Wednesday, December 16, 2020

The story of the mystical city of Safed and A look inside the ancient Safed fortress and Archival collection of Hannah Senesh comes to the National Library of Israel and the media is "gaslighting us" by their constant bias and Rare, engraved menorah discovered on tomb façade could date back to the Hasmonean era and Happy Chanukah day six

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Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.

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The Three Musketeers at the Kotel
The Media is gaslighting us

WHAT IS GASLIGHTING?

The term originates in the systematic psychological manipulation of a victim by her husband in Patrick Hamilton's 1938 stage play Gas Light, and the film adaptations released in 1940 and 1944. In the story, the husband attempts to convince his wife and others that she is insane by manipulating small elements of their environment and insisting that she is mistaken, remembering things incorrectly, or delusional when she points out these changes.

The play's title alludes to how the abusive husband slowly dims the gas lights in their home, while pretending nothing has changed, in an effort to make his wife doubt her own perceptions. The wife repeatedly asks her husband to confirm her perceptions about the dimming lights, but in defiance of reality, he keeps insisting that the lights are the same and instead it is she who is going insane. Today we are living in a perpetual state of gaslighting. The reality that we are being told by the media is at complete odds with what we are seeing with our own two eyes. And when we question the false reality that we are being presented, or we claim that what we see is that actual reality, we are vilified as racist or bigots or just plain crazy.

You're not racist. You're not crazy. You're being gaslighted. New York State has twice as many deaths from Covid-19 than any other state and New York has accounted for one fifth of all Covid-19 deaths, but we are told that New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has handled the pandemic better than any other governor. But if we support policies of Governors whose states had only a fraction of the infections and deaths as New York, we're called anti-science and want people to die. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.

We see mobs of people looting stores, smashing windows, setting cars on fire, and burning down buildings, but we are told that these demonstrations are peaceful protests, and when we call this destruction of our cities, riots, we are called racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted. We see the major problem destroying many inner-cities is a crime; murder, gang violence, drug dealing, drive-by shootings, armed robbery, but we are told that it is not crime, but the police that are the problem in the inner-cities.

We are told we must defund the police and remove law enforcement from crime-riddled cities to make them safer. But if we advocate for more policing in cities overrun by crime, we are accused of being white supremacists and racists. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted. The United States of America accepts more immigrants than any other country in the world. The vast majority of the immigrants are "people of color" and these immigrants are enjoying the freedom and economic opportunity not available to them in their country of origin, but we are told that the United States is the most racist and oppressive country on the planet and, if we disagree, we are called racist and xenophobic. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.

Capitalist countries are the most prosperous countries in the world. The standard of living is the highest in capitalist countries. We see more poor people move up the economic ladder to the middle and even the wealthy class through their effort and ability in capitalist countries than any other economic system in the world, but we are told capitalism is an oppressive system designed to keep people down. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted. Communist countries killed over 100 million people in the 20th century. Communist countries strip their citizens of basic human rights, dictate every aspect of their lives, treat their citizens as slaves, and drive their economies into the ground, but we are told that Communism is the fairest, most equitable, freest, and most prosperous economic system in the world.

So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted. The most egregious example of gaslighting is the concept of "white fragility". You spend your life trying to be a good person, trying to treat people fairly and with respect. You disavow racism and bigotry in all its forms. You judge people solely on the content of their character and not by the color of their skin. You don't discriminate based on race or ethnicity. But you are told you are a racist, not because of something you did or said, but solely because of the color of your skin. You know instinctively that charging someone with racism because of their skin color is itself racist. You know that you are not racist, so you defend yourself and your character, but you are told that your defense of yourself is proof of your racism. So, we ask ourselves, am I crazy? No, you're being gaslighted.

Gaslighting has become one of the most pervasive and destructive tactics in American politics. It is the exact opposite of what our political system was meant to be. It deals in lies and psychological coercion, and not the truth and intellectual discourse. If you ever ask yourself if you're crazy, you are not. Crazy people aren't sane enough to ask themselves if they're crazy. So, trust yourself, believe what's in your heart. Trust your eyes over what you are told. Never listen to the people who tell you that you are crazy because you are not, you're being gaslighted. Sophocles said: "What people believe prevails over the truth."And that's what the media are trying to exploit.If you have read this far let me say one thing. I did not write the above and I am not sure who the author is.I sent this to you because you are hopefully smart enough to understand what is being done to you on a daily basis from many directions. I do not care about your political party affiliation. Just think through what you are being told. Don't listen with a deaf ear, or see with a blind eye. Question everything -- even things from people who you think you can trust. Question why you are being told whatever, by whomever. Question their motives. Question who benefits. Question if there is a hidden agenda behind the propaganda. Question, Question, Question. Then do your own research, and use some of your own critical thinking skills to get to the truth. Listen with your heart and with your mind.Sadly, 95% of the masses don't even know that they are being gaslighted. At least now you do.If this makes sense to you, then forward to your friends who you think might "get it".

Rare, engraved menorah discovered on tomb façade could date back to the Hasmonean era

Bar-Ilan U. archaeologist Dvir Raviv says rare engraving of menorah found on ancient tomb facade could be from time of the Hasmonean revolt

In the 1980s, during a survey initiated by the Staff Office for Archaeology in Judea and Samaria, a graffito of a seven-branched menorah at the entrance to a tomb on the outskirts of the Arab village of Mukhmas was discovered. The finding was archived at the Staff Office Archaeology Unit and has been brought to light by Dr. Dvir Raviv, of Bar-Ilan University's Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology, most recently in a paper published in the archaeology and history journal In the Highland's Depth.

One of the menorahs drawn in cistern at al-Aliliyat cliffs Boaz Langford

The menorah engraving found in Mukhmas dates back to the period between the Hasmonean era and the Bar-Kokhba revolt, and is considered a rare and unique find, as decorative use of the Temple menorah was rare during this period.

Drawing of the facade Unit of Staff Officer for Archaeology in Judea and Samaria

The most prominent examples found to date include depictions of the menorah on coins of the Hasmonean ruler Mattathias Antigonus, on objects and remnants from Jerusalem, on a stone table in Magdala north of Tiberias, and on the Arch of Titus in Rome.

The use of a menorah to decorate the façades of Jewish tombs was quite common in ancient times, but this is only the second time that a menorah has been discovered on a Jewish tomb from the period preceding the Bar-Kokhba revolt. A long-known example is Jason's Tomb in Jerusalem, from the Hasmonean period, with small, schematic carvings on the walls of the entrance vestibule, unlike the large, decorated menorah discovered on the façade of the Mukhmas tomb.

The menorah engraving in the village of Mukhmas resembles paintings of two seven-branched menorot documented in the al-'Aliliyat caves, a group of caves nearby that served as a hiding place and refuge during the Second Temple period and the days of the Jewish revolts against Rome.

Due to the rare use of the menorah as an artistic decoration from the Second Temple period until the Bar-Kokhba revolt, and based on the contexts in which the menorot of this period were discovered, it has been suggested that the menorah may have been a motif related to the Temple and the priesthood that served in it during this time.

The depictions of menorot found on the outskirts of Mukhmas and the mention of Mikhmas (currently the village of Mukhmas) in the Mishnah as the place from which selected semolina wheat was brought to the Temple (Mishnah Menahot 8:1) may indicate that a priestly population lived there during the Second Temple period. Additionally, Mikhmas is mentioned as the dwelling place of Jonathan the Hasmonean, where he began to establish his status in Judea after the death of his brother Judah Maccabee (1 Maccabees 9:73).

Menorah and a Byzantine cross drawn in cistern at al-'Aliliyat cliffs Boaz Langford

"Jonathan's choice of the town as the base from which to consolidate his control of Judea may have been linked to the location of Mikhmas in a densely-populated area of Jews who supported the Hasmoneans during the years of the revolt," says Dr. Raviv. "Due to the difficulty in determining the exact date of the menorah's graffito and the scarcity of explicit references to priests in Mikhmas during the Second Temple period, it is possible that a group reached the site only after the destruction of the Temple and lived there during the period between the revolts," he concluded.

Archival collection of Hannah Senesh comes to National Library of Israel

Despite her death at 23, she left behind a rich literary estate, including manuscripts, photos, documents, personal items and more.

In 1944, the Jewish, Hungarian-born paratrooper Hannah Senesh (Szenes) was parachuted into occupied Europe by the British in a desperate attempt to save Hungarian Jews from the Nazi death camps. Captured, tortured and executed shortly thereafter, her story and her poems, including "A Walk to Caesarea" (known popularly as "Eli, Eli"/"O Lord, My God"), have made Senesh into an iconic figure of modern Jewish, Israeli and Zionist culture.

A year after her execution, a soldier in the British Army's Jewish Brigade named Moshe Braslavski returned to Kibbutz Sdot Yam in Mandatory Palestine, where he found a suitcase full of previously unknown letters, diaries, songs and poems under Senesh's bed. This discovery and the subsequent publication of some of her work is what made Senesh's literary contributions known to the world.

After the war, her mother, Katherine, came to Mandatory Palestine, bringing more of Senesh's writings and personal items that had been kept at home in Budapest. Katherine received the materials from the kibbutz, and she kept the complete archival collection in her apartment in Haifa. Following Katherine's death in 1992 and the death of Senesh's brother, Giora, in 1995, the materials were passed down to Giora's sons, Eitan and David, who used them to promote their aunt's memory and legacy. Eitan also worked to manage, catalogue, translate and preserve the literary estate.

Over the past year, Ori and Mirit Eisen from Arizona have enabled the transfer of the complete Hannah Senesh Archival Collection to the National Library of Israel in Jerusalem, where it will be made available to the public and safeguarded along with the personal papers of other cultural figures, such as Martin Buber, Franz Kafka and Naomi Shemer.

According to the Eisen family, "The Hannah Senesh Archive is a national treasure, and it is a blessing to preserve it for the Jewish people and the world at large. We are happy to have had the privilege to help."

Despite her death at age 23, Senesh left behind a rich literary estate, including manuscripts, photos, documents, personal items and more.

The Hannah Senesh Archival Collection includes handwritten poems; diaries; a newspaper she edited when she was just 6 years old; extensive correspondence; photos and personal documents from throughout her life; study materials; the minutes of her trial; letters and documents related to the Kasztner affair; family documents going back to the 19th century, including materials from her father, the writer Bela Szenes; as well as personal items such as the suitcase she took when she moved to the Land of Israel, her personal typewriter, camera and more.

Perhaps the two most moving items in the collection are a pair of notes found in her dress following her execution: the last poem she ever wrote and a personal letter to her mother.

Caption: Hannah Senesh immigrant certificate, 1939.
Credit: National Library of Israel's Hannah Senesh Archival Collection.



Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto.

A look inside the ancient Safed fortress

With thousands of years of history spanning the Jewish Revolt to the Crusades to Israel's rebirth, this fortress is more than meets the eye.

The story of the mystical city of Safed

I24NEWS visits the Beit Hameiri Museum in the northern Israeli city of Safed, meeting with archaeologist Yossi Stepansky.

See you tomorrow bli neder

We need Mosiach now!

Happy six day of Chanukah tomorrow!

Love Yehuda Lave

Yehuda Lave, Spirtiual Advisor and Counselor

Jerusalem, Jerusalem
 Israel

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