Today IDF troops came under mortar fire in Gaza.  They responded to the mortar fire by firing back in the same trajectory from which the Hamas mortars came.

Where did the Hamas mortars come from, and the IDF return fire end up? The UNRWA school for children.

The two well-known Hamas terrorists were killed, but so were many people who sought shelter in the school.  You have to realize that the Hamas plan their attacks.  They didn’t just “happen” upon the school as a “random” location to fire mortars (and if they did, it would still be gross negligence!)

This is nothing less than child abuse by Hamas.

Why don’t the media, politicians, and UNSC call on Hamas to take responsibility for the safety of their own civilians, especially their own children??

“We will have peace with the Arabs
when they love their children
more than they hate us.”

-Former Israeli PM Golda Meir

Hamas knows the risks of hiding their commanders and weapons inside of children’s schools, not to mention firing mortars and rockets from the schools.

I’m so sickened by their child abuse that I can’t even write.
Keep on praying.

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More Palestinian child abuse:

“A Givati [IDF combat] force entered a [Gazan] school on Monday night, and in the morning discovered that it was rigged with explosives that were connected to a piano in a nearby home.” (Jpost.com)

These “people” spent the past 3+ years booby trapping their own homes…
What about building a future for their children?

It is forbidden for Jews to give away parts of the land of Israel, even for “promises” of peace.  The only thing that has come out of Gaza since the Israeli government evicted 8,000 Jews from their Gaza homes is rockets and increasing Hamas terror (as well as worsening living conditions for Gazan Palestinians).  Since Israel left Gaza in 2005, the Palestinians have fired 5,000 rockets into Israel.  The current Israeli military campaign is a response to this Hamas terror.

Thank G-d, the first aerial strike against Hamas was successful. However, the Isaeli government says the military operation has just begun.

We pray that we will see victory of the kind that will bring true peace. With people like Hamas, seeds of peace do not grow in the soil of negotiations, no matter how much manure you add to it. (I will refrain from further gardening analogies that would include weeding and salting slugs.)

Rabbi Brody who lives in Ashdod on the coast of Israel recaps the situation thus far.

Below are Psalms to say when the Land of Israel and the Jewish people who dwell within her are in danger.

Psalms 83, 121, 130, 142

These should be said aloud, but need only be loud enough for you to hear the words yourself. If you feel the quality of your concentration is enhanced by saying them in a normal voice or crying them out, that should be done. The words are vessels, powerful vessels. Into these vessels one should place powerful spirit and intention, especially if you are moved to tears. Your spirit is like a bow, and the words are your arrows. Aim well. Give them strength to pierce the Heavens.

English is fine, which is why I posted English here. If you read Hebrew, you should say these Psalms (or “Tehillim”) in Hebrew even if you don’t understand the words. In that case, you should read the English first a couple times to know what you are saying.

There is no limit to the number of times you can or should say Psalms.  The same goes to personal prayer in your own words and native language.  I personally find it powerful to say Psalms and add my own prayers afterwards or in between the Psalms, aligning my own words to the themes of the particular Psalm.

I think you will find the first Psalm (83) most relevant to the war against Israel. See how those who hate G-d’s people are the same today as they were when Dovid HaMelech (King David) wrote these words!

Psalm 83

1 A Song, a Psalm of Asaph.
2 O God, keep not Thou silence; hold not Thy peace, and be not still, O God.
3 For, lo, Thine enemies are in an uproar; and they that hate Thee have lifted up the head.
4 They hold crafty converse against Thy people, and take counsel against Thy treasured ones.
5 They have said: ‘Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance.’
6 For they have consulted together with one consent; against Thee do they make a covenant;
7 The tents of Edom and the Ishmaelites; Moab, and the Hagrites;
8 Gebal, and Ammon, and Amalek; Philistia with the inhabitants of Tyre;
9 Assyria also is joined with them; they have been an arm to the children of Lot. Selah
10 Do Thou unto them as unto Midian; as to Sisera, as to Jabin, at the brook Kishon;
11 Who were destroyed at En-dor; they became as dung for the earth.
12 Make their nobles like Oreb and Zeeb, and like Zebah and Zalmunna all their princes;
13 Who said: ‘Let us take to ourselves in possession the habitations of God.’
14 O my God, make them like the whirling dust; as stubble before the wind.
15 As the fire that burneth the forest, and as the flame that setteth the mountains ablaze;
16 So pursue them with Thy tempest, and affright them with Thy storm.
17 Fill their faces with shame; that they may seek Thy name, O LORD.
18 Let them be ashamed and affrighted for ever; yea, let them be abashed and perish;
19 That they may know that it is Thou alone whose name is the LORD, {N}
the Most High over all the earth. {P}

Psalm 121

1 A Song of Ascents. {N}
I will lift up mine eyes unto the mountains: from whence shall my help come?
2 My help cometh from the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
3 He will not suffer thy foot to be moved; He that keepeth thee will not slumber.
4 Behold, He that keepeth Israel doth neither slumber nor sleep.
5 The LORD is thy keeper; the LORD is thy shade upon thy right hand.
6 The sun shall not smite thee by day, nor the moon by night.
7 The LORD shall keep thee from all evil; He shall keep thy soul.
8 The LORD shall guard thy going out and thy coming in, from this time forth and for ever. {P}

Psalm 130

1 A Song of Ascents. {N}
Out of the depths have I called Thee, O LORD.
2 Lord, hearken unto my voice; {N}
let Thine ears be attentive to the voice of my supplications.
3 If Thou, LORD, shouldest mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?
4 For with Thee there is forgiveness, that Thou mayest be feared.
5 I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in His word do I hope.
6 My soul waiteth for the Lord, more than watchmen for the morning; yea, more than watchmen for the morning.
7 O Israel, hope in the LORD; for with the LORD there is mercy, and with Him is plenteous redemption.
8 And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities. {P}

Psalm 142

1 Maschil of David, {N}
when he was in the cave; a Prayer.
2 With my voice I cry unto the LORD; with my voice I make supplication unto the LORD.
3 I pour out my complaint before Him, I declare before Him my trouble;
4 When my spirit fainteth within me–Thou knowest my path– {N}
in the way wherein I walk have they hidden a snare for me.
5 Look on my right hand, and see, for there is no man that knoweth me; {N}
I have no way to flee; no man careth for my soul.
6 I have cried unto Thee, O LORD; {N}
I have said: ‘Thou art my refuge, my portion in the land of the living.’
7 Attend unto my cry; for I am brought very low; {N}
deliver me from my persecutors; for they are too strong for me.
8 Bring my soul out of prison, that I may give thanks unto Thy name; {N}
the righteous shall crown themselves because of me; for Thou wilt deal bountifully with me. {P}

This is the second time that Israeli Arabs from eastern Jerusalem have used bulldozers from their construction sites to kill and injure Israeli civilians.

Thank G-d, this time, no one was killed.

Unlike the previous attack, this bulldozer terror attack was stopped relatively quickly.

On the other hand, just like the previous attack, this one was stopped - yet again - by a religious non-police civilian with military experience.¹

The terrorist was first shot by Yaki Asael, 56, father of eight, from the Judean settlement of Sussiya. Yaki is a company commander in the reserves.

Rabbi Brody points out the divine providence that this recent bulldozer terrorist attack happened on King David street - which is exactly where the Abomination Parade took place this year in Jerusalem (King David’s city).

Hashem have mercy on us all!

shouting…

Camera: Does anyone here know first aid?!
Man: Yes, yes, yes.
Camere: There’s someone here that’s injured!!

Someone shoots at the bulldozer.
The grey-shirted man who runs up to the bulldozer after those shots is a border police officer. The man in the white shirt next to him is Yaki Asael (see above).

Man: No, no, he’s not dead! He’s not dead!
The border officer then fires several rounds at the terrorist. (The reason Yaki did not jump back like everyone else is that Yaki is a company commander in the reserves).
CUT SCENE

Camera: You…what’s your name?
Yaki: Yaki.
Camera: Good work Yaki.
Yaki starts walking away.
Camera: Yaki, you were the first one to shoot [at the terrorist]?
Yaki: Yes
Yaki walks away, tzitzit dangling.

The mitzvah that Jews have of “Ahavat Yisrael”¹ (to love their fellow Jew) is a deeply mystical, emotional, and foundational mitzvah for the Jewish people. And we shall see, for all people ².

Yet some of us are confused about the way Ahavat Yisrael works. Is it enough to just love someone in theory? What does it look like when you really, truly love a person or people? (this applies in many interpersonal contexts)

The Lebavetcher Rebbe zs”l used to hand out $1 bills every sunday. Jews would wait in long lines to receive a dollar, and a blessing, from the Rebbe. The person would then donate the dollar to whatever charity moved their heart. As my rabbi said when he told this story, “the Rebbe was obsessed with charity!”

He started the sunday dollar handouts when he was already in his 80’s, and continued for many years, handing out millions of dollar bills. And each sunday he would stand there for hours - 2, 3, 4 hours at a time, without taking a break, and without sitting.

One day an elderly lady came to receive a dollar from the Rebbe. When her turn finally arrived, she said to the Rebbe,

“Rebbe, I have waited in line for a whole hour, standing on my feet, in my old age. To get a dollar and a blessing from you, it is well worth it. But you, you stand here for hours every week. Why not bring a chair and sit for a while?”

The Rebbe responded to her, “My dear lady, when one is counting diamonds, he does not get tired.”

When the Rebbe - or any tzadik (saintly person) - looked at a person, he did not see their nose. He saw their neshama (soul).

The Rebbe taught us what true Ahavat Yisrael is. To really love the people of Israel is to see them for who they really are, and not for their external casing.

It is the love of the Jewish people that stopped the terrorist attack in Jerusalem yesterday.

The religious off-duty soldier recounts what happened:

“As far as what happened,” Moshe Plesser³ continued: “I was bicycling from the center of town [westward] towards my home, when I saw a bulldozer battering a bus lying on its side and a lot of commotion. I immediately realized that it was a terrorist attack. I threw the bicycle to the side, and I ran⁴ towards the scene, trying to get as close as I could to the bulldozer so that I could get on it and stop the driver. As I got closer I tried to somehow get a weapon. When the bulldozer stopped, a policeman climbed up, and I climbed up right behind him, screaming at him to shoot.”

“Oron Ben-Shimon, with whom I was privileged to cooperate in stopping the terrorist, also climbed up, and he and the policeman tried to stop him with their hands. At first I could not shoot him, because the policeman stood in between us and the terrorist. The terrorist suddenly got up and started to drive again, screaming out Allahu Akbar, and Oron was able to turn the steering wheel so that the bulldozer wouldn’t run over more cars. Finally, I was able to grab⁵ Oron’s gun and shoot over the heads of the policeman and Oron, three bullets to his head. Then a Yassam policeman got on and fired again to ascertain his death.”

(in full at Israelnn.com)

The police officer’s failure to even think to shoot the terrorist proves that weapons training is not enough to defend the Jewish people (or your own family or neighborhood). We saw this with the fireman on Sept. 11th who valued American lives with every fiber of their being.

In Israel, it was Moshe Plesser’s tangible, non-hypothetical, love of the Jewish people that left him with zero hesitation in their time of need.⁶ This is true Ahavat Yisrael.

Today we were able to better grasp what Ahavat Yisrael - loving the Jewish people - means.

In the next post, we’ll discuss what the Jewish people must know about Ahavat Yisrael as relates to the Bnei Noach, and what the Bnei Noach must know about Ahavat Yisrael as relates to the Jewish people.

Stay tuned

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UPDATED: 5:50pm PST 07/02/2008.

May G-d have mercy on those injured and murdered today, and their families.

Appropriate Psalms to say at times like this are
Pslams 142 - (we must put our faith in Hashem in times of trouble)
Psalms 130 - (Hashem, please, have mercy on us and hear our cries)
Psalms 83 - (Hashem, please do not let the evil dominate Your people. Smash those who hate You).

Video from Tamar Yonah’s blog:

Update on Israeli TV Commentary:

1. Smiling officer?
The reason the officer at the beginning of the live footage is smiling with his pistol is that they  thought they had shot the terrorist and wounded him.  Then suddenly the terrorist continued his rampage, which is the footage you see in the video.

2. Pedestrian almost run over
Half way through this video you see a red circle on the screen. There is an Israeli motorist who rolled out of the way of the terrorist’s wheels literally inches before being crushed to death.

3. Arab Israeli citizens
The commentator discusses that “the security level around Israel is on high alert because any terror attack always increase the motivation of other would-be terrorists.” She notes that this is the second Israeli Arab who has turned terrorist on the Israeli population.

I would add that the fear is that these Arab Israelis, unlike the Palestinians I dealt with at checkpoints, have blue ID cards just like every other Israeli citizen. The ID cards allow them access to anywhere in Israel. Essentially the ID card means that they aren’t Palestinian, and therefore not a threat.

The Israeli government assumes that these Arabs are more loyal to the state of Israel than to Hamas, Hezbullah, Islamic Jihad, Al Aksa Martyrs Brigade, Iran, or anyone else.

The young man you see shooting the terrorist is the brother in-law of the young man who stopped the Mercaz HaRav terrorist (although the commentator does not note that).

Both terrorists had Israeli ID permits since they live in Eastern Jerusalem.
Both terrorists were stopped by armed, religious Israeli civilians¹

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(Source: Jpost.com)
Three people were killed and 66 were wounded - one moderately and the rest lightly - on Wednesday afternoon when a bulldozer driver went on a rampage in downtown Jerusalem.

A half-dozen cars were flattened and others were overturned by the Caterpillar vehicle. A bus was also overturned, and another bus was heavily damaged.

The attack, at the junction of Jaffa Road and Sarei Yisrael St., set off a panic in the area and left a large swath of damage in the heart of the capital. Traffic was halted, and hundreds of people fled through the streets in panic as medics treated the wounded.

A car was dragged several meters by the bulldozer before being crushed under the vehicle. A baby was pulled out by a passerby before the vehicle was crushed, with the child’s mother still inside

“People started screaming ‘he is running us over, he is running us over,’” recounted traffic policewoman Elinor Nahum, 22, who was the first to react, firing at the bulldozer and apparently hitting the terrorist. Another policeman then climbed onto the vehicle and was lightly wounded in a struggle with the attacker.

Finally, an off-duty soldier took a gun from a security guard at the scene and shot the terrorist, who cried “Allah Akhbar” (God is great) before being killed. The soldier, Moshe Plesser, was assisted in neutralizing the attacker by Eli Mizrahi, a member of police’s elite Yasam anti-terror unit.

Plesser, 18, is the brother-in-law of IDF officer David Shapira, who killed the terrorist in the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack on March 6.