Esser Agaroth The approximate monetary equivalent of two cents. Commentary on life in Israel and on being Jewish. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 27 0 48 3811

Articles from Esser Agaroth

Harry Potter and the Nine Days 2007-07-16 14:30:00 Rosh Hodesh of the Fifth Month 5767Most of you are aware of the great excitement and anticipation being caused by the impending release of the final installment of the Harry Potter series by J. K. Rowling:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows How could you not be aware of the hype?J. K. Rowling, who said she cried at the completion of the book, purports to answer all of our questions in this final gaze into the life of one of the most famous protagonists ever, a teen-age wizard. However, for those of us who are Torah-observant Jews, the answers to those questions will have to be delayed for several days after the release of the book. Not only does the book go on sale on Shabbath, but also during the "Nine Days," from the first through the ninth day of the "Fifth Month" (Menahem Av). Leading up to the ninth of the month (Tisha b'Av), various aveluth (mourning) practices are observed, culminating in the full night and day Fast of Tisha b'Av, the anniversary of the destruction of bot ...

Haveil Havalim #125 Is Up! 2007-07-15 23:05:00 Rosh Hodesh of the Fifth Month 5767Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival, Edition #125 is up at Yid With Lid. Don't forget to wish him a Happy 50th Birthday! ...

One Christian Missionary Can Ruin My Day 2007-07-13 16:16:00 Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parshath Matot-Masa'ei 5767It only takes one christian missionary to ruin my day. So you can imagine what 30 of them did to me yesterday. Yeah, I know what some of you will say:They can only have power over over you...if you let them.That may be true to a certain extent, on an emotional or psychological level. Yet, when Jews fail to respond to missionaries*, at least in some way, then complacency, avoidance, numbness, and other manifestations of denial, of the true threat of christian missionaries, can assert a more profound and dangerous power.Yesterday, I was sitting in the shuq (Mahaneh Yehudah) in Jerusalem, having coffee and trying to refocus, deciding what else I would try to accomplish in the city before making the long trek back to the Shomron (Samaria). Then I heard it...the singing, the guitars, and the proverbial tambourines, and I knew what was about to make its way around the corner. The volume grew louder; my nerves grew more aggravated. The ov ...

A Jew Fights For His Home 2007-07-10 15:42:00 24 of the Fourth Month 5767Yitzhaq Hershkovitz is fighting to regain control of his house from Arab squatters in "East" Jerusalem.The INN TV Report with Aharon Deutch can been viewed by clicking here.I had the honor of meeting Yitzhaq Hershkovitz on Shabbath, as he was in Tapu'ah, a couple of friends from Jerusalem and Qiriyath Arba. At dinner on Giv'ath Elnaqam 4 he gave a D'var Torah, in which he concluded that one should be cautious in choosing friends, as it can very difficult to know who your friends are and who your enemies are, in this day and age.After a 15-year fight, Mr. Hershkovitz finally obtained a court order to have the squatters removed. Yet, the police has not been helpful in enforcing the evacuation. One of the issues was that the Arabs were keeping their goats hidden inside the house, which apparently is against the zoning regulations. However, every time the police arrived to execute the order, or rather do a pre-execution investigation, the goats are taken o ...

My Dues Are Paid, So Why Shouldn't I Vote? 2007-07-09 17:40:00 23 of the Fourth Month 5767Here's the latest on the impending Likud Party primaries from Hillel Fendel at Arutz 7. Many are predicting a 20 Ellul (Sept. 3) date for the primaries, which thus far appear to include only Binyamin Netanyahu and Moshe Feiglin.From almost the beginning of Moshe Feiglin's venture into the Likud, I've been a registered Likud member. I voted him in primaries and for his Manhigut Yehudit block on the Likud Central Committee. Being a member even meant that I was able to vote in the referendum on Sharon's YSh"W Expulsion Plan. A lot of good that did us to vote his plan down. He went ahead and did it anyway.Previously, I have expressed my appreciation for Moshe Feiglin, yet increasingly luke-warm feelings toward his venture, believing that the time have arrived to throw the baby out with the bath water, and spend my NIS 48 (just over $10 these days) on something else.So, why have I stuck around for the last additional year and a half? To be honest, I just ...

July 4 - 17 Tammuz 2007-07-05 13:37:00 Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parshath Pinhas 5767???? ??????,? ????? ????? ????? ?? ??????? ????? ??? ?????, ?????? ????? ???. ????? ??? ?????--?????? ??????, ???? ?????, ??????? ????, ???? ??????? ?? ?????, ?????? ??? ?????...;Mishnah Ta'anith"4:6 Five things happened to our 'forefathers' on 17 b'Tammuz, and five on 9 b'Av. On 17 b'Tammuz--the tablets were broken, and the Tamid [offering] ceased, and the city [of Jerusalem] was breached, and Apastimos burned the Torah [scroll], and he set up an image (statue) in the Temple....."All in all, the 17 of the Fourth Month (Tammuz) has been an unhappy day for Am Yisrael (the Jewish People), to say the least. So, perhaps you will be surprised then to learn that July 4, 1776, the day the United States of America declared its independence from England, fell on 17 Tammuz 5536.In the short-term, the founding ...

US At War With Israel: It's Coming! 2007-07-02 15:30:00 16 of the Fourth Month 5767Report: Bush Wants U.S. Army in Yesha"(IsraelNN.com) The Bush administration is promoting a plan to deploy 20,000 American soldiers in Gaza and then in Judea and Samaria, according to the Jordanian newspaper ad-Dostour. The U.S. has not commented on the report.The newspaper said the plan dates back to the siege several years ago on the Ramallah offices of former Palestinian Authority (PA) Chairman Yasser Arafat. Ad-Dostour said that the American soldiers would be deployed through the force of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)."What did I tell you? They're still here, and they're still coming. ...

Haveil Havelim #123 Is Up! 2007-07-01 16:40:00 15 of the Fourteenth MonthI got link-sideswiped by Rafi G.. He's hosting this week's Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival. I am certainly not going to look a gift horse in the month, of course. I'm just not one of those "blog-hit mongers" [at least not yet], so I generally just send posts to one blog carnival each. My Jerusalem Needs A New Logo seemed like it should go to JPix rather than HH is all. Look for my Esser Agaroth on the Israel plus Baseball combination next week. (Israel Baseball League fans beware!)In the meantime, check out Rafi G.'s "Take Me Out to the Ballgame Edition." ...

Tagged Twice 2007-07-01 15:11:00 15 of the Fourth Month 5767Well, now that I've been tagged twice, I guess I can no longer be a party-pooper. First I was tagged by Batya. I told her that I didn't have the ko'ah. Then she said I'd hit by lightening or something. Now, I've just been tagged by Doodlehead. Since he recently provided me with some secret, crucial information, I guess it's time to pay the piper.Here are the rules. In the immortal words of Eve Arden in the movie "Grease:""Rules are rules."Each player lists 8 facts/habits about themselves. The rules of the game are posted at the beginning before those facts/habits are listed. At the end of the post, the player then tags 8 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.1. My father was an art professor.2. By the age of 14, I had visited 20 countries on two continents, besides the U. S./N. A.3. I was a lifeguard for five years. My mot ...

Jerusalem Needs A New Logo 2007-06-27 13:28:00 11 of the Fourth Month 5767I've been meaning to post something about this logo for a while. Since the related banners and neon signs still line the streets of Jerusalem, it is still not too late. If you are like me, then without its caption, you might have guessed this to be a logo, but not the 40-Year Unified Jerusalem Celebration Logo. That is, in fact, what it is.The logo is supposed to be based on the number "40." The top of the "4" is supposed to be Migdal David, Kind David's Tower, and the horizontal line of the "4" is supposed to be a crown (castle-like) motif, representing the top edge of the walls of the Old City. That is what it was meant to be represented here in this logo. But personally, that is not at all what I see.I see a rat.The top of the "4" does not appear to me to be King David's Tower, but rather an ear. The crown motif does not appear to me as the Old City's wall, but rather teeth. The left-facing point of the "4" appears to me to be a nose. The "0" i ...

Haveil Havalim #121 Is Up! 2007-06-17 14:38:00 Rosh Hodesh of the Fourth Month 5767Edition #121 of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival is up at Random Thoughts, hosted by Jack.It's the "Abbas's Day" Edition, as it's Fathers' Day in the U. S.But, it's certainly NOT Abbas's day!" Submit your blog article to the next edition of Haveil Havalim using our carnival submission form. Past posts and future hosts can be found on our blog carnival index page. ...

Arab Infiltration of K'far Tapu'ah! 2007-06-15 13:37:00 Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parshath QorahEreve Rosh Hodesh of the Fourth Month 5767Last night Arab thieves infiltrated K'far Tapu'ah, and stole the Hertzlich Family flock of goats and sheep, for the second time this year.Click this link for a video report by Yekuti'el Ben-Ya'akov, which includes footage of the IDF and the Tapu'ah Response Team entering the Arab Village of Yassuf to retrieve some of the flock. ...

They're Still Here 2007-06-15 02:54:00 Erev Shabbath Qodesh Parshath QorahEreve Rosh Hodesh of the Fourth Month 5767For years now, I have been investigating the presence of U. S. troops in Israel.I have been laughed at, scoffed at, ridiculed, but worse, I have been told, "Yeah, so what?"One like-minded colleague has repeatedly told me, "Ya'aqov, I'm afraid it's inevitable. Review Navi Zekhariyah, chapers 12-14...." The "Nations" are destined to take Jerusalem.Various theories have been proposed as to how "they" will arrive. At this point, it seems likely that "they" are none other than Americans, and that "they" may be arriving in any number of ways.First of all, some of them are already here. So, the question really isn't "How will the troops arrive," it's "How will the rest of the troops arrive."Remember, U. S. troops have already been here since 2002, "protecting" us from potential scud attacks from Iraq, by manning anti-missile defenses.The BBC reported that, according to Israeli government spokesman Ra'anan G ...

The S'deroth Conspiracy 2007-06-13 07:02:00 27 of the Third Month 5767The other day, I wrote to No'am Bedein, the founder of the Sderot Media Center. I wanted to compliment him on the great interview he gave to the BBC World Service. This was an incredible feat to accomplish, as the interview was being conducted by an inherently anti-Israel news station, and even more so with an Arab resident of Azza on the line as well, spewing out lie after lie.No'am wrote back, asking me what I thought of the situation in Sderot. To reply, I just started writing, and I ended up producing the following... "...What do I think of S'deroth? They're all sitting ducks. The government is made up of Erev Rav for the most part. I have a theory, but no proof, that the government continually tries to gain sympathy from the 'international community' [by publicizing how victimized we are]. This time, they're not doing enough to protect the Negev, [in order] to gain that sympathy."Where did I get that from?Thirteen years ago, in the city of Hevro ...

Top 12 Reasons to Live in Israel 2007-06-10 03:47:00 24 of the Third Month 5767Rafi G. at Life In Israel made me do this....Here are my Top 12 Reasons to live in Israel:12. Not missing the same desert weather, beaches, and plant life of Southern California. It's all here!11. You don't have to be a doctor, a lawyer, or an accountant in order to be a highly respected member of the Jewish community. 10. "Rabbi" IS an acceptable career choice for a "nice Jewish boy." 9. Jewish farmers: Yep! They really exist. 8. Not having to save up all of your sick days at work, in order to take off Jewish holidays 7. Sunday is a regular workday here; Saturday isn't. 6. You don't have to wear a tie to work...yet. 5. The simple, everyday act of commuting to work can be a lesson in ancient, Jewish history and geography. 4. Having deep discussions with complete strangers on the bus, deeper than most people in the U. S. have with their friends 3. Connecting with Jews from around the world, and having to communicate with wach other in Hebrew, because i ...