The Famous City of Sidon, Lebanon Hit By Today's Israeli Drone

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

                                                 Sidon, Lebanon

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu urged the Lebanese citizens to join Israel's fight against Hezbollah again.  Fighting has continued despite an April ceasefire which was not observed by either Israel or Hezbollah and a conditional truce announced last week after Lebanese-Israeli talks in Washington.  During this period, Israel bombed southern Lebanon and 12 people were killed yesterday, hopefully being Hezbollah.  A border town said 2 municipal employees of which one was a municipal councillor, apprehended by Israeli forces who had approached the IDF, were later released.  

"Lebanon's state-run National News Agency (NNA) reported Israeli strikes on more than 30 locations in southern and eastern Lebanon on Wednesday, including on Tayr Debba and Deir Qanun al-Nahr, and on three towns where Israel's military issued evacuation warnings."

Sidon is a coastal city far from the border that has been relatively spared in major Israeli attacks.  It hosts many displaced people.  An Israeli drone strike on a vehicle was reported, so someone high up the ladder of Hezbollah must have been known to be in it.  

Sidon is an ancient Syrian city now a part of Lebanon.  It was regarded as the capital of the Phoenicians who are termed Sidonians in the Bible and  i Homeric verse.  The city is even mentioned in the Tel elAmerna letters.  Jezebel was of Sidonian origin and introduced its Baal cult into Israel.  Sidon was occupied on several occasions by the Assyrians, and was subject to Persia and was captured by Alexander the Great.  Then later, after falling under Roman domination, it finally lost its independence.  

Sidon officially became part of the modern Lebanese state following World War I, when the League of Nations established the French Mandate of Lebanon in 1920. 

Historically, the city's inclusion in Lebanon's geographic and administrative borders took shape through several key eras: 

• The Ottoman Era (1516–1918): During the 17th century, Sidon heavily flourished and was rebuilt under the patronage of Fakhr ad-Dīn II, a renowned semi-independent ruler of Lebanon. 
• The French Mandate (1920): Following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, Sidon was integrated into the newly created State of Greater Lebanon under French administration. 
• Independent Lebanon (1943): Upon Lebanon gaining independence in 1943, Sidon became one of the major cultural, historic, and economic hubs in the southern part of the country.                                                
  
                                        Prime Minister Nawaf Sllam
• Prime Minister Nawaf Salam: Serving as the Head of Government, the Prime Minister is historically a Sunni Muslim and directs the cabinet.

• Previously, he served as Lebanon’s ambassador and permanent representative to the United Nations and represented Lebanon in the U.N. Security Council in 2010 and 2011. He was a member of the Lebanese National Electoral Law Commission, the Lebanese National Commission of UNESCO, and the executive bureau of the Socio-Economic Council of Lebanon. In addition to stints in private law practice early in his career, he taught at American University of Beirut and Sorbonne University in Paris. Salam is author of numerous books, essays and articles, including several works in the fields of international, constitutional, electoral, and Islamic law, as well as on international organizations and international affairs. In 2019, he gave the keynote address at the Harvard International Law Journal 60th Anniversary Symposium, titled “Reflections on International Law in Changing Times.”Born in Beirut in 1953, Salam belongs to a prominent family in Lebanon. Both his uncle and cousin served as the Lebanese prime minister. His wife, Sahar Baassiri, is a journalist who also served as Lebanon’s ambassador and permanent delegate to UNESCO. 

  
  
  
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President Joseph Aoun:  Serving as the Head of State, the President is historically a Maronite Christian. Joseph Aoun previously served as the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces.  The President  and Prime Minister Nawaf Salam rule Lebanon today. Both leaders assumed their roles in early 2025 following a period of political deadlock, taking office to help navigate the country through ongoing peace negotiations and economic recovery.  Lebanon operates under a parliamentary democratic republic that uses a sectarian power-sharing system. The formal powers of governance are divided among its top leaders: Joseph Aoun (born January 10, 1964, Sin el Fil, Lebanon) is the president of Lebanon (2025– ) and was previously the commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces (LAF; 2017–25). Having overseen the army amid popular unrest in 2019 and during Israel’s invasion in 2024, he is generally considered a neutral and trusted figure within Lebanon’s polarized and sometimes sectarian political system.

Hezbollah has never officially taken over the Lebanese state. Instead, it operates as a powerful political party, a heavily armed militant force, and a parallel organization that controls significant social services and institutions in the regions under its influence.

• 1992: Hezbollah participated in national elections for the first time, securing eight seats in the Lebanese Parliament. 
• 2005: The group entered the national cabinet for the first time. Since then, it has maintained an active role in government, frequently leveraging its political and military power to veto government decisions or collapse administrations when its demands are not met. 
2018: Hezbollah and its political allies reached the peak of their parliamentary influence, securing a majority in the general election. However, this coalition lost its parliamentary majority in the 2022 elections.

While Hezbollah’s formidable military and political presence heavily dictates Lebanon's broader governance, domestic affairs, and foreign policy, the country maintains a multiconfessional democratic system that includes a multitude of rival parties, factions, and a sovereign national government.

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Resource:

https://www.britannica.com/place/Sidon

https://www.france24.com/en/middle-east/20260611-israeli-strikes-kill-12-in-lebanon-as-netanyahu-urges-fight-against-hezbollah

Moses, Continuation Meeting the Amaleks, Living For A Reason

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

Moses had Dan fight with the Amaleks who attacked the last of the marchers of the Exodus that were the slower ones.  It was like animals who attacked herds of others;  they waited for the weak and the babies.                                

The Amaleks were almost always hostile to Israel.  They were nomads wandering between Southern lands and Canaan.  They attacked the Israelites in the desert near Rephidim shortly after the Exodus, slaying the weak and weary. 

Israel regards Amaleks as an eternal foe, the extermination of which was a national mission as told in Exod. 17:  13-16, incompletely carried out later by King Saul in I Sam. 15.  During the period of Judges (12th-11th centuries BCE), the Amaleks penetrated Western Eretz Yisrael at various points and their presence was a standing threat to the peace of the country. Later they invaded Southern Juddea and burned down the town of Ziklag.  King David fought and defeated them heavily with only 400 of them escaping told in I Sam.30l.  In the reign of Hezekiah (720-690 BCE) the tribe of Simeon overwhelmed the Amalekites and settled in their territory.   During Purim we read about the story of Haman, who was the "Agagite" in Esther 3:1 and is regarded as a descendant of Agag, king of Amaleks, as told in 1 Samuel 15:33.  I could easily think of Hamas and Hezbollah of today as their descendants as well. 

Moses and Aaron talked the Pharaoh into letting the Slaves go who agreed after going through 10 plagues and they were prepared to leave and got as far as the Sea, sea of Reeds, but his army was drowning in it.  The 2 million had successfully crossed first.  

After several marches and a severe battle with the Amalekites, Moses led the people to Mt. Horeb in the Sinai wilderness which was Mt. Sinai.  After arriving there, Moses received the TEN COMMANDMENTS by divine revelation.  He then taught the people an entire legal code, expounded the sacrificial practice, gave instructions for the erection of the TABERNACLE and, on the advice of Jethro, organized a judicial system.  There were 613 commandments in all, but we do follow most of them in daily living. 

                            striking the rock to get water

Moses had argued at the beginning of the march with many of the people.  Some had found it a hard way to live and wanted to return to Egypt. They seemed to remember their favorite foods that weren't available on this march.  They forgot the stings of the whips.   His 1st attempt to penetrate Canaan with such a group failed.  Between the 2nd and 39th year of the Exodus, we don't know how they all managed.  In the latter year, he tried to bring into Canaan the new generation that had grown up in the wilderness and successfully fought the Amorites, the Moabites, the Midianites and Bashan---all in Transjordania.                             

 Before his death at age 120, he appointed Joshua as his successor.   He said his good-byes in the form of a public address by summarizing the events of the past 40 years and the main legislation laid down at Sinai.  He blessed the people, gave them guidance for their life in Canaan, and died at a place unknown to posterity, for he didn't want to be worshipped. 

 He taught them that there was only one unseen G-d.  This was a new and unique religion to be observed in its own land.  The basis was complete.  It was and is Monotheism and a loyalty to G-d, the Creator and Father of all.  Israel was to be a holy nation and a model to other people.   Moses gave it form and substance and had been nurture by the patriarchs.  

Traditionally, the entire Pentateuch was written by Moses himself.  There are many legends about him found in Jewish literature.  Remember, he wrote this as the Five Books Of Moses, the father of monotheism.  He taught us how to treat others, how to be moral.  Any author of today trying to screw this aim up got it all wrong. To besmirch his good name is a form of anti-Semitism.  He was not even able to act like todays soldiers in a jungle doing things they would later have PTSD over, as I have found to be happening.  Our Moses expected the best of us, so had to expect the best in himself.   

Moses, Leader of 603,550 people Out Of Slavery Of 400 Years

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

     12 Tribes of Israel, Others, slaves of Egypt, Leaving

Moses of the tribe of Levi, the Lawgiver of Judaism, prophet for his people, and founder of the Jewish religion, was born in Egypt to  Jochabed and Amram in 1391 BCE, slaves of the Egyptians, 3,417 years ago in the city of Avaris, in Goshen. Levites did not have a state of their own, commanded to live in all of them to teach their religion. Avaris, the ancient Hyksos capital in the eastern Nile Delta, is most famously referred to in the Bible as Rameses (or Raamses). In the book of Exodus (1:11), it is described as one of the "store cities" built by the Israelites for Pharaoh.                                      

    Egypt's Goshen area and area of Canaan where slaves came from

The people first taken into slavery had been the children, descendants of Jacob and his family of Israelites, for the past 400 years. To understand time; that's like the 1900's when horse and buggies were being used for transportation to the time of 2300 or today.  However, Egypt in that period was not inventing new transportation at all.  They had slaves to do everything.  The Israelite slaves were used to build storage buildings needed in Goshen, so they lived there.                      

Moses and been saved by the pharaoh's daughter at a time boy babies were thought by the pharaoh to grow up and take over Egypt, so they had them all killed that year, and Moses was in great danger.  His mother hid him in the bull rushes growing in the Nile's marshy shallows that emptied into the Mediterranean Sea.  

He was raised as  Prince, so one day he saw an overseer whipping a slave almost to his death, and he stopped him but the overseer fell, hit his head and died in the process.  

 I imagine this is the same chariot that Moses used to get to Midian.

Even a Prince couldn't do that legally so Moses hid his body and left town, seeking refuge in Midian (Saudi Arabia) , a land next to Egypt, making it 420-440 miles to Midian. 

 

He came upon several women who were watching their sheep and being harassed by some other men, and Moses stepped into help them.  That's how he met his wife, Zipporah, daughter of the local priest, Jethro.  He spent his life there, becoming father of 2 sons, Gershom and Eliezer  until he was 80 years old, and then felt he must go back after seeing and hearing a vision in a burning bush, burning unusually from something other than fire,  and help his people escape from slavery. He felt it was a message from G-d.  

He followed the route he had taken 40 some years before back to Egypt and found in the slave's homes his brother, Aaron.  They went together to plead with a younger pharaoh for the Slaves to be freed.

Aaron did the talking as Moses had a lisp.  Snakes of each decided the debate of letting the slaves go with Moses.                                             

After some quick preparation, the people were ready to leave, and Moses took a census and counted 603,550 male Israelite slaves with others mixed in the tribes with:  The book of Numbers explains that before the camp was arranged, a census was taken of the Israelite men who were able to fight. More than 600,000 men were counted, not including women and children (Numbers 1:45-46). This means the camp may have included over two million people, making it like a moving city in the wilderness.

Reuben:  46,500       Zebulun:  57,400     Asher:       41,500

Simeon:  59,300      Dan:         62,700     Ephraim:   40,500

Judah:     74,600     Naphtali   53,400      Manasseh: 32,200

Issachar:  54,400    Gad          45,650      Benjamin:  35, 400

By day, a pillar of cloud rested over the Tabernacle, and by night, a pillar of fire lit up the camp (Exodus 40:36-38). When the cloud of God’s presence lifted from the Tabernacle, the Israelites would pack up and march in the same order as their camp. 1. Judah’s tribe led the way, followed by 2. Reuben’s, then the 3. Levites carrying the holy objects, then 4. Ephraim’s tribe, and finally 5.Dan’s tribe as the rear guard. This order protected the Israelites and kept them together on their journey through the wilderness.

During their wilderness journey, the Israelites camped at night under the brilliant glow of the pillar of fire. Organized by tribe, the massive encampment featured thousands of tents surrounding the central Tabernacle, with Moses' Tent of Meeting placed at a distance for communing directly with God. 

       Fighting against  the Amaleks 

Moses had learned how to move army groups in his Egyptian classes, so knew how to have them make camp at night, and how to walk during the day.  I doubt if his training had allowed for women to give birth, or rest so many, at times..  The men did have to fight off attackers, though, as they went through certain towns, and the Amaleks were after them, too.  The ones last in the Exodus line were attacked as slower people were there, the aged, more feeble ones finding it hard to keep up.  

Resource:

The Tanach (Old Testament, the Stone Edition, ArtScroll series.

                                                       

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.