A Tribute to Our Soldiers

I would like to share this beautiful tribute to the IDF soldiers that I found on the IDF Facebook page. My two younger sons are now in the process of going through the various tests to figure out where they want to serve, so this is becoming more and more relevant to our family.  Enjoy!

The Forgotten Refugees

Today is the 10th day of the Hebrew month of Tevet – a minor fast day in the Jewish calendar. It is also called the Yom HaKadish HaKlali in Israel. This means that today is the official day of mourning for Jews who do not know the exact date of their relative’s deaths, and they say Kaddish for them today. Most of the people who fit this unfortunate category are Holocaust survivors, and the day is sometimes used to educate the younger generation in Israel about Holocaust history (usually in the Orthodox community, since it coincides with a fast.)

Today, in contrast to past years,  I would like to share a interesting video about the survivors of anti-Semitism and persecution from another part of the world – specifically from the Arab countries. They call themselves the “forgotten refugees” – since there is very little written about the million Jews expelled from the Arab countries around the time of Israel’s independence in 1948. Very little is written also about the riots and massacres carried out before the expulsions.

Why Are The Number of Israeli Casualties So Low?

The IDF spokesman’s blog asks the question, whey are the number of Israeli casualties so low – and answers here. The short version, we have the Iron Dome System that destroys some of the rockets before they fall, and the people have access to bomb shelters – either in their homes (the safe room, or mamad in Israeli slang) or in public shelters in their apartment buildings.

The long version of this answer is our society and its values. We Jews value life above (practically) all else. We use our human and physical resources in order to do whatever we can to save lives. We use our superior technologies to help us survive. Unfortunately we have had a lot of experience in warfare and defending the homefront, and we try to learn from every war. The fact that we have safe rooms in houses came about as a reaction to the Gulf War in 1991. After that war a law was passed that every new residence was required to have a safe room built into it. These safe rooms have literally saved thousands of lives, just in the past week.

The IDF youtube site has a short video showing the incredible damage to an apartment in Rishon LeZion hit yesterday, and at the end it shows how the safe room is completely intact.

Creative Ways to Get the Message Across

The public relations effort to support Israel during the Pillar of Defense operation takes many forms, and the new media is a major player. One new group doing its part to help is called the Israeli Explanation Art Project. They have a Facebook page and they have been publishing artwork and video clips. I am including a video and picture for my readers to get a taste. I urge you to support them.

Artwork by a member of the Israeli Explanation Art Project

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!

More Alike than We Realize

When the news day is boring, the journalists like to spice things up by focussing on our differences. After all, you can always find some story about Jews fighting amonst themselves, and sometimes it makes for great copy.

So it is easy to forget, at least in Israel, that we have more in common with our fellow countrymen than we think.

This study shows that we believe in many of the same things, even if our behavior is not exactly the same. I was surprised and pleased at some of the findings. Even though “only” 22% of Israelis define themselves as “religious” (7% Charedi and 15% religious), 80% believe in G-d and 65% believe that Torah and mitzvot are a divine order. 72% think that praying can improve a person’s situation, and 80% think that good deeds are rewarded.

The numbers of Israeli Jews who believe that it is extremely important to mark milestones in life with traditional Jewish ceremonies is very high. Brit milah (circumcision) gets 94%, shiva (the seven days of mourning) gets 92%, and 91% believe in bar mitzvah.

I find these statistics very reassuring.

Jameel Nails It

The Muqata blog has an excellent post about the recent violence by out-of-control “hilltop youth” against IDF soldiers. Go over and read for yourself.

Katyusha Rockets Fired At the North of Israel

Four katyusha rockets were fired at the northern part of Israel late last night. The exact location has not been disclosed yet. The IDF responded with fire into southern Lebanon.

I sincerely hope I do not have to start counting rockets again….especially on two fronts….

The Power of a Song

The following music video “We are the Children of Oslo – 1993″ is amazing. For those of you who are familiar with Israeli culture I don’t need to explain – go watch and enjoy. For those not familiar you can go here to see the words and English translation of the original song. The original song tries to squeeze the hearts of Israelis who long for peace (as we all do), but it is used to push the “peace now” agenda by many. The “take-off” explains why this sentimentality can lead to tragedy, as we all saw since 1993.

War in Israel, October edition

Update: 20:15 A grad rocket fired into Ashkelon has injuried one seriously, one lightly. Mortar shells fired into Eshkol region. Beersheba schools will be closed tomorrow.

19:30 Saturday night: The terrorists in Gaza are at it again. They have sent more than 20 rockets into southern Israel in the past day. The local councils are now deliberating whether school will open as usual tomorrow due to the security situation.

The IAF hit a terrorist target in Gaza in response, killing five terrorists and wounding 11. One of the terrorists killed was responsible for “engineering and production” – of rockets, of course. What goes around comes around….