Deadline Approaching For Roundup
28 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
in Roundups, Uncategorized, War in Gaza
The February 1st deadline for my roundup is coming up. If you are a new immigrant to Israel and would like to submit a post about your feelings about the recent war in Gaza, please send them in.
My email is westbankmama at fastmail dot fm.
European Jews – Time to Pack Your Bags
27 Jan 2009 2 Comments
in Musings
Yourish sums it up nicely here – “Its Time to Leave”. I was dismayed to see the anti-Semitism displayed at the numerous demonstrations during the Gaza War, but not surprised. European Jews should wake up and smell the coffee, and make preparations to leave.
Now, at your own pace. Before the planes with the sky blue Star of David have to pick you up with nothing to take with you but the clothes on your back.
We’re waiting for you here in Israel with open arms.
Not Afraid to Go Back In
27 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
An IDF soldier was killed and three others wounded, one seriously, this morning by a bomb which exploded under their vehicle. They were doing a routine patrol along the border with Gaza.
The IDF responded by going into Gaza again. IDF helicopters went in and shot down a Hamas terrorist in Khan Younis (a refugee camp not far from where the incident happened.)
On IDF radio they are discussing how intense the response must be to other incidents of this sort. In the past (before the Gaza war) the response by the IDF was much too tepid, according to many, and that is why we suffered from years of rockets raining down on our cities.
The Israeli people don’t have the stomach for that anymore. The upcoming elections will show this very clearly.
Our Prayers Weren’t Answered (Yet?)
26 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
I wrote earlier in the winter that I would try to pray very hard this winter for rain. Well, I have been praying, but honestly the war in Gaza and some other personal prayers have taken precedence.
We haven’t had much rain so far – and this article in the Jerusalem Post shows how drastic the situation is. This January was the driest ever in Israeli history.
Which means that not only do we have to continue praying, but all of the water conservation measures that Westbankpapa insists on are even more important now. He washes the dishes without the water running, and he saves the rinse water by stopping up the sink. He then pours this water into buckets and uses it to water the few plants and bushes we have outside.
He hates the way I wash the dishes since I don’t do it the same way, and I hate to admit it but he really is right!
Going Green
25 Jan 2009 1 Comment
in Havel-Havalim, Kosher Cooking
Ilana Davita hosts this month’s Kosher Cooking Carnvial, the “green” edition. SuperRaizy hosts this week’s Havel-Havalim, the Superhero edition. (Do you get the Incredible Hulk when you combine them??)
A Call For Posts By Olim Chadashim
21 Jan 2009 7 Comments
in Israeli Life
The war in Gaza is over (for now, at least). Before we turn our attention to the politics of the upcoming elections, I had an idea for a roundup.
Here and there I read posts by olim chadashim (new immigrants to Israel) about their feelings during the war – some expressing their ambivalence about being here in Israel but not really “taking part” in the war.
I want to do a roundup of posts on this topic. Whether or not you have been living here in Israel for three months or thirty years – please send me your posts about how you felt during the last three weeks.
Deadline is February 1st. Please send your posts to westbankmama at fastmail dot com. I don’t have an extensive mailing list, so if you know of someone who may want to take part, please send them an invitation.
Lessons in Jewish Manhood
18 Jan 2009 4 Comments
in Family Stuff, Israeli Life, War in Gaza
My youngest will be Bar Mitzvah in one month (B’ezrat Hashem – with G-d’s help). Our custom is for the boy to start putting on tefillin (phylacteries) one month beforehand. As we did with our oldest two sons, we are going to the Kotel tomorrow morning. There we will daven shacharit (pray the morning service) and my son will learn from his father how to pray like a man, while his proud grandfather gets it all on film, and his proud mother and grandmother look on.
He has been very excited about this – and has literally counted the days until now. One by one his older friends started to put on tefillin at morning prayers at school, and he even marvelled at how “cool” they were about it. He has even asked his older brother if he could take out the tefillin and “practice” wrapping the straps around the boxes and putting them back into their case.
He has picked up some other lessons in Jewish manhood lately too.
We have all been exposed to the war in one way or another, but his exposure has been a little more intense.
He is in 7th grade at the yeshiva tichonit (religious high school) in Karnei Shomron. His seat in the Beit Midrash (study hall where the boys both learn Torah and pray) is not far away from Rav Karov, and the day that it was announced that Rav Karov’s son Aharon was seriously wounded, my son came home and described to me how he saw two IDF soldiers come into the Beit Midrash to call Rav Karov out.
Rav Karov also gave his usual Thursday morning talk to the whole yeshiva last week, and it of course centered on his son’s experience. Rav Karov explained to the boys that his son Aharon is a sapper – his job is to disable the bombs that are planted in the houses in Gaza as booby-traps. He described how the procedure is to have the sapper enter the room, with another soldier standing with his back to him in order to cover him in case there is sniper fire. They were going upstairs to the second floor in a house when the bomb exploded and he received the full force to the head.
Rav Karov thanked the boys for their prayers for his son’s recovery, and he announced that there would be an optional extra study session today – Sunday. This extra Torah study is for the recovery of his son and the other wounded soldiers and civilians hurt by the war.
My son has been learning how to study Torah like a Jewish man from the time he was little. He has been learning how to pray like a Jewish man for the past few months, and tomorrow he will put this learning into action at the Kotel.
He has been learning, from afar at this point, how to fight like a Jewish man, from hearing the stories of the heroism of the IDF soldiers.
And although he may not be aware of it, he is learning about another type of heroism that Jewish men need to express if they live in Israel. When Jewish men here are too old to fight themselves, they must watch their sons fight. Which is probably the greatest level of heroism there is.
None of these lessons are coming from the pages of a book – they come from living his life here in Israel. And with all of the heartache that some of these lessons may contain, I wouldn’t have it any other way.
Links and Things
18 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
in War in Gaza
Jack is at it again – another roundup us here.
A Gift for the New President
18 Jan 2009 2 Comments
Last night Olmert announced a unilateral ceasefire. Which means that Israel will stop initiating attacks and will only react, but will stay in Gaza for now.
This is nothing more than a gift given to Barak Obama. After he is sworn in and gets down to work, he needs to be able to say to the anti-Israel contingent in his government that the Israelis tried a ceasefire but Hamas didn’t do their part.
Hamas, of course, has continued to fire rockets at Israel. Last night, after the 2:00 am (Israel time) deadline, they fired rockets and Grad missiles at Israel, including Beersheva. The Pikud HaOref (Home Front Command) has announced that school will be closed today in most of the cities in the south, because they anticipate more rockets. Hamas has already come out with statements that they will not stop fighting. I believe them.
Both the Likud and Yisrael Beitenu have criticized the ceasefire, claiming that the army is ready to finish the job but the government is choking up. Avigdor Leiberman went so far as calling the ceasefire a “deathtrap”. They both have a point – but to be fair, I think that if the Likud were in power now they would do the same.
The only bright spot in this ceasefire is that maybe Israel intelligence will be able to pick up more information, if the Hamas operatives move out of their bunkers.
Another Reason For Haniyeh To Sweat
16 Jan 2009 Leave a Comment
The IAF killed a big one yesterday – and not “just another” Hamas kingpin. Siad Siam was, according to this report in the Jerusalem Post by Khaled Abu Toameh, the person in charge of personal security for Haniyeh.
Livni is on her way to the United States to look over an agreement where NATO and international forces will take care of the Philadelphia Route, and the government has sent Gilad back to Cairo for more discussions. But this doesn’t mean that there is a ceasefire yet.
The IDF still has a few good days to hunt out some more Hamas terrorists – the more the better. Maybe even Haniyeh himself.
