Israeli causes panic in New Zealand

A ferryboat captain called police after spotting a man described as wearing "boxes" with "wires taped to his leg and forehead."

An Israeli tourist visiting New Zealand caused a minor panic on a New Zealand ferry on Sunday after the captain reported to police that a passenger was carrying a "suspicious article," NZTV reported.

The incident happened on Sunday as the Interislander ferry Kaitaki sailed across the Cook Strait from Wellington to Picton. Some media in New Zealand even reported a hostage situation aboard the ferry, even though the passenger was cooperative with police, according to the report.

The man was described as wearing what appeared to be "boxes" with "wires taped" to his body. "One individuals had two boxes attached, one box taped to his leg and one box seemingly taped to his forehead," a transportation services spokesman was quoted as saying in the report.

Jewish websites described the man as having worn his tefillin (phylacteries) on the morning ferry voyage.

He was stopped by police at the ferry's destination after it finished crossing the Cook Strait and was released by the police without being charged.

Armed police reportedly forced the man and a companion to the floor after the ferry docked at Picton on South Island.

New Zealand race relations commissioner Joris de Bres said the police response was "unfortunate" and showed "an exaggerated fear of terrorism" in the country. "It's just a reminder we ought to pause and think before we jump to conclusions," he told the Dominion Post.

Kevin Ramshaw, of the ferry operator Kiwirail, told news agency NZPA that the captain had followed normal procedures by alerting police to a possible threat.

"One individual had two boxes attached, one box taped to his leg and one box seemingly taped to his forehead," he said. "There were what seemed to be wires attached to them," he added.

Mr Ramshaw said the 750 passengers on the ferry were "probably" not aware of the alert. "Staff felt the better thing to do was observe and stay away," he said.

Phylacteries - called tefillin in Hebrew - are two small boxes of black leather with straps attached to them.

Observant Jewish men place one box on their head and tie the other to their arm as part of their morning prayers.

In January a US Airways flight bound for Kentucky from New York was diverted to Philadelphia after a young Jewish man's phylacteries triggered a bomb scare.

Build bridge, then cross it

Step one: Develop Design
Step two: Gather materials
Step three: Gather helpers
Step four: Build bridge

For many folks, that's enough. They have noted a great gulf and they want to repair the separation. The chasm is a hindrance to relationships and they want that hindrance removed. I say, good for them!

Those who know about my life or things about which I write will know that bridge building in religious terms is often related to people on apparently opposite sides of a particular issue. In my world of Jews for Jesus, it's usually related to those who are labelled Jewish and those who are labelled Christian. Of course, I never know on which side of the proverbial fence people would want me to reside. But that's for another blog.

The Great Divide of Jewish and Christian dialogue is a function of ruined relationships over nearly two millenia of religious conflict and warring. The bloodshed throughout history of one religious mob taking on the religion and the leadership of another is enough to fill Lake Victoria. Religion is often the cause of wars, but again that's not the topic of my blog today.

Today I'm writing about the 'dialogue' movement within Christendom which seeks to (re)build relationships with Jewish people and to build bridges of peace between peoples of good will on 'both sides.'

I'm all in favor of people making amends. I'm keen for those who damage others to make restitution. I'm happy for a handshake from people rather than a sword or a knife, a grin rather than a gun. Who wouldn't?

Those people who work for reconciliation and peace, who spend energy to work in committee of Christians and Jews, who want people of good will to extend that to one another, certainly have my attention and respect. After all, there is much we can learn from each other. And who is to say that 'our version' of the conversation or history is necessarily accurate anyway?

That said, I know some who are more content to build a bridge than to cross it. I guess what bothers me at times is finding believers in Y'shua, real believers, who really believe in the real Messiah, who are reluctant or reticent or resistant to sharing that faith with Jewish people, because... well for many reasons, like 1) all the Jews have suffered, 2) I have not earned that right or 3) I may not be right in the end. Everyone has a bit of truth.

Build bridge, then cross it
Originally uploaded by bobmendo

Brothers and sisters, let's work to be at peace with all people. Let's build bridges of peace. And then go ahead, have some chutzpah and cross that bridge... share the faith, explain what you believe about your own sinfulness, your own redemption that Y'shua bought for you on the cross. How He rose from the dead and is returning soon to gather all His to Himself. Go on, cross that bridge, ok?

WikiWhispers and Truth telling

Once again I'm happy to report on reporting and the desire of people to know truth. Of note this week is the chase for "Catch me if you can" Julian Assange. The Sydney Morning Herald this morning reported that the hiding Aussie is not welcome back in his native Australia. He said in a live Q and A session yesterday 'However … the Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, and the Attorney-General, Robert McClelland, have made it clear that not only is my return impossible but they are actively working to assist the United States government in its attacks on myself and our people.''

Alas, he still calls Australia 'home' but is not welcome. What's the problem?

Something about 250,000 documents that were classified as private, or top secret were leaked via Assange's website Wikileaks. The WikiLeaks drop has caused enormous diplomatic problems for the US, with Senator Clinton describing it as ''an attack on the world''. Some senior US politicians have called for Mr Assange's arrest as a terrorist; others for his execution.

Mr Assange said on The Guardian website that he had stepped up security around his hiding place following threats.

Terrorism, if I understand it, is about the disruption of freedom and seeking to make people look over their shoulders at ghosts. It's living in fear. Whether someone is chasing or not. Is what Assange did causing such? The idea that private and top secret memoranda could be tracked and disclosed doesn't make me confident in the privacy laws of any country.

Something else is going on, though. In many western countries a 'freedom of information' act came into being over the last few decades. Check out the Australian law or more particularly the Victorian act . This one from the USA was signed into law in 1966!

We long to know, real truth, not what is being fed us by the media or by the government or by our parents or... Society's information must be corroborated in such a way that we can really honestly trust what is being said. Something in our human nature longs for truth. Almost Truth.

The Russian language allows for a difference between truth and Truth. You might know the Soviet newspaper Pravda. Compare the other word for truth, "istina." Now these two words mean "truth", but there's a slight difference in meaning. 'Istina' is a great deal more lofty or elevated than 'pravda'. In sentences like "Neo you're the One because you know the Truth" or "the Truth is out there" russians would use 'istina'. Most would agree that 'pravda' is neutral. it's used in phrases like "you must tell me the truth.'

So when we ache for information ("People want to know"), we evidence something inherent in humanity to know. And there's something deeper than simple information. It's to know God. Truly. That's the basic human desire. To know and to be known. It's called relationship.

God wants to relate to us, personally, and truly. Istina. That's more than facts; it's life eternal. Y'shua said, (John 17.3) “And this is eternal life, that they may know Thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom Thou hast sent." That's istina! It's deep and personal. That's the longing of everyone, for more than leaked documents. It's for the poured out life of the Almighty.

What about you. Longing to know? Ask God who Y'shua is, and listen, "hear o Israel." You will be surprised at what you hear!


For more philosophy on this read this website Philosophy of Truth.

Look Who's Coming!

The Big O could be a slur if she were still a large woman, but the larger-than-life appearances of Oprah Winfrey to Australia will leave her 'Big O' all over Sydney beginning in just 13 days. Amazing how much global awareness is centering on this American fixture of Daytime television. The Oprah Winfrey Show will be filmed for 2 days running at the iconic Sydney Opera House. New South Wales premier Kristina Kenneally said, ""We are delighted that The Oprah Winfrey Show has chosen NSW as the location for their ultimate adventure and Sydney's most famous icon will become known by Oprah show fans around the world as the Sydney Oprah House." Oy.

It's not the 300 fans whom Oprah is bringing with her that is causing all the chaos. It's the millions of loyal fans to the show and the generated income for tourism which is making us give up so much of our traffic ease and convenience to welcome the Queen of US Daytime TV to our shores. Macquarie Street will be closed between Albert Street and the Opera House between 6am and 11pm, while Albert Street between Phillip and Macquarie Streetss will be closed eastbound from 2am to 11pm on 14 December. There is talk about the Big O adorning our other icon, the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

Many Sydney children are more concerned about Santa Claus making his way to their chimney in 3 weeks to deliver presents.

Some 60,000 Melbourne fans last night were thrilled with Bono's U2 and their 360 show. Who else is coming to Australia in December? Jimmy Buffett, Golfer John Daly and his wild Aussie flag outfit are out on the links at The Lakes Golf Course this morning playing in the Australian Open. Erratic as ever, he bogeyed two and birdied four of the first 8 holes he played today. Entertaining? You betcha!

The D25 tour is Australia-bound. Detroit techno juggernaut is 100-percent coming to Sydney and Melbourne on the weekend of 10 and 11 December.

I guess there is a lot to feel excited about. Some call this 'the silly season.' I think there is a lot of opportunity to remember who was the most important visitor who came to town.

Not to Sydney or Melbourne, but to a little village about 14,000 km from us in the Oprah-invasion town. The village? Bethlehem. The time? About 2000 years ago. The reason? To save the world from sin. What? Sin?

Yes, the problem was not "The Big O" but "The Big I." Living for oneself, being more concerned about me, myself and I. Being self-consumed and disregarding the plights of the other guys. That was the problem in those days. Can you imagine that things have gotten any better in the world of personal computers, iPods with personal speakers, privacy laws and larger-than-my-neighbour's privacy fences? The world has gone mad with me-ism, and The Big I is the cause.

Worse than that, we have sinned against God. By disregarding him and living for ourselves. Shame.

How to overcome that?

I suppose noting how selfish we are is the first step.
Admitting we cannot personally fix the problem is the second and most significant step.
Looking outside ourselves to God, as He is the author of Life, and the One who gave His only Son to forgive us of our sins...that's the hardest step. And yet, that's the one which will free us to live outside the silly season. He will give us reason to care about others and the strength to do so.

Y'shua (some call him Jesus Christ) is the Jewish Messiah and the Saviour of the world. He will overcome your sin, and give you new life. That's better than a 360; that's a 180!

And He not only came to Bethlehem those two millenia ago. He comes to each person, to each hamlet and village and town to you ... by His Holy Spirit... to give you eternal life. Now, that's a visitor you want to welcome. That's The visitor you NEED to welcome.

God rest ye, merry, gentlemen, let nothing you dismay.
Remember Christ (Y'shua) our Saviour was born on Christmas day
To save us all from Satan's power
When we were gone astray!

Tidings of comfort and joy.

Merry Messiah-mas!



For more: read Oprah's protection ring

What about Bob: The Life Story of a Jew for Jesus

Now the 12 minute version of my personal story of faith. Hope you enjoy!

A bit of photoshop fun

chanukah_zebra
Originally uploaded by bobmendo

What makes Hanukkah so fun is the latkes and the doughnuts and the dreidels and today, a bit of photo humor. I hope you smile as you find the menorah in the stripes and remember that God does miracles.

Even though the zebra has been photoshopped, God really does and did miracles for the Jewish people at this time of year. In about 168 BCE, the Syrian Greeks were having battles with the Ptolemies of Egypt. Their battlefield? What we know today as the land of Israel. A football pitch if you will, with the likes of Antiochus Epiphanes leading the charge.

One day a crew of the Greek king slaughtered a pig in the sacred Temple of the Jewish people in Jerusalem. That made a lot of Jewish people upset and over in Modi'in, a small village about 30 km from Jerusalem.

Here's the rundown from Wikipedia. (Seems like wiki everything is in our news each day): From the Hebrew word for "dedication" or "consecration", Hanukkah marks the re-dedication of the Temple in Jerusalem (Second Temple) after its desecration by the forces of the King of Syria Antiochus IV Epiphanes and commemorates the "miracle of the container of oil". According to the Talmud, at the re-dedication following the victory of the Maccabees over the Seleucid Empire, there was only enough consecrated olive oil to fuel the eternal flame in the Temple for one day. Miraculously, the oil burned for eight days, which was the length of time it took to press, prepare and consecrate fresh olive oil.

Hanukkah is also mentioned in 1 Maccabees and 2 Maccabees. The first states: "For eight days they celebrated the re-dedication of the altar. Then Judah and his brothers and the entire congregation of Israel decreed that the days of the re-dedication... should be observed... every year... for eight days. (1 Mac. 4:56–59)" According to 2 Maccabees, "the Jews celebrated joyfully for eight days as on the feast of Booths."

I'm of the opinion that Hanukkah was originally the celebration fo the Feast of Booths, which the warriors were not able to celebrate that year since they were at war. That's the only 8 day holiday mentioned in the Tenach (The Older Testament).

Even so, Hanukkah is a lot of fun. We light lights, eat foods drenched in oil and spin tops called dreidels. At our book shop in Bondi Junction, we are selling candles and dreidels and giving away Bibles and hoping for more and more folks to ponder how to dedicate themselves to the Living God each day, even today.

Look, the number one miracle of Hanukkah was not oil, but the victory of the few, the Maccabees over the powerful Greek army of Antiochus. It's David vs Goliath again and we win again. That's not outsmarting, that's not being clever, it's military conquest and that's honestly a miracle.

And God still does miracles these days.

He saves people from disease and distress. He brings hope where there is honestly no reason to hope. And mostly He saves souls, those who trust in Him for their eternity, by putting their faith in Y'shua. He's the One who died for our sins and rose from the dead. That itself was a miracle and He continues to offer us all new life.

That's not trick photography either. It's the real thing.

Hanukkah s'meach!

Propaganda, Nuclear Energy, and Pop Culture

I enjoy listening to the radio on the way to the office of Jews for Jesus in the mornings. And usually I'm tuned to FM103.2 in Sydney, listening to Aaron and Dan. Today was no exception and their comments about nuclear energy spawned this blog. I had already heard Karl Stefanovic and Lisa Wilkinson talk about the proposal by some in the ALP to put nuclear energy on their conversational docket in their 2011 caucus.

The Brisbane Courier Mail reports this morning, "Prime Minister [Julia Gillard] is under pressure to put the divisive issue [nuclear energy] on next year's ALP national conference agenda with MPs claiming voters care more about rising power bills than gay marriage."

Several people are cited including WA former frontbencher Mark Bishop, MP Chris Hayes, and Federal Resources Minister Martin Ferguson who said "those advocating nuclear power had as much right to have the issue debated at the showcase event as those backing changes to gay marriage laws."

But back to Aaron and Dan. When they reported this news item, they immediately knocked back the idea of nuclear energy. Both readily admitted to being unaware of all the information and that they were not sure of all the issues. That said, they repeated what the media and pop culture had taught them. Aaron remembered Silkwood, the movie from 1983 starring Meryl Streep. (Info and photo below) and the associated nuclear problems there. And of course Chernobyl was brought up.

Then, and more significantly, the boys mentioned and dwelt on the Simpsons rendering of the problem of nuclear energy. Dan said he updated his Facebook page at that moment on the show with something about nuclear energy...three-eyed fish.

For those who don't know, for the last twenty years, millions of young people (and not-so-young) have daily watched how Homer Simpson, with a low IQ of 55 due to his hereditary "Simpson Gene”, his alcohol problem, repetitive cranial trauma, and a crayon lodged in the frontal lobe of his brain, performs his tasks in the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant. This includes sleeping and snoring in front of a T-437 Safety Command Console. Homer is the Safety Inspector at the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant, where, even though we can see luminous rats, the disposal of waste in a children's playground, plutonium used as a paperweight, cracked cooling towers (fixed in one episode using a piece of chewing gum), skeletons in the basement, the creation of a mutant subspecies of three-eyed fish and even a giant spider, no severe accident has ever occurred.

Look, the debate is mammoth and deserves to take place, even on Australian soil, not from Hollywood and the propaganda machine there. (See my blog on Fair Game, the movie)
There are advantages in nuclear production. Nuclear power generation does emit relatively low amounts of carbon dioxide (CO2). The emissions of green house gases and therefore the contribution of nuclear power plants to global warming is therefore relatively little.
This technology is readily available, it does not have to be developed first.
It is possible to generate a high amount of electrical energy in one single plant.

That said, there are disadvantages abundant in nuclear energy production. The problem of radioactive waste is still an unsolved one. The waste from nuclear energy is dangerous and has to be carefully looked after for 10,000 years according to United States Environmental Protection Agency standards. (OK, this seems big)
Despite a generally high-security standard, accidents can still happen. It is technically impossible to build a plant with 100% security. (And yet we still produce cars and airplanes which continue to see accidents as well.)
Nuclear power plants as well as nuclear waste could be preferred targets for terrorist attacks. (But that hasn’t stopped us from building skyscrapers, nor should it)
Radioactive waste is produced, which in turn can be used for the production of nuclear weapons. (And yet, people, not guns, kill people)
The energy source for nuclear energy is Uranium. Uranium is a scarce resource, its supply is estimated to last only for the next 30 to 60 years depending on the actual demand.
To build a nuclear power plant takes 20 years. (OK, if we had built one in 1990 we could be using it now)

You see, there are arguments and counterarguments.

This site is useful. Library website

Currently nuclear energy provides 16% of the world's electricity.

What I find fascinating though is the power of pop culture to enter and almost outweigh the real debaters before the debate occurs. Let's honestly discuss matters. Let's put cartoons and cartoonists into proper perspective.

Mr Ferguson said, "Healthy and constructive debate on a range of policy issues has always been good for the party." I believe it's good for the country and for the world to enter into serious debate about this, and not let propaganda outstrip sense and sensibility.





For more information:
In 1983, a movie came out starring Meryl Streep. The name: Silkwood. IMDb reports "Fairly accurate recounting of the story of Karen Silkwood, the Oklahoma nuclear-plant worker who blew the whistle on dangerous practices at the Kerr-McGee plant and who died under circumstances which are still under debate.... On November 13, 1974, Karen Silkwood, an employee of a nuclear facility, left to meet with a reporter from the New York Times. She never got there."