Friday the 18th of July, 2025
650 days since the 7th of October massacre
650 days of brutal captivity
4,000 days since Hadar Golding was killed and his body snatched to
Gaza
Shabbat Shalom dear friends far and near
So much has happened this week that I didn’t know where to start, how
to deny the accusations in the world press, then I decided to simply tell the
truth.
I believe that this week the Israeli Druze community taught us a
supreme lesson in unity and brotherhood. When they understood that over the
border in Syria, armed Bedouins had entered the Druze town of Sweidia and after
a Druze youth was beaten at a Bedouin checkpoint, nearly five days of bloodshed
left 350 dead, drew in jihadist-linked regime forces, triggered Israeli
airstrikes and saw mass border crossings as a fragile ceasefire finally took
hold. Ultimately the Syrian Druze suffered an October 7th. In response,
the Israeli Druze community, including Member of Knesset, took their cars and
crossed the border to stand by their fellow Druze. They didn’t cancel flights
they rushed to their aid. Many, who had been separated by the border for 30
years, met family members for the first time and despite their grief and anger,
they hugged and celebrated being together. Afterwards they just quietly
returned to Israel. As I said, their support and unity with their fellow Druze
the other side of the Golan Heights was the ultimate show of unity.
The ancient community of Christians in Syria are equally threatened
as Churches were attacked.
It is the anniversary of the horrific missile attack which killed
the children of the Druze village of Majdal Shams in their school playground.
Many in the media suggested that Israel destabilised the area. Am I
allowed to write Damn them? Attacked from all sides, literally; rockets and
missiles from Lebanon, Syria, Gaza, and of course Yemen and Iran and Israel
destabilised the area? Think about it. It is so carefully choreographed, well
planned and the cause of the resentment and anti-Semitism raising its ugly head
all over the world. Find out who owns or controls many of the media outlets
from print to Facebook. Qatar has one of the highest penetrations of social
media in the world. YouTube and Facebook are the most popular platforms. There
were 3.1 million internet users by July 2022, with registered users comprising
more than 100% of the population. Of course that’s not the excuse for the BBC.
It is 20 years since the Israeli government of Ariel Sharon and
Ehud Olmert, forcibly removed Israeli citizens from Gaza, from Gush Katif. I
remember vividly taking Naomi Ragen and Earl Cox for an interview with Ehud
Olmert. I went I first to explain who waited outside the door and that they
would not be easy interviewers. I suggested a clear reason for the need to get
them out and he looked me in the eye when I suggested two words “Pikuach nefesh”
and he agreed because to leave them there with the rise of armed Hamas gangs, would
have meant a lot of slaughtered Jews. We left, leaving the thriving tomato and
flower greenhouses for the Gazans. Former head of the World Bank, James
Wolfensohn, gave $500,000 of his own money to ensure that the Gazans had a
means starting their own economy. In response they burned all the greenhouses
to the ground, plus the remaining synagogues.
President Trump has stated that, in his opinion. the Israeli courts
should stop the prosecution of Prime Minister Netanyahu, which in itself is
interference in the legal process of Israel, but this week, in my opinion and
the opinion of most thinking Israelis, the line was crossed when the United States
Ambassador to Israel, Mime Huckabee, paid a “quick visit to the courtroom to
see what goes on”. I wonder what would have happened had the roles been
reversed. We are an independent country which receives aid for which we are
grateful (even though much of that aid is fed back into the US aeroplane
industry), but so do Egypt, Ukraine, Afghanistan, and Ethiopia and other
significant recipients include Jordan, Colombia, South Sudan, and Somalia
without interference in their internal politics, except Trump’s treatment of
Zelensky.
A contestant representing Papua Pegunungan in
the Miss Indonesia 2025 pageant, Merince Kogoya, has been officially removed
from the competition following the circulation of a past video that sparked
controversy on social media. The footage, which resurfaced online, shows her
raising the Israeli flag, a sign of alignment with Zionist ideology in
Indonesia. Her response “I was simply practicing my faith as a follower of
Christ, praying and blessing through that symbolic gesture,”
One of the biggest sources of the split in Israeli society is the
refusal of most the Haredi community to be part of Israeli society, not to stop
their way of life, just to believe in the State and to serve in the IDF or
something similar. The Haredi conscription law put forward by Yuli Edelstein
has, as expected, hit a glitch with the threats of leaving and thus causing the
fall of the government. The biggest contention is about who studies the Torah.
There are “lomdei Torah” (those who study Torah, and the “Hahamei Torah” those special, wise
men who should be excluded to continue their studies. Those Hahamei Torah are
the ones that Ben Gurion intended to study because that is the number Rabbi Yohanan
Ben Zakai spoke to the Romans, telling them that although they intended
destroying Jerusalem that he wanted Jamnia (Yavneh) to build a Jewish learning
academy, to keep the Jewish faith alive. 300 Hahamei Torah, not the entire Haredi
world.
Zohran Mamdani’s father calls suicide bombers ‘soldiers,’ intifada
‘meaningful’. Mahmood Mamdani, the Herbert Lehman Professor of Government
at Columbia
University, is one of The Gaza Tribunal’s 29-member advisory policy
council, alongside former British Labour Party MP Jeremy Corbyn. The
organization aims to “awaken civil society to its responsibility and
opportunity to stop Israel’s genocide in Gaza” by “exerting civil society
pressure on governments to act.” Your choice New Yorkers
Israeli wheelchair tennis star Guy Sasson reached the pinnacle of
his sport over the weekend, capturing the Wimbledon Quad Doubles title
alongside Dutch partner Niels Vink in dominant fashion. In his speech when presented with the cup Guy
said “The people shall rise up as a great lion, and lift themselves like a
young lion,” a verse that appeared in the weekly portion read that same Sabbath, and which also gave its
name to a recent Israeli military operation. “Am Yisrael Chai,” he declared –
“The people of Israel live” – drawing loud applause and a flood of emotional
messages from Israeli fans and families.
Emmanuel Macron. President of France has announced that the 12th
of July is Dreyfuss Day in commemoration of the story of Alfred Dreyfus the
Jewish Officer wrongly accused. Here is the full story for those who do not
know https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_affair
Yesterday, in the Hebrew calendar, it was the 17th of Tammuz which marks
the beginning of the Three Weeks, a time of deep mourning in the Jewish soul.
It recalls the breach of Jerusalem’s walls and the slow unraveling that led to
the destruction of our holy Temples. But beyond the physical loss, our sages
teach that it was sinat chinam—baseless hatred—that truly brought about
our downfall. During these weeks, as joy is paused and music silenced, we’re
called not just to remember the pain of exile, but to heal it—by choosing love
over division, kindness over judgment, and unity over hatred.
I went to the post office near us to send documents to the British
passport office, as always, so much more than just another errand. As I stood
in line, I found myself surrounded by people of every colour and creed: Mizrahi
and Ashkenazi Jews, Arabs, men and women in various levels of Religious dress;
Ethiopian mothers with toddlers in tow; Russian immigrants and the Israeli
children of those whose parents made that brave move and came to Israel;
Filipino caregivers patiently waiting, some with and without their “Imas and
Abbas”. Hebrew, Arabic, Amharic, Filipino, Russian, the languages swirled
around me like a quiet symphony of belonging. In that post office, under the
fluorescent lights, I saw a microcosm of a nation — fractured yet bound
together, diverse yet sharing the same space, the same wait, the same hopes
folded into letters and forms. It stirred something deep in me, a sense of
connection, and the quiet beauty of coexistence, however fragile it may be.
My friend Rabbi David Greenberg of Bedford, NY State wrote to me
this week, with his thoughts. I can’t write all of them because Stanley will
complain that the missive is too long, but this paragraph stood out above all
the others.
“I’ve said so often that I believe that we Jews walk taller today
than at any time in history, not just because we have “made it” in this
country, or because of Israel’s “genius” in so many worthy pursuits that are of
benefit to humanity. But I say that we walk taller because we know of
Israel’s incredible contributions to the well-being of our world. We know
that at long last we are a people writing our own history and shaping our own future.”
Yehoram Gaon is a beloved cultural icon and a living symbol of
Jerusalem, whose voice has come to embody the city’s soul. Born in Jerusalem,
he rose to fame through songs like "Al Kol Eleh" (of course),
capturing Israel’s beauty, history, and longing. A proud Sephardic Jew, Gaon
gave voice to Mizrahi heritage and helped bridge cultural divides in Israeli
society, especially in the wonderful movie Kazablan (the scene with the gefilte
fish had the audience rolling in the aisles). Through music, film, and public
life, he has become a timeless representative of Jerusalem’s diverse spirit and
enduring heart. There is now an exhibition of his life in Jerusalem, well
deserved, so I thought it appropriate to give you three of his best known songs
this week. Incidentally when I was living in London and working in Hillel House
I used to put his music on very loud so that all the student wound up singing
through the hallways!!!
“Shalom lach Eretz Nehederet” Hello beautiful country – is one of
my very favourites. See for yourselves https://youtu.be/__oEmwpEmTc?si=VRmFJbCj6oWo8ZFQ
“Lo Tenatzchu Oti” you won’t beat me, not so fast – a song in which
Yehoram Gaon is joined by IDF choirs. Love it. https://youtu.be/t7mcRkXyTjA?si=HJ41ACIzTsP7oniB
Anyone who has ever taken part in Israeli dance groups has
undoubtedly danced to the song “Od Lo Ahavti Di”, I have not yet loved enough.
The words are wonderful but since I don’t want to bore you. I am giving you a
link to them https://www.hebrewsongs.com/song-odloahavtidai.htm The Refrain:
My love is incomplete. But the wind and the sun are still on my face. My words
are incomplete
Oh when shall they come together? https://youtu.be/V4QSoLFj-NM?si=dvcBTpcJKbAjiZiB
Almost Shabbat, time to wind down, to let one’s brain rest. The Shabbat
traditions that I love so much bring a feeling of peace and love, with candles,
songs, and quiet moments shared with family. It’s a time to slow down, feel
connected, and let the heart rest. I wish you
a peaceful heart despite the insanity of our world, spend one day in a
cocoon of good thoughts to prepare you for the week ahead.
I send you love from our home to yours and from the veranda and the
view over Jerusalem. I will now take a drink outside to watch the tsufiot
(sunbirds) flit from flower to flowers, their tiny wings fluttering so fast
they seem to stand still, their tweets sweet as they sip nectar and the males iridescent
black plumage changing colour in the sunshine.
Shabbat Shalom dear friends. Do write and tell me what you are
doing this Shabbat.
Sheila
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