Picture of The Day: Only in Israel!

I think this picture says a lot about life in Israel that you won't find anyplace else.

The sign on the bus is of the most basic of Jewish Prayers, the "Shma," "שמע."

 Sh'ma Yisra'eil Adonai Eloheinu Adonai echad.Hear, Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is One.Judaism 101

Shema Yisrael (“Hear, O Israel”) are the first two words of a section of the Torah that is the centerpiece of the morning and evening prayer services, encapsulating the monotheistic essence of Judaism:

“Hear, O Israel: G‑d is our L‑rd, G‑d is one.”

In its entirety, the Shema consists of three paragraphs: Deuteronomy 6:4–9,Deuteronomy 11:13–21 and Numbers 15:37–41.

Its recitation twice daily (morning and evening) is a biblical commandment. In addition, we recite it just before retiring for the night, as well as in the Kedushah service on Shabbat.

Indeed, this succinct statement has become so central to the Jewish people that it is the climax of the final Ne’ilah prayer of Yom Kippur, and is traditionally a Jew’s last words on earth. Chabad

With all the faults and sacrilegious/non-Jewish stuff that goes on here, every once in awhile something happens or there's a sight like this one to remind me that with all its faults, the State of Israel is still a Jewish Country. There is no other. And Judaism, whether one practices/observes it or davka not is still the religion that ties to the Land, and without it there wouldn't be a country here, Jewish or not.

This week in my Matan Al Haperek study group, we learned Tihillim Psalms 85, which deals with the fertility of the Land and how the necessary rain will only fall if Gd decides that we have acted properly.

Before Zionism, before the return of the Jewish People to farm and inhabit the Land of Israel, it was desolate and barren. The proof that Gd loves us, and we are His ONLY CHOSEN PEOPLE is the abundant agriculture that has characterized the Zionist enterprise and subsequent State of Israel.