201218
18th
December 2020
Shabbat
Shalom dear friends. Only 4 more days until Christmas Eve, 5 days until
Christmas Day and 6 days until Boxing Day. Incredible to think that 2020 is
almost over accompanied by a huge sigh of relief.
As we
see more and more anti-Semitism in the guise of anti-Israel sentiment I am
reminded of Sir Winston Churchill's prophetic speech in 1936
‘They
go on in some strange paradox, decided only to be undecided, resolved to be
irresolute, adamant for drift, solid for fluidity, all-powerful to be
impotent…Owing to past neglect, in the face of the plainest warnings, we have
entered upon a period of danger. The era of procrastination, of half measures,
of soothing and baffling expedience of delays, is coming to a close. In its
place we are entering a period of consequences…We cannot avoid this period, we
are now in it.’
There
is only one way to stop the tsunami of hatred and that is to change what
children are taught. Tolerance must replace hatred, for the sake of our
children and the sake of our world. More of that later.
There
are many philanthropists in this world, many good people who never forget from
whence they came, but few reach the level of good works of the Lowy family from
Australia. Lady Shirley Lowy, matriarch of the Lowy family, passed away
this week in Tel Aviv after the family made Aliya, leaving her family bereft
and thousands of friends mourning. Her son Stephen, a really good man, is the
Chair of the Board of Governors of Keren Hayesod/UIA following in his parents
footsteps of philanthropy in general and a strong connection to Israel. May the
family know no more sorrow.
Australians are
relieved this week
as the nightmare of Malka Leifer came to an end and a new chapter in bringing
her to justice began. I believe you are familiar with the drawn-out legal
battle to have Malka Leifer extradited to Australia to face charges of child
sexual abuse. Her legal team used Israel's legal system to the fullest, but
this week, after 74 court appearances and appeals Israel’s Supreme Court
rejected her final appeal. Despite a process that often takes weeks if not
months, Israeli Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn signed her extradition order
within a day. Leifer will be back in Australia within two months to face her
victims. The question on everybody's lips is who paid for her extortionate
legal expenses.
The vaccine arrived
in Israel and
tomorrow night the vaccinations begin. Too many ridiculous and dangerous
fallacies are circling the world, suggesting that the vaccine is dangerous,
changes ones DNA etc. Do you remember the lies that circulated about wearing
masks and the suggestion that here was no pandemic that it was all a political
intrigue? So the stories of the vaccine are given the false veracity scaring
people into falling ill and extending the pandemic. I can promise you that Zvi
and I will run to the clinic to receive our vaccine the minute we are called.
The moment that
Israel signs
any kind of treaty or accord Israelis feel the need to travel and see that
country. 50,000 Israelis already travelled to the UAE, yes, you heard me,
50,000 Israelis in the UAE since the Abraham Accords and many visitors from the
Emirates came here, each talking of the beauty of Israel and the warmth of the
people. There is a downside though, the Israeli Government has not declared the
UAE as a "red" state and many Israelis have brought Covid-19 back as
a memento of their trip, some even having to stay in the UAE until better. In
fact, the number of Israelis taking advantage of the current open skies policy
is terrifying. We have enough problems without adding to the causes of
infection. Shopping malls and stores are not the problem, travel and large
weddings or funerals without masks are a huge and utterly negative contributor.
Despite the fact that he was my son
Daniel's Rabbi in Oxford University, I don't often cite Rabbi Shmuley
Boteach as my source. In this week's opinion piece in the Jerusalem Post,
he hit the nail right on the head. American Jews have become so factionalised
that hatred is rife. https://www.jpost.com/opinion/
It isn't only the
treaties and accords
that caused a peak in pique in the Palestinian Authority leadership. Thanks to
the brilliant work of Impact-se, the Norwegian Government decided to cut their
20 million krone aid to the PA unless the PA takes hate speech out of their
school curriculum. IMPACT-se’s report, delivered to policymakers, showed that no
changes were made to the 2020-21 curriculum, despite promises made by
Palestinian officials to the visiting British and Norwegian Foreign Ministers
and other European politicians and diplomats. The textbooks contain
antisemitism, incitement to violence, hate and do not recognize Israel or a
peaceful settlement with Israel. On the other hand Impact is
working with the UAE, is helping Bahrain and Morocco to change their school
books and, wait for it, Saudi Arabia too!
We know that the
teaching of hatred and violence affects specific countries but the terrifying
fact is that those teachings filter down throughout the West too and create an
untenable situation of inculcated hatred for "the other". That is our
next objective, to bring tolerance to all sectors of society, wherever you may
be, through tolerant education. https://www.timesofisrael.com/anti-semitism-and-anti-zionsim-leaving-saudi-textbooks-monitoring-group/
Relations with
Morocco
have almost always been warm, but now we not only have a treaty with Morocco,
they are teaching Jewish studies in their schools!
The latest agreement
is with Bhutan. Bhutan? What or where is Bhutan? Bhutan, between India and
China, is a secret gem, discourages visitors and is one of the world's unspoilt
countries. They have virtually no internet, they live a simple life, are happy
with their lot and it sounds just wonderful.
John Le Carre, genius author,
fascinating man passed away this week. He spoke of his affinity to Israel and
the Jews in an interview 22 years ago. https://www.timesofisrael.com/when-john-le-carre-poured-out-his-soul-on-jews-and-israel/
Don't you love Gal
Gadot?
She and Jimmy Fallon taste each other's traditional food, here Fallon bravely
eats gefilte fish….. It's really funny https://youtu.be/4rsY-YZavlM
Chanuka is over, well the last
candle lighting is over. We had some lovely experiences, some actual some
virtual. We lit candles with all our future neighbours, each bringing a
chanukiah and singing together, outdoors obviously. We lit with Zvi's boys and families;
we had virtual candle lighting with various organisations and of course by
ourselves. I had a wonderful visitor this week – Kinneret Chaya's big sister
Nitzan. It was such a delight and of course we sat out on the famous veranda
and I made her shakshuka while she brought wonderful bread from a local bakery
to mop up the delicious spicy juices. We had a surprise visit from Eli and Eva,
"just for coffee on the mirpesset (veranda)" and in about 20 minutes
I made special cookies and a chocolate cake – after all it is Eli's 70th
birthday! In fact today, Eva is taking most of the choir on a tiyul (tour) near
Bet Shemesh. Since it is over rather rough countryside I decided my hip
wouldn't be happy so stayed home to write to you! Since you can't come to tour
Israel. Here's a tour brought to you! https://israelisbeautiful.com/
This week Yosef
Eliyahu,
my beautiful, amazing grandson, reached the ripe old age of 16. We had a very
limited celebration, just his parents, sisters and two lots of grandparents,
but we made enough noise for an entire party! Talia baked and decorated a
magnificent cake and my favourite part was when Ayala appeared with a
broomstick covered in 16 balloons which she jiggled about and the birthday boy
had to try and burst all the balloons.
Gideon and Stephanie, all the way away
in London, celebrated 20 years of marriage. It's incredible to see how the
years have flown but their love produced 3 incredible children and I adore all
of them. Mazal Tov to all.
The sunrise from the
veranda
have been spectacular this week, even through the torrential rain. We are lucky
in Jerusalem, we live on a series of hills but the coastal plain suffered
flooding, spectacular flooding. Incredibly the Kinneret, the sea of Galilee, is
already almost full and winter is just beginning. Soon they will be able to
open the sluice gate and allow the water to flow down to the Dead Sea.
On the 18th
of December last year
we took a group of lovely friends on a tour of Jerusalem, winding up for lunch
at "Missedet Ima" an excellent Middle Eastern restaurant near Shouk Mahane
Yehuda. Life was good, food was excellent and the company marvellous. Suddenly,
I received a phone call from my son Gideon. Leaving the room I heard "Mum
there's been an accident in New York" He waited until Zvi and I rushed
home to tell me the full news, Daniel had not survived the accident. Of course
we, the entire family, flew immediately to New York for the funeral. The
outpourings of love and admiration were overwhelming and for that I am ever
grateful but as another mother who lost her son, Camille Fox in far off
Australia, said "It is a
silent paralysing internal ache"
Nothing will bring
Daniel back
but I beg of you to cherish every moment with your children. Never ever be too
busy to hear what they have to say, always give them loving confidence to be
the best they can be and never take them for granted. Fill every day with joy
and love, reach out to others who may be in pain and be proactive; defend what
is precious to you and do everything in your power to heal this broken world.
That is what Daniel would have wanted me to say to you.
Tonight Zvi and I
are on our own,
but not before I go to hug Rachel, remind her and the children just how much I
love them and thank heaven that they live close by. If I remember I'll stop at
the new vista point and take a photo of the mosaic, the panorama of Jerusalem
from Samuel's Tomb. I chose to be alone, with my Zvi and my thoughts. Even I
reach the point where I just don't want to be with anyone else.
Music. I wonder what
music would suit this strange week?
Adon Olam – Lord of
the Universe
– is so familiar to every Jew that one cannot help but join in with whichever
music is chosen. Sweet memories of Reading Shule. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nvOtcWEFWo8
Once upon a time the
late great Nat King Cole sang a Christmas song which reached out to all of us,
irrespective of our religious beliefs. This beautiful rendition is by his
daughter Natalie and Andrea Bocelli. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVHvIGf1i0s
Bob Geldorf always thought out
of the box, a rebel with a cause. He began the whole idea of a vast number of
stars singing a Christmas song to raise money for the children of Africa back
in 1984. Understanding that all the big organisations were top heavy and a tiny
percentage of the money raised by them ever reached those who most needed it he
went personally to the poorest towns and villages and without taking one penny
for himself he disbursed the monies raised and oversaw the purchases. Her eis a
joyous version of the song that began social consciousness in the pop world. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gifrd7ljNL4
I wish you a good
Shabbes, a day of thought and contemplation, and as you open the last 4 windows
on your advent calendar, think of how we could change our world by accepting
each other for what we are – not trying to force or change those around us. The
Emerati visitors, when asked what most surprised them when they came to
Jerusalem and all the Holy Sites of the 3 monotheistic religions, is that they
were enlightened by the tolerance and acceptance of their traditional dress by
every Israeli they met.
I just received the
best phone call any Safta could get. Ayala has been dreaming of my vegetable
patties (ktsistot) all week since she had them here and so please, please,
since I'm going to visit them anyway, can I prepare some for her!! Since I
watched her devour about 12 of them while watching Gilmore Girls I could hardly
refuse!!
With much love from
beautiful Jerusalem
Sheila
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