Another Israeli Innovation That Saves Lives

Another innovation by Israeli researchers that saves lives. This one is a device that detects respiratory distress in premature babies, before damage is done. This one was developed by the Technion and Carmel Medical Center.

I found this article on NoCamels, a website dedicated to news about Israeli innovations. (Just think about that – there is a continually updated website just for the new things coming out of Israel!).

Strange Offers

There is just over a week to go before Pesach (the holiday of Passover), and in the middle of cleaning, menu planning for the holiday, and purchasing food and clothing for the family, most women are looking at all of the chametz (leavened substances which are prohibited to eat or have in your house on Passover) that they still need to get rid of.

The very organized women will of course have menu plans for the next few days that use most of it. The less organized (I fall into this category) will have too much to use up.

One alternative is to donate the chametz to charity, but this only covers unopened packages. What do you do with the rest?

This is where the email comes in, and some of the very interesting, and strange offers to be found. About 6 months ago our yishuv decided to open a email list just for the women. This was done so that we could discuss both delicate matters such as our local mikveh, and more prosaic matters like requests for Purim costumes, recipes, hat sales, and the new exercise craze, Zomba.

Today I saw offers of opened bags of bread crumbs, pearl barley, and ice cream cones.

I have an opened box of lasagna noodles – too little to feed my family, but enough for a couple. Any takers?

Negotiating?

Like many of you I have followed the news of the murder in France of Rabbi Sandler, his two sons Gavriel and Aryeh, and Miriam Monsenago with increasing horror, sadness and anger. They broadcast the funeral on the radio here in Israel.

Now the madman who is supposedly responsible is holed up in an apartment in France and the security forces are “negotiating” with him. What the *^$%#@ is there to negotiate? Why are they giving this beast a platform in the news to spew his views? He is quoted as saying he will “go to prison with his head held high or die with a smile”! They should have evacuated the building at once, threw in a tear gas canister and stormed the room earlier this morning, shooting him if he resists. Let him smile all he wants then.

Watch, Listen, and Spread the Word

The IDF blog has up to date reports on what is happening in Israel’s southern sector, including videos of the sights and sounds of sirens and the booms of rockets. Thank G-d the Iron Dome system is destroying most of the Grad rockets in mid-air. This does not mean that the people in the southern cities are unaffected, though. Both children and adults are traumatized by the sirens and the need to run to a shelter, sometimes many times a day and in the middle of the night. Schools are closed, so the parents need to switch off going to work and staying home with the kids. Business is sufferring too.

In addition, the Arab propaganda machine is continuing with its lies.  “UN Employee Exposed Over False Photo Tweet” - Khulood Badawi posted a picture on twitter of a little girl covered in blood, claiming she was killed by recent airstrikes in Gaza by the IAF. It turns out that this picture was already used back in 2006, and even then it was a lie. The little girl had fallen off a swing, and her injuries had nothing to do with Israel.

It is important that people inform themselves of the truth and speak up – especially on the internet. The IDF blog has some ideas on how you can do that here. As they point out in the post, you don’t have to be a soldier in order to help Israel.  Honest Reporting points out that in order to fight the false information being put out, is important to post on your blog with links, so that the correct information comes up first on search engines. Using Twitter and Facebook is important too.

Here is just a taste of some of the sights and sounds in southern Israel now:

Hoist by Your Own….Mortar Shell?

The terrorists in Gaza are still firing rockets and mortar shells non-stop at the southern part of Israel. The Iron Dome system is destroying the Grad rockets in mid-air, thank G-d, but the mortars fired at areas right next to the Gaza strip are usually left to fall in non-populated areas.

Two mortar shells happened to fall onto trucks with supplies coming into Gaza from Israel.

“Three mortar shells hit two trucks carrying supplies into Gaza Strip on the Palestinian side of Kerem Shalom crossing. The crossing has been temporarily closed.”

 The kids are still out of school, and the adults in the south are trying to juggle working and being at home (or in shelters) with their kids.

One bright note: the government is organizing volunteers to entertain the kids in the various shelters, and they reported today on the morning news that they have more volunteers than they can handle. It seems that the actors, clowns, and singers are all willing to do their part.

Southern Israel Under Rocket Attack

(For constant updates on the security situation in Israel, go here to the IDF blogger site, for explanations of what is happening, timelines, videos, and background information on the terrorists involved.)

It has been quiet for a while but this past weekend the south of Israel has come under rocket attack again. The IAF responded by targeting both terrorist cells preparing to launch more rockets and ammunition dumps in Gaza.

School has been cancelled today in the south, although adults were told they could go to work.

I find it interesting the the in the past few months the terrorists have been launching their rockets over the weekends, when school is out (Friday and Saturday is our weekend). Perhaps that means that they don’t really want to provoke another IDF operation in Gaza, but they want to “make a statement” (is Iran pushing them on this?). Israelis will be patient, up to a point, with rocket fire, but not if the kids are G-d forbid hurt.

The Iron Dome has thank G-d been working wonderfully, although people are warned that they need to be in shelters anyway, since the shrapnel falling from the sky is also very dangerous. Hopefully this latest series of attacks will end, but as of now (Sunday morning) it is still continuing.

Here is a video of the IAF bombing an ammunition dump in Gaza. You can tell that the building is full of ammunition by the secondary explosions after the initial one.

Jerusalem and Zfat Are Third

Zfat received a nice amount of rain and reached 100% of annual rainfall this morning, but the real eye-opener is Jerusalem.

It received an amazing 76 mm of rain yesterday, and is now at 103% of annual rainfall. Just for a bit of perspective, the annual rainfall in Jerusalem is 537 mm. That means that two days ago it received a bit less than 10% of its annual rainfall, and yesterday it received a bit less than 15%. Almost 25% in two days is quite a record.

The Kinneret rose another 9 centimeters over the past day, and is now at -212.28.

Kfar Blum and Tel Aviv Come in Second

Kfar Blum and Tel Aviv have tied for second, in terms of receiving the yearly amount of rain. As I predicted before this was easy to anticipate.

Zfat received a lot of rain also – and is now at 98%, and we are only one day into the three days of rainstorms that are predicted. It could go over the top tomorrow.

The biggest surprise though is the whopping amount of rain that fell in Jerusalem. Yesterday 51mm of rain fell, and today it is already up to over 30mm, with 15 hours to go…..Jerusalem is at 89%, and could go over the top either tomorrow or on Shabbat.

The Kinneret has risen 9 centimeters, and is just 2 centimeters short of last year’s high. The rain is still falling, and the snow that fell in the north of the Golan and the Hermon will eventually melt and rush into the streams that feed the Kinneret.

On a local note, our yishuv is located north of a wadi (dried stream-bed) called Nachal Shiloh (we are at the very western part). There is a section where the road crosses the wadi, and once in a decade or so, the road floods. The road flooded today.

Thank you Hashem for your blessing of rain!