It's All From HaShem
Monday, June 9, 2025
Futility
Sunday, May 25, 2025
Coping
Thursday, May 15, 2025
Nakba Day
Wednesday, May 14, 2025
Sirens
It was surrealistic.
As my husband and I drove down Al Maqdesi Road on our way to the Kotel a siren
sounded. Ten minutes earlier we’d seen and heard an ambulance and knew this was
different, an air raid siren. Plus, my husband’s app announced we had a minute
and a half to get to a shelter. But where? And how?
Living in Shilo
we have had only sirens twice in the last nineteen months of the war. Both
times were at home, and it was simple to enter our shelter. This morning we were
ducks out of water and not sure what to do.
The obvious action
would have been to stop the car and seek shelter, but traffic, as can be seen
in this photo, continued as normal. We saw two teenagers lifting their phones
to the sky, most probably hoping to catch a shot of the Houthi missile. Pedestrians
continued on their way to wherever they were going.
Finally, my husband
spotted a parking spot. We exited our car and stood against a wall feeling
rather silly. In the end, our action was unnecessary since the missile was intercepted
outside Israeli territory. It was the third fired at Israel in a 24-hour period.
Thankfully, none hit their mark. May the
miracles continue.
Monday, May 12, 2025
Peace
Once our war
began, Israelis tripped over each other in their eagerness to help bring our
country to victory. It wasn’t just the Israelis. Jews from overseas came for a
week at a time to volunteer preparing sandwiches, picking fruit, shoveling
manure, sorting donations, and many other important tasks. I have to admit that
most of my war effort was kitchen based even though I longed to help in the
agricultural sphere. For various reasons that did not happen until today. A
vineyard in Kida needed senior volunteers to help straighten the grapevines.
The work was not supposed to be difficult, and Kida is close by so my friend and
I took off at six-thirty in the morning protected by sunscreen, hats, and work clothes.
What a privilege it was to help the vineyard’s owner who has spent more time in
reserve duty than out these past nineteen months. How exhilarating it was to work
looking out over the hills towards the Jordan River where my forefathers once
walked. I felt honored and satisfied with myself that I’d been able to do the
work and look forward to doing more.
As I worked the
wheels were set in motion for the release of Eden Alexander, held captive in
Gaza for 583 days. Thankfully he returned to Israel this evening. We’re praying for the remaining 58 to come
home, along with a complete victory over the evil of Hamas. May the winegrower
we helped today be able to remain at home with his grapes instead being in the
army and may we see the words of Isaiah come true. They shall beat their
swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruninghooks: nation shall not
lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more. (Chapter
2, verse 4)
Sunday, May 4, 2025
Wake Up!
Almost everyone
knows the story of King Solomon and the two mothers who each claim a live baby
is hers. We all know his solution was to cut the baby in half. The true mother immediately
relinquished her claim; the false one agreed to the plan. If she could not have
the baby that wasn’t hers no one should or could.
Last week there
were terrible fires in central Isreal. Miraculously no one was killed. It is not yet clear whether arson was the cause,
but it is clear Hamas called for their followers to burn down Israel. This was done
openly and unashamedly. Just like the false mother in the King Solomon story-
if they cannot have the land that is not theirs, no one should or could.amas called
World, wake up and see the truth.
Wednesday, April 23, 2025
Saving a Torah Scroll
Every family has their stories, tales that become part of
their history. For me, one of the most
important ones was how my uncle rescued a Torah scroll. I cannot say when I
first heard this saga, but it became seared on my soul. In turn, it became part
of my children’s and grandchildren’s legend.
And what is the story? On November 10, 1938, after spending
most of the night hiding with his parents from the Nazi gang rampaging in the
village he called home, Fred Katz, then nine-years-old, made his way to his
small synagogue in Jesberg Germany. He wanted to find his wimple*.
Instead, he found destruction. Prayer
books and shawls had been piled on the floor and a fire had been set which only
scorched some of the items before it went out. Looking through the
rubble, he found a Torah Scroll which had been torn apart at a seam but was
otherwise undamaged. Returning home he fetched the family’s hand wagon and
brought the Torah back with him. A month later he and his parents sailed for
America and the Torah scroll came with them, first to Stillwater, Oklahoma and
then to Wichita, Kansas where it remains until today.
Fast forward eighty-seven years later. Last night, my Uncle
Fred’s great, great nephew, my sixteen-year-old grandson, Yitzhak, was
wandering around at his yeshiva high school in Itamar. He was the first to
realize a fire, apparently due to an electric malfunction, had started in the
study hall. Inspired by Uncle Fred he didn’t hesitate. He simply dashed in and
grabbed the Torah scroll from the Ark. Both he and the scroll are fine.
Thankfully, no one was hurt, and the other buildings are all fine.
It was a little incident for most but for my family it’s
big. We’re proud of Yitzhak and we can’t help thinking that his story happened
just two days before Holocaust Day when the world recalls the horrors of the
Shoah.
We all know antisemitism has not abated. Nor has the attempt
to annihilate all of us. This morning my son returned to his base near Kissufim
close to the Gaza border. Uncle Fred and Yitzhak rescued Torah scrolls.
Yitzhak’s father, along with all our other precious soldiers, are trying to
protect all the Torah scrolls along with the Jewish people and their land.
It’s our youth like Yitzhak who give them the strength and
encouragement to continue in their mission. May the Almighty bring them success.
*There is a German custom to swaddle a baby boy in a cloth
with a Biblical verse embroidered upon it when he is brought to his brit.
Afterwards the cloth stays in the Holy Ark.