200724
24th
July, 2020
Shabbat Shalom lovely people. I hope you are
well and not too troubled by the insanity of our world. The response to the
chaos outside is to take advantage of the time to really get to know our
children, grandchildren and, yes, even our spouses!
As much as I want to raise your spirits I
have to begin with an intolerable situation here at home. To use a somewhat
banal analogy, we are a ship without a rudder. The disarray and indecision of
the government concerning all things Corona is wearing everyone down. Perhaps
the best example is the situation of restauranteurs – they were told, amid
great jubilation, that they could re-open their doors, under certain
limitations of distancing, cleansing and masks, but nonetheless re-open. They
stocked up, hired staff, welcomed diners back then two weeks later, told they
had to shut down again. They gave away all their produce only to be told they
didn't have to close but only serve take-away then that changed so that they
could have service in outdoor areas only and now………..
The demonstrations of independents, small
businesses and restauranteurs were joined by those who cannot pay their rent or
mortgages. What began as an orderly expression of frustration has become a
rather rowdy but understandably disorderly expression of anger. Yisrael
Katz, Minister of Finance came up with a plan to give every citizen a
monthly stipend, it was announced then suddenly – unannounced! The Chair of the
Knesset Committee on the Corona Virus, Yifat Shasha-Biton, criticised the government's handling of the
situation and the PM tried immediately to fire her! In other words
chaotic government.
President Ruvi Rivlin, the wonderful titular leader, put it into simple words
"“As a citizen and on behalf of us all, I say:
Get a grip! Stop the talk of early elections, of that terrible option at this
time, and save yourselves from it,” he said. “The State of Israel is not a rag
doll that you drag around as you squabble,”
I have been criticised for
saying what I feel about Israel's leadership through this difficult period. I
am not a political animal, I speak as I feel, whether it the leader I voted for
or not. Israel deserves an honest leader who is not
distracted by his legal battles, one whose family are supportive but not
involved in matters of State.
All of the above relates, to an extent, to
what is currently happening in the States today where the younger generation
judge the past through the eyes and ears of today, without accepting the fact
that today, you overcame the shame of past history and sinking into inverse and
induced hatred of minority groups cannot change what has been. Despite poor
leadership this situation is rising from the grass roots disinformed by evil
haters such as Farrakhan.
So, one more aspect of past and present that
relates so deeply to our world today. Tisha b'Av. Tisha b'Av literally
means the 9th day of the Hebrew month of Av which falls on next
Wednesday evening. It is a day of mourning and fasting as we commemorate more
disasters than any one people should endure. Twice, on this date, the Holy
Temple was destroyed, the spies that Moses sent into the Land of Israel were
lazy, gave a bad report and so we were destined to 40 years wandering in the
desert; 1290 expulsion of England’s Jews and
the 1492 banishment of all Jews from Spain; Germany declared war on
Russia which led to the First World War. The cause of all of the above? Hatred.
Hatred of the other, intolerance, greed – sound familiar?
Rabbi Jonathan Sacks, former Chief Rabbi of Great Britain and the Commonwealth,
has a way with words. His mellifluous tones hide a simplicity of expression
that tends to put everything into perspective. https://youtu.be/iABRa9h8vC0
Gosh, I'm depressing myself so let's move on!
I am constantly learning new words in Hebrew –
even after 30 years!! We all know what hasbara is – literally
dissemination of information, but few know what ta'amula is. Ta'amula means telling stories, human stories to get
your message over. It's time we switched from hasbara to ta'amula…… Journalist Bari
Weiss brought new meaning to ta'amula. She told her story, but as a Jew. She
stood up to the pseudo-inteligentsia of the New York Times. She spoke to every
American out there, not just Jews but everyone. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bxYbAnpY6DY
In Judaism it is said
that everyone has three names – the one you are born with, the one you are called in life and
the one you leave behind. This week a young couple from New York chose to start
a campaign on Shalva's website to celebrate their son Joseph's Bar Mitzva.
Lovely Gaby Hirsch, who is heads the Shalva Campaign Team spoke to them and
showed them some other Campaign pages for them to see how it is done. Suddenly
Joseph's mother began to cry, she had seen my beautiful son Daniel's page
"Remembering Daniel" – Daniel was her three children's beloved paediatrician.
Abby and Josh Kaufthal are not new to
Shalva, Josh's father was a strong supporter, but seeing Daniel's face on the
page brought back so many beautiful memories. Like me, they feel that a Music
and Drama Therapy Room in Shalva is the perfect memorial to a special man. In
the meantime we have exceeded, yet again, our original target and extended the
campaign so that any former patients can express their love for Daniel by
donating to the campaign. "Dr. Dan's Room" will serve as a place of
fun and therapy through the magic of music and drama for the youngsters of
Shalva. Zvi and I went this week to see the potential space and were thrilled
to find a large, airy room with big windows and perfect wheelchair access – as
yet a blank canvas but I can already imagine the butterfly murals on the
walls https://give.shalva.org/daniel
We haven't wandered
very far from home lately but
still manage to be busy. Zvi has his two choirs and since being on the Board of
about six organisations wasn't enough for him he has helped found an
organisation which provides amusement and song for the elderly who are feeling
most lonely and insecure at the moment. I, as you know have been busy with
Shalva and with Impact-se meetings on-line. Impact is
going from strength to strength as our reports are taken very seriously by
international players. The UN published a statement as an official document for
the 44th session of the Human Rights Council prepared by UN Watch, outlining
the global rise in antisemitism and notably, the extreme levels of hatred and
incitement in Palestinian Authority textbooks. The statement cites the
alarming findings of IMPACT-se’s 2018 report on PA textbooks which found explicit endorsement of terrorist
activity, antisemitism and violence against Israel. https://www.impact-se.org/reports/
Do you know what
Sabich is? Do you know where
and when it was created? Well, here goes, an explanation. Sabich is a sandwich,
of sorts, which contains fried aubergine (eggplant), hummus, pickles, hard
boiled egg all inside an Iraqi pitta! Apparently, as the story goes, this
delicious combination was the invention of a man called Sabich!!! One Sunday in
the town of Ramat Gan, Sabich Halabi found that he had some ingredients left
over from the family Shabbat meal and hungry blue collar clients waiting for
breakfast! He put everything he had into a pitta and so the Sabich was
invented! It is now a staple breakfast sandwich all over Israel but very few
knew the origin of its name – until this week when the Municipality of Ramat
Gan decided to name the square where Sabich Halabi created his sandwich – Sabich
Square!!
Tonight we are going
to Rachel and Igal, to my beautiful daughter and family, for Shabbat dinner. I
am being extra-careful but then so is she! Shabbat is a family affair in
Rachel's home (when 3 teenagers are in a helpful mood). Talia and Rachel are in
charge of salads, the real Israeli salads like grated carrot, cabbage, egg,
matbucha, cucumber, potato and so many more that it is hard to choose which
ones to take before your stomach bursts! Ayala loves cleaning and does the
traditional throwing of soapy water everywhere then gathering it all in with a
"sponger", Yosef is in charge of taking garbage down and preparing
mountains of cut kitchen roll!! Rachel prepares St. Peter's fish aka Mousht, in
a wonderful vegetable sauce and salmon parcels with the best roast potatoes in
the country! I love the way the three children join their Dad in song – Igal
throwing in a few Ashkenazi melodies for us! I feel as if I am playing truant
by going out but since we will be less than 10 people keep our distance and
take care, it is fine.
This period seems to
be hardest on the grandparents of this world, the fact that we can't hug and
kiss our grandchildren or for that matter get to together for a singsong. Zvi
sent me a marvellous song by a group of Israeli singers of a certain age who
decided to say "Dayenu" – enough. I'm sorry that it isn't with
translation but it is hot off the press so they haven't had time! Dayenu 2020 https://youtu.be/BAYu9-aSWiI
It happened! I found a
new song about Jerusalem! Sung by the wonderful Shlomi Shabbat, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_kQCTlFuCqQ
I tried
and tried to find you a Shabbat song that I love with English translation –
without success but I found the perfect joyous songs with Spanish subtitles!
All my lovely Spanish speaking readers it is your turn. Enjoy the Revivo
Project - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H7lMA7aUTQI
That's all folks! The
weather is hot, very hot, in fact searingly hot for the next week and we are
all trying to find shady corners! I was hoping to take Zvi's grandchildren to
the zoo this week but I really can't see it happening, I think we would all
melt. Even the animals have huge ice lollies to cool them down! The morning
views from our veranda are exquisite as the heat haze creates an illusion of
Jerusalem rising from the clouds. Gosh I love it!
I wish you a Shabbat
Shalom. There is so much to learn from Tisha b'Av and we have to learn to live
together – and I don't just mean Jews – all of us. As Yehuda Meshi Zahav, the
founder of Zaka, said "I learned that when you hold a man's heart in your
hand it is irrelevant from where he came"
With much love from
Jerusalem
Sheila
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