Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem - D-Day, 6 Day War, Australia, Hamas Fatah government, Rolling Stones, Moshiko, Shevuot

140606

6th June 2014

Shabbat Shalom dear friends. I hope this missive finds you well.

This is indeed a week of anniversaries of historic events.

70 years ago the  D-Day landings and the ensuing battles began http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-27727518 The day's commemorations began at midnight with a vigil at Pegasus Bridge near Ouistreham, marking the first assault of the D-Day invasion when British soldiers began the first Allied action of the campaign.

47 years ago The Six Day War was in its second day and those of us outside Israel were on tenterhooks, waiting for any news items to tell us about the advances of the tiny IDF against the multi-nation onslaught. Israelis were terrified for their very existence yet outside Israel we saw only the enormous victories.  The history http://www.sixdaywar.org/  and the unmatched emotions “I felt truly shaken and stood there murmuring a prayer for peace. Motta Gur’s paratroopers were struggling to reach the Wall and touch it. We stood among a tangle of rugged, battle-weary men who were unable to believe their eyes or restrain their emotions. Their eyes were moist with tears, their speech incoherent. The overwhelming desire was to cling to the Wall, to hold on to that great moment as long as possible.” –Chief of Staff Yitzchak Rabin

In its own small way yesterdays announcement by the Australian Government was historic, saying that it was a mistake to consider Jerusalem as "occupied" recognising that under international law it is untrue.   http://www.jpost.com/International/Australia-will-no-longer-refer-to-Jerusalem-as-occupied-355455 It is too easy to follow the rhetoric of the Palestinians and turn it into "fact" - but in the peace agreement with Jordan relinquished control of the West Bank  and left it to the contestants to reach a solution, that cannot be contested. Whether we want control of all of it or not is another matter since that changes Israel demographically but legally we have every right particularly since there was never an historic claim over the territories.

Yet another disappointment as the leaders of the West run to accept a unity government between Fatah and Hamas. Maybe they forget that under their own criteria Hamas is a terror organisation and the likelihood of them becoming more moderate is at best dubious. Our decision to build in Jerusalem neighborhoods is not a tit for tat situation but rather recognition that whatever we do will be deemed wrong so we must do what is best for us. The buildings are in Gilo, Har Homa, Ramot etc,  much needed housing for ordinary folk.

American Ambassador to Israel Dan Shapiro was interviewed on Israeli radio on the subject of his administrations acceptance of the new PA unity government. Ambassador Shapiro speaks excellent Hebrew and his message was clear and hopeful - but despite his goodwill it was not clear to most Israelis that the USA is on our side. Shapiro, in an Israel Radio interview, stressed that Jerusalem transferred NIS 500,000 in collected tax revenue to the PA on the very day that the Fatah-Hamas government was sworn in on Monday. Furthermore, he said, Israel said it would continue security and civilian cooperation with the PA. Those are practical decisions, because Israel understands – as we do – that if the Palestinian government collapses, it will have to assume responsibility for the Palestinians in the West Bank, and lose security cooperation that recently helped preserve stability,” the ambassador said.  http://www.jpost.com/Diplomacy-and-Politics/Shapiro-Israel-came-to-same-decision-as-US-did-on-PA-unity-government-355520

President Peres and Mahmoud Abbas are going to the Vatican on sunday to pray for peace together with the Pope. It sounds like a joke (If a Jew, Moslem and Catholic pray together what is the outcome?) but I will be praying with them here in Jerusalem, praying for peace. It cannot hurt after all.

The Israeli Presidential race is heating up. Since the position is titular the procedure is totally different to the USA. It is the Knesset that ultimately chooses the candidates by secret vote and thus the President. Right now the candidates are utterly diverse, from Rubi Rivlin, Dalia Itzik, Fouad Ben Eliezer, Dan Shechtman; in other words from 9th generation Jerusalemite through Iraqi immigrants to a Nobel prizewinner. Who will it be? I for one have absolutely no idea!!!!

Had Mick Jagger put his name in the running this week he would probably have already taken over from Shimon Peres! The Rolling Stones did not just come and perform, they toured, they spoke, they accepted the warmth (and selfies) of Israelis with great good humour and elegance. Their concert was a sellout and they moved the timing back by an hour to accommodate those who could not come at the earlier time because they celebrated Shevuot. Mick Jagger stood on stage and gave his greetings in the most awful but well-meaning Hebrew. Young and old, many of them born well after the enormous success of such songs as Satisfaction, has a rollicking good time. Was I there? Nope, but that's life!

Isn't it strange how life takes us to all emotional corners? After the beautiful memorial service Zvi did for his parents, his little grandson, alias Moshiko, was given his true name when he had his brit milah - his entry into the covenant of Judaism. The proud parents chose the most beautiful name - Jonathan (Yonatan). Yonatan behaved beautifully as the very small group gathered in their home with the Mohel, a religious surgeon performed the ritual. Saba Zvi was the Sandak (Godfather) holding little Yonatan securely on his knee. Since the Sandak has the power to use the priestly blessing for  those present it was beautiful to see Zvi bless his sons and daughters in law and of course I got a special blessing too in the name of Sarah Rivka Rachel and Leah.  Mother Noga, Father Amiad, sister Ella and Baby Yonatan are all fine.

This week we went to the Old Yishuv Court Museum in the Old City to meet with the Director Ora. Walking in through the Jaffa Gate, turn left just before the Armenian Church and walk through the arched passageway to the Museum. In fact museum is a misnomer - it is a home, a continuum of Jewish life in the Old City with artifacts from the everyday life  of those who never left this beautiful city excepting the 19 yearsof Jordanian rule. Although needing a generous input of funds the museum and its contents give a view of this city that cannot be found elsewhere. http://www.jewish-quarter.org.il/atar-museum.asp

Shevuot was so interesting. Even Tel Aviv participated in the new/old and beautiful tradition of study, of Torah study, of the need to rediscover our roots and raison d'etre and perform the ritual learning as our ancestors did. Even Tel Aviv was quiet as a mouse.

Shevuot dinner was at our friends Memi and Liora's home where we saw old friends and had lovely chats with Ilan. We invited friends to our place for Shevuot lunch friends, from Zvi's past and my present and our lovely friends Danny and Judit Liwerant all the way from Mexico City. Despite the unbelievable heat (37 degrees) we really had a delightful time.  They did not have a free ride however, after enjoying a huge milk based lunch they answered a quiz, questions about milk, cheese and of course Shevuot.  Some questions were silly like "What colour is Yak's milk?" but the Shevuot questions were much more serious.  For instance - "Why do we study all night on Shevuot"?  The given reason was because when Moses came down from Mount Sinai with the Ten Commandments the Children of Israel were sleeping, not just sleeping but had built the Golden Calf, and Moses had to wake them and destroy the idol. So came the tradition of staying awake all night to study lest we forget the giving of the Torah and build ourselves a modern Golden Calf.

Congratulations to t​hree  Australians.​

Louis Platus for winning the 2014 Hal Goldstein Lifetime Achievement Award in his native Sydney, Australia  the first time that anyone from Maccabi has won this prestigious award.

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​Professor Paul Zimmet about whom this article was written​

http://www.jpost.com/Health-and-Science/On-the-trail-of-the-worlds-formidable-epidemic-354985​

​and last but far from least

Darren Gandel for receiving his doctorate - Darren Gandel Ph D.​

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And so to Shabbat. The weather is glorious today, the heat subsided and the sun is kissing our veranda gently. Last night Zvi and I sat swinging on our hammock  enjoying the incredible view of the lights and activity below us in the cool and balmy evening.  Tonight we will eat Shabbat dinner with little Yonatan although his menu will be rather different to ours!

The aromas of the ethnic cornucopia of Shabbat food, gefilte fisch, fish in spicy sauces (Moroccan chraime), chicken cooked a hundred different ways, including wonderful upside down chiken in a pot with rice, chicken paprikash and of course Cholent/Hamin with each family's secret recipes bubbling away in the pots, the steam joining together and rising to make the mouth watering, subtle, pervasive  atmosphere of Shabbat. 

I will leave you now to prepare myself to take Zvi and Yoel to the Parliament so that we can all rest easy knowing the world is being put to rights and I will go to see my grandchildren, bathe them and prepare them for Shabbat and the undoubted delicious foods their Mummy, my Rachel, has prepared for them. Rachel, just 10 years in Israel, makes the most incredible variety of delicious salads I have ever seen!!! With a bit of luck she will give me a taster of them all.

Shabbat Shalom dear friends. Be well, be kind and remember, we are all human beings, even those who have never known the beauty of loving mankind.

With love from Jerusalem

Sheila

​I just got back from the children and as I drove past the incredible sun-kissed panorama of Jerusalem I thought how lucky we are. This song "Jerusalem, surrounded by hills" sung by children expresses it all https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8NIxqHJrL68 and Yaakov Shwekey sings "If I forget thee oh Jerusalem" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iotwtOzlyFw​

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If the media does not inform us we must inform the media

Sheila's blog http://shabbatshalom-theviewfrommyveranda.blogspot.com/

Facebook      Sheila Silver Raviv
Involvement   http://www.impact-se.org/   http://www.yurishtern.org.il/eng/content.php?id=17

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem- 6 Day War, Turkey,Bobby Kennedy, EUFA under 21,

130607

Friday, 7^th June 2013

Shabbat Shalom dear friends.

Do you remember where you were on this date in 1967? I was glued to the television set, awed by the successes of the Israeli Army as the mighty forces of 6 countries battled to push us into the sea. I lived in Cardiff, South Wales and our Young JNF group tried to work out how to raise money for Israel without asking for actual money – and came up with a plan. We chose to ask people to empty their “Blue Boxes” and each house that we went to not only gave us their boxes but added to it and then spoke to their non-Jewish neighbours who pushed money at us thrilled at our – Israel's – military genius. What a wonderful and different world it was.

The Jewish world rejoiced indeed the whole world rejoiced when after 19 years of Jordanian rule Jerusalem was taken in a fierce series of battles culminating in the words of General Motte Gur "Har haBayit beyadenu" The Temple Mount is in our hands. In the words of Chief of Staff Yitzchak Rabin
“I felt truly shaken and stood there murmuring a prayer for peace. Motta Gur’s paratroopers were struggling to reach the Wall and touch it. We stood among a tangle of rugged, battle-weary men who were unable to believe their eyes or restrain their emotions. Their eyes were moist with tears, their speech incoherent. The overwhelming desire was to cling to the Wall, to hold on to that great moment as long as possible.”

http://www.sixdaywar.org/content/photos.asp

The 1967 Israeli song contest had just taken place and a beautiful song, written by Nomi Shemer and sung by Shuli Natan, won the hearts and minds of the entire country. It sang of our yearning for Jerusalem – Yerushalyim Shel Zahav – Jerusalem of Gold. Here the late Ofra Haza sings of our longing including the final verse, written after the Six Day War, which talks of our return to the alleyways of the shouk and the road to Jericho and of course the Temple Mount – which is not in our hands but............ in our heartshttp://www.dailymotion.com/video/xmqs1r_jerusalem-of-gold-yerushalayim-shel-zahav-ofra-haza-with-english-lyrics-youtube_music#.Ua9tQ6LI1Lc

Israeli woman wrestler Ilana Kartysh met Enas Mostafa of Egypt met for the Golden Grand Prix wrestling championship match in Italy. From the outset, Mostafa refused to shake hands with her Israeli rival. During the fight, she broke two of the Israeli's fingers and bit her in the back – causing her to bleed. At the end of the match, unsurprisingly, she refused to shake hands with her again. Showing her true colours – blue and white through and through – Ilana won the Championship! http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4386942,00.html

Having spoken to friends in Turkey I understand that the demonstrations in Turkey have two sides. During the day the natural demonstrators are the middle class, enjoying a "Woodstock" like experience while expressing their dislike for the current administration - demanding the repeal of the edict banning kissing in the street etc. At night the more violent rebels hit the streets and that is what you see on the television news. Turks enjoyed enormous freedom, not just religious but civil freedom, and they will not give it up easily. Erdogan may just have met his match in his own people. His reign may well be over. He failed to bring Turkey into the EEC; he failed in his decision to align with Syria; he failed in his choice to malign Israel to curry favour with the Arab world and his policies are bringing Turkey to economic disaster. http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-Ed-Contributors/Understanding-Turkeys-protests-315443

The Israeli Foreign Ministry just issued the following announcement expressing sorrow that Austria is withdrawing its UNDORF presence on the Syrian/Israel border

Israel regrets Austria's withdrawal from UNDOF

(Communicated by the Foreign Ministry Spokesman)

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Israel was notified today (6 June) by its Austrian counterpart about the decision of the Austrian government to withdraw their soldiers from UNDOF. While appreciating Austria's longtime contribution and commitment to peacekeeping in the Middle East, we nevertheless regret this decision and hope that it will not be conducive to further escalation in the region.

Israel expects the United Nations to uphold its commitment under Security Council Resolution 350 (1974), by virtue of which UNDOF was established.

Robert Kennedy was a 22 year old reporter when he came to the nascent state of Israel and for many years his words were lost. He describes a situation little recognised and it was what he learned then that made him a huge supporter of Israel and ultimately caused his violent demise as a Palestinian shot him and deprived the United States of a truly fine President. http://jcpa.org/article/robert-kennedys-1948-reports-from-palestine/

Yesterday the European Football (Soccer) Championships for U21 (under 21yrs old) opened at the new and beautiful Netanya Football Stadium. Over 150 countries and an estimated 200 million people will be watching the tournament as it takes place in Israel. I congratulate the European Football Association (UEFA) for not giving in to BDS-Pro Palestinian pressure which wanted to boycott Israel and have the championship in another country. The Israeli U21 team is composed of the best young Jews & Arabs playing soccer in Israel Soccer League. http://www.timesofisrael.com/europes-rising-soccer-stars-go-for-goal-in-israel/ Hopefully it will be televised internationally so that you can yell for our team!!

The IsraAid team come to the rescue again! They are leading in the clean up after the disastrous tornadoes that ripped apart wide areas in Oklahoma. Volunteers who arrived after the first tornado were trapped by the further tornadoes but it didn't dampen their determination or enthusiasm to help those in need and join the clean-up. Israel – the country that gives back. This video shows the extent of the disaster and the love these Israelis give and gethttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOjvxre8tzE&feature=youtu.be .

Knaidel, kneidel, kneidle, knaydel - what is the right spelling and why is it important? Because that is the word that won Arvind the national spelling bee in the USA!!!!!!!

http://jeremyrosen.blogspot.co.il/

The Jerusalem Light Festival begins on the 13^th of June. Trails through the Old City taking you to incredible sights and sites...... laser shows, holograms, shows and everything imaginable to celebrate this beautiful city! http://en.lightinjerusalem.org.il/2012/

I dare you not to laugh when the extremely effective Minister of Education, Rabbi Shai Piron, got a fit of the giggles during his speech in the Knesset. We are so used to seeing fights and insults from around the world's parliaments that this is a delight!!!!http://www.timesofisrael.com/double-entendre-derails-knesset-speech/

Last week, when I spoke of my delight at having my family here with me in Jerusalem I didn't tell you the whole truth. My greatest delight was when, straight off the plane, I took Steve, Claire and Jake to meet their little cousins and watching Yosef, Talia and Ayala hugging and kissing them, thrilled to discover family that comes to Israel! They really enjoyed the most important sight in Jerusalem – The View from our Veranda!!!!

My family kept me company for the first part of Zvi's journey to Italy, which he loved although it was tough. I have no doubt that he was the star.. will have to check with Danby on that one! He came home with invitations to visit some of the group in the North – Arab women and a Bedouin couple – all of whom were taking the same University course and enjoyed my husbands humour and knowledge in equal parts!!!!

So my friends, this Shabbat we should all pray for that most elusive of states – peace. So much pain and torment around this tortured globe – yet the world seems to concentrate on us, as usual pointing at the easy target while leaving the big bullies with nothing but a wagged finger. Maybe we should pray for justice rather than peace because with even a smidgen of justice in this world peace would come of its own volition.

I suddenly thought, before June 1967 the View from our Veranda would have been a somewhat treacherous sight. Beit Safafa would have been split into two and families separated for 19 years and we would have been looking down at Jordanian troops who had no compunction in shooting at us. How odd – those Jordanian enemies are now our allies (unofficially) and the families of Beit Safafa are only separated by the brand spanking new road which will run through, with a walkway over the top so they can still visit each other with ease!!!!!

Shabbat Shalom and much love

Sheila

PS The Ilan and Assaf Ramon International Airport has begun construction!!! In the desert sands at Timna it should prove to be a wonderful alternative to the already overcrowded Ben Gurion International. http://www.israelandstuff.com/decade-later-construction-on-israels-2nd-intl-airport-takes-off

PPS Apparently Prime Minister Netanyahu's visit to Moscow was not in vain............. Putin has delayed the delivery of missiles to Syria. That's worth a bed or two!!! http://www.defencetalk.com/putin-holds-back-on-syria-missile-delivery-48044/#ixzz2VVm5lBTg

Shabbat Shalom from Jerusalem

120608

8^th June 2012

Shabbat Shalom dear friends, Shabbat Shalom to you all with a very special one to my adored big sister Doreen....... happy birthday my love. Thank you for being the most amazing sister in the world and standing by me through thick and thin. Happy birthday to you and your Melvyn.

Now to more serious issues then back to the joyous side of life.

The biased and unfair reporting of Israel's indecisiveness concerning the work-seekers from Eritrea and Sudan who flood over our border with Sinai has infuriated me. As always I chose to write about it. Israel is kinder than other countries and trying to find a humanitarian answer to a problem that is tearing us apart. There are very few asylum seekers and have you ever wondered from where people who have nothing to eat found the 4,000 dollars to pay for their transportation here are my thoughts on the issuehttp://shabbatshalom-theviewfrommyveranda.blogspot.co.il/2012/06/work-seekers-to-israel.html

Syria, words fail me. Secretary Clinton says that they can't do anything because China and Russia are against it........ sorry but that is a lame excuse for the most powerful country in the world.

Ulpana is a neighbourhood in the Israeli 'settlement' of Bet El. Ulpana was built with government approval yet it is being pulled down in order to ensure the building of other settlements. Gosh politics is devious. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/156456#.T9G0TbBo2s8

The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Elizabeth the Second. Pomp, circumstance and a huge show of love from her subjects who admire the enormous job she has done with great dignity, despite the odd 'annus horibilus'. For the first time for a long long time Britain seemed to return to being British with the quintessential quirks and eccentricities that so identify the British nature. Watching the sea of union jacks gave me a great deal of pleasure and most importantly – my niece, beautiful bride-to-be Carly, became the princess she always deserved to be, overnight. My childhood community in Wales is holding a royal dinner, with a top table peopled by Her Majesty, Prince Philip – miraculously recovered from his renal infection – and of course Charles, Camilla, William, Kate, Harry et al. Even my two very favourite anti-monarchists thrilled at the sheer beauty of the flotilla of small boats on the Thames – one waving from the balcony of the House of Lords and the other from his home, and my little grandson Samuel received a friendly wave from Prince Charles. My Father bought a TV back in 1953, just to watch the coronation of this beautiful young woman, and Britain was a different place then, indeed we lived in a different world. In those days people understood the horror of war, their memories untarnished by time. Brits traditionally pulled together in the bulldog spirit and no-one had even invented the 'me' generation. When Elizabeth was crowned she and her family were admired deeply for refusing to leave London when the bombs were raining down on their reign, when princesses donned overalls and worked on the farm or on the ambulances to boost the morale of a physically devastated country and Vera Lynn sang 'we'll meet again'. Immigrants to Britain were a bonus because they wanted to become part of this proud and elegant nation...... and did. Jews who arrived broken and poverty stricken from Europe flourished and children of the Kinder transport found warmth, love and homes. I am sorry to wax lyrical of times I barely remember but it was a Britain with a population which fought Nazism with zeal, fought Oswald Mosely's facism and put the whole before the individual.

Winston Churchill was conceivably the wisest leader of modern times. On the 4^th of June 1940 he said these words, both wise and prophetic

“Even though large tracts of Europe and many old and famous States have fallen or may fall into the grip of the Gestapo and all the odious apparatus of Nazi rule, we shall not flag or fail. We shall go on to the end, we shall fight in France, we shall fight on the seas and oceans, we shall fight with growing confidence and growing strength in the air, we shall defend our Island, whatever the cost may be, we shall fight on the beaches, we shall fight on the landing grounds, we shall fight in the fields and in the streets, we shall fight in the hills; we shall never surrender, and even if, which I do not for a moment believe, this Island or a large part of it were subjugated and starving, then our Empire beyond the seas, armed and guarded by the British Fleet, would carry on the struggle, until, in God's good time, the New World, with all its power and might, steps forth to the rescue and the liberation of the old. “

This week began with a delightful and gentle breakfast with our lovely friends the Oppenheimers and from that moment on the Energiser Bunny, aka Zvi, took over my life..........from the bar mitzva of a dear friends son, just a little party with about 1,500 guests, to a funeral in Ashkelon, then meeting dear friends Jacobo and Miriam Eizen to see the end of year performance of Hora Yerushalyim http://www.horajerusalem.org/english dance troupes – the 'hora efrochim' the fledgling dancers – to a walk through jerusalems old city for the unbelievably beautiful festival of lights which begins with a colossal, multi-coloured Moroccan style pergola at the Jaffa gate, through holograms and an immense 20 metre harp which shows a light display on one of the ancient buildings finally eating in the jam packed Mamilla Mall. http://www.jerusalem-oldcity.org.il/pages_e/Light_Festival.aspx Yesterday I took personal time and met with my childhood friends for lunch, driving back to Jerusalem to meet with our dear friend Pastor Leo Giovinetti who brings me wonderful Californian chocolates and his own delicious gourmet coffee – home roasted at the Mission Valley Christian Fellowship in San Diego – or rather Holy Roasted! From meeting Leo we boarded the bus for Masada. Last night was a phenomenal night as we sat in the audience, thanks to the persuasion of Gideon Sellinger of the Hebrew university, and saw a performance of Bizet's Carmen at the foot of Masada. The story of defiance, persuasion and the refusal to be enslaved by false love seemed appropriate to that site of great heroism and deep sadness. President Peres spoke to us before the performance, without notes he spoke clearly with great wisdom of the character of Carmen and the site of the performance 'each woman is a universe' he said and we should never forget it.

Riding back to Jerusalem in the wee small hours we dozed off and awoke as we reached the entrance to Jerusalem next to the Hebrew university campus at Mount Scopus, so relevant to our fight for independence and recovered after 19 years in Jordan. The view was breathtaking. In the gentle pre-dawn light I saw Jerusalem in her entirety before me. What a panorama. Jerusalem, Ir Shalom, Ir Shalem, Shiloh, Ariel, Heftsiba........ so many names for one beloved city, actually 70 in all – 70 names in the bible and they say it isn't ours. humph. The Temple Mount stood high proud and centre, admittedly surmounted and imposed upon by the golden dome of a memorial – not a mosque, but surrounded by sheer beauty and indelibly imprinted upon our spiritual heart. Gosh I love this city even at 04:00 in the morning.

When I first came to Jerusalem in 1963 the city was divided, in grave danger and the country was under constant attack from the Syrian Golan Heights upon the kibbutzim of the north, from Jordan to the East and Egypt in the South. Here in Jerusalem, we could not visit the Western Wall, nor the Hurva Synagogue, we could only look from afar and continue our prayer “Next year in Jerusalem”. We did not take anything that belonged to another “people” we fought a war imposed upon us by many huge neigbouring armies and won – the spoils of war included a return to Jerusalem, Ir Shalem, a complete city, a whole city not a half. Just before the miraculous 6 Day War, in June 1967, Naomi Shemer wrote a song which Shuli Natan sang in the Israel Song Contest. It won and just a short while afterwards the yearning of the song which echoed our deepest prayers came true and the triumphant final verse was written. Jerusalem of Gold – Yerushalyim shel Zahav says it all. Here sung by Ofra Haza http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JH8gtdDA5x0

Where were you during the 6 Day War? What did you feel? What did you do? I really want to hear from you.

I wish you a Shabbat shalom wherever you may be and hope you will come and visit us in Jerusalem, this year or next, just come.