"North Korea has accused the United States of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has scrapped the armistice with Washington that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War."
Statement of KPA Supreme Command Spokesman Lifts Morale of servicepersons and Civilians
Pyongyang, March 6 (KCNA) -- The Korean Peninsula is now under a touch-and-go situation due to the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle joint military exercises, launched by the U.S. imperialists and their allied forces, including south Korea, UK and Australia, on March 1 to mount a preemptive nuclear attack on the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
In this regard, a spokesman for the Supreme Command of the Korean People's Army on Tuesday issued a statement clarifying the three important measures to be taken by it.
According to it, the DPRK will take the second and third strong practical counteractions in succession to cope with the high-handed war acts of the U.S. and all other hostile forces. And the KPA Supreme Command will totally nullify the Korean Armistice Agreement and put a total stop to the operation of the KPA mission in Panmunjom.
Upon hearing the statement, the DPRK people have expressed full support to those measures, hardening their will to turn out in the anti-U.S. action.
Ju Myong Chol, a 53-year-old citizen living in Pyongyang, told KCNA:
"We can never pardon the U.S. and south Korean forces that launched nuclear war exercises for armed invasion of the DPRK despite its repeated warning and strong protest of the world peace-loving people.
If they dare infringe upon the sovereignty and dignity of the DPRK, all its servicepersons and civilians will inflict shameful defeat and death on them with shower of fire."
Han Myong Gil, a 47-year-old officer of the KPA, said:
"Now the enemies are recklessly running amuck, not well aware who their rival is. But, tiger moth fond of playing with fire is bound to perish in the flames.
The DPRK has the strength of single-minded unity of all the people rallied around their leader, which is more powerful than nuke, and the invincible Paektusan army built up under the Songun (military-first) policy.
Its army and people love peace and do not want war, but will deal merciless strikes with all potentials to those provokers eagerly looking for a chance of aggression.
The final victory is in store for the army and people of the DPRK who are all out to protect the sovereignty of the nation and the supreme interests of the country."
SEOUL/UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - North Korea threatened the United States on Thursday with a preemptive nuclear strike, raising the level of rhetoric just before the U.N. Security Council approved new sanctions against the reclusive country.
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said North Korea's threats would achieve nothing and would only further isolate the country.
China's U.N. Ambassador Li Baodong said Beijing wanted to see "full implementation" of the new U.N. Security Council resolution that tightens financial restrictions on Pyongyang and cracks down on its attempts to ship and receive banned cargo.
North Korea has accused the United States of using military drills in South Korea as a launch pad for a nuclear war and has scrapped the armistice with Washington that ended hostilities in the 1950-53 Korean War.
North Korea, which has one major ally, neighboring China, threatens the United States and its "puppet," South Korea, on an almost daily basis.
"Since the United States is about to ignite a nuclear war, we will be exercising our right to preemptive nuclear attack against the headquarters of the aggressor in order to protect our supreme interest," the North's foreign ministry spokesman said in a statement carried by the official KCNA news agency.
North Korea conducted a third nuclear test on February 12, in defiance of U.N. resolutions, and declared it had achieved progress in securing a functioning atomic arsenal. It is widely believed that the North does not have the capacity for a nuclear strike against the United States mainland.
With tensions high on the Korean peninsula, the U.N. Security Council voted to expand its sanctions on North Korea. The new sanctions were agreed after three weeks of negotiations between the United States and China, which has a history of resisting tough measures against its ally.
The resolution specifies some luxury items North Korea's elite is not allowed to import, such as yachts, racing cars, luxury automobiles and certain types of jewelry. This is intended to close a loophole that had allowed countries to decide for themselves what constitutes a luxury good.
"These sanctions will bite and bite hard," said Rice.
[Note by JoA: Forbidding them to buy yachts, racing cars etc. will "bite and bite hard"?
It would be so nice to have a media that told us the truth!
This is clearly written as US government propaganda to imply the government of North Korea is crazy
I suspect there's a bit more to this!]
The export of luxury goods to North Korea has been prohibited since 2006, though diplomats and analysts said the enforcement of U.N. sanctions has been uneven.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, a former South Korean foreign minister, welcomed the council's move, saying in a statement that the resolution "sent an unequivocal message to (North Korea) that the international community will not tolerate its pursuit of nuclear weapons."
THREATS AND WAR GAMES
North Korea's threats were the latest in an escalation in a war of words by both sides across the armed Korean border this week.
The North's unnamed foreign ministry spokesman said it would be entitled to take military action as of March 11 when U.S.-South Korea military drills move into a full-scale phase as it had declared the truce invalid.
"North Korea will achieve nothing by continued threats and provocations. These will only further isolate the country and its people and undermine international efforts to promote peace and stability in northeast Asia," Rice told reporters.
President Barack Obama's administration said it had reassured South Korea and Japan "at the highest levels" of its commitment to deterrence, through the U.S. nuclear umbrella and missile defense, in the face of the new threats from North Korea.
Glyn Davies, the State Department's point man for North Korea policy, also said in testimony prepared for a Senate hearing that Washington will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state.
North Korea, which held a mass military rally in Pyongyang on Thursday in support of its recent threats, has protested against the U.N. censures of its rocket launches. It says they are part of a peaceful space program and that the criticism is an exercise of double standards by the United States.
The North's shrill rhetoric, however, rarely goes beyond just that. Its last armed aggression against the South in 2010 came unannounced, bombing a South Korean island killing two civilians. It was widely accused of sinking a South Korean navy ship earlier in the year, killing 46 sailors.
North Korea was conducting a series of military drills and getting ready for state-wide war practice of an unusual scale, South Korea's defense ministry said earlier.
South Korea and the United States, which are conducting annual military drills until the end of April, are watching the North's activities for signs they might turn from an exercise to an actual attack, a South Korean official said.
"It hasn't been frequent that the North conducted military exercises at the state level," said South Korea's defense ministry spokesman, Kim Min-seok. "The North is currently conducting various drills on land, at sea and aerially.
"We are watching the North's activities and stepping up readiness under the assumption that these drills can lead to provocation at any time."
Kim declined to confirm news reports that the North has imposed no-fly zones off its coasts in a possible move to fire missiles, but he said any flight ban limited to near the coast would not be for weapons with meaningful ranges.
A North Korean general said on Tuesday that Pyongyang was scrapping the armistice. But the two sides remain technically at war as the civil war did not end with a treaty.
South Korea's military said in a rare warning on Wednesday that it would strike back at the North and target its leadership if Pyongyang launched an attack.
(Additional reporting by Michelle Nichols at the United Nations and Paul Eckert in Washington.; Writing by Claudia Parsons; editing by Christopher Wilson)
Passover 2013 begins in the evening of Monday, March 25
and ends in the evening of Tuesday, April 2
We created this audio podcast and video in celebration of Pesach/Passover. We hope you will enjoy and share it.
If the video or audio version does work please see or hear it HERE.
The traditional story of Pesach/Passover re-told by your friends at Temple and Yeshiva Beth HaShem. This audio retelling blends the timeless story with modern relevance in a way we sincerely hope you will enjoy.
Script written by Yochanan/John of AllFaith Audio and technical work done by Joe Directed by Joe
Cast in order of first appearance: Joe: Narrator -- Pharaoh -- voice of the Angel of Death Hakham Leah Levine: Joy -- Pharaoh's Magician Ahuva: Rachel -- Butch the Guard Yochanan: Aharon -- Egyptian Taskmaster -- Egyptian Dude -- The Voice of HaShem Larry Levine: Moshe -- Egyptian soldier -- himself
Visit us today at YeshivaBethHaShem.org or stop by Temple Beth HaShem in For Bragg, Ca.
On Shabbat I thought about the famous midrash that says that in the days of Esther and Mordechai, a Heavenly decree of destruction was decreed upon the Jews because they happily participated in the feast that Ahashverosh held for his countrymen. According to the midrash, the food at the feast was served in the vessels of the destroyed Holy Temple in Jerusalem. Interestingly, our Sages relate that the entire menu was strictly kosher.
Now we can imagine the leaders of that generation saying to themselves: "After all, the king is honoring us. He's taking care of the kashrus and everything. How could we possibly refuse his invitation?"
So why did Heaven decree destruction upon them?
Because they missed the entire point. To understand this, we have to go back and understand other heavenly decrees of destruction. First, let us examine the Sin of the Golden Calf. This was a "religious" sin of the first degree. The Nation of Israel worshipped an idol and was severely punished, but they did not face a decree of destruction. When they listened to the Spies, however, and cried that they did not want to enter the Land of Israel, Heaven decreed that they were to be destroyed.
Why? True, the Nation of Israel had made a mistake in judgment; they preferred to stay in the desert and serve G-d. But they were all righteous (and presumably all kept strictly kosher). Nevertheless, they were sentenced to death.
When we commit a "religious" sin, we receive our due punishment. But when we totally miss the mark of our destiny, then our Father in Heaven has no more need for us, as it were. If the time has come to leave the desert (or Europe) and enter the Land of Israel to fulfill our destiny to perfect the world in G-d's Name as a sovereign nation in our Land – and we refuse, then what we are really saying is that we insist on remaining in the narrow dimension of religion. G-d doesn't need us for that.
"I have created this Nation for Me, so that they may tell My praise." (Isaiah 43:21). Israel is a Nation, not a religion. At the feast of Ahashverosh, all the food was strictly kosher. Kosher, but repugnant. Repugnant because the entire point of the feast was to celebrate the fact that 70 years of exile had passed (according to Ahashverosh's erroneous calculation) and the Jews had not returned to their Land as their prophets had promised. So Ahashverosh took all the vessels of the Temple out for display to show that now, they belonged to him. "And you, the Jews, will also drink from them at my feast. You will admit that you are not returning to your Land, you will not be fulfilling your destiny, you do not have a King in Heaven and you will not be crowning Him as King of creation. I, Ahashverosh, am the king who reigns from India to Kush."
Soon, Obama will be speaking in the Knesset. All the MKs will be present, for how can we not honor the president of the United States?
There is an Israeli captive, however, sitting in his dungeon for the last 28 years. His name is Jonathan Pollard. I sincerely hope that my Knesset chair will not be the only empty seat during Obama's speech. I sincerely hope that I will not be the only one who sees the bigger picture. I sincerely hope that we will not all pay for the dark ethical cloud that hangs over the Obama festivities.
Jonathan Pollard was a civilian American Naval intelligence analyst. In the mid 1980's (circa 1983-1984), Pollard discovered that information vital to Israel's security was being deliberately withheld by certain elements within the U.S. national security establishment.
Israel was legally entitled to this vital security information according to a 1983 Memorandum of Understanding between the two countries.
The information being withheld from Israel included Syrian, Iraqi, Libyan and Iranian nuclear, chemical, and biological warfare capabilities - being developed for use against Israel. It also included information on ballistic missile development by these countries and information on planned terrorist attacks against Israeli civilian targets.
When Pollard discovered this suppression of information and asked his superiors about it, he was told to "mind his own business", and that "Jews get nervous talking about poison gas; they don't need to know."
He also learned that the objective of cutting off the flow of information to Israel was to severely curtail Israel's ability to act independently in defense of her own interests.
Pollard was painfully aware that Israeli liveswere being put in jeopardy as a result of this undeclared intelligence embargo. He did everything he possibly could to stop this covert policy and to have the legal flow of information to Israel restored. When his efforts met no success, he began to give the information to Israel directly.
Jonathan Pollard was an ideologue, not a mercenary. The FBI concluded after nine months of polygraphing that Pollard acted for ideological reasons only, not for profit. This fact was recognized by the sentencing judge who declined to fine Pollard. (See the addendum for further details.)
Furthermore, on May 11, 1998, Israel formally acknowledged Jonathan Pollard had been a bona fide Israeli agent. This fact wiped out any remaining doubt about Jonathan Pollard's motives. Being an official agent is, by definition, the polar opposite of being a mercenary.
In 1985, his actions were discovered by the U.S. government. His instructions from Israel were to seek refuge in the Israeli embassy in Washington. When Pollard and his former wife sought refuge there, they were at first received and then summarily thrown out into the waiting arms of the FBI.
Jonathan Pollard never had a trial. At the request of both the U.S. and Israeli governments, he entered into a plea agreement, which spared both governments a long, difficult, expensive and potentially embarrassing trial.
Jonathan Pollard fulfilled his end of the plea agreement, cooperating fully with the prosecution.
Nevertheless, Pollard received a life sentence and a recommendation that he never be paroled - in complete violation of the plea agreement he had reached with the government.
Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for harming the United States.
Jonathan Pollard was never indicted for compromising codes, agents, or war plans.
Jonathan Pollard was never charged with treason. [Legally, treason is a charge that is only applicable when one spies for an enemy state in time of war.]
Jonathan Pollard was indicted on only one charge: one count of passing classified information to an ally, without intent to harm the United States.
Prior to sentencing, then-Secretary of Defense Caspar Weinberger delivered a 46-page classified memorandum to the sentencing judge. Since then, neither Pollard nor any of his cleared attorneys have ever been allowed to access the memorandum to challenge the false charges it contains-a clear violation of Pollard's constitutional rights.
The day before sentencing, Weinberger delivered a four-page supplemental memorandum to the sentencing judge. In it, he falsely accused Pollard of treason. Also in the supplemental memorandum, Weinberger advocated a life sentence in clear violation of Pollard's plea agreement. The implication that follows from Weinberger's false characterization of Pollard's offense as "treason" is that the country Pollard served, Israel, is an enemy state.
Pollard was shown the supplemental Weinberger memorandum only once, just moments before sentencing - hardly adequate time to prepare an appropriate defense to rebut the false accusations in it.
No one else in the history of the United States has ever received a life sentence for passing classified information to an ally - only Jonathan Pollard. The median sentence for this offense is two to four years. Even agents who have committed far more serious offenses on behalf of hostile nations have not received such a harsh sentence.
Pollard's attorney never appealed from the life sentence. The time to file for such an appeal was within ten days of sentencing. Years later, with a different attorney, Pollard filed a habeas corpuschallenge to the sentence.
The Court of Appeals, in a two-to-one decision, rejected the challenge, largely on procedural grounds.
The majority placed heavy emphasis on the failure to appeal from the life sentence in a timely manner, and on the resulting far heavier burden faced by Pollard in seeking to challenge the sentence via habeas corpus. [Note: "Habeas corpus" is a procedure by which an incarcerated person may bring a court challenge to the legality of his or her incarceration - often long after the underlying case has been concluded.]
In a dissenting opinion, Court of Appeals Judge Stephen Williams called the case "a fundamental miscarriage of justice," and wrote that he would have ordered that Pollard's sentence be vacated.
In November 1995, Israel granted Jonathan Pollard Israeli citizenship. The official presentation took place in January of 1996. This publicly signaled to the U.S. Israel's willingness to accept full responsibility for Pollard.
U.S. government sources falsely accuse Pollard in the media of passing "rooms full of classified information" and "hundreds of thousands of documents" to Israel. This volume of information is an absurdity! Pollard would have needed to make numerous "drops" using a moving van to have transferred such a large volume of information. In actual fact, Jonathan Pollard made a grand total of eleven"drops" to the Israelis, using only a small briefcase to hold the documents.
The government used an insidious formula to exaggerate the volume of information that Jonathan Pollard passed to Israel. The formula was: if only one page or a single sentence of a document was passed to the Israelis, it was counted as if the whole document had been transmitted. Even referenced documents and sources were counted as having been transmitted in toto. Using this calculation, a single pagecould be counted as 50 hard-bound 500 page volumes!
There is no Mr. "X".
The CIA claim that another highly-placed spy in the U.S. had to exist in order to give Jonathan Pollard his highly specific tasking orders is a complete fabrication. To understand how Pollard was tasked by Israel to secure specific documents, see: Was there another U.S. spy tasking Pollard? - Mr. ‘X' Exposed.
On May 12, 1998 , in the same statement in which the Government of Israel publicly acknowledged Jonathan Pollard as an Israeli agent, it accepted full responsibility for him, and indicated its commitment to securing his release and repatriation to Israel.
Jonathan Pollard has repeatedly expressed his remorse publicly and in private letters to the President and others. He regrets having broken the law, and is sorry he did not find a legal means to act upon his concerns for Israel. (See Remorse Page.)
Jonathan Pollard has been openly linked to the Middle East Peace Process since 1995.
The Israeli government recognized long ago that Jonathan's sentence was unjust, that the documents he delivered to Israel did not remotely cause the damage that the prosecution claimed but never proved. As a result of this recognition, various Israeli administrations have negotiated, as a matter of basic fairness, to secure Jonathan's release.
Since 1995, within the context of the peace process, the US has repeatedly exploited the plight of Jonathan Pollard to extract heavy concessions from Israel.
However despite express promises made by the United States to Israel, Jonathan Pollard remains in jail.
It was the late Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin who, in 1995, first began openly to negotiate for Jonathan's release as part of the peace process.
Although President Clinton promised Prime Minister Rabin that he would release Jonathan as part of a Middle East peace settlement, the President refused to honor his promise after Rabin was assassinated.
Rabin's successor, Prime Minister Shimon Peres, continued to link Jonathan to the peace process, and even went so far as to include a spy swap proposal as part of the deal for Pollard's release.
The Wye Plantationsummit is a prime example of U.S. exploitation of Jonathan Pollard.
Both before and again during the Wye summit negotiations in the fall of 1998, President Clinton promised to release Jonathan Pollard. Pollard was the deal-maker at Wye which enabled the accords to be completed.
At the last minute, with the eyes of the world focused on the Wye Accords signing ceremony which was about to take place in Washington, Clinton reneged on Pollard's release, creating a storm of negative publicity for Israel.
How the Wye fiasco came about:
In September, 1998, just before the mid-term Congressional elections, President Clinton (who at the time was facing impeachment hearings and in need of a foreign policy PR victory) asked Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to attend a three-way summit with the Palestinians at Wye River, Maryland.
Clinton knew that a successful summit at Wye just before the Congressional elections would be good not only for his image, but would also reap great political benefits for the Democrats in their bid to regain control of Congress. As an inducement to Netanyahu, Clinton promised to release Jonathan Pollard within the context of the summit.
Understanding the value of Jonathan Pollard for his own re-election bid, and needing him as a sweetener to sell any kind of "peace" deal to the Israeli people, Netanyahu ignored the entreaties of Republican friends like Newt Gingrich and agreed to attend the summit. (Gingrich would later repay Netanyahu by leading the Republican charge of slander and lies against Jonathan Pollard.)
Once the Wye summit was underway, Clinton quickly "forgot" his promise to free Jonathan Pollard and there was little Netanyahu could do.
Talks at Wye broke down over the release of Palestinian murderers with Jewish blood on their hands and over Israel's request for the extradition of Ghazi Jabali, the chief of Police in Gaza who was wanted for his role in planning and executing terrorist attacks in Israel.
To break the stalemate, the Palestinians suggested Jonathan Pollard as the solution. They proposed that Pollard be sold to Netanyahu once again: the US would give Jonathan to Israel in return for Israel's freeing of hundreds of Palestinian terrorists and immunity for Ghazi Jabali.
The US and Israel agreed to the Palestinian plan to swap Pollard for terrorists and murderers.
President Clinton personally worked out the details of the deal in a late-night private session with a Palestinian and an Israeli representative.
According to the deal, Prime Minister Netanyahu was to receive a side letter from President Clinton the next morning (one of approximately 30 side letters the Americans had promised) guaranteeing Pollard's release for November 11, 1998, one week after the US House elections.
The Pollard negotiation was the deal-maker at Wye which allowed the summit to be successfully wrapped up and a signing ceremony to be planned for the next morning in Washington, on Friday October 23, 1998.
Only hours before the signing ceremony, P.M. Netanyahu received all of the American side-letters that had been promised to him, except one - the one guaranteeing the release of Jonathan Pollard.
Netanyahu threatened not to attend the signing ceremony unless he got the Pollard side letter. Clinton said, "Trust me." Netanyahu, knowing he was about to be double-crossed by Clinton over Pollard for the second time, refused.
Netanyahu demanded that in the absence of a side letter of guarantee, Pollard should be freed into his custody immediately, or no signing ceremony. Arik Sharon supported Netanyahu and they threatened to leave Wye without signing the accords.
In order to take the pressure off of President Clinton, CIA chief George Tenet quickly leaked the news of Pollard's imminent release to the media in a deliberate - and ultimately successful - attempt to torpedo the deal.
He sent emissaries to Capitol Hill to hold emergency meetings with leading Senators and Congressmen to enlist their support in publicly denouncing Pollard's release. Many lies were told by the CIA emissaries about Jonathan Pollard to convince the legislators to act swiftly and in unison. Believing the lies, the legislators complied and began an unprecedented series of public actions to prevent the release of Jonathan Pollard.
Meanwhile at Wye, under heavy pressure and still fearful that Netanyahu would not back down, Clinton quickly negotiated a private fall-back position with Netanyahu: Clinton would publicly promise to do a "speedy review"of the Pollard Case and he would use that review to free Pollard a few months later, parallel to the release of the 750 Palestinian terrorists who were part of the price Israel had agreed to pay for Pollard.
Under heavy public pressure and betrayed by his own Minister of Defense, Yitzhak Mordecai*, who closed ranks with Clinton, Netanyahu folded and accepted this private deal. The signing ceremony was held in Washington as scheduled. *(Mordecai himself is now on trial in Israel in 2001 for sexual assault.)
Netanyahu's capitulation at Wye, the public spectacle of his being brought to heel by the Americans, and the lopsided deal he brought home from Wye now that Pollard was no longer perceived to be a part of it, would shortly cost him his premiership.
After Wye, the White House falsely accused Netanyahu of having injected Pollard into the Wye summit at the last moment.
However, eye witnesses to the Pollard deal at Wye, including the Israeli and the Palestinian who had negotiated the deal with Clinton and the former Israeli Cabinet Secretary, all later contradicted the White House version of events and affirmed that President Clinton had committed himself to the release of Jonathan Pollard as an integral part of the Wye Accords.
Note: Prime Minister Netanyahu was the first prime minster of Israel to agree to free Palestinian terrorists with Jewish blood on their hands. That is the price the Americans demanded for Pollard at Wye. To this day, this represents a keen embarrassment for Netanyahu and his party, even more so since he did not receive Pollard but the Palestinian murders were released nonetheless. That is why no official source from the Netanyahu government ever wants to publicly admit to it. They keep the details to a minimum, but all concur that Pollard's freedom was bought and paid for by "concessions"at Wye.
When Netanyahu returned to Israel after Wye, he created a firestorm of publicity by releasing 200 Palestinian common criminals from Israeli prisons.
The Palestinians were outraged, and insisted that these common criminals were not the prisoners that they had bargained for at Wye. The Americans angrily protested. Netanyahu reminded the Americans that the Wye Accords do not specify exactly which prisoners Israel must release. Critics wondered if the Prime Minister had lost his mind to antagonize the Americans this way.
Only those close to Prime Minister Netanyahu understood that this was Netanyahu's private, pointed reminder to Bill Clinton that if he was thinking of double-crossing him yet a third time over Pollard, he should think again. No Pollard, no release for the Palestinian murderers and terrorists.
Unfortunately for Jonathan Pollard, Netanyahu's government fell before he was able to act on this.
In a meeting with Netanyahu right after his electoral defeat in the Spring of 1999, Jonathan Pollard's wife, Esther, received assurances from the former prime minister that the new prime minister, Ehud Barak, had been fully briefed about what had been agreed to at Wye and about the fall-back position; that is to say, Israel had yet to free the 750 terrorists with blood on their hands and was still supposed to receive Pollard home in a "parallel gesture" from President Clinton.
Not long after Barak took office, the 750 Palestinian murderers and terrorists walked out of prison as free men. Jonathan Pollard remained in his American jail cell.
In an attempt to justify Clinton's reneging at Wye, a story was leaked to the press that George Tenet, a Clinton appointee, had threatened to resign as head of the CIA if Pollard were released.
The story, though not logical, sounded plausible and it became popular to cite the opposition of the American Intelligence community as the reason Clinton did not honor his commitment at Wye to free Pollard.
This was soon exposed as the lame excuse it was when Clinton freed a group of unrepentant FALN terrorists in the fall of 1999, in an attempt to improve his wife's popularity with New York State's Hispanic community in her election bid for the Senate. (See Senate Race Page.)
To this day, the same lame excuse continues to be used to justify the unjustifiable failure of Clinton to honor his commitment.
In September of 1999, despite strenuous opposition from all of his government advisors and agencies, President Clinton freed 14 unrepentant Puerto Rican terrorists, members of the FALN, charged with bank robbery and various acts of terrorism, including over 130 bombings in the US, and the deaths of American police officers.
Clinton ignored a solid wall of opposition from the Justice, Intelligence and Defense departments and Congress, invoked his powers of executive clemency and set the FALN terrorists free. In doing so, he unequivocally put the lie to the notion that any government agency might tie his hands or influence his decision in matters of clemency. (See FALN Page and Clemency Page.)
More than two years elapsed after Wye. President Clinton did no review. Jonathan Pollard remained in prison while the US continued to extract Israeli concessions for his release.
Those who still believed the myth that it was the American Intelligence Community that was tying the hands of President Clinton, also clung to the belief he would finally honor his many promises to release Jonathan Pollard - including the commitment he had made at Wye - at the end of his term, when he could do so without fear of political reprisal.
Beginning in 1991 Rabbi Mordecai Eliyahu, the former Chief Rabbi of Israel, and Jonathan's rabbi, offered himself to the U.S. Justice Department as Jonathan's guarantor. The offer was ignored.
Rabbi Eliyahu repeated the same offer every year after that in private letters to President Clinton.
Every offer went unacknowledged until the fall of 2000, when Esther Pollard received a letter from the White House indicating that the President was aware of the former chief Rabbi's offer and that it would be part of the President's consideration in reaching a final decision on her husband's case.
President Clinton never kept his promises.
When he left office in January 2001, Jonathan Pollard was not included among those that to whom Clinton granted clemency:
in spite of his repeated express commitments to Israel to free Pollard in return for numerous heavy concessions
in spite of his commitment to free Pollard as an integral part if the Wye Accords
in spite of the appeals of the Jewish community, and
in spite of the gross injustices of the Pollard case which include:
ex parte communication between prosecutors and judge
a lack of due process
a sentencing procedure infected by false allegations and lies
On his last day in office, Clinton granted clemency to 140 people. Many who received executive clemency had been convicted of very serious offenses, including murder, robbery and drug dealing. Some of those pardoned had served no prison time at all before being pardoned. Among those pardoned were Clinton's brother, and a former head of the CIA. (See Clemency Page.)
In September of 2000, Jonathan Pollard's attorneys, Eliot Lauer and Jacques Semmelman, filed a motionin the US District Court of Columbia to vacate his sentence.
Since he was sentenced in 1987, none of Jonathan Pollard's security-cleared attorneys have been able to see the classified portions of the docket in order to challenge them in a court of law or to defend him in a clemency proceeding.
In September of 2000, Jonathan Pollard's attorneys filed a separate motion requesting that attorney Eliot Lauer be allowed access to the secret portions of the Pollard court docket. (See Legal Doc: Motion to Unseal the Pollard Record.)
On January 12, 2001, Chief Judge Norma Holloway Johnson denied the attorneys' request to allow Eliot Lauer access to the complete Pollard docket, upholding the government's claim that Lauer's seeing the secret portion of the record poses a risk to American national security.
Both Lauer and Semmelman hold TOP SECRET level security clearances, which they obtained from the Justice Department in order to be eligible to see their client's full record.
Five Prime Ministers of Israel and three Presidents of Israel have requested Jonathan Pollard's release from the United States. Israel has pledged to be responsible for its agent who has served many years in prison under harsh conditions, and who has fully and repeatedly expressed his remorse. (See Remorse Page.)
Between close friends and strong allies, that ought to be enough.
On November 21, 2012, Jonathan Pollard entered the 28th year of his life sentence, with no end in sight.
Sub Pages (collections of related articles and information)
IMRA Interviews, Commentary & Features Page This page contains a wealth of information not found in any other news source. It includes all of the IMRA Interviews with Esther Pollard - an historic series, and required reading for any serious study of the Pollard case. A must-read!
There are Jews, Catholics, Anglicans, Protestants and innumerable unaffiliated Christian sects, all claiming to follow the Bible. Which is right? Here's a brief summary that might help clarify things.
Jesus (Y'shua in Hebrew) was a Jewish rabbi and reformer who lived and taught in the first century CE., mainly in Judea. He and all of his students were devout, Torah observant Jews.
About 30 years after Y'shua's execution by the Romans they destroyed the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem (in 70 CE). The Jews were forced from their homeland and dispersed throughout the known world.
Over the next 300 years or so the Jews and Gentiles who followed Y'shua's teachings gradually merged their beliefs with those of the Roman Empire and abandoned Judaism and Torah. There were many reasons for this: an attempt to avert persecution, due to lack of knowledge, in response to Jewish rejection of the Way movement, anti-Semitism certainly played its role, etc. The Roman ruler Constantine united all the religions of the Roman Empire into a new universal (Latin: catholic) religion known as Catholicism (Universalism).
That new religion later divided into two groups, the (Roman) Catholic Church and the (Eastern) Orthodox Catholic Church. Both groups remain significant today.
Much later, at the Diet of Speyer in 1529, a group of Catholic reformers led by Martin Luther signed and posted a petition consisting of ninety-five theses (statements of belief and demand) to express their dissatisfaction with certain aspects of the Roman Church and its doctrines. This protest developed into a major split within the (Roman) Catholic Church. Those who were excommunicated and/or voluntarily left the Catholic Church are known as Protestants (i.e. Protestors).
Protestants have their own churches, clergies, rules and beliefs (divided into an ever growing number of separate sects or denominations). Most Protestants have little to nothing to do with Catholics and vice versa. At times their differences have led to bloodshed, even wars.
All segments of Christendom (the Christian world) base their essential beliefs on the fundamental dogmas developed by Constantine and the early "Church fathers," however there are also many differences, some significant.
The Eastern and Western Church continue to look somewhat askance at one another and both reject the legitimacy of the Protestant churches outright. Protestants vary widely in their views but as a general statement the Eastern and especially Western Catholic hierarchies are viewed negatively by them, in some cases excessively so.
There is so much confusion!
The words of the Jewish rabbi Y'shua ben Yosef continue to ring clear across time however:
John 4:22 Ye worship ye know not what: we know what we worship: for salvation is of the Jews.
NOTE:The following video is a separate presentation of the same basic material presented below. It may contain some material not found in the printed version and the printed version may include some information not found in the videos. We recommend both watching the video(s) and reading the text(s) of the lessons for the most complete understanding. When the text differs from the videos the text is more authoritative or current. The videos are gradually being redone due to significant updates in what we offer.
Seeker Level Lesson 1 A: Introduction to the Judaism of Rebbe Y'shua
The Most Sacred Name
A Jew is a member of the Covenant made between HaShem (God) and the descendents of Avraham and Sarah. All who belong to this lineage are Jews/Jewish. Those who are not members of this ancient extended family are Gentiles or non-Jews. The Giver of this Covenant is the One True God and He has a Personal Name. This Name is utterly sacred and not to be lightly spoken (or written).
Torah warns:
Exodus 20:7 "You are not to use lightly the name of ADONAI your God, because ADONAI will not leave unpunished someone who uses his name lightly.
The Judaica Press version has it this this way:
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
As Strong's Concordance notes: The word "vain" or "shav" in Hebrew, used in the Third Commandment, refers to:
... the sense of desolating; evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile); figuratively idolatry (as false, subjectively), uselessness (as deceptive, objectively; also adverbially in vain: i.e. pointlessly, without cause): - false (-ly), lie, lying, vain, vanity.
This is a stern warning. Merely speaking this Name without good cause can bring about the displeasure of HaShem (may it never happen to us!). In the early days of biblical history the Sacred Name was spoken more freely, however by the Second Temple Period (the time period of Rebbe Y'shua) the uttering of the Name became less common and only the high priest spoke the Name, and then generally only once a year. As time passed the Jewish sages realized ever more thoroughly just how Sacred the Name is and so sought to honor it more completely. Today it is rarely spoken. Balance is needed in all things of course. We do not want to view the Sacred Name as something to be feared are viewed with superstition. At the same time, due to our deep respect for HaShem (literally "The Name") we avoid uttering it without good cause.
In Hebrew, the main language of Tanakh (Hebrew Bible), the Sacred Name is: יהוה and transliterates as Yod Hay Vav and a final Hay. In English characters this Most Sacred of all Names is transliterated as YHVH -- blessed be He for all eternity.
The Sacred Name is Unique
There are deeply religious, spiritual and mystical reasons why we do not utter the Sacred Name lightly. Most names identify the named: "That's Yochanan" (John). John (in its various forms) is the second most common name there is (after the name Muhammad). John could just as easily have been named Tom or Joe because John is "just a name." For created beings living in the duality of time names are little more than identifiers within our community. We are not our names, we have names, usually a first, middle and last. While naming customs have changed since biblical times, the last name usually identifies our lineage (family name) while the fist is our individual place within the lineage. Hence the historic "Jesus" was actually named Y'shua ben Yosef (Y'shua son of Yosef). More on this later.
However the Holy One is without beginning, middle or end. Because the Eternal is echad (utterly One), utterly unique and completely indivisible, He is One with His attributes, with His existence and with His Name. We have love but He is Love (I John 4:8). It is not therefore precisely that the Sacred Name "is God's Name," its more that God isthe Sacred Name -- Blessed be He for all eternity. He is non-different than His Name because He alone is truly One. By honoring the Sacred Name therefore we not only honor a name, we honor the Named. We delve into this in more detail in the level two Talmidim lessons.
In Judaism most everything is debated. This point however is not. Jewish authorities sometimes vary on whywe do not utter the Sacred Name without very good cause, but they are unanimous that we don't. As students of Rebbe Y'shua we honor this sacred tradition and do not utter the Sacred Name without very cause.
Because the Transcendent Name is so Sacred Jews traditionally use one of two titles rather than write or pronounce the Name. This is done to honor the Sacred Name (not out of superstition against using it as some critics imagine).
Adonai
When reading the Holy Scriptures, and in some traditional prayers, we see the Sacred Name written in Hebrew. At such places we read the Sacred Name as Adonai ("Lord"). This title is commonly pronounced in two different ways:
As "Adoh-noy" by many Ashkenazi Jews:Note:
These are the
Y'hudey Ashkenazim
, the "Jews of Ashkenaz". These Jews are descended from the medieval Jewish communities that lived along the Rhine in Germany from Alsace in the south to the Rhineland in the north prior to the Shoah (Holocaust). Researchers believe the origin of this term (and people) may reach back to the days of Noach avinu (our father Noah). This is because I Chronicles 1:6 references among the descendents of Gomer (son of Japheth, son of Noah) a son named Ashchenaz. These Jews, which numerically dominate Am Israel today, are believed by many to have descended from Noah's son Japheth rather than Shem (as the Semitic Jews). Remember that Judaism is not a race, its a Covenant relationship peopled by different races, some Semitic, some not. The Caucasians of Europa (including those Aryans of the Rhineland) descended through Noach's son Japheth according to the Bible, making this connection plausible if not likely. Japheth's descendants were instructed to live with and support the Shemites or sons of Shem (Genesis 9:27). It is certainly possible that very early Caucasian converts to Am Israel passed this family name along.
As "Adoh-nigh" by the Sephardim (Hispanic and Middle Eastern Jews) and others.Note:
These Jews are descended from the Jews of the Iberian Peninsula before their expulsion in the late 15th century. In Israel Sepharidic Hebrew is now most widely embraced and so most Jews the world over are moving to it. It you are learning Hebrew you will want to focus on the Sephardic pronunciation.
In practice the differences between these and other Jewish groups (such as the Adot HaMizrach -- "communities of the East," the Bnei Menashe, the Cochin Jews, Bene Ephraim, the Romaniotes of Greece; the Italkim or Bene Roma of Italia, the Teimanim Jews of Yemen and Oman, the African Lemba and Mizraḥi Jews) has more to do with historically observed liturgical traditions of ones ancestors than with present geography. This diversity is not relevant to our present study however it is important to understand that the House of Judah (Y'hudah) is not a culturally nor linguistically monolithic tradition. Jews have been living in diaspora (i.e. outside of the Land of Israel) for so long (since the 6th century BCE) that they have adopted many customs and traditions and developed many more. This adds to the richness of our Traditions and deepens the traditional Jewish respect for other cultures and beliefs.
Regardless of pronunciation, "Adonai" is usually translated as LORD (or L-RD), proclaiming that the Named One is LORD over all lords. In the following verse from the Complete Jewish Bible note how the Sacred Name has been rendered as "ADONAI."
Exodus 20:7 "You are not to use lightly the name of ADONAI your God, because ADONAI will not leave unpunished someone who uses his name lightly.
Whereas the Judaica Press Version has it this way:
Exodus 20:7 You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, for the Lord will not hold blameless anyone who takes His name in vain.
HaShem
We more frequently employ the title HaShem(as in "Yeshiva Beth HaShem" or "School of the House of the Name") outside of Scripture reading and certain prayers.
"HaShem" has two essential meanings (the first literal, the latter ascribed). He is "the Name" -- "the Name of four letters": the Tetragrammaton in Greek). He is also "the (Ha) KING." This ascribed title proclaims that the Named One is KING over all kings. This reflects our understanding that the Named One is both King of kings and Lord of lords.
Because HaShem is utterly ONE (Hebrew: echad) He and His Name are indivisible. Both of these titles are accurate and both should be held in mind when referring to the One True God Who alone is King of kings and Lord of lords. These are the divine titles that are best used by the students of Rebbe Y'shua to refer to the Holy One, blessed be He. Again, The actual Sacred Name should rarely if ever be employed.
The Sacred Four Letter Name is used in the Bible more than 7970 times.
The Sacred Name is never used in the New Testament as we have it (other than as part of other words and proper names like Hallelujah and Y'shua). There the word commonly translated as Lord is kuriosand often is not referring to God at all (for instance Matthew 10:24, II Corinthians 8:9 etc). This word often means "master," one in authority, as with the European lords and ladies. The intended meaning must be determined by context as in English.
Some Jewish sages maintain that the prohibition against using God's Sacred Name in vain found in Third Commandment: "You shall not take His Name in vain" refers only to not taking oaths with the Sacred Name. While that certainly is part of it, it is not the complete meaning. As the great Jewish theologian Rambam (Maimonides) tells us:
It is not only a false oath that is forbidden. Instead, it is forbidden to mention even one of the names designated for G-d in vain, although one does not take an oath. For the verse commands us, saying: "To fear the glorious and awesome name" (Deuteronomy 28:58)." Included in fearing it is not to mention it in vain.
Therefore if because of a slip of the tongue, one mentions [G-d's] name in vain, he should immediately hurry to praise, glorify and venerate it, so that it will not have been mentioned in vain. What is implied? If he mentions G- d's name, he should say: "Blessed be He for all eternity," "He is great and exceedingly praiseworthy," or the like, so that it will not have been [mentioned entirely] in vain (Mishneh Torah, Laws of Vows 12:11).
Likewise the frequent command in the Bible to "Praise His Name" and so on does not direct us to pronounce the Sacred Name as though it were like any other. It is most precious. Many sincere people inadvertently misuse the Name by using it lightly. We are to honor the Name by "not lightly using it lightly" (Exodus 20:7) and by regarding the Name as a thing of most precious beauty and utter sacredness. The command then, as Rabbi Schneur Zalman of Liadi explains (see: Likkutei Torah, Behar 41a, et al), is based on the fact that our praises of God arise from our emotional and/or intellectual appreciation of His Greatness. Something so grand and sacred should never be used as part of common speech.
How, the noted rabbi ponders, can finite beings such as we even begin to know about His Glory in order to offer Him due praise and worship? No one has seen God at anytime (as we read in passages like Exodus 33:20, John 1:18). By His allowance HaShem can partially be known and praised because He reveals His glory to us through His Torah and His Torah proclaims His various aspects as Names and Titles (i.e. as Elohiym, El Gibor, El Shaddai etc.).
Therefore we understand that the command to "Praise His Name" refers to praising His attributes, His Kindness, His Power, His Mercy and so on. HaShem's Oneness knows no division. Through His various attributes we are empowered to enter His omnipresence with thanksgiving (Psalms 69:30, 95:2, Philippians 4:6, Colossians 4:2 and so on) with some slight degree of comprehension of His greatness.
Religious Jews and Noahidim (Gentiles who worship the God of Israel) always seek to honor the Sacred Name.
There are a lot of people today who treat the Sacred Name of God lightly. They utter the Name (or some mispronounced version of it) as though it were any other common name. They scribble it on web pages and blogs with no more thought than when they write "John Smith" or the name of some celebrity. These people do so at their peril as the above verse from Exodus and the quote from Rambam make clear. The Sacred Name should onlybe uttered or written with full intention and all due respect, and then only when the alternative forms (Adonai, HaShem etc) do not suffice to convey the intended meaning. It is the most Sacred Name in all existence. We can not stress this point enough.
For this reason, throughout these lessons we refer to the God of Israel primarily as HaShem and Adonai. Those taking these lessons are instructed to follow this custom as well when writing us, posting to our groups etc.
Note: If you have any questions or comments we encourage you to post them to our Beth Yachad e-group. If you are wondering about something others may be as well. This list exists, in part, for this purpose. Please utilize it.
You are also invited to join us in Second Lifeat Beth HaShem Shalom Center for weekly discussions and fellowship.
All Bible quotes are from the Complete Jewish Bible (CJB) unless otherwise noted. This is an overall good modern paraphrase of the Bible derived from various manuscript sources. KJV: The Authorized King James Version. The preeminent translation of the superior Textus Receptus source materials. JPB: Judaica Press Bible: Available through Chabad
Jesus Christ: Rebbe Y'shua was renamed this by the Catholic Church as part of its efforts to distance their new religion from its Jewish roots. Jew: A Member of the extended family of the biblical Avraham and Sarah:
Traditionally: One whose birth mother is Jewish or who has formally converted into the family by a recognized religious court.
Alternately: One whose father is Jewish (but not mother) AND who was raised in a Jewish home according to some non-Orthodox movements, including the Reform.
Judaism: The people, religion and culture of the Jews: the House of Judah (Yehuda); the biblical people of the Covenant (whether they are Torah observant or not). Of the original twelve houses of Israel only the Jews remain. This will remain the case until the coming of Messiah. The Jews are People Israel.
Mashiach: See Moshiach Meshiykhiyyim (Hebrew): Messianics (English):
This term has been so altered as to be meaningless. Meshiykhiyyim are by definition followers of the Messiah (whoever that is considered to be), however the term has become so equated with the Christian religion that we recommend avoiding it to avoid confusion.
Jews who do not understand/accept the claims of Rebbe Y'shua (the vast majority) usually prefer the Talmudic term Notzrim ("Nazarenes"). This term is often used with derision and so we recommend avoiding it to avoid confusion.
It seems best to us for the students of Rebbe Y'shua to just use the standard terms, Jewish or Noahide without qualifiers and then, when the subject arises, to share one rabbinic leanings.
Messiah: English for Moshiach. Moshiach: The "Anointed" of HaShem: A consecrated (anointed) person (as a king or priest); specifically used in reference to the promised future King of Israel, Son of David (i.e. Ha or The Messiah).
"Mashiach" is slightly more common transliteration in English however "Moshiach" is most correct in our opinion (and according to the Lubavitcher Rebbe)
Many anointed persons are called "moshiach" in the Scriptures. For instance:
KJV: Exodus 29:29 And the holy garments of Aaron shall be his sons' after him, to be anointed [Hebrew: moshiach] therein, and to be consecrated in them.
KJV: Leviticus 4:3 If the priest that is anointed [Hebrew moshiach] do sin according to the sin of the people;
KJV: I Samuel 10:1 Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed [moshiach] thee to be captain over his inheritance?
KJV: I Samuel 24:6 And he said unto his men, The LORD forbid that I should do this thing unto my master, the LORD'S anointed [moshiach], to stretch forth mine hand against him, seeing he is the anointed [moshiach], of the LORD.
KJV: II Samuel 23:1 Now these be the last words of David. David the son of Jesse said, and the man who was raised up on high, the anointed [moshiach] of the God of Jacob, and the sweet psalmist of Israel, said,
KJV: Isaiah 45:1 Thus saith the LORD to his anointed [moshiach], to Cyrus...
(The) Nazarene: A title of Y'shua ben Yosef.
Netser: branch, a messianic title based on Isaiah 11: root of Nazarene, Nazareth. Noahides: Noahidim, Noachdim: Non-Jews who worship the God of Israel. Especially those who observe the Seven Laws of Noah. Notzrim ("Nazarene"): A Talmudic term often used by traditional Jews to refer to those who accept Rebbe Y'shua as Moshiach.
Talmud: A significant portion of the Oral Torah Tanakh: The Hebrew Bible, commonly referred to the Old Testament. The term "Old Testament" should be avoided due to the false implication that the "New Testament" has superseded it. Torah:
The five books of Moses: Genesis - Deuteronomy.
The teachings of the rabbis
The Will/Wisdom of HaShem.
The "Eternal Mind of God"
Rabbi: A teacher. A teacher of the Written and Oral Torah; a leader of a Jewish congregation or other Jewish ministry. Rebbe: Used in different ways, from the same root as rabbi: An especially honored rabbi, a teacher of rabbis, the spiritual leader of an Hasidic fellowship.
Y'shua: The preferred written form of the real name of "Jesus." Also correct is Yeshua. Yeshiva: Literally [place of] "sitting." A Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim (lectures or classes) and in study pairs called chavrutas (Aramaic for "friendship" or "companionship"). Sometimes used for any Jewish educational facility, sometimes used to reference school of rabbinic ordination. Yeshua: An alternate spelling of the real name of "Jesus"
Our morning Second Life discussion on Rebbe Nachman 0n Prayer went very nice. We'll be repeating this talk again at 5 PM today (Pacific) and would love to welcome you.
If you are new to Second Life visit my site here: http://yeshivabethhashem.org/SecondLife for info on getting started. If you have a Second Life account already we hope you will join us here:
!
