Real? or Phony? Propaganda War of Words not Actions. (Phony)

'Occupation will destroy Third Temple'

Notice posted around Jerusalem by Peace Now on eve of annual day of mourning destruction of First, Second Temple says continuation of settlement construction will lead to end of Zionist enterprise

Efrat Weiss

Published:

07.29.09, 08:03 / Israel News

"The occupation will lead to the destruction of the Third Temple"– a Peace Now poster to be hung all over Jerusalem on Wednesday, the eve of Tisha B'Av, reads.

"The goal is to stress that continued construction in settlements and the occupation of the (West Bank) will lead to the destruction of Zionism and, for us, the destruction of the Third Temple," said Peace Now Secretary General, Yariv Oppenheimer.

The poster, that is certain to stir up controversy in the capital, reads: "Why was the First Temple destroyed? Because of three things – idolatry, incest and bloodshed. Why was the Second Temple destroyed? Because there was unfounded hatred. And what, heaven forbid, will lead to the destruction of the Third Temple?The settlements, fanaticism and occupation."

"For this I mourn," the poster continues," for the settlements that were built in the heart of Palestinian territory and that keep peace and quiet from our land. For the settlements that were built, with or without permit, and that turn us into the loathsome scum among the nations.

"For the outposts that were built by deception and by turning blind eyes. For Jerusalem, the joy of the land, that has been turned into a city of strife and quarrel. For the continued investment and construction in the settlements, that will ultimately lead to one state for two people – and thus put an end to the Zionist enterprise."

The poster was signed, "Seek peace, and pursue it. Not Obama's, not the world's. The settlements are our problem."

Explaining the poster, Oppenheimer said, "This is not about hatred of settlers, but the clear understanding that without the realization of the two-state vision, the State of Israel cannot remain a Jewish, democratic state, and this, for us, is the destruction of the Zionist ideology."

The Decline & Fall of Western Civilization:What is the Cause & what is the Answer?~Bible in the News.com

The Decline & Fall of Western Civilization:

What is the Cause & what is the Answer?

Welcome to another edition of the Bible in the News. This is Paul Billington speaking with you this week. Our interest in world events is stimulated by the knowledge that "the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men," and that He will cause them to either prosper or decline as a result of their behaviour and response to the principles revealed in His word. As the Almighty deals with nations on this basis, He does so according to the eternal purpose which He purposed through Israel and her coming King.

It is becoming clear that the United States of America is currently in decline as a world power--and this decline is being accelerated by the Obama Administration which now occupies the While House. This decline began before Obama took office, but we now see it gathering downward momentum at an alarming rate. We must understand the operating principle here, for it was clearly stated through Jeremiah the prophet, when God said through him (Jer. 18:7-10):

"At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it do evil in my sight, that it obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, wherewith I said I would benefit them."

This is what happened to the British Empire. Once Britain turned out the Bible, and broke their promise about a Jewish national home, their power sank like lead in the ocean! We now see that the United States is going down the same road. Recently a Newsweek front cover could announce "The Decline and Fall of Christian America," and along with that there is a clear change of direction concerning the U.S. policy with Israel.

But there is another factor involved--and it is one that very few like to mention. The truth is that as the influence of the Bible has diminished in society, another religious influence has gained in strength. It was the open Bible that formed the basis of the Reformation and the Protestant movement in both England and America--and it was this Protestantism (Biblical Protestantism) that caused both countries to shun Roman Catholicism and its papal system for several centuries. The evidence of this is seen in the preface to the 1611 King James Version of the Bible with its reference to "that man of sin" and "Popish Persons."

Due to acts of terrorism in Protestant England such as the Gunpowder Plot, when a group of Roman Catholics tried to blow up the Houses of Parliament as King James 1st opened Parliament, there was an Act passed prohibiting Catholics from participation in Government. To this day a Roman Catholic is disqualified from the British monarchy. Efforts are being made to change that law, but to this date it is still in force.

In 1829 a Bill was presented to Parliament which permitted Catholics to "sit and vote in either House of Parliament," that is after they took an oath "to be faithful and bear true allegiance" to the King. Since that watershed Catholics have become a dominant influence in British politics--and also in the media, the Judiciary and other centres of power. The same pattern has been seen throughout the English-speaking world, including the United States of America.

It is the book of Revelation that identifies the false religious system of these last days as "the great whore that sitteth upon many waters... (which) are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues" (Revelation 17:1 and 15). This system is rich and increased in goods:

"And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness of her fornication" (Rev. 17:4).

As can be seen from chapter 18, this "Babylon" system is extremely wealthy--virtually controlling the world's economy!

So it is with considerable interest that we view the recent history of the Roman Church and its Vatican. There is something about this in the recent issue of the Bible Magazine (Vol.22, Issue No. 3), and it is demonstrated yet again by the new papal encyclical just published under the title "Caritas in Veritate," (Charity in Truth).
This encyclical letter seeks to promote once again the social teaching of the Catholic Church. It follows in the same vein as the encyclicals by the late John Paul 2 (Redemptor Hominis 1979, and Laborem Exercens 1981) and others which promoted a social doctrine much closer towards Communism than towards Capitalism and its free-market economic system.

In December 1977 the Catholic Bishops of Canada published a Pastoral Message entitled "A Society to be Transformed" and in describing Canada's "woeful system" of "liberal capitalism" it used Marxist phraseology to decry widespread poverty (in Canada?) "and the concentrations of wealth and power in the hands of a few." That the Protestant work ethic produced that wealth was overlooked.

That was followed by a Catholic Bishops' report on the United States economy in November 1984. The message was the same, promoting Catholic social teaching and the concept that the Church "must not only work to change people but also to change those social structures that impede the progress of the poor." An issue of Business Week had the title on its front cover "The Church and Capitalism." Again the Church was pushing in the direction of Communism.

Also in Britain, in a naked attempt to bring Tony Blair and his "New Labour" into power, the Catholic hierarchy in Britain published a paper entitled "The Common Good." Again it was an attack upon the Capitalist system through which the West had earned its prosperity, and it was another move towards Communism disguised as Socialism.

This doctrine has brought the economy of the United States, Britain and most of the free world into its present gigantic mess! Now Benedict has the brazen-faced audacity to publish his "Caritas in Veritae" in which he calls for a "true world political authority" to oversee the economy and to work for the "common good" (i.e. Socialism).

We should understand that the collapse of Communism is really a myth -- it is a system that merely changed its name while the Western Capitalist civilization was being undermined under the guise of combating poverty. Thus the all-powerful State is moving to take control of the economy and of our lives.

So the grand Master plan of the Vatican continues to work towards its goal. As long ago as 1977 the Christadelphian writer Graham Pearce explained the Vatican objective as being "a Christian socialist state" (in the booklet Babylon and Jerusalem). This he saw from the prophecies of Daniel and the Revelation. The question is, can the United States, Britain and other English-speaking countries free themselves from the Vatican's web? Obama does not seem to be a symbol of hope in that regard; the evidence is that he is dancing to Vatican's tune. And neither is there any sign of relief in other anglophone countries.

There are but two reasons for hope of a change. One does not seem very likely, because it requires a return to Bible principles. The only other hope is the promised coming of Christ, who will destroy Babylon together with her false ideology and religion.

On this programme we are committed to Bible Truth and belief in God's promises. Join us again as we look for the great redemption and the Hope of Israel centred in Jesus Christ, the saviour of the world.

Listen again next week: Bible in the News.com

A history lesson: Bitterness over Tisha b av and Where was Roosevelt

A Tisha B'Av Lamentation
by Dr. Rafael Medoff
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Rabbi Weissmandl's lament over the Allies' failure

On Wednesday night, Jews around the world will gather to recite the traditional Tisha B'Av lamentations focusing on the destruction of the ancient temple in Jerusalem. A growing number of communities are adding a lamentation that refers to a much more recent tragedy - the failure of the Allies to bomb the Auschwitz death camp in 1944.
The rabbi's appeals reached the Roosevelt administration, which turned them down cold.

What makes this additional lamentation, or kinah in Hebrew, especially interesting is that it not only refers so specifically to the failure to bomb Auschwtz, but it was written by the rabbi who was himself the first person to appeal to the Roosevelt administration to order the bombing of Auschwitz and the railway lines leading to it.

The author, Rabbi Michael Dov Weissmandl (1903-1957), grew up in Slovakia and became a prominent figure in the famous Nitra Yeshiva.

When the Germans began deporting Slovakia's Jews to Auschwitz in the spring of 1942, Rabbi Weissmandl and his cousin Mrs. Gisi Fleischmann, a community activist, established an underground rescue organization known as the Prakova Skupina, or Working Group. Their efforts included smuggling hundreds of Jewish children across the border into Hungary, which at that point was a safe haven. Most notably, they paid a $50,000 bribe to Nazi official Dieter Wisliceny to halt the deportations. From the autumn of 1942 until October 1944, no Jews were deported from Slovakia.

Although some information about the mass killings in Auschwitz leaked out earlier, the full details of the camp's operations were revealed in late April 1944, when escapees Rudolf Vrba and Alfred Wetzler reached Slovakia. They gave Rabbi Weissmandl and his Working Group colleagues a thirty-page report explaining the mass murder process, including maps showing precisely where the gas chambers and crematoria were situated. The report was sent to US and British diplomats, officials of the Vatican, and Jewish rescue activists in neutral Switzerland, together with letters from Rabbi Weissmandl urging the Allies to bomb the death camp.

"We ask that the crematoria of Auschwitz be bombed from the air," he pleaded. "They are sharply visible, as shown on the enclosed map. Such bombing will delay the work of the German murderers. What is more important - to bomb persistently all the roads leading from Eastern Hungary to Poland and to bomb persistently the bridges," over which thousands of Hungarian Jews were being deported in cattle cars bound for the death camp.

The rabbi's appeals reached the Roosevelt administration, which turned them down cold. Assistant Secretary of War John McCloy told American Jewish leaders that a study had found the bombing proposal was "impracticable", because it would require "diversion of considerable air support essential to the success of our forces now engaged in decisive operations elsewhere."

In fact, no study was ever done and no planes would have had to be diverted, because US bombers were already flying directly over Auschwitz in preparation for the bombing of German oil factories less than five miles from the gas chambers. The real reason for the refusal was that the Roosevelt administration had already decided, as a matter of principle, to refrain from expending even minimal resources on humanitarian objectives such as interrupting the mass murder of the Jews.*

Rabbi Weissmandl himself narrowly escaped death. Captured by the Germans in August 1944 and placed on a train bound for Auschwitz, he cut a hole in the cattle car with an emery thread hidden in a crust of bread. After the war, he immigrated to the United States, where he established a new Nitra Yeshiva, in Mount Kisco, New York.

It was there, in approximately 1955, that Rabbi Weissmandl composed his Tisha B'Av lamentation (or kinah), titled Kinat Min HaMeitzar (or "From the Depths", the opening words of Psalms 118). Long unknown except to the rabbi's own students, Kinat Min HaMeitzar is now gaining wider circulation thanks to its recent publication, together with commentary, by the Jerusalem-based scholar Jacob Fuchs.

The text, which is available from Feldheim Publishers, overflows with the anguish of someone who watched the
A difficult and thought-provoking outcry, bitterly appropriate for Tisha B'Av.
Jewish world go up in flames while his cries for help went unheeded. In the fifth stanza, Rabbi Weissmandl reaches back into the depths of his painful experiences, bringing a modern event into a narrative rooted in ancient history.

"How is it," he writes (using the Hebrew phrase eicha, which is also the title of the Biblical text read on Tisha B'Av), "that while the world's transport lines were destroyed by the fury of the war, [the Allies] did nothing about the lines transporting the Jews to the [Auschwitz slaughter house]? They [the Allies] claimed it was because of a lack of airplanes. But the answer was that the Allies were not concerned about the fate of the Jews."

A difficult and thought-provoking outcry, bitterly appropriate for Tisha B'Av, the day we pause to consider the depths to which human beings can sink - not only the murderers, but the bystanders as well.

* The US position will be explored in depth at a conference on "The Failure to Bomb Auschwitz: History, Politics, Controversy", sponsored by The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies, to be held at Fordham University Law School in New York City on Sunday, September 13, 2009. Call 202-434-8994 to register.
Av 8, 5769 / 29 July 09

Tisha B'Av: Mourning Destruction, Awaiting Redemption

by Hillel Fendel

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(IsraelNN.com) The fast of Tisha B'Av, the "saddest" day in the Jewish calendar, begins Wednesday evening at sundown, and ends Thursday evening.

Its name literally means "the ninth day of [the Jewish month of] Av," the date of some of the gravest tragedies to have befallen the Jewish People. Most notably, both Holy Temples in Jerusalem were destroyed on Tisha B'Av, but the list of calamities on this date includes also the following:

• G-d decreed, following the Sin of the Spies as recounted in Numbers 13-14, that the Children of Israel would not be allowed to enter the Land of Israel until the entire generation had died out.
• The fall of Beitar, the last fortress to hold out during the Bar Kochba revolt in the year 135 C.E., to the Romans.
• A year later, the Temple area was plowed over, marking the last milestone of national Jewish presence in our homeland until the modern era.
• The Jews of Spain were expelled by King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella in 1492.
• World War I erupted in 1914, setting the stage for World War II and the Holocaust.
• Mass deportation of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto to the Treblinka death camp began on Tisha B'Av eve of 1942.
• The Jews of Gush Katif spent their last legal day in their homes in Tisha B'Av of 2005, and were expelled three days later.

Despite the sadness of the day, the saddest part of the regular daily prayers - tachanun - is not recited, in the anticipation of the final joyous Redemption that will render Tisha B'Av a day of joy.

Many tens of thousands of people spend Tisha B’Av, or parts of it, at the Western Wall – which, together with the Temple Mount, is the sole remnant of the Second Temple. Visitors spend hours mourning the destruction, the Exile of the Divine Presence and the unredeemed state of the Nation of Israel by reciting and studying the traditional Tisha B’Av lamentations and the Scroll of Eichah (Lamentations).

March Around the Old City
The traditional Women in Green Tisha B'Av March around the Old City will begin at 8 PM with evening prayers and the reading of Eichah, followed at 9:30 by the march towards the New Gate, Damascus Gate, a short ceremony at Lions' Gate, and culminating at Dung Gate near the Western Wall around 11 PM. Thousands of people generally participate in the march.

The Egged bus cooperative will be adding bus lines on Wednesday and Thursday to the Wall. Buses will leave the Wall as late as 2 AM Thursday morning, and resume again four hours later. In addition, an Egged shuttle service will take passengers every ten minutes on Wednesday night and Thursday from the Carta parking lot outside Jaffa Gate to the Wall.

Bus service to Rachel’s Tomb, south of Jerusalem, and to the Machpelah Cave in Hevron, will also be reinforced.

Israeli law forbids the opening of restaurants, clubs and theaters on Tisha B’Av. However, various events, organized by both religious and secular, will be held to discuss the contemporary and traditional significance of the day. In Haifa, Mayor Yona Yahav, Science Minister Rabbi Prof. Daniel Herskovitz, and author A. B. Yehoshua will hold a panel discussion on Wednesday night on “Spiritual Needs and Tisha B’Av.” In Tel Aviv’s Beit Daniel, a session on Exile and Jewish Wandering will be held Wednesday evening, while in the Tzavta Theater, Eichah and modern will be read aloud.

On Thursday in Jerusalem’s Beit Avichai, the roots of hatred in human society will be discussed in the context of movie-making in Israel.

For a selection of Tisha B’Av Torah essays, click here.
Check out more multimedia coverage of Tisha B'av by clicking here.

Tisha B'Av Laws
The Sages enacted Yom Kippur-like restrictions on Tisha B'Av, including no eating, drinking, washing, or marital relations. Leather shoes are not worn, and even Torah study -- a major source of Jewish joy -- is restricted to topics connected with the Destruction of the Temples, prophecies of rebuke, Tisha B’Av, and the like. Sitting on chairs is not permitted until the afternoon.

The hour before the onset of Tisha B'Av is marked by a “mourning meal,” consisting only of a hard-boiled egg dipped in ashes, bread, and water. It should be eaten while sitting on low stools or on the floor, with each person sitting alone in a different corner of the room.

The regular evening prayer service is followed by the reading aloud, in a traditional mournful melody, of Eichah.

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Will Children Be Raptured?~Nathan Jones

Will Children Be Raptured?

By Nathan Jones

One of the most frequently asked questions coming into my Inbox involves the role of children in the Rapture. Will children be raptured? What about babies? The unborn? That question can extend as far as covering anyone who is mentally incapable of making a decision to accept Jesus as Savior. In essence, the question extends even further than that, for the ultimate destination of the Rapture is Heaven, and people are wondering about the eternal destiny of these tender people if they die, regardless of the Rapture. Even graver, hanging onto the answer by a thread are people's views of the justice and loving nature of God.

I admit I wince every time I'm asked if children will be raptured. It is a question that hits very close to home for me.

I have three elementary-age children. My older two have asked Jesus to be their Savior and have proclaimed it in baptism. As a father it brings me great joy to see their love for the Lord expressed in cute prayer requests, joyful singing, surprisingly deep questions and an outpouring of love which are all fruits of the Spirit that have me convinced their acceptance of Jesus is genuine. Sure, I know they'll have some bumps along the way as they walk with Christ, and they may even fall away for a bit, but they are His and as Jesus said in John 10:27-29, "no one can snatch them out of my hand."

My youngest boy, though, has autism. At age five Zachary still does not speak. While his gross motor skills are almost olympic in stature, he lacks the finest motor skills to put even his hands together to wash them. The simplest concepts grasped by a one year old seem to be beyond him. And certainly, there is no way that he could comprehend his need for a Savior, much less understand the words that explain that concept. Unless his brain is miraculously healed, Zachary will never "confess with your mouth, 'Jesus is Lord,' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead," and so be saved (Rom. 10:9).

The question asked of me about whether children will be raptured translates in my mind every time to, "Will Zachary be going to Heaven?"

What the Bible Says

While the work of salvation was wonderfully completed by Jesus sacrificing Himself for our sins and overcoming death by His resurrection, people in turn must accept that salvation in order to be saved from judgment and its sentence of Hell. The decision to repent of our rebellion (sin) against God and in faith accept Jesus as Savior is therefore an act that requires a mental understanding and a decision made (Jn. 1:12; 3:16,36; Acts 2:21,38; 3:19; Heb. 11:16; 1 Jn. 5:5).

It does appear that Jesus teaches that children have and are exempt until an "age of accountability," when they can make their own decision to accept Jesus as Savior. A verse commonly used in support of a child's age of accountability is Matthew 19:14, "Jesus said, 'Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.'" Jesus also said in Matthew 18:3, "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven."

The concept of the age of accountability can be verified by events in the Bible as well. King David recognized this when his baby born of Bathsheba died (2 Sam. 12:23). David responded, "I will go to him, but he will not return to me."

And so, while the Bible doesn't clearly state whether children will be raptured, or that children who die automatically go to Heaven, the Bible does imply that children who have yet to reach the age of accountability belong to the Kingdom of Heaven. The underlying theme still is the ability to accept Jesus and His salvation, so the line of reasoning is that the mentally disabled and the unborn will also never reach the age of accountability, and so also belong to the Kingdom of Heaven.

A Caveat

While those who die before the age of accountability belong to Heaven, the Rapture is a promise to the Church, and minor children who have not accepted the Lord are not members of the Church. While all the little children are destined for Heaven, they may not be destined for the Rapture and so will have to endure the Tribulation — a horrifying thought!

Should that be the scenario, at the time of the Rapture the wombs will not be emptied nor all the children and mentally disabled be taken away with the Church. But (and it's a big "But"), the Bible does shine some hope upon the families of believers, for the Bible indicates that children who have a believing parent are especially protected.

Verses that support parental protection are like 1 Corinthians 7:14 which reads, "For the unbelieving husband has been sanctified through his wife, and the unbelieving wife has been sanctified through her believing husband. Otherwise your children would be unclean, but as it is, they are holy." Proverbs 14:26 also provides support. "He who fears the LORD has a secure fortress, and for his children it will be a refuge."

This concept is substantiated when God saved not just the righteous Noah but also all his household when He destroyed the Earth with water. Likewise, God saved not just the righteous Lot but also his two worldly daughters when He decided to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah (2 Pet. 2:4-9).

While my salvation cannot be my children's salvation, God may have extended his grace further (as He always does) by covering a believer's child and including them as an honorary member of the Church, and therefore be included in the Rapture.

While the Bible makes it clear there is an age of accountability, and that as a believer my children are protected, the children of the world may not be part of the Rapture. They may have to grow up some through the Tribulation before they can make a decision on their own. That's hard and painful to think about.

Trusting God

The answer I give people who ask me "Do children go to Heaven?" never fully satisfies them. Quite frankly, it doesn't satisfy me either. Too much is inferred and not directly stated on this subject.

In the end, though, I have to leave my questioning and doubts behind and trust in who God is. As 1 John 4:16 explains about God's love, "And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him." God is also inherently righteous in His judgments. As Romans 1:17 proclaims, "For in the gospel a righteousness from God is revealed, a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: 'The righteous will live by faith.'"

And so, I will live by faith, trusting that God loves Zachary more than I can ever love him, and that by His wonderful righteousness my boy will be with me forever and whole in Heaven.