BCC meets Rabbi Shalom Arush, author, the Garden of Emunah

Saudi man drinking fresh Camel urine

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5eb_1455270446

Arab guy drinks camel urine, washes his face in it

Arab drinking camel urine

BCC meets Pepperdine Law School Professor Michael Avi Helfand

Professor Helfand is currently an associate professor at Pepperdine University School of Law, where he has taught Contracts, Arbitration Law, and seminars in Law and Religion as well as Multiculturalism and the Law. Professor Helfand serves as the associate director of the Diane and Guilford Glazer Institute for Jewish Studies at Pepperdine University as well a member of the faculty of the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. In addition, he serves as both an arbitrator and consultant for the Beth Din of America.Professor Michael (Avi) Helfand is an expert on religious law and religious liberty. A frequent author and lecturer, his work considers how U.S. law treats religious law, custom and practice, focusing on the intersection of private law and religion in contexts such as religious arbitration, religious contracts and religious torts. His academic articles have appeared in numerous law journals, including the Yale Law Journal, New York University Law Review, Duke Law Journal, Minnesota Law Review, Boston Law Review and University of Pennsylvania Journal of Constitutional Law Review. In addition, Professor Helfand often provides commentary on clashes between law and religion, writing for various public audience publications, including the Los Angeles Times, USA Today, the National Law Journal and the Forward as well as recently testifying before the United States Commission on Civil Rights.

BCC meets Rachelle Fraenkel...

Rachelle Sprecher Fraenkel was propelled to international recognition in the worst of circumstances – when her 16-year-old son Naftali was kidnapped and murdered along with two other teens, Eyal Yifrah and Gil-Ad Shaer, in June 2014.

Fraenkel became the most public voice of the families during the three weeks of intensive searching. She addressed prayer vigils and rallies, and told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva how the mothers just wanted to hug their sons again.

She was, and remains, a symbol of the period of unprecedented social unity, prayer and faith, a period that carried on into the rocket-racked days of Operation Protective Edge.

OUTSTANDING! IRON DOME ALLIANCE: Fighting to Win for Israel; The time has come for a new strategy. The time has come for Israel to play to win.

ה' עז לעמו יתן; ה' יברך את־עמו בשלום 

G-d will give Strength to His People; G-d will bless His People with Peace

Attached is Fighting to Win, a piece that the Jewish Link of New Jersey was set to publish this week. It was submitted at the paper's request. The Link asked for a counterpoint from local AIPAC and NORPAC leaders to run side-by-side. Rather than argue the merits, these individuals chose to pressure the Link to censor Fighting to Win. The resulting campaign of threats and intimidation by AIPAC and NORPAC led the Link to pull the piece.

Fighting to Win appeared last week in the Los Angeles Jewish Home (p26) and is running this week in the 5 Towns Jewish Times (p1).

In light of BDS, the Iran Deal, and growing anti-Semitism, those who are concerned about the US-Israel relationship should read this piece and make their own decisions. 

And those who care more about standing for Israel than about protecting American Jewish organizations from criticism should be troubled by their censorship of a true pro-Israel movement.

We are in a critical election year. If you agree that it really does matter which party controls Congress and who sits in the White House - if you agree that it's high time for Israel's friends to go on the offensive - then click here to learn more about Iron Dome Alliance, the only national pro-Israel super PAC.

We welcome you to join us!

Jeff

-- 

Jeff Ballabon, Chairman, Iron Dome Alliance 

Senior Fellow, London Center for Policy Research

Senior Fellow, ACU Center for Statesmanship and Diplomacy

office: +1-703-879-3870

mobile: +1-917-207-0900

email: jb@b2strategic.com  

web: www.B2Strategic.com

--------------

Fighting to Win: Revolutionizing Israel Advocacy

Jeff Ballabon & Bruce Abramson

The final year of the Obama Presidency has not begun well for Israel. Arab assassins earn greater international sympathy than do their Jewish victims. Iran gleefully violates even the modest obligations that Secretary Kerry negotiated, and receives

$100 billion or so to fund terrorism. The BDS movements scores labeling victories in the EU and the Obama Administration reinforces them. The UN Secretary General unleashes slanderous antiJIsrael bile into a receptive global public.

Meanwhile, with America’s focus on the election, the country’s leading proJIsrael activists again boast of unshakeable bipartisan support in Congress. Never mind that a sizable majority of Israel’s Democratic “friends” just agreed to fund Iran’s ability to exterminate the Jewish State. The proJIsrael establishment insists that their hard work keeps the “proJIsrael” position a rare point of consensus in a partisan town.

Decades of polling tell a different story. The difference between Democratic and Republican views of Israel is stark, longstanding, and growing. Almost 85% of Republicans express consistent warm support for Israel. Democrats’ more tepid proJ Israel sentiment routinely polls below 50%—and even that support skews old. Young Democrats overwhelmingly take pride in their antiJIsrael politics, exacerbating the dire situation on college campuses. Astoundingly, many American Jews who know from personal experience that fullJthroated support for Israel has become contentious accept the absurd fiction that Israel’s position in Washington remains secure no matter who is in charge. Even skeptics of the “bipartisan consensus” silliness have been persuaded that vast millions should be squandered on supporting Israel’s enemies’ campaigns because they might gain power (thus actually helping Israel’s enemies gain power) as though, despite all evidence to the contrary, such contributions somehow make them Israel’s friends rather than reward bad behavior.

This denial of the obvious has been killing Israel slowly. Israel’s alleged supporters in Washington claim exemption from the most basic rule of politics: While it is nice to have friends on both sides of the aisle, control of Congress and the White House is critical. Planned Parenthood, the NRA, the Sierra Club, and the Chamber of Commerce all know it. Each of these groups champions an agenda, fights for their beliefs, rewards proven friends, and punishes enemies.

America’s “proJIsrael” establishment stands apart; its neurotic need to claim as many “friends” and as few “enemies” as possible earns public lip service but private contempt. As last year’s vote on the ObamaJIran deal showed, Congress overflows with politicians eager to court wealthy Jews, spout proCIsrael platitudes,    and

cast easy votes. The moment that Israel requires a vote of conviction rather than convenience, however, they politely express regret and an intention to return as soon as the easy money resumes—because it always does.

Israel’s American supporters have confused themselves with the Israeli government. Israel is a small state surrounded by enemies seeking her destruction and the genocide of her citizens. Because Israel plays with razorJthin margins of error, risk aversion can be highly rational. The significant risks that Israel has incurred have almost all focused on securing friends and allies, rather than on securing victory. As  a foreign government dependent on the United States, Israeli diplomacy compels conciliatory statements about U.S. policy and the American leadership. American activists are under no compulsion to believe such statements. To the contrary, American supporters add maximum value when championing the tough truths that diplomacy puts beyond Israel’s reach. Yet rather than pushing to expand Israel’s political playing field, Israel’s leading advocates in Washington have instead become similarly risk averse, at times even allowing their own neuroses and extraneous political priorities to further constrain Israel’s options.

The system is broken and must change. Israel deserves advocates fully committed to the cause, not ones who use it to advance their other interests. And proJIsrael activists should behave more like the lobbyists for American interests they are, and less like supplicants for an embattled state. Israel remains popular with Americans; Iran and the Palestinian Authority do not. A proJIsrael lobby that played to win would articulate basic, immutable principles for which it would fight. It would pressure Israel’s neighbors to work with Israel, while removing pressure on Israel to take risks that compromise its security. It would stop pushing Washington and Jerusalem to reward Arab incitement and terror with a PLOJled state, and instead work overtime to ensure that antiJJewish terror works against Arab interests. It would innovate on policy and narrative, promoting truths and ideas that run counter to conventional wisdom, even if such innovations remain minority positions for the years that lobbyists often need to assemble winning coalitions.

Israel’s enemies understand this strategic imperative. Temple Denial sounded crazy when Arafat first floated the idea in 2000. By 2015, the New York Times detailed the “controversy” surrounding Jewish “claims” to the Temple Mount, and UNESCO tried to declare the Western Wall a Muslim holy site. BDS began with a coalition of radical fringe NGOs in 2005. By 2015, allegations of Israeli apartheid and genocide dominated discourse among American academics and European parliamentarians. ProJIsrael activists may boast about state legislatures adopting antiJBDS legislation, but the antiJIsrael forces framed the conversation. When the debate concerns singling out Israel as the subject of an international boycott, Israel has already lost.

Not too long ago, acceptance of a Palestinian state appeared radical and anathema to America’s interests and the pursuit of peace. Jimmy Carter—hardly a proJIsrael advocate—opposed it when he was President, arguing of the destabilization such a state would cause. Yitzchak Rabin, martyred in 1995 for his dovish politics, never wavered from his opposition to a Palestinian state. In 1998, five years into the Oslo process, Hillary Clinton spoke with tentative approval of a Palestinian state triggering a furious backlash; her husband’s White House issued a very blunt official repudiation. Yet over the past fifteen years, much of the world— including many Jews claiming to advocate for Israel—has severed this “solution” from the considerations of peace, security, Arab behavior, or Arab preparedness that were supposed to have justified it. By 2011, exJPresident Clinton had adopted his wife’s views; he publicly blamed Israel for the lack of peace and supported the Obama Administration’s attempts to reward Arab intransigence and distance the U.S. from Israel.

With foresight and boldness, nimble antiJIsrael forces have solidified the “Palestinian” claim while rendering contingent Israel’s legitimacy; Israel’s sluggish advocates lament that “the ship has sailed” while it is their own hands on the tiller. On any other issue, Washington lobbyists would have sounded alarm bells, informing their members and supporters of the animosity emanating from the White House. For the proJIsrael establishment, however, mobilizing pushJback is of far lesser importance than maintaining “access” to legislators who take meetings and attend parties but evaporate when needed.

Looking ahead, France has threatened to become the 137th country to recognize a State of Palestine. Might the Obama Administration follow suit? If the ship has sailed, why delay? If proJIsrael activists living in the safety of Washington do not stridently oppose the emergence of this new JewJhating terror state, who will? If America’s Jewish leadership fails to insist that the U.S. oppose antiJJewish terror as resolutely as it does terror in general, why shouldn’t American politicians join the global chorus labeling JewJkilling regrettable, but understandable?

Israel is losing on many fronts, and those claiming to be its greatest American advocates remain stuck playing defense. Yet the success of Yasser Arafat’s delegitimization of Jewish Jerusalem, Hillary Clinton’s implicit Palestinian State, and Barack Obama’s nuclear Iran prove that drastic shifts in both the terms of debate and U.S. policy are achievable—but only to those who think strategically, risk criticism, and act fearlessly. As Winston Churchill observed, the only way to avoid making enemies is to stand for nothing. To fight for Israel is to risk the enmity of Israel’s enemies, not to wish it away. Israel’s friends do not need money

to remain friendly, and Jewish money will never buy Israel the friendship of those who wish it ill.

The absence of policy innovation within the proJIsrael establishment is palpable. When Mahmoud Abbas proclaimed that the Oslo Accords no longer bind the PA, a strategic thinker might have suggested that Israel and the U.S are similarly unshackled—setting off a debate about two decades of rewards for Arab incitement and violence. The creation of a new Arab state, the limitations on Jewish life in Judea and Samaria, and even the PA itself would all come under a microscope. Ships deemed to have sailed would reenter port. The U.S. would pursue American interests with no sense of obligation to a terrorist organization. For once, Israel’s friends would frame the discussion. Just as Israel cannot win a debate about BDS, Israel cannot lose a debate about PA incitement. The only downside would be increased risk of criticism and condemnation from those who believe that supporting Israel should be easy, comfortable, and remunerative.

Such costs are hardly negatives when exchanged for greater benefits. A willingness to forego the illusion of lockstep bipartisanship in the name of strategic policy innovation would ignite a new era of proCIsrael activism. It would educate voters for whom Israel is a priority about the real differences between the parties, helping to empower the Republican leadership necessary to turn proJIsrael innovations into American policies, while reminding Democratic politicians that only those who truly support Israel deserve to reap the benefits of Israel’s support.

The time has come for a new strategy.

The time has come for Israel to play to win.

 Jeff Ballabon is Chairman and Bruce Abramson is VP and Director of Policy of the Iron Dome Alliance, America’s proDIsrael super PAC.

The 6th Vizhnitz Rebbeh, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager, gives his relative - civil trial attorney Baruch C. Cohen a bracha in Los Angeles

• The 6th Vizhnitz Rebbeh, Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager, giving his relative BCC a bracha. 
• He is the son of Rabbi Moshe Yehoshua Hager, the 5th Rebbe of Vizhnitz Bnei Brak (1916-2012); who was the son of Rabbi Chaim Meir Hager, the 4th Rebbe of Vizhnitz (the Imrei Chaim) (1888-1972); who was the son of Rabbi Yisroel Hager, the 3rd Rebbe of Vizhnitz (the Ahavas Yisroel) (1860-1936); who was the son of Rabbi Baruch Hager, the 2nd Rebbe of Vizhnitz (the Imrei Baruch) (1845-1892); who was the son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager, the 1st Rebbe of Vizhnitz (the Tzemach Tzadik) (1830-1884) (son in law of Yisroel of Ruzhin); who was the son of Rabbi Chaim Hager of Kosov (the Toras Chaim); who was the son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager of Kosov (the Ahavas Shalom); who was the son of Rabbi Yaakov Koppel Likover (a disciple of the Baal Shem Tov).
• If you're following this, BCC's Chassidic lineage intersects and stems from Rabbi Chaim Hager of Ottynia (the Tal Chaim) (1863-1931) (pictured below) who was a brother of Rabbi Yisroel Hager, the 3rd Rebbe of Vizhnitz (the Ahavas Yisroel) (1860-1936); who was the son of Rabbi Baruch Hager, the 2nd Rebbe of Vizhnitz (the Imrei Baruch) (1845-1892); who was the son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager, the 1st Rebbe of Vizhnitz (the Tzemach Tzadik) (1830-1884) (son in law of Yisroel of Ruzhin); who was the son of Rabbi Chaim Hager of Kosov (the Toras Chaim); who was the son of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Hager of Kosov (the Ahavas Shalom); who was the son of Rabbi Yaakov Koppel Likover (disciple of the Baal Shem Tov).
• BCC's maternal grandfather was Rabbi Baruch Hager of Horodenka, ABD Cozmeni, Bukovin from 1936 and then Dayan in Czernowitz, born in 1899 and died of typhus in the work camp in Warchovka, Transnitra Concentration Camp in 1941, married in 1922 to his first cousin Miriam, daughter of R. Shraga Feivel Hager of Zaleszczyki (Zalischik). He was very active in the Mizrachi movement and Zeire Mizrachi and was President of the Torah V’Avodah. She remarried in 1954/5 to R. Moshe Zvi Twersky, Admur Tolna-Philadelphia. 
• Rabbi Baruch Hager was the son of Rabbi Yechiel Michel Hager, Admur Horodenka from 1892 on his father’s death, born in 1872 and died of typhus in the work camp in Warchovka, Transnitra Concentration Camp in 1941 (as did his son Baruch), married his niece, Bluma Reizel, daughter of R. Haim Hager of Ottynia.

Hillary and Her Anti-Israel Credentials

MISHPACHA MAGAZINE, ISSUE # 595, 1-27-2016, EYTAN KOBRE'S TEXT MESSAGES ON BCC' INTERVIEW

...Professor Twerski's story of the early days of his career provides an interesting counterpoint to that of Baruch Cohen, a Los Angeles attorney I interviewed several years ago for a story in these pages.

Prior to graduation, he had received an unsolicited invitation to interview with the Los Angeles office of a very prestigious law firm, which was unusual in itself, and even more so give,n that Cohen had attended a good but non-Ivy League school.

His law school dean told him, ''I know you always wore that religious skullcap all through law school, and you still wear it now that you are clerking in bankruptcy court, and I respect that, but now you have an opportunity to get into an elite firm. The skullcap could turn them off and cost you the job."

After being told by other religious lawyers that wearing a yarmulke at work was just not done and inquiring about the halachic propriety of not doing so, he decided to go to the interview bareheaded. He entered the office for his interview and there, sitting at his desk, was the interviewing attorney, a yarmulke atop his head. Then came the next shock: The interviewer took one look at Baruch's uncovered head and said incredulously, ''Where is your yarmulke?"

Baruch sat speechless as the interviewer went on to explain. "Do you know why you got this interview? I happened _to be in the bankruptcy court where you clerk and it impressed me that someone in Los Angeles would have the conviction to proudly· wear a yarmulke in court. I researched you and found that you spent years learning in yeshivah. And now you show up to this interview without a yarmulke?! I am so deeply disappointed in you. You'll never make it in this firm -this is a firm of leaders, not followers. The interview is over."As Aaron Twerski had, Baruch Cohen wept that night, not, he said, because of the loss of the job opportunity or the harshness of the rebuke, but because deep down he felt the interviewer was right.

Taken together, the two experiences - that of a Jew who refused to give up on wearing full chassidic garb, yet ended up with a notable career in teaching law, and of another one for whom compromise itself spelled the loss of a plum opportunity in the law (yet who learned from it and went on to a Successful career, too) - merge to convey a single message: Hashem is in charge.

RECHOVOT - KEREN SIMCHAS CHANA HINDY WEDDING GOWN GEMACH - גמ"ח שמלות כלה ושושבינות שמחה חנה הינדה

On Thursday night September 17, 2015, we went to the City of Rechovot for the inauguration of "Heichal Mandelbaum" a beautiful Simcha Hall dedicated by Rabbi Uri & Bracha Mandelbaum in memory of their parents. Prior to the reception, we were escorted to the apartment of Mrs. Ben-Baruch, who houses and runs a wedding gown gemach in memory of our dear daughter Hindy. Top quality beautiful wedding gowns and accessories, and dresses for Kallah's sisters, were all on display. There's fitting rooms, and seamstresses to make adjustments.  Hindy's wedding gown gemach is available to any Kallah, regardless of financial need. This way, Kallahs who cannot afford a wedding gown do not feel bad using the Gemach, since their well-to-do friends use the same Gemach as well.  There is a beautiful plaque in memory of Hindy prominently placed in the fitting room, and Mrs. Ben-Baruch tells each Kallah something about Hindy once she chooses a wedding gown. I will be sending her a beautiful picture of Hindy to frame and place on the wall as well. Some of the Kallahs wrote beautiful thank you letters to Mrs. Ben-Baruch, and she read some of the thank you letters to us. It was a profoundly moving and emotional meeting. 

Beautiful Bimah & cover dedicated by Tali & Yechiel Hertz, in memory of Hindy Cohen (a"h). Bimah & cover - located in Yeshivah Toras Chaim @ 7 Harikma Romema Jerusalem, the Kollel that Yechiel Hertz learns in.

BCC & Jeff Ballabon of Iron Dome Alliance.

Jeff is the CEO of B2 Strategic where he advises and represents corporate and political clients on interacting with the government and media and guides foreign companies entering U.S. markets. He previously headed the communications and public policy departments of major media corporations including CBS News, Primedia and Court TV.

Young Professionals Shabbat Retreat @ FLH Edmonton, Alberta Canada, January 29 - January 31, 2016, featuring prominent trial attorney Baruch C. Cohen Esq.

Young Professionals Shabbat Retreat @ FLH Edmonton, Alberta Canada
January 29 - January 31, 2016
Fantasyland Hotel, 17700-87 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5T 4V4
RSVP: Rabbi Moshe Segal; 780-680-3818, shabbatretreat@gmail.com

Young Professionals Shabbat Retreat

featuring prominent trial attorney Baruch C. Cohen Esq.,  (SuperLawyer 2013, 2015, & 2016), who’s admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in California and before SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States). Join us for a weekend of connection and inspiration as Baruch takes us on a compelling journey you wont want to miss.

•”The Challenges of an Orthodox Jewish trial attorney."

•"How David Slew Goliath, an Orthodox Jewish trial attorney's analysis."

•"From Trials to Triumph, a Bereaved Parent's Spiritual Journey Beyond Grief."

Mesivta of Greater Los Angeles (Calabasas) Ezras Nashim dedicated by Rabbi & Mrs. Uri Mandelbaum in memory of Hindy....

Young Professionals Shabbat Retreat featuring prominent trial attorney Baruch C. Cohen Esq., January 29 - January 31, 2016 Fantasyland Hotel, 17700-87 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5T 4V4

Young Professionals Shabbat Retreat @ FLH Edmonton, Alberta Canada
January 29 - January 31, 2016
Fantasyland Hotel, 17700-87 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T5T 4V4
RSVP: Rabbi Moshe Segal; 780-680-3818, shabbatretreat@gmail.com

Young Professionals Shabbat Retreat featuring prominent trial attorney Baruch C. Cohen Esq., y (SuperLawyer 2013, 2015, & 2016), who’s admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in California and before SCOTUS (Supreme Court of the United States). Join us for a weekend of connection and inspiration as Baruch takes us on a compelling journey you wont want to miss.

•”The Challenges of an Orthodox Jewish trial attorney."

•"How David Slew Goliath, an Orthodox Jewish trial attorney's analysis."

•"From Trials to Triumph, a Bereaved Parent's Spiritual Journey Beyond Grief."

For Whom They Come First By: Bruce Abramson and Jeff Ballabon

Photo Credit: Asher Schwartz

Martin Niemöller’s haunting poem, “First They Came,” has been making the rounds in social media lately.  The numerous variants of the poem recount Europe’s stoicism as “they” came for Communists, Socialists, Trade Unionists, Gypsies, Homosexuals, and of course Jews—in varying orders and combinations—before coming for “normal” Europeans.  Widely cited for its stinging rebuke of Europe’s intelligentsia as the Nazis attacked, enslaved, and exterminated one vulnerable minority after another, and for its terse reminder that self-preservation requires vigilance in protecting minority rights, the poem’s popularity spikes whenever a new atrocity works its way onto the front pages.

Today’s atrocity involves the refugees from Syria’s civil war, and in particular the plight of Sunni Muslim refugees fleeing the newly ascendant Sunni Caliphate.  The accused are those who question the wisdom of granting mass asylum in the U.S. or in Europe.  The charge against them is an irrational hatred of Muslims, also known as Islamophobia.  But the accusers, who see themselves as champions of the oppressed, have inverted both the facts and the moral sentiment.  The masses currently huddling at the gates of the West are hardly the “first” targets of Islamist terror.  That dubious honor belongs to the same group for whose plight Neimöller’s silent intelligentsia bears the greatest culpability: the Jews.

The Islamic State’s notion that the vast expanse between the Straits of Gibraltar and the Shatt-al-Arab belongs to the Sunni Arabs, and that the even greater realm stretching from Andalusia to Indonesia belongs to the Muslims, is hardly new.  Its clearest expression involves the false claim that the Jews, by establishing a safe-haven nation-state in part of the historic Jewish homeland, had “stolen” land from its rightful Sunni Arab possessors.  The use of anti-Jewish terror to secure “misappropriated” portions of “Arab” land date back at least to the 1920s.  It came into its own in the 1970s and 80s, when Yasir Arafat’s PLO launched spectacular attacks on the Olympics, jetliners, and cruise ships.  Far from fighting these tactics before they could spread, the international community forgave them as understandably targeted against the Jews, and elevated Arafat from revolutionary to statesman.  Other groups, from the Muslim Brotherhood’s Gaza chapter of Hamas to the Iranian-sponsored Shiite Lebanese shock troops of Hezbollah, took note.  The use of terror to promote Arab and Islamic causes would yield significant positive returns.  The targets expanded outward.  In September 2000, Arafat launched his intifada in Jerusalem, unleashing terror upon an innocent civilian population whose leaders had been willing to capitulate to every demand that the world then deemed reasonable.  Once again, Arafat taught his brethren an important lesson: the West will retreat in the face of escalating demands.  A year later, the terror hit New York and Washington—with London and Madrid soon to follow.

As long as the victims were Jewish, the Western intelligentsia was willing to take the matter in stride; the threat was distant, and focused on others. Even those who found the tactics distasteful preferred blaming the terror victims to the terrorists themselves.

Meanwhile, the Muslim Brotherhood and its affiliates invented the term “Islamophobia,” which the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) then foisted upon the West.  In theory, Islamophobia describes the non-existent phenomenon whereby Westerners systematically attack and oppress Muslims.  In practice, it is a charge leveled at anyone opposed to Islamic supremacy, daring to suggest that Islam is due no greater respect than is any other faith, or that the world should judge Muslims by the same standards that it applies to anyone else.  In point of fact, though the number of bias attacks against Muslims and Islamic institutions is far from zero—where it belongs—there is no evidence of widespread violence against Muslims, and scant evidence of systematic discrimination, anywhere in the West.  Most impressively, Muslims enjoy their greatest measure of safety in the United States, where the broad citizenry has repeatedly gone out of its way to overlook provocations by Muslims committing anti-American atrocities in the name of Islam.

The legitimate refugees among the hordes now clamoring for admission to the West may indeed be every bit as miserable as those who attempted to flee Hitler’s Europe, but the situation is only parallel for the non-Sunni among them.  They, like the Jewish refugees for whom Neimöller and his friends refused to stand, for whom the British had foreclosed entrance to their homeland, and for whom no country in the world claimed kinship, have been driven from their homes and abandoned by the world.  The Sunni Arab majority now fleeing Syria, on the other hand, are part of a large and powerful family.  Nearly all of the Arab League’s twenty other state members, and nearly all of the OIC’s fifty-five other state members, are Sunni Muslim.  America should indeed assert its authority as a moral and military superpower, by pressing these places to open their borders to embrace their suffering kinsmen. Americans do not want to return refugee families to their torturers.  But many Americans want and expect these powerful Muslim nations to embrace the victims of radical Islam that they claim as family.  Their failure to do so threatens to shake the foundations of American forbearance.  A global Muslim leadership unwilling to welcome Muslim victims speaks volumes about the balance between violent, radical Muslims and peaceful, tolerant Muslims.  It is hardly irrational to wonder whether IS speaks for a silent majority when so few of the world’s powerful Sunni Muslim leaders seem prepared to aid even Sunni Muslim victims.

Meanwhile, if the West, or the broader international community, truly wished to heed Neimöller’s admonition, it would refocus its efforts to protect the Islamist’s first choice of victims.  Unlike mythical Islamophobia, anti-Semitism is rampant and growing.  From Chabad houses in Mumbai and Kosher markets in Paris to the streets of Israel, the Jews remain the Islamist’s target of choice.  Even in the United States, likely the most tolerant country in the world, the number of violent anti-Semitic attacks consistently dwarfs the number of violent attacks against any other faith, including Islam. According to the FBI’s most recent statistics, attacks against Jews represent 59% of all anti-religious hate crimes—one and a half times more than attacks against members of all other faith groups combined. Yet many of America’s leaders and much of its intelligentsia treat anti-Jewish terror as if it were a threat apart, unfortunate but excusable, and unrelated to the broader threat of Islamist terror.

For whom did they come first?  They came for the Jews.  They are still coming for the Jews.  And they will come for far more than the Jews until the West chooses to defend the Jews.  Those Westerners–including some leading American Jewish organizations—raucously charging Islamophobia and recklessly calling for unrestricted immigration should know better.  Humanitarianism, strategy, morality, and self-preservation all come together to a single point.  The fight against anti-Semitism is a critical front in the battle against radical Islam.  Complacency in the face of anti-Semitism fuels the radical Islamist cause.  And a Western willingness to let Islamic leaders off the hook for their own anti-Semitism, and from the responsibility for caring for even their own people, threatens to bring a strengthened Islamism to our very doorsteps.

About the Author: Bruce Abramson, a technology lawyer in private practice in NYC (www.bdabramson.com), is a Senior Fellow at the London Center for Policy Research. Jeff Ballabon is CEO of B2 Strategic (www.b2strategic.com) and a Senior Fellow at the Center for Statesmanship and Diplomacy.

Civil trial attorney meets Rabbi Jeremy Gimpel, Deputy Director of the World Mizrachi Movement, host of Israel Inspired Radio on itunes, creator of Tuesday Night Live in Jerusalem

BREAKING ISRAEL NEWS: 800-Year-Old Jewish Prophecy: Current Tensions Between Iran, Saudi Arabia Harbinger to Messiah By Rivkah Lambert Adler January 6, 2016 , 12:30 pm

“Arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the LORD is risen upon thee.” (Isaiah 60:1)

When Saudi Arabia severed diplomatic ties with Iran, this created a chain reaction that led Bahrain and other Middle Eastern countries to expel Iranian diplomats. Unwittingly, Saudi Arabia’s actions can be seen as the fulfillment of a messianic Jewish prophecy found in the ancient Jewish holy book known as the Yalkut Shimoni.

The Yalkut Shimoni, a compilation of rabbinic commentary on the Bible, is believed to have been composed in the 13th century. Despite being written over 800 years ago, the Yalkut Shimoni has something extremely relevant to say about today’s headlines.

Speaking about the relevant passage in the Yalkut Shimoni, Rabbi Yekusiel Yehudah Halberstam, better known as the Klausenberger Rebbe, said, “Remember these words. Now, perhaps, they are not understood, but in time, they will be, and they will be a source of chizuk (strength) to Am Yisroel (the Jewish people).” The Klausenberger Rebbe was an Orthodox rabbi with thousands of followers in the years prior to World War II. Most of his followers were murdered in the Holocaust. The Klausenberger Rebbe died in Israel in 1994.

What was the prophecy of the Yalkut Shimoni that the Klausenberger Rebbe knew would bring comfort and strength to the Jewish people at a future date? The Yalkut Shimoni predicted that the year the Messiah would appear, the “King of Persia [Iran] will provoke the King of Arabia [Saudi Arabia].”

The two main sects in Islam are Sunni and Shia. While they both have much in common, the differences between the two sects in Islam have led to a long history of violent and deadly conflict among Muslims . Many of today’s political and diplomatic conflicts between Iran and other Muslim countries are connected to this Sunni-Shia divide

Not surprisingly, Iran and Saudi Arabia do not share the same Muslim sect. Although the vast majority of the Islamic world today is Sunni, Iran, and, to a lesser degree Iraq, are home to the majority of the region’s Shiite Muslims. Saudi Arabia is more than 90 percent Sunni. Iran, by contrast, is 95 percent Shiite.

Thus, when angry Shiite Iranians recently overran the Saudi embassy in Tehran this past Sunday to protest the execution of a Shiite Muslim cleric named Nimr al-Nimr, the duel between the Sunnis and the Shiites was inflamed. As a consequence, Saudi Arabia gave Iranian diplomats 48 hours to pack up and leave.

The full text of the Yalkut Shimoni connects the political tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia with good news about the full redemption of the Jewish people.

“Rabbi Yizchok said: ‘The year that Melech HaMoshiach [Messiah the King] will be revealed, all the nations of the world will be provoking each other. The King of Persia (Iran) will provoke the King of Arabia, and the King of Arabia will go to Edom (the West) to take counsel, but the King of Persia will in turn, destroy the entire world. The nations of the world will be outraged and panicked. They will fall on their faces, and they will experience pains like birth pangs. Israel too will be outraged and in a state of panic and ask, where do we go? But say unto them, “My children, do not fear, ‘Higiyah zman geulatchem’  [the time of your redemption has come]. And in the last redemption will be different from the first which was followed by further bondage and pain. After this last redemption, you will not again experience any further pain or subjugation.”

[Rabbi] Baruch Cohen, a civil trial attorney in the US and pro-Israel blogger at American Trial Attorneys In Defense of Israel shared with Breaking Israel News the enthusiasm many feel when comparing the ancient prophecy to current events. “It is incredible to see Chazal’s [the Jewish sages’] prophecies come to life in real time in today’s headlines,” he said. “The Baal Haturim [early 14th century scholar of Jewish law] explains when Yishmael [Ishmael, meaning the Muslim Arabs] will fall and be finally defeated in the end of days, then the Moshiach [messiah] – the descendant of Yishai [father of King David], who is himself a descendant of Yitzchak [Issac], will come. Even in the most terrifying of times, we are comforted by the fact that eventually, with the ultimate downfall of the descendants of Yishmael, we will merit the final redemption by our righteous Moshiach.” Cohen concluded his comments to Breaking Israel News with with a spiritual challenge to those who are waiting for the Messiah to come and redeem humanity. “Yishmael typifies the power of prayer. He himself was born out of the power of the prayer of his mother Hagar. To this very day, the Arabs excel in prayer, which occupies a significant place in their daily ritual. In order to counteract the power of their prayer, we need to improve the concentration and intensity of our own prayers.”

http://www.breakingisraelnews.com/58217/800-year-old-prophecy-declares-when-king-persia-will-provoke-king-arabia-redemption-around-corner-middle-east/#WXlm0pB8AFFIHWB0.97

DONALD TRUMP'S "TREE OF LIFE" PLAQUE WHEN HE WAS HONORED BY THE JEWISH NATIONAL FUND IN 1983 - MY FATHER, DR. SAMUEL I. COHEN PRESENTED TRUMP WITH THIS BEUTIFUL AWARD

My father, Rabbi Dr. Samuel I. Cohen, zt'l served with distinction as the Executive Vice President of the Jewish National Fund of North america for over 25 years. On March 1, 1983, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, in New York City, long before he was seeking the Presidency, my father and Charlotte Jacobson were privileged to present the JNF's most covetous award, the "Tree of Life Award" to Donald Trump in appreciation of his outstanding dedication to the cause of American-Israeli friendship and for his support of Israel.  Here is the plaque that hangs prominently in Mr. Trump's office. I was at the banquet honoring Mr. Trump, and I recall his impassioned words about Israel. Afterwards, I recall my father telling me what a pleasure it was to deal with Mr. Trump.  You can see the importance that Mr. Trump placed on this award, as it overlooks his desk in his office.