17th of October 2025
25th of Tishrei 5786
Shabbat Shalom dear friends, Shabbat Shalom to all of those who
spent even one day in Hamas captivity and came home and Shabbat Shalom to the
families of those who did not survive the 741 days of Hamas torture.
This weeks parasha, , reading is a providential foresight. Taken
from Isaiah 42
To open the eyes that are blind to bring prisoners out to
confinement and those who sit in darkness out of the dungeon
Did you realise how extraordinary we are, we Israelis? Just two
days after their loved ones were finally returned home, battered, broken, and
scarred in body and soul after enduring unthinkable suffering in captivity, many
of the families of the former hostages went to the funerals of those who never
came back. They didn’t take time to recover or to hide from the world; they
went to stand beside the bereaved, to cry with them, to hold them, to remind
them that grief shared is grief slightly less heavy. Irrespective of race or
religion, Bedouin, Druze, Muslim or Jew, in those long, harrowing months, they
had become one family united by pain, endurance, and love deeper than words.
And so they came, because that’s what family does. Matan Angrest, still haunted
by his time in the dark tunnels, stood at the grave of Daniel Perez z”l, his
fallen officer, and spoke, his voice shaking, of bravery beyond call. Two days
after coming home, he came not to be comforted, but to comfort. That’s who we
are, a people wounded but unbroken, bound by compassion for each other’s pain. Symbolically,
the hostages came to freedom through Kibbutz Re'im where it all started.
Jubilation, sadness and fear. Erin Molan is an Australian pro-Israel
broadcaster. Here she speaks to Hassan Yousef Mosab. Now,
in the wake of President Trump’s historic Gaza Peace Plan and the release of
the hostages, Mosab sounds the alarm on what the world is NOT seeing. He warns
that while people are rightfully celebrating peace and progress, a deeper and
more dangerous truth may be hiding beneath the headlines. https://youtu.be/kKFpyTRPllg?si=1Sc4C8A_tCFJii_r
Most of you know of Noa Argamani, who the moment she was released
went to hold her mother who was close to death and was the first to travel to
every world leader possible to plead for the release of the hostages. Well, Noa
was reunited with the love of her life, Avinatan Or and said “Now we can heal
together”. Or Tal Kuperstein who, years after a catastrophic stroke, with
help, stood up for the first time and wrapped his arms around his son Bar on
his return to Israel. Each and every one is a miracle of endurance, but perhaps
most of all, the incredible Einav Zangauker who fought like a lioness for her
cub and for all the families, as she hugged her Matan. Matan in Hebrew is gift.
It's not all pain and to watch the reunification of families and
buddies was heart warming as we watched them hug, weep, laugh and joke. We
learned that they don’t want to be in sterile conditions, wrapped in cotton wool,
as we thought with the first releases, they want to rejoice their freedom. Each
and every one of the reunions was special and deeply emotional, as one would
expect, not only for the families but for all of us as we are glued to our
televisions seeing the culmination of the hours of standing in all weathers in Hostage
Square, on bridges and towns, carrying flags, determined to BRING THEM HOME.
Perhaps the words of Nuseir Yassin, better known as Nas Daily, sum
up the feelings of most Israelis. Nas is an Arab Israeli whose vlogs began as a
trip around the world, looks at the world through the eyes of a proud Israeli
and a proud Palestinian in his local short videos, known as vlogs. This is just
over a minute long and well worth your time. https://www.youtube.com/shorts/5pq4zMTdI9M
Trump. One could say that he trumped the entire Middle East and, on
the surface, perhaps he did. His “bull in a china shop” approach may just have “trumped”
the quiet, in some cases “woke”, diplomatic approach. Basically, he called
everyone to order. I admit that I was entranced by his speech, albeit with his
strange syntax, but he was clear in his intentions, praised his team of the
wonderful, compassionate, Steve Witkoff and Jared Kushner, and then he did it.
I cannot believe it was spontaneous, probably requested, but it was grossly out
of order. Israel is a nation of definite and clear laws and procedures and to
speak to the Israeli President in a patronizing manner “he’s a nice guy” asking
him to grant a pardon to Israel’s Prime Minister was grossly out of order. As
grateful as we may be, it was inappropriate for a leader of another country to
interfere in the judicial process of Israel. The judicial process demands that
the person to be granted a pardon is first found guilty, expresses regret for
their actions and only then can he/she be given the pardon at the behest of the
President and only the PRESIDENT OF ISRAEL.
I really try to stay away from the internal politics of Israel but
the fact that the Speaker of the Knesset intentionally did not invite the
Attorney General or the President of the Supreme Court to the Knesset for President
Trump’s speech is a disgrace to his supposedly apolitical position. It was an
intentional snub and he replaced them with Likud members present and past, in a
purely political move. Also left of the list were former Ministers, always
official invitees to such events in the Knesset. He invited only those who are
supporters of the current government.
I wish I had been a fly on the wall of the Sharm el Sheikh
Conference! Unfortunately, our Prime Minister was not there, held back by the
threat of Erdogan of Turkey that if he came then Erdogan would turn his plane
around and refuse to attend. I still wish he had gone and tested the threat of
Erdogan. I am so scared that Turkey and its megalomanic leader has become the strong
man of the area. Instead of Egypt taking charge of the rebuilding of Gaza,
surely the most logical logistically, Turkey has probably won the contract.
Egypt speaks the same language, is a direct neighbour and is in desperate
financial need. In truth, Turkey and Erdogan’s determination to rebuild the Ottoman
Empire, scare me, really scare me. Atatürk is spinning in his grave.
Succot (Tabernacles) was relatively quiet, or so it seemed. In fact
we were with several of our neighbours, impromptu breakfast with Yael and
Naftali; a quick visit from a lovely French neighbour; an unexpected visit from
Yosef and his lovely girlfriend Tsofia; another impromptu day meeting Julio
Jarak for a lovely chat; visiting Yossi and Rachel in Kfar Saba for a delicious
lunch and then going to Ra’anana to say hello to my childhood friends Jennifer
and Brian. It was wonderful, my favourite kind of day. Finally, yesterday two local
friends, Zalman and Hannah popped in. Tomorrow Irit and Itzik will come for
Shabbat Lunch to catch up on their Seattle visit.
Yesterday, Mohammed came to sort out the drip irrigation system on
our veranda. I am so excited! Whilst it was a pleasure to water and inspect
each bush, tree and flower, it was a responsibility and when we went for a
couple of days to Eilat I worried for their wellbeing! Mohammed went from trough
to pot, carefully assessing the amount of water needed, sweeping away all the
dead leaves that I could manage and all with a broad smile. He said in all his
years he had never seen such a beautiful veranda. Of course I agreed. I picked
the first orange of the season, from one of the little orange trees, and Zvi
and I shared it; it tasted amazing! Before eating we repeated the blessing, the
prayer of thanks for bringing us to this day. The prayer that we should all be
saying after seeing the families reunite, בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ מֶלֶךְ הָעוֹלָם,
שֶׁהֶחֱיָנוּ וְקִיְּמָנוּ וְהִגִיעָנוּ לַזְּמַן הַזֶּה Baruch atah Adonai Eloheinu Melech
ha-olam, shehecheyanu v'kiy'manu v'higianu la-z'man hazeh
Translation - Blessed are You, Lord
our God, Ruler of the Universe, who has given us life, sustained us, and
allowed us to reach this day. Amen.
Today would have been our lovely
Valeri’s birthday. Ira, Tomer and Sheli are going to be with his family in
Ashkelon, but Zvi and I send them all our love. We miss him horribly. Family is
not necessarily a blood relationship, it can be a sense of belonging together
and the Silver family, yes they have the same surname as my maiden name, is family
in every sense.
Since you already know the words, now
you can sing along to the song! I love this upbeat, happy rendition. Cantor's
Yanky Lemmer and Pinchas Cohen singing Shehechiyanu https://youtu.be/6RaQd4Azwlg?si=U0r3bWIoYEqRUfVz
Daniel Wais lost both of his parents
on that fateful, horrific day in October 2023 but he would not fall into the
trap of constant mourning, he honoured his parent’s memories by rising up,
singing their favourite songs and here, together with Y-Studs he sings Vehi
Sheamda. A Passover song that applies year round. The words of the prayer are
clear “That which stood for our ancestors applies to us as well. For it was
not only one individual who stood up against us to destroy us. Rather, in
every generation they stand up against us to destroy us. But the Holy One,
Blessed Be He, redeems us from their hands. https://youtu.be/fY1wgTq9SRM?si=Qj2zMTXuWr_0GAa5
I still remember the very first time I
ever heard this song. It was with Habonim youth group in Cardiff, in the park
beside Castel Coch, and one of our group began to sing, his name was Theo
Christie z”l and to this day he is sorely missed, but the memory of his introduction
to this joyous song remains. If I Had a Hammer, sung by Trini Lopez with Andre
Rieu. https://youtu.be/NC91QRXkbSA?si=KWEIu9TM4juU9syF
Please God, the bell of freedom will
ring out loud and clear for all the people of the world.
I
wish you a Shabbat Shalom from my beautiful and freshly reorganised veranda.
May your lives blossom and bear fruit as the tiny trees that respond to the
love I pour on them. May all the returnees find peace and the families of those
who did not come home alive, find consolation.
With
much love and wishes for a peaceful Shabbat wherever you live, however you
pray, even if you don’t pray but you are a good person, I send love.
Sheila
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