Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan at Tel Shiloh

Rosh Chodesh Cheshvan

Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh

Friday, October 8, 2010

at 9:30am

 ראש חודש חשון תפילת נשים בתל שילה

 יום ו', 8/10 9:30

I blog much more frequently and on a wider variety of topis on my other blogs, Shiloh Musings and me-ander.  Please visit them and enjoy.  Pass around the links.

Will Jonathan Pollard be released from American prison this year and allowed to make aliyah to Israel?  Here's my take on the very difficult subject:

Jonathan Pollard? No Gift For Netanyahu

I can't see Israel's Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu giving the United States anything for the release of Jewish prisoner Jonathan Jay Pollard.  It's not that any truly moral human being thinks that he should still be in prison, it's just that Bibi does not want  to embolden the Pollard protest movement which is extremely Right wing Israeli and uncompromising.   And they're angry, not only angry with the United States for its totally out of proportion and unprecedented punishment of Pollard for giving information to an ally, but they're furious with the Israeli governments and Intelligence establishment for abandoning Pollard for decades.

Jonathan and Esther Pollard are a couple of loose cannons, and there's no doubt in my mind that at this point in time the Israeli government is terrified of what they would say unmuzzled.

So, to whoever had that idea of bribing Bibi to continue the Jewish YESHA building freeze in exchange for Pollard, you're barking up the wrong tree!

Our three week marathon of Jewish Holidays has almost ended.  Soon it will quiet down.  When I was an English Teacher, this was the most serious part of the school year, until Chanukah.  G-d willing, we'll be blessed with rain, whether we deserve it or not.  I write much more frequently on Shiloh Musings and me-ander; please visit. You may find those blogs more enjoyable and entertaining than this one. And check out the comments which are very different from the ones here.

Really Surreal, Facts and Fiction in The Holyland

I just came back from a lovely few hours at Tel Shiloh.  There were totally peaceful and enjoyable activities for the entire family.  You wouldn't have believed that international politicians, diplomats and the media are raising a storm about our living in our historic and holy Land. It sure seemed quiet and relaxing here.

It's the Succot holiday, and there has been lots of building here in Judea, Samaria and the entire Jewish World.

First Succot Glances

"I've seen your kitchen before." My head was spinning.  How could she have seen my kitchen?  She had never been in the house. "You posted pictures on your blog showing it all covered for Pesach."

It's amazing how quickly some people seem to be ready to live in their new rooms.  Will the Appease Now activists come and volunteer to help us take apart our succot after the holiday and put the peaces pieces away?

Spying Succot in Jerusalem

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom.  We're approaching the last stage of our Jewish Holiday marathon, Succot, Shabbat and Simchat Torah.  On Chol Hamoed there will be activities for the entire family at Tel Shiloh.

I blog frequently on Shiloh Musings and me-ander.  Click to visit, thanks.

This Year's Avihu Keinan Chai Memorial Hike

That first year was totally amazing.  Moshe Keinan, Avihu's father, pledged at the shortened because of Rosh Hashanna shiva to march to the President of the State of Israel in Jerusalem and demand a meeting to protest that his son was endangered and killed because of a perverse "morality" that the safety of Arab civilians was more important than the safety of our Israeli soldiers.

Moshe, no youngster, grabbed an Israeli Flag and marched the entire route from Shiloh to the President's Official Residence.  A succah was set up and he held court for the entire week of Succot.  A wide variety of public officials and ordinary citizens visited to talk to him and show their support.  And yes, he was invited to meet then President Moshe Katzav.

This year the march will be on the Sunday during Chol Hamoed Succot.  It will be a full-day hike.  For details contact Orit.

We're at the half-way mark during our annual marathon of Jewish Holidays.  Rosh Hashannah and Yom Kippur are behind us.  Now we're preparing for the Holiday of Joy, Simchat Torah.  The Eye of The Storm has been busy with our own celebrations.  And yes, there's always more to read on me-ander and Shiloh Musings.  May G-d bless one and all with a year of good health and wonderful news and especially wisdom for the policians in power and those who vote.

Today I'm cross-posting a recent favorite, written by one of my team of writers.  It's highly recommended to check out the record-breaking number of comments.
In five years from now, will the term uprooting be downgraded to moved?

Have I Been Mistaken for a Head of Insect-free Lettuce?

By Sara L. Shomron

Nowadays, 5 years after the Israeli government’s forceful removal of its citizens from their homes in Gush Katif and the destruction of their communities, we seldom read/hear of it referred to as an expulsion but as an "uprooting."

Why has a recent historical event documented by the mass media in all its ugliness, pain, and tears been sanitized and rewritten?

I think the word uprooting serves to numb its distraught and tired population and their supporters. It suggests a state of denial of what happened in the summer of 2005. It confuses, bewilders, and reduces the expulsion to a botanical misfortune - and I am aghast.

 I don’t consider the word choice to be a matter of semantics or euphemisms. It reflects a world outlook. The use of uprooting seems to desensitize the mind, soften the reprehensible event, and merely serve to pave the way for future expulsions in disputed parts of the Land of Israel. It exonerates the Israeli government of its crime against the Gush Katif residents in particular, and the Jewish nation in general.

The motivation for the change may be that the use of uprooting is considered poetic or without the political baggage rather than the tell-it-like-it-was expulsion. Yet replacing the word and concept of expulsion with uprooting into our collective lexicon misrepresents what happened the summer of 2005. Plants are uprooted and replanted, if not, they die. And plants, when uprooted, if they are to survive, are immediately replanted in soil, watered, and treated with tender loving care. Such was not the case with the Gush Katif population. For example, some communities were repeatedly moved by the government; some went to live in tents while many went to hotels for an indefinite period of time; some went directly to caravillas - all temporary and untenable living conditions. The Israeli government’s motto for the expulsion, “Determination and sensitivity,” was not seen. No, the Gush Katif residents were not uprooted.

 In five years from now, will the term uprooting be downgraded to moved?