53, Kings I 9:5, Chronicles I 17:23). For for a really complete list see here."
Yaacov, when you say that the Maccabees were all tzadikkim, are you expressing a religious belief, or are you giving an evidence-bssed historical assertion?
Appreciate the new tone, Natan. Interesting question.
I have not scientifically studied evidence for their moral integrity and piety, but I do know what's in the traditional prayer books about them: Giborim, M'atim, Tahorim, Tsadikkim, Oskei Sora'seikha. And over many years of learning talmudic as well as hassidic accounts about their focus, I've picked up, let's say, that these were not mere politicians. They were men of extraordinary devotion to the highest ideals of our holy traditions. So, those are traditions I trust, not necessarily in a religious sense.
Even if I didn't share their ideals, nor believed in miracles, it seems to me quite reasonable that these were extraordinary people who did.
Recently, I was looking at the writings of the present Slonimer Rebbe, ("עזות דקדושה כנגד עזות דטומאה של יון"), where he explains in detail, with sources, that its normally forbidden to take the risks that the Hashmonaiim did, and that the mitzvahs they were known to be holding on the highest pedastol (Bris, Shabbos, Torah study), are NOT the one's we're halachically obliged to die for. In fact, Koheles teaches הכסיל בחושך הולך, and we already knew the Greeks were associated with חושך, so why not step aside til that dark period passes??
Moreover, why do we celebrate such "non-traditional piety"?
Because they were in fact on a very refined spiritual level, and could discern that the nature of this darkness was not natural. The Yavaniim had a unique עזות דטומאה that was systematically pulling our nation out of its קדושה, and the only way to prevent that was to access an עזות דקדושה! Which is what, til this day, Chanukah offers every single Jew unique access to at this time ..
You think that if their descendants were not tzadikim then neither were they? If you think not, then your comment is irrelevant. If you think so then you are very mistaken (btw, Menashe was a descendant of Dovid HaMelech).
I think he means Yanai, not sure why that reflects on his grandfather, especially if John Horcinus who was Yochanan Kohen Gadol who only became a sadduci at the end of his life and was Yaanai's father and is not the Yochanan of בימי מתיתיהו.
ammendment: Not Giborim but Khalashim! The nes was about our military weaklings vanquishing their big bad warriors. And lest we forget, that tefillah also calls them, in the end, בנים
So you're not really so sure about y'tzias mitzrayim and kriyas yam suf (because it is a religious belief and there is no evidence-based historical assertion)?
You are right. We probably should not compare today's leaders to those of the Chanukkah era. Because who is to say; some of today's leaders might be even *greater* than those! 😉
A beautiful posting for Chanukah. It brought tears to my eyes reading about how your museum has helped people suffering from the war effects. May you continue to help אחינו כל בית ישראל and may you have much הצלחה in all your endeavors.
Shabbat Shalom.
And the miracle of having an old school Zionist in the White House at the right time.
Absolutely. It's a pity that so many people don't appreciate that.
Biden was ok. His heart was in the right place, but he was weak and projected weakness, not a great trait when facing middle-Eastern foes.
I am appreciative of the help he gave, but I would choose many others over him if I had such a choice.
If he projected such weakness, how did gather together the coalition to shoot down all the Iran drones and missiles? And the coalition to isolate Russia on Ukraine?
That's actually exactly my point. He is only defensive minded, but nobody is scared of him actually coming after them in any significant way. Shooting down missiles that someone else shoots at you is not a show of strength, no matter how hard you shoot them down.
You didn’t answer the question. That was enormously important to Israel’s security and it was an international effort coordinated by the Biden administration. Why did other countries follow his lead with Iran and Russia if he was a weak leader?
David, I hear what you’re saying, but I think there’s a difference between tactical successes and projecting strength. Yes, the coalition efforts were important and credit is due for that coordination. However, I’d argue that true strength would involve making adversaries reconsider their aggression entirely, not just managing the defense of their aggressions.
Correct, people are so brainwashed that they cannot see reality anymore. Nobody was scared of the US during Biden's presidency but still, they consider this a great achievement.
I have no idea who was scared of whom. But for the sake of argument, you'd prefer no-cooperative allies scared of you instead of an effective strategic alliance against your enemies with allies who may actually think that they want to support your interests? Why is being "scared" of any independent value?
Given the increasing evidence coming out regarding Biden's significant cognitive impairment as early as the beginning of his term (before?), we don't yet know who was really in charge during Biden's term. No doubt more will be revealed.
And why was the 25th Amendment so ineffective? The real retrospective is yet to come.
“Speak softly and carry a big stick.” -- Theodore Roosevelt.
That isn't weakness.
If your enemies know that you actually carry a big stick and will use it. With Biden it’s clear that he won’t.
The point of carrying a big stick is that your enemies consider that you may actually use it against them. Biden did not at all project that. He was only wiling to use his big stick to defensively knock down projectiles fired against us. Not much of a deterrent if you asked me
"defensively knock down projectiles fired against us"
You think Biden should not have done that?
What DO you think Biden should have done? Start a full scale war with Iran?
He can threaten that he will wreak havoc on Iran's military and economic assets if they shoot at Israel, or even if they enable their proxies to shoot at Israel.
He basically did that with his "DON'T" shtick, but because of his obvious weakness, nobody was scared.
Do you think threatening "don't!" and not doing anything in return is anything short of weakness?
You seem like an intelligent person, I'm surprised you're even taking issue with this obvious point
Or appreciate that way, way before anyone would stick him in an Al HaNisim, they'd have to thank God we had a Prime Minister who, despite his faults (or perhaps *because* of his faults) was able to stand up (more or less) to the pressure exerted by whoever is pulling the strings there.
Biden, we now know, has been out of it since at least 2020. Harris, of course, read the maps.
Only fools think Biden is out of it. He is dumb like a fox and his policies that made possible the end of the Russia Iran Syria Axis of Genocide were brilliant. This would not have happened under Trump.
Did you read the WSJ report that the White House staff have been covering for him since the beginning of his presidency? https://www.wsj.com/politics/biden-white-house-age-function-diminished-3906a839
It is clear and obvious that he was already compromised at the beginning of his term. These things never get better. How about this? https://www.wsj.com/opinion/the-president-who-wasnt-there-joe-biden-woodrow-wilson-0baa843e
Stop with the bs. Russia is not genociding anybody. The neocons and globalists triggered a war between Russia and Ukraine and have blood on their hands.
I really understand why people don't vote for trump, but to think Biden isn't totally senile, I'm sorry... even the biggest libs were saying better Biden in a coffin than trump. You are just as oblivious as he his.
Only hedgehogs think Biden is a fox.
Whom are you referring to? Because Trump's still 25 days from inauguration.
https://www.ynetnews.com/article/bj2vnuj000
If you think so.
I do believe that Biden was very pro-Israel. We saw that immediately after Oct 7. The problem was his wokized (not sure there is such a word) radical left advisors. Then, with his mental illness, they pushed him away from his position. His whole presidency was sad.
This is just talking points that have nothing to do with what actually happened wrt Israel. He pushed the Israel funding through Congress and he organized the anti Iran coalition who shot down the drones and missiles and he was the one who pushed giving Israel a free hand despite serious reservation within his party.
Really? Don’t remember what he said about going into רפיח? Remember Kamala’s infamous map statement? All his talk about not escalating in the north? Take the win. Remember his show walking arms? He was very pro Israel in terms of Israel not being destroyed. He was not very pro Israel in terms of supporting Israel actually winning.
Trump opposed the bill that provided tens of billions in aid to Ukraine, Israel, and Taiwan. Vance and Rubio actually voted against it. Without that aid, the Russia-Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis would not have fallen.
He opposed the Ukraine part. That's a soundbite.
Meaning he was willing to sacrifice Israel over arguments about Ukraine funding.
No, it's a negotiating tactic. (meaning if it wouldn't pass they would have to split the bill.) Like not giving Hamas everything they want in a hostage deal. You could disagree with the tactic (my example included), that doesn't make him less pro-Israel.
No, it was held up for around 6 months for a variety of reasons; Ukraine was just the latest one. Splitting the bill into 4 was a measure that MAGA opposed and threatened Johnson with and then after splitting all 4 bills passed. And if they actually held up the Israel aid just for some symbolic splitting of the bills which accomplished nothing, as you described, that would be even worse.
What does Trump have to do with Biden begin a Zionist. Do you have TDS?
Can't wait for you and Charlie to start telling us what a great man and president Jimmuh was.
This comment demonstrates the bankruptcy of your style of personal and partisan analysis. Despite his positions later in life, Carter was essential in brokering the peace treaty with Egypt which has been core to Israel's security throughout the year and specifically in this conflict. So however poor of a President he was or his later statements about Israeli apartheid, he was in the right place at the right time to improves Israel's security for almost 50 years. (And of course this followed a republican US administration forcing Israel to give up parts of the Golan as well as the Egyptian 3rd army at the end of the 1973 war; another step that turned out to be essential to Israeli security). The world simply doesn't fit into partisan boxes.
Michael Oren has a much better take on Carter. https://m.jpost.com/opinion/article-835379
This confirms my point. Even in this one-sided "take", he has to admit that the Camp David accords were a huge accomplishment and thus Carter's presidency was a success for Israel, whatever came later. Which is why all this silly personalizing and partisanship hinders cleared-eyed analysis. Carter did good stuff and terrible stuff. Luckily Israel got the good stuff during his presidency when he had real power.
The man hated Jews. But besides that, I guess. He was a Democrat.
You sound like one of those dying computers in Star Trek TOS when Kirk catches them in a contradiction. Carter. Democrat. Democrat. Essential to a lynchpin of Israeli security for ~50 years? Does not compute. Does not compute. Anti-semite. Democrat. Anti-semite. Democrat. [fades out]
You're serious, aren't you.
Gaslighting or blind partisanship?
Your comment is quite self-descriptive.
We don't appreciate sufficiently the fact that miracles aren't necessarily supernatural. It is a miracle that the State of Israel exists and continues to exist.
Well, sometimes they can jump out at us. Like a man turning his head a millimeter at just the right second.
Although the rationalist in me has to point out that there wasn't a miracle for poor Corey Comperatore.
It was the same bullet??
Same assassination attempt.
Oh. I thought you meant a miracle for one actually killed another. If that wasn't the case its no different how far one miracle is away from another tragedy, if you really want to get rationalist about it.
"We don't appreciate sufficiently the fact that miracles aren't necessarily supernatural."
You are a true mystic.
Rabbi Dr. Slifkin -
Is there a Hebrew version of that modern-day על הניסים ?
Please post it.
Thanks.
courtesy of Google Translate:
ואנו מודים לך על הניסים, על הגאולה, על המעשים האדירים, על מעשי ההצלה ועל הנפלאות אשר עשית לעמנו בימים אלו, בזמן הזה -
בימי נתניהו, יחד עם גלנט וכל צה"ל, כשהחמאס הרשע פתח במתקפה נוראית שישראל לא הייתה מוכנה לה להחריד, ואז קמו מיליציות וממשלות ערביות נגד עמך ישראל כדי לטבוח בהן ברובים ורקטות וטילים. ומזל"טים. אבל אתה, ברחמיך הרבים, עמדת לצד העם היהודי בזמן מצוקתו והקרבתו למען האומה. עזרת להם לנהל את הקרבות שלהם ולהגן על זכויותיהם. עזרתם למוסד לנטרל את לוחמי חיזבאללה באמצעות זימונים ומכשירי קשר, עזרתם לחיל האוויר לנטרל את ארסנל הרקטות שלהם, עזרתם להגנת האוויר של ישראל וחבריה להגן על המדינה בצורה מוצלחת מפני טילים בליסטיים מאיראן והחות'ים, עזרתם למוסד. חיילים אמיצים ומחויבים של כוחות היבשה בעזה ובלבנון. עשית נסים מסנוורים כשסוריה התמוטטה בן לילה וציר העבירות של איראן קרס. עשית ישועה וגאולה גדולה לעמך ישראל מפני איומים נוראים, והעולם יכיר בכך. יהי רצון שילדיך יוכלו לחזור במהרה לבתיהם בפריפריה ובצפון עזה, שחטופינו ישובו הביתה, שיהיו חיילינו בהצלחה ובטוחים, ונודה ונשבח לשמך הגדול".
>> courtesy of Google Translate
Thanks, Leib. Yes, I use Google translate in various contexts. And it's become quite good in certain registers, but not nearly as good in others.
But I never noticed that it responded with particular courtesy. ;-)
NP. I know most people can do the same, but sometimes people here are lazy and ask for a link for something when it's the first result on a Google page so it was more for that.
Honestly, except for a few words the translation is pretty good, being that the English version wasn't that poetic to begin with, so the hebrew is actually better.
I would've wrote the whole thing like this to match:
בימי מדינת ישראל כשהיו ישראל מכל חוגים יושבים שם, כשעמד עליהם מלכות פרס וכל חבריו על עמך ישראל להשכיח זכרם מעל הארץ ולהעבירם מהאומות המאוחדות כאילו אין שומרים חוקים הבינלאומים. ואתה ברחמיך הרבים עמדת להם בעת צרתם וכו' מסרת העומדים בידי מגינים אנושיים ביד רחמנים, ומדינות רבים ביד מדינה קטנה, וטמאים ורשעים ביד צדיקים יחד עם פינטל'ה אידין, וזידים בזכות עוסקי תורתיך . כן תחיינו ותקיימנו ותעשה שם גדול וקדוש בעולמיך נגד המלעיגים על ישראל ועל שונאיהם, ואז תהיה תשועה גדולה. וכהיום הזה באו בן-גביר עם חביריו לחצרות קדשיך, בדעת לפנות את היכל קדשיך מאותם המטמאים את מקדשיך, ואי"ה כן נזכה להדליק נירות בחצרות קדשיך, וכל ישראל יחזרו בתשובה ויודו ויהללו לשמך הגדול.
I am sure some people will find some of this offensive, but I can't please everyone.
Thanks for that!
Love it!
For an actual new stanza, read this: https://open.substack.com/pub/danielgordis/p/when-does-a-cri-de-cur-become-liturgy?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=z0y7b
"Vered Noam is a professor of Talmud at Tel Aviv University. A native of Jerusalem, she earned her BA in Talmud and Archaeology before completing both an MA and a PhD in Talmud, all at the Hebrew University. She has held a visiting appointment in the Yale University Jewish Studies Program.
In 2020, Noam became the first woman to ever receive the Israel Prize for Talmud.
Her suggested text reads as follows, Hebrew and then English:
אַנְשֵׁי חָמָס צָבְאוּ עָלַי
בְּיוֹם עֲצֶרֶת בַּשְּׁמִינִי
בְּרִשְׁעָתָם פָּרְצוּ גְּבוּלַי
טָבְחוּ בָּנַי, שָׁבוּ צֹאנִי
גְּבוּרַת בָּנַי עוֹרַרְתָּ
עַזַּת פָּנִים אֵרַרְתָּ
מְחֵה חוֹטֵף וּבְנֵה עוֹטֵף
רַחֵם צִיּוֹן כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתּ
Violent men gathered against me
On the eighth day of the Assembly
In their wickedness, they breached my borders
They slaughtered my children, captured my flock
You awakened the strength of my children
You cursed the brazen-faced
Erase the plunderer and build the Envelope
Have mercy on Zion as You have spoken"
"Line One:
“אַנְשֵׁי חָמָס צָבְאוּ עָלַי”, “Violent men gathered against me.”
The word for “violent,” interestingly, is Hamas, or חָמָס. We first encounter this word in the Bible at the beginning of the Noah story:
תִּשָּׁחֵ֥ת הָאָ֖רֶץ לִפְנֵ֣י הָֽאֱלֹהִ֑ים וַתִּמָּלֵ֥א הָאָ֖רֶץ חָמָֽס The earth became corrupt before God; the earth was filled with wickedness.
So “hamas” here is a clear double entendre; it means “evil”, but it also names Hamas (which in Arabic is the acronym for Harakat al-Muqawama al-Islamiyya (Islamic Resistance Movement)) as the perpetrators of the October 7 attack that swarmed our country. The added imagery from the Noah story of “hamas,” or evil, overrunning the earth, is thus particularly powerful.
Line Two:
.בְּיוֹם עֲצֶרֶת בַּשְּׁמִינִי, On the eighth day of the assembly.
This is obviously a highly poetic reference to Hamas’ October 7th attack, which took place on the holiday of Shemini Atzeret.
Line Three:
Here we actually have a clever reference to the original words of Maoz Tzur. The line of the new stanza says
בְּרִשְׁעָתָם פָּרְצוּ גְּבוּלַי, In their wickedness, they breached my borders
But note that the second the last stanza of Maoz Tzur reads:
יְוָנִים נִקְבְּצוּ עָלַי אֲזַי בִּימֵי חַשְׁמַנִּים. The Greeks were gathered against me in the days of the Hasmoneans;
וּפָרְצוּ חוֹמוֹת מִגְדָּלַי וְטִמְּאוּ כָּל הַשְּׁמָנִים. They breached the walls of my towers, and defiled all the oils.
The use of the same word, פרצו or “breached” in Noam’s new stanza and the original Maoz Tzur seems intentional, and draws a connection between the Hanukkah story in which the Greeks breached and defiled the Temple and the ongoing war in Israel; walls have been breached, holy places defiled.
Is there perhaps also a suggestion about how this will end: the Hanukkah story ended with Jewish victory; is the suggestion here that the same will be true now?
A year ago, when she wrote this, that would have been a very bold suggestion, but it also would have been correct.
Line Four:
טָבְחוּ בָּנַי, שָׁבוּ צֹאנִי. They slaughtered my children, captured my flock
Throughout the Bible and in the classic liturgy, God refers to the children of Israel as His flock or sheep. Most famously, perhaps, is the line in Unetaneh Tokef (“Who will live, who will die…”), recited on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur services. The High Holiday liturgy describes the experience of trembling before God on the day of judgment, and describes us as the sheep passing one by one before Him:
כְּבַקָּרַת רוֹעֶה עֶדְרוֹ מַעֲבִיר צֹאנוֹ תַּחַת שִׁבְטוֹ As a shepherd herds his flock, directing his sheep to pass under his staff;
There are innumerable uses of “sheep” or “flock” this way in the Bible. If you’re interested, you can take a look at Psalms 78:52, 95:7, 100:3, as well as in Latter Prophets, specifically in the books of Jeremiah (50:6) and Ezekiel (34:6, 34:11, 34:13).
Line Six (skipping line 5 for today):
עַזַּת פָּנִים אֵרַרְתָּ You cursed the brazen-faced
There are many verbs Professor Noam could have used for “cursed.” Why this one? In two separate places in the book of Genesis, the root א. ר. ר. ״” is used to mean “cursed,” and the contexts seem to matter here.
In Genesis 4:11, as God punishes Cain for killing Abel, He says:
עַתָּ֖ה אָר֣וּר אָ֑תָּה מִן־הָֽאֲדָמָה֙ Therefore, you shall be more cursed than the ground;
God relates Cain’s curse to the curse of the ground which had to witness Abel’s murder and absorb his blood. This connection between the curse and the land figures in Genesis 9:25 as well, when God curses Noah’s son Ham after Ham defiled him following the Flood.
וַיֹּ֖אמֶר אָר֣וּר כְּנָ֑עַן עֶ֥בֶד עֲבָדִ֖ים יִֽהְיֶ֥ה לְאֶחָֽיו׃ He said, “Cursed be Canaan; the lowest of slaves shall he be to his brothers.”
There is thus a clear connection between the root א. ר. ר. in the Torah and disputes over land and inheritance, specifically with regard to past crime and wrongdoing. Our conflict drips with those issues.
Line Seven:
The verbs in both halves of this line are reminiscent of those in the last line of the original Maoz Tzur. The first half of line seven reads:
מְחֵה חוֹטֵף. Erase the plunderer
Similarly, the original Maoz Tzur says:
דְּחֵה אַדְמוֹן בְּצֵל צַלְמוֹן, Push away the Red One in the lowest shadow
Note that the words “מְחֵה” and “דְּחֵה” sound similar: מְחֵה is pronounced “m’cheh”, while דְּחֵה is pronounced “d’cheh”. Secondly, their meanings in context are similar, since both implore God to banish or get rid of the relevant enemy.
Continuing to the second half of line seven, Professor Noam’s new text reads:
וּבְנֵה עוֹטֵף. and build the [Gaza] Envelope
While the last line of the original says:
הָקֵם לָנוּ רוֹעֶה שִׁבְעָה and establish for us the seven shepherds.
The parallel between “וּבְנֵה” (“and build”), and “הָקֵם” (“and establish”), is clear; both ask God to remake and renew what has been lost.
And finally, Line Eight:
Professor Noam’s stanza reads:
.רַחֵם צִיּוֹן כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ Have mercy on Zion as You have spoken.
The first half of the line, “רַחֵם צִיּוֹן” (“Have mercy on Zion”) is a refrain that appears throughout Psalms and also appears in the blessings following the Haftarah on Shabbat. Psalms 102:14 reads:
אַתָּ֣ה תָ֭קוּם תְּרַחֵ֣ם צִיּ֑וֹן כִּי־עֵ֥ת לְ֝חֶֽנְנָ֗הּ כִּי־בָ֥א מוֹעֵֽד׃ You will surely arise and take pity on Zion, for it is time to be gracious to her; the appointed time has come.
and points to a future redemption
The second half of the line, "כַּאֲשֶׁר דִּבַּרְתָּ” (as You have spoken), is another common refrain that appears throughout the Hebrew Bible. It’s almost always a reference to promises and covenants made between God and Israel. If you’re interested check out Joshua 1:3, Samuel II 7:25, Kings I 8:53, Kings I 9:5, Chronicles I 17:23). For for a really complete list see here."
Nice sentiments; neat parallelism. For sure we need to commemorate these nissim. But to compare todays leadership to the Chanukah tsaddikim? Really??
Yaacov, when you say that the Maccabees were all tzadikkim, are you expressing a religious belief, or are you giving an evidence-bssed historical assertion?
Appreciate the new tone, Natan. Interesting question.
I have not scientifically studied evidence for their moral integrity and piety, but I do know what's in the traditional prayer books about them: Giborim, M'atim, Tahorim, Tsadikkim, Oskei Sora'seikha. And over many years of learning talmudic as well as hassidic accounts about their focus, I've picked up, let's say, that these were not mere politicians. They were men of extraordinary devotion to the highest ideals of our holy traditions. So, those are traditions I trust, not necessarily in a religious sense.
Even if I didn't share their ideals, nor believed in miracles, it seems to me quite reasonable that these were extraordinary people who did.
Recently, I was looking at the writings of the present Slonimer Rebbe, ("עזות דקדושה כנגד עזות דטומאה של יון"), where he explains in detail, with sources, that its normally forbidden to take the risks that the Hashmonaiim did, and that the mitzvahs they were known to be holding on the highest pedastol (Bris, Shabbos, Torah study), are NOT the one's we're halachically obliged to die for. In fact, Koheles teaches הכסיל בחושך הולך, and we already knew the Greeks were associated with חושך, so why not step aside til that dark period passes??
Moreover, why do we celebrate such "non-traditional piety"?
Because they were in fact on a very refined spiritual level, and could discern that the nature of this darkness was not natural. The Yavaniim had a unique עזות דטומאה that was systematically pulling our nation out of its קדושה, and the only way to prevent that was to access an עזות דקדושה! Which is what, til this day, Chanukah offers every single Jew unique access to at this time ..
Yes, I religious believe in that. Do you?
Go forward a generation or two. It's in the Gemara.
You think that if their descendants were not tzadikim then neither were they? If you think not, then your comment is irrelevant. If you think so then you are very mistaken (btw, Menashe was a descendant of Dovid HaMelech).
what are u talking abt?
I think he means Yanai, not sure why that reflects on his grandfather, especially if John Horcinus who was Yochanan Kohen Gadol who only became a sadduci at the end of his life and was Yaanai's father and is not the Yochanan of בימי מתיתיהו.
ammendment: Not Giborim but Khalashim! The nes was about our military weaklings vanquishing their big bad warriors. And lest we forget, that tefillah also calls them, in the end, בנים
So you're not really so sure about y'tzias mitzrayim and kriyas yam suf (because it is a religious belief and there is no evidence-based historical assertion)?
"וּרְשָׁעִים בְּיַד צַדִּיקִים. וְזֵדִים בְּיַד עוֹסְקֵי תוֹרָתֶךָ"
You are right. We probably should not compare today's leaders to those of the Chanukkah era. Because who is to say; some of today's leaders might be even *greater* than those! 😉