Shabbat Shalom letter from Jerusalem

100615

18th June 2010.



Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve. George Bernard Shaw



How does one choose a Jewish leader? Does one open it up to the highly talented and connected people who have given their lives to Israel and heed the opinion of world Jewish leaders or do you choose anyone with a title who is willing to take on the position? Despite the clear fact that youngsters are leaving their communities and organisations in droves…… apparently it is always the second choice – second best. Details upon request!!!!



We don't always get it right – but this is a country of innate self-analysis. The official inquiry into the resettlement of Gush Katif has announced what we already knew – that we did a lousy job of resettling the people who left Gaza for peace. The country was unprepared and the people of Gush Katif were not given land to restart their lives and to this day some are unsettled. We failed them.



Can you imagine the difference in world reaction to the Mavi Marmara et al if those marines had been American and the USA saw their soldiers being beaten within an inch of their lives by Afghanis? Where was the outcry when Maggie Thatcher's Britain sank an enemy ship. Enemy in waiting: why we sank the Belgrano - Times Online As the HMS Conqueror closed in on the Belgrano, the Argentinean Cruiser was well outside the British-imposed Total Exclusion Zone of 370 km radius from the Falklands and was in neutral international waters. http://wikimapia.org/2449374/Wreck-of-ARA-General-Belgrano USA embargo on Cuba has extended for decades and it was only after hardening the embargo that Clinton chose to allow humanitarian aid in.... but the US coastguard still sinks refugee boats in international waters http://shestories.com/2010/01/04/coast-guard-cuts/



Politicians who risk their position are rare but this week we saw several. Members of Parliament David Amess and Nick Boles both questioned the Foreign Minister concerning the double standards applied to Israel when human rights are non-existent in the Gaza Strip and PA.

Congressman Mike Pence speaks on the House floor. "Mr. President, Whose Side Are You On?" A short but powerful one-minute message from the Congressman sowing is anger at Obama for not supporting Israel's clear right to defense against the terror organization of Hamas in Gaza. WeJew Jewish Video Sharing Megasite - US Congressman To Obama - Whose Side Are You On? And former Spanish Prime Minister José María Aznar. Support Israel: if it goes down, we all go down Anger over Gaza is a distraction. We cannot forget that Israel is the West’s best ally in a turbulent region http://www.thetimes.co.uk/tto/opinion/columnists/article2559280.ece

The Haredim (ultra-orthodox) are demonstrating in Israel. There are a number of issues for the sometimes violent demonstrations. One is the continuing argument about digging roads, hospitals, homes because when you dig you may find bodies – albeit ancient pagan remains; recent riots are because Haredi schools do not allow Sefardi/Mizrachi students to come to their schools and the Supreme Court ruled this as racist and the parents chose to go to prison rather than allow their daughters to learn with Eastern Jewish girls and their cohorts are rioting in protest. This problem must be solved in Israel, not only of Haredim who believe themselves above the law but also of Israeli Arabs; they must become an integral part of society. Rights demand obligations; to become part of the defence of this country and to become part of the taxpaying public- one must be a participant and not an aggressive bystander. If we are not careful the backlash will cause our children to hate Judaism and then we will lose our ancient rights to this land.

Iranian "AID" ships are on their way to Gaza and despite the fact that Egypt is our partner in the embargo she had to allow the ships into the Suez Canal; ironically due to an international law instigated to protect Israel's right of passage!!!

I have often spoken of our friend Dr Gabby Barkay and his brilliant decision to recover the remains of the earth removed from beneath the Temple Mount by Raeed Salah – yes the same Raeed Salah who was on the Mavi Marmara. This was not refuse but rather sacred soil – every grain of it is our history. The Temple Mount was violated by the WAQF yet although the soil was extracted illicitly we are learning so much from the sacred soil they discarded. http://www.thelandofisrael.com/world-famous-dr-gabi-barkai-with-news-you-will-not-belive/



My niece Sophie is a brave young woman!! She not only teaches in an inner-city London school but on September 5th 2010 she will be supporting Meir Panim by abseiling downs Earls Court building! She will enjoy panoramic views across London from the top, before abseiling 20 metres / 66 feet to the bottom. Meir Panim is the largest supplementary welfare services agency in Israel. For more information or to donate, please visit http://www.justgiving.com/Sophie-Silver



And now the latest song from the LATMA stable, The Three Terrors. Lets make it a hit! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmffgIqlAYA&feature=player_embedded



Our dear friend Saul Same is here in Israel again all the way from Melbourne Australia. Saul is one of the finest people I have ever met, loves Israel, loves Australia, reached the top in all fields yet remained a mensch. Saul, who is over 90, brought his little sister Julie with him and we took them to the Mamilla Mall and walked along to see the incredible lights in Old city, along with hundreds of thousands of people from all over Israel and the world. Huge tulip-like likes filled the Jaffa Gate entrance and holographic bells rang on the tower of the Dormition. Eleven o'clock at night and the streets were heaving with a Jerusalem rainbow of people of every sect, cult, religion, denomination, origin and belief…. Oh how I wish that CNN and BBC would show that side of our life; the utter freedom of movement for all. I'm sorry I don't have this years video but this is amazing too http://en.lightinjerusalem.org.il/2010/



I am so excited!! My beautiful friend Arlene is coming today with all family and we get to spend Shabbat Dinner and tomorrow with her and her husband Milty. Sorry Fegie….. my turn!!! I am not sure we will go anywhere since tomorrow promises to be HOT! I love it when the air-conditioned newsreaders announce that it will be hotter than usual for the season…… How hot is hot? Anyway we decided to spend the day out on our veranda, looking at Jerusalem; maybe sip a cocktail or two and talk about our love of Israel. Arlene will cry when she sees that I haven't taken down our big Israeli flag since Yom Haatzmaut (Independence Day) and neither have most of our neighbours! I already see her sitting and quietly smiling as she looks out over Jerusalem, the whiteness of the buildings sparkling in the searing heat and the green of the myriad of trees which intersperse the white. We will hear children playing in the quiet streets and fabulous aromas will rise up to our veranda from the entire neighborhood beneath us. The cuisines of Moroccan, Tunisian, Polish, Kurdish, Iraqi, Romanian, Anglo-Saxon and French cooking blend into one mouthwatering mélange – Israeli cooking – the culmination of the dispersion is a truly wonderful epicurean delight!!!



I am late today and so I can already sense Shabbat's approach. The bride of Shabbat always wears white in Jerusalem and she seems to smooth herself out and look up to the heavens in preparation for her visit to our homes. The shopping mall is closing its gates and the offices ended their work day. The buses race, resoundingly empty, to the nearby terminal to give themselves and their drivers a day off.



Shabbat, we all need a day of rest, Sabbath, Sabbatical, to recharge our spiritual batteries, to reconnect with our families and think over our week.



I wish you Shabbat Shalom, sweet recollections and joyous promise.

With love from Jerusalem, centre of our world.

Sheila

Shabbat Shalom letter from Sheila

100219

19th February 2010.



Shabbat Shalom Everybody!



Gosh where do I begin…. This week the view was not from my veranda but rather from Jenin and Gilboa, the Jerusalem Conference and the Conference of Presidents of American Jewish Organisations run by the incredible and indomitable Malcolm Hoenlein http://www.conferenceofpresidents.org/content.asp?id=63 and of course Carolyn Greene who dots the I's and crosses the t's of Malcolm's imaginative programming and brings her own brand of efficiency to the Conference. Firstly I will run through a few news items then go on to try and encapsulate the last few days of information which is currently making my head go round and my heart burst with pride.



I am absolutely thrilled and delighted that even the ultra-left wing British Liberal Party could take no more of Jenny Tonge (Baroness Tonge) after her insane demand to investigate Israel's amazing rescue operation teams apparent organ harvesting activities in Haiti! Her imagination ran away with her and she embarrassed herself, her party and her country. The blood libel is alive and kicking and Jenny Tonge is one of its stars.



The pro-Israel Daily Mail claims that British MI5 was informed before the operation to kill Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in Dubai. The statement has several problems 1. That it was indeed Mossad 2. That the Brits were involved and knew of the identity theft 3. That it is common to hold such exchanges. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1252034/Hamas-assassination-Two-Palestinians-helped-Mossad-agents-murder-plot.html



Several new immigrants from the UK were somewhat dismayed to see their names and passports used in the raid in Dubai and now need to clear their names with Interpol in order to travel! http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3850012,00.html



The Jerusalem Conference opened with a speech by Nir Barkat, Mayor of Jerusalem. The great fuss about the Arab homes in Silwan that he intends pulling down are illegally built when the families came from Hebron over the last 40 years and simply put up homes willy nilly. The Mayor wants to pull those homes down and build a new project with all modern facilities and infrastructure for those same families, for the Arab Jerusalemites! The last speaker of the evening was archaeologist Professor Gabriel Barkay who held us spellbound as he told the ancient wonders he found around the Temple Mount, all of which point to a clear Jewish presence.



Yesterday morning, at the crack of dawn, I found myself on a bus heading due east and then north through the Jordan Valley to the Gilboa region. The Gilboa is predominantly agricultural (apart from the amazing Teflon ski slope under construction!) and is a perfect example of how this country and our region should be. Jews, Moslems and Christians have found harmony and the ability to live and work together. Ead Saleem is the Deputy Mayor of the Gilboa Regional Council and he told us that before the last Intifada, despite enjoying all the rights of being Israeli he would have died before saying he was Israeli – he was Palestinian. In the Intifada he realized how negative hatred is and how working in harmony with his neighbours could bring his town and his people greater benefit from every aspect. He now proudly states that he is an Israeli Citizen. He said politicians think peace and speak war here they think peace, dream peace and create peace. The regional council built an Arab school where Moslems and Christians learn, sing and dance together and the children danced and played for us.



We returned to the bus and drove the fifteen minutes or so to the border and on to Jenin. Jenin amazed me. We parked next to a big fun fair with screaming children on the giant swing. We saw beautiful houses and apparently the camp has been re-housed; near the Jenin government house we walked through a groomed garden surrounded by mansions; we saw a wonderful new museum, large arena and the new administrative building where tables and chairs had been set up for our reception. The Mayor of Jenin spoke first, very party line, and then the Palestinian Prime Minister Dr. Salam Fayyad came to speak to us – surrounded by more security than all of our politicians together! He spoke in perfect English of negotiations and difficulties; of working to build an administrative infrastructure rather than destruction; of stopping terror and incitement; mentioning in passing the usual words of occupation and persecution, but I was amazed to hear him say the magic words "State of Israel" four times!



I was so surprised at the modernity of Jenin and Benny Segall, the Gilboa Regional Chief Engineer explained that he spends a lot of time in Jenin where the Mayor and the Gilboa region are working together to build basic infrastructure to ensure better lives for the Jenin residents and that privately the Mayor of Jenin is truly trying to change his citizens lives and cooperation is total. It is a start. Both Gilboa and Jenin chose to work from the ground up – without politicians and changes are afoot – please G-d they will flourish and grow.



From Jenin to the Kirya – Israel's Pentagon but I cannot tell you anything of what I heard there except to say that I am so proud of our young soldiers and the ingenuity of their officers who encourage brilliant young brains to flourish. Major General Benjamin "Benny" Gantz, Deputy Chief of the General Staff http://dover.idf.il/IDF/English/about/staff/Benny_Gantz.htm spoke of the paradox of today's situation of quiet on all fronts yet the air is filled with aggressive rhetoric and threats with large storm clouds over Iran which is spreading over Yemen, Eritrea, Somalia and further afield. After the briefing we drove to the Museum of the Diaspora where Noam Schalit awaited us. Noam spoke of his son's captivity and he begged the Israeli government to ignore the American request to hold back on the prisoner swap and bring his son home. Politics are irrelevant when ones child is in mortal danger and imprisoned by killers for nearly 1,500 days and nights. Following Noam Schalit we had a surprise visitor – Dan Shapiro of the White House http://www.whorunsgov.com/Profiles/Daniel_Shapiro came to brief us – but I cannot tell you what he said because that was off the record too!!!!



As Noam Schalit was speaking of Gilad, his child, I thought of the song from Les Miserables - Bring him home. Although Dudu sang the part on Broadway I was unable to find his rendition in English – but found it in Hebrew. Dudu Fisher also sang this song before the Pope in the hope of his intervention on behalf of Gilad. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JuonPp2VwpE&feature=PlayList&p=08C1F14D3647E3C3&playnext=1&playnext_from=PL&index=11



I barely touched on the events of this week, leaving huge gaps rather than bore you. I didn't speak of our romantic walk through the Valley of the Cross on Valentines Day – which may seem an odd choice to my religious friends, but the valley is exquisite with wild flowers galore among the rocks, trees and grasses of the park. I didn't tell you that Gloria Goldsein and I had lunch in Mamilla before wandering down through the multifaceted throng of the Old City Shouk, constantly bombarded with anxious stall holders who try to persuade you into their stores in seven languages! I didn't even talk about lunch in the botanical gardens and my grand-children's joy at seeing the fish, swans and turtles in the pond there.

Just another uneventful week in the life of the Ravivs!!!!



I will write a more complete summation of the Conference of Presidents mission – the amazing friends I made - new and old (Hey Joel) and the information gathered. Now I will go out on to the veranda to check that all my beloved places are intact and then will make my home ready for the bride of Shabbat.



Shabbat Shalom to you all from Jerusalem, the ever beautiful and spiritual centre of our world.



Sheila