5th
August 2022
Shabbat
Shalom everyone.
I
hope and pray that all our friends in California and Europe where brush and
forest fires abound are safe and sound.
Thoughts
for the day
as we near Tisha b’Av. Tisha b’Av, the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, the
day on which we mourn the destruction of the Holy Temple and so many other
horrific disasters - Both Holy Temples
destroyed, Jewish expulsion from England, Jewish expulsion from Spain
(Inquisition) both World War One and World War Two began. What do all the above
have in common? Hate. Just hatred, refusal to accept the other and a
determination to destroy. In Judaism, as I said last week, this is know as
Sinat Hinam – unwarranted hatred. This time is relevant for all of us, as I
always say, whichever way you turn to pray. So let’s try to put a few facts on
the table and consider whether the current rate of ant-Israel rant is warranted
or not.
This
is where I intended quoting Shylock “do we not bleed” etc, but then I thought
about the warnings of disaster that were ignored. Ze’ev Jabotinsky was a born
leader. He expended huge amounts of energy trying to warn the Jews of Poland of
impending disaster.
JABOTINSKY’S TISHA B’AV
PROPHECY Warsaw, Tisha B’Av,
1938
“For three years that I
have been calling on you, Jews of Poland, the glory of world Jewry, with an
appeal. I have been ceaselessly warning you that the catastrophe is coming
closer. My hair has turned white and I have aged in these years, because my
heart is bleeding, for you, dear brothers and sisters, do not see the volcano
which will soon begin to spurt out the fire of destruction. I see a terrifying
sight. The time is short in which one can still be saved. I know: you do not
see, because you are bothered and rushing about with everyday worries … Listen
to my remarks at the twelfth hour. For God’s sake: may each one save his life
while there is still time. And time is short.
I want to say one more
thing to you on this day of the Ninth of Av: Those who will succeed to escape
from the catastrophe will merit a moment of great Jewish joy — the rebirth and
rise of a Jewish State. I do not know if I will earn that. My son, yes! I
believe in this just as I am sure that tomorrow morning the sun will shine once
again. I believe in this with total faith.”
Black
and brown Jews
fled to Israel from violent anti-Semitism in Arab and African countries. Most
Israelis are people of colour and/or children of refugees, making the cry of
colonialism and apartheid all the more ludicrous. Jews come in every colour,
shape and size; in every level of religiosity. That’s a fact. Why fight amongst
ourselves just because we differ, surely there are enough people in the world
who hate us without hating each other? To me it is irrelevant whether, as a
Christian, you pray in Church, Chapel, Cathedral or Temple and as a Jew it
matters not to me, on a personal level, whether you call yourself Haredi, Orthodox,
Masorti, Traditional, Conservative, Reform, Liberal or Reconstructionist, all I
ask is that you respect each other’s choice and keep the traditions of our
ancestors who ensured our survival as a people.
The
Rabbis and sages claim that the litany of disasters begin and end with baseless
hatred, giving the ultimate example of Kamza and Bar Kamza, here it is explained
in a series of videos. https://www.alephbeta.org/playlist/baseless-hatred-sinat-chinam
Last
two items that cannot be ignored then only positive and healthy news and
stories!
Firstly,
the PA raised the salaries of the Hebrew University terrorist’s families “due
to inflation”. That’s your money by the way
Secondly:
For those of you who think Iran, nuclear bombs and threats is all about
destroying Israel, here’s the latest quote from Iran: We
will ‘build nuclear warheads’ and turn NY into ‘hellish ruins”
Now to happier things, positive news and this week’s activities in the Raviv
household.
One
of the major challenges in the Diaspora, for everyone, is the verbal defence of
Israel. Yosef Haddad is Israeli, Moslem and Arab and here he blows all the stereotypes
into smithereens as he shows us “You don’t have to be a Jew to be successful in
Israel!” https://youtu.be/MmMJAOyaaPk
Zvi
and I went to
pick up our “new” car this week and I noticed a man, an amputee, coping
brilliantly with manoeuvering his way through the maze of desks and cars in
order to greet everyone. I had to talk to him, well as you know already, Zvi
and I chat to strangers on a regular basis, and as he neared where we were sitting,
I complimented him on his wonderful manner and beautiful smile. He then told me
his story. He was already injured during his IDF service, and one day he was on
a bus when a terrorist, with an explosive device boarded the bus.
This man fought the terrorist, got him off the bus onto the pavement and lay on
top of him holding him down and keeping his hand from pressing the button to
explode until police came. We were in the presence of a real hero, not a film
star, his name is unknown but a real, honest hero who fights his PTSD every day
of his life by smiling and greeting people bringing sunshine into the lives of
others
For football fans (the football that involves only feet) Messi
and Neymar brought the entire team to play in Israel and introduce them to
this wonderful country https://www.timesofisrael.com/
Sunday
was a good day!
It began with spending time with Rachel, Talia and Ayala in the centre of
Jerusalem. My three girls are so loving and caring, really watching over me! I
then came home and in the evening was a momentous event! The wonderful Lola
Cohen, born in Birmingham, married and lived in Leamington Spa, who together
with her late husband Norman worked for understanding between Christians and
Jews. Lola well deserved the marvellous fun party thrown for her by her two
daughters, Stephanie and Gail, surrounded by friends. Still fighting the good fight
at 90. Lola – Ad 120
The
funny part was my journey to Stephanie’s home in Gilo. Apparently an accident
had blocked the main roads to Gilo and WAZE sent me through a tiny back road, which
is quite normal but this road not only wound and twisted it’s way up the
hillside the “sleeping policemen” (road humps) were more like sleeping
elephants! I have never seen anything quite like it. I swear each hump must
have been at least a metre high. Honestly!
Yesterday
began rather earlier
than expected. The technician was due to arrive at 07:00 so I was awake but he
called me at 05:50 to say he was close! A hurried shower and we both threw our
clothes on to welcome David with the new computers. Yes folks, at this very
moment we are both sitting comfortably at our own computers at the long desk
which was made ready a year ago when we moved in!! David was very kind, so much
so I forgave him for interrupting my usual morning routine of coffee, crackers
with amazing Israel Cottage Cheese, the newspaper, puzzles, crossword, Wordle
and Spelling Bee while sitting in the shade on our veranda (mirpesset) watching
the sunbirds drink from the special feeder I bought together with Lola Cohen!
Anyway, as happens in Israel, David and I began a discussion about “Sinat Hinam”
and the 9th of Av. David is what we call here, Dati Leumi, which
means religious but utterly loyal to Israel. Anyway we spoke of acceptance and
how he tried to explain to his Rabbi that it is irrelevant how a man prays, but
rather what a man does. A good man is David.
As
soon as David left us with our new technical toys I ate a quick breakfast and
fulfilled my promise to Yosef to take him to Decathlon to get some sports gear.
Only problem is that Decathlon is about 70 kilometres away! It was so much fun
to talk to him, my incredible 17 year old grandson. We spoke about the car,
about his future and of course about what an amazing person he is. It’s a huge
compliment to their parents that all three of Rachel’s children are growing
into warm, loving, huggy adults.
I
came home, collected Zvi and we went off to the supermarket! Well although he
was busy he won’t let me carry anything! You must understand that most of the
managers and workers in the supermarkets are Arab, local (Abu Ghosh), many are
students, mostly women, and here, unlike in Europe, there is no problem with them wearing a hijab,
any more than it would be a problem for them to cover their hair as religious
Jews do.
We
got back home, put the groceries away and collapsed into a stupor almost
forgetting to eat lunch!
Then
after a crazy day, last night one of our neighbours held a delightful evening
of “Shira b’Tzibur” – the highly inadequate translation is a singsong. We just walked
down our row of homes to Building 17 2nd floor, with my salad
contribution, meeting and greeting other neighbours headed in the same
direction. Zvi sang his heart out to the delight of everyone present, it made
the rest of us amateurs more confident of singing out loud because he drowned
out our mistakes!! It was such a delightful way to meet neighbours we had not
yet connected with and one of them spoke of the history of our ”Yishuv”
Through
Zvi’s encyclopaedic knowledge I have already told you the story of the Avenue
of the Presidents which lies right under our veranda https://www.myjewishlearning.com/article/herzls-tree/
, and of the “White House” Convalescent Home in our park, but there is so much
more including the exceptional Tel Motza excavations. Firstly Motza Illit https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motza_Illit
and then the excavations https://www.telmoza.org/
You can even register to the dig!
Tonight
our wonderful friends
Danny and Judit Liwerant, Zvi’s friends from his teenage years in Mexico, a friend of theirs and our Jerusalemite friend
Eli Ben Tovim, are coming for Shabbat Dinner. It will be a fascinating evening
of shared memories and Jewish history. There is just one problem, I haven’t prepared
the food yet! I’m absolutely certain that by about 15:00 I will be ready to
drive over to Rachel’s to get my Shabbat hugs from everyone and to make that
climb up to Samuel’s Tomb so that I can stop the car at the new Vista Point and
draw a deep breath as I look over all of Jerusalem like a huge relief map set
out before me. Once I love to remind myself of the high buildings which acted
as my compass, but today there are innumerable tall buildings as Jerusalem
grows and grows.
And
so to music.
Ladino
is the language of expulsion, the language of the Sefardi (Spanish
and Portuguese) Diaspora, just as Yiddish is the language of the East European
Diaspora. Here Yehoram Gaon sings Adio Querida, which many believe to be a love
songs of a lover leaving his/her lover but in fact it is a song of sadness,
disappointment and even hatred for Spain where the Jews gave their all, were
perfect citizens and then the expulsion came. Adio Querida https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMV1fcH9Hzo
I admit that I love it when Zvi sings it but he has never recorded it!
There
are many joyous songs to welcome the Sabbath and this little video expresses
the tradition of inviting others to join the Shabbat table. It is irrelevant
whether you have a mansion or a humble bedsit, the Jewish wish to share food
with those who need it is always present. https://youtu.be/Bjd539KCwFw
So
dear friends, this is a real “Shehechyanu” the prayer for new things new places,
new food and new experiences so I thought, why not for new computers! It has
been so much fun sitting beside Zvi and holding conversations as I write. He
helps me find words in English that I forget (yes really) and it just feels so
much more interesting!! Basically this is not a prayer, it gives thanks to the
Almighty for bringing us to the day, to the moment, in which we can experience
new things https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zt1YAdyT1I
With
much love and wishes for a Shabbat Shalom, a Sabbath of Peace, whether you
celebrate on Friday night and Saturday or on Sunday. Greetings from your friend
who gives thanks every day for the honour of living in Israel.
Sheila
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