How can a Rabbi speak like that???

of what's really going on with most of us-i support every word in this article. Greatly written and a pleasure to read. About time.

It doesnt' matter what Israelis say - the entire world laughs at your humilating defeat at the hands of Hezbollah.

Watch Them Now http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=5040457003958805741 and http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-9215573308877374512 and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0v1To8B4_A May G-d Be With You All In This Terrible Time

What vision, what clarifying leadership. If his parents had called him Joshua instead of Yoel, it would have been no exaggeration.

"No less important to understand is that this war was fundamentally different that previous ones, because it is part of a world war. The war started when the World Trade Center crumbled, and the enemy is the evil mutation of radical Islam, be it Shiite/Iranian or Sunni/al-Qaeda." Here we go again with Bush's Islamo-facsist propaganda! My dear, the war started way before the World Trade center collapsed. It started when the Israelis occupied us. It started in the 70s. Your war with Hizbollah particularly started in the 80s. And this war continues as long as you do not give us what is ours. "We are fighting the western flank of Iran's Revolutionary Guards. That's where the weapons come from, as well as the instruction, training, preparations and orders come from." And does the above mean also that Hizbollah was not only fighting Israel, but the USA? Asking your people to stop whining is right. The war is not over, so we still cannot say who won. But Hizbollah won this battle, whether you like it or not. But your above excuses are just hilarious! They made me feel better. And they simply confirm Hizbollah's vicotry! P.S. The war is a long one, but its end is getting closer and closer ;)

Of course Jay, any discussion of Peace is not a something Muslims can understand. The only way to achieve their "peace" is to become a Muslim. Anything short of that is a defeat.

Israeli leadership is going to start WWIII and the end result will be the total destruction of the state of Israel and the fall of the United States to second world nation status. Like the United Kingdom at the end of WWII the US will be a bankrupt nation. They will expend the last of their treasure and not secure Israel or one liter of petrol in the process. When that happens even if Israel survives the war the Americans will abandon you and turn inward to focus their fury on the elected leaders that led them astray. Israel will be overrun with the righteous revenge of the jihadists. The remnant will have no one to blame but themselves. Listen to the truth. Sixty years of wars and Palestinian oppression have gained you nothing. If you want to save Israel change your hearts and face the truth about the intentions of your zionist leaders. Zionism is wrong for Israel. Follow it and surely your nation will perish.

Rabbi Bin-Nun, if only our leaders were as determined and as strong as you!

While it's true that primary conflicts can break your ankles and cut you off at the knees, worse still are secondary ones, which can splash mud all over your dancing shoes.

I totaly agree. It remains to be seen this war shall also usher in a spiritual re-awakening that also followed the Yom Kippur war. It is a strange thing with us Jews that we only confront G-d when we are "defeated", and not when we are victorious (six day war).

You obviously have been avoiding the pictures of Lebanon

Will be prosecuted more correctly after spineless twits like olmert peretz and peres are removed!

The ENTIRE WORLD is looking down the barrel of a WWIII weapon... pointed right in our faces. That weapon, the Islamofacist HATE MACHINE ,will tear this planet apart IF we don't get united and focused on THEIR DEMISE. The FIRST step is stop your YAPPING, pick up your weapon and get ready to take aim. It's DO or DIE...They're not playing here.

I would like to thank the good Rabbi for his wit and wisdom. Whining while the dust settles from the aftermath of the actual carnage of war is as natural as stopping at the roadside before stepping out to cross it. We are going to cross a very busy and dangerous street now. There are people using this street who have absolutely no regard for other road users. They do not drive their vehicles they aim like weapons in the direction they want to go and GOD help anybody who gets in the way. Most of these mad drivers are heading to Mecca. Some of them will crash and burn before they turn they arrive and all but a righteous minority will crash and burn on arrival. For many say they are called but few are actually justified in practice. But that is their problem. Every muslim must find his or her own way to Mecca at least once in their lifetime. Jews have to cross this street of muslims trafficking in terror and anti Israel thought. On the other side of this street we shall inhabit the State of Israel in a world free of such road rage. We need to stop the traffic before we attempt to cross this street and we have to choose between a military road block and a new way. I suggest we need a new way. We need to intensify our campaign for universal human rights in the region. We need to cite and with deliberate and accuracy publicly indict the human rights record of those regimes in the arab nations around us. All of them. We need to refer them to articles 28 and 29 and 30 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Article 28. Everyone is entitled to a social and international order in which the rights and freedoms set forth in this Declaration can be fully realized. Article 29. (1) Everyone has duties to the community in which alone the free and full development of his personality is possible. (2) In the exercise of his rights and freedoms, everyone shall be subject only to such limitations as are determined by law solely for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others and of meeting the just requirements of morality, public order and the general welfare in a democratic society. (3) These rights and freedoms may in no case be exercised contrary to the purposes and principles of the United Nations. Article 30. Nothing in this Declaration may be interpreted as implying for any State, group or person any right to engage in any activity or to perform any act aimed at the destruction of any of the rights and freedoms set forth herein. We need to campaign and lobby the government of Lebanon to legislate against Hezbollah until they make it a banned organization because its published philosophy is against human rights. The State of Israel needs to strengthen its IDF for sure but more than this we need to depart from religious mythologies and concentrate our national cultural and political ambition on the International Bill of Human Rights. There will not be one enemy agent or indoctrinated soldier left standing if we do this. We need to start whining about the regions record on human rights. We need to whine loud and proud.

The most agonising aspect of this conflict for the average citizens of Israel has been the total lack of humility and public conscience of the generals,politicians and journalists.ego has preceded common sense throughout this conflict and a complete disregard for the well -being of the soldiers and their anxious loved ones.Yes,Effie Eitam is showing good leadership.Even Bibis' articulate(as always)Knesset speech reeks of promise of post-war political gain.When did the metormorphosis occur that has transformed our nation into egotistical "scoopies" that put their own desire for recognition before the safety of their citizens?Only the inherent belief in our fallibility,faith in ourselves and the light versus the darkness will bring glory to Israel.Competitiveness and sheer arrogance are the real enemies.We need to utilise our analytical abilities to bind together,find solutions,face the challenges and be kinder to each other.A wise man will grow from adversity and yes,the worst is yet to come.Iam a secular liberal,but I want the values of Eitam at the helm,someone who recognises that we are not california and never will be.Where are the leaders who put ideoligy and humanism before personal gain and posperity?IBEG allof you ,don't let top notch militarists tell me on TV live that my son's life is being wasted in lebanon.Prosecute Danny Yetom.I believe in Israel ,but not in our current infrastructure.Be wise,not right.

The Rabbi makes good points, primarily not to allow despair and defeatism take center stage. What I disagree with is the idea that no one should voice criticism or concern. A nation devoid of self-examination, one that cannot criticize the actions of its government, that nation is crumbling. The Rabbi himself is letting his anger at the government spill out in this format, this is the form that his criticism takes, and it is neither cogent nor useful.

Words of a wise man

humiliating defeat? entire world laughing? You obviously do not care about those who's lives have been destroyed on both sides of the border. I know you don't care about Jewish lives but you obviously don't care about the Lebanese people either. All you care about is who's laughing or who's defeated. Well, in my eyes a people who have a complete disregard for human lives and suffering, who praise death and destruction are defeated from the beginning.

excuse me? Did you read # 8's response? Yes- those are the nice and oppressed people speaken. Their intentions are really good. Deluded? I think the only one who's deluded is you. Keep living in your fantasy world.

As an outsider, my view is that Israel performed very well in this war. Obviously, it was a war against Syria, Iran and Hezbollah. The next few days will reveal that unimaginable magnitude of damage was done to Hezbollah (and Lebanon) in terms of loss of life and property. It will serve as deterrent to Syria and Iran. The Lebanese will never allow Hezbollah to inflict such damage on them again!

Bin-Nun limns an insightful and complete view of this latest conflict. This conflict was a battle in a continuing war. The chronic fault finders among among the Jewish population is self defeating in the sense that our enemies see our discord and become emboldened. In addition, much of this fault finding, in the final analysis, may be erroneous as the Journalists and general public are not experts in any of the areas they critisize. It is said that the essence of the conflict remains but the form changes. The Muslim's hate all non-believers ,and the Jews must view this current battle as just one episode in their continuing battle to survive.

my compalint is not against the idf who performed well. i am depressed by the corruption that has taken hold in israel. hanegbi a clearly corrupt man was made chairman of the defense committee. halutz deal in the stock market when he should have his thoughts elsewhere. ramon forces himself on a woman.he is the justice minister. i yearn for the day when those who are given responsibility will see their positions as a great honour.and behave with decorum.

If this is a "rabbi" then I am a brain surgeon. Maybe the dear rabbi should go learn some Torah and learn terms like "milchemet Mitzvah" and the difference between chillul and Kidush HaShem. Then perhaps this state worshipping lemming called rabbi will perhaps have his eyes opened. Our prophets tell us that in the end of days our rabbis will know nothing, the face of the generation will be like a dog, and places of Torah learning will be like brothels. With rabbis like these looks to me like those days are quickly approaching. It is obvious this rabbi has no fear of G-d but rather only the politicians.

Kol Hakavod, Yoel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A voice of reason, so rarly heard in our places.

The comparison to the Yom Kippur war is just wrong. In the Yom Kippur war we went in as soon as the battle began. In Lebanon our troops waited at the border for weeks. In Yom Kippur we finished the job as much as it was possible - any more would have meant taking Damascus and Cairo. In Lebanon we seem to have missed a golden opportunity of unprecedented US support to strike a crushing blow. Sadat could claim victory because his blood letting restored Arab pride and crushed Israeli military arrogance - assuming those were his goals, he was victorious. Israel didn't crush Hezbollah, didn't take out their missile threat, didn't even begin to return the kidnapped soldiers during all this time, and agreed to allow entry to an international force that will undoubtedly serve as Hezbollah shields during the next round. Yes, we must have patience. Yes, we must appreciate that our casualties were so limited - and thank G-d that soldiers will come home safely. But this is a democracy, and 'kvetching' is how you begin to change a goverment that you feel needs to be changed.