210827
27TH
August 2021
Shabbat
Shalom! I hope this letter finds you well, vaccinated and Covid free.
Every
leader suffers the mistakes of his predecessors. I don't know if
there is an appropriate quote but that's the fact. It takes at least two years,
some say four years, to undo mistakes and if concurrent leaders made the same
mistakes the current leader has to take brave, unpopular steps to turn things
around. Perhaps this should be considered "Hindsight can be merciless. People of any given era
often look back in time and wonder how their predecessors could have been so
dimwitted."
Two
days ago a representative of Al Queeda decided to show his support for the Taliban
by driving his car among a group of civilians and American soldiers, blow up
the vehicle then as the crowd neared to investigate he blew himself up killing
12 Americans and maiming uncountable numbers of both soldiers and civilians.
Support for the Taliban and the various offshoots begins in Iran but doesn't
end there. Afghanistan has a sinister neighbour, Pakistan. The Pakistanis are
very dangerous because they play the international game very well. On the one
hand condemning the anti-American stance of the Islamic terror organisations
while simultaneously funding them and allowing them to flourish within
Pakistan.
I
have no doubt that the blame game has already begun, but the biggest
question is not why or when the American troops are taken out of Afghanistan
but rather, why, ever since they entered that G-d forsaken country, has nothing
been done to encourage the formation of formal government. The international
community is so busy fighting windmills and finding jobs for the boys that they
made no effort to build an alternative to the savage, inhuman, brutish,
brilliant tactics of the Taliban. The United States had 20 years since 9/11 to
change the countries it entered, but nothing was done. So folks, the blame games
are inappropriate on every level – we have a common enemy and it is irrelevant
as to whether you are Republican or Democrat – indeed the same goes for Israel –
it is irrelevant whether you are Likud or anything else. In both cases the
internecine fighting was about individuals not policies and it weakens us all.
Prime
Minister Naftali Bennet arrived in Washington with an agenda for his talks with
President Biden, first and foremost to repair any rift created by the former
government. His intention was to discuss the questions which pertain to the
very existence of Israel. However, understandably, President Biden has a dire
situation on his hands and the meeting has been delayed until 10:00 Washington
time which will be very close to Shabbat in Israel causing the PM, who is
Shomer Shabbat (he keeps the laws of Shabbat) to delay his return. It can't be
helped.
Hamas
is strengthened by the tragic events in Afghanistan. They plans huge
disruptions starting with their border "demonstration" and
undoubtedly followed by more rockets. Hamas needs publicity. The Qatari money
is not going to Hamas, it goes directly to the families who have suffered so
horribly; the food and staple goods which Israel sends each day don't pay for
missiles and if they don't have publicity then they don't get donations and
they can't build rockets. Hezb-Allah is also feeling more powerful at the
"success" of the Taliban and has increased its threats – even the
cowardly Nasrallah has poked his head out of his bunker on occasion!
What is
the link between all of the above? Iran. Yes Iran. Don't be fooled, the threat
from Iran is not only nuclear in fact it is something far more insidious….terror.
As you
already know Rabbi Jeremy Rosen is more than a friend and mentor, we agree on
just about everything!! I don't know if it's the Cardiff connection (I still
remember my brother Ronnie and I playing with the Rosen brothers in the garden
of Green Gables, the home of Jeremy's Grandfather MJ Cohen. Anyway to return to
the crux of the matter, this week Jeremy wrote a piece about
"Appeasement" a word hated by both of us. It applies to the policies
of the West in general and so much more. Well worth a read, it is
philosophical, well rounded and relevant. http://jeremyrosen.com/2021/08/appeasement.htmlm
Not
everything in this world was death and depression this week – let's talk about
the things that make life worthwhile.
This
is a "Watch This Space" but just so that you know that the European
Union is currently discussing information gathered and published by Impact-se.
As a
non-Spanish speaker it
has been both a fun week and a trying one!! Zvi has been meeting old friends
from his Mexican High School – the famous Yiddische Shule in Mexico City. All
of the others were born in Mexico but Zvi arrived as an oversized 13 year old
with his parents and little brother Meir z"l immediately after Zvi's Bar
Mitzva, his parents sent by the Jewish Agency as Hebrew teachers to the community.
They took the challenge because Zvi's father Kalman had many family members who
fled Europe for Mexico and since both he and Alla were orphans – every member
of both families wiped out by the Third Reich – they saw it as an opportunity
for their children to know family. I digress. The meetings were actual and by
Zoom. Of course Zvi wrote a lovely message for his classmates most of whom are
still in Mexico, saying how the decades which have passed have not dimmed the
friendships of those times 60+ years ago.
Iyab
Shalabi is Israeli;
Iyab Shalabi is a deaf, mute, paraplegic Israeli; Iyab Shalabi is a Paralympic
Gold winner who proudly wore the strip of the Israeli team. Iyab was born deaf
and suffered a terrible accident as a child, falling from a roof, which left
him paralysed from the waist down. However Iyab has an incredibly supportive
family and a father who gave up his regular life to support his son and drive
him wherever he needed to practice his swimming. This is the story you won't
read in the international media, the story of an Israeli, irrespective of his
colour or creed, an Israeli pure and simple. A story of great bravery and
determination encouraged by his family, his community and his country. https://www.ynetnews.com/culture/article/bywcwyqwy
The
Paralympic Games
had humble beginnings at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire (if you
are British you say Bucks or Buckingham not the whole mouthful) in 1944-45
after the British government asked Dr Ludwig Guttman, a neurologist who had
escaped Nazi Germany and believed that sport was the only way to rehabilitate
patients with spinal injuries, to create a rehabilitation centre at Stoke
Mandeville. His story is fascinating https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludwig_Guttmann
The Rabbi
Chaim Kanievsky is considered a brilliant Torah scholar who when Covid
first appeared told his flock not to get the vaccination, but his brilliance
helped him understand that there is no shame in changing one's view. This week
he came out with the statement "No jab, no job". He has warned his
followers that it is dangerous to remain unvaccinated which is a huge step
forward for the haredi, Ultra-Orthodox community in general.
I
"unfriended" someone on Facebook this week. I don't mind if
anyone wants to discuss with me, to disagree with me but his man went well beyond
the Pale. He is obviously an narcissist because he joined the Anti-Vaxxers
movement but that isn't enough – he used and wore a yellow star, a fabric
yellow star with Anti-Vaxxer written instead of Jude! The lowest of the low.
Man
was instructed to rest on the seventh day, and the land must rest every seventh
year. According to the Bible (e.g.
Exodus 23:10-11) every seventh year the land may not be worked, and the produce
of the land may not be bought or sold. Rather, the land is to be left alone,
though people may pick what grows naturally in the fields and orchards as they
need. Of course one must still water the land so the trees will not die, but no
more than that.
This
Rosh Hashana takes us into a new harvest year, or rather a new non-harvest
year. Shnat Shmitta, Jewish ecology. Each 7 years, as I learned as part
of our history\ geography lessons in high school in Wales, one must leave the
land to rest. "Rotation of crops encourages the restoration of minerals to
the soil" I can still hear the lilting Welsh tones of the teacher. A
fascinating conundrum since during this year an observant Jew will not buy
produce from Israel for fear of breaking this rule, but rather imported
produce.
Since
my little trees, especially the lemon and kumquat trees, are laden, groaning
with fruit, I will have to decide what to do. The little lemon tree is magical! I have a
full crop of fast growing fruit, then a second crop of tiny fruits and now it
is in blossom again! I have a feeling that we will have lemons until next year!
Today's
music has a theme, here the Jerusalem Youth Chorus, whose home is at the YMCA
in Jerusalem, is made up of young Israeli and Palestinian singers who talk of
making change and being friends https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrMtRyaQYXk Mashup for Change!
Achinoam
Nini is an Israeli of Yemenite origin who grew up in the States and came back
to Israel to serve in the IDF. Mira Awad is a Christian Arab Israeli. Together
they represented Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest with "There must be
Another Way"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBTQFOkFZw8
The
last song is also one of hope, of togetherness. Sung in English, Hebrew and
Arabic, recorded in the multicultural city of Haifa 2 years ago. One Day by
your favourites, Koolulam. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9gqw0WirTRQ
So we are
getting closer and closer to Rosh Hashana, to what we hope will be a new start,
in readiness for the Day of Atonement. Perhaps a good start is to understand
the difference between dialogue and dialectic, talk, discuss, listen. My
incredibly wise Mother, the legendary Betty Silver, always told us "You
have two ears and one mouth, try to use them in the correct proportion"
With
much love from the glorious air of Motza Illit. Zvi is about to come home after
taking the four girls (Leor's daughters) to see a new centre in Ma'aleh Adumim.
Yes, we have 4 girls staying over tonight so that their parents can have a fun
weekend. Before you gasp in dismay – all of them had a Covid test yesterday so
that Zvi and I would be safe. Zvi just called to say they are on their way home
"Have you got pizza in the freezer"? Well of course I have! They will
then help me get everything ready for Shabbat…..
With
love to you from us.
Shabbat
Shalom, a blessed Shabbat
Sheila
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