Opuscula Emahot (אמאהות): When do they Visit the sukah?

TRADITIONAL JEWS WELCOME the seven visitors (אשפיזין) to their sukot: Avraham, Yitzik, Yakov, Moshe, Aaron, Yosef, and David.

All important and formative personalities.

But . . .

WHERE ARE THE MOTHERS, the emahot (אמאהות)?

Who has the most influence on a young child’s life? The father who is at work or study all day and into the night? Or the mother who is with the child until he or she starts school, who is at home when the child returns, who nurses and nurtures the child, who sees the child has food to eat.?

In this scrivener’s mind, there is “no contest.” The mothers win hands down.

Granted, the Torah gives short shrift to the patriarch’s wives and to female personalities in general. There are, of course, exceptions: Deborah the Judge, Jael with her tent peg, Ruth – should a Moabite be considered?

We honor the emahot when reciting the refuah blessing for females, and we seek their help calling for mercy for the sick and deceased; even for men, it is person’s name ben/bat mother’s name. (Most Sefardi and Mizrachi Jews follow this tradition on headstones/grave coverings.)

Many non-traditional congregations – and a few traditional ones – call people to the Torah by both the father’s and the mother’s names. In cases where the only the mother is Jewish, a person often is called to the Torah as name ben mother’s name.

Who could – perhaps should – be invited to the sukah?

   1  Sara

   2  Rivka

   3  Leah

   4  Rachal

   5  Esther

   6  Deborah¹

   7  Jael¹

While I realize Ruth is one of King David’s ancestors, and David is included with the other men, I have a problem with the Moabite. The rabbis have swept away the prohibition of intercourse with Moabite females by ignoring Hebrew grammar so there is no stigma on David.

Rather than Ruth, how about Dinah², Simon and Levi’s sister, or Tamar³, also an ancestress of David, who I think would be far better. At least both were Jewish.

The emahot (אמאהות) might be relegated to the kitchen since for women are not obligated to sit in the sukah. That doesn’t preclude their presence in the sukah; they simply may stay inside – out of the weather and away from the bugs.

(Were women allowed in the huts the escapees from Egypt lived in from time-to-time in their wanderings? Rhetorical question.)

Sources

1. http://tinyurl.com/yapjvt8h

2. http://tinyurl.com/y9n6vh5g

3. http://tinyurl.com/y8f63nrp

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

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Opuscula Israel blamed For PA jobless By UN agency

UN blames Israel for not giving potential terrorists more jobs

YET ANOTHER “FOR PALESTINE-ONLY” UN organization, the U.N. Conference on Trade And Development Coordinator of ‎Assistance to the Palestinians blames Israel for the fact that the PA’s 27.4% unemployment rate is the highest in the world.

Palestinian citizens are trapped in an economy of jobless growth with no prospects, especially in Gaza, which is undergoing "de-development," the United Nations trade and development agency said in an annual report published on Wednesday. ¹

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development report said unemployment in the Palestinian territories was the highest in the world in 2017, at 27.4%, while agricultural production fell by 11%. Half of Palestinians under 30 were unemployed. The economy grew 3.1% but was flat on a per capita basis.

Speaking to journalists in Geneva, Mahmoud Elkhafif, coordinator of the report, said the major reason for this situation from an economic development point of view was a set of Israeli restrictions such as permit systems for Palestinians to work in Israel.

UNCTAD Deputy Secretary General Isabelle Durant described the economic situation in Gaza as "absolutely unsustainable."

All Israel’s fault – of course

The UN claims "The major reason for this dark situation from the economic development point of view is a group or a set of Israeli restrictions that have been there, it is relaxed a bit from time to time, but again, it is the norm. These measures include: permit system for Palestinian to work in Israel, you have roadblocks in the West Bank, you have earth mounds, trenches, checkpoints, gates and separation barriers," Elkhafif noted.

NOT of importance was WHY you have roadblocks in the West Bank, you have earth mounds, trenches, checkpoints, gates and separation barriers.

Also not explained was why, with all the foreign aid – particularly from the EU and Muslim-dominated countries – that “Palestine” has failed to develop any businesses, any industry. Israel and private Israelis have offered high tech training to PA residents. Rather than accept, the PA prefers to teach hatred of Israel and Israelis from kindergarten to university.

SodaStream – now owned by PepsiCo – when it was located near the PA territory employed both Israelis and “Palestinians” and paid equally. Friends of the PA, in the guise of Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) pressured SodaStream to get out of the area (beyond the 1967 cease fire line – there is no peace with “Palestine”) which put several hundred “Palestinians” out of work. SodaStream moved south and still employs Jews and Arabs, just not “Palestinian” Arabs.

Israel DOES allow many foreign workers into the country. These men and women come from countries that are not sworn to “drive the Jews into the sea” as are the Muslims of the PA and Gaza.

Gaza is a special issue.

When Israel pulled out in August 2005 – more than 13 years ago – the Jews left a thriving agriculture and horticulture industries. Within days after the PA (then in charge of Gaza) took over, the industries were destroyed; hothouses were dismantled for scrap. European flower and produce markets that could have provided good incomes for Gaza residents were lost for lack of product.

And the UN blames Israel for record unemployment in the PA and Hamas’ Gaza !

Hundreds of PA residents enter Israel on a daily basis to earn higher-than-in-the-PA wages. The UN would have Israel allow even more potential terrorists into the country.

The question the UNCTAD should be asking is: What did the PA leaders do with all the foreign money received over the years?

Had the PA (and Hamas) leadership spent the money to benefit the people under its control, there WOULD be less unemployment, certainly less than the 27.4% reported by the UN agency for Palestine.

It might have been appropriate, albeit not convenient, if the “coordinator” of the report had not been a Muslim with an anti-Israel bias. That would have been out-of-character for the UN.

If the PA and Hamas’ leadership would turn their efforts to peaceful coexistence with Israel, after a short “trust development” period, PA and Hamas residents might be allowed to work in Israel – while Israelis could enter the PA and Hamas areas to train Arabs to perform jobs needed in their areas and perhaps to export surpluses to Israel. (When Hamas is not attacking Israeli civilians, its produce is sold in Israeli markets.)

As long as the UN and foreign funds sustain the PA and Hamas, unemployment will remain high, peace with Israel will be a distant hope, and Israel will continue to be the UN’s whipping boy.

Sources

1. http://tinyurl.com/yaoumbuc

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Unemployment

Opuscula “Palestinians” Want jobs, respect

ACCORDING TO ONE ISRAELI SOURCE¹, Arab human rights activist Bassem Eid believes peace between Israel and the Arabs can exist only on the basis of economic cooperation.

"I live in the territories, Eid said, and know what people think. Most of the Palestinians are looking for respect and not identity - I see how many people are trying to get a job, to live, and raise their children with dignity."

THE PROBLEM FOR “PALESTINIANS” in Israel (vs. Israeli Arabs) are two-fold.

1. European leaders, Eid continued, have embraced a false vision of the conflict, as well as the needs of Palestinian Authority residents: "We need to explain to European Parliament members the true picture, and we must make it clear to them that it's forbidden to use Palestinians for political purposes. Unfortunately, Europe is still impervious to our message, but we're trying to appear in its institutions and stimulate their thoughts.

2. Arab Members of Knesset. "They don't represent the interests of the Palestinians, they were chosen by the Israeli Arabs and not by the residents of the West Bank or East Jerusalem. The Arab Knesset members don't represent me; I live in the Palestinian population and have nothing to do with the Joint List in the Israeli Knesset."

Don’t forget BDS

Although Eid did not mention it by name, the Boycott, Divest, and Sanction (BDS) movement plays a large role in keeping “Palestinians” from the jobs that would provide them with the economic opportunities “to live and raise their children with dignity.”

Case in point: SodaStream.

The Israeli company was located in the so-called West Bank. It employed both Arabs from the PA and Jews from Israel. Equal pay for equal work. The staffing was roughly 50% Arab and 50% Jewish. Workers, by all accounts, respected each other and peacefully coexisted on the job.

Enter BDS.

By instigating the leftists of Europe and the U.S. – and those in Israel as well – the BDS forced SodaStream out of the West Bank. When it left, it left 500 workers from the PA stranded sans employment. Unhappily for the BDS movement, it did NOT force SodaStream out of business.

Since belong forced out by BDS, SodaStream relocated to the south and now employs Israeli Arabs and Jews. The PA’s loss is the south’s gain. Meanwhile, SodaStream has been sold to beverage giant PepsiCo for US$3.2 billion.

Education to the rescue

There are a number of private and Israeli government programs to help being both Israeli Arabs and PA Arabs into technology fields,

Israeli hospitals continue to educate Arabs in the medical arts. “Continue” because there is a long history of Arab doctors training in Israeli hospitals. (I once had an ophthalmologist who studied at Hadassah in Jerusalem.)

Fortunately for the PA Arabs, the BDS bigots cannot prevent the residents of the PA from taking advantage of Israeli-offered opportunities.

Even “blue collar” workers from the PA earn better wages in Israel than their brothers who work in the PA, ergo the number of PA Arabs who travel to and from Israel on a daily basis.

Unfortunately, the reality on the ground and the pipe dreams of the leftists are different. The real victims of the leftists’ are the people they claim to be helping.

Given their choice – assuming Eid is correct – PA residents could have economic dignity and peace with Israel. Sadly, the choice is not theirs to make; it belongs to the PA’s politicians and the world’s leftists, most of whom have been no closer to the PA than New York, London, Moscow, or Berlin.

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Sources

1. http://tinyurl.com/ydz7k8re

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on What “Palestinians” want

Opuscula Orphan Abu Mazen No one wants him Or his Hamas pals

U.S. PRESIDENT DONALD TRUMP reportedly floated an idea of “Palestinian”-Jordanian “confederation.”

Jordan wants no part of a “confederation.”

Jordan already has too many “Palestinians” within it’s borders; “Palestinians” who would dearly love to dethrone the Saudi Arabian monarchy installed by the British meddlers.

Likewise, Egypt wants no part of a “confederation” with Hamas and Gaza.

At one time absorption of the PA enclave on the so-called “West Bank” and Egypt’s absorption of Gaza seemed like an optimum solution to the PA/Hamas problem with Israel. Instead of a non-viable “Palestine” or “Hamastan,” the areas would be part of neighboring Muslim countries.

But, Jordan has more real Palestinians than it wants and many of the Palestinians – original residents of what by English fiat became Transjordan – resent having a Saudi family as rulers.
Egypt has enough problems with the Islamic Brotherhood and other terrorist groups that its border with Gaza is closed more than it is open. Egypt wants no more terrorists to invade it.

The sad part, for the “Palestinians” occupying what was supposed to be Israel under the original English plan – similar plans were made by France to carve up Syria. Iran, and Iraq, colonial powers drawing lines without consideration of the indigenous peoples – are landlocked and increasingly surrounded by increasingly less than friendly Muslim nations. Gaza, at least, could have both sea and airports IF it made peace with Israel and Egypt. Abu Mazen’s “Palestine” has two airports in disrepair. There currently is no land connection to any Muslim state (other than Egypt) except via Israel. As long as Abu Mazen controls the PA, peace with Israel is a non-starter.

According to Wikipedia, the fictitious “State of Palestine” has four (4) airports (http://tinyurl.com/ybhgrq37 ).

Airport information

Arafat: 1 north-south asphalt runway 10,091 ft/3,076 m long (http://tinyurl.com/y9rj55td)
Gush Katif: 1 NNE/SSW asphalt runway 2,625 ft/800m long (http://tinyurl.com/y9uz9vhp)
Atarot: 1 ESE/WSW asphalt runway 6,447 ft/1,965m long (http://tinyurl.com/ybfo38pl)
Muqeible: 1 NE/SW concrete runway, length unknown, and 1 E/W concrete runway, length unknown (http://tinyurl.com/y9wpmoz9)

For comparison, at sea level on concrete runways (http://tinyurl.com/ybohpjfs ): The minimum runway length for a Boeing 737-700 is between 3,500 feet (minimum weight) and 5,000 feet (maximum weight)
The Airbus A318 minimum runway length 3,400 feet (minimum weight) and 4,300 feet (maximum weight).

Only the damaged Yasser Arafat International Airport in Gaza has a runway long enough to accommodate a commercial jet. Its condition precludes commercial flights, assuming Israel and Egypt would permit the airport’s use. (Had Hamas used some of the concrete it wasted building tunnels into Israel it might have restored the airport to accommodate commercial aviation.)

By comparison, Israel currently has five commercial airports, four of which can accommodate Boeing 737-700s and Airbus A318 aircraft. Two, Lod, a/k/a Ben Gurion/Tel Aviv, and Eliat-Ramon are international and can handle jumbo jets.

Imagine if Hamas signed a true peace with Israel it would have access to the international airports in Eliat and Jordanian ports on the Suez Canal. If it signed an agreement with Egypt, it would have access to Cairo and its international airport. Finally, if it stopped building tunnels into Israel (as part of a true peace agreement) it could use the concrete o repair the Yassir Arafat International airport.

PA residents can, with Israeli permission, travel to Jordan (via Israel) to its international airport in Amman, or to the international airport near Tel Aviv.

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PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

Comments on Poor Abu Mazen

Opuscula What happens If U.S. stops UNRWA funds

PRESIDENT TRUMP WANTS TO CUT OFF funding to United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

Leftist Jews (J Street), including politicians such as California’s Diane Feinstein, mightily object, claiming
* It will undermine Abu Mazen’s authority,
* It will cause the PA to reject any peace initiatives,
* It will be bad for Israel,
* It will be bad for the region

Right wing, primarily observant Jews, favor the move, countering
* Abu Mazen has lost the respect of most “Palestinians,”
* The PA has for decades rejected all peace proposals,
* Non-”refugees” already attack Israelis – what’s new?
* “Palestinians” already are unwelcome in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria and likely will be expelled if the camps are closed.

What it might mean it that
* The UN funded camps will be forced to close, forcing the “campers” to integrate into ”Palestinian” societies,
* UN funded schools will be closed, removing at least one source of anti-Israel indoctrination.

On the negative side, closing the camps will put an additional burden on the PA’s budget; the payments to killers will continue but the PA residents, other than the political leadership, will suffer shortages.

The “refugees” can’t go to nearby states (Jordan, Syria, Egypt) because they are not welcome based on the states’ past experience with “Palestinians.”¹ While there are UN camps in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon (as well as the PA and Gaza), the “Palestinians” are considered unwelcome guests by those states. Some agency – UN? “Palestinian?” – will need to fund repatriation of the “Palestinians” in camps in Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon to the PA territory.

Translation: Abu Mazen & Company will have to absorb the grandchildren of the Muslims who left their homes “at the urging of Arab leaders who promised that all who left would return after a quick Arab victory.”² Because the “Palestinian” leadership and its Arab allies – a dwindling number – repeatedly attacked Israel and lost territory, the land available to absorb the off-spring of the Arabs who ran away has shrunk.

Once U.S. funding of the UN camps ends, unless the Euro-libs pick up the funding, the camp residents will have to find employment. Where?

Israel employs many “Palestinians,” and there were factories near the border (e.g. SodaStream) that the BDSers drove away, and there are initiatives to educate Arabs to work in technology fields and to develop technology businesses in “Palestine” the infrastructure to employ former camp residents simply is not there. This could be one reason Feinstein et al are concerned that closing the camps will put more “Palestinians” on the streets and into the hands of terrorist organizations working for Abu Mazen & Friends. Pity the UN failed to provide job training for in-demand fields such as technology; but then, the UN failed in many things.³

Israel, smaller in 1948 than it is today, managed to absorb refugees from Muslim-dominated countries in numbers at least equaling the number of Arabs who ran from Israel to accommodate the Arab invaders. (Arabs who stayed in Israel proved to be better off than their cousins in the camps. They have citizenship, they have freedom of movement, they sit on the Supreme Court and the knesset, and they live in safety. They are exempt from military service, but are requested – albeit not forced – to perform national service in Arab communities. Druze do serve in the Israeli military with distinction and have risen to very senior officer ranks.⁴)

The camps have proven to be a breeding ground for terrorists. People who otherwise have no future, attainable goals.

Closing the UNRWA camps – if it comes to that – could actually benefit the residents by allowing, or forcing, them to integrate into some Muslim community, even if it means (for those in camps in Jordan, Lebanon, and Syria) returning to Abu Mazen’s control.

Unless Abu Mazen and the PA can absorb these people, can provide housing to at least the level of the camps, unless Abu Mazen and the PA can provide jobs, and unless Abu Mazen can assure all PA residents that there will be no shortages, the Israeli government will have to re-enforce border patrol personnel at the PA borders and at Hamas’ border. (Egypt likely also will have to increase it’s border patrols.)

UNRWA is unique because of its responsibility and commitment to just one group of refugees, whereas all other refugee populations around the world fall under the jurisdiction of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).⁵ On UNRWA education: In 2013, video footage entitled "Camp Jihad" showed UNRWA summer camps inciting hostility to Israel among young Palestinians. “We teach the culture of the Nakba to campers,” emphasized Nasrin Bisharat, an UNRWA social worker at the Balata camp, in the video. “We try, on days like Nakba Day, to commemorate the Nakba in the school.”⁵

There is supposition that a portion of the fund donated to the PA goes no farther than the pockets of the PA leadership. If the camps are defunded and eventually closed, perhaps some of the funds now flowing into personal pockets might be used to absorb the refugees from the UNRWA camps.

Perhaps.

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Sources

1. http://tinyurl.com/yb5evcfj

2. http://tinyurl.com/ycn6ano9

3. http://tinyurl.com/y83t3vt4

4. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ghassan_Alian

5. http://tinyurl.com/y7jugu9s

PLAGIARISM is the act of appropriating the literary composition of another, or parts or passages of his writings, or the ideas or language of the same, and passing them off as the product of one’s own mind.

Truth is an absolute defense to defamation. Defamation is a false statement of fact. If the statement was accurate, then by definition it wasn’t defamatory.

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