Question: how many churches can the Arabs burn before the post-Christian Europeans wake up to reality? Answer: as many as they want. The demographic and spiritual gains that are being rapidly made all over Europe by Islam mean that for many European societies it is almost too late to stand up to the Moslems in their midst. Read articles about the growth of the Islamic population in Western Europe and the growing rate of conversion to Islam for some references.

In the Holy Land, meaning Land of Israel west of the Jordan River, prior to the the intensity of the last few generations, the Christians made up about 25% of the population of the area. Today, due to the force and aggression against them in formerly Christian towns such as Bethlehem in Judea, the number of Christians has shrunk to the point of being negligible. This is the untold story of the Arab-Israeli conflict. Samaria and Judea have been Islamicized almost completely, and this was not the case as recently as 50 years ago. Most of these Christians left to Europe and the US. There are still a few left to tend to the Christian holy sites and they are protected because of the interests of tourism. Does the Christian world, of both Europe and North America, care about this? No, not really. Most of them are too busy thinking that being a secular atheist is the answer to the world's problems. Yes, lets eliminate our spiritual heritage and become totally focused on "logical" means to deal with the world around us. Sure, that makes plenty of sense. It's not like the spiritual vacuum could possibly be filled by something powerful and dangerous like Islam. No, no, that can't be the case. Those Arabs will learn the wonders of secular socialism and the guaranteed moral and economic decline it leads to and all will be well! People are so deluded.

Politically, we are all here hoping for elections as early as the beginning of 2007. Kadima has lost a lot of its support and Netanyahu's popularity is on the rise. The fact that he's right-wing both politically and economically is a great thing, and I hope he'll take the top job in the not-too distant future. We need more tax cuts, spending cuts, and we need to break up more monopolies and create more opportunities for small businesses. We also need to be stronger in the face of the greater Islamic threat, which includes conducting frequent anti-terror operations to keep our enemies weak and disorganized. It's a difficult and dirty job, the IDF is up to the task. All it needs is a leadership that understands that the answer to our problems don't lie in EU support and UN pieces of paper, but rather in practical, terror-reducing action. A good public relations campaign is crucial as well, but a big part of that is a government that acts with a strong moral purpose and not with wishy-washy European-esque nuance. The former is effective and garners long-term respect, while the latter is pathetic and damages our deterrent capability.

I am learning a lot more than I did in the summer with regard to Torah, Talmud and philosopy. I guess the more you know the easier it is to learn even more. The reality is that I can do this for a year straight and become very knowledgable, (3 years and I can get ordained as a rabbi), but I need to do other things with my time as well. There will always be time for part-time study, which is comforting. Rosh Hashana is this Saturday and Sunday, which means a lot of prayer, a lot of time for self-reflection. We are to ask forgiveness for our sins, although forgiveness is only granted if the person repents completely in his heart. You cannot say one thing and feel another in your heart and think that G-d can't figure it out. He's got a direct line to your heart and only 100% repentance will be accepted. We are also to pray for all the good things that we want for ourselves, our families and the Nation of Israel in general in the upcoming year of 5767. We may not see direct answers to our prayers, but that is because G-d knows the best way to move the world forward and oftentimes our prayers are answered, but in ways that may be hidden from our eyes. Hence, prayer is a powerful tool for uplifting oneself and humanity. Of course, prayer has to be primarily focused on getting the strength to improve ourselves, and not just begging G-d for this or that favor.

I will be spending part of the Rosh Hashana holiday at Rav Moshe Kaplan's home. He's a big-time Kabbalist and teaches at my yeshiva. His lectures are amazing and he's one of the leading Jewish scholars of the late 20th/early 21st centuries. I am very honored. Let me say that with all my current learning, I am probably not going to become nearly as religious as many of my readers think I will. There are many levels of religiosity and as of right now, I don't know if I can be where many of my co-students are. Maybe that is a good thing, I don't know. I am just trying to learn as much as I can. After all, the quest for knowledge, both practical and spiritual, is what our short little lives are about. If you don't care for the truth and are not looking for it, then what's the point of life? Secular entertainment and fleeting pleasures are fun, but lowly compared to the ultimate pleasure that our soul seeks, whether we pay attention to its search or not.

I am finally home! I loved every minute I spent in the US. There's a lot of love from my family and friends, and there are few things better in this world than to have a large group of people giving you solid moral support. But, due to my genetic fortune, or misfortune as the case may be, the Jew in me considers Israel my true home. The US was a nice rest stop, and it sure is a great cash cow, but it is not mine. When the plane I hit the runway in Israel, I felt a rush of unique pleasure. Even though the plane was full of Israelis, and my re-introduction to the Land already began as we lifted off from JFK, it was only when we touched ground that I felt fully embraced by Eretz Israel.

Since I've gotten back home, things have been going well. I spent last Shabbat with my yeshiva (jewish learning institute). We took a bus down to Gush Etzion on Friday morning. This is a Jewish area south of Jerusalem, where we hiked the Judean Hills with a great guide who wove modern and ancient Israeli history into the hike. He brought us to a natural mikve (ritual pool/bath) that was created by digging a tunnel into the side of a hill. Apparently, the Judean and Samarian hills have a certain type of rock in their core that acts like a sponge and retains water from hundreds if not thousands of years worth of rain. These aquifers are amazing structures that are totally underused by Israel, mostly due to the political reality. Regardless, local Gush Etzion folk found a tunnel that was dug into a hill and directed the water spouting out of it into a shoulder on the side of the same hill where they constructed a mikve. It's popular with people of all ages, but, of course, men and women use it at separate times. Can't have the opposite sexes checking each other out, it may cause impure thoughts. And if you've seen the kind of hotties that habitate Israel, you'd be full of impure thoughts anyways, so no need to exacerbate the situation. The water, by the way, was extremely cold.

After a bit more hiking, we boarded the bus and continued further south, to the city of Hevron. Immediately next to Hevron is the 9,000-strong Jewish town of Kiryat Arba, where we were got set up in some nice dorms. We changed into our Shabbat clothes and walked over to the Ma'arat Ha'Machpela, the Cave of the Patriarchs. It's in Hevron, but literally 300 meters from the border of Kiryat Arba. Hevron itself is in the following situation. 20% of the city, including the Cave of the Patriarchs and other Jewish historic and holy sites, are under the full control of Israel. There are 1,000 Jews who live in this part of Hevron, in several little neighborhoods that are dispersed throughout predominantly empty buildings. These buildings were Jewish property from time immemorial until 1929, when the Arab rioters killed 67 Jews, injured 70, expelled the rest, and took over the property. The Brits, in control at the time, it must be noted, did nothing to prevent this atrocity from occuring. In 1967, subsequent to Israel's victory and conquest of Judea and Samaria from Jordan, Jews moved back into Hevron. There was a fair amount of violence, and the majority of the Arabs who had moved into this part of Hevron after 1929 left to other parts of the city. The Jews who live in Hevron are very idealistic and have zero fear of the Arabs. Of the 1,000 Jews who live in this 20% of Hevron today, 560 are children.

The empty buildings are the subjects of numerous legal actions. Right-wing organizations are suing that the State hand over ownership to Jews, since they were unjustly expelled in 1929 and the property was siezed by force. Left-wing organizations are counter-suing that what happened prior to 1967 doesn't matter, and that the salient fact is that Israel conquered the area in 1967 and the then-residents were Arabs, hence they should be allowed back into said properties. The other 80% of the Hevron came under Palestinian Authority control as a result of the Oslo Accords. This part of Hevron is home to 200,000 Arabs. About 80% of the Arab males are members of Hamas, so it would be a serious understatement to call this a Hamas stronghold. The IDF cordones the 20% off from the 80% and unless you're totally insane or suicidal, you cannot go into the 80%. It is, as our tour guide simply put it, a one-way ticket. Back to my story...

We did Kabbalat Shabbat, the welcoming of the Sabbath, in the Cave of the Patriarchs. Aside from our yeshiva, there were three other yeshivas there, as well as local Jewish residents. The "Cave" is actually the underground part of this holy site, and it is there that the patriarchs and some of the matriarchs of the Jews are buried. You have all read the Bible, so you know who they are. Above the cave compound there is a large building, parts of if being built by various rulers of this land. In it are mock-ups of the patriarchs' graves and several prayer halls, study rooms and other such areas for Jews to hang out. Kabbalat Shabbat was incredibly uplifting and possibly one of my most powerful spiritual experiences. The situation in Hevron, even the Jewish area, is not totally safe, and the IDF soldiers there were definitely protecting us. Through the soldiers' merit, thousands of people can worship at our second holiest site.

We then had the Shabbat meal, got a bit boozed up and passed out. Saturday during the day we did a walking tour of Hevron with a rabbi who elucidated the significance of the various archeological digs and of the Jewish community's attempt for a legitimate and normal way of life. Since it was Shabbat, all the families were outside playing with their kids and we met with them, asked them questions and I believe we were all impressed with their level of dedication. After motzei Shabbat, the "going out" of the Sabbath, we took the bus back up to Jerusalem. Right now, I am busy creating cash out of thin air and doing some IDF-related things.

Bit'o'philosophy: I had a tremendously long class today that explained Kabbalistic thought with regard to Jewish practice, spirituality and living in Israel. Kabbala scholarship has always existed in Israel and only in Israel. The reason for this is that although there is a way for a learned Jew to develop Judaism intellectually while located in the Diaspora, the Babylonian Talmud being the crowning achievement of Diaspora Jewish thought, spiritual development in Judaism can only occur in Eretz Israel itself. The intellectual works that we study in yeshiva are from both Israel-based and Diaspora-based scholars. Of course, during the nearly 2,000 of exile, more scholars were in the Diaspora by default. However, once we enter the spiritual realm of the Zohar, Kabbala's major treatise, and other scholarship pertaining to the highest level of Jewish thought, we are 100% immersed in Israel-based knowledge.

The philosophy that envelopes everything from your weekly Torah portion to the blessing you say over the wine cup of Shabbat to the prayer services to the holidays, etc., maintains that there are certain objective times and places. Meaning: the world is mostly a subjective reality that we perceive with our senses, some physical and some intellectual. However, the spiritual world, even while being metaphysical and hence more difficult to understand, contains powerful elements of the objective concepts of time and place. The Land of Israel is an objectively physical place, one that was granted to the Jews by G-d, who Himself exists objectively. This means that spiritual progress can happen only in our Homeland, even if intellectual progress can occur just about anywhere. Although since the creation of modern Israel, virtually all intellectual Jewish progress has been happening right here in Israel, by the way. And many of the top pre-State scholars lived in Israel, such as Ramban and Rav Yehuda HaLevy, the author of the Kuzari. The Arizal alone is worth half the scholarship of the Diaspora and he lived in 18th century Tsfat. Of course, the Cook family, which is Jewish scholarship's equivalent of Einstein and the early physicists, live in Israel. I know there are a lot of vocab words being dropped here, so you'll have to pardon me or look them up.

But why the concept of an objective idea as the starting point for any sort of progress? Just as the Jewish understanding of G-d and His interacation with the world develops from the starting point that we accept His existance, so does the entire spiritual content of Judaism develop from the starting point that Israel is the center of Jewish spiritual reality. As Jews, we don't accept the post-modern concept of total subjectivity of all existence, best articulated by those pesky 19th century German and French philosophers. We believe that this approach, which underpins modern secular culture, leads to circular thinking and doesn't allow for logical consistency. We, the crazy Jews, believe that there are certain objective realities in the Universe which we must accept at the outset in order to seek out truth in all things in a consistently logical way. It's a lot like mathematics. No mathematician can do an equation, on any level, unless he, consciously or subconsciously, accepts that the integer 1 and the void of zero are objective realities. Only then can he work forward in the development of different levels of mathematics. Hence, Judaism can only claim to be logical if we, like mathematicians, start our thought process with an objectively extant basis.

Got it? Good. Now go say a prayer or something. And don't eat seafood and pork. I can't blame you if you eat eel though. It's prohibited, and there's a good Kabbalistic reason for it. But from what I recall, eel is so delicious that it's ridiculous. If I break down in my observance level, the first thing I'll do is eat eel sushi. Then I'll break my perfect shomer negia streak. I am doing well so far though. As for you, well, do what you can and your spirit will tell you when and how to progress. If you want good Torah/Jewish commentary, read www.israelnationalnews.com, they have a section 1/3 of the way down the main page on the left hand side that is succinct and excellent in relaying solid Jewish thought. If you're not Jewish, then go ahead and pound your lobster and eel. Lucky ba$!@rd.

The big question in Israel now is - whose heads are going to roll in the aftermath of the war with Hizbollah? There's a widespread consensus that the government acted slowly, hesitantly and irresponsibly during the war. There's also a consensus that some of the generals have gotten too comfortable in their jobs and neglected key aspects of Israel's defense, namely the reserve system. There will also have to be answers given as to why the new missle defense system for tanks that is capable of countering the Russian Kornet anti-tank system was not added to the Merkava's arsenal. What use is a new technology if the only people using are scientists? There were also several mishaps during infantry assaults which are embarrassing. And lets not forget how the enemy used media broadcasts, which featured IDF units against landmarks easily recognizable by anyone who knows the terrain. This flare-up that has caused so much internal political damage to the government, has allowed the enemy to get a diplomatic victory with a "cease-fire," and that set the stage for a larger battle in the future can yet be used for the good of Israel.

In studying the errors of the 34 days, Israel can improve itself and face the enemy much better prepared, both with the right military hardware and with a more focused and resolute mindset. There is little doubt that Hizbollah will strike again and that Iran and Syria will continue to supply it with arms and money. There's also little doubt that the next Israeli government to be voted in will act in a manner befitting of a sovereign state defending itself. Netanyahu and the rest of the right must rise to the occassion. The alternative is gradual military defeat and a parallel national decline. And faithful readers of my blog know by now that such a disaster cannot happen for both practical reasons and for loftier spiritual ones.