Friday the 27th of December 2024
This year, with all its fears and tragedies has flown by and I
think that there is no-one amongst us that will not heave a sigh of relief at
its passing. Too many tears in a world that is changing beyond recognition, yet
is all too familiar. I promise to get into the festive mood, although it would dishonour
those lost and those who suffer if I do not mention the chaos, the lawless pandemonium
that has taken to our streets and our homes.
So let me start with wishing you Shabbat Shalom, a blessed third
day of Chanuka and a holy third day of the twelve days of Christmas. Above all
I wish you a peaceful fourth day and every day that follows.
I’m sure that your news media hasn’t mentioned it but the residents
of the Tel Aviv region have been woken, every night this week, at 02:30, 02:45,
03:00, woken from their sleep by the siren that tells them that yet another
hyper-sonic ballistic missile is on its way from the Yemen. Of course both the
USA and British armies are fighting the horrific Houthis based in Yemen, both
from air and sea, but although they managed to prevent most piracy, the
missiles keep coming ensuring that nights are disturbed and children terrified,
in other words a typical “Milchemet Atasha” War of Attrition. Yesterday Israel
fought back.
So far the IDF have identified and confiscated, in addition to
those destroyed over 85,000 arms, from
rifles to huge missile stores, in addition to those destroyed in Lebanon. We
also found detailed plans to cut of the north eastern corner of Israel, Metulla
and Kiriat Shmona, home to tens of thousands of people of all races, and
massacre them in the same manner as October 7th. Our soldiers, youngsters in the IDF, are
fighting in the freezing cold of the Golan, of Lebanon and Syria, fighting
terror cells, preventing further attacks from that once Christian country.
Incredibly both the Christian and Druze communities in Lebanon are asking Israel to take them in.
Yet again a Christmas market, epitome of joy and spirit, was
attacked. This time in Magdeburg by a Saudi psychiatrist who hates Islam and
apparently Christianity too. What a cruel and insane world we live in.
You have probably never heard of Hannah Katzir. Hannah was taken
hostage on October 7th, rescued but as a result of her 7 weeks of
captivity she returned a sick woman. On her return she was told that Hamas had murdered
her husband and her son had been taken into captivity. She never returned to
her former self and this week Hannah, at the age of 78, died of a broken heart,
she lost the will to live.
This week was the 85th anniversary of the Kindertransport,
the saving of thousands of children who were taken in by several countries but
predominantly Britain. There are many stories, probably thousands but one such
story is about the older boys and their experience in a school, hurriedly set
up near the glorious Lake Windermere, in the Lake District. The harrowing and
ultimately life-affirming story of Holocaust children who were relocated and
rehabilitated in the UK after World War II. It began with uncertainty and fear
in the new land, however it eventually led to the triumph of hope and goodwill
and life-long friendship and happiness that they all cherish. A brilliant movie
was made to tell their story. https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/the_windermere_children
There were many heroes during the Holocaust, both Jews and diplomats
who put their lives on the line to save children. One such hero was Nicholas
Winton, who didn’t even tell his wife of his heroism, he felt it was the duty
of a moral man. His story and the story of those he saved was recorded and
broadcast by Esther Rantzen who succeeded in surprising Nicholas Winton at the
end of the programme with a studio full of those he saved. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OqqbM1B-mPY&t=2s
Chanuka is a story of heroes, of those who refused to accept
oppression and fought back against a huge empire, the Seleucid Empire. The
Seleucid army was vast with a determination to overtake Jerusalem and for that
matter, Judaism. Under Seleucid King Antiochus IV internal strife and external
force culminated in an attempt to suspend the Torah and to convert
Jerusalem into a Hellenistic polis (renamed "Antioch in
Judaea"). This led to the first religious persecutions in recorded
history. Although they killed Jews, their prime aim was to take away our
religious rites, to deny Brit Mila, Shabbat, Torah, the dietary laws, in fact
to stop us being Jews and adopt the Greek, Hellenistic way of life (does that
sound familiar?).
One family that lived near Jerusalem gathered strength and fought.
The Maccabees, led by the son Yehuda (Judah Maccabee), gathered a tiny army and
fought the Hellenists and ultimately succeeded in saving Judaism! So if you
thought that Chanukah is just about the miracle of oil lasting eight days and
sufganiyot (doughnuts) think again. Chanukah is about the battle for the right
to be a Jew.
It reminds me of those who think that Christmas is all about
twinkling lights and decorated pine trees, and both festivals are all about
spending much more than you can afford on gifts for children who really don’t
need them. Neither festival is about presents it is about presence, about
understanding who you are and the values that both festivals encompass. When a
Roman (in the first century BCE) taunted Rabbi Hillel “Teach me Judaism while
standing on one foot.” Rabbi Hillel responded, “No problem” and went on to say
these words “That which is hateful unto you, do not do unto your friend, the
rest is commentary, go forth and learn.”
If you thought that the story of the Moslem Santa in Jerusalem that
I told you last week, was funny, think about this one, Rick Rosenthal, a traditional
Jew is a Santa in Chicago!! https://youtu.be/wG8oIPp771c?si=T6-ntwnT5KVxzZuB
This week was the 5th anniversary of my son Daniel’s
accident. My decision to honour the day by taking five of the most important friends
who are in Israel, to visit Shalva, to eat a fabulous meal in the Shalva
Restaurant ( by the way, the Food Truck on the lawn outside the building is not
only highly successful but has the best pastries (made on site) and delicious
coffee well worth a visit). Linda, Rachel, Abby, Poodle, my Rachel and I had a
wonderful time reminiscing about their time in Carmel College with Daniel,
doing exactly what he would have wanted, laughing and giggling about the antics
and how the amazing Alex achieved the name Poodle! After lunch we were met by
the lovely Sarah, daughter of Kalman and Malki Samuels and sister of Yossi
(among others) who took us to see the video of the founding and purpose of
Shalva and then we went to Dr. Dan’s Room, the studio for the performing arts
that, with the help of a multitude of fabulous friends, we created for the
children to have fun. After Sarah left us there we all become very emotional
and the stories were very much Daniel based. Tears were shed, arms were opened
to hug, and we all felt that not only was this room a suitable tribute to
Daniel, that he would have loved it and that deep and lasting friendship was
the balm for grief.
As we were leaving Shalva, after buying Kalman’s book of the
journey to Shalva, we saw Kalman with two men. One, Yoav Engel who is the
director of sport in Shalva, and Jon Goldberg Polin. Yoav whose son Ofir was
taken hostage and rescued, now tours the world telling his story, and Jon,
husband of Rachel, whose son Hersh was taken hostage and held in cruel conditions
for a whole year and then executed in captivity. What can one say to a man who
has been through hell with such dignity? Linda found the words, telling him
that she had met Rachel, his wife and they had hugged. Unbearable tragedy.
Last night we went to a wedding in the most glorious wedding hall I
have seen in a long time. The décor was breathtaking, the view over the whole of
Jerusalem phenomenal, the food delicious (no boiled chicken in sight) and best
of all, the bride and groom and their wedding service under the canopy was
superb. It was elegant, very Jewish, simply perfect – and the dancing was
insane as it should be with all the youngsters on the dance floor! I admit to doing
my best to join in, although on the sidelines. Zvi, of course was right in the
middle having fun!
Today the sun is shining, there is a nip in the air, but it is just
the weather for a walk. Admittedly I am not going far, but just walking around
our project (I am not sure what the right word to describe our wonderful group
of homes is in English), through the walking paths, beside the children’s play
areas, the outdoor gym and the large flower beds. What a privilege to live in
such a beautiful place surrounded by trees with the village hall and the
village library just a couple of hundred metres along the path. I love the
hellos and hugs I receive along the way, enjoying the interruptions of my determined
if slow exercise. When I finish writing I will set my mind to Shabbat Dinner.
Tonight the candle-lighting will be preceded by lighting the Chanuka candles.
We have a collection of Chanukiot (A Menorah is just seven arms whereas a
Chanukiah has nine) and I love choosing which one we use tonight. By the time I
finish lighting the Chanukah Candles and then the Shabbat candles I feel that the
world is lighter, that the light of the candles lights the world and if we all
lit candles, gosh, we may just bring some light into this confused world.
Tomorrow, we celebrate the 80th birthday of our in-law,
Mechutan, Yossi Shiloach, a scientist who after his retirement established a
herb farm in Sinai. Yossi, who lives on the Golan where he established a second
organic herb farm, drives to Sinai to tend his farm and visit his agricultural
partners, come war and Covid. An exceptional man indeed
The choice of songs was not easy, but choose I did. I think I gave
you this one last year but it is worth repeating. Tom Jones, reading Dylan
Thomas with the world famous Treorchy Male Voice Choir and a Children’s
Christmas in Wales. https://youtu.be/tfDnCYN015c?si=yDeVFTm-CYiFuNOu
When an Orthodox Christian Arab and a Kibbutznik orphan of October
7th get together to sing a song in their bid to sing for Israel in
the Eurovision Song Contest 2025, magic happens. Two glorious voices, two
beautiful young people as Valerie Hamaty and Daniel Weiss join magical forces
to sing the original words of Hurricane. I cannot listen without tears running
down my face. https://youtu.be/tfDnCYN015c?si=yDeVFTm-CYiFuNOu
When we light the Chanuka candles, adding one each of the eight
days of Chanukah, we say special prayers. The blessing over candle lighting, a
blessing thanking the Almighty for helping us to defeat our enemies all those
years ago and then we sing Maoz Tzur, a traditional song telling the story of
Chanuka. I particularly like this rendition, simple, no frills, a man and his
guitar sitting in a field next to the town of Maccabim, right where Judah and
his family lived. https://youtu.be/GbpCV5MttH4?si=46zYXhF7BrTTvM9m
Whatever your festival I wish you blessings and joy. It is up to us
to fight hatred, each in their own way. Judah Maccabee chose physical fighting
but we can do it differently (we have the IDF to fight our enemies on the
ground). We can stand proud, refuse to give up our traditions, speak out and
most of all do not fear a cruel enemy, stand up to him with whatever you have.
Me? I choose teaching love, taking hatred out of the menu of
possibilities in children’s schooling, but you already know of the amazing work
of the Impact-se team.
May God bless you and keep you safe from harm.
With love from Jerusalem
Sheila
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