Is Tel Aviv Good Enough?

Is Tel Aviv good enough to be counted as doing the mitzvah?

Are you doing the mitzvah of yishuv haAretz if you can see a view like this?

Honestly, do you have to be on a historic street in Jerusalem?

Does an modern shopping center mean you're not a pioneer?

Must you shop on an old "main street?"

If you don't have a view like this, does it count as aliyah?

IMHO, I'm nobody's rabbi, of course, but as small as our HolyLand is, there's plenty of variety for all.  Pick your spot, and live here in good health!

Chag Sameach and Shabbat Shalom!

This Year We Were In Jerusalem!

So, off to Jerusalem we went. It wasn't quite that simple. I had to change the kitchen to Passover-mode early, in order to cook and freeze the food.

Of course, I couldn't have photographed the Jerusalem we saw on Shabbat and HolyDay, so you'll have to just imagine how it was from these pre-HolyDay shots.

Yes, this is the neighborhood we were in, Nachlaot, Machane Yehuda market, Jerusalem. It has a Shiloh Street, and Shiloh has a neighborhood called Nachlaot, but that's where the similarity ends.

Business was booming Friday, when I arrived early enough to help my son finish the cooking. You'd think it wasn't the 21st Century, when most people drive their cars to megamarkets. Since there was still almost a full day left when chametz was permitted to be eaten, you could still buy freshly baked cakes, cookies, bourekas and even challot for Shabbat. Neighboring stores and stalls sold Kosher for Passover baked goods of the strictest standards. There were long lines at the wine stores and at the felafel kiosks, too. And of course, people were still buying fruit, vegetables, meat and fish. There was lots to cook.

It was one of my most relaxed Fridays, considering that I had done most of the cooking at home, and as a guest, I wasn't responsible for the cleaning. My most important job was to make the kneidelach, but not in the soup, since we couldn't have them before Passover. And I also had to turn the frozen chicken soup stock into a delicious, rich vegetable soup, tasty enough to be eaten sans kneidelach, matza balls on Friday night.

Soon enough, it was time to light Shabbat candles.

We had to decide in which synagogue to doven, pray. At home, in Shiloh, we go to the local shul, which is conveniently located in our "backyard." Not only does Nachlaot have a great variety of shuls, but Rechavia is only a few minutes' walk away.

It seemed like a good idea to go to the Rav Shlomo Carlebach shul leil Shabbat. Everyone talks about its special atmosphere. The Kol Rena shul is in a very large miklat, shelter. The front end is for the men, behind them the women, and behind the women is a large place for kids to play--and play they did. They were noisy, and the congregants didn't care much. There were also a couple running back and forth in the connecting corridor. Yes, the singing is beautiful, and if you like "drums," you could hear that, too, as some congregants need to bang out their prayers. Due to a Shabbat Bar Mitzvah, they announced that there would be a kiddush Shabbat morning after Shacharit, with "final chametz" for all and then, after eating and bensching, (saying the prayer after bread,) they would all finish the morning prayers. It sounded like a nice way for a community to have that "last chametz meal."

That evening, after eating a kitniyot-rich meal at my son's, my husband and I walked around the area to scout out when the various synagogues would be starting the next morning's prayers, since we had to finish early enough to get back to our son's for cream cheese and lox in a pitta. In the end, we chose the venerable Yeshurun Synagogue,which was once the most prestigious one in Jerusalem. The building of Jerusalem's "Great Synagogue" less than a minute's walk away emptied Yeshurun of congregants. It's not as empty, decrepit and pathetic-looking as the one in Tel Aviv, where we heard Chazanut, just over a year ago. The Yeshurun Synagogue is beautiful and kept in good repair. There is a resident Chazan, one of the best, but most of the seats are empty, even on a holiday like Passover. I think my husband agrees that it's the nicest place to pray in. And even though there is a Chazan, the prayers didn't take long. But I must admit, that I prefer the way the Hallel Prayer is said in our humble neighborhood shul. There's a magic when all the voices fill the small space, beseeching G-d together.

Have a wonderful Passover!

Chag Kasher V'Sameach

The Great Walls Of Pesach

I consider Kitniyot to be one of the causes the Kera b'Am, Split/Division in the Jewish People. Among Torah-observant Jews, I don't think there is a subject that divides us more extremely than the humble grain of rice or pea. Could there be the hidden message in Hans Christian Anderson's famous story?

Jews of Spain and North Africa are permitted to eat kitniyot on
I pray that the walls between Jews will crumble like freshly baked matzah.
Passover, though some communities only eat fresh green kitniyot.

Today in Israel, it's easy to buy rice and beans with the strictest of Kosher for Passover rabbinic supervision. The Jews who eat those foods aren't sinning. It's not chametz.

Our People are so terribly divided. Too many people use Pesach to separate themselves from others. In some communities, even those who follow the exact same customs, won't eat it in each other's homes. It's as if they're accusing their friends of improper observance of Torah Laws.

I don't see anything admirable in that. It encourages competition, trying to show that one is "stricter" or "better" than others, instead of using this HolyDay to encourage unity and respect for others.

Back to Kitniyot The aim of this post is not to preach the cancellation of the different minhagim, customs, like the Ashkenaz custom of forbidding kitniyot. I just want us to be able to be able to find ways to act as one People.

In communities, like Shiloh, there is a lot of "intermarriage" between different Jewish ethnic groups. Many families, like ours, have grandchildren who are being raised according to totally different customs. There's rice on our Passover table, when the Tunisian branch of the family is over. I don't eat it, but it doesn't traif up (make unkosher) my dishes, nor make them chametz. Baruch Hashem, Thank G-d, things have changed for us.

I pray that the walls between Jews will crumble like freshly baked matzah.

Shabbat Shalom and Chag Kasher V'Sameach

Have a Peaceful Shabbat and a Kosher and Happy Passover

Your Clique of Cliques

"All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than others." George Orwell's Animal Farm
I wish this had the humor of Your Show of Shows, the legendary sketch comedy television series which appeared weekly in the United States on NBC, from 1950 until June 5, 1954, starring Sid Caesar.

The "clique" I'm referring to is Israel's media, especially, television.  It's not only a very closed club, but it has succeeded in controling Israeli minds better than George Orwell could ever have imagined.

The extreme Leftist control of the Israeli Media is more than just politics.  I felt it strongly after veteran broadcaster and media celebrity, Shosh Atari, passed away a few weeks ago.  The media took it hard.  For the broadcasters she was family. The word "we" was bandied about more than "she."

Those who read what I write know that I criticize the chareidim for not being part of the IDF and allowing the non-religious to control it, instead of making it a more Jewish army from day one.  And now I'm criticizing the Mafdal dati le'umi, national religious for giving the Leftist and non-observant the gift of television and radio to control our minds and children.  Mafdal was part of the government coalitions during the early decades of the State of Israel and could have gotten into the media as part of their agreements.

When Arutz 7 had its radio shows broadcast over ordinary radios all over Israel, people began listening and thinking.  That's why the government had it closed down.  Where were the protests?  Why were the politicians of the Likud and Mafdal so silent?  Why did they cooperate?  It's their fault that the Israeli media has gone further to the Left.  

Today the TV news editors very rarely give the political opposition even a symbolic opportunity to join in discussions and panels.  Their opinions aren't asked.  There isn't even an attempt to pretend to balance the broadcasts.  The clique is closed to those who don't agree. The Internet isn't a true alternative.

This "chametz" has been fermenting for decades.  It will be difficult to clean, but we have no choice.  We must enter the media in every position possible, from top to bottom.  G-d willing, the next government should be more nationalist and understand that no matter how difficult, "impossible" and unpleasant it will certainly be, a total overhaul must be made in Israel's media, starting with the IBA, television and radio.

FREEDOM! Not Quite

Passover has many names. It is primarily known çâ äîöåú the Holiday of Matzot and  as çâ äçøåú, æîï çéøåúðå the Holiday or Season of Our Freedom, but what does that really mean?

Is that the "freedom" they sing about in America?  Is it a freedom from rules and work?

No it's not.  As a language teacher, I'm going to tell you that the use of the word "freedom" for Passover just confuses people.  There are people who claim that they shouldn't have to clean so much and change the kitchen, because it's supposed to be the Freedom Holiday.  And there are those who say they should be able to eat bread on Pesach, because they want their freedom.

Passover isn't that kind of "freedom."

I think that "freedom" is the wrong definition for çøåúú "Cherut."  Maybe "Cherut" is more like independence or self-reliance.  Independence and self-reliance aren't easy.  They demand responsibility.  It's the opposite of slavery.  A slave doesn't make his own decisions.  A slave is owned by someone else, and we were owned by Pharaoh in Egypt.  Being a slave is easy; you can always blame someone else.  It's never your fault.

On Passover we must eat matzah, "lechem oni," poorman's bread.  Some people may see the irony in it.  Wouldn't the poor man's bread be for slaves?  Isn't a slave poor, so the opposite of slave should be rich?  Shouldn't the "non slave" then eat cake?

There are Jews who make their own matzot.

That's the act of a free man, making one's own food, instead of producing for the owner.

I pray that our nation be truly free and not slaves to the modern Pharaoh.