At this point in time, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon is out of the political picture.
He may live, but he certainly will not be what he was before. Whenever the word massive is used as an adjective describing an illness or condition, it does not connote something positive.
Now the news media seems to be playing games with us, once again. They are using cryptic language to describe Sharon's medical condition, as well they should. But there is one thing that everybody seems to agree upon -
Israel is without a physical leader.
It will be most interesting to see who and what emerges.
I don't want to give my political views here. The news story exists. To be an objective observer is not easy. I can be me, a student of energy, a student of kabbalah and Torah, a Jew. Amongst a lot of other things that I am, including over emotional.[See previous post entitled Emotional Extremism]. Of course my opinions have judgement within them, I'm human.
During this past hurricane season I used an analytical scientific approach . I had to know exactly what was going on an any given moment, because my very life could depend on that knowledge. Hurricanes cannot be predicted, they are tracked. The news media learned that trick after the Katrina Disaster. We cannot tell you what will happen next, we can just tell you where the storm is and what it is doing now. I'm tracking the Sharon story as if it were a hurricane. It is a storm thrust upon global political consciousness.
What do we call what has happened in Israel? The End of the Sharon Era? Politicians come and go, they've come and gone before. But somehow I feel that this is THE crucial transition for Eretz Israel.
We shall see how the story unfolds.

Torah Reading for this Shabbat is Parashat Vayigash -Genesis 44:18 - 47:27.

Candelighting time 5:25 forward 5 minutes.

Think of peace, feel peace, be peace. See with the EYE of the Ayin, as this month is compelling us to do. whether we want to or not, seeing will occur. We have to. Becuase if we don't, then who will?

Shabbat Shalom
.....

Elio asked that I post his comments on my blog. Glad to share.
Meet Elio:
I am of Italian origin, my mother's tongue was French. My grandfather with his family immigrated to Umdurman in The [Anglo-Egyptian] Sudan, after the end of WWI. Egyptian influence was almost non existent despite the name. The administration and governor general were British appointed by His Majesty's government. Our curricula at school was that of GB, hence my main tongue is English. My Italian is not bad, however my French and Arabic speaking abilities are much better than that of Italian. [ Arabic is the language of Northern Sudan].

My parents were traditional Sephardi Orthodox . I do not recall we had a name for our temple, it was known by what it was; "The Jewish Temple" Sephardi and Ashkenazi. There was only one in the whole of the country, now there is none. As a Jew, I am a non-conformist. I do believe in one creator, I believe the Torah is the greatest book ever scribed, and believe that the social laws therein are based on human rights; albeit leaning towards the human male species! The truth I find it difficult to accept many of the rabbinical interpretations of the law, as many of such interpretations are set for the control of the masses, thus imposed the rabbinical power over the then mostly illiterate populace. The Jewish intelligentsia have frequently collided with rabbinical teachings on many a subject. The Orthodox Rabbis resented these movements, and for fear of loosing their grip over power, declared them lawless.

To me a Jew is : when born of a Jew, converted to accept to abide by Jewish law, and to love Hashem with all his soul and all his might. I understand that "his soul" refered to in the Shemãa is one's life, and "might" to mean: use of physical and mental capabilities, social and political influence, including one's wealth. Those who fit this category, in my opinion, include but not limited to: Lord Rothschild, Theodore Hertzel, Chaim Weizmann, Albert Einstien, Dizengoff, David Ben-Gurion, Abba Eban Golda Meir, Moshe Dayan, Yitzhak Rabin, and others. All of those 'modern' heroes who devoted their life and personal wealth to create and protect a sanctuary for all Jews.

Hence, if an Israeli soldier dies fighting for Israel, believing that he is a Jew defending his homeland, and lived as a Jew, he MUST have had the right to be buried by the side of his fallen brethren, even though his mother happened to be a non-Jew. The High Rabbinate was wrong revoking his religion thus depriving him of his due.

As I write this my thoughts are with Ariel Sharon, and wonder who is the next hero who would fit his shoes.
Best regards, and Shabbat Shalom - Elio

PS you may post above on your blog .

Shabbat Shalom