Rockets Respite and Reflections

12thMay, 2023 ShabbatShalom! Thereis a famous Chinese blessing “May you have a boring year” and the Chinese curse?“May you have an interesting year” Unfortunately we are having a veryinteresting week.http://www.theviewfrommyveranda.info/rockets-respite-and-reflections/   TheIranian funded Palestinian Islamic Jihad, originally an offshoot of Egypt’s MoslemBrotherhood, has been behind many of the attacks in and around Jenin and anyrocket attacks on the South. Israel decided to “remove” three of their leadersin Gaza and as a result over 800 rockets have rained upon the ordinary folk ofIsrael. Mostly along the Gaza border, Sderot and farming communities, and alongthe coast, one aimed at Tel Aviv. Israel’s defence system is highly effectivebut nobody can defend against the trauma of the warning siren and the dash tosomewhere, anywhere safe. When a missile landed in Rehovot, Israel suffered herfirst, and hopefully only, death from this bombardment. Hamas, fundedpredominantly by Qatar, claimed to have refrained from joining the fray, but onthe other hand, as warlords of Gaza, nothing happens there that they do notapprove of. On day 3 of Operation Arrow and Shield another 2 PIJ leaders were “removed”. It’simportant to note that the Israel action did not appear out of thin air or apolitician’s whim. A week or so ago, a man accused of terror activities and ahighly unpopular man among prisoners,, Khadar Adnan, died after a long hungerstrike and in response over 100 rockets were launched from Gaza. In response tothose rockets Israel decided to pinpoint 3 PIJ leaders. In response… and so itgoes in the Middle East, our very own Groundhog Day. The comparative cost of saving livesas opposed to taking lives is staggering. The numbers are purely an example. Kassamscosts about $500 each, at least 600 have been launched at us in the last coupleof days which is 1,275,000 shekels. Iron Dome interceptions x 600 = $30,000,000which is 109,337,250 Shekels. Families all over Israelhave volunteered to take in families from the Gaza border during the Arrow andShield operation. Suddenly politics are forgotten and we pull together. Thegreatest fear is not that the combined forces went in and did what wasnecessary, although this time it was not pinpoint which is tragic althoughthose killed were in the same house as the terror leaders; the fear is thatunlike during the last few years, this government will not want to get outfast. Even during the cease fire talks led by Egypt the rockets continued in aseemingly never ending volley. If anyone doubts Israel’s status as a democracy for all, RaeedSalah, yes the one who excavated hundreds of truckloads of earth and archaeologicalartefacts from under the Temple Mount; the one who was denied entry to the UKfor his terror connections; that Raeed Salah from the Israeli Arab town of Ummel Fahem in the Galilee, organised a demonstration against Israel’s actions inGaza! Djerba, in Tunisia, was an island of safetywhen the remaining Jews of Tunisia fled and today the beautiful El Ghriba synagogueis a known tourist site. Sadly this week a terrorist killed five people andinjured more near the synagogue, he tried to go into the synagogue and wouldhave succeeded in killing far more Jews had it not been for the intervention ofthe Djerba security forces. Does it never end? Turning our thoughts on a sixpence, because that’s lifein the Middle East, a fun report. Noa Kirel, the beautiful and highlytalented young woman representing Israel in the Eurovision Song Contest, isthrough to the final. Although I have admittedly outgrown most of the music, itis very exciting. Good luck Noa!! This week Impact-se https://www.impact-se.org/ was in Parisfor the ELNET https://elnetwork.eu/ meetingsand simultaneous had meetings with the EU. As a result the EU parliament passeda resolution for 4th consecutive year ‘deploring’ Palestiniansfor production and teaching of antisemitic and violent materials with EUtaxpayer money. The resolution insists that EU freezes funding fromPA until it aligns its textbooks with standards of peace andtolerance. It is not an overnight change, the team has been working toward thisresolution for a long and difficult period and the result is hopeful. Our dear friend Dr. Michael Meir is in Israel andwe had the honour of spending time with him. On Tuesday Zvi had the excellentidea to go to the Islamic Museum, near the Jerusalem Theatre. He immediatelycalled Gilad Levian, the director and a long time friend, who opened themuseum after hours specially for us. In a sense the Islamic Museum is amisnomer, because, although it most certainly has displays of Islamic art andculture, the central display is a phenomenal permanent horological exhibition,unique and fascinating, which includes a priceless watch, actually two, one ofwhich took many years to create for Marie Antoinette, and another which she actuallyused. Well worth a visit https://www.islamicart.co.il/english/Watches/ On Wednesday, Michael and I visitedShalva. The wonderful Gaby Hirsch met us in the lobby and explained the storyof the founding of Shalva to Michael, who is a wonderful listener. Please watchthis incredible video to the end to understand the sheer joy and beauty ofShalva. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lmh5NxnknNQ  We learned that both the Respite areas andthe car park were ready to receive families from the South should they need it.The Car park undergoing an instant change into safe living accommodation. Atthe end of our tour Gaby took us to “Dr. Dan’s Room” the performing arts studiowhich we built to honour my eldest son Daniel who died in an accident in NewYork. Michael and his late wife Rivka knew and loved Daniel which made thevisit all the more emotionally important to me. As Zvi and I go on our daily constitutional, indeed alsowhen I drive through our area, I noticed something interesting about the localflora. In early spring the wild flowers are predominantly pink and red but Mayis in and gorse is everywhere! Bright yellow gorse colours the hillsidesinterspersed with the remaining mimosa. I love our area, our walks and two daysago we chose to walk out of our estate onto what was once the main road toJerusalem – incredibly so since it is a narrow road with 7 hairpin bends –until 1967 when Road Number One was completed. There is a lovely walking path, borderedwith flowers and bushes, which runs alongside the road, which incidentally iscall the Seven Sisters because of said hairpin bends, and this path leads tothe village of Motza and back up onto our estate. As we reached one of thefirst beautiful homes, we saw two people trying to repair a flat tyre! Ofcourse, we stopped to chat, offer help and sympathise. As it turned out one wasour neighbour and the other young man, was a volunteer with a wonderfulorganisation called Yedidim (meaning friends) who for a tiny annual fee can be calledout to help stranded drivers, was also a neighbour!! Unfortunately, despite hisbest efforts he didn’t have the right spanner to take the wheel off so Zviimmediately offered to go home and get a repair kit. On his return, the ladywas so grateful that she invited us for a Tunisian meal at her home next week!Now that is a typically Israel experience! Ifeel it is of ultimate importance that you understand that Israel is still oneof the safest countries in the world. Compared to Switzerland we appeardangerous but compared to the USA we live in a haven of peace; it’s just thatours are the result of years of hatred and incitement and always hit theheadlines.  https://www.nytimes.com/article/mass-shootings-2023.html  Imagine, as of early May, the Gun ViolenceArchive has counted more than 200 massshootings in the United States this year. Last year, the groupcounted 647 mass shootings.Of those, 21 involved five or more fatalities. Why am I making the comparison?Because there are those who fear coming to Israel, even those in Latin Americawhere in most of the countries leaving home can entail taking your life intoyour hands. OKback to happy things – you should be used to my penchant for digression! Tonight,we have friends coming over for Shabbat Dinner. Raquel Birman and Zvi went tothe Yiddische Shule in Mexico City together when Zvi’s family was in that cityas teachers, Emissaries for the Jewish Agency, and of late have been in closecontact. Raquel and her partner David Finkelstein are landing in Israel todayand coming to us for Shabbat. Another close friend and classmate from thatperiod is Joel (Yolli) Zonszein with his wife Nattie who will be with us aswill Prof. Shimon Shetreet and his wife Miri friends from right here in Jerusalem.Since Nattie is making dessert I just have two courses to prepare so decided tomake slightly different style Shabbat Dinner. Again digressing, in my family wetended to have fish for Friday night Dinner, absolutely nothing to do withCatholicism, not many Catholics eat gefilte fish!! Back on track, our hors d’ouevreswill be antipasti of roasted and grilled local vegetables, followed by ovenbaked sea bream in white wine with a great big salad, sweet new, baby potatoesand baked cauliflower. Zviis off to meet with Philip Bloom (aka Rami Salami) of Boston who will accompanyZvi to his Parliament. Philip comes regularly to Israel to volunteer in the IDFand perform as a clown and balloon magician in Paediatric Oncology Departmentsand also in Sderot. Since Philip’s Hebrew is excellent, he will have no troublefollowing the conversation, although he may be confused by the logic of some ofthe members! Tomorrowwe will celebrate the ninth birthday of “Yonatan haGibor” Zvi’s delightful,funny, bright and handsome grandson, at Amiad and Noga’s home. My contribution?Stuffed peppers since Noga’s father, Yossi, is vegan and relies on myimagination! Mymeandering musings had a purpose, especially this week. Israelis love life;we refuse to hide away in our homes, quivering and afraid of those who’spurpose in life is to cause us to cower and run. We will pick ourselves up,rebuild the damaged buildings, treat the traumatised children and return to ourlives. The occasion that most definitely expressed this determination not to becowed was the huge, open-air Aviv Geffen concert in Tel Aviv last night. 40,000people chose to snub their noses at Palestinian Islamic Jihad and dance in thewarm Tel Aviv air. That’s Israel! We don’t ignore the danger but will not beruled by it. Before you cancel a visit, remember that where you live is muchmore dangerous than this beautiful little country. Iwish a fantastic trip to Australia to Marcus Sheff, the CEO of Impact-se, withgrateful thanks to all the fabulous friends who will welcome him into theirhomes and hearts to hear all about our work to make this world a better, moretolerant place. Andso to music. Gosh what songs are appropriate to this insane week? In 1979 the dulcet tones of Gali Atari led thegroup Milk and Honey singing Halleluya, representing Israel in the EurovisionSong Contest. Written by Shimrit Orr and Koby Oshrat, the song is on everyone’slips since that day! https://youtu.be/jKbvuYRR35EThe exquisite voices of CantorsAzi Schwartz, Natanel Hershtik and Yaakov Lemmer sing the prayer for the Stateof Israel. https://youtu.be/vFFcLjbc-1EOur Father in Heaven, stronghold and redeemerof the people Israel: Bless the State of Israel, the beginning of ourredemption. Shield it with Your love; spread over it the canopy of your peace. It is worth noting that a Conservative, a ModernOrthodox and a Haredi Cantor represent unity in their love of Israel.Perhaps the most poignant song to emerge out of the mass exodus from Europe to the USA was"Somewhere Over the Rainbow". The lyrics were written by Yip Harburg,the youngest of four children born to Russian-Jewish immigrants. His real namewas Isidore Hochberg, and he grew up in a Yiddish-speaking, Orthodox Jewishhome in New York. The song's music was written by Harold Arlen, also acantor's son. His real name was Hyman Arluck, and his parents were fromLithuania. Their dream? That one day over the rainbow there would be aland of their own. Well, we are here! Israel is the pot of gold   https://youtu.be/V1bFr2SWP1I  Iwish you a beautiful Sabbath, whatever your faith, whatever day is your day ofrest, may you always be free to celebrate. As Abu Yosef, the wonderfulPalestinian fishmonger in Givat Ze’ev, said to me yesterday “May God be withyou and peace be among us” ShabbatShalom dear friends. Sheila -- If the media does not inform us we must inform the mediaMy Website http://www.theviewfrommyveranda.info/Facebook      Sheila Silver Raviv Involvement   http://www.impact-se.org/