<html><body><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000"><br><div><br></div><div style="color:#000;font-weight:normal;font-style:normal;text-decoration:none;font-family:Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;font-size:12pt;"><div><span style="font-size: medium; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); color: rgb(29, 33, 41);">BAAL TESHUVA</span></div><div style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12pt; color: #000000"><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; background-color: #ffffff;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">To my Jewish friends and colleagues:</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; background-color: #ffffff;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">During this Rosh Hashanah season (September 20-22), you can lead your family as a "master of repentance" or "master of return".</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; background-color: #ffffff;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jews call it: baal teshuva</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; background-color: #ffffff;"><br></p><div class="text_exposed_show" style="display: inline; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; color: #1d2129; font-size: 14px; background-color: #ffffff;"><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">In Hebrew, it's called: בעלת תשובה</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Jews believe that God is especially open to repentance during period from the beginning of the month of Ellul through the High Holiday season, i.e. Rosh Hashanah (the Day of Judgement).</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The ritual is that you "throw bread on the water". The bread represents your sins from the past year. The water is symbolic of God's forgiveness.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The way it works is that you go to some body of water, any body of water that is flowing, i.e., a river or the ocean, and you rip up pieces of bread and throw it out on the water and ask for God's forgiveness.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The flowing water will sweep away the bread down river, or out to sea, never to be seen again.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's a very powerful ritual.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I think that we should especially ask God for forgiveness for Israel's 50 years of oppression of the Palestinian people.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">It's been 50 years of relentless war crimes. </span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium; font-family: "Lucida Sans Unicode", sans-serif;">Israel commits war crimes in the form of collective punishment, disproportionate force, targeting of civilians, and other violations of the Geneva Conventions and international law. Despite these repeated war crimes and other human rights violations, the United States government continues to give Israel economic, military, and diplomatic support in violation of its own laws.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: #ffffff;"></p><p class="text_14_px_maroon" style="font-weight: bold; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Israel repeatedly violates the Geneva Conventions by:</span></p><ul style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; margin: 12px 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: #ffffff;"><li style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; list-style: ;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Targeting, killing, and collectively punishing non-combatant men, women and children</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; list-style: ;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Moving its own population into an occupied zone</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; list-style: ;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Imposing unnecessary curfews and closures</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; list-style: ;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Exercising disproportionate use of force</span></li></ul><p class="text_14_px_maroon" style="font-weight: bold; font-stretch: normal; font-size: 14pt; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: #ffffff;"><span style="font-size: medium;"> Israel defies international law and hundreds of U.N. resolutions by:</span></p><ul style="font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal; font-family: 'Lucida Sans Unicode', sans-serif; margin: 12px 0px; padding: 0px; background-color: #ffffff;"><li style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; list-style: ;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Refusing to end over 40 years of military occupation</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; list-style: ;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Expanding and adding Israeli settlements</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; list-style: ;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Building the Apartheid Wall to take over Palestinian land and water resources</span></li><li style="font-stretch: normal; font-size: 1em; line-height: normal; margin: 0px 0px 0px 18px; padding: 0px; list-style: ;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Denying the right of return for millions of Palestinian refugees</span></li></ul><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">May God forgive us.</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Shanah tovah,</span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a class="profileLink" href="https://www.facebook.com/john.sakowicz?fref=mentions" style="color: #365899; cursor: pointer; text-decoration-line: none; font-family: inherit;" target="_blank">John Sakowicz</a></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><br></p><p style="margin: 0px; font-family: inherit;"><img alt="Image result for israel war crimes against palestine" src="http://media.farsnews.com/media/Uploaded/Files/Images/1393/05/14/13930514000650_PhotoI.jpg" src="http://media.farsnews.com/media/Uploaded/Files/Images/1393/05/14/13930514000650_PhotoI.jpg"></p></div></div></div><br></div></body></html>