Sunday, October 16, 2005
Kummunique - Issue 4, Succot 5766
Kummunique - Kumah's Shabbat and Holiday Bulletin
Issue 4, Succot 5766
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Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique: This issue is
meant to be a Succot Companion, filled with Succot thoughts and prayers for
your Succah!!!.
PRINT & POCKET this issue for those moments when you need some Eretz
Yisrael inspiration.
In this issue you will find:
1. From Malkah's table: Hearts of Lulav Salad
2. Dvar Torah: 'The Symbolism of Succot' by Yishai Fleisher
3. Enter the Dragon - The Vilna Gaon
4. The Real Reasons for Making Aliyah by Judy Lash Balint
5. Succot past: Yishai on Succot from the USA
6. Alison on Aliyah: Succot in Jerusalem
7. Israeli Nobel Prize winner in economics says he "feels great" after award
8. After the murder of three Jews - 'What's a Jewish Life Worth?' by Ze'ev
Orenstein
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1. Wish us a Mazel Tov - we have just had our first good rain here in the
Land of Israel. Usually, it rains after Succot in the Holy Land, G-d's
affirmation of our requests for blessing and forgiveness, but usually
there are not 13 months in the Jewish calendar. Because this year had two
months of Adar, we're seeing a rainy season which is coinciding with our
wonderful Festival of Booths.
Yishai and I bought our first Succah this year. Oh how proud we were of
our white-curtained beauty, with colorful scarves and palm fronds gracing
its corners. Its appeal was a good price and ease of assembly - sure, our
neighbors bought sturdy wooden succot, but a more tent-like fixture was
fine by us. Our decorations are all unwrapped, ready to be affixed to our
holy bungalow. A few of our neighbors urged us to secure our succah to the
ground more concretely - after all, we had dared to affix our succah in the
windiest place in Beit El, the end of the tallest mountain from here to the
Mediterranean Sea, next to our caravan. "Good idea," we said, "we'll do
that first thing in the morning."
I just drove down our mountain to complete this edition of Kummunique,
windshield wipers on. But not before a shockwave of pre-Succot horror and
ghastliness shook me to the depths of my soul. On my way out the door, our
new neighbor, also an immigrant from America, came knocking on the door in
a raincoat and with a look of pity and concern, said 8 little words: "Did
you know your succah just blew away?"
As if out of a horror movie, I felt the bone-chilling background music
climax, my heart pound, and the invisible cameraman zoom in on my face. I
took a breath and uttered:
"What?"
"Yeah, it's true, it flew back behind your caravan."
Less than 24 hours before one of the 3 commanded holidays in the Torah, we
are succahless. At least one side of our lovely white-cotton-sided succah
is currently lying face down in the mud about 15 feet from our house. I'm
not sure about the other parts - I couldn't see that far away in the rain.
As I was leaving the house, one thought slammed into my head - I had made a
New Year's resolution. This year's resolution was a big one for me, one
that was to challenge an undercurrent of life that I don't enjoy and I
realized as I left my house, not without a certain wry elation, that this
was my test - can I keep my New Year's resolution? I repeated over and
over again (and I will surely begin my mantra again when I return to the
scene of carnage) "I will not get angry, I will not get angry."
I'm not angry. I'm not doing a little dance, but I'm not angry. May G-d
help me and my husband rebuild our fallen succah in time for the
holiday. Destruction - there was a lot of that this year, and destruction
is a big theme in Judaism. Maybe this was our way of experiencing a little
destruction personally. Hopefully it will also be our way of
participating, just a little bit, in rebuilding. May we all merit to fix
what has been broken, together in the Land of Israel.
In the meantime, the show must go on. For those of you who know where
you'll be eating on the first glorious evening of Succot, here's a good recipe:
From Malkah's Table: Hearts of Lulav Salad
Shake shake shake… shake shake shake… shake your lulav, shake your
lulav! In between shakings of your lulav and etrog this holiday season,
enjoy this yummy salad, whose name will be sure to get grins around the
table. Luckily for us here in the Land of Israel, palm trees grow in
abundance, providing us with lulavs, schach, and the basis for this recipe:
2 cans hearts of palm, cut into 3/4" pieces
1 head romaine lettuce
Bell peppers - as many colors as you want
Black and green olives (another bounty of our Holy Land!)
Dressing:
1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil
3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 teaspoon of sugar
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cilantro
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Line a plate with lettuce, and arrange pepper rings and olives around palm
pieces in the center of the plate. Shake up that salad dressing, pour,
eat, smile.
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2. The Symbolism of Succot
Succot is the most prayer and mitzva laden holiday on the Jewish calender.
It is also full of the symbolism which makes Jewish life so rich.
A Succah, a booth of sorts, must have at least 3 walls, but its most
striking feature is the SCHACH.
Schach, or the roof of the Succah, must be made of plant material like tree
bark, bamboo, reeds, or palm branches. The Schach must come from the earth,
yet be detached from the earth. The Schach is not meant to be a very useful
roof - you must be able to see sky through it. It is this unusual thing
called Schach which make the Succah unique and filled with symbolism.
LIFE CYCLE AND THE SUCCAH
The Womb: The Succah, with its peaceful inner-sanctum and its
semi-permeable Schach, resembles the womb. Inside its safety the Jew is
protected from the slings and arrows of persecution, and manages to
reproduce spiritually and physically generation after generation.
The Chupah: The wedding canopy is the Succah of Peace which descends upon
a bride and groom at their wedding day. So too, the Succah is the canopy of
the marriage of the Jewish people and Hashem. The Holiday of Succot is the
wedding which follows the cleansing period of Yom Kippur.
The Grave: the Schach above our heads, made of earth-grown plants, also
symbolizes the earth itself. We are buried under the earth, and yet we are
still alive. The message of Succot is the cycle of life: we are born, we
marry, we die, and we continue on through the next generation and through
our faith in Tchiyat Hameitim, the Resurrection of the Dead.
Yechezkel 37:
1. The hand of Hashem was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of
Hashem, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2. And he caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were
very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered,
O Lord, thou knowest.
4. Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O
ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.
5. Thus saith the Lord unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and ye shall live.
6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and
cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall
know that I am Hashem.
7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a
noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its
bone.
8. And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up,
and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
9. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and
say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord: Come from the four winds, O breath,
and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and
they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we
are clean cut off.
12. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I
will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my
people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
13. And ye shall know that I am Hashem, when I have opened your graves,
and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people.
It is because of this life cycle focus of Succot that we read Kohellet,
Ecclesties, which laments exactly this very cycle:
4. One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth
abideth for ever.
5. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place
where it ariseth.
6. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it
turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to
its circuits.
7. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the
place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.
8. All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not
satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9. That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been
done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
(Chapter 1)
It is also for this reason that we invite the Ushpizin, the Holy Guests
Avraham, Yitchak, Yaakov, Aaron, Moshe and Yoseph, into our Succah.
Tzaddikim pass away, but they never die. They are bound up in the great
cycle of life and they join us again and again every Succot.
The Seed: Looking up from our Succah we see the Schach, but now instead of
being buried, we are planted. "A person is like the tree of the field"
(Deut. 20:19) We are a seed planted beneath the soil, and rain is coming
soon. G-d is giving us the gift of life, the chance to make the most of
this world - to reach out of the Schach and into the world beyond.
The Bird Nest: Seeing Jews prepare for Succot is like seeing birds prepare
their nests. Everyone is fluttering around looking for material for their
nests. Indeed, we are but chicks, and it is Hashem who "Like an eagle
arousing its nest hovering over its young; he spreads his wings, he takes
it, he carries it on his wings." (Devarim 32:11)
IN JEWISH HISTORY:
Yaakov: Jacob is the forefather associated with Succot. Immediately after
Jacob's successful duel with his brother Esau it is written "And Jacob
journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his
cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth." (Bereishit
33;17) Jacob originally ran to Haran to escape his brother's wrath -
coming to Succoth signaled the end of his personal exile and his return to
the Land of Israel.
The Succah's characteristic is of an impermanent mobile structure. Jacob's
characteristic too is always to be mobile - always on the go: "How fair
are your tents, O Jacob" (Bamidbar 24;5) Settling down is not for him, he
goes from place to place in the Land of Israel and in the world - his is
always a spiritual journey.
Bereishit 28 reads:
20. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep
me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments
to wear,
21. and I return to my father's house in safety, then the LORD will be my
God.
22. and this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house"
Yaakov asks for three things: food , clothing, and protection on the
journey. But what is missing??? A request for permanent housing of course!
Yet this construction of permanent housing, Jacob reserves for He Who needs
no housing - for the Lord Himself. This is Succot - we, the Jewish people,
will live in impermanent dwelling all our generations so that our journey
could lead to us to the construction of His permanent dwelling.
Mishkan/Mikdash - The Tabernacle and the Temple: the Succah resembles the
Mishkan in that it too was an impermanent structure, and sadly our Holy
Temple in Jerusalem was impermanent as well for it was destroyed twice
because of our sins. "In that day I will raise up the fallen Succah of
David, and wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild
it as in the days of old" (Amos 9;11) The fallen Succah of David, is a term
of endearment for the Temple - may it be rebuilt in our lives.
The Clouds of Glory: Our rabbis tell us that the Succah represents the
clouds of glory that escorted the Jewish people in the desert. The clouds
kept our cloths clean, and kept danger away from us. These clouds were also
a form of womb, raising a new Jew to enter the Land of Israel. They also
directed us:
Shemot 40:
36 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the
children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys.
37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day
that it was taken up.
38 For the cloud of HaShem was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was
fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout
all their journeys.
Aaron Hakodesh - the Holy Ark: The wings of the Cherubs above the ark
acted like the Schach of the Succah, protecting the Holy contents within.
It is written in "And the cherubim shall spread out their wings on high,
screening (Sochechim) the ark-cover with their wings, with their faces one
to another; toward the ark-cover shall the faces of the cherubim be"
(Shemot 25; 20) In the Succah, we are the Holy objects which G-d protects
with his wings, we are the carriers of the living Torah.
Hashem sends His canapy to us to nurture us, to marry us, to protects us.
No wonder this holiday is called Zman Simchateinu - the time of our
happiness. The sliver of sky that we see reminds us of G-d's nearness: "My
beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind
our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the
lattice. (Song of Songs 2;9)
May we merit the words of the Sabbath prayer:
"Safeguard our going and coming, for life and for peace from now to
eternity, and spread over us the Succah of Your peace. Blessed are you
Hashem, Who spreads the Succah of peace upon us, and upon all of His people
Israel and upon Jerusalem.
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3. Enter the Dragon
http://www.ahuva.com/Holidays/Succot.html
It is said in the name of the Vilna Gaon that there are only two
opportunities among all the 613 mitzvos to physically "enter the mitzvah."
One is the opportunity to live in Eretz Yisrael, and the other to be in the
Succah you have constructed for the Festival of Succos. When you cross the
border into the land of Israel, or walk into the Succah, you have "entered"
the mitzvah. What is the connection between the Succah and the Land of
Israel? Judaism is unique to the world in that Jewish national and
religious destinies are identical. The concept of a successful Jewish
nation in the Land of Israel is fundamental to our religious destiny. Other
nations have holy places and live elsewhere, but for us, our land is our
home, our holy soil and the necessary setting for the ideal fulfillment of
mitzvos. Accordingly, the Torah includes both civil and religious law,
instructing us in our everyday behavior and our acts of worship, both of
which are equally holy. The way we live in the Land is part of our service
to Hashem. Thus we see in the Book of Joshua, that the first decisions that
Joshua made when the Jews entered the Land of Israel were for urban
planning, as important to their spiritual lives as the transportation of
the Holy Ark. Living in Israel gives the Jewish people the opportunity to
sanctify every little act that they do, Jewishly. Merely going to the
corner store to buy a carton of milk is part of the fulfillment of the
Jewish destiny when it is done in the Land of Israel. Similarly, during the
festival of Succos, a Jew has a chance to make every little act he does a
holy act by being in the Succah. Eating a celebratory meal or even sleeping
in the Succah is a mitzvah, a symbol of the total fulfillment of G-d's plan
for the Jewish people.
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4. The Real Reasons for Making Aliyah
by Judy Lash Balint
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=5646
October 11, 2005
Besides the well-worn ideological Zionist reasons that compelled many of us
to make aliyah from advanced, civilized, democratic, organized, calm, tidy,
clean and polite Western countries, there are a few not-so-well recognized,
but important, factors that Diaspora Jews might want to consider.
The short Yom Kippur
Every year on the Saturday night before Yom Kippur, Israel turns the clock
back an hour to make the fast feel shorter. This year, when the Day of
Atonement falls in mid-October, it makes for a particularly short day. The
fast is over in Jerusalem at 5:46pm, making the actual Yom Kippur daytime a
whole three hours shorter than the mid-summer Tisha B'Av fast day.
The one day Yom Tov
Think about it, last week was the only time in the entire year that
Israelis have a two-day Yom Tov. Every other holiday is observed in Israel
for only one day - Sukkot, Shavuot, Pesach (just one seder, thank you). We
celebrate and enjoy the holidays, but don't go overboard into no-shower,
food-overload-land for 2-3 days at a time.
Day-school tuition
Despite the sorry state of our educational system, you're still saving tens
of thousands of dollars every year by making aliyah if your kids attend
Jewish day schools in the US. So, when they offer you that ridiculous
salary at your first job in Israel, just smile and think of all the tuition
you're not paying.
One degree of separation
Finally, there's the "one degree of separation" phenomenon. Here in Israel,
you can meet absolutely anyone, if you have the chutzpah. Despite our
unequalled security network, our celebrities may still be seen hanging out
in cafes or on the beach; politicians live just down the street, and you're
guaranteed to find someone who's related to whomever it is that you'd like
to meet.
One recent example: A writer friend of mine just hosted renowned Booker
Prize-winning author Yann Martel (Life of Pi) and his girlfriend at his
Jerusalem apartment for the past three days. How did that happen? Well,
Martel was in town to do some research at Yad Vashem for his new
Holocaust-related novel. My friend had written to him after reading and
enjoying Life of Pi. He received a short, personal note back. Last Friday,
Martel was giving a reading at 'Tmol Shilshom, our very own Jerusalem
literary salon.
My friend went along and introduced himself to Martel after the reading. He
asked where the author was staying. Martel told him that he'd checked out
of his hotel and wasn't really sure where they would be spending the night.
My friend invited them to stay at his place, hopped down to the Machane
Yehuda market for some extra food before the stalls closed for Shabbat, and
spent the next three days in awestruck writer heaven, as Martel and his
writer/editor girlfriend were gracious enough to read through and evaluate
some of his short stories.
So, when the aliyah shaliach asks you why you're exchanging California,
Florida or Vermont for Beit Shemesh or Modi'in (as Israelis, they'll never
understand), just tell him/her that you like short fast days, speedy
festivals, no tuition and have a yen for meeting and hosting famous people.
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5. Succah: an Israeli embassy
By Yishai Fleisher September 24, 2002
http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/1462.htm
During the holiday of Succot we leave our regular houses and apartments and
dwell in desert huts for seven days. This commemorates the journeys of the
Children of Israel in the Sinai, after the exodus from Egypt on their way
to Israel. Three thousand years ago they too dwelled in Succahs. The Succah
itself is made of walls which are temporary and it has a roof made of
schach, reeds or branches through which the sun shines and the stars are
meant to be seen. We eat inside the Succah, we sing songs, some of us sleep
in the Succah, and we are all commanded to rejoice within it.
Today the Succah represents the Jewish Diaspora, the spiritual desert, the
exile. When we step out of our homes, here in America and in the other
countries of the Diaspora, and move into our Succahs, we are reminded that
our stay here in the exile is only temporary, that we have not yet reached
the place of our ultimate physical and spiritual residence. Our homes in
the Diaspora are nothing but a Succah, a limited and flimsy structure to
tide us over until we can come home, to Israel.
To be sure, our Succah carries within its crude walls those values which we
hold so dear. As with our cherished homes in the Diaspora, we decorate our
Succah with love and with care. Furthermore, we are thankful to the people
and the lands which have hosted us with tolerance and respect. In fact, we
are commanded to bring our non-Jewish neighbors into the Succah, to be
hospitable to them, to bring them joy, to thank them.
However, though our tenure in the exile is a testament to our enduring
vitality, that does not mean that the Diaspora is the end of the road for
us. Just the opposite, our ideals and our people have survived in exile,
precisely because we have existed in anticipation of a General Recall. The
Diaspora and the Succah are wonderful but transient and can never supplant
our promise of Zion, and the permanent dwelling in Jerusalem which we have
always prayed for.
So why do Israelis put up Succot? The answer lies in the Jewish tendency to
forget where we came from, to forget what brought us here, to forget the
dream. In Israel, the Succah serves to remind us that not so long ago Jews
were dispersed all over the world.
Only great cataclysms and great miracles brought us back from the exile to
our ancient Homeland. When we leave our houses in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in
favor of a desert-hut, we are showing gratitude to the Almighty that we
have been brought back from dispersion and that we have been finally been
given the much-awaited task to build a permanent home in our Biblical abode.
When we go to the Succah we humbly admit that we (or our forebears) could
have been among the ashes of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, but instead were
given the opportunity to come to Israel and build a life in our beautiful
Land. In Israel, the Succah reminds us that many of our brethren are still
in the Diaspora and that we have much more to do if we are to realize our
calling.
The Gaon from Vilna made an incredible observation. He said there are only
two commandments which can be done with the whole body. The first is the
mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel and the second is the mitzva of
dwelling in the Succah. This is no coincidence: the Succah is an embassy of
Israel and is considered to be a part of Israel wherever one is. Within its
confines the Jew is transported to 'Eretz HaChaim'? the land of the living.
Succot is a life-giving holiday because our life-force and our strength
come from Israel - the Succah gives us the opportunity to immerse our whole
being within it. We cannot love the galut while we dwell in the Succah, we
cannot be post-Zionist when we sit in the shade of the sechach. Cynicism is
replaced with a sense of destiny when the simple and wholesome Succah
surrounds us.
When we look up and peer through the slits in the schach, we see a sliver
of blue sky or a shiny star in the heavens. The world is a mysterious place
and we do not always have the ability to understand it all. Deep down
inside we know that there is something peering back down at us from the
heavens and through the cracks. Something is calling our people to return
to the Land of Israel. This year, may it be His will that we will heed the
voice which yearns for our return, and may we merit to sit under one Succah
next year, in Jerusalem, in Zion, together with all of Israel.
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6. Alison on Aliyah: Sukkot in Jerusalem
October 18, 2003
http://www.alisonsterngolub.com/article07.htm
When I returned to my neighborhood less than a month after leasing my
apartment, I could barely recognize it. Not because it was unfamiliar to
me, but because I arrived on the morning of Erev Sukkot. I had difficulty
even maneuvering my luggage through the alley in front of my apartment –
there was a sukkah in front of nearly every door! I got off the airplane
and unpacked to the sounds of the entire neighborhood hammering and
hoisting and calling to each other for construction materials. I have
spent the week sitting in my courtyard, just listening to all of my
neighbors eating and singing in their sukkot. I’ve been going on walks
through the neighborhood, marveling at the sights: little boys running
around, trying to keep their keepot on their heads; Orthodox men coming
home from the market with their arms filled with bags of food; women with
their heads covered, pushing their children in strollers towards shul.
This is a magical time to be in Israel, Jerusalem, Nachlaot (my
neighborhood). Sukkot, I have found out and should have remembered all
along, is one of the three pilgrimage holidays. This means that the city
has been inundated with tourists, mostly Christian, throughout the
week. No one seems to mind that they aren’t Jewish – most of us are just
thankful that they are here and spending money to bolster the Israeli
economy. One of the unexpected surprises of this week, for me, was that
there was a huge parade a few days ago, on the very street on which my
apartment looks out! I woke up to the sounds of a loudspeaker and
helicopters – of course I assumed a pegooah (bombing) had occurred. But
no, as I walked out of my apartment door and rounded the corner, I saw
throngs of people watching as delegations from every country I could think
of came up the street, one by one. I saw groups from Brazil, Italy,
Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, even Iceland! Each group held signs:
“Philippines support Israel,” “Austrian Christians love Israel,” “Israel:
No Estas Solo.” I found myself tearing up at every fresh sentiment that
made its way up the hill. I made eye contact with many of the marchers,
silently thanking them through my tears. It is a beautiful thing, knowing
these thousands of people got on planes from every faraway country
imaginable, touched down in Israel, and came to support us and show
solidarity in their own way.
And this weekend the city has been celebrating Simchat Torah, another
powerful day on the Jewish calendar. I spent last night in the Old City,
having Shabbat dinner with thirty other new olim from around the world, all
of us celebrating our Jewishness and our commitment to our new
country. Tonight, this very moment in fact, there is a concert in my
neighborhood. Not forty paces away there is a live band and about two
hundred people packed into a tiny little park, dancing and singing and
lifting the Torah to the sky. I have spent the past three hours watching
this celebration, drinking in the energy and the happiness and the sense of
community we all feel together tonight. I have never heard “Shalom
Aleichem” being sung with such fervor and power. I watched an Orthodox man
with his daughter on his shoulders, both of them dancing and swaying and
holding onto each other, looks of utter peace and pleasure on their
faces. Nothing else exists for them right in this moment.
I know how they feel. As I stood in my new neighborhood, coming to terms
anew with the fact that I live here, nothing else mattered. Not the
bombings, not the danger, not the goodbyes, not the fact that I don’t have
any furniture. This is a truly magical time in my life. Everything
affects me so deeply these days. I am overcome with pride and satisfaction
and peace. I am so thankful that I made this decision, that I have made
aliyah. I am doing what so many people have told me they wish they could
do. I have refused to let this opportunity pass me by, and I have chosen
to fulfill a dream that, unrealized, would have haunted me with regret for
the rest of my life. And in the face of all this, nothing else does truly
matter.
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7. Israeli Nobel Prize winner in economics says he "feels great" after award
By Israel Insider staff and partners October 10, 2005
http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Culture/6805.htm
Israeli-American economist Robert J. Aumann, who won the 2005 Nobel prize
in economics for developing theories that help explain conflicts, said
Monday he believes strife in the Middle East will continue for many more
years.
Aumann, 75, of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, also said he was taken by
surprise when he learned Monday he had won. Aumann and American Thomas C.
Schelling, 84, of the University of Maryland were awarded the prize for
their work on game theories that help explain economic conflicts, including
trade and price wars.
Asked at a news conference in Jerusalem about his prognosis for the Mideast
conflict, he noted that it has gone on for some 80 years. "As far as I can
see, it is going to go on for at least another 80 years. I'm sorry to say
it," he told a news conference. "This is an ongoing conflict. We study
ongoing interactions. And I don't see any end to this one."
According to game theory, the actions by a party in a conflict on one day
affect its adversaries' subsequent behavior, Aumann said. He said the Gaza
withdrawal, carried out unilaterally after more than four years of fighting
with the Palestinians, is only going to invite further violence and raise
Palestinian actions for additional concessions.
"We're sending a really bad signal to our cousins," he said in an AP
interview later Monday. "We're saying, all you guys have to do is to
increase the terror, all you have to do is increase the pressure on us and
we will capitulate." Palestinian militants say their attacks drove Israel
out of Gaza, while Israel presented the pullout as a step to improve its
security and political positions.
His somber words tempered what was otherwise a joyous event for Aumann, a
professor emeritus at Hebrew University's Center for the Study of Rationality.
The beaming Aumann, with a long, flowing white beard and a knitted brown
and white skullcap, entered a crowded news conference at the center,
cradling an infant grandchild. Several small grandchildren played in the
back of the hall during the conference, as other family members, including
his children and brother, looked on.
Aumann said he was taken by surprise when he learned he had won. He sitting
at his computer writing letters in his office when the phone call from the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences arrived.
"I was really pleased," he said. Within minutes, he said, "pandemonium"
broke out, and his phone did not stop ringing for the rest of the day. He
said he eventually stopped answering the calls.
Aumann was born in Germany, and his family fled the Nazis in 1938. His
parents, who were wealthy, "lost everything," he said.
One of Aumann's five children, Shlomo, was killed in 1982 while serving as
a soldier in Israel's war in Lebanon. He has 18 grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren, several of whom study or have studied at religious
seminaries in Judea and Samaria. His grandson Yaakov has just finished
hesder/army at the yeshiva and is now in medical school.
A religious man, observant of the Sabbath, Aumann will have to decide how
he will deal with the Nobel Award ceremony, which takes place on a Saturday.
Hebrew University President Menachem Magidor said he learned from reporters
that Aumann had won the prestigious prize. "We believe that Prof. Aumann
deserved the prize for many years," Magidor told Israel Radio, saying
Aumann's work is "original, groundbreaking."
Aumann was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but holds U.S. and Israeli
citizenship. He is not the first Israeli to win the economics prize. In
2002, Daniel Kahneman, who also has U.S. and Israeli citizenship, shared
the award.
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8. What's a Jewish Life Worth?
By Ze'ev Orenstein http://israelperspectives.blogspot.com/
Earlier this afternoon, 3 Jewish children were murdered (and 5 more Jews
were wounded) by Arab terrorists, as they waited at a pick-up point in Gush
Etzion - south of Jerusalem), on their way home.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, affiliated
with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah movement,
took responsibility for both of the attacks.
Israel's response?
David Baker, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, denounced
the shooting. "Israel removed roadblocks and made a number of humanitarian
gestures to ease up on the Palestinians," he told The Associated Press.
"It's unfortunate that the Palestinians have exploited these measures to
carry out these murderous attacks."
Do you want to know what's really unfortunate?
That in the Jewish State of Israel the life of a "Palestinian" is worth
more than the life of a Jew.
It is a known fact. Whenever Israel eases up on the checkpoints and
roadblocks Jews die, and yet, time and again, Israel enacts such measures.
Why is it that the Israeli government cares more about providing
humanitarian aid to the "Palestinians" than they do about the well-being of
their own citizens?
Why is it that the Israeli government will almost assuredly not take any
meaningful steps to ensure that such attacks not occur again in the future.
We have heard so much about how the checkpoints and roadblocks that Israel
sets up represent forms of collective punishment against the entire
"Palestinian" population, and as such, are not moral of just. Why is it
that no one is concerned with the collective punishment that is imposed on
the Jewish population of Israel when these checkpoints and roadblocks are
not in place? Why is it OK for Jewish children to live in fear as they wait
to be picked up?
I don't blame the "Palestinians". They believe that the land belongs to
them, and they are willing to fight in order to liberate it. they have seen
time and again that terrorism pays, and that Jewish blood is cheap, by the
inaction of the government of Israel to respond in any meaningful
fashion... so why not?
What's the excuse of the government of the State of Israel? Why are they
unwilling to take the steps to allow Jews to live proudly and freely in
their own Land?
Disgraceful.
Shameful.
Are there any proud Jews left in Israel who are prepared to stand up and
lead this once proud nation?
Anyone?
Issue 4, Succot 5766
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Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique: This issue is
meant to be a Succot Companion, filled with Succot thoughts and prayers for
your Succah!!!.
PRINT & POCKET this issue for those moments when you need some Eretz
Yisrael inspiration.
In this issue you will find:
1. From Malkah's table: Hearts of Lulav Salad
2. Dvar Torah: 'The Symbolism of Succot' by Yishai Fleisher
3. Enter the Dragon - The Vilna Gaon
4. The Real Reasons for Making Aliyah by Judy Lash Balint
5. Succot past: Yishai on Succot from the USA
6. Alison on Aliyah: Succot in Jerusalem
7. Israeli Nobel Prize winner in economics says he "feels great" after award
8. After the murder of three Jews - 'What's a Jewish Life Worth?' by Ze'ev
Orenstein
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1. Wish us a Mazel Tov - we have just had our first good rain here in the
Land of Israel. Usually, it rains after Succot in the Holy Land, G-d's
affirmation of our requests for blessing and forgiveness, but usually
there are not 13 months in the Jewish calendar. Because this year had two
months of Adar, we're seeing a rainy season which is coinciding with our
wonderful Festival of Booths.
Yishai and I bought our first Succah this year. Oh how proud we were of
our white-curtained beauty, with colorful scarves and palm fronds gracing
its corners. Its appeal was a good price and ease of assembly - sure, our
neighbors bought sturdy wooden succot, but a more tent-like fixture was
fine by us. Our decorations are all unwrapped, ready to be affixed to our
holy bungalow. A few of our neighbors urged us to secure our succah to the
ground more concretely - after all, we had dared to affix our succah in the
windiest place in Beit El, the end of the tallest mountain from here to the
Mediterranean Sea, next to our caravan. "Good idea," we said, "we'll do
that first thing in the morning."
I just drove down our mountain to complete this edition of Kummunique,
windshield wipers on. But not before a shockwave of pre-Succot horror and
ghastliness shook me to the depths of my soul. On my way out the door, our
new neighbor, also an immigrant from America, came knocking on the door in
a raincoat and with a look of pity and concern, said 8 little words: "Did
you know your succah just blew away?"
As if out of a horror movie, I felt the bone-chilling background music
climax, my heart pound, and the invisible cameraman zoom in on my face. I
took a breath and uttered:
"What?"
"Yeah, it's true, it flew back behind your caravan."
Less than 24 hours before one of the 3 commanded holidays in the Torah, we
are succahless. At least one side of our lovely white-cotton-sided succah
is currently lying face down in the mud about 15 feet from our house. I'm
not sure about the other parts - I couldn't see that far away in the rain.
As I was leaving the house, one thought slammed into my head - I had made a
New Year's resolution. This year's resolution was a big one for me, one
that was to challenge an undercurrent of life that I don't enjoy and I
realized as I left my house, not without a certain wry elation, that this
was my test - can I keep my New Year's resolution? I repeated over and
over again (and I will surely begin my mantra again when I return to the
scene of carnage) "I will not get angry, I will not get angry."
I'm not angry. I'm not doing a little dance, but I'm not angry. May G-d
help me and my husband rebuild our fallen succah in time for the
holiday. Destruction - there was a lot of that this year, and destruction
is a big theme in Judaism. Maybe this was our way of experiencing a little
destruction personally. Hopefully it will also be our way of
participating, just a little bit, in rebuilding. May we all merit to fix
what has been broken, together in the Land of Israel.
In the meantime, the show must go on. For those of you who know where
you'll be eating on the first glorious evening of Succot, here's a good recipe:
From Malkah's Table: Hearts of Lulav Salad
Shake shake shake… shake shake shake… shake your lulav, shake your
lulav! In between shakings of your lulav and etrog this holiday season,
enjoy this yummy salad, whose name will be sure to get grins around the
table. Luckily for us here in the Land of Israel, palm trees grow in
abundance, providing us with lulavs, schach, and the basis for this recipe:
2 cans hearts of palm, cut into 3/4" pieces
1 head romaine lettuce
Bell peppers - as many colors as you want
Black and green olives (another bounty of our Holy Land!)
Dressing:
1 part lemon juice to 3 parts olive oil
3 cloves of crushed garlic
1 teaspoon of sugar
½ teaspoon cumin
½ teaspoon cilantro
½ teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
Line a plate with lettuce, and arrange pepper rings and olives around palm
pieces in the center of the plate. Shake up that salad dressing, pour,
eat, smile.
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2. The Symbolism of Succot
Succot is the most prayer and mitzva laden holiday on the Jewish calender.
It is also full of the symbolism which makes Jewish life so rich.
A Succah, a booth of sorts, must have at least 3 walls, but its most
striking feature is the SCHACH.
Schach, or the roof of the Succah, must be made of plant material like tree
bark, bamboo, reeds, or palm branches. The Schach must come from the earth,
yet be detached from the earth. The Schach is not meant to be a very useful
roof - you must be able to see sky through it. It is this unusual thing
called Schach which make the Succah unique and filled with symbolism.
LIFE CYCLE AND THE SUCCAH
The Womb: The Succah, with its peaceful inner-sanctum and its
semi-permeable Schach, resembles the womb. Inside its safety the Jew is
protected from the slings and arrows of persecution, and manages to
reproduce spiritually and physically generation after generation.
The Chupah: The wedding canopy is the Succah of Peace which descends upon
a bride and groom at their wedding day. So too, the Succah is the canopy of
the marriage of the Jewish people and Hashem. The Holiday of Succot is the
wedding which follows the cleansing period of Yom Kippur.
The Grave: the Schach above our heads, made of earth-grown plants, also
symbolizes the earth itself. We are buried under the earth, and yet we are
still alive. The message of Succot is the cycle of life: we are born, we
marry, we die, and we continue on through the next generation and through
our faith in Tchiyat Hameitim, the Resurrection of the Dead.
Yechezkel 37:
1. The hand of Hashem was upon me, and he brought me out in the Spirit of
Hashem, and set me down in the midst of the valley; and it was full of bones.
2. And he caused me to pass by them round about: and, behold, there were
very many in the open valley; and, lo, they were very dry.
3. And he said unto me, Son of man, can these bones live? And I answered,
O Lord, thou knowest.
4. Again he said unto me, Prophesy over these bones, and say unto them, O
ye dry bones, hear the word of Jehovah.
5. Thus saith the Lord unto these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to
enter into you, and ye shall live.
6. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and
cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall
know that I am Hashem.
7. So I prophesied as I was commanded: and as I prophesied, there was a
noise, and, behold, an earthquake; and the bones came together, bone to its
bone.
8. And I beheld, and, lo, there were sinews upon them, and flesh came up,
and skin covered them above; but there was no breath in them.
9. Then said he unto me, Prophesy unto the wind, prophesy, son of man, and
say to the wind, Thus saith the Lord: Come from the four winds, O breath,
and breathe upon these slain, that they may live.
10. So I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and
they lived, and stood up upon their feet, an exceeding great army.
11. Then he said unto me, Son of man, these bones are the whole house of
Israel: behold, they say, Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we
are clean cut off.
12. Therefore prophesy, and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord: Behold, I
will open your graves, and cause you to come up out of your graves, O my
people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
13. And ye shall know that I am Hashem, when I have opened your graves,
and caused you to come up out of your graves, O my people.
It is because of this life cycle focus of Succot that we read Kohellet,
Ecclesties, which laments exactly this very cycle:
4. One generation goeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth
abideth for ever.
5. The sun also ariseth, and the sun goeth down, and hasteth to its place
where it ariseth.
6. The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it
turneth about continually in its course, and the wind returneth again to
its circuits.
7. All the rivers run into the sea, yet the sea is not full; unto the
place whither the rivers go, thither they go again.
8. All things are full of weariness; man cannot utter [it]: the eye is not
satisfied with seeing, nor the ear filled with hearing.
9. That which hath been is that which shall be; and that which hath been
done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.
(Chapter 1)
It is also for this reason that we invite the Ushpizin, the Holy Guests
Avraham, Yitchak, Yaakov, Aaron, Moshe and Yoseph, into our Succah.
Tzaddikim pass away, but they never die. They are bound up in the great
cycle of life and they join us again and again every Succot.
The Seed: Looking up from our Succah we see the Schach, but now instead of
being buried, we are planted. "A person is like the tree of the field"
(Deut. 20:19) We are a seed planted beneath the soil, and rain is coming
soon. G-d is giving us the gift of life, the chance to make the most of
this world - to reach out of the Schach and into the world beyond.
The Bird Nest: Seeing Jews prepare for Succot is like seeing birds prepare
their nests. Everyone is fluttering around looking for material for their
nests. Indeed, we are but chicks, and it is Hashem who "Like an eagle
arousing its nest hovering over its young; he spreads his wings, he takes
it, he carries it on his wings." (Devarim 32:11)
IN JEWISH HISTORY:
Yaakov: Jacob is the forefather associated with Succot. Immediately after
Jacob's successful duel with his brother Esau it is written "And Jacob
journeyed to Succoth, and built him a house, and made booths for his
cattle: therefore the name of the place is called Succoth." (Bereishit
33;17) Jacob originally ran to Haran to escape his brother's wrath -
coming to Succoth signaled the end of his personal exile and his return to
the Land of Israel.
The Succah's characteristic is of an impermanent mobile structure. Jacob's
characteristic too is always to be mobile - always on the go: "How fair
are your tents, O Jacob" (Bamidbar 24;5) Settling down is not for him, he
goes from place to place in the Land of Israel and in the world - his is
always a spiritual journey.
Bereishit 28 reads:
20. Then Jacob made a vow, saying, "If God will be with me and will keep
me on this journey that I take, and will give me food to eat and garments
to wear,
21. and I return to my father's house in safety, then the LORD will be my
God.
22. and this stone, which I have set up as a pillar, will be God's house"
Yaakov asks for three things: food , clothing, and protection on the
journey. But what is missing??? A request for permanent housing of course!
Yet this construction of permanent housing, Jacob reserves for He Who needs
no housing - for the Lord Himself. This is Succot - we, the Jewish people,
will live in impermanent dwelling all our generations so that our journey
could lead to us to the construction of His permanent dwelling.
Mishkan/Mikdash - The Tabernacle and the Temple: the Succah resembles the
Mishkan in that it too was an impermanent structure, and sadly our Holy
Temple in Jerusalem was impermanent as well for it was destroyed twice
because of our sins. "In that day I will raise up the fallen Succah of
David, and wall up its breaches; I will also raise up its ruins and rebuild
it as in the days of old" (Amos 9;11) The fallen Succah of David, is a term
of endearment for the Temple - may it be rebuilt in our lives.
The Clouds of Glory: Our rabbis tell us that the Succah represents the
clouds of glory that escorted the Jewish people in the desert. The clouds
kept our cloths clean, and kept danger away from us. These clouds were also
a form of womb, raising a new Jew to enter the Land of Israel. They also
directed us:
Shemot 40:
36 And whenever the cloud was taken up from over the tabernacle, the
children of Israel went onward, throughout all their journeys.
37 But if the cloud was not taken up, then they journeyed not till the day
that it was taken up.
38 For the cloud of HaShem was upon the tabernacle by day, and there was
fire therein by night, in the sight of all the house of Israel, throughout
all their journeys.
Aaron Hakodesh - the Holy Ark: The wings of the Cherubs above the ark
acted like the Schach of the Succah, protecting the Holy contents within.
It is written in "And the cherubim shall spread out their wings on high,
screening (Sochechim) the ark-cover with their wings, with their faces one
to another; toward the ark-cover shall the faces of the cherubim be"
(Shemot 25; 20) In the Succah, we are the Holy objects which G-d protects
with his wings, we are the carriers of the living Torah.
Hashem sends His canapy to us to nurture us, to marry us, to protects us.
No wonder this holiday is called Zman Simchateinu - the time of our
happiness. The sliver of sky that we see reminds us of G-d's nearness: "My
beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Behold, he is standing behind
our wall, He is looking through the windows, He is peering through the
lattice. (Song of Songs 2;9)
May we merit the words of the Sabbath prayer:
"Safeguard our going and coming, for life and for peace from now to
eternity, and spread over us the Succah of Your peace. Blessed are you
Hashem, Who spreads the Succah of peace upon us, and upon all of His people
Israel and upon Jerusalem.
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3. Enter the Dragon
http://www.ahuva.com/Holidays/Succot.html
It is said in the name of the Vilna Gaon that there are only two
opportunities among all the 613 mitzvos to physically "enter the mitzvah."
One is the opportunity to live in Eretz Yisrael, and the other to be in the
Succah you have constructed for the Festival of Succos. When you cross the
border into the land of Israel, or walk into the Succah, you have "entered"
the mitzvah. What is the connection between the Succah and the Land of
Israel? Judaism is unique to the world in that Jewish national and
religious destinies are identical. The concept of a successful Jewish
nation in the Land of Israel is fundamental to our religious destiny. Other
nations have holy places and live elsewhere, but for us, our land is our
home, our holy soil and the necessary setting for the ideal fulfillment of
mitzvos. Accordingly, the Torah includes both civil and religious law,
instructing us in our everyday behavior and our acts of worship, both of
which are equally holy. The way we live in the Land is part of our service
to Hashem. Thus we see in the Book of Joshua, that the first decisions that
Joshua made when the Jews entered the Land of Israel were for urban
planning, as important to their spiritual lives as the transportation of
the Holy Ark. Living in Israel gives the Jewish people the opportunity to
sanctify every little act that they do, Jewishly. Merely going to the
corner store to buy a carton of milk is part of the fulfillment of the
Jewish destiny when it is done in the Land of Israel. Similarly, during the
festival of Succos, a Jew has a chance to make every little act he does a
holy act by being in the Succah. Eating a celebratory meal or even sleeping
in the Succah is a mitzvah, a symbol of the total fulfillment of G-d's plan
for the Jewish people.
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4. The Real Reasons for Making Aliyah
by Judy Lash Balint
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/article.php3?id=5646
October 11, 2005
Besides the well-worn ideological Zionist reasons that compelled many of us
to make aliyah from advanced, civilized, democratic, organized, calm, tidy,
clean and polite Western countries, there are a few not-so-well recognized,
but important, factors that Diaspora Jews might want to consider.
The short Yom Kippur
Every year on the Saturday night before Yom Kippur, Israel turns the clock
back an hour to make the fast feel shorter. This year, when the Day of
Atonement falls in mid-October, it makes for a particularly short day. The
fast is over in Jerusalem at 5:46pm, making the actual Yom Kippur daytime a
whole three hours shorter than the mid-summer Tisha B'Av fast day.
The one day Yom Tov
Think about it, last week was the only time in the entire year that
Israelis have a two-day Yom Tov. Every other holiday is observed in Israel
for only one day - Sukkot, Shavuot, Pesach (just one seder, thank you). We
celebrate and enjoy the holidays, but don't go overboard into no-shower,
food-overload-land for 2-3 days at a time.
Day-school tuition
Despite the sorry state of our educational system, you're still saving tens
of thousands of dollars every year by making aliyah if your kids attend
Jewish day schools in the US. So, when they offer you that ridiculous
salary at your first job in Israel, just smile and think of all the tuition
you're not paying.
One degree of separation
Finally, there's the "one degree of separation" phenomenon. Here in Israel,
you can meet absolutely anyone, if you have the chutzpah. Despite our
unequalled security network, our celebrities may still be seen hanging out
in cafes or on the beach; politicians live just down the street, and you're
guaranteed to find someone who's related to whomever it is that you'd like
to meet.
One recent example: A writer friend of mine just hosted renowned Booker
Prize-winning author Yann Martel (Life of Pi) and his girlfriend at his
Jerusalem apartment for the past three days. How did that happen? Well,
Martel was in town to do some research at Yad Vashem for his new
Holocaust-related novel. My friend had written to him after reading and
enjoying Life of Pi. He received a short, personal note back. Last Friday,
Martel was giving a reading at 'Tmol Shilshom, our very own Jerusalem
literary salon.
My friend went along and introduced himself to Martel after the reading. He
asked where the author was staying. Martel told him that he'd checked out
of his hotel and wasn't really sure where they would be spending the night.
My friend invited them to stay at his place, hopped down to the Machane
Yehuda market for some extra food before the stalls closed for Shabbat, and
spent the next three days in awestruck writer heaven, as Martel and his
writer/editor girlfriend were gracious enough to read through and evaluate
some of his short stories.
So, when the aliyah shaliach asks you why you're exchanging California,
Florida or Vermont for Beit Shemesh or Modi'in (as Israelis, they'll never
understand), just tell him/her that you like short fast days, speedy
festivals, no tuition and have a yen for meeting and hosting famous people.
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5. Succah: an Israeli embassy
By Yishai Fleisher September 24, 2002
http://web.israelinsider.com/Views/1462.htm
During the holiday of Succot we leave our regular houses and apartments and
dwell in desert huts for seven days. This commemorates the journeys of the
Children of Israel in the Sinai, after the exodus from Egypt on their way
to Israel. Three thousand years ago they too dwelled in Succahs. The Succah
itself is made of walls which are temporary and it has a roof made of
schach, reeds or branches through which the sun shines and the stars are
meant to be seen. We eat inside the Succah, we sing songs, some of us sleep
in the Succah, and we are all commanded to rejoice within it.
Today the Succah represents the Jewish Diaspora, the spiritual desert, the
exile. When we step out of our homes, here in America and in the other
countries of the Diaspora, and move into our Succahs, we are reminded that
our stay here in the exile is only temporary, that we have not yet reached
the place of our ultimate physical and spiritual residence. Our homes in
the Diaspora are nothing but a Succah, a limited and flimsy structure to
tide us over until we can come home, to Israel.
To be sure, our Succah carries within its crude walls those values which we
hold so dear. As with our cherished homes in the Diaspora, we decorate our
Succah with love and with care. Furthermore, we are thankful to the people
and the lands which have hosted us with tolerance and respect. In fact, we
are commanded to bring our non-Jewish neighbors into the Succah, to be
hospitable to them, to bring them joy, to thank them.
However, though our tenure in the exile is a testament to our enduring
vitality, that does not mean that the Diaspora is the end of the road for
us. Just the opposite, our ideals and our people have survived in exile,
precisely because we have existed in anticipation of a General Recall. The
Diaspora and the Succah are wonderful but transient and can never supplant
our promise of Zion, and the permanent dwelling in Jerusalem which we have
always prayed for.
So why do Israelis put up Succot? The answer lies in the Jewish tendency to
forget where we came from, to forget what brought us here, to forget the
dream. In Israel, the Succah serves to remind us that not so long ago Jews
were dispersed all over the world.
Only great cataclysms and great miracles brought us back from the exile to
our ancient Homeland. When we leave our houses in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem in
favor of a desert-hut, we are showing gratitude to the Almighty that we
have been brought back from dispersion and that we have been finally been
given the much-awaited task to build a permanent home in our Biblical abode.
When we go to the Succah we humbly admit that we (or our forebears) could
have been among the ashes of Auschwitz and Buchenwald, but instead were
given the opportunity to come to Israel and build a life in our beautiful
Land. In Israel, the Succah reminds us that many of our brethren are still
in the Diaspora and that we have much more to do if we are to realize our
calling.
The Gaon from Vilna made an incredible observation. He said there are only
two commandments which can be done with the whole body. The first is the
mitzvah of living in the Land of Israel and the second is the mitzva of
dwelling in the Succah. This is no coincidence: the Succah is an embassy of
Israel and is considered to be a part of Israel wherever one is. Within its
confines the Jew is transported to 'Eretz HaChaim'? the land of the living.
Succot is a life-giving holiday because our life-force and our strength
come from Israel - the Succah gives us the opportunity to immerse our whole
being within it. We cannot love the galut while we dwell in the Succah, we
cannot be post-Zionist when we sit in the shade of the sechach. Cynicism is
replaced with a sense of destiny when the simple and wholesome Succah
surrounds us.
When we look up and peer through the slits in the schach, we see a sliver
of blue sky or a shiny star in the heavens. The world is a mysterious place
and we do not always have the ability to understand it all. Deep down
inside we know that there is something peering back down at us from the
heavens and through the cracks. Something is calling our people to return
to the Land of Israel. This year, may it be His will that we will heed the
voice which yearns for our return, and may we merit to sit under one Succah
next year, in Jerusalem, in Zion, together with all of Israel.
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6. Alison on Aliyah: Sukkot in Jerusalem
October 18, 2003
http://www.alisonsterngolub.com/article07.htm
When I returned to my neighborhood less than a month after leasing my
apartment, I could barely recognize it. Not because it was unfamiliar to
me, but because I arrived on the morning of Erev Sukkot. I had difficulty
even maneuvering my luggage through the alley in front of my apartment –
there was a sukkah in front of nearly every door! I got off the airplane
and unpacked to the sounds of the entire neighborhood hammering and
hoisting and calling to each other for construction materials. I have
spent the week sitting in my courtyard, just listening to all of my
neighbors eating and singing in their sukkot. I’ve been going on walks
through the neighborhood, marveling at the sights: little boys running
around, trying to keep their keepot on their heads; Orthodox men coming
home from the market with their arms filled with bags of food; women with
their heads covered, pushing their children in strollers towards shul.
This is a magical time to be in Israel, Jerusalem, Nachlaot (my
neighborhood). Sukkot, I have found out and should have remembered all
along, is one of the three pilgrimage holidays. This means that the city
has been inundated with tourists, mostly Christian, throughout the
week. No one seems to mind that they aren’t Jewish – most of us are just
thankful that they are here and spending money to bolster the Israeli
economy. One of the unexpected surprises of this week, for me, was that
there was a huge parade a few days ago, on the very street on which my
apartment looks out! I woke up to the sounds of a loudspeaker and
helicopters – of course I assumed a pegooah (bombing) had occurred. But
no, as I walked out of my apartment door and rounded the corner, I saw
throngs of people watching as delegations from every country I could think
of came up the street, one by one. I saw groups from Brazil, Italy,
Canada, Denmark, Malaysia, even Iceland! Each group held signs:
“Philippines support Israel,” “Austrian Christians love Israel,” “Israel:
No Estas Solo.” I found myself tearing up at every fresh sentiment that
made its way up the hill. I made eye contact with many of the marchers,
silently thanking them through my tears. It is a beautiful thing, knowing
these thousands of people got on planes from every faraway country
imaginable, touched down in Israel, and came to support us and show
solidarity in their own way.
And this weekend the city has been celebrating Simchat Torah, another
powerful day on the Jewish calendar. I spent last night in the Old City,
having Shabbat dinner with thirty other new olim from around the world, all
of us celebrating our Jewishness and our commitment to our new
country. Tonight, this very moment in fact, there is a concert in my
neighborhood. Not forty paces away there is a live band and about two
hundred people packed into a tiny little park, dancing and singing and
lifting the Torah to the sky. I have spent the past three hours watching
this celebration, drinking in the energy and the happiness and the sense of
community we all feel together tonight. I have never heard “Shalom
Aleichem” being sung with such fervor and power. I watched an Orthodox man
with his daughter on his shoulders, both of them dancing and swaying and
holding onto each other, looks of utter peace and pleasure on their
faces. Nothing else exists for them right in this moment.
I know how they feel. As I stood in my new neighborhood, coming to terms
anew with the fact that I live here, nothing else mattered. Not the
bombings, not the danger, not the goodbyes, not the fact that I don’t have
any furniture. This is a truly magical time in my life. Everything
affects me so deeply these days. I am overcome with pride and satisfaction
and peace. I am so thankful that I made this decision, that I have made
aliyah. I am doing what so many people have told me they wish they could
do. I have refused to let this opportunity pass me by, and I have chosen
to fulfill a dream that, unrealized, would have haunted me with regret for
the rest of my life. And in the face of all this, nothing else does truly
matter.
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7. Israeli Nobel Prize winner in economics says he "feels great" after award
By Israel Insider staff and partners October 10, 2005
http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/Culture/6805.htm
Israeli-American economist Robert J. Aumann, who won the 2005 Nobel prize
in economics for developing theories that help explain conflicts, said
Monday he believes strife in the Middle East will continue for many more
years.
Aumann, 75, of Jerusalem's Hebrew University, also said he was taken by
surprise when he learned Monday he had won. Aumann and American Thomas C.
Schelling, 84, of the University of Maryland were awarded the prize for
their work on game theories that help explain economic conflicts, including
trade and price wars.
Asked at a news conference in Jerusalem about his prognosis for the Mideast
conflict, he noted that it has gone on for some 80 years. "As far as I can
see, it is going to go on for at least another 80 years. I'm sorry to say
it," he told a news conference. "This is an ongoing conflict. We study
ongoing interactions. And I don't see any end to this one."
According to game theory, the actions by a party in a conflict on one day
affect its adversaries' subsequent behavior, Aumann said. He said the Gaza
withdrawal, carried out unilaterally after more than four years of fighting
with the Palestinians, is only going to invite further violence and raise
Palestinian actions for additional concessions.
"We're sending a really bad signal to our cousins," he said in an AP
interview later Monday. "We're saying, all you guys have to do is to
increase the terror, all you have to do is increase the pressure on us and
we will capitulate." Palestinian militants say their attacks drove Israel
out of Gaza, while Israel presented the pullout as a step to improve its
security and political positions.
His somber words tempered what was otherwise a joyous event for Aumann, a
professor emeritus at Hebrew University's Center for the Study of Rationality.
The beaming Aumann, with a long, flowing white beard and a knitted brown
and white skullcap, entered a crowded news conference at the center,
cradling an infant grandchild. Several small grandchildren played in the
back of the hall during the conference, as other family members, including
his children and brother, looked on.
Aumann said he was taken by surprise when he learned he had won. He sitting
at his computer writing letters in his office when the phone call from the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences arrived.
"I was really pleased," he said. Within minutes, he said, "pandemonium"
broke out, and his phone did not stop ringing for the rest of the day. He
said he eventually stopped answering the calls.
Aumann was born in Germany, and his family fled the Nazis in 1938. His
parents, who were wealthy, "lost everything," he said.
One of Aumann's five children, Shlomo, was killed in 1982 while serving as
a soldier in Israel's war in Lebanon. He has 18 grandchildren and two
great-grandchildren, several of whom study or have studied at religious
seminaries in Judea and Samaria. His grandson Yaakov has just finished
hesder/army at the yeshiva and is now in medical school.
A religious man, observant of the Sabbath, Aumann will have to decide how
he will deal with the Nobel Award ceremony, which takes place on a Saturday.
Hebrew University President Menachem Magidor said he learned from reporters
that Aumann had won the prestigious prize. "We believe that Prof. Aumann
deserved the prize for many years," Magidor told Israel Radio, saying
Aumann's work is "original, groundbreaking."
Aumann was born in Frankfurt, Germany, but holds U.S. and Israeli
citizenship. He is not the first Israeli to win the economics prize. In
2002, Daniel Kahneman, who also has U.S. and Israeli citizenship, shared
the award.
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8. What's a Jewish Life Worth?
By Ze'ev Orenstein http://israelperspectives.blogspot.com/
Earlier this afternoon, 3 Jewish children were murdered (and 5 more Jews
were wounded) by Arab terrorists, as they waited at a pick-up point in Gush
Etzion - south of Jerusalem), on their way home.
The Jerusalem Post reported that the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, affiliated
with Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas' ruling Fatah movement,
took responsibility for both of the attacks.
Israel's response?
David Baker, an official in the Israeli Prime Minister's Office, denounced
the shooting. "Israel removed roadblocks and made a number of humanitarian
gestures to ease up on the Palestinians," he told The Associated Press.
"It's unfortunate that the Palestinians have exploited these measures to
carry out these murderous attacks."
Do you want to know what's really unfortunate?
That in the Jewish State of Israel the life of a "Palestinian" is worth
more than the life of a Jew.
It is a known fact. Whenever Israel eases up on the checkpoints and
roadblocks Jews die, and yet, time and again, Israel enacts such measures.
Why is it that the Israeli government cares more about providing
humanitarian aid to the "Palestinians" than they do about the well-being of
their own citizens?
Why is it that the Israeli government will almost assuredly not take any
meaningful steps to ensure that such attacks not occur again in the future.
We have heard so much about how the checkpoints and roadblocks that Israel
sets up represent forms of collective punishment against the entire
"Palestinian" population, and as such, are not moral of just. Why is it
that no one is concerned with the collective punishment that is imposed on
the Jewish population of Israel when these checkpoints and roadblocks are
not in place? Why is it OK for Jewish children to live in fear as they wait
to be picked up?
I don't blame the "Palestinians". They believe that the land belongs to
them, and they are willing to fight in order to liberate it. they have seen
time and again that terrorism pays, and that Jewish blood is cheap, by the
inaction of the government of Israel to respond in any meaningful
fashion... so why not?
What's the excuse of the government of the State of Israel? Why are they
unwilling to take the steps to allow Jews to live proudly and freely in
their own Land?
Disgraceful.
Shameful.
Are there any proud Jews left in Israel who are prepared to stand up and
lead this once proud nation?
Anyone?
Monday, October 10, 2005
Kummunique - Issue 3, Yom Kippur 5766
Kummunique - Kumah's Shabbat and Holiday Bulletin
Issue 3, Yom Kippur 5766
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Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique: This issue is
meant to be a Yom Kippur Companion, filled with Yom Kippur thoughts and
prayers. PRINT & POCKET this issue for those moments in Shul when you need
a pick-me-up and some focus on the Land of Israel.
In this issue you will find:
1. From Malkah's table: Slow-cooked Lamb with Barley
2. Dvar Torah: 'Yom Ha-Ki-Purim' by Yishai Fleisher
3. Al Chet - (Forgiveness For the Sins) by Ze'ev Maghen
4. The Merit of Eretz Yisrael Protects Us (from Eim HaBanim Semeichah)
5. Live Here, Die Here by B.Z. Meyer (from To Dwell in the Palace)
6. Prayer for Jews Who Live in the Diaspora
7. Aliyah News: 94-Year-Old Makes Aliyah To Be Near Family
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1. Malkah's table
Once upon a time, in a land close, close by, there was a bunch of special
people who did a bunch of special things. One of those things was a little
atonement ceremony in which they would take animals and offer them for
expiation of their sins - instead of G-d knocking them all off every year
because they were so full of failings and wrongdoings, they would offer
animals in their place. Because of their great sins and continual failure
to fully understand how to be good boys and girls, they are as of now
unable to bring these sacrifices as they used to. But one day a year, they
can pray, humble themselves and beseech G-d to forgive them and give them
the time and opportunities to finally get it right. After all - one day,
they will.
Before your Yom Kippur fast, remember the sacrifices of yore (and the
service of the future) with a taste of the life of a Hebrew. Featuring a
favorite sacrificial offering and one of the seven species for which the
Land of Israel is famous, this dish will prepare your stomach and your soul
for the happiest, holiest day of the year - the day of our forgiveness and
renewal.
Slow-cooked Lamb with Barley
1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 kilo (or about 2 lbs) of lamb shoulder, cubed
2 large onions
6 carrots or potatoes (or a mixture of the two)
2/3 cup barley
3-5 cups boiling stock or water and 1 kosher beef stock cube
chopped thyme (or cilantro or parsley) to garnish
salt and ground black pepper
Heat half the oil in a non-stick frying pan and sauté the cubes of lamb
until brown all over. Put in a large plate. Cut the onions and
carrots/potatoes into small pieces and sauté these in the remaining
oil. Add the barley and seasoning, pour in half the stock and bring the
liquid to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes. Pour the vegetables and
barley into the bottom of a crockpot (what? You mean this meal will just
sit and prepare itself all day while I take a shower, say psalms and dust
off my husband's kittel?!), cover with the lamb cubes and add enough stock
to make a gravy. Cover and cook for 6-9 hours or more. Salt and pepper to
taste. Serve in the merit of our ancestors to a table full of your
favorite holy brothers and sisters.
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2. Yom Ha-Ki-Purim
I love Yom Kippur. I love the intensity of it... and I have a secret
special custom.
Every year during the break between prayers, I read Megilat Ester, the
Purim Scroll, from cover to cover. Why do I do this? Because Yom Kippur and
Purim are very much related.
The Vilna Gaon (18th century Lithuania) explains that PURIM shares the same
letters as Yom ha-ki-PURIM -- the official Biblical name for Yom Kippur.
On Yom Kippur we spend our whole day praying in the synagogue and we don't
eat a thing.
On Purim we feast, dress up and drink to excess.
In the Yom Kippur liturgy, G-d is everywhere.
In the Purim scroll, Hashem's name is absent.
On Purim, Ester begs the King to rescind the evil order.
On Yom Kippur we pray for the King to annul any harsh decree.
On Purim our fight is against a physical enemy - Amalek.
On Yom Kippur our fight is with our own evil inclination.
Yom Kippur and Purim, positioned at opposite ends of the year, are two
sides of the same coin.
On Purim, Haman wanted to hang Mordechai, but he was hanged himself.
Furthermore, in tractate Sanhedrin (96b) it is written: "The descendants of
Haman studied Torah in Benei Berak!" That's like saying, the grandchildren
of Hitler study Torah in Benei Berak today!!! Purim is all about evil
edicts flipping over to the good - Venahafochu!!!
This is a lesson for Yom Kippur as well. G-d has the power to flip any evil
edicts arraigned against us. Only sixty years ago our people were almost
completely decimated by the Nazis. Yet instead of total destruction, a
miraculous rebirth took place and the State of Israel emerged from the
ashes of the Holocaust. On Yom Kippur, it is good to think about the
Holocaust, and about the miraculous rebirth that we undergone.
May G-d give us strength this year.
May G-d hear our thanksgiving this year.
May it be written about us this year: "On the day when the enemies of the
Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so
that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them."
Gmar Chatima Tova,
Yishai
yishai@kumah.org
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3. Al Chet - Forgiveness For the Sins Which We Have Committed
The following advertisement appeared in a Jewish newspaper in New York over
a decade ago, and was put out by an organization that has since passed on -
HaIkar. The message is more poignant than ever:
TESHUVA MEANS ALIYAH
"One should be aware that the word 'Teshuva' means first and foremost the
return to the place from which an individual departs, as it is written:
'And his return was to Rama for there was his house,' (I Samuel 7:17). Our
Rabbis by way of implication made use of the word to refer to one who
returns from his sins. Such a definition is found only in the words of our
Rabbis, and because the term was needed and could be applied in all places
and at all times, the great sages spoke of it until it became natural and
there was no other meaning attached to the word 'Teshuva', its original
meaning being all but forgotten. Yet the process referred to by the word
'Teshuva' remains as described in the first definition: a return to the
land from which we have left."
-Rabbi Yehuda Shlomo Alkalai
Petach KiChudah Shel Machat (1849)
Fellow Jews: as we enter the Ten Days of Teshuva, it is abundantly clear
that most of us continue to hold to the popular definition of teshuva,
namely "repentance." Very well. Let's start repenting…
For the sin which we have sinned before You by having "outgrown" Zionist
idealism, the power that built the State of Israel and the only force which
can sustain it.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by treating the struggle for
Jewish national existence as a spectator sport.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by praying for two thousand
years to return to a restored Zion, and then spurning it.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by loving the exile.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by offering to the State of
Israel everything but that which it absolutely must have to survive and
flourish: ourselves.
But remember that in Judaism, repentance involves three actions:
recognizing the wrong, asking forgiveness, and rectifying the situation.
MAY YOUR ALIYAH INSCRIBE THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.
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4. The Merit of Eretz Yisrael Protects Us
Eim HaBanim Semeichah, ('A Joyous Mother of Children') by HaRav Yisachar
Shlomo Teichtal, is surfacing after 60 years of concealment as the
definitive work on the holiness of the Land of Israel and the biblical
mandate for the Jewish people to return there. HaRav Teichtal took refuge
in Hungary during the Nazi onslaught on Europe. One night, as he watched
helplessly from a synagogue attic where he and his family hid with 10 other
families, as the town below was violently emptied of Jews, he made an oath
- if G-d would save him and his family from the Nazis, he would write a
book in honor of the Land of Israel. The book would inspire every Jew to
ascend to the Land of our forefathers and help rebuild it. With almost no
books at his disposal, almost entirely from his memory of Jewish texts, he
wrote Eim HaBanim Semeichah for a year, between 1942 and 1943. In 1944, he
and his family were captured and sent to Auschwitz. In 1945, as the
Soviets advanced through Poland, the Nazis transferred HaRav Teichtal and
other prisoners inland. On the train, the Nazis gave everyone a crust of
bread. When a Ukrainian non-Jew attempted to steal the bread of a starving
Jew on the train, HaRav Teichtal fought him. The other Ukrainians, with
the complicity of the Nazis, tortured him, and then murdered him.
Eim HaBainim Semeichah lives on, a compelling reminder of G-d's plan for
His people. In this time of reflection and growth, HaRav Teichtal casts
our glance toward Jewish natural defense:
"I discovered a letter written by the author of the Tanya, to the Rebbe of
Berditchev, informing him of his release from prison in Petersburg:
I shall recount and declare that which is too great to tell. For HaShem
has done wondrously in the land. Who am I, lowly of men, that HaShem has
helped me glorify and sanctify His name… This was all HaShem's doing. He
has arranged this by virtue of the merit of the Holy Land and its
inhabitants. This is what stood by our side and will always assist in
relieving us from the oppressor and delivering us from distress." (written
5559/1799 and printed in Beit Rebbe, chap. 18)
After searching through many volumes, HaShem enlightened me and enabled me
to find a genuine source for the Ba'al HaTanya's notion. I fount it in the
Torah itself! In parashat BeChukotai it is written, And I will remember my
covenant with Ya'akov, and also My covenant with Yitzchak, and also My
covenant with Avraham I will remember, and I will remember the Land
(VaYikra 26:42) Our Sages discuss why the Land is mentioned in this verse
(see their answer in VaYikra Rabbah 32:4). Based on the principle of the
Ba'al HaTanya, the explanation is quite simple. Rashi, there, comments:
"Why were they [the Patriarchs] listed in reverse order? It is to tell us:
Ya'akov, the youngest, is worthy of this [to bring about redemption]; and
if he is not [sufficiently] worthy, behold, Yitzchak is with him; and if he
is not [sufficiently] worthy, behold, Avraham is with him."
We can now take this one step further. Even if all of them are not worthy
(in the eventuality that the merit of the Patriarchs has run out), still, I
will remember the Land. That is, the merit of Eretz Yisrael will deliver
us from distress. Thus, we have a "pure" source from the holy Torah itself
that the merit of Eretz Yisrael stands above all other merits. It is even
greater than the merit of our forefathers. Therefore, even if they cannot
come to our aid, the merit of Eretz Yisrael will protect and redeem us in
our times of trouble.
Since this is so, not that we, the Children of Israel, find ourselves in
dire straits (may the Merciful One save us speedily), we certainly need the
merit of our Holy Land to protect, guard, and rescue us from our
persecutors… (First Introduction, Eim HaBanim Semeichah)
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5. Live Here, Die Here by B.Z. Meyer (from To Dwell in the Palace)
"Whoever has the privilege of dying in the holy Land is forgiven all his
transgressions and is tentitle to be bounder under the wings of the
shechina." (Zohar)
There is a story in the Yerushalmi (Kilayim 9,3) of an amora who found
himself outside Eretz Yisroel when he realized that his life was coming to
an end. He wept, saying: I am relinquishing my pearl (= my soul) in an
impure land. There is no comparison between one who lets it go in his
mother's arms, and one who lets it go in the arms of a strange woman."
In fact, our sources compare the man who dies in chutz laAretz to one who
returns a deposited item to another party, while one who dies in Eretz
Yisroel is seen as returning the item to its rightful owner. (see Tzion
Beis Chayeinu, p. 57)
The Maharsha explains that Eretz Yisroel is called "Eretz Hachaim" (Land of
life) because it is the place on earth where the descent of souls from the
upper world to the lower, and their subsequent ascent back to the upper
world, takes place. It is also the place where man was first
fashioned. This "Land of life" here on earth parallels the "Land of life"
in the Heavens, and thus any transfer of neshamos (souls) which take place,
or will take place in the end of days, occurs here. (Chiddushei Aggados,
Kesubos, 111)
Thus throughout the ages, even when living in the Land was no simple matter
and earning a livelihood here was impossible, many Jews saved their pennies
so that they could travel to Eretz Yisroel in their old age. They hoped in
this way to have the privilege of dying here. Exactly what was implied by
being "bound under the wings of the Divine Presence" may not have been
clear; but if forgiveness for transgressions could be earned this way, it
was reason enough to "play it safe." The trip was often undertaken alone,
leaving all loved ones behind, and it was always an arduous, if not also a
physically dangerous, journey. But the benefits of giving one's sould back
in the "Land of life" could not easily be dismissed. With it all, this was
still the safer place to be at the end.
Today, the miracles of easy access to our Land, and ease of ravel abroad,
can be a double-edged sword. We could learn what the sources have to say
about the importance of living here and of dying here, and seize gratefully
upon the means which enable us to do so. But unfortunately, it seems that
the availability of our Land has had a reverse effect, making the priceless
benefits cheap in our eyes.
Many put off their aliyah for one year after another, until the move
becomes, seemingly, impossible. Getting here in time to die is not longer
stressed, and many satisfy themselves with the behest that they be buried
in the holy Land.
Our sages assert that living in Eretz Yisroel assures one of entry into
olam habba (Pesachim 113). They also declare that living here "frees" one
in some way from sin (Kesubos 111, and other sources). To live in Eretz
Yisroel is to raise the level and quality of one's service in countless
ways, and as such, it is certainly the safe road to take in this
world. Clearly, every Jew should plan to live in the Land of Israel.
But, if you haven't thought much about living here, think at least of this:
Our sages in Avos remind us, "Return the day before you die." This refers
to a person's everpresent obligation to repent, since he never knows for
sure that this day will nto be his last. But it would not be inappropriate
to apply the dictum to a return to Eretz Yisroel. The Land is now
welcoming back her children, gone from her borders for centuries. On a
national level, this is a glorious spectacle. On an individual level, the
message should be: You! Return, just one day before you die…. Return to
your Land so that you may be the beneficiary of the blessings of
forgiveness and of eternal connection to the Divine Presence.
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6. Prayer for Jews Who Live in the Diaspora
Master of the Universe, have pity on me! May Your great stores of mercy
and kindness be opened to help me merit going speedily unto our holy Land -
the Land which You chose from among all other lands as an inheritance for
Israel, the people You chose from all other peoples.
The Land is the source of our sanctity, Land of true life. It is the site
of the very foundation of holiness, it is where the comprehensive
sanctification of Israel has its roots. It is the Land which You are
always concerned with, as it says in Your Torah: "Land which the L-rd your
G-d scrutinizes constantly, the eyes of G-d your L-rd are on it at all
times, from the beginning of the year until the end of the year." (Devarim
11, 12) A Land to be coveted, a good and spacious Land which has within it
the city of G-d, city of beauty, His holy mountain, focus of joy for the
whole world.
Master of the Universe, in Your infinite mercy, have pity on us, and awaken
our hearts and the hearts of our children, and the hearts of all Your
people Israel, so that we may experience yearning and great longing, and a
fervent desire for the Land of Israel. May we ceaselessly yearn, long, and
desire to reach the Land of Israel until such time as You enable us to come
speedily to our holy Land. We will then merit being aroused to true
service and fear of G-d, and there we will serve You in awe as in days of
old and in years gone by.
- Attributed to Rabbi Natan, talmid of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, base on
Likutei Tefilot LaMoharnat, 20
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7. 94-Year-Old Makes Aliyah To Be Near Family
http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=7482
At 94 years old, Holocaust survivor Elizabeth Neuman could rightfully sit
back and relax.
Just prior to Rosh Hashanah, however, Neuman and her daughter Jeanniane
Sternberg sold the home they shared in Hamilton and were in the process of
packing up their belongings and preparing to move to Israel.
It wasn’t a hard decision, Neuman says. “My daughter wanted to live near
her two daughters and grandchildren who live in Israel, and I go where she
goes.”
Family is “everything” to her, she says. “I lost three sisters and three
brothers in the war, so it’s important to remain with the family we have.”
Immigrating is not new to her, says Neuman. She moved from her native
Hungary to France in the 1930s, and later moved to Canada. “It’s my third
big move. I’m used to picking up and going.”
Sternberg, a former French and Hungarian freelance court interpreter, says
that for her mother, moving to Israel is the culmination of a lifetime
“full of bravery.”
During the war, while in Paris, Neuman’s husband was taken prisoner (he
survived the war), and she rented an apartment 30 kilometres from Paris
under a different name and gave shelter to a cousin.
“[My mother] feared for my life, so she took me to a Catholic private
school and hid me there. It was a very difficult time. She worried about
me, she worried about my father, and she had to take care of herself. Other
than the cousin, she was all alone,” Sternberg says.
“I look at my own two daughters, and I am thankful that they did not have
to live like that.”
Neuman, who was widowed 42 years ago, worked in Canada for 50 years as a
dress designer, says Sternberg, whose own husband died in 2003.
“She lost her family in the war, and then her husband died at a young age.
She did what she had to do to take care of us,” Sternberg says.
“She has lived with my family since 1965 and she always helped out
babysitting, cooking, baking. She was always active, and never complained.”
Neuman and Sternberg have visited their family in Israel a number of times,
“but it’s time to spend our futures in the same country. It’s the logical
thing to do,” Neuman says.
Sternberg says that she and her husband had talked about moving to Israel,
“but now the time is right. All our papers are in order and we’re ready to
go. I do plan on retaining my Canadian citizenship, however. I’ll be back
from time to time.”
Neuman is not too concerned about the big move because, she says, “God has
always looked after me. I know I’ll be happy there because my family makes
me happy. They keep me young at heart.
“I don’t know about the Hebrew, but at my age I may still learn or word or
two.”
Issue 3, Yom Kippur 5766
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique: This issue is
meant to be a Yom Kippur Companion, filled with Yom Kippur thoughts and
prayers. PRINT & POCKET this issue for those moments in Shul when you need
a pick-me-up and some focus on the Land of Israel.
In this issue you will find:
1. From Malkah's table: Slow-cooked Lamb with Barley
2. Dvar Torah: 'Yom Ha-Ki-Purim' by Yishai Fleisher
3. Al Chet - (Forgiveness For the Sins) by Ze'ev Maghen
4. The Merit of Eretz Yisrael Protects Us (from Eim HaBanim Semeichah)
5. Live Here, Die Here by B.Z. Meyer (from To Dwell in the Palace)
6. Prayer for Jews Who Live in the Diaspora
7. Aliyah News: 94-Year-Old Makes Aliyah To Be Near Family
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1. Malkah's table
Once upon a time, in a land close, close by, there was a bunch of special
people who did a bunch of special things. One of those things was a little
atonement ceremony in which they would take animals and offer them for
expiation of their sins - instead of G-d knocking them all off every year
because they were so full of failings and wrongdoings, they would offer
animals in their place. Because of their great sins and continual failure
to fully understand how to be good boys and girls, they are as of now
unable to bring these sacrifices as they used to. But one day a year, they
can pray, humble themselves and beseech G-d to forgive them and give them
the time and opportunities to finally get it right. After all - one day,
they will.
Before your Yom Kippur fast, remember the sacrifices of yore (and the
service of the future) with a taste of the life of a Hebrew. Featuring a
favorite sacrificial offering and one of the seven species for which the
Land of Israel is famous, this dish will prepare your stomach and your soul
for the happiest, holiest day of the year - the day of our forgiveness and
renewal.
Slow-cooked Lamb with Barley
1-2 Tablespoons of olive oil
1 kilo (or about 2 lbs) of lamb shoulder, cubed
2 large onions
6 carrots or potatoes (or a mixture of the two)
2/3 cup barley
3-5 cups boiling stock or water and 1 kosher beef stock cube
chopped thyme (or cilantro or parsley) to garnish
salt and ground black pepper
Heat half the oil in a non-stick frying pan and sauté the cubes of lamb
until brown all over. Put in a large plate. Cut the onions and
carrots/potatoes into small pieces and sauté these in the remaining
oil. Add the barley and seasoning, pour in half the stock and bring the
liquid to a boil. Cook for about 5 minutes. Pour the vegetables and
barley into the bottom of a crockpot (what? You mean this meal will just
sit and prepare itself all day while I take a shower, say psalms and dust
off my husband's kittel?!), cover with the lamb cubes and add enough stock
to make a gravy. Cover and cook for 6-9 hours or more. Salt and pepper to
taste. Serve in the merit of our ancestors to a table full of your
favorite holy brothers and sisters.
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2. Yom Ha-Ki-Purim
I love Yom Kippur. I love the intensity of it... and I have a secret
special custom.
Every year during the break between prayers, I read Megilat Ester, the
Purim Scroll, from cover to cover. Why do I do this? Because Yom Kippur and
Purim are very much related.
The Vilna Gaon (18th century Lithuania) explains that PURIM shares the same
letters as Yom ha-ki-PURIM -- the official Biblical name for Yom Kippur.
On Yom Kippur we spend our whole day praying in the synagogue and we don't
eat a thing.
On Purim we feast, dress up and drink to excess.
In the Yom Kippur liturgy, G-d is everywhere.
In the Purim scroll, Hashem's name is absent.
On Purim, Ester begs the King to rescind the evil order.
On Yom Kippur we pray for the King to annul any harsh decree.
On Purim our fight is against a physical enemy - Amalek.
On Yom Kippur our fight is with our own evil inclination.
Yom Kippur and Purim, positioned at opposite ends of the year, are two
sides of the same coin.
On Purim, Haman wanted to hang Mordechai, but he was hanged himself.
Furthermore, in tractate Sanhedrin (96b) it is written: "The descendants of
Haman studied Torah in Benei Berak!" That's like saying, the grandchildren
of Hitler study Torah in Benei Berak today!!! Purim is all about evil
edicts flipping over to the good - Venahafochu!!!
This is a lesson for Yom Kippur as well. G-d has the power to flip any evil
edicts arraigned against us. Only sixty years ago our people were almost
completely decimated by the Nazis. Yet instead of total destruction, a
miraculous rebirth took place and the State of Israel emerged from the
ashes of the Holocaust. On Yom Kippur, it is good to think about the
Holocaust, and about the miraculous rebirth that we undergone.
May G-d give us strength this year.
May G-d hear our thanksgiving this year.
May it be written about us this year: "On the day when the enemies of the
Jews hoped to gain the mastery over them, it was turned to the contrary so
that the Jews themselves gained the mastery over those who hated them."
Gmar Chatima Tova,
Yishai
yishai@kumah.org
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3. Al Chet - Forgiveness For the Sins Which We Have Committed
The following advertisement appeared in a Jewish newspaper in New York over
a decade ago, and was put out by an organization that has since passed on -
HaIkar. The message is more poignant than ever:
TESHUVA MEANS ALIYAH
"One should be aware that the word 'Teshuva' means first and foremost the
return to the place from which an individual departs, as it is written:
'And his return was to Rama for there was his house,' (I Samuel 7:17). Our
Rabbis by way of implication made use of the word to refer to one who
returns from his sins. Such a definition is found only in the words of our
Rabbis, and because the term was needed and could be applied in all places
and at all times, the great sages spoke of it until it became natural and
there was no other meaning attached to the word 'Teshuva', its original
meaning being all but forgotten. Yet the process referred to by the word
'Teshuva' remains as described in the first definition: a return to the
land from which we have left."
-Rabbi Yehuda Shlomo Alkalai
Petach KiChudah Shel Machat (1849)
Fellow Jews: as we enter the Ten Days of Teshuva, it is abundantly clear
that most of us continue to hold to the popular definition of teshuva,
namely "repentance." Very well. Let's start repenting…
For the sin which we have sinned before You by having "outgrown" Zionist
idealism, the power that built the State of Israel and the only force which
can sustain it.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by treating the struggle for
Jewish national existence as a spectator sport.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by praying for two thousand
years to return to a restored Zion, and then spurning it.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by loving the exile.
For the sin which we have sinned before You by offering to the State of
Israel everything but that which it absolutely must have to survive and
flourish: ourselves.
But remember that in Judaism, repentance involves three actions:
recognizing the wrong, asking forgiveness, and rectifying the situation.
MAY YOUR ALIYAH INSCRIBE THE JEWISH PEOPLE IN THE BOOK OF LIFE.
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4. The Merit of Eretz Yisrael Protects Us
Eim HaBanim Semeichah, ('A Joyous Mother of Children') by HaRav Yisachar
Shlomo Teichtal, is surfacing after 60 years of concealment as the
definitive work on the holiness of the Land of Israel and the biblical
mandate for the Jewish people to return there. HaRav Teichtal took refuge
in Hungary during the Nazi onslaught on Europe. One night, as he watched
helplessly from a synagogue attic where he and his family hid with 10 other
families, as the town below was violently emptied of Jews, he made an oath
- if G-d would save him and his family from the Nazis, he would write a
book in honor of the Land of Israel. The book would inspire every Jew to
ascend to the Land of our forefathers and help rebuild it. With almost no
books at his disposal, almost entirely from his memory of Jewish texts, he
wrote Eim HaBanim Semeichah for a year, between 1942 and 1943. In 1944, he
and his family were captured and sent to Auschwitz. In 1945, as the
Soviets advanced through Poland, the Nazis transferred HaRav Teichtal and
other prisoners inland. On the train, the Nazis gave everyone a crust of
bread. When a Ukrainian non-Jew attempted to steal the bread of a starving
Jew on the train, HaRav Teichtal fought him. The other Ukrainians, with
the complicity of the Nazis, tortured him, and then murdered him.
Eim HaBainim Semeichah lives on, a compelling reminder of G-d's plan for
His people. In this time of reflection and growth, HaRav Teichtal casts
our glance toward Jewish natural defense:
"I discovered a letter written by the author of the Tanya, to the Rebbe of
Berditchev, informing him of his release from prison in Petersburg:
I shall recount and declare that which is too great to tell. For HaShem
has done wondrously in the land. Who am I, lowly of men, that HaShem has
helped me glorify and sanctify His name… This was all HaShem's doing. He
has arranged this by virtue of the merit of the Holy Land and its
inhabitants. This is what stood by our side and will always assist in
relieving us from the oppressor and delivering us from distress." (written
5559/1799 and printed in Beit Rebbe, chap. 18)
After searching through many volumes, HaShem enlightened me and enabled me
to find a genuine source for the Ba'al HaTanya's notion. I fount it in the
Torah itself! In parashat BeChukotai it is written, And I will remember my
covenant with Ya'akov, and also My covenant with Yitzchak, and also My
covenant with Avraham I will remember, and I will remember the Land
(VaYikra 26:42) Our Sages discuss why the Land is mentioned in this verse
(see their answer in VaYikra Rabbah 32:4). Based on the principle of the
Ba'al HaTanya, the explanation is quite simple. Rashi, there, comments:
"Why were they [the Patriarchs] listed in reverse order? It is to tell us:
Ya'akov, the youngest, is worthy of this [to bring about redemption]; and
if he is not [sufficiently] worthy, behold, Yitzchak is with him; and if he
is not [sufficiently] worthy, behold, Avraham is with him."
We can now take this one step further. Even if all of them are not worthy
(in the eventuality that the merit of the Patriarchs has run out), still, I
will remember the Land. That is, the merit of Eretz Yisrael will deliver
us from distress. Thus, we have a "pure" source from the holy Torah itself
that the merit of Eretz Yisrael stands above all other merits. It is even
greater than the merit of our forefathers. Therefore, even if they cannot
come to our aid, the merit of Eretz Yisrael will protect and redeem us in
our times of trouble.
Since this is so, not that we, the Children of Israel, find ourselves in
dire straits (may the Merciful One save us speedily), we certainly need the
merit of our Holy Land to protect, guard, and rescue us from our
persecutors… (First Introduction, Eim HaBanim Semeichah)
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5. Live Here, Die Here by B.Z. Meyer (from To Dwell in the Palace)
"Whoever has the privilege of dying in the holy Land is forgiven all his
transgressions and is tentitle to be bounder under the wings of the
shechina." (Zohar)
There is a story in the Yerushalmi (Kilayim 9,3) of an amora who found
himself outside Eretz Yisroel when he realized that his life was coming to
an end. He wept, saying: I am relinquishing my pearl (= my soul) in an
impure land. There is no comparison between one who lets it go in his
mother's arms, and one who lets it go in the arms of a strange woman."
In fact, our sources compare the man who dies in chutz laAretz to one who
returns a deposited item to another party, while one who dies in Eretz
Yisroel is seen as returning the item to its rightful owner. (see Tzion
Beis Chayeinu, p. 57)
The Maharsha explains that Eretz Yisroel is called "Eretz Hachaim" (Land of
life) because it is the place on earth where the descent of souls from the
upper world to the lower, and their subsequent ascent back to the upper
world, takes place. It is also the place where man was first
fashioned. This "Land of life" here on earth parallels the "Land of life"
in the Heavens, and thus any transfer of neshamos (souls) which take place,
or will take place in the end of days, occurs here. (Chiddushei Aggados,
Kesubos, 111)
Thus throughout the ages, even when living in the Land was no simple matter
and earning a livelihood here was impossible, many Jews saved their pennies
so that they could travel to Eretz Yisroel in their old age. They hoped in
this way to have the privilege of dying here. Exactly what was implied by
being "bound under the wings of the Divine Presence" may not have been
clear; but if forgiveness for transgressions could be earned this way, it
was reason enough to "play it safe." The trip was often undertaken alone,
leaving all loved ones behind, and it was always an arduous, if not also a
physically dangerous, journey. But the benefits of giving one's sould back
in the "Land of life" could not easily be dismissed. With it all, this was
still the safer place to be at the end.
Today, the miracles of easy access to our Land, and ease of ravel abroad,
can be a double-edged sword. We could learn what the sources have to say
about the importance of living here and of dying here, and seize gratefully
upon the means which enable us to do so. But unfortunately, it seems that
the availability of our Land has had a reverse effect, making the priceless
benefits cheap in our eyes.
Many put off their aliyah for one year after another, until the move
becomes, seemingly, impossible. Getting here in time to die is not longer
stressed, and many satisfy themselves with the behest that they be buried
in the holy Land.
Our sages assert that living in Eretz Yisroel assures one of entry into
olam habba (Pesachim 113). They also declare that living here "frees" one
in some way from sin (Kesubos 111, and other sources). To live in Eretz
Yisroel is to raise the level and quality of one's service in countless
ways, and as such, it is certainly the safe road to take in this
world. Clearly, every Jew should plan to live in the Land of Israel.
But, if you haven't thought much about living here, think at least of this:
Our sages in Avos remind us, "Return the day before you die." This refers
to a person's everpresent obligation to repent, since he never knows for
sure that this day will nto be his last. But it would not be inappropriate
to apply the dictum to a return to Eretz Yisroel. The Land is now
welcoming back her children, gone from her borders for centuries. On a
national level, this is a glorious spectacle. On an individual level, the
message should be: You! Return, just one day before you die…. Return to
your Land so that you may be the beneficiary of the blessings of
forgiveness and of eternal connection to the Divine Presence.
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6. Prayer for Jews Who Live in the Diaspora
Master of the Universe, have pity on me! May Your great stores of mercy
and kindness be opened to help me merit going speedily unto our holy Land -
the Land which You chose from among all other lands as an inheritance for
Israel, the people You chose from all other peoples.
The Land is the source of our sanctity, Land of true life. It is the site
of the very foundation of holiness, it is where the comprehensive
sanctification of Israel has its roots. It is the Land which You are
always concerned with, as it says in Your Torah: "Land which the L-rd your
G-d scrutinizes constantly, the eyes of G-d your L-rd are on it at all
times, from the beginning of the year until the end of the year." (Devarim
11, 12) A Land to be coveted, a good and spacious Land which has within it
the city of G-d, city of beauty, His holy mountain, focus of joy for the
whole world.
Master of the Universe, in Your infinite mercy, have pity on us, and awaken
our hearts and the hearts of our children, and the hearts of all Your
people Israel, so that we may experience yearning and great longing, and a
fervent desire for the Land of Israel. May we ceaselessly yearn, long, and
desire to reach the Land of Israel until such time as You enable us to come
speedily to our holy Land. We will then merit being aroused to true
service and fear of G-d, and there we will serve You in awe as in days of
old and in years gone by.
- Attributed to Rabbi Natan, talmid of Rebbe Nachman of Breslov, base on
Likutei Tefilot LaMoharnat, 20
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7. 94-Year-Old Makes Aliyah To Be Near Family
http://www.cjnews.com/viewarticle.asp?id=7482
At 94 years old, Holocaust survivor Elizabeth Neuman could rightfully sit
back and relax.
Just prior to Rosh Hashanah, however, Neuman and her daughter Jeanniane
Sternberg sold the home they shared in Hamilton and were in the process of
packing up their belongings and preparing to move to Israel.
It wasn’t a hard decision, Neuman says. “My daughter wanted to live near
her two daughters and grandchildren who live in Israel, and I go where she
goes.”
Family is “everything” to her, she says. “I lost three sisters and three
brothers in the war, so it’s important to remain with the family we have.”
Immigrating is not new to her, says Neuman. She moved from her native
Hungary to France in the 1930s, and later moved to Canada. “It’s my third
big move. I’m used to picking up and going.”
Sternberg, a former French and Hungarian freelance court interpreter, says
that for her mother, moving to Israel is the culmination of a lifetime
“full of bravery.”
During the war, while in Paris, Neuman’s husband was taken prisoner (he
survived the war), and she rented an apartment 30 kilometres from Paris
under a different name and gave shelter to a cousin.
“[My mother] feared for my life, so she took me to a Catholic private
school and hid me there. It was a very difficult time. She worried about
me, she worried about my father, and she had to take care of herself. Other
than the cousin, she was all alone,” Sternberg says.
“I look at my own two daughters, and I am thankful that they did not have
to live like that.”
Neuman, who was widowed 42 years ago, worked in Canada for 50 years as a
dress designer, says Sternberg, whose own husband died in 2003.
“She lost her family in the war, and then her husband died at a young age.
She did what she had to do to take care of us,” Sternberg says.
“She has lived with my family since 1965 and she always helped out
babysitting, cooking, baking. She was always active, and never complained.”
Neuman and Sternberg have visited their family in Israel a number of times,
“but it’s time to spend our futures in the same country. It’s the logical
thing to do,” Neuman says.
Sternberg says that she and her husband had talked about moving to Israel,
“but now the time is right. All our papers are in order and we’re ready to
go. I do plan on retaining my Canadian citizenship, however. I’ll be back
from time to time.”
Neuman is not too concerned about the big move because, she says, “God has
always looked after me. I know I’ll be happy there because my family makes
me happy. They keep me young at heart.
“I don’t know about the Hebrew, but at my age I may still learn or word or
two.”
