Insanity

3 Tevet 5769

This morning's terror attack by Arab workers in Qiriyat Sefer was no surprise. When business as usual continues tomorrow, that will not be a surprise either.

The following was a surprise...a surprise that the victims were so surprised.

מעריב: צביקה דויטש, אחיו של אריה דויטש שנפצע קשה מדקירה בראשו, סיפר: "אני כבר ארבע שנים מכיר את הפועל שדקר. הוא עובד כבר 13 שנים כמנהל עבודה באתרי בניה בקרית ספר. הוא היה חבר של כולם". לדבריו, "היינו הולכים אחד לבית של השני ואוכלים יחד, אבל כנראה שמשהו בזמן האחרון התערער אצלו בעקבות האירועים".

Ma'ariv: Tzvika Deutch, brother of Aryeh Deutch who was seriously wounded from a stabbing in the head, said, "I have known the worker who stabbed him already for four years. He has worked for 13 years as the work manager on building sites in Qiriyat Sefer. He was a friend of everyone." According to him, "We were going to one of our houses to eat together, but probably something undermined him as a result of the [current] events [in Gaza]."

Are they going to chalk this up to post-traumatic stress, and rehire him next week?

He goes on to report that the worker came into ask his wife what needed to be done, and then preceded to stab her. Nothing just snapped. That was planned.

Another terrorist may still be at large.

Stop the insanity already.

Please recite prayers for Aryeh ben Vardah's complete recovery.

Volunteers Needed For Building In Eretz Yisrael!

Motza'ei Shabbat Ki Tetze 5768

This just in:
Today (Thursday), a new house is being build throughout the day in Sde Bo'az. It all has to come up in one day, so it's all hands on deck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Skilled and unskilled laborers needed. Please call Uria 052-6325000

Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival #176

5 Menahem Av 5768

Little Frum House on the Prairie was kind enough to include our More Avodah Aravit post in this week's edition.

More Avodah Aravrit

24 Tammuz 5768

It is no coincidence that last week's bulldozer terrorist attack (link includes photos) took place a block from the Israel Center, the Orthodox Union of Hebrew Congregations [OU] headquarters in Israel.

No, the Arabs did not plan this around the OU.

However, the Vice-President of the OU David Luchins, Ph.D. was visiting from the U. S.

A group from the National Council of Synagogue Youth [NCSY], the OU's youth branch, was also in Jerusalem at the time, as part of its summer educational tour of Israel.

It is not a coincidence that all of these people, places, and events came together.

These visitors now have an opportunity to serve as shlichim, as messengers to the Jews in the U. S.

But, what message will they bear?

Will they spin the terrorist attack into the "copycat" attack of another crazy person, as the Israeli government has?

Will they downplay it, or even ignore it?

Will parents of NCSY members tell the kids that they "don't understand such complicated matters," and shouldn't get involved?

Or will OU officials, members, and youth recognize this profound occurrence, step up to the plate, and share the horror of the experience of being in Jerusalem while a terrorist attack was in progress?

Will they avoid the mincing of words, and political-correctness, and put two and two together to come up with four?

Only time will tell.

Meanwhile, on the same day of the second bulldozer attack by an "Israeli Arab" in two weeks, a rather telling article by Nathan J. Diament, the OU's Director of Public Policy was published on the website Real Clear Politics. (thanks to the Torat Yisrael Blog for the reference).

In this article, focusing on Sen. Barak Obama's (D-IL) visit to Israel, Diament praises two U. S. presidents, one whom supported the transfer of 95 percent of Judea, Samaria, and Gaza to Arabs, and the other, a vocal supporter of the formation of yet another Arab terrorist state.

We look forward to the OU's message(s) it conveys to our fellow Jews in the U. S. After having read Diament's article, we are not optimistic.

*************

See more first hand information on the attack and on another recent incident of "avodah aravit" posted at Tomer Devorah.

The Orthodox Union did not authorize the use of its logo. It is placed here, only as the highly recognizable symbol of kosher food, to assist our readers in identifying the OU organization.

Avodah Ivrit - CLEANING

B"H

What:

Avodah Ivrit - CLEANING

Who:

Ariel Ben Yohanan

Note:

For CLEANING of your offices, condos, shops, shuls, apartments, etc.

Call 054 681 4640

Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival #173

11 Tammuz 5768

Haveil Havalim 173 is now up at Random Thoughts, and includes our Avodah Aravit post.

Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival #172

4 Tammuz 5768

This week's edition of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival is being hosted at the Daled Amos Blog, and includes one of our posts.

Avodah Aravit

3 Tammuz 5768

This headline from "b'Sheva," the Hebrew weekly published by Arutz Sheva, sums up last Wednesday's terrorist attack in Jerusalem perfectly.

"Avodah Aravit"
(Arab Labor)

We wonder what Rabbi Yuval Cherlow says Avodah Ivrit now. Last year it was reported that he compared it to Nazism.

We at the Avodah Ivrit Blog mourn the lost of those murdered last week:

Lili Goren-Friedman
Bat-Sheva Unterman
Jean Relevy

May their families and loved ones be comforted with all the mourners in Zion and Jerusalem.

Palestinian Truck Seen Leaving Eli

Alef d'Rosh Hodesh Tammuz 5768

This afternoon a black truck with a yellow cab and Palestinian Authority license plates was seen leaving Eli at 1:00 PM. Eli is mostly religious town near Shilo in Samaria, and under the authority of the Binyamin Regional Council.

Eli can be added to the list of towns, including Ofra, which even allows Palestinian Authority vehicles to enter. Such vehicles can also be seen periodically parked just within the main security gate to Shilo and Shvut Rachel.

Please click the link to the Binyamin Regional Council and demand to know why Palestinian workers are still allowed into YOUR towns.

You have a right to know why you lives are being endangered, and why any business in your town has been awarded to Palestinians and not to residents of your local area.

You may also e-mail Eli's Ravsha"tz (Secrity Chief) bitachon@eli.co.il, or call him 052-4201402.

Make sure to e-mail the town council head Kobi Eliraz eli@eli.co.il or call him 054-2339002.

Rabbi Lior: No Hiring, Renting Out Homes to Arabs

12 Adar Bet 5768, March 19, '08

(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Dov Lior of Hevron and Kiryat Arba, who heads the Yesha Rabbis' Council, is quoted as giving a religious opinion opposing the employment of Arabs. In an interview for the pamphlet "Our Land of Israel" which will be distributed in synagogues Saturday, Lior said: "Since there is mortal danger here, it is obvious that it is strictly forbidden to employ [Arabs] or to rent out houses to them in the Land of Israel.

"It is forbidden to employ them, not just in yeshivas but also in factories and hotels and everywhere," he reportedly decided. Lior justified Mercaz HaRav yeshiva's refusal to host Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, asking: "How can they accept a man who operates against our holy Torah and continues to lead the Nation of Israel to new dangers?"

Shilo Fires Arab Workers

9 Adar Bet 5768

This report was received just before Shabbat:

Shilo fired its arab builder and they desperately need 2-3 Jews to work in building now for the next few weeks, full time...anyone interested or know anyone interested....

You may e-mail us at AvodahIvrit@gmail.com, and we will connect you with the appropriate contact.

By the way, what is it that these workers building?

What is interesting is that Shilo's rabbi, Rabbi Elhanan Bin-Nun was ask about Arab labor four years ago. He said that the official policy of the yishuv was that Arabs were not allowed into the yishuv.

At this same time there was an incident of a Jewish contractor using Arabs to build a new walkway. The resident who had hired the contractor admitted that he was in error, and committed to being more thorough in his investigations in the future.

One or two Palestinian Authority tags could still be seen parked at the new yishuv entrance. The owner of the vineyard and the hen house next to the yishuv, now inside the moved, main gate had been using Arab labor.

He complained that he could not find Jews willing to work for him in the vineyard. et the vineyard across the main road (#60), uses only Jewish labor.

Will he now finally stop using Arab labor?

The truth is that Shilo is one of the best yishuvim in this area. Very few yishuvim in Judea and Samaria forbid Arab workers.

We at the Avodah Ivrit Blog believe this is a matter of life and death. This is not a religious issue nor a political issue. It is a practical issue.

Will Ofra follow suit, and fire their Arabs finally? What about Sha'ar Binyamin and its main business, Rami Levy? Will it continue to keep its Arab workers? Is concerned with offending its Arab clientele from Ramallah?

Whether the Arab terrorist murderer of eight Merkaz Harav Yeshivah and Yeshivah High School students worked there or not is irrelevant. There is an increase of terror attacks perpetrated by Arabs with Israeli ID cards. The Hebrew University bombing of five and a half years ago and the attempting poisoning of customers at Cafe Rimon in Jerusalem are only two examples.

Why must we wait for more Arabs from within Israel's pre-1967 boundaries to strike? Why not prevent these attacks before they happen?

Please join the discussion by leaving your comments below.

Arab Labor Ban

9 Adar Bet 5768

Top Hareidi Rabbi Bans Arab Labor Following Merkaz HaRav Attack

by Ezra HaLevi

(IsraelNN.com) Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky, considered a top Torah sage of the generation in the Hareidi-Religious community, issued a Jewish legal decision banning the employment of Arab workers by Jews according to the Yom Chadash daily.

The rabbi issued the decision at a meeting with several administrators of yeshivas in B’nei Brak. The administrators told the rabbi that they had under they employ an older Arab man who they do not suspect of any involvement in terrorism. The administrators decided, nonetheless to seek halachic (Jewish legal) guidance following reports that the terrorist who carried out the massacre at Jerusalem’s Merkaz HaRav Yeshiva had been hired as a driver on occasion.

“According to Jewish law, it is completely forbidden to hire Arabs, especially in yeshivas,” Rabbi Kanievsky said. “There is a concern of endangering lives.”

The rabbi continued, explaining, “After all, we are at war with them…and are there not Jews that can work and make a living?”

Asked later on if his words should be publicized, Rabbi Kanievsky said: “Certainly,” according to News First Class, investigative journalist Yoav Yitzchak's news site.

Rabbi Kanievsky went even further, saying that Jews should refrain from employing any non-Jews, not just Muslim Arabs, and instead grant livelihood to Jews, unless there exist huge disparity between the costs of the labor.

Rabbi Kanievsky is one of the most recognized authorities in Hareidi-religious society. He is the son of the Steipler Rebbe, Rabbi Yisrael Yaakov Kanievsky, and the son-in-law of Rabbi Yosef Shalom Elyashiv, the leader of Lithuanian Hareidi Jewry.

Avoda Ivrit Hotline Set Up
For several years a revival of the concept of Avoda Ivrit – Jewish labor – has been taking place in the Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria regions – particularly in hilltop communities. Though a web site listing Jewish labor businesses was closed down after a law-suit from an Arab advocacy group funded by the New Israel Fund, a new hotline and email account has been set up to provide Avoda Ivrit solutions.

The hotline, for everything from gardeners, heavy equipment operators, painters, cement mixers and handymen to catering and restaurants, can be reached at: 1 599 588 588 or by emailing: mokedai@gmail.com.