מקום גאולה: Galut Yishmael and Moshiach, גלות ישמעאל ומושיח

Thursday, June 7, 2012

Galut Yishmael and Moshiach, גלות ישמעאל ומושיח

A new mosque appeared in the heart of the Baltimore Jewish community, claiming that the Jewish community welcomes them. Nu?

Some neighborhoods — in Tennessee, Georgia and New York City — have reacted angrily to proposed mosques and Islamic centers. Ahmadi Muslims were blocked in 2008 from building a worship center in Frederick County after residents complained about crowded roads.

Jewish community leaders say they are trying to show the Ahmadi congregation that Pikesville will welcome them. After some people expressed fears about the mosque, neighbors reached out to the Muslim group and encouraged members to introduce themselves to people who live, work and worship nearby.

Traveling down Park Heights, people "see one synagogue after another, and now all of a sudden you will also see a mosque, which is surprising to some people," said Art Abramson, executive director of the Baltimore Jewish Council. He said a "small segment" of the community has expressed fear about the mosque.

Source: Baltimore Sun (http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/bs-md-co-pikesville-mosque-20120530,0,1118559.story)

I guess the Jewish community is going to start getting used to the speaker-loud blasting of "Allah Hu Akhbar" five times a day, including Shabbos! A free reminder to the Jews to daven three times a day and be more committed to Hashem -- a blessing in disguise?

Half way around the world in Rosh Pina, EY, the talmidim in AMIT are studying both Talmud and Quran in order to become more intelligent spies in the IDF.

They solve religious quandaries by referring to the Talmud while at the same time perusing the Quran. They study Rambam and watch Al-Jazeera. Welcome to the pre-military academy in Rosh Pina that is training the next generation of Israeli spies and intelligence officers.

Welcome to the pre-military AMIT academy in Rosh Pina, a unique institution that for the last 17 years has been educating and training yeshiva students for army service in intelligence units and for future stints in spy agencies. It is a factory for churning out spies. The unusual back and forth between prayer and intelligence duties will continue once these young men are recruited to units like the IDF's 8200 electronic surveillance unit which is responsible for cracking codes; 504, the Military Intelligence outfit; or the unit under the auspices of the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories. From there, they will move on to staff jobs and field positions in the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) and Mossad.