Proudly Israeli as a Jew

Last year at Yafiz, we had a variety of little boy sports outfits for sale.  They are faux soccer team uniforms kiddie size for all sorts of international teams.  As soon as the "end of season sale" had started, I quickly bought one to fit my grandson this year.  It's funny.  I doubt if he would have wanted to wear it last year, since then he wasn't very interested in sporty things. But this year I've seen him in it a number of times.  Kids grow up and change.

For some reason, it isn't very "in" in some Israeli circles to be patriotic.  Of course, we ought to define "patriotic."  On the Left of the Israeli political spectrum, the concept of "patriotic" is very different from on the Right.  The Left wants to see Israel is a state for all its residents, stressing multiculturalism. They worry that Arabs aren't comfortable living in a country established as a refuge for Jews to be a Jewish State for the Jewish People.  So they are trying to dilute the Jewishness of Israel.  The Israeli singer Ahinoam "Noa" Nini is one of those, so there were many complaints that she had been hired as a featured singer at the Jerusalem Day celebrations.

Gabay said that Nini has, on several times in the past, voiced her support for the Arabs and the Palestinian Authority, saying that their claims were more valid than Israel's. Nini, a radical leftist, does not belong on a Jerusalem stage, Gabay told Arutz Sheva. “Jerusalem Day is a national holiday that represents the unity and sovereignty of of the city. A singer who makes speeches and expresses support for a Palestinian state, with its capital in Jerusalem, cannot sing on this day. She can participate in other events, but not this one,” he added.

The point of Jerusalem Day is to celebrate the fact that the parts of Jerusalem, which had been illegally occupied by Jordan from 1948-1967, were liberated by the IDF on the third day of the 1967 Six Days War.  Someone who thinks that our victory harmed the enemy-Jordan, Syria and Egypt had planned on destroying Israel- and identifies with the enemy isn't much of a patriot.

I listened to Israeli President Shimon Peres's Jerusalem Day speech and he too, another extreme Leftist, stressed that Jerusalem should be for all its residents, not primarily Jewish ones.  This is very troubling and dangerous for our continued existence.

I'm not advocating banishing all Jews from Israel.  I just consider it of the utmost importance to make it clear de facto and de jure that Israel is to always be a Jewish country, not a multinational, multicultural one.

The Hawking Boycott, Fact or Fiction?

Today, as if Israel has no more pressing needs, the media is full of news about Stephen Hawking.  Is his change in travel plans, his cancellation of a trip to Israel due to a medical issue or an ideological one?

By the time I came home today, lots of keyboards have been pounded about the question.  First it was stated that he's staying away to boycott us.  And then I saw on Algemeiner.com that it was simply a deterioration in his medical situation. 

It turns out that Stephen Hawking’s cancelled trip to Israel is not a matter of boycotting the Jewish state, but rather merely a result of his health.
The Guardian, which broke the faux story late last night, claimed that Hawking was to boycott the Presidential Conference in Jerusalem next month after receiving an erroneous statement from the British Committee for the Universities of Palestine (BRICUP),  which claimed that it had issued it with Hawking’s approval.
The statement said that the move was “his independent decision to respect the boycott, based upon his knowledge of Palestine, and on the unanimous advice of his own academic contacts there.”

His Israeli fans were relieved and worried after hearing that news.

Then another news item was published saying that he is boycotting Israel.

A University spokesman told The Algemeiner that “We have now received confirmation from Professor Hawking’s office that a letter was sent on Friday to the Israeli President’s office regarding his decision not to attend the Presidential Conference, based on advice from Palestinian academics that he should respect the boycott.

IMHO, if he really likes and respects those Arabs so much, then he should be declared persona non grata and not allowed to enter Israel at all. 

Yes, the same should be for all of the international  extreme Leftists.

Just because Stephen Hawking has survived and functioned longer than probably anyone else with ALS doesn't make him right and correct in terms of his opinions and ideology, especially his opinion about Israel.  Everyone should stop judging him as some sort of miracle novelty item and listen to what he says and look at what he does.  Hawkin's support of the Arabs whose aim is the destruction of the State of Israel makes him a very dangerous man.  We shouldn't let sympathy for his medical condition cloud and distort our feelings for him.  If he prefers our enemies, then he is one of them, an enemy of the State of Israel.

Bibi Mocks The Six Days War

When G-d facilitated Israel's unexpected and glorious victory in the 1967 Six Days War, it was very obvious to many of us that we were supposed to have rapidly and enthusiastically begun settling all of the Holy Land liberated as a result of that victory.

Judea, Samaria, the Jordan Valley, Golan and the Sinai  were pretty empty.  Those lands had never been independent countries.  There had never been a "Palestine," sic, not there nor in pre-1967 Israel.  The Golan had been used as a launching pad for missile launchings and terror attacks on Jews in the valley below.  The kings of Jordan ignored and didn't develop the Jordan Valley, Judaea and Samaria.  When we first began visiting Shiloh in 1981, the few phones were via old-fashioned operators.  It was Israel that brought in electricity, modern phone systems, piped water and sewerage. Remember that this was the late twentieth century when computers were becoming popular all over the developed world.  Shiloh, even though it has always been a well-known archeological and Jewish religious site, was only reachable by a difficult to traverse path. It shouldn't be forgotten that Jordan illegally had taken over all of that land and eastern Jerusalem.  They took advantage of their closeness to Israel to send in terrorists and have snipers shoot at Israelis.

The Sinai was a loosely controlled buffer protecting Israel's south. But it, too, was a popular route for those who wanted to attack Israelis.

It's now forty-six years after the Six Days War.  Egypt now "controls" the Sinai, since then Prime Minister Menachem Begin, soon after his historic election in 1977, gave it to Egypt.  And a very large part of Judea-Samaria is in the de facto and even de jure control of local Arabs and the P.A.

 

Jews who live in Judea-Samaria are treated as second class citizens of Israel.  We're constantly maligned by politicians, the media and academics.  Even though we pay full taxes, we don't get full benefits. One example is the "TV Radio Broadcasting Tax."  All television owners in Israel, including Jews in Land liberated in the 1967 Six Days War are required by law to pay this tax.  Inspectors even go around the yishuvim, aka "settlements" fining families who own televisions but don't pay.  There's a big problem here.  The Broadcasting Authority doesn't broadcast to us.  We have never gotten the same TV reception you'd get in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Beersheba, kibbutzim all over or Eilat.

It's also much, much more complicated to get building permits.  Supply and demand aren't factors in government decisions.  It's all politics.  The larger cities and communities in Judea and Samaria such as Ma'ale Adumim, Efrat and Ariel have suffered the most. Thousands of people want to buy homes in those communities and the government, that's the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu,  keeps refusing to finalize permits, even after announcing that he is in favor of building.

Will this refusal by Bibi to sign the tenders break up his coalition? Many of Bayit Yehudi's voters and MK's won't stand for it.  By refusing to allow building for Jews in Judea and Samaria, Bibi is making a farce out of our great 1967 victory. 

War or Not War on The Syrian Front?

Please don't get me wrong. I don't like war. So when I recommend fighting our (Israel's) enemies it's not from a love of fighting.  It's strictly because I want us to live and survive.  It's like chemotherapy and surgery as a cure for cancer.  I've never heard of anyone who enjoys and looks forward to that. But if you want to live in good health, sometimes you must take difficult, unpleasant and risky steps.

As of late, Israel doing just that with Syria on our northern border.  Our military actions there are G-d willing going to prevent that enemy of world peace, Syria, from getting stronger and more dangerous.  Arlene Kushner has been writing some excellent articles about the issue/situation.  Here's the latest.

The original expectation that Syria would not retaliate for Israel's hits inside of that country appears to be holding true:
A Syrian government official has indicated that Syria would not be responding "immediately:  "Syria will respond to the Israeli aggression and will choose the moment to do so. It might not be immediate because Israel now is on high alert.  We will wait but we will answer."
It has been suggested that statements by Israel regarding the need to prevent Iranian weaponry from making its way to Hezbollah provides a possible out for Syria. While indeed, the strikes were on Syrian soil, they weren't intended as attacks on Syria -- which would require a response. (complete article)

And of course the best way to prevent war is prevention.  This Times of Israel article explains that.

photo credit: Yossi Zeliger/Flash90

On June 7, 1981, eight F-16s destroyed Saddam Hussein’s Osirak nuclear reactor in Baghdad. Less than a day later, the government of prime minister Menachem Begin acknowledged that the Israel Air Force was behind the attack, acting on the imperative to prevent an enemy state from obtaining nuclear weapons.

In 2013, three airstrikes were carried out in Syria — one on January 30 and two over the past weekend — that reportedly destroyed weapons convoys on their way to Israel’s enemies in Lebanon. All three attacks were blamed on Israel, but the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has maintained radio silence. (In February, then-defense minister Ehud Barak hinted at Israeli involvement in the earlier strike but stopped short of directly acknowledging it.)  (complete article)

Israel is celebrating Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Day, tonight and tomorrow.  It's now forty-six (46) years since the 1967 Six Days War, when Israel survived a war against three enemy states, Egypt Jordan and Syria.  Their expressed and publicized aim had been to destroy Israel push all Israelis into the sea to die.  This was no surprise attack.  They, Ehypt, Syria and Jordan proudly announced this to all as they gathered their troops. Egypt ordered the United Nations to take away the "peacekeeper" forces that had been stationed just to prevent such an attack. And the United Nations quickly complied with Nasser's demands.

World Jewry prayed and the world stood by, watched and waited to see what would happen.  That's why when I hear those useless, bombastic promises by American leaders to "stand by" Israel if we're attacked, I find no comfort.  I remember what standing by really means.  It's waiting like vultures to pick up the scraps that would be left, G-d forbid, if Israel was to be destroyed. We can't count on anyone, just G-d and ourselves.

There's an Israel Hayom article by Dr. Ronen Yitzchak that discusses how unreliable United States President Barack Hussein Obama and other western leaders are when it comes to following through on their threats.

The West does not really want to intervene

In a December 4 speech at the National Defense University at Fort McNair, Obama said "I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command, the world is watching. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable."

Damascus received warnings from other European leaders as well. British Prime Minister David Cameron warned of a military option should Assad cross the red line and French president Francois Hollande declared unequivocally that "the international community will not stand idly by."

...

This is Obama's moment of truth. The lack of an appropriate military response in Syria will prove to the world, and especially to Iran, that his threats hold no weight. The conclusion is obvious: In the long run, Israel will not be able to rely on Western threats against Iran's nuclear program, because when push comes to shove they could turn out to be empty threats.

The West will not agree with Israel's red line, and will have a hard time admitting it was ever crossed. It will seek compromises and dither -- past the stage when it is possible to act militarily. (complete article)

 

The United States is an enormous country.  Even taking into account, attacks like the Boston marathon bombing, the continued existence of the USA is never in danger.  The same holds for  most of the west, so they haven't a clue as to the security needs of the State of Israel.  And in all honesty, I don't think they care.

The State of Israel must make its security decisions and policy according to what is best for us and not follow any other country's advice.

And will there be a war with Syria?  I don't know. But one thing for sure is that we must weaken them and show no fear.

Jewish Funerals and Jewish Mourning Customs

I was going to post about security, politics, the more usual topics, but considering that I had been at two funerals and a wedding in less than twenty-four hours, the funerals are weighing in more on my thoughts than the lofty news in the media.

Unfortunately, in the almost forty-three years I've been in Israel I've attended dozens and dozens of funerals.  Some have been under the broiling, bright sun and others have been late at night, even starting after midnight.

According to Jewish Law, one is to have the funeral as soon, as quickly as possible, because it's considered cruel to the body to make it wait for burial.

In Shiloh we have adopted the Jerusalem custom of nighttime funerals, sometimes just a few hours after death.  Scheduling a funeral for midnight or later is not unheard of, especially when the person had died on Shabbat.  That's what happened just this Saturday night in Shiloh.  It was the second time in recent months when a neighbor died on Shabbat or minutes later, and then we buried him a few hours after Shabbat.

Our Chevra Kadisha, burial society, is local and quickly prepares the pre-dug grave in the local cemetery.  A few months ago, it was winter, so Shabbat ended early, and we had time for a "two stop" funeral.  The custom is to take the body to his/her home, synagogue etc. on the way to the cemetery.  That neighbor had a sizable part of his funeral by the yeshiva where he had worked and studied for over thirty years.  Then we took him to the cemetery for the final prayers, eulogies and burial.  We arrived home after 2am.

Saturday night, being spring, after Shabbat was very late, so the family decided to do the entire formal funeral service at the cemetery.  There were a number of eulogies from members of his large family.  And then he was buried in the Land he loved so enormously.

Jewish Law does not demand that people dress in "formal black" for a funeral.  We don't dress up like that.  It's a Christian custom. 

At an Israeli funeral you'll see bright colors and prints on the mourning family and friends.  The official halachik, according to Jewish Law, mourners know that their shirts will be ripped.  The ripped clothes will be worn the entire weeklong shiva period, except for Shabbat.  Bathing and combing of hair also isn't permitted except before Shabbat.  Shabbat overrides mourning. 

There are mourning customs that continue for thirty days after death, such as no shaving/haircutting, new clothes, listening to music and more.  If one is mourning for a parent, most of those restrictions continue for eleven months or a year.  Jewish holidays, such as Rosh Hashnnah, Yom Kippur, Shavuot and first day of Succot and of Passover cancel the shiva and thirty day שלושים shloshim restrictions.   For more details about it, contact your local Orthodox Rabbi, LOR or other expert source.

During shiva, the mourners should be cared for by friends and relatives who are not required to sit shiva.  Food should be prepared, phones answered etc.  The mourner may talk on the phone but it's nicer if someone else answers to make sure all the calls are necessary.

It's not the purpose of shiva to entertain visitors.  It's customary to bring food the mourner can eat or serve to those who had come from afar.  Sfardim, Jews from North Africa have the custom of providing various foods for the visitor to say blessings out loud.  Some, like the Yemenites, have feasts every night to honor the dead.

Li'ilu'i nishmatam

May their souls be elevated...

Who is Bombing Syria? I Don't Care! My Enemy's Enemy is My Friend

Syria is a very dangerous country.  It's not just dangerous to Israel.  It threatens its own citizens, neighboring Arab countries and is a danger to that nebulous concept of "world peace."

So, the fact that "somebody" is bombing it doesn't really bother me, as long as its aim is accurate, hits the Syrian target and doesn't harm Israel in any way.

A series of explosions were heard in Damascus overnight Saturday, as the official Syrian news agency SANA claimed that Israel carried out a rocket attack on the Jamraya scientific research center in Damascus.

And from CNN:

An image taken from a Youtube video purportedly shows an explosion on a mountain filmed from a Damascus suburb Saturday.

(CNN) -- Syria accused Israel of firing rockets into the Damascus suburb of Jamraya on Sunday, striking a "scientific research center," Syrian state TV reported.

It is the second Syrian claim this year of a strike against what observers have described as a government defense research facility, and it comes one day after U.S. officials first told CNN that the United States believes Israel carried out an airstrike against Syria.

Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the Syrian TV report. "We do not comment on these reports at all," an IDF spokesperson said.

This is the way a dangerous country should be stopped, not with talk and idle threats, the way it's being done with Iran.  The big problem now with stopping Iran's nuclear development is that it has been going on for years, and years and years already.  The whole world knows about it, and the whole world has heard rumors that Israel will bomb them like it did to Iraq decades ago if...   Well, it's impossible for Israel to bomb Iran the way it did Iraq way back when, because when then Prime Minister Menachem Begin ordered the air strike, it caught the world by surprise.  There hadn't been years and years of public and international discussion about the pros and cons and whether or not the United States would approve, support the move etc.



It's dangerous to delay in destroying enemies, just like when you delay treatment against cancer, the cancer grows and spreads.  So, I really don't care what country is bombing the chemical weapons plants in Syria. They should just do a good and complete job of it.

According to The Polls, Lapid's Still on a Roll

As many of you have known for a long time, I'm as out of the box as they come.  My opinions rarely are the popular ones.  If the Smith poll, which IMRA wrote about here, had asked me my opinion wouldn't be like most others. The poll shows/indicates that Yair Lapid's Yesh Atid political party is gaining in support and would receive as many seats as the combined Likud Beitenu, Likud & Yisrael Beiteinu.  Many of the new voters would be those who are abandoning Kadima and Tsipi Livni's Movement. If elections held today (expressed in Knesset seats) Current Knesset seats in [brackets]. Please note: There are 120 seats in the Knesset. Parties must receive a minimum of 2% of the valid votes cast in the elections to be included in the Knesset - this comes to 2.4 seats. After elections are held the coalition forming a government must receive 61 votes in a vote of confidence in the Knesset. 30 [31] Likud Beiteinu (Likud & Yisrael Beiteinu) 30 [19] Lapid "Yesh Atid" Party 13 [12] Bayit Yehudi 12 [15] Labor 10 [11] Shas 07 [07] Yahadut Hatorah 07 [06] Meretz 00 [06] Livni party "Hatnua" Party 00 [02] Kadima 11 [11] Arab parties Of course this poll is just taking into account the political parties in today's Knesset.  Every time we have new elections, new parties sprout up like weeds. And to be super honest, I don't see a party I'd vote for.   Actually, Lapid as Finance Minister, isn't doing all that well.  After campaigning to reduce the budget, he's now raising it.  Actually he had planned on increasing it much more but was taught that Israel would suffer in terms of its rating. Following a downgrade to Israel's S&P credit rating Thursday night, Finance Minister Yair Lapid on Friday backed down on his proposal to raise the 2013 deficit target to 4.9% of GDP from its current 3%, agreeing to set it at 4.65% instead. Arutz 7 reports something very troubling about Lapid and how he's functioning as Finance Minister.   "On Thursday it was reported that Lapid planned to increase the deficit target for 2013 to 4.9%. The move was met with anger because Lapid did not involve Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu in his deliberations. Lapid's decision surprised Bank of Israel head Stanley Fischer as well. Fischer reportedly first heard of the news on Thursday evening as he landed in the United States."   It would be better if Lapid was more a team player.  He's not supposed to be making such policy decisions on his own.  Of course this is my opinion, and not all Israelis seem to agree with me.

Latma Explains Obama's "Red Line," Great Stand-Up

Latma's Tribal Update gets better and better:

This week on the Tribal Update, the weekly satirical newscast brought to you by Latma the Hebrew-language satirical media criticism website I run, we bring you and exclusive interview with US President Barack Obama, fresh from his brilliant performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner.

We also bring you an interview with a senior executive at Channel 10 in which he discusses the station's failure to notice alleged serial sexual harassment by the station's star, journalist Emmanuel Rosen.

Enjoy the show!
Latma is funded by donations from private individuals who believe that the voice of Zionism must be heard, loud and clear, in Israel and throughout the world. We need your help in order to stay open and continue sounding our voices.
If you are in the United States, Latma is funded by donations to the David Horowitz Freedom Center's Israel Security Project which I direct. If you would like to contribute to our work, which is funded entirely by viewer contributions, please go to this link.
For donations outside the US, here is a link to the donations page for our Israeli non-profit, the Zionist Incubator. You can make credit card donations to Latma by contributing to our non-profit.

Don't you agree?

And read Caroline Glick's latest article.

No, NO, NO!!! No Giving Away Our Land and No Referendum!!!

I am totally, that's 100% against any referendum about giving away our precious Holy Land.  Giving the Arabs more land shouldn't be an option.  Anyone in favor of a referendum is in favor of giving up Land.  And I'm against giving up Land to anyone, anyone at all.

The latest popular trial balloon many Israeli politicians have tried recently is the "referendum" option.  The government obviously has no principles, no ideals and no concept of who and what we Jewish People really are.  These government officials, the Prime Minister, his coalition, cabinet and too many of the MKs, Knesset Members aren't leaders.  They are followers.  They'll do and say anything to stay in office and increase their power.  But in actuality they aren't using their power in a positive way.  They aren't leading us to make the State of Israel better and stronger.

These politicians have no real Vision. Vision, or חזון Chazone, is best translated as idealism. The ideal/utopia these politicians dream of isn't a Jewish one.  They want to be accepted by the nations of the world, but that isn't what makes the Jewish People/State a light for all nations, the Jewish term they like to bandy about when trying to add some Jewish content to their pronouncements/policies/trial "balloons."

Unfortunately, our politicians and media and academics are willing to do anything to get the world's approval.  Nothing much has changed since this Dry Bones:

Pressuring Israel (1978)

Today's cartoon is 32 years old. I drew it in 1978. The latest news (at the time of this writing) is a trial balloon rumor of what America will "give" us if our Prime minister will bow to their demands.
What is offered (and was offered in 1978) is "continued support" if we will do as we're told! The clear message to the enemies of the West then, and now, is that American support of Israel is conditional. A message which is welcome news to the Arab, Turkish, and Iranian regimes which refuse to accept the UN's 1947 call for a Jewish State in Palestine.

The more we grovel, AKA offer concessions, the more pressure we'll be under.  And the PR campaign to convince the Israeli public, the voters, the citizens to approve giving Arab terrorists our precious Land will be the most professional, scientific, distorted, filled with lies and tricks of any marketing campaign in the history of the world.

Israelis, your ordinary Israeli will think he/she has no choice or we'll be wiped off the map.  And if we G-d forbid do the referendum and then give the Arab terrorists our Land, we will be wiped off the map again.  How long will it then take for us to return? That I don't know, but this Modern State of Israel is built on the history of thousands of years.  For two thousand years, the Land of Israel had a scattering of Jews and no other nation or people ruled here as an independent country.   That's right.  THERE NEVER WAS A "PALAESTINIAN" STATE OR NATION.  The lie that we took over their country/land is an outrageous lie that has taken on the semblance of truth, because people keep on repeating it.

Those who want us destroyed are working hard to sway Israeli public opinion, including our politicians that our only chance for peace is to endanger ourselves and do what no other nation would ever be willing to do. That is to give our Land to the enemy that has sworn to destroy us.

Why All This Appease aka "Peace" sic Talk?

The politicians are threatening us with more of their faux "peace."

PM: Israel will become bi-national without peace
Olmert hails Arab peace proposal as 'historic opportunity'
Labor: We would join coalition for peace treaty

The Borovsky family is still sitting shiva, in the first week of mourning for Evyatar Borovsky  who was stabbed and shot to death by an Arab terrorist just the other day, and our politicians refuse to understand that it's all these "peace gestures" and agreements which encourage and enable Arab terrorism.

Yesterday I took some American friends who had never been in my neck of the woods, aka the "west bank" sic to visit my daughter in Ofra.  Ofra is about a twenty minute drive north of Jerusalem's "city line."  They had lots of questions and comments. 

First of all when we passed the Jerusalem lightrail, I made sure to explain the route which goes through Arab neighborhoods.  They were pretty surprised when they saw all of the empty land along the way. 

"What about Jews destroying Arab homes to build theirs?"
"It's not true; just look at how empty the land is here.  There is definitely room for all to leave in true peace."

When you're going to Ofra, Shiloh, Eli, or even Sha'ar Binyamin, which is much closer to Jerusalem there is only one tricky junction.  I explained that we must take the "middle road" of the roundabout/traffic circle, even though it may be easy to miss.  If you go to the right, it's ok, you'll go to Adam and just exit and turn right, but if you go to the left, you'll go to Ramallah.

"What's the problem in going to Ramallah?"
"You may be murdered."
"Why?"
"Arabs are encouraged to be angry and justify the murder of Jews, so it's not safe.  On most of the roads here, both Jews and Arabs travel, but there are some only for Arabs.  That's Israeli apartheid."

They noticed the difference in housing.

"What large gorgeous homes there are here.  Who lives in  them?"
"Arabs"
"What?  We always hear that the Arabs are poor and suffering."
"The Arabs don't need permits and building engineer inspections. They build what they want."

As we passed Givat Asaf they asked:

"And what are those poor tiny structures?"
 "Those are cardboard homes, aka caravans.  Jews live there."
"Why should anyone want to live like that?"

And so it went, the questions and my almost incomprehensible answers during the short ride to Ofra.  They discovered that real life here is nothing like the news reports and the politicians' speeches. One of them had been in Israel for a period of months over thirty years ago, and she does remember the days, pre-peace when Jews could visit, shop etc. freely and safely in Arab towns, cities and neighborhoods.

This "peace" the politicians and media are touting only causes more death and destruction for Jews.

Shiloh, The Resurrection of a Biblical City

My blog friend Leora tagged me on facebook when she posted a link to her post about Notes on Newark and Declining Cities.  When she was at the lecture about declining cities, she thought of Shiloh, where I live.  Shiloh was a great city during Biblical times.  It was the administrative and religious capital of the Jewish People/Nation for 369 years until Eli the High Priest's sons took out the Holy Ark from the Mishkan, Tabernacle and brought it as a "good luck charm" during a battle with the Philistines. The immediate result was its capture and a military loss for the Jewish army.  That caused Eli to die from shock, and after that Shiloh loses its stature.  There are references to Shiloh throughout the Bible after that event but not as the Capital.

The ruins of a synagogue built on a Second Temple synagogue in Shiloh.

In post Biblical times, Moslems and Christians both, in their quest for "identity theft" of Jewish history and geography, built houses of worship in Shiloh.

an old mosque built in Shiloh on a Jewish structure

an old church built on a synagogue

As you can see, Shiloh is a magnet for archeologists and has been ever since the profession began.

Today, the Israeli authorities are in charge, and the chief archeologist is a young woman who has been in Shiloh her entire life.  Her parents were among the very first Jewish families to move to Shiloh just over thirty-five years ago.

Unlike other ancient historical locations, Shiloh is not a dead city.  Shiloh is back with the living!  We have a vibrant growing Jewish community here right next to, a very short walk, or across the road for some, the site of Biblical Shiloh.

look at how close the homes are to the ancient site of Shiloh

Hundreds of Jewish families now live here in Shiloh, where there are stores, clinics and schools.

 

 

Tourists and pilgrims come from all over the world.

For the past few years, I've been organizing women's prayer at Tel Shiloh on Rosh Chodesh.  Next month is Sivan, Friday, May 10, 2013.  If you'd like more information or would like to be added to my mailing list, please email shilohmuse at gmail dot com with "women's prayers Tel Shiloh" as the subject, thanks.

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh
Rosh Chodesh Sivan

Friday, May 10, 2013

1 Sivan 5773, 8:30am

Tour of Tel & Dvar Torah, Short Torah Lesson

Please come and invite family, friends and neighbors

תפילת נשים
ראש חודש סיון בתל שילה
יום ו' 10-5 א' סיון תשע"ג 8:30
יהיה דבר תורה קצר וסיור בתל
נא לבוא, לפרסם ולהזמין חברות, משפחה ושכנות

 

For information about Shiloh HaKeduma, Tel Shiloh, contact visit@telshilo.org.il or call 02-994-4019.  They cater to both groups and individual visitors besides running large public events during Jewish Holidays.