Halloween

Today is Halloween. The name “Halloween” is actually derived from “All Hallow’s Eve“, that is the day before “All Hallow’s Day” or All Saint’s Day. All Saint’s Day was and is a Christian, primarily Roman Catholic, holy day which celebrates all the saints in Heaven and includes prayers for those in Purgatory.

Halloween, however, is not a Christian holiday. It seems to have come from the Celtic festival of Samhain, which was a summer’s end or harvest festival. The Celts celebrated Samhain with bonfires to ward off evil spirits and sacrificed animals and sometimes humans to their gods. This pagan heritage has made Halloween controversial among Christians at times. The Protestant Reformers in England did not like the holiday and tried to suppress it because of its pagan and Roman Catholic origins. The Scots were more lenient and Halloween is celebrated there more than in England. The Irish, of course, still celebrated it as they remained Catholic and true to their Celtic Heritage. Halloween was not much celebrated in America until large numbers of Scots and Irish immigrated here during the nineteenth century.

As for the customs which have grown up around Halloween, it would seem that carving pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns is an American innovation. The Scots and Irish used turnips. Pumpkins, which are native to North American, turned out to be larger and easier to carve. Trick or treating seems to be derived from the Scottish custom of guising. Guising is the custom in which children would go from door to door in costume begging for treats and performing a trick or song in return. This custom was first noted in America in the early twentieth century. Trick or treating became the custom by the 1930s. Haunted houses have also become popular since the 1970s.

So, Happy Halloween, or Samhain.

 

War in Gaza

I have a few things to say about the ongoing war in Israel. Obviously, this conflict is a tragedy for everyone concerned, especially the civilian population of Israel that is being specifically targeted for atrocities by the Hamas barbarians, but also for the Palestinians who lived under the tyranny of terrorist rulers and who will pay the price for their leaders’ crimes.

President Trump’s critics portrayed him as a reckless loose cannon who would inevitably start a war, perhaps even a Third World War. The actual history of the Trump administration was quite different from his critics’ expectations. Not only did Trump not start any new wars or military actions, but his administration did much to promote peace by taking potential threats seriously. Among other actions, Trump helped to begin the Abraham Accords that opened up normal relations between Israel and the Arab Gulf States. It was only after Trump left the White House that things started to fall apart, with war breaking out in Ukraine and Israel and China becoming more belligerent.

The lesson here is obvious, yet somehow we keep forgetting it. When the United States projects strength, there is peace. When a weak, senile president guided by subordinates who despise their country leads America, there is war. When the American military is strong and respected, we deter bad actors. When the American Military is weak and woke, we encourage bad actors. Like it or not, America must, to some extent, be the world’s policeman. That does not mean we should involve ourselves in every little conflict. America should very seldom deploy its forces abroad. Indeed, if America consistently projected strength and confidence, we would rarely have occasion to intervene. It is weakness that gets us into forever wars.

The reason the strife in the Middle East simmers for decades without ever getting resolved is that Israel is not permitted to win the conflict. For Israel to have peace, they must convince the Palestinians that they are defeated and that there is absolutely no possibility that they will gain their goals through violence. That means that Israel will have to be brutal to the Palestinians. Israel has not been able to do this in part because Israel, unlike its neighbors, is a civilized nation, and civilized nations find it difficult to fight barbarians on their own terms. Israel has also not been allowed to win because Western “human rights” organizations seem to believe that Israel protecting itself is an egregious violation of the Palestinian’s right to kill Jews.

General William T. Sherman was brutal to the Confederates during the Civil War. Sherman was not a cruel man, nor did he hate the South. Sherman understood that the people of the South had to realize that they were defeated and that there was no possibility of the South rising again. He knew that if the defeated South held fast to any hope they could achieve their aims by violence, the United States might be fighting another Civil War in twenty years. Likewise, the Allies were brutal to the Axis powers. We knew that the people of Germany and Japan had to realize we had completely defeated them. Otherwise, there might have been another “stab in the back” myth, and we might be fighting the same war in twenty years. In both cases, what seemed acts of cruelty in the short term were, in fact, acts of compassion in the long term, to the extent that they deterred the next war. It is counter-intuitive, but war is, in its nature cruel, and a little bit of cruelty in the short term is preferable to a festering, decades-long struggle that blights generation after generation.

For their own good, the Palestinians of Gaza and the West Bank need to understand that they cannot defeat Israel. They must learn that they can only survive by reconciling themselves to the continued existence of Israel and making some accommodations with it. That is the reason many other Arab nations, Egypt, Jordan, and others, have opted to make peace with Israel. They realized that they could not defeat Israel and, therefore, must learn to live with Israel. The Palestinians need to come to that same understanding.

The greatest obstacle to peace in the Middle East is the ill-informed left-wing peace activists and their allies in national governments and international organizations. These are the people who loudly announce their solidarity with the oppressed Palestinians while denouncing Israel as an “Apartheid State.” Not only are these fools implicitly endorsing anti-semitism by holding Israel to an impossible standard while ignoring the terrorist actions of Hamas, but they are prolonging the conflict by giving the Palestinians hope of an eventual victory over Israel with foreign aid. As peace activists generally do, they have been making war more likely. The blood of the Israeli civilians murdered by Hamas is on their hands, as well as the blood of the Palestinians killed by Israeli retaliation.

Israel will not have peace until it can achieve victory over its enemies. Until that time comes, the killing will continue.

Columbus Day

Image via Wikipedia

Today is Columbus Day in the United States, celebrating the day that Christopher Columbus reached the New World. In Berkeley and some other Leftist enclaves, it is Indigenous People’s Day, in which Western Civilization is condemned for its many crimes against humanity. Columbus Day is no big deal, just a three day weekend for banks and such. Still, should we honor Christopher Columbus with a day?

I think we can absolve Columbus of the destruction of many Native American cultures and peoples. That was inevitable. Europe’s sailing and navigation techniques were advancing rapidly and it was only a matter of time before someone stumbled across the Americas. Since the natives were centuries behind in technology and had no immunity to smallpox and other diseases the Europeans brought, they were doomed. They weren’t entirely helpless victims though. They did fight, with varying degrees of success. But between the massive death toll from disease and their own disunity, often they were more interested in using the guns they acquired from European traders to fight traditional rivals than the Europeans, the Native Americans were doomed.

Still, Columbus did set the pattern by enslaving the natives of the islands he discovered.From the Wikipedia article there is this excerpt from his log.

From the 12 October 1492 entry in his journal he wrote of them, “Many of the men I have seen have scars on their bodies, and when I made signs to them to find out how this happened, they indicated that people from other nearby islands come to San Salvador to capture them; they defend themselves the best they can. I believe that people from the mainland come here to take them as slaves. They ought to make good and skilled servants, for they repeat very quickly whatever we say to them. I think they can very easily be made Christians, for they seem to have no religion. If it pleases our Lord, I will take six of them to Your Highnesses when I depart, in order that they may learn our language.”^[39] He remarked that their lack of modern weaponry and even metal-forged swords or pikes was a tactical vulnerability, writing, “I could conquer the whole of them with 50 men, and govern them as I pleased.”^[40

He seems not to have been a very good governor of Isabella, the first Spanish colony in the New World. He was charged with excessive cruelty and sent back to Spain in chains. These charges might be false though, since Ferdinand and Isabella felt they had promised him too much reward for his discoveries. Before he set out, they had promised him governorship any lands he discovered. As it became obvious to everyone but Columbus that he had discovered a whole continent, the king and queen wanted a bigger share.

Maybe the biggest reason not to celebrate is that he was wrong. The popular view is of Columbus bravely asserting that the Earth is round against the scholars and intellectuals of his time who “knew” the Earth was flat. Of course, everyone knew the Earth was round. Every educated person in the West had known the Earth was round since the time of the Ancient Greeks. The Greek scholar Eratosthenes had even calculated the size of the Earth with reasonable accuracy back in the third century. The scholars and intellectuals who opposed Columbus knew about how large the Earth actually was and they knew perfectly well that Columbus was fudging his calculations to make his voyage seem feasible. If the Americas hadn’t been in the way, his voyage would have ended in disaster. But the Americas were in the way and Columbus was able to make the most amazing discoveries in history, bringing the old and new worlds together.

For all that though, I like Christopher Columbus. Despite his flaws, and he was only a man of his time. He had courage and vision, two qualities that are rare enough in any time, especially our own. So, by all means, let’s celebrate this man and his deeds.

Yom Kippur

This evening at sunset Yom Kippur or the Day of Atonement, the holiest day of the Jewish calendar begins. Yom Kippur is observed on the tenth day of the seventh month, Tishrei, of the Jewish calendar. This year that corresponds to September 24.  On this day Jews ask for forgiveness for the sins they have committed against God and their fellow men over the past year.  They fast for 25 hours on this day, starting about 20 minutes before sundown the previous day and continuing until the evening of the day. Jews also attend Synagogue services for much of the day and there are five services in contrast to the usual three prayers on most days and four on Sabbaths. After the last service, they recite the Shema, “Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One”. They also blow the Shofar.

Here is the Biblical description of the Day of Atonement.

¹ The LORD spoke to Moses after the death of the two sons of Aaron who died when they approached the LORD. ²The LORD said to Moses: “Tell your brother Aaron that he is not to come whenever he chooses into the Most Holy Place behind the curtain in front of the atonement cover on the ark, or else he will die. For I will appear in the cloud over the atonement cover.

³ “This is how Aaron is to enter the Most Holy Place: He must first bring a young bull for a sin offering^[a] and a ram for a burnt offering. ⁴ He is to put on the sacred linen tunic, with linen undergarments next to his body; he is to tie the linen sash around him and put on the linen turban. These are sacred garments; so he must bathe himself with water before he puts them on. ⁵ From the Israelite community he is to take two male goats for a sin offering and a ram for a burnt offering.

⁶ “Aaron is to offer the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household. ⁷ Then he is to take the two goats and present them before the LORD at the entrance to the tent of meeting. ⁸ He is to cast lots for the two goats—one lot for the LORD and the other for the scapegoat.^[b]9 Aaron shall bring the goat whose lot falls to the LORD and sacrifice it for a sin offering. ¹⁰ But the goat chosen by lot as the scapegoat shall be presented alive before the LORD to be used for making atonement by sending it into the wilderness as a scapegoat.

¹¹ “Aaron shall bring the bull for his own sin offering to make atonement for himself and his household, and he is to slaughter the bull for his own sin offering. ¹² He is to take a censer full of burning coals from the altar before the LORD and two handfuls of finely ground fragrant incense and take them behind the curtain. ¹³ He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the smoke of the incense will conceal the atonement cover above the tablets of the covenant law, so that he will not die. ¹⁴ He is to take some of the bull’s blood and with his finger sprinkle it on the front of the atonement cover; then he shall sprinkle some of it with his finger seven times before the atonement cover.

¹⁵ “He shall then slaughter the goat for the sin offering for the people and take its blood behind the curtain and do with it as he did with the bull’s blood: He shall sprinkle it on the atonement cover and in front of it. ¹⁶ In this way he will make atonement for the Most Holy Place because of the uncleanness and rebellion of the Israelites, whatever their sins have been. He is to do the same for the tent of meeting, which is among them in the midst of their uncleanness. ¹⁷ No one is to be in the tent of meeting from the time Aaron goes in to make atonement in the Most Holy Place until he comes out, having made atonement for himself, his household and the whole community of Israel.

¹⁸ “Then he shall come out to the altar that is before the LORD and make atonement for it. He shall take some of the bull’s blood and some of the goat’s blood and put it on all the horns of the altar. ¹⁹ He shall sprinkle some of the blood on it with his finger seven times to cleanse it and to consecrate it from the uncleanness of the Israelites.

²⁰ “When Aaron has finished making atonement for the Most Holy Place, the tent of meeting and the altar, he shall bring forward the live goat. ²¹ He is to lay both hands on the head of the live goat and confess over it all the wickedness and rebellion of the Israelites—all their sins—and put them on the goat’s head. He shall send the goat away into the wilderness in the care of someone appointed for the task. ²² The goat will carry on itself all their sins to a remote place; and the man shall release it in the wilderness.

²³ “Then Aaron is to go into the tent of meeting and take off the linen garments he put on before he entered the Most Holy Place, and he is to leave them there. ²⁴ He shall bathe himself with water in the sanctuary area and put on his regular garments. Then he shall come out and sacrifice the burnt offering for himself and the burnt offering for the people, to make atonement for himself and for the people. ²⁵ He shall also burn the fat of the sin offering on the altar.

²⁶ “The man who releases the goat as a scapegoat must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp. ²⁷ The bull and the goat for the sin offerings, whose blood was brought into the Most Holy Place to make atonement, must be taken outside the camp; their hides, flesh and intestines are to be burned up. ²⁸ The man who burns them must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water; afterward he may come into the camp.

²⁹ “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: On the tenth day of the seventh month you must deny yourselves and not do any work—whether native-born or a foreigner residing among you— ³⁰ because on this day atonement will be made for you, to cleanse you. Then, before the LORD, you will be clean from all your sins. ³¹ It is a day of sabbath rest, and you must deny yourselves; it is a lasting ordinance. ³² The priest who is anointed and ordained to succeed his father as high priest is to make atonement. He is to put on the sacred linen garments ³³ and make atonement for the Most Holy Place, for the tent of meeting and the altar, and for the priests and all the members of the community.

³⁴ “This is to be a lasting ordinance for you: Atonement is to be made once a year for all the sins of the Israelites.”

And it was done, as the LORD commanded Moses. (Lev 16:1-34)

Since the Temple was destroyed in AD 70, the ceremonies pertaining to the Most Holy Place cannot now be performed. Instead, Jews remember the Temple ceremonies in the Avodah service. Orthodox and most Conservative Synagogues have a detailed recitation of the Temple Ceremony.

Here is a detailed description of Yom Kippur Services.

So, G’mar Hatimah Tovah.

Reciprocity

Before the second Republican debate, Michael Reagan wrote a column calling for Republican unity at Townhall.com. Here are some excerpts

Too bad Donald Trump won’t attend the second Republican presidential primary debate next week at the Ronald Reagan Library.

To me, what’s even more sad – and worrisome for the GOP’s chances in 2024 — is hearing Trump say he won’t promise to support whoever the party’s nominee is if it isn’t him.

There are some conservative pundits in the media-sphere who agree with Trump.

They’re telling the MAGA Republicans listening to their shows that there’s no one but Trump to vote for and everyone else is a RINO.

My father would be appalled at these suicidal Trump-only Republicans. He always supported the nominee of the Republican Party and set the bar when it comes to party solidarity.

He supported Gerry Ford in 1976 after he lost the GOP nomination and the Reagans all went out and campaigned around the country for Ford.

The Republican Party was united in my father’s day because it had strong leadership – people like him.

I mostly agree with Michael Reagan. I am neither a Never Trumper nor an Only Trumper. I will vote for almost any of the candidates currently running for president. I think Trump did an excellent job as president in his first term, but I have some reservations about supporting him for a second term. Not least of these reservations is the question of Trump’s age. If Trump is elected, he will be 78 when he takes office in 2025. Granted, Trump is more mentally acute now than President Biden was at forty, but he will still be too old for such a stressful job as the presidency. Having said that, if Trump is the Republican nominee, I will gladly vote for him.

The problem with Michael Reagan’s plea for unity in the Republican party is that, somehow, the effort towards unity goes only one way. In the elections of 2008 and 2012, the Republican establishment gave us John McCain and Mitt Romney. Like many conservatives, I didn’t like either candidate, yet each time, I held my nose and faithfully voted for the Republican. In 2016, Donald Trump won the Republican nomination despite the best efforts of the Republican establishment. Donald Trump did not have a consistent record as a conservative before he ran for President. Unlike the other candidates in both parties, Trump actually listened to the ordinary people who were not being served by their political leaders. Like many conservatives, I reluctantly supported Donald Trump as the Republican nominee and hoped for the best.

Like many conservatives, I noticed that many of the same establishment Republican leaders who always told us we had to take one for the team and support candidates we often disliked refused to support a candidate they disapproved of. Many Republican leaders and allegedly conservative pundits announced that they could not, under any circumstances, support Donald Trump for President. Some voted for Hilary Clinton. Others voted for third-party candidates, effectively voting for Clinton.

By 2020, Trump had proven himself to be an effective conservative leader. I was willing and eager to vote for him. Some of the Conservative leaders had come around to support Trump. Many others had spent the previous four years assisting the Democrats in hamstringing President Trump in every way imaginable. These were the Never Trumpers, “respectable conservatives” who opposed the most conservative President since Reagan. When the election came, they preferred to support Biden.

Since the “election” of Joe Biden, these same respectable conservates supported the Democrat narrative at every opportunity. They have sided with the Democrats against anyone who has raised questions about the results of that election and have helped the Democrats silence any skeptics. They have supported the Democrats in their efforts to transform an unruly mob on January 6 into the worst insurrection in American history, a threat to Our Democracy. You have to ask whose side they really are on.

The problem in the Republican Party is a lack of reciprocity. The establishment elite expects ordinary Republican voters to support the candidates they endorse but refuse to support the candidates we favor. This is not just about Trump. The establishment Republicans despised the TEA Party as much as they disliked Trump. Why should we continue to support an establishment that loathes us? Why do we have to be the ones to reach out to people who only wish we would sit down and shut up?

The split in the Republican Party is not the fault of the Trump supporters. It is the fault of the Never-Trumpers who refused to support the Republican Party’s nominee in 2016 and 2020. I don’t agree with the Only Trumpers, but I can’t really blame them.