170316
16th
March, 2017
Shabbat
Shalom dear friends.
Last
week I let you off lightly because of Purim but this week I am raising a few
highly contentious subjects because my conscience demands I do so.
The
basic principle of Judaism, indeed the ethos of Judaism, is to question, no stone
of contention is left unturned if I may misquote. We are taught to honour our
fellow man and respect his/her views. This Purim that view was shattered. In Mea
Shearim, the ancient stronghold of ultra-Orthodox Jews, every conceivable
line was crossed, morally, legally, Jewishly, when effigies of IDF soldiers
were hung from balconies. As if that was not bad enough there were riots after
an 18 year old Yeshiva Bocher was arrested for not going to the enrollment
center to get his release from national service. He was arrested because he
refused to enter the doors of the enrollment centre to receive his release.
There is nothing in our belief system that precludes defending your country!
Some of our finest soldiers were religious. It is time to do something about it
–to allow a few brilliant Yeshiva students to continue studying but the others
must work and serve, and demand this treacherous behavior stop. Rights are
earned; rights are the reward of fulfilled obligations.
Rabbi
Igal Levinstein
announced that women should not serve in the IDF because they go in pure and
religious and come out secular and sinful! I cannot even bring myself to
comment so I leave it to Minister Avigdor Liberman who calls for Levinsteins
resignation. http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4932388,00.html
How
many of us remember the anguished cries of Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish whose
daughters were killed by a stray Israeli tank shell in the 2008-9 Gaza
conflagration. Dr Abuelaish returned to his work in an Israeli hospital, ultimately
moved to Canada. He has never spoken against Israel, never spoken of revenge,
always promoting peace. To my horror, he is still fighting for compensation. It
should have been done to give his family given a chance to build a new life. http://www.jpost.com/Arab-Israeli-Conflict/Gaza-born-Doctor-to-sue-Israel-over-daughters-death-in-09-war-483984
Impertinent,
audacious or brazen? Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Turkey, who has
gagged the press and called for public support to become a dictator, called
Holland a "Banana Republic" after Turkish Ministers were banned from
speaking to Ex-Pat Turks. In Holland Prime
Minister Mark Rutte won the elections despite belief that Gerd Wilders
was the top candidate. Still right wing Rutte is not extreme. Of course CNN
compared Wilders and Trump which shows their lack of understanding on how right
wing the European candidates are. Hopefully the same will happen in France. http://edition.cnn.com/2017/03/15/europe/netherlands-dutch-elections/
The
Muezzin Law is a misnomer, even its title on the bill before the Knesset is the
"Noise Law". In Israel house parties or outdoor concerts must
end by 11 pm; excessive noise is disallowed by law including noisy vehicles and
leaf blowers; Church bells, Synagogue noise and Mosques. Since Church bells are
rarely rung before dawn and most Jews pray Shacharit quietly it was deemed an
anti-Moslem law (by troublemakers). Nobody complains about the Muezzins call to
prayer at 04:30 as long as it isn't loud, but even in towns the volume is
increased until it becomes impossible to sleep, so the law has to be imposed.
Not anti-Moslem at all, anti-noise.
Our
hopes rose to great heights as Israel's team beat all comers including Cuba, in
the World Baseball Classic this week; but then were dashed as we were
beaten roundly by the Netherlands and Japan. In fact, only 3 players were Israeli
citizens, the remainder were Americans and Canadians who were allowed to play
for Israel by Jewish default!!!! http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-falls-to-japan-ending-miracle-run-at-baseball-tournament/
Zvi
decided to install Mobileye in our car after a friend drove into a truck
a night and was killed. Apparently he simply didn't see the truck until it was
too late. Mobileye is our eyes both day and night and senses if we stray from
our lane without indicating; it beeps if we get too close to the car in front
thus ensuring we are alert at all times. It is a brilliant innovation and this
week Intel bought Mobileye for over $15 million. The best part is that the
company will stay in Jerusalem, not move to the States as so many companies
have done. Incidentally all new cars sold in Israel from this year have to
install Mobileye by law. http://www.jpost.com/Business-and-Innovation/Tech/Report-Intel-buying-Mobileye-for-15-billion-in-biggest-Israeli-hi-tech-deal-ever-484044
Antonio Guterres was the Prime Minister of
Portugal, a country that took responsibility for its
anti-Semitism. He is now the Secretary General of the United
nations and his words are a breath of fresh air as he speaks on Holocaust
Memorial Day to an invited audience of Holocaust Survivors. If he is able to win this fight then the United
Nations may even become a logical resource of peace. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PazXjDiNBhc&feature=youtu.be
US
Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley has demanded that
the publication that states that Israel has imposed an apartheid state on the
Palestinians be repealed. Sec. General Guterres has distanced himself from said
report. Could the tide be turning? To express support for Nikki Haley please
sign http://standwithus.co.il/
I was
uncertain as to whether or not to put this into my
letter. Then I decided that since we in Israel are good at washing all our
dirty laundry in public, maybe I should not be shy of exposing others. This
report details an investigation of the activities of George
Soros in Congress and the implications therein that
reach up to the White House. http://yournewswire.com/congress-george-soros-investigation/
So
Purim has been and gone. Friday night with Zvi's boys became an opportunity for
princesses and firemen to appear at the Shabbat table! It was fun especially
when Saba Zvi arrived as a Mariachi and I appeared as Charlie Chaplin. Only
problem was that the little ones had no idea who Charlie Chaplin was!! Later we
met up at a friend's house and just "mootled" – which is almost
untranslatable but basically means to chatter, natter or just to talk and enjoy
each other!
On
Shabbat we met with Mark Minevitch who gave us a fascinating overview of
Washington and of world finances – apart from being really honoured to spend
time with this man who is in a different country every day!! On Sunday evening
(Shushan Purim) we had the choir over for a Purim Party at home. About
35 of us, each person brought a food contribution to the table. We had
musicians and a gorgeous singsong and of course a Purim Quiz. Charlie and
Mariachi reappeared to greet our guests and everyone wore come kind of fancy
dress – if not they were met at the door with a wig, tiara, false nose or
beard!!!
I made
a serious omission last week and it rightly distressed Leo-Dan Bensky,
the wonderful President of World Maccabi Union. Zvi and I went to the opening
of the WMU meetings and the run up to the 2017 Maccabiah – the 20th.
The evening was filled with music, dance and declarations of love for Israel
and excitement of the imminent games. 80 Countries One Heart. Leo-Dan, I hope this goes a little way to
making it up to you and all the wonderful people of the Maccabi Family http://www.maccabiah.com/2017/eng/
The
veranda looks stunning!!! The tulips are suddenly peeking out of their
protective leaves, the daffodils and narcissi emitting their glorious scent; the
grape hyacinths and rununculus, cyclamen, geranium and nasturtium, gosh I love
spring!!!! The sky is still threatening rain, but the long periods before it
falls are so beautiful, crisp air and blue skies with clouds quickly scudding across
propelled by the breeze. The sharp spring sunshine makes the white Jerusalem
stones glisten on the houses and the blossom trees which line our streets bloom
in glorious contrast.
Tomorrow
morning at 06:00 we will set out for Mevasseret Zion with our grand-daughter
Amit, to meet up with the choir members and our bus to the North. Our journey
will contain many stops for our guide and choir member Eva Yaron, to
explain our surroundings. We will spend Shabbat in Akko, Acre, the ancient
Crusader fortresses and the Templar halls below the city. http://www.akko.org.il/en/ Our friend Dr Motti Friedman and his
family will be with us to explain the Jewish and historic importance of that
city. Our beautiful hostel is right in the centre of town so we can get everywhere
on foot. Our Shabbat dinner will be in the hostel and either Motti or Zvi will
probably do Kiddush. That's the great fun in travelling in Israel – Shabbat is
Shabbat wherever you go!!! Akko is a city you should not miss.
The great
Israeli poet and songwriter Naomi Shemer loved the Beatles song "Let
it Be" and felt the prayer in the words were deeply appropriate to Israel
and her soldiers. She wrote "Lu Yehi" - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfMoeK6UVB0
So you
thought our soldiers just fight? Well they only fight when all other options
have been exhausted. They also sing and sing beautifully. Here is my favourite
version of Leonard Cohens Halleluya. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atVQfeLPUSk
Finally,
the Chief Chazan (Cantor) of the Israeli Defence Forces, Shai Abrahamson,
sings the prayer for the peace of the State of Israel. Let's all join him in
this prayer. Amen https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Q5--mNIZhU
The
cleaning has started, call it spring cleaning or call it Pesach cleaning, it
must be done! The smell of cleaning fluids and bleach are predominant but I
have a short break this weekend – work to be resumed on Sunday!!!
Happy
anniversary to Igal and Rachel and happy birthday to my husband – Ad 120
With
love from Jerusalem where dreams become reality and tolerance (Sovlanut) and
patience (Savlanut) are synonymous. We have to be patient and tolerance will
come but only if we seek it out and ensure it.
Shabbat
Shalom dear friend, Shabbat Shalom.
Sheila
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