Yom Kippur

Blatantly palgiarized from a newsletter I receive occasionally:

"Dear friends,

Thirty five years ago on the holiest day of the Jewish faith, the armies of Egypt and Syria attacked the State of Israel. The IDF military intelligence failed to predict the war and the attacks came by surprise. Although taken by surprise, Israel repulsed the invading Armies and carried the war deep into Syria and Egypt territories. Only heavy diplomatic pressure from the UN, the USA and the Soviet Union saved the armies of Egypt and Syria from another total defeat.

Egypt and Syria realized that they will never be able to defeat Israel in the battlefield. Six years later Egypt signed a peace treaty with Israel which lasts for almost 30 years. The Israeli-Syrian border is the most peaceful border of Israel during the last 34 years.

On Thursday the Jewish world will celebrate and observe Yom Kippur. On this holy day we also remember the 2,688 fallen soldiers of the Yom Kippur War. Their sacrifice gave us life.

We will also use this opportunity to wish [you] a Happy New Jewish Year and that all of you will be written and sealed in the Book of Life."



I respect the hell out of the Israeli Defense Forces. One of the top five military organizations in the world, bar none. And (as far as I'm concerned) they have some of the most beautiful women I've ever seen in uniform. Moreover, their policies permit and even encourage both women and homosexuals to serve openly in their military (as do the armed forces of the United Kingdom, but I digress).

And while I do admire the IDF to a fault... I truly wish that my government hadn't chosen to continue being the largest, most high-profile supporter of Israel in all of recorded history. Yes, they needed some help getting their homeland and it's government and armed forces off the ground in 1948. But it's been 60 years, and I think they'll do just fine with much less than the $60 Billion (or whatever it is) we give them in defense aid every year. I won't even get into the fact that more than one American has been threatened or even killed outright because of our close alliance with Israel. (e.g., Robert Dean Stethem. I will remember the images of that incident for the rest of my life.)

Here's my bottom line: look back on the history of Israel, militarily. The Six Day War. The Ten Day War. The Yom Kippur War.

They are SURROUNDED geographically by a half dozen enemies who have threatened to "push them into the sea" since they first established the nation of Israel 60 years ago.

And they've stood their ground and kicked ass more times than I can recall offhand, doing it all on weekends and holidays (or so it seems, at least). The latest big shootin' match with Lebanon in 2006 dragged on for... jeez, six whole weeks, was it? The notorious Bekaa Valley Turkey Shoot of 1982 saw IDF pilots down 82 Syrian MiG fighters without a single Israeli F-16 lost!!!

All joking and exaggeration aside, though: on this, the Jewish New Year, I tip my hat eastward to all those veterans and currently serving in the IDF, as well as the people of Israel. Your dedication, commitment, and - above all - faith, is an inspiration to us all.

I might not like any of the politics at all... but I'd get to scrappin' with any of you on my left or right at the drop of a hat. Sincere blessings and best wishes to you on this holiday.