201120
20th of
November 2020
Hello! Bonjour, Guten
tag, אַ
גוטן טאָג,
buongiorno, يوم جيد, buenos días, hyvää päivää,
diwrnod da, יום
טוב, and most
importantly Good Shabbes and Shabbat Shalom. Gosh that was fun! If I missed
your language out then please let me know! In fact, I would love you to write
back to me so that I know I'm not talking to myself.
I discovered a fascinating
photograph of money and flags that were issued during the Mandate period – this
British Palestine Pound of 1927, clearly the legal currency of the time, was in
Hebrew and English.
The flag of 1939, pre-State, was depicted in the Larousse Encyclopaedia as half blue and half white with a yellow star
in the centre! It is amazing what one finds if one is
curious enough! Of course none of the discoveries will help the racism of the
United Nations which just confirmed the 2016 UN
Security Council Resolution 2334 which called on its member states to ensure
that they do not participate in actions of de facto annexation – of
course they care not a jot about annexations in other countries, only Israel-
in other words they support BDS.
Despite the very warm relationship we now
have with the Emirates, they voted with the 126 majority against us.
Talking of the Emirates, the Abraham Accords (notice it is not called a peace
treaty) are proving to be a warm and important treaty which is very much to the
benefit of both nations in finance, business, tourism and cultural exchange. In
the Middle East that is a huge step forward. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia all are
recognising our existence (another big thing in the ME) and even Sudan. Of
course we all know that Sudan has slavery, slaughters opponents willy-nilly etc
etc, but hey, the UN believes they are honoured members of their inner circle
and has never condemned their policies, actions or annexations!!!
Another UN Resolution, presented by Israel, promoting entrepreneurship between
countries in the region was voted down by Bahrain, UAE, Egypt, Saudi Arabia and
all the countries currently promoting entrepreneurship with Israel! Told you,
this is the Middle East!
During the Clinton Administration the decision was made to label anything made in the
disputed territories "Made in the West Bank" which included areas of
Jerusalem, not recognising that 1 million Palestinians depend upon those
factories and businesses for a living. 4 Republican Senators are hoping to
change that before the change of government so that all products will be
labelled "Made in Israel", in the USA at least. Remember the
Sodastream fiasco when hundreds of Palestinians lost their jobs because the
factory was situated in Mishor Adumim so that Palestinians would have a means
of earning? https://www.timesofisrael.com/everything-you-need-to-know-about-sodastreams-move/ In fact,
Secretary of State Pompeo, in his visit to Israel this week, assured us that
all products from Israel will be appropriately labelled "Produce of
Israel".
I don't know if this is appropriate or not but when Zvi told me about it, it really tickled
my sense of the ridiculous! Prime Minister Netanyahu is undergoing a standard
procedure this week and Replacement Prime Minister Gantz will be sworn in as
Prime Minister. Nothing odd about that except that the procedure is a
colonoscopy, all 10 minutes of it! So ludicrous that the PM is unwilling to
stand by his pledge to hand over power but …… you undoubtedly see the inanity
of the situation!!
There are so many divides in our lives – religion, politics, pro and anti so many things, but
also between those who have lost a child and those who have not. In general the
anti-government demonstrations are quiet, although those opposed to the demands
for Netanyahu's resignation have been a good deal more than vociferous and this
week they just went too far. The Farkash family in Caesaria have taken part in
anti-government demonstrations and an opposing demonstration became abusive as demonstrators stood outside the Farkash family home for
more than an hour shouting abuse at the bereaved mother, such as "There is
a God and he punished her. May she lose another child." It was the home of fallen IDF pilot Capt. Tom Farkash.
Words fail me. The Likud party distanced itself from the guilty parties but
their words were insufficient and hollow and since removed from their website
Emmanuel Macron, the French leader, needs to make some very tough
decisions since the decapitation of history teacher Samuel Paty because he
"demeaned the name of Mohammed". The Interior Minister Gerald
Darmanin ordered a 6 month closure of the Mosque which the 18 year old
Chechnian Jihadi prayed. The decisions are of Napoleonic proportions as
explained by Rabbi Jeremy Rosen http://jeremyrosen.com/2020/11/napoleon-and-macron.html
We are all fed up of hearing about the Covid-19 vaccine race. Pfizer, Moderna, Sputnik V and now a new
name has come on the scene, Acturus. Israel is “first in line, or at least in
the front position of that line” to receive four million doses of a vaccine
being developed by the small California-based messenger RNA therapeutics
company known as Arcturus, according to its CEO Joseph Payne. What is never
publicized is that of all the vaccines that Israel buys we also give to the PA
and other neighbouring countries.
Do you know what Mehlella (Supplication), Amata Saww (Day of Gathering) or Sigd
(Prostration) is? It is the most important day in the Ethiopian Jewish
community's calendar. Once considered the Ethiopian Yom Kippur it has evolved
and is celebrated on the 29th day of the Hebrew month of Marcheshvan. Since 2008, it
has been recognized as a state holiday for all Israelis and many Israelis of
Ethiopian origin come on pilgrimage to Jerusalem dressed in traditional
costume, to the Haas Promenade overlooking Jerusalem and hold joyous
celebrations.
Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip are celebrating 73 years of marriage!
Yes I am watching the 4th season of The Crown and find it
fascinating how they worked through every problem and came out as a successful
couple. I wonder what they will do to celebrate. On
his birthday Prince Charles gave a donation to The Peres Center for Peace and
Innovation and in November 2008 on their 61st anniversary the Queen
Elizabeth and Prince Philip conferred an honorary knighthood on Shimon Peres.
This week was a social
highpoint – we actually saw real
people! I not only met my friend Ronit on the bench opposite for a coffee and
cheese croissant from our coffee shop which has just opened for take-away and
we had a delightful catch-up chat. On Tuesday Zvi went to Tel Aviv and met his
old friends Yitzik Lev and Yolli Zonszein. On Wednesday I met Shifra for a
lovely walk along the ancient brook of Ein Lavan, the sun was shining and the
air crisp, perfect. That evening Siggi and Mendy came to visit and Mendy and I
discovered a mutual love of flora. Of course we discussed every petal and leaf,
and he taught me lessons on how to keep my orchids alive. Of course during both
events we wore our masks and kept our distance but it was such a delight to be
with real people! Yesterday I decided to get in the car and go to see Rachel
and family, no reason just because I missed them. It was such a delight to see
the children doing their school work and just getting on with life as it has
become. Rachel even stopped cooking for Shabbat for a couple of hours!!
Tomorrow we will see Zvi's boys and families. Any thoughts of sitting outside
might be a bit of a problem since glorious rain and storms are already washing
Israel's shores. Keeping our distance is difficult but
essential with 6 gorgeous grandchildren with us who just want to be cuddled but
have to keep their distance.
Every morning my son Gideon calls on his drive into Central London and we talk
about our day, the world at large and of course the children. Hearing his voice
sets me up for whatever the world has to throw at me and arguing with him is
such intelligent fun!
Zvi, when he isn't deep in the Zoom meetings of the Jewish Agency or arguing with some very
opinionated people on Facebook, has been walking every evening with Motti
Friedman, a wonderful friend, expert on the life of Theodore Herzl, who created
the Herzl Museum here in Jerusalem. Motti walks our usual 2 kilometres and then
Zvi goes off for another 3 or 4 kilometres, round the beautiful old village
next to us, down the main road all the way to Teddy Stadium and then back up
the steep parallel road and home. He often calls in at the supermarket to buy
huge and sweet pomegranates which he then expertly deseeds and at 08:35 every
morning we exercise with Avri Gilad on the TV morning show! We came to the
conclusion that vegetating is not the wisest solution to the pandemic!
This week's Torah reading reveals that even a wise and gentle young man like Jacob
is capable of cheating his farmer twin Esau and lying to his father when it
comes to receiving a birthright. Why on earth would he do that, taking advantage
of his father's blindness, even worse why would his mother collude with him? https://www.chabad.org/parshah/article_cdo/aid/4937127/jewish/The-Deception.htm
And so to our musical interlude
Firstly, a fascinating compilation by The Genesis Prize about Jewish influence in music.
It's so enlightening! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xTk21PhgB2E
Even if you don't understand Yiddish there is something in the intonation that reaches deep
down into one's kishkes (guts) and makes you either laugh or cry!! I don't know
what it is but see for yourself as Sassi Keshet and Dudu Fisher sing for
Yiddishspiel. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FeG0YFFjGGw
For me it brings back my parents, especially
my beautiful Mother who passed away on the 22nd of November 1963 –
yes indeed as the announcement of JFK's death came over the news the doctor
came to give us the sad news.
Naomi Shemer wanted to write a song to honour the soldiers of the IDF who lost their lives
in the Yom Kippur War. When she heard the Beatles song "Let It Be"
she was prompted to write the beautiful Lu Yehi – May it Be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDyHGjawbL4
Shabbat.
Such a short word, with such deep meaning; the one day of the week when instead
of chasing one's tail one is actually instructed to rest, pray, contemplate and
of course to eat. One doesn't need to be Jewish to celebrate Shabbat; it may be
on a different day or a different religion but it is Shabbat, Sabbath Day, the
Lord's Day, the Day of Rest, and it is irrelevant when it falls or what it is
called, it represents a renewal of the spirit. After lighting the Shabbat
Candles I look out at the view from our veranda and I give thanks. No matter
what tragedies befall us we have so much to be thankful for. I posed a question
on Facebook "In one word how would you describe this pandemic" So
many answered with a thesaurus of dismal dismay and I was overjoyed by the
occasional "challenging". It is challenging but as long as we are on
our feet and functioning there is always hope.
Please, write and tell me if you enjoy my
newsletters, I'd love to hear about your day too!
With much love from beautiful Jerusalem
Sheila
