b'Shem HASHEM E-l `oalm

 

Dear Friends,

 

It's sad how, where the non-Jews did not succeed in wiping us out in real time, they've partially succeeded in wiping us out of our past.  I have not seen convincing proof of a land known to its people as "Phoenicia", or such a distinct people known to themselves as "Phoenicians".  What I do know about are the lands Given by the Almighty to the Israelite tribes of Asher, Naftali and Dan.  Most if not all of Lebanon is a part of the Israelite heartland -- the ancestral heritage given to us by HaShem.  Those called "Finikim" (Phoenicians) were the Canaanite Sidonians (Sidonim) whom the northernmost tribes -- in their sins -- did not subdue as we were Commanded. 

 

Rather, we left them to remain in the Land to be "thorns in our eyes and pricks in our sides".   (Bamidbar 33:55)  And as the Torah promised in such a case, what HaShem had in mind to do to them, was done to us.  In mainstream academia, it is they who are remembered as the masters of the land at that time, and our tribes who were all but forgotten.  Like Israeli Arabs in the modern state, the Canaanites who were allowed to live and prosper in our midst adopted our written language.  Noting the common written language of the region, the Israel-hating Academia decided, of course, that Israel learned how to write from the "Phoenicians", and not vice versa.  

Whoever wants to understand the truth must first realize the absurdity of the archaeological Orthodoxy's position as to when the Bronze Age ended the Iron Age began in the Levant.  A good place to begin is "Ages in Chaos" by Immanuel Velikovsky, whose position in this regard is bolstered by other independently-minded historians.  A good summary article on the subject is "When Was the Exodus?" by Brad Aaronson:  http://www.ou.org/chagim/pesach/whenex.htm.

Regarding the claim the Aluf Abir compiled his art based on his own research:

 

As is known from my article, I am one who initially approached Abir from a place of skepticism.  I now come to regret this -- as it caused me to miss out on a whole year I could have been training, and I only learned the greatest proofs of the hoary age and Torah authenticity of the art since I began training...  Some of these proofs are precious family secrets the Aluf Abir will not allow me to publicize under any circumstance.  There many more, no doubt, that he still has not revealed to me, which he may or may not choose to share in the future. 

However, as one who merited to meet and speak with members of the Aluf Abir's extended family and to interview non-Habbani zeqenim (elders) on the subject, the claim that the Aluf Abir created his own system based on his own research is laughable.  Anyone who knows Yemenites -- particularly men from the old generation that is dying out --  know how utterly stubborn and closed they tend to be.  They will not tell you a story from beginning to end, like a Westerner -- even if would really lend credibility to the story they want to share.  They have such secrets bottled up inside, many of which they will die before revealing.   Such is the Abir's family in Bareqeth.  No one could bribe Mori Awwadh bin S'leiman of blessed memory to tell him in person how the Jews in Habban fought in a totally different way from the non-Jews, how he personally knew the Aluf Abir's grandfather and how mighty he was -- unless the 79-year-old was of the mind to do so.  (BTW, he was serious Torah scholar with a brilliant a mind.)  Yehe zikhro Barukh (may his memory be a blessing).

 

Rav Yosef Maghori-Kohen (from Kokhav Ya`aqov at the time) had never even met the Aluf Abir before he saw him briefly in my Beth Midrash; neither had the old rabbi ever heard about "Abir" or anyone still practicing the Habbani fighting tradition.  So how did he -- solely based on what his aunt and and the zeqenim (elders) from his childhood told him -- relate the unique weapon by which the Habbanim used to crush their enemies, and make gestures illustrating "the names" (he meant Hebrew letters) the Habbanim would fight with, and their use of Torah secrets from the days of the Tanakh?  He did so with no prompting or prior knowledge that I know something on the subject.

 

Who could convince Abir Yehoshua`'s cousins (also DoHim -- members of what was the highest ranking warrior clan of the Habbanim) to stare mesmerized, drinking in with their eyes the dances the Aluf Abir was teaching us in class in Tel Aviv, which they remembered seeing their grandfathers dance back in their childhood?  Anyone who is familiar even with the San`ani Baladi Yemenite dances (the Jews of San`aa being a separate and very distinct community from the Habbanim) -- if he saw a demonstration of their ancient Abir roots (their function as fighting techniques), he would immediately recognize the truth.  And those dances are the foundations of what we do.  

 

A person who fancies Abir/Qesheth to be a system that one person could have put together could only be someone with (a) little martial arts background, and/or (b) no close-up experience of Abir/Qesheth.  (Unless one trains, watching the YouTube videos cannot give you that experience because the Aluf Abir intentionally reveals little of the art in the videos he posts.)  But anyone who is first familiar with the body mechanics of other systems, their mindsets, and methodologies (such as I, who trained in Karate as a child, and recently trained intensively alongside other systems for my Wingate certification), and then has an appreciation for the BREADTH of the Abir system (it is a veritable ocean); realizes how far-fetched that is.  The system is so vast, yet uniform in its unique characteristics; so brimming with Torah secrets that illuminate so much in our tradition -- both Written and Oral... the notion the Aluf Abir invented this based on other styles is nothing short of ridiculous.    However, in a sense it does not matter if the system is thousands of years old or a few minutes old:  It is uniquely Jewish and amazingly effective.  It would not have been of interest to a unit of IDF special forces if it were not.  Moreover, it is health inducing and health preserving, and simply brings joy to its students.  It is a discipline that unites Jews of every background imaginable, inspiring Jews who visit from outside the Land to make `aliyah (to immigrate), moving the non-religious to become observant, and making brothers out those who began training with opposite worldviews.    I pray daily with all my heart that those of you -- our brothers and sisters who still wallow in the worsening Exile -- will merit to make `aliyah to train with us, and that we will merit your return.  After all, with every member of our Israelite family that returns, we become even more whole, thereby increasing our joy, our united resolve, and our national connection to the Creator.     With Torah blessings from Sion (Zion),   Mori (Rabbi) Michael Shelomo Bar-Ron, Beth Midrash Ohel Moshe