200228
28th
February 2020
Good
Shabbes, Shabbat Shalom!
The
only good thing about the Corona virus is that nobody is talking about Bibi!!
Did you
know the reason we say "Bless you" when someone sneezes? In the
Middle Ages, during the Great Plague, if someone sneezed then they were blessed
becaue chances are they were infected with the plague. Now we have wonderful
Alco-Gel and learned to sneeze into our elbows but nonetheless kissing and
hugging is becoming a rarity! We have run out of facemasks and I cannot decide
if this is a political ploy to scare the living daylights out of us; to ruin
trade with China or encourage more research into immunization before the next
round of influenza or MARS (MERSA). All I know is that I long for the days
when, as a child, the Corona man came around with his drinks float full of
bottles of sweet pop with names like "American Cream Soda" and
"Dandelion and Burdock". Oh well that's another childhood memory
ruined!!
Israeli
scientists are just 3 weeks away from developing a vaccine https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8054769/Israeli-scientists-say-just-WEEKS-away-developing-vaccine-beat-coronavirus.html
Zvi
just came in to me with a fascinating story from the Shoah that relates to the
Corona Virus!
Rome,
1943, Albert Kesserling, was the German commander in charge of the Nazi
troops in Rome, and Herbert
Kappler was the
city’s SS chief of police. Under the direction of
Professor Giovanni Borromeo, a man who’d previously refused to join the Fascist
party, the Catholic hospital had already become known as a safe haven for Jews,
allowing doctors like Vittorio Sacerdoti, a 28-year-old Jewish man who had lost
his previous job due to his religion, to work under false papers in the
hospital. Borromeo had also installed an illegal radio transmitter and receiver
in the hospital basement, which was used to communicate with local
partisans. Professor Borromeo had a brilliant idea, together with Dr. Sacerdoti,
they decided that any Jew who came to the hospital seeking refuge would be
admitted as a new patient and declared to be suffering from a highly contagious
and deadly disease known as ‘Il Morbo di K’, aka Syndrome K or ‘K’ Syndrome, so
named for the two Nazi Officers! Their "patients were instructed to cough
violently whenever the Germans came near to investigate the hospital until the
Germans feared the outcome of this deadly "K Syndrome" thus saving
tens, possibly hundreds of Jewish lives.
Going
back to childhood memories, once upon a time I thought that politicians were
wisely chosen leaders who only wanted the best for the country, whatever
country, kind of altruistic parents – well, that bubble burst long ago when I
discovered the truth about the "honest reporting" of the BBC, but at least
I thought that despite megalomania the leaders really intended leading our
countries wisely, whether the policy we voted for or the policy we didn't.
Another bubble burst! There are some leaders who actually set out to improve
the current situation of their constituents, but they are few and far between
and usually unpopular because change is never welcome and usually hurts!
In just
3 days Israel goes to the polls for the third time. It is ludicrous, it is
painful, it wastes billions of shekels that should go toward health care and
pensions and all because one person refuses to relinquish power. We could have
had a new government nearly 2 years ago, a centrist, logical coalition of
Likud, Blue and White and probably Liberman and Emet giving us the most stable
government for a very long time, but ego denied us the right to stability
because, quite rightly, Blue and White, Liberman and Emet refused to sit in a
coalition with a Prime Minister who would spend several days a week in court
defending himself on serious corruption charges. The situation is even more
distressing because he refused immunity from prosecution by stepping down.
Remember, it was Benjamin Netanyahu that declared that Ehud Olmert must resign
his Premiership because he could not lead the country and fight his legal
battles.
Oh
well, Monday will tell us if we are truly democratic of ruled by a corrupt
government.
Talking
of Democrats with a big D, what on earth is going on in the Democratic debates?
Watching the vitriol fly I think I prefer our insane politics to the USA!!
Bernie Sanders is frightening! It isn't only his misinterpretation and
misrepresentation of Israel, it's his praise of Castro and Venezuela, deeply
reminiscent of Ken Livingstone and, yes, of Jeremy Corbyn! In fact little sense
was spoken at the debates, certainly no manifesto declaring their intentions
regarding the future of the United States………. and a great deal of nasty,
demeaning comments about Bloomberg's wealth!
This
week began with 3 days of meetings of the Jewish Agency, planning, discussion,
informative lectures and debates. The various meetings were conducted with a
new format which was both inclusive and hopeful. Instead of being told what the
decisions were, each table was given a chart and asked to write their
suggestions on post-it notes which were then taken back to the office for
consideration. I didn't take part in the majority of meetings, in fact very
few, because I was busy trying to do "as the doctor ordered" and
walk, walk, walk. I succeeded, helped by lovely girlfriends who walked with me.
Our time in Tel Aviv was made all the more worthwhile by the presence of our
dearest friend Dr. Kimball Taylor who comes all the way from Cardston, Alberta,
Canada to be with us. I was deeply impressed by the quality of the attendees
and of course Zvi's input was, as always, relevant, coherent and impressive.
The two Danny L's, Liwerant (Mexico) and Lamm (Australia), showed great
leadership, speaking up and speaking out.
The
highlight of our 3 day stay in Tel Aviv was undoubtedly, incredibly, the
glorious visit of Kinneret Chaya to the hotel. Since she now has 4 children and
is studying, our best efforts of getting together with her and Rachel always
seem to fail, so I was thrilled beyond words as I saw her walk across the lobby
of the Hilton! She is even more beautiful than ever, her scars really have
become stars. She is just a miracle. In case you are new to my missives, let me
explain just who this incredible young woman is. http://www.theviewfrommyveranda.info/150330-happy-re-birthday-kinneret-chaya/
As
always Rabbi Jeremy Rosen teaches me something new, a different aspect of
Judaism, every week. http://jeremyrosen.com/2020/02/vilem-flusser.html
This
morning, Rachel, Zvi and I put aside our Shabbat preparations for a very
important family occasion – the Brit Mila of little Noam Moshe Daren. My
relationship with the Darens is long and loving, we are family and friends and
I love each and every one of them! The Brit Milah (bris or circumcision) is an
ancient tradition bringing 8 day old boy children into the fold of Judaism. It
has had a bad press of late, mostly by the Europeans but quite apart from the
religious aspect it has many health aspects too. Here Prof Shimon Glick
explains https://msih.bgu.ac.il/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/britmila-002.pdf
Tonight
we are returning to our usual routine! Zvi's boys and families are coming for
supper and thanks to my wonderful freezer full of my favourite soups, quiches
and lasagna carefully prepared before my surgery the table will be suitably
groaning with food! I actually made two types of soup, this week my orange soup
for the children and cauliflower soup for the adults, of course with the
inevitable Osem soup almonds for everyone! Main course? Fresh salmon and roasted
veggies for the adults and for Yonatan, veggie lasagna for the children and
loads of fresh salads. Dessert will be made by Leor's girls. It will be
wonderful to get back to singing the Kiddush together, led by Saba Zvi, and the
children joining in the blessing of the Challah which is then "broken and
thrown" as tradition demands. It is said that rather than have the challah
portion pass from hand to hand the Rabbi would throw it to each student of
member of the family straight from his freshly washed hands.
This
has been a week of family celebrations. In far off New Zealand, my beautiful great-niece Olivia married
Shaun, her Prince Charming, with 4 generations of Olivia's family flying out to
be with her. Lucky lucky Olivia and Shaun………wish my siblings has been at our
and Rachel's weddings. Mazal Tov to all!!!
Anyone
who thinks that the only mention of many colours in the Bible is Josephs coat,
think again. As the children of Israel were becoming increasingly disgruntled
with the apparent lack of progress toward the Promised Land God gave Moses
instruction to build a Sanctuary made of thirteen materials—gold, silver and
copper; blue, purple and red-dyed wool; flax, goat hair, animal skins, wood, olive oil,
spices and gems—out of which, G‑d says
to Moses, “They shall make for Me a
Sanctuary, and I shall dwell amidst
them.”
This is the Torah reading for this week and it made me think that so many of
the Jewish people are impatient and disgruntled, not understanding or following
the path that is set out for us. Exodus – remember the one with Moses and the
Exodus that brought us home, again. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C1sSfNHghZc
Andinet means "together" in Amharic.
The Andinet choir was founded as part of the "We are all Andinet"
project at the Jewish Agency's Haruv Absorption Center in Be'er Sheva. The
project empowers newly-arrived immigrant children from Ethiopia by seeking
out their special talents. This week they were a resounding success at the
Jewish Agency's Board of Governors meetings as they sang "Shevet Achim
v'Achyot – a Tribe of brothers and sisters". https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8VOLuFUBE_k&feature=youtu.be
The one
thing that holds us together as a people is tradition. The traditions of our
forefathers, of our ancestors, the traditions that honour our parents and
grandparents. Today we are trying so hard to play a different tune on our
fiddles, perhaps with those tunes we cannot keep our balance of that ever
fragile roof. No I'm not talking about the homemaker and the wage-earner but
rather the beautiful traditions that all of us, man and woman, can keep.
Although we were poor our path in life was so much easier, we were part of a
kehilla, of a community. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRdfX7ut8gw The voice of Chaim
Topol and the magic of Yitzchak Perlman's violin
So,
almost Shabbes. Time to heat the oven, set the table and prepare for the
arrival of the children. Today the sun is shining, the flowers peeking out in
surprise. Narcissi, sweet smelling narcissi are bursting open and the grape
hyacinth are poking through their winter green. The view is as breathtaking as
ever and Jerusalem is slowly closing down, getting ready for Shabbat. The
traffic going up to Gilo has already slowed as families scrub themselves clean
and shining to match their homes and the aromas of 120 nations fills the air. I
know that Shoshana made Kubeh Soup because she does it every week as she
follows the Kurdish tradition of Friday lunch with the entire family –
including Kubeh Soup!!! Michal has a mixture of her own Ashkenaz cuisine and
her husband Kobi's spicy Moroccan food where s although Chaim is Turkish Daisy
is from Tunisia and her cooking matches her exotic traditions……… and so it
goes, traditions.
I wish
you a beautiful Shabbat, a good weekend with time to sit and talk around the
family table – no cellphones to break the communication.
Shabbat
Shalom from Jerusalem, with all our love
Sheila
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