End of Days and Messiah Nearing Talk with Yalkut Shimoni Literature

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                

The world is going to pot-and maybe pot is helping it to happen, I don't know.

Chatter on the web is about the end of days bringing on the Messiah.  We Jews differ in our expectations about such a figure, and so people interpret what they read in the Bible quite differently.
                                                                       

I'm going to prophesize something right now.  The Messiah the Jews are waiting for is to be from the House of David, King of Israel in ancient days.  He was the son of Jesse who was from the tribe of Judah.  As a direct descendant, he had the same haplogroup of DNA as Aaron and Moses, and that is J1, the Cohen gene.  The Messiah will be a Cohen  with the J1 Y haplogroup in the synagogue.  
                                                                         

First of all, the Yalkut Shimoni that someone just stumbled on and the buzz is all about are facts found that are to happen to bring on the Messiah.  

It happens to be  a midrashic collection relating to all the books of the Bible or Tanakh, but not the New Testament of the Christians or the Koran of Islam.  It was said to be compiled by Simeon Ha-Darshan presumably of Frankfort-on-Main (in Germany) in the 13th century.   The work preserves many sections from Midrashim which are no longer in existence.  Many Jews had gone to Germany and France after 70 CE when the 2nd Temple fell and Worms in Germany was a city where many Rabbis lived and worked together.  They were probably from the Sanhedrin group.

The word Midrash means finding of new meaning in addition to the literal one in the Scriptures.  Talmudic tradition has certain rules to deduce such hidden and new meanings.  Midrashic literature are Rabbinic books containing biblical interpretations in the spirit of the Aggadah (oral law) not pertaining to laws of our daily activities) .  Aggadic literature extends over 1,000 years from tannaitic times (when Hillel and Shammai died 1st century BCE) to the 10th century.  The Midrash Rabbah is a collection of aggadic Midrashim to the Pentateuch and 5 megillot composed of Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Song of Songs, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiates, and Esther.  These books come from different periods and differ among themselves in their general character.
                                                                             

Talk about finding new meanings.  The Bible Code is something discovered by an Israeli mathematician, Dr. Eliyahu Rips,  who is also an orthodox Jew, and he has found meaning under the literal words using the computer and a complex code system that actually was started long ago by scientists before computers.   The Bible Code is different from using Moby Dick and putting that through the computer to find codes in that the material of the bible has a lot to do with the code found. First of all, the Bible in Hebrew was used.  It was Michael Drosnin who really promoted the ability to use the computer to find hidden meanings under the words of the bible, like a mechanical midrash at work.  What was surprising for Rips was finding a prophecy that PM Rabin would be assassinated and he was.  He tried to tell him but he didn't listen.  Usually they find information after it has happened. UPdate: http://www.realbiblecodes.com/blog/people/.  This is worth checking.  It has continued charts for this year on subjects of interest.  
                                                                         

 But as Einstein said, " THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE IS ONLY AN ILLUSION, HOWEVER PERSISTENT.

However, it has been discovered in the Yalkut Shimoni that goes back to 1310 or earlier such things as:
1. All the nations of the world are provoking each other.
2. The king of Persia (Iran) (Ayatollah)  provokes an Arab King and the Arab King turns to Aram (Syria) for advice.  Well, he turned to all the Arab nations who have now united, and the scuttlebut I just heard is that Israel has joined them quietly.
3. The king of Persia goes back and destroys the entire world.  (They are getting their way with Kerry and group on nuclear matters.  Deadline is tomorrow March 31st).  This is what Netanyahu is trying to prevent from happening.
4. All the nations are in a panic and distress and they fall upon their faces and are seized with pains like those of a woman giving birth.
5. And Israel peoples are in a panic and distress and asking, "where shall we go?" and ...their time of redemption has come...This means the Messiah will appear.
                                                                             

This Yalkut Shimoni warns of a conflict in the Middle East involving the Arab nations and Persia/Iran which causes Israel and Netanyahu to be in fear.

According to other Jewish writings, the coming of the Messiah will be preceded by days of spiritual decline and trouble.
1. Insolence will abound.
2. The young will make the faces of the elderly grow ashen with shame; sons will disgrace their fathers, daughters will rise up against their mothers, members of one family will become his enemies.
                                                                         

3.  The government will turn atheist and there will be no protest.  Truth will vanish.    Sanhedrin 97a, Sotah 49b. 
                                                                             

4. The Talmud describes a time which will be scientifically and technologically advanced to the extent that it will have the power to destroy the world.  (Midrash Rabbah on song of Songs 2:29)  

The prophets speak of a time of unique trouble.  We've always had trouble and wars, but never has there been power in one country's hands that could destroy everyone on this planet such as atomic power.  It beats swords and bombs anytime.  Ask Japan.  

The Jewish concept of a Messiah is quite different from the Christian one.  It does mean king, however, someone who has been anointed (made official).  In this case he must also have Divine sanctions.  He's to be from the House of David.  Today we have DNA and I have found that Abraham must have had the J1 haplogroup, also passed on to   the 12 sons of Jacob as it goes from father to son like a tag on clothing.  It would also be the haplogroup of Ishmael, Abraham's first son by Hagar the Egyptian.   It would have also been the haplogroup of King David, son of Jesse of the tribe of Judah.  So any Messiah today has to have the J1 (Cohen Gene) and most likely would be a Cohen in the synagogue.  

The Messiah would be a person who would bring about the political and spiritual redemption of the people Israel through the ingathering of the Jews to their ancestral home of Eretz Yisrael and the restoration of Jerusalem to its spiritual glory.  This has been happening.  

The Messiah  would bring about an era marked by the moral perfection of all mankind and the harmonious coexistence of all people free of war, fear, hatred, and intolerance.  Isaiah and Micah can be read to find this.  Such an era has never happened so far.  

We've seen plenty of false messiahs in our time and had been warned about them by Moses.  One as late as in 1889 declared himself the Messiah in Yemen.  Our general Bar Kokhba was acclaimed by many in the year 131 to be the Messiah as he fought against the Romans for 3 years, longer than any other Roman adversary.  Through him, Jews had moved back into Jerusalem after being kept out.  Our Messiah is to be a human being, never a god, for we believe in one unseen G-d.  

Frequent predictions as to its timing were based on the Book of Daniel and other biblical passages.  When Jews revolted against the Romans from 115-117  after the Romans had burned down the 2nd Temple in 70 CE, the revolt itself had a messianic content and this last revolt with Bar Kokhba also seemed messianic.  

Gershom Gorenberg wrote THE END OF DAYS-fundamentalism and the struggle for the Temple Mount, and that certainly is going on and held at bay by PM Netanyahu whose cabinet is allowing Jordan to preside over this awesome place where the 2nd Temple used to stand an a mosque now sits over it.  You can see the problem already, I hope.  As the flap of his book says, passions are aroused by the Temple Mount.  Conflict over who Jerusalem belongs to is rooted not only in the past but even more in expectations of the future and the fiery belief in apocalypse has a very real impact on contemporary life and international politics.  
Jerusalem, capital of Israel regardless of who will recognize it,  is one city under one Israeli mayor and is to stay that way.  The fight is in east Jerusalem which the Palestinian Authority wants to take over as their capital.  Jerusalem's other name is City of David.  King David built this city up from the few piles of stone that had been started by more ancient than the HABIRU/ Hebrew people, the Canaanites.  David had captured this spot in 1010 BCE and became his capital.  

There are lots of other signs.  One is the lunar eclipses known as 4 blood moons with 4 dark suns.  The first 2 happened last year  on Passover and Sukkot.  The 2nd pair are to happen this year, same time.  They've only happened 3 other times in history:
1. 1492 during expulsion from Spain and finding New World by Columbus
2. 1948 with birth of Israel
3. 1967 Six Day War

A Jewish teaching is that the messiah is more likely to come during the months of Tishrei and Nissan.   Passover is on Friday night, 3rd of April  (14th of Nissan).  Succot starts on 29th of September (16 of Tishrei).  

Claimants of the Messianic title were judged as follows:

. Did he succeed in accomplishing what the Messiah was supposed to accomplish?

None qualified.  The Messianic era has been ahead of us Jews and may be upon us now or very soon.  The reestabishment of a Jewish State in our times and the restoration of a united Jerusalem as the capital of that State has led many devout Jews to hope that these times may be the beginning of that process of redemption that will ultimately lead to the realization of all the other ideals inherent in the Messianic belief.  

This is the Jewish year of 5775.  Is there a plan for only 6,000 years?  Chabad's answer is "The Talmud tells us that this world, as we know it, will last for six thousand years, with the seventh millennium ushering in the cosmic Shabbat, the Messianic Era. Six days a week we work, and on the Shabbat we rest and enjoy the fruits of our labor; the same is true with millenniums.

However, it is certainly possible for Moshiach to come earlier. And we believe, hope, and pray each day that this is the day when Moshiach will come. This is also analogous to the weekly Shabbat, which we have the prerogative of ushering in early on Friday afternoon.

So yes, we don't know exactly when Moshiach will come, but we do know that it will be before the year 6000. "  That gives us the next 225 years or less to play with, my friends.  Let us hope for an end to atomic bombing and frightening wars and IS cutting off heads.  

Resource: http://www.jerusalemonline.com/news/world-news/the-jewish-world/op-ed-will-the-messiah-come-soon-12561
The New Jewish Encyclopedia
Book:  To Be a Jew by Rabbi Hayim Halevy Donin
Bible Code I, II and III Saving the World by Michael Drosnin; 3 separate books by Drosnin
http://www.cogwriter.com/six_thousand_year_plan_6000.htm
http://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/607585/jewish/Significance-of-the-year-6000.htm

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Jews During Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium) and the European Union

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                

As I watch what is happening in the UN and Europe to Israel, I am reminded to the Byzantium position towards Judaism and Jews of long ago.  There's not much difference between how Europeans feel towards the resumption of Israel and Jews today. 

 Today's difference is that many Arab countries such as Iran would like to take over Israel and the European Union most likely would like to do the same, just as the Byzantine suzerainty did in the year 390.  That's when Palestine, named as Palaestina by the Romans in 135, divided the land into the provinces of Palestina Prima, Palestina Secunda and Palestina Tertia.  These provinces were part of the Diocese of the East.  The difference is that back in the ancient days, the Empire's people spoke Greek but called themselves the Roman Empire.
                                                                           

Byzantine Empire 527-566

What's the difference between an EMPIRE and the European UNION?  An EMPIRE has ABSOLUTE authority and is a major political unit having a territory of great extent or a number of territories or peoples under a single sovereign authority.  An emperor acts as chief of state.  It can be something held to resemble a political empire, an extensive territory or enterprise under single domination or control   

The European Union is a group of European countries that participates in the world economy as one economic unit and operates under one official currency, the euro. The EU's goal is to create a barrier-free trade zone and to enhance economic wealth by creating more efficiency within its marketplace.The current formalized incarnation of the European Union was created in 1993 with 12 initial members. Since then, many additional countries have since joined. The EU has become one of the largest producers in the world, in terms of GDP, and the euro has maintained a competitive value against the U.S. dollar.

EU and non-EU members must agree to many legal requirements in order to trade with the EU member states.   It's an association of European nations formed in 1993 for the purpose of achieving political and economic integration. Incorporating the European Community, the European Union's member states are Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France,Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia,Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands,Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.

1. 
   
   

   

   Today the leader of the EU is the German Angela Merkel, born July 1954, who grew up in East Germany, and was elected in 2005 as the first female German chancellor and clinched a third four-year term last December, making her the longest-serving elected EU head of state.  
2. The EU position today regarding Israel continues to be the 2 State solution regardless of the past 66 years of non-negotiable Arab position.  They do not understand why Netanyahu feels that there is no way to go around this at this time.  
3. "Borders: the EU considers that the future Palestinian state will require secure and recognised borders. These should be based on a withdrawal from the territory occupied in 1967 with minor modifications mutually agreed, if necessary, in accordance with UNSC Resolutions 242, 338, 1397, 1402 and 1515 and the principles of the Madrid Process. ( The reference found had nothing to say about the borders for a secure Israel). 
4. Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory: on 8 December 2008 the EU confirmed its deep concern about recent accelerated settlement expansion. This expansion prejudges the outcome of final status negotiations and threatens the viability of an agreed two-state solution. The EU considers that settlement building anywhere in the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, is illegal under international law.   (Notice their website mentions towns in so called Palestinian territory that is occupied.)  It's dodging the bullet on the fact that the Palestinian Arabs attacked and caused a war that ended with Israel winning back land officially deemed by the League of Nations and UN to be the Jewish National Homeland-with Britain holding the mandate and then changing their minds in allowing Abdullah I to have it in 1948.  The Arabs lost the land to Israel.  Israelis were building in their own land, not occupied Palestinian territory!    The Byzantium Empire reasoning is entering the EU's minds again on this point.  
5. "12 March 2015 – Strasbourg – The AJC Transatlantic Institute is dismayed at a European Parliament resolution that calls on EU member states to back discriminatory policies against Israel at the UN Human Rights Council (HRC).
   In its resolution, the European Parliament called on the EU to “re-engage with Item 7 of the HRC.” Agenda item 7 indicts Israel alone among all the nations of the world for special scrutiny in violation of the UN’s own charter commitment to “equality of all nations large and small.” Because of this and other discriminatory policies, which both UN Secretaries General Kofi Annan and Ban Ki-moon criticized, Israel stopped cooperating with the HRC in May 2012. As part of the agreement for Israel to return to the HRC, EU Member States agreed to no longer participate in the Agenda Item 7 proceedings."
6. "It is equally deplorable that the European Parliament urged EU governments to publicly support the UN Commission of Inquiry into the Gaza War. In July 2014, EU Member States had refused to back the HRC resolution setting up the Gaza War inquiry because, in the EU’s own words, it is “unbalanced, inaccurate, and prejudges the outcome of the investigation.” The UN resolution creating this inquiry condemned Israel 18 times but, as the EU also pointed out at the time, “fails to condemn explicitly the indiscriminate firing of rockets into Israeli civilian areas as well as to recognize Israel´s legitimate right to defend itself.”  In other words, they condemn Israel but not the Palestinians and would not even admit that Israel had the right to defending itself.  That's as low as you can get.                              

   

   Constantinople, which is Istanbul, Turkey today

7.   The Byzantine Empire is also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, for it was in fact a continuation of the Roman Empire into its eastern part. At its greatest size, during the 500's AD/CE, Byzantine included parts of southern and eastern Europe, the Middle East, and northern Africa.

The Byzantine people called themselves Romans although they were actually descendants of various ancient peoples and they spoke Greek.  In A.D./CE 324 the Emperor of the West, Constantine I, defeated the Emperors of the East, Maxentius and Licinius, in the civil wars of the Tetrarchy.

*The East was ruled by the Sasanids who was the Persian Empire, today's Iran.  They controlled both sides of the Caspian Sea, the eastern part of the Fertile Crescent, and the whole territory between the Tigris and Indus rivers.  Their religion was Zoroastrianism and they spoke Pahlavi, or middle Persian.  Both the Sasanian and Byzantine empires were autocratic, and both used religion as a tool of the state.  

The EU in the UN go along with ignoring the faults of all the countries in the world except one who they pile on imaginary faults;  Israel.  When the Byzantine Empire began to rule, this legally recognized religious group of Jews were generally tolerated, but then were put into periods of tensions and persecutions.  After the Arab conquests, about in 632, the majority of Jews found themselves outside the Empire.  Those inside the borders lived in relative peace from the 10th century on.

Constantinople was founded in 330.  Back in 212, a Roman emperor named Marcus Antoninus Aurelius Caracalla  bestowed citizenship on all its residents including the Jews.  He was a lot like his father, Septimius Severus who tended to favor the Jews.  He has been identified by some with Antoninus, the friend of Judah Ha-Nasi( 135-220) , a Palestinian Jew and redactor of the Mishnah.  He was the son and successor of Rabbi Simeon ben Gamaliel II.  He was the political as well as religious head of the Palestinian Jewish community and was obliged to maintain close relations with the Roman authorities.  One catch, the Jews could practice their faith as long as they paid the Fiscus Judaicus.  For example, circumcision was considered mutilation and therefore punishable by death if performed on a NON-JEWISH CHILD, and punished by exile if performed on a non-Jewish adult, but was legal within Jewish religious practices.

Constantinople was the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire which  then went by the title of the Byzantium Empire.  This lasted until the year 637 and its holdings included Palestine.  Jews were present in Byzantium from its foundations in the 4th century.  As the Eastern emperors developed their specific religious attitudes, the position of the Jews, especially their religious life, deteriorated.

The Roman Empire practiced Roman polytheism until 380 when they adopted Orthodox Christianity.  It survived the fragmentation and fall of the Western Roman Empire in the 5th century AD/CE and continued to exist for an additional thousand years until it fell to the Ottoman Turks in 1453..

Jews were unique during the entire history of the Byzantine Empire just as they are today.  They didn't belong to the Christian Eastern Orthodox faith which was the state religion, nor were they grouped together with heretics and pagans.  Their legal position was somewhere in the middle and varied with time and the theological desire of the state to maintain the Jews as a living testament to the victory of Christianity, the desire of the state to strengthen its control, and the ability of centralized rule from Constantinople to enforce its legislation.

THEODOSIAN CODE: 404-527.    In 404 Jews were excluded from some governmental posts.  In 418 they were barred from the civil service and from all military positions.  In 425 they were excluded from all remaining public offices, both civilian and military.  Justinian I repeated these.

Justinian (527-565) had a code.  It included elaborate anti-Jewish laws.  He issued a decree in 553 which interfered with the conduct of the synagogue services.

Heraclius was reported in about 614 to have issued an edict ordering the conversion of the Jews.

The practice of Judaism was formally forbidden by successive emperors-by Leo in 723, by Basil 1 in 873-4, by Romanus Lucapenus in 932-6, etc.

It wasn't until about 1170 that Jewish life reestablished itself and Benjamin of Tudela found communities throughout the Empire, though he emphasized that in Constantinople itself they were treated with contempt.  Jews remained in the Byzantine Empire until the last remnant was conquered by the Turks in 1453.

The Byzantine Empire was very unfair to Jews. It was a conglomeration of many countries under one rule.   Now the EU, also a conglomeration of many countries under one rule,  has become unfair to the Jews of Israel, 6 million of them.  

Resource:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_Empire
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_the_Byzantine_Empire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angela_Merkel
The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/e/europeanunion.asp
http://www.eeas.europa.eu/mepp/eu-positions/eu_positions_en.htm
http://jewishfactsfromportland.blogspot.com/2014/05/rigging-un-post-against-israel-with.html
http://www.transatlanticinstitute.org/?p=1619
*Updated 3/29/15 About the East;  Middle East-Past & Present  textbook, Yahya Armajani and Thomas M. Ricks

Jews in Jeopardy in Yemen: Today's Arena of a War

Nadene Goldfoot                                                         

Ofra Haza, (Nov. 19, 1957-Feb 23, 2000)born in Tel Aviv, Israel of Yemenite parents, famous singer

Yemen, where 46,000-50,000 Jews were taken to Israel in 1949-1950 via Operation Magic Carpet, is now in big trouble, and though only about 1,400 Jews had been left there, those today are in big trouble finding themselves in today's escalating conflict. 

 Israel thought they had just about liquidated the Jews from Yemen in this lift.  The majority of the Yemenite Jews had made their way to Aden from where they were flown to Israel, since Egypt didn't permit their passage through the Suez Canal at this time.  The project began in the fall of 1949 and lasted for a year.   Iran-backed rebels are trying to take control of Yemen and Saudi-Arabia soldiers and other Arab forces are trying to stop them.  The Yemeni Jewish community really needs another Magic Carpet to whisk them away.

Ofra had done much for the Mizrachi Jews of Israel.  " (Hebrew: עפרה חזה‎, Arabic: عوفرة حازة‎;she  was not only an Israeli singer, but an actress and international recording artist. Her voice has been described as a "tender" mezzo-soprano.     "Her major international breakthrough came in the wake of the album Shirei Teiman (Yemenite songs), which she recorded in 1984."                                           

Inspired by a love of her Yemenite and Hebrew culture, her music quickly spread to a wider Middle Eastern audience, somehow bridging the divide between Israel and the Arab countries.  To this American Jewess, her Yemenite songs were from Magic Carpet tales.  

Yemen was one of the places where people had converted to Judaism as they were not hindered by the Christian dictum in Europe's Byzantium Empire  that did not permit this though Europe insisted that Jews convert to Christianity.  Yemen, the SW part of Arabia, was a land that Jews had been living in in biblical days; even the era of the 1st Temple of King Solomon who died in 922 BCE.  In fact Jewish tribes had been living in Medina, Arabia.  At first there were about 3,000 Jews living in Yemen.  Then, conversions to Judaism started under Abu Karib Asad who ruled from 390 to 420 CE and who converted.  He propagated his new faith among his subjects.  This was before Islam which started with Mohammad (570-632 CE).  Judaism became widely spread among Bedouin tribes of Southern Arabia.  Jewish converts were also found with the Hamdan, a northern Yemenite tribe.  It was the upper strata of society who became Jewish.  

Judaism reached its zenith under Dhu Nuwas.  This Arabian king was the last ruler of the independent Himyarite kingdom and he used the name of Yusuf (Joseph) after he gained the throne in 518.    "One Syriac source appears to suggest that the mother of Dhū Nuwās may have been herself a Jew hailing from the Mesopotamian city of Nisibis.  If so, this would place her origins within the Sassanid imperial sphere, and would illuminate possible political reasons for his later actions against the Christians of Arabia, who were natural allies of the Byzantine Empire."  According to legend, he retaliated for the persecution of Jews in the Byzantine empire and put to death some Byzantine merchants who came to his kingdom.   Sadly, When he died in 525 CE and his kingdom suffered a downfall, Christianity gained ground in southern Arabia, especially among the former converts to Judaism.  What had happened was that his forces had the soldiers of the  Christian city of Najran  surrender to him in about 523.  He invited the people to embrace Judaism but when they refused, he executed many of them.  He was killed and his kingdom was destroyed in a combined attack by Abyssinia and Byzantium.  Even so, some of the Yemenite rulers were Jewish.

Islam was created and spread quickly.  the Jews of Yemen were spared the fate of their coreligionists in Hejaz (Arabia.)  All non-Muslims had to make a payment of special taxes and the people were called Dhimmis, living under special laws, but Mohammed assured the Yemeni Jews protection and freedom of religion.  At any rate, no news came out of the land about what was really going on and their position must have been precarious, especially after the establishment of Shi-ite rule in the country in the early 10th century.  

The men only were educated in Jewish traditional studies.  They knew Hebrew and Aramaic very well besides their Arabic.  The Kabbalah was popular among them.  Out of their group they produced several liturgical poets, the most famous being Shalom SHABBAZI who lived in the late 17th century in Taiz, south of Sanaa.  He was a weaver but occupied himself with kabbalistic literature and gained a saintly reputation.  His tomb is a place of pilgrimage for the Jews of Yemen.  In some of his poems, Hebrew and Arabic are used alternately.  

Yemen then had many sectarian rulers.  Up to modern times, the Jews have been strictly forbidden to ride on animals or wear the same clothes as Muslims.  they have been deprived of their property on the pretext that any semblance of wealth was incompatible with the status assigned to the Jews by G-d.  Jews have constantly suffered from insults and abuses since religious law was interpreted to the effect that unbelievers should be disgraced.  Orphans were converted by force.

Jews usually have been able to live in villages or quarters of their own, but in the late 17th century, after they had been expelled and were not allowed to re-enter their former homes inside the walls, Jewish suburbs sprang up outside the Muslim cities.  

During the 19th century, Yemenite Jewry experienced some messianic movements.  The best known was in the 12th century when a false prophet proclaimed the amalgamation of Judaism and Mohammedanism.  Maimonides, a famous Jewish doctor and philosopher where his Epistle to Yemen in 1172 in reaction to this.  He begged the Jews to listen to the faith of their fathers despite compulsion and persecutions.  Persecutions have kept occurring to these fantastic artisans of silversmithing.  .  

1914 photograph of a Yemenite Jew in traditional vestments under the tallit gadol, reading from a scroll-most likely the Torah.

' Yemeni Jews are generally described as belonging to "Mizrahi Jews", though they differ from the general trend of Mizrahi groups historically which have undergone a process of total or partial assimilation to Sephardic culture and liturgy."

The capital of Yemen is Sanaa.  Some of the war's strikes are hitting this city today.  In the early 19th century, Yemenite Jews were said to have numbered 30,000 and about 1/3 of them were living in Sanaa.  

Today Saudi Arabia launched air strikes targeting military installations in Yemen held by the Shiite rebels storming the country's south.  Iran reacted to this by calling the air strikes a dangerous step that would worsen the crisis in the country.  In the 1980s Iran had a bloody war with Iraq.  They fought till each country was using its young teens as soldiers.  In this war, Iran is supporting the Houthi insurgency.  Iran considers the Saudis as invaders.  

These remaining Jews, possibly only 90 left,  want to move to Israel but they say they have matters to finish tending to and everything is very difficult to do right now.  They are in danger every day.  They want to see their houses but can't since no one wants to buy now.  The Muslim community wants them to leave without getting any money.  That seems to be the only thing holding them back.  They're battling hatred and racism.  When a family needs something, the father goes out to buy it and returns immediately to his home.  In Rayda, one 50 year old father commented that the people next to him are fleeing and leaving.  He said that we are now wasting what we've saved all their lives in an awful situation.  This is so reminiscent of the Syrian refugees who have gone through the same thing, except they weren't hated since they weren't Jewish.  

Resource: http://www.blog.standforisrael.org/articles/yemens-jews-seek-to-escape-deteriorating-conflict#ixzz3VchshYGb

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ofra_Haza
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yemenite_Jews
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dhu_Nuwas
http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/5159-dhu-nuwas-zur-ah-yusuf-ibn-tuban-as-ad-abi-karib

Was German Co-Pilot Andrea Gunter Lubitz Committing Jihad?

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                  

Andreas Gunter Lubitz sitting by the San Francisco Golden Gate  Bridge

On March 24, announced today,  a 27-28 year old German co-pilot,  Andreas Gunter Lubitz, was alone in the pilot's cabin when his Germanwings Airbus A320 plowed into the French Alps while the locked-out pilot was banging on the locked door.  All 150 persons were killed and the plane was minced into little teeny pieces.  The black box voice recorder from the plane was found and it was discovered that he had locked the pilot out of the cabin. "FlightRadar24, an online air tracking service that uses satellite data, said it had found evidence the autopilot was abruptly switched from cruising height to maintain an altitude of just 100 feet, the lowest possible setting."
                                                                             

Of the 150, one  Israeli,  Eyal Baum,  39 years old  from Hod Hasharon was on board the plane.   That was reported on CNN and Haaretz.

"A delegation from the ultra-Orthodox Jewish movement Chabad is traveling to the crash site to help with the recovery 

efforts, Rabbi Eliyahu Attia told Army Radio.  Baum  was co-founder of Bites, "Bites is a participation platform that allows anyone to discover the opinions and wisdom of the crowd by creating engaging polls and trivia questions."

 It appears that Andreas did this on purpose, so it was a mass murder.  There was nothing reported so far to tell why on TV news.
                                                                           

Pamela Geller found this on facebook about him.  Germanwings co-pilot Andreas Lubitz praised on Facebook: " Our holy martyr Lubitz died for our prophet."  Yet the White House was Johnny on the spot to announce to all that this was not a terrorist act before there were 5 minutes into checking on it. When I went into facebook and on his page, it was not there.

Andreas grew up in Montabaur, Germany.  He trained in Bremen, Germany at the Lufthansa Flight Training School in 2008, and in Arizona, USA. "Andreas Lubitz, 27, was a German citizen and started working for Germanwings' parent companyLufthansa at a flight training center outside of Phoenix in 2008, company officials said.

The facility, called Airline Training Center Arizona, was owned by Lufthansa and is used by its pilots in addition to other training locations in Germany, Switzerland and Austria, officials said."  Maybe this was when he went to San Francisco and had his picture taken by the Golden Gate.  

 Breman is the home of  Masjidu-1-Furqan Mosque which was raided  by the police in December, 2014.  That was only 3 months and 20 days ago.  It was raided because it was more of a Salafist mosque, and the Germans accused them of promoting ISIS values and encouraging young Muslims in the city to travel to Syria and Iraq and join the ranks of the group along with Al-Nusra Front.

Now, the thought is that since no one seemed to know of Andreas's religion or if he had any, and it could have been Catholic being Germany has long been a Catholic country, somehow during his training stint in Breman, Andreas might have come in contact with friendly Muslims and had converted.   So far the mosque had been successful in inspiring 8 men, 7 women and 11 juveniles to travel to Syria and join IS.  Was Andreas doing his bit this way?  This would have been mass murder by suicide.

The German police have gone to his home in Dusseldorf.  He also  lived with his parents in Montabaur.  The police  say they have  had a potential breakthrough, but not a suicide note.  Montabaur is 40 miles from Bonn.   Andreas spent time in both Montabaur and Dusseldorf in a flat.

Back in 2008, Andreas's pilot training was interrupted because of mental health problems.  A friend said he was in a depression.  Airline bosses confirmed that Lubitz had taken several months off work and had to retrain to join the firm, but insisted he was 100% fit to fly and had passed all his medical tests.  They don't have any mental health testing for pilots. 1.8 million Germans are alcoholics.  The questions about pilots being alcoholics is not known.  Could this have been Lubitz's problem?

There are 7 mosques within the Dusseldorf area and 6 within the Montabaur area.  "There is an estimated number of 400,000- 500,000 people of Arab origin residing in Germany.   Most Arabs came to Germany in the 1970s, partly as Gastarbeiter from Morocco, the Turkish Province of Mardin (see: Arabs in Turkey) and Tunisia. However, the majority of Arabs are refugees of the conflicts in the Middle East, e.g. the Lebanese Civil War, Palestinian exodus and the recent Iraq War,  Libyan Civil War, and current Syrian civil war. The Arabs in Germany are not a homogenous group, because they originate from about 20 countries.

It has been said that Lubitz had a Muslim girlfriend.  It's very possible he met her at a mosque.

Resource:  http://www.jihadwatch.org/2014/12/germany-police-close-mosque-for-spreading-islamic-state-ideology
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3012053/Andreas-Lubitz-Germanwings-flight-9525-French-alps-crash-French-alps-Germanwings-plane-crash-Airbus-A320-Barcelonnette.html
http://pamelageller.com/2015/03/germanwings-co-pilot-andreas-lubitz-praised-on-facebook-our-holy-martyr-lubitz-died-for-our-prophet.html/  EXCELLENT COVERAGE, PICTURES
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arabs_in_Germany
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/26/us-france-crash-idUSKBN0MK2U020150326
http://www.haaretz.com/news/world/1.648542
CNN
http://www.hngn.com/articles/44263/20140930/german-alcoholics-drug-addicts-being-paid-beer-cigarettes-clean-streets.htm
http://news.yahoo.com/german-security-official-no-indications-germanwings-co-pilot-125040126.html
http://www.timesofisrael.com/family-of-israeli-plane-crash-victim-grieves-awaits-news/
http://abcnews.go.com/International/germanwings-crash-pilot-received-training-arizona/story?id=29923493
update: 3/27/15..1:52pm  http://www.ruthfullyyours.com/2015/03/27/german-pilot-is-he-is-a-muslim-truth-or-rumor-stay-tuned/
update: 3/30/15/12:37pm  http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/4130/islamization-germany  4.3 million Muslims in Germany

How USA Love Grew For Israel

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                     

2nd USA President John Adams (1735-1826)

Founding Father of the United States of America, John Adams, wished that the "Jews" would again have an independent nation in Judea and said this in 1819.  The USA was born in 1776.
                                                                         

Harry S. Truman (1884-1972) 33rd President

In 1948, Harry S. Truman, President of the USA, was the first nation to recognize the reestablishment of the State of Israel. "Truman said that he  decided his policy on the basis of justice, not oil."   He had advisers who were against it.  What had made him amiable to the solution?  He had a wonderful relationship with his Haberdashery partner in the business world before his presidency who was Jewish, and listened to the Israeli's contingent of appeals.  It is said that his wife, Bess did not like Jews.  Bess is actually distantly related to my mother, who converted to Judaism.
                                                                           

John F. Kennedy, 35th President (1917-1963)

President John F. Kennedy said that Israel carries the shield of democracy, and it honors the sword of freedom.                                                                  

Richard Nixon, 37th President (1913-1994)

President Richard M. Nixon replied that "The Israelis have shown qualities that Americans identify with:  guts, patriotism, idealism, and a passion for freedom.
                                                                               

Bill Clinton, 42nd President, (1946)

President Bill Clinton had remarked that "America and Israel share a special bond...Like America, Israel is a strong democracy, a symbol of freedom, and an oasis of liberty."
                                                                           

Barak Hussein Obama 44th President (1961)

There are many nice quotes made by Obama about Israel.  There have also been a lot of negativity lately.  Some quotes he has said are:
1. “The ultimate goal is two states for two people:  Israel as a Jewish state and the homeland for the Jewish people and the State of Palestine as the homeland for the Palestinian people -- each state in joined self-determination, mutual recognition, and peace.”

2. “When I touched my hand against the Western Wall and placed my prayer between its ancient stones, I thought of all the centuries that the children of Israel had longed to return to their ancient homeland.  When I went to Sderot and saw the daily struggle to survive in the eyes of an eight-year-old boy who lost his leg to a Hamas rocket, and when I walked among the Hall of Names at Yad Vashem, I was reminded of the existential fear of Israelis when a modern dictator seeks nuclear weapons and threatens to wipe Israel off the face of the map -- face of the Earth.”

3. “I will call not just on Israel, but on the Palestinians, on the Arab States, and the international community to join us in this effort, because the burden of making hard choices must not be Israel’s alone.”
"We stand with Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. America's commitment and my commitment to the security of Israel is unshakeable."

4. "Those who threaten Israel threaten us. Israel has always faced these threats on the frontlines, and I will bring to the White House an unshakable commitment to Israel's security. That starts with insuring Israel's qualitative military advantage. I will insure that Israel can defend itself from any threat, from Gaza to Tehran."

The president who said these and more nice things has disappeared.  Has the real Barak Hussein Obama stepped out of the shadows now that he is closer to the end of his presidency?  
A senior official from Obama's administration called Netanyahu "CHICKENSHIT."  Obama says his relationship with Netanyahu is "businesslike."  "

"Obama's vow to reassess U.S.-Israeli relations reflects a skewed view of the sources of regional instability."

On 8 November 2011 a private conversation between French President Nicolas Sarkozy and U.S. President Barack Obama were overheard criticizing Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Sarkozy branded Netanyahu as a 'liar' and Obama expressed his displeasure with having to deal with Netanyahu on a regular basis.    

On March 26, 2012 during a talk with outgoing Russian President Medvedev, Obama said " "This is my last election. After my election I have more flexibility about missiles defense."  Was this concerning Iran or Israel?  Did this have anything to do with Israel's Iron Dome?  Iron Dome is part of a future multi-tiered missile defense system that Israel has developed, which will also include Arrow 2, Arrow 3,Iron Beam and David's Sling from as early as 2018.With only less than 2 years left of his occupation of the White House, Obama is coming up with an attitude.  

 When Netanyahu won in his election in March 2015, Obama would not congratulate him as soon as other heads of state did, which was being very petty.  He finally did so, most likely with a heavy heart.  What a fine way to continue their working together, even as business-like.  

Have we come to the nadir of  USA-Israeli relations?  This certainly is our lowest point.  Obama has taken the opposite viewpoint of Netanyahu about every problem concerning Israel in creating a 2 state solution with the Palestinian Arabs and doesn't want to understand why Netanyahu said that now is not possible.  Israel wants to make peace but the Palestinians want to destroy Israel.  

From 1967 to 1968, the USA had  regarded Israel as an ally in the Middle East.  They saw that Israel could help the USA policy of containment of Soviet expansion there since Israel had a surprising victory over the Soviet-backed Arab countries in the 1967 War.    In 1968 Congress agreed to sell US Phantom jets to Israel.  It was a first.  However, at the same time the US ALSO  continued to sell  military equipment that was quite sophisticated to Jordan, Morocco, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and the Gulf States.  It was quite a business.

Nevertheless, in 1969, Israel held a daring raid in December called "Operation Rooster 53" when their paratroopers captured the newest Soviet radar in Egypt and Israel gave the technological information to the USA.  This proved Israel's strategic value to the USA.

The next year in 1970 Israel supported Jordan when the Syrian tanks invaded Jordan.  At the USA request, Israeli jets didn't attack;  they just flew low enough for the Syrian commanders to see Israel's Stars of David on the wings.  The tanks quickly withdrew from Jordan.  It was the 1967 War when Israel had begged Jordan not to join up with the other Arab forces to attack Israel, but Jordan joined in anyway and thus lost land they had stolen from Israel originally.  What a funny way to regain one's property.  
                                                                         

Yom Kippur 1878

A terrible attack happened in 1973 on Israel.  The Arabs attacked on Yom Kippur, the Jewish most Holy Day of fasting and being in the synagogue asking G-d for forgiveness from any sins.  Israel had to fight against a surprise attack against foes who used Soviet military technology and weaponry.  It was then that the USA realized that Israel was their only friend who was stable and strong, despite their size  in the Middle East and that's when Israel was then eligible to sell military equipment  to the USA and the 2 countries, one huge and one teeny- tiny, began joint, limited military programs.
                                                                               

The IRON DOME was a joint venture between the USA and Israel.  Iron Dome (Hebrew: כִּפַּת בַּרְזֶל, kippat barzel) is a mobile all-weather air defense system developed by Rafael Advanced Defense Systems and Israel Aircraft Industries.  It's been in service since 2011.

Resource: Israel 101 from StandWith Us pages. 18-19
 http://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Politics-And-Diplomacy/White-House-US-is-as-committed-as-ever-to-security-of-Israel-380191
http://www.npr.org/2015/03/25/395238580/growing-israeli-sentiment-believes-u-s-overreacted-to-netanyahu-comments
http://www.usnews.com/opinion/blogs/world-report/2015/03/24/obamas-netanyahu-comments-reflect-ugly-double-standard-for-israel
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microphone_gaffe
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_S._Truman
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2015/dgreenfield/obama-refuses-to-congratulate-netanyahu-but-congratulated-iran-leader/
http://www.liberalsforisrael.org/obama-israeljudaism-quotes.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Dome