Peace on Earth and Shabbat Shalom

 

25^th December 2020

 

Shabbat Shalom to all and a special wish for a blessed Christmas Day to all my Christian friends.

 

"Peace on earth and goodwill to all men" What a beautiful wish, one which we should wish for every day of our lives. Can you imagine how wonderful life would be if we could let those words out of our mouths and into our hearts?

 

The Christmas tree in Nazareth is spectacular this year, a thousand coloured lights shining in a perfect triangle pointing up to heaven; Bethlehem Road in Talpiot has the usual decorations, sparkling and welcoming on the short road to the City of Bethlehem, even though visitors to both places are very limited. Watching both on television is something of an anti-climax but it's the best we can do during this very strange period of our lives.

 

I'm going to write a short summary of events in Israel, because I hope you are all, whatever your religion, enjoying the prospect of a beautiful day.

 

We are going into our third closure, lockdown, quarantine, curfew, sequestration – whatever the word or description is means that so many people will be lonely and without work or the money to feed their families that it makes this Christmas a difficult one. Hotels and restaurants that have stocked up for the holiday season are left with food that will go to waste unless donated to the poor. The Covid-19 situation has been mismanaged the world over, with a tsunami of repercussions that nobody could fortell. The world order has changed and it is basically up to us to ensure that it changes for the better.

 

Prime Minister Netanyahu has been on a vaccine hunt for many months now, cajoling and coaxing the major drug companies to ensure that Israel received the maximum number of vaccines, and he succeeded. Israel tops the world chart of inoculations per capita. Quite an achievement. The Health Funds really got their act together and created large inoculation stations. Zvi had his first vaccine this week (I'm on the 28^th) and the efficiency was truly magnificent. The vaccination station was in the Pais Basketball Arena, just near us. Plenty of parking, a huge reception hall with well spaced chairs for the pre- and post-vaccination waiting. First he registered, showing his ID card and was given a number; we sat and waited, an LED sign showing the numbers and a voice calling each number proved that the patients were called at a surprisingly fast rate. There were 10 stations with a nurse and a volunteer checking that the right person came for their jab and that they had no recent medical problems which could interfere with the inoculation. We then sat for the obligatory and usual 15 minutes to make sure there were no sudden surprises and went home! It really was amazingly efficient.

 

That efficiency has resulted in Israel being top of the world chart for inoculations per capita – next in line is the UK then the USA.

 

Yet another repeat situation that has overtaken the country is……you guessed it….another round of elections, our fourth in two years! The party map is changing by the minute with defections and new parties being formed. In may cases it is out with the old and in with the new. The entire process is too complicated to bore you on Christmas Day and for those masochists among us here is a timeline from Gil Hoffman https://www.jpost.com/israel-elections/election-timeline-all-the-important-dates-until-the-election-and-beyond-653046 and an analysis of the economic  repercussions from Joshua Schuman https://www.jpost.com/israel-elections/israel-pays-economic-price-for-fourth-election-in-two-years-653149  

 

All passengers arriving from the UK this week have been taken to compulsory isolation in various hotels in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem after the discovery of the "UK Variant" Covid-19. The entire operation was horribly botched since there was no forewarning and the passengers had none of their requisites for an overnight stay let alone a 10 day stay. Of course, in the day of the cellphone video proof of their situation became obvious. The army did its best to rectify the situation since none of the hotels were prepared, no staff because there were no guests and – oy a balagan! I was, however, very proud of the "Brits Living in Israel" Facebook group led by Anton Delin who immediately jumped into action and provided everything needed to the "incarcerated" Brits. I would not fly anywhere right now but many think differently even though 4 passengers were found to have the new variant.

 

Just to make things worse, an even more potent variation has appeared from South Africa. The Israeli Cabinet made the decision that all countries are considered red and all arrivals have to go into a 10 day isolation, mostly in Corona Hotels, until they test negative.

 

That's enough doom and gloom although the truth be told there was one terrible incident when a beautiful, joyful, mother of 6, Esther Horgen z"l, went running through the countryside near her home, as she did virtually every day, and was brutally murdered in a terrorist attack. Our amazing IDF has virtually halted all terrorist activity and I know that a single murder in over a month is not impressive to anyone living in the West, but this is different, this perpetrator had been taught hatred on a daily basis in his school, hatred of Jews, hatred of Israelis irrespective of their beliefs.

 

Observant Jews will not be celebrating today since it is a minor fast mourning a major event. The 10^th day of the month of Tevet remembers the siege of Jerusalem by King Nebuchadnezzar which ultimately led to the destruction of King Solomon's First Temple and the conquest of the Kingdom of Judah. Fascinating to think that if that had not been the case the constant battles over Judea and Samaria might never have happened. I know "if only" has never helped anyone but it links nicely with Bethlehem, Jesus and Judea and of course the claim that Judea and Samaria are not Jewish at all.

 

Back to Christmas and a story that fits everyone, everyone who loves a happy ending. My children grew up on a wonderful television and book series called Ivor the Engine, written and narrated by Oliver Postgate. It was set in Wales and held the children enraptured by the soft Welsh accent, Jones the Steam, Idrys the Dragon and the sheer beauty of the stories. Daniel Postgate, the late Oliver Postgate's son, happens to be my nephew and here he reads "Bluebell's Christmas Mission" https://youtu.be/0eKEpzrbgZg

 

This morning I woke to a glorious sunny morning, after two days of blessed rain. The panorama before me glistened in the sun, the pinky white Jerusalem stone showing its true beauty after nature's laundry had washed the Saharan dust of last week.

 

Wouldn't it be wonderful if "goodwill to all men" could be our motto for the coming year? Tikkun Olam is exactly that – to leave this world a better place than we found it. Just imagine if those harsh words that were on the tip of your tongue were swallowed instead of being spat out? Tikkun Olam is not giving to charity, it is not instead of our prayers and it isn't something to replace our identity, Tikkun Olam is to be proactive, to make our street, town, city, country a better place for those who are unable to help themselves. After all, a country is judged on how it provides for the weakest sectors of its society.

 

This week's Torah reading teaches us about tolerance and forgiveness as we reach the climax of the story of Joseph. After Benjamin finally travels to Egypt and stands before the great Joseph, Joseph finally reveals who he is to his younger brother. His first question is after his father's welfare and then, when Benjamin asks if his brother is angry Joseph tells him "No, everything has a purpose and G-d wanted me here so that I could save my people in a time of famine and distress" As we know the story ends well and Joseph is able to hug his father etc, but think about what he said and its depth of meaning. He didn't eat himself up in hatred of his brothers or thoughts of revenge, who had, after all, thrown him into a pit and sold him to Egyptians out of jealousy since he was his father's favourite, he recognised that nothing happens in a vacuum, every situation, no matter how seemingly hopeless, can be turned into Tikkun Olam.

 

Here's a happy Shabbat song and it's in English! Remember to be proud of who you are and your age old traditions, irrespective of how you pray. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_L_1wuOqLQ

 

Imagine a Jewish immigrant, Irving Berlin, writing the greatest Christmas song ever written! Sounds crazy but it's true and I love it! Here Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra sing White Christmas. May your days be merry and bright! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMl4Pls41qI

 

People often ask me "What do you really want from this world" or "What do you pray for Israel and for the world"? It expressed in this song The Prayer. Simple and pure for us all to be kind and tolerant of others………… can you imagine how beautiful it would be? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SYJCYr1I-Sk

 

I wish you well, however you pray, whatever your identity, whoever you love, wherever you are.

 

I wish you a Shabbat Shalom and much love from Jerusalem where it all starts for us all. This beautiful city that I am proud to call home.

Sheila

 

     

  

201218 Inoculation, Extradition and Education

 

201218

18^th December 2020

 

Shabbat Shalom dear friends. Only 4 more days until Christmas Eve, 5 days until Christmas Day and 6 days until Boxing Day. Incredible to think that 2020 is almost over accompanied by a huge sigh of relief.

 

As we see more and more anti-Semitism in the guise of anti-Israel sentiment I am reminded of Sir Winston Churchill's prophetic speech in 1936

 

‘They go on in some strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be impotent…Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have entered upon a period of danger. The era of procrastination, of half measures, of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to a close. In its place we are entering a period of consequences…We cannot avoid this period, we are now in it.’

 

There is only one way to stop the tsunami of hatred and that is to change what children are taught. Tolerance must replace hatred, for the sake of our children and the sake of our world. More of that later.

 

There are many philanthropists in this world, many good people who never forget from whence they came, but few reach the level of good works of the Lowy family from Australia. Lady Shirley Lowy, matriarch of the Lowy family, passed away this week in Tel Aviv after the family made Aliya, leaving her family bereft and thousands of friends mourning. Her son Stephen, a really good man, is the Chair of the Board of Governors of Keren Hayesod/UIA following in his parents footsteps of philanthropy in general and a strong connection to Israel. May the family know no more sorrow.

 

Australians are relieved this week as the nightmare of Malka Leifer came to an end and a new chapter in bringing her to justice began. I believe you are familiar with the drawn-out legal battle to have Malka Leifer extradited to Australia to face charges of child sexual abuse. Her legal team used Israel's legal system to the fullest, but this week, after 74 court appearances and appeals Israel’s Supreme Court rejected her final appeal. Despite a process that often takes weeks if not months, Israeli Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn signed her extradition order within a day. Leifer will be back in Australia within two months to face her victims. The question on everybody's lips is who paid for her extortionate legal expenses.

 

The vaccine arrived in Israel and tomorrow night the vaccinations begin. Too many ridiculous and dangerous fallacies are circling the world, suggesting that the vaccine is dangerous, changes ones DNA etc. Do you remember the lies that circulated about wearing masks and the suggestion that here was no pandemic that it was all a political intrigue? So the stories of the vaccine are given the false veracity scaring people into falling ill and extending the pandemic. I can promise you that Zvi and I will run to the clinic to receive our vaccine the minute we are called.

 

The moment that Israel signs any kind of treaty or accord Israelis feel the need to travel and see that country. 50,000 Israelis already travelled to the UAE, yes, you heard me, 50,000 Israelis in the UAE since the Abraham Accords and many visitors from the Emirates came here, each talking of the beauty of Israel and the warmth of the people. There is a downside though, the Israeli Government has not declared the UAE as a "red" state and many Israelis have brought Covid-19 back as a memento of their trip, some even having to stay in the UAE until better. In fact, the number of Israelis taking advantage of the current open skies policy is terrifying. We have enough problems without adding to the causes of infection. Shopping malls and stores are not the problem, travel and large weddings or funerals without masks are a huge and utterly negative contributor.

 

Despite the fact that he was my son Daniel's Rabbi in Oxford University, I don't often cite Rabbi Shmuley Boteach as my source. In this week's opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post, he hit the nail right on the head. American Jews have become so factionalised that hatred is rife. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/americans-have-gone-insane-hating-each-other-opinion-652355

 

It isn't only the treaties and accords that caused a peak in pique in the Palestinian Authority leadership. Thanks to the brilliant work of Impact-se, the Norwegian Government decided to cut their 20 million krone aid to the PA unless the PA takes hate speech out of their school curriculum. IMPACT-se’s report, delivered to policymakers, showed that no changes were made to the 2020-21 curriculum, despite promises made by Palestinian officials to the visiting British and Norwegian Foreign Ministers and other European politicians and diplomats. The textbooks contain antisemitism, incitement to violence, hate and do not recognize Israel or a peaceful settlement with Israel. On the other hand Impact is working with the UAE, is helping Bahrain and Morocco to change their school books and, wait for it, Saudi Arabia too!

 

We know that the teaching of hatred and violence affects specific countries but the terrifying fact is that those teachings filter down throughout the West too and create an untenable situation of inculcated hatred for "the other". That is our next objective, to bring tolerance to all sectors of society, wherever you may be, through tolerant education. https://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-semitism-and-anti-zionsim-leaving-saudi-textbooks-monitoring-group/

 

Relations with Morocco have almost always been warm, but now we not only have a treaty with Morocco, they are teaching Jewish studies in their schools!

 

The latest agreement is with Bhutan. Bhutan? What or where is Bhutan? Bhutan, between India and China, is a secret gem, discourages visitors and is one of the world's unspoilt countries. They have virtually no internet, they live a simple life, are happy with their lot and it sounds just wonderful.

 

John Le Carre, genius author, fascinating man passed away this week. He spoke of his affinity to Israel and the Jews in an interview 22 years ago. https://www.timesofisrael.com/when-john-le-carre-poured-out-his-soul-on-jews-and-israel/  

 

Don't you love Gal Gadot? She and Jimmy Fallon taste each other's traditional food, here Fallon bravely eats gefilte fish….. It's really funny  https://youtu.be/4rsY-YZavlM

 

Chanuka is over, well the last candle lighting is over. We had some lovely experiences, some actual some virtual. We lit candles with all our future neighbours, each bringing a chanukiah and singing together, outdoors obviously. We lit with Zvi's boys and families; we had virtual candle lighting with various organisations and of course by ourselves. I had a wonderful visitor this week – Kinneret Chaya's big sister Nitzan. It was such a delight and of course we sat out on the famous veranda and I made her shakshuka while she brought wonderful bread from a local bakery to mop up the delicious spicy juices. We had a surprise visit from Eli and Eva, "just for coffee on the mirpesset (veranda)" and in about 20 minutes I made special cookies and a chocolate cake – after all it is Eli's 70^th birthday! In fact today, Eva is taking most of the choir on a tiyul (tour) near Bet Shemesh. Since it is over rather rough countryside I decided my hip wouldn't be happy so stayed home to write to you! Since you can't come to tour Israel. Here's a tour brought to you! https://israelisbeautiful.com/

 

This week Yosef Eliyahu, my beautiful, amazing grandson, reached the ripe old age of 16. We had a very limited celebration, just his parents, sisters and two lots of grandparents, but we made enough noise for an entire party! Talia baked and decorated a magnificent cake and my favourite part was when Ayala appeared with a broomstick covered in 16 balloons which she jiggled about and the birthday boy had to try and burst all the balloons.

Gideon and Stephanie, all the way away in London, celebrated 20 years of marriage. It's incredible to see how the years have flown but their love produced 3 incredible children and I adore all of them. Mazal Tov to all.

 

The sunrise from the veranda have been spectacular this week, even through the torrential rain. We are lucky in Jerusalem, we live on a series of hills but the coastal plain suffered flooding, spectacular flooding. Incredibly the Kinneret, the sea of Galilee, is already almost full and winter is just beginning. Soon they will be able to open the sluice gate and allow the water to flow down to the Dead Sea.

 

On the 18^th of December last year we took a group of lovely friends on a tour of Jerusalem, winding up for lunch at "Missedet Ima" an excellent Middle Eastern restaurant near Shouk Mahane Yehuda. Life was good, food was excellent and the company marvellous. Suddenly, I received a phone call from my son Gideon. Leaving the room I heard "Mum there's been an accident in New York" He waited until Zvi and I rushed home to tell me the full news, Daniel had not survived the accident. Of course we, the entire family, flew immediately to New York for the funeral. The outpourings of love and admiration were overwhelming and for that I am ever grateful but as another mother who lost her son, Camille Fox in far off Australia, said "It is a silent paralysing internal ache"

 

Nothing will bring Daniel back but I beg of you to cherish every moment with your children. Never ever be too busy to hear what they have to say, always give them loving confidence to be the best they can be and never take them for granted. Fill every day with joy and love, reach out to others who may be in pain and be proactive; defend what is precious to you and do everything in your power to heal this broken world. That is what Daniel would have wanted me to say to you.

 

Tonight Zvi and I are on our own, but not before I go to hug Rachel, remind her and the children just how much I love them and thank heaven that they live close by. If I remember I'll stop at the new vista point and take a photo of the mosaic, the panorama of Jerusalem from Samuel's Tomb. I chose to be alone, with my Zvi and my thoughts. Even I reach the point where I just don't want to be with anyone else.

 

Music. I wonder what music would suit this strange week?

 

Adon Olam – Lord of the Universe – is so familiar to every Jew that one cannot help but join in with whichever music is chosen. Sweet memories of Reading Shule. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvOtcWEFWo8

 

Once upon a time the late great Nat King Cole sang a Christmas song which reached out to all of us, irrespective of our religious beliefs. This beautiful rendition is by his daughter Natalie and Andrea Bocelli. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVHvIGf1i0s

 

Bob Geldorf always thought out of the box, a rebel with a cause. He began the whole idea of a vast number of stars singing a Christmas song to raise money for the children of Africa back in 1984. Understanding that all the big organisations were top heavy and a tiny percentage of the money raised by them ever reached those who most needed it he went personally to the poorest towns and villages and without taking one penny for himself he disbursed the monies raised and oversaw the purchases. Her eis a joyous version of the song that began social consciousness in the pop world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gifrd7ljNL4

 

I wish you a good Shabbes, a day of thought and contemplation, and as you open the last 4 windows on your advent calendar, think of how we could change our world by accepting each other for what we are – not trying to force or change those around us. The Emerati visitors, when asked what most surprised them when they came to Jerusalem and all the Holy Sites of the 3 monotheistic religions, is that they were enlightened by the tolerance and acceptance of their traditional dress by every Israeli they met.

 

I just received the best phone call any Safta could get. Ayala has been dreaming of my vegetable patties (ktsistot) all week since she had them here and so please, please, since I'm going to visit them anyway, can I prepare some for her!! Since I watched her devour about 12 of them while watching Gilmore Girls I could hardly refuse!!

 

With much love from beautiful Jerusalem

Sheila