You are not going to hear this in the news tomorrow, but I am in East Jerusalem right now, and I am listening to serious gun fire going down. This is not a celebration, but a fire fight. Most likely, an arrest went awry and broke down into an old-fashioned gunfight, but with automatic weapons. It's a beatiful night and the bullets make for relaxing music.

The fighting in Bint Jbeil has claimed the lives of eight Israeli infantryment, z"l, and several dozen have been wounded. Sadly, the price the IDF is paying is necessary in order to kill as many Hizbollah as possible. While exact numbers are not available, the IDF estimates they've killed around 100 Hizbollah guerillas. This means there's a 1:4 ratio of every Israeli soldier killed to every enemy killed. Relative to the total dominance the IDF has in Judea, Samaria and Gaza, it's clear that Hizbollah is an opponent that's going to extract a heavy price. The Arabs in Jerusalem, citizens of Israel by the way, are celebrating. I can hear them shooting in the air as I write this. If someone handed me a .50 caliber machine gun and half a ton of ammunition, would I open up the village across the little valley? That size caliber easily goes through walls.

The reason why the IDF is losing as many people as it's losing, and this has to be highlighted, is because the Israeli government doesn't allow the IDF to flatten houses in villages. The IDF has to leave most of the structures in place, and can only call in artillery and air strikes if they are 100% that a house has terrorists within. Since intelligence is never perfect, most of the time infantryment enter homes without knowing who is inside and if they armed. So, at the cost of IDF soldiers' lives, we are limiting civilian casualties. WHY?!? This pathetic obsession with preserving "innocent" life is draining our resources and it's completely pointless.

What may not be well-reported abroad is that the miliumnikim, reservists, are being called up in ever increasing numbers. The ground combat in Lebanon is expanding and the IDF needs more and more infantry. It's simply impossible to see everything from the air, as southern Lebanon is very mountainous, full of trees and thick growth, and has an infinite number of crevices and caves.

Am Israel, the Nation of Israel, is responding well. There are flags everywhere, people are completely united, and all around my hometown of Jerusalem I see two great posters, both with flags in the background: "Hezek v'Emetz!" and "Anachnu Ninatzeach!" - meaning "Strength and Courage!" and "We will be victorious!"

To someone not in Israel right now that may sound like cheesy lines from old movies. But if you were here, you'd feel good walking down the street and being reminded that we, as a nation, have huge cajones and that we need not fear. The million and half residents of the north are braving the Hizbollah rocket onslaught with exemplary steadfastness. Lets not forget that in American terms, that's the equivalent of 75 million citizens living under rocket threat and living life in and out of bomb shelters. No small thing.

But Israeli Jews are completely unique group of people, and the way they are handling themselves is impressive. The connection and the identification with the IDF is very strong, since everyone has served or is going to serve, and everyone has friends and family currently serving. That makes war a national effort, and not the far-off adventure by a small warrior caste, which is the American way of waging war. Casualties in Israel are a very personal thing, while in the US, the three thousand dead in Iraq and G-d knows how many wounded are a total non-issue for the 99% of the population that aren't "military families." This distinction between the great civilian masses and the small warrior class makes the US an extremely bizarre, disconnected society. Israel is continually 'megabeshet' meaning - it's 'crystallizing.' This is the concept in Hebrew of coming together and strengthening bonds. In the US, this idea is totally alien as a national experience. The "coming together" after 9/11 is totally incomparable to what I am talking about.

Five soldiers from the elite Sayeret Egoz were killed recently z"l. A dozen soldiers were injured in fighting today. To the best of my knowledge, there are units from all infantry brigades operating on the border or within Lebanon. The active duty parts of each infantry unit have been moved to the North, while the reserve portions are taking over duties in the West Bank. However, the massing of infantry is reaching such a scale now that many reservists will also be sent to Lebanon. So far, the fighting has claimed almost 40 Israeli lives, soldiers and civilians. While I am sure that my readers can read all these facts on their own, I need to make it a point to recognize the physical loss my people are suffering.

The current IDF strategy is a mixture of bombing infrastructure, with the attendant collateral damage, and of attacking Hizbollah positions with tanks and infantry. Sadly, Hizbollah has had 6 years of total quiet in order to build themselves up. Ever since Israel signed the Oslo Accords in 1993, we have been in withdrawal mode. The 1990's saw Israel create the "Palestinian Authority" in the West Bank and Gaza and to grant them large areas of complete local sovereignty. To make things worse, Israel provided the PA forces with arms in order to suppress the terror groups. Of course, there's no distinction between the PA, Hamas, Islamic Jihad and all the rest of them. The weapons gifted by Israel to the Arabs were quickly turned on Israel herself. Terror attacks pressured the Israeli government to give up more and more land. In 2000, in the zenith of "land-for-peace", Israel withdrew from Southern Lebanon, to the joy of leftists everywhere.

Soon after that withdrawal in May of 2000, Arafat gave the order for the Al-Aqsa Intifada, which began promptly in September of that year. Three years of bloodshed followed, until Israel hit the Arabs with great force and closed off the West Bank and Gaza. However, terror continued, albeit on a smaller scale, and Israel gradually succumbed to international pressure to give up on all of Gaza and to evacuate the 8,000 Jews who lived there. While many perceived this as a great way to jettison a troublesome area, people with a brain knew that the disengagement from Gaza would embolden our enemies. Indeed, after Israel withdrew from 100% of Gaza in August 2005, the Arabs there commenced firing Kassam rockets into Israel proper, ruining the lives of tens of thousands of civilians. Since the communities affected were small and not politically influential, and since Israel didn't want to appear unnecessarily belligerent, our government did nothing. The government also did nothing while Hizbollah strengthened itself with Syrian and Iranian help, right in front of they eyes of IDF troops on the northern border.

After a fake sense of relative calm, Hizbollah, which has publically admitted to fully coordinating its operations with Hamas, struck Israel in the North. Israel now finds itself fighting a mediocre force in Gaza and a large, well-equipped and well-prepared force along the Lebanese border. How this was not predicted by the brilliant left-wingers who run our government, I cannot say. Their desire to please the international community in general and the Europeans in particular was so powerful, that they completely forgot that their primary job isn't to make a French businessman feel confident enough to sign a contract with an Israeli firm, but rather to make sure Israeli civilians aren't getting shelled by enemy forces.

Luckily, part of the ruling elite has been awakened from their brief embrace with the anti-semites who run most Western countries, and has realized that no one could care less if Israel pleases or doesn't please the UN, and that the world is perfectly content to grant Hizbollah at least as much legitimacy in action as the IDF. In such a case, why waste diplomatic resources and precious time with useless discussions? No cease-fire is needed, no half-effective solution should be called for. No exchange of hundreds of terrorists for soldiers who are most likely killed should be arranged. Israel needs to assert its sovereign right to demolish anyone who attacks its civilians on their national soil. If this means setting Lebanon back a few decades economically, so be it. After all, the Lebanese government has a duty under basic international law to be in full control of all military forces on its soil, and not to allow an army supported by foreign governments to operate freely in its southern regions. The Lebanese chose a shaky agreement with Nasrallah instead of fighting him. To think that they actually believed that he would sit quitely and not cause a major conflict with Israel is naive. The Lebanese government, as any other government in the region knows what Hizbollah's goals are, and that they will stop at nothing to achieve them. Periods of quiet are only an opportunity for Hizbollah to prepare for the next outbreak of war.

The average Lebanese resident, especially if he's a Christian or a Druze, has no desire to suffer the consequences of Hizbollah's war with Israel. But, if they choose to live in Lebanon, they should be combatting Hizbollah. Instead, they preferred an illusion of calm, and are now supposed to sit back and watch Israel bleed as it takes on an enemy that the Lebanese should have be fighting on their own? Lebanon needs to take responsibility for having a rogue army in their country, and needs to side with Israel in this war, instead of trying to suck up to the Europeans with requests for aid, and trying to suck up to the Arab world by pretending to be the victims of Israeli aggression. The sob stories of innocent Arabs who happen to have terrorists living next to them and amongst them have to end. No normal country would allow such a situation to occur. All violent force has to be under the monopoly of a single central authority that has full responsibility for using it. Terrorist organizations undermine this idea, and Arab regimes, if they want to ever be perceived by Israel and the world at large as at least somewhat normal, need to suppress any and all tendencies within their countries for terrorist organizations. Regimes that themselves are nurturing terror groups, such as Syria and Iran, of course need to be wiped out.

With regard to Syria and Iran, I hope that Israel strikes Syria as soon as possible, disabling infrastructure and crippling its military. This will significantly decrease the financial and logistical support that Hizbollah relies upon. The Iranian regime also needs to be struck, specifically its key infrastructure and military installations. Hizbollah will thus find itself isolated and under-supplied. Hopefully the dismemberment of the Syrian and Iranian regimes will lead to internal revolutions and upheavals in those nations. Let them fight it out, on religious or ethnic grounds. Israel and the US can then support with arms shipments whichever side is likely to be least of a threat if it were to claim power. If it so happens that Iran, which is composed of several large ethnic groups, splits into multiple countries, then so be it. Stability is a silly concept that has been used by left-wingers in the West to allow corrupt and violent regimes to remain in power. Stability is not an inherently desirable goal. Until this concept seeps into the thick skulls of Westerners, the Islamists will continue to cause problems well into the future.

Two soldiers were killed yesterday in infantry combat near the northern border, z"l. Dozens have been injured, including six today. Those who were killed belonged to Sayeret Maglan, an elite unit. The combat is going well on the whole, but every human life is precious to the State of Israel, so it's hard to see the successes through the pain of loss. But in order to win, more lives will be lost, both civilian and military. In case it's not clear to any of my readerst that I hate the left wing here's another logical statement that your typical socialist idiot would disagree with: There are no reasons that could stand up to clear logic that would lead any rational person to believe that Israel doesn't have the right to operate freely in Lebanon until the Hizbollah threat is eliminated.

On an different note, I realized half a year ago that people who haven't studied Judaism are so ignorant about it that any information they get from weird, non-authentic sources is falsely understood as true or at least plausible. And I am not just talking about non-Jews, I am talking about JEWS. Yes, my very own people are about as knowledgable about all things Jewish as a Holywood movie. This is insane. Study Torah people, from someone who actually knows Torah. Not from a Reform "rabbi" who got his "ordination" from the "Hebrew Union College of Judaism." And not from a Conservative "rabbi" who got studied "Jewish subjects" at some pathetically compromised institution like the "Jewish Theological Seminary." These people are not real rabbis and they didn't learn Torah in an authentic manner and, most importantly, they never learned real Jewish philosophy, which is reserved only for those who have a real, in-depth Torah background of twenty years. It has always been like this and the present is no different. There is a tremendous amount of complex knowledge that needs to be mastered before one learns Kabbalah, and there are no people in this world who know real Kabbalah aside from the Orthodox. Without Kabbalistic knowledge and awareness a rabbi is simply incapable of teaching.

The variants on Judaism we see today are deviations from the real thing. The real thing was founded 3,300 years ago and has been developing and clarifying its philosophy and laws ever since. But never, not until very recently, have we ever had a situation where new streams are created that distort and alter the Torah in order to simplify Jewish observance and make Jewish philosophy more palatable to a secularly trained mind. Jews always used to assimilate. Great, so go ahead and assimilate. But don't pretend like you're not assimilating by mainting half-hearted, watered down "Jewish" streams. All you're doing is delaying the inevitable assimilation of your children. Once removed from true Torah, a Jew is cut off from his spiritual source. He will eventually become a lost and unsatisfied Jew. Then, he will stop being a Jew.

For these reason, I have found that totally secular, unaffiliated Jews actually have more potential to do tshuva and start to build themselves up as real Jews. The ones who have been brainwashed by Reform and Conservative movement philosophy are goners! No wonder the Torah community in Israel is opposed to the spreading of these movements here. A secular person at least has a chance to become a complete Jew, and an every growing number do every year. The ones that are sucked into liberal, fake versions of the real thing are taught to hate the true teaching and the true way of Torah.

War is everywhere now. There are IDF troops in Gaza and Lebanon. Despite the reports, I can assure my readers these are not small incursions. The IDF is targeting terrorists up and down the West Bank. There is an uncertain number of suicide bombers on the loose in the center of the country, so broad areas have been closed off for all human endeavor as the police hunts them down. A suicide bomber was stopped yesterday about 500 yards from where I am currently sitting. He is known to have several accomplices with back-up suicide belts. The border guard and the police are all over the Arab areas of East Jerusalem. The Arabs in this city are having nightly celebrations in support of their terrorist brethren. Their idea of celebrating is shooting into the air. As someone who lives a stone's throw away from Arab villages, I don't appreciate the shooting. Residents of many northern areas are leaving for the slightly safer south, and volunteer families are taking them in. The combat in the north is not going to be over in two weeks, don't believe the silly statements in the press.

On the other hand, the country has banded together. Aside from the hopelessly left-wing, everyone is solidly behind the war effort. Even Tel-Avivians, known for their looney left-wing views, are realizing that this is very serious and is the opening round for what may very well be an existential war. The fact that Tel-Aviv is within range of the enemy probably plays a huge part in their re-discovered militarism. Granted the IDF is far more powerful relative to our enemies than it was in 1967 and 1973, but that doesn't mean that it's going to be easy. The nature of guerilla and urban warfare is such that a significant amount of the IDF's advantage is nullified. No one wants to return the 1982-2000 period when the IDF was losing 70 soldiers per year in southern Lebanon, but it seems that there might be little choice.

Of course, as the overwhelming majority of Israelis, I am not frightened by the current events, nor do I fear what may develop in the near future. None of my life plans are being altered, much less my daily routine. Like that old, polio-ridden anti-semite wisely said, "we have nothing to fear but fear itself." Succinctly encapsulated brilliance.

How can one not believe in the fact that the G-d of Israel is protecting His people, when 99% of the over one thousand rockets fired by Hizbollah into Israel have caused no harm? To have such a limited effect, one cannot simply rationalize that the Hizbollah command and control systems are backward, faulty and operated by under-trained personnell. Just like G-d has kept our enemies from hurting us on a massive scale in previous wars, so again He is protecting His chosen people. Believe in random luck all you want, but that doesn't stand up to simple mathematical calculation.

The G-8, in a bizarre moment of moral clarity, have decided to side with Israel by way of the statements they have made during their current summit near St. Petersburg. This gives the IDF time to keep striking Hizbollah. The IDF is saying they have destroyed about half of the enemy's combat capacity. However, it's still clear that more operations are being planned, as the reserves continue to be called up. Many of the guys in my yeshiva have gotten their call-up notice. The daily prayers have also taken on a whole new level of intensity as we are now praying with regard to very pertinent events. There's a special prayer for the success of the IDF and for the safety of Israeli soldiers that is being added as well. The call-up of reserves hits the religious zionist community harder than other sectors because virtually every able-bodied male is in a combat unit.

Meanwhile, left-wing retards are planning ever larger demonstrations in Tel-Aviv. The anti-war demonstration they had today drew 400 people. They are opposed to "Israeli aggression." These are the scared Jewish sheep. They'll be holding those anti-Israel signs all the way to the gas chambers.

In personal news, after taking nearly three months off from running, I am back in my little running shoes. I needed the time off to heal some painful shin splints and do a tremendous amount of walking in order to build up the various tendons and ligaments and prevent further injuries. Hopefully, I'll have the patience to take it easy and to build up slowly. Once you start getting results, it's very easy to let your ego take over and push yourself too hard. That may be ok if you're planning on peaking at the end of a 3-month track season. But if you're planning on running continuously for years to come, you must be patient.

Also, I am still addicted to felafel, shawarma, hummus and t'china. It's not a good plan for a six-pack, but it's so delicious that I don't care. From the Torah perspective, as elucidated by one of the greatest commentators, the Rambam, I am failing by caving in to a sinful pleasure that hurts my body and by extension my spirit. The Maharal and Rav Cook (and many others I am sure) also wrote well-referenced opinions against gluttony, comparing it to the same level of spiritual voidness as sexual deviance. Which makes sense, as both of these activities catapult one away from the values necessary to connect to higher planes of being. That makes it that much harder to re-connect and make spiritual progress.

But have you seen a fully-loaded shawarma?!? I would kill a million Arabs for a bite of the good stuff.

We are now deeper into the conflict. Four Israeli sailors (z"l) have been killed by an advanced C-802 missile that was fired by Iranian troops who are assisting the Hizbollah. Eight civilians (z"l) have been killed in a missile strike on Haifa's train station, which was carried out with 250 mm Syrian rockets. Hundreds of people have been wounded all over northern Israel. The Israeli Air Force, the Israeli Navy and the artillery are carrying out strikes against Hizbollah targets all over Lebanon. Our strikes have effectively cut off all sea, land and air communication and transportation routes to and from Lebanon. This lowers the chances of Syrian and Iranian assistance to Hizbollah. You can all check out detailed coverage of the conflict on Jerusalem Post's website, where they also post pictures of some of the slain soldiers z"l.

Just as life goes on as if nothing is happening, there's still a palpable energy brewing in Jerusalem, even though no one here is directly affected. Since Israel is so small, everyone knows someone in every corner of this Land. Hence, I am not the only one with friends and relatives who are getting bombed by Hizbollah. It seems that at this point, the majority of northerners are going into bomb shelters when the sirens sound, and normal life has been put on hold. People in the affected area aren't going to work, and summer camps have suspended their programs. Those of us who are diligent students of Jewish history know that the months of Tammuz and Av (roughly responding to July and August) are very problematic for the Jewish people and many terrible tragedies have occured at this particular time of the year. G-d is testing us yet again, and we have to pray with strong conviction and do what is right by the Torah in order to come out of this better than we went in.

As I write this in an internet cafe, the owner of the place and a few customers are discussing the ranges of various missiles that Hizbollah possesses and what cities can be hit. The consensus is that Hizbollah can reach down to Hadera, which is not too far north of Tel-Aviv. There are also the usual jokes about who's getting that call from his IDF officer. Once that call comes in, life can go from going to work, running a business or attending class to donning the IDF olive green and doing dirty work to defend the country. I have only praise for the IDF's reserve system, but it is still difficult to stomach the fact that if enough reserve soldiers are needed, men in their 30's who have children will be called up. Sadly, the air war has its limitations in the rugged mountain terrain of southern Lebanon, and damaging Hizbollah in a decisive way requires a large scale ground incursion like the one currently ongoing in Gaza. With all of this coverage of the missile exchanges some people abroad are forgetting that there are IDF troops destroying Hamas operatives and infrastructure in Gaza, not to mention the nightly arrests and raids being carried out in the West Bank.

At this point, the Israeli government is still playing the game like a bunch of sleazy diplomats, trying to secure promises, trying to broker a deal. In the end, if a deal gets the kidnapped soldiers back, will the violence stop? Maybe for a little while, but the threat will remain and nothing will change. Hizbollah is strengthening strategically and publically admits its connection and kinship with Syria and Iran. The enemy does not fear the Nation of Israel. The Nation of Israel, on the other hand, does fear. Not the enemy, but the international community. The Israeli government fears what may be if the Western world increases its criticism. Is it worth continuing the conflict or is it time to make a deal? Will the West cut off economic relations with us if the Lebanese civilian death toll climbs?

These are the questions our pseudo-intellectuals are asking themselves. They start with a position of fear, of doubt, of confusion. If they were real Jews, the kind of Jews that our religion bluntly states we must be, they would have no fear, no doubt and no confusion. The Torah is not a bunch of old legends, and the G-d of Israel is not a metaphor for a general law of Nature. G-d is a complete and total force that allocates itself in our physical world in such a way so as to keep it functioning and moving in a specific direction, continually allowing for perfect flows of energy to all objects and occurences. G-d created and maintains the inter-relationship of all the various parts that make up the multiple aspects of existence. The Jewish connection with G-d is very real, very powerful, even amongst those Jews who haven't realized it yet. We, as a people, must realize that we, as selfish individuals, are not the center of the universe. Our desires, our fears, our feelings are simply reflections of our weaknesses and the inherent problems of what happens to a human when he improperly exercises the power of free choice. Free choice exists in order to realize that we have amazing powers that can connect us to a force of unimaginable and infinite power. From there, we logically proceed to the realization that we are part of a greater spiritual reality. This reality doesn't just exist in some heavenly world to which we go when we die or to which we pray to. The opposite is true - the greater spiritual reality exists at the same time and in the same place as the physical reality. We, as Jews, can grasp multiple realities at once and create a crucial link between the physical and the super-physical.

This may sound like crazy talk to an avowed secularist. And if not, there's still the question "So what?" and "What do I have to do with it all?" Without getting into it too deeply, Jews can, on an intellectual level, come to understand the Torah philosophy. Within the practical codes of law and behavior set down by G-d, exist the keys to making the theoretically impossible connection between the physical and the Divine, and, importantly, bringing that connection to affect our very lives. The simple emotional elation that a human can feel in a particular moment of spirituality is a powerful thing. But more powerful is using the analytical abilities of the mind to create logical algorithms that can prove the operative assumptions of Judaism, thereby making it rationally indisputable. If you believe that quantum physics is provable science, than Torah concepts are easily as provable if not more so. For those interested, I can get into the Torah-science discussion in person. But I forewarn, if you are intelligent and are afraid of bursting your scientific bubble, then study up on that science before we have that discussion. That way, you will be closer to the right understanding of things, and it'll be even easier to prove Judaism's case. He he. That's some Talmudic humor for you.

Even so, lets say we can understand what I wrote. And we can understand deeper concepts of scientific thought that expose small, but crucial, elements of our physical reality. But "why, oh why do I have to do all those silly 'rituals' and why do I have to dress modestly and act prude? and why do I have to perform laws I don't understand?" These questions, like Jewish philosophy, don't require leaps of faith. They do require a logical mind and an ability to think on multiple levels simultaneously.

I have gone way off the security discussion, but I did give you, my dear readers, and fraction of a drop of the ocean of Jewish thought. And, as our actions as Jews have great power to alter reality, we must ask hard questions and delve deep.

Light two candles next Shabbat, and make the following blessing as you do it: Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu Melech ha'Olam, Asher Kiddishanu b'Mitzvotav V'Tzivanu al Hadlakat Neirot Shabbat, Amen. It's a simple act that takes thirty seconds, men or women can do it, and won't infringe on your life. And by doing it, you won't just bring a great spiritual surge into your home, but you will empower the Jewish people in a very direct way, thereby helping to protect the lives of Jews here in Eretz Israel. We need to harness all the Jewish spirituality we can, especially at this time. Thank you.

The situation is worsening in the political sense. The entire world, including all European nations and Russia, is condemning Israel for its defensive actions. They waited a day or two and decided, in their idiotic psuedo-intellectualism, that Israel, being the stronger party, should not be responding as harshly as it is being hit. After all, the strongest party has to back down, correct? No, that's incorrect. When a weaker party attacks a stronger one, the stronger one can use its position of military superiority to defend itself to whatever extent it deems necessary. This is such a simple fact that to have the international community deny it can no longer be interpreted as anything other than pure anti-Semitism. The international community hates Jews, hates the State of the Jews, and wants Israel to fail as a state. That is the only explanation for their siding with the Arabs, who clearly struck first.

To those who care, I am doing fine. Hizbollah has been striking northern Israel, at the cost of two killed and about 150 wounded thus far. All northern communities, including Haifa, are under threat, and about a million people were ordered to go into bomb shelters last night. That's not to say that they all went, as Israeli civilians have a fatalistic attitude about war, and I think the majority stayed in their homes. But that doesn't diminish the fact that a million Jews in northern Israel are under missle threat, even if that threat isn't the most accurate or the most sophisticated.

According to people who know the inner workings of the IDF, a large-scale call up of reserve combat units is being planned. The IDF is planning on taking the war into the mountains of southern Lebanon, and the only way to kill Hizbollah operatives is to hunt them down with tank and infantry units. Unfortunately, Hizbollah is a large, well-armed and well-trained force, probably the most professional Arab force out there. With all the ongoing commitments of the IDF in the West Bank and Gaza, there are not enough troops to hold the line, do all the arrests and raids and fight Hizbollah all at the same time. Hence, it is almost certain that reserves will be called up soon. As usual, they will be called up, each unit for a month at a time, and reserve battalions will be rotated in and out of the war zone. Since the enemy operates in remote terrain and in built-up urban areas, only infantry can do the actual work. Luckily, the IDF has been planning for a large-scale conflict and has been increasing the number of infantry units in both the active and reserve components. This has included not only sending many more draftees into infantry, but also converting tank units into infantry units.

I encourage you all to pray for the safety of our civilians and soldiers. Pray for those who have been killed so that they may rise to lofty levels closer to our Creator. Pray for those that have been injured so that they may be healed swiftly by the hands of our amazingly talented medical personnel, through whose abilities flows the power of Hashem. Finally, pray for those under missle threat and for soldiers going into combat that He may keep them safe and allow for a victory at as small a cost as possible. Hashem has been working miracles through the actions of the IDF for generations, and we must all pray that He stays close to us and brings us to victory.

Soon, I will write about my studies in yeshiva, about my Shabbat in Elon Moreh in Samaria, about my trip to Hebron, about the quality time I've been spending in the Moslem quarter of the Old City. I will write about barbeques in Gan Sacher, the big park near the Knesset, about the conversations I have had with rabbis, soldiers, border guards and Christian missionaries. I will write about beauty of my Land and I will detail the incomprehensible culture of our Arab neighbors and the bizarre conditions they live in. I will tell you about a man in the Jewish Agency who does amazing things with miniscule resources in order to help hundreds of young people. I will describe Ateret Cohanim and I will touch, ever so lightly, on Kabbalah.

But now, I want to focus on the security situation. As you all know, the enemy has once again risen its ugly head against Israel. The Hamas operation that killed two tank crew members, injured two others, and captured Gilad Shalit two weeks ago was followed by a large scale IDF incursion into the Gaza Strip. For the past year, since the evacuation of the Jews from Gaza, Kassam rocket fire has immeasurably damaged the lives of civilians of Sderot, Ashkelon and the various kibbutzim and moshavim around Gaza. The IDF had been responding in a weak and ineffectual manner, as the Israeli government decided that tens of thousands of its citizens living in fear in their own homes within the 1949 Armistice "Green Line" is not an issue worth solving. With the brazen attack that resulted in the capture of Shalit, even the left-wing rulers of Israel have decided that the Arabs had pushed to hard, and they decided to order the IDF to push back. The IDF has been operating in Gaza for the past two weeks, at the cost of one Israeli soldier killed and several wounded. Our forces have killed hundreds of Hamas operatives. There have also been civilian casualties, despite the IDF's efforts. The enemy surrounds himself with women and children and will not battle the IDF in the open field of combat. As that is to be expected, due to the enemy's technological weakness, then it should also be expected that the women and children of the enemy's camp should be inadvertantly killed and injured.

But things have gotten significantly worse. The State of the Jews is under intense attack from Lebanon in the North. Katyusha barrages and sniper fire hit a jeep, killing three. A Hizbollah force then captured the two remaining occupants of the jeep. As in the Gaza case, the IDF forces were on the Israeli side of the border, a border certified by the UN in May 2000 as correct and inviolable. Currently, there is large scale artillery and tank fire across the Lebanese border, and the Israeli Air Force has been conducting strikes. IDF infantry and tank forces have penetrated Lebanese territory, and Hizbollah infrastructure has been severely damaged. In the course of the fighting, an IDF tank was hit, its crew of four killed. Unfortunately, just as in the Gazan case, the Arabs don't rely on modern infrastructure for military prowess and so further operations, especially infantry-oriented ones, are needed in order to punish Hizbollah for their attack. The Hizbollah spokesperson clearly stated that if Israel releases thousands of terrorists, Hizbollah and Hamas would release their respective captives. It is now clear beyond all doubt that the terrorist networks around Israel are fully cooperating in their blatantly and honestly stated plan of the elimination of the Jewish State.

It is shocking that the leftist elite that rules Israel has not yet awakened to the cold, hard fact of a determined enemy bent on our destruction. The two pieces of territory from which Israel withdrew all its presence are the two areas from where the current onslaught is coming. Israel is still apologetic and half-hearted in its response. The constant reference to a "restrained" military reaction is confusing and demoralizing. The enemy senses that they have the momentum and they are correct. Israel's operations in Gaza yielded limited results and Hamas is as popular as ever. A poll of the West Bank and Gazan Arabs showing that 77% of them identify with Hamas' goal of using military force in general and suicide bombers in particular should come as little surprise. This poll has been conducted numerous times in the past decade and the number has always hovered between 75% and 80%. A clearer message from the Arabs could not be sent. And yet, Olmert and his group of left-leaning politicians are still wavering. Just a few days ago Olmert, in his childish idiocy, announced that no matter the ongoing combat, nothing will stop him from the "historic process of re-drawing Israel's borders."

So, as Israel is being pounded by enemy fire, as its civilians in the South, and now the North, are crowded into bomb shelters, their daily lives disrupted, their children in fear; as tens of thousands of IDF soldiers are carrying on daily and nightly combat on what can no longer be even generously called small-scale; as Jewish soldiers are killed and captured on soil that even the anti-semitic French recognize as sovereign Israeli; even now Olmert and his circle of pathetically blind left-wing pseudo-intellectuals is planning the destruction of Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria, communities whose isolated existance in those barren hills will do nothing to sway Hamas and Hizbollah ideology. The enemy have clearly stated what they want, they have demonstrated willingness to kill to get it, and they have flaunted international law even more often then they have used it for their advantage.

The IDF generals, in hope that the Knesset will act in accordance with basic logic, has started to call up reserve units. Even if the Arabs back down, the IDF should nevertheless deliver a series of debilitating air and ground strikes against them. The momentum of the current flare-up is with the Arabs, but we cannot let them dictate the intensity or the pace or when it will all stop. They clearly fired the first shots, the international community is finally neutral, if not on Israel's side, and Israel has a chance to act with indisputable legitimacy. Now is the time to strike Hizbollah and Hamas with overwhelming force, paying no heed to possible civilian casualties. More importantly, the IDF must attack Damascus and all major parts of Syrian economic and military infrastructure. Since Syria is one of the major sponsors of Hizbollah and Hamas, it makes simple sense to debilitate it. Iran is the other sponsor, and a more major one than Syria. After demolishing the Syrian economy and all its communication and transportation infrastructure, Iran should then receive a warning that if Hizbollah or Hamas strike Israel again, Iran will be the next target of the Israeli Air Force.

Will the Israeli government have the courage for such a move? No. In fact, we'll be lucky if the Israeli government has the courage to kill a tenth of Hizbollah and Hamas operatives. The G-d of Israel is trying to be clear in his message to the Jews, but we are not heeding. He has, in no complex or metaphorical way, set the game pieces in such a way that a great display of IDF power is needed. We, the Jews of Israel, are free to act in what we know is the proper way, or we can freely choose to be abused and beaten by a weaker enemy, allowing them to erode our morale. Of course, the Nation of Israel and the Government of Israel are not one and the same. The government is disconnected from the majority of the people and is only truly representative of the same ruling elite that has run Israeli society since the 1950's. Will we wake up?