19th January, 2024
Shabbat Shalom.
Happy birthday to little Kfir Bibas who was one year old
yesterday. There was a big birthday party in Tel Aviv but sadly Kfir wasn’t
there. He spent his very first birthday in Gaza, a hostage to the barbarity that
is called Hamas. Kfir, Ariel, Shiri and Yarden Bibas were all kidnapped from
Kibbutz Nir Oz on that fateful morning of October 7th. There is not one person with a heart
who did not cry at the sight of Shiri’s agonized face grasping those two little
“Ging’ies” to her chest. In Israel posters bearing their photos are everywhere,
songs have been written about them, the sane world has begged for their
release, but either their captivity is considered too good a hostage or, God
forbid, they are no longer alive. I know your hearts are breaking too.
Something I hadn’t realised is that most of the kibbutzim on
the Southern border were founded by the Aliyah from South America. Soon after
the founding of the State of Israel, some 70,000 young people from Jewish youth
groups in South America came to Israel with the sole intention of building
agricultural communities which is the central ethos of Kibbutz life. It is
their descendants, their children and grandchildren who were killed like lambs
to the slaughter.
Essential medication has been delivered to Qatar who delivered
to the Red Cross who delivered to Hamas who hopefully delivered to the surviving
hostages who have been without any medication for over three months. The Hamas
demand that any and all medication intended for the hostages be multiplied by
one thousand, yes one thousand. In other words, the medicine for Colitis, for
Asthma, for heart disease and for high blood pressure is multiplied by one
thousand and the international community complied. Still, we have no idea who
is dead and who is alive; where they are, what their medical condition is or
whether they will ever come home.
Piers Morgan has carefully recorded and faced Israel’s
enemies over the past 105 days, but perhaps the most telling interview was with
Thomas Hand who explained the situation from a personal point of view, with his
daughter Emily, who was a captive in Gaza, sitting beside him, stroking her
Daddy’s cheek when he became emotional. It is exceptional, heartwarming,
frightening and beautiful https://youtu.be/12SJzBGTbqE?si=8gQOqp8gdvA--F8R
Israel has become one big displaced person’s camp.
Admittedly in hotels, fed and cared for but the thought of putting farmers,
country children, kibbutznikim, into hotels in towns is painful. They all want
to go home, well, most of them, those whose homes are not destroyed, but their
villages and kibbutzim are still under rocket fire, both in the south and in
the north. Yes, Hamas and Islamic Jihad claim that their people are starving
yet have plenty of money for rockets and missiles. The North and Hezb-Allah is
a different story but just as tragic.
Ra’anana is a wonderful dormitory town in the central
region. Thriving yet in a gentle, almost sleepy way, with wonderful parks, tree
lined streets and a busy shopping centre. This week the quiet of Ra’anana was
broken by a ghastly terror attack in which 19 people were injured and Edna Blueshtein
was killed when the terrorists stole her car at a car wash, stabbed her, and
then rammed a bus stop on the main road just as children came out of school.
Originally they wanted to celebrate the action of their Hamas brothers by
stabbing as many Jews as possible but then decided to mow them down with a stolen
car instead. Hamas celebrated of course.
Iran. On January 16th 1979 the Shah left Iran, exiled by an
American President who then encouraged Ayatollah Homeini to take control of
that previously thriving country with vast funding for their activities. The
determination to create an Islamic Empire is paramount on the minds of the
Ayatollahs. Currently close to war with Pakistan and the Kurds, Iran uses
proxies to fight their war in Lebanon, Gaza, Syria, Yemen indeed, almost every
area of conflagration is controlled by Iran. If you were to look back over my
newsletters I told you that for many years the body that oversaw (oversees) Iran’s
nuclear facilities was headed by Mohammed El Baradei, a Member of the Moslem
Brotherhood!
82 years ago tomorrow, German officials sat down at a
table in the Berlin suburb of Wansee and worked out the final solution for
the Jews. The intent of the highly documented meeting was to ensure that no
Jews remained in Europe. Comparison to today’s world uprising against Jewish
communities under the guise of anti-Israel sentiment proves that history does
repeat itself. Anyone who blames Israel for October the 7th has no
sense of history, indeed is ignorant of what Israel stands for and is a
supporter of rape, beheading, burning babies alive and all the horrors
perpetrated by Hamas. Indeed they are complicit in all of the above.
Strangely, so many wonderful things have come out of the horror of the
attack. I have written about the sense of community and the need for us to be
together; about the sandwich making and the volunteer fruit and vegetable
pickers; of the hat knitting for soldiers; of donations of equipment for
soldiers and clothing and furniture for those displaced families, but there is
so much more. A Bedouin family from Rahat who used to work in Kibbutz Nir Oz
now cook up a storm of fabulous traditional food for the remaining kibbutz
members who watch over the crops and flocks.
Group of Eritrean refugees who live in and around Tel Aviv went down
south and set up barbecues for the soldiers as they came out for a few hours of
R&R. https://www.jns.org/eritrean-migrants-barbecue-for-israeli-soldiers-near-gaza-border/
I don’t want you to get the impression
that we sit at home, quivering in our safe rooms eating bread and water, Israelis
do everything to maintain a normal life, or rather not a normal life but to
show our enemies that we will not be cowed. We still go out for amazing Israeli
food, although many of the restaurants once filled with tourists are now filled
with Israelis. Friends are still arriving from all over the world; the lovely Rebecca
and Harold Finger came to check out our veranda so that Harold could take
photos to send to Stanley Roth who loves to hear about the trees and plants. On
that subject the lime, lemon and kumquat trees are all heavily laden with fruit.
Harold and Rebecca are here for an extended period looking for places to
volunteer and as they say “to spend money here in Israel”. Such special people
who really understand the importance of this tiny sliver of land to the Jews
around the world in the Diaspora. Their stay coincided with an Australian Keren
Hayesod study mission and although they had already visited the destroyed kibbutzim
of the south, they ensured that everyone else did too.
Our friend Sha’ela sent Zvi home from a meeting with a huge bag
full of the great big juicy lemons from her tree!
Life is filled with meetings and activities from singing in
choirs (Zvi), movement classes (me) creativity sessions, inviting and going to
friends and doing our best to celebrate what we have. Last Friday night was supposed to be just
another delightful evening at Amiad and Noga’s home but my goodness it was so
much more! As I walked through their front door, I saw an extra table in the
room and with a very loud “SURPRISE” the children and adults, joined by about 8
friends, leapt out at me singing Happy birthday!! Both Leor and Amiad had
cooked up a storm, including my very favourites – Amiad’s ceviche and Leor’s
quiches. Zvi sang his kiddush, to the delight of all present, and we sat down
to a real party. It was so wonderful to spend an evening without talking about
the situation or politics, just laughing with the children who kept coming to
hug me! Zvi had also been cooking, but that was cooking up a plan to get me to
Amiad’s without knowing about the party! Gili, Leor and Shiri’s second
daughter, made a magnificent birthday cake to round off the fabulous evening.
Exodus 10 (Bo) is the Torah portion this week and Jeremiah
the reading from Prophets. We read about the last of the 10 plagues God brought
upon the Egyptians and about the gift of a Jewish calendar (tomorrow is the 10th
of Shvat) and the law which leads up to Pesach, Passover, Pascha, and removal
of all bread related foods from the house whereas reading from the Prophets
reveals God’s promise to save us from our enemies. Basically, long before Islam
we suffered the jealousy and hatred of our enemies but, hey folks, we are still
here!!
Israel’s singers, from the most famous to the least
known, have been going around the hospitals singing to the injured, hoping to
stimulate comatose patients to wake up and to make others smile, to help the
families too. Perhaps the most poignant of all is this song “Call me Gingie”
about little Kfir. https://youtu.be/wId08EiSIkA?si=4ipzONrRyQKS_NlZ
Eyal Golan sings “Am Yisrael Chai” – the Jewish people
lives. This is the spirit that keeps us going. https://youtu.be/2p3rtnQ_7y4?si=frY7hqgvRtbt37aC
In every Jewish home on Friday night, before the Shabbat
meal, the family, or to be exact the spouse sings a song of praise to his wife!
Yes really. “A woman of worth, who will find?” I love it! Here the Chief Cantor of the IDF sings with
the Rabbinical Choir of the IDF as they enjoy a Friday night supper together. https://youtu.be/2p3rtnQ_7y4?si=frY7hqgvRtbt37aC
Dear wonderful friends, I am so grateful to you for forcing me to
think logically, to put impossible situations into words and to feel the warmth
that emanates from you, dear readers. Each and every one of you that responds
to my missives warms my heart in a way I cannot express. I wish you a good
weekend when hatred is forgotten and kindness becomes the watchword.
I’m off to Rachel and Zvi is going to his parliament in the
Botanical Gardens then tonight we will be with Nattie and Yolli Zonszein for
our Shabbat dinner. I love our Friday routine of writing, sending, going to
Rachel to see the family and eating one of Rachel’s amazing bread rolls and Zvi
going off to save the world. Life is what you make it.
Please take care, I need you!
Shabbat Shalom, with love from Jerusalem, the beautiful, golden
centre of our lives.
Sheila
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