Demonstrations, Dismay and Dignity

10th March, 2023 Shabbat Shalom! I was thrilled when lots of you responded last week, I love hearing from you and what you feel about my musings! I want to go back to Purim, although it ended a few days ago. The very idea that when reading the story of yet another leader, or rather a stupid leader, who allowed his senior politician convince him that he had to kill all the Jews in Shushan, a town in Persia. He really was a repulsive character yet somehow he wasn’t the anti-hero of the story, the anti-hero was one Haman who wound up having to suffer his own intended punishment for the hero Mordechai, although we all think that the heroine, Esther is the real star…….. wait, take a breath, explain…….. So, the major lesson in the Story of Queen Esther on Purim is that one should not hold grudges, to learn from the past but not to wreak revenge. We are supposed to be tipsy, no not fall down drunk, so that we cannot distinguish between the hero and the anti-hero. Such an important life lesson. It has been a difficult week in Israel, where, like the rest of the world, extremes seem to take over. The demonstrations against the judicial reforms have continued and despite claims to the contrary, have been surprisingly civilised. Yes, they have disrupted traffic but then people were warned in advance; hundreds of thousands of good, proud Israelis who disagree with the bully-boy tactics of the current government are out in the street carrying their Israeli flags with pride. The demonstrators come from every walk of life, are from the right and the left but are of one mind, to halt the pushing through of a judicial reform that will allow the indicted and the guilty to decide how to run this country. Just minutes after Internal Defence Minister Ben Gvir fired the Tel Aviv police Chief for being too lenient on the protestors, there was a terror attack on Dizengoff Street as post Purim revellers sat at coffee shops having fun. Three people were injured, the terrorist killed by a reserve soldier who was luckily armed. Obviously, there is no direct correlation but four former police chiefs have called for Netanyahu to fire Ben Gvir, someone who never served in the IDF, was refused by the IDF because of his constant incitement to hatred and found guilty of terrorism, cannot understand security, internal or general. Those of you who think that the Israeli streets are in turmoil need to rethink – this is still one of the safest countries in the world, personal safety. One can safely sent one’s children to school, women can walk down any street, night-time runners have no problem, we just hit the headlines on such a regular basis that too many get the wrong opinion. It’s really hard to explain but Israeli cities are safer than virtually any other city in the world, including yours! We have lousy neighbours but incredible security services; we hold demonstrations, but if you saw the line of police yesterday, including horses, they just formed a firm, uncrossable line, at times unsuccessfully stopping the demonstrators from blocking the main road. So different to most crowd control tactics elsewhere in the world. Perhaps one of the most erudite explanations of our discontent comes, surprisingly, from The Guardian newspaper https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/mar/07/benjamin-netanyahu-coup-israeli-judicial-system Enough! We are too obsessed with judicial reforms and not enough with the miracles of everyday life. I was deeply sad to hear of the passing of Chaim Topol, so much more than a star of stage and screen, he was a brilliant proponent for his beloved Israel and an all round good man. Best known for his portrayal of Tevye the Milkman in Fiddler on the Roof, the finest performance anywhere in the world, the ultimate Eastern European Jew, and of the clever and very funny Salah Shabbati, the ultimate Moroccan immigrant. Having met Paul Newman on a visit to the States where he heard about Newman’s Hole in The Wall Gang camp, Topol put his heart and soul into building a similar foundation in Israel. https://www.afjrv.org/about/our-story/ So much more than a star, he was a mensch. Israel’s representative to the Eurovision is a highly talented young woman called Noa Kirer. A brilliant dancer with a great voice, every Israeli girl of a certain age (from 10-16) wants to be her! I know that Americans do not realise the importance of the Eurovision Song Contest, but important, if somewhat political, it is. I wish her every luck because this time our representative loves Israel and served in the IDF. South Africa, that country for whom so many Jews worked to free from cruel Apartheid, decided to downgrade their diplomatic relations with Israel and to withdraw their invitation to the Israeli Rugby team. Nelson Mandela would have been very angry with them. You can take the girl out of Britain but, well you know the rest! For reasons unknown it's very popular to criticize the British royal family at the moment. But here are a few small facts. Since his coronation is on a Shabbat King Charles has invited the chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom to stay in his private home so that Rabbi Mervis can be in the coronation ceremony without breaking Shabbat. Indeed, the former Chief Rabbi, the late Jonathan Saks, was a frequent visitor at the Palace and an advisor to Her Majesty. The oil that will be used to anoint the King at the coronation is from trees on the Mount of Olives and has been blessed by the various Christian leaders in this city. Remember that when he was still Prince Charles he came both privately and officially, for the funeral of Yitzhak Rabin, and both he and the Prince of Wales (William) visited the cemetery where the King's grandmother is buried and Prince Philip came to Yad Vashem where his late mother (princess Alice of Greece) was honoured as a Righteous Gentile. Preconceived ideas are rarely accurate! Just saying. This has been a week of parties! Well not only parties, but Purim and fancy dress mean parties, and in Jerusalem one has the regular day of Purim and Shushan Purim which is celebrated in Walled cities. Purim is also one of the “foot festivals”, festivals when pilgrims come to the walled cities of the Holy Land in general and Jerusalem in particular. It all started after Shabbat and Zvi’s choir, and the fun began in earnest! My favourite part was when two couples were confronted with a pile of clothes and headgear, with which they had to dress each other using at least 4 items each. Zvi’s partner in crime, Avikam, is of similar height (2 metres) and watching them try to fit their extremely long frames into tiny clothes at great speed was hysterical! A real Purim treat! Monday night and we walked about 10 metres to the synagogue for the reading of the Story of Purim (Megillat Esther) with all our neighbours. Tuesday and after a glorious walk along the track with my friend Ronit, standing above the stunning view of the Beit Zayit reservoir and the surrounding countryside, while breathing in the clear and crisp air of Motza. Then in the evening another party. The village of Motza Illit, which dates back many hundreds of years, and our new complex decided to combine forces and throw a party! Fancy dress was not compulsory but most made the effort. It was so much fun! That day there were many knocks on our front door as neighbours sent us “mishloach manot” gifts of food and drink to celebrate Purim. Needless to say, we went knocking of their doors too so we all wound up with far too much food! On Wednesday Zvi brought up my Passover dishes, yes, I know I have a month but we are going away twice, for weekends, during that time and I like to know exactly how, where, what and when! That evening I collected Rachel and met my amazing son Gideon for supper in the Yemenite Quarter of Tel Aviv and walked along the beachfront. Which brings us up to yesterday, Thursday and oh my goodness, what a day! At 15:00 I arrived at the entrance to Shalva, to meet Susan Wagner from Chicago, an exceptional lady who I had never met before but with whom I had shared many a Zoom Board meeting for Impact-se (https://www.impact-se.org/ ). We were met at the door by Yuval who gave us “the tour”. Although I have tried many times, I cannot even begin to explain the miracle that is Shalva. An enormous gift box of love, guidance, warmth and learning for both children with special needs and their parents and families, Shalva is exceptional. https://youtu.be/wjcgIeMVwcA We visited Dr. Dan’s Room, the studio for performing arts which we created in the name of my son Daniel, who died in a horrific accident in Central Park. https://give.shalva.org/daniel We were so excited because a music session was taking place and the children were playing a zither like instrument, plucking (tunelessly) hugely excited by their prowess, but with a special twist. Each note was accompanied by touching their heart in an expression of love. Afterward we met with Kalman Samuels, who with his wife Malki founded Shalva as a tribute to their son Yossi who is today 45 years old. From Shalva we came home and Zvi gave Susan a tour of our historic complex, then we were joined by Marcus (CEO of Impact-se) and Inbal Sheff for supper. I love cooking, love entertaining and we had so much fun as Zvi, Susan and Inbal regaled us with funny stories and jokes. The perfect end to the perfect day. Tonight, Friday night dinner, and we have some special friends coming to us, Nattie and Yolli Zonszein and Mikki and Nirit Lottan. Change of menu, starting with home made gravadlax, then Rachel’s beef recipe, roast potatoes, roasted cauliflower, a green salad and ratatouille. Haven’t thought of dessert yet but it will come to me! I know that by the time I light the Shabbat candles the table will be set, the aromas will have come to fruition, the challot neatly under their cover and I can relax until our guests arrive to hear Zvi’s beautiful kiddush, to bless the wine. As happens so frequently, this weeks Torah reading is deeply appropriate. Ki Tetsay, “as you leave” in Deuteronomy 21, describes the inability of the Children of Israel to believe in anything that is not tangible, all because Moses was busy listening to the Almighty up on Mount Sinai, they had no direction to pray and things got quite ugly, so Aaron finally gave in and allowed them to build the Golden Calf from jewels and golden possessions. That could be an allegorical description of today’s Western society, a society that worships financial success, sparkly jewels and big houses as the tangible proof of their success having divested themselves of the humility and patience required for faith. It runs the gamut of religion, few are exempt, a somewhat haughty belief that we have the right to twist things to our comfortable way of life persists. So, as I look out of my window and see the pink blossom on the almond tree, gently swaying in the breeze, I’m reminded that spring is in the air, that everything will be alright, that we must continue to hope because without it we are lost. Jerusalem remains the most fascinating, troubled and adored city, centre of our prayers for 3,000 years! Music, oh yes music. First Unicorn, the Israeli entry for the Eurovision Song Contest, sung by Noa Kirer https://youtu.be/r4wbdKmM3bQ A tribute to Chaim Topol, and the basis of our life as Jews, Tradition! The story of a different time when life was much harder yet simpler, the lines delineated, the roles clear – modern life is so much more complicated! https://youtu.be/r4wbdKmM3bQ Perhaps the sweetest, melodic, Israeli love song yet, this is a complete departure from my usual songs but one that I instantly fell in love with. Perhaps a song to a beloved woman, or perhaps to Jerusalem, you decide. https://youtu.be/ZlYO2GWT73g With love from a truly magnificent part of the earth, the place where it all began, the place we all love, turn to and pray to, whatever form that prayer takes. I wish you Shabbat Shalom, a sweet, peaceful Shabbat to forget the trials and tribulations of everyday life. Sheila