9th of August 2024
307 days since October 7th
The 5th day of the month of Av, 5784
Shabbat Shalom! Hope you are doing well and not too overwhelmed by
our world situation and our leaders and potential leaders. When it comes down
to it, it all depends upon us.
Little Ariel Bibas, that beautiful little red-headed
boy in all the posters, had his 5th birthday this week. Ariel and his little
brother Kfir, didn’t have a big party, in fact they didn’t even have a little
party and we do not know their fate because 307 days ago they were viciously kidnapped,
with their parents, and held in captivity or worse. I pray with all my heart
that those two beautiful little boys and their Mummy and Daddy are alive and will
be brought home soon.
We “disposed” of Ismail Haniya in Teheran and
now Yahya Sinwar is the self-declared “political” leader of Hamas, indeed a
fine reward for being the initiator of a rampage of barbaric killing, raping
and kidnapping. Perhaps now he will leave his underground life, hidden away in
a tunnel surrounded by our hostages to ensure his own safety, hiding like
Nasrallah, afraid to die but happy to send others to their death.
First of all, thank you for your concerned wishes, it
really is heartwarming to hear from you and realise how much you care. I wrote
about Tisha b’Av last week. Tisha b’Av or the 9th day of the Hebrew
month of Av, is a fast day, a day of recollection of the multiple disasters
that befell the Jewish people, both Temples falling, indeed a litany of
dreadful events, a time of fasting and remembrance and sadness because some of
the disasters are self-imposed, caused by internecine fighting and hatred, some
imposed by cruel oppression. Rabbi Jeremy Rosen explains the reasons and
reaction of this important fast day and its relationship to other religions. https://jeremyrosen.com/2024/08/the-ninth-of-av-fasting-and-self-flagellation.html
Many feel that we are headed for a disaster of Biblical proportions, but, I
am not sure why, I believe that much of what is happening right now is terror, not
the kind we are all too familiar with burning buses and falling skyscrapers,
but the drip drip dripping terror of a war of attrition. Interestingly there is
no explanation of the term “War of Attrition” in the thesaurus, but it means
that by small incidents one wears down one’s enemy through fear, wearing down
their desire to stay. Another step in Israel’s war of Independence, our right
to exist. In a typically Israeli reaction to threats, our concerns are turned
into creativity, practical creativity. My favourite news story of the week is
that once the snacks and drinks are in the safe room, Israeli women face another
major problem, serious enough to hit the front page of several newspapers. “Should
we go to sleep wearing our bras in case the siren rings out in the middle of
the night and we have to run to the safe room” I love it! As always, Eylon Levy
explains it all with great eloquence. https://youtu.be/HCQ0DNvWx1k?si=qG7V9LHsy-h3t7_M
The call for conscription of able Haredi young men has
begun, not without its opponents, in fact our overworked police force has had
its hands full with the demonstrations, actually quite violent demonstrations
of young Haredi men fighting conscription tooth and nail. Sad really, when
approached by a reporter one very angry young man claimed to have no connection
with Israel and expressed fear that the IDF would cause his like to become
secular. If your faith is that strong, why on earth would you fear losing it?
On the other extreme the Mayor of Tel Aviv has banned all prayer in open public
places stressing segregated prayer, even if that is what tradition calls for.
I promised myself that today’s letter would be positive;
that instead of talking politics I would tell you about the amazing events of
this week, of how I sit each morning, coffee and crackers, the morning paper,
the puzzles therein (after scanning the news obviously) then Wordle and Spelling
bee, and talk to Rachel. Where do I do all this? On our veranda of course! I
sit and out of the corner of my eye I see my favourite little birds darting in
and out of the flowers and drinking the sweet water in my feeder. They are so
clever! They sit atop one of the bamboo sticks supporting the citrus trees and
check out the area, then tweet to all the others that it is safe to come and
take the nectar from the flowers. I then look over to my left, at the sun rising
over the misty outline of Jerusalem. When
I started writing the newsletter in 1999, it was to inform all our loved ones
about what was happening here, especially during the 2nd Intifada, a
terrible time, but we are still here, in fact we are probably the most
resilient of people because despite it all, or maybe because of it, we cannot
be held down! We go to theatres and cinemas, our restaurants are full to the
brim, we promenade in town centres and we are a country of very few babysitters
because children come everywhere with us!
I may be an optimist but I don’t walk around with
blindfolds and ear muffs, Israelis are concerned, some terrified, as we all are, but perhaps because we have suffered the litany of
disasters of the 9th of Av, now we are back where we belong, in the Land
of Israel, where we farm the land, innovate and initiate in the medical and
Hi-tech fields, we built wonderful cities; created a caring if somewhat
vociferous society and we thrive against all odds! This week we also proved
that despite the old saying about Jewish athletes, Israel is slowly but surely
collecting some bright and shining medals at the Olympics! Our television,
normally tuned to the news, has found its way to channel 5, the sports channel,
as we watch with bated breath when the Israeli athletes take the floor or ride
the waves. The floor exercises reflect the Russian Aliya, the swimmers too, and
then there are the windsurfers, sheer excitement. The national pride of the
Olympics takes on an innocence that we miss in our crazy world and gives us
perspective. Like many athletes Artium has a fascinating story which brought
him to win a Silver Medal for Israel in the Floor Exercises, https://youtu.be/QYuEAdbzDig?si=25D6cHWHSIDSRR2h
On the 28th of August the real heroes come into sport as
the Paralympics follow the Olympic Games and we will watch the wonder of people
who have overcome even the most extreme of physical limitations to regain their
love of sport and surpass any medical prognoses!!
While my heart is filled with pride at the tenacity of the Israeli
teams, I cannot but think about the Olympics of 1972 when 11 Israeli athletes
were killed in an attack by the PLO and its consequences. I just want them to
do their best and come home safely to a resounding welcome.
This is just for fun. The most pro-Israel place in the world…… https://youtu.be/UBKhP97VTTY?si=Bl0qeBzo1rx5rft_
A moment of pride as a Bedouin filmmaker wins a prize https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/culture/article-811957
So what have we been up to this week? Gosh, so much. Are you sitting
comfortably? Then I’ll begin.
As I told you last week, we had Zvi’s boys and their families for
Friday night dinner, altogether we are 12 people but once here they really
help. On Shabbat we went to our friends the Schreibers and met some wonderful
new friends. Monday and we went to a fascinating play about death, old age and ……
no really, as always, the Khan Theatre Troupe managed to cover just about all
our over 70 fears and make them funny! On
Wednesday we had a fascinating new experience! The local council (just the
village and our estate) decided to initiate a “Come Dine With Me” paring up
three couples each time, couples who don’t know each other. We went to Yael and
Sharon who put on a fantastic meal and we got to know each other and the other
couple, Catherine and Ro’i. Thursday, that is yesterday, my girlfriends of our
creative craft group met up at our place, luckily everyone brought something toward
dinner and after sitting around the table and “creating” we each read out our
blessing for another, I did one for Dalia, and our wishes for the year and
finally revealed that we had each created a special blessing for our teacher and
“glue” who calls each and every one of us her “beloved” and means it. I must
mention the fact that while we all sat praising each other, Zvi, after having
given the first of two status reports in Spanish, this one to cousins Billy and
Ruth Shapiro, came into the kitchen while we all sat outside, and cleared the
dishes, loaded the dishwasher, wiped the surfaces and then went back to give
his second Spanish report to his cousin Jack in Mexico. Sometimes I think that
they know more than we do about what is happening, in the same way that my son
Gideon, although in London, often gives me an in-depth report. It is truly
heartwarming.
Finally, tonight. Tonight, for Shabbat Dinner, we have guests, of
course. Zvi’s cousins (and my dear friends) Yossi and Rachel Ribak, Itzik and Yehudit
Matalon, Ora and Avner Rosengarten and Danny and Aviva Abebe. A fine mixture of
Professors, Doctors, nurses, Prime Minister Rabin’s advisor and a journalist,
most of whom don’t know each other, just the way I love it. Since we have a
request for gluten free in the group, this will be my menu. Ceviche, beautiful
white sweet corn and a Caprese Salad with home grown basil. The Entrée will be Crusty
salmon, Sea Bream chraimeh (a spicy Middle Eastern sauce) roasted veg, a big
green salad and I am not sure about the rest. Dessert? A Gluten Free almond
plum pie and probably chocolate mousse but maybe a pavlova or maybe I’ll break
my own rules and buy a cake! True it’s a predominantly fishy meal but that’s
what I love. We love entertaining and in the present circumstances, being with
friends, creating new relationships, being together are of ultimate importance.
When there is a threat from the outside we must stick together and form a
diverse but united front.
The highlight of my day yesterday was a visit from my grandson, Rachel’s
eldest, Yosef and his young friend Sofia. They are both volunteering in Shalva, finding
a common love of people with special needs. I won’t make it to Rachel today,
but we plan a whole day out in the week to compensate. Zvi and Yosef are off to
Mexico together in September which will be a great adventure for Yosef and a
chance for Zvi to show him his beloved and beautiful Mexico.
My choices of songs reflect the current situation and the past 10
months of uncertainty, grief, compassion and dismay at the reactions of the
world to our tragedy.
Waiting for the sun to return and the quiet all around us. Our
soldiers still find joy, freedom and release in music…I don’t have a
translation for this song but I have the feeling you will enjoy it anyway!! Sung
by Hatikvah 6 https://youtu.be/A_VrsevsKlY?si=GSne45NfcSJp-g-G
Omer Adam has spent much of the last 10 months singing for and with
the IDF troops and for the families of the hostages. Here he sings the
beautiful song Rikma Enoshit or Human Tissue. It’s all about relationships,
that we are after all, all made of the same stuff. Again sorry no translation
but… https://youtu.be/_7j5Mp393p4?si=EOf9CqjQK25R6W8n
Finally, one of the most beautiful songs written by a truly
magnificent young woman, Sarah Samuels, daughter of Kalman and Malki Samuels
the founders of Shalva. Sarah dedicated her life to the Shalva Band and her
adored big brother Yossi, whose story led to the founding of Shalva. Sarah is
getting married soon and her dream in life is to have a career in music. I think
her voice is special and her message in this song that she wrote for our
hostages still in Gaza, is very special. https://youtu.be/2KTfIJmJ52A?si=Nq61kL5EqmO9MjTS
Don’t give up hope whatever the Iranians and all their proxies and
like minded nut cases have in store for us, we are better, stronger and most of
all we have a thirst for life that is unmatched in this crazy world. Israelis
love life, are obsessed with their children, which then overflows into their
grandchildren, giving out love and sustenance on every level. It builds strong
people, it means that as opposed to most of the world where young people have
no direction, Israeli youngsters have a huge sense of purpose. Yes, we will be
fine, this is just another hiccup in the passage of time.
We send you love, we wish you a Shabbat Shalom, a good Sabbath Day and
let’s stop arguing as to who is right. There is no place for hatred amongst
ourselves. Walk a mile in their shoes.
With all our love from Jerusalem, the city with 70 names in the
Bible. Indeed, the prayers that Christians and Jews recite every day are in
fact poems, psalms written right here, sitting on the boulders of Jerusalem, in
the same language that we speak today, by David, a young shepherd boy, a
handsome young man who became a great King.
With love as always
Sheila
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