Voices Magazine's Blog

Shalva Book Swap for the Mentally and Physically Challenged

2012-01-16T16:05:00.000+02:00

There are so many worthwhile organizations that need our help in order to thrive and help as many people as they can. One of the biggest challenges to all organization heads is finding a way to support the cause.
Orit Samuels, Event and Social Media Manager of SHALVA, the Association for Mentally and Physically Challenged Children in Israel, came up with a terrific idea for Sunday, February 5th, in Alon Shvut - a BOOK SWAP. Read the info below, and if you live nearby, please participate.

SNOW in Israel

2012-01-13T14:51:00.001+02:00

Well, the dreams of every child here has just come true.
SNOW IN ISRAEL.
It's Friday afternoon, January 13, 2012.
First it rained. Then it hailed. And now it's snowing!!

It won't stick though, because the ground is too wet. But that won't dampen the enthusiasm of every kid and every "big kid" around. We've waited a long time for some snow, and we take what we can get. I know that everywhere in the world when there's stormy weather, folks shudder. We dance. B"H, thank you, G-d, for the rain, the snow and every drop of water you give us.
We pray that everyone drives slowly and carefully. And let's enjoy the snow.

What's Up, Efrat? # 6

2012-01-12T03:02:00.000+02:00

Welcome to the newest edition of WHAT'S UP, EFRAT?

On Motzei Shabbat, January 14^th, 19^th of Tevet

BOOTCAMP!! Terrific work out instructors!!! The evening is a project of Keren Yeshua and Aseh Chayil School for the school’s needy population.

Questions? Contact the dynamic duo: Heather Cohnen or Dara Saker. Cohnenh@aol.com or darasaker@michalwigs.com

On Monday evening, January 16^th, 21^st of Tevet, everyone is invited to the Efrat Book Club in the Library to discuss, "House of Mirth" by Edith Wharton.

On Tuesday morning, January 17^th, 22^nd of Tevet, and for seven more weeks, the Women's Bet Midrash will present two mini-courses in Bet Knesset Tiferet Avot:

** "Women as Servants of God: Women's Obligation in Daily Mitzvot", with Noa Jeselsohn, 8:30-9:40am.

** and "Parshat Shavua for your Shabbat Table", with Bracha Krohn, 9:50-11am. Call for details. 050-993-8125

Also on Tuesday at 4 PM, in the Beit Bnei Rachel in the Kever Rachel Complex, Rabbi Efraim Sprecher will lead a very topical discussion, "Is the Current Exodus Failing Because of Attitudes against Women?" The Rachel's Children Reclamation Foundation will also host a supperette consisting of a healthy homemade buffet.

RCRF Winter Lectures continue, including Atara Gur every Wednesday at 11 AM at the Kever Rachel Complex.

On Sunday, January 22^nd , 27^th of Tevet, at 8 PM, in advance of school registration, Aseh Chayil invites parents to hear about its unique educational outlook and programming.

Also on all-day Sunday and Monday (until 10 PM), our friends at the Benjamin Library in Beit Shemesh's Meyeroff Matnas in Givat Sharett are holding a gargantuan, humongous, immense, positively elephantine Book Sale!!! All books, hardcover or paperback, are only NIS 5 each!

An unprecedented number of books in English and Hebrew! New books will be put out constantly throughout the day: Adult fiction and non-fiction, thrillers, romance, detective, science fiction, classics, and everything else for adults and teens. For more information or directions, call 991-8499On Tuesday January 24^th, 29^th of Tevet, at 4 PM, Rabbi Dr. Yosef Klausner will be speaking in the Kever Rachel Complex on "The Neviot / Women Prophets: Halacha and Hagadda. A light supperette will follow.

It's time to register your children for next year's preschool and elementary school. Please do so from January 25^th through February 17^th. Please go to the Moetza to register for preschool or Mechina. And register your children for elementary school at each individual school.

On January 25^th, Rosh Chodesh Shevat, Midreshet B’erot Bat Ayin Presents Grow and Let Grow - A full day of inspiration for Tu Beshvat, beginning with a musical Hallel, and including shiurim, creative workshops and life advice from 9:45 AM to 10 PM. Wow.

Life is like a tree. :-)

Information/registration: Elana Benarroch 02-993-4945, info@berotbatayin.org, www.berotbatayin.org

LOOKING FORWARD A BIT:

On Motzei Shabbat, January 28^th, the 4^th of Shevat, Kehillat Zemer HaZayit presents a Shiur: Women as Instructors of Halacha by Dr. Tova Ganzel, Bar Ilan Tanach and Halacha Lecturer.Everyone is invited to visit Shiloh Gal, the former long-time Mayor of Gush Etzion, in his orchid greenhouse in Elazar. You can view these beautiful flowers and purchase orchids for your own home directly from Shiloh. For more information, call 02-9932666

As in previous years, Tuv Haaretz will be selling fruit packages for Tu Beshvat. Most dried fruit sold in

Israel

today is imported, from

Turkey

and other countries. Tuv Haaretz, a company started by evacuees from Gush Katif, has been selling dried fruit grown only in

Israel

, for the last three years.

These packages are perfect for your Tu Beshvat needs with 6 different types of fruit, YUM. To order a package, 993-2212.

Here's another delicious idea, this one from the Zayit Raanan synagogue – a cookbook fundraiser. Send your best recipes to zayitraanancookbook@gmail.com. These recipes will be collected, reviewed, tasted and then published in a fundraising cookbook.

That's about it for this month.

Wait…Have you purchased your tickets yet for this year's DAMES of the DANCE 5 – MIRACLES. It's going to be an incredibly GREAT SHOW, IY"H, dazzling, exciting, fun, inspirational with more than 100 women and teens on stage dancing the personal, natural and national miracles we have all experienced. There's jazz, hip hop, tap, 60s, stomp, Israel Dance, Mizrachi, modern and more.

And it's all to feed the needy. For more information or to buy tickets, visit: http://damesofthedance.voices-magazine.com

Watch this edition of WHAT'S UP, EFRAT?

http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/231

Let's Explore Ashdod Port

2011-12-29T00:56:00.004+02:00

I visited Ashdod Port today with a busload of friends from Efrat. The new Visitors' Center is a 21^st century base to learn more about the Ashdod Port – the only Sabbath observing port in the entire world.
The Ashdod port was built over the course of four years from 1961 to 1965 on a stretch of totally empty land. The city of Ashdod actually grew out of the port, as a place where immigrants could move and find work.

Our tour guide told us that Israel needed another port, because Eilat's port was too shallow, Ashkelon's shore had cliffs, Tel Aviv's shore is too densely populated, Haifa's port was too far north for many cargoes. Creating a port in Ashdod, where there was plenty of open space shortened the travel time for many industrial shipments and provided a deep water port, built on the open sea. In order to build the required breakwater, workers sunk 40,000 big "jack" shaped stones into the sea.

On our very interesting family tour, we saw how the port authority created breakwaters, wharf and facilities for modern vessels. The first ship that entered Ashdod's port was on November 21, 1965 – the Swedish ship "Wingland", which carried 11,600 tons of sugar.

After the Six Day War, Israel expanded in many ways, included in its port industry. The giant ship, Queen Elizabeth II, docked in Ashdod. It was a tremendous honor for the port. Israel's President Shimon Peres was the Minister of Transportation then, and attended the ceremony.

As ships became larger and more modernized, the Ashdod port has changed as well. The Eitan Terminal, named after the late IDF Chief of Staff Rafael Eitan, who headed the Ashdod expansion project, enabled the port to take in mammoth ships that are like small cities. The larger the ship the deeper the water it needs at the wharf. Our guide showed us the darker blue water of Eitan Terminal, and explained the darker the water, the deeper it is. It measures 15.5 meters deep.

Our guide said that the new ships were so gigantic, they can carry 4000 cars on each. About 2000 ships with varied cargo enter Ashdod Port each year, he said.

Our guide told us that when America introduced the Metal Container to the shipping business, things changed forever. Today a million containers enter the Ashdod port aboard ships every year. Mountains of red, yellow, blue, and green containers were piled up al around.

We drove around the massive port. Twenty-five thousand cars are just sun bathing waiting for 2012 to begin so they can be sold as 2012 cars. A sea of Volkswagons sat parked at the port, plus aisles and aisles of buses, trucks and tractors. A train track ran through the port. In fact, we saw a new train that had just been off-loaded from a ship. We saw giant cranes that carry ashore the containers. They looked like they popped straight out of an erector's set.

We also caught a glimpse of some beautiful cruise ships docked there. Our guide said that 450,000 tourists came to Israel on ship in the last three years.

All kinds of cargo goes through Ashdod port, including agricultural exports, citrus fruit, timber, metals, bulk cargo and more.

Harbors need still water in order to load and unload their goods. Therefore ships do not run their engines when they come into the breakwater. Tugboats go out to sea to navigate the ship and push/pull/move it into the correct direction to its quay. And then they guide the ship back again after about what is usually a two-day stay at the port.

Terror at the Port

Six years ago, terror hit the port. Two Arab terrorists killed ten people. Today a traffic circle has been planted with ten trees in memory of those killed by Arab terrorists.
A Great Family Experience

The trip was exciting and fascinating. There were even family activities that everyone enjoyed. Families are invited to come to the port in groups (rent a bus), but children must be over age 9. No babies. No strollers.
Thank you to Judy Rosenstark who initiated the idea, to the Matnas Efrat for organizing the bus and welcoming the travelers with yummy holiday souvganiyot (donuts), and to our hosts at the port. Well done.

Biblical Fiction Author Ben-Tzion Spitz of Destiny's Call

2011-12-22T00:40:00.006+02:00

I just completed an amazing new book by a local Gush Etzion author, Ben-Tzion Spitz.

Destiny’s Call: Book One - Genesis is Ben-Tzion's first work of Biblical Fiction. It is 187 pages long and published by Valiant Publishing.
Ben-Tzion Spitz began writing Biblical Fiction as a reaction to the losing battle that the Bible today is waging against TV, movies and the internet. Inspired by success of JRR Tolkien’s rich, exciting and detailed realm of The Lord of the Rings, Ben-Tzion looked at Jewish history and wanted to bring it to life for today’s readers. Although lacking elves and hobbits, Ben-Tzion wrote, “We have a history, a tradition, a story of Man himself. From the beginning of time. From the Foundation of History. The story of Adam...Noah…the Flood..Abraham, Isaac and Jacob…the Twelve Tribes…the Exodus…Moses and the Commandments. And much more.”
Basing his work on extensive biblical commentary, along with research in archaeology and geography, Ben-Tzion masterfully weaves his stories into a fantasy world that he hopes will interest the modern reader enough to send him to the original Sources to discover what is “based upon the text and what is fictional…What else does the Bible say? What other mysteries, adventures and revelations are hidden with in its pages?”
Ben-Tzion’s first novel, Destiny’s Call gives a new dimension of life and drama to the stories and personalities of the book of Genesis (Bereishit). Complete with Tolkein -like maps and timelines, Destiny’s Call grabs readers on page 1 with Lemech the blind blacksmith and doesn’t loosen its grasp until the sly Pharoah takes the scene.
In between Ben-Tzion fascinates us with tales of the iron rule of Nimrod the masochistic megalomaniac; the private debates of Aner, Eshkol and Mamre; the personal post-blessing crisis between Isaac and Rebecca; the last moments of Rachel’s life and more. I could not put Destiny’s Call down. In this book of gems, the thrilling story of Joseph’s trial before Pharoah is the jewel in the volume’s crown.
Ben-Tzion will soon be publishing novels based on the other four books of the Chumash.

Meet the author and explore the epic world of Biblical Fiction in this Voices video clip:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/226

Minister Israel Katz Inaugurates Efrat Traffic Circle

2011-12-21T01:30:00.007+02:00

Chanukah is often an occasion for a chanukat habayit (the inauguration of a new home), but the future-city of Efrat used the holiday to inaugurate a new traffic circle at the Efrat Junction, Route 3157. "Once the existence of a well was the sign of a town," said Efrat's Chief Rabbi HaRav Shlomo Riskin, "Today it is a proper road."

The new circle, located at Efrat's southern entrance, was built to prevent traffic accidents, which have caused several fatalities at that spot.

The traffic circle, Efrat's fifth, was only one of the many projects undertaken thanks to Minister of Transportation and Road Safety Knesset Member Israel Katz. According to Efrat's Mayor Oded Revivi, the Transportation Ministry has spent 16 million shekels in Efrat – fixing the crosswalks, building stroller and wheel chair accessible crossings, creating a bus bay outside one of the schools, installing speed bumps and traffic circles, culminating in its newest, most expensive and most vital circle – one that Revivi and Katz hope will save lives at what was a treacherous intersection.

Mayor Revivi told participants in the ceremony that when Minister Katz came to Efrat two years ago, Oded showed him the one tractor that had been sent to work on the town's first traffic circle. "The excitement over the one tractor in Efrat was as great as if we had a construction permit to build a skyscraper, and yet all we got was a permit to build our first traffic circle."

Oded told the Minister, "See what one tractor does to Efrat's residents. If we only received building permits, what a party we would make."

Outgoing Gush Etzion Mayor Shaul Goldstein has been working to improve the traffic situation at this junction for many years, Revivi noted. But even after monies were budgeted, the traffic circle did not move forward because it needed additional land for a properly built circle. Although the court ruled that jointly-used roads could appropriate private lands, if needed, the road remained frozen until the Moetza offered to move the traffic circle onto Efrat land.

Since the monies were no longer available, Minister Katz had to work very hard to rescue the project's budget.

The project was saved and a large gathering, including residents of Efrat, Gush Etzion Rosh Ha'Ayin, and even the Muchtar of the village Jurat al-Shama'a were present at the ceremony. The Muchtar's villagers have also been involved in traffic accident's at Efrat's Southern Entrance.

Ironically the ceremony was held right after a traffic accident had occurred at Efrat's northern exit, which needs a drastic transportation and road safety solution. "Once every two days, we have an accident there," Revivi noted.

[BTW, during the ceremony Oded Revivi revealed that Efrat was given yet another Chanukah prize. Just today the Ministry of Housing delivered to Efrat the booklets about housing on Givat HaDagan. He thanked the Prime Minister for making it happen.]

Efrat's Chief Rabbi HaRav Shlomo Riskin reiterated that it is a tremendous mitzvah to make roads and traffic circles in the State of Israel, so that we can live safely. The construction of this critical road led Rabbi Riskin to recite the blessing, "Blessed are You, God, our Lord, king of the universe, who establishes the boundary of the widow" (which is usually pronounced upon seeing the houses of Israel in their glory).

He also recited, "Blessed…who commanded us to guard our souls."

Minster Israel Katz explained the importance of the circle. "In Judea and Shomron, traffic control and infrastructure are for safety and in order to save lives. We all know that a hole in the road and a missing light here means a loss of security.|

The Ministry of Transportation's comprehensive plans throughout Yesha began two years ago. Much has been accomplished, and there is much more to go.

He concluded by explaining the connection between Jews everywhere with Gush Etzion.

He said, "I am not a religious Jew that keeps all the mitzvoth, but from my chinuch (education), I know what most Israelis know. We have a Biblical right to this area. There should be no reason to stop building or for Jews to stop living here. And it is every person's right to travel safely."

Minister Katz announced a special project that the Ministry of Transportation has undertaken, Netivei Yisrael (the lanes of Israel) which will correct "injustices of the past", including the isolation of the Negev and the Galil. "These areas need to be connected, just as the communities of Gush Etzion do. I hope one day a train will connect to Yehuda and Shomron."

Katz ended, "We will do everything we can to strengthen us, because your living here strengthens us."

Watch the video:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=229

Happy Chanukah - Homes on the Dagan

2011-12-20T19:42:00.002+02:00

A Chanukah Miracle!!
After ten years of a building freeze, the Ministry of Housing delivered to Efrat marketing booklets for 30 housing units of Efrat's northern hill, Givat HaDagan.
Efrat's Mayor Oded Revivi made the announcement today at the Inaugural Ceremony for Efrat's new southern traffic circle, a construction project that will IY"H save many lives on the road.
Watch the announcement on this video:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/228
You may not understand the Hebrew (which was translated above), but the applause is universal.

Happy Chanukah - One Light. One People

2011-12-20T19:29:00.005+02:00

Happy Chanukah.

Tonight all over the world Jews are lighting their Chanukah menorahs. In Hebrew, they're called Chanukiyot (to distinguish them from the seven branched menorah that stood in the Holy Temple).

Chanukah is one of the rare holidays that just about all Jews on every continent celebrate. Tonight each person is lighting one candle, the first of the week.

It's such a great feeling to sense the unity of Am Yisrael (the Jewish Nation) at this moment. Whether they're lighting in stone, in silver or in a tiny wooden menorah – everyone is lighting. One candle. One light. One family. One nation.

B"H, we're lucky to belong to this ancient people, to recall the miracle of Chanukah, to recall the devotion of the Hasmoneans to G-d, Jerusalem and the Holy Temple.

Happy Chanukah. May your lights shine brightly.

Not familiar with the story of Chanukah?
Well, watch here (let the video download fully before watching) :
http://wejew.com/media/3223/Shiri_and_The_Story_of_Chanukah/

Healthy Play in the 21st Century

2011-12-20T10:01:00.002+02:00

My town opened a new playground this week with state-of-the-art equipment imported from Denmark. First glance at the new park makes you wonder, "What's that?" And that's probably the point. On the wiggly and whooshy shapes, the kids can explore and experiment, take on new challenges, make friends and simply have fun.
The park is gorgeous. Its shiny steel and colorful accessories make it a very inviting place. While I was there with my kids, dozens of other children felt "invited" too. Since play areas are created to enhance a child's quality of life, this new park surely passed with flying colors.
Created by Kompan, the folks who "bring play to life", the shapes of the play equipment are as much a work of modern art as they are a function of activity. Kids were twirling on some "modern art", bouncing and balancing, climbing and even skate boarding.
And underneath it all is a new colorful and safe flooring made of recycled rubber tires. Wow, ecological too!
The equipment provided all the raw materials the kids needed for socializing and communicating; imagining and creating new games; tackling new tasks and learning new skills; and getting that playground buzz that comes after a successful day of play.

Thanks to my community Efrat and my local municipality (and whomever else) for the great new park.
The kids and parents loved it.
View our new park here: http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=227

Always Fair Weather

2011-12-19T21:06:00.001+02:00

It's a beautiful day. Okay, it should be raining, but..it's a beautiful day to go to a fair.
The Matnas of Efrat has a fair going on right now.
I love fairs. Whether they're in parking lots or on gym floors, I love fairs. They remind me of the Old County Fairs in America. Well, they don't have livestock here or 100 pound pumpkins or blue ribbons for the town's best jam, but they've got the greatest selection of home-based crafts and boutique businesses around.
Right now in the Matnas, they've got organic dates from the Jordan Valley growers association, home-made children's gifts, like headband holders (bet you never heard of headband holders), fabulous home-made jewelry, ingenious wooden games, knitted sweaters, ceramics, plus a representation of the small home-based businesses in the area from clothing to photography to Shabbat candle oil and Chanukah cookies.
I was proud from the moment I walked in and saw Dapei Katom - http://www.dkatom.co.il - to the second I left. There's nothing like a fair. You shmooze with the vendors and the fellow buyers and you go home with creative gifts you can't get anywhere else.

Buy some goodies and enjoy.

It's the Gift that Counts

2011-12-16T13:15:00.000+02:00

We love the saying, "It's the thought that counts." That means that a gift we give or an action that we do is only a reflection of the feeling we had behind the gift or act.
But I've also heard things like, "I wanted to get you a present....to help you with ....to bring you...but I couldn't, but then again, it's the thought that counts." Let's be truthful. Sometimes it's true, and sometimes that's just a big excuse. I could give a million examples, but let's leave it. :)
Especially now when the holidays are just about upon us, and everyone is worrying about what he'll give and what he'll receive, it's a good time to contemplate gift giving.
Sometimes it really is the gift that counts.
This afternoon my granddaughter came for Shabbat. We've been planning this for a few weeks, and both she and I were excited.
She handed me a gift, although, truthfully, her presence was my present. It was a plastic bag with a friendly sticker on it. Inside were a dozen "candies", wrapped carefully. She's six, and she doesn't have any money to spend for a gift, but she wanted to give me something special. So, over the past few weeks, every time she or a friend had a candy, she saved the wrapper. When her collection grew, she put a small pebble inside each wrapper and closed it up just like a candy. That would be a nice decoration for my table or counter. But I brought it downstairs to my office instead, and put it right above my desk with my precious things. And now when I look up, I can see the plastic bag with the "candies" that were a gift, filled with my granddaughter's love.

My Son the Almost Doctor

2011-12-14T22:58:00.000+02:00

Actually, it's not my son. And he's not a doctor. But the title sounded good.
My friend's son became a Medic today in the Israel Defense Forces. A medic is almost like a field doctor in combat. He is trained in all kinds of emergency medical procedures. And he stays with his unit in training, in peace and in war. He is not only trained in his company's expertise, but he is also trained with the skills of just about every form of lifesaving.
The thing that so surprised me about the medics' graduation ceremony (and B"H, I've been to many Army graduations) is the recitation of the "Oath of the Medic". The oath was read out loud by the soldiers' commander. In it, each medic agrees to "treat any injured person, be they friend of enemy, and never to leave an injured man behind."
Those are the values of the Israeli Army.
May Hashem watch over all these medics and their units, and may He keep them all from harm.
Mazel tov to my friends and all parents whose children serve their nation in so many different ways.

By the Beach of Ashkelon

2011-12-14T16:07:00.007+02:00

While visiting the coast of Ashkelon last week, we decided to walk along the water. We never did that before. There's a beautiful path from the main beach entrance to the Holiday Inn Hotel.

The path is dotted with fun and comfortable benches for sun tanning, spots for surf watching, exercise areas for adults, and fun equipment for children to play on. Their playground equipment was in the shape of whales plunging into the ocean.

We discovered something else along the beach path - a five or even eight hundred year old burial place of an Arab shiekh. Right there over looking the beach. There's no bio of Sheikh Awad, so I can't say who he is. But I can tell you what I read.
The domed burial place is dated from the Mameluke era (1260-1516 AD).
The central chamber has a prayer recess (machrab) in the southern wall facing Mecca. This building is part of a series of holy sites built by the Mamelukes along the coast, in their attempt to strengthen the western frontier of the country.

One more note about the newly refurbished boardwalk. It is dotted with the nicest lamp posts along the way. The tops of each lamp has a crown of a castle. It's not really a castle. It's the outline of the old city of Ashkelon, which was a port city with a high wall around it.

The lamp light crowns lend a grandeur and a pride to Ashkelon that tie the city to its ancient past.

Singing in the Rain

2011-12-09T01:10:00.004+02:00

If you're reading this from Israel, you know that IT RAINED on Thursday evening - a real rain - just like it rained in the old country. It rained for a few hours. It rained until there were puddles. It rained until little rivulets ran down the street. It rained until all the shopping bags from today's supermarket excursion were dotted with beads of water.
Boy, we need that rain! Israel National News reported that the Kinneret "water level of the lake now stands at 701.049 feet below sea level -- still 13.77 feet below the level at which conditions are considered 'normal.'" And we need much more serious rain to make any improvements (which we so desperately need) in the Kinneret.
My three-year-old granddaughter and I were driving back from shopping, and as the windshield wipers shwished and shwooshed, we decided to sing a rain song. "Hooray for the rain. Hooray for the rain. Thank you, Hashem, for the blessed blessed rain."
She loved our little ditty, but then she asked me to sing in the rain, sing in the rain. I was singing in the rain, and she was joining me. Well, I finally realized that she was asking me to sing, "Singing in the Rain." The tap troupe in which I dance is learning "Singing in the Rain" and we're often singing and dancing it all over my house. I didn't know that my three-year-old caught on. But she did.
So, we sang the Gene Kelly version, which I actually tap to (but not while driving) - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmCpOKtN8ME. And then I went into a spirit Judy Garland version, which has always been one of my favorites - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXnFdf0-Nr0.
My granddaughter loved them both, but that wasn't enough. She wanted everyone singing along with us, but we were alone in the car, so I "talk boxed" my sister in Florida, so that we could all sing together.
The sun was shining in Central Florida. The flamingos and the alligators were soaking up the rays, but we were all singing in the rain.
B"H for all of today's rain. I'm in my office now, listening to the cars phttttitttatt-ing by as the rain spins in their tires. It's music to my ears. Almost as good as "Singing in the Rain."

Three Cheers for Efrat Fencing Students

2011-12-06T22:51:00.003+02:00

The Efrat fencing students have put together a petition to the Israel Fencing Association that the entire community is signing. The swordspersons are observant Jews and are unable to participate in Israel's fencing competitions, because they are held on the Sabbath. The Efrat swordspersons have requested that competitions be held during the week so that they can participate and progress in fencing.
UPDATED INFO: The Efrat Fencers Case comes before the courts on Thursday, 12 Kislev, December 8. I spoke to Eyal the fencing instructor, who feels very strongly that the courts will rule against religious discrimination for these terrific young people.
Jewish children from religious homes throughout the world who participate in sports are faced with challenges all the time. Not only do they train with all their hearts for their sport, they have to do everything they can not to compromise their religious principles.
Often we read about Jewish basketball players or gymnasts or swimmers from different countries, who give up participating in "the big game" (or a little one) because of their devotion to the Sabbath or Jewish holidays.
I can understand these conflicts in Britain, America, Australia or anywhere in the Diaspora, but a Torah Jew should not have these problems in Israel, a Jewish country.
Torah-observant competitors should not be penalized because they cannot compete on Sabbath. Sports competitions should be held n a day when everyone can compete.
In fact, an article in Israel National News from three years ago reaffirms that swordspersons do not have to compete on Shabbat: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/128077#.Tt6CArLhd_8
In October 2008, "The court ruled in favor of Yuval Freilich, a national champion in fencing in the under-13 category who brought a case against the national fencing association." The judge ruled that either Freilich could compete on Motzei Shabbat (Saturday night) or he would receive a technical victory in any competition held on Shabbat.
Three cheers for Efrat's talented swordspersons who want to advance in fencing, and yet more than anything, treasure the Sabbath and want to observe it and keep it holy.

Here is their petition. Please sign it:
We Sabbath observers Swordspersons, wishing to participate in competitions. Israeli swordsman union decision to hold the fencing competitions on Shabbatot, except for the Championship, prevents us participate in these competitions. This decision affects our right to Progress in the sport of fencing. We ask you to help us make the union change the day of competition.
Please, Enter the petition site and sign:
https://www.atzuma.co.il/fancing

Thanks,
Efrat fencing class children

Efrat Preschoolers Appreciate Classic Israeli Literature

2011-12-05T23:02:00.001+02:00

One of Voices readers, Rabbi Jeffrey Saks, Director, ATID - Academy for Torah Initiatives and Directions, told us that many yeshiva high schools are allowing students to opt out of classic Israeli literature, and replacing those classes with "Israeli Thought". S.Y. Agnon and Hayim Nahman Bialik and others are being sidestepped in many yeshiva high schools.

The Ministry of Education is very concerned with this trend, and investigating it right now. More on the subject: http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4021475,00.html

Meanwhile, Rabbi Saks sent us a very special video to show that while the Lit Masters may be on the outs with high schoolers, Efrat's youngest population values legendary authors like Bialik. (Presenting four-year-old Yair Saks.)

Watch the video clip here:

http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=223

Gush Etzion Deputy Mayor Speaks about Road Safety

2011-12-04T01:32:00.002+02:00

Gush Etzion is no longer a sleepy backwoods area. B"H, each of the Gush Etzion communities is growing, which brings more traffic along with that growth. Its main road, Route 60, also services the communities of Hebron, Kiryat Arba and towns south of the Gush.
Moreover, with the popularity of the Rami Levi Supermarket, traffic is even more congested at the Gush Etzion Junction.
Gush Etzion has been the scene of many traffic accidents, and residents are very concerned about further traffic hazards.
Voices spoke to Yair Wolf, Deputy Mayor of Gush Etzion and current Acting Mayor, about traffic problems in the Gush. Here's a video clip in Hebrew about what Yair Wolf said:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/222

Loose English translation: Yair has requested three traffic lights for Route 60:
** Elazar Junction
** Neve Daniel Junction
** Efrat Junction
He has also spoken to police about residents' road safety concerns. Yair encourages everyone to write to the police and the Road Works Department, becuase community involvement will strengthen Gush Etzion's requests for solutions to road dangers.

What's Up, Efrat? #4

2011-12-03T18:29:00.006+02:00

Welcome to the fourth edition of What's Up, Efrat?

Watch the VIDEO CLIP:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/221

And watch the Chanukah happenings:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=224

If it's happening in Efrat, we'll tell you about it.

AND DON’T FORGET TO check the charges of the different programs.

On Tuesday, November 29, Efrat residents went to court once again for the class action suit against the Electric Company, who claimed there was only one black out in Efrat and Gush Etzion since the last hearing on June 19.

Everyone watching this knows there have been many! A few weeks ago, the morning blackout had men praying Shacharit in freezing pitch black synagogues and folks stuck inside the electric gates of their towns, unable to leave for work.

Just this week, there were three long black outs.

Yechiel Fishman, organizer of the class action suit, told What's Up Efrat that the Electric Company has many lawyers and can push off the suit, but they cannot push off the inevitable. "It has been like David and Goliath," Yechiel said. "We are small, but we are smart and patient, and IY"H, in the end, justice will be on our side."

On April 16^th, the judge is set to rule whether she will allow the class action suit to continue. Stay tuned.

Some cultural news – this past week the Matnas of Efrat and the Matnas of Gush Etzion inaugurated a joint Children’s Theater program. Congratulations to the two Matnasim and their directors for working together for the benefit of all the residents of Efrat and Gush Etzion.

Their first show was CASPION, the Little Fish – a real crowd pleasure. We look forward to more joint programs in the future!!!

Eitam news!! The government has approved in principle the establishment of agricultural projects on Givat HaEitam. This is a first step in a long series of advances needed for the Eitam. We must keep visiting the Eitam and make it part of our Efrat lives.

Friday morning, 6 Kislev, 2/12

As part of the weekly activities on Efrat's Givat Eitam, HaRav Shlomo Riskin will give a shiur at 9 AM in Hebrew on "

Israel

's Holiness – Dependent on What?" Meet at the Eitam gate at 8:45 AM.

Motzei Shabbat, 7 Kislev, 3/12

The Matnas of Efrat presents an evening for 25-35 year olds, the screening of newest episodes of the TV series "Serugim", followed by a discussion with series creator and director Laizy Shapira. 8 PM at the Matnas. Plus coffee, cake and schmoozing.

Also Motzei Shabbat, the older set is invited to the Matnas for a talk and a film presented by David Bedein on his new book, "Where has all the Flour Gone", a look at UN Palestinian refugee policy. 8 PM at the Efrat Library, admission free.

Tuesday, 10 Kislev, 6/12

Book club at the Efrat Library discussing the book, Three Wisemans of Westport in English. 8:15 PM, everyone welcome. For info, contact Naava 0528903828.

Thursday, 12 Kislev, 8/12

Matnas Gush Etzion invites the theater-going public to the "Dybbuk", 9 PM. Info?

Friday, 13 Kislev, 9/12

9 AM on the Eitam, Dr. Baruch Sterman speaks about the Mystery of Techelet.

And from 10 AM to noon, visit the Fourth Annual Zayit Raanan Chanukah Fair. Find beautiful Chanukah gifts by talented local artists.

Monday, 16 Kislev, 12/12

The Efrat Social Services Department is hosting a Chanukah event on Monday afternoon for families of special needs children. Contact Sharona Blank, sbzblank@gmail.com.

Tuesday, 17 Kislev, 13/12

Comedy for Koby takes the stage in Matnas Gush Etzion with an impressive lineup of some of the favorite performers in the stand-up world. Proceeds to the Koby Mandell Foundation. Tickets? tickets@djwconsult.com

Wednesday, 18 Kislev, 14/12

Enjoy a Chanukah fair with arts, gifts and food in Alon Shvut. Contact Caryn Orbach, orbachuc@gmail.com.

Friday, 20 Kislev, 16/12

Ronen Shoval, chairman of Im Tirtzu, speaks at 9 AM on the Eitam on "The Deligitimization of Israel."

Motzei Shabbat, 21 Kislev, 17/12

Don't miss the second concert in Gush Etzion's "Classika BaGush" series – the internationally acclaimed Gorfinkel Duo on clarinet with Alexandra Nemirovsky on Piano. 8:30 PM. A fabulous performance.

Another event: You're invited to an evening of Jewish Poetry Reading by Yakov Azriel from his new book Swimming in Moses' Well: Poems on Numbers, in the home of Mindy Barad. 8 PM. More info: maber4kids@yahoo.com

Monday, 23 Kislev, 19/12

You're invited to a Chanukah Fair at Matnas Efrat from noon to 10 PM. Top designer clothing, jewelry, scarves, knitwear, photography, hats, toys, candles, children's clothes, bags, cosmetics, games, books, great food by Duo Café and children's activities.

Wednesdays

On Wednesday evenings, Efrat's Social Service Department and Educational Psychology Service invites parents from Efrat and Gush Etzion of elementary school children on the autistic spectrum to a new support group from 8-9:30 PM in Efrat's Center for Parent Empowerment. Contact Sharona Blank – 993-9315.

Wednesday, 25 Kislev, 21/12

The Efrat library presents Chanukah Stories and activities for children. 1 NIS!! At the Library.

Also Wednesday, Women and girls are invited to the Matnas Efrat Annual Chanukah Dance Recital at 5:30 PM. The Dance Department of the Matnas Efrat, headed by Tehilla Makover, puts on a terrific show with all kinds of dance. Don't miss it.

Thursday-Motzei Shabbat, 26-28 Kislev, 22-24/12

From Thursday through Motzei Shabbat, Efrat is inviting parents and teens to a few days of bonding REFRESH – through activities that will strengthen communication and family relationships. Contact the Moetza for more information.

Thursday, 26 Kislev, 22/12

The Zayit Branch of Efrat's Matnas presents the children's show Petunia's Goose at 11 AM.

Sunday, 29 Kislev, 25/12

Minister of Culture Limor Livnat presents a Chanukah gift to the children of Efrat, a free performance of the famous tale, "Hamefuzar M'kfar Azar", for children from gan through 3^rd grade. Parents pay 10 NIS. 11 AM at the Gefen Matnas.

Monday and Tuesday, 30 & 31 Kislev, 26 &27/12

The library presents arts and crafts activities for children for 1 NIS. Wow.

There will be jumping castles for the kids at the Zayit Matnas.
Tuesday evening, there's also Hadlakat Nerot Chanukah and an Erev Shira in Russian in the Ulam Rakefet of the Gefen Matnas at 6 PM.

A new Thursday evening Drama Ulpan has just begun at 8:30 PM in the Efrat Emergency Center. Develop your Hebrew vocabulary and boost your confidence through role playing scenarios that reflect every day life.

Contact Dena Lehrman: 054-9425600 tfosdena@gmail.com

Lastly, the Efrat Women's Health Center will begin its second season of healthy living workshops after Chanukah. For more information, contact Dr. Tsipi Morris. Or read my blog: www.aimwellwomen.blogspot.com.

Thanks for joining us for this edition of What's Up, Efrat?

Here's to Good news!!!

Reserve Soldier Returns to Pina Chama

2011-11-28T00:55:00.004+02:00

I have written very often about the Soldier's Hospitality Hut in Gush Etzion. We call it the Pina Chama (Cozy Corner). This past year the Pina Chama celebrated its tenth anniversary: http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2011/06/ten-years-to-pina-chama.html

Israeli Defense Forces soldiers (from the Hebron area in the south to Bethlehem in the north to Eastern Gush Etzion and west to the area of the Lamed Hei/Bet Shemesh) stop in to the Pina Chama for home-baked cakes and a good word from the "Dodot" (aunties) who volunteer there every day from 7 AM to 9 PM.

Soldiers serving in this area come from all over the country. Sometimes the volunteers at Pina Chama are the first settlers or religious people they have ever met. B"H they all have positive amazing experiences getting to know the volunteers of the Pina Chama.

Over the past ten years thousands of soldiers have been served at the hospitality hut. They are soldiers in the regular army and those in reserves, officers and privates, soldiers from every unit and every branch of the armed forces. Everyone is welcome and spoiled equally.

Last week famed photographer Gershon Ellinson was in the Pina Chama when a reserve soldier from Netanya came in. He took his cake and coffee to one of the tables and opened the Pina Chama Visitor's Book. He sat perusing its pages, filled with photos of volunteers, events and soldiers who have come and gone through the Pina Chama's doors. And lo and behold, who does he see being served in Pina Chama six years ago, but himself!!??!!

Today reserve soldier Shabtai is married and living far away. He was very excited to be called to reserve duty in Gush Etzion and to have the opportunity to return to the Pina Chama, and experience once again the warmth and hospitality of Efrat/Gush Etzion residents.

An Israeli Soldier and African Refugees

2011-11-27T22:49:00.001+02:00

My friend's son, Aron, wrote this incredible letter about his Israel Defense Forces reserve duty. It is worth the read:

My name is Aron Adler.

I am 25 years old, was born in Brooklyn NY, and raised in Efrat Israel. Though very busy, I don’t view my life as unusual. Most of the time, I am just another Israeli citizen. During the day I work as a paramedic in Magen David Adom, Israel’s national EMS service. At night, I’m in my first year of law school. I got married this October and am starting a new chapter of life together with my wonderful wife Shulamit.

15-20 days out of every year, I'm called up to the Israeli army to do my reserve duty. I serve as a paramedic in an IDF paratrooper unit. My squad is made up of others like me; people living normal lives who step up to serve whenever responsibility calls. The oldest in my squad is 58, a father of four girls and grandfather of two; there are two bankers, one engineer, a holistic healer, and my 24 year old commander who is still trying to figure out what to do with his life. Most of the year we are just normal people living our lives, but for 15-20 days each year we are soldiers on the front lines preparing for a war that we hope we never have to fight.

This year, our reserve unit was stationed on the border between Israel, Egypt and the Gaza Strip in an area called “Kerem Shalom.” Above and beyond the “typical” things for which we train – war, terrorism, border infiltration, etc., - this year we were confronted by a new challenge. Several years ago, a trend started of African refugees crossing the Egyptian border from Sinai into Israel to seek asylum from the atrocities in Darfur.

What started out as a small number of men, women and children fleeing from the machetes of the Janjaweed and violent fundamentalists to seek a better life elsewhere, turned into an organized industry of human trafficking. In return for huge sums of money, sometimes entire life savings paid to Bedouin “guides,” these refugees are promised to be transported from Sudan, Eritrea, and other African countries through Egypt and the Sinai desert, into the safe haven of Israel.

We increasingly hear horror stories of the atrocities these refugees suffer on their way to freedom. They are subject to, and victims of extortion, rape, murder, and even organ theft, their bodies left to rot in the desert. Then, if lucky, after surviving this gruesome experience whose prize is freedom, when only a barbed wire fence separates them from Israel and their goal, they must go through the final death run and try to evade the bullets of the Egyptian soldiers stationed along the border. Egypt’s soldiers are ordered to shoot to kill anyone trying to cross the border OUT of Egypt and into Israel. It’s an almost nightly event.

For those who finally get across the border, the first people they encounter are Israeli soldiers, people like me and those in my unit, who are tasked with a primary mission of defending the lives of the Israeli people. On one side of the border soldiers shoot to kill. On the other side, they know they will be treated with more respect than in any of the countries they crossed to get to this point.

The region where it all happens is highly sensitive and risky from a security point of view, an area stricken with terror at every turn. It’s just a few miles south of the place where Gilad Shalit was kidnapped. And yet the Israeli soldiers who are confronted with these refugees do it not with rifles aimed at them, but with a helping hand and an open heart. The refugees are taken to a nearby IDF base, given clean clothes, a hot drink, food and medical attention. They are finally safe.

Even though I live Israel and am aware through media reports of the events that take place on the Egyptian border, I never understood the intensity and complexity of the scenario until I experienced it myself.

In the course of the past few nights, I have witnessed much. At 9:00 PM last night, the first reports came in of gunfire heard from the Egyptian border. Minutes later, IDF scouts spotted small groups of people trying to get across the fence. In the period of about one hour, we picked up 13 men - cold, barefoot, dehydrated - some wearing nothing except underpants. Their bodies were covered with lacerations and other wounds. We gathered them in a room, gave them blankets, tea and treated their wounds. I don’t speak a word of their language, but the look on their faces said it all and reminded me once again why I am so proud to be a Jew and an Israeli. Sadly, it was later determined that the gunshots we heard were deadly, killing three others fleeing for their lives.

During the 350 days a year when I am not on active duty, when I am just another man trying to get by, the people tasked with doing this amazing job, this amazing deed, the people witnessing these events, are mostly young Israeli soldiers just out of high school, serving their compulsory time in the IDF, some only 18 years old.

The refugees flooding into Israel are a heavy burden on our small country. More than 100,000 refugees have fled this way, and hundreds more cross the border every month. The social, economic, and humanitarian issues created by this influx of refugees are immense. There are serious security consequences for Israel as well. This influx of African refugees poses a crisis for Israel. Israel has yet to come up with the solutions required to deal with this crisis effectively, balancing its’ sensitive social, economic, and security issues, at the same time striving to care for the refugees.

I don’t have the answers to these complex problems which desperately need to be resolved. I’m not writing these words with the intention of taking a political position or a tactical stand on the issue.

I am writing to tell you and the entire world what’s really happening down here on the Egyptian/Israeli border. And to tell you that despite all the serious problems created by this national crisis, these refugees have no reason to fear us. Because they know, as the entire world needs to know, that Israel has not shut its eyes to their suffering and pain. Israel has not looked the other way. The State of Israel has put politics aside to take the ethical and humane path as it has so often done before, in every instance of human suffering and natural disasters around the globe. We Jews know only too well about suffering and pain. The Jewish people have been there. We have been the refugees and the persecuted so many times, over thousands of years, all over the world.

Today, when African refugees flood our borders in search of freedom and better lives, and some for fear of their lives, it is particularly noteworthy how Israel deals with them, despite the enormous strain it puts on our country on so many levels. Our young and thriving Jewish people and country, built from the ashes of the Holocaust, do not turn their backs on humanity. Though I already knew that, this week I once again experienced it firsthand. I am overwhelmed with emotion and immensely proud to be a member of this nation.

With love of Israel,

Aron Adler writing from the Israel/Gaza/Egyptian border.

"Beit Tovei Ha'ir" Celebrates Hachnassat Sefer Torah by Dovid Hoffman

2011-11-24T23:10:00.001+02:00

In Yiddish they say you can't ride on two horses at once and you can't dance at two weddings at the same time. But I got to dance at two Simchos Torah this year. It all began after the "Beit Tovei Ha'ir" senior citizens residence invited me to join their hachnossas sefer Torah taking place three days after Simchas Torah. Founded in 1993 by Mr. Ariye Paluch (z"l) and his family, this home was the fulfillment of their dream to provide accommodation to the senior citizens of the religious public from all over the world. The international PAI Group (Preferred Assets Israel Group) headed by the Rajchenbach, Rothner, Kutoff, Hunter and Glouberman families took over the home last year.

In previous weeks, many of the sefer's last letters had been completed by the Gedolei Hador including Rav Shemuel Auerbach from Yerushalayim, Rav Chaim Kanievski and Rav Aharon Leib Steinman of Bnei Brak, and the Boyaner Rebbe. But plenty letters were left for residents, dignitaries, and guests to fill in.

I was struck by one of the residents sitting close to the sofer. Impeccably dressed, he was watching the proceedings with rapt attention.

"Do you have a special part in the proceedings?" I asked him.

"You bet I do!" replied Dovid Greenberg, lately from Australia, but originally from Lodz, and the only survivor of his family. "I saw them burning hundreds and thousands of sifrei Torah in Europe; it is a great zechus for me to be here today."

Another resident, Yitzchak Ze'ev Teller, originally from Cracow, gave another reason for his deep sense of identification to the evening's festivities.

"After sixty-five years in Tel Aviv, this is now my home," he said simply.

Dignitaries arrived. The Admor of Stroptkov, Rav Avrohom Sholom Halberstam filled letters, as did Deputy Health Minister, Rav Yaakov Litzman. Rav Yitzchok Sheiner, Rosh Yeshiva of Kamenitz, also honored the occasion with his presence.

Finally, a ripple of anticipation raced through the crowd. Lovingly wrapped in its new mantle and resplendent in its silver shield and crowns, the sefer was triumphantly carried out into the cool Yerushalayim evening. The joyous crowd surged alongside, bochurim and kids sang and danced.

As if by magic, the tangle of youngsters straightened into two lines and the Torah passed between two rows of light.

Clambering a short flight of stairs, we entered the giant Shneller compound that is soon to be developed into a large Torah neighborhood. Until recently, this place served as an army camp. Before that, it served as a British military headquarters, and originally it was a religious compound built by Templar Germans in 1860. The place became pro-Nazi in the years leading to World War II. To quote a recent article: "In April 1934, Buchhalter [a Yerushalayim Nazi] hosted a party for local residents at the party headquarters in Jerusalem to celebrate Hitler’s birthday. The event began with a performance by the boys choir from the Schneller orphanage."

To save my ears, I quickly stuffed them with tissue and just in time, for behind the loudspeaker van came yet another van with the Shira Chadasha boys choir of Nachman Seltzer perched on its roof. Afterwards, Seltzer confided to me that never before had his group ever performed from a six feet high wheeled stage.

From the Schneller grounds, the procession turned into the busy Malchei Yisroel Street of Geula, where a police car shielded the crowd from a minor traffic snarl building up behind. Finally, we reached the safe refuge of the "Beit Tovei Ha'ir" cul-de-sac.

The dancing ended, the sefer was placed in the aron, and to the accompaniment of Chazzan Chaim Adler, chief chazzan of the Great Synagogue of Yerushalayim; the Shira Chadasha choir; and a group of musical bochurim from Chevron, a joyful, lavish seuda was enjoyed by all in the home's five-floor high indoor courtyard.

I particularly noticed a dignified looking personage who, like Dovid Hamelech, placed the kavod of Torah before his own, leaping high with the young bochurim, borrowing their headgear, and pulling spectators into the swirling ring of dance. This was resident Rabbi Shimon Eckstein, who started out in his young years as a Rav in Ottowa, Canada, and then practiced clinical psychology for thirty years in Florida. Presently, he is interested in gerontology and writing about grand-parenting and great-grand-parenting from point of view of Jewish law and psychology. He told me that not too much is written about great-grandparents in halacha literature due to people's lower survival rate in earlier times.

Among the last speakers was Rav Dr. Tzvi Hersh Weinreb, OU executive Vice President Emeritus who came especially from New York addressed the audience in English. He compared the home's residents to Noach who, the Tanchuma says, was one of three people who saw three worlds. He saw the world settled before the flood, he saw it destroyed, and he survived and saw it rebuilt.

"The residents of Tovei Ha'ir and their children knew of a world of despair and destruction," he said. "Now, the evening's joy and song give us hope that we are moving ahead to a generation of building and hope."

As the festivities wound down and visitors and guests began their departure, everyone shared the feeling that for "Beit Tovei Ha'ir", the closing evening marked the beginning of a bright new future.

Melabev 2011 Walkathon – Hiking for Alzheimer's Care

2011-11-23T22:32:00.000+02:00

Let's Go Take a Hike – Up to the Highest Height!

Registration is now taking place for the Melabev 2011 Walkathon – Hiking for Alzheimer's Care, scheduled for up in the Golan this year.

Hikers choose from three routes according to the level of challenge they want for crossing the Golan Heights along portions of the newly designated Golan Trail.

The area is known for its greenery and its streams and brooks, and for the reminders of its ancient and modern history. The guide from Keshet Educational Tours, who arrange the tour, say we'll visit sites like evidence of a Jewish village from from Mishnaic times; or a Roman city of 3^rd century Palestine; or an ancient synagogue destroyed by an earthquake in 749 C.E., or a castle built by the crusaders and later demolished by the Mamaluks in the 13^th century. Some sites evoke more recent history, such as the ruins of Old Bene Yehuda, a village started by Haredi Tzfat residents at the end of the 19^th century, though the residents were killed in the uprising of 1920 or striking evidence of the Syrian army's stay here before 1967.

The Walkathon kicks off the evening of Tuesday, Dec. 6. We board the buses in Jerusalem for a Moonlight Walk near Mitzpe Yericho, heading towards the moshav of Vered Yericho. The Walkers, who range in age from 12 to 82, choose from two different routes – one easier than the other – with both paths converging before the moshav. A savory barbeque feast will await the Walkers there, where the ambience is warm, relaxed and friendly and the food tantalizing.

In addition to the minimal registration fee paid by the Golan Hikers, every Walker commits to raising a certain sum of sponsorship funds. This year the proceeds are dedicated to helping relocate Melabev day care centers that have had to move from their leased premises, such as the day center in Beit Shemesh which recently featured in the news. Melabev centers are known for the outstanding care they provide the elders who attend – helping them retain their remaining memory skills and conducting activities that forestall some of the expected decline. Support groups and guidance are offered to their family caregivers. From assessment to therapeutic activities provided in the home of the patient when needed to end-of-life palliative activities – Melabev has an array of services available. Melabev has garnered numerous awards – including the Beit Shemesh center which just last year was honored for its innovative projects of giving to the community. The elders make sandwiches for disadvantaged children of the community and preparing packages for soldiers.

November is senior citizens month in Israel – while at Melabev every day is committed to care of frail Senior Citizensin in its day care centers in Jerusalem and Beit Shemesh.

No time is better than the Annual Walkathon for heightened awareness of their needs. Enjoy the breathtaking natural beauty of our country around every bend and at the crest of every hill in the dessert area of Moshav Vered Yericho and the lush hills of the Golan. Invigorating hikes build body and soul, especially while walking among a uniquely open-hearted and high spirited group. We're told that every 4 footsteps taken in the Land of Israel is a mitzva. How much more so when it promote Alzheimer's care!

The Moonlight is the evening of Tuesday, December 6. The Golan Hike is on Wednesday and Thursday, December 7-8. For more information: http://www.melabev.org/posts/453, melabev.walkathon@gmail.com or call: 02-655-5826.

If you can't hike with us – remember to sponsor one of our walkers!

Rain Patrol

2011-11-20T17:17:00.001+02:00

The rain over the past few days has been greeted happily and eagerly by everyone.
While we're all joyous over every raindrop, I often think of Israeli soldiers who are out under the open skies - no matter what the weather - to protect the nation from north to south.
As I drove yesterday from the Zayit neighborhood, I noticed little soldiers - the crossing guards from the girls' elementary school, Orot Etzion, walking to their posts. Despite the rain, these girls were eager to get to work.
They and crossing guards (we called them Safety Patrol in America) all over Efrat direct traffic and backpacked kids at our busy intersections.
On sunny days they shvitz. On days like yesterday and today, they're splashed, soaked and cold, but they do their duty. Their yellow vest are more for show than protection against the elements.
It surely won't surprise you that a Bar Ilan study showed that elementary school students that are exposed daily to crossing guards attain a better knowledge of traffic rules and pay more attention to looking both ways before crossing than children whose schools have no crossing guards. That's great!
Even drivers that are exposed to crossing guards drive more carefully when they're around.
Unfortunately there are so many examples of drivers who skirt around buses, while they're unloading children; who double park to get children into or out of preschool; or who drive too quickly when children are being released from school.
It's gratifying to see drivers respecting the Junior Traffic Patrol and waiting patiently until they are signaled to drive on.
When I was young, it was an honor to be on Safety Patrol. I think it still is.

Here's to the boys and girls on Crossing Duty. We're proud of you.

The Colors of Fall

2011-11-17T13:11:00.002+02:00

Many people say their favorite season is Autumn, because of the magnificent changes in color of the trees. They complain that here in Israel, the trees do not change color, as they do in the United States, or wherever they came from.

That is not true. The trees do indeed change color - not exactly as they did in Toronto or Long Island, but they definitely rock around the color wheel.

To prove it to you, I stepped out into my garden on this nippy morning to capture the Autumn colors right in my front yard.

Beautiful, changeable, colorful, warm reds, exciting oranges, winter yellows and hardy greens.
Fall is here. Even in Israel.

The Hardest Test

2011-11-17T12:46:00.000+02:00

When G-d chose Abraham to be his Public Relations Representative on this earth, He put his candidate to the test. Actually Abraham had ten tests to see if he were worthy of being G-d's dear friend and liaison to mankind.
One of those tests was to leave his elderly father in the Old Country, and go off to Israel.
For many immigrant Jews who choose a life in the Land of Israel, the Jewish homeland, the most difficult barrier that they face is leaving their elderly parents behind.
While, B"H, the parents are proud of their Israel-bound children, the older parents just don't want to pick up and move to a new country at their age. They're happy to visit and they're proud to hear all the doings of their family in their new home, but they just don't feel they can leave behind their homes of 40 or 50 years, their familiar surroundings and their lifelong friends.
B"H, the phone, email and skype help keep the new Israelis connected to their parents in the Diaspora (chutz la'aretz - it actually means "out of the land", like Exile). Separation is so difficult. I have no idea how Abraham did it. No wonder it was a test.
If life in Israel for the kids and out of Israel for the parents goes well, then everything is great, fantastic, amazing. But if a parent becomes ill, then the distance is torturous. No phone call is enough. No letter does the trick. And the child is always wondering, "What have I done?" "What should I do?" "Where is Scotty to beam me to my parent immediately."
Who speaks to the doctors? Who tells the nurse, "This person is important. He is not alone (really). This person has a loving family that is thinking of her, but they're far away." Who sees what care the parent is receiving, or not receiving?
You can always get on a plane if you've got the money, the time, vacation from work and someone to watch the kids. But then you've got to think, "Should I go now?" "Should I go later?" "How long can I go for?" "How long should I go for?"
These are difficult discussions that we Israeli children have with ourselves very often.
We learn from our sages that "Maasei Avot, Siman LeBanim", our forefathers' acts were signposts for their descendants.
Somehow Abraham overcame the test of separating from his father.
B"H, G-d new that our generation is not as strong, and we have many ways of communicating. I'm sure Scotty's "beam" is coming soon.
Until then, my best wishes for the good health of all parents of Olim, and blessings for strength and wisdom for all.
Then the se

Freedom Rides - The Latest Greatest PR Stunt for the PA

2011-11-15T19:53:00.003+02:00

Who is the PR Firm that directs the Palestinian Authority? The firm is made up of geniuses. I think the Israeli government should hire them. It doesn't matter if what they're pushing at the moment is truth or falsehood, they put out the gimmick with such flair and fact that folks think it's real. (Remember the Nazi propaganda chief Joseph Goebbels – if you tell a lie big enough and often enough, folks will believe. That really works!)

Well, good for you, guys. PR firm, whatever you get paid, it's not enough.

Today's latest PA publicity stunt was a trip on Egged for "Palestinian Freedom Riders". Arabs were going to get on Egged buses in Judea and Samaria to "expose" the apartheid policies of "Settler buses".

What an idea!

It doesn't matter that Arabs ride buses or trains around the country, but they can prove segregation by getting on a bus in Yesha (Judea and Samaria).

Actually, I remember once upon a time riding along with Arabs on the buses from Yesha. The problem was that Arabs sometimes blow themselves up, and that's a nasty piece of work to deal with on your bus – especially if you're in a hurry to get to school or work.

Because of those few hundreds of self-detonating Arabs, no Arabs are welcome on buses from Judea and Samaria.

The Arabs wanted the public to see the bus rides as an echo of the United States Civil Rights Movement of the 60s. But I don't recall that Rosa Parks or any of her kinfolk tried to blow up any American buses. They were just upset about being shafted to the back of the bus. But they never tried to destroy the bus along with the people on it.

If you'd like to talk about real segregation, look at the Arab bus line that runs throughout Jerusalem and beyond. The blue and white striped buses are Arab only (just like everything else in the Palestinian Authority). Perhaps Israelis should have stood at Arab bus stops today, and tried to get on those buses. The only thing is that I don't think they would have gotten a very friendly reception.

Dead Sea - a Wonder for Me

2011-11-12T19:23:00.000+02:00

For the past four years, a contest has been underway to choose the seven wonders of nature. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide voted for their favorite natural sites. Maybe you voted too.

Having seen the Dead Sea up close, having “bathed” in its waters, I was sure that this site should be included in the Seven Wonders.

I even blogged about it, and encouraged readers to vote for the Dead Sea:

http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2010/05/dead-sea-israels-natural-wonder-of.html

Well, it didn’t win. Instead, the winners (which will be validated in the next few months) included the Amazon, Vietnam's Halong Bay, the Iguazu Falls of Argentina and Brazil, South Korea's Jeju Island, Indonesia's Komodo, the Puerto Princesa Underground River of the Philippines and South Africa's Table Mountain.

The winners were chosen from 440 locations in 220 countries.

The Dead Sea was one of the 28 finalists, but it didn’t come up in the top seven.

So what?
One of the top 28 is also amazing.

We can’t be too disappointed. The places listed above are also true wonders.

Other locations that were truly incredible didn’t make the top seven either – the Grand Canyon, the Galapagos Islands and Mount Vesuvius. Well, we’re in good company.

I’m still proud of the Dead Sea. To me and millions of others, it’s still a wonder. In fact, this week’s parsha, Vayeira told us how the Dead Sea was created with the destruction of Sodom. What timing!!

I’m sure there’s a midrash somewhere that says that when evil is destroyed from the earth, the Dead Sea will live again. I’ll have to look it up and keep you posted.

What's Up, Efrat? # 3

2011-11-10T22:45:00.003+02:00

Hooray, we've had great response to our broadcasts of What's Up, Efrat?
Thank you, viewers!!! Tell your friends. :)

In English Fayge Bedell and I have been anchoring the latest news and events in Efrat. In Hebrew Naamit Leavitt and Sophie Amar do the honors.

B"H there's so much news from this area that we can't fit it into a short clip, so this month we've made several.
This video clip discusses the latest NEWS in Efrat:
http://www.voices-magazine.com/videoClip/219

And here's a video clip detailing upcoming Efrat EVENTS:http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=220

To help you follow all the upcoming events, here's a written guide to What's Up, Efrat?

Before we begin, we urge Efrat and Gush Etzion’s institutions to USE the community calendar to avoid conflicting programs. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/efrat-chat/cal

Also, many of the programs below have a charge. Please contact the organizers for further information.

Thursday, November 10, 8 PM, the Matnas of Efrat is showing the award-winning film Ushpizin. It’s in Hebrew with English subtitles. In addition to light refreshments, there’ll be a discussion with Yakov Friedland, director of film and communications at Yeshiva High Neve Shmuel. More info 993-2936.

The committee for the development of the Eitam and Women in Green is holding shiurim and activities on Efrat’s Givat HaEitam just about every week. If you want Efrat to hold on to this hilltop, future home to 2500 families and our next generation, then schedule a

Friday morning for the Eitam. This Friday November 11, 9 AM, Rabbi Baruch Efrati, Rav of the Zayit Raanan shul will speak. Info: 050-5500834.

This week there'll be an uplifting Shlomo Carlebach Shabbat at the Shirat Shlomo Bet Knesset. Tefilla according to the melodies of the late great Rav Shlomo Carlebach, o’h.

Motzei Shabbat, for the active crowd, November 12, there’s a women’s Indance/Zumba Party at Matnas Efrat at 8 PM. Dance the night away to good health!!

For the literary crowd, the Women's Beit Midrash and the Baum Family are sponsoring a poetry reading, Swimming in Moses' Well: Poems on Numbers by Efrat's own poet laureate of the Bible Yaakov Azriel. 8:30 PM at 17 Rechov Tamar, Rimon. Info? 993-8125.

Sunday, November 13, 8 PM an inspirational shiur with the popular Leah Golomb at the Davidovich home, 27 Hagoel, Lev Efrat. Info?

Another poetry event - Tuesday, November 15^th at 8:30 PM for poets and poetry lovers. Contact Mindy Barad.

Thursday, November 24, the One Israel Fund presents Efrat's Eve Harow in a trip to Gush Etzion, including Har Gilo, Sde Boaz, Pina Chama and more. Info? 054-570-1548

Motzei Shabbat, November 26, hundreds of Efrat’s children will participate in the culmination of Shabbat Irgun for Bnei Akiva.

Motzei Shabbat, December 3, the Matnas is holding a fun, exciting singles event - NOT TO BE MISSED. Two never-yet-screened episodes of the hit series “Serugim” will be shown, and then there’ll be a discussion with the show’s director Laizy Shapiro. Everyone can shmooze over light refreshments. Young men and women 25-35 – come down to the Matnas, bring your friends. It has all the ingredients of a great evening, and your participation can make sure it is.

Motzei Shabbat, December 10, hundreds of Efrat’s children will participate in the culmination of Shabbat Irgun for Ezra.

Tuesday, December 13, Comedy for Koby will take the stage at Matnas Gush Etzion with an impressive lineup of some of the favorite performers in the stand-up world. There are more dates throughout Israel. For further information, Roy Angstreich, Executive Director.

Tuesday, December 13, Chanukah Gift Fair in Alon Shvut’s Olam Smachot. Information? Caryn Orbach.

Tuesday December 20, Chanukah Fair at the Matnas Efrat - Lots of gifts, household items, toys and fun activities for kids, and of course, food. Contact Sophie Amar 050-7578828

Classics in the Gush opens its fourth season with magnificent classical music. There are fabulous performers throughout the winter. Warm up with the classics. Info at Matnas Gush Etzion, 993-7999.

Children Nationwide Gather in Prayer in Memory of Matriarch Rachel

2011-11-08T17:48:00.002+02:00

Dozens of children and parents in Efrat joined 50,000 other parents and children located in 300 locations all over Israel in a massive Tefilla (prayer service) in memory of the Matriarch Rachel. They prayed for rain, for the recovery of the ill and for the return of the Jewish people from the Exile.
The children listened to a live broadcast from M'Bereishit at a school in Ashdod, the location that very recently had been hit by missiles from Gaza.
HaRav Chaim Druckman, the Rosh Yeshiva of Yeshivat Or Etzion and of the Bnei Akiva Yeshivot, led the children in prayer.
The children sang and prayed. The program was very moving.
Here in Efrat, we thank Lionel and Sophie Amar and the Kol BeRama Synagogue on the Zayit for hosting this meaningful program.

Following is a live recording of the children's psalms made by Voices Radio at the Rachel Emainu Memorial.

https://vr.shapeservices.com/play.php?hash=0d155abea69819c07523f6bfbbe4e3c597c7797cbb80c0a37

___
Recorded on iPhone and posted with VR+ Lite.
http://vr.shapeservices.com

The Histadrut's on Strike, But Never the IDF

2011-11-07T12:04:00.005+02:00

Voices Radio Broadcast:
https://vr.shapeservices.com/play.php?hash=dd3211bb5f0c7db281d23bcd9bd270287a7f4ebc29987a673

___
Recorded on iPhone and posted with VR+ Lite.
http://vr.shapeservices.com

Well, that was my first Voices Radio Broadcast. Tune in for more.
It noted that while the Histadrut Labor Union wants to bring the nation to its knees with a general strike, our chayalim (soldiers) never strike. They always stand at the ready, ready to protect our nation and our people.
Soldier in Hebrew is the word chayal/"valiant", and that's what they are - valiant young men and women who give of themselves, and sometimes sadly of their lives, to help keep our people safe wherever they are.

Clang Clang Clang Went the Trolley

2011-11-07T00:26:00.000+02:00

Clang clang clang went the trolley. Actually, the clang emanated from the Jerusalem Light Railroad Train.
I was in Jerusalem on Rechov Yaffo (Jaffe Road) with my daughter when the Light Railroad Train passed by. As it neared the train station it called out a friendly clang, just like in the old Judy Garland movie, "Meet Me in St. Louis."
In addition to the homey clang, I noticed that the street of Rechov Yaffo itself has completely turned a beautiful Disneyworld brick. Plus the Light Rail is so Disney monorail-ish that it has added to the friendliness and 21st century-ness of Jerusalem, the eternal city.
I remember the thrill my children and I had when we reached the gates of Disneyworld and saw the monorail gliding by. I had the same feeling today in the heart of Jerusalem. There's something happy and exciting about the Light Rail. It's like a message, "The future is here, and it's going to be good."

The train was packed. Well, it should be. It's a free ride for all passengers. But I am confident that folks will still flock to the Light Rail when they start charging. It's a comfortable, clean ride and it's fun too. And there's nothing better than adding a little fun into our busy lives.
Next time you're in Jerusalem and you hear that clang, climb aboard.

Rain on the Rooftop

2011-11-06T21:24:00.001+02:00

We went to our children for Shabbat. They live in a little caravan on a high mountain top. It is pastoral, quiet and beautiful where my children live. And they are snug in their sweet caravan.
Suddenly it started raining. My little granddaughters were the first to hear it. "Rain, rain," they called out with joy. It took me another moment to hear it too.
They were listening to the rain on the caravan's roof. "This is my favorite time in the caravan," my daughter-in-law said, "When it rains. We can appreciate every drop."
I looked at the windows and there were barely a few drops on the window pane.
Then I listened ever so carefully to the gentle beating of the rain above my head. It sounded like a thousand tiny fairies tapping on the rooftop. Together with my little granddaughters I imagined all the fairies and pixies dancing and leaping for joy in the crystal dots of rain. My little darlings were so happy about the rain (no matter how light), we got up off the couch and started dancing in a little circle - the same dance that the pixies were dancing above us.
Once Upon a Time Rain
It reminded me of an incident that happened many years before, when my youngest son (now a tall handsome young man) was just a little boy.
It was 1999, the first of many drought years to come. Rain had hit a new low - 30% of the previous annual levels. Everyone was worried about the lack of water, even my nine year old son. One day he turned to me and said, "Ema, do you know why Hashem has withheld the rain?" I said, no, I honestly didn't know what we had done to deserve this drought. He said, "It's because we don't appreciate the rain." Wise words from my little boy.
The dry winter persisted. And then one day, it actually rained. Not a giant storm, but waters from the Heavens just the same. I was driving home smiling, as my windshield wipers swished the raindrops to the side. When I pulled up to my house, I saw my little son outside. He was sliding from one end of the porch to the other, back and forth, without a jacket or umbrella. Just sliding back and forth. I went running upstairs, "What are you doing?!!!"
He threw his head and hands up in delight and called out as loud as he could, "I'M APPRECIATING THE RAIN!!"

So long ago and just yesterday, I realized that our children understand the blessing and the miracle of rain. Now if we all could learn from their innocent insight, we'd appreciate the rain too. And then...maybe we'd have more of it.

The Memory of a Song

2011-11-03T15:19:00.000+02:00

Sometimes in a faraway moment I hear a tune in the back of my mind, and I begin unconsciously to hum Da de da de da, la da de da de, da de da de da.
I never remembered what it was but I felt somehow it was a melody of my past. It seemed to be a song that reminded me of happiness and warmth
It's nice to have a song in your life like that. It is sort of magic. It creates rainbows and balloons and memories of all that we loved as children.
Sometimes I wondered where the song was from. I'd ask my sister. We'd hum a few bars together, but neither of us knew where it was from. I guess it didn't matter. It wasn't a haunting melody, and we weren't going crazy, because we didn't remember. It was just something happy and nice that we shared from our childhood.
This morning I was walking on my treadmill (I try to do that almost every morning) and I popped in a DVD to help me pass the time. My sister has made me dozens if DVDs to encourage my walking. They are life savers, because walking alone is b-o-r-i-n-g.
As I passed lap six, suddenly I heard the overture of the next movie on the disc. I almost fell off the treadmill. There it was after all these years- my tune - da de da de dum. That was it. Clear as a bell. It actually wasn't da de da de dum, as I remembered it, but Doody Doody Doo.
I didn't remember the movie at all. I didn't remember a stitch about it, but I have known its title song my entire life. The movie was Tom Thumb with Russ Tamblyn, and it was the story of the fairy tale imp that was no bigger than a thumb.
Suddenly I recalled that on beautiful summer nights, my grandfather, o'h, would pile us little children (perhaps I was five) into the car and take us to a drive in. We'd be all set in our pajamas with bag of popcorn and apple slices, even chocolate. We'd put the receiver in the window of the car and then settle back to watch the movie.
I guess he took us to see Tom Thumb. It was a very unmemorable movie, but the song was a great tune then and it is still a catchy unforgettable one today.
I realize now that it is more than a melody. It is a deep-grained joyous part of my life. I would like to express my gratitude (and that of my sister) to Douglas Gamley - Composer (Music Score), Kenneth V. Jones - Composer (Music Score), Muir Mathieson - Musical Direction/Supervision, Kermit Goell - Songwriter, Peggy Lee - Songwriter, Fred Spielman - Songwriter, Janice Torre - Songwriter - who have created a deep-seated memory that IY"H I hope will last my entire life.

Hondeling - Jerusalem Style

2011-11-01T00:42:00.002+02:00

I went to buy a baby mattress for my granddaughter's crib today. After I picked the size, thickness and outside material, the store's owner announced, "190 NIS".
Since I live in Greater Jerusalem, an official Hondeling (Bargaining) Capital of the World, I know better than to say, "Sold," on the first price, so I asked for a discount. He bellowed, "Discount!?!?!"
I said, "Yes, discount! This is a warehouse. There should be a discount."
He said, "Okay, 180 NIS."
I told him I'd be happier paying 150. "Impossible," the large Sephardi man said (with great flourish, I may add). "Just think of it as chai (life = 18) x 10."
I said, "170. That's 180 (chai x 10) minus 10 for the aseret hadibrut (ten commandments)." He retorted, "Impossible, believing Jews never go down in kedusha (holiness)."
I wanted to pay 150, but he wasn't budging from 180 NIS. He said that the price was very good.
So, I thought, "When G-d created the world, He said that it was very good. There are seven days of creation x 10=70, plus 100, which is a name of G-d. 170 NIS!!"
He said that there was no way that he wanted to go down any further, but because he enjoyed my "figuring", it was worthwhile for him to make the price 170 NIS.
It wouldn't have happened anywhere else but Jerusalem. You gotta love it.

The Hadassah Empire Our Grandmothers Built

2011-11-01T00:28:00.000+02:00

College starts today. Tremendous success to all those young people who are starting out on the road to a better education and a career that will benefit their family and society.
TRAINING FUTURE LEADERS - HADASSAH COLLEGE
As I noticed the young people streaming in to the Hadassah College in Jerusalem, my thought wandered in place and time to all the little young and old ladies who spent their lives (literally) raising money for Hadassah.
"Come to a Hadassah meeting, Sadie. We're raising money for a new school for children in Israel. A college so they can be trained for the future." "Oooooh. Israel. That's so beautiful, Gertrude, I'll be there!!"
Thanks to all those little ladies who paid to attend lectures, luncheons, pot luck dinners and theater matinees, thousands of youngsters are receiving the chance of a lifetime - a top drawer education.
Thanks to all those little Bubbies and Grammas who weren't embarrassed to talk their neighbors into buying raffle tickets to benefit children in Israel, thousands of young people are slinging their backpacks over their shoulders today and heading to (not one, but) two campuses of Hadassah College to learn to be dentists, optometrists, computer programmers, designers, office managers, administrators and on and on.
SAVING LIVES - HADASSAH HOSPITAL
Thank you to the ladies of Hadassah who never tired of asking others to join on, to become life members, to work to make enough money to earn a necklace, a pin, a charm.
Those sweet charms also built two giant hospital complexes - among the best in the world.
Looking at the massive structures at Hadassah Ein Kerem and Hadassah Mount Scopus hospitals, it's difficult to believe that these life saving complexes were build by little old ladies, who probably shed a tear of happiness every time they sent away their regular donation to their Hadassah chapter.
They are the great women of our generation and our previous generation.
They were and remain lovers of the people and the land of Israel.
They are the women who should be honored and raised upon the shoulders of the young people entering Hadassah College today or who leave Hadassah Hospital healthy and whole.
Here's to Bubby Sadie and Gramma Bessie, Tanta Selma and Auntie Rhoda and the thousands of women wearing their Hadassah pins. You are the founders of a giant empire of chesed (loving kindness) that is making Israel's todays and tomorrows much brighter in every way.

The Heartbreak of Terror Victims' Families

2011-10-18T01:17:00.002+02:00

For the past two days the main news has been the appeals by families of terror victims that their loved ones' murderers should not go free in the prisoner exchange. The High Court was turned down every petition. No heartbreak, no reasoning were justified by the courts. The exchange has to go through just as planned.
Sherry Mandel of Gush Etzion lost her son Koby to Arab terrorists. In http://www.jpost.com/Opinion/Op-EdContributors/Article.aspx?id=242130, she wrote of the pain that still haunts her today, and her desire to keep innocent people from becoming the next victims of these Islamic terrorists.
My heart goes out to all the terror victims' families who feel that the blood of their loved one will not be avenged on this earth. I am so sorry, but IY"H, G-d will avenge their blood.
My heart breaks for the Schijveschuurder family that lost their parents and siblings. The story of the bravery of the young Schijveschuurder children and their parents who died in the Sbarro massacre will never be forgotten. And yet one of the surviving Schijveschuurder was so desperate after the court denied his family's plea to rescind transfer for Ahlam Tamimi, the Arab woman who was instrumental in the attack, that he graffitied the Yitzhak Rabin memorial in Tel Aviv as a way to protest the upcoming deal.The Mayor of Tel Aviv Ron Huldai said, "Hands that allow themselves to hurt what is sacred and important to the people of Israel must be cut off," he said. A stone is sacred and important? And a child of terror victims is not? A stone is sacred and important, and its defacer should have his hands cut off???? Well, what should happen to the murderer of a mother, a father, a child? Someone should show Ron Huldai what in the world is really important - Jewish children and parents, alive, laughing, running, learning Torah.
The Schijveschuurder's story is beyond sad. Their family was taken from them. And now their murderers will walk free. We pray that the release of Arab terrorists does not make other Schijveschuurders. Hashem yishmor.
We pray for Your Salvation to save us, Hashem.

Celebrating Terror

2011-10-15T23:08:00.000+02:00

Last night on the Sabbath as we were about to enter our Sukkot, we heard shooting or fireworks or something and rushed outside. On the road was a line of 50 to 100 cars driving slowly passed my town. Every few moments the lead car shot off fireworks. Since the Jewish communities in my region were celebrating Shabbat, all was quiet around us. So the sound of the fireworks seemed louder than usual.
It was the beginning of the jubilant Arab celebrations of the release of Islamic terrorists with blood on their hands - cold blooded murderers.
Does anyone see that there is something wrong with celebrating terror, idolizing terror, worshiping death?
IY"H, we will be celebrating soon the return of Gilad Schalit, a Jewish soldier (may he really return and be alive and well). We will be celebrating life, as they continue to celebrate terror and death.

More on Gilad Schalit from Cheryl Mandel and Stewart Weiss

2011-10-14T16:47:00.000+02:00

Unfortunately some of my friends are parents of fallen soldiers. I received this from my friend Cheryl Mandel whose son Daniel was killed in Shechem.
"Stewart's article captures how I feel.Love and shabbat shalom, Cheryl"

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Stewart Weiss
Subject: The Schalit deal

The following article appears in today's (Fri, Oct. 14, 2011) Jerusalem Post. Comments may be sent to me and/or letters@jpost.com. Shabbat Shalom and Chag Sameach.

RSW

SOLDIERS, SACRIFICE AND SELF-RESPECT
RABBI STEWART WEISS

Judaism, and Jewish history, is an amalgam of both glory and grief, celebration and sadness. Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut are rolled into one.Yizkor memorial prayers are recited on Simchat Torah. The breaking of a glass punctuates a wedding and bitter herbs and salt water are a part of our Pesach Seder.

Blessing and bitterness, it appears, always seems to operate in tandem.

And so it is with the Schalit deal. On the one hand, we will get our soldier back, after five long years of waiting, weeping and hand-wringing. We will save a precious life and return joy to his family. At the same time, we will be risking the future of many more lives, while sacrificing some of the most fundamental principles of Israeli policy, held sacrosanct since the founding of the State.

Is it worth it?

In one fell swoop, we cross numerous red lines that once defined our national resolve. We turn our back on the policy of never negotiating with terrorists, an absolute which PM Netanyahu once held sacred and vowed never to break. We release upon our civilian population more than one thousand murderous criminals, dedicated to the destruction of our nation and the genocide of our people. We strengthen our enemy Hamas militarily, diplomatically and politically, while mortally weakening our supposed partner, the Palestinian Authority. We embolden our foes to strike again; already there are warnings that attempts are being made to kidnap another soldier and hold him for hostage in return for more prisoners.

Is it worth it?

Of course, we know all the cliches: We are a merciful people, who value life above all other values. We are a strong people, who will “know how” to protect our citizens. We are “men of our word,” who promised to rescue any soldier left behind in the field.

But clichés don’t save lives, and aphorisms don’t insure security.

There is a limit to mercy; the Talmud wisely teaches us that misplaced mercy is, in reality, abject cruelty. When we release bloodthirsty monsters who shoot to death babies in their cribs, or blow up a Sbarro restaurant or a Moment Cafe full of customers, we show cruelty to the victims of these acts as well as of the next massacre they will surely plot to perpetrate.

While we bring a soldier home in return for freeing these terrorists, what message do we send to the soldiers who risked, and often sacrificed their lives in securing their capture? Why should a soldier put his life on the line to apprehend a terrorist, knowing they can be summarily freed for the next Israeli hostage?

And how much faith can we put in a government that has failed, time and again, to do what it takes to make us safe after making sweeping, unilateral concessions to the enemy? When we ran out of southern Lebanon with our tail between our legs, did not Ehud Barak swear that he would keep our northern border quiet and peaceful? Thousands of rockets later, we see how faithful he was to that pledge. And when we “disengaged” from Gaza – splitting the nation and incurring national trauma – did the powers that be not insist that this would be the first step in a peaceful arrangement with the Palestinians? Sderot, Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beersheva may have a few words to say about that hollow promise, as Gaza has turned into the world’s largest, deadliest terror base.

Most frightening is the breakdown of law and order engendered by the Schalit deal. We held trials, presented evidence and convicted criminals of the worst possible order to long sentences, including life in prison. Releasing them in the face of blackmail and extortion not only proves that crime – against Israel – does indeed pay, but that justice is a wishy-washy principle to be compromised, waived and discarded when we deem fit. Former Justice Minister Dan Meridor, though he voted in favor of the deal, told me that the moment we agreed to make an exchange we abdicated our moral high ground and traded principle for pragmatism.

Next week, our family will observe the 9th Yahrtzeit for our son Ari, who fell in battle against Hamas terrorists in Nablus. At the shiva, Ari’s commander-in-chief Lt.Gen. Moshe (Bogie) Ya’alon – one of just three cabinet members to hold his ground and vote against the prisoner “swap” – promised us that the IDF would do whatever it takes to bring our son’s killers to justice. Thankfully, two of the terrorists in the three-man cell were tracked down and disposed of; the third was finally brought to trial three years ago and sentenced to 27 years in jail. By what right will he, God forbid, be set free, after destroying our family?

The Schalit deal, of course, is a fait accompli and will go through. The well-financed, well-run campaign to free Gilad will preclude any but the most resolute to stand in the way of the public opinion juggernaut. Though we caved in completely to Hamas – agreeing, in the end, to 100% of their demands – at the end of the day, they were stronger and more determined than we were to have their way and dictate the terms.

The real question is what will happen in the future. Will we now, finally, let it be known that we shall never again bow to terrorist demands? Will we institute verdicts of life in prison with no possibility of release, regardless of the circumstances? Will we consider the death penalty for the most heinous crimes? Will we stop coddling the terrorists we capture and withhold from them the privileges they deny our prisoners?

Most of all, will we recognize that we are at war, that we face a cruel, barbaric and motivated enemy, dedicated to doing whatever it takes to wipe us off the face of the earth? Will we be equal to the task, using all of our ample resolve and resources to defeat them? Will we have the courage to tell our soldiers that there are conditions under which they may have to give up their lives, times when the safety of the nation outweighs that of the individual? Will we have the self-respect to believe in our cause and to defend it, come what may, against any and all comers, regardless of world, or national, opinion?

There is one yardstick to measure what is good for Israel, and what is not: When there are smiles on the faces of the terrorists, there must be tears in our eyes. But if, in the end, we have lost this battle, let us at least vow to win the war.

(The writer is director of the Jewish Outreach Center of Ra'anana; jocmtv@netvision.net.il)

More on Gilad Shalit, Terrorists and Sukkot

2011-10-14T13:07:00.000+02:00

I told my children and grandchildren that Gilad Shalit would be home for Sukkot. They almost jumped out of their chairs. "B'H," they said. Then I told them that the price for his release was about 1300 murdering terrorists.
My daughter-in-law said, "You know, Ema. If you had said that at any other time I would be frightened, but here in the sukkah we understand a different message. People all over the world are afraid of evil. They lock their doors. They close themselves up tight."
"We people of faith go out into our flimsy Sukkot with no lockable doors on them. Not only do we eat there and spend the day there, we and our children sleep there. Sukkot reminds us, and we always need the reminder that Hashem watches over His people. He is our roof, our lock, our protection. So you tell me terrorists will soon be freed. Of course, I tremble, but I look at our sukkah and I have to have faith in Our Protector, and pray that we all deserve His protection."
Chag sameach.

Gilad for Terrorists

2011-10-14T01:45:00.001+02:00

I was cooking on the eve of the Sukkot holiday when one of my friends called, "Are you listening to the news in the kitchen?" No.
"Gilad Shalit is coming home."
I almost dropped my pan of chicken.
"About 1300 Arab terrorists are going to be released in exchange for Shalit."
My head was spinning. The first thing I did was whisper a silent prayer asking G-d that Gilad really come home safe and sound and that this should be the beginning of all good things for our people, our soldiers and our nation. And I asked G-d outloud to protect us all from evil.

A SOLDIER'S MOTHER
Then I called my friend, Cheryl Mandel, whose son - an Israeli Defense Forces officers - was murdered a decade ago in Shechem (Nablus) when he and his soldiers went to capture wanted terrorists.
I asked her if she knew if the terrorists who killed her son Daniel would be released for Gilad Shalit. She explained that the Arab terrorist who shot Daniel was killed during the operation nine years ago. The two others that were involved had been sent to prison. One had already been released and she didn't know the fate of the second.
"How do you feel about all this?" I asked.
Cheryl said, "If I could get Daniel back even now almost ten years later, I would do anything. I am happy for the Shalit family. No one should ever be in their shoes. They did everything they could to fight on behalf of their son."
"And yet," Cheryl admitted, "I'm worried about the price that's being paid for his release."
She said one more thing, "I have to congratulate the Shalits for being able to always keep Gilad on the front burner of the Israeli government and the Israeli public. That took tremendous effort, but it helped bring their son home."
I agreed with Cheryl. I am very happy for the Shalit family. I am very grateful to Hashem that Gilad Shalit would be released, IY"H, from the hell that he has been living for the past five years.
Gilad Shalit is everyone's son. Most Israelis have sons in the Army. We send them with faith in G-d, but with heavy hearts because we know that Israeli soldiers put their lives on the line for our people every single day. If G-d forbid anyone's son was kidnapped, that parent would want what the Shalits wanted - his son home no matter what the price.
But that's where a government and generals come in - they're supposed to want their soldier back and do anything possible to get him back. But they're also supposed to make sure the price they pay is not too high.
Over the past years folks talked about getting Gilad Shalit back by turning off the electricity in Gaza, turning off the water, bombing terrorist headquarters, flattening streets one by one. What happened to that? I'm sure the Army had its own plans and even tried who-knows-what (we'll probably find out in twenty years). But meanwhile nothing worked, and all kinds of political considerations went into this deal - trying to prove that the Egyptian government is legitimate, trying to get Hamas back into popularity, etc..
As everyone was clapping themselves on the back for suddenly being so involved in Gilad Shalit's release I thought of Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu. He's responsible for the safety of every single Israeli, not just Gilad Shalit. He's responsible for the safety of every soldier. He must have been tortured since he came into office (and especially in the past few weeks) trying to figure out how he could get Gilad Shalit home. He has surely been tossing and turning, saying the names of the Jewish victims of Arab terror whose murderers were about to go free.
He has probably held his head in his hands saying to himself, "What should I do? Can I allow the perpetrators of the Ramallah lynch and others like them to go free to murder again? But can I let Gilad Shalit remain in the depths of hell? Our soldiers are depending on me. But our nation is depending on me to keep them safe. How can I allow terrorists out of prison? But how can I not do everything possible to bring our soldier home?"
I don't envy the Prime Minister. No matter what he does is wrong. And when the media begins rolling the celebration parties held throughout the world when the Arab terrorists will be freed, the Prime Minister, the State of Israel and the Israeli Army will be laughing stocks.
G-d forbid, if a terror attack happens, millions of people will say, "We told you so. Statistics show that Arab terrorists return to terror. You knew it would happen."
Israelis everywhere can fall back into the Fear Mode - being afraid to go out of their homes or towns, being afraid to let their children out of their sights, being afraid to go to town or to any gathering. But I am asking my brethren not to be afraid. Reach deep into your faith.
The Jewish people have been in terrible straights time and again over the last four thousand years, and we're still here. Bad things happen, but good things happen too, and B"H we're still here.
There's only one thing to concentrate on as Gilad Shalit returns home and our people brace themselves for the possibility, G-d forbid, of danger ahead. Pray for G-d's help and then declare, "Am Yisrael Chai (the Nation of Israel lives)."
Am Yisrael Chai, we live and IY"H we will live on forever and one day hopefully soon, we will greet the Meshiach and rebuild our Holy Temple.
May G-d watch over the Jewish people and bring home Gilad Shalit, Jonathan Pollard and all our MIAs today.

The Difference in the Pre-Yom Kippur Swing

2011-10-09T20:00:00.002+02:00

As the evening of Yom Kippur neared, It was time for my family to "shlug kappores". To shlug kappores (yiddish) literally means to beat a scapegoat. There's no real scapegoat, but there is something that takes your place and absorbs your sins.
Some people use a chicken and others use money in exchange for sins. Good deal. But putting your sins into money isn't so dramatic. That's why many people choose the traditional kappores chicken.
In America, we went on the eve of Yom Kippur to my Shul in order to do kappores.
There were two mountains of cages side by side - blue cages and red cages. Many of each color were filled with squawking chickens.
We stood in line, paid our money and then a nice yeshiva Bochur (young man) took out a male chicken from a blue box for each man/boy and a female chicken for each girl.
He held the chicken for the shlugger if s/he wanted, or if s/he was brave enough and not repulsed by wildly waving wings and hysterical chickens, he handed the fe/male shlugee chicken to the shlugger.
After the appropriate blessing and a triple-circled shlug, each chicken was then moved to the mountain of red boxes.
Everyone knew that the chickens in the red boxes were going to be donated to a needy yeshiva. That made us feel very good. So not only were we getting rid of our sins, we were doing an extra good deed by donating the chickens. We never imagined the interim stages of preparing the chickens, but we knew the chickens would miraculously become yom tov (holiday) dinner for the yeshiva boys.
We moved to Israel 19 years ago just in time for the High Holidays, and therefore exactly on the eve of Kappores Shlugging time.
Meanwhile, Kappores had changed to Kapporot. There were a few more changes in store.
I asked around our new neighborhood about a shlugging spot, but folks said I had missed Kapparot by Beit Chabad, and the best place to find chickens for Kapporot was Machane Yehuda, Jerusalem's fresh produce shuk.
Okidokie. We popped all the kids in the car and drove to the shuk.
It was packed, bustling, exciting.
We got on a long line in a shuk alley waiting for the chickens.
We edged closer and closer, and suddenly I noticed that a man in a black apron was just handing folks chickens. 40 NIS. Boom, chicken. Next, 40 NIS. Boom, chicken.
I told my husband to finish waving his chicken quickly before the apron man came to me with my chicken. He said, okay.
But then there was another surprise (read: shock) for me. We drew closer to the table. The boys in front of us waved their chickens with lots of energy and handed them to the man behind a table. But instead of putting the chickens into red cages, he took each one and right then and there, lopped off its head.
Did you understand that? There were no red cages, only headless chickens.
I almost fainted on the spot. In fact, perhaps I did faint, because everything after that is a little hazy. I remember the chickens being de-feathered on a spinning wheel, and then place in a bag.
We were handed bags of dead chickens and walked in a daze to the car. Actually the boys were fine, but I was barely conscious. My husband smiled, "Fresh chicken for the holidays."
I retorted, "What are you talking about? I can't eat a chicken that I know personally." The chickens lay for weeks in the freezer. Eventually my husband put his foot down and demanded we eat the perfectly good chickens. I don't remember how or if I brought myself to eat the chicken I had held in my hands. She had made the ultimate sacrifice. She gave her life for me.
I have never done chicken Kapporot in Israel again. I prefer money now. The money goes to charity and is kind of like the chicken in the red box.
While I prefer just about every aspect of Jewish life in Israel than in the Diaspora, my weak stomach prefers the Pre-Yom Kippur Swing of my old home.
I believe the "red boxed chicken" will go to a good cause, and there's nothing yuchhy involved. Then again...I surely know the headless chicken gives you the real feeling of "who shall live and who shall die", but I'll just try to keep doing good things so that I can pray to be blessed and sealed in the Heavenly Books to live, live, live. Shana tova. A happy healthy prosperous and peaceful new year.

What's Up, Efrat?

2011-10-03T13:39:00.006+02:00

New year, new ideas.

My hometown of Efrat has lots of activities and projects planned all the time. But it's difficult to let folks know. The second you hang a poster, someone else hangs another over yours, so I decided to help folks out with a regularly schedule news program to detail all the upcoming happenings. To make it even clearer, here are the upcoming events.

You can also watch the newsy broadcast here: WHAT'S UP, EFRAT?? (ps - It's coming in Hebrew soon too.)

WATCH the Short VIDEO version:

http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=207

WATCH the Long VIDEO version:

http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=206

READ the Calendar version:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/efrat-chat/cal///group/efrat-chat/?v=2&t=1317656185

SUNDAY, Daled Tishrei, October 2

Efrat, Elazar and Neve Daniel began the day with a power failure at 11:04. Don't forget that we're going to court with the electric company on Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 8:30 am in Tel Aviv District Court.

MONDAY, Hei Tishrei, October 3

The Torah Tape Library presents Rav Avraham Twersky on Aseret Yemai Teshuva at 8:45 in Tiferet Avot.

TUESDAY, Vav Tishrei, October 4

At 8 PM in Tiferet Avot:

The Committee for Gush Katif Bridal Showers welcomes women from Efrat and all over Gush Etzion for a ladies' night out for chesed – We'll be welcoming the olot chadoshot of our area while we hold an evening to benefit the kallot of Gush Katif. Daphne Pearl and Ilana Kohn will crack us up with their skit about Aliyah, and one of the founders of Gush Katif, the world-famous celery lady of Netzer Chazani, Anita Tucker will give us an update about our Gush Katif brethren. Six year later and they're still Jews without homes.

WEDNESDAY, Zayin Tishrei, October 5

The Women's Bet Midrash wants to prepare us for Yom Kippur with shiurim from 8:30 in the morning to 1:00 PM. Featuring HaRav Meir Shpiegelman, Dr. Tehilla Elitzur, HaRabbanit Esther KiTov, Rebbetzin Shani Taragin, Dr. Ora Wiskind-Elper, and Sara Jo Ben Zvi.

At 9 AM there's a special tefilla and then at 11 AM a women's shiur at Kever Rachel with Rachel Emeinu Scholar and Author Atara Gur. The topic:

“Moshiach Ben Yosef, Moshiach Ben David.”

Wednesday night from 6:30-8:30 PM, Rav Nissan Nachshon invites you to swing your sins away at kapparot at Bet Chabad. Order your chickens from Sarah Nachshon.

Thursday and Friday

Yechiel Fishman of the Zayit Raanan Shul has organized a tour of the Western Wall and Erev Yom Kippur slichot. Many families (including children) enjoy a night of fun and meaningful prayer. This will be the night between Thursday and Friday next nearest 7:10:11, Erev Yom Kippur. Leaving at 2:30 AM from Zayit Raanan and returning to Efrat at 7:30 AM. The bus is organized with music, a guide, everything ready for a great experience.

Sunday, 11 Tishrei, October 9 – Tuesday

Efrat's Matnas is holding kaytanot for our littlest residents. Find out more at the Matnas 9932936.

And what would Erev Sukkot be without the annual Massaot of our youth. Ezra is off to Carmel on Sunday and Monday, Yud alef and Yud Bet Tishrei, October 9^th and 10^th.

On Monday and Tuesday, Bnei Akiva will be off to the Negev and Dati Scouts will be off to Tel Azaka.

The Efrat Matnas has lots of excitement for our 5-10 year olds from Sunday through Tuesday – from 9 AM to noon. Musical activities, the movie the Prince of Egypt, jumping castles, preparing sukkah decorations, a play for children and a workshop on preparing Yummy Sukkot food. Speak to the Matnas 9932396.

On Monday, 12 Tishrei, October 10, the residents of the Dagan invite everyone to bring their toddlers to an afternoon of Sukkot fun at 4 PM.

The Matnas of Gush Etzion is holding its Gush Etzion Arts Festival – amazing performers, theater, dance, talented folks coming right here to Gush Etzion. It is a must!!

Tu B'Tishrei we're in our beautiful Sukkot. We hope everyone enjoys their chag.

Wednesday, October 12

Children are invited to help decorate the Zayit Raanan sukkah at approximately 11 AM.

Friday, October 14

Friday morning , the first day of Chol HaMoed Sukkot, we're all (you too) going up to our eighth hill, Givat HaEitam, for a simchat bet hashoeva from 11 AM to 1 PM. Activities for adults and children alike. Do you want Eitam to be part of our future Efrat? Well, show it with you feet. More details to come.

Motzei Shabbat Chol HaMoed

There's going to be a simchat beit hashoeva in Park HaPizza on the Zayit. Terrific music and Efrat's Chief Rabbi Rav Shlomo Riskin will be joining in the festivities. Begins at 7:30 PM.

Sunday, October 16 of Chol HaMoed at 5 PM, the community is invited to a Hachnasat Sefer Torah in the Zayit Bnei Beitcha.

Also Sunday, travel to the Shomron with the One Israel Fund and terrific tour guide Eve Harow. With IDF permission, visit the Altar of Yehoshua on Har Eival, untouched for over 3,000 years from the first days of our conquest of Eretz Yisrael.

Monday, October 17 of Chol HaMoed
A fabulous Musical Hallel at the Zayit Raanan Synagogue on Monday Chol HaMoed, 16/10/11, beginning at 8 AM. Everyone is welcome.

Tuesday, October 18 of Chol HaMoed
Spend the morning in the Jordan Valley, and the afternoon in the Hills of Shomron. Experience harvesting of the dates at Mevo'ot Yericho, see where
your lulav grows.

Tuesday night Hoshana Rabba October 18

Shiurim in English at the Feifer home beginning at 8 PM

Thursday, October 20 – Motzei Simchat Torah

We'll all be dancing at Hakafot Shniyot outside Bet Knesset Shimon V'Esther in Dekel Alef.

Let's begin the post-yom tov season in a giving way, by giving blood on Monday October 24 from 6-10 PM at the Efrat Medical Center.

And acharon acharon Chaviv –

On Motzei Shabbat, Alef Cheshvan, October 29, Parshat Noach, 8 PM, women, teens and girls are invited to join their favorite dance teachers and choreographers and hundreds of their friends for an exciting evening of DANCE NIGHT. We're gonna kick up our heels all together in fun and fantastically dance the night away. Yes, we're going to open the new season of DAMES of the DANCE 5. Get your dancing shoes and join us.

Shana Tova 5772 - A Happy Healthy New Year

2011-09-28T16:33:00.001+03:00

On Rosh Hashana, we eat all kinds of traditional foods whose words mean something in Hebrew that gives us a clue about how we'd like our future to be.
The easiest way to explain this would be: we serve raisins and celery so that in the coming year, we should have a raise in our salaries.
You get the idea.
Well, there's a traditional Rosh Hashana seder that is filled with all kinds of signs and deeper meanings.
But then again, there's us guys who after our traditional seder, like to just have a little fun. :)
So, here's my menu for this Rosh Hashana. If it helps you get ideas about what to cook this year or next... hooray.
Wishing all a happy healthy new year.
May you be inscribed in the book of life for a happy healthy prosperous PEACEFUL new year.

Shana tova!! 5772!!

Wednesday Night –

Dinner by Ricky – Siman: May you always be blessed with good friends.

Thursday Day –

Steak salad – Siman: May our enemies be shredded.

Burgal or Quinoa – Siman: May Hashem save us from burglers.

Thursday Night –

Chinese Food – Siman: May we multiply like the Chinese. May we be as rich as China. May we take over the world, just like the Chinese.

Friday Day –

Fish & String Beans – Siman: That we should always try to eat healthy and live long lives. And one day, we’ll be as skinny as string beans.

Sweet potatoes – Siman: May our lives be sweet and yummy.

Salad

Friday Night –

Roast beef – Siman: May our enemies be roasted. (Hm, this is a very violent menu.)

Chicken – Siman: May we always have emunah and never be chicken.

Zucchini kugel – Siman: May our lives always feel magical like the Amazing Zucchini! Abra kadabra!

Butternut squash – Siman: May things go smooth for us like butter, even when we feel a little nutty.

Salad

Shabbat Lunch

Shnitzel - Siman: That we should be able to learn to speak Yiddish.

Salad

Seuda Shlishit –

Fish leftovers and salad – Siman: May we never waste food. J

What are We Doing?

2011-09-22T13:31:00.001+03:00

I mentioned in my previous blog - http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2011/09/it-depends-on-who-you-talk-to.html - that my town is packed this week with reporters from all over the world, asking, "What are you doing about the UN vote on Palestinian admission to the UN?" "What will you do if the UN declares a Palestinian State?" "How are you reacting to the current political crisis in the Middle East?"
Well, this morning, I spoke to a few friends that said, "Things are very weird here. Everything is normal."
All the world is debating whether there should be a Palestinian State and things here are normal. Mothers are taking their children to school. Children are going to their extra-curricular activities in the afternoon. Youth groups are having get-togethers about the upcoming holidays. Folks are going to work, and to the mall, and out to dinner.
No, they're not burying their heads in the sand. But we live in a place of crisis. Every day there's another emergency, more hysteria, threats, pronouncements.
Should we stop our lives or go out and demonstrate every time the PA's leader Mahmoud Abbas says that our latest statement is a declaration of war? Should we pull out the children from school and hide at home whenever there's a threat of Arab rioting? We'll never leave the house.
We the Jewish People are people of faith. We realize the danger around us, we take proper precautions but we put out faith in Hashem, the G-d who gave us this blessed land, and we continue on with our regular lives.
As believing Jews we know that nations come and go, in fact, nations rise up again the Jewish nation in every generation. And every nation disappears just like a puff of smoke, but the Jewish people continue on, B"H. The immortal American author Mark Twain put it very well, "The Egyptian, the Babylonian, and the Persian rose, filled the planet with sound and splendor, then . . . passed away. The Greek and the Roman followed. The Jew saw them all, beat them all, and is now what he always was, exhibiting no decadence, no infirmities of age, no weakening of his parts. … All things are mortal but the Jew; all other forces pass, but he remains."
Don't worry. We see the news (as annoying as it is) and we are cautious, but instead of panicking yet again, we prefer to raise our children, tend to our families, put in a serious day's work, and cement our friendships with coffee and charity projects we can do together. We're not "in the game" for the moment, but for eternity.
So, what are we doing? We are doing what we have done for thousands of years. We are living our lives, loving our friends and family, and trying to make a positive contribution to our community and our nation, while waiting for the Messiah to bring true peace to the world and we're praying that day come soon.

It Depends on WHO You Talk To

2011-09-21T12:15:00.007+03:00

In the past two days film crews have been all over my hometown asking trying to dig up a story connected to the United Nations vote on Friday to include a "State of Palestine" among its member nations.

Yesterday a very well mannered and curious Japanese reporter asked my feelings about living in my hometown of Efrat, why I left America to live in Israel, what my connection is to my home here, and how I feel about the vote on Friday.

I enjoyed our talk. We were back and forth for over an hour about the history of the Jewish people, especially in my area where our Patriarchs walked, where our Matriarch Rachel is buried, where King David shepherded his sheep, where Ruth gleaned in the fields of Boaz, and the Maccabees fought their battles. I told him that I felt a part of eternity living in this historic region.

We talked about Jews coming from America, South Africa, France, England, India and more to join their Israeli brethren here in the hills of Gush Etzion.

The reporter asked if I thought the vote on Friday would bring co-existence. And I told him that we had co-existence long ago - when we shared the same services as the Arab population here, when we shopped in the same supermarket and visited the same hospitals and enjoyed the same zoo, museum, and mall. We knew co-existence long ago when Arabs built our homes, worked in our gardens, used our emergency medical services and traded grapes for clothing.

But then I spoke to a Reuters film crew today, "What do you, as a settler, think of Mahmoud Abbas' call for a Palestinian State?" The reporter was curt and not too pleasant. He probably just wanted to get back to the studio and edit his film. Atypical for me, I also answered in a curt, not too pleasant manner.

His question intimated that the Arabs all wanted a Palestinian State and since I'm a settler, I must be anti. Well, maybe there are Arabs who are anti.

It depends on who you talk to.

I visited a family member in the hospital in Jerusalem and the man in the bed next to my relative was an Arab from Ramallah. He requested to be sent to the hospital in Jerusalem instead of being treated in the very competent hospital in Ramallah.

The supermarkets in Jerusalem and even Gush Etzion are filled with Arabs shopping along side Jewish shoppers. They surely have their own markets in their neighborhoods, but prefer outside shopping.

The Jerusalem Post, http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=203350, reported, "In the case of a final peace agreement that established a Palestinian state, more Arab residents of east Jerusalem would prefer to be Israeli than Palestinian, according to a study released Wednesday by Pechter Middle East Polls."

Newspapers throughout the United States criticized the PA's leader for an untimely move that would actually hurt his people. Israel National News reported on those articles: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/148083 .

So, yes, the news is filled with Arabs who are screaming and marching and calling for a Palestinian State, but there are also those who want to remain part of Israel. Like the Arabs who protested in Iran, calling for a better life, their voices may never be heard.

What do I think of Mahmoud Abbas' call for a Palestinian State? Really, what do Arabs think about it? It depends who you talk to.

What a Good-Bye to America!

2011-09-20T18:30:00.005+03:00

Where is the good in goodbye? ~Meredith Willson, The Music Man

I cried my eyes out as I said good-bye to my dearest mother (may she live and be well until 120) and took a last look at my old home in America.

While sitting at the airport before our departure, I had the interesting opportunity to watch the news. You know, Israelis believe that Israel is the only thing discussed in the world news. Well, surprise, it was almost not discussed at all.

Here are my notes from my hours of airport waiting. It was an interesting farewell for this trip.

Now I have to begin by saying that I truly believe that after Israel, America is the most moral nation in the world. After the Jewish people, Americans have the highest standards of love of family, community, country. That's why it usually feels so comfortable in America.
Still where Torah values are lacking, society collapses.
So these are the four news items reported one after the other as we were sitting in the airport.
** Step mom admits to murdering her 10 year old step daughter.
** Remains found of mother of two - presumably the husband killed her. He told everyone that he saw her walk away from their campsite on a family trip, and she simply vanished. Now dogs have found her bones right near that same campsite.
** Grandparents of Caylee Anthony sadly believe their own daughter, Caylee's mother, killed her - but each think it happened in a different way. The grandfather thinks the mother drugged the little girl so that she'd fall into a deep sleep in order to allow the mother to go out and party, and he thinks she overdosed the child.
** A husband called police to report that his reality TV star wife was kidnapped. Well, police found her. She was at a bar with a former lover. She said, "I didn't tell my husband where I was because I didn't want him to know." D-uh.

I had two thoughts after these four news items were replayed for the tenth time.

# 1 - How lucky for Americans that they have nothing more important to worry about.

# 2 - How tragic for Americans that they can create amazing projects, imagine great ideas, produce unforgettable spectacles, build mammoth businesses, make dreams reality, and this is what they're spending their time on.
Well, thank you America for that fond farewell. B'H, you sent me off in the perfect way to my blessed land, my dear home, and hopefully a more moral loving and family-based society.

Once More Around the Park

2011-09-15T07:57:00.003+03:00

I'm packing my bags to leave my childhood home and return to my adult home.

Getting ready once again to leave the home of my youth never gets easier, especially as our beloved parents get older. It's really true that every pillow in their home, every painting on the wall and every familiar stack of papers, exactly where you stacked papers 30 years ago is precious. Really.
But the thing that started my tears flowing this morning was my park.
I woke up this morning figuring Once More Around the Park. But the second I saw the seal and its familiar spray of water, I started my own water fountain. Here in this park I played tennis as a kid, I hung out as a teenager while the boys played basketball, and I brought my own children to the playground to run the maze, climb the fortress and swing endlessly.
I can't count how many little league games I watched here and how many days I just sat by the bay and watched the planes fly by.
I'll miss this park. Not because of the great expanses of emerald green grass or the cute golf carts or water park recreation area. But I'll miss it for all it represents - the smiles and tears of my childhood, the endless energy and constant state of teenage exhilaration, and the memories of my own children - so magnificent, so happy, so sweet, so colorful, so innocent - climbing trees and jungle gyms and running after the Canadian geese. I miss my young husband and his camera- climbing high to get the right shot. I miss my little nephews who were always there with a baseball glove and ball. I miss my babies and my youth. I miss my friends and their laughter and hugs. But most of all as I look at this park with decades of eyes, I miss my mother, may she Live and be well until 120. My mother who never missed a family moment in the park, at the pond with the ducks or any moment. My mother who sat on the bench with eight jackets piled in her arms just in case someone might get cold. I miss my mother - young and beautiful and always there.
Well she's still beautiful and still ready to go go go, B'H, but she (and my dear siblings and I) has earned her wrinkles, and I'm getting a little (very) emotional.
May Hashem put His shield of Abraham around my mother and my loved ones always.
I'd better finish my walk or they'll send the posse our after me.
So they say you can't go home again. You can, but make sure you bring a lot of tissues.

You Can't Go Home Again?

2011-09-14T07:38:00.005+03:00

Hi, friends. I hope you are all well. I've been on vacation with my family for the past two weeks, and there hasn't been a moment to write. Well, I'm trying to steal a moment right now.

They say, "You can't go home again." Why do they say that? They probably mean, "When you go back, things are not the same. So you can't return to the home you remember."

But, you know what? Here I am in th

e home in which I was raised, and everything is more or less the same. Some neighbors that I remember are still here, and then there are some new ones.

The house is exactly as it was, but our wooden rocking bench on the front porch is missing. Where's my rocker? We used to sit out on that rocker on Shabbat afternoon - talking and laughing. But wooden rockers don't last decades, so I guess it's time came and went.

The interior of my childhood home is more or less the same as well - packed with new stuff and old stuff - stuffed with stuff.

But mostly it has that aura of "everything is going to be okay" about it. That was very

comforting to a nine year old and it's very comforting to a ***cough cough *** year old as well.

The apartment house that was my first home was in a really bad neighborhood. We pulled up to the front of the building and I opened the window to take photos. A woman on the porch called out to me, "Whatchu doin'?" I said, "I lived here ***cough cough*** years ago. She was flabbergasted, and she told the old woman that I lived there many decades ago. They were very impressed. My very brave sister jumped out of the car and said, "May we look at the lobby." The woman proceeded to unlock the fortress that was once my early childhood play space.Back to the Older and Oldest Homes

Yesterday we conquered Manhattan on foot - walking on Fifth, Sixth and Seventh Avenues (including Broadway). I visited my old offices and showed my daughter the excitement and energy of New York City. My terrific tour guide was my brother-in-law.
Today, my brother-in-law had another idea - leave Manhattan and travel back to Brooklyn, the old neighborhood - to show my daughter where I was born and the homes I lived in from ages 0-3, 4-8.

I was about to snap a photo when a resident said, "I don't get no photos shot of me." Ooops, sorry.

We went inside and photographed our once beautiful lobby (now furnitureless, but still clean). We snapped the elevators and the super's apartment and the porch. As we left the women sitting outside, one of the women said, "I bet you live in a house now." I replied, "I don't even live in this country." They all said, "ooooooooh."

We waved good-bye and speeded away to Home #2. When we moved, as I turned eight, our neighborhood was turning very bad. Today it has been regentrified and is just lovely.

We pulled up to the brownstone that was my home so long ago, and I was overcome with excitement. I knew the house, and I recognized my neighbor's homes too. There was my alleyway where we played ring-a-leave-i-o until late at night.

My sister again led the way right up the steps. She rang the bell and then explained to the lady-of-the-house who we were. Incredulously she opened the door and we just barged in saying, "This was the living room. We had guppies here in the corner." "There was a TV here in the dining room." "My brother left the water on and flooded this room."

My home was straight out of Leave It to Beaver. This home was straight from the pages of Better Homes and Gardens. The family had pulled up the carpeting and retreated the magnificent parquet floors. Gorgeous photos hung on every wall.

The kitchen was renovated and our mud room was gone.

My sister and I were transformed into girls again, running from room to room, remembering the days when my mother made french fries and dabbed the oil off with a paper bag, and when my father, o'h, would put a flashlight in the middle of the living room, make paper hats for us and sing Indian songs.

Who says, "You can't go home again?" I did, and it was better than I ever would have dreamed!!

Miriam Freund - Life Interpreter

2011-08-29T08:41:00.005+03:00

If an oleh (new immigrant) is truly fortunate then when he moves to Israel he finds someone here to help him interpret life and see him through the difficult times.
Interpret life- I don't mean interpreting what the newspapers report or what people say (although that can be part of it) , I mean interpreting the events around him (personal and national) and helping him make sense of them all. That Life Interpreter can enhance a person's Aliya and even rescue it in times of difficulty, which often happens.
I had a Life Interpreter for many years when I first arrived in Israel 19 years ago.
Her name was Miriam Freund.

I made Aliya straight to Efrat with a new born baby. My husband began a business, our children went off to school and I was left to start my life in some way too.
I wanted to take Ulpan, but when I called the teacher whose number I was given, he said, "No babies in my classroom." So I went Ulpanless until I heard of a local Ulpan class of sorts - it was twice a week for an hour, held in a caravan by the Russian olim, and run by a volunteer teacher Miriam Freund.
Miriam had been a math teacher and her husband a judge. They had lived in Bnei Brak, and when they retired, they moved to Efrat to help build the area where her husband's brother had given his life for the Jewish people.
Miriam's brother-in-law had been a soldier in Gush Etzion in 1948. He had fought and died here. Actually, I think he had been one of the Lamed Hei. In his memory the Freunds made the second part of their life here.
And build they did - but they didn't build houses, they built people.

Caretaker of the State

Miriam was a caretaker for the State of Israel and the State didn't even know it. She cared for some of the most vulnerable in the nation. Imagine being dropped into a crowded room with millions of people and not being able to speak or be understood. It is torture. Miriam took the Russian olim who were elderly or who had to immediately work and couldn't go to an intensive Jerusalem Ulpan. She taught them the basics of a totally foreign language and she guided them through their lives here.

Now I realize I was blessed that I couldn't go to regular Ulpan, because I got to learn with Miriam. I learned - not only how to overcome the challenges of the Hebrew language - how to overcome the challenges of life in Israel. (I guess that sounds a bit much today when there are so many olim with so many help opportunities and organizations, like Nefesh B'Nefesh, to smooth the way. But when I came and especially when the Russian olim came, there was just about nothing!)

Miriam Freund taught us verbs and nouns, how to read the Efratone headlines (some folks graduated to the entire articles), how to listen to the news, how to see life in Israel for its blessings and how to overcome its challenges.

Life in Israel was difficult for us - a Russian doctor, an engineer, a teacher, all who were reduced to cleaning houses because they were too old to retrain in Hebrew; and me, a journalist who was a new mother and Hebrewly-challenged. (Over the years the Russian olim were resettled into real apartments and other American olah mothers came to our Ulpan too.)

Throughout our early years B"H Miriam interpreted life for us here. She actually made it bearable and made it wonderful too. Every week was a new trial for our classmates and our families- school, work, bureaucracy, teacher's notes, friendships, finding a home, health, relationships. We walked into Ulpan with all our troubles and she helped us through them.

Part of Jewish History

She made us feel that we, even with our woes, were part of Jewish history. Many olim had come before us, and many would follow. Difficulties would happen and we would overcome. We did, thanks to Miriam.

She herself had been an olah. She came at a young age from Germany with her family. I think she was three. At 17, she volunteered as a message courier for the Hagannah. She met her husband Aharon and had a simple wedding. If we thought we had difficulties, things were a zillion times were difficult before the State and during its beginnings.

She raised a family of devoted children. Some became chareidi, some dati-leumi, but family was paramount, and transcended differences in lifestyle. That example alone guided me when my children also chose different paths in their Torah paths.

She told us about her children in Alon Shvut, in Pesagot, in Jerusalem, in Bet El. She told us personal family stories that made us laugh and cry. We all shared our family dramas and family happinesses.

At every class we were to hand in stories in Hebrew about our life here. We discussed them, we commiserated with one another in our troubles and we cheered each other's successes. And then we received the stories back with big red corrections all over them.

We were told to come in to class with a funny story and we went around the room making one another smile.

Miriam enthralled us with stories about modern Jewish history, and whenever our troubles seemed too much for us to bear, she told us the story about the two troubled Chassidim. Two Chassidim with many problems went to their rebbie to ask for help to bear the burdens of life. The rebbie told them to write down all their troubles and place them in their coat pockets. Then he told them to switch coats. Each found the other's burdens absolutely too heavy, but when they switched coats again, they found they were able to handle the challenges they originally faced.

She gave us another trick that I do until this day. Miriam told us to write down our troubles and put them in a drawer. Then she said to take them out three months later. She said that when we reviewed the problems at a later day, we would find that they had worked themselves out. And they did.

Personal Lesson in Terror

Miriam taught us how to overcome just about everything - even the most horrible trials of life. In 2002 Miriam's daughter and son-in-law Chani and Yossi Dickstein of Pesagot were killed in a terror attack near Hebron on their way to a friend for Shabbat. Also murdered was their nine-year-old son Shuva-el. Nine Dickstein children were left orphaned. Miriam and her husband Aharon did everything they could to help the children, and one of the Freund's sons took it upon himself to be father of the children.

At a time of terror and fear, Miriam was a model of courage and faith.

Many times over the years I asked Miriam if I could nominate her for an award for national service. She always declined, although she deserved all the honor possible.

Bravery Always

When she was stricken with cancer Miriam remained positive brave and very matter-of-fact. She had taught us to take life as it was, and she did the same. I visited her when she was feeling strong-ish and she was just as she was - always anxious to hear news of my children, my work, my volunteering efforts, my life. She was just as she was - encouraging, warm, positive and accepting.

This morning I awoke to the news that my beloved teacher had passed away.

My Life Interpreter is gone, but over the years Miriam taught me to be a Life Interpreter too. I will always be grateful and thank her for the hidden blessings she taught me to interpret and appreciate.

Night Driving - A Parable of Life

2011-08-28T23:22:00.004+03:00

I was driving home the other night in the Jordan Valley. Things were fine when the road was lit with lamp posts or even pitch black. But when on-coming cars shined their lights in my face, I was blinded and could not find my bearings.

The only thing that literally saved me were the red lights of the car in front of me. If I could keep focused on the car's red lights, I was able to stay in my lane and drive with confidence and control.

I mentioned that fact to my daughter-in-law, who was the only person in the car awake besides me.

She said that the story was a perfect parable. A person can drive through life being sent astray by bright shiny lights. But if he has his eyes focused on the red light ahead of him, the boundaries we learn from a Torah-filled lifestyle, then we will be able to control our lives and go along the right path always.

Beloved Gentiles - Glenn Beck and King Agrippas

2011-08-28T23:11:00.002+03:00

I was away with the family on vacation when tv news commentator Glenn Beck held his Courage rallies in Israel. I missed the hullabaloo.
"Beck is providing a sense of pride and support for Israelis in a sea of hate." Thus said one columnist Tabitha Korol in an Israel National News op-Ed. What Tabitha said was true. And thank you, Glenn Beck.
Still ...the entire Beck story reminds me of the tale of Agrippas the King (grandson of Herod). Agrippas was a truly good and noble king. He helped the Jewish people in many ways in their relationship to the Caesars and Rome. He was careful to observe Jewish precepts. The Virtual Jewish library said that he married his daughters to Jewish notables, and was very close to the Torah-true rabbis of the Pharisees.
“Apparently, it is Agrippas I who is referred to in the Mishnah which points out that when celebrating the festival of the first fruits, ‘even King Agrippas carried the basket [of fruits] on his shoulder’ (Bik. 3:4).”
But the most famous Agrippas story took place when King Agrippas was reading from the Torah before the Jewish nation at the end of the shmitta year (Sotah 41:B). “When he reached the passage, ‘one from among your brethren shall you set as a king over you; you may not put a foreigner over you," his eyes filled with tears, since he was not of pure Jewish descent.” He was so well-loved that the sages, however, called out, “Agrippa, you are our brother! You are our brother!’”
The end of the story is not so great – Agrippas was killed apparently by the Romans, who feared his popularity. And the Gemara sees this episode unfavorably as well. It states that the Jewish people were deserving of the death sentence for flattery of the king.
So, why does this story remind me of Glenn Beck?
Glenn is a beloved media personality that speaks out for the Jewish people without fear. He has embraced rabbis and lovers of Eretz Yisrael. Tens of thousands of Jews (and non-Jews) stood shoulder to the shoulder, breaking into applause every few moments from Glenn’s inspiring words. He said all the right things – love, belief, faith, courage, pride. He believes all the right thoughts, and he tells it to the world. It is great to have a friend like that in the world.
Like Agrippas, Beck is not Jewish. He is a devoted friend of Israel, but he is not Jewish. And hopefully the folks falling all over him were not doing so for flattery, because Jews have a tendency to crave the love of the non-Jew.
But, I have a question. If there was a Jewish speaker, Chaim Whatever, who was just as fiery and exciting as Beck, would anyone have come out to hear him? Would folks have gotten on buses from all over the country to attend the speeches of a Jewish lover of Israel? And furthermore, where is the Jewish speaker who can electrify an audience and bring them to their feet in praise of G-d and His people? Does he even exist?
I wish the answer was yes, but the truth is that a Jew speaking out for Israel is a yawn. It seems if we want to attract the world (and Jews alike) to a positive message about Israel, we need an Agrippas to talk up for the Jewish people. So sad, and it's our own fault.

My Mother the Evacuee

2011-08-26T13:49:00.006+03:00

I grew up on Long Island. Almost nothing exciting ever happened there during my childhood, except two humongous snow storms. The snow was as high as an elephant's eye!! But besides that, calm and quiet Long Island life.

Then when we got married, and still lived on Long Island, things continued to be calm and quiet, until a mammoth storm on Sukkot sent my relatives in other areas to my house, where we sat on the living room carpet to wait out the storm.

Earthquake!

Well, I haven't lived in Long Island for many years. But it seems to have turned into a pretty exciting (not good exciting) place. Last week they felt the tremors of the earthquake that hit the Washington DC area. My dearest mother, until 120, was sitting in the living room when her chair started shaking so badly, she had to get up to see if it was broken. Then when she saw that it was sturdy enough, she thought, G-d forbid, that her adult-onset-tremors had worsened. Suddenly her visitors ran in and said, "Earthquake!!"

Hurricane!

Over the years there have also been rain storms and snow storms, but there's never been anything like Hurricane Irene.

I don't know how hard the storm will hit, but New York and Long Island have not taken any chances. The subways were shut down for a natural disaster for the first time in 100 years. That's serious.

Hundreds of thousands of New York residents have been evacuated. Wow.

And yet, despite warnings many people have chosen to stay in their homes.

As my niece and nephew rushed around, shopped for staples, called friends to find out their evacuation plans, my mother calmly played solitaire on the computer. "You're embarrassing me," she said. "It's going to be a big nothing." My mother is, B"H, not easily phased by things. She stood firm during World War II, during the Korean War, the moratoriums and the Vietnam War, during the Great Blackouts of whatever the years were. She even came to Israel to be with her kids during the Gulf War and a few intifadas. Her courage, B"H, was an example to all. But even calm grandmothers must face the moment of truth. Senior citizens, especially, were told to evacuate immediately. So, despite the fact that she thought it was all hot air (hurricanes are actually violent, not necessarily hot, air), B"H she complied.

My mother was evacuated to family in upstate New York. (Thanks, family, for your hospitality!) B"H, I can rest easier knowing she is out of harm's way.

But how did hundreds of thousands of people escape the hurricane without trains or buses or planes? That's still a mystery to me. And where did they go? Do almost a million people have friends or family in upstate New York?

My nephew said that the only thing they were showing on the news were these hundreds of thousands on the roads, and it all looked like something out of an end-of-the-world horror movie.

Well, if Hurricane Irene ends up being as bad as they're anticipating, the scary part is yet to come.

My thoughts and prayers are with our brethren in the wake of Hurricane Irene. May they be safe and secure, and may things get back to normal...no, better than normal, very soon.

My grandfather, may he rest in peace, used to sing us a ditty before he went to bed each night,

Irene, goodnight, Irene, goodnight

Goodnight, Irene, goodnight, Irene

I'll see you in my dreams...

Let's all hope that Irene indeed will pass over night like a dream, and not, G-d forbid, a nightmare.

Anti-Social Media Parents

2011-08-22T18:06:00.004+03:00

We went on vacation this week with our children and grandchildren. B"H, we had an incredible time. My grandchildren are so delicious, B"H, I wanted to photograph their every move. We did such fun things, my husband and I wanted to snap every moment.

So, we did. We used our cameras, and we pulled out our iphones to snap and send!

Then my son said something that made me stop, "You and Abba are so busy taking pictures, you're not participating in this vacation. You're so worried about the pictures that you're outside all the fun and not interacting with anyone."

Suddenly I realized that he was right.

We had spent the first few days, photographing every move everyone made and sending the photos to our family all over the world.

My son said, "You're keeping in touch with everyone everywhere, except for us right here."

And then I realized I had become something I decried only a few days earlier - a part of the anti-social media revolution.

Remember, I wrote about those folks - http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2011/08/social-or-anti-social-media.html. They're the ones who'd rather SMS their friends then talk to them face to face. They'd rather skype then get together for a cup of coffee.

And I guess they'd rather take pictures and send them to their sister in Florida and their friend in Paris, then be "in the moment" with their kids.

So, I didn't put down the camera totally (let's not go overboard), but I only sent about ten photos a day and I did more hugging and appreciating and living the moment with the people I love best.

Riding Jerusalem's New Light Rail

2011-08-21T02:32:00.005+03:00

Friday was the opening day of Jerusalem's Light Rail System. We have waited so many years for the Light Rail to become a reality. It's almost too hard to believe it's real.

About a year and a half ago, my daughter Bati and I visited the Light Rail Depot to find out what we had to look forward to: http://www.voices-magazine.com/index.php?page=inside_page&id=25

They told us that the Light Rail would be running by January, February, March or April 2011.

Well, it's only four months late of its most recent anticipated date.

So, when they announced that the train would actually be running on Friday, my daughter and I drove to Jerusalem just to take a ride on the first day of the train.

Every station was packed with families, as eager as we were to take a spin.

The trains were beautiful, futuristic, reminiscent of Disney World. The train stations were modern, with changing announcement boards telling you exactly when the next train is due.

The train ride from one end (Har Herzl) to the other (Pisgat Ze'ev) currently takes 80 minutes, but IY"H when the kinks are out of the system, the ride will be about 40 minutes.

It's really fun and a great way to get around town, or take the kids out for an exciting day.

The train is free for the next two weeks. Take advantage.

All aboard.

We were so excited, we even made a movie about it. (You'll have to come back to see it another time.)

Park Dedication in Memory of Uriel Liwerant

2011-08-19T11:18:00.003+03:00

I set up this issue of VOICES as a 36 page lite-summer edition. Just as I was sending it off to the printer, my husband said, "Why do I see 36 pages here? Voices is printed in 16 pages increments, so it would have to be 32!!"

I worked all night trying to cut four pages. They will all be reinstated in the September issue of Voices, IY"H. Meanwhile, for those of you who are wondering where to find the write-up of the inspiration park dedication in memory of Uriel Liwerant, o'h, HERE IT IS.

A Look at Israel's Future

2011-08-17T16:40:00.003+03:00

Boy, you can really get depressed if you listen to the news. Politics, housing, Arabs, no loss of troubles around, ugh.

But we're standing in the midst of the three weeks of consolation, days of optimism, a time when we feel the future is bright.

Tonight, B"H, I was witness to this consolation up close and personal.

Mordechai Goodman, owner of Pizzeria Efrat, invited me to come to the pizza store today to meet Efrat's new olim (immigrants).

There, B"H filling all the tables in the store, were about 25 children, straight off the Nefesh B'Nefesh plane. One actually came yesterday from New Jersey.

They were participating in Efrat Olim Camp, making friends, acclimating to their new life, and maybe even learning a little Hebrew. There were sisters from Toronto, triplets from Cedarhurst, and kids from scattered neighborhoods all around the Americas. They were happy, smiley and laughing - eager to tell me where they moved: Zayit, Zayit, Zayit, Zayit, Neve Daniel, Dekel, Zayit..., and what school they would attend next year.

These 25 little children are a nechama for all Am Yisrael. They are our future. They are the positive tomorrow that we always hoped for. Our dreams are coming true with the thousands of children who have flown here from the four corners of the world, and because of those wonderful native children who are here to greet them and with whom they can join together to build our nation.

Am Yisrael Chai.