VFI News September 23, 2022

Throughout the streets of Israel, the reverberating sound of the shofar is being blown. This is the trumpet call. In the season of the feast of trumpets, and the quickly approaching Rosh Hashanah, what better time to look at what the Lord has in store and ultimately receive the heart of the Lord for what He has in store for year 5783. Join Barry Segal for this week's VFI News.

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As the new Jewish year begins on Sunday at sundown, we wish all of our readers Shana Tova u'Metuka. May you have a prosperous New Year, filled with health, love, and happiness, and may the Lord send all His blessings to you and your family this holiday season.

Israel issued a travel alert on Monday, September 19, ahead of the Jewish High Holidays, warning that Iran and Islamist terror groups are seeking to carry out terror attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets.

The National Security Council urged citizens traveling over the holidays to check the individual advisories for countries before they purchase their tickets. The High Holidays is one of the preferred periods for Israelis to schedule trips abroad.

“We estimate that in the near future Iran will continue to promote harm to Israeli targets around the world, both in countries close to Iran and countries in the West and Europe,” the update read.

The National Security Council added that terror groups, such as the Islamic State and its supporters, “continue to show motivation” to carry out attacks against Jews and Israelis across the globe. “This is backed up by frank statements on the part of the heads of organizations that call for harm to Israelis and Jews,” it said.

A senior security official said that several Iranian attempts to attack dissidents had been uncovered recently in Europe, indicating the regime has infrastructure and personnel in place that could be directed against Israelis. (TOI /VFI News)

“God, we ask that you protect Israelis abroad from terror attacks and that Israel’s enemies’ plans of destruction will not succeed.”

The articles included in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of Vision for Israel. We try to provide accurate reporting on news pertinent to Israel, the Middle East, the diaspora, and Jewish issues around the world—and we hope that you find it both informative and useful for intercessory prayer.

Protests persisted on Sunday, September 18, and #MahsaAmini became one of the top hashtags ever on Persian-language Twitter as Iranians fumed over the death of a young woman in the custody of morality police enforcing strict hijab rules.

Amini, 22, died on Friday, September 16, after falling into a coma following her arrest in Tehran earlier the previous week, putting a spotlight on women's rights in Iran.

Police rejected social media suspicions that she was beaten, saying she fell ill as she waited with other detained women.

Hundreds of protesters gathered on Sunday around the University of Tehran, shouting "Woman, Life, Freedom," according to online videos.

Under Iran's sharia or Islamic law, women are obliged to cover their hair and wear long, loose-fitting clothes. Offenders face public rebuke, fines, or arrest.

But in recent months, activists have urged women to remove veils despite the hardline rulers' crackdown on "immoral behavior." The Persian hashtag #MahsaAmini has now reached 1.63 million mentions on Twitter. (JPost/ VFI News)

“God, we pray that you protect the Iranian women, give them freedom and salvation and bring down the current Iranian government, which is only bringing destruction to its people.”

Iranian President Ebrahim Raisi cannot confirm that the Holocaust happened. Asked if he believes that six million Jews were killed, Raisi said in a 60 Minutes interview on September 13, per translation: “Historical events should be investigated by researchers and historians. There are some signs that it happened. If so, they should allow it to be investigated and researched.”

Prime Minister Yair Lapid tweeted examples of “some signs” in response to the comments, with pictures of Jews in concentration camps. Lapid’s father was a Holocaust survivor.

"Shocking to hear Iranian President Raisi's remarks calling into question whether the Holocaust happened," tweeted Israel's Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan. "I call on @antonioguterres to DENY THAT DENIER a world stage to spread antisemitism and hatred. The UN will reach a new low if they give the Butcher of Tehran a platform."

Yad Vashem chairman Danny Dayan said in response to Raisi’s comments: “There are some signs that President Raisi is a vile antisemite.”

President Isaac Herzog responded with a picture that he presented at a speech he gave on Holocaust Remembrance Day of two arms, with the hands touching, over an Israeli flag. The one on the right shows a number, 55374, belonging to Dora Dreibelt-Eisenberg, who was a prisoner at Auschwitz-Birkenau. The arm on the left belongs to her great-granddaughter. (JPost / VFI News)

Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who put darkness for light and light for darkness, who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter. - Isaiah 5:20

On Monday, September 19, the Chief of the General Staff, LTG Aviv Kohavi, began his first official visit to the Republic of Poland. The Chief of the General Staff visited the Auschwitz-Birkenau extermination camp alongside a delegation of combat commanders from the operational level of all branches of the IDF.

As part of the tour, the Chief of the General Staff visited Block 27, the Jewish Pavilion. There, LTG Kohavi located the names of his relatives who were murdered during the Holocaust. Following the tour, the Chief of the General Staff participated in a ceremony held by the delegation dedicated to the human spirit and Jewish heroism in Birkenau.

Kohavi said: “You do not need to be a historian or a researcher in order to understand the atrocities of the Holocaust: You need to be a human being! The pits full of skeletons and corpses and the crematoria cry out from the forests and the extermination camps. Any person who lies and denies the truth of this devastating and agonizing history is a person who easily lies today and will continue to do so in the future with no hesitation. This is an additional reminder that such people must not be allowed to possess any sort of capability to develop lethal weapons. We did not come here to be enraged or hateful, but rather to strengthen the remembrance and its outcomes. We came to empathize with the pain and try to decipher meaning from the incomprehensible.”

“If you, the victims of the Holocaust, were given the opportunity to make one final wish before being lined up at the edge of the pit you had just finished digging, if you were given a split second to contemplate, after whispering ‘Shema Yisrael’, you would likely have wished that the Jewish nation have its own defense force, to avert and deflect any enemy on its own. You could not have imagined then that your grandchildren, or at least the neighbor’s grandchildren, would wear the uniforms of the Hebrew Army, and that we, sixteen unit and battalion commanders, would stand here today as this generation’s representatives of that army.” (INN / VFI News)

A corrupt witness mocks at justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down evil. - Proverbs 19:28

For those living in Israel, rocket attacks from Gaza are not uncommon. But in the towns of Ofakim, Netivot, and others in the south of Israel, the lack of shelters remains a huge problem. Most of the residents don’t have access to bomb shelters or safe rooms. During the Guardian of the Walls operation, a war that went on for 11 days in May 2021, more than 4,360 rockets were fired at Israel. We were urgently contacted to help provide lifesaving equipment designed for these emergencies—specifically: mobile shelters. Watch as we deliver them, along with the hope of a safer future for their communities.

New York City Mayor Eric Adams on Sunday, September 18, condemned attacks on Jews as near-daily assaults on community members continued, drawing calls for more US government action.

“These outrageous attacks on our Jewish community won’t be tolerated, not in our city,” Adams said in response to a video showing a woman striking a Jewish man.

The video posted by Boro Park Shomrim, a neighborhood watch group, showed the woman pursuing an ultra-Orthodox man down a city sidewalk, screaming at him. She then swatted off his kippah and shtreimel, a traditional hat worn by Haredi men on Shabbat and holidays.

Boro Park Shomrim said the woman had been arrested. “We will keep our streets safe,” Adams said, thanking police for “their quick response to these acts of anti-Semitic hatred.”

New York State Governor Kathy Hochul said, “Acts of antisemitism are abhorrent and unacceptable. Hate crimes will not be tolerated in New York, and we’ve strengthened our laws to further hold perpetrators accountable.” The American Jewish Committee, Anti-Defamation League, US House Representative Jerry Nadler, and local politicians also condemned the attack. (TOI / VFI News)

“God, we ask that you protect Jewish people who are being persecuted for their faith all over the world and that you help other nations realize the severity of such attacks so that they consistently take action against the perpetrators.”

South Carolina’s treasurer on Wednesday, September 14, threatened to cut the US state’s ties with the multibillion-dollar investment firm Morningstar over alleged anti-Israel bias, part of an ongoing offensive against the company by Republican officials.

Republican state leaders have repeatedly accused Morningstar of supporting the anti-Israel Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign, in violation of the law in some states, due to the conduct of one of its subsidiaries, Sustainalytics.

In response, the company has investigated anti-Israel bias at Sustainalytics, taken measures to address the issue, and repeatedly denied any support for BDS.

The Republican campaign is also tied to the party’s opposition to environmental, social and governance (ESG) guided investing, a trend in the industry the GOP believes sacrifices business interests for left-wing politics. Sustainalytics provides ESG guidance.

South Carolina Treasurer Curtis M. Loftis, Jr., in a letter to Morningstar CEO Kunal Kapoor, said the firm may be violating state laws that bar BDS support. (TOI/VFI News)

When justice is done, it brings joy to the righteous but terror to evildoers. - Proverbs 21:15

Ahead of the Jewish New Year, Israel’s population stands at just over 9.5 million residents, the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) said in data released on Tuesday, September 20.

According to the statistics, 9.593 million people live in the country. Of those, 7.069 million (74 percent) are Jewish, 2.026 million (21%) are Arab and 498,000 (5%) are neither.

The government agency said the population was expected to reach 10 million by the end of 2024, around 15 million by 2048, and 20 million by the end of 2065.

Among Jews aged 20 and over in Israel, 45.3% define themselves as secular, 19.2% as traditional but not very observant, 13.9% are traditional-religious, 10.7% are religious and 10.5% as Haredi.

The population of Israel grew by around 187,000 people since Rosh Hashanah 2021, at a rate of 1.8%, a slight increase from last year. The past year also saw the arrival of around 59,000 new immigrants to Israel — a jump compared to previous years, fueled by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

In 1948, when the Jewish state was established, the population of Israel numbered 806,000 people. Since then, 3.3 million people have immigrated to the country, CBS said. (TOI / VFI News)

A team of Israeli archaeologists felt like they had entered a set of an Indiana Jones film, or perhaps Dreamwork's Prince of Egypt, after discovering a burial cave from the time of Pharaoh Ramses II – thought to possibly be the pharaoh from the story of the Exodus from Egypt – containing dozens of intact objects. The cave was uncovered in the Palmachim National Park near one of Israel’s most popular beaches.

The ancient burial cave was discovered by chance during work by the Nature and Parks Authority for the development of the park and after a tractor hit a rock, unexpectedly revealing the cave’s ceiling.

Israel Antiquities Authority official, Dror Citron, was the first to identify the space and descended into the cave which seemed frozen in time. The cave was filled with dozens of whole pottery and bronze vessels just as they were placed during the burial ceremony, about 3,300 years ago.

"This is a once-in-a-lifetime find,” explained Dr. Eli Yanai, an IAA expert on the Bronze Age. “It's not every day that you see an Indiana Jones set – a cave with vessels on the floor that haven't been touched in 3,300 years. We are talking about the Late Bronze Age. These are precisely the days of the famous king, Ramses II – the one some identify with the story of the Exodus.” (JPost/ VFI News)

“God, we thank you for enabling us to discover invaluable artifacts from ancient history that shine light on our nation, while also giving us the opportunity to better understand ancient history.”

The suggestions, opinions, and scripture references made by VFI News writers and editors are based on the best information received.

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