Expanding The New Shiloh Neighborhood

The newest neighborhood in Shiloh is Rechov Techelet, which can be translated loosely as Sky Blue Street. If I remember correctly, the area was first planned and approved for building pre-Madrid Conference time.

The Israeli Government had approved a massive building project for Shiloh of something like 134 houses, which was to double the population. Half were to be in my neighborhood, including a large extension of it to the north, and the other half was in the middle neighborhood, extending it to the south and east.

My memory on the timing is pretty exact, because half the homes ended up being built in Shvut Rachel which was established in memory of our neighbor, Rachella Druk, who had been murdered when on her way to a demonstration in Tel Aviv, which was to encourage Prime Minister Yitzchak Shamir to be strong and resist international pressure at the Madrid Conference. In those days it was considered important to memorialize someone murdered by terrorists by building a community in the person's memory. In order to make sure that Shvut Rachel got a good start, our Town Council requested that half the homes allocated to us be transferred to the new community to the east.

In the past decade or so homes have finally been built in that area, and it's a lovely neighborhood. A new section is under construction called  Karmei Shiloh, and here are some photos I took this week.

I find all of this building in Shiloh very exciting, and it's wonderful to hear that nowadays Shiloh isn't considered "out of the way." Shiloh is considered the Center of the Country, convenient and a wonderful place to live. Thank Gd!

Why Debate "Jewish State" Bill?

This is The State of Israel established in the Jewish Holy Land, the only Land which is holy according to the Jewish religion.

We are connected to this Land in all ways, history, theology, literature and genetics, too.

There have always been Jews living here, even under the worst imaginable conditions. 

We've outlived, survived our most bitter enemies, here and in the Diaspora.

Since our relatively recent return to the Land and the Establishment of the State of Israel, our military victories have been or miraculous Biblical proportions. Our agricultural, economic and technological successes are unsurpassed. And we have the highest birthrate in the developed world.

Not only Jews want to live here. There are citizens and permanent residents of other religions and nationalities. That should not negate the Jewish essence of the State of Israel. We don't have to bend over backwards to make them feel welcome. They are guests and not the raison d'être for the establishment of the State of Israel.

Gd commands us to empty the Land of others when we return and then establish a kingdom, a government that doesn't ape the non-Jewish world. We are still in that process and the Knesset must pass the Jewish State bill.

Negotiations With The Arabs Won't Bring Us Peace

I've been following news in Israel since before the 1967 Six Days War, and I've lived here since 1970, so I do have quite a long perspective. I remember when Israel's political Center and even Left mocked the idea of a Palestinian State and People. That was the consensus here. Some of us haven't changed our opinions, but most inexplicably have.

I emphasis  inexplicably, because facts and history haven't changed. All those Israelis who in recent decades, Right, Left and Center, who now insist, as I've heard Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu say, "...the Palestinians deserve a state..." have fallen for a dangerous con/sting.

Why should and how can anybody insist that a bunch of immoral blood-thirsty terrorists should be given land from a peaceful legitimate internationally recognized country so they can invent a new state?

Netanyahu keeps claiming that if he puts enough impossible conditions on this state, it just won't happen, but he's wrong.

Palestinian Media Watch

The ultimate and unrepentant aim of those Arab terrorists, who are called Palestinians, sic, is the destruction of the State of Israel, Gd forbid. Yes, it's that simple, that black and white.

Highlights of the speeches from the Jerusalem Post Conference in New York, see this and this, show that there are politicians and government ministers who are wary of such a state, but that's not enough to make me feel safe. And of course, all of their proposals are based on negotiations.

There's a basic, and very dangerous, premise in negotiations. That is the recognition of the other side as legitimate, equal. That's the tragic flaw in negotiating which shouldn't be ignored.

For decades already, the Americans have made it clear that they see the Arabs, even Hamas, as equal to Israel and peaceful citizens like myself.

PM Rabin with Arafat and Bill Clinton

Over twenty years ago, in my living-room, an American Consular official had the utter gall to equate me and my neighbors with the terrorists of Hamas. I told him off and he seemed very surprised. Since Yitzchak Rabin had been willing to accept the terrorist Arafat, the game had changed for many, but not for me.

Arafat never stopped his support of terrorism against Jews and Israelis and ditto for his successors, such as Abbas.

Support of terrorism isn't something that can be negotiated away by a bit of compromise. It's an intrinsic fact.

It doesn't matter what the format, how direct, indirect, whether in Jerusalem, Tel Aviv or the White House, negotiations with terror supporters won't bring peace. Such negotiations will just weaken us, militarily, ideologically and diplomatically. Take a good look. This is exactly what has been happening the past few decades. Israel's legitimizing the so-called Palestinians have just chipped away at our acceptance. Today most universities, all over the world, are hotbeds of anti-Israel, pro BDS ideology.

The cat's out of the bag and we have an almost impossible mess to undo. Gd willing we will succeed.

Building in Shiloh, We're Expanding!

This is also posted on Israel Bloggers.

During "the season" we moved to Shiloh in the summer of 1981, Shiloh doubled in population from over thirty families to sixty plus. And the yishuv (town) also got much, much larger, because Arik Sharon who had then been Minister of Construction had decided on insisted on making a whole new neighborhood on a large hill a kilometer, as the crow flies, to the northeast of Tel Shiloh. The first homes, which were trucked in were right near the Biblical Shiloh. And permanent homes were being built just above them. But when Sharon visited Shiloh just before that Passover, he, very correctly judged that larger hill to be much more suitable for housing and living. The forty prefabricated cement homes he had sent by truck are still being lived in, though most are almost unrecognizable after having been expanded by the owners.

Our house was built on a building plot Sharon had prepared, which didn't get a house. We preferred building from scratch.

There are now close to four hundred families living in Shiloh. Not only are there one-family homes, but there are also terraced apartment buildings overlooking totally amazing views. And we've even reached the point where people buy a house and then knock it down in order to build something much larger and nicer.

Recently, I was informed that the Shiloh will soon be doubling in size. There are that many houses being constructed or already approved for construction. The Shiloh Bloc, unlike many other communities in Judea/Samaria has a lot of State Land which can be used for housing, schools etc. And, yes, a new school campus and girls high school are also being worked on. It's to be located just above the Shiloh-Shvut Rachel Junction.

And our regional council, Mateh Binyamin, has announced that finally a proper access road to the Alon Road is getting approval. Right now we have a paved "one-lane" road, which isn't the most pleasant to drive on. But even this below standard road makes Shiloh a very convenient place to be. We're just minutes from the Jordan Valley.

Shiloh is very central. We can drive to Petach Tikvah and Kfar Saba as quickly as to Jerusalem, though you do need to change buses in Ariel if using public transportation. Also the Number Six Highway and Rosh Ha'ayin Train Station aren't far. Of course the Ariel University is barely ten minutes away from Shiloh. Lots of kids now move back home after the army and National Service to study nearby.

Shiloh is now in its fortieth year, and we've come a long way, thank Gd!



You'll see me towards the beginning and the end of the video.

Blessing the Government, Ethics of the Fathers, Pirkei Avot, Chapter 3:2

This was first posted on Israel Bloggers.

Pirkei Avot, Kehati Mishnah

Chapter 3:2. Rabbi Chanina, deputy to the kohanim, would say: Pray for the integrity of the government; for were it not for the fear of its authority, a man would swallow his neighbor alive. Pirkei Avot, Chabad.org

This Shabbat, as we were learning the that mishna,  I began to think of those who in anger or disappointment at various politicians and/or policies, even including the very legitimacy of the State of Israel, refuse in principle to say the Prayer for the State of Israel.

Prayer for Shlom Hamedina, Welfare of the State of Israel, Jewish Virtual Library

Our Father in Heaven, Rock and Redeemer of Israel, bless the State of Israel, the first manifestation of the approach of our redemption. Shield it with Your lovingkindness, envelop it in Your peace, and bestow Your light and truth upon its leaders, ministers, and advisors, and grace them with Your good counsel. Strengthen the hands of those who defend our holy land, grant them deliverance, and adorn them in a mantle of victory. Ordain peace in the land and grant its inhabitants eternal happiness.

Lead them, swiftly and upright, to Your city Zion and to Jerusalem, the abode of Your Name, as is written in the Torah of Your servant Moses: “Even if your outcasts are at the ends of the world, from there the Lord your God will gather you, from there He will fetch you. And the Lord your God will bring you to the land that your fathers possessed, and you shall possess it; and He will make you more prosperous and more numerous than your fathers.” Draw our hearts together to revere and venerate Your name and to observe all the precepts of Your Torah, and send us quickly the Messiah son of David, agent of Your vindication, to redeem those who await Your deliverance.

Manifest yourself in the splendor of Your boldness before the eyes of all inhabitants of Your world, and may everyone endowed with a soul affirm that the Lord, God of Israel, is king and his dominion is absolute. Amen forevermore.

I think not saying it is a big mistake. Just look at what it really says, especially the section I emphasized. The prayer was very carefully worded. It does not endorse the policies of the politicians leading the State of Israel. It has us asking Gd to bless those people with wisdom and the ability to follow Gd’s instructions. Yes, it asks Gd to take away Free Will from our leaders so they won’t make dangerous mistakes. And isn’t that what we really want?

I'm Worried About The State of The USA

• Not everyone can win.
• The major Principle of democracy is accepting results including losses.

The "not my president" campaign/movement is undemocratic and I'd even say fascist.

The results of legally held elections must be accepted, even when you're upset by them. Not only is that life, but that's what democracy is all about.

If anything, the "not my president" campaign is probably just alienating more voters from the Democratic Party than it's attracting. And no doubt that there are some very embarrassed Democrats who are terrified to voice their opinions. 

Hillary Clinton and other Democrats who lost turned off voters by preaching that their ideology is the right and most moral one, and they didn't tune in to the worries, fears and priorities of the American voters in most of the states. Think of it as playing a violin like a banjo. It's going to sound really bad. And sticking a guitar on your shoulder to play like a violin won't be any better.

Sorry, but the truth, like election results, isn't guaranteed to the pleasant.

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Honestly, I Don’t Want a “Peace Deal” with Arabs!

This is cross-posted on Israel Bloggers.

There’s absolutely no way a “deal” can be true peace. “Peace Deal” is an oxymoron.

• A great “deal” is when you find some discount, slightly imperfect, tomatoes which you need to cook into tomato sauce.
• A great “deal” is when you discover the perfect outfit in an outlet store for a fraction of the price anyplace else.
• A great “deal” is when you buy a used car from an elderly person who kept it in the garage, since driving had become too difficult.
• A great “deal” is when you find property to buy at under the usual price for the area, because the owner needed to unload it immediately and is willing to take a loss on it.

But PEACE?!? That’s something very different.

• A “Peace Deal” is a photo-op with a very short shelf-life.
• A “Peace Deal” is a towel bought from some online site which ends up as thin as paper, not the fluffy one in the picture at all.
• A “Peace Deal” is a wax fruit that melts in the sun.
• A “Peace Deal” is an expired medicine that poisons rather than cures.
• Yes, a “Peace Deal” is a fake. It’s faux peace signed for ulterior motives.

True peace is something else. It only happens when both sides really want it, and there’s no sign that the Arabs who keep supporting terrorism against Jews and Israel want that. It will take a long time, if ever, until they do. And in the meantime we must be prepared to fight them and defend ourselves. That’s the only way we can survive.

Time to Declare Independence From United Nations

It seems like we Israelis are always complain about the treatment we get from the United Nations and its various bodies/groups/organizations such as the Security Council, UNESCO, etc. Nu, why does anyone in their right mind expect an improvement?

• The world is antisemitic.
• The only Jewish establishments/foundations/museums that can get lots of funding are Holocaust "memorials," because they celebrate the murder and legalized discrimination of Jews.  

So, the latest insult is that UNESCO doesn't recognize Israeli sovereignty of Jerusalem. The United States State Department's defacto policy is the same. That's the key to why every single country that has diplomatic relations with Israel unabashedly insults us by placing their embassies anyplace but Jerusalem.

The State of Israel and the Jewish People must take a strong stand and stop pretending to be insulted.

• We should move all of our embassies to cities of our choice, as long as they're not the stated capitals.
• We should take rename all the 29th of November streets which honor the date the United Nations "approved" the establishment of the State of Israel, because celebrating that vote only gives the United Nations and world power over us.

Jerusalem is the Holiest City only for the Jewish People, and only we care enough to make it the wonderful modern city it is today!

Celebrating Israeli Independence Day, 5777, 2017

This is cross-posted on Israel Bloggers. There may be a slight difference in the photos included on that site.

Here in Israel the entire country manages to transition from the mournful Memorial Day to the exuberant and festive Independence Day. Having them connected helps the bereaved by showing how Israelis appreciate and value the price we pay for our independence and security. They aren’t forced to mourn in a lonely vacuum.  And Memorial Day here isn’t a convenient vacation/party day, which was what the American one ended up being for my family.

For those of us who attend the religious prayer services which includes a very enthusiastic and musical Hallel (Praise) Prayer, like we have in the Shiloh Tabernacle Synagogue find that thanking Gd as a community of Jews certainly prepares us for celebrating the miracles Gd has preformed for us.

Yom Ha’atzma’ut, Israeli Independence Day is definitely a spiritual holiday, not a simple celebration of a historic event. Recognizing the Hand of Gd in everything that has been happening to the Jewish People makes it easier to go on even when times are difficult. As we left the synagogue, it was easy to put our troubles in the “back pocket” and celebrate together. Following are a number of photos and short videos I took last night here in Shiloh.

Enjoy, Chag Ha’atzma’ut Sameach!

Music, Mourning and Songs

Yesterday I saw a question on Facebook asking how, double-davka, during Sefira, when the Jewish People are forbidden joyous activities like live music, is there live music during many of the official Soldiers and Terror Victims Memorial Day ceremonies.

Shiloh's Soldiers and Terror Victims Memorial Day Ceremony, 5777, 2017

Shiloh's Soldiers and Terror Victims Memorial Day Ceremony, 5777, 2017

I remember the first time I came across live music during a time of mourning, it was at a memorial ceremony for a friend, during the first year of mourning when live music is forbidden for the children of the dead, when one of her children played a sad song on a musical instrument, which her dead mother had loved. I was surprised, but considering how little I know of Jewish Law, I figured that it must have been very important to the family and approved by the local rabbi.

At funerals for veterans of the Pre-State Jewish Undergrounds, Etzel and Lechi, we'd always sing Shir Betar and Chayalim Almonim, (Anonymous Fighters) by the grave in honor of the dead. The first time I experienced such a funeral, it was unexpected, but then I thought a bit about those two special songs and realized that they are more like prayers.

Except for the Shofar on Rosh Hashana, musical instruments are forbidden on Shabbat and Jewish Holidays, even though music can certainly add to the occasion. Music is voice and can express joy and sadness. That is certainly what the live music did last night at our memorial ceremony in Shiloh. There was nothing joyful in the music that was played, besides seeing the talents of our young neighbors.

And even more than that, the mournful sounds coming out of those instruments are what is needed at times when there are no words...