Get Efrat Out of the DEEP FREEZE of Non-building

The media says there's no building freeze, but building in my town is frozen solid. I live in Efrat, the capital of Gush Etzion. You'd think a capital would be bustling with construction, but then again, look at the capital of Israel - our holy city of Jerusalem. There's a definite lack of cranes and tractors in many areas.
Recently I read that building is indeed proceeding in different areas of Judea and Samaria (Yesha), but Efrat's Mayor Oded Revivi explained that towns whose land is being marketed by the Jewish Agency or Jewish National Fund are under construction. However, Efrat's land is marketed by the State of Israel, and the State just is not releasing any lands for construction.
Now, Efratians might not be worried by this. Shortage of housing keeps housing prices high, and folks love when their real estate is worth a bundle. But high housing prices mean that young people can't afford to live in your town. Without young people, there is no future. Folks just grow old in their over-priced houses, and even when they want to sell, there are no buyers, because the prices are too outrageous.

So, a town without building and growth is condemned to shrivel up and go the way of Tombstone, Arizona. Not a pretty site.

On a larger scale, if there's no building in Efrat and many other towns in Judea and Samaria, the entire Yesha enterprise is threatened. That's what US President Barack Obama wants, but I certainly hope it's not what Israel's elected officials want. For a strong country, you need strong, growing, prospering towns and cities everywhere, especially in the heart of the Land.

Well, things look grim, but Efrat's Mayor is not giving up. He's been meeting with Knesset Members and Ministers. He's been banging on doors, and inviting government officials to come here and see for themselves that without the ability to build, we are absolutely choking.
Visits by Knesset Members are great, and it's very gratifying that they are sympathetic to our predicament, but the key to Efrat's building, as well as building most anywhere else in Yesha, is Defense Minister Ehud Barak. And the only way he'll sign anything for Efrat is if the Prime Minister orders him to do it.
The trouble is that the government doesn't want to put out public tenders in Efrat, because it doesn't want the American government
Efrat is the capital of Gush Etzion. It's a city of kindness (chesed) and a place where people work together for the common good. Efrat's made a record of an extraordinary amount of educators and a tremendous amount of doctors and nurses within its population. Efrat's residents have often taken the lead in times of national trial - helping Gush Katif expellees in their hotels, welcoming residents of the North into their homes during the Lebanon War, etc. Efrat deserves to build, so that it can absorb more families that love Israel and work for its benefit.
Efratians, you must act now. Respectfully demand the start of construction in Efrat. Call or fax or email today. Even if you don't live in Efrat, I'm inviting you to help us.
Start easy with a few of your Likud representatives.
Benny Begin - 02-6408022, bbegin@knesset.gov.il
Tzippy Hotovely - 02-6408328, Fax: 02-6753719, zhotovely@knesset.gov.il
Ze'ev Elkin - 02-6408145, Fax: 02-6496438, Zelkin@knesset.gov.il
Ruby Rivlin - 02-6753444, Fax: 02-6496193, rrivlin@knesset.gov.il
And of course, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu - 02-6753227, Fax: 02-6496659, bnetanyahu@knesset.gov.il

You can find plenty more at http://www.knesset.gov.il/.
Write to your Knesset representatives.
Keep those phones ringing!! We need to build now!

Shepherds Hotel Construction on the Way - YAY!

Yesterday's news was very exciting:
Demolition had begun on the Shepherd Hotel to make way for a Jewish apartment building. If you read a previous blog of mine: http://voices-magazine.blogspot.com/2010/03/divine-retribution-of-g-ds-sense-of.html, then you know that the Shepherd Hotel was once the residence of one of the biggest anti-Semites and incitors to violence that Israel ever knew - Haj Amin Al-Husseini, the mufti of Jerusalem. He was kindred spirits with Adolph Hitler, yimach shmo.
I had visited the Shepherd Hotel last March and heard of the plans for the new building. Everything about that specific building is proof that eventually G-d's justice is served.
Husseini was not only an anti-Semite. He stirred up the Arab masses to attack Jews throughout Israel and create pogroms in Jewish neighborhoods. Like Hitler and Haman before him, he wanted the destruction of the Jewish people And now the site of his home will be filled willed with wonderful Jewish children, running, playing, living life in Jerusalem, the capital of the Jewish people.
Another point about that house is that it is right next to the British Consulate building. The British Mandate did everything it could to prevent Jews from buying land in Israel, from building in Israel and from even entering Israel. And now a Jewish building is going up right next door. Yippee.
Besides all else, this was the site of the murder of the Hadassah doctors and nurses on their way up to Hadassah Hospital during the Mandate Days, during the time when the British were pledged to look after the welfare of all those in their Mandate. Well, the convoy climbed the hill to Hadasah Hospital, and right outside the British Consulate, the Arabs attacked and murdered 79 Jews, or was it 78 Jews and one Christian.
The memorial stands there today outside the Consulate and across from the Shepherd Hotel. Those 79 souls will be avenged by the building of a Jewish community right across from the site of their horrible deaths. Am Yisrael Chai. The nation of Israel shall live, despite the Arab enemy that would bomb, stab, kassam them. The nation of Israel shall live, despite the British or any of the European nations would have not and would not lift a finger to prevent the destruction.
I laughed this morning when I read the Jerusalem Post:
Consuls General in capital call to be present at demolitions, court proceedings, intervene in arrests; "Attempts to emphasize Jewish identity of city threatens to radicalize the conflict," 'Independent' reports.

Well, the Jewish identity of Jerusalem threatens to radicalize the conflict with the Arabs! When buses were blowing up all over Jerusalem in 2001, was it because of the demolition of the Shepherd Hotel or that of any illegal Arab building in Jerusalem? Um, no.
When a suicide bomber blew up Sbarro's Restaurant and killed 15 year old Malkie Roth, the sweet Schijveschuurder family, 18 year old Tehilla Maoz, pregnant Shoshanna Greenbaum and others, was it because of demolitions of illegal Arab homes in Eastern Jerusalem? Um, no.
When an Arab terrorist blew up Cafe Hillel and took with it Naava Applebaum, a bride on the eve of her wedding, and her father Dr. David Applebaum, the head of the emergency room at Shaarei Tzedek hospital, was it because of the demolitions of illegal Arab buildings? Um, no.
So what are these blind Consuls General talking about?
The European Union is pushing an Arab agenda that would end, chas v'shalom, in the destruction of the Jewish State as we know it today. They're just happy that their hands are clean, and someone else is doing the dirty work.
B"H for building Jewish homes in Jerusalem and everywhere else in the State of Israel. B"H for the population growth of the Jewish people, especially in Judea and Samaria, where Jewish building has been frozen all year.
B"H for a country that grows and prospers. May Am Yisrael grow in number, in buildings and in faith in Hashem Above, because He is the One who rules the earth, not the EU or the PA or the USA.

B"H Tomorrow Night's Shabbat!!

WHAT??? Tonight is Shabbat. Agghh. How did that happen? I must have misread the calendar. Aghhh. Better race even more.

Okay, a two minute blog and then off.

FRIDAY, the shortest and busiest day of the week! NO matter how little needs to be done on Friday, folks like me are usually ready only two minutes before the time of candlelighting or two minutes after. :(

This morning I had my regular weekly reheasal for Dames of the Dance 4 - The Promised Land. On Friday, we rehearse two numbers - a very patriotic march that is a tribute to the Israel Defense Forces; and a rousing stomp number that is dedicated to building Beit HaMikdash (the Holy Temple). They are just brilliant, B"H, really not enough adjectives for the excitement and energy in those two very different numbers. Both were choreographed by the innovative and talented Judy Feinerman Kizer. Wait 'til you seem 'em!!!

Usually it's dance, dance, dance on Friday morning and then race home to cook for Shabbat.

This week was different for my friends Fayge, Meira, Heather and me. We had our dance reheasal and then had to rush from Efrat to Gush Etzion for a full cast rehearsal of JUDGE! The Song of Devora.

Our cast is performing tomorrow night (Saturday evening) at the Gavna Restaurant's event hall. And it's going to be such an incredibly fun and fantastic performance. The performance was created by Raise Your Spirits, the Efrat Matnas and Gavna together specifically for female soldiers, national service girls and those women who just haven't been able to make it to a week-day performance. Of course, other females are invited as well.

So we rehearsed in this enclosed tent from 10 AM to 1:30 PM and then raced home to hopefully supported (read: not such happy families) to complete Shabbat preparation.

But it was all worth it.

Folks, this Gavna show is going to be an historic production - out in the middle of a forest in an enclosed tent, high atop the hills of Gush Etzion. It's such an intimate place, the audience and the actors are side by side. Everyone is going to have such a blast. Wow wow wow.

If the rehearsal is any indication of how the show's going to work out - LOOOOOOK OUT, FOLKS. Yay.

If you read this before Motzei Shabbat 8:30 PM, you're invited to race over to Gavna in Gush Etzion. You'll thank me.

And before I end, I want to thank Matnas Efrat for all their support. They're just terrif!!

Admission: 35 NIS for bnot sherut and soldiers

50 NIS for any other women who'd like to join us

All photos by Rebecca Kowalsky. Images through Time!! http://www.imagesthroughtime.com/

Get on the Pollard Bandwagon

Wow, Jonathan Pollard is hot this week. Almost everyone's writing letters and making statements for his release. I am torn by how to react to these sudden passionate pleas.

B"H, Thank G-d, people finally understand and are willing to state that Jonathan Pollard should be released. "Howdy, friend, come aboard."

Or where've you been for 25 years? You're getting on the Pollard bandwagon now because it's the cool place to be.

I guess it doesn't matter what I think, and it doesn't matter why they're on the Pollard train now. The main thin is that this train pick up its most important passenger and get to the station!!

One last word, a tribute to Rabbi Pesach Lerner of the National Council of the Young Israel who has been pushing that Pollard train along with faith and determination for many years. He is seen here with HaRav Mordechai Eliyahu, ztz'l (Jonathan Pollard's rabbi) on a visit to prison. Photos from www.jonathanpollard.org

Hear Rabbi Lerner speak about Pollard:

http://www.zingmit.com/2010/12/rabbi-pesach-lerner-relates-realities.html

* * *

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

OVER 500 RELIGIOUS AND COMMUNAL LEADERS CALL ON PRESIDENT OBAMA TO RELEASE JONATHAN POLLARD

A broad-based interfaith coalition comprised of more than 500 members of the clergy and community leaders sent a letter today to President Barack Obama, in which they called on the President to commute the sentence of Jonathan Pollard. (The letter with the complete list of signatories is attached; the text of the letter appears below.)

The signatories on the letter include prominent religious and communal leaders from a wide array of Christian and Jewish communities, including representatives of Alliance for Jewish Renewal, American Values, Amit, Association of Reform Zionists of America, B'nai B'rith International, Central Conference of American Rabbis, Christians United for Israel, Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations, EMUNAH of America, Florida Council of Churches, Hebrew Union College, Hillel, JCC's of North America, Jewish Women International, National Council of Young Israel, New York Board of Rabbis, ORT America, Inc., Orthodox Union, Rabbinical Council of America, Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism, Religious Zionists of America-Mizrachi, Simon Wiesenthal Center, Union for Reform Judaism, Yeshiva University, and the Zionist Organization of America.

"We, the undersigned over five hundred religious and communal leaders representative of the broad spectrum of the American faith community - wish to add our voices in support of clemency for Jonathan Pollard," wrote the religious and communal leaders. "We are united in the fundamental belief that 'Justice, only justice, shall you pursue' (Deuteronomy 16:20), which rests at the core of our moral principles and system of justice."

"Commuting his sentence to time served would be a wholly appropriate exercise of your power of clemency - as well as a matter of basic fairness and American justice," continued the religious and communal leaders. "It would also represent a clear sense of compassion and reconciliation - a sign of hope much needed in today's world of tension and turmoil."

The letter was spearheaded by David Nyer, an Orthodox Jewish activist, who collaborated on this effort with many Jewish and non-Jewish organizations. Nyer noted that Jonathan Pollard's life sentence is grossly disproportionate when compared to the sentences of others who have spied for allied nations. In addition, countless elected officials, individuals from the national intelligence arena and the legal world, as well as religious and community leaders, have described Pollard’s sentence as excessive, and have called for his sentence to be commuted.

Pollard, who just began his 26th year in federal prison, has repeatedly expressed his remorse publicly and in private in letters to many Presidents and others. His health has deteriorated significantly during his two-and-a-half decades in prison.

"Jonathan Pollard has already served 25 years - much longer than anyone else having committed the same offense," said well-known Conservative Republican leader Gary Bauer, the President of American Values. "He has repeatedly expressed remorse; his health is deteriorating. I join many other prominent figures from across the political spectrum in urging President Obama to exercise simple American justice, clemency, and compassion on his behalf."

"I have written president Obama seeking a pardon for Jonathan Pollard," said Professor Charles J. Ogletree, the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard Law School, and the Director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice. "I hope the President grants the wishes of many who have supported a pardon for Mr. Pollard." Professor Ogletree, who was President Barack and First Lady Michelle Obama's law professor at Harvard and remains friends with them today, recently sent his own letter to the President concerning Jonathan Pollard.

Rabbi Donald A. Levy, the Rabbi of Temple Beit Torah in Colorado Springs, Colorado, and a Chaplain, Major in the United States Air Force (retired), is a signatory on the letter and has asked President Obama to commute Jonathan Pollard's sentence. Rabbi Levy was on active duty in the U.S. Navy and working as a cryptologist when Jonathan Pollard was arrested. At the time, Rabbi Levy was chosen to participate in the team assessing the damage potentially caused by Jonathan Pollard's disclosures.

"There was nothing that we came across to indicate that Pollard gave information to any country but Israel," said Rabbi Levy. "Further, the information he probably disclosed consisted primarily of daily operational intelligence summaries, information that is extremely perishable. It did not appear to me at the time that the information he gave Israel should have resulted in a life sentence."

"It appears that Mr. Pollard is in prison not because of the crime he committed but due to geopolitics," said Carlos M. Salinas, former Acting Director of Government Relations for Amnesty International USA. "No human being should ever be a chit in such a game."

"After spending the past quarter-century in a jail cell, it is time for the United States to open the prison gates and allow Jonathan Pollard to return home to his wife, his family, and the Jewish people," said Rabbi Pesach Lerner, the Executive Vice President of the National Council of Young Israel. Rabbi Lerner, who communicates regularly with Jonathan Pollard and his wife Esther, and is considered by Jonathan to be his clergy, has been intimately and actively involved with Jonathan Pollard’s plight for almost 20 years.

"I urge President Obama to heed the calls of prominent law enforcement personnel, renowned legal professionals, and many other elected officials, professors of law, and community leaders, all of whom concur that Jonathan Pollard's life sentence is grossly disproportionate when compared to the sentences of others who have spied for allied nations," continued Rabbi Lerner.

"As he enters his 26th year of imprisonment, Jonathan Pollard has paid disproportionately for the crimes for which he has repeatedly expressed remorse," said Malcolm Hoenlein, the Executive Vice Chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. "It is time that he be released and allowed to rebuild his life. It is now a humanitarian matter that calls for compassion and justice."

"The time has come for Jonathan Pollard to be released from prison," said Rabbi Ellen Weinberg Dreyfus, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis. "Having already served a quarter of a century, his time in prison greatly exceeds that of many whose crimes are more serious. Justice has been done, and must now be tempered by mercy. Clemency is now the moral choice."

The following is the text of the letter to President Obama:

January 3, 2011

The Honorable Barack H. Obama
President of the United States
The White House
Washington, D.C. 20500

Dear Mr. President:

We, the undersigned over five hundred religious and communal leaders representative of the broad spectrum of the American faith community - wish to add our voices in support of clemency for Jonathan Pollard. We are united in the fundamental belief that "Justice, only justice, shall you pursue" (Deuteronomy 16:20), which rests at the core of our moral principles and system of justice.

Mr. Pollard is currently serving his 26th year of a life sentence, having been indicted on one count of passing classified information to an ally without intent to harm the United States. We certainly do not condone his crime, nor do we underestimate the gravity of the offense. But it is patently clear that the sentence was and remains terribly disproportionate - the average punishment is a 2-4 year prison term - and (as several federal judges have noted) constitutes a gross miscarriage of justice.

As you know, prominent figures from across the spectrum have publicly stated their support for Mr. Pollard's release. They include Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, Senators Charles Schumer and Arlen Specter, Harvard Law Professors Charles Ogletree and Alan Dershowitz, former Attorney General Michael Mukasey, former Assistant Secretary of Defense Lawrence Korb, Rev. Theodore Hesburgh of Notre Dame, Benjamin Hooks of the NAACP, former federal Judge George Leighton, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former U.S. Solicitor General Theodore Olsen, Pastor John Hagee, and Gary Bauer. Furthermore, thirty-nine members of Congress have recently submitted to you a "Dear Colleague" letter led by Congressman Barney Frank in support of commuting Mr. Pollard's sentence. Perhaps most noteworthy, similar support has come from those who have seen the classified information of the actual damage caused including former CIA Director R. James Woolsey, Congressman Anthony Weiner, and former Senator and Chairman of the Senate Intelligence Committee Dennis DeConcini.

After more than two and a half decades in prison, Mr. Pollard's health is declining. He has repeatedly expressed remorse for his actions, and by all accounts has served as a model inmate.

Commuting his sentence to time served would be a wholly appropriate exercise of your power of clemency - as well as a matter of basic fairness and American justice. It would also represent a clear sense of compassion and reconciliation - a sign of hope much needed in today's world of tension and turmoil.

Thank you for your consideration of this request.

Respectfully,

Enough Already - Free the Big "J" Man

A new generation has arisen who doesn't know JOSEPH, I mean JONATHAN. Jonathan Pollard. They don't know what he's accused of, they don't know why he's sitting in jail as a spy who gave information to a friendly nation, when there are spies all over the world who do all kinds of stuff that endanger the existence of other countries and when they get caught, get sent home, or serve short sentences with long reprimands.

Here's Jonathan Pollard, whom everyone nowadays seems to agree should be let out of prison, and he's still languishing and suffering in his little box of a cell.

Like Joseph before him, Jonathan is decaying in prison without a hint of release, but with hope and faith.

Here's Jonathan Pollard, who may have saved Israel in the first Gulf War, and yet has been largely ignored by the Israeli government. Wow (a big facetious wow), after 25 years, Israel is finally asking for his release on humanitarian grounds.

I think sane people, Jewish and not, are just sick and tired of Pollard's imprisonment when it doesn't seem to make sense any more.

The Pollard case is complex and large. Read about it here: http://www.jonathanpollard.org/facts.htm. But read about it. Scream out for Jonathan's release, write to the Prime Minister of Israel, the President of the United States, Senators and Congressmen, newspapers and websites. Tell the world, it's time for Jonathan to come home.

It's time for him to come home to Beit Yonatan in the City of David. It's time for him to plant an olive tree (along with his wife Esther, at left) in Efrat's Be'erot Yonatan. It's time for them to build a real life together - a bayit ne'eman b'yisrael. It's time for people to say "Thank you" to Jonathan, just because they should.

There's a Jonathan Pollard video that folks are passing around now - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eX8KY4VxoXk. It hasn't gotten as many hits as it should.

Maybe the video clip is not exploding in cyberspace yet because Jonathan Pollard doesn't have a catchy enough name. Free Jonathan Pollard doesn't sound so cool. What about, "Free the Big 'J' Man"? Or maybe this video clip should have a Jonathan Pollard song played in the background. That would bring up the hits, "Hey, Johnny Johnny, the day is near; when you're gonna shuffle outta there. You're comin' to Is-ra-el, and we know why; cause you saved us as our Jewish spy; yeah yeah, oh yeah; yeah yeah, oh yeah."

Well, it doesn't have a song, and it's not action packed, but it's important, so please watch the above video clip and pass it along.

ONE More about O-N-E

I mentioned today's posting to my husband, who wanted to add something about ONE.
He had just read a mailing from the Efrat organization. Efrat helps save the lives of babies whose mothers wished to abort them. They not only save the baby, but they support the family emotionally and literally for quite a few years after the baby's birth.
The mailing talked about the power of ONE.
So, this is another good "vort" (word) for 1/1/11.
Very often in the Bible, the two tribes of Benjamin and Dan are named one after the other. Why? Benjamin and Dan weren't born right after one another. They had different mothers. The did not have any special characteristic that would cause them to be paired.
In fact, Benjamin had ten sons and Dan only had one.
Benjamin's ten sons were each named after Ben's brother Joseph. Each son's name was a detail in Benjamin's life that had to do with his brother.
Dan, on the other hand, only had one son Chushim. When a count is made of the Jewish people in the desert, Dan's ancestors number 64,000. Wow, 64,000 from only one son, Chushim.
Therefore Benjamin's descendants should have been about ten times as much, because they began with ten, instead of one son.
However, the tribe of Benjamin numbered only 45,600.
My husband reminded us who Chushim, the progenitor of all these children, was.
When Jacob died, and his children brought him back to Israel to be buried in the Cave of Machpela, Esau came and claimed the remaining burial plot belonged to him and not Yaakov. While the brothers argued with Esau about this, they also sent Naftali to run back to Egypt to get the deed.
Meanwhile, the holy patriarch Jacob remained unburied.
Chushim, the son of Dan, was deaf. He asked his family what the delay in the burial was, and they explained to him that Esau would not let Jacob be buried in Machpela.
Chushim did not have discussions with Esau, or agree to a negotiation. Chushim took a club and smashed Esau over the head, killing him. Chushim could not bare his grandfather's dishonor.
The Efrat organization reminded its readers that Chushim was deaf, and might have had other difficulties as well.
What if his mother would have taken a sonogram (or whatever diagnostic procedure) that showed there was something wrong with Chushim? What if she had decided that since her child was defective, she wanted to abort him?
If that happened, chas v'shalom, Chushim would never have been born, and Jacob would not have been buried in the Cave of Machpela.
Chushim was a very challenged man, and yet he rose above the challenges to honor his grandfather and make history.
Every ONE is a special human being with special talents and abilities. Every ONE must be appreciated and cherished.
It only takes ONE to make a difference.

ONE one One ONE

1
My son just told me it's 1/1/11.
Well, that's pretty incredible.
Firstly, I didn't know it was the secular new year. He reminded me.
Secondly, I was so thrilled that I didn't know.
B"H, proof that Israel really IS a place that revolves around the Jewish year and Jewish times.
But, I'm sure one one one one has some great significance.
For me, it's easy.
One is Hashem, the G-d Who created the world.
One is the People of Israel, for whom G-d created the world and who are the chosen people.
One is the Land of Israel, the blessed land, the land that G-d gave the Jewish people as an eternal inheritance.
One is the Torah of Israel, the blueprint of the world. The entire world revolves, day turns to night and night turns to day, because the Jewish people somewhere are keeping the Torah and keeping the world alive.
One is the Holy Temple, may it be rebuilt in our days.
One is me.
One is you.
Each one of us can make a difference in our family, our community, our world.
Each one of us can keep the world spinning, can bring happiness to others, can do loving kindness and make the world a better place.
One one one one.