Jerusalem Post By Yaakov Katz  05/31/2011.  On anniversary of 'Marmara' raid, senior Navy officer says soldiers under order to use force, but objective to take over ships non-violently.

The Israel Navy is prepared to intercept and take control of the ships participating in the new flotilla to the Gaza Strip, a senior Navy officer said Tuesday on the anniversary of the IDF operation to stop the Mavi Marmara that ended in the death of nine Turkish nationals.

 It was an epic battle whose reverberations were heard ‘round the world. The weapons were words, words sharp enough to inflict as much damage as any light saber.

  The two sides: Emperor O is the most influential being on his planet, head of a rich and numerous nation although not always loved by them. Bibi is the representative of a small but ancient people, a people beset by numerous enemies bent on their annihilation. It would seem to be an unequal fight at best.

Jerusalem Post by By Yaakov Lappin 05/29/2011 20:45: Danino says forces readying for possibility of civil struggle as Palestinians expected to unilaterally declare statehood; adds police facing "new reality" due to "calls on internet sites to violate Israel's sovereignty."

While this charge given to parents from Proverbs 22:6 is well-known, it’s not always well understood from a practical and daily aspect as to how to go about “training up a child in the way he should go.”

There are many interesting parallels that can be drawn from tending a garden as applied to godly child-rearing. Each day, a garden needs to be watered in order to properly develop and flourish.  Water is its basic source of sustenance, so to what can water be compared?

In mid May Israel experienced its worst coordinated assault along its shared Golan Heights border with Syria since the 1973 Yom Kippur War as hundreds of Palestinians and their supporters flocked to the border fence and attempted to infiltrate it.  Several people were killed as Israeli army forces scrambled to prevent the swarming throng from breeching the border.  Similar violent scenes took place along the borders with Lebanon and the Gaza Strip as thousands of Arabs answered an internet-generated call for stepped up demonstrations to protest Israel’s reappearance as a sovereign state in May, 1948.  Demonstrations were also held outside Israeli embassies in several countries, including in Egypt and Jordan, the only Arab countries with formal diplomatic ties to Israel.

Shalom to everyone!  I haven't written in a very long time, as I've been experiencing a period of burn out where I felt the events of the last three years fall on me all at once, and I was left without emotional and physical strength.  I felt OK within, in my spirit, but I just couldn't do much, and writing was definitely out of the question!!  I knew I had to just wait on the Lord for His restoration - as in Isaiah 40,

Yesterday Israel went into a shock after hearing President Obama's speech about the U.S. policy in the Middle East. Obama's words, especially on the eve of Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Washington, were another blow below the belt to our country.

   While the majority of his speech concentrated on the recent developments in the Middle East - the uprising of the people, wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, Iran's nuclear ambitions and death of Bin Laden, the President "saved the best for last."

   Here are the main highlights of what Obama said about Israel.

You may think I’m crazy but I believe President Obama’s speech on Thursday at the State Department did a great service to Israel. I can’t say that I was surprised by what he had to say. Mr. Obama has consistently been critical of our tiny nation although he did attempt to demonstrate a degree of evenhandedness by saying "Israeli settlement activity continues. Palestinians have walked away from talks." Then again, was he implying that the Israelis caused the Palestinians to walk away?

Sunday, May 15, marks Palestinian "Nakba (Disaster) Day," a day of remembrance of the population displacement which took place at the wake of the 1948 Israeli war of independence.

At the end of World War II, massive population expulsions and exchanges took place. Tens of millions fled their homes or were forced to leave. The displaced peoples included: Poles, Indians, Pakistani, Ukrainians, Romanian, Germans, Jews, and Arabs. More than 20 million people were displaced in Europe alone between the years 1945-1951. By the end of 1960 the refugees of World War II had all been absorbed as citizens in their new countries, all but one group, the Palestinians. 

I usually do not teach on biblical numerology, because I prefer to emphasize the person of Yeshua (Jesus) and principles of faith, integrity, and relationships. This week's Torah portion speaks of both counting the Omer and the Jubilee year. It is difficult to avoid the repetition of the number 7. The number 7 throughout the Bible represents a time process and the completion of that process into perfection.

1. Creation – God created the world in 7 days.
2. Sabbath – We are commanded to rest on the 7th day.
3. Omer – There are 7 times 7 weeks from Passover to Pentecost (Shavuot).
4. Sabbatical Year (Sh'mitah) – Each 7 years' debts are forgiven.
5. Jubilee Year – After 7 times 7 years, land is restored and liberty proclaimed.
6. Feast of Trumpets – There are 7 months from the Passover to the Fall Feasts.
7. Millennium – Messiah rules on earth for a 1,000 years in the 7th millennium.

I was once asked by a Christian believer whether I considered myself a Jewish American or an American Jew? Not long after, I was asked by another Christian, “What’s a Jew?”, in reply to my query regarding the Jews being the Chosen People. Both questions were appropriate and provocative, and interestingly enough, my wife and I immigrated (made aliyah) within a year of those questions. 

Hundreds of Christians gathered this week, May 15-16, in Jerusalem for the Epicenter Conference 2011.  The event was recorded live and can be viewed at www.epicenterconference.com.  Included is an interview with Joel C. Rosenberg and the Deputy Foreign Minister of Israel, Danny Ayalon.

By Yaakov Katz and JPost.com staff:  05/15/2011 17:22  One Syrian dead as IDF opens fire on pro-Palestinian rioters crossing border at northern Druse village; 3-5 protesters killed on Lebanon border.

Depends on your point of view...

  May 14th, 1948. David Ben-Gurion, standing before the crowd gathered at the Tel Aviv museum on Rothschild Boulevard, proclaimed, “...by virtue of our historical and natural right and on the strength of the resolution of the United Nations General Assembly, (we) hereby declare the establishment of a Jewish State in Eretz-Yisrael, to be known as the State of Israel.