IPOB: TENSIONS AS NIGERIA MILITARY CLAMPDOWN ON BIAFRANS
at 21:170 Africa, Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, World News,

Biafra: ONGOING CYBER WAR! Biafrans should download "TOR APP or Epic Privacy Browser" for easier access to our websites, Apps
BIAFRA: A CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF NNAMDI KANU AND OTHER BIAFRAN AGITATORS
BIAFRA: MILITARY ABDUCTS VENDOR AND OTHERS READING NEWSPAPER AT ABA
IPOB: TENSIONS AS NIGERIA MILITARY CLAMPDOWN ON BIAFRANS
BIAFRA, THE BIRTH OF A NATION AND PRIDE OF AFRICA


IPOB: The indigenous people of Biafra (IPO are bringing the public on notice at the latest events that are taking places in Biafra land known as the former Eastern region. There is a serious tension on Biafra land as innocent citizens are living in fear of being been abducted by the Islamic caliphate of Nigeria Boko Haram in military uniform in the middle of the night. The extermination of the citizens of Biafra are ongoing by order of the tyrant and dictator in chief Mohammad Buhari agents in disgusts of the army, SARS and police uniform are abducting and harassing innocents citizens who are going and coming back from their various businesses to their destinations.


Any Biafra seen with any Biafra items in their disposals will be arrested and killed for wearing Biafra materials. Nigeria soldiers go from village to villages, and community to communities is intimidating innocent Biafrans who are law abiding. The military is using equipment acquired to fight the so called Boko Haram terrorist and the Freedom Fighters(NDA) to terrorise innocent citizens unlawfully.




The indigenous people of Biafra (IPO under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and Director of the most super Ogbunigwe (Monster Bomb) radio station Radio Biafra/Biafra Television who is deputised by Mazi Uche Mefor. Is putting the world on notice that self-defense is enshrined in 2007 United Nations Charter for self-determination which states in article 1 and 2, and Article 20 of African Charter on human rights recognizing and supporting the right of all ethnic nation and people have the unquestionable and inalienable right to self-determination of which the contraption called the Islamic caliphate of Nigeria is a signatory to.

According to United Nation Charter General Assembly Resolution (A/61/295) of September 2007:
“Self-Determination is the principle and practice whereby a nation, for example, and the ethnic nation is in control of its people, it own land, its resource and its governance, independent of any other subtending political structure.”
I see no reason why the Islamic caliphate of Nigeria military should keep on penetrating inhuman atrocities against the innocent citizens for excising their fundamental human right. Self-determination is a universal law. You don’t force unity on indigenous clans. Why is the Islamic caliphate of Nigeria afraid of the former eastern region (Biafra)unity?. Biafrans are fed up with this intimidation and killings of her sisters and brothers for speaking out loud. Tyrant Mohammad Buhari should know that nobody is a monopoly of violence. Killing innocent citizens for excising their fundamental right is regarded as “Modern Slavery”. The indigenous people of Biafra (IPO will defend their territories and lives because you cannot be beating a child at the same time telling the child not to cry out loud.

Now the world is keeping mute on the plights of the indigenous clans. They should know that the world has moved forward technologically. Biafrans are industrious and technologically inclined. If our fathers could build Ogbunigwe (Monster Bomb) in 1967-1970. Think of this generation of gurus and experts who can destroy the contraption called Nigeria in minutes with technology. I believe they should be mindful and careful of their heinous crimes against this indigenous generation.



Biafrans are no fools. They are following the fight to freedom diplomatically and not in violence manner. That doesn’t mean they will fold their hands and allow this blood suckers in army, SARS uniform to murder them unjustly. The indigenous people cannot watch this baboons and monkeys in the Zoological Republic of Islamic caliphate of Nigeria arrest them unlawfully because they will defend themselves.
Biafrans should defend themselves because we cannot run away from the blessed nation of Biafra. When we start our match, they will understand Boko Haram and herdsmen are child's play compared to what is to come. Somali will be a paradise. Some people will wish they were not born in this generation.

This generation of great minds is determined to secure their territories with the last drop of their blood. If the price is death. So, let us die without a shred of fear. Because death is better than living in this expired contraption of Hausa/Fulani and the back stabbing Yoruba.
The indigenous people of Biafra(IPO will not Demetri or lose focus on the fight to freedom. We must remain resolute, formidable, relentless and fearless before our enemies. Because CHIUKWU OKIKE ABIAMA PURU EME IHE NILE will guide and protect his children (Biafrans).

Tyrant Mohammad Buhari should be warned that nobody is a monopoly of violence. Killing, Intimidating, Torturing, Arresting, and abducting the indigenous people will not stop the blessed nation of Biafra from emerging. Buhari should be ordered to respect the fundamental human right of the indigenous people of Biafra before it becomes Boom! Boom!! For the contraption called the Islamic caliphate of Nigeria.
Tyrant Mohammad Buhari must release the leader of indigenous people of Biafra(IPO Mazi Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally before more plagues befall the contraption.



#FreeNnamdiKanu a prisoner of conscience
#FreeBiafra
#FreeIPOBIAN
#LongLiveTheRepublicOfBiafra
#LongLiveLoversOfFreedom
#LongLiveIPOBIAN
#LongLiveNnamdiKanu the IPOB leader and Director of Radio Biafra/Biafra Television(BT).

Biafra: ONGOING CYBER WAR! Biafrans should download "TOR APP or Epic Privacy Browser" for easier access to our websites, Apps
at 22:410 Biafra, Featured, News, Politics,

Biafra: ONGOING CYBER WAR! Biafrans should download "TOR APP or Epic Privacy Browser" for easier access to our websites, Apps
BIAFRA: A CALL FOR THE RELEASE OF NNAMDI KANU AND OTHER BIAFRAN AGITATORS
BIAFRA: MILITARY ABDUCTS VENDOR AND OTHERS READING NEWSPAPER AT ABA
IPOB: TENSIONS AS NIGERIA MILITARY CLAMPDOWN ON BIAFRANS
BIAFRA, THE BIRTH OF A NATION AND PRIDE OF AFRICA



ONGOING CYBER WAR! Biafrans should download "TOR APP" for easier access to our websites

Epic Privacy Browser a secure chromium-based web browser
https://www.epicbrowser.com/




Family Writers have in recent times received numerous complaints from several Biafrans especially those in Biafra land stating that they are having serious difficulties accessing the websites of Radio Biafra, The Biafraherald and Biafratimes.

Investigation has revealed that Nigerian government is spending millions of dollars trying to hack into these sites or block it entirely.

The Nigerian government is also desperately mounting a lot of pressures on companies hosting our various sites to refrain from doing so, but the to their greatest surprise, the more they try even with their lobbying, the more their failure is multiplied.

To say the least, one of the firms hosting our websites revealed to us a petition sent to them by Nigerian government asking them to delist our website from their server.

Just last year, Nigeria had to lobby Satlink an Israeli firm and buy over their satellite which was carrying the waves of Radio Biafra across the globe, this is after the torments of the most popular Radio in the world in 2015 became unbearable to them. The joy of Nigerian government would later expire untimely as Satlink got its satellite missing in the Orbit till date while Radio Biafra had already acquired two new satellites for its broadcasts.

Google has for a long time been accused of censoring Biafra news even as Twitter has compromised in a more astonishing way as the only time Biafra or anything related trends especially in Nigeria is when there is a concocted bad news tagged to it.

Many hackers have been bribed to hack into the sites mentioned above while some network carriers in Nigeria have been lobbied to make it difficult or for Biafrans in Biafra land to access most of the news, articles and other important contents in our websites.

Our cyber team are working tooth and nail to ensure we come out victorious just as Nnamdi Kanu would always say- "In the end, we win." They have now introduced an internet application known as TOR (Download: https://www.torproject.org/about/overview.html.en) The Tor application is being used in areas such as Iran and China where restriction of some internet activities is prevalent. It helps users to access blocked websites on any connection. It does this by routing a web browsing over an encripted network before it emerges at an end point which my be in an unfiltered or uncensored location. Biafrans who are experiencing some difficulties in accessing our websites have been advised to download and make use of the Tor App for easier access.

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Who Does Israel Take Orders From?
Gavriel Dan
September 27, 2016
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In his newest film Tzvi Fishman takes on the political and military establishment of Israel’s need to appease Western powers, especially the President of the United States instead of giving Israel’s soldiers the clear ability to take care of the enemy.

Tzvi Fishman is the CEO of Shoshana Street Productions and as been the engine behind a number of pro-Israel film initiatives. Besides the above short film he is preparing a petition drive to push the politicians to break free of living in “fear” of American government. The petition reads as follows:
Dear Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and Minister of Defense, Avigdor Lieberman:
The soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces feel handcuffed by overly restrictive orders which prevent them from taking immediate and decisive action in situations of danger. The tens of thousands of LIKES which this movie has received is a small indication of the frustration which our Nation feels. We, the lovers of Israel and the IDF around the world, appeal to you to review the current orders and give our soldiers a green light to defend themselves and our country from enemies who rise up against us. Your first allegiance is to the soldiers of Tzahal and to the People of Israel, and not to the decision makers in Washington.

The depiction of a soldier asking for permission to fire on incoming rock throwers is all too common. The situation known as purity of arms has often times put soldiers in grave danger because they are afraid to shoot due to the threat of getting in trouble similar to Elor Azaria.

Despite the political correctness that has tied the hands of the IDF, the Elor Azaria trial has in fact brought much of this to light and created the beginning of a shift in thinking within the defense establishment as well as members of the political echelon.

The World Loved Him, Why?
Ben Packer
September 28, 2016
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With the death of Shimon Peres, folks are coming out from from around the world to offer their heartfelt condolences. My question is: WHY?!! What is it about Shimon Peres that the whole world adored? Including the greatest lover of Israel of them all: Barack Obama!

In Israel it makes sense; the stridently leftist media, academia, labor, government cartel has enormous power, and to question Shimon Peres’ “greatness” is to be a total pariah from proper Israeli society, on all levels. Sadly this heavily affects the Religious Zionist community as well. The Haredi Community is the only one immune from it, aside from Hareidi Knesset members, who are in essence the designated liars of the community to the secular world. They too must play along.

But why does the world love Shimon Peres so much and why are they so saddened by his death? The same countries that are constantly condemning Israel at the UN. The same countries and leaders that quietly and not so quietly question Israel’s very right to exist in our ancestral homeland. Those that are looking for any and every opportunity to weaken the Jewish Presence.

Of course nobody wants to discuss this today. Everyone loves the attention that Israel is getting from around the world. Well its time to grow up. This is not a teenager’s birthday celebration to see who will show up and how popular we are. This is life and death.

The hard cold truth: The world loved Shimon Peres because they thought he was the best chance they had at getting rid of/weakening the Jewish Presence in Israel. And they are truly sad because that hope just died.

Shana Tova,

Ben Packer

Old City, Jerusalem

John Kerry Demonizes Jewish Pioneers in Judea and Samaria…Again
Micha Gefen
September 28, 2016
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John Kerry is at it again. After assuring that Iran not only gets the keys to a nuclear bomb, but billions of dollars to embolden their terrorist desires, Kerry has now set his sites on Jewish families living in the biblical heartland of Israel. In a closed door meeting with Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu railed against Israel’s “settlement policy” as the real reason for the stalement in “peace” talks.

It was said that John Kerry paid a token comment Arab terorism, yet pushed the idea that Israel is moving closer and closer to a bi-national state.

“Now, every single terrible act of violence, every new settlement announcement, takes us not closer to peace; they take us closer to a one-state solution,” he was quoted as having said. “That is no solution. It is an invitation to perpetual conflict. And as Shimon Peres himself said, it will bring one war, not one state. Make no mistake about it, I believe that is the risk if we continue on the current course.”

Of course the fear of a bi-national state is unfounded as the Arab population in Judea and Samaria continues to decrease and without including Gaza into the calculation, experts now say annexation of Judea and Samaria would leave Israel with a comfortable Jewish majority at 70/30.

Of course the fear mongering and faux peace plan pushing is just cover for old fashioned anti-semitism. Denying Jews the rights to own and live freely in any land is anti-semitism. How much more so is the impact of such disguised hate than in Judea and Samaria, the heart of the Jewish homeland.

“It will be that when all of these things come upon you”
Yehuda HaKohen
September 29, 2016

in gathering-exiles
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“It will be that when all of these things come upon you – the blessing and the curse that I have presented before you – then you will take it to your heart among all the nations where HaShem, your G-D, has dispersed you; and you will return to HaShem, your G-D, and listen to His voice, according to everything that I command you today, you and your children, with all your heart and all your soul. Then HaShem, your G-D, will bring back your captivity and have mercy upon you, and He will gather you in from all the peoples to which HaShem, your G-D, has scattered you. If your dispersed will be at the ends of heaven, from there HaShem, your G-D, will gather you in and from there He will take you. HaShem, your G-D, will bring you to the land that your forefathers possessed and you shall possess it; He will do good for you and make you more numerous than your forefathers. HaShem, your G-D, will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, to love HaShem, your G-D, with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. HaShem, your G-D, will place all these imprecations upon your enemies and those who hate you, who pursued you. You shall return and listen to the voice of HaShem, and perform all His commandments that I command you today. HaShem will make you abundant in all your handiwork – in the fruit of your womb, the fruit of your animals, and the fruit of your land – for good, when HaShem will return to rejoice over you for good, as He rejoiced over your forefathers, when you listen to the voice of HaShem, your G-D, to observe His commandments, and His decrees, that are written in this Book of the Torah, when you shall return to HaShem, your G-D, with all your heart and all your soul.” (DEVARIM 30:1-1

A superficial reading of these verses might seem confusing to those with a narrow understanding of tshuva. In verse 30:2, it appears that the Jewish people return to HaShem. We are then brought back to the Land of Israel and receive Divine blessings. But then verse 30:10 states that Israel again returns to HaShem, prompting a question on the chronology of events. Is Israel first brought back to our borders or does the nation first return to living in accordance with our Torah?

The famous Ohr Sameaḥ, Rabbi Meir Simḥa HaKohen of Dvinsk, teaches in the MeshekhḤokhmah that these verses refer to two types of tshuva. He points out that in verse 30:2 the return to HaShem is written as v’shavta ad-HaShem while the later tshuva in verse 30:10 readstashuv el-HaShem. Ad-HaShem, he explains, is not necessarily a return to Torah observance but rather to Jewish national consciousness. It is the Children of Israel once again self-identifying as part of a single people after generations of trying to assimilate into the host populations in the lands of our dispersion. We suddenly desire our own country, want to speak our own language and seek to express our own unique cultural identity. This stage oftshuva is essentially the reawakening of our ancient tribal identity and a feeling of solidarity with fellow Jews throughout the world.

El-HaShem, the later return, is a renewed embrace of the Torah and its commandments in both our private lives and in the collective national life of the Jewish people. The Ohr Sameaḥ teaches that once we return to a healthy Jewish national consciousness, we will certainly return to observing the statutes of our Torah. Returning to a sense of peoplehood and collective responsibility is the first stage of a process leading to tshuva on a level far greater than any individual’s personal return could ever reach. More than merely fostering personal piety among Jews, tshuva that begins with a reawakening of Hebrew identity will lead Israel to express kedusha in every sphere of national life, from social services and agriculture to warfare and diplomacy. The early stages of returning to national consciousness are part of a Divinely guided historical process that even those participating in are often unaware.

The kabalist Rabbi Yehuda Ḥai Alkalai (in Kitvei HaRav Alkalai) supports the Ohr Sameaḥ’s view regarding two types of tshuva, clearly defining them as national and individual. Rabbi Alkalai illuminates further that national tshuva is Israel returning to our native land. The redemption, he explains, does not occur all at once but rather takes place in stages – stages in which the Jewish people must actively participate. Israel coming back to a feeling of peoplehood – after bitter centuries of dispersion and persecution – is a response to the magnet of the Divine Will for Creation. The initial stage of the redemption process is a healthy and natural feeling of Jewish nationalism, seemingly identical to the nationalism found amongst gentiles.

In Sha’ar 100 of the Akeidat Yitzḥak, Rabbi Yitzḥak Arama points out that the process of redemption takes place with the tshuva of returning to nationalism, followed by HaShem bringing Israel back to our borders. Only following this ingathering of the exiles comes the later tshuva of Israel returning to Torah and experiencing full redemption.

Rabbi Zvi Yehuda HaKohen Kook concurs with this view and adds that the redemption is in and of itself tshuva as it is the Jewish people returning to the completeness of what the Hebrew Nation is naturally meant to be. Rabbi Kook points out that the redemption comes “slowly, slowly” (Jerusalem Talmud Brakhot 1:1) and further demonstrates, based on several Biblical verses, that ad-HaShem is a collective subconscious tshuva of returning to nationhood in our homeland whereas the tshuva of el-HaShem stems from a conscious understanding that Israel fully expressing ourselves as the national manifestation of HaShem’s Ideal for Creation necessitates a certain vision and behavioral norms. While thetshuva of ad-HaShem generally has no conscious destination, the tshuva of el-HaShemcarries with it a deep awareness of the Divine Source to which Israel is returning.

The concept of el-HaShem occurring after the ingathering of the Jewish people to our homeland is expressed throughout Scripture (YOEL 2:12, AMOS 4:6, EIKHAH 3:40-41) with YISHAYAH 44:22 stating “return to Me for I have redeemed you,” implying that Israel returns to Torah after being redeemed. And one of the clearest examples of this process can be found in chapter 36 of the Book of YEḤEZKEL.

“I will take you from among the nations and gather you in from all the lands, and I will bring you to your own soil. Then I will sprinkle pure water upon you, that you may become cleansed; I will cleanse you from all your contamination and from all your idols. I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you, and I will make it so that you will follow My decrees and My ordinances and fulfill them. You will dwell in the land that I gave to your forefathers; you will be a people to Me, and I will be a G-D to you.” (YEḤEZKEL 36:24-28)

At the deepest core of Jewish national aspirations burns a drive to bless humanity with the knowledge of HaShem as the timeless ultimate Reality without end that creates all, sustains all, empowers all and loves all. The Zionist movement emerged as the external practical expression of Israel’s ancient spiritual yearnings that for generations lay dormant within our people’s collective soul. The national consciousness of the Jewish people has come alive in modern times to initiate a movement of universal tshuva that will drive world history toward its ultimate future goal. Through the vehicle of a Hebrew Kingdom in Eretz Yisrael, mankind will be brought to the awareness of HaShem as the infinite Whole in which we all exist – an awareness that will usher in an era of total goodness, global harmony and universal fulfillment. This is the true inner essence of Israel’s national aspirations, culminating in the entire Jewish people living securely in our homeland with a Temple in Jerusalem, shining G-D’s light to mankind.

Obama’s November Surprise
Gregg Roman
October 2, 2016
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Originally posted in The Hill.

With last year’s Iran nuclear deal appearing less and less likely to go down in the history books as a legacy foreign policy achievement, there is growing speculation that President Obama will spring a diplomatic surprise on Israel during the interregnum between the U.S. presidential election on Nov. 8 and his departure from office in January.

Some say the surprise will be a speech laying down parameters for a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian dispute or some type of formal censure of Israeli settlements in the West Bank, but the scenario generating most discussion is a decision to support, or perhaps not to veto a UN Security Council resolution recognizing a Palestinian state.

This would be a bombshell. Washington’s long-stated policy is that a Palestinian state should be established only through an agreement negotiated directly between the two sides. In practice, this would require that Palestinian leaders agreed to recognize Israel as a Jewish state and concede the so-called “right of return” for refugees of the 1948 war and their descendants to areas within Israel’s borders, a prospect which would mean the demographic destruction of Israel.

For decades, Palestinian leaders have made it clear they won’t do this: Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas doesn’t mince words, telling a gathering of Arab foreign ministers in Cairo in November 2014, “We will never recognize the Jewishness of the state of Israel.” Efforts to win recognition of Palestinian statehood by foreign governments and multilateral institutions are designed to skirt this precondition for statehood.

Any state that comes into existence without Palestinian leaders formally recognizing Israel will be a brutal, unstable train wreck, with areas under its jurisdiction likely to remain a hotbed of terrorism. On top of whatever existing factors are producing the endemic corruption and autocracy of the Abbas regime (not to mention the Hamas regime in Gaza), unilateral recognition of a Palestinian state will vindicate radicals who have been saying all along that there’s no need to compromise.

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On the other hand, official Palestinian acknowledgement once and for all that Israel is not just here to stay, but has a right to stay, would deprive Palestinian leaders of time-honored tools for manipulating their constituents – appealing to and inflaming their baser anti-Jewish prejudices, promising them salvation if they’ll only shut up ‘til the Zionists are defeated, and so forth. Instead, they will have to do things like govern well and create jobs to win public support.

Previous American administrations have understood that recognizing Palestinian statehood before Abbas and company allow Palestinian society to undergo this transformation would be the height of irresponsibility. This is why American veto power has consistently blocked efforts to unilaterally establish a Palestinian state by way of the UN Security Council.

Notwithstanding his apparent pro-Palestinian sympathies and affiliations prior to running for the Senate and later the White House, President Obama initially maintained this policy. The expressed threat of an American veto foiled Abbas’ 2011 bid to win UN member-state status for “Palestine.” He settled for recognition of non-member-state status by the General Assembly in 2012.

As moves by the PA to bring the issue of statehood to the UN picked up steam last year, however, it appeared to walk back this commitment. While U.S officials privately maintained there was “no change,” Obama and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power refused – despite theurging of Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid – to state publicly that the U.S. would use its veto to stop a resolution recognizing Palestinian statehood.

The conventional wisdom was that Obama’s refusal to make such a public declaration was intended to exert pressure on Netanyahu to tone down his opposition to the Iran nuclear deal, and later to punish him for it or hold it out to secure concessions. As his presidency enters its final months, it’s clear something even more nefarious is at work.

President Obama’s failure to clarify his administration’s position has greatly damaged prospects for Israeli-Palestinian peace. Even if it is Obama’s intention to veto any resolution on Palestinian statehood that comes up at the UN, his refusal to publicly state this – or, put differently, his determination to go on the record for the history books not saying it – has fueled perceptions among Palestinians and European governments facing pressures of their own that American will is softening.

It is imperative that Congress use the tools at its disposal to make this unwise path as difficult as possible for the Obama Administration.

Ultimately, a one-sided UN declaration such as this serves only to postpone by a long shot the day when Palestinian leaders accept Israel as it is – the homeland of the Jewish people – and allow their subjects to enjoy the lasting peace and prosperity they and their neighbors deserve.

Remembering Gedaliah ben Aḥikam
Yehuda HaKohen
October 6, 2016
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Of all the Jews murdered throughout history, why does Israel fast on the third of Tishrei for Gedaliah ben Aḥikam? There must be a significant reason beyond the assassination itself.

To answer this question, it’s important to also view events from the perspective of Gedaliah’s assassin, Yishmael ben Netaniah, who likely saw himself acting justly on behalf of his people.

A higher and more nuanced perspective enables us to see the situation from both sides. While some might claim that because Yishmael made an alliance with another regional king (Baalis of Ammon), he had forfeited his right to attack Gedaliah’s connection to the Emperor Nevudkhadnetzar. But a deeper look reveals that Yishmael’s alliance with Baalis was in order to initiate a shared Judean-Ammonite struggle against the Babylonian Empire – the motivation for which would have been liberating Judea from foreign rule. An alliance with Ammon based on intersecting anti-imperialist interests cannot be compared to Gedaliah representing Babylonian interests in Judea. As a descendent of King David fighting for Hebrew independence, Yishmael likely felt a patriotic duty to cut down the emperor’s Jewish client governor. But pure motivations and a just cause still carry an obligation to see a larger picture and the potential consequences of zealous actions.

From the other side, Gedaliah was simply trying to do the best he could under the conditions that existed. He was close to Yirmiyahu (who David’s descendants, their supporters and probably also the Babylonians mistook for a traitor) and was being pragmatic under the circumstances. Because he really wasn’t a traitor and was actually trying to prevent Judean society from falling apart following a catastrophe, it was probably difficult for him to understand that others viewed him as such. This would explain why his guard was down – he and Yishmael likely saw their disagreement in a very different light.

The Rambam teaches in Hilkhot Taanit 5:2 that what we are really fasting over on Tzom Gedaliah is the complete loss of Hebrew sovereignty. Despite being a puppet governor appointed by the foreign emperor who had just destroyed Jerusalem’s Temple and exiled her people, Gdaliah was – according to the Rambam – the last ember of Judean independence.

We mourn Gedaliah’s death on the third of Tishrei each year because – despite him being a vassal appointed by a hated foreign ruler – he represented the last tiny thread of Hebrew sovereignty in our land.

But just as it was clearly a mistake for Yishmael and his supporters to demonize Gedaliah then, it might also be a mistake for us to demonize Yishmael now. The primary message we should take away from the fast is the need to appreciate the spiritual value of the Jewish independence we currently have, despite its limitations and the sometimes disappointing behavior of Israeli political leaders. According to the Rambam’s position on Tzom Gedaliah, even a small thread of Hebrew sovereignty has spiritual value.

“Moshe went and spoke these words to all of Israel…”
Yehuda HaKohen
October 7, 2016
Moses Pleasding with Israel
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“Moshe went and spoke these words to all of Israel. He said to them, ‘I am a hundred and twenty years old today; I can no longer go out and come in, for HaShem has said to me ‘You shall not cross the Jordan’. HaShem, your G-D – He will cross before you, and you shall possess them; Yehoshua – he shall cross over before you, as HaShem has spoken.’” (DEVARIM 31:1-3)

Moshe – who taught, guided and nurtured the Children of Israel for forty years in the wilderness – was not to be permitted into the Promised Land. The prophet who had received the Torah on Israel’s behalf would be forced to take leave of his people just before the liberation of Eretz Yisrael and the establishment of HaShem’s Divine Kingdom therein.

The most well known explanation for why Moshe was forbidden from crossing the Jordan is that he had once lost his patience with Israel and struck a rock. The Midrash, however, explains that this incident was only when the sentence took effect. It had been decreed decades earlier that Moshe would be prohibited from crossing the Jordan River.

“G-D said to Moshe, ‘Whoever acknowledges his homeland is buried in his homeland. Yosef acknowledged his homeland, as it is written, ‘for indeed I was kidnapped from the land of the Hebrews…’ (BEREISHIT 40:15). You did not acknowledge yourhomeland… How? The daughters of Yitro said, ‘An Egyptian man saved us from the shepherds’ (SHEMOT 2:19). You heard them and remained silent. Therefore you will not be buried in your homeland.’” (Devarim Rabbah 2:8)

Break the BDS

Although he had been raised as royalty in Pharaoh’s palace and had never in his life actually seen the Land of Israel, Moshe was held accountable for allowing himself to be referred to by others as “an Egyptian man.” Regardless of where we each currently reside, Jews should be vigilant never to view ourselves as belonging to any people or nation other than our own. Moshe, the paradigm of Hebrew unity and national responsibility – who killed an Egyptian on the spot for merely striking a Hebrew slave – was penalized for neglecting to protest when being referred to as an Egyptian. This episode illustrates the gravity of viewing ourselves as German, French, American or any nationality other than Israeli. We must understand thatIsrael is one people with one country and one collective mission reflecting the Torah’s blueprint for an ideal perfect world. And it is only through the advancement of Israel’s national aspirations that humanity can attain higher consciousness and total blessing according to HaShem’s Divine plan for Creation.