Serious Water Problems in Shiloh-- Rotten Government Planning!

Emergency Fresh Drinking Water
Set up near our synagogue
Shiloh, Israel

Those of you who read my other blog, "A Jewish Grandmother" may have noticed a recent post about cooking with minimal water:

Quick Shabbat Cooking with Minimal Water

I wrote it, because there are major water problems in our area, from the Shomron (Samaria,)  south to Gush Shiloh, the Jewish villages around Shiloh, Eli, Ma'ale Levona and the many smaller hilltop communities. Simply put:

"The infrastructure is kaput!"

I wonder if the bureaucrats/politicians who planned and budgeted for this water piping infrastructure 35-40 years ago are/were at fault. Whether it was accidental bad planning, or did they purposely sabotage the post-1967 Zionist settle the Land undertaking, intentionally underestimating, under-planning the the future population and attractiveness to Jews from all over?

If I had a dollar for all those who had unabashedly asked me why I'm here in Shiloh during the early years we were here, I'd be very rich. Most people were under the impression that we were just playing a game, like a complicated expensive demonstration.

Contrary to all the doomsayers and doubters, the Jewish population of Judea, Samaria, Jordan Valley etc has grown and thrived. We have schools, industries, businesses, stores and even a university. And yes, we're here to stay. There's a second and even a third generation raising their children here and going to the same schools.

Too bad the Israeli Government did such a cruddy shortsighted job in setting up the water system here. Now they will just have to fix it. And this time they must plan properly for a growing vibrant population!

Public Dovening, Kiddush Hashem!

I always get a kick out of seeing Jewish men gather together in all sorts of places to doven/pray, as a minyon, prayer quorum of ten or more. Last week as I was finally making my way back home to Israel, there was quite a large group at JFK International Airport near our gate*:

And then later, even on the very crowded plane, the men were back at it praying together:

B"H At a time when many Jewish men are afraid to wear their kippot in public, this really was wonderful to see.

*Unlike in other airports we, travelers to Israel, weren't fenced in.

The Bible So Timely, Parshat Shlach

For thousands of years, we have had our Tanach/Bible. As my teacher, Dr. Yael Ziegler, Matan, always reminds us:

"The Tanach is not is history book; it's a book of theology."

The Tanach aka Jewish Bible has so many stories that resonate today. Yesterday on Shabbat we read/heard Parshat Shlach שלך לך Send. Bamidbar - Numbers - Chapter 13:

1The Lord spoke to Moses saying,		אוַיְדַבֵּר יְהֹוָה אֶל משֶׁה לֵּאמֹר:
2"Send out for yourself men who will scout the Land of Canaan, which I am giving to the children of Israel. You shall send one man each for his father's tribe; each one shall be a chieftain in their midst."		בשְׁלַח לְךָ אֲנָשִׁים וְיָתֻרוּ אֶת אֶרֶץ כְּנַעַן אֲשֶׁר אֲנִי נֹתֵן לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל אִישׁ אֶחָד אִישׁ אֶחָד לְמַטֵּה אֲבֹתָיו תִּשְׁלָחוּ כֹּל נָשִׂיא בָהֶם:

There's a keyword, one (the linguistic root)  that repeats in a variety of forms throughout the parsha, Torah portion, וְיָתֻרוּ yaturu. I do not agree with the accepted translation and meaning as "scout." And also, although this episode is known as the "sin of the spies," "חט המרגלים" I wish to remind you, thanks to Atara Snowbell, that the term does not appear at all in this parsha.

Twelve distinguished men traipsing around together gathering fruit and observing things are "tourists," not spies. Actually their assignment was more like a modern pre-aliyah "pilot trip," in which they were supposed to choose the areas in which they each wanted to live with their tribes, like the Early Americans who would "stake out" boundaries in order to claim land.

When Moses sent them out, he had expected them to each return ready to promote a specific portion, an area of the Promised Land, for his tribe. Unfortunately, only one, Caleb did that. He stated that the area of Hebron, the location of the Ma'arat Hamachpela, Cave of the Patriarchs' Burial Tombs, was what he reserved for his tribe of Yehuda/Judah.

I can just imagine Moses's shock when instead of twelve enthusiastic tribal heads promoting their new homes, ten out of twelve, the majority, insisted that although the Land was nice and the fruit delicious, there was no way that the Jewish People could actually live there. The two in the minority were Caleb and Joshua, who were rewarded for doing the job properly, as the ten naysayers all died during the four extra decades of exile in the Wilderness for the Jewish People.

My husband and I, unlike most of our Zionist friends in New York, made aliyah right after our wedding in 1970. A few followed, but the vast majority ended up staying away. All of us who did make aliyah are happy we did so. We can't imagine living any place else, and we live all over the country today. Many of the friends who stayed in America or other places still try to excuse their lack of aliyah and/or still dream of coming here.

No doubt we're all shaped by our environments. I certainly consider the thirty-five years we've been in Shiloh to be a great influence on who and what I am today. Thank Gd, we now live in an era when individuals can come, and we're not required to follow the majority of Jews.

Caroline Glick, Michael Oren and Barack Hussein Obama

Michael Oren and the cover of his new book, "Ally."
Credit: Anne Mandlebaum and Random House.

Ever since MK Michael Oren came out with his book based on the time he was Israel's Ambassador to the United States, I've wondered where he really stands on the political spectrum. As far as I know, he's considered a Leftist, because he isn't for Israeli sovereignty and Jewish settlement in Judea/Samaria. But it's pretty clear that he's not naive about the reliability of the United States as a true friend and ally of the State of Israel. Too bad he's so confused.... Oren has aligned himself with the centrist aka Right, sic, but really Left Moshe Kahlon's Kulanu Party and represents them in the Knesset.

I highly suggest reading Caroline Glick's latest article, Obama’s money and Israel’s sovereignty, which mentions them all.

Obama’s money and Israel’s sovereignty
Friday, June 24th, 2016

This week, MK Michael Oren stood up to his boss in the Kulanu party, Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, to the political Left, including hundreds of retired security brass, and to the IDF General Staff. The former ambassador to Washington urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to sign the multi-year security assistance deal that US President Barack Obama demands Israel accept.
The problem isn’t the money. By all accounts, Obama’s multi-year military assistance package is generous.
The problem is that in exchange for the expanded military aid, Obama is demanding that Israel surrender its diplomatic and military independence to the White House.
For more than 40 years, every US administration – including the Obama administration – that has sought to harm Israel in any way has hit up against an unmovable obstacle. Whether the White House wanted to enable the UN Security Council to pass an anti-Israel resolution, place an embargo on military exports or bureaucratically slow them down to force Israel to stand down during wartime; whether the White House wanted block expanded trade deals, crowd out Israel’s military industries, or sell game changing weapons systems to Israel’s enemies, the US Congress has always stopped it in its tracks.
Israel-haters in the US speak endlessly about the supposedly all powerful and malign “Israel lobby,” which controls US foreign affairs. But the simple truth is that it wouldn’t matter all that much if AIPAC were to shut down tomorrow. Even without AIPAC, Israel would enjoy the support of Congress.
It would continue to enjoy that support because the vast majority of Americans support Israel and expect their representatives in Congress to support Israel.
In other words, the “Israel lobby” is none other than the American people.
As Oren warned, Obama’s military assistance package would disenfranchise the American public when it comes to US policy toward Israel. The agreement bars Israel from asking that Congress augment the assistance that Obama has offered and bars Congress from acting. So if a future administration chooses to breach the agreement, or to suspend it, or if conditions change and Israel requires other assistance, Congress would be barred from stepping into the breach. Then there is the assistance agreement’s assault on Israel’s military independence.
Israel’s military industries are the primary guarantor of its independent capacity to fight and win wars.
Successive administrations have sought to restrict the activities of Israel’s military industries and have used the military assistance to achieve their goal.
Israeli critics of US assistance note that Israel’s military industries are the primary casualties of the aid.
Currently, the US allows Israel to use a mere 25 percent of its assistance at home. As a consequence, the main beneficiary of US military assistance to Israel are US defense contractors.
Critics of the US aid argue that if Israel stops receiving military assistance, far from harming the economy, the move would strengthen Israeli industry and expand economic growth. The thousands of jobs at US defense contractors that are created through US military assistance to Israel, will move to Israel, and go to Israelis.
Moreover, whereas Israel gives the US its technology for free as part of the security assistance package, if it stops accepting the assistance, it will be free to sell its technology to other partners such as India, which will eagerly partner with Israel in weapons development and production projects.
Strategically, canceling the US military aid package would massively expand Israel’s military independence of action.
On the other hand, the deal that Obama is now trying to coerce Netanyahu to sign will require Jerusalem to give up the 25 percent of the military assistance it is now allowed to spend at home. Oren noted that such a concession will cost thousands of Israelis their jobs.
But even worse, an Israeli agreement to spend all future US military assistance in the US would be tantamount to an Israeli agreement to concede its military independence to the White House for a fistful of dollars. Without the independent capacity to develop and produce defense systems, spare parts and munitions, Israel will be unable to take military action without White House approval.
Obama’s own record makes clear what Israel would be risking.... continued

Great Britain Reverts to its Island Isolation

From the news reports, it looks like Great Britain is actually going to leave the European Union.

illustration credit

'Leave' scents victory as EU vote divides Britain

With results declared from 206 of 382 voting districts plus parts of Northern Ireland, Leave was ahead by 51.3 percent to 48.7 in the referendum, in which a vote to break with Europe could usher in deep uncertainty over trade and investment and fuel the rise of anti-EU movements across the continent.
Initial results suggested those in favor of quitting the EU were outperforming pollsters' expectations. They scored close to 70 percent of the vote in Hartlepool in northeast England and in Basildon, near London.
It was not clear whether an expected pro-EU vote in the capital and across Scotland would be sufficient to redress the balance. In the London district of Haringey, 76 percent voted to remain. (Reuters)

I'm not really surprised. Great Britain is an island off of Europe and always treasured its independence. That is what saved it from invasions, such as the Nazis less than a century ago. Also, in terms of the demography, cultural/ethnic politics in Britain, this is probably the last chance to get a majority to leave. As in Europe, the open borders have enabled a cultural diversity unprecedented in most of Europe and Great Britain for sure.

Don't forget that the European Union is much larger and more diversified than most people had ever expected it to be. For those who mourn the relatively monochromatic Christian Britain and Europe, they find themselves living in a nightmare, like a Twilight Zone episode.

The vote seems pretty close, so it could change directions, and then Great Britain will remain in the EU, and it will then find itself a totally different country in another couple of decades. And if it leaves, the transformation will just take a bit longer...

Dangerous All Over! I'm Not a Terrorist!

I just came back from New York, and when I was buying my tickets to go I very seriously mulled over getting much cheaper tickets, but...

But the cheaper ways of going from Israel to New York require changing planes in Europe. And I'm not being crazy paranoid to feel that it's probably not the safest place to be. In addition, around the same time I realized that I had to make the trip, I had heard that there were threats of airport strikes there, or some such thing.

So, I don't know if I did the right thing or wrong thing by getting the more expensive direct flight. Only "Murphy" knows for sure... I did try to save money by traveling to and from the airport as cheaply as possible.

I had barely landed, just gotten home, turned on the television and there was news of another terror attack in Europe:

German police storm movie theater, kill suspected gunman

PHOTO: Police secure area around cinema complex in #Viernheim http://on.rt.com/7ghi

That's right; Europe is not a safe place to be. Neither is America. It's no different than Israel; I guess. I still feel safer here at home. Most people are the same. Wherever home is we feel safer.

With all going on in the world, I'd like to know why I was singled out for a rather unpleasant inspection. I have a feeling it was the same woman who inspected/harassed me for no reason a few years ago. At JFK, they seem to count randomly to make people get the zap inspection. My "zap" wasn't good. The simple lightweight necklace I was wearing was deemed potentially dangerous, as was the zipper on my skirt. So this big black TSA lady told me to turn around or come with her for a more private inspection. I said that I must see my bags at all times. She said that I'd get them when she's finished. She kept yelling at me for turning my head to watch my bags. Then some kid in a "Camp Emma Kaufman" t-shirt touched my bag, and I complained, and she called a supervisor to yell at me. I think she was told to calm down, because she finished quickly and stopped telling me to face away from my bags. There was no reason for the inspection, since I showed her the zipper and could have taken off the necklace.

When I was on line to board the plane, the worker was told to stop just as she had put my boarding pass in the machine. It was pretty clear to me that there was a "traffic jam" trying to get into the plane with all the baby carriages and wheelchairs. The worker was also a large black woman, but we ended up having a great talk. She told me about her family, and I told her about that awful experience, so unlike Israeli security which sees me as a person and profiles. It makes more sense than the 1, 2, 3 sic! which is done in the states.

Yes, now I'm home, thank Gd!

Ordinary Americans May Like Israel, But...

.... the American State Department never did, nor does POTUS aka Barack Hussein Obama.

In anger, Obama questioned necessity of Israel's qualitative military edge

This has always been a problem, actually since 1947 when the State Department recommended voting against the UN establishment/approval of the State of Israel.

Now with Obama still in the White House, the anti-Israelis have their strongest ally. And don't forget that when Hillary Clinton was Secretary of State, things weren't any better, so I do not want to see her as President of the USA.

Yes I would  prefer Trump though I doubt if he'd be an effective president. JFK never managed to pass bills, and Trump has even less support from Congress. It was LBJ who passed Kennedy's program/legislation. IMHO the USA and the world need a break from the American Democratic Left.

Irving Moskowitz, Doer not Talker

The late Irving Moskowitz, Z"Tz"L, used his money for the good of the Jewish People. He was a giant. He made history and changes.

Moskowitz, who was among the most prominent financial backers of Jewish communities in eastern Jerusalem and across Judea and Samaria, passed away last Thursday at his home in Florida. He was 88 years old.
Rabbi Yaakov Shapira, Rosh Yeshiva of Merkaz HaRav, eulogized Moskowitz.
“He was pure life. We are crestfallen. Much can be said about the man and his work, ‘the man on the wall’ [guarding the city]; the ‘president of Jerusalem,’ as my father called him, now joins the many great people who worked to restore [Jerusalem] to its former greatness.”
Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat also spoke at the funeral, remembering Moskowitz as a “pioneer” and “man of vision”.
“Today we lay to rest a pioneer… a man of vision who saw the rebuilding of Jerusalem as his purpose in life. Irving was one of the first to invest and to donate to the development of Jewish settlement in eastern Jerusalem, [something which] came from an understanding of and belief in its importance and a deep sense of public [service].” (Arutz 7)

Through The Moskowitz Foundation, founded in 1968 with his wife, Cherna, Moskowitz donated untold millions of dollars to buy homes and institutions for Jews in eastern Jerusalem’s primarily Arab neighborhoods via Ateret Cohanim and the Ir David Foundation.
“The hundreds of families of the Old City, the old Yemenite village of Shiloach, Ir David, Ma’aleh Hazeitim, Shimon Hatzaddik, Kidmat Zion, Abu Tor, Beit Orot and the future families of Ganei Yitzchak are all ‘his families and homes,’” Executive Director of Ateret Cohanim Daniel Lauria said on Sunday. (Jerusalem Post)

I didn't know him personally, but I like many enjoyed and benefitted from his generosity 

Baruch Dayan Ha'emet

HaMakom Yinachem

There is NO Way to WALL OUT TERRORISM!!

Admittedly, since I'm not home, I haven't read or heard much news. Yesterday someone mentioned to me that my State of Israel had announced they would wall out the terrorists, try to block the Arab terror tunnels by creating some science fiction type of underground wall so the terrorists can't tunnel into Israel.

Duh?!?

I can't imagine anything more ridiculous. When the "greens" protest the damage to the Land, fauna and flora they will have a good  point.

In terms of sheer size land scope it seems totally impossible.

And it won't stop terrorism at all. Again it's like the cutting of the brooms in the animated movie Fantasia.

To stop the Arab terrorism we must get in their mindset and not act so wimpy, apologetic and technological. It's like trying to combine bubbles with staplers, or making a "pile" of water, thinking it's like trash or rubble. You can't sweep water into a corner. Terror is a psychological mindset, a combination of sociopath, ideology, brainwashing.

It is terribly dangerous to project one's own mentality onto the terrorists, thinking that the logic or goodness that would convince you to do something would influence a terrorist. The truth is that it just shows our weakness and makes them stronger and more confident.

A wall is just something to bypass. We must defeat the terrorists militarily, psychologically and politically. Nothing else will do it!!

Keep to The Right, Better Than Wrong

When I was on my way to the plane I saw this.

interesting

I find it interesting that "right" means "correct." And when someone is talking about a klutz, it's said that the klutz has "two left feet," or "two left hands."

What do you think? Comment please, thanks

So It'll Be Hillary versus Trump

Hillary Clinton is now the first woman to be in the running, barring anything unforeseen, as nominee for a major party for the Presidency of the United States. And if I'm not mistaken, Donald Trump is the first to be in the running, barring anything unforeseen, as nominee for a major party for the Presidency of the United States who isn't coming from a political, public service or military background, (at least in modern times re:Trump.)

photo credit

And unlike other nominees over the years, nobody is parve, neutral about these two. Either you love or hate one or the other or both...

Hillary has been in the news for decades, sort of overcooked, and I've liked her less and yes. Overcooked is the word, like how disgusting vegetables, especially green vegetables get when they are stewed forever. I don't like her policies and I don't like her as a person. I would have respected her more if she had thrown out her philandering Bill decades ago. But apparently their marriage is one of those unconventional ones, which somehow lasts. I don't trust her politically at all. She knows how to pick good speechwriters and deliver powerful speeches. Keep her on the stage performing, but don't take her seriously. She'll say anything for a vote and a headline.

Trump is also a good performer. Nobody is quite sure what his policies would be if elected. His personal life isn't any more classically "perfect" than Hillary's, but he has been more open about it. Ex-wives are pretty hard to hide, as are premarital photos of the present wife. He also has a knack to pick good staff, which is how he has made so much money on his mega building projects.

So, yes, they do have a lot in common and are similar ages.

But still, as an Israeli, I have no doubt that Hillary will be bad for Israel. And I have a feeling that Trump will try to stay clear besides the usual pally visits to meet the players here.

The next few months should be pretty entertaining. Hold onto your hats....