Stars Light Stars Bright

Last week VOICES' Chanukah issue came out. And though I haven't uploaded the expanded version of Voices to the web yet, or uploaded some of the many videos waiting to get up onto the http://www.voices-magazine.com/ website, I have felt an easing up of the pressure on me around deadline time, B"H.

With my drop more free time, I am determined to do some great things this Chanukah.

And so when Efrat astronomy buff Tom Rosenfeld told our community email list that a Geminid meteor shower would take place tonight, I decided to go out and watch it.

According to NASA, "The Geminids are expected to put on a good show this year. Created as planet Earth sweeps through dusty debris from extinct comet Phaethon, the annual Geminid meteor shower is predicted to peak on December 14th..The meteor streak points back to the constellation Gemini and the shower's radiant point, just off the upper left edge of the scene. Along with Rigel, the sword and belt stars of Orion are at the upper right. Near the eastern horizon are bright stars Procyon (left) and Sirius."

Very excited to see if the meteors had begun falling, I popped out in front of my house and saw nothing. Then I wrote to my email list asking, "What should I do? I don't see anything?" Someone responded, "Find the darkest place to keep watch."

I put on my coat, jumped into the car and started driving around my community at 12:45 AM, trying to find a dark spot. Where was everyone? I didn't see any other star gazers? Where were you guys?

I found a darkish spot near the Neve Shmuel building in the Te'ena. I grabbed my camera, got out of the car and looked up. Wow! I snapped photo after photo of the beautiful sight.

I watched in awe as one meteor (or was it a star) looked as if it were falling from the sky.

I could have watched forever, but not there. I sort of got the creeps on the deserted street, and I drove around Efrat looking for another spot. I found two on Rechov Netzach Yerushalayim and took more photos. I was amazed how bright and beautiful the meteors were. I saw another dart shoot across the sky. Very cool stuff!

Then I came home to download my photos, and they more or less don't show anything. Above you see what the sky is supposed ot look like (and that's actually what I saw), and at left, you see what my camera saw. I guess there are some things that just don't translate into a photo.

I stayed out for about 20 minutes watching the sky. I said the blessing "oseh maaseh bereishit", thanking He who created such phenomena in the world.

And now that I've seen something extraordinary LIGHTING up the Chanukah sky, I'm off to sleep.

Thanks to Tom Rosenfeld and Jonathan Segal. Happy holiday of lights.

Gush Etzion and the Chanukah Story

I woke up this Chanukah morning and looked out my picture window to the hills of Gush Etzion. Suddenly, I envisioned the events that took place here 2200 years ago - the Battle of the Chashmonaim against the Greeks - yes, right here in Gush Etzion.

Gush Etzion has always been a place where the Jews stand up for Eretz Yisrael and Torat Yisrael. It's been like that since our patriarchs, and it has continued, through David HaMelech, the Chashmonaim, Bar Kochba until today - Givat HaDagan, Givat HaTamar, Netzer, Shdema and more.

I wrote about the battle once in VOICES Magazine many years ago, and I'd like to share the story with you again.

Sit back and drink your coffee, and I will share with you the thoughts of Chaim Makovsky, Neve Daniel resident and noted tour guide.

Once upon a time 2200 years ago, the rebellion by the Chashmonaim against the Greek Empire began not far from Gush Etzion in the Modiin region.

"The Jewish rebellion took the Greeks by surprise," Chaim told Voices. "They thought they'd be able to squelch the rebellion quickly, but they couldn't, because the Jews fought back."

In total, there were eight battles between the Maccabee-led forces and the Greeks. Two out of the eight Chashmonaen battles were fought in Gush Etzion - the battles of Bet Tzur and Bet Zecharia, and one of these changed Jewish history.

The first of the eight battles - in Modiin - caught the Greeks so off guard that they were resoundingly defeated. After the Greeks sent for reinforcement, a second battle was fought near Bet Horon, closer to Jerusalem. With great faith, the Jews fought fiercely, and the Maccabees won again.

In the third battle, the Greeks brought in more reinforcements, Chaim said. They marched in from another direction, dear Park Canada and the Latrun Junction. Still the Greeks lost.

Needing a bigger show of strength, the Greek Army (under the evil Emperor Antiochus - pictured at left), decided to bring in their most power weapons - the war elephants. Chaim explained, "Elephants were considered scare tactics. They were the tanks of their day," giant unstoppable beasts that could really knock out anything in their path. Add to the legion of elephants, tens of thousands of soldiers whom the Greeks had just brought up from the South, and the fighting force was tremendous.

GUSH ETZION BREAKS THE GREEK SPIRIT

"This is how Gush Etzion got involved," Chaim explained. "Yehuda HaMaccabee got wind of this plan to bring enemy soldiers from the South. He in turn set up a camp in Bet Tzur (between today's Carmei Tzur and Rosh Tzurim). There he carefully planned his battle tactics, which even took into consideration the Greeks' use of these giant animals. And again, the Jewish army was victorious near Bet Tzur (in its fourth battle)."

This battle brought Gush Etzion into the thick of the Chashmonaen rebellion. The Book of the Maccabees notes that in the battle near modern-day Rosh Tzurim, the Greeks outnumbered the Jews by more than two to one with close to 100,000 Greek foot soldiers facing only about 40,000 Jewish "soldiers" who were recruited ad hoc.

The Jewish army was not composed of regular soldiers, but simple people who lived nearby in tiny villages all around Gush Etzion. Bet Tzur was the central village. As the small Arab neighborhoods in Gush Etzion live today, Jews lived more than 2,000 years ago - spread out over the hills in tiny villages with a few homes grouped together. The families subsisted on agriculture.

The Jews fought a guerilla war in the hills which were familiar to them, Chaim explained. "They set up small units that attacked the Greeks from the back and the sides, and they broke the might Greek spirit," he said. "The small number was able to overcome the larger number."

ONWARD TO JERUSALEM

After winning four battles in a row and now finding themselves in Gush Etzion, so close to Jerusalem, the Jewish army felt uplifted. Yehuda HaMaccabee decided to gather a troop of men to march onward to Jerusalem. Chaim explained, "He founda Jerusalem that was completely destroyed and Bet HaMikdash that was totally desecrated. It was a tremendous amount of faith, but he rallied the men to clean and purify the Bet HaMikdash." And the result is the eternal story of the one small flask of pure olive oil that burned from the 25th of Kislev for eight days.

What is not so well known is that while Yehuda and his men were readying the Bet HaMikdash for its rededication, the battle was still raging in Gush Etzion.

The fifth battle of the Chashmonaim against the Greeks was the famous battle of Zecharia. While his brother Yehuda was in Jerusalem, Elazar led this campaign.

Although the Jews had vanquished the Greeks in four consecutive battles, their elephant tank corps had been unstoppable. To break the morale of the Greeks, Elazar deemed that at least one elephant had to be killed. As the Greeks drew near, Elazar saw an elephant fitted with a red and gold carpeted saddle, and figured this must be the evil King Antiochus himself, or at least his general. In order to strike a fatal blow to the Greek forces, the elephant would be the target.

"Everyone else was afraid," Chaim said, "So Elazar undertook the tank himself. He got under the elephant and stabbed it in the stomach with a spear." He succeeded in killing the elephant, but tragically, the beast fell upon him, and Elazar was killed as well.

"We of Gush Etzion remember Elazar for his courage in that battle that raged nearby by naming the town of Elazar in his memory."

On the heels of Elazar's death, the Chashmonaim lost the battle of Bet Zecharia to the same Greek commander they had defeated at Bet Tzur.

However, the Maccabees continued, fighting three more battles against the Greeks and succeeding in demoralizing them until the final Jewish victory.

"Altogether there were eight battles," Chaim noted. "Eight is a theme that runs around Chanukah - eight days, eight lights, eight battles."

Chaim added that Gush Etzion, during the time of the Bet HaMikdash, had the same job as Gush Etzion today - defender of Jerusalem. "Gush Etzion was the protector of the Bet HaMikdash, as far back as the Maccabees. That seems to be our historical role, to be the buffer for Jerusalem, the eternal capital of the Jewish people, the protector of Jerusalem, our Holy City."

PS - if you'd like to see a child's version of the Chanukah story, watch this: http://voices-magazine.com/voices-videos.php?id=81 .

55 Packages

I am not one of those people who think Chanukah is in any way parallel to or competing with Xmas. I am very attached to the spiritual and historical aspects of Chanukah. (I mean, I have read Rabbi Pinchas Stolper's Chanukah histories twice each already - you should too!)
I am in awe of the Maccabees - not because they won incredible victories over their enemies, especially with the "few" against the "many", but because they were principled and dynamic people who loved Hashem, His Torah, His Land and His People. Rabbi Stolper noted that the Ramban himself wrote, "Were it not for the valiant efforts of the Chasmonaim, Torah and mitzvot would have been obliterated from the Jewish Nation."
Yehuda HaMaccabee and his brothers were truly inspirational individuals, who brought back the nation to G-d. So, with all of the above cited, I believe I know the higher significance of Chanukah!
But when the kids said they're coming home with their kids for Shabbat Chanukah, and my brother said he's coming with his kids and grandchildren on Shabbat Chanukah, I got so excited, the first thing I wanted to do was....go shopping. (It's something in my genes from my Dearest Mother ad 120).
I needed presents (including three birthday) for all age folks, plus prizes for our Chanukah games,
Then I needed food to feed 20 people for each meal and for our Motzei Shabbat Chanukah Party.
Because I was working on Voices Magazine, http://www.voices-magazine.com/, for the past few weeks, I only had two days in which to shop for all our Chanukah needs. It was a whirlwind of wooden toys, cute flashlights, chocolate coins, chickens, salmon, cash, checks and credit card.
I've never undertaken such a gigantic project in a two-day period. I had time just to SHOP and DROP (drop stuff off at the house before I had to go out again).
Last night, after I completed three hours in the supermarket, I came home with a car load of stuff, and B"H, my husband Yisrael was there to help me unload.
When we finished, my entire kitchen floor was covered with bags. It was an amazing site. I don't know why, but I counted the bags - FIFTY FIVE.
Since I did just about all the shopping at once, it was a unique opportunity to see how much we actually buy for a family Shabbat and super-simcha. ALOT.
Well, I've got to get off this blog and start cooking all that food, and wrapping all those gifts. So, I guess I'll wish all of you who tuned in - a HAPPY HEALTHY SAFE CHANUKAH.
May the lights of your Chanukiot (menorahs) cast a light of warm and love in your homes.

Rent a Preschooler

One of those wonderful things that makes an oleh (immigrant) teary-eyed is the way preschoolers celebrate Jewish/Israeli holidays. The floral crowns of Shavuot, the blue crepe paper ties of Independence Day, the painted faces of Purim.

And Chanukah, O' Chanukah. The candy-filled dreidle, the latke hat, the crayoned cruse of oil, and the magnicent wood and bottle-capped menorah.

Every visit to my children's ganim (preschools) at holiday time was a lesson for me in Jewish life in Israel. As I watched my little ones singing the songs I never knew, and dancing the dances of a new land, I was so grateful that my children would grow up with an even deeper attachments to the holidays than I.

Today I attended my four-year-old granddaughter Rivka's Chanukah party. The girls spun like dreidels, wiggled like latkes slipping on the oil, and popped up every time one of their candle flames was lit. They decorated dreidels, colored the story of Mrs. Keresh (the potato cutting board), and painted their own Chanukiot (menorahs). Each of the mothers brought another treat. My daughter-in-law baked souvganiot (donuts) and added loads of powdered sugar.

To end a perfect morning, the ganenet (preschool teacher) had the girls whack a giant dreidel piniata, and catch all the candy and prizes to be shared amongst the entire class.

Not all olim (immigrants) are lucky enough to come when their children are small, and not all have grandchildren in the Land. So I thought perhaps that when a family without a preschooler moves to Israel, before every holiday, they can rent a preschooler, or make arrangements with the teacher to attend holiday parties, even if they have no kids in the class.

The day we made Aliyah 17 years ago, my friend Kaye was on the same flight. I settled into life in Israel with my tiny children, but her girls were older already, and so she didn't have that preschool cultural influence in her home.

You know what she did? She contacted one of the local preschool teachers and asked if she could volunteer in gan for a year. The teacher was thrilled, receiving a much needed extra pair of hands. And Kaye experienced the excitement of preschool every day. She learned all the traditional gan songs, read "Mitz Petel" (one of Israeli preschool's most beloved books), memorized all the hand motions of children's games, recited the Hebrew names of all the parts of the body, and learned the history behind every holiday.

Kaye didn't rent a preschooler that year. She rented twenty, and her Aliyah experience was richer than just about anyone I knew. Smart lady.

Happy Chanukah.

A LIGHT CASE: Efrat Vs. The Electric Company

If you live in Efrat or Gush Etzion, then you know that whenever the weather changes, the lights go out. And not just the lights. The computers shut down, the refrigerators stop working, the heaters go off, and everything gets ruined. Appliances just burn out from the sudden and continued blitzes. (And I'm talking continued blitzes - there could be ten a day from a few seconds in duration to a few hours.) As pioneers in the Land of Israel, we have held ourselves strong through many situations, but the constant collapse of the electric system is unheard of. Our family personally has lived like this since we came to Efrat 17 years ago, and we've lost just too many appliances to these blackouts. Drip drop pop black fritz gone!!

Well, in October 2007, Efrat and Gush Etzion residents finally had enough. And one brave man, Efrat's Yechiel Fishman, brought everyone together to fight the poor electric service coming into our community.

Today two years later, residents of Efrat/GE traveled to the Tel Aviv Court House on Rechov Weizman for a hearing on this class action suit against Israel's electric company. Efrat's claim against the electric company is that the disturbances and stoppages of electric service are ABNORMALLY high, both in comparison to any other area in Israel, and in comparison to even the worst service that could be endured by residents.

A bus load of Efrat/Gush residents got up at 5:30 AM to make a 6:30 AM bus to the courthouse, but they wouldn't have missed it. Finally, they felt justice would be served. Led by Yechiel Fishman, who initiated the action, the residents listened to the attorneys for the Electric Company and for the community, and felt that the presiding judge Derora Pilpel understood their plight.

The court gave the Electric Company until May 23 to make constructive changes in the electric infrastructure in Gush Etzion, and then to appear before the court once again to show what they have done to correct the situation.

Yechiel and the attorneys representing Efrat and Gush residents felt that the outcome this morning was a very positive one, and we all look forward to the next hearing, a few days after Shavuot.

Kol hakavod to Yechiel!! and to all our region's residents who took off from work and dedicated their morning to this event, making the trek to Tel Aviv in search of justice. May this Chanukah be one of uninterrupted light.

IY"H, we hope to have two videos up later today (one in Hebrew and one in English) about the case and today's events.

They will be available, IY"H, on http://www.voices-magazine.com/ .

Real Zionism

Symbolic acts to show our love for the Land of Israel are great. They get folks all excited, and the press come out with their cameras and their notepads.

Then, there is real Zionism - the kind where Jews build the land without the media watching every shovel, the kind that involves real mesirut nefesh (self-sacrifice), the kind where only G-d Above witnesses the sacrifices of those involved in the act.

My family was on our way to Bet El for Shabbat, when we noticed a boy on the hilltop at the side of the road, putting up some kind of sign. It seemed like he was in the middle of nowhere, and it's kind of odd to be in the middle of nowhere 45 minutes before Shabbat. My curiosity would not abate, so I made my husband turn around on the highway and drive back to the boy.

I called out to him (he was older than I first thought) and asked what he was doing. He said that he and nine other friends had started a new community - Ramat Migron.

Ramat Migron is actually an offshoot of the Jewish town, Migron, which is on a hilltop right next to Pesagot. More than 50 families call Migron home. My husband and I have been there, and it is a lovely neighborhood, but the government wants to destroy it and move its residents, because they consider it an "illegal settlement."

Ramat Migron was built by young people, and destroyed a few times already, but the residents are determined to continue rebuilding it until it stands always, and its hilltop is filled with Jewish families.

I am sure this will happen one day, because the destiny of the Jewish people is to tied to the Land. G-d forbid, the government might send forces once again to destroy Ramat Migron, as they have other "outposts," but I know that the next time I pass on my way to Bet El, Ramat Migron's sign will still be standing (or be standing again) and yet another caravan or structure will be added to it. And one day in the not too distant future, new families will call Ramat Migron home. I look forward to visiting then.

You can view my encounter with the young Ramat Migron resident on http://voices-magazine.com/voices-videos.php?id=79 .

The Bet El-Efrat Connection

Last week's Torah portion was a dynamic proof of the Biblical connection of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. The cities of our heartland - Schechem, Bet El, Bethlehem, Efrat, and Kiryat Arba - all figured prominently in the story told in "Vayishlach." (Genesis 32:4-36:44)
Jacob leaves his father-in-law and enters Eretz Israel to be greeted once again by the Angels of the Holy Land, as well as his estranged brother Esau. After a troubling familial encounter, Jacob has more personal trials, beginning in Shechem with the abduction and defilement of his young daughter Dina, and the punishment inflicted on the town by his sons Shimon and Levi. The action continues in Bet El, as Jacob erects an altar at the spot of his famous dream, his mother Rivka's nurse dies and is buried there, and Hashem promises Jacob once again ownership of this Land and a glorious future for his descendants. Then on his way to his father, Isaac, in Kiryat Arba/Chevron, Jacob's beloved wife Rachel dies in childbirth and is buried in Bethlehem on the way to Efrata.
In heart, Bet El and Efrat are sister cities, not only because we are mentioned together in the Torah portion, but because there are so many connections between the two places. Our populations are similar - lovers of Torah and Eretz Yisrael. Many Efrat residents have family in Bet El, and visa versa. Efrat children have learned (and continue to do so) in the Bet El Yeshiva and visa versa. Efrat residents, Nadia Matar, Eve Harow and Dovid Willner, are radio hosts on Bet El's Arutz 7. And quite a number of Efrat's second generation are living in Bet El, taking advantage of the reasonable rentals and caravan opportunities, and the chevra (group) of serious young Torah families.
We spent Shabbat Vayishlach with our children in Bet El. They are pioneers living in a modest caravan on the hill, Pisgat Yaakov, overlooking the place of Jacob's dream. (Others on the hill include children and grandchildren of Efrat and Gush Etzion families.) The young people living on Pisgat Yaakov are idealistic, bright and dedicated. Together, they are a strong vibrant community that bode very well for the future of Am Yisrael, IY"H.
Our Sabbath began as one of the residents blew the shofar to signal the start of Shabbat. In different neighborhoods, I had heard music before candlelighting, but never the sound of the shofar. But Ilan, the baal tokea (shofar blower) said that it was an ancient custom. And ancient customs feel very right in Bet El.
I found the reason on the website: http://www.dailyhalacha.com/ - "The Gemara in Masechet Shabbat on Daf 35, Side B, discussed a custom that took place in Jewish communities every Erev Shabbat. Every Erev Shabbat, a fellow used to go up to one of the tall roofs in the city and blow the Shofar blasts to warn the people that Shabbat is coming.He would blow a Tikea, a Teruah, and then a Tikea. He would then blow a second set of Tikea, Teruah, Tekia. The Gemara discusses what each set represented. For example, the first sound would be blasted in order to warn the farmers in the fields that they should put down their equipment, stop planting, and start making their way back home to accept Shabbat. The second set was to tell the merchants in the city that it is time to close shop. The third set reminded the people it’s time to light the Nerot Shabbat. There would be three more sets of blasts, with the last signifying that Shabbat has begun."
The synagogue on the hilltop was packed in the morning, and someone's little Sephardi boys sang together as a choir, at the end of the services. Mothers and babies floated in and out, and the atmosphere was very warm.
On Shabbat afternoon, I took my grandbabies for a walk. We looked down to the place of The Dream.
What a zechut (privilege) to be able to stand where once a ladder reached to Heaven, where angels descended and ascended. We stood in the open air, and yet, it felt as if we were in a sanctuary. And he called the place, "El-Bet-El, for it was there that G-d had been revealed to him..." (Genesis 35:7) One of the residents also pointed out the place of the Alon Bachut, where Devorah was buried. He said, that tree, the largest of the area, is ancient, and if it is not exactly Devorah's tree, it is an offshoot of that tree.
I couldn't take the stroller to the top of the water tower, from which you can see all the way to Israel's coast, but there were lots of young people up on top taking advantage of the weather to see the land of Hashem's promise. "That land that I gave to Abraham and Isaac, I will give to you; and to your offspring after you I will give the land." (Genesis 35:12)
We returned home to Efrat, and our minds were on the continuation of Jacob's story. As he approached Efrat while traveling through Bethlehem, his wife Rachel went into labor, and died in childbirth. She called her son, Ben Oni (son of My Mourning), but Jacob gave him a more optimistic named, "'Benyamin' (son of the RIGHT), a symbol of strength and success." (The Stone Edition Tanach)
We pray that Hashem bless the residents of Bet El and Efrat, and all of Eretz Yisrael. May they appreciate the privilege that they have to live in G-d's Land, and may they follow in the direction of their forefathers, as well as Benyamin, bringing strength and success to the Jewish people always.