בס''ד
Not every Jew believes that all Jews are commanded to live in Israel without regard to family or circumstance. To criticize a Jew ONLY for not living in Israel is a criticism not worth much as a premise in this argument.
The 10 commandments are
not the 10 suggestions. G-d is not suggesting, He is commanding. And there are actually 613 commandments in the Torah. As I quoted above, the mitzvah (commandment) of living in the Land of Israel is equal to all of the other commandments combined. If we obey the commandments, G-d promises us great reward. If we defy the commandments, there is terrible punishment. We can create all types of excuses for living outside of Israel, but in the end we are only fooling ourselves. G-d brought the Jewish people back to the Holy Land because He wants to end the exile. He wants the Jews out of the exile. The exile is
only a punishment, and if we say that we prefer the punishment over the reward of living in our homeland, we are defying G-d.
The Zionists of America are not the equivalent of the mainstream Jewish organizations that JTF disparages. To compare them to the ADL is not accurate. The ZOA are proud Jews.
The ZOA are the phony "right". They raise millions of dollars and what do they do? They issue press releases that do not influence anything. If we had their budget, we could save the entire Jewish people.
Why didn't Maimonides live his entire life in the Holy Land of the 12th century?
Maimonides was
unable to live in the Holy Land. Jews were being murdered and tortured in the Land of Israel during the time of Maimonides.
I didnt agree with his characterization, but your accusing him of things he never said, did, or thought. He wasn't saying anything about JTF's actions in Israel, he was commenting on his perception of our lack of action here where it is needed. Judea and Samaria aren't the only places in the world that need careful thoughtful Jewish activism.
Look at your headline in this thread: JTF characterized as "weak , ineffectual and pathetic"
Why would you post a thread with a headline like that? After all that JTF does with its very meager budget, you post a headline characterizing us as "weak, ineffectual and pathetic"? With all due respect, it is your friend who is weak, ineffectual and pathetic.
In a conversation I had with another Right wing Jew, my only friend who is right wing by jtf standards, he said that JTF's lack of a presence at the downtown 911 mosque protest showed what a bunch of "pathetic do-nothing Jews" do on an Internet forum. He added the real Jews fighting for survival would have been and that demonstration. He said except for Chaim's work, we were all a bunch of pathetic sissies who are full of hot air.
Your friend calls JTF "pathetic do-nothing Jews" and "pathetic sissies who are full of hot air". How do you expect me to react to someone making these types of disgusting statements? Your friend considers JTF, which is the
only Jewish group actively assisting the Jewish heroes who are really fighting back in Judea and Samaria, to be "pathetic do-nothing Jews" and "pathetic sissies who are full of hot air". But the ZOA impresses your friend.