IRGC and Hezbollah Threatening Israel In Tyre, Lebanon

 Nadene Goldfoot

                       

    Iran's huge fighting force of elite soldiers operates in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) in a parade.  The ⁠Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) is an elite, ideological branch of Iran's Armed Forces. Established after the 1979 revolution, its primary purpose is to safeguard Iran’s Islamic regime from internal and external threats, serve as a counterweight to the regular military, and project Iranian power abroad.The Guards wield massive political influence, holding key parliamentary seats and de facto managing vast sectors of the Iranian economy (such as oil and construction). Because their own wealth and survival depend entirely on the regime, they view any democratic revolution as an existential threat. Reports coming out is that a few are joining today's revolution, though.               

Netanyahu is following his awareness that Hezbollah must be stopped and yes, destroyed.  Israeli airstrikes are heavily targeting the southern Lebanese city of Tyre and towns in the Nabatieh region, killing at least eight people in Tyre and thirteen overall. The bombardment continues despite evacuation warnings and falters a newly brokered U.S. cease-fire, escalating tensions as Iran threatens further retaliation.  Of course, Iran has been trying to wipe out Israel ever since 1948 when it was re-born. 

 Tyre Airstrikes: Heavy bombardment struck housing districts in the ancient coastal city of Tyre, including the Christian quarter. Forcible displacement orders were issued to thousands of residents  At least eight people were killed and over thirty wounded in Tyre, with an additional five killed by drone and artillery strikes across nearby villages. Do they not have bomb shelters and siren warnings?

Tyre was a wealthy Phoenician maritime city located on the Mediterranean coast of modern-day Lebanon. In the Bible, it is famously known for supplying cedars and skilled craftsmen to build King Solomon's Temple, and later became a focal point for powerful prophetic judgments and early Christian ministry .                                              

     Hezbollah shooting missiles into Israel.  Iran has warned it will launch further attacks on Israel if the offensive in Lebanon does not cease. Meanwhile, U.S. President Donald Trump is urging all parties to halt escalation, stating that a final peace deal could be close, but they've heard that one before. Hezbollah acts under the orders of the Iranian regime.                            

       Shahab 3 missile of Iran:  The Shahab-3 is a road-mobile, liquid-fueled medium-range ballistic missile developed by Iran, based on North Korean Nodong-1 technology. With a range between 1,000 and 2,000 kilometers, it serves as the backbone of Iran's strategic deterrent, bringing targets like Israel and U.S. bases in the Middle East within range.  Because its payload capacity was sized from the beginning to accommodate nuclear weapons, it remains a focal point of ⁠U.S. intelligence and international defense monitoring.  

   In Iran, hatred is for the big Satan (USA) and little Satan (Israel)

The Others Of Sodom And Gomorrah

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                   

                             Men of Sodom

                  Lot and his Uncle Abraham splitting up

Sodom  is the Chief of the 5 cities of the Jordan Plain.  The others are Gomorrah, Admah, Zeboiim, and Zoar.  Lot, the nephew of Abraham, and his family settled in Sodom but escaped its destruction caused by the wickedness of its inhabitants as told in Genesis 19.  The site of the 5 cities of the plain has been disputed.  Some scholars  have assigned them to the northern end of the Dead Sea, while tradition expressed by the location of Jebel Usdum (Mountain  of Sodom) and the vicinity of Zoar (where Lot and his daughters took refuge) suggests the South.  This latter region  was once dry land and might have been overwhelmed by a catastrophe within human memory.  The potash works in Israel has taken the name of Sodom at the southern end of the Dead Sea.  

Two beings, thought by Lot to be angels,  came one night to Lot at his house in Sodom, and evidently he thought enough of them to bow;  and he offered them shelter, but they refused, saying they'd rather stay in the square.  However, he urged them otherwise, and so they stayed and Lot made them a dinner and even baked matzos, and they ate.  Lot didn't seem to be surprised that they spoke his language.                                    

Meanwhile, the Sodomites converged upon the house the whole population came-which must not have numbered a lot in numbers happening today.  They had come, wanting to see 2 strangers.  They had come to get to "KNOW" them, that meant that they wanted to sodomize them, and Rashi understood this.  Rashi is the great biblical interpreter that I am related to.  To sodomize a man means to perform anal sex or anal penetration on him. Depending on the context, the phrase carries distinct legal, linguistic, and historical implications.  Legal Context: Historically, "sodomy laws" criminalized non-procreative sexual acts. In modern jurisprudence, if the act is committed by force, without consent, or with someone unable to consent, it is classified as a felony offense equivalent to rape.  I believe that the idea was to use the newcomer as a sport, while being attacked, the crowd would watch, sort of the start of such sport in Greece and Rome much later on.  These people were dying for a show to watch!!!

Lot knew of the danger he had put himself and his family in by taking in strangers in this neighborhood. He had learned much from Abraham so had remained a righteous person.   Why he continued living with such people who held this disgusting act as a welcome new neighbor is beyond me.  

Lot went outside, shutting the door behind him, and spoke to the crowd, telling them not to  act wickedly.  Lot had 2 daughters and offered them to the crowd in place of the angels.  The daughters were virgins and he told the crowd that they could do anything to them as they pleased, but they were to leave the angels alone as they were there under his shelter.  

The crowd shouted that Lot was simply a sojourn amongst them and was now acting like a Judge, making them angry. They pushed him and tried to break down the door.  Then they took Lot into his own house.  

The men of the crowd at the entrance suddenly were struck by blindness and they couldn't find the entrance.  The angels told Lot to get out of the city and take his relatives with him as they, the angels were about to destroy the place.  Hashem (G-d) had sent them to destroy it. 

Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law and the betrothed of his daughters and told them the message, but they thought he was kidding, acting like a jester, so when it was dawn, the Angels told Lot to get up with his wife and 2 daughters or you will be swept away because of the sin of the city.   We know the rest of the story.  Being told not to look at the destruction taking place, the wife looked and turned to stone.  It sounded like an A bomb had hit the city.  

Inter-Continental Ballistic Missiles Being Used

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

     Unveiled May 5, 2026 Istanbul, Turkey

Who was just attacked by 20 inter-continental ballistic missiles that can fly the 1,000 miles from Iran to hit Israel?  Israel was.  And is there anything Trump is going to do about it other than blame Netanyahu, the victim?  Does Trump realize how long Israel has been attacked on 7 sides;  by the Houthis, Hamas, Hezbollah constantly?  I'll reference Trump to 1967, with the 3 No's against Israel was decided upon in Khartoum, Africa, when Israel was attacked by 7 countries and happened to win.  I don't know about Netanyahu, but I'm really disgusted.  

I'm a little tired of seeing Israel having to defend herself while nobody, especially now, nobody can see why she is still having to defend herself against Iran, who has been arming others to fight against Israel and can now do it themselves with these missiles.   

There hasn't been any cease-fire;  that's not what I call the goings on, anyway.  They take pock shots at each other and it grows.  Israel is losing one or two men every day to these cease fires. 

Since the start of the broader conflict, an overall total of 956 soldiers and 70 police officers have been reported killed.  During the fragile U.S.-brokered ceasefire in Gaza that took effect on October 10, 2025, militant attacks have resulted in four Israeli soldiers killed according to AI. Information regarding the specific number of IDF troops wounded specifically during this truce period is not consistently reported in official updates.

How Netanyahu can take such tongue-lashing from his "best friend" is beyond me.  It seems to me that Netanyahu should call the shots when it comes to Israel, security, and that's why he keeps still these days, but he has let Trump know that.  

PM Netanyahu rejected claims of US control over Israeli policy, stressing independence while praising Trump’s support in Gaza and hostage rescue efforts.  Netanyahu: "Israel is independent, US does not dictate our policy."  He has said this several times.  Trump is deaf to his pronouncements.  

                                          

       Arrow 3:  A model of an Arrow-3 interceptor is being set up at the International Aerospace Exhibition (ILA) in Schoenefeld, near Berlin, on June 3, 2024. (Ralf Hirschberger/AFP via Getty Images)

Luckily Israel  intercepts long-range and intercontinental-range ballistic missiles from Iran using the Arrow 3 and Arrow 2 defense systems, as well as the U.S.-supplied THAAD (Terminal High Altitude Area Defense) system.  The ⁠Arrow 2 and ⁠Arrow 3 are advanced anti-ballistic missile defense systems. They were developed and manufactured jointly by the Israel Aerospace Industries and the United States aerospace company Boeing. Arrow 3: Co-developed with the U.S., this system is specifically designed to engage ballistic missiles outside the Earth's atmosphere during their mid-course flight. It utilizes "hit-to-kill" technology to neutralize long-range threats.  A single Arrow 3 interceptor missile costs approximately $3 million to $4 million, with some estimates reaching up to $3.5 million.  That's why drones are so much cheaper to use.  

An Intercontinental Ballistic Missile (ICBM) carrying a single modern nuclear warhead can completely destroy between 120 and 800 square miles of land. Because the destructive output scales exponentially with the yield of the weapon, the specific area depends on the size of the warhead, which typically ranges from 100 to 800 kilotons.                                               

Trump is all wrapped up in one thing, the Strait of Hormuz.  While Americans are paying outlandish prices for gas, Israelis are huddled in bomb shelters.  I remember when gas had hit a high mark earlier, and my husband and I bought an orange moped and I used that to go to work.  I took it with us to Israel in 1980 and left it in almost1986 for a kibbutz to use.  It's terrible that the attacks of Hezbollah on  Israel  are being held hostage by Iran in causing them to get their way with Trump, but it's happening.  Yet Israel must defend itself, and one way is this Tit for Tat shelling as Israel must remain the strong horse in the Middle East.  

The War Of The Kings With Lt. Col. Abram Shaping Our Destiny

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

Starting off, Abram came from Ur of the Chaldees.  It has been excavated lately, and was found to be

quite a large city where they did believe in polytheism and human sacrifice, most likely since Abram accepted the command to sacrifice his beloved son.  Abram was born in about 1948 BCE/ the 2nd millennium BCE.  

                                          Dan (brown) is the most northern tribe of the 12.  Abram/

Abraham came to the aid of his nephew,  Lot when Lot and the residents of Sodom were captured by an alliance of four Mesopotamian kings. Learning of the kidnapping, Abraham gathered a private force of 318 trained men, ambushed the army near Dan, and successfully rescued his nephew and the recovered goods. (Genesis)  Here's how it happened:

The king of Sodom had gone with 4 other kings; of Gomorrah, Admah, Zebolim, and Bela-Zoar and fought them in battle in the Valley of Siddim against the king of 1. Chedorlaomer-king of Elam, 2.Tidal-king of Golim, 3. Amraphel-king of Shinar,  and 4. Arioch-king of Eliasar---4 kings against 5.   

The Valley of Siddim was full of bitumen wells.  The kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled and fell into them while the rest fled to a mountain.  They took all the wealth of Sodom and Gomorrah and all their food and they left.  And then they captured Lot and his possessions---Abram's nephew-----and they left;  for he was living in Sodom.  

A fugative came and told 1. Abram, the  Ivri-meaning the other side (Hebrew) who lived in the plains of Mamres,  2, the Amorite, 3, the brother of Eshcol and the brother of 4. Aner who were Abram's allies.   

When Abram heard that his kinsman was taken captive, he armed his disciples, men who were born in his house---318 men---and they pursued them as far as the state of Dan.  And he, with his servants deployed against them at night and struck them;  he pursued them as far as Hobah which is to the north of Damascus (today's Lebanon).  He brought back all the possessions.  He also brought back his kinsman, Lot, with his possessions, as well as the women and the people. A soldier commanding 318 men would typically hold the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (O-5). This size group of troops usually makes up a military unit called a battalion.  Abram had 318 men under him;  making him today's  Lieutenant Colonel, but not a general.    

The king of Sodom went out to meet him after his return from defeating Chedorlaomer and the kings that were with him, to the Valley of Shaveh which is the king's valley. 

 But Malchizek, king of Salem, brought out bread and wine;  he was a priest of G-d, the Most High.  He blessed him saying, "Blessed is Abram of G-d, the Most High, Maker of heaven and earth, and blessed be G-d, the Most High, Who has delivered your foes into your hand."  and he gave him a 10th of everything.  

The king of Sodom said to Abram:  "give me the people and take the possessions for yourself." Abram said to the king of Sodom:  "I lift up my hand to Hashem, A G-d, the Most High, maker of heaven and earth, if so much as a thread to a shoestrap; or if I shall take from anything of yours!  So you shall not say, "It is I who made Abram rich.  Far from me!  only what the young men have eaten, and the share of the men who accompanied me:  Aner, Eshcol, and Mamre---they will take their portion."  

       Genesis 15:18-21  

Hashem said to Abram, "Know with certainty that your offspring shall be aliens in a land not their own---and they will serve them, and they will oppress them---400 years,   but also the nation that they will serve, I shall judge and afterwards they will leave with great wealth.  As for you: you shall come to your ancestors in peace;  you shall be buried in a good old age.  And the 4th generation shall return here, for the iniquity of the Amorite shall not yet be full until then.  

On that day Hashem (G-d) made a covenant with Abram:  "To your descendants have I given this land, from the river of Egypt to the great river, the Euphrates River:  the Kennite, the Kenizzite, and the Kadmonite;  the Hittite, the Perizzite, and the Rephaim;  the Amorite, the Canaanite, the Gingashite, and the Jebusite.  

 

Rape In Bible Days: Simeon and Levi, Two of Twelve Sons Of Jacob

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

Jacob had one daughter that was listed in our Torah.  It was Dinah.According to biblical chronology, the patriarch Jacob lived from roughly 1836 to 1689 BCE, or alternatively 1652 to 1505 BCE depending on the exact calculation used for the Hebrew calendar. Modern historical scholarship views him as a legendary figure rather than a historically confirmed individual as most of them must not Jewish.     

                 A must to read about our Jewish feelings about G-d
              

     Leah                                  Rachel             Zilpah           Bilhah

                                         The Abduction: 

Dinah, the daughter of Jacob and Leah, went to visit the local women in the city of Shechem. She was abducted and raped by the local prince, also named Shechem.  Ref: Genesis, Bereishis 34:2ff; birth 30:2ff.  Shechem was the son of Hamor the Hivvite, prince of the region who took her away and raped her, then fell in love with her.  He then appealed to Dinah's emotions and asked his father if he could marry her.  SO....Shechem's father, Hamor, proposed peace and intermarriage between their two peoples. The brothers pretended to agree, but on the condition that all the men of the city be circumcised.  The Hivites were an ancient group of Canaanite people described in the Old Testament as one of the indigenous nations inhabiting the land of Canaan prior to the Israelite conquest. Their name is widely believed to derive from a Hebrew word meaning "villagers" or "tent-dwellers," implying they were primarily nomadic or rural.  But Hamor had a gate.......

Shechem even  had all the people who departed through the gate of his city listened to Hamor and his son Shechem, and all the males----all those who depart through the gate of his city----were circumcised.  The city had to meet the standards of Jacob and marriage of his people to their people by being circumcized, they thought, though there is a lot more to being of their belief than that.

  Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his only daughter when his sons were with his cattle in the field;  and kept silent until their arrival at home.  He had been hoping to find tranquility in Eretz Yisrael, but now his family had to experience a moral outrage upon its own flesh and blood from its beginning.  His reaction was to not tolerate what others might consider commonplace.

The brothers of Dinah intended to rescue Dinah while the Shechemites were weak and ill, but Simeon and Levi, full brothers, acted on their own, and carried out a death sentence on all the males of Hamor.  On the 3rd day, when all were in pain, Simeon and Levi took their sword and they went to Hamor City and killed every Then they took Dinah from Shechem's house and left.  

Then they plundered the city;  their flocks, their cattle, their donkeys, whatever was in the city and in the field, they took;  all their wealth, all their children and wives they took captive and they plundered, as well as everything in the house.  

Jacob said to Simeon and Levi, "You have discomposed me, making me odious among the people of the land, among the Canaanite and among the Perizzite;  I am few in number and should they band together and attack me, I will be annihilated----I and my household. (It's admirable that he accepts the blame as the father of these boys, something rarely seen today.) The 2 boys then said, "Should we treat our sister like a harlot?  

Jacob had to make amends to G-d. He must have now inherited all the female family left of Hamor.   He was told to go to Beth-el and live now, make an altar there so he told all those living with him to get rid of all their clothing, get rid of any alien gods you have with you ,  and they did so, including rings in their ears, and Jacob buried them underneath the terebinth near Shechem.  No one chased after them as they were afraid of Jacob's tribe.  After that episode, Jacob's name was changed to Israel by G-d.  It was at Beth-el that G-d had spoken to him.   

By what right they did so halachically is discussed by the major commentators.  Whatever the interpretation of the legal statue of the attack on the city, the other nine brothers apparently refused to take part in the attack, and Jacob was sharply critical of Simeon and Levi.             

Genesis 49: The Blessing of Jacob’s Sons…

In his deathbed blessing recorded in ⁠Genesis 49 NIV, Jacob pronounces a harsh rebuke rather than a traditional blessing upon his second and third sons, Simeon and Levi. He condemns their violent massacre of the Shechemites and prophesies that their descendants will be scattered throughout Israel.   Jacob distances himself from their ruthless actions, famously declaring:

"Simeon and Levi are brothers—their swords are weapons of violence. Let me not enter their council, let me not join their assembly... Cursed be their anger, so fierce, and their fury, so cruel! I will scatter them in Jacob and disperse them in Israel." — Genesis 49:5-7 NIV  Instead of cursing the men themselves, Jacob curses their unchecked rage and declares that their tribes will be stripped of the concentrated influence they would have had as dominant groups.

Notice, it was not Simeon and Levi that ever raped anyone but the story tells of them punishing those who possibly made it acceptable in their culture;    one of the reasons the Israelites did not want to marry outside their tribal people.   

Going forward from Jacob we have Judah***, Perez, Hezron, Ram and Caleb, Amminadab, Salma, Boaz, Obed, Jesse and King David!!!

Moses was the leader of the Exodus.  He was the son of Amram, a Levite, and Jochebed.  Jews follow the teaching of Moses.  To besmirch Moses as a bad guy is besmirching our religion and is highly anti-Semitic.  

Resource:

Tanach, (old Testament)  the Stone Edition