Sidney is on his way to Arizona

My wife, Chava, and I stopped by Batya's yesterday afternoon (Shabbat) to say our farewells to her father, Sidney.

I offered to have him move in with us. He could share our son's bunk bed. I asked him if he wanted the top or bottom bed. He laughed and said "top".

He said that he was going to see Shirley. Shirley has been his wife for as long as Israel has been an independent state. 63 years.

Having arrived here in Shiloh almost 8 months ago, he has become a bright part of our lives. When neither Batya nor Yisrael were available, one of us often sat in their living room, doing what we called Sidney-sitting. At 89 he is no baby. In fact, he objected to the idea of being babysat, and it wasn't until Chava explained that it was Batya's comfort zone, that if something should somehow need Hebrew, she felt more comfortable if someone was there who spoke it, that he accepted the company graciously.

When Sidney first arrived, our 13 yr old son spent time with him most afternoons watching videos, playing cards and talking. Sidney likes WWII movies and musical comedies.

Yesterday Sidney was in a reflective mood. He mentioned several times how "all those boys" had died. The ship he had been stationed on when he was in the Navy for WWII was sunk just a week after he was transferred off it. He was known as "the Jew" on his ship. Said he didn't know if there were others or not, but they didn't let it be known if they were.

And the only thing that brightened that somber mood was mentioning Arizona. "I'm going to see Shirley!" Spoken in a tone of reverence. It's so inspiring to see someone so crazy in love with his wife after over six decades. Batya gave us a blessing that I should talk like that about Chava when I was 90. And our response was that Sidney should be healthy and in love with Shirley for another 120...

He will be missed here in Shiloh.

The New York Times, Wrong Again

I admit that this is a horrendous comparison, but here goes:

Anyone who knows anything about Twentieth Century European History will tell you that you can't start with the rise of Nazism and ignore  World War I and its aftermath.  History is a process, a series of events.

There's a pathetically misleading editorial about the problems between Israel and Turkey based on the easy to research fallacy that everything was hunky-dory between the two countries until Israel inspected the flotilla, discovered armed, aggressive mercenaries and in self-defence killed some of them.

This is an easy one.  If everything was fine prior to the flotilla, why had Turkey sent those armed mercenaries to Israel?  Yes, to Israel, because it was 100% clear that Israel would be inspecting the boat. Those Turkish mercenaries attacked the Israeli inspectors.

This was far from the first anti-Israel policies by Turkey recently.  I'm just a blogger who doesn't get paid.  The NY Times has paid journalists to research.  I expect accurate, well-researched articles from a newspaper like the NY Times.

Careful With Words, Promises, Pledges, Oaths etc

Just a quick little true story which illustrates this week's Parshat Shavua, Weekly Torah Reading, Mattot - Masei.  According to Judaism we're supposed to be very careful about what we say or promise, because every utterance is taken seriously by G-d.  Women's promises are even more complicated, because technically first the woman's father and then her husband have power over these "promises."

I first learned this almost forty years ago when we were newlyweds and new immigrants to Israel living in the Maon Betar in Jerusalem's Old City.  I had just quit ulpan, because I was finding the walk to Beit Ha'Am getting more and more difficult as winter got colder and rainier.  There wasn't any bus connection at the time between the Old City and the Beit Ha'am area.  

We saw some NCSY friends who insisted that I try a newly opened program in Bayit V'Gan called Neve Yerushalayim.  It was in an apartment on Uziel Street.  The trip was relatively easy, the #12 bus from Sha'ar Shechem straight to Bayit V'Gan.  In those days it was perfectly safe to walk around the Old City, even go to Sha'ar Shechem.

I enjoyed my studies.  Most of the students were single.  I guess the teachers were chareidi, but in those days there weren't all the distinctions you see today, and there were so few learning programs.  I remember the following conversation:

"I  love all the chumrot (extra strict customs) and I want to add more and more to my Jewish observance."
"You're a single woman.  According to Jewish Law you don't have the authority to take such oaths.  It will make it difficult to marry."

Is It Dangerously Foolish For Israel To Be "Nicer than Nice" to Our Enemies?

Twenty years ago after my elder son was hit by a small truck and seriously injured, he spent half of his hospital time in ALYN the Children's Orthopedic hospital.  At one point (for a few days) he had two roommates, one an Israeli Muslim and the other a Druse.  In the relatively apolitical world of hospital care, we all got along.  The Druse boy's family served in the IDF and the Muslim boy was usually cared for by a spinster aunt, who was a nurse and very fluent in Hebrew.

The three boys were pretty silent, but the accompanying adults always had something to talk about.  One night the nurse barged in all angry yelling that we were keeping the kids up.

"Keeping them up?" I replied.  "Where are they going tomorrow?  All they do is lay in bed."

I couldn't understand why the PR Department hadn't paid us a visit to show how well we all got along.

I have no problems with Israeli citizens of various religions and "races" getting the same excellent medical care together.  But I don't see why we should give these expensive services to our enemies.  Besides the financial aspect of wasting our limited resources, I worry about the security risks involved with allowing Hamas supporters to wander around our hospitals.  Has anyone become pro-Israel as a result?  I'm sure they'd be assassinated if they announced a change of heart.

OK, Bibi, Stand By Your Words!

Mr. Prime Minister,


I heard you on on Larry King Live, today.  You said that you'd only speak to those who don't want to destroy us. 


I hope that you get to see the news, read it on the internet or in the newspaper and not predigested summaries like many of your peers (other foreign leaders.)  Just now when I turned on the computer I saw:

Abbas to Arabs: We'd Support a War Against IsraelPA Chairman tells Arab League: “If you want war, and if all of you will fight Israel, we are in favor.”

From what I heard you say, you don't see Arabs who want to destroy us as negotiating partners for peace. 

Mr. Prime Minister, I'm no youngster.  Actually, I'm a little bit older than you. Besides writing, I've taught high school English, reading comprehension and more.  It seems pretty obvious that Abbas is in that category of "not a partner for negotiations."  It's very obvious that the only "peace" he wants requires our destruction.

Show some guts, true leadership and announce to the world that Peace will have to wait another generation or more. 

You told Larry King that you really enjoy learning the Bible with your son.  If that's the case, then you know that there's a precedent for postponing important and much awaited events.  The best example is when the Jewish People were supposed to enter the Holy Land after the exodus from Egypt.  We were a short trek away when the tribal leaders sinned, ten out of twelve announced that we would be destroyed by the "giants" if we entered the Land.
G-d's response was:

"If you have such little faith, you won't enter.  The next generation will enter the HolyLand after you're all dead, after forty years of punishment."
 

Please be a leader, our leader. Don't follow foreign gods and kings.

Batya Medad
New York to Jerusalem, 1970
Jerusalem to Shiloh, 1981

PM Binyamin Netanyahu and Larry King "Fencing" Around The Chess Board

I caught the end of the "Larry King Live Exclusive" interview with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (transcript.)  The verbal choreography was fascinating.  Call it fencing or chess or some combination of both. Here's the link to the interview. And here should be the interview or excerpts.

It's no secret that I admire Bibi's intelligence and talent, but I'm horrendously disappointed in how he's wasting it. 

• He's not the leader he could be.  
• He's not the leader he should be.
• He's not the leader Israel needs.

There were some interesting questions.  King asked Netanyahu with whom would he negotiate, and Bibi replied anyone who isn't trying to destroy us.  He frequently asked what the US would do if in our situation, a good point.

Netanyahu was asked if he ever takes time off, and answered that on Shabbat he learns Bible with his prize-winning fifteen year old son.

On the whole it's a good interview.  The problem is that's all it is, just words, an interview.

U. N. and Other International Hypocrites Ignore Time Bomb North of Israel

Hat tip IMRA

The State of Israel is endangered by the massive arms buildup to its north by Hizbulla in South Lebanon.   Honestly, it's no real surprise as far as I can see, but UNIFIL has trouble recognizing the facts on the ground.

Remember that during our last war up in that area, Hizbulla succeeded in striking major Israeli cities.  When the dust finally settled and the Israeli spin doctors got to work, they insisted that we had been successful, because now there would be foreign soldiers protecting us.  It's very obvious what job they've been doing.  They've facilitated anti-Israel terrorist expansion, yes, just the way I predicted.

We can't count on anyone other than ourselves, and it's pretty obvious that we can't count on our politicians and military leaders to do a good job either.  They're all too entrenched in their personal careers , hoping for cushy and lucrative speaking engagements like the worst of them, present-day Defense Minister Ehud Barak, gets when in between his powerful positions.

We certainly can't count on the United States, United Nations, UNIFIL, European Union or any of those others who aren't shy about telling us how to behave, to defend us.

Yisrael, Batach B'Hashem

People of Israel, Trust in G-d

Video Book Review, "Grains of Sand"

Grains of Sand, Shifra Shomron's excellent debut novel about the loss of her childhood home in Gush Katif's Neve Dekalim, written when she was just a teenager is reviewed here:




Disengagement will certainly be harshly judged by history.

Obama's All Teeth ...

... as he meets with Netanyahu.

It's no secret that United States President Barack Hussein Obama was told to be nice to Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu this time.  So he turned on the charm and brought kosher food to the White House. 

Of course, as Arlene Kushner writes, we don't know what was said behind the closed doors.

Honestly, a smiling Obama makes me more nervous than the nasty pouting one.  I have no doubt that he made lots of dangerous demands on Netanyahu when the cameras were banned.

Nu, NU, No!

Here we go again.

Even though Israel's National Union has a lot of religious supporters/voters, it's not a "religious party."  It's a patriotic, Jewish Nationalist political party open to Jews of various religious observance.  Many of its religious supporters, like myself, consider that its main attraction.  We're not supporters of the NRP.  Speaking for myself, during the forty years I've lived in Israel, I've never voted for a religious party.  I vote politics, not religion.

When we fist made aliyah in 1970, Menachem Begin's Herut Party still had its own internal elections.  Then it joined with the Liberals for "GaHaL."  Over the years more parties joined until it became the Likud, and then after Begin's gift of the Sinai to Sadat, I supported T'chiya.  After T'chiya got insufficient votes, I've had a tough time deciding whom to vote for.  I finally settled on on Moledet and then HaTikvah/National Union (HaIchud HaLeumi.)

A couple of elections ago, they combined with the NRP, National Religious Party in a very badly negotiated deal.  Even though most of the potential voters wanted NU, the NRP swallowed them up.  I went to a meeting of activists for the joint party.  It was in a NRP building; all the speakers were NRP spouting NRP tactics and ideology.  My friends and I looked at each other in horror.  It was like a nightmare episode of the Twilight Zone.

That partnership broke up, thank G-d.  Then the NRP changed its name, but it's still at the same place, the same people spouting the same tired and failing ideology.

Unfortunately, although the National Union may be rich with academics, intellectuals and professors, but they're not very good at real politics.  Again there's talk about joining up with the NRP.  Gevalt!  Will they ever learn?

The Jesus National Fund?

Posted by Jewish Israel

What would Bubbe say if her little blue JNF box suddenly bore a cross?

These days the Jewish National Fund (KKL-JNF) is not only fighting fierce forest fires, but they also appear to be fanning the "fire and brimstone" by forming a partnership with evangelical end-timers from BibleLandTrees.org.

The videos and written content on the site place an emphasis on new testament scripture, end-times prophecy, and refer to jesus as king, savior and messiah.

As an example, one featured video clip says, "And we plant trees so the land will blossom for his [jesus’] coming" (Bubbe would plotz over that one)...more