Funeral "Factory"

My expertise, experience with funerals is mostly here in Israel.  I've been to American Jewish funerals of family members, a few as a child and one as a young mother when my father's cousin and the wife were killed in a horrible car accident when we were visiting the states.  American Jews have adopted the goyish dress code of black, which is my main memory.  But this post is about Israeli funerals.

I love how funerals are conducted here in the Shiloh Cemetery.  Of course, that doesn't mean that I'm happy that people have died or been murdered or killed in accidents.  Please don't get me wrong.  If someone has died, he, she and the mourners deserve to have a dignified unrushed special time for "leave-taking," burial and eulogies.  That is possible here in Shiloh where, thank G-d, bli eyin haraa, funerals aren't daily events, nor weekly or even monthly, Baruch Hashem.

If any of you have listened to the eulogies from RivkA's funeral, you'd have heard a disturbance during Moshe's words (part 2.)  Yes, davka, Moshe, RivkA's husband and now widower.  I had hoped that the microphone wouldn't pick it up.

The Givat Shaul, Jerusalem cemetery's "Beit Hespedim," funeral hall for eulogies, had the night's schedule up.  RivkA's funeral was 10pm and another was scheduled for 10:30.  When I saw that I didn't think it would be a problem.  In Shiloh the hespedim eulogies are usually, weather permitting, at the grave.  Most funerals are totally outdoors.  We gather in front of the niftar's (dead person's) shul and then walk them to the cemetery; sometimes, because of time restraints or weather, we all ride.

The hespedim eulogies for RivkA were inside the hall, and it's easy to add the numbers from the youtubes and see that they lasted well beyond the thirty minutes the chevra kadisha burial society had allocated.  Besides the hespedim eulogies, the family was given private time in a closed room off of the hall for their leave-taking.  The shouting during Moshe's words were from the very upset family of the 10:30 funeral.

Both families were right, justified in their actions.  It's ridiculous to think that just thirty minutes would have sufficed for RivkA or most people.  And the other family began their disturbance after waiting over half an hour.  We didn't empty the hall until 11:30, a full hour after the scheduled time of the second funeral.

Death is upsetting enough without these added insensitive and preventable annoyances.  The Givat Shaul Cemetery is enormous.  I've gone there other times and not even found the location for the funeral or Azkara memorial ceremony I had planned on attending.  The tight unrealistic scheduling really gives it a factory feel, definitely halachikly (according to Jewish Law) problematic.

HaMakom yenachem... 
May G-d comfort all the mourners.

A Message From: A Package From Home

Dear Friends of A Package From Home,


As the date for our Gala Benefit Concert on Thursday, November 11th, approaches, we would like to ask all our friends to help circulate the attached posters. You can email them to your personal list, post on bulletin boards, and contact your children’s schools to post them. There are still some choice seats available and we have wheel chair accessible seats.


We are expecting a contingent of lone soldiers.


We would like to thank those of you who have already sponsored us and those of you who have bought tickets.


Those of you who need to collect your tickets the night of the concert please arrive at the theater by 19:30 since the concert is being recorded and the doors will be closed promptly at 20:00. If you wish to collect the tickets in advance, you can collect them at any time the Jerusalem Symphony box office (Chopin st. entrance of the Jerusalem Theatre) is opened.

Tickets may be purchased directly from the Jerusalem Symphony box office by calling 1-700-70-4000 between 10:00 to 13:00 and 16:00 to 19:00 every day, and 10:00 – 13:00 on Friday.


If you have any questions you can contact emess@netvision.net.il .


Barbara Bloom Silverman


Founder – A Package From Home


www.apackagefromhome.org

Nu, Will The Republican Win Really Change Things for Israel?

It's predawn in Shiloh, Israel, and the last voters in the United States west coast are voting in  midterm elections.  Pundits are predicting that the Republicans will control the House.

projected results in the House
projected results in the Senate

Pre-elections, every time I saw an article or news item on TV about how the Democrats are going to lose big I kept thinking of that psychological self-defense technique of preparing for disaster, so the more minor failure will look like a success.  I don't think that the Democrats minded all the doomsday predictions.  It helped them galvanize their supporters to get out and vote and whatever the results they can turn it into a "victory" by saying that it "wasn't as bad as predicted."

"Results from several states left Republicans well positioned to pick up more than the 39 seats they needed to win control of the House. But the outcome of Senate contests gave Democrats confidence they could maintain control of at least one chamber of Congress after victories in Delaware, Connecticut and West Virginia."

The experts are all saying that the big issue is economy.  The American downturn, recession (whatever you want to call it) can't be whitewashed with fancy euphemisms.  Too many Americans see the truth and know personally how things are getting worse.

I grew up in New York in the 1950's and 1960's and remember how the USSR was  a dangerous enemy and the poverty-stricken communist China mocked the U.S. as a "paper tiger."  Well, the USA shouldn't be so complacent.  Yes, there no longer is a USSR, but China has a strong economy.  American consumers are constantly reminded of it when so many products say "Made in China."

As things get worse, will "the Jews" and Israel be blamed? 

Here's a Translation for that great animated map of Israel, showing the dangers of an Arab terror state

In the previous post I said that there must be a translation.  Here it is thanks to Naftali and Love of the Land, from which all this English commentary is quoted.
www.myisrael.org.il
31 October '10


A very special thanks to Naftali Greenwood for providing an English text translation of the film.
Did you know?

• The Judea-Samaria mountain range constitutes 23% of Israel's area.
• The Judea-Samaria mountain range is 55 km. wide; sovereign Israel between the Green Line and the Mediterranean Sea is only 15 km. wide.
• The distance from Kefar Sava to the Green LIne is all of 2 km.
• The Judea-Samaria mountain range looms to a height of 1000 meters over Tel Aviv.
• Whoever controls Judea-Samaria can hit most of Israel's cities directly and indirectly.
• Judea-Samaria abuts Jerusalem from three directions: north, east, and south.
• Jerusalem will become an Israeli enclave within a Palestinian state, connected to the rest of the country via a narrow Palestinian-controlled corridor.

Judea-Samaria -- a mountainful of security!

Community ALERT: Missionary "Wave Cafe" dupes Jewish Musicians

Posted by Jewish Israel

Jewish Israel was recently informed that two Jewish musicians inadvertently played a gig at the missionary Wave Cafe in Jerusalem's Talpiot neighbourhood. Jewish Israel assured the parties involved that we would investigate.

The popular entertainment spot is operated by known missionary Richard ("Ayal") Frieden of JAMM (Jerusalem Artists, Musicians and Media), JSP and (Jerusalem Street Productions) and Wave Jerusalem – which is a “church plant” affiliated with Wave Church, a multi-million dollar state of the art mega church, headquartered in Virginia Beach.

One of the unaware musicians reported that the place was packed with a clientele that included a significant number of Orthodox Jews, and what hurt him the most was to be a victim of this kind of subterfuge.

This is a must read reportfor those concerned with the missionary targeting of Israeli youth...more
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New feature- News Tickertape:

There is so much happening on the evangelical/missionary front these days that Jewish Israel has introduced a new breaking news text tickertape on the left side of our frontpage. These new stories link directly to their sources and will be updated on a regular basis.

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JI reports in Hebrew

Jewish Israel is now translating our reports into Hebrew. These reports will be uploaded to our site in the near future and are already being disseminated to rabbinic and community leaders in Israel.

Kashrut- What Could Be Traif -Wrong/Forbidden- About That Innocent Plain Yogurt?

I'm sure I'm not the only one who has found myself in the awkward position of discovering "unsupervised" yogurts in someone's kosher refrigerator.  I live in Shiloh, Israel where, maybe excepting some of the small boutique dairies, all the dairy products including yogurts have one or more "hechshers," kashrut supervision certification logos.  Of course, there are people who prefer one type of supervision over another, but I don't have the problem of searching the massive supermarket dairy displays for a good yogurt with a hechsher.

• So, are those wonderful Greek and other unsupervised yogurts kosher? 
• In places where it's hard to find any certified kosher products can you eat the yogurts?

This Shabbat (in Torah Tidbits) I read an article which answered the question.  Easy to Eat, Complex to Certify: Yogurt is a Favorite Food for the Cultured Among Us.  It answers those questions, and the answer is very clear, a simple "no."

The following sentence summarizes the article, and I suggest you read the article very carefully:

"Of all dairy products, yogurt is among the most complex in terms of its kosher requirements and proper supervision."

This Must Be Translated into English!

If it appears in English, please send me the link.

If you don't understand Hebrew, it's still pretty clear what this map is showing.  It's an animated map of Israel which includes Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley.  The numbers are mostly (in kilometers) the distances of Israeli cities to the proposed and promoted Pseudostinian aka Palestinian sic state.  A kilometer is .6 of a mile.

This illustrates how totally ridiculous it is to claim that a Pseudostinian aka Palestinian sic state wouldn't seriously endanger the security, viability and continued existence of the State of Israel.

Will A Bad Showing For The Democrats Really Slow Down Obama's Push For A Pseudostinian aka Palestinian sic State?

Sorry for the long title, but sometimes a short, quick tease just isn't enough, or sometimes my brain just can't compose those short snappy ones.


There have been some unrealistic wishful thinking here in "the Right" Israel.  They think that if United States President Barack Hussein Obama's Democratic Party loose their majorities or just lose a lot of seats in the House and Senate, it'll lower the volume of Obama's support for a Pseudostinian aka Palestinian sic State.


Sorry, Charley, or should I say Chaimke?  Obama is a "true believer" that Israel is cruel, unjust and oppresses his Arab "brothers."  He doesn't care what the American voters say.  A Pseudostinian aka Palestinian sic State is one of Obama's pet "projects."  Obama feels no sympathy, identification for Israel, just antipathy.  And he's less discreet about it than Jimmy Carter was.  Carter knew that if he voiced too many pro-Arab anti-Israel views, he'd be up a creek, but today it's different.  Obama feels totally confident that he can "brow-beat" Israel.  Certainly there are enough Jews doing it.


Legally, I have the right by United States Law to vote in American Elections.  I've never done it and have no plans to ever do it.  As far as I'm concerned, as an expatriate I have no moral right to vote in U.S. Elections.  Let America and its residents take care of the United States.  My Israel needs me more.

RivkA's Aliyah Message on Tuesday Night Live!

Thank Gidon Ariel for his hard work getting that minute of RivkA from the first Tuesday Night Live.




This is the result of a facebook discussion. Thanks, too, to Klara and Arnie.

Sixth Sense! Don't Rely on Technology for Security

The Ehud Barak IDF loves gadgets and technology.  They're now going to use some "smart cameras" to discover suspicious movement.  That makes me nervous.  I can just imagine someone with a neurological problem being arrested for "unusual activity" as he stands or paces in an "illogical" way. 

Actually, I could find myself detained by soldiers relying on those computer-generated "guards."  So many times I arrive "too early" and then stand around suspiciously, constantly checking my watch, hoping time will move more quickly.  Another suspicious-looking thing I do is quasi-public praying.  There are lots of "Mincha factories*" in Jerusalem, but I'd be persona non grata.  Most human IDF guards would recognize that I'm dovening (praying,) but would this Sixth Sense technology understand?

*Synagogues where men can find a minyan to pray the afternoon prayer from its earliest to latest permitted time.  Those places don't have women's sections.  It's not accepted for women to just enter those shuls.  So women who have taken it on to pray Mincha, like myself, are always looking for a quiet, discreet spot.

Too Bad There's No Such Thing as A Home Run With Bases Loaded in Soccer

Soccer Dad has saved the day with a Havel Havelim Memorial   לעילוי נשמת של רבקה l'ilui nishmata shel RivkA, to uplift RivkA's soul!  There's no one, no jblogger like Soccer Dad.  When he coordinated Havel Havelim, not only did he make sure there was an edition every week, hosting it whenever necesary, but he'd send extra suggested links to the host, beyond what we'd get from jbloggers who sent in in their own.  I thought about doing something like this memorial round-up for RivkA, but it was the one and only Soccer Dad who actually did it.  Thanks!

This isn't a comprehensive Havel Havelim.  It's just focused on family, community, the Jewish Blogging one.