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Sweetening Your New Year (Continued from page 16)

will definitely have a significant impact on our judgment on Rosh Hashanah. A JEW AT HEART “…he goes with the whims of his heart” (Devorim 29:18). As explained above, total faith in Hashem is crucial to serve Him properly. Yet, this alone is not sufficient to guarantee a sweet judgment on Rosh Hashanah. Some people consider themselves “Jews at heart.” Someone who merely believes in his heart is ignoring the duties which the Almighty has obligated us to keep. This is what is meant by someone who goes with “the whims of his heart.” Good intentions are important, but forces withdrew, 2000.

France Claims El Baradei Left Out Evidence of Iran Bomb

The London Times reported (September 8, 2009) that Mohammed El Baradei, the chairman of the International Atomic Energy Agency, is accused of deliberately hiding evidence of Iran’s work on a nuclear bomb. France and Israel have led the charge against Dr. El Baradei, saying that his latest report on Iran’s nuclear program omitted evidence that the agency had been given about an alleged covert weaponization plan. Western intelligence agencies had given the IAEA material suggesting that Tehran secretly combined uranium processing, airborne high-explosive tests and efforts to revamp a missile cone in a way that would fit a nuclear warhead.

one’s sentiments must be backed up by Torah and mitzvos. Actions prove that what is within one’s heart is sincere. They help ensure that when Hashem searches each Jew’s heart on Rosh Hashanah, He will be happy with what He finds. ABSOLUTE TRUTH There is another way that we can cause a significant change in the din of Rosh Hashanah. The Torah writes that Hashem’s ways are “righteous together.” This implies that Hashem will not exact any punishment in this world if its ramifications are not completely just. One of Hashem’s thirteen attributes is emes, truth. The Brisker Rov once asked, The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that the report did not reflect all that the agency knew about Iran’s “efforts to continue to pursue its military program”. France went farther, alleging the existence of an unpublished annex that addresses the evidence that Iran may be building an atom bomb. France had attended a technical briefing that covered the material, and was surprised to find it missing from the report. The published section of the report praised Iran for slowing its production of enriched uranium and agreeing to closer monitoring of its plant. Debkafile adds (August 31, 2009) that Britain, the Netherlands and Japan also provided El Baradei with new and detailed information for inclusion in his last report before retiring. But ElBaradei, true to his usual custom of blurring Iran’s breaches, omitted the new evidence. In Paragraphs 18 to 20 of his report, he

is it really praise of Hashem to say that He is truthful? Does anyone think that maybe He is a liar, Heaven forbid? The Brisker Rov answered these questions by applying the above concept. Divine truth is so far-reaching that when Hashem does anything in the world, He takes into account all of the ramifications that it will have on every single person who is connected to Him. For this reason, it is fitting to praise Him with the attribute of emes. In this light we can understand why the Rambam writes that a mourner is obligated to do teshuvah. Had he been a greater tzaddik, Hashem might have waited longer before taking his loved one from this world. His middas ha’emes would not let the mourner suffer more than he deserved.

As we approach the days before Rosh Hashanah, we should try to involve ourselves with the community and give generously to those who lack. If we are needed by those around us to teach Torah or to perform acts of chesed, Hashem will hesitate to do anything to us that could cause those who are relying on us undeserved suffering. This is the best insurance for immediate inscription into the book of life, health and prosperity, and a sweet new year. ••••• Rabbi Travis is a rosh kollel of Kollel Toras Chaim in Yerushalayim, and is the author of Shaylos U’Teshuvos Toras Chaim and “Praying With Joy - A Daily Tefilla Companion,” a practical daily guide to improving one’s prayers, available from Feldheim Publishers. For more information about his work, contact [email protected].

admits to possessing substantial intelligence but regrets he is unable to use it to confront Iran without betraying his sources. U.S. and Israeli sources denounced this evasion as a diplomatic scandal verging on fraud.

safety and security in the West Bank stood at 25% four years ago, they have risen in Palestinian polls to 58% in the past year. There are other ways to measure quality of life in the West Bank: The International Monetary Fund recently stated that “macroeconomic conditions in the West Bank have improved” largely because “Israeli restrictions on internal trade and the passage of people have been relaxed significantly.” The IMF predicts that “continuation of the relaxation of restrictions could result in real GDP growth of 7% for 2009 as a whole,” a rate of growth that would be far in excess of ours -- or Israel’s. Carter states that Gaza is a “walled-in ghetto” and that “Israel prevents any cement, lumber, seeds, fertilizer and hundreds of other needed materials from entering through Gaza’s gates.” But Gaza has a border with Egypt. Every commodity that Carter says is needed can be supplied by Egypt, a point he overlooks in his

Carter’s Pack of Lies About ‘Rapacious Israel’

Elliott Abrams, a deputy national security adviser in the George W. Bush administration, criticized former president Jimmy Carter’s assessment of the Palestinians in the Washington Post (September 7, 2009), Excerpts follow: Former president Jimmy Carter, speaking on behalf of a self-appointed group of “Elders,” described a rapacious Israel facing long-suffering, blameless Palestinians. Carter’s efforts to portray life among the Palestinians as unbearable and getting worse are belied by data. While positive views of personal and family

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