15th March 2024
161st day of October
Scarred and Scared
Shabbat Shalom dear friends. For a change I want to begin with a
letter from a friend. It fascinated me and helped me understand many aspects of
what it means to be both here in Israel and in the country of one’s residence,
the USA, during this particularly worry time.
“I arrived in Israel three days before the war started. On Shabbat morning
I wake up to the news of what Hamas had done and that the war had started. I
was staying with my brother and sister in law in Natanya. Of course, it was a
shock to the system, to say the least. After the first few moments, I felt
grateful that I was in Israel with my close family. I would have gone crazy had
I heard the news in Los Angeles, were I live. Of course, I started to receive
phone calls from my children and grandchildren to come back to the US. By then,
I had relaxed and my mind was made up. It took a few days and phone calls, back
and forth, to make them understand that I was not afraid. That I knew the IDF
would take care of all of us and, most of all, I could not abandon my family in
Israel. That I would have felt like a coward! That my life was NOT more
valuable than theirs! Most of all, that I would never be able to forgive myself
nor live with myself! Finally, they all understood. I assured them that I would
fly back the day and time I was scheduled to return, which I did three weeks
later.
I must admit that my fear is much greater being in Los Angeles than it was
while I was in Israel. I never thought that there would be such antisemitism!
In Israel, we all thought that, finally, after such an horrific attack by
Hamas, the world would get it! That did not quite happen. Most of all, what is
of extreme concern to me, are the acts of terrorism that, I believe, will take
place. I must admit, unlike while in Israel, and I have been to Israel many
times, now I am terrorized! I have never felt this way before! I worry about my
family here, my friends and the Jewish community.”
There has been uproar here since the
Sefardi Chief Rabbi, Yitzchak Yosef warned of a mass exodus of
ultra-Orthodox Jews from Israel if the government were to revoke their
exemption from conscription to military service. Sadly, just as
young Haredi men are beginning to understand the need to join the IDF, this has
created yet another rift in our society. It is all too close to “sinat Hinam”
Canadian Foreign Minister Melanie
Joly made an incredible claim while on an
official visit to our area. She has devoted $1 investigating sexual harassment of
Palestinian women! Not a word about October 7th, not a word about
the continued situation of the hostages. Yes, Canada. We remember Canada’s
response to the Jewish refuges during WW2. Apparently, nothing has changed. I
know who one of your advisors is but I can only say, “Look out Canada’s Jews”
Do you remember the Yazidi women? In 2019 thousands and
thousands of Yazidi women and children were captured by Islamic State in Syria
and Iraq and sold into slavery, raped, beaten and their husbands killed. Not a
word from the world, except for the wonderful Canon Andrew White, silence,
nobody cared. Islamic State is a brother group to ISIS, Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Israeli women and children were taken into captivity, raped, murdered and what
happens? The world turns against us.
Hillel Fuld made some exceptional points about the
hypocrisy of current world reactions to the War in Gaza. My lovely friend
Stanley Roth brought my attention to this. Well worth reading. https://www.israelnationalnews.com/news/385215
UNWRA was
at the top of the agenda for the Over 20
parliamentarians from various countries actively promoting pro-Israel
legislation through Christian faith-based diplomacy were invited to discussions
at the Jerusalem Chairman's Conference, organized by the Israel Allies
Foundation. The conference heard Members of Knesset and visited the
South. They also learned the fact that 1,468 UNWRA employees are active members
of Hamas and Islamic Jihad while 50% of UNWRA employees have a first-degree
relative who is a member of one of the terror organisations. I am so proud of
Impact-se (www.impact-se.org ) as the
organisation which warned the world about UNWRA through their violently
anti-infidel, anti-Israel schoolbooks.
Israel Katz in UN. https://youtu.be/WofBFUYEKQ4?si=ANZfB9NqV1heSvvz
Thanks to USA, France and UK and to Japan. For arranging this meeting. Forget
his accent, listen carefully to his message “Close your eyes and imagine that
the Nova Field was your field”
Not everything is bad news. In
the Israeli Bedouin settlement Bir al-Maksor, which means Broken Well, Ramadan
began with a parade with the Israeli flag held high. The settlement is near
the Jezreeel Valley. I must say that it warmed the hearts of many an Israeli
Jew.
Sarah Idan, the former Miss Iran who stood up to the
theocratic dictatorship of the Ayatollas, stood beside Mia Schem at Sir Elton
John’s Oscar party in Hollywood. Sara
made a powerful fashion statement wearing a dress she designed. The dress included
the names of 19 Israeli women
still held hostage in Gaza. Thank you Sarah Idan for standing with the hostages! Sarah designed her own dress, with broad
yellow sashes declaring “Bring Them Home” and Mia Schem, looking beautiful and
proud, her arm still in a cast, showing the world that despite the untold
horror of captivity as a hostage with Hamas, she is living and thriving. Israeli
women will not be cowed by the dire brutality of Hamas.
World famous boxer Floyd Mayweather,
not only sent supplies including bullet proof vests and so much more in his
private plane immediately after October 7th, he came again to Israel
to visit the South and to declare his absolute support for Israel.
Mike Freer is a Member of the Tory Party and a Minister
in the UK. He is Gay and, like his PM Rishi Sunak, really understands what is
happening. Here he speaks out about the inanity of LGBTQ support for Gazans
i.e. Hamas https://youtu.be/_yOVH8crRv8?si=qMlAdlZ0kiKEnj1T
Purim, the story of a brave woman, a cheating husband, a clever
man and the usual, same-old same-old story of a cruel, but powerful man,
leading his King astray, telling such far fetched lies that he convinced him
that he must kill all the Jews in his Kingdom. Purim is so much more than getting cross at
Haman, the cruel man, and eating triangular cookies! However, since we are on the good news section
of this week’s missive, let’s talk about those cookies. Patisseries and
bakeries are festooned with every kind of filling that a small triangular
pastry case can possibly contain! The traditional poppy see or Pereg, chocolate,
that wonderful dried fruit paste called mincemeat, hundreds and thousands and
some very sophisticated ones that our grandparents would never have recognised!
I
grew up calling them Hamantschen or Haman’s hats or tricornes. Zvi grew up
calling them Oznay Haman or Haman’s Ears and today the joke is that they should
be called Oznay Sinwar, since Sinwar is as cruel as Haman, is the leader of
Hamas and has big ears! Yes, Israelis have a black sense of humour, we’ve been
given no choice. By the way, don’t forget that Haman got his comeuppance and
suffered the same fate as he ordered for Mordechai.
What is the relevance of Purim
today. My dear friend Rabbi Jeremy Rosen always seems to come up with the explanation
I search for and always at the right time. Purim is not for another week or so
but our current situation begs this analysis. https://jeremyrosen.com/2024/03/why-purim-matters.html I quote from the first paragraph. Purim matters so much this year. It tells a never-ending
story. We were threatened with destruction. We responded by finding ways to
combat the threat. We did not capitulate. We called out evil as it
was. We celebrated our survival by emphasizing charity, friendship, and
gratitude, strengthening our communities, all positive qualities, building not
destroying. We did not rejoice in needless pain or seeing others suffer. Purim
makes another point. That one reaction to evil is to laugh at it. Not to
exclude fighting it of course. But to show that evil however horrific, can also
be laughed at. There are many other ways of fighting evil. Just
think of Charlie Chaplin’s The Great Dictator,
and Mel Brooks’ The Producers. Often as effective as serious analysis.
Many of you heard about the One
Family Organisation started during the 2nd Intifada by Chantal and Marc
Belzberg. Since that time One Family has grown into the number one support for
Israelis of every age, faith no matter where they live, Israelis who have been
injured or family members killed in terror attacks. Kinneret Chaya was horribly
injured in that first wave of terror and their support for the Boosany family
was superb which is when I fell in love with both the Belzberg family and One
Family. Thousands upon thousands have been given love and assistance by One
Family and now at long last they have been officially recognised. One Family is
the recipient of the Genesis Prize. Mazal Tov to the Belzberg Family. Never has
a prize been more deserved. https://onefamilytogether.org/about-us/
Eden Golan is a fabulous representative
of Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest singing Hurricane. It’s just a few weeks
since she won the “Star is Born” competition to be the Israeli representative
and what struck everyone, panel and public alike, is her professionalism and
confidence, especially in one so young. At the demand of the powers that be in
the contest they insisted the words of the song be changed since there was a
slight suggestion that the original words mentioned her pain after October 7th.
Do listen. She has a fabulous voice. https://youtu.be/lJYn09tuPw4?si=APKyb0O8pXgiIjcu
Shulem Lemmer breaks all the
preconceived ideas we have of a Haredi man, and he has the voice of an angel.
Life is tough for all of us at the moment and here, together with Dovid Hill,
he sings a beautiful song of dreams of a better world. https://youtu.be/ajpRIBwFYjU?si=HdXFE5i-8Rs-QFw0
Am Yisrael Chai is so much more than
a call, it is a statement, it is a call of hope, a call to remember that we
have suffered worse than this but if we will just unite we are strong. This too
will pass. Eyal Golan with Am Yisrael Chai https://youtu.be/2p3rtnQ_7y4?si=QowBALhkCp1mBO4P
This weekend, this Shabbat, this
Sabbath, it’s hard to be calm, to believe everything will be alright,
especially for Jews and Christians in an ever confusing world, but I hope and
pray that you will find your quiet place, your calm zone, your place of belief
that we are stronger than any disinformed public. Find the beauty in spring
flowers, in kindnesses, in smiles, don’t fall into the abyss of disbelief. We
ae strong, we have an inherited memory that good always wins over evil.
I wish you Shabbat Shalom, a
peaceful Shabbat, with all the love in the world from Jerusalem OUR beautiful
city, the fulcrum around which the world revolves.
Sheila
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