I Cried in Room # 617

It was a poem someone had written. Someone who was living in my hotel room before I got there. Someone who for eight months was crammed into this room with his family, bewildered, hurt and forgotten by his countrymen. Someone had written a poem, a poem of pain and anguish, ...and I happened to find it.

( In honor of the 2 year anniversary of the expulsion from Gush Kaitf, I am re-posting this piece I wrote that happened a little over a year ago)

It was supposed to be a happy occasion. We were celebrating my son's Bar Mitzvah that fell in the week of Passover, and since we knew we wouldn't be able to host all the extended family in my house for a Passover Seder and a Bar Mitzvah Sabbath, we came to the conclusion that we would find an affordable hotel that would be able to sleep and feed the family here in Israel, and those coming from abroad.

We arrived at a Jerusalem hotel, where I got the keys to room 617. After glancing around the room, I sent my kids and family down to the dining area where they had a light meal offered before the Passover Seder. I stayed behind to unpack their holiday clothes and to make up the beds for the children.

I liked having some quiet after the brief chaos. We were eight people crammed into two small hotel rooms with an adjoining door. There was lots of luggage and little space to spread out. Two of my kids would have to sleep on the floor, I decided. I took up the two cushions from the couch bed that was in our room and decided to make it a mattress. Then, leaning over to pull out the couch-bed, I spotted a folded piece of paper between the mattress and the metal support springs.

Unfolding it, I found it was actually two pages stapled together and typewritten in Hebrew. I began to read it.

"Kinah" (Lamentation) was the title. No author's name. After the first three lines, I took some weak steps backwards, fell onto the main bed of the room and started to cry.

It was a poem someone had written. Someone who was living in my hotel room before I got there. Someone who for eight months was crammed into this room with his family, bewildered, hurt and forgotten by his countrymen. Someone had written a poem, a poem of pain and anguish, ...and I happened to find it. 

Was it left for me, the 'next occupant', purposely? Or was it forgotten in the rush to evacuate the hotel to let new guests take over even this temporary abode for Passover?

I had heard that many of the families ensconced in these Jerusalem area hotels for an "indefinite time" were now being forced to move again to make room for Passover and Easter guests.

 

"Oh my gosh, this room belonged to a family from Gush Katif!" I was shaking.

What follows is a loose translation of the Hebrew text:

Kinah

On the Expulsion of Jews from Gush Katif,

The Gaza Strip and Northern Samaria,

I will lament every year with a broken and bitter heart.

How is it possible that a Jewish prime minister - Ariel Sharon - can give away a land brimming with wisdom and talent to Arabs, oppressors of Israel, as a gift and present?

How is it possible that he cheated his voters by expressing his love saying, "In my days, you will sit safely on your land," and then betrayed our trust, saying, "To them it belongs (the Arabs) ? not to you"?

How is it possible that people were sent to build, work and settle, affirm by self-sacrifice the building of the land, and now they were betrayed and disinherited, their land handed to Ishmaelites?

How is it possible that he made covenants with murderers

and gave the land of G-d with no recompense, to rapists, and then he reproached and blasphemed, saying, there is no G-d in the land, Who judges.

How is it possible that he attempted to cover his and his sons' crimes with much cunning, and shed shame on those goodly ones who toil over Torah, the people of the land? They will concentrate on the Disengagement, and his sons' guilt will be lost in oblivion and turmoil.

How is it possible that the heads of parliament gave a majority to the decision - a parliament that was chosen by the nation.... to end the quiet dwelling of the old, and the playing of the children from their streets.... to expel them, shame them, and give what belongs to them, to a bloodthirsty nation?

How is it possible that he scorned the laws of the Torah, he and his company of friends, and he despised the lovely land and legislated laws of his own desire?

How is it possible that police, soldiers and judges all stood by his side and participated in the joys of all his evil deeds and did not say, "Enough. Our will is an evil one."?

How is it possible that they announced to pioneering Jews settling the land: 'Enough! Stop! You have already sat many years in your settlements and now we will give this land to your enemies - your oppressors.'

How is it possible that Israel, a holy nation, cried out in tears to undo and revoke the decree of insolents and criminals and G-d concealed His face and left His land to traitors?

How is it possible that we stood in prayer and supplication and poured out our hearts; perhaps G-d will spare His nation and remove the decree of an evil government and the nation of G-d will lament, for the land was given to the hand of the vain and evil?

How is it possible that Jews were forcibly expelled from their homes, tossed onto buses... men, women and their children, and no mercy was shown for their property and their hard work?

How is it possible that they enacted a violent order... police and soldiers, to remove their brothers - the sons of Israel - from their homes? O Land, don't cover their crimes until sins cease.

How is it possible that they destroyed, out of hatred, houses, synagogues and schools full of Torah, and mercilessly threw people out onto the streets?

How is it possible that without any explanation or reason they destroyed factories, greenhouses and every growing field and gave their places to savages and the dishonest?

How is it possible that he raised his hand upon synagogues and yeshivas, and put an end to houses of study and the chatter of infants, while saying, 'Thus the world's nations will love us more'?

How is it possible that he invaded graves and extracted bones

of holy ones killed by bullets, fire and stones and he did not feel he would be hit by a curse - shchik atzamot - where his bones are pulverized, ground and pounded?

How is it possible that they gloated in the shadow of our sorrow, all his companions and lovers, saying, "G-d left the land, the house is empty of its Lord. Va-avdah b'hafkaira nicha leya [in Aramaic: Every man should do as he sees fit]"?

He who has mercy on the poor, (please) have mercy on the afflicted and return them to their legacy, for in You they trust. And bring closer the Redemption, for Israel shall be redeemed by G-d for eternity.

Who were these people who lived in room 617 for eight months? How many children did they have? What were their jobs before they were sacrificed by the politicians who came to power? Were they happy to leave the hotel for a 'caravilla' (trailer home), or were they victimized once again, but this time, too tired and too broken to fight? Did they leave this poem purposely for the next occupant of the room to find, which happened to be me, or was it left behind by accident? Why didn't the maid find it (everything was cleaned well before Passover, even the carpets were recently shampooed, I could feel the dampness in the rugs with my feet)?

Did G-d want me to find this, to share this cry with others?

Yes, I cried in room 617. I wonder how much crying there was in this room the last eight months before I got there.

Since the expulsion, I have prayed every morning that HaShem should bless our brothers and sisters from Gush Katif and the northern Samaria region with even more wonderful and happier lives than before, and that things should start improving immediately for them.

Crying is good. It's not a solution, although it's a good start to bring us to action. On behalf of our brothers and sisters who were wrenched from their homes, lives and communities, please, let us all do a special act of kindness in their merit: pray for their well-being in your prayers every day until they are settled; make a donation directly to these families to help them rebuild their lives (please email me at the link in the right hand column above) visit them, write them or make a 'twin city' with them to show that you care; make a firm commitment to act in the future to prevent anything like this from happening again.

May any future crying in room 617 be from cries of joy from new occupants who have come to visit Israel to herald the Moshiach and help bring the redemption that G-d has promised us all. And may we start positive actions now to ensure it comes speedily, in our days. Amen.

Postscript

The mystery has been solved! The family in room 617 has been found. They were from N'vei Dekalim and they include 11 children. Hear this dramatic interview with the mother of this family here.
 

Starting a New Jewish Holiday of Love

It started with two women. They were settlers in the Land of Israel.   

The news was bad. Jews were dying, being blown up in busses, in cafes, and shot on the road like ducks in a shooting gallery. People were being murdered and maimed almost everyday.  Prime Minister Ehud Barak was leading the country at that time and he had just come out with a whopper of an announcement that he was going to split Jerusalem, and hand over Har Habayit (The Temple Mount) where our Holy temple stood, as well as give over our homes in YESHA to arch terrorist Yasser Arafat (yimach shmo - may his name be erased) in order to establish a Palestinian State.  "How can this be?" the women said.
 
The two women then sat together in concentration.  They thought back to another time when the Jewish people were suffering many tragedies in Israel.  They remembered 2,000 years ago when our ancestors were attacked by the Roman army.  Jews were dying in the streets, slaughtered, our land was taken over and the survivors were taken as slaves into Exile.  It was a great tragedy and there was much suffering amongst the Jewish People.  We have learned that this happened to us because of the most serious sin of  sinat chinam - causeless hatred.  The two women looked at our society today and saw that we were in the SAME situation. There were suspicions and fights between the Secular vs. the Religious, the Left Wing vs. the Right wing, the Ashkenaz vs. the Sephard, and perhaps most surprising of all, the Religious vs. other Religious!  These women saw that after 2,000 years, Am Yisrael (the Nation of Israel) has made no tikkun (repair or fixing) for it's sin of sinat chinam, and they started a movement to try and 'fix' this and help merit G-d's love and protection.
After all, there are holidays like Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Cancer Awareness day, Diabetes Awareness, -why not a Jewish Unity / Ahavat Yisrael Day?

 
The two women (both mothers with children in school) decided to make an 'Ahavat Yisrael Day'. A day where people can concentrate on what unifies the Jewish People instead of what divides us.  A day where we learn to appreciate each other and our unique ways of contributing to our nation.  But how to do it?  They couldn't just advertise and HOPE people would show up to a celebration. They knew that was not the route to go.  And so they decided to approach the principal of their children?s elementary school. Here, they thought, was only one person they had to convince, but who could bring  hundreds of students and parents to an assembly.  BINGO!
 
I was fortunate and attended the celebration of Ahavat Yisrael Day and I will describe to you the beautiful and holy feeling of tikkun (repair work) we did that day.
 
All the school (and parents who were able to) came and gathered in the auditorium.  The Rabbi prepared a d'var Torah (words from the Torah) and spoke about causeless hatred and causeless love for one's fellow.  Afterwards, the two women got up and spoke about ahavat yisrael in their community, speaking directly to the children and giving them examples of how they themselves might be harboring prejudices of other Jews who live in a  nearby community, who have a different rabbi they go by, and have different customs.  They asked the children if they indeed recognized that though it is nice to talk about practicing ahavat yisrael, that they themselves in reality also may be harboring suspicions and hatred against their Jewish neighbors and so violating this important mitzvah (commandment).  Many children shook their heads in agreement that they recognized this prejudice in themselves and wanted to do a tikkun, a 'fixing'?. 


Afterwards, each of the 1^st - 6^th grades each got up and performed in front of the school, something on the topic of Ahavat Yisrael.  The first grade sang a song, while another younger grade did a type of circle dance, and the older grades put on skits showing how each individual Jew is important in the make up of our nation.  The secular may work for humanistic causes, serve in the army and do ground work, while the national religious community settle the land, farm, and excel in patriotism and mitzvoth,  and the Haredi population take a firm hold on Torah study, modesty and Kiruv ( bringing Jews back to Torah observance). -- Of course, there is overlapping of these talents in all three societies, and the children were just generalizing, (the Israeli army consists of secular, national religious and Haredim) but it proved the point that each community had its strengths and contributed in their own way.
 
After the assembly, the children and parents were led outside to the school's courtyard and each child was given a helium balloon which they would launch into the air all at the same time.  A laminated card was attached to a string on each balloon which stated: 

 
Shalom, we are kids from the school (one of the) settlement schools, and we are doing a project on Ahavat Yisrael and Achdut Ha'am (National Unity). We are asking that whoever finds this balloon, that they please help us with our goal of spreading good deeds and fellowship between the Nation of Israel.  As part of our project, we are asking you to either give charity, help an elderly person, or even just look at people differently and start giving them the benefit of the doubt, and do this for people you would normally NOT do it for because you wither do not have much contact with them or you may have categorized them as people from a community that you do not appreciate. Then, after doing this good deed, we ask you to please contact us (at a given telephone number) and tell us:
a)      where you  found the balloon, and
b)      tell us what good deed you did.
 
The note was then signed in the name of all the children from the school.
 
The 2 women and the principal of the school hoped to be able to later report back to the classes what the results were of this project. Now, Israel also has Arab villages which are near Jewish communities and everyone was wondering the wind would carry the balloons to the Jews it was intended to reach.

As the children excitedly held onto their balloons, the smiling Rabbi led a brief prayer asking G-d to please accept our efforts to spread random acts of loving kindness, and our  attempt to do a tikkun for the 'causeless hatred' which still lingers today.  Then, all together we  LAUNCHED the Ahavat Yisrael Balloons into the sky! Thankfully, the wind carried the balloons not towards Ramallah, but up high into the sky towards Jerusalem. (Short note - the army was notified that we were going to launch balloons so they shouldn't think it was some terror plot by terrorists trying to send something into Israeli population centers. <grin>)
The balloon launch was a beautiful site and a holy undertaking to do a tikkun, hopefully involving Jews from all over the country. 
 
 

After the ceremony, the 5^th and 6^th  grade classes all sat down at their desks and wrote a letter to Israel?s Minister of Education, (at that time it was Limor Livnat).  They asked her ? each in their own words and handwriting, to please institute an official day on the calendar for an Ahavat Yisrael Day.  A day where just like when we have Memorial Day or Holocaust Day, and schools change their schedules and invite guest speakers to share their stories, that schools also have speakers from all sectors of society enter classrooms all over the country and speak about what we have in common and how each can contribute in their own way to the Nation of Israel.  After all, there are holidays like Mothers Day, Fathers Day,  Cancer Awareness day, Diabetes Awareness, -why not a Jewish Unity / Ahavat Yisrael Day?  The letters from the children were then sent off with photos from the Ahavat Yisrael Day, in a large manila envelope to the Minister.
 
And what was the result of the Ahavat Yisrael/balloon project?  If this were a Hollywood movie, we would have had upbeat background music with scenes of people finding balloons all over Israel.  - Places like Jerusalem, Tel Aviv, Haifa, Tiberias, Beer Sheva, etc. etc. The background music would continue as we saw people from all over do a good deed, and then having the school office receive hundreds of calls.  But this is not a Hollywood movie.  In fact, the school did not receive one phone call from anyone. How is it possible that hundreds of balloons rose up to the sky and not one was reported to be found (except a couple that got caught in the telephone and electricity lines on the settlement itself).  Could it be that as the balloons rose into the sky carried off by our prayers and the wind, that they all went straight up to G-d?
I like to think so. 
I like to think that G-d cherished this ahavat Yisrael effort so much, that He kept the balloons in some special place in Heaven.
 

*** Want to start an Ahavat Yisrael Day in your community? Email Tamar and she will send you free of charge, the simple steps to take to make this happen in your community anywhere in the world.  To email, see the upper right hand column of this page.
 

Impeach The New President!

On the eve that Shimon Peres was to be sworn as Israel's 9th President, he made these highly controversial, divisive and political remarks: "We must rid ourselves of the Territories". Israel National News reports: "Peres also said he would continue his crusade of surrendering parts of the Land of Israel in exchange for promises of peace from Israel's enemies. He noted that this would require Israel to withdraw from Judea and Samaria. "We have to get rid of the territories," he said. "I won't make any secrets of my mind. I shall respect the minority. I shall not insult them. I changed my position [to President]. I didn't change my beliefs and concepts."

The Function and Purpose of the Presidency
by Moshe Gurel, Executive Director, President's Office
February 2005

At this time, with the political system in Israel tense and in a state of unrest, and anticipating the upcoming national Knesset elections, more prominence is placed on the unique role and status of the President of the State and the importance of the institution of the Presidency.

Israeli democracy, as in other countries in the free world that have parliamentary systems, was established by its founders with measures in place to ensure the non-partisan status of the Office of the President. To maintain uninterrupted integrity of government, the founders made the institution of the Presidency (one of the symbols of Israeli sovereignty) representative of all sectors of the State of Israel.

"The Basic Law: The Presidency" states: "The State of Israel is headed by the President."  The President of the State serves in the highest office and is not a part of the three branches of government. The President has no political status.

"The Basic Law: The Presidency" was designed to ensure the independence of the President and the President's status so that the President can represent national values and norms that are not politically controversial and so that the President can express opinions on public issues that are in the national consensus.

Out of loyalty to and responsibility for this high office, the President may neither intervene politically nor express personal views on issues that divide the public. The President protects the national system and the unity of the citizens of the State.

The status and policy of the President reinforces the sense of partnership between the citizens and the State, as well as between the people and their national symbols; the feelings of belonging and affiliation are also bolstered.

The High Court handed down in its ruling that the President of the State "stands above all three branches of government . . . and personifies the state itself in his being." (1962)

Being set apart from the other government authorities and from politics is what shapes the role of the President as a unifying and non-partisan force.

The political system in Israel is intense and stormy. Political controversy is widespread, touches upon almost every aspect of the lives of the citizens, and may harm the unity of the people. The institution of the Presidency is different. There are very few organizations and institutions in the country that are free from political considerations. The Presidency is an anchor of stability, providing a sense of Statehood, continuity, and unity. The Presidency is a supreme institution of State and is not part of the political debate or political discourse. The citizens of the State from all sectors and all regions feel a connection and affiliation with the Presidency.

Furthermore, the State of Israel, the State of the Jewish people and a democracy, is the spiritual center for the Jewish people in the Diaspora. Thousands of Jewish communities in the worldwide Diaspora feel a spiritual connection to the State of Israel through their connection to the President of the State and the institution of the Presidency.

Throughout his term of office, President Katsav has received many delegations of Jewish communities from all over the world who came to see the President of the State. Likewise, the President, on his visits abroad, takes pains to ensure that an important part of his schedule is devoted to visiting the Jewish communities in the Diaspora.

Some of the Jewish communities abroad note that they relate to the President not just as the President of the State of Israel, but as the President of Israel - the President of the Jewish people.

The Knesset felt it necessary to stress the independence of the office of the Presidency. To show that independence, the Knesset granted the President the authority to appoint senior office holders in a way that emphasizes their independence from anything political or controversial.

The President appoints secular court judges, rabbinical judges to religious courts, and the kadis to the courts of Muslim law. The President appoints the members of the Council on Higher Education, the National Academy of Science, the Broadcasting Authority, the Authority to Rehabilitate Prisoners, the Chief Rabbinical Council, and the Wolf Foundation, as well as the Governor of the Bank of Israel, and others.

The autonomy and validity of these senior appointments is assured by the non-political nature and independent status of the Presidency.

The President also confirms and endorses the credentials of the Israeli ambassadors leaving to take up posts representing Israel around the world and receives the credentials of the foreign diplomats who have been sent to Israel.

Paragraph 11a of the Basic Law charges the President with the responsibility to sign every bill into law (except those that pertain to the powers of the President), as well as international or bilateral treaties that have been ratified by the Knesset.

Additional powers granted in "The Basic Law: The Government":
How can the citizens of Israel feel "unity and cohesion" towards their president, when their president says he believes in and wants to see a quarter of a million law abiding citizens uorooted from their homes?

When a new government is formed, the President delegates the job of establishing that government to one of the members of Knesset. This may be after elections, after a no-confidence vote, after the resignation of the prime minister, or the resignation of the government. This authority, which is well known in most parliamentary forms of government, requires judgment and is exercised after consulting with the various Knesset factions and is based on the President's personal evaluation of who has the best chances of forming a government.

According to paragraph 29a of the Law, Presidential consent is required for the dissolution of the Knesset by decision of the Prime Minister when two conditions have been fulfilled - that a majority opposes the government and that this prevents the orderly operation of the government. Under these circumstances, the President may have influence, if the President is convinced that these two conditions have not been fulfilled. In that situation, the President may be able to convince the Prime Ministers to avoid dissolving the Knesset.

Fulfilling these duties during a time of national crisis and political instability has given those serving in this position the power of influence. The President enjoys an image of neutrality, which grants a measure of freedom of action and ability to affect political dynamics, simply because the President is a symbol of national unity and the guardian of the basic principles of Israeli society.

The President receives ongoing reports from the Prime Minister and governmental ministers, the Chief of Staff of the IDF, the Heads of the Intelligence community (the Mossad and the Security Services), and others. In this way, the President has an understanding of the surrounding circumstances that guide the proceedings of the political system and does not take action in a vacuum on subjects of national importance.

Socially, it is clear that a society as replete with controversy as Israeli society finds it difficult to focus on shared symbols, and this is vital to the functioning of a civilian society. Inasmuch as the President of the State is also the address for appeals from minorities and different sectors of the population, the President can alleviate the sense of alienation from society for these citizens and can lessen their sense of deprivation, raising their problems for consideration as part of the national agenda.

Unfortunately, in the present Israeli reality, there is not full cohesion and identification of all of the citizens of the State with the symbols of State, such as the flag and the national anthem. However, the President, by fulfilling the duties and by the authority granted by the Basic Law, can be a force of unity and cohesion. All citizens can feel connected and affiliated with the Presidency, a common denominator for all Israeli society, with whom everyone identifies.

The institution of the Presidency is a supplementary institution of the government in Israel. The President is given duties and powers that cannot be granted to other institutions of government, both in times of stability and serenity as well as in times of crisis and controversy. (END) ***

Now, please decide for yourself whether Shimon Peres is not violating the office of the President of Israel.  And if he is doing so, by stating that he will continue to push for peace, which lies in the realm of politics, foreign policy and Knesset authority, why he should indeed not be impeached from this office?

How can the citizens of Israel feel "connected and affiliated " towards their president, when their president says he believes in and wants to see a quarter of a million law abiding citizens uorooted from their homes? 

When those in the Knesset watched as Shimon Peres became the official president of Israel, and they called out, "Yechi, Yechi, Yechi" (You will live!, or  Long live...) those three times, perhaps all of us citizens who are tired of being trampled on and having a double standard when it comes to enforcement of laws, we should be shouting instead:  "Impeach!  Impeach!  Impeach!"