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Iyar 6, 5769, 4/30/2009
Finding G-d In Israel's Independence
As a religious Jew, I see/recognize the Hand of G-d in everything. Most religious people have the same attitude, unless they're just going throught the motions. To me there's a fundamental irony, or even hypocrasy in the attitude of Chareidi Jews who refuse to thank G-d and celebrate the fact that Sixty One Years ago, the Zionist leadership dared to declare a Jewish State. You may notice that I put "Jewish" in italics. Because, yes, I recognize that the state is imperfect, far from authentically Jewish. But that's the fault of the religious establishment in 1948 and to this day, both the Mizrachi (NRP) and Agudat Yisrael, because they relegated themselves, ghettoized, restricted their government involvement to their separate school systems and the religious establishment. They should have made efforts to be involved in every aspect of the country's development including, agriculture, military, entertainment and televison when it came to Israel. Judaism demands constant striving for improvement, for Tshuva, Repentance. We must never accept status quo as permanent, engraved in stone. And we must never give up our struggles to make our country, better, stronger, more self-reliant and independent. The Declaration signed sixty-one years ago just heralded a new begining, not an end. We must thank G-d for it and ask Him for the strength we need to continue and make Israel a more Jewish State.
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Iyar 4, 5769, 4/28/2009
The Empty Chair, Israel's Memorial Day
I left a bit late to get to the ceremony at the cemetery this morning. The siren began, and I stood still. I looked around. Everyone stopped whatever they had been doing. People stepped out of their cars. Tractor drivers got down from their tractors, as you can see in the picture.
 The cemetery was full of people sitting and standing during the memorial ceremony. The graves in this picture are mostly of old people who died from "natural causes."
I never like photographing my neighbors during such events. I try to be discreet.  
We've adopted the custom of reading T'hillim, Psalms, of the letters of the soldiers and terror victims' names at each grave. I stood with the parents of someone buried in a different cemetery. We found ourselves standing around an empty chair. It spooked me. An empty chair, such a simple and direct symbol of their dead son. 
Hashem Yinkom Damom
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Iyar 3, 5769, 4/27/2009
The Catholic Pope's Visit To Israel -- Taking Bets
This is also posted on Shiloh Musings. You're invited to comment there, too. Thanks
The Roman Catholic Pope Benedict XVI is due to visit Israel very soon. Josh suggested that maybe he'll be bringing one of our Holy Temple Treasures which the Romans stole from the Beit HaMikdash thousands of years ago. I doubt it, because it would admit that they have our property. Nu? What do you think? What do you expect the pope to bring us? Israel is planning an outrageously disproportionate gift of our Holy Mount Zion.
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The Eye of the Storm
by Batya Medad
A Unique Perspective
by Batya Medad of Shiloh
Batya Medad made aliya from New York to Israel in 1970 and has been living in Shiloh since 1981. Recently she began organizing women's visits to Tel Shiloh for Psalms and prayers. (For more information, please email her.) Batya is a veteran jblogger and recently stopped EFL teaching. She's also a wife, mother, grandmother, photographer and HolyLand hitchhiker, always seeing things from her own very unique perspective. For more of Batya's writings and photos, check out: Shiloh Musings And: me-ander |
