| The world's "first" Kosher cheeseburger is officially here (hint: there's no meat)

Can't see images? Click here... Yehuda Lave, Spiritual Advisor and Counselor Joyful Emotion     Some people might take action, but with resentful emotion. "I shouldn't really have to do this," they say to themselves. "Someone else should take care of this." There is a well-known idea expressed by the late Rabbi Chaim Friedlander: "If you are doing it anyway, you might as well do it with joy." This is so important and valuable that it's worth repeating. "If you are doing it anyway, you might as well do it with joy." We are constantly choosing our thoughts, our feelings, our words, and our actions. You can choose to feel distressed or joyful about taking care of the things that you need to take care of. When you take action with emotion, choose joyful emotion. Love Yehuda Lave | The world's "first" Kosher cheeseburger is officially here (hint: there's no meat) 'Getting kosher certification is an important milestone,' said Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown The trail-blazing Impossible Burger, the world's only kosher cheeseburger, created sustainably, is now officially on the Orthodox Union's kosher database registry. The Impossible Burger entered development in 2011 and debuted in July 2016 at the fashionably erstwhile Chef David Chang's Momofuku Nishi in Manhattan. It's since won a 2017 Tasty Award and a 2018 Fabi Award from the National Restaurant Association - and it's the only plant-based burger to ever have done so. "Getting kosher certification is an important milestone," said Impossible Foods CEO and Founder Dr. Patrick O. Brown. "We want the Impossible Burger to be ubiquitous, and that means it must be affordable and accessible to everyone — including people who have food restrictions for religious reasons." In Oakland, California, the magic happens on a 67,000-square-foot manufacturing facility which produces 500,000 pounds of plant-based meat per month. Rabbis from OU Kosher toured it earlier this year to make sure all ingredients, processes, and equipment used to make the Impossible Burger are compliant with kosher law. The Impossible Burger at New York's Momofuko Nishi.Zack DeZon Ingredients? No animal products whatsoever, just simple ingredients like water, wheat protein, potato protein and coconut oil. No slaughterhouses, no hormones, no cholesterol, no artificial flavors, no antibiotics and no guilt is involved in the making of these burgers. The Impossible Burger impossibly uses about 75% less water, generates about 87% fewer greenhouse gases, and requires around 95% less land than conventional ground beef from cows.   So what's the secret ingredient? One word, two syllables: Heme. It's what helps meat taste like meat. It's what ties all the other flavors together when meat is cooking. Heme is found in practically everything we eat, but especially in animal tissues. Scientists at Impossible discovered its the abundance of heme in animal tissue that makes meat taste like meat. So Impossible Foods developed a way to make heme, and thereby meat, by genetically engineering and fermenting yeast to produce a heme protein called soy leghemoglobin. The heme you eat in your Impossible Burger is the same heme your ancestors ate with their freshly bloodied dead wild boar. Unlike the wild boar, this Impossible Burger is doing its part to save the planet. "I'm really excited to be able to announce that the Impossible Burger is now kosher. And because our meat is purely plant-based, for the first time we can all enjoy a delicious — and strictly kosher — cheeseburger," said Impossible Foods' Chief Science Officer Dr. David Lipman. News | Rare Jewish coins found in Temple Mount excavation Five exceptionally rare ancient coins from among the first-ever minted ones by Jews were discovered on the Temple Mount, evidence of Jewish activity at the disputed site. The small coins—three in pristine condition and two showing signs of wear—were discovered as part of the Temple Mount Sifting Project, an archaeological initiative started in order to sift thousands of tons of dirt illegally excavated and dumped in the Kidron Valley by the Islamic Waqf in 1999. The Waqf excavations compromised the archaeological integrity of the Temple Mount and sparked outrage in Israel, leading many to suggest that the Waqf was intentionally attempting to eradicate evidence of two Jewish Temples that stood on the Mount for more than 800 years. The sifting project, which has operated since 2004 in the Emek Tzurim National Park, aims to salvage religious and historical artifacts from the rubble, as well as to educate the public about the veracity of Jewish history on the Mount. The newly discovered coins bear the letters "YHD," or Yehud," the Aramaic name for the biblical kingdom of Judea, and are dated to the end of the fourth century BCE. According to one of the co-directors of the project, Zachi Dvira, only five other coins of this kind have been found in the 150 years of archaeological digging in ancient Jerusalem sites. Dvira noted that Jewish pilgrims would bring offerings of first fruits of the season to the Temple around the time of the Shavuot holiday and would often convert their value to silver in the days of the Second Temple. He also noted that the Temple was a center of commerce and public administration, making it a prime site for finding coins. "These were the first coins ever minted by Jews," Dvira said in an interview with Israel's Ynet news. "They express the people's return to their land after the Babylonian exile, and their ability to hold and maintain diplomatic ties with the ruling empire—then Persia—similar to our relations with the United States today." He noted that the New Israeli Shekel also bears the letters "YHD," exactly as they appear on the newly unearthed coins. Though state funding for the project halted in 2017, the Temple Mount Sifting Project is now aiming to bring mobile sifting units of Temple Mount dirt to Israeli schools and communities, enabling children to learn about Jewish history in Jerusalem and to participate in the sifting themselves. More than half a million artifacts have been pulled from the rubble so far by 200,000-plus participants, including 6,000 ancient coins. In May 2017, UNESCO adopted a resolution denying Jewish connection to Jerusalem. In October 2016, the international body said the Jewish people have no ties to the Temple Mount Laibl's Blog: When Jews Don't Die I am back in my homeland. And there's trouble on our borders. Gazans are making a fortune being paid Hamas bribes to break through the Israeli border fence, burning tires, throwing rocks, and most recently, flying 'ignition kites' into Israel launching fires and destruction. Of course the world would prefer if Israel would 'take it on the chin' and walk like sheep to slaughter. (Where have I heard that phrase uttered in recent history?) Instead, Israel has the audacity to protect its borders. How low can you get!  Especially when those poor Gazan kids and women are used as human shields by their brave fathers and husbands! And what's more, the Jews are simply not dying - totally disproportionate, downright immoral!   So tell me: what does proportionate response mean? If an intruder breaks into your home in the middle of the night and you shoot him, is that a disproportionate response when you discover he only had a knife on him? And what if there were three intruders and you shot them all? And what if there were twenty knife-wielding intruders and you happened to have a grenade handy, killing all twenty? Surely that's disproportionate! Indeed, must a person lay down his own life when being attacked to meet the ethics of proportionality?   It seems that a 'fair-minded' (or dare we say, anti-Semitic) world demands it so. Jews have to die. It's simply 'not on' for Jews to survive when attacked.  Jews need to play the game fairly and let at least a dozen of their brethren die to 'proportionalize a hundred Gazan deaths. No?   Of course it would be such a nice gesture were Israel to allow a Palestinian border advance into Israel. Golda Meir did exactly that in 1973 fearing 'what the world would say' if she launched a pre-emptive strike as Israel did so successfully in 1967. Her 'noble decision' led to the deaths of 2688 Israeli soldiers. But that's ok. Only 19,000 Arabs died in that war, and so I guess that was considered 'proportional'!   In the world's eyes, 'proportional response means that enough Jews should die to make it look good – a more level playing field, a fairer board game.   Sorry world. Just not going to let you have your satisfaction of seeing more Jews die unnecessarily.  You try to invade my country and I will defend it as best I can.  And by all means call out the required "Al Akhbar" as you pass 'Go', and 'bravely' die, allowing your family to collect its 'murder bounty', paid handsomely by Hamas bankers with generous European charity funds.   Unfortunately I cannot play that game. It does not accord with the moral code of my G-d. And might I add, the cynical lies proffered in that 'honorable' forum called the UN are, to my mind, disgustingly disproportionate.   Stoning Attacks Continue Against Israeli Motorists in Judea, Samaria Palestinian Authority terrorists are continuing to attack Israeli motorists as they travel the roads in Judea and Samaria. On Wednesday evening, an Israeli public bus came under a hail of rocks near the Jewish community of Elon Moreh in Samaria. None of the passengers suffered physical injuries but there were no details available on damage to the vehicle. Several hours later in Judea, terrorists hurled stones at Israeli drivers as they traveled between Gush Etzion and Hebron on Highway 60. Drivers were attacked near the Arab villages of Beit Ummar, and the Arab village of El Aroub — both of them known terrorist strongholds in the area. Miraculously, none of the victims were physically injured. There were no details available on damage to the vehicles. Gaza Riots: Really About the Embassy?   by Bassam Tawil May 18, 2018 at 5:00 am https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/12329/gaza-riots-jerusalem-embassy   Throughout history, the excuses to attack Israel keep changing. For 8 years under the Obama administration, the Palestinians had portrayed themselves, and been treated as, the deserving underdog -- the "good guys." Now, a foreign government is actually holding the Palestinians accountable and calling them out for activities they had taken for granted, such as incitement to riot and murder, or funding terrorists and their families. The Palestinians do not like it one bit. The Palestinians hate the Trump administration not because of the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem, but because it speaks truth to them and exposes their perfidy and malice. They hate the Trump administration because they see it as an obstacle on their way to eliminating Israel. What happened at the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip was an act of aggression by Hamas on Israeli sovereignty. It was an act of war. Even the terrorists did not say that they were protesting the embassy relocation. The terrorists and the rest of the Palestinian demonstrators were chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America." They were chanting that their goal is to replace Israel with an Islamic state. The idea that Hamas is concerned about the US embassy move is a sick joke. All one needs to do is to listen carefully to what Hamas is saying, namely that its struggle is to "liberate all of Palestine, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River." Hamas is saying that the protests it has been orchestrating are aimed at enabling millions of Palestinians to flood Israel and turn it into an Islamic state. Much of the world is convinced that the Palestinian protests that took place on May 14 and 15 were directly connected to the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem. This misapprehension can be traced directly to the international media, which helped create the impression that the clashes that took place between Palestinians and the Israel Defense Forces along the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel came in response to US President Donald Trump's decision to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem. Instead, what we have witnessed in the past few days is part of the ongoing Palestinian struggle against Israel. This is a struggle that began with the establishment of Israel 70 years ago and is continuing to this day. It is a struggle that every now and then finds a new excuse to launch terror attacks against Israel and kill as many Jews as possible. Most notably, throughout history, the excuses to attack Israel keep changing. Once, it was that Ariel Sharon, then Israel's opposition leader, had "invaded the Al-Aqsa Mosque." This was in September 2000, and Palestinians used that lie to launch the Second Intifada: a massive wave of suicide bombings and drive-by shootings and other forms of terrorism that left thousands of Israelis maimed or dead. At that time, Palestinian leaders told their people to take to the streets to defend their holy sites because Sharon and other Jews were planning to destroy them. About three years ago, Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas and his Ramallah-based associates lied to their people again. This time, they told Palestinians that permitted visits by Jews to the Temple Mount, also known to Muslims as Haram Al-Sharif, were designed to destroy the Al-Aqsa Mosque. Abbas even went as far as vowing that the Palestinians would not allow Jews to "defile with their filthy feet our holy sites." Abbas's well-known speech ignited another uprising -- this time known as the "Knife Intifada." It is no secret that the Palestinians were never happy with the election of President Trump. It is no secret that the Palestinians were never happy that President Trump had surrounded himself with a number of Jewish senior advisors: Jason Greenblatt, Jared Kushner and US Ambassador David Friedman. From the moment Trump took office, the Palestinians saw that the good old days of the Barack Obama administration were gone. The Palestinians had gotten used to hearing the White House and State Department scapegoat Israel for the crimes of the Palestinians. The Palestinians noticed a rather dismaying change in tone between the two administrations. Suddenly, the Palestinians woke up to see criticism being fired in their direction. This came as quite a shock to them. For 8 years under the Obama administration, they had portrayed themselves, and been treated, as the deserving underdog – the "good guys." Now, a foreign government was actually holding the Palestinians accountable and calling them out for activities they had taken for granted, such as incitement to riot and murder, or funding terrorists and their families. The Palestinians do not like it one bit. The Palestinians hate the Trump administration not because of the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. They hate the Trump administration because they see it as being pro-Israel. They hate the Trump administration because it speaks truth to them and exposes their perfidy and malice. They hate the Trump administration because they see it as an obstacle on their way to eliminating Israel. Does anyone seriously think that a young Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip and who has never been outside the coastal enclave really cares whether the US embassy is located in Jerusalem? This Palestinian has never been to Jerusalem or the West Bank; in most instances, young Palestinians have not even been out of the Gaza Strip. Why should a young Palestinian living in the Gaza Strip care about the embassy relocation from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem when the vast majority of the Arab residents of Jerusalem and Arab countries do not seem to be bothered by Trump's decision? Proving this week that the last thing on their mind is the issue of the US embassy, the Arabs of Jerusalem did not stage any protests or even go on strike (only a few Arab citizens of Israel and a handful of political activists from east Jerusalem showed up for a planned protest near the site of the new US embassy). Moreover, we did not see millions of Arabs and Muslims take to the streets in their countries to express outrage over the embassy move. It is true that the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip demonstrated along the border with the Gaza Strip on May 14, the day when the inauguration ceremony for the US embassy took place in Jerusalem. However, the demonstrations were in the context of the so-called Great March of Return, a six-week campaign launched by Hamas and other Palestinian groups. The organizers said that the march had three main goals: to achieve the "right of return" for Palestinian refugees and their descendants so that they would be able to move to Israel, to thwart Trump's yet-to-be-announced plan for peace in the Middle East, and to return the Palestinian issue to the top of the world's agenda. The "Great March of Return" demonstrations began in late March and reached their peak on May 14, one day before the Gregorian day marking Israel's 70th anniversary, which the Palestinians call Nakba Day (Catastrophe Day). So the demonstrations that took place on the day of the inauguration of the US embassy in Jerusalem were in the context of the "Great March of Return," and not specifically planned for the embassy move. The demonstrations that took place that day were no different from the previous weekly protests orchestrated by Hamas and its allies in the Gaza Strip. On May 14, thousands of Palestinians again tried to breach the border with Israel, but were repelled by Israeli troops. They did not try to breach the border to protest against the embassy relocation. Rather, they sought to infiltrate Israel to wreak havoc and kill Jews. Jerusalem is about 97 km (62 miles) away from the Gaza border, and they knew that they would never be able to reach that city. What happened at the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip was an act of aggression by Hamas on Israeli sovereignty. It was an act of war. It was an attempt by a terror group to use tens of thousands of civilians as a cover to infiltrate the border. ِEighty percent of those killed by the Israeli army on that day were Hamas members. Even Hamas has admitted this; senior Hamas official and spokesmen Salah Al-Bardaweel revealed in a television interview that 50 of the 62 Palestinians killed by Israeli gunfire were Hamas members.   Pictured: A group of young Gazan men drag away of section of razor wire that was cut away from Israel's security fence, as part of Hamas' attempt to breach the border and cross into Israel, May 14, 2018. (Image source: VOA News video sreenshot)   If the protests in the Gaza Strip were against the US embassy inauguration ceremony, what were 50 Hamas members doing trying to infiltrate the border with Israel? Were they on their way to holding a peaceful protest against the Trump administration? Were they on their way to stage a peaceful sit-in strike outside the offices of the United Nations in Jerusalem? No: the Hamas terrorists were on their way to kill Jews. They were on their way to infiltrate Israeli communities near the border with the Gaza Strip. Even the terrorists did not say that they were protesting the embassy relocation. The terrorists and the rest of the Palestinian demonstrators were chanting "Death to Israel" and "Death to America." They were chanting that their goal is to replace Israel with an Islamic state. They were chanting that there is no room for Jews in this region. They were chanting slogans against the Saudi crown prince, Mohammed bin Salman, whom they accuse of being too friendly with Israel and the Trump administration. The Palestinians are using the issue of the US embassy as yet another excuse to pursue their war on Israel. Abbas and his cronies are using the embassy as an excuse to step up their campaign to delegitimize and demonise Jews. Their goal is to isolate Israel in the international community. Does anyone seriously think that Abbas really cares about the precise location of the US embassy? Why has he never protested against the fact that the US Consulate General is already in Jerusalem? Why has he never protested that the Knesset and the Prime Minister's Office and the Israeli Supreme Court are already based in Jerusalem? Why should Abbas or any Palestinian be upset if the US embassy is located in west Jerusalem and not in an Arab neighbourhood in east Jerusalem? Abbas is not objecting to the embassy; Abbas is objecting to the Israeli state, which he has repeatedly described as a "colonialist project" imposed on Arabs by Western powers. If he really cared about the US embassy inauguration, he would not have spent the days prior to the ceremony in Chile, Venezuela and Cuba. The idea that Hamas is concerned about the US embassy move is a sick joke. All one needs to do is to listen very carefully to what Hamas is saying, namely that its struggle is to "liberate all of Palestine, from the Mediterranean Sea to the Jordan River." Hamas is saying that the protests it has been orchestrating are aimed at enabling millions of Palestinians to flood Israel and turn it into an Islamic state with a Jewish minority. Hamas could not care less about the location of the embassy. Hamas wants "Palestine" and "Palestine" in its entirety. Abbas and Hamas are using the US embassy move to wage another blood libel against Israel, by accusing it of killing innocent and unarmed civilians -- a charge that is wholly counterfactual in the wake of Hamas's own admission that most of the victims were Hamas terrorists. The Palestinians have once again found an excuse to wage war on Israel and Jews, this time in the form of the embassy move. They are trying to create the false impression that the conflict with Israel began -- and is now focused on -- Trump's decision to move the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem -- as if before the decision, Palestinians had recognized Israel's right to exist as the homeland of the Jewish people. As if before the decision, Palestinians had not been engaged in semi-daily killings of Jews. As if before the decision, Palestinians had not been inciting and promoting violence against Jews. Sadly, there are many in the international media who are helping the Palestinians promote the lie that this moment in the Israeli Arab conflict is all about the decision to move the US embassy to Jerusalem. In reality, this moment – and all others – in the Israeli-Arab conflict is about some Arabs rejecting that Israel exists at all, within any borders, in the Middle East. Bassam Tawil is a Muslim Arab based in the Middle East © 2018 Gatestone Institute. All rights reserved. The articles printed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editors or of Gatestone Institute. No part of the Gatestone website or any of its contents may be reproduced, copied or modified, without the prior written consent of Gatestone Institute. 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