Just one day after the Annapolis conference at which the PA recognized the State of Israel's right to exist in peace and security, the PA's official television station screened a map that shows a Palestinian state in place of Israel.

U.S. President George Bush, at the conference on Tuesday, read aloud the summit's agreed-upon joint statement, which declares, "In furtherance of the goal of two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, we agree to immediately launch good-faith bilateral negotiations in order to conclude a peace treaty."

However, Itamar Marcus and Barbara Crook of Palestinian Media Watch (PMW) report that just a day later, "Mahmoud Abbas’s Palestinian Authority continues to paint a picture for its people of a world without Israel." 

Specifically, PMW reports that an information clip produced a while ago by the PA's Central Bureau of Statistics was rebroadcast on Wednesday on Abbas-controlled PA television.  The clip shows a map in which the Land of Israel is painted in the colors of the Palestinian flag, symbolizing the replacement of Israel by a Palestinian state.

The Palestinian entity depicted as replacing Israel includes all of Judea, Samaria and Gaza, though not the Golan Heights.

The depiction of all of Israel as "Palestine" is not coincidental, PMW reports, "and is part of a formal, systematic educational approach throughout the Palestinian Authority. This uniform message of a world without Israel is repeated in school books, children's programs, crossword puzzles, video clips, formal symbols, school and street names, etc. The picture painted for the Palestinian population, both verbally and visually, is of a world without Israel."

PMW concludes: "The fact that this campaign continues before the ink on the Annapolis agreement is even dry appears to contradict the central promise of the Palestinians at the Annapolis conference: that Israel has a right to exist."

Man-in-the-Street Also Hates Israel
The television clip appears to be loyal to widespread public opinion on the PA street.  PA forces were forced to put down anti-Israel and anti-Annapolis rallies in several cities this week, and one protestor was even shot and killed.  The protestors stated that Abbas has no right to make "concessions" regarding Jerusalem, refugees and the like in the name of the Palestinian people, and that any deal he makes with Israel will not be binding.

In Hevron, PA security forces killed a demonstrator, injured dozens, and arrested 29 when using force to disperse a mass protest.  PA forces also dispersed large protests in Ramallah, Shechem (Nablus), and Bethlehem, making several arrests.  

In Hamas-controlled Gaza, the protests were much more intense, and hundreds of thousands of people rallied in Gaza City, emphasizing the importance of the "right of return" for millions of Arabs and their descendants, the "liberation" of Jerusalem, the retention of "every inch of Palestinian land" and “the path of resistance and jihad,” i.e., terrorism.

U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice has appointed a NATO veteran to serve as America's military point man in the Middle East.

It will be the task of General James Jones, a Marine Corps general who retired last February and served until 2006 as the NATO Supreme Allied Commander in Europe, to monitor activities between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.

A 40-year-veteran, Jones headed a panel tasked by the Congress last summer that studied the readiness of Iraq's police and military forces. He will be retaining his present position as president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Institute for Energy.

Jones, whose official title will be Special Envoy for Middle East Security, will be the one to determine whether Israel and the Palestinian Authority are meeting their obligations in the first stage of the American Roadmap plan.  He will report directly to Condoleezza Rice.

"I believe we need an experienced leader who can address the regional security challenges comprehensively and at the highest levels, and who can provide the full support of our government to the partners as they work to meet their responsibilities," said Rice.

"Israelis must be confident that a Palestinian state will increase their security and not detract from it. Palestinians must be capable of standing on their own and policing their territory. And countries in the region must be invested in the success of this state-building effort, for their own security depends on it too," she added.

The Ministry of Defense has not yet replied to a request for comments on the appointment.

Dr. Gadi Eshel of Professors for a Strong Israel, however, was unimpressed by Rice's remarks, saying that she has chosen to appoint someone to the post who is "at the very least cold towards Israel."

Eshel pointed out that Jones is involved in cutting business deals with the Gulf States, a major conflict of interest. "But what else can you expect from the State Department?" he said. "It verges on pure anti-Semitism, to appoint such a man to decide whether an act of terror has been committed with the blessing of the Palestinian Authority or not.

"The very fact that another country nominates an individual – and G-d forbid Israel would accept it – to judge whether an act of terror is sufficiently defined as a real act of terror or a negligible breach of the commitment of the PA [to end the violence] – that very fact is so mind-boggling that I cannot see any other definition," he added.

U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that Jones will also be monitoring the development of the PA security services as part of his role in supervising the PA's compliance with the Roadmap requirements. McCormack added that he will be working closely with Lt.-Gen. Keith Dayton, the U.S. security coordinator who has been training the PA security forces for more than a year.

Dayton faced harsh criticism by Congress members earlier this year after admitting that Fatah terrorists had obtained American arms. His reputation was also severely damaged when Hamas terrorists overran Gaza last June and routed the Fatah militia he had trained.

At the beginning of this month, 300 of Dayton's PA security troops made their debut in the "terrorist capital" of Samaria, Shechem.  Dayton has been supervising their training at an American-funded base in Jericho, with new weapons purchased by the Bush administration.

The attack on a Hamas terrorist position in Khan Yunis Wednesday afternoon which killed two was the first sign of a new IDF policy regarding Gaza terrorists. Military sources told Maariv/NRG that from now on, the IAF will attack a random Hamas target in Gaza every time a mortar shell or rocket hits an Israeli community, and will no longer limit itself to striking the terrorists who launched the rockets.

They said that the IDF has now established that Hamas is behind all of the terror emanating from Gaza and will thus retaliate against Hamas targets regardless of which organization takes credit for terror attacks.

After a salvo of mortar shells landed near the security fence near Nahal Oz at around 3 P.M. Wednesday, IAF aircraft retaliated by attacking a Hamas position in southern Gaza. Gaza Arabs said one of those killed in the IAF strike was Rami Abu-Rus, an active member of Hamas. At least 10 people were wounded in the mission.

For months, the IDF has been forced to comply with the government policy of limiting its retaliation to strikes against terrorists in the act of firing rockets, and immediately before or after launching them. Attacks on terrorists in the act of firing at Israeli civilians were called off if they appeared to entail a danger of hurting non-combatants. This policy caused great frustration among the victims of the Gaza terrorists, many of whom felt that the government prefers enemy civilian lives over their own.

6,288 Rockets in Six Years
Gaza terror squads fired one rocket and five mortar shells at Israeli civilians Wednesday morning. The rocket exploded in a kibbutz in the western Negev, causing no casualties. One mortar shell hit a chicken coop in an agricultural community in the area, causing some damage but no casualties. Two additional mortars were fired in the evening, exploding near the security fence and hurting no one.

The Kassam counter at the Committee for Secure Sderot website currently shows 6,288 rocket attacks from Gaza in the past six years.

Ten terrorists have been killed since Monday afternoon, most of them in Gaza.  One of the terrorists died Monday of injuries sustained in an attack on IDF soldiers two weeks earlier.

Security forces are preparing for "the day after Annapolis." Some IDF experts believe that failure at the summit could lead to a long-awaited "green light" from the Israeli political leadership to launch a massive assault on Gaza.

The New Jewish Congress was launched in Jerusalem on Tuesday - the same day as the Annapolis summit, whose defeatism it seeks to fight. 

Organizations, speakers and supporters from across the spectrum of nationalist and religious thought were present at the Renaissance Jerusalem Hotel to take part in the opening sessions.

The plenary session was chaired by Congress co-organizer Prof. Hillel Weiss of Bar Ilan University.  Others responsible for organizing the Congress were Katy Cohen and Prof. Arieh Zaritzky, while a fourth co-organizer, Dr. Gadi Eshel, read aloud the Congress charter, entitled: "The Eternal People in an Eternal Covenant in the Land of Israel."  Excerpts:

"G-d commanded the land of Israel to the People of Israel as a heritage - to settle it, to walk through it, to love even its dust, to know it, to observe the Torah in it, to long for it throughout 2,000 years of Exile.   And when the time of the Return to Zion came, we were to ingather our dispersed exiles into it, take the barely-alive remnants of Israel and revive them upon it, raise pioneers in it, settle it with brides and grooms, children, families and communities, build upon it towns and factories, preserve it, rejoice in its rebuilding, build in it a national home that would be a light unto the nations - and to establish G-d's Holy Sanctuary in its heart, Jerusalem, Zion, on Mt. Moriah. 

"Everything is interwoven and inseparable - the tradition of Israel, the holiness of the Land, the unity of the Jewish People in Israel and abroad, defense and security, and life of creativity and deep bonds with the land. 

"Every community that we plant throughout the land strengthens the roots of the Eternal Nation's Eternal Covenant here - while at the same time preventing it from being bound by 'Auschwitz borders.'  Let us not fool ourselves:  'Auschwitz borders' invite Auschwitz - not only for the Jews in Israel, but for Jews everywhere, and for all of humanity!

"It cannot be that a temporary rule in the State of Israel will steal from the People of Israel its land, will conspire to expel them and give it away to a foreign nation - our bitterest enemy... 

"Any traitorous or anti-Semitic declaration that emanates from the second Munich conference, wherever it is held, has no value whatsoever.  The Nation of Israel and its State must shred it into the trash bin of history.

Those who take upon themselves, seemingly in the name of the State of Israel, to commit national suicide, lose their right to rule in the State of the Jewish Nation.
"No Jew will abandon his home, give up his inheritance, freeze construction in his land or pave the way to Auschwitz borders in order to fulfill that evil decree.

"A group of people who take upon themselves, seemingly in the name of the State of Israel, to commit national suicide, lose their right to rule in the State of the Jewish Nation.

"We hereby determine that IDF soldier and members of the Israel Police are forbidden to take part in the crime of expelling Jews from their homes and inheritance, of transferring parts of our Holy Land to our enemies, and endangering the Nation of Israel - in any form!

"We call upon all those who are loyal to the Land of Israel and the Nation of Israel and every Jew who loves life, to arise, unite, remove the decrees "from our people and from the cities of our G-d," and emplace Jewish sovereignty over the entire Land.  In the words of Joshua and Caleb when Moses sent them to scout out the Land, 'Let us ascend and inherit the Land, for we can overcome it.'"

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Rabbi Dov Lior
Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior said that the Jewish People are required to both settle the Land and conquer it, and that the latter command "involves military force, with all the associated risks.  For many years we did not have the ability to fulfill this Torah commandment, but now we can - and so we must!  We must not fear the threats of the evil ones, but we must rather persist, and not allow the weakness of our government to become a 'weeping for generations.'"

Rabbi Lior praised the Congress as "a welcome attempt to prevent our destruction and to return to real Zionism.  The Land of Israel is something that can unite all sections of the nation - but not when our students can go through 12 years in our educational system and then feel they have to take off for India to 'find themselves.'  ... We are in a situation that I would not describe as a dead-end, but rather one in which we do not currently see the way out.  When in such a predicament, we learn from our forefathers that we must be strong and emphatic, as Joshua and Caleb were, about our rights to this Land!"

MK Aryeh Eldad
MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) took a slightly revolutionary approach: "Yes, we had a large protest rally yesterday, but the tone was one of conciliation and loving everyone - to the extent that even members of the coalition government were able to come and speak of the dangers of Annapolis, even though they themselves are sitting in the government and building the scaffolding on which will be built the gallows on which we are all to hang, Heaven forbid!  During the Disengagement, we called for civil disobedience, and it didn't happen; we called for refusal of orders, but only a few responded; we called to cut the fences in Kfar Maimon, but the public-minded leadership didn't allow it... When Olmert returns from Annapolis and will start paying his debt to the Americans by destroying outposts such as Migron or Assaf  [43 and 17 families, respectively, both of them in critical locations north of Jerusalem - ed.], if we don't use the tools of this Congress to make a real fight and to capture the leadership, then we will become irrelevant."
If we don't use the tools of this Congress to make a real fight and to capture the leadership, then we will become irrelevant.

Dr. Yossi Ben-Aharon
Arab affairs expert Dr. Yossi Ben-Aharon: "The test of this generation is the Land of Israel.  Uprooting a Jew from his home or his land is a crime against the Jewish people's link with the Land, and this is therefore the challenge we face... A true opposition, if we had one, would announce clearly that it is not obligated by whatever is decided in Annapolis.  We must declare with a loud voice: This government's vows are not our vows, and its obligations are not our obligations!"

Chabad Rabbi Shalom Wolpe
Rabbi Shalom Wolpe, a Lubavitcher who heads the Task Force to Save the Land, surprised some with his remarks: "The Rebbe [Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson] said that saving lives is more important than the sanctity of the Land, and that if giving away the Western Wall would save even one life, we should give it away.  But the bottom line is that giving away even a small part of the Land is itself dangerous to our national existence here, and is therefore forbidden...  Some say that we are not Zionists.  I say that if Zionists are those who wish to give up the Land, then we are truly anti-Zionists... If Olmert returns from Annapolis with a promise to establish a Palestinian state, we must establish our own new state in Judea and Samaria.   We must fight Amona-style; we must refuse orders to expel Jews; and we must make it clear that if Olmert wishes to expel Jews from Judea and Samaria, no one leaves in one piece!"

Attorney Elyakim HaEtzni
Attorney Elyakim HaEtzni, a long-time ideologue of the Yesha Council and now one of its strong opponents, said, "Forty nations were invited to Annapolis - but one people who was not represented was the Jewish People!  Yes, Israel was there, but not the Jewish People.  I do not mean this lightly.  Both the Balfour Declaration and the British Mandate spoke of the bonds between the Land and the Jewish Nation - but today, such a formulation would not be accepted by Israel's Supreme Court!  The State of Israel no longer carries out reverse discrimination in favor of the Jews, as it was created to do, but rather expels Jews, wants Arabs on the Jewish National Fund board, and the like.  Who will defend the Jewish Nation?!"
I say that if Zionists are those who wish to give up the Land, then we are truly anti-Zionists.

Gideon Charlop
Architect and Temple Mount expert Gideon Charlop: "The Temple Mount and the idea of the Holy Temple do not appeal to the public; we need new, modern methods by which to 'sell' these concepts..."

Botanist Mordechai Kislev
Botanist Prof. Mordechai Kislev of Bar Ilan University enthralled his listeners by speaking of the discovery of a grassy growth called "smoke raiser." He explained that when it is added to burning incense, it causes the smoke that arises to do so in a straight column - precisely how the Talmud describes the smoke emanating from the incense in the Holy Temple.  The discovery was made in Jordan, and he is about to depart for Egypt to corroborate reports of a similar discovery there.

JNF, Fenton, Davidi
Naftali Karni of the Jewish National Fund and Elad city planner Aya Greenfeld spoke of their program to "sell" the entire Holy Land as a historic and holy site, for both internal-educational and international-tourism purposes.

Jerusalem City Council member Mina Fenton discussed the dangers of missionary Christians in the Holy City.

Alon Davidi of Sderot reminded the participants that the ideals of the Land of Israel cannot be taught in a vacuum: "My neighbors are mainly concerned about Kassam rockets landing in their homes; you cannot come and talk to them right now about the Land of Israel."

Prof. Eidelberg
Prof. Paul Eidelberg, speaking in English, said that the main problem in Israeli public life is its undemocratic political system: "The MKs are not directly elected by the citizenry, and are therefore not accountable.  Ben-Gurion himself realized this after about two elections, and deplored the system.  The people of Israel are not apathetic; they're simply powerless!  We are unable to have influence.  We need just one person who will be strong enough to lead this revolution and effect the change!"  His impassioned speech swept up at least one woman, who asked, "Why don't you lead us?" 
The people of Israel are not apathetic; they're simply powerless!

Rabbi Yoel Schwartz
Rabbi Yoel Schwartz of Yeshivat Dvar Yerushalayim, a well-known expert in many fields of Torah who has written over 200 books on Jewish law and thought, shared several thoughts: 

"We must believe in ourselves and in our ability to effect change.  This is why on Chanukah we are not permitted to light torches, but rather simple, individual candles - to show the power of the individual....

"Those who live outside Israel must either move to Israel, or else perpetuate their bonds with Israel by setting aside a charity box in which they place a dollar or two every day for each family member, that they will then use either to fund their Aliyah [immigration], or for some other Israel-related use.  This will be their daily reminder and link with the Holy Land...

"Why is it that public trust in the law system in Israel drops from year to year?  It's simply because it's not our Jewish law system; it's not what we received at Mt. Sinai, but something put together from foreign sources.  We must revive Jewish Law in our modern State of Israel.  But how can this be done?  After all, the Torah says that a thief is punished only by paying back double - and one who commandeered property must only return what he took!  What will be with all the gangsters under such a system?  The answer is that in the Jewish system, children learn these laws from a very early age - first from the Torah, then the Mishna, then the Gmara.  They are steeped in the idea that one must be more careful not to cause damage than to be caused damage.  When a society is steeped in such values, there is barely any need for all these laws - because people simply don't steal!  Only when a society is taught foreign values is there a need for such strict laws.  The Torah, too, allows us to enact different regulations when there is a need...

"The Seven Noachide Commandments must be taught, disseminated, and encouraged throughout the world.  Both Christians and Moslems understand their importance; a leading Moslem sheikh in Italy is in favor, and I have translated my book on the importance of the Noachide Commandments into Arabic - and I have been told, though I don't know it for a fact, that two terrorist attacks have already been prevented because of this book..."

Rabbi Dov Stein of the Sanhedrin
Sanhedrin secretary Rabbi Dov Stein said, "It would appear that one is not allowed to ask Halakhic questions on the topic of state-and-politics, such as refusal of army orders, of any rabbi who receives his salary from the government - for he is, unwillingly, beholden to those who pay his salary, and therefore may not be able to answer correctly."

Other speakers included philospher Ohad Kamin, military historian Uri Milstein, Col. (ret.) Moti Yogev, Prof. Menashe Harel, Rabbi Yishai Baavad, former MK Sha'ul Yahalom, VAT founder Shifra Hoffman, Honenu legal rights organization founder Shmuel Medad, Rabb Chaim Richman of the Temple Institute, Moshe Feiglin, Esther Pollard and Nissan Gan-Or of the Justice for Jonathan Pollard organization, and many more.
Respondents are asked to list the five issues or problems they feel require urgent attention and for which they would be willing to be active.


Tzibur Bnei Yisrael
An organization called Tzibur Bnei Yisrael (Community of the Children of Israel) was also present, seeking to advance its newest project, entitled The Top Five.  Respondents are asked to list the five issues or problems they feel require urgent attention and for which they would be willing to be active.  Issues could include corruption in government, widening socio-economic gaps, education, apathy regarding the Land of Israel, decreasing religious awareness, lack of Gentile awareness of the Noachide commandments, and more.  The results will then be compiled, and persons will be asked to attend discussion and action groups on their "pet" issues.  For more information, send email to info@tzibur.org. .

The Arab delegates at the Annapolis conference demonstrated the difference between "talking the talk" and "walking the walk" Tuesday when it became obvious that supporting talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority didn't necessarily mean taking any other action to facilitate the process.

Despite the summit's publicity as a show of international support for Israeli-PA negotiations, attempts by Israel to follow up the speeches with concrete action were rebuffed by Arab delegates across the board.

Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, head of the Israeli negotiating team, was unable to arrange meetings with the 15 Arab representatives at the conference.

The one exception was Jordanian Foreign Minister Salaheddin al-Bashir, whose country already enjoys full diplomatic relations with Israel. Livni was unable to arrange a meeting with the Egyptian delegation, despite Israel's diplomatic ties with her southern Arab neighbor.

Israeli officials interpret this as evidence that the Arab world has not changed its fundamental policy rejecting the existence of the State of Israel, and that relations with other Arab nations are not likely to warm up any time soon.

It would appear that observations by Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad more accurately reflected the sentiment of Arab nations who were represented at the conference, which on Wednesday he deemed to be a "failure."

Reiterating his oft-repeated belief that Israel will cease to exist, Ahmadinejad said on Iranian state-run TV, "It is impossible that the Zionist regime will survive...  because it has been created on aggression, lying, oppression and crime."

Iran's Arab neighbors were also slammed by Ahmadinejad for attending the conference despite their united refusal to meet with Israeli delegates. "We are disappointed that some individuals fell victim to the sinister Zionist regime," complained Ahmadinejad. "They are mistaken if they thought that this summit would bring any achievements for them."

U.S. President George W. Bush pledged Wednesday that America will defend Israel if it is attacked by Iran, and said that he takes Ahmadinejad's threats seriously. The Iranian president has repeatedly stated that the Jewish State should be "wiped off the map."

Israel's educational system has suffered two blows over the past two days - poor showings on its own Meitzav achievement tests, and a below-average international placement in the PIRLS reading literacy tests.  However, both results are very much affected by the low scores of the Arab sector.

For instance, though Israel finished in 31st place out of 45 countries in the PIRLS (Progress in International Reading Literacy Study) tests, the Jewish sector's scores placed it in the equivalent of 11th place, while the Israeli-Arabs alone would have finished in 40th.

In Israel's national achievement tests, the Meitzav tests, the results are not good - but here, too, the low Arab sector scores brought them down even further.  The 5th-grade test in "mother tongue," for instance, showed a great gap: The Jewish classes scored an average of 79 in Hebrew, while the Arabs registered 60.9 in Arabic.

The average score for 5th-graders in math is a poor 56.9, where the Jewish pupils scored 61.3 and the Arabs registered 45.9.  Other national Meitzav scores: 68.8 in science and technology (72.5 in Jewish classes), and 72.5 in English (74.2 in Hebrew-speaking classes). 

The Meitzav tests are administered each year to 2nd, 5th and 8th graders across the country in Math, English, Hebrew/Arabic, and science and technology.  Meitzav is a Hebrew acronym for "School Efficiency and Growth Standards."

The PIRLS test is an international test given every five years by the IEA (International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement) in participating countries. Translated in Israel into Hebrew and Arabic, the test measures trends in children’s reading literacy achievement. Over 3,900 children in 149 schools - none of which were hareidi-religious or special-education - were tested.

Army Radio Exchange
Army Radio program hosts Jackie Levy and Avri Gilad discussed the gap between the Arab and Jewish scores on their morning broadcast.  Gilad said, "This reflects poorly on the way we treat the Arab sectors in our midst, and especially the Bedouin sector." 

Levy retorted, "The way we treat them? I would like to tell you this story. My children go to a mixed kindergarten, where there are both deaf and hearing children, as well as Arabs and Jews. I want them to see that there are different types of people... There is a plaque on the wall there listing the donors to this important school - and not one of the donors is Arab! Why is it only that Jews from Chicago or Zurich feel a school like this is important enough to support?  Where are all the Arab millionaires?  They can only support Kassam-manufacturing plants?"

Gilad then said, "What you are saying relates back to what was said at Annapolis. It appears that the Jews are always taking responsibility for the problems of others, while [PA Chairman Mahmoud] Abbas was barely able to mention the word 'terrorism' ... The Arabs always take the role of the victims, and never the ones who take responsibility for effecting change."

Calls for Education Minister to Resign
In light of the ongoing, seven-week-long teachers' strike, 40 MKs, including Transportation Minister Sha'ul Mofaz, have signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Olmert to fire Education Minister Yuli Tamir. 

"In light of the grave blow being suffered by the educational establishment," the petition reads, "we, MKs from all parties, call on the Prime Minister to transfer the Education Minister from her post.  Unfortunately, we have not seen the Education Minister show the leadership and involvement necessary for the recent crisis." 

The MKs also called on Olmert to become involved in the negotiations to end the strike and to find an immediate solution.

One of the revelations found in the Zohar is the doctrine of reincarnation. From his days as a Hollywood screenwriter, to the recent publication of his new book, "Secret of the Brit – Torah, Kabbalah, and Sex," author Tzvi Fishman has gone through several reincarnations in this lifetime alone, and also some incredible miracles. We spoke with him in his Jerusalem apartment, where he took time from writing his blog, "Hollywood to the Holy Land."

Tzvi in Hollywood Days

Behind him are bookshelves crammed with volumes on Torah. In the middle is a glossy, black-and-white photo of Fishman in his Hollywood days, looking like a sexy Tom Cruse, a far cry from the full-bearded baal t’shuva [returnee to religious observance] sitting before me. Fishman says he keeps it there to remind him that no matter how far he may sometimes fall in his service of G-d, he is still light-years ahead of the tinsel town role he was playing in Hollywood.

IsraelNN
Your new work, "Secret of the Brit – Torah, Kabbalah, and Sex," is a striking deviation from your other books, where the principle, recurring theme is the importance of living in the Land of Israel. For instance, the hero of "The Discman" comes to Israel. Also, your reincarnation of the famous Tevye the Milkman makes Aliyah and builds a new life for his family in Palestine. The king in your "Kuzari For Young Readers" journeys off to live in the Land of Israel; and certainly Eretz Yisrael is a main focus of the books you co-wrote with Rabbi David Samson about the teachings of Rabbi Kook. How does your recent study of sex in the Zohar fit in with this?

Fishman
"Secret of the Brit" isn’t a deviation at all. It is a natural continuation of the other books. I learned the hard way that it isn’t enough to live in the Land of Israel. We have to live here in a holy fashion. The foundation of the Brit, or Covenant, between G-d and Avraham is that the Jewish People guard their sexual lives in purity, as it says, "And G-d said to Avraham, therefore thou shall safeguard my Brit, thou and thy seed after thee in their generations."
This principle of Shmirat HaBrit is stressed in the holy Zohar over and over again. Rabbi Kook himself writes that the detailed safeguarding of the holiness of our sexual lives must be the foundation of our rebirth and resettlement of the Land of Israel. He also writes that the study of the Zohar is one of the keys to Redemption. In my humble opinion, this is because the Zohar highlights the great importance of Shmirat HaBrit.

IsraelNN
I always assumed that Shmirat HaBrit (guarding the laws of proper sexual behavior) was something particular to young people.

Fishman
The Zohar repeatedly emphasizes the importance of Shmirat HaBrit to married couples as well. The sanctity of the marital act has a direct influence on all of the spiritual worlds, either opening or closing the channel of blessing, called the "Yesod," for both the individual and the Jewish People as a whole. Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai, and all of the other masters of Kabbalah, assert that the majority of tragedies and hardships that we suffer stem from sexual transgression. In addition, the Zohar warns that the sanctity of the marital union has a direct influence on both the physical and spiritual wellbeing of our children. Let’s face it, with the pressures of modern living, and with the bombardment of pornography on the Internet, television, and the movies, and with the outbreak of immodest dress on our streets, it is easy to fall into sexual laxity. According to the secrets of Torah, the price we pay is dear. The Arizal explains that the "oneg"-pleasure that one feels from a sexual transgression, turns into "nega"-plague by a rearrangement of the Hebrew letters. For example, one small lapse, let’s say lustfully rushing to have marital relations during the day, can lead to a child that will be hyperactive all of his life.

IsraelNN
I would like to follow up on this subject a little later. But first, I thought we would do a little detective work to try and figure out how you came to write a book about Jewish sexuality. When your book, "The Discman," was published, you gave an interview in Arutz 7’s Hebrew newspaper, "Besheva." You mentioned that your bar-mitzvah was held in a church. How did that happen?

Fishman
When I was growing up, my family belonged to a Reform Jewish synagogue in New England. We went to shul on Rosh HaShana and Yom Kippur, lit Hanukah candles, had a Christmas tree to be like the neighbors, ate matzah on the first Seder night and candy eggs on Easter. I remember the reform rabbi telling us in Hebrew School that the splitting of the Red Sea occurred, not through any miracle by G-d, but because a severe draught had caused the sea to dry up, and a freak, sudden rainstorm brought a flood that luckily drowned the Egyptians after the Jews had crossed on dry land. His explanation sounded so ludicrous to me, I didn’t want to even bother with having a bar-mitzvah. But my parents insisted. Since, the congregation had outgrown our old shul, and the new one was still under construction, my bar-mitzvah ceremony was held in a Unitarian church. To me, it is a perfect symbol for being a Jew in America, where you are totally immersed in a foreign, gentile culture. Growing up Jewish in America is like growing up in a church.

IsraelNN
The tape is recording, so don’t wait for my questions. I know you have told your baal t’shuva story dozens of times to high-school students all over the country, so don’t wait for my leads.

Fishman
After that, I went to a very prestigious private school in Massachusetts. Out of the 800 students, there were only a handful of Jews. We had to pray on Sundays in the basement of the campus church. Upstairs in this gigantic, impressive cathedral, the rest of the students and the faculty were gathered in prayer, and we were stuck out of sight in the basement, like we belonged to some low-rate religion. That’s how I related to Judaism also. I didn’t want to have anything to do with it.

IsraelNN
The world is reading your every word.

Fishman
Most of my graduating class was accepted into universities like Harvard, Yale, Stanford, and Princeton. I decided to go to NYU Film School where I spent four years in the dark, watching thousands of movies. The year after I graduated, I wrote a screenplay that became a Hollywood movie, called "Law and Disorder," starring Caroll O’Conner and Ernest Borgnine. I also sold a novel to a top New York publisher. I was sure that I was on my way to attain my dream of becoming "The Great American Novelist." Watch out Norman Mailer and Philip Roth! Here comes Fishman!

IsraelNN
I am sure you have lots of entertaining stories from this period, but how about telling us a few things that affected your Jewish worldview?

Travolta or Fishman?

Fishman
Ever since my bar mitzvah, I abandoned G-d and Judaism completely. As you can see from my old publicity photo, I was trying to look as American and gentile as John Travolta. But there were indeed some weird events, as if G-d were trying to remind me who I really was, even in my darkest moments. For instance, the summer before my novel hit the bookstores, I decided to make a literary pilgrimage to Europe, in the footsteps of the famous American writers, Henry Miller, Thomas Wolfe, and Ernest Hemingway before me. I crossed the Atlantic by ocean liner and disembarked at the French port of Cherbourg. Remember, in those days I looked like that picture, clean shaven, with the long hair of a hippie, and without this giant beard. A Mercedez drove by as I was hiking with my backpack toward the city, and the driver yelled out, "Heil Hitler!" They were the first words I heard in Europe. It was freaky.

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From October, 2006 through October, 2007, traffic accidents dropped an average of nearly 1% each month, while the amount of casualties decreased 1.4% per month.

Thirty-three people were killed in car accidents in October, including seven in Judea and Samaria.  145 people were seriously injured.

The monthly average of car deaths in Israel (not including Judea and Samaria) this year is 33.3 - compared with 34.5 last year and 37.3 in 2005 and 40 in 2004.

Police statistics from May 2005 show that while Israeli-Arabs hold 13% of Israel's drivers' licenses, they are involved in 21% of the fatal traffic accidents in the country.