Only in Israel, Terror Victims, Cared for by All

Decades ago, when a horrendous fatal car accident halved a local family, the injured survivors were cared for in the same hospital room, where they sat shiva together. Many times since, I've seen pictures of hospitalized family members, of both sexes and various ages, in the same hospital room. It's a very humane and comforting policy, which doesn't exist in other countries.

The young couple, Shira and Amichai Ish-Ran, who as a result of an Arab terror attack outside of Ofra, not only were injured, but as a result of Shira's injury, their baby didn't survive. They are now together in Shaare Tzedek Hospital in the same room. Obviously, after such physical, medical and emotional trauma, they have a lot to deal with. Separation would have only made it worse.

According to Jewish Law, there's no mourning, shiva-all the usual restrictions, after the death of a tiny baby under a month old, so friends came to sing to them.



Do you see this in other countries? Only in Israel.

Very Cultured IDF Army, Only in Israel

As I blogged on A Jewish Grandmother, the other day I spent a few hours in the Israel Museum. It was full of IDF Israel Defense Force soldiers. No, there wasn't a security emergency. Going to the Israel Museum and many other cultural and historic sites is part of "basic training."

Our soldiers come from all walks of Israeli society, plus many come from abroad and voluntarily serve in the army as lone soldiers. It's very common to see groups of soldiers touring around the country. I consider that one of the very special "only in Israel" aspects of living here.

IDF soldiers aren't just a "fighting force," they are an important part of Israeli society, whether Jewish or not. That's right. Many IDF soldiers aren't Jewish. Some aren't because they are descended from Jewish fathers, and neither their mothers nor they have converted, although they are very Israeli. And less well-known is the fact that Israeli Druze, Bedouin and even regular Israeli Arab Muslims serve in the army.

Life in Israel isn't what the international, very Leftist, media likes to portray. The truth is very different. The only apartheid here is in the areas controlled by Arabs and the PA-Palestinian Authority.

Only in Jerusalem: Talking Torah on The Tracks

Yesterday as I was walking the old Jerusalem train tracks, minding my business and admiring the view, a couple of walkers stopped me:

"You're religious. Maybe you can help us."
"OK." I was curious. 

That was a very compelling opening line. What could they want from me?

"I've been trying to teach my friend Parshat Shavua, (Torah Portion of the Week,) and we have a problem. How could a man as righteous as Jacob lie to his father?" One of them asked me. 

Actually, this verse is from an earlier week, Toldot, Genesis Chapter 27:

19And Jacob said to his father, "I am Esau your firstborn. I have done as you have spoken to me. Please rise, sit down and eat of my game, so that your soul will bless me."

יטוַיֹּ֨אמֶר יַֽעֲקֹ֜ב אֶל־אָבִ֗יו אָֽנֹכִי֙ עֵשָׂ֣ו בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ עָשִׂ֕יתִי כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֥ר דִּבַּ֖רְתָּ אֵלָ֑י קֽוּם־נָ֣א שְׁבָ֗ה וְאָכְלָה֙ מִצֵּידִ֔י בַּֽעֲב֖וּר תְּבָֽרֲכַ֥נִּי נַפְשֶֽׁךָ:

By chance I had read the perfect response to this. I asked them if they were familiar with the power of punctuation and how it can change the meaning of things. Just add a comma or semicolon:

"אָֽנֹכִי֙' עֵשָׂ֣ו בְּכֹרֶ֔ךָ  I am myself; Esau your firstborn"

"Wow. That makes sense. Thank you so much."

And they went their way, and I went mine. Does this happen anyplace else, or just Jerusalem?

Batsheva and King David, "Takes Two to Tango," Said The Busdriver

One of the things so very different here in Israel is that here the bus drivers are "peers," meaning "regular people," the sort who can be neighbors, friends, fellow Tanach, Bible aficionados.

There are Arab bus drivers, too, as I wrote about here, but they are the exceptions. Unlike the American Jewish society in which I was raised, here in Israel Jews aren't pushed into only the "clean" white color professions. Everyone knows that the plumbers live better than clerks, and police is a civil service job. So, back to the story...

I can't exactly remember how we got onto the subject, but as has been my custom since reaching a certain exalted age, I was sitting in the front seat on the bus, and the veteran driver is known as friendly, very knowledgable and the sort of person who could easily be a neighbor.

If I'm not mistaken, we got onto the subject, because there had been talk of someone taking the blame or responsibility for something, and I brought up one of my favorite Bible topics, of which my opinion is far from the the classic/standard commentary.

In my reading/comprehension of the straight text, I see Batsheva as seducing/tempting King David, and the atypical and most important result of the entire sordid story is that totally unlike the first human male, Adam who quickly blames Eve for everything:

"It's all her fault; she made me do it." Adam tells Gd.

King David consistently takes full blame and tries to legitimize his relationship with Batsheva, and they do marry. Remember that during that early narrative, there is no word from Batsheva except for when she sends David a message that she's pregnant, and then she's silent again.

The busdriver and I discussed the textual description of the beginning of Batsheva and King David's relationship. He davka used the phrase "it takes two to tango," very certain that the  Bible would have mentioned if Batsheva had protested King David's advances if there had been any. Later on we do read of Tamar's reactions to Amnon's attack. And if the David-Batsheva scandal is raised to show that even David can be immoral and sin, then we would need to hear protest and sorrow from Batsheva. The driver agreed that Batsheva may very possibly have had seduced David by intentionally bathing in his view.

After the death of their first son, they have another, Shlomo, Solomon. II Samuel Chapter 11,

Chapter 12.  

24And David comforted Bath-sheba his wife, and he came to her, and he lay with her: and she bore a son, and she called his name Solomon*; and the Lord loved him.

כדוַיְנַחֵם דָּוִד אֵת בַּת שֶׁבַע אִשְׁתּוֹ וַיָּבֹא אֵלֶיהָ וַיִּשְׁכַּב עִמָּהּ וַתֵּלֶד בֵּן וַתִּקְרָא (כתיב וַיִּקְרָא) אֶת שְׁמוֹ שְׁלֹמֹה* וַיהֹוָה אֲהֵבוֹ:

*And shouldn't we consider it significant that Batsheva named her baby son Shlomo, Solomon, which in Hebrew means "complete?" For her, the mission/quest to have a son with King David was a success! This was her plan!!

We hear nothing more about Batsheva until  The Prophet Natan confers/conspires with her in I Kings Chapter 1:

13Go and come to king David, and you shall say to him, 'Surely, you, my lord the king, did swear to your maid saying that, 'Solomon your son will reign after me and he shall sit upon my throne,' Now why did Adoniahu reign?"

יגלְכִי וּבֹאִי | אֶל הַמֶּלֶךְ דָּוִד וְאָמַרְתְּ אֵלָיו הֲלֹא אַתָּה אֲדֹנִי הַמֶּלֶךְ נִשְׁבַּעְתָּ לַאֲמָתְךָ לֵאמֹר כִּי שְׁלֹמֹה בְנֵךְ יִמְלֹךְ אַחֲרַי וְהוּא יֵשֵׁב עַל כִּסְאִי וּמַדּוּעַ מָלַךְ אֲדֹנִיָּהוּ:

There is no such conversation recorded in the Bible. What there is in the Bible are a number of other determined women to seduce, marry, have children with men of this Davidic and Messianic line. Remember that the Messiah is to be a descendant of King David. They are Leah, Tamar, Ruth-Naomi and Batsheva.

I'm glad that I had gotten into this conversation with the busdriver, since the route was too long and convoluted for me, but as we spoke I began to hope that it would take even more time, at least until we came to a satisfying conclusion.

Traveling in Biblical landscape can be amazingly inspiring 

More in My Car-less Traveling Saga

Crossposted on A Jewish Grandmother.

As most of you certainly know, we don't have a car. My husband's travel needs are relatively simple, so like many in the modern world he has no big problem commuting to and from work and other activities by public transportation. He actually enjoys the quiet time for napping and whatever. My travel needs are sometimes more complicated, but since there's no car on the horizon at all, I find myself enjoying periodic adventures.

Wednesday is my most complicated day of the week. Of course, it starts off simply enough, because I usually sleep at a friend's apartment Tuesday night. She's one of my "learning buddies," aka chevruta, so we travel together to Matan in her car, where we meet the rest of the group for our Al Haperek studies. After that we stay for Yael Ziegler's class,  "Kings, Prophets and Hurban,"  and then I rush to catch a bus plus in order to get me to Kochav Hashachar to teach on time.

In theory, it's possible to just catch the bus on Eshkol Boulevard if it's slightly delayed, though I frequently miss it. Last week as I rushed out of the light-rail (which I caught on Jaffa Street after getting off the 77 bus) at Ammunition Hill, I spotted the bus already standing at the traffic light. So I took a bus (after waiting a bit) to Sha'ar Binyamin and stood there for at least twenty minutes with a sign saying כוכב השחר KOCHAV HASHACHAR in my hands to attract drivers to that community who wouldn't have thought of stopping for me. It did help,and I got a ride and arrived on time.

So, yesterday, I decided to stay on the 77 until Eshkol Boulevard, although I knew I'd have to run a couple a hundred meters to a bus stop. As I caught my breath at that stop, I saw the 949--yes the bus to Kocahv Hashachar-- approaching. I signaled and got on very gratefully, thanking Gd for my great luck. I paid, sat down and relaxed. Everything was fine until about a half a kilometer from the city-line, the Jerusalem-Hisme border. The bus died.

So, I went out with another passenger to try to hail a bus or a ride at least to Sha'ar Binyamin or Hisme. The other buses wouldn't pick us up, because they are Egged Tavura and the 949 is Egged, so since it wasn't a proper bus stop they couldn't stop for us. Finally a young bearded man stopped, opened the door and said:

"Batya, come on in."
It ended up being a guy who had grown up in Shiloh, was my son's madrich, youth movement counselor, and my daughter had been his. He was on his way to visit his mother and was disappointed that he couldn't take me all the way home.

I asked him if I was crazy to get off at the Alon Road turnoff from Road 60, where there's a proper hitchhiking stop, with barriers and all. I've been asking many about it since there are many more possibilities for rides to Kochav Hashachar than Hizme and Sha'ar Binyamin. So that's where I got off.

Finally a young woman picked me up who was going to Kochav Hashachar and told me that it's a fine place to wait for rides. So now I know that I must find a tremp willing to drop me off there when I have to get to work.

And don't think that getting home from Kochav Hashachar didn't cause stress, too. There is no direct way, so I have to speak to other teachers and get a ride somehow.

Kochav Hashachar is just north of Rimonim and southeast of Shiloh. They are on the Alon Road, and Shiloh is on #60.



The best rides are when I'm taken via Kida/Shvut Rachel which at its worst will leave me a mile or kilometer and a half from my house. But recently, after hectic stressful searches for a ride out, which leave me with little patience to teach my difficult students, I end up with a ride that drops me off at Givat Asaf, the Beit El junction. When there I whip out my שילה SHILOH sign to attract drivers going north. That's what happened yesterday. I caught a ride, thanks to the sign of course, to the Shiloh Junction, where I got a ride to the Shvut Rachel-Shiloh Junction, then another ride to the middle of Shiloh where the stores and Kupat Leumit clinic are. And there I got tired of waiting, started walking up when a neighbor stopped to give me a ride to my door, B"H, thank the Good Lord!!

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.

Flying El Al During Time of War, I Have....

Over twenty years ago, in the middle of the Gulf War my husband and I were scheduled to fly to England for the weekend. He had been invited to be guest speaker at a Shabbat in Bournemouth by Herut, England, and the invitation was prestigious enough for me to be part of the deal.

Shiloh wasn't targeted during that war, and our older kids were pretty old, National Service and high school, so there was no way I'd give up that fully paid weekend vacation. At the airport "passport control" the clerk gave me a funny look and said:

"Did you leave your children?"

I  thought she was about to call the police and have me arrested for child abuse.

That was a very strange and pathetic one-sided war. Iraq launched missiles at Israel, and we hid in "safe rooms." I taped the windows of the master bedroom and the kids slept with us, when necessary. Nothing landed even close enough to be counted, and many neighbors hosted friends and family who were in real danger.

El Al was the only airline flying in and out of Israel. So, that's what we took, and I think that Herut, England would have booked us on El Al even if there hadn't been a war going on.

It wasn't a routine flight. As the plane began ascending, we suddenly felt it jerking right. Yes, you guessed it. The pilot, as most El Al pilots are, was experienced in taking evasive action, though I doubt that his training was on large passenger planes. He did it correctly, or I wouldn't be alive to tell the story.

Israel At Heart A Jewish Country, Blizzard Report

When you get down to it, Israel is still a Jewish country with Jewish values, whether the Israelis abide by the more obvious mitzvot, like modest clothing, Shabbat and kashrut or not.

At Jerusalem Light Rail stop, sign says:
Careful please, slippery conditions!
In three languages, Hebrew, Arabic and English.
ONLY IN ISRAEL

Tuesday night, when I was waiting for the Jerusalem light rail and saw the sign warning us to be careful because of "slippery conditions," it was a reminder that I'm in Israel, the HolyLand the only Jewish country in the world.

Israelis, like any good family, are always at their best during emergencies.

• Did you know that there's a special "shiva" payment, a week's salary for those who miss work to sit shiva, mourn for a parent?  Bli neder, I'll check with our Rami Levy Human Resources branch head to find out if it's for any halachik (Jewish Law) shiva period.
• When I was sitting shiva for my mother a few months ago, my fellow workers showed up with shopping bags full of food and disposables from Rami Levy (Yafiz, Clothing for the Whole Family, is part of the Rami Levy Discount Supermarket)  for my מנחם אבל menachem avel shiva comforters.
• When the electricity went off during the blizzard in Shiloh, the community went to great efforts to distribute non-electric heaters and fuel and food to the elderly and those with young children.  People with warm homes welcomed neighbors.
• Within a couple of days of the resulting electric outage, simultaneously to working on the repairs, the Electric Company helicoptered generators to provide temporary electricity to all of those without electricity. This took time, money and manpower. Ironically, by the time they had finished or almost finished hooking up all of the streets and neighborhoods here in the Shiloh bloc of Jewish communities, the new high tension towers were up and functioning.
• Now that life is getting "back to normal" in Shiloh, our community email "forum" is full of thank you's. They include the grocery manager who kept the store running, food safe etc. He had to drive on very dangerous icy roads to get to work.
• Many of us received invitations to stay at friends and family all over.
• There were those who risked driving perilous snowy and icy roads to bring other to safer and warmer conditions.
• Some car owners allowed neighbors to charge their phones using the car motor/battery.
• Personally I'd like to thank my Shabbat guest for not complaining about the cold food I served on Shabbat.

Neighbors helping another dig out a car and getting it on its way

Please add your own snow chessed kindness story in the comments, thanks.

Only in Israel, Blessings

I had to pick something up at the pharmacy Pharm 4 you in Sha'ar Binyamin the other day and was surprised and pleased to see this blessing.

The translation of the title is:

A Prayer for the Sick to Say Before Taking the Medicine

So, obviously I just had to take this picture.

I love the fact that even in the medical profession people recognize that it's all up to G-d.  Neither the doctors nor the pharmacists do the actual healing.  A close friend of mine who's a doctor always says that she's no more than a "tool" of G-d. 

Nothing is ever guaranteed.  I'll never forget listening to my father's aunt reminiscing about her childhood.  She was my grandfather's younger sister.  I never knew my grandfather.  He passed away a couple of years before I was born.  They were very close.  She told me that she had also had a younger brother.

"We were both very sick.  We were put in the same bed. We were given the same medicine.  He died, and I lived."

That tragic event haunted her for her entire life.  She could not accept the fact that the medicine didn't work on her little brother.  She remained a G-d fearing woman for her entire life.

Here in Israel it's always surprising to see people who by their mode of dress don't look religious at all, but they never forget to kiss every mezuzah they pass.

Here in Israel, it's pretty easy to find sukkot for sale, the arba minim, four species and whatever holiday equipment you may need.

The aliyah saga of Jennifer in MamaLand is full of lovely "only in Israel" stories, too, Weird moments of holiness… I love the fact that she is surprised that Judaica can be found all over and at reasonable prices.  Being a Jewish country, the items are for use, rather than display.

In a few hours we'll be celebrating the Holiday of Succot, moving into our sukkot as much as we can.  It's a holiday that reminds us that life is a "journey," and we shouldn't get too attached to possessions.  It's davka the Holiday of Joy.  We're supposed to celebrate ושמחת בחגך והיית אך שמח   visamachta bichagecha vihayita ach same'ach, be joyful in your holiday and be very happy.