An Update

August 19, 2013

Dear Pastors:

Several news items from the Middle East:

First: At least 24 Egyptian policemen have been killed in an attack by suspected militants in the Sinai Peninsula.

The attack on the police convoy, close to the town of Rafah on the Gaza border, was one of the deadliest on security forces in several years.

A state of emergency is in force across Egypt amid wider political turmoil following a military crackdown on Islamists in which hundreds have died.
Thirty-six protesters died in a prison van in the capital Cairo on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Egyptian prosecutors have ordered the ousted President Mohammed Morsi be detained for a further 15 days while they investigate fresh allegations against him.

He has reportedly been accused of complicity in acts of violence against protesters outside the presidential palace last December.

Second: The northern Sinai has become one of the most dangerous places in Egypt since 2011. The area is a crossroads for local Bedouin smuggling and criminal gangs, Egyptian jihadists and militants with links to the adjacent Gaza strip. Kidnapping, the smuggling of guns and explosives, and attacks on Egypt's security forces have proliferated since the end of President Mubarak's military rule in 2011.

The Sinai Peninsula, scene of heavy fighting in the 1973 Yom Kippur War, is host to an international observer force of soldiers deployed to monitor the peace since the 1979 treaty with Israel but they have neither the mandate nor the capacity to stop the Sinai descending into lawlessness.

So far, the tourist resort of Sharm El Sheikh [at the southern tip of the Sinai] has remained immune to the post-Arab Spring violence. It is too early to tell if this attack is in direct response to events in Cairo and other mainland Egyptian cities and there was no immediate claim of responsibility.

Third: Israel is quietly and carefully watching the turmoil in neighboring Egypt while maintaining close contacts with the Egyptian military amid concerns that the escalating crisis could weaken their common battle against Islamic militants in the Sinai Peninsula, officials said.

As the week's death toll in Egypt rises, this alliance has put Israel in a delicate position. Wary of being seen as taking sides in the Egyptian military's standoff against Islamist supporters of the ousted president, Israel also needs the Egyptian army to maintain quiet along their shared border — and to preserve a historic peace treaty.

The 1979 peace treaty, Israel's first with an Arab country, has been a cornerstone of regional security for three decades. It has allowed Israel to divert resources to volatile fronts with Syria, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories. For Egypt, it opened the way to billions of dollars in U.S. military aid.

Although diplomatic relations have never been close, the two militaries have had a good working relationship. These ties have only strengthened since longtime President Hosni Mubarak was ousted in a popular uprising two and a half years ago. With both armies battling extremist Jihadi groups in the Sinai Peninsula, near the Israeli border, Israeli security officials often say that relations with their Egyptian counterparts are stronger than ever.

With so much at stake, Israel has remained quiet since the Egyptian military ousted Mubarak's Islamist successor, Mohammed Morsi, in a coup on July 3.
Morsi, who became Egypt's first democratically elected president, hails from the Muslim Brotherhood, an Islamist group considered the parent organization of militant Palestinian Hamas that rules the Gaza Strip and is a bitter enemy of Israel.

Israel has not commented on this week's bloodshed, in which the Egyptian troops killed hundreds of Morsi's supporters who were rallying against the coup and demanding that he be reinstated.

"Israel does not have to support the (Egyptian) regime, especially not publicly. It is not our place to defend all the measures taken, this is not our business," said Giora Eiland, a former chairman of Israel's National Security Council.

At the same time, Eiland suggested that international condemnations of the Egyptian military's actions have been excessive. He said Israeli and Western interests are "much closer" to the interests of Egypt's military leader, Gen. Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi and his secular allies.

"Even if we don't share the same values, we can share the same interests," he said. "The Israeli interest is quite clear. We want a stable regime in Egypt."
"In the end of the day, the U.S. has to realize the real potential, reliable partner is the combination of the coalition of secular people in Egypt and the current military regime," he added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's office declined comment but Israeli defense officials confirmed to The Associated Press that security cooperation with Egypt has continued over the past week.

The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were discussing classified information, said the topic was discussed last week with the visiting chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of State, Gen. Martin Dempsey. They refused to discuss the content of the discussions.

Now, brethren, let me state unequivocally that the "Oslo Peace Process" of Bill Clinton and the 1990s was a disaster for Israel, simple because of the facts it ignored and what "was" and "is" most important for Israel.

Western leaders fastened desperately on Yasser Arafat’s ‘so-called’ abilities by calling him a moderate, and ennobling him with the Nobel Peace Prize. 

That Arafat was squirreling away billions of dollars into overseas private bank accounts, using the Palestinian Authority controlled media to poison the minds of Arab children with Nazi like propaganda, and imposing his lethal will as an outright despot and dictator did not deter Western leaders.

Instead, they threw their tax payers’ money at him because they considered him a "strong" leader with whom they could make deals. The same is happening again today with Mahmoud Abbas with yet more catastrophic results.

The time is long overdue for a United States president to end the same failed policies and inaugurate not a roadmap to an illusory peace but a roadmap for Israel’s security.

It will not happen with the present White House incumbent, arguably the most unfriendly and hostile president Israel has ever endured.

Whether such a future president could ever overcome the pressures and blackmail of the Arab oil producers or of the endemic hostility within the U.S. State Department towards Israel is open to question.
But in its absence, one thing remains crystal clear: The only peace the Arab and Muslim world is ready to offer Israel is the peace of the grave.

You and I who are truly Born Again Christians have the duty and responsibility to become very vocal with our opinions regarding America’s positions relative to the nation of Israel. Yes, the Holy Scriptures do declare in Amos 3:1 Hear this word that the LORD hath spoken against you, O children of Israel, against the whole family which I brought up from the land of Egypt, saying,

2 You only have I known of all the families of the earth: therefore I will punish you for all your iniquities.

3 Can two walk together, except they be agreed? But, the historical record is clear. GOD DID RE-GATHER THEM IN THE HOLY LAND!

And it is our OBLIGATION AND PRIVILEGE TO STAND WITH THEM TODAY IN PRAYING FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM!!!!!!

JIM VINEYARD
YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL

PS: Please continue to pray for my health issues relative to this hip.  I see the doctor again Wednesday AM.

Meetings in Memphis

March 16, 2013

Dear Pastors:

I am here in a hotel in Memphis, Tennessee, where I am to be in meetings with Crossroads Baptist Church, a black Baptist Church which Windsor Hills helped start when I pastored 15 years ago.

They are having AN ISRAEL MY GLORY week-end [Isaiah 46:13]. God’s glory was in a people,

 

Genesis 12:1, Now the LORD had said unto Abram, Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred, and from thy father's house, unto a land that I will shew thee:

2 And I will make of thee a great nation, and I will bless thee, and make thy name great; and thou shalt be a blessing:

3 And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: and in thee shall all families of the earth be blessed.

4 So Abram departed, as the LORD had spoken unto him; and Lot went with him: and Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran.

5 And Abram took Sarai his wife, and Lot his brother's son, and all their substance that they had gathered, and the souls that they had gotten in Haran; and they went forth to go into the land of Canaan; and into the land of Canaan they came.

6 And Abram passed through the land unto the place of Sichem, unto the plain of Moreh. And the Canaanite was then in the land.

7 And the LORD appeared unto Abram, and said, Unto thy seed will I give this land: and there builded he an altar unto the LORD, who appeared unto him.

8 And he removed from thence unto a mountain on the east of Bethel, and pitched his tent, having Bethel on the west, and Hai on the east: and there he builded an altar unto the LORD, and called upon the name of the LORD.

God’s glory was in a Land [as hard as George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Condi Rice, and now our "obamagabbe" finds that hard to admit]!!!!

Numbers 33:50 And the LORD spake unto Moses in the plains of Moab by Jordan near Jericho, saying,

51 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye are passed over Jordan into the land of Canaan;

52 Then ye shall drive out all the inhabitants of the land from before you, and destroy all their pictures, and destroy all their molten images, and quite pluck down all their high places:

53 And ye shall dispossess the inhabitants of the land, and dwell therein: for I have given you the land to possess it.

54 And ye shall divide the land by lot for an inheritance among your families: and to the more ye shall give the more inheritance, and to the fewer ye shall give the less inheritance: every man's inheritance shall be in the place where his lot falleth; according to the tribes of your fathers ye shall inherit.

God’s glory was in THE MESSIAH!

Isaiah 59:20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

Now, pray for me as I try to CHALLENGE THESE BLACK CHRISTIANS about their responsibilities towards the EVERLASTINGLY COVENANTED PEOPLE. Yesterday, I had lunch with Dr. David Winston in Conway, Arkansas. David’s teenage daughter finishes her last year of high school in May. Then she wants to get a degree in history. "History" is my thing, as I love to read it. Years ago, I had the opportunity to write a "thesis" and turn in to the University of Indiana’s history department, whose head I knew personally and as a consequence receive a ‘doctorate’ in history. I did not want to have to go through all the "critiquing" process as I was busier than an one armed paper hanger in the ministry, and so did not do it. Many times I have critiqued myself with an "F" for not doing so.

 

Yossi Ben-Aharon wrote me yesterday about my "particular read" of Jewish history, and how I see the Jews, just as the Bible shows them, and how we should look to get a "blessing" for being a blessing to the Jews. One of the ‘legends" in Jewish history I love to read about is what is called "THE LEGEND OF SANDER HADAD." You Baptist pastors probably have not read of him. I would compare him to Israel Putnam, Daniel Boone, David Crockett, Jim Bowie, Ranald MacKenzie, [called by the fierce Comanche tribesmen as OLD BAD HAND - he did in the Comanche, the Sioux and all red men he faced] and other such legends in American history, although he was JEWISH.

 

Sander was tall. He had a strong back and was quick on his feet. The Arabs called him Hawajah Skander [Comrade Skander, which was considered a title of respect]. His name that he was born under was Alexander Krinkin. He was born in 1859 in the town of Krinkin, near Bialystok in Poland, which was, at that time, part of Tzarist Russia. SANDER GOT HIS FAMILY NAME FROM HIS TOWN, BUT HIS NICKNAME HE GOT FROM HIS OCCUPATION., which was the same as his father, a proud and strong Jew who made his living as a blacksmith. From early childhood, Sander used to watch his father pounding iron, and he wanted to follow in his footsteps.

Sander made aliyah to Jerusalem in 1872 when he was thirteen, bar mitzvah age. History does not tell us whether he came alone or someone accompanied him.

There he hired himself out as a local blacksmith, and in a short time became known far and wide as one of the best blacksmiths in the city of Jerusalem. He was called Sander Hadad, which means in Arabic, "man of iron, the blacksmith." He soon became known by this nickname more than by his original name.

He spent a few years in Jerusalem, then began to wander all over the Middle East. Among other places he visited Istanbul, the capital of the Turkish Ottoman Empire, and after a while he also reached the Island of Cyprus, in the Mediterranean. During his trips, people were impressed with his unusual strength, and hired him frequently as a ‘body-guard.’ That way he acquired knowledge and skill which gave him the experience he needed to become an expert in that field.

 

Hadad’s courage and cunning were legendary. One of the stories about him had to do with a high-ranking Russian officer who had been taken prisoner by the Turks during one of the many wars between Russia and the Ottoman Empire. Sander, still a young man at that time, was the assistant to the supplies contractor on the same front. When he heard that the Russians failed in all their efforts to free this officer, he volunteered for the mission. At first, his volunteering was considered absurd. But, since the Russians had nothing to lose, they asked Sander what he intended to do. "Give me two soldiers," he replied, "and the rest you will see for yourselves." Once he was given the soldiers, he disappeared with them for a few days. He got hold of Turkish uniforms and managed to cross enemy lines. When he came back he brought the Russian officer with him. How did he manage to do it? No one knows!

 

He returned to Palestine from his wanderings around the time that the modern Zionist enterprise began, during the last quarter of the 19^th century. The truth is that without Sander Hadad and young people of his kind, it would have been difficult, perhaps even impossible to launch the Zionist enterprise.

 

Not only did the early Jewish settlers [they are called that in derision today], experience great difficulties int heir relationship with their Arab and Bedouin neighbors, but they were also treated with absolute contempt. Jews were considered "weaklings and cowards" at the time. Ole "Shylock" could handle money and usury, but he wasn’t much of a fighter, so went the Arabic wisdom. The European Jew, and the Jew in general, was, according to Ottoman law, at best "son of a protected minority," and at worst a walid al-mita [son of death].

 

That meant the Jews were a defenseless people, with whom the locals could do whatever they wanted, hurt them, and even kill them. It was told of Salman David Levontin, the man who founded the city of Rishon LeZion, that a guide who showed him the area, warned him, "Look West! There, on the sand dunes, the cruel Bedouins will lay in wait, and when you build your homes and settle here, scores of men will come on horseback in the dead of night, and rob and kill you." Levontin answered, "Do you really believe that we would take that without fighting back?"

 

But, the man who turned those words into reality was Sander Hadad. Already in Poland, and later in Jerusalem, Cyprus, and other places, Hadad was the model of "THE NEW JEW,"—TOUGH AND STRONG. His muscles like the materials he worked with were cast of iron. Any neighbor who dared mess with him soon felt the power of his fist. The founders of the new village of Petach Tikva, who came originally from Jerusalem, knew him well. When they decided to build a Jewish settlement in the marshes of Mulabbis, not far from the Yarkon River, they asked him to join them.

 

From reading about Sander Hadad, he appears to have reached the village of Petach Tikva in 1883 with the second group of pioneers, who first settled in Yahud, near the Arab village of Yehudia, in the area that is Savyon today. Sander worked as a farmhand for one of the farmers who lived in Yahud, as a sharecropper, which meant that he received part of the agricultural crop as payment for his labors.

 

Sander had done battle with the Bedouins first when during a run-in, a Bedouin tribesman had struck Sander’s horse with his club. In the battle of clubs and fists that ensued, Sander stood one against many, but nevertheless beat his Bedouin enemies mercilessly.

 

Sander was traveling with Mordechai Lovman, one of the founders of Rishon LeZion in the summer of 1886, carrying a load of fruit and vegetables in a wagon, when Bedouins were approaching. Men on horseback came tearing down from the nearby hills, and behind them men on foot suddenly appeared waving clubs.

 

They let out their blood-curdling war cries and did not hide their intent to catch Sander Hadad and lynch him. Sander whipped up his pair of horses, and according to Lovman, "the horses ran at breakneck speed, excited by the furor. The dust rose, enveloping the wagon and blocking the sun. Through the cloud of dust, our pursuers looked like fearful shadows, like ghosts. Their faces were those of wild animals, their eyes bulging out of their sockets, their white teeth gnashing, foaming at the mouth. They were shouting, raving, swearing and running and riding like the wind. From all that anger and exertion they tore off their robes and began to run absolutely naked...screaming ‘allahu akbar’ at the top of the lungs...throwing their clubs at us like they were arrows."

 

Sander didn't own nor use a gun at that time. He fought with his whip, his club, and his fists, and the Bedouins who were close by, saw their "fearful enemy" in Sander Hadad, and so re-doubled their efforts to take him. Coming too close, the Bedouins then encountered Sander’s fists, club and whip. He excelled in the use of all these weapons. Whoever came too close was struck a slashing blow which took him out of the battle.

 

For almost an hour Sander Hadad took on the Bedouin, then he arrived in his wagon at Petach Tikva. The Bedouin, according to Lovman, "battered and wounded, they returned to the security of the desert without taking revenge on anyone, especially their hated Sander Hadad. In the tents of the Arab tribes, the mysterious, awesome legend of the Jewish hero spread, and no longer was the disgraceful name of "walid almita" [the son of death] used to describe this strange Jew who had come over the sea to inherit the land of HIS FATHERS.

 

And so, the legend of Sander Hadad was born. Our frontiersmen, who fought the "red men" in America, and overcame them, had nothing on Sander Hadad. My prayer is that you have enjoyed this bit of Jewish history and that you will stand WITH THIS OLE MAN AS HE STANDS UNASHAMED WITH THE JEWS. PRAY FOR BOOGIE AS HE NOW FULFILLS HIS DUTIES AS ISRAEL’S DEFENSE MINISTER!

JIM VINEYARD

YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL

 

Israel Trip Feburary 2013- Some Highlight Photos

 

Friends standing outside an Israeli Artillery Unit

Good friend, Guy, sitting and chatting

 

Me and an Israeli Officer at the Artillery Officers Academy

 

 

Early morning ops

Israeli Artillery Soldiers, geared up wearing Kevlar helmets and vests.

 

Friend, Joseph in Nazareth

 

Joseph's wife, Nabila

Letter to Pastors

March 11, 2013

Dear Pastors:

As I write these lines, I am home in Piedmont, Oklahoma where I am preparing to leave this Friday for Memphis, Tennessee where I shall be in "Israel My Glory" meetings this weekend with Pastor Clenton Patterson and the good people of Crossroads Baptist Church. According to Police Officer Tim Taylor, an OBC graduate, Pastor Patterson told Crossroads that WHBC was the first church to take them on for support when they started Crossroads Baptist Church 15 years ago in 1998. Crossroads is a black Baptist church and you can Google up information about them. It is this ole man’s candid opinion that the world’s people can only live in peace, one with another, when they make peace with THE GOD OF PEACE, THE LORD GOD OF THE HEBREWS.

Isaiah 46:13 I bring near my righteousness; it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not tarry: and I will place salvation in Zion for Israel my glory.

It is the intent of this ole preacher-warrior to present to these dear black Christians the historical aspect of "those in the guise of Christianity" who lifted up the hand of anti-Semitism towards the Jews. The Catholic Church is changing "Popes." The Jews have suffered much at the hands of the "guise" of Christianity under Catholicism. They have been massacred by the sword, fire, and the gun, and that was the very reason that those Jewish folks yonder in Newport, Rhode Island contacted George Washington to see what type treatment they could expect at the hands of this new Nation, the United States of America. And, of course, he returned them, as you well know, the answer of Micah 4:4 But they shall sit every man under his vine and under his fig tree; and none shall make them afraid: for the mouth of the LORD of hosts hath spoken it.

5 For all people will walk every one in the name of his god, and we will walk in the name of the LORD our God for ever and ever.

Let us look at some news from Israel regarding Mr. Netanyahu and his ‘coalition formation’ preparatory to establishing a new government:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will likely encounter harsh opposition within his Likud party if high-ranking ministers and Knesset members soon find themselves without a job.

Party officials on Sunday threatened an "intifada", or uprising, over what they call "Netanyahu’s failure to give out positions" to members of Likud and other formerly close coalition partners.

The first conflict involves Netanyahu’s anticipated decision to dismiss Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin from his position. "Netanyahu doesn’t want a liberal Likud, but a Lieberman-style Likud," a party official said, adding, "Netanyahu’s increased closeness to Lieberman at the expense of the liberal camp – Rivlin, [Dan] Meridor and [Benny] Begin – is very worrisome."

Although over the past few weeks Rivlin reportedly received a series of promises that he would keep his position, including a written promise from a third party, on Saturday it turned out otherwise. "Rivlin is the first to be disappointed. He is learning what other high-ranking party members to whom Netanyahu made promises learned – that Netanyahu’s word is worthless," another official said.

"Likud officials do not yet understand the extent of the party’s loss in the elections. Netanyahu has chosen to transfer the important portfolios to the coalition partners. Even the high-ranking Likud officials who were appointed ministers will find that the portfolios they receive will be disappointing and unattractive," another official said.

In addition, the ethnic card is expected to be played once more over the next few days because with Shas out of the government, only three ministers will be from the Mizrahi community. Of them, only one or two – Silvan Shalom and maybe Gila Gamliel – will be from Likud. The others are Eli Ben-Dahan of Habayit Hayehudi and Meir Cohen of Yesh Atid.

"The new government will have the fewest Sephardi ministers," a Likud official said. "Netanyahu knows that very well. The Likud’s membership is very sensitive to this subject. It knows that without Shas, it will have a problem when it comes to the matter of ethnicity, and that problem needs to be solved."

Meanwhile, Netanyahu on Sunday thanked his outgoing cabinet, in what he said was "probably" its last session before the new Israeli government takes over.
"I would like to thank the ministers for their excellent work during the past four years," Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu is expected to finalize coalition deals by late Monday and present a new government by as early as Tuesday. His deadline expires Saturday.

Among the biggest challenges facing the incoming government were lowering the exorbitant cost of living in Israel, advancing social equality and security threats, Netanyahu told the cabinet on Sunday.

About the time this ole man thinks he has sorted out "the laws of the Knesset" in Israel, he is thrown a ‘curve-ball’ and has to admit he doesn’t know "the laws of the Knesset."

All that reminds me of a story Jim Corbett, the great Englishman who lived from 1875 to 1955 and did so very much for the people of India in killing man-eating tigers and leopards and also in killing rogue elephants.

Bear with me please, in the telling of this story about Harkwar and Kunthi and "the law of the jungle" in India. Harkwar and Kunthi lived in villages a few miles apart at the foot the great Dunagiri mountain, and had never seen each other until the great day, when, dressed in bright new clothes, they had for all too short a time been the center of attraction of a vast crowd of relatives and friends. That day lived long in their memories as the wonderful occasion when they had been able to fill their small bellies to bursting-point with halwa and puris. The day also lived for long years in the memory of their respective fathers, for on it the village bania, who was their "father and mother’, realizing their great necessity had provided the few rupees that had enabled them to retain the respect of their communities by marrying their children at the age their customs said they would be married, and on the propitious date selected by the priest of the village—and had made a fresh entry against their names in the register. Harkwar and Kunthi were married before their "total ages" had reached double figures.

Now, to be sure, in telling you this story, I am not laying ‘my approval’ to this custom of the poor people of India, simply telling you what Jim Corbett told.

Kunthi went back home with her parents and continued to perform the chores that her mother gave her daily to do. Several uneventful and carefree years went by for Kunthi until the day came when she was judged ‘old enough’ to join her husband. The change from her parents home to her ‘in-laws’ home only meant for Kunthi the performing of chores for her mother-in-law which she had previously performed for her mother. In a poor man’s household in India, young and old have their allotted work to do and they do it cheerfully. Kunthi was now old enough to help with the cooking, and as soon as the morning meal had been eaten, all who were capable of working for wages set out to perform their respective tasks, which, no matter how minor they were, brought grist to the family mill.

Harkwar’s father was a mason and was engaged on building a chapel at the American Mission School. It was Harkwar’s ambition to follow in his father’s profession, and, until he had the strength to do so, he helped the family exchequer by carrying the materials used by his father and the other masons, earning two annas a day for his ten hours labor. After Kunthi had washed and polished the metal pots and pans used for the morning meal, she accompanied her mother-in-law and her numerous sisters-in-law to the fields of the headman of the village, where with other women and girls she labored as many hours as her husband ‘for half the wage’ he received. When the day’s work was done, the family walked back in the twilight to the hut Harkwar’s father had been permitted to build on the headman’s land, and with the dry sticks the younger children had collected during their elder’s absence, the evening meal was cooked and eaten. Except for the fire, there had never been any other form of illumination in the hut, and when the pots and pans had been cleaned and put away, each member of the family retired to his or her allotted place, Harkwar and his brothers sleeping with their father and Kunthi sleeping with the female members of the family.

When Harkwar was 18 and Kunthi 16, they left, and, carrying their few possessions, set up housekeeping in a hut placed at their disposal by an uncle of Harkwar’s in a village 3 miles from the cantonment of Ranikhet. For four years the young couple worked there, but, in November of that year, the building was completed and Harkwar had to find work elsewhere. Winter that year was unusually severe. Harkwar suggested that they should migrate to the foothills at Kaladhungi, where they hoped to procure work, roughly 50 miles away. Sleeping under trees at night, toiling up and down steep and rough roads during the day, and carrying all their worldly possessions, and the children by turns, Karkwar and Kunthi, tired and footsore, accomplished the journey to Kaladhungi in six days.

The built there a hut and their two children, Punwa, a boy aged three, and Putali, a girl aged two, took up residence beside the Jungle, in which to Corbett’s certain knowledge, there were 5 tigers, 8 leopards, a family of 4 sloth bears, 2 Himalayan black bears, which had come down from the high hills to feed on wild plums and honey; a number of hyenas who had their burrows in the grasslands 5 miles away and who visited the Jungle nightly to feed on the discarded portions of the tigers’ and leopards’ kills; a pair of wild dogs; numerous jackals and foxes and pine martens; and a variety of civet and other cats. There were also two large pythons, many kinds of snakes, crested and tawny eagles, and hundred of vultures in the Jungles. Corbett did not mention animals such as deer, antelope, pigs, and monkeys, which were all harmless to humans.

The day after they completed their flimsy hut, Harkwar found work as a qualified mason on a daily wage of eight annas with the contractor who was building a canal headworks, and Kunthi purchased for 2 rupees a permit from the Forest Department which entitled her to cut grass on the foothills, which she sold as fodder for the cattle of the shopkeepers in the bazaar. For her bundle of green grass, sometimes weighing as much as 80 pounds, and which necessitated a walk of from 10 to 14 miles daily, mostly up and down steep hills, Kunthi received 4 annas, one anna of which was taken by the man who held the Government contract for sale of grass at the bazaar. Of the 8 annas earned by Harkwar, plus the 3 annas earned by Kunthi, the family of four lived in comparative comfort, for food was plentiful and cheap and for the first time in their lives they were able to afford meat once a month.

The children, Punwa and Putali, had, in the beginning been in anxiety, for they were too young to accompany Harkwar and Kunthi in their daily journeys to work. So, a kindly old crippled woman living in the communal hut a few hundred yards came to their rescue by offering to keep a general eye on the children while the parents were away at work.

One particular Friday, fair day in Kaladhungi, Karkwar and Kunthi returned to their hut early, after making purchases in the bazaar on cheap food, fruit and vegetables at reduced prices before the booths closed down for the night, buying a pound of goat’s meat, but finding Punwa and Putali absent from the hut when the arrived. On making inquiries from the crippled woman, they learned that she had not seen the children since midday. The woman suggested they had probably gone to the bazaar to see the merry-go-round that had attracted all the local children. Harkwar searched the bazaar while Kunthi returned to the hut to prepare the evening meal. A rumor ran about at that time that Gypsies were kidnapping Hindu children and selling them at the North-West frontier for immoral purposes.

Karkwar and Kunthi then went to the police station, where an elderly police constable who had children, and was kindly towards them and their lost children, said that nothing could be done that night, but that the next morning he promised to send "the town crier" to all the 15 villages in Kaladhungi to announce the loss of the children. The night being cold, Karkwar and Kunthi kept a fire burning all night, and went out periodically to call for Punwa and Putali but to no avail.

They searched all day Saturday with Kunthi walking 28 miles to Haldwani and Karkwar 36 miles to Ramnagar. Many friend, who feared for the safety of the children, were waiting at the hut to express their sympathy for the lost children. On Sunday, Kunthi went 30 miles north to Naini Tal while Harkwar went 32 miles south to Bazpur. That evening they gave up hope of ever seeing their children alive again. The ‘anger of the gods’ in allowing their children to be stole by Gypsies in broad daylight, was not to be explained.

Monday found the pair too dispirited and too tired to leave their hut. There was no food and would be none until they resumed work. That Monday, a simple, poor man herding buffaloes in the Jungle knew the danger from tigers, and near sundown he collected the buffaloes and started to drive them to the village. He had heard the town crier come and tell of the lost children and the "rich man’s" offer of 50 rupees for their return. His buffalo, each when they got to a certain point ahead of him, turned its head to the right and looked at something lying in a little depression. When he got to the spot he saw the bodies of the children, both naked, and clasped in each other’s arms. But, why had they been murdered and brought to this spot? The herdsman descended into the depression and squatted down on his hunkers to determine, if he could, how the children had met their death. He was convinced that the children were dead, yet now as he sat closely scrutinizing them he suddenly saw that they were breathing; that, in fact they were not dead, but sound asleep. He was a father himself and very gently touched the children and awakened them.

The dear ole man loaded a child on each shoulder and set out to walk the six miles to their home. Putali was beyond speech, but Punwa gave the explanation that they had been playing and had gotten lost.

Harkwar was sitting at the door of his hut staring into the darkening night, when he saw a small crowd of people appearing from the bazaar. At the head of the procession was a man walking, carrying something on his shoulders. "Harkwar’s children!

Harkwar’s children" was the excited murmur of the crowd. Kunthi had reached the end of her physical abilities and was curled up in the corner of the hut asleep, Harkwar quickly awoke her, and they went out to tearfully greet little Punwa and Putali. To the poor herdsman the 50 rupee reward was wealth untold, but the rescuer said the blessings and thanks that had been showered upon him was reward enough for rescuing the children. Two-year-old Putali, and three-year-old Punwa were lost at midday on Friday, and found by the herdsman at about 5 PM on Monday, a matter of seventy-seven hours.

There was not a single mark of tooth or claw upon them. The ‘law of the jungle’ had protected those 2 youngsters. Had the Creator made the same law for man as He has made for jungle folk, there would be no wars, for the strong in man would have the same consideration for the weak as is established in the ‘law of the jungles,’ SO SAID JIM CORBETT.

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM.

JIM VINEYARD

YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL

Letter to Pastors

March 8, 2013

Dear Pastors:

This morning in our daily Bible reading together, the BRIDE OF MY YOUTH and I read four chapters from the book of Job, one of which was Chapter 19. Of particular treasure to this ole man in that chapter are verse 25-27.

Job 19:25 For I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth:

26 And though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God:

27 Whom I shall see for myself, and mine eyes shall behold, and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.

The Redeemer whom Job knew that his eyes would see was HE described in Isaiah 59:19 So shall they fear the name of the LORD from the west, and his glory from the rising of the sun. When the enemy shall come in like a flood, the Spirit of the LORD shall lift up a standard against him.

20 And the Redeemer shall come to Zion, and unto them that turn from transgression in Jacob, saith the LORD.

21 As for me, this is my covenant with them, saith the LORD; My spirit that is upon thee, and my words which I have put in thy mouth, shall not depart out of thy mouth, nor out of the mouth of thy seed, nor out of the mouth of thy seed's seed, saith the LORD, from henceforth and for ever.

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

2 For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, and gross darkness the people: but the LORD shall arise upon thee, and his glory shall be seen upon thee.

3 And the Gentiles shall come to thy light, and kings to the brightness of thy rising.

HE is our KINSMAN-REDEEMER. HE must be a Kinsman! HE must be able to Redeem! HE must be capable of paying the Just-Demand! AND HE IS! PRAISE HIS HOLY NAME!
After reading the Bible, I turned on my computer, and although two days old, there is a story about the Coalition Mr. Netanyahu is forging in the Knesset:

Coalition crisis has Likud on its toes

With only 10 days until PM must present government, Netanyahu, Lapid and Bennett lock horns over top portfolios. PM reluctant to waive Foreign portfolio; Lapid unwilling to serve as finance minister.

Yuval Karni

Published: 03.06.13, 12:43 / Israel News

Solving the coalition quagmire: Ten days remain before the government formation deadline, and the main dispute between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Habayit Hayehudi Chairman Naftali Bennettand Yesh Atid Chairman Yair Lapid, surrounds the number of ministers to be appointed from each respective party.

Bennett and Lapid are demanding to receive one of the three major portfolios: Lapid wants the Foreign Affairs Portfolio and Bennett is eying the Finance Portfolio.

The two claim that if Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman receives the position as foreign minister while his party holds 11 mandates – making it the fifth largest party in the Knesset, following the Likud, Yesh Atid, Labor and Habayit Hayehudi – the two should receive no less than Lieberman.

Additional disagreement lies in the number of ministers the parties will have in the government. Netanyahu is standing steadfast in his demand for a cabinet comprised of at least 24 ministers, while Lapid is willing to compromise on 20 ministers at most.

The three are also locking horns over the portfolios. Netanyahu is unwilling to give up the Foreign Affairs Portfolio to Lapid; and Lapid is unwilling to serve as finance minister since he believes that the Finance Portfolio is liable to constitute a "political trap" in times of budget cuts.

Likud-Beiteinu negotiators insisted Tuesday night that Lapid has no chance of receiving the Foreign Affairs Portfolio as Netanyahu promised it to Lieberman. "The Finance portfolio was offered to Yesh Atid, headed by Yair Lapid. It was simultaneously clarified to the Yesh Atid party that the Foreign Affairs portfolio will remain in the hands of the Likud-Beiteinu," said the sources.

Furthermore, sources associated with Lapid and Bennett said that they are also in accord regarding the portfolio allocation and that the decision regarding which one of them will serve as Finance Minister will be made mutually.

Bennett's people denied reports saying that he sealed the deal with Netanyahu regarding the Finance Ministry position. "Bennett did not speak to the prime minister yesterday at all, the report is untrue. The portfolios have not yet been decided upon," said an official at the office of the Habayit Hayehudi chairman.

12 candidates for six portfolios

As the portfolio distribution nears, there is clear tension within the Likud-Beiteinu. A source involved in the coalition negotiations admitted that "Most of the Likud ministers will be disappointed. The rules of the game have changed."

Sources associated to Netanyahu said that these are true trials and tribulations for the prime minister. The number of portfolios is small and their quality is slim. Netanyahu is expected to appoint six to seven more ministers on behalf of the Likud, but at least 12 candidates are contending for these portfolios.

Seven ministers are demanding to serve as ministers in the next government, some of whom expect an upgrade: Education Minister Gideon Sa'ar, Environmental Protection Minister Gilad Erdan, Minister for Regional Development Silvan Shalom, Minister for Strategic Affairs Moshe Ya'alon (most likely to be Defense Minister), Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz, Transportation Minister Yisrael Katz and Culture and Sports Minister Limor Livnat.

In addition, Netanyahu promised MKs in his party that they will serve as ministers in his next government (MK Tzachi Hanegbi, Haim Katz, Yariv Levin and MK Zeev Elkin) and number six in the Likud, MK Danny Danon announced that he too is contending for a ministerial position in light of his place on the party list and his political power.

"Everyone went underground because they are afraid to say the wrong thing and thereby ruin their chance to become a minister," said a senior Likud source. "Some of the senior ministers understand that their upgrade will remain on paper and others are on defensive alert. The tension is insane.

A Likud ministerial candidate said "what is going on in the Likud is truly the Theater of the Absurd." According to him, "the most senior portfolio following Defense will be the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Labor, for which Sa'ar, Erdan and Steinitz are contending. Other ministers understood that the only thing left is to fight for the Tourism, Health, Energy or Water portfolios."

Many in the Likud have criticized Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu, who they claim, abandoned his factional friends and displayed generosity towards his coalition partners. "Bibi sold everything. Suddenly the Health portfolio, that no one wanted to hear about, became an attractive portfolio."

Brethren, I know that I am "no Isaiah," but, as best I can, I am going to be like him, and in this day of ‘instant communication’ by email world-wide, for "Zion’s sake," and for "Jerusalem’s sake," I am not going to hold my peace!

Isaiah 62:1 For Zion's sake will I not hold my peace, and for Jerusalem's sake I will not rest, until the righteousness thereof go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.

2 And the Gentiles shall see thy righteousness, and all kings thy glory: and thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the LORD shall name.

3 Thou shalt also be a crown of glory in the hand of the LORD, and a royal diadem in the hand of thy God.

4 Thou shalt no more be termed Forsaken; neither shall thy land any more be termed Desolate: but thou shalt be called Hephzibah, and thy land Beulah: for the LORD delighteth in thee, and thy land shall be married. {Hephzibah: that is, My delight is in her} {Beulah: that is, Married}

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM!

JIM VINEYARD
YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL

Letter to Pastors

Dear Pastors:

Today I write from our home in Piedmont, Oklahoma, where GOD, in His goodness, allowed me to come back to the bride of my youth yesterday from Baltimore, Maryland. Dr. John Seay and the good people of Frederick Baptist Church were ‘more than gracious’ to this ole man during my stay there for their Missions Conference. Dr. Seay publicly invited me to return every year for their Missions Conference till this ole body "puts out," or until our MESSIAH comes.

His church is a very easy church for me to speak to, because John is such a "Lift up thy Voice like a Trumpet" preacher. Oh, my soul, what a blessing I had in the last several days in spite of a terrible chest and head cold and an atrocious sore throat.

Now, let me direct your attention to a news story from WND on the explosions at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility:

The explosions at Iran’s Fordow nuclear facility Jan. 21 killed at least 40 people, including two North Koreans, WND learned Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Islamic regime is labeling WND a "mouthpiece of the CIA" for its exclusive reporting of the blasts.

The bodies of 11 of the technicians and scientists are beyond recognition, a member of the security forces at the facility told WND. According to the source, 60 others are in critical condition and have been transferred to the central base of the 27th Division of Mohammad Rassool Allah. The base, between Tehran and Qom, is equipped with a modern medical facility.

At the time of the explosions, the source said, 203 Iranian scientists and technicians along with 16 North Koreans had been logged in at the site, though the initial report listed 240 people.

The day before the explosions, the North Koreans had brought in new equipment, described by the source as touch-screen monitors the size of TVs that were installed in the monitoring room and some new parts that were installed in the centrifuges before the start of the enrichment process.

Get the inside story in Reza Kahlili’s "A Time To Betray" and learn how the Islamic regime "bought the bomb" in "Atomic Iran."

The explosions were reported exclusively by WND Jan. 24, with updates Jan. 27, Jan. 29, Jan. 30 and Jan. 31. WND previously reported the trapped workers included 16 North Koreans: 14 technicians and two military attaches.

The source said many of the centrifuges have been destroyed and rescuers have still not accessed the reserves of the stock of 20-percent enriched uranium to assess the level of radiation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency has not visited the site since the explosions despite media rumors, the source said. Because the regime’s Ministry of Defense covers the project at Fordow, officials of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization were allowed to visit it Jan. 5.

In an unusual move, the IAEA issued a brief statement Jan. 29: "We understand that Iran has denied that there has been an incident at Fordow. This is consistent with our observations."

IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor emailed that response to reporters. However, when pushed by WND, Tudor could neither confirm nor deny the incident had taken place and did not say whether inspectors had visited the site after the explosions, despite media reports.

Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi, representatives of the supreme leader and intelligence officers from both the Ministry of Intelligence and the Revolutionary Guards have visited parts of the site that have been cleared as secure. A counterintelligence committee has been formed to investigate the incident, which already has been called an act of sabotage, with Israel the prime suspect.

The regime is debating how to explain the incident at a later date depending on the level of destruction, the source said. But because of internal rifts among President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Majlis (parliament), Ahmadinejad or others connected to his team will soon reveal the incident.

Regime media have solely based their denial that the explosions occurred on a statement by White House spokesman Jay Carney, who told reporters Jan. 28: "We have no information to confirm the allegations in the (WND) report, and we do not believe the report is credible."

The Fordow nuclear site was central to the regime’s nuclear bomb program, built 300 feet under the belly of a mountain where over 2,700 centrifuges were enriching uranium to the 20 percent level. That level could within weeks be further enriched to nuclear-weapons grade.

In a letter to the IAEA two days after the reported explosions, Iran said it planned to install thousands of its upgraded centrifuges at the Natanz facility. The source stated the move was a direct result of the explosions at Fordow.

Our position in these current events concerning Israel should be the same as Cyrus the Great, Ezra 1:1 Now in the first year of Cyrus king of Persia, that the word of the LORD by the mouth of Jeremiah might be fulfilled, the LORD stirred up the spirit of Cyrus king of Persia, that he made a proclamation throughout all his kingdom, and put it also in writing, saying,

2 Thus saith Cyrus king of Persia, The LORD God of heaven hath given me all the kingdoms of the earth; and he hath charged me to build him an house at Jerusalem, which is in Judah.

3 Who is there among you of all his people? his God be with him, and let him go up to Jerusalem, which is in Judah, and build the house of the LORD God of Israel, (he is the God,) which is in Jerusalem.

4 And whosoever remaineth in any place where he sojourneth, let the men of his place help him with silver, and with gold, and with goods, and with beasts, beside the freewill offering for the house of God that is in Jerusalem.

Harry Truman was pro-Jew as our President, because of WWI side-kick and his study as a boy, Cyrus, in the set of books entitled "Great Men and Famous Women." Astyages, Cyrus’ grandfather, was King of Media. He was warned in a dream that the offspring of his daughter Mandane, who at the time of the dream was yet un-married, would be destined to pose a danger to his kingdom. So, he married Mandane off to a Persian named Cambyses, who took her to his country.

Another dream warned him his daughter’s child "was destined to reign in Astygages' stead." So, he sends for his daughter, and when the baby was born he gave it to his trusty lieutenant Harpagus to carry the child to his own house and kill it.

Harpagus took the ‘baby boy’ home, but moved by the ‘merciful pleadings’ of his wife about ‘not murdering that baby,’ he called one of his herdsmen and ordered him to expose the child on the bleakest part of the mountain and leave it there to perish, threatening with the most terrible penalties in case of disobedience. But, the herdsman and his wife were no more proof against pity than Harpagus and his wife had been, and while they stood swayed between their wish to save the child [Cyrus] and their fear of disobeying Harpagus, the Lord provided an escape for them. The wife of the herdsman had a stillborn baby boy. They determined to substitute their dead baby for the living baby. So, they put the clothes of Cyrus on their stillborn baby’s body, exposed that body to the terrible cold of the mountains, and then showed it to Harpagus. Harpagus was thus enabled to assure Astyages that Mandane’s baby, Cyrus, was dead.

When Cyrus came to manhood, the mighty Kingdom of Assyria, in its greatest estate had stretched from the Indus on the east, to the Mediterranean on the west. But, when Nineveh, the capital and chief city of the empire, had been destroyed by the Medes [a subject people to them living on the north-eastern borders of the kingdom, but who had risen in rebellion against their rulers], Assyria was broken in pieces, and several minor kingdoms rose on her ruins.

Of these the chief were Media and Babylonia in the east and Lydia in the west. Babylonia rose to a great height of power and splendor under Nebuchadnezzar. The Medes, a brave and warlike people, never attained to so high a degree of civilization as the Babylonians, nor did they ever have a Monarch whose fame equaled that of Sardanapalus, the King of Assyria; of Nebuchadnezzar; or of Croesus, King of Lydia; but under a succession of astute and hardy warriors, who held the throne for something over 150 years, their dominion was gradually extended until it reached from the Indus to the center of Asia Minor. Their greatest achievement was the destruction of Nineveh in B.C. 606.

Astyages punished Harpagus for allowing Cyrus to live, and when Cyrus was grown, Harpagus assisted and advised him in taking the throne from Astyages. Cyrus had the wisdom to spare Astyages in the overthrow of his kingdom and made Harpagus his lieutenant, and much of Cyrus’ success owned to that man’s wisdom and bravery. Rehoboam lost Solomon’s kingdom because he would not listen "to the Old Men."

Not only is Cyrus one of "my heroes" because of his stand with, and for, the Jews, I enjoy reading history about his "victories" as the leader of the famed Persians. Cyrus defeated Croesus, the brother-in-law to Astyages, and leader of Lydia. Had Croesus been less arrogant, the doom he wrought for himself might have been delayed, but it could not have been totally averted. Croesus surrounded his forces around Sardis, an impregnable city by assault of that day. Sardis was so strongly fortified on all sides, three by their garrisons and one by nature, since it abutted on the very edge of a steep precipice, thought at the time as "just being too steep for anyone to climb."

History records that, after 14 days of siege, a Persian sentinel saw one of the Lydian-Sardis descend "that precipice" and ascend the same after his helmet had rolled down the steep decline. No sooner had he thus unwittingly showed the way, than Cyrus’ sentinel followed with a number of his fellow-soldiers and, reaching the top of the cliff in safety, attacked the guards, all unsuspicious, and gained an entrance to the city. The gates were opened to the Persians, and Croesus with all his vast store of treasure, became the prey of Cyrus the conqueror. The fall of Sardis and the Lydian monarchy was followed by the subjection of the Greek cities of Asia Minor, a task which Cyrus left to the hands of Harpagus, while he himself turned eastward to pursue his conquests in Upper Asia and in Assyria. His greatest achievement, found in the 5^th chapter of the Book of Daniel, was the taking of Babylon under the reign of Belshazzar. Cyrus did this by the turning of the Euphrates River, which ran through the middle of the city, out of its course; and when its bed was dry, he entered the city by this road and captured it with little resistance.

Daniel 5:30 In that night was Belshazzar the king of the Chaldeans slain.

31 And Darius the Median took the kingdom, being about threescore and two years old.

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM, MY FRIEND, BECAUSE THIS OLE MAN BELIEVES THEY ARE RIGHT ON THE BRINK OF WAR!!!!

JIM VINEYARD
YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL

January 2nd, Letter to Pastors

Dear Pastors:

From Israel, the so-called Palestinians marched, according to a video posted on Ynet in the

Dheisheh Refugee camp which is close by Jenin, carrying knives, axes, clubs, rifles and rockets.

Jenin is the "Palestinian Hot Bed" which our group of three vans got lost and drove into back in February of 2011 on the "Football Trip." Colonel Guy Markizano’s 405^th Artillery Battalion had security for Jenin at the time, so he pulled "our chestnuts out of the fire." Those young men with me seemed to be very glad for Markizano’s presence and our escape from Jenin. Personally, I never felt we were in any real danger, only that "the insurance" we had on three rented vans would be null and void should anything have happened.

Back here in America, we are seeing, I think, for the first time are "pundits hands-off treatment" of Obama allowing him to "redefine himself as a moderate" who champions "middle-class values" and defends "mainstream America against "right wing extremists" like you and I.

But now, as a recalcitrant Obama threatens to push even middle-class taxpayers over the fiscal cliff, the tenor inside the Beltway has changed.

For the first time, commentators are openly speculating that the president is deliberately sabotaging the economy to build greater dependency on government. And one respected political analyst has come right out and called him a "Marxist." That is what I called him when he was pushed on the national political scene in 2008, "A Muslim Marxist Socialist." Obama is finally coming out of the ideological closet to reveal his radical stripes?

Power Line's John Hinderaker thinks so. He argues that the president would rather punish financially successful individuals and redistribute their hard-earned money than seriously tackle the nation's debt crisis.

He suggests Obama is acting much like a subversive, attacking America from within out of contempt for its free-market values. "It is hard to find a precedent," he said in a recent blog. "When in human history has the government of any nation consciously set out to weaken that country."

Michael Barone, syndicated columnist and co-author of "The Almanac of American Politics,"

"Economic growth produces things Obama doesn't like," Barone said. "Some people get very rich. Obama prefers a more equal income distribution."

Barone adds that Obama, through a series of incremental steps and complicated, painstaking rules ["think ObamaCare"] is injecting a kind of "soft" socialism into the economy.

Ultimately, he contends, borrowing from Alexis de Tocqueville, the president seeks to reduce the nation to "nothing more than a herd of timid and industrious animals of which government is the shepherd."

Peter Ferrara, budget policy director for the Heartland Institute, says only one thing explains Obama's obsession with soaking the rich: "He is a Marxist, that is the only logical explanation of President Obama's rhetoric. And it is 100% consistent with his own published background."

Discussion of the so-called fiscal cliff has sucked so much air out of the room that many people don't realize it's not the biggest thing we face as a nation. Indeed, many challenges loom. Will we be up to them?

The way the talks surrounding the cliff were handled doesn't inspire confidence. And the "deal" that avoids the cliff [more tax hikes, higher spending, no cuts at all] is the worst possible.

This was entirely a political crisis, not an economic or even fiscal one.

The Democrats created it in 2003 by refusing to make President Bush's tax cuts permanent. Ever since, they have used the threat of tax hikes on a broad swath of Americans as a political bludgeon against the Republicans.

It's worked. Despite being an entirely Democratic contrivance, the fiscal cliff is blamed by a majority of Americans on the GOP, kind of like blaming the firemen who try to put out a fire for starting the blaze in the first place.

Even after resolving the cliff issue, America can't rest easy. Major issues remain outstanding that either must be dealt with in the coming year or at least begin to be addressed. And all have at least one thing in common: They are components of the sustained surge in spending at the federal level that threatens the economic health of our nation for decades to come.

As we take the lines above, and look back in history to the time frame of May 1938 to March 1939, [I apologize to all my teetotaler friends] the Czechoslovakian people made re-popular an old Czech drinking song, "Roll Out the Barrel." World War II had not officially began yet, but that would have been news to the Chinese, the Ethiopians and the Spaniards. THE GREATEST SUFFERERS OF COURSE, WERE THE JEWS.

The Pundit Harold Nicolson wrote a piece on "an Austrian who just got away from Vienna:"

"They rounded up the people walking in the Prater on Sunday last, and separated the Jews from the rest. They made the Jewish gentlemen take off all their clothes and walk on all fours on the grass. They made the old Jewish ladies get up into the trees by ladders and sit there. They then told them to ‘chirp like birds.’"

A seventeen year old Jewish refugee, Herschel Grynszpan, living in Paris. His mom and dad’s home and shop had been plundered by the Nazi Storm Troopers. So, on November 7, 1938, Grynszpan murdered Ernst vom Rath, a third secretary at the German Embassy in Paris.

And, as the "obamicans" do today, senior Nazis, SS officers and Gestapo agents instantly saw this as "opportunity" for outrageous acts against the Jews, not wanting to waste any possibility, so on November 9, Goebbels issued instructions that "a spontaneous demonstration of the German people" [eine spontane Reaktion des deutschen Volkes] was to be organized and executed that night. No one knows how many acts of murder, rape, and pillage were carried out during die Kristallnacht, as it came to be called Crystal Night, or the Night of Broken Glass. Ruth Matar, as a little 8 year old girl, saw her mother "butt stroked" in the mouth by a German Soldier with a rifle when Ruth’s mother wanted to go back into their house and get coats for Ruth and her two siblings. I first heard that story personally from Ruth in January 2005 when I was present in Jerusalem for the "Settler Tent City" right outside the Knesset.

Kingsley Martin, then editor of the ‘liberal’ [be sure you note that in view of above] New Statesman wrote that "things had gone so far that to plan armed resistance to the dictators was now useless. If there was a war we should lose it. We should, therefore, seek the most peaceful way of letting ‘them’ [Hitler and fellow travelers] gradually get all they wanted."

One of the most outspoken of the "appeasers" was an Anglican bishop, the Reverend Morley Headlam. Headlam would have fit in well with the Reverend Jeremiah Wright. Headlam "defended Hitler’s suppression of religious freedom before a church assembly, arguing that it was ‘only fair to realize that a great majority’ of the Nazis believed that their cause "represented a strong spiritual influence" and looked upon it as "a real representation of Christianity."

When Chamberlain came back from Munich, where he gave away Czechoslovakia to Adolph Hitler, the British crowds were ecstatic, and in Downing Street that adulation peaked and Chamberlain overreached himself. In the lore of every nation they are scenes, phrases, and deeds which live in the popular imagination. But, an event, a speech, or a legend can never be repeated, for part of its appeal is that it is unique. But, the explanation as to why Chamberlain’s last public act on his day of glory, was a blunder is seen in that regard.

Former British Prime Minister, Jewish Benjamin Disraeli’s supreme diplomatic triumph came in 1878, at the Congress in Berlin. Unlike Chamberlain’s Munich, however, Disraeli’s contribution in Berlin was a genuine act towards peace. The states of Eastern Europe were at each other’s throats. However, Disraeli’s mastery of divergent cultures permitted him to take the map apart and rebuild it, throttling several wars before they could break out and ending a full-fledged conflict between the Russians and the Turks.

Chamberlain’s wife urged him, "Neville, go up to that window and repeat history by saying ‘peace in our time’." At first he replied ‘icily’, No, I do not like that kind of things."

But, then, blessed be the Lord, old Neville forgot what he had just said, and, waving the piece of paper he and Hitler has signed, called to the dense throng below, "My good friends, this is the second time in our history that there has come back from Germany to Downing Street peace with honor. I believe it is peace for our time." Very soon, however, Chamberlain would have reason to regret extravagant prediction. Sixty million people would have to die first!

This morning I received an email from Dr. Wiley Bennett’s widow, Carmen, down in Tyler, Texas. She is a historian. Her ‘departed to Glory-Land’ husband, Wiley, was a historian. Their son Paul, she said, too was a historian. Mrs. Bennett said my emails continue to be a blessing to her, especially the ‘history lessons.’ My prayer this Wednesday noon is that these email will bless that dear "widow-woman’s" heart as the previous ones have also, and that you, pastors, will see the lesson’s contained above.

PRAY FOR THE PEACE OF JERUSALEM. Our "Muslim-Marxist-Socialist" President will throw Israel under the bus, if he gets a good chance to do so!!!!!!!!!!!!

JIM VINEYARD
YEDIDIM OF ISRAEL