I'm really starting to like Ovadia Yosef's son, Rabbi Yakov Yosef. He tears into Shas for staying in the government, and tells them they should leave immediately.
His arguments, and, of course, his message is about as close to my own as I could imagine. I guess there is hope for Sephardim if our leadership starts to come from such dynamic leaders as Rabbi Angel and Rabbi Yakov Yosef!
OK, just for fun (not because I really believe in this stuff), I looked up the Gematria of 478 (the amount in millions of Shekels, according to Rabbi Yakov Yosef, for which Shas sold Yerushalyim).
According to one website, 478 is the gematria of Osama Bin Laden. Here is the article on it. (Note: I don’t know the person who wrote this or the accuracy of the information, or even if the site is Kosher—so take everything with a grain of salt, OK?)
The article about Rabbi Yakov Yosef follows immediately.
Gematria for "Osama Bin Laden"M
http://www.greaterthings.com/News/911/gematria_binLaden.htm
Shalom Again!
The Gematria for "Osama Bin Laden" is 478.
ALEF (O) 1
SIN (S) 300
MEM (M) 40
ALEF (A) 1
BET (B) 2
NUN (N) 50
LAMED (L) 30
DALET (D) 4
NUN (N) 50
_________________________
478
This name is found encrypted in the Torah at a skip of 20,516 at a 6.99% probability. It is found in a range between Genesis 9 and Leviticus 23 at a 1.98% probability. As already shown, it is compact with the three shortest spellings of "Mekhabel-YY" (Terrorist of God) (at skips of 24, 33, 33).
There are 20 words in the Torah with the Gematria of 478. The most pertinent are, in my view, these four:
1. Ha-Pilagshim (the concubines) GEN 25:6
[HEY,PEY,YOD,LAMED,GIMEL,SHIN,YOD,MEM] = 478
2. Mahalath (a daughter of Ishmael) GEN 28:9
[MEM,KHET,LAMED,TAV] = 478
3. Chomtekha (your walls) DEUT 28:52
[KHET,MEM,TAV,YOD,KAF] = 478
4. Chatatekhem (your sin) EXOD 32:30
[KHET,TET,ALEF,TAV,KAF,MEM] = 478
Genesis 25:6 reads: "But Abraham gave gifts to the sons of the CONCUBINES (ha-Pilagshim) which Abraham had; and while he was still living he sent them eastward, away from Isaac his son, to the country of the east."
Genesis 28:9 reads: "So Esau went to Ishmael and took MAHALATH the daughter of Ishmael, Abraham's son, the sister of Nebajoth to be his wife in addition to the wives he had."
Deuteronomy 28:52: "It will besiege you in all your cities, until the collapse of YOUR high and fortified WALLS (Chomtekha) in which you trusted throughout your land; . . "
Exodus 32:30 reads: "On the next day, Moses said to the people, You have committed a grievous sin! And now I shall ascend to HaShem--perhaps I can win atonement in the face of YOUR SIN (Chatatekhem). (31) Moses returned to HaShem and said, I implore! This people has committed a grievous sin and made themselves a god of gold."
These Gematrias are the first two, the last and the seventh in the list of twenty from the Torah. The second, "Mahalath," is a proper name. Two of the Psalms are given this very name: 53 and 88.
PSALM 53 -- Mahalath
The fool has said in his heart,
There is no God.
They are corrupt,
and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven upon the children of men,
To see if there are any who understand, who seek God.
Every one of them has turned aside;
They have together become corrupt;
There is none who does good,
No, not one.
Have the workers of iniquity no knowledge,
Who eat up my people as they eat bread,
And do not call upon God?
There they are in great fear
Where no fear was,
For God has scattered the bones of him
who encamps against you;
You have put them to shame,
Because God has despised them.
Oh, that the salvation of Israel would come out of Zion!
When God brings back the captivity of His people,
Let Jacob rejoice and be glad!
from PSALM 88 -- Mahalath-Leannoth
(Crying from Deepest Affliction)
O LORD, God of my salvation,
I have cried out day and night before You.
Let my prayer come before You;
Incline Your ear to my cry.
For my soul is full of troubles
And my life draws near the grave.
I am counted with those who go down to the pit;
I am like a man who has no strength,
Adrift among the dead . . .
. . . LORD, why do You cast off my soul?
Why do You hide Your face from me?
I have been afflicted and ready to die
from my youth up;
I suffer your terrors;
I am distraught.
Your fierce wrath has gone over me;
Your terrors have cut me off.
They came around me all day long like water;
They engulfed me altogether.
Loved one and friend You have put far from me,
And my acquaintances into darkness.
As for Alphabetics, Strong's listing for 478 is ELISHAPHAT. It means "God of Judgment." The Greek entry is ANTIKATHISTEMI, meaning, "to set down (troops) against; withstand; resist." ELISHPHAT is the name of one of the captains of hundreds under King Jehoiada. Jehoiada made a covenant to restore righteousness:
"The Jehoiada made a covenant between himself, the people and the king, that they should be the LORD's people. And all the people went to the temple of Baal, and tore it down. They broke in pieces its altars and images, and killed Mattan the priest of Baal before the altars. Also Jehoiada appointed the oversight of the house of the LORD to the hand of the priests, the Levites, whom David had assigned . . . . . So all the people of the land rejoiced; and the city was quiet . . . " (from 2 Chron 23:16-21)
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WND Exclusive FROM WND'S JERUSALEM BUREAU
'Jewish party sold Jerusalem for $138 million'
Rabbi blasts his father for remaining in Israeli leader's coalition
Posted: March 17, 2008
9:52 pm Eastern
http://www.wnd.com/index.php?fa=PAGE.view&pageId=59243
By Aaron Klein
© 2008 WorldNetDaily
JERUSALEM – In unprecedented criticism of his father, the son of the spiritual leader of a major coalition partner in Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's government demanded his father's party immediately bolt the government amid rampant media reports Jerusalem is up for negotiations.
Rabbi Jacob Yosef accused the ultra-Orthodox Shas party of "selling Jerusalem" for 478 million Israeli shekels, or $138 million. Yosef's father, Rabbi Ovadye Yosef, serves as the spiritual leader of Shas, where he is also considered the party's more important and revered figure.
Earlier this month, the Knesset's Finance Committee approved $138 million in government funds to Shas' educational institutions as part of the party's coalition agreement with Olmert.
If Shas bolts, Olmert's coalition government could fall apart, precipitating new elections.
"How dare you sell out Jerusalem for 478 million shekels. Jerusalem is worth more than all monies in the world," said Jacob Yosef, rabbi of the Givat Mordechai neighborhood in Jerusalem, addressing his father's party.
Jacob Yosef is also a member of the Rabbinical Congress for Peace, a coalition of more than 350 Israeli rabbinic leaders and pulpit rabbis.
The Israeli Shas party has stated it would bolt the prime minister's coalition if it becomes clear the Israeli government is negotiating to cede of any part of Jerusalem.
Olmert repeatedly has insisted Israeli-Palestinian negotiations are not dealing with the status of Jerusalem, but Palestinian leaders, including Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abba, and many Israeli officials, including Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, have said in recent weeks negotiations are covering all core issues, including Jerusalem.
Yosef accused his father's party of staying in the government until a formal announcement regarding dividing Jerusalem is made, by which time, the rabbi said, it will be too late.
"When someone brings a rope to hang your child, will you say 'oh, it's nothing, he only brought a rope?' Or if a killer is only sharpening the knife, will you say, 'it's nothing, he's only sharpening the knife?' You will stop him right at the beginning because by the time the knife is on the throat it will be too late. What is Shas waiting for? It must leave the government right now," Yosef exclaimed.
Shas denies Jerusalem is being discussed during weekly Israeli-Palestinian negotiations, which commenced after last November's U.S.-sponsored Annapolis summit.
"Nobody is talking about Jerusalem. The moment Jerusalem is being discussed, Shas will leave the government – period," Shas Spokesman Roi Lachmanovitch told Israel National News.
A Rabbinical Congress for Peace statement issued earlier this month said: "Every novice journalist and anyone listening to the news in Israel knows that giving up large chunks of Jerusalem has been on the negotiating table for quite some time and is in its advanced stages. Only the representatives of Shas are burying their heads in the ground and pretend they know of nothing."
"They are lying to themselves and deceiving their electorate. The Shas ministers know that Olmert and Abbas have agreed not to make public any agreement on Jerusalem until after the final signature in order to keep Shas in the government," said the RCP statement.
The statement was signed by scores of prominent rabbinic leaders here.
Since the Annapolis summit, which aimed to create a Palestinian state before the end of the year, senior negotiating teams including Livni and chief Palestinian negotiator Ahmed Qureia have been meeting weekly while Olmert and Abbas meet biweekly.
Unlike previous Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in which both sides attended with about a dozen advisors each, Livni's and Quereai's teams are small, usually consisting at most of five people each. Media leaks from the current negotiations have been rare. Some momentum is highly expected before a visit Bush has scheduled to Israel in May, his second trip since Annapolis.
Olmert's government has hinted a number of times it will divide Jerusalem and reportedly has halted all Jewish construction permits for eastern sections of the city.
In December, Israeli Vice Premier Haim Ramon said the country "must" give up sections of Jerusalem for a future Palestinian state, even conceding the Palestinians can rename Jerusalem "to whatever they want."
"We must come today and say, friends, the Jewish neighborhoods, including Har Homa, will remain under Israeli sovereignty, and the Arab neighborhoods will be the Palestinian capital, which they will call Jerusalem or whatever they want," said Ramon during an interview.
Positions held by Ramon, a ranking member of Olmert's Kadima party, are largely considered to be reflective of Israeli government policy.
Olmert himself recently questioned whether it was "really necessary" to retain Arab-majority eastern sections of Jerusalem.
Israel recaptured eastern Jerusalem, including the Temple Mount – Judaism's holiest site – during the 1967 Six Day War. The Palestinians have claimed eastern Jerusalem as a future capital; the area has large Arab neighborhoods, a significant Jewish population and sites holy to Judaism, Christianity and Islam.
About 231,000 Arabs live in Jerusalem, mostly in eastern neighborhoods, and many reside in illegally constructed complexes. The city has an estimated total population of 724,000.
Olmert to blame for dividing Jerusalem?
Ramon listed population statistics as the reason Olmert's government finds it necessary to split Jerusalem.
But WND broke the story that according to Jerusalem municipal employees, during 10 years as mayor of Jerusalem, Olmert instructed city workers not to take action against hundreds of illicit Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem housing over 100,000 Arabs squatting in the city illegally.
The workers and some former employees claim Olmert even instructed city officials to delete files documenting illegal Arab construction of housing units in eastern Jerusalem.
Olmert was Jerusalem mayor from 1993 to 2003. As mayor, he made repeated public statements calling Jerusalem the "eternal and undivided capital" of Israel. Jerusalem municipal employees and former workers, though, paint a starkly contrasting picture of the prime minister.
"He did nothing about rampant illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem while the government cracked down on illegal Jewish construction in the West Bank," said one municipal employee who worked under Olmert. She spoke on condition of anonymity, because she still works for the municipality.
One former municipal worker during Olmert's mayoral tenure told WND he was moved in 1999 to a new government posting after he tried to highlight the illegal Arab construction in Jerusalem. He also spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his current job.
Aryeh King, chairman of the Jerusalem Forum, which promotes Jewish construction in Jerusalem, told WND an investigation by his group found Olmert's city hall deleted files documenting hundreds of illegal Arab building projects throughout eastern sections of Jerusalem. He said he forwarded his findings to Israel's state comptroller for investigation.
King also claims Olmert told senior municipal workers not to enforce a ban on illegal Arab buildings.
"Ehud Olmert gave the order not to deal with the problem and not to put Israeli security forces to the duty of taking down the illegal Arab complexes," said King. "Senior municipal workers told me Olmert said not to bother with the illegal Arab homes, because eventually eastern Jerusalem would be given to the Palestinian Authority."
King's report alleges Jerusalem municipal officials erased the files, which detail over 300 cases of Arab construction in eastern Jerusalem deemed illegal starting from 1999. The illegal buildings reportedly were constructed without permits and are still standing. According to law, they must be demolished.
Local media reports investigating King's charges alleged the files were erased by Ofir May, the head of Jerusalem's Department of Building Permits, with the specific intention of allowing the statute of limitation on enforcing the demolition of the illegal construction to run out.
The Jerusalem municipality released a statement in response to the allegations claiming the threat of Arab violence kept it from bulldozing the illegal Arab homes.
"During the years of the intifada, the municipality had difficulty carrying out the necessary level of enforcement in the neighborhoods of eastern Jerusalem due to security constraints," the statement read.
King said the hundreds of buildings allegedly detailed in the deleted municipal files house more than 20,000 illegal units.
"We're talking about perhaps 100,000 or more Arabs in eastern Jerusalem living in illegal homes with the government doing nothing about it," King said.
