Times of Israel The right-wing bloc will hold a 22-seat advantage in the Knesset over the center-left after the upcoming elections, Israel Radio projected in a poll published on Thursday. The most surprising aspect of the survey was its projection that the Koah Lehashpia (Ability to Influence) party, headed by evangelical telerabbi Amnon Yitzhak, would win four seats.
Yitzhak, who founded and leads an organization that advocates spiritual revival among secular Israelis, remarked in an interview this month on Channel 10 that the Holocaust was a punishment for Jewish sins, and in November that Superstorm Sandy, which struck the United States, was a message to Israel to cease its dependence on its biggest ally.
Yitzhak, who founded and leads an organization that advocates spiritual revival among secular Israelis, remarked in an interview this month on Channel 10 that the Holocaust was a punishment for Jewish sins, and in November that Superstorm Sandy, which struck the United States, was a message to Israel to cease its dependence on its biggest ally.
> R Amnon Yitzchok projected to win 4 seats
ReplyDeleteAnd that's the best argument against democracy, right there.
Definition of Evangelical:
ReplyDeleteemphasizing salvation by faith in the atoning death of Jesus Christ through personal conversion, the authority of Scripture, and the importance of preaching as contrasted with ritual
Are you not embarrassed to post such a description of a talmid chacham!!?
You dare call youself "Daas Torah"?
Don't know what you are talking about.
DeleteEvangelical has two meanings. The immediate meaning is rooted in Protestant religions in the past few centuries, and the term is often used for their style of religion. But there is another use for the word: borrowing it for any religion that goes around proselytizing. Nobody reading this article would mistake its meaning. Is there another English word that so strongly identifies someone as a person who converts others to their beliefs? Probably, the term can be used for all religious conversion activity, but even if somebody used it in a secular sense the meaning would be conveyed. So and so secularist goes around converting people to his idea. But the root is a certain religion, and like so many words, the root is not the only use of the word. The newspaper's message is clear that he converts people to Torah.
DeleteYou had better check your website. 45,718?
DeleteThe only synonyms I found for "evangelic" on http://thesaurus.com/browse/Evangelical?s=t were "Christian, apostolic, divine, evangelic, orthodox, pious, religious, and scriptural."
DeleteI still think it is a good word to use here and no one would ever suspect him of being christian.
You have 48,399 views these last 7 days. What is going on?
this criminaly insane ignorant savage,does indeed belong in the Knesset,which is a one big insane asylum,
ReplyDeletethis proves again,how right they were the founding fathers of the United States,when they insisted on the separation of religion and state,
Despite the fact,that i am a so called chareidi jew,was i living in Israel,would never ever vote for any of the so called religious party's
There are many of us Charedeim who agree with you.
Delete"R Amnon Yitzchok projected to win 4 seats"
ReplyDeleteIf this indeed comes to pass, then we are in for one heck of a spectacle. It will be a major blow against Israeli democracy. Not much different to the Muslim Brotherhood gaining influence in Egypt or the Taliban in Afghanistan. It will make the late R' Meir Kahane's tenure in the Knesset look like a tea-party as Amon Yitzhak (AY) shoots off his mouth in the name the Torah, not much different to the way the Ayatolas in Iran dictate their views or the Saudi's and Yemeni's (from where AY has his roots).
Will the Knesset move to ban AY as it did Meir Kahane and his party citing his "racism"? Will AY be able to control himself from throwing verbal bombs and grenades every few minutes? How much will his megalomania and delusions of grandeur inflate even more? How will the 120 member Knesset take to the spectacle of being "lectured to" by a holier-than-thou rabbi used to sitting alone high up on a podium and pontificating to the subservient masses as if he had the sole monopoly on "the truth"? And how can someone as rigid as AY who has no experience in the collegiality required and deal-making in politics fit in and function as one of 120 Knesset members and not fantasize to himself that he is their "head"? Can AY resist the temptation to think of himself as "the prime minister" and how will he react when he is ridiculed and jeered and and even tossed out by the Knesset for violations of procedural rules? And how will it effect the voice of Shas in the Knesset to represent the Sefardim of Israel?
As they say in the classics, "is this good for the Jews"???
AY will hurt the very cause he has worked for all his life, to further the growth of Torah observance. The wider Israeli society will react to him as they would to a raving madman, fanatic and lunatic and it is therefore bound to cause a huge Chillul Hashem berabim, especially as foreign media will no doubt zero in on his shenanigans. Unlike the Charedi UTJ (Aguda and Degel HaTorah) Knesset members who have long been part of the Israeli parliamentary system, and the Charedi Shas members who have won acceptance into the machinery of the Israeli government, bureaucracy and establishment, AY's confrontationalism, theatrics, dictatorial and strident manner, and his disdain for anyone who disagrees with him, not to mention lack of respect in a parliamentary system for the principle of allowing disagreement.
His "political platform" of subsidizing bread prices for one shekel a loaf, cheap electricity and medicine and grabbing the land of kibbutzim is dangerous. It's that old electioneering line of demagogues "a loaf on every table and a chicken in every pot"! Not to mention land-grabbing that is typical of Third World countries coming out of colonialism that simply impoverishes them. AY has a plan to make Israel into a laughing stock, a kind of "Jewish Zimbabwe" basket case with him playing the role of Dictator Robert Mugabe. Everything AY proposes for Israel smacks of totalitarianism and total disregard and rejection of judicial and legal processes.
There are just too many unknowns. It is very worrisome!
Indeed, it may just turn out like Charlie Chaplin's Hynkel's "Tomania":
YouTube, 6 minutes: "Charles Chaplin - Subtitle/legenda Adenoid Hynkel - The Great Dictator PT/BR"
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQrRLDphY7I)
Most dictionaries define the word "evangelical" as being christian. I don't think the person in question has any connection with Christianity. I did find "Marked by ardent or zealous enthusiasm for a cause." as the 5th definition of the word on http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Evangelical?s=t but the first 4 definitions were all Christian. I think Dovid is using the 3rd definition over here: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evangelical?show=0&t=1357890232 hence his objection to your use of the word.
ReplyDeleteMy point was that you bring derogatory comments from newspapers & let people like RaP write his garbage here. Will you let him write against Rav Ovadia, or Rav Shteinman like that?
ReplyDeleteDo you think your "Loshon Hara" alert is enough?
Listen to Rav Amnon directly every night Sun-Thu from about 10pm Israel time at www.shofar.tv/live
you will hear how sane he is and know politics much more than Rap, who just spews baseless hatred.
Stop bringing all the negative!! You can hear all the truth!
If you read through the comments on various articles you will find things written negatively against a great many Gedolim, including Rav Ovadia and Rav Shteinman. Hence the Lashon Hara warning on the side of the blog.
DeleteBut you can walk into any Yeshiva and hear lashon hara about some Gadol, with protests coming only rarely if ever. People will do what people will do. If you receive it or believe it, that is up to you.
For a political party to negociate, mingle and hear/listen to others is an asset that Amnon is not know for.
Delete"Dovid said...you will hear how sane he is and know politics much more than Rap, who just spews baseless hatred."
DeleteMost rabbis are good pontificators about many things, including politics. In fact most shull sermons are about politics. Many kiruv shiurim to beginners and even intermediates are about politics and the philosophy of life. Only in yeshivas is the focus on learning and not on politics. Inside a yeshiva, a rosh yeshiva and a maggid shiur will almost never get involved in politics because there is no tachlis to it and it's not Torah.
So far AY does NOT have a following of any real known talmidei chachomim. The rashkebehag of the Sefardim, Rav Ovadya Ysoef has denounced him! The rashgebehag of the Ashkenazim Rav Shteinman has said he has nothing to do with him! AY has nothing in writing to prove he has any big or small gadol's support. In fact for the Knesset rules he does not even have proof that he is an official rabbis with recognized semicha! The Sefradi rabbis have instructed NOT to call him "rabbi" only "reb" at most -- not a good "haskoma" at all! Sure AY is abig rabble rouser and knows how to wow and rouse and hypnotize the masses, but that is not enough to prove his bona fides to sit in the Knesset where even the biggest Aguda, Chasidic and Sefardi rabbis have never gone, they only send some shluchim, balebatim and Ashkenaim to talk for them.
But obviously when preaching to the secular masses, meaning to people who know nothing about Torah concepts, the mitzvot and serious Torah learning, then the kiruv rabbi can talk about anything he likes that will get the attention of the listeners and then bring them to lessons about Judaism that he wants them to eventually grasp and learn. So obviously Amon Yitzhak (AY) knows many things. He is a very smart man. He can speak on many topics and he is always well-prepared. He has people do research for him. He has spoken many times on obvious topics. And he is good at that and should stick to that.
Now comes another thing. AY wants to cross a line. No longer content to be only a popular lecturer and popularizer of Torah, and Hashem has blessed him with these talents, he now wants to enter the political arena mamash and go into the Knesset and become a politician like all the other 120 Knesset members. That is something else. In that arena it is EXPECTED that people examine, criticize and attack each other's views, that is the way a democracy works, with open debate and no holds barred free discussions.
So AY is taking a huge risk and big gamble in doing this, yatza sechara behefseda, he will lose everything as he faces the kind of scrutiny and get the kind of treatment that politicians get and not the respect he is used to as a rabbis and teacher. That is a decision and choice he has made and now he must face the music. He has opened up a pandora's box of his own making. It is dangerous for him and it puts everyone around him in danger as well, and he seems to be oblivious to that! Hashem yerachem.
I am concerned that his insights into divine will, explaining hurricanes as if he has inside knowledge of heaven's purpose, could be very dangerous. It could damage relationships with whole countries, aned create a problem whereby rabbis may have to come out against him in a very severe way. If he wants, he can just turning up the heat with more and more statements, or he can learn not to say such things in the media. But if he gets in, I will tremble.
ReplyDelete49,531?
ReplyDeleteAccording to official governmental pages Rav Amnon is not on the list for his party. It would appear that he intends to be the spiritual overseer much like Rav Ovadia, Rav Shteinman and the Gerrer Rebbe.
ReplyDelete"Rabbi Michael Tzadok said...According to official governmental pages Rav Amnon is not on the list for his party. It would appear that he intends to be the spiritual overseer much like Rav Ovadia, Rav Shteinman and the Gerrer Rebbe."
ReplyDeleteThat may be good news, but why did the media report that the Knesset was rejecting AY's credentials and was not registering him as a "rabbi"?? it is not what you are reporting. So what is the truth? After the elections on 22 January we will know!!
If he only sends his "shluchim" the question is what kind of people has he selected to speak for him and and how will they react in the Knesset? Will they be deal-makers and compromisers (remember, that politics is "the art of the possible") or will they be confrontationist rabble-rousers out to create chaos or will they co-operate with the norms and expectations of "regular" Knesset members?
As they say, AY has thrown a spanner/monkey wrench in the works. It is now reported that Rav Ovadia Yosef has suffered a "mild stroke" no doubt due to all the agmas nefesh and maybe even due to the outright curses that AY is throwing out.
Shas is projected to lose about 4 seats and it seems that Shas's loss is AY's gain.
Unfortunately Shas did NOT help themselves when they caved in to and brought back Aryeh Deri who had been convicted and sat in jail for fraud. Deri also surely did NOT bring much "nachas ruach" to most people with his "akshonus" to return to active politics.
So the whole scene is now VERY chaotic, and actually it looks very childish, like a free for all with people lunging and trying to grab front-row seats so they can grab all the hand-outs and goodies that come with ministerial positions.
That is what is called corruption, and will not help the masses in the end, as it never does, it will only lead to more resentment and chaos. Who knows? But AY is now playing a VERY dangerous game, and he knows it.
What kind of people they are I do not know. However you can see the officially registered list here:
Deletehttp://www.bechirot.gov.il/elections19/heb/list/List.aspx?ListId=104
Rabbi Michael Tzadok is, I believe, correct. He wants to lead it from outside, not as a politician. In fact, he is even quoted as having said that he will not vote for his own party, as he does not believe in voting in Israeli elections. (That alone might be enough for the Supreme Court to outlaw the party as being anti-Zionist.)
ReplyDeleteRabbi Michael Tzadok is, I believe, correct. He would like to lead this party from the outside, rather than as a politician in the Knesset. He is even quoted as having said that he will not vote for his own party, as he does not believe in voting in Israeli elections - a position which might be enough to prohibit his party from running at all based upon his anti-Zionist stance, should the Supreme Court choose to act upon it.
ReplyDelete