Wednesday, September 26

ללכת מחיל אל חיל

Right now, we don't have TV reception.  But last year (or was it the year before?), we turned on the news an hour or so after havdala.  The first news report was the reporter's own family  building their sukka.  In fact, when the camera panned out and showed the reported (Ze'ev Revah), he was still in his kittel.


Tonight’s news: 5 ambulance births over Yom Kippur.

Happy hammering - careful of your thumbs, please. 

Tuesday, September 25

גמר חתימה טובה

I may have mentioned this before, but I'll say it again
I LOVE LIVING IN ISRAEL, THERE IS NO OTHER PLACE TO BE JEWISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

From today's news: Buses stop today at 2pm, start again gradually from 9pm tomorrow night.  Trains stop in a few minutes (11:00), starting again from midnight tomorrow.  
Wishing all of Am Yisrael a gemar hatima tova.

otehr news: The govenemnt published a special mahzor for peopel who are not used to tefilla be'tzibbur, explainign what teh tefillot are about and what to do in shul.

My oldest son is helping to organize a minyan at Gymnasia Hertzlia (the first Hebrew-speaking high school in Eretz Yisrael in the New Age),  which expects an attendance of approximately 400 people who do not have a shul.   My cousins will take part as Shelihei Tzibbur.   

My personal wish to all of Am Yisrael - along with the best of health - a year of forgiveness, a year of understanding, compassion, honesty with ourselves, integrity, consideration, seeing things from the other's point of view, mutual appreciation, kindness and goodwill.


Saturday, September 22

State of World Jewry in 5773

According to Makor Rishon newspaper, here is a brief look at the state of world Jewry a the start of this year:

Country (or Area) - Percentage of Jews in Jewish Education (includes conservative, reform, etc) - Percentage marrying "out"
(I do not know if marrying a convert through reform counts as marrying "out", nor if attending public school and a Jewish "Sunday school" counts as getting Jewish education.)

Canada - 50% Jewish education - 35% intermarriage
US - 25% Jewish education - 54% intermarriage
Mexico (always well-represented at the international Hidon Tanach) - 85% Jewish education- 10% intermarriage
Brazil - 71% Jewish education - 45% intermarriage
Australia - 65% Jewish education - 22% intermarriage
South Africa - 85% Jewish education - 20% intermarriage

England - 60% Jewish education - 43% intermarriage
Ukraine - 15% Jewish education - 80% intermarriage
France - 40% Jewish education - 43% intermarriage
Germany - 20% Jewish education - 60% intermarriage
remainder of EU - 10-25% Jewish education - 33- 75% intermarriage

and here, in Israel:
97% Jewish education, 5% intermarriage

and almost triple the number of Jews living here than in the year I was born

it ain't perfect, but it's SIGNIFICANTLY better than anywhere else in the world









Friday, September 21

It's gradual, but, (no, not but!) AND it's happening!!

ערב שבת שובה, תשע"ג
My uncle is back from the dead.  Literally.  
Three weeks ago, he was in a car accident.  He may have had a heart attack behind the wheel.  He had to be resuscitated, and was flown by air ambulance to hospital.  That was on a Thursday.  The following Monday, he shocked the nurses by being able to point to his ankle to show that it hurt, which caused the medical staff to discover two more fractures, in addition to his femur and several ribs.  Tuesday, he asked his son to help him lay tefillin.
Almost two weeks after the accident, he suffered massive cardiac arrest.   The nurses said their goodbyes, and the next day I reached my cousin by phone, to try to give some long distance comfort.  But, my cousin DY surprised me, saying "We have had a miracle here!" I thought maybe he was kidding himself, but he put me on speaker to talk to my uncle, who then signed that we should continue to daven.   Last Friday, my mother told me that her brother called her on the phone.  BEH next week, my mum, her brother and my grandmother will fly to the US to see US (Uncle S*).   
Baruch Mehaye haMeitim.
He now has two dates on which to say Hallel for his personal tehiyat hameitim.

And no one is stupid enough to say, "Well, he shouldn't have had heart trouble in the first place, so there is nothing to thank HaShem for."
and no one is stupid enough to say, "Well, his heart problems were probably his fault, and he did something wrong, and if he had just been a better person or a better Jew, there would have been no setbacks, so there is nothing to thank HaShem for."
No.  All of us are thanking HaShem for these miracles.   When I said Shehehiyanu on Rosh HaShana, all I could think about was how he IS alive, ה' החייה אותו, and how wonderful that is.
And his health is gradually returning, and even if there may be more setbacks, BH, the direction is positive, and every day that Uncle S can communicate with his family, is a miracle for which we say Thanks.

In  a parallel universe, the Jewish peopel have come back to life.
There were centuries of pogroms, attacks, crusades, blood libels.   And then there was the Holocaust.    Fully one-third of world Jewry was annihilated.   
And three years later, the 600,000 Jews in Eretz Yisrael declared a sovereign Jewish nation, with Shabbat as the only day off each week, and Yerushalaim as our capital city.
Immediately, millions of well-equipped Arab armies attacked the fledgling country.   They took most of Yerushalaim, including our heart - Har HaBayit.   People said goodbye.   
Over the following 19 years, the tiny Jewish State, with indefensible borders, grew stronger.   There were setbacks, but there were also developments.  Cities, Yeshivot, Aliya and even a Nobel Prize (Sh"I Agnon, a religious Zionist).
And then, in Iyar 5727, it seemed that all was lost.  The Israeli government was preparing mass graves for the attack in which Nasser (yemah shemo) was planning to throw us all into the sea.  Jews world over knew that if we lost this one, the Holocaust would pale by comparison.
On the 26th of Iyar, Israel staged a pre-emptive attack in Egypt, destroying the entire Egyptian Air force.  Whiel the government knew they had to fight against Egypt and Syria, the intention of the human leaders was to keep the peace with Jordan.  רבות מחשבות בלב איש.  Israel offered Jordan to not join the war, Jordan refused the offer, and within two days, We had regained control of Har HaBayit.  
We have two dates to say Hallel for our national Tehiyat haMeitim.

(Years ago, i stumbled across the Cleveland newspapers from June 6th and June 11th that Uncle S had saved when he was in Telz, announcing the beginning and end of the Six-Day miracle.) 

Over the past 45 years, things have not been stable.  There have been terror attacks, and the Waqf has had too much control over Har HaBayit.  So much control, that in its efforts to keep the peace with Jordan (and with Israeli Arabs) , The Israeli police refused entry to any part of Har HaBayit (*) to "religious provocateurs", including Rav Yisrael Ariel, who was the soldier who kept guard of what may be Even haShetiya during the Six-Day War.
Setbacks, there are lots of setbacks.
But this week, the police invited Rav Ariel to their headquarters, where they  told him not only  that he may return to going up to Har haBayit, but they now allow tefillot yahid on Har Habayit.

Do we realize what this means? 
Do we realize how much closer we are getting, every day, sometimes even as a result of these setbacks, to HaShem's final redemption?

In today's BeSheva newspaper, there is an article explaining that it is assur to daven minha on the side of the highway.  Now, on the one had, it is a special sight, seeing all over Eretz Yisrael, people who have stopped their cars to daven.
On the other hand, the Mishna clearly states that one does NOT stop to daven in a Makom shel sakana.   For this, there are tashlumim.  
We are slowly returning to the Real Torah, the Torah that is not just rituals and "looking Jewish in a non-Jewish world."  We are returning to Torat haHaim, the Torah that addresses real-life issues, even when it might "look less religious", but is truly what will make us a Light Among the Nations - a moral, just, life-respecting Nation, according to Torah.  A nation that everyone can learn from, so that, gradually in our days, 
ויאמר כל אשר נשמה באפו, ה' אלוקי ישראל מלך ומלכותו  בכל משלה.



Notes:
1.   for tefillot, my uncle's name is Shmuel Yaacov ben Sara Golda
2.  While there are areas on Har HaBayit which one absolutely may not enter, there are areas which, according to all opinions, may be entered after going to the mikva properly.   
There are also areas (such as south of shaar hamugrabim) which are not halachically Har HaBayit, but that is not what concerns us right now.

גמר חתימה טובה
לשנה הזאת בירושלים הבנויה!!


Wednesday, September 12

From the mouths of (14 year old) babes

Yesterday we had a third round of rimon-picking from our tree.  As I looked at  the garden table, which was completely covered with bright red fruit, I said to myself out loud, that maybe it would be easier to be "mafkir" the fruit than to pick everything at once, separate maasrot and then call all the neighbours to come take some.  

N, our wonderful 14 year old said, "We don't just pass up a mitzva , just cuz it's hard.  There is a reason you moved to Eretz Yisrael - to be able to separate terumot and maasrot."

Can't argue with that one.   

Rimonim, anyone?  We have about 80 here.  Maasrot have already been separated.

Tuesday, September 4

Engineering Torah - יפה תלמוד תורה עם דרך ארץ

We are very interesting in construction laws these days.
In order to best understand our rights, dh turned to Dr Google and looked up terms, regulations, etc.  He found a website of an engineering and architecture firm, in which they answer questions and explain laws to plebians such as ourselves.
The website has a menu sidebar, with the important entry "parashat hashavua", which takes us to articles, many written by the chief engineer himself, on the parsha, haftara and a variety of other Jewish topics.

For the interested among us, here is a link to Dr ben-Ezra's article , on his engineering site, about Ta'amei HaMitzvot:


Monday, September 3

It's your Hebrew birthday that matters here

The start of the school reminds us that it is your Hebrew birthday that matters in Israel.  The cutoff birthdate for school years is the last day of Kislev.
And even if this seems silly, as the ministry always adds the christian date in brackets on every form and letter, it makes a very important statement - we are a Jewish country, and we set dates of national significance (for the most part) according to the Jewish calendar.  Each time we use the Hebrew date, we are bearing witness that Hashem created the world, as described in the Torah. (Rav David Hai Cohen)

Our Jewish army also drafts our soldiers according to their Hebrew birthdates.   Just last week, we heard many ads on Galei Tzahal reminding kids that if they were born between the first of Tishrei, 5766, and the last day of Adar that same year, they should expect to receive their Tzav Rishon - initial call-up for a physical examination and routine testing at the draft office.  
Of course, there are "fashlot", but they are rare.  After all, every calendar sold or given away anywhere in Israel has the Hebrew dates on it.   This means that when a desk clerk is asked for the Hebrew date of an appointment they are trying to set for me, they are not surprised, AND they can easily answer my question.

For those who do not know, it is legal to write the Hebrew date on cheques.  And using the Hebrew calendar is a derivative action of the "first mitzva" - ha-hodesh ha-zeh lachem rosh hodashim.  This is the first mitzva we were given as a nation, and keeping this mitzva should remind us also of the reason that the Torah does NOT start with this command - as Rashi says, in order to remind everyone that Gd created the world, and He gave Eretz Yisrael to US!
Full circle.  In Eretz Yisrael, we get to keep the mitzvot that remind us and the entire world that HaShem wants us here.   

It is also totally legitimate, in Israel, to use the child's Hebrew birthday when determining age for payment for bus rides and discounts at attractions.  

And, yes, if you or your child were born after sunset, and the Interior Ministry's computer miscalculated your Hebrew birthday, it is totally normal to have it corrected.

And on the subject of the date, today is two weeks before Rosh HaShana, so it is time to begin wishing you all a כתיבה וחתימה טובה.