Ever Onward like a Bar-Tailed Godwit

 

9th October 2026

Two days after 1,096 days

 

Shabbat Shalom dear friends, Shabbat Shalom from our home to yours.

 

There were many memorial gatherings for the 7th of October, including the peoples memorial in Tel Aviv’s Park haYarkon and another right here in Motza, but we were honoured to be invited by Dr Mike Evans to an exceptional gathering in Davidson Plaza, beneath the walls of the Temple Mount, with Al-Aqsa above us, surrounded by the love of more than 1,000 Christian leaders from over 170 countries. It was an extraordinary experience. Among those honoured by the Friends of Zion Foundation, led by the indomitable Dr Mike Evans, were Yaniv, who received a bravery award for saving the Flydubai flight from Dr Evans, and one of the FOZ staff members who had been on that plane, as well as former hostages, each one a miracle in their own right.

 

I have no doubt you remember Itamar Shapira and the horrific videos of his skeletal body, digging his own grave 100 feet underground. There he stood before us: handsome, physically healthy, and full of determination. “I will take pain and turn it to purpose.” Words of strength, words of an Israeli. Agam Berger, still unsmiling, played her violin. Bar Kuperstein stood with his grandfather, a Shoah Survivor and his father, Tal, sat in the audience in his wheelchair. If you remember Tal was severely injured in an accident but vowed to stand to greet Bar when he came home. Each of them had a story of almost superhuman resilience. And then there was Sagui Dekel-Chen. During his captivity, Sagui had written songs, scratching them onto the wall of his tunnel. But on this occasion, he chose to sing a different song, one that had helped him survive. He sat at the piano, cleared his throat and began, in a broken voice, to sing the Beatles’ In My Life. My tears fell without stopping. In front of me, I saw Pamela Claman wiping away her tears as did our friend Pastor Mike Atkins, and then I realised that everyone around us was feeling his pain. It was as though, for those few minutes, his cracked voice helped us to understand just a little of what he had endured.

 

Throughout the ceremony, Dr Mike stood beside these brave survivors, offering his support. Sylvan Adams, the Canadian philanthropist and proud Jew, spoke about the work of FOZ and the Jewish fight against hatred. Then Bishop Robert Stearns, founder of Eagles’ Wings and a staunch advocate for Israel, stood to sing Hatikva. In all my years of attending events, I have never heard our anthem sung with such clarity, such strength and such conviction.

 

This song, part of which I sent you on Wednesday, was a poem written by Dr Mike and transformed into a beautiful song. https://youtu.be/Az9n4X5w72o?si=t7uAt-BNk6Pgtulk

 

Yet another year of painful memories, yet another year in which we don’t understand what and how it happened and until there is a national inquiry we never will. Oh, and I forgot to tell you that, as I had predicted, the Muezzin above us put the loudspeakers on full volume several times during the ceremony but every time he tried to drown out the ceremony Dr Mike got everyone to cheer very loudly, and I mean

VERY LOUDLY, and the interference stopped!!!

 

Before writing to you, I always read the newspapers and add to my list of things I want to share. This morning, I read that Saudi Arabia and the UAE have launched inquiries into how a man reportedly known for extremist views became a Flydubai co-pilot despite previous concerns. Serious questions must also be asked of our own Transport Minister, Miri Regev. Warnings about aviation security shortcomings had been raised, yet responsibility was transferred to her ministry without, reportedly, authority needed to carry it out properly. Regev says intelligence checks on foreign crews belong to the Mossad, not her ministry despite receiving funding for that purpose. So, who was responsible for ensuring these safeguards were in place? After October 7, we know only too well the terrible price of ignored warnings. We must establish exactly what went wrong and who must answer for it.

 

There are many places and people who give succour to soldiers and their families who suffer trauma from this ghastly war, not just the 7th of October. One way is surfing! Surfing not only connects to nature and freedom; it requires concentration and an escape from the reality of life. One does not need all one’s limbs to surf, one doesn’t need an adonis body, one just has to want to feel the freedom of the sea, the air and the escape. Surfing for Sanity.

 

Listening to the news on the radio, I heard that South African jurist Navi Pillay has won the 2026 Nobel Peace Prize. Pillay chaired the UN Commission of Inquiry that concluded Israel had committed genocide in Gaza — a charge Israel vehemently rejects. War is horrific, and civilian suffering is real, but genocide is a grave legal accusation, not a word to be bandied around lightly. I am so tired of this relentless misrepresentation, so tired of those who seem to forget, or choose to ignore, what Hamas did on October 7th or the bombardment of Israel from Iran. Do they really believe that history began the day Israel responded?

 

Our wonderful Ira, mother of Sheli, is one of only eleven women, all volunteers, chosen to fly to Westchester County to speak before various groups. I proudly contacted my friend Sari, because knowing the Bedford community as I do, I was sure that Ira would not only be appearing there but would be well cared for. Of course, Sari immediately made enquiries around her friends and the wonderful Temple Sha’areh Tikva community and, wait for it, of course one of Ira’s hostesses is Sari’s best friend! If you live in the vicinity of Bedford, check to see where they are speaking and give Ira a hug from me.

 

Yesterday two girlfriends, Merav and Ora, came to have coffee in our coffee shop in “Bet Halutzei ha Or” which translates as House of the Pioneers of Light, right here next to our building. Of course, I introduced them to Yisrael, Haya and Tzila, of whom I have written many times, then, after a delicious lunch, we did a quick tour of the beautiful building which served, for many years of the Convalescent Home for the Histadrut, the Union which took care of the workers of Israel. I was so happy to see that most of rooms, each more beautiful than the previous, were full with sessions for people with PTSD including men, which is a huge advance since they find it hard to reach out for help. Usually it is the wives of, or women soldiers, rather than the male soldiers or first responders themselves.

 

This week the weather was much kinder, softer. The searing heat of the summer sun is quietly abating and the beginnings of autumn are apparent. Waking early one catches the brilliant sunrise reflecting scarlet on the clouds above the horizon, turning Jerusalem a fabulous golden colour in the distance. I love to sit and watch the crimson turn to a soft pink as the sun suddenly climbs over the horizon, radiating light. The birds begin to sing and the tiny sunbirds remember that they have a sweet drink waiting in our feeders. The gentler heat allows the double hibiscus opposite my chair, to give an incredible peach coloured display and maybe this weather will stay long enough to give my second crop of apples a chance to ripen before winter. Both Ora and Merav decided that we live in “Gan Eden” the Garden of Eden, it is so peaceful. I agree

 

Our Friday routine is underway. Zvi is at his parliament, a group of men of differing political views who are convinced that they are solving all the problems of Israel and the world. I often think that if only governments around the world, especially but not only ours could sit around a table, enjoy each other’s company, allow everyone to state his views, what a different world it would be.

 

I went to see Rachel and the girls, Yosef is staying over Shabbat at his fiancée’s parent’s home but I got to hug the girls and heard a brilliant speech about what education should be and how teachers should consider each child’s potential and troubles. I would choose her for Minister of Education any day. Of course it meant that I drove past my favourite view of the amazing patchwork, mosaic that is Jerusalem.

 

I’m now musing over the last week and trying to think of music that reflects the emotions that deeply affected me.

 

Uzi Hitman didn’t write complex, over emotional songs, he wrote straight from the heart simple tunes that had more power, more truth in them than any other. This one is called I was Born for Peace. I love it. https://youtu.be/192t-KvtK2M?si=0iJQ1-u7F0jTNfP4

 

Arik Einstein wrote a beautiful song all about our fears for our children when they leave our nests to fly in the big wide world. I rather like this very simple family rendition. Oof Gozal, Fly my Chick. https://youtu.be/CwMB1NhPRLE?si=NxDowAmFn9FDSmSN  I want to dedicate this to my incredible, beautiful grandson Yosef who will marry very soon. He doesn’t call me Safta, He calls me “My Safta”

 

I think you may have guessed the final song. It isn’t in Hebrew and it isn’t new, but for me it will always represent the resilience and beauty of Sagui Dekel Chen. In My Life by the Beatles. https://youtu.be/8zV6etKD3Ps?si=iSuyAy-xDPVqobAE

 

I wish you a Shabbat Shalom. Shalom is hello, goodbye, au revoir, bonjour, adieu, but above all it means peace. Peace, peace of mind. As I learned that chilly evening by the Southern Wall of the Temple Mount, we, the Jews, the Israelis, we are not alone. As Dr Mike proclaimed true Christians are with us, beside us, holding us. Helping us to be proud of what we are, stand up straight and never make excuses for your birthright.

 

Sending you all my love from our veranda

Sheila

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,096 Days

 

1,096 days since the 7th of October 2023

 

I don’t know what to write to you. Where do I begin? How do I write about something so utterly diabolical without asking, again and again, how on earth did this actually happen? How do I find the rational, calm voice that is usually my signature when I am boiling inside?

Who will ease the pain of ten-year-old Daria, alone in her home with the body of her father after he was slaughtered by Hamas, while she spoke to her mother on the telephone and her mother desperately tried to understand what her little girl was describing? How does a child ever recover from something like that? And how can any of us begin to comprehend the sheer scale of what happened — the deliberate slaughter of people from the age of 87 to a ten-month-old baby?

There are moments when words simply fail. This is one of them. All I can feel is grief, horror and a fury that refuses to go away.

 

Imagine the pastoral beauty of Kibbutz Be’eri. Life was quiet, crops were planted, animals tended, children grew up, and many of the kibbutz members devoted themselves to helping sick children and adults, including bringing patients from Gaza to Israel for medical treatment. Imagine an ordinary October morning — people making breakfast, sitting outside with their coffee, getting ready to begin another day. Then 400 terrorists descended on the kibbutz with murder and destruction in their minds. What followed is impossible to comprehend.

 

The horror of Be’eri was repeated in kibbutzim all along the border, while at the Nova festival young people were only just beginning their morning when the killing began. Many had nowhere to run. In total, 1,195 people were slaughtered, including 364 at Nova, and 251 civilians and soldiers were taken hostage. The cruelty was beyond anything I can put into words: rape, burning people alive, parents murdered in front of their children and children in front of their parents. And then comes the part that makes my blood run cold: some of the terrorists had worked in these kibbutzim. They had been trusted to enter people’s homes, knew where the safe rooms were, and had drawn maps of the houses. They knew exactly where to find the people they came to murder. This was not spontaneous hatred. It was planned, studied and carried out with a level of cruelty that I still struggle to comprehend.

 

And then comes the part that makes the whole thing even harder to bear: the warnings were there. The young women serving as IDF observers along the Gaza border saw the changes, watched Hamas training and preparations, and repeatedly tried to sound the alarm — but their warnings were dismissed. Egypt warned Israel several times that something was about to happen, and the UAE also raised the alarm directly with Netanyahu. Yet the warnings were not acted upon.

 

And all the while, Israel was pursuing a policy of keeping Hamas quiet through money. For years, Netanyahu's governments approved the transfer of Qatari cash into Gaza, including some $30 million a month, believing that economic stability and the flow of money would help contain Hamas. In September 2023, just weeks before the massacre, Israeli officials even sought an increase in Qatari funding. The idea was that Hamas could be managed, contained and bought off.

 

How catastrophically wrong that judgement turned out to be. The warnings were ignored, the enemy was underestimated, and a policy intended to keep Hamas quiet helped sustain the very regime that was preparing for war. And so, on that terrible morning, the slaughter began — and the war that followed has dragged on, costing far too many young Israeli lives and leaving us all asking the same unbearable question: how could so many people have seen the danger, and yet so few have acted?

 

Pastor Dr. Mike Evans wanted to create an event to commemorate those we lost on that fateful day. He wrote a poem and knew it had to be turned into a song. He turned to Zvi for help and together with Zvi’s musical director Ronit Banit, they not only created a beautiful song but managed to put together people from many countries to sing it. Mike’s own story is one of sadness and belief, perhaps this song personifies his connection to Israel over the last 50 years.  Tonight, we will join 2,000 Christians from all over the world at the plaza of the Southern Wall in a memorial service when the song will be sung.  https://youtu.be/Az9n4X5w72o?si=IqwLYuZkXZ0hODsz

 

Since that day, that terrible day, Israel has changed. We are a nation in pain and the number of soldiers and their families, the Nova survivors and the people of the Gaza Envelope, the Southern Negev, need you, we all need each other to confront the hatred that is too familiar.

 

I send you love, because by loving each other, by standing together we can overcome those who wish us gone.

 

Sheila

 

 

The Plumber, The Pilot and the 7th

 

2^nd of October, 2026

20^th Tishrei 5787

 

Shabbat Shalom, Chag Succot Sameach, Blessed Feast of Tabernacles and Simchat Torah

 

There’s a new saying going around:

If you want to fly safely, take four Israelis with you, especially a plumber!

 

I warn you that this will not be a short missive, so much has happened, so make yourself comfortable and I’ll begin.

 

The drama of the Flydubai flight to Ben Gurion began with almost certain tragedy and ended with an enormous sense of pride in the courage and resourcefulness of its Israeli passengers. A little girl, in the toilet near the cockpit, heard a terrible commotion and told her mother, who alerted the cabin. What followed was almost unimaginable. Captain Smit Machchhar had been stabbed by his Omani co-pilot but, despite his injuries, somehow managed to unlock the cockpit door, allowing passengers to get inside and overpower the attacker who intended Jihad, killing all the passengers on the flight.

 

Four Israelis then sprang into action. Yaniv Hayun barged into the cockpit, saw that the copilot was destroying the controls and he pulled him out of his chair, the other Israelis controlled him and Yaniv pulled back on the controls as the aircraft plunged 15,000 feet. Asaf Rajwan and Tzvika Mans helped restrain and tie up the attacker using a headphone cord, while Dr Shota Musayev, a dentist, treated the badly wounded captain and stopped the bleeding and administered CPR. When Yaniv,( a plumber by trade) was later asked how he knew what to do, how to stop the plane plummeting to the ground, his answer was wonderfully Israeli: “Because I watch Mayday (aka Airport Security) doesn’t everyone?”

 

Captain Smit Machchhar, the Indian pilot, sent a squawk 7700 indicating Mayday then 7500 for hijacking, before losing consciousness and once things were under control one pilot of the spare crew took to the controls, turned the plane around and headed towards Saudi Arabia, giving essential time to bring the situation under control. Captain Smit is now recovering in hospital in Tabuk and, frankly, deserves a medal. Despite extensive damage to the plane they landed safely in Saudi Arabia amid fears that there might be an explosive device on board. The passengers were understandably terrified, but were reportedly treated with great kindness by the Saudi ground staff, who provided food, drinks and medical assistance. Eventually they made their way home on another Flydubai flight since the Saudi authorities did not want to set a precedent of allowing El Al to send a rescue plane. An extraordinary story, four very brave Israelis, and a remarkable captain who refused to give up when 182 lives depended on him. What an incredible story and one with a miraculous ending, something we certainly need these days.

 

President Herzog has recommended the Presidential Medal of Civilian Valour for the four Israelis who helped save the Flydubai flight

 

Another extraordinary story, this time a much happier one, took place in Jerusalem on Sunday night. The International Christian Embassy Jerusalem held its annual Feast of Tabernacles celebration, with 1,500 people from 70 countries. The ICEJ family now stretches across 170 nations, many of whom pray regularly for Israel.

 

The Fijian Ambassador, Jesoni Vitusagavulu, gave a lovely speech before the Fijian Christian Choir filled the hall with that wonderful South Pacific harmony. I loved watching the Ambassador, he simply couldn’t take his eyes off his choir! He told us that Papua New Guinea and Fiji have established embassies in Jerusalem, with Samoa joining them soon. It brought back memories of the days when Israel’s seven-a-side rugby team seemed to consist largely of Fijian UNIFIL soldiers!

 

The ICEJ has been part of our lives for many years. Tim King was one of its founders, and we have watched his daughter Anna grow from a gorgeous flame-haired baby, photographic model, IDF officer who received honorary citizenship for her service, into a wonderful mother of three. Dr. Juergen Buhler, the heart and soul of the ICEJ today, came to Israel to study chemistry at the Technion 30 years ago and never left! These are Christians who support Israel because of their faith, not missionaries, as some mistakenly believe, and their friendship means a great deal. On the night of the Festival, they committed to $2million for the rehabilitation of Kibbutz Nir Oz, destroyed by the Hamas marauders.

 

On the 7th of October 2026, Dr Mike Evans and the Jerusalem Prayer Team, together with the Friends of Zion Heritage Centre, will hold a 24-hour Global Prayer Event from the Southern Wall of the Old City, Jerusalem, with Christians from around the world gathering to remember those murdered, pray for the grieving families and hostages, and stand against antisemitism.

 

On Wednesday, 3 years since the day that changed us all, the independent National Memorial Ceremony, organised by the families and the grassroots movement Kumu which means Arise, will take place in Yarkon Park, Tel Aviv. Simultaneously the Nova survivors and families hold a ceremony at Re’im the site of the Nova Festival. It matters to me that these are ceremonies organised by the people, by families, survivors and friends, not by the government. We will remember those who were slaughtered, the hostages and the heroes of that terrible day, and we will grieve for lives stolen and families shattered. But Kumu - Arise says something much more, we are still here. We grieve, we remember, we honour, and we survive. We still have nightmares remembering the cruel videos of hostages, beaten, held underground, humiliated, but rise again we must like the Phoenix that Israel is.

 

88-year-old Yocheved Lifshitz, a former hostage whose husband was murdered in Hamas captivity spoke out this week. Her anger is palpable. In an interview she rejected the claim that Netanyahu brought the hostages home, calling it “one big lie”: “Miriam Adelson bought us with the $100 million she gave Trump and told him to bring the hostages back”. Whether one agrees with her or not, after what this extraordinary woman endured, her words deserve to be heard.

 

I still don’t know how to measure the effect that the 7^th of October has had on all of us as Israelis. 3 years have passed since that Simchat Torah when joy turned into unimaginable pain, the slaughter of more than 1,200 people and the taking of 251 hostages, Jews, Arabs and Christians. What makes my anger even harder to bear is the knowledge that those whose job was to protect us failed so catastrophically. Our army, intelligence services and political leadership left us with “choser onim” helplessness, and, even worse, the knowledge that so many had been so arrogant, and certain they were right that they didn’t heed the warnings. How could they have been so blind? How could they have failed us so completely? The war that followed has only deepened the pain.

 

We have lost too many young lives, lost trust in those who lead us and, heartbreakingly, seen the worst of human behaviour emerge among our own people. The Hilltop Youth who attack Palestinians make me furious. Judaism taught me better than that. Violence does not become righteous because the person committing it wears a kippah, and terrorism does not become acceptable simply because it comes from our own side.

 

So, we mourn but arise, something we see in everyday life. We love to go to restaurants; we travel; in a determined effort to catch the last days of summer the announcement that the public parks and nature hikes are full seems a daily event; whatever you think, and beyond all logic, this is a country of joy and hope. Perhaps the clearest indicator of our personality is that when there is a new building project, by law they have to plant trees along the new roadsides! Flowering trees, jacarandas in all they glory are popular but within a couple of years they provide shade and greenery.

 

Did I say restaurants? So this week we went to Kfar Saba to see Yossi and Rachel then to Nattie and Yolli and finally our Argentinian friend Julio Jarak who we brought back to our place. He came to the ICEJ event with us and afterwards we realised that it was 22:00 and we hadn’t eaten since an early lunch. Where does one take someone who has been to Israel dozens of times? To Sima the most Jerusalem restaurant in the world. We couldn’t find parking on the road because everything was teeming, as happens within the vicinity of Mahane Yehuda!!! Finally, parked and wending our way through the throng of people enjoying an evening out and young people heading for the bars and music of Mahane Yehuda at night, we arrived at Sima, on Agrippas Street. Of course, within 30 seconds our lovely waitress, Haya, was our friend and advised us what to eat “Ma’orav Yerushalmi for the boys and pargiot for me” What’s Ma’orav Yerushalmi I hear you ask. Well, that’s a story in itself but I’ll make it short. The original owner of Sima used to serve his food but at the end of the day he was left with the giblets, innards and onions, so rather than waste it, he cut it up and grilled it with lots of oriental spices and put it in a pita! Over the years it has become the signature dish of Mahane Yehuda and Jerusalem!!

 

On Wednesday we went to a lunchtime concert at the home of our friends the Friedmans. When I say concert it actually meant lots of songs from way back when and jokes from the same period. Brothers Haim and Uzi Essner are infinitely talented, musically wonderful and really funny, interacting with their audience of a certain age. We are old friends since Haim played at our wedding 30 years ago! We then went for lunch at Motzeleh and Zvi tried Lachoch (Yemenite bread) for the first time. It took a Welsh Israeli to introduce him to Yemenite food!!

 

Tonight we have the family for both of Zvi’s boy’s birthdays, it’s only 14 of us but that’s fine. For a change I ordered a huge platter of sushi to add to the soup and “gevetch” or ratatouille, minted potatoes and salmon skewers, I am not capable of just ordering in!!

 

On Sunday we are back in Mahane Yehuda for a tour followed by dinner with Zvi’s choir. I know several people who will be jealous of that one!

 

Today, Zvi is off to his parliament and I hope to go to Rachel, perhaps the children will be there! We are getting very close to Yosef and Tsofia’s wedding, it’s becoming very exciting! We are all so thrilled that friends are calling to say that they are coming from far and wide, so special on every level.

 

And so to music, I hope you are still with me!!

 

Daniel Wais lost both his parents on that ghastly day, killed in cold blood by Hamas. He decided to enter the Israeli competition to choose the Eurovision singer and this is the song he chose – his father’s favourite. Ani Gitara – I am a guitar. I am happy to tell you that although he didn’t represent us, he has gone on to a sparkling career.  https://youtu.be/Kz249YwQTV4?si=3vFGtPb2RGmTB39q  

 

I know you love Koolulam and I have never given you this one before!  Researchers at the University of Buffalo conducted research into Koolulam and collective effervescence and human flourishing. People of all faiths from all over the USA came together to sing “Let’s Get Loud”    https://youtu.be/pxd_u4J6ZqI?si=CPzTiKpOK1k-yJXI

 

I love Omer Adam, probably the most popular Israeli singer at the moment. He got married just a few weeks ago and we all wished him and his bride well. This song “Yom Shishi” or Friday, is so Israeli! He sings about his plans (or not) for each day of the week but Friday, Friday leads him to Shabbat. It’s bounce, it’s fun and I have no doubt that you, like me, will dance about and clap your hands at the refrain. https://youtu.be/yI73P4c6vlQ?si=kukKYN5tnSE9ymzh

 

Dear friends, wherever you are, we are finding it difficult to understand the world right now but remember, we can control and enjoy OUR world, the one of so much love and human kindness. We can create an island of warmth, of family and friends that can overcome the cruel world outside. As I light the candles this evening, watching Jerusalem turning gold in the sunset in the distance, I will think of you as I say the prayer "Blessed are You, Lord our God, King of the universe, who has sanctified us with His commandments, and commanded us to kindle the light of the holy Shabbat."

 

Shabbat Shalom dear friends. I’d love to hear from you, I know you always mean to do so but this time, do it, I love it when you do.

With love

Sheila

 

 

 

 

 

 

MLK, Succot and Tabernacles

 

25^th September 2026

14^th Tishrei, 5787

 

Shabbat Shalom, Succot Sameach, a Holy Tabernacles.

 

As we saw from the quote from Josephus last week, there is nothing new under the sun. A very wise man, much more recently, summed up our situation and our needs in words that sound as though he foresaw the world we live in today. This quote from the Reverend Dr Martin Luther King Jr. reminds us that those who rely on rigid, conventional diplomacy will rarely find the solutions that are truly needed. Dr King was a wise man and a true Christian, whose principles were rooted in Christian teaching and in a deep understanding of the world around him.

 

"This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. Our planet teeters on the brink of annihilation; dangerous passions of pride, hatred, and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; and men do reverence before false gods of nationalism and materialism. The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority."

 

Yom Kippur was fascinating for “only in Israel” reasons. Here on our estate, we had one kind of prayer service, down the road in the ancient synagogue there was another, and further up the hill I know of at least three more; all Jewish, all observing the same Day of Atonement, but each with its own style, music and traditions. We drove up to our synagogue on the hill and then walked home. There is no traffic on Yom Kippur, so the world and his family came out to promenade along the empty main road of Mevasseret. Children of every age were whizzing around on bicycles, scooters and anything else with wheels, clearly delighted that, for once, the roads belonged to them. We bumped into wonderful friends, including Danny Adeno Abebe and his beautiful dog. Danny wrote a fascinating book about his journey from Gondar in Ethiopia to becoming a major journalist in Israel, so naturally we stopped for a chat and a hug. Walking down our steep, winding road with our lovely downstairs neighbours was another experience altogether. Without cars rushing past us, we could actually walk, talk and catch up properly, stopping every few minutes whenever we met someone else we knew. By the time we reached home, our supposedly quiet walk had turned into a very sociable Yom Kippur promenade!

 

As Yom Kippur ends, even before eating, the first sections of the Succah (Tabernacle) are built. Alongside the aromas of food to end the fast, the air is filled with the tap tap tapping of the hammers building the Succah. Perhaps the tradition of starting the Succah immediately came from the belief that we always need to have something to look forward to.

 

Yesterday, nighttime here in Israel but daytime in New York the hate machine was working at its hardest. Whether you love him or dislike him, Benjamin Netanyahu was in the United Nations representing Israel. The inane demonstration of so many countries in leaving the plenum showing undeserved contempt, not for Bibi but for us, for Israelis, for the very fact that we exist. The fake news machine which is aggressive in expression, containing words with biased and violent emotions has won in the United Nations, along with Mandani. Again, irrespective of politics (difficult with the elections looming) Netanyahu is a brilliant speaker and yesterday was no exception. He spoke of the fake news machine, of Mandani, Hamas and commented on our technology which has changed the world; however, calling the Hilltop Youths non-representative hoodlums diminishes their evil intent and their effect on Israel’s reputation.

 

One person missing from our delegation is our Ambassador to the United States Yechiel Leiter. The Leiter family lost their eldest son Moshe Yedidiya z”l in the period after the 7^th of October. Early yesterday a car ramming left their son Neriya critically injured as a Palestinian slammed his car into the group of soldiers standing. Neriya (meaning the candlelight of the Almighty) was rushed to Shaare Zedek Hospital, paramedics performing CPR in the ambulance and he immediately underwent multiple surgeries. Please pray for his recovery.

 

We are right in the middle of my least favourite period, wherever I have lived: elections. They bring out the worst in people; discussions become arguments, the right attacks the left and the left attacks the right and being somewhere in the middle doesn’t help either! Perhaps my British upbringing explains my dislike of extremes, but neither Zvi nor I want to support them. I want pragmatic politics: a party and a leader capable of bringing change without hatred, inflammatory rhetoric or careless words that damage Israel at home and abroad. Even if I cared deeply for Netanyahu, I could not accept the extremists around him or the damage their rhetoric has caused. There, I’ve said it, my true feelings before this election and my hope for change.

 

This week was busy for both of us, surprise surprise, but one event really stuck out. It was a lecture about Kfar Samir and the Atallah family, Christians who fled oppression by the Bedouin in Lebanon many years ago and created an agricultural village and a pottery. The grandfather of the current generation, Boutrus (Arabic for Peter) invited Jewish families who had survived the Shoah to live in the empty houses (after 1948) and when they had no money to buy food he would lend it to them without expecting return. The Atallah family and their daughter Katie, are still there but Haifa has encroached with an industrial area that surrounds them, but they thrive and the pottery has become sought after.  Many of the  families and descendants of those who received the Atalla family’s generosity spoke of their incredible kindness. The Attallas are now very wealthy and admired members of the Haifa community and their story has spread far and wide, yet again showing that generosity and kindness pay off in so many ways. https://haipo.co.il/en/item/303542

 

Yesterday I went to see Rachel and the children (not exactly children especially Yosef who is getting married in November!) After they gave me enough hugs, kisses and “I love yous” to keep me going until next time, Rachel and I decided to go and get some fruit for the Festival. Rachel suggested going to a place nearby, not a shop but rather a wholesaler. Being game for anything we set off to a place that wasn’t even on Waze, Rachel directing me. We went through Giv’on Hahadasha, a Jewish settlement (yes settlement can mean ordinary people) through the Arab village of Al Jib on the Biblical site of the village of Gibeon, into the middle of nowhere surrounded by vines heavy with fruit. Beginning to lose confidence in my daughter’s instincts I kept going and suddenly humongous hangars came into sight! At first we were thrilled to step into the A/C and then looking around us was a vast array of fruit and vegetables! One area had potatoes, both normal and even peeled in a specially temperature controlled area; the other end had herbs in an equally controlled temperature. I leapt upon the huge, firm and perfect onions, both plain and the purple ones I love. Even though we had everything we needed at home, we bought more! We even managed to meet Rachel’s lovely friend Kim who was delighted at the bargain fruit too! The best part of the adventure was the reasonable bill at the end.

 

Sunday is going to be a bit insane but then life without a bit of insanity is boring! I have my chair Tai Chi in the morning and in the evening we have two events. One is the opening of a major art exhibition by our neighbour Pamela Silver https://www.pamelasilver.com/ which is to be held in the exquisite Brigham Young University Campus, which has the most incredible panorama of the Old City, and the second is the International Christian Embassy’s Tabernacles event which is simply stupendous and reminds all 3,000 attendees that you don’t have to be Jewish to love Israel!

 

What about tonight? Well, we have some lovely friends coming over to celebrate Succot. We don’t actually have a succah this year so we decorate the dining room which opens completely onto the veranda, pushing the doors back to full opening allowing the glorious breeze of the Jerusalem Hills into the room. To make time to talk to you today, I already prepared most of the salads and the set the table yesterday, just a few things to go. Zvi has gone off to meet his parliament friends, but not in the Botanical Gardens, in the home of Prof Shimon Shitreet who invites them each year to his Succah. I say his home and succah but actually I should include his wife Miri.

 

I think that’s it, except of course for the music. I am very excited that you love the music I find.

 

Let’s start with a fun song called Livin’ in a Booth by the Fountainheads! https://youtu.be/oXx5Wp3GcSE?si=W5JdcvWY-KGw2gfv

 

If you ever wondered what are the traditions and requirements of Succot, this quirky song explains it all. The Lulav (4 species), Etrog (Citron), sleeping in the Succah, Everything!! https://youtu.be/gODQ0pgR64Y?si=Zc2cSPh9P3Eim6vy

My final choice has a very deep meaning for all Israelis, indeed, for good people everywhere. Vehi Sheamda literally means “He who stood by us.” It is a Passover song, but its words carry a strength that reaches far beyond the Seder table:” in every generation enemies rise against us, determined to destroy us, and the Almighty ensures we survive”. Generation after generation, they come and go and we are still here. Israel itself is the living proof of those words: proof that we are a people, that we endured. Daniel Weiss lost both his parents on Simchat Torah on the 7th of October 2023, when Hamas entered their kibbutz and slaughtered his parents. The words speak of generations who faced those who wanted to destroy them. That is why Vehi Sheamda is such a powerful choice. It is not simply a song about survival. It is a declaration: they tried to destroy us, but we the Almighty stood for us and we survived.  https://youtu.be/fY1wgTq9SRM?si=jpDA3ymi_IZOMIIA

 

I want to end with a very important message. I watched Hen Mazzig face off Norman Finkelstien on Piers Morgan. Finkelstein was morose and bitter, denying his heritage as the son of Survivors, an Israel denier and Hen Mazzig, a gentle, honest, proud Jew and proud Israeli succeeding in the debate because he held his head high. The message is clear no matter what your religion; hold your head high, be proud of who you are and the Norman Finkelstein’s of this world will lose their impetus.

 

Shabbat Shalom everyone. I can’t wait until our dinner begins and our guests are amazed by the fabulous kiddush by Zvi. I have heard it for 36 years and it still makes me so proud.

 

Sending much love from our veranda and that unequalled view of Jerusalem on the horizon

Sheila

 

 

Josephus, Kippurim and a Great Restaurant

 

18^th September, 2026

7^th of Tishrei 5787

ז׳ בְּתִשְׁרֵי תשפ״ז

 

The Jewish year in Hebrew is תשפ״ז (in Hebrew letters are also numbers so it is 5787) and if we use the initials can mean Golden Year. Let’s pray that comes to fruition.

 

Shabbat Shalom, Shana Tova (a good New Year) Hatima Tova (May you be enscribed in the Good Book) and finally and most important of all I wish you a better year, a kinder year, one in which we spend more time listening than posturing. As my Mother taught us “God gave you two ears and one mouth, remember to use them in that proportion”

 

We are getting closer to Yom haKippurim, aka Yom Kippur, the Day of Atonement, the day in which we are supposed to recognise all our sins, and the sins of those around us near and far, and promise to change, to repent, to make amends, to expiate, because human conflict should not be perpetual. It is so much more than a confession, it is a promise to change. I was thinking about the mutually destructive internecine battle of words and political rhetoric that is destroying our peaceful existence and my thoughts went back thousands of years to the words of the only written source of the time of the Romans and the destruction of the Second Temple through “Sinat Hinam”, unwarranted hatred.  

 

Flavius Josephus was born Yosef ben Mattityahu in 36 BCE.  Josephus was a Roman/Jewish historian and military leader. He was born in Jerusalem, which was then then part of the Roman province of Judea, to a father of priestly descent (Cohen) and a mother who claimed Hasmonean royal ancestry. Josephus holds the first and the only place among the native authors of Judaea. He recorded  “The Jewish War”

 

“A three-cornered faction fight in Jerusalem as one party split into two. We should not be far wrong if we described this like a maddened beast driven by lack of other food to devour its own flesh. It was as if to oblige the Romans they were destroying all that the city had laid up against a siege. They flung themselves at each other’s throats, and almost all the grain- enough to support them through many years of siege – went up in flames. Unhappy city! What have you suffered from the Romans compared with this?” It sounds so familiar, scarily so.

 

Just 135 years after Josephus death came the ill fated Bar Kochba revolution, the Romans won crushing victory. As a result they changed the name of Judea to Syria Palaestina, which became Palestine, and so the mistaken identity of this tiny sliver of land began.

 

NAZA the new Gaza film by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, won the Special Jury Prize at Venice and received a standing ovation of at least 25 minutes.  I am furious. If you want applause, prizes, Oscars or Golden Globes, particularly in Europe, making a film portraying Israel as uniquely monstrous is a very good place to start. NAZA presents many disturbing testimonies from Israeli military “insiders”, however, this is a documentary of accusations without any evidence, verification, confirmation, validation, corroboration, substantiation, nothing, nada, to back up their claims. Ironically the film brought a horrified reaction from Israelis but is ignored by the rest of the world.  The former hostages want to investigate the supposed movie-makers.

 

On an utterly different note, last night Zvi and I finally used a very special birthday present a dinner at the Rooftop restaurant overlooking the Old City. It was elegant and rather special, not only because of the delicious food, but because of the wonderful professionalism of the staff and, of course, that phenomenal view. Our waitress was very special and I promised to write about her. Shirel, meaning song of God, is a student of Mechanical Engineering here in Jerusalem and as is the tradition of Israeli students, she is working in a restaurant, but what a restaurant! The dinner was a gift from Zvi’s musical friends for his 80th birthday. It only took us 18 months to actually get around to using it!

 

We parked under Mamilla Shopping Mall and, as we emerged from the lift, we seemed to enter a completely different world. Suddenly we were surrounded by thousands of predominantly young people, observant and secular, all making their way towards the Kotel for Selichot — the special prayers asking for forgiveness before Yom Kippur. The singing and dancing had already begun, and the atmosphere was absolutely infectious. Selichot can be said in a synagogue or even at home, and different Jewish traditions observe them for different lengths of time — Eastern communities often begin much earlier, while Ashkenazi communities traditionally begin shortly before Rosh Hashanah.

 

Trying not to be trampled by the enthusiasm of the younger generation as they surged towards the Old City, we stood there smiling and taking it all in. From an elegant rooftop dinner to a sea of singing, dancing young people heading to the Kotel, it was quite a Jerusalem evening — and a very special one.

 

These last few days are particularly meaningful in the Jewish calendar. We are in the Days of Repentance, the days between Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur, and tonight we light the Shabbat candles to bring light to a very important day, Shabbat Shuva — the Sabbath of Return. In the middle of all the prayers and traditions, we are simply being given a moment to stop, look back at the year that has passed and think about where we might have gone wrong, and where we might do better. Shuva means “return”: a return to ourselves, to the people we love, to what really matters, and perhaps to the values we sometimes lose sight of in the hectic schedules of everyday life. It is not about being perfect; none of us is. It is about recognising our mistakes, asking forgiveness where we need to, forgiving others where we can, and trying to begin the new year with a slightly kinder and better version of ourselves.

 

As Yom Kippur approaches, just two days away, I’ve been looking back over the past year, at what I’ve written, said and done, and perhaps most importantly, at what I should have said or done and didn’t. The prayers of Yom Kippur ask us to atone for the past, but also to prepare ourselves for the future. Although Yom Kippur is uniquely Jewish, the ideas of repentance, forgiveness and making a fresh start are ones that Christians, and people of many other faiths, can share.

 

So, if I have hurt or offended you, disappointed you or simply let you down in some way, I am truly sorry. None of us gets everything right, and I certainly don’t. Our friendships mean far too much to me not to say mechilah, please forgive me.

 

As we enter this most solemn of days, I wish you and your families a meaningful Yom Kippur, good health, love, kindness and peace — and the strength to begin again wherever it is needed.

 

Some of the most beautiful music is sung on the eve of Yom Kippur. Here Lt Colonel Shai Abrahamson the IDF Chief Cantor, sings Kol Nidre, the prayer that signifies the commencement of the Yom Kippur prayers.

https://youtu.be/Qj5rouyKZ9Y?si=4_ghHx4DhfrT0Wgt

 

Avinu Malkeinu, My Father my King, Cantor Azi Schwartz sings the prayer that is central to the service. The haunting music and words beseeching forgiveness are profound. “Hear our voice Oh Lord, with pity, and compassion and accept our prayer”

https://youtu.be/0a3mSHSjW30?si=AszEC15KhZ0qTBJT

 

Yaakov Shwekey sings a blessing for the young soldiers of the IDF. This was a concert in 2013, little did we know what our soldiers, young and old, would suffer during and after the massacre of 2023. The Shabbat of darkness and cruelty, the 7^th of October, 2023. We must all beg for their forgiveness, especially our leaders but also the leaders of the IDF, Shabak and Mossad, for not recognising our enemy. They were warned. The words of this song ring true"He who blessed our ancestors, our holy ancestors, may He bless the soldiers of Israel, the soldiers of Israel."

https://youtu.be/suKZK8O_x2s?si=vb9RgCppj1xV9N1_

 

Just as I finished writing it happened, the skies opened and the brilliant, cleansing rain fell. Perhaps it will wash away our sins, give us a clean start…. and thoughts of a new beginning as our elections near.

 

I wish you a beautiful weekend in which you love and are loved. Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem and the wet and glistening View from Our Veranda

Sheila