Saturday, December 31, 2005
Issue 13 "Zot Hanukkah" 5766
Kummunique - Kumah's Shabbat and Holiday Bulletin
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Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!
In this issue you will find:
1. "Israel In The Exile" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Three Crises" by Yishai Fleisher
3. "Israel Immigration Marks First Jump Since Uprising" by Steven Scheer
4. "After Katrina Doors Open For New Oleh" by Jason Silberman
Watch our new Flash Film: www.aliyahrevolution.com
See a great Aliyah photo essay: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=95710
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1. "Israel In The Exile" by Malkah Fleisher
Well here we are in the Exile. In the midst of our Goodwill Family Tour, we have already had the luxury of doing many wonderful things, courtesy of the excellent and incredible hospitality of our family. We had terrific seats at The Nutcracker ballet (my first ballet!), we saw an impressive display of Russian artistic ability and expression at the latest Guggenheim museum exhibit, my mother-in-law treated me to a manicure and pedicure (am I lucky or what?), and we partied it up at Babushka Anna's spectacular 80th birthday extravaganza, complete with one man band and piping hot spoonfuls of my favorite Chinese dish, General Tso's chicken (mmmmmm...). With all of this vacationary delight, we keep reminding ourselves "Exile is a punishment, exile is a punishment..."
Of course, you see it now and again, in a true sense. I know several traditionally-raised Jews with loving parents and warm communities who are dating non-Jews. You have a hard time being enthusiastic over the pronouncement of an American Jew that a terrific new food has been manufactured - and it's kosher! The American commercial culture is so incredibly powerful, with its emphasis on sex appeal, style and fiscal accomplishment, that many affiliated, smart young Jews are being confused and misled away from themselves and their rich legacy. This has created an epidemic of identity crisis among even the very committed Jewish youth. Did I mention that the 80's are back in style?!
Of all the things our Israeli friends asked us to bring them from the Goldene Medine, they ALL said "bring back Jews." Therefore, Yishai and I felt lucky last night to host a small gathering of Israel lovers at our traditional spot for Kumah partying - J2 pizza in Manhattan. A dozen people showed up. Some knew us from Kumah, others knew us from Israel National Radio, but they all came to talk about Israel, to converse about their thoughts and feelings regarding what's going on there, and what their role is in it.
What a beautiful event. Over pizza and sodas, we spent most of our time sharing our unique reasons for wanting to live in Israel, and the concerns of those who still aren't sure. One cool couple said that since their final decision to move to Israel just 2 weeks ago, their families have offered to buy them a house and a car if they agree to stay. Another woman with a job on Wall Street came with her friends from Flatbush and sat next to another friend, a construction manager for the Port Authority. A Physics and Chemistry tutor discussed his passion to teach at the university in Ariel, and a woman who will receive a Masters in Cinema shared her concern for learning Hebrew, and a few computer folks voiced their plans as well..
The list goes on, and the night was long. What came out was something intangible but immeasurably successful - an energy, a community, a moment of inspiration and comeraderie - eat your hearts out, naysayers. The Jewish desire to reunite and to chart one's own course back to the story of our people is bubbling up. You never know whose face you'll be seeing next year in Jerusalem.
Of course, the war for Jewish hearts and minds doesn't always take place at some "event", some organized program of discussion over pizza. The most powerful influence in one's life is one's friends and family. So the next time you feel the deep issues of our times floating up to the surface, make room on the couch for your friend, and inspire each other. Just like Kumah hosted its guests, you should host yours, providing an environment of giving and abundance. Here's a recipe to schmooze by:
Malkah's Malawach pizza
1 Tablespoon oil per person
1 Malawach per person
2 Tablespoons tomato paste per person
1 fist full of grated cheese per person
Garlic powder or crushed garlic
Dried basil, oregano, thyme, rosemaryn (optional)
sliced mushrooms, corn, onions (optional)
Fry one malawach in oil on one side. When golden brown, flip over, and cover the cooked side with tomato paste, and sprinkle on your seasonings. Then cover with cheese, followed by any toppings. Cover until the cheese is melted, and serve piping hot!
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2. "Three Crises" by Yishai Fleisher
I have been in America for only one week, and I have already faced three crises all having to do with Israel:
The first crisis had to do with my dog, Pilpel. I left her in the care of my neighbors for the course of the trip. I figured it would be easier for the dog if she didn't have to cope with "abandonment" and a new environment at the same time. Anyway, when I called Israel to see how she was, my neighbors sadly reported that she had disappeared. I made frantic calls to Israel and set my friend, neighbor, and new Oleh, Elan White on the case. Well, he found out that she got loose, was bothering kids at the school, was taken by a dog catcher and let go outside our community. Subsequently, she ended up at the gas station about ten miles away, and was then captured again and sent to a pound in Modin. Elan sleuthed out this information, took my car and got the dog. She was gone for four days. When she returned, all the neighbors came out to greet her. They all said it was a Hanukkah Miracle.
The second crises had to do with our Flash film "Free Your Mind" playing at www.aliyahrevolution.com which we just released after a year of work. After two days of playing, I got an email from Pinchas telling me that the website server was slowing down due to high traffic. In other words, people clicked on the movie, and it simply wouldn't play. Well this was a crisis: we didn't make this movie not to play, and we were losing viewers every minute. Ben Sandler suggested I call the campany that does web-streaming for Arutz Sheva. So here I am calling Israel again frantically. I got through to a great guy at Cast-Up who said they can help us. He asked me what the movie was about and when he heard that we were promoting an Aliyah Revolution, he gave me half off the price to host our movie. Problem fixed - a Hanukkah Miracle..
The third crisis was the hardest. Desecration of our Temple on Hanukkah! I got an email telling me that my synagogue in Israel was ransacked by Arabs. They came in, ripped up some books, spilled some kind of liquid on the shelves, cut holes in the Mechitza, and then left in a hurry. I called Israel frantically yet again. I tried to console my neighbors and told them that while I was here, I would start collecting money for a permenant building to replace the double wide caravan which currently houses our Shul. Thank G-d the Torahs were safe behind locked steel doors. Thank G-d they didn't hurt anybody. This too was a Hanukkah Miracle.
When you love Israel, you are always connected to it. May G-d grant us the power of Hanukkah - to cleanse, to purify, to sanctify, to make light. "May You shine a new light on Zion, and may we all speedily merit its light." Next year may your "Nes Gadol Haya Sham", turn to "Nes Gadol Haya Po"!
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3. "Israel Immigration Marks First Jump Since Uprising" by Steven Scheer http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/L28779485.htm
TEL AVIV, Dec 28 (Reuters) - Immigration to Israel rose in 2005 for the first time since the start of a five-year-old Palestinian uprising, the Jewish Agency that encourages new immigrants said on Wednesday.
Immigration, "aliyah" in Hebrew, has long been a policy priority for Israeli governments that want to keep a big Jewish majority in a country where Arabs make up a fifth of the population and have a higher birth rate.
The numbers of Jews wanting to move to Israel plunged after the start of the Palestinian uprising brought bloodshed to the streets and helped drive the economy into recession.
But attacks in Israel had begun to decline even before a truce was agreed in February, while economic reforms had helped return the economy to strong growth.
"We believe that the improvement in the security and economic situation will increase the feeling of security and ... aliyah will be on the rise in 2006 as well," said Zeev Bielski, chairman of the quasi-governmental Jewish Agency.
The agency welcomed a planeload of more than 200 North Americans arriving at Tel Aviv's airport on Wednesday.
About 23,000 people immigrated in 2005, up from a 15-year low of 21,000 in 2004 and compared to 61,000 in 2000. No figures for emigration were immediately available.
FEWER JEWS FLEE PERSECUTION
It is not only the situation in the Middle East that has made it harder to encourage immigration. Fewer Jews than before are fleeing persecution, war and poverty abroad.
Groups trying to encourage immigration have turned to North America. The United States alone has more Jews than in Israel. Canada also has a large Jewish population.
"Most aliyah until now was people running away from something -- Russians from Communism, Ethiopians from hunger," said Tony Gelbart of the Nefesh B'Nefesh (Soul to Soul) group.
"Aliyah from North America is by choice," he said.
A total of 3,052 North Americans immigrated in 2005 -- the highest number since 1983. Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's stated goal is to bring 1 million North American immigrants over the next decade.
But it has been difficult to convince U.S. and Canadian Jews to leave high-paying jobs for Israel, which has far lower wages, higher taxes and an unemployment rate of close to 9 percent, despite some financial incentives.
"It might be easier financially to live in America but it's more difficult to live there as a fulfilled Jew," said Josh Coder, 31, an accountant from Indianapolis who arrived in Israel on Wednesday with his wife, Jackie, and three children.
He decided to emigrate after losing his job.
In addition to North Americans, the Jewish Agency said immigration from France hit a 34-year record in 2005 with about 3,000 people. But immigration from the former Soviet states fell this year to about 9,000 from 10,000 in 2004.
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4. "After Katrina Doors Open For New Oleh" by Jason Silberman
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1135696355326&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Reflecting over his feelings in the last few days, Danny Rebuck, 36, originally from London, said he had felt "a bit of apprehension, then a bit of euphoria, a real mixture of emotions. Yet now I feel very relaxed."
For Rebuck, who made aliya Wednesday with 250 others on the last flight this year organized by the North American aliya assistance group Nefesh B'Nefesh, the moment of arrival at Ben-Gurion Airport ushered in a sense of relief and optimism not felt in months.
Rebuck outran Hurricane Katrina by riding his bike 40 kilometers to catch the last flight out of New Orleans. After the hurricane destroyed the city, including his home and most of his possessions, Rebuck stayed in a Miami hotel for nine days with just one change of clothes. He returned to what used to be his home for a two-week period without electricity or running water, and decided to make aliya barely a month and a half before the flight. It is understandable that he now feels relaxed.
After losing his possessions and his business coaching and managing a soccer club of 100 children, Rebuck, who said he thought of coming here before, said the decision was now easy for him. "I started to look at things a bit differently," he said. "I wanted to come to Israel for a long time, but this truly felt like the door was opening for me."
"It's very heartwarming that so many people are welcoming us like this," Rebuck said of the hundreds who sang and danced to welcome the new olim at the airport.
The atmosphere of celebration has become tradition at the arrival of Nefesh B'Nefesh flights over the last few years. The group has brought over 7,000 North American immigrants since its inception in 2001 and continues to aid olim after their arrival. Assistance is provided through financial assistance, help in finding employment and social networking.
According to the group, over 3,100 North American Jews arrived here in 2005 through Nefesh B'Nefesh, which works in close cooperation with the Jewish Agency. This is the highest number of new immigrants from North America since 1983, and the first year since 1999 that aliya as a whole has increased, said Josh Schwarcz, Secretary-General of the Jewish Agency.
Included among the other immigrants were Yosef and Hadassah Bitzur whose three children made aliya a year and a half ago, and who had not seen them during that time. "We feel safe now," Yoseph Bitzur said. "After a month of living with friends after our lease ran out, now we are finally home, together with our children and whole family."
Welcoming the new immigrants at the ceremony was Deputy Minister of the Interior, Ruhama Avraham, former Chairman of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and the Diaspora, Zvi Hendel, Schwarcz, and cofounders of Nefesh B'Nefesh, Rabbi Yehoshua Fass and Tony Gelbart.
Thursday, December 22, 2005
Issue 12 Parshat VaYeishev 5766
Kummunique - Kumah's Shabbat and Holiday Bulletin
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Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!
In this issue you will find:
1. "Big Miracle" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Esav's Kiss" by Yishai Fleisher
3. "Staying Focused On The Aliya Dream" by Talya Halkin
4. "7th Flight of US Olim Breaks 21 Year-Record for 2005"
NYC EVENT! A Hanukkah Get-Together!
Wednesday-night the 28th of December, 4th night of Hanukkah
6:30 PM at J2 Pizza in Manhattan
Join Yishai and Malkah Fleisher on their US visit
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1. "Big Miracle" by Malkah Fleisher
Which is the bigger miracle - that the pious Maccabees drove out the Seleucid Greeks and their Hellenist Jewish cohorts, or that a small crucible of oil meant to light the Menorah in the Holy Temple for one day managed to stay lit long enough to allow for the replenishment of pure oil to the Temple?
If you read the news these days, you're inclined to think the victory over the Hellenists was greater. It seems that today's greatest challenge is to free the Jewish land from negative foreign influences. A very small band of Jewish believers and visionaries unified to drive the enormous energies of oppression and false enlightenment out of our Land and out of our people - what a feat.
But then again, one might think that the miracle of the Menorah is the bigger one. I mean, hey - this is a clear and open miracle. This isn't some potentially naturally explainable "phenomenon", but an extraordinary, beyond the bounds of the physical world, supernatural miracle. The Hand of G-d, with no other explanation.
So?
I happen to think that the first is the bigger, because I believe that it caused the second. Without the long, arduous, in-the-trenches labor of the Maccabees and their minyans, without their careful planning, strict unity and gritty battle, the second miracle wouldn't have happened. Not necessarily because the Temple wouldn't have been rededicatable, but because without their effort, we would not have merited divine intervention. The Maccabees did absolutely everything they could. Then G-d did the part that they couldn't do, allowing the pure olive oil to burn beyond its natural limitations.
Unity, Purity, Conviction, Vigor - these are the armaments of every great Jewish activist since the beginning of Jewish activism. Use them in your wars, both great and small, on behalf of the Land of Israel and the Jewish people, and you'll see miracles, too.
This week's recipe is a perfect metaphorical manifestation of the Hanukkah story: Jewish elbow grease meets miraculous oil to slough off undesirable elements.
Malkah's Maccabbean Hand Scrub
1 Tablespoon white sugar
1.5 Tablespoon olive oil (from Israel!)
Your favorite hand lotion
Mix in a cup (you can add a drop or two of any favorite essential oil) and pour into your palms. Massage into your fingers and palms, and onto the backs of your hands until your skin feels sufficiently scrubbed. Wash off with warm water and soap. Finish up with a dollop of your favorite hand lotion and enjoy the radiance for 8 wonderful days.
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2. "Esav's Kiss" by Yishai Fleisher
I am writing to you from the Galut - Wayne NJ USA. It is a beautiful, crisp day here, and I am happy to be at my mother's house and to finally see my sister and brother, and soon my grandparents as well.
In my mind, it is no coincidence that I have arrived here right before Parshat VaYeishev, the Torah portion which tells of the beginings of the Egyptian exile by the Children of Israel. The selling of Joseph by his brothers is considered an awful act - not only was it a betrayel of brothers but it was also the begining of a dark period of Exile - Egypt - Galut.
Joseph, however, was successful wherever he went - he just prospered and prospered. A successful Jew in the Galut. But Joseph never forgot Eretz Yisrael - in fact he states: "Ki Ganov Gunavti Mi'Eretz Ha'Ivrim!" I was stolen from the Land of the Hebrews! (Bereishit 40:15)
No matter how successful Joseph became, he always dressed and identified himself as a Hebrew, from the Land of the Hebrews. NOT JUST A JEW, but rather a Hebrew, the kind of folks who hang out in the Hebrew Land.
Being stuck in Exile is understandable. Thinking that you are home in Exile is not.
Last week I saw a beautiful Torah lesson from the Sefat Emmet. The Torah tells us that when Jacob and Esav reunite they embrace, and Esav kisses Jacob. However, our rabbis tell us that the kiss was actually a bite, and Jacob's neck miraculously turned to marble to protect him. The Sefat Emmet asks: if the Torah tells us that Esav kissed Jacob, why would the rabbis tell us that it was a bite in contradiction to the outright text?? The answer, says the Sefat Emmet, lies in the deep truth that Esav kiss is his most dangerous bite!
-Assimilation is Esav's kiss
-Jews choosing Exile over Israel is Esav's kiss
-The US meddling in Israel's affairs is Esav's kiss
-Western Culture (the bad kind i.e. violence/sex/inane movies, pro-sports obsession etc.) is Esav's kiss.
Esav's kiss - what seems to be his love - can be more dangerous than any outward manifestation of anti-Semetism.
Our rabbis tell us that only Joseph has the true power to fight Esav. What is Joseph's secret? His identity as a Hebrew from the Land of the Hebrews.
Shabbat Shalom,
Yishai from the USA
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3. "Staying Focused On The Aliya Dream" by Talya Halkin
Jerusalem Post
"What is your dream?" asked communication coach Idie Ilan, staring intently at one of the participants in a recent workshop for new immigrants in Ra'anana.
"I'm an opera singer, and I want to be successful at what I do," answered a bearded, middle-aged man from the US. "Israel is the most difficult place in the world."
"You're deviating from your dream," Ilan said.
"The last dream I remember having was that some corrupt guys were spending eight hours looking for drugs in my shipping container - and breaking all my furniture," the man retorted with bitter humor.
A dozen people gathered Sunday night at a Ra'anana community center for "Staying Focused on the Aliya Dream While Getting Through the Day-to-Day Experiences of a New Immigrant," the second in a series of six lectures on acclimating to life here. The series is given free by the community aliya program, which is cosponsored by the Immigrant Absorption Ministry, the Ra'anana Municipality and the Jewish Agency.
"When you make aliya, you have to deal with the concept of dream vs. reality," program coordinator Michelle Kaplan-Green told The Jerusalem Post. "People go through highs and lows, which are also impacted by those of spouses, children or by the process of searching for a job. It's important to learn how to express and cope with these feelings while life begins to take on more normal pattern."
Ilan, whose can-do attitude led her to specialize in coaching immigrants on setting and reaching their short- and long-term goals in a new reality, was intent upon imparting the message that with the help of some basic tools, her audience could learn how to move their lives forward, rather than dwell on their disappointments and difficulties.
"My goal," she said, "is to try and help you find ways to stay centered and continue being you in a new society. I know part of us just wants to gripe, but tonight is about developing skills to move forward."
Driving, she said, was an apt metaphor for how to approach what may initially seem like a chaotic new world.
"Where I come from in Columbus, Ohio," Ilan said, "cars are supposed to park between the lines. It didn't take me long to realize that in Israel the lines are just a suggestion."
Rather than trying to fight the logic of the Israeli system, she said, real and metaphorical drivers should spend their energy figuring out how they could get where they wanted to go within this new logic.
"It's about learning to adapt rather than changing the rules," she said. "The question is: What skills do I need to have a successful life here."
A young man who recently immigrated from Latin America with his wife told Ilan he was desperately looking for a job. When she questioned him about how he went about it, the man said that he had already sent out 300 resumes. As one more established fellow immigrant pointed out to him, however, doing business in Israel is predicated upon networking, not on the kind of anonymous job search that might have worked in his native country.
At the end of a 10-minute mini-coaching session, the young man agreed to set a new goal. He would use networking to find one person a day to whom he could turn to ask about possible jobs.
When one young woman spoke of her difficulty in getting used to what she described as the crude, sometimes aggressive behavior of sabras, Ilan stressed that newcomers can achieve their goals without letting go of the personal and cultural traits that define who they are, including basic courtesies that Israelis often consider superfluous.
"I try to bring the nice things from America, because all the dreck is already here," she said, eliciting a round of laughter.
Last but not least, Ilan emphasized the importance of what she called "championing" oneself.
"Give yourself credit for coming this far already, and doing things others just dream about - you're here, you did it!" she said.
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4. "7th FLIGHT OF U.S. OLIM BREAKS 21 YEAR- RECORD FOR 2005"
(JERUSALEM) - The 7th specially chartered 'Aliyah' (immigration to Israel) flight of 2005 will arrive at Ben Gurion International Airport on Wednesday, December 28th bringing 250 North American Jews to their new homes in Israel. This chartered El-Al flight marks the culmination of a record-setting year in which Israel will see the largest number of newcomers from the US and Canada since 1984.
Since its inception in 2001, Nefesh B'Nefesh (NBN), an organization dedicated to the revitalization of North American Aliyah, has brought more than 7,000 new immigrants to Israel. Over 3100 North American Jews will have moved in 2005 through the organization working in close cooperation with the Jewish Agency for Israel.
Greeting the newcomers at a welcoming ceremony at Ben Gurion Airport will be hundreds of family, friends and supporters, along with Minister Of Immigrant Absorption & Minister Of Justice, TZIPI LIVNI; Deputy Minister Of The Interior, RUHAMA AVRAHAM, Former Chairman of the Committee for Immigration, Absorption, and the Diaspora MK ZVI HENDEL, a senior representative of the Jewish Agency for Israel and Co-Founders of Nefesh B'Nefesh, RABBI YEHOSHUA FASS and TONY GELBART.
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 28th, 2005
1:30 PM SHARP
BEN GURION INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT, TERMINAL 1
(old arrivals/departures hall)
Thursday, December 15, 2005
Issue 11, Parshat VaYishlach 5766
Kummunique - Kumah's Shabbat and Holiday Bulletin
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Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!
In this issue you will find:
1. "Yaakov Avinu's Vow" by Rabbi Yissachar Teichtal
2. "Surviving Aliya: Olim and Patisseries Arrive in Ra'anana" By Talya Halkin
3. "God Is Cool Again" by Chaim Levinson
4. "Endangered Baby Elephant Born in Jerusalems Biblical Zoo"
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1. "Yaakov Avinu's Vow" by Rabbi Yissachar Teichtal
Eim Habanim Semeicha 28-31
At this time, we definitely need the merit of our Holy Land to guard and protect us, to relieve us from the oppressor and to deliver us from distress. The Holy Torah has already informed us that our patriarch Yaakov made a great vow to God in his hour of distress:
"Yaakov made a vow saying, `If God will be with me, and guard me on this way that I am going, and will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and I will return in peace to my father's home and the Lord will be my God.`" [Bereishit 28:20-1.] Our sages comment: ". . . From here we learn that one should make a vow in times of trouble."
[Bereishit Rabba 70:1.]
It seems to me now that our patriarch Yaakov's vow in his time of trouble was just this - that he would return to the Land of Israel, enhance its glory and focus all his attention on improving its settlement. He meant by this to arouse the merit of the Land of Israel for himself in his time of trouble to free him from distress. He thus declared in his vow, "and I will return in peace to my father's home and the Lord will be my God." [Bereishit 28:21] The phrase "I will return in peace to my father's home" itself constitutes the vow.
On this basis, we can answer the question of the commentators as to Yaakov's statement, "and the Lord will be my God." Is it possible that Yaakov imposed a condition as to this [his acceptance of God]? Based on the foregoing, however, there is no difficulty. It is a well known dictum of our sages (end of Ketubot [110b]) that "anyone who resides in the Land of Israel is like one who has a God, and anyone who resides outside the Land is like one who has no God." Yaakov thus said "I will return in peace to my father's home and the Lord will be my God," meaning that he would return to the Land of Israel and, then, Hashem would be his God. This itself was the vow- - that he would return to the Land of Israel.
I subsequently found this interpretation explicitly stated in Midrash Tanchuma (Parshat Re'eh [8]). . . . I also found in the Zohar (Parshat Vayeitzei [150b]) the same explanation that I gave of Yaakov's vow. . . . I was thus privileged to concur with the Godly tana R' Shimon Bar Yochai. Rejoice, my reins, to have merited that.
In any case, we see that our patriarch Yaakov also vowed in time of trouble to return to the Land of Israel, to perfect and establish it, so that its merit would stand firm for him. We should observe and do likewise at this difficult time, vowing to return to our Holy Land and exert ourselves to restore its prestige. Then, the merit of the settlement of the Land of Israel will arise to deliver us from distress, speedily in our days, amen. This is also what the sages intended when they said in the Midrash: "God took the conversation of the Patriarchs and made of it a key for the redemption of their children." [Bereishit Rabba 70:6.]
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2. "Surviving Aliya: Olim and Patisseries Arrive in Ra'anana" By Talya Halkin
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309567603&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Petanque, an outdoor bowling game, is associated in the minds of those Israelis who know it with groups of men whiling away lazy afternoons in the South of France. These days, however, it's enough to deposit an Israeli identity card at the Ra'anana Municipality to become the temporary owner of a set of metal balls, and retire to a nearby outdoor area designed for throwing them.
To complete the picture, the daily newspaper Le Monde is now available at the city's new French bookstore, while freshly baked croissants can be purchased nearby in one of two recently opened patisseries, or pastry shops, on Rehov Ahuza, Ra'anana's main street.
"In addition to a wave of new immigrants from North America, the most recent wave of olim has come to Ra'anana from France," said Nehama Efrati, director of the municipality's absorption unit and herself once an immigrant from France.
Out of the 625 olim who came to Ra'anana in 2005, 173 are French-speakers, according to data provided by the municipality. Not unlike their Anglo-Saxon counterparts, Efrati said, this new wave of French olim is not immigrating to Israel out of necessity, but out of choice. She believes the main reason for their decision to come to Israel is not the growth of anti-Semitism. Rather, one widespread reason for immigration among many French Jews is a desire to lead an everyday life in harmony with their religious beliefs, which are becoming stronger among many second- and third-generation Jewish immigrants from North Africa.
In addition, these immigrants arrive here with the sense that Israel, in general, and Ra'anana, in particular, will offer them a better quality of life, including good schools, francophone synagogues, a rich cultural life, and a range of leisure and sports activities.
Between 25 percent to 30% of this new group of immigrants, said Efrati, are members of what has come to be known as the "Boeing aliya." This term has come to designate economically comfortable couples with children who, for financial reasons, make partial aliya. Typically, the wife and children move to Israel as olim, while the husband commutes to his job in France.
"Keeping the family income in euros allows people to sustain a high standard of living," Efrati said. "It's hard to generalize, but in a certain way this has even become a catalyst for aliya because it allows for the option of living between two countries."
There is also, however, a price to pay: in such families the burden of dealing with Israeli bureaucracy and raising the children falls upon the mothers. Marital crises brought on by long absences and confusing messages to the children about belonging are other downsides of leading double lives.
A new and noticeable trend among this group of olim is what Efrati calls "pre-aliya." One representative of this trend, a young, married man from Marseille, called Efrati earlier this week after arriving in Israel to determine if and where his family might move to. She often receives e-mails with detailed questions by well-informed potential immigrants.
Moreover, Efrati said, the careful planning typical of most French families arriving in Israel today means that their immigration pattern has become seasonal: the new arrivals all come in the summer, to allow for a period of adjustment before the new school year.
Unlike the "commuter" families described by Efrati, there are also those who have resolutely decided to turn a new page by coming to Israel.
One such couple is Kevin and Cathy Kezurer and their three children, Rubin, eight, Nitsah, seven, and Mathias, three, who arrived this past summer from Marseille.
Kevin, originally from South Africa, arrived in France nine years ago on a Jewish Agency trip and met his wife, Cathy, the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Algeria.
Kevin is taking a two-week break from ulpan classes at the Ra'anana absorption center, where his family is living, to look after their children while Cathy is back in France closing up the speech therapy clinic she gave up to move here. Kevin, a businessman, is still unsure about his professional future in Israel.
Although he said his family lacked for nothing in France, Kevin said they did not leave behind an "excessive" life style, adding that their move here was primarily ideological.
While parents and children in the Kezurer family are happy in Israel, Kevin said the children miss his wife's large, tight-knit family and still have difficulties with Hebrew.
Perhaps the most difficult part of moving, Kevin said, was giving up the ideal of Israel for the reality of living here.
"I think the hardest aspect of coming here," he said, "is simply accepting Israel as it is, with all its problems and difficulties."
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3. "God Is Cool Again" by Chaim Levinson
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3183509,00.html
It's the hottest new trend to strike secular Israel Connecting to Judaism and being inspired. It includes Bar Mitzvah musicals, visits to the Western Wall, Talmud study and driving on Shabbat, all without becoming religious. Thousands of secular Jews crammed into the Western Wall over the holidays, Talmud classes are full, and its in to wear a trendy kippah. A passing phase or a new romance between religious and secular?
Its 7:30 a.m., traffic is jammed at the entrance to Jerusalem. A sleep-deprived family from Tel Aviv groans to itself as it makes its way towards the Great Synagogue. Gs mother, a secular Tel Avivian, is connecting to her roots - she separates milk and meat but would never dream of eliminating her plunging necklines.
She decided her sons Bar Mitzvah would be an event to remember, but in Tel Aviv, she says, there is no synagogue that is big enough, kosher, or fancy enough. Think of it as a family vacation.
The trauma caused by the Jerusalem morning scene isn't easily erased, even when the Klezmer Band at the entrance to the hall does its best to loosen up the Tel Aviv crowd and get them excited. There is an elaborate buffet complete with rugelach, bagels, and dripping with Yiddishkeit. And this is only the quiet before the psalm.
Renewed interest in Western Wall
Great things will come from this little one, but first there are four young Torah scholars who spend two hours performing the Kosher covers of a variety of popular songs, from Somewhere Over the Rainbow ala Judy Garland to the yeshiva-world standard The Whole World is a Very Narrow Bridge by Yehoram Gaon.
For NIS 2,000-3,000 (USD 430-650), you and your guests can be standing before Mount Sinai in person. This is Torah and this is its reward.
The show is put on by Yehuda Bar-Yosef, a secular Israeli who drives on Shabbat but loves the holidays and makes a nice living out of it.
Many secular people are affected by Jewish tradition, he says. It catches on quickly. Few religious people come to me. In my (Bar Mitzvah) show I re-enact Mount Sinai complete with set, smoke and fireworks. There are even those who imitate my shows.
A taste of Judaism
Similar Bar Mitzvah ceremonies, like the drastic increase of children who want to celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs at the Western Wall, are only a small part of the new trend being sold to a non-observant community thirsty for Jewish tradition in a pleasant and non-threatening framework.
This new connection to tradition is different from the 1990s trend of connecting to religion as part of a process of becoming Orthodox. Many people hesitated to define themselves as "religious," but they were being led safely by people who openly declared their intention to transform them into a member of ultra-orthodox society.
Today, in comparison, people are enjoying religion without being overshadowed by a commitment to observe traditional mitzvot (commandments). It's Judaism without pressure, without preachers, without seminars and without an ultra-Orthodox destination. Adherents are usually from bourgeois, middle class, secular homes looking to infuse meaning to their Jewish identity, without being overshadowed by restrictions and without lifestyle changes.
Its like sampling the religious menu without getting fat: Bar Mitzvahs, Sukkot, synagogue and occasional prayers, visits to graves of the righteous, and also yes, here it is...belief in God.
Reconnecting to Judaism
The word religious has become a curse. Becoming religious a fatal illness that everyone is careful to stay away from. But connecting? Becoming inspired? It almost sounds elegant.
Social trend
Connecting to religion is one of the most interesting social trends in the Jewish world today, an unexpected outcome of various factors such as the weakening of the secular framework, cutting off the ultra-Orthodox politics from the udder of the government and the need for the religious and secular to connect strategically.
Dr. Neri Horowitz, an expert in religion and society, explains we are talking about a trend that in the eighties existed amongst the Sephardic middle class. The mechanism is cheap religion- high religious feeling with a low religious price in terms of commitment. It fits in the new age and lifestyle and is reaching new levels of society. It is possible that in a global society, where solitude is shrinking and people create spaces for themselves where they can express their own identities. In a society that is undergoing the process of individualization, people are drawn towards religion.
The newly inspired gather around rabbis that convey happiness, where their appealing rules are more important that their Talmudic brilliance. According to Yossie Elituv, assistant editor for the popular ultra-Orthodox magazine Mishpacha (Family), these rabbis convey their messages without the typical rabbinic pestering.
The longing for spirituality in circles that have not experienced Judaism for three generations has been answered by the new Rabbis. These spiritual personalities have chosen to establish themselves in areas far from the ultra-Orthodox population and dedicated their lives to one sole purpose: Making the name of God loved by his creations and to market Judaism at eye level, in the appropriate language for each Jew.
Power of prayer
"Leaders like Rabbi Yitzhak David Grossman from Migdal HaEmek and Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau from Tel Aviv have succeeded in projecting the virtues of Torah without creating antagonism like religious politicians do. Looking back the importance of these leaders is no less than the importance of rabbis chosen to lead closed communities. Over many years they have become the diplomats of the Jewish people. Thanks to them the plague of assimilation has not infiltrated Israel and many Israelis have met God for the first time through them.
Observing, not religious
Yael Polak, a 20-year-old psychology-sociology-anthropology student at Tel Aviv's Jaffe College, began to connect to Judaism in the last two months. In that time, she has placed a note in the Western Wall, spent Rosh Hashanah in the Belz Chassidim Synagogue, put on tefillin (with the Reform) and is now looking for a study partner for Talmud studies.
Judaism intrigues me. I have been introduced to things I had never seen before. I dont think that I can connect to the totality and the intensity of the religious world. Even so, I dont think that I have to ignore it completely, she says.
45-year-old Jerusalemite Nili Aharoni, who translates movies from French and English and practices classic homeopathy, was born into a traditional home, rebelled against her parents and lives a completely secular lifestyle.
I prefer to say that I am observing, says Aharoni. In the past few years I have been returning to my roots. It is primarily a spiritual issue, not practical. After learning many subjects such as Buddhism, I see that the source of all things is in Judaism. I find a lot of spirituality in Judaism, a lot of wisdom and a lot of logic.
Is there any chance that you will become religious?
No way. Judaism motivates intellectual things for me. The chance that the practical will spark in me is very weak. I dont keep all the mitzvot, but I eat only Kosher, because it is important to me to eat healthy, clean food. I dont eat pork, because pig has dirty energy. On Shabbat we dont watch TV or use the computer. I prefer to take the car to see the country, so that Shabbat will have a culture of recreation. It is not a secular or religious Shabbat. Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur I went to the Western Wall. I hadnt been there for 20 years. There were many secular people there and the prayers really spoke to me.
I define the new connected as people looking for a new dimension spiritually and searching for the truth, says Zeev Pearl, the former Mayor of Tzfat. They are not finding it from the classic rabbis and spiritual leaders, they are not prepared to be herded like sheep, but the secular social order doesnt provide all the answers."
-----------------------------------------------------------
4. "Endangered Baby Elephant Born in Jerusalems Biblical Zoo"
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=94665
In the first event of its kind in Israel's history, an endangered Asian Elephant in Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo has given birth to a baby elephant, after fertility treatment and an arduous labor.
The mother, named Tamar, was in labor for four hours, at which point a live internet broadcast of the birth was halted and veterinary staff decided to hasten the birth. Two hour later the calf was born healthy and weighing 198 pounds.
The baby elephant, its birth, and a live broadcast of it with its mom during daylight hours can be viewed by clicking here - http://web11.mediazone.co.il/media/zoo/
The baby elephant is the first to be born in Israel, and just the 11th Asian Elephant on earth to be born through the complex fertility method.
Zookeepers were concerned that the fact that Tamar was raised in captivity would preclude the 21-year-old elephant from bonding with her child. The mother and child quickly bonded, however, and they can be seen on the zoo's web site.
An endangered species after being hunted throughout the ages for the ivory in their tusks, less than 50,000 Asian elephants now exist worldwide. The Biblical Zoo currently is home to one male and four female Asian elephants. Their names are Teddy (after former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek), Susan, Avigail, Michaela and Tamar. All of the females of the herd came from Lampang in Thailand, while Teddy hails from the Safari Park in Ramat Gan.
The Biblical Zoo, which displays animals mentioned in the Bible alongside specific passages referring to them, was also recently blessed with the birth of a new giraffe, named Shelly.
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!
In this issue you will find:
1. "Yaakov Avinu's Vow" by Rabbi Yissachar Teichtal
2. "Surviving Aliya: Olim and Patisseries Arrive in Ra'anana" By Talya Halkin
3. "God Is Cool Again" by Chaim Levinson
4. "Endangered Baby Elephant Born in Jerusalems Biblical Zoo"
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. "Yaakov Avinu's Vow" by Rabbi Yissachar Teichtal
Eim Habanim Semeicha 28-31
At this time, we definitely need the merit of our Holy Land to guard and protect us, to relieve us from the oppressor and to deliver us from distress. The Holy Torah has already informed us that our patriarch Yaakov made a great vow to God in his hour of distress:
"Yaakov made a vow saying, `If God will be with me, and guard me on this way that I am going, and will give me bread to eat and clothes to wear, and I will return in peace to my father's home and the Lord will be my God.`" [Bereishit 28:20-1.] Our sages comment: ". . . From here we learn that one should make a vow in times of trouble."
[Bereishit Rabba 70:1.]
It seems to me now that our patriarch Yaakov's vow in his time of trouble was just this - that he would return to the Land of Israel, enhance its glory and focus all his attention on improving its settlement. He meant by this to arouse the merit of the Land of Israel for himself in his time of trouble to free him from distress. He thus declared in his vow, "and I will return in peace to my father's home and the Lord will be my God." [Bereishit 28:21] The phrase "I will return in peace to my father's home" itself constitutes the vow.
On this basis, we can answer the question of the commentators as to Yaakov's statement, "and the Lord will be my God." Is it possible that Yaakov imposed a condition as to this [his acceptance of God]? Based on the foregoing, however, there is no difficulty. It is a well known dictum of our sages (end of Ketubot [110b]) that "anyone who resides in the Land of Israel is like one who has a God, and anyone who resides outside the Land is like one who has no God." Yaakov thus said "I will return in peace to my father's home and the Lord will be my God," meaning that he would return to the Land of Israel and, then, Hashem would be his God. This itself was the vow- - that he would return to the Land of Israel.
I subsequently found this interpretation explicitly stated in Midrash Tanchuma (Parshat Re'eh [8]). . . . I also found in the Zohar (Parshat Vayeitzei [150b]) the same explanation that I gave of Yaakov's vow. . . . I was thus privileged to concur with the Godly tana R' Shimon Bar Yochai. Rejoice, my reins, to have merited that.
In any case, we see that our patriarch Yaakov also vowed in time of trouble to return to the Land of Israel, to perfect and establish it, so that its merit would stand firm for him. We should observe and do likewise at this difficult time, vowing to return to our Holy Land and exert ourselves to restore its prestige. Then, the merit of the settlement of the Land of Israel will arise to deliver us from distress, speedily in our days, amen. This is also what the sages intended when they said in the Midrash: "God took the conversation of the Patriarchs and made of it a key for the redemption of their children." [Bereishit Rabba 70:6.]
-----------------------------------------------------------
2. "Surviving Aliya: Olim and Patisseries Arrive in Ra'anana" By Talya Halkin
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1134309567603&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
Petanque, an outdoor bowling game, is associated in the minds of those Israelis who know it with groups of men whiling away lazy afternoons in the South of France. These days, however, it's enough to deposit an Israeli identity card at the Ra'anana Municipality to become the temporary owner of a set of metal balls, and retire to a nearby outdoor area designed for throwing them.
To complete the picture, the daily newspaper Le Monde is now available at the city's new French bookstore, while freshly baked croissants can be purchased nearby in one of two recently opened patisseries, or pastry shops, on Rehov Ahuza, Ra'anana's main street.
"In addition to a wave of new immigrants from North America, the most recent wave of olim has come to Ra'anana from France," said Nehama Efrati, director of the municipality's absorption unit and herself once an immigrant from France.
Out of the 625 olim who came to Ra'anana in 2005, 173 are French-speakers, according to data provided by the municipality. Not unlike their Anglo-Saxon counterparts, Efrati said, this new wave of French olim is not immigrating to Israel out of necessity, but out of choice. She believes the main reason for their decision to come to Israel is not the growth of anti-Semitism. Rather, one widespread reason for immigration among many French Jews is a desire to lead an everyday life in harmony with their religious beliefs, which are becoming stronger among many second- and third-generation Jewish immigrants from North Africa.
In addition, these immigrants arrive here with the sense that Israel, in general, and Ra'anana, in particular, will offer them a better quality of life, including good schools, francophone synagogues, a rich cultural life, and a range of leisure and sports activities.
Between 25 percent to 30% of this new group of immigrants, said Efrati, are members of what has come to be known as the "Boeing aliya." This term has come to designate economically comfortable couples with children who, for financial reasons, make partial aliya. Typically, the wife and children move to Israel as olim, while the husband commutes to his job in France.
"Keeping the family income in euros allows people to sustain a high standard of living," Efrati said. "It's hard to generalize, but in a certain way this has even become a catalyst for aliya because it allows for the option of living between two countries."
There is also, however, a price to pay: in such families the burden of dealing with Israeli bureaucracy and raising the children falls upon the mothers. Marital crises brought on by long absences and confusing messages to the children about belonging are other downsides of leading double lives.
A new and noticeable trend among this group of olim is what Efrati calls "pre-aliya." One representative of this trend, a young, married man from Marseille, called Efrati earlier this week after arriving in Israel to determine if and where his family might move to. She often receives e-mails with detailed questions by well-informed potential immigrants.
Moreover, Efrati said, the careful planning typical of most French families arriving in Israel today means that their immigration pattern has become seasonal: the new arrivals all come in the summer, to allow for a period of adjustment before the new school year.
Unlike the "commuter" families described by Efrati, there are also those who have resolutely decided to turn a new page by coming to Israel.
One such couple is Kevin and Cathy Kezurer and their three children, Rubin, eight, Nitsah, seven, and Mathias, three, who arrived this past summer from Marseille.
Kevin, originally from South Africa, arrived in France nine years ago on a Jewish Agency trip and met his wife, Cathy, the daughter of Jewish immigrants from Algeria.
Kevin is taking a two-week break from ulpan classes at the Ra'anana absorption center, where his family is living, to look after their children while Cathy is back in France closing up the speech therapy clinic she gave up to move here. Kevin, a businessman, is still unsure about his professional future in Israel.
Although he said his family lacked for nothing in France, Kevin said they did not leave behind an "excessive" life style, adding that their move here was primarily ideological.
While parents and children in the Kezurer family are happy in Israel, Kevin said the children miss his wife's large, tight-knit family and still have difficulties with Hebrew.
Perhaps the most difficult part of moving, Kevin said, was giving up the ideal of Israel for the reality of living here.
"I think the hardest aspect of coming here," he said, "is simply accepting Israel as it is, with all its problems and difficulties."
-----------------------------------------------------------
3. "God Is Cool Again" by Chaim Levinson
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3183509,00.html
It's the hottest new trend to strike secular Israel Connecting to Judaism and being inspired. It includes Bar Mitzvah musicals, visits to the Western Wall, Talmud study and driving on Shabbat, all without becoming religious. Thousands of secular Jews crammed into the Western Wall over the holidays, Talmud classes are full, and its in to wear a trendy kippah. A passing phase or a new romance between religious and secular?
Its 7:30 a.m., traffic is jammed at the entrance to Jerusalem. A sleep-deprived family from Tel Aviv groans to itself as it makes its way towards the Great Synagogue. Gs mother, a secular Tel Avivian, is connecting to her roots - she separates milk and meat but would never dream of eliminating her plunging necklines.
She decided her sons Bar Mitzvah would be an event to remember, but in Tel Aviv, she says, there is no synagogue that is big enough, kosher, or fancy enough. Think of it as a family vacation.
The trauma caused by the Jerusalem morning scene isn't easily erased, even when the Klezmer Band at the entrance to the hall does its best to loosen up the Tel Aviv crowd and get them excited. There is an elaborate buffet complete with rugelach, bagels, and dripping with Yiddishkeit. And this is only the quiet before the psalm.
Renewed interest in Western Wall
Great things will come from this little one, but first there are four young Torah scholars who spend two hours performing the Kosher covers of a variety of popular songs, from Somewhere Over the Rainbow ala Judy Garland to the yeshiva-world standard The Whole World is a Very Narrow Bridge by Yehoram Gaon.
For NIS 2,000-3,000 (USD 430-650), you and your guests can be standing before Mount Sinai in person. This is Torah and this is its reward.
The show is put on by Yehuda Bar-Yosef, a secular Israeli who drives on Shabbat but loves the holidays and makes a nice living out of it.
Many secular people are affected by Jewish tradition, he says. It catches on quickly. Few religious people come to me. In my (Bar Mitzvah) show I re-enact Mount Sinai complete with set, smoke and fireworks. There are even those who imitate my shows.
A taste of Judaism
Similar Bar Mitzvah ceremonies, like the drastic increase of children who want to celebrate their Bar Mitzvahs at the Western Wall, are only a small part of the new trend being sold to a non-observant community thirsty for Jewish tradition in a pleasant and non-threatening framework.
This new connection to tradition is different from the 1990s trend of connecting to religion as part of a process of becoming Orthodox. Many people hesitated to define themselves as "religious," but they were being led safely by people who openly declared their intention to transform them into a member of ultra-orthodox society.
Today, in comparison, people are enjoying religion without being overshadowed by a commitment to observe traditional mitzvot (commandments). It's Judaism without pressure, without preachers, without seminars and without an ultra-Orthodox destination. Adherents are usually from bourgeois, middle class, secular homes looking to infuse meaning to their Jewish identity, without being overshadowed by restrictions and without lifestyle changes.
Its like sampling the religious menu without getting fat: Bar Mitzvahs, Sukkot, synagogue and occasional prayers, visits to graves of the righteous, and also yes, here it is...belief in God.
Reconnecting to Judaism
The word religious has become a curse. Becoming religious a fatal illness that everyone is careful to stay away from. But connecting? Becoming inspired? It almost sounds elegant.
Social trend
Connecting to religion is one of the most interesting social trends in the Jewish world today, an unexpected outcome of various factors such as the weakening of the secular framework, cutting off the ultra-Orthodox politics from the udder of the government and the need for the religious and secular to connect strategically.
Dr. Neri Horowitz, an expert in religion and society, explains we are talking about a trend that in the eighties existed amongst the Sephardic middle class. The mechanism is cheap religion- high religious feeling with a low religious price in terms of commitment. It fits in the new age and lifestyle and is reaching new levels of society. It is possible that in a global society, where solitude is shrinking and people create spaces for themselves where they can express their own identities. In a society that is undergoing the process of individualization, people are drawn towards religion.
The newly inspired gather around rabbis that convey happiness, where their appealing rules are more important that their Talmudic brilliance. According to Yossie Elituv, assistant editor for the popular ultra-Orthodox magazine Mishpacha (Family), these rabbis convey their messages without the typical rabbinic pestering.
The longing for spirituality in circles that have not experienced Judaism for three generations has been answered by the new Rabbis. These spiritual personalities have chosen to establish themselves in areas far from the ultra-Orthodox population and dedicated their lives to one sole purpose: Making the name of God loved by his creations and to market Judaism at eye level, in the appropriate language for each Jew.
Power of prayer
"Leaders like Rabbi Yitzhak David Grossman from Migdal HaEmek and Rabbi Yisrael Meir Lau from Tel Aviv have succeeded in projecting the virtues of Torah without creating antagonism like religious politicians do. Looking back the importance of these leaders is no less than the importance of rabbis chosen to lead closed communities. Over many years they have become the diplomats of the Jewish people. Thanks to them the plague of assimilation has not infiltrated Israel and many Israelis have met God for the first time through them.
Observing, not religious
Yael Polak, a 20-year-old psychology-sociology-anthropology student at Tel Aviv's Jaffe College, began to connect to Judaism in the last two months. In that time, she has placed a note in the Western Wall, spent Rosh Hashanah in the Belz Chassidim Synagogue, put on tefillin (with the Reform) and is now looking for a study partner for Talmud studies.
Judaism intrigues me. I have been introduced to things I had never seen before. I dont think that I can connect to the totality and the intensity of the religious world. Even so, I dont think that I have to ignore it completely, she says.
45-year-old Jerusalemite Nili Aharoni, who translates movies from French and English and practices classic homeopathy, was born into a traditional home, rebelled against her parents and lives a completely secular lifestyle.
I prefer to say that I am observing, says Aharoni. In the past few years I have been returning to my roots. It is primarily a spiritual issue, not practical. After learning many subjects such as Buddhism, I see that the source of all things is in Judaism. I find a lot of spirituality in Judaism, a lot of wisdom and a lot of logic.
Is there any chance that you will become religious?
No way. Judaism motivates intellectual things for me. The chance that the practical will spark in me is very weak. I dont keep all the mitzvot, but I eat only Kosher, because it is important to me to eat healthy, clean food. I dont eat pork, because pig has dirty energy. On Shabbat we dont watch TV or use the computer. I prefer to take the car to see the country, so that Shabbat will have a culture of recreation. It is not a secular or religious Shabbat. Between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur I went to the Western Wall. I hadnt been there for 20 years. There were many secular people there and the prayers really spoke to me.
I define the new connected as people looking for a new dimension spiritually and searching for the truth, says Zeev Pearl, the former Mayor of Tzfat. They are not finding it from the classic rabbis and spiritual leaders, they are not prepared to be herded like sheep, but the secular social order doesnt provide all the answers."
-----------------------------------------------------------
4. "Endangered Baby Elephant Born in Jerusalems Biblical Zoo"
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=94665
In the first event of its kind in Israel's history, an endangered Asian Elephant in Jerusalem's Biblical Zoo has given birth to a baby elephant, after fertility treatment and an arduous labor.
The mother, named Tamar, was in labor for four hours, at which point a live internet broadcast of the birth was halted and veterinary staff decided to hasten the birth. Two hour later the calf was born healthy and weighing 198 pounds.
The baby elephant, its birth, and a live broadcast of it with its mom during daylight hours can be viewed by clicking here - http://web11.mediazone.co.il/media/zoo/
The baby elephant is the first to be born in Israel, and just the 11th Asian Elephant on earth to be born through the complex fertility method.
Zookeepers were concerned that the fact that Tamar was raised in captivity would preclude the 21-year-old elephant from bonding with her child. The mother and child quickly bonded, however, and they can be seen on the zoo's web site.
An endangered species after being hunted throughout the ages for the ivory in their tusks, less than 50,000 Asian elephants now exist worldwide. The Biblical Zoo currently is home to one male and four female Asian elephants. Their names are Teddy (after former Jerusalem mayor Teddy Kollek), Susan, Avigail, Michaela and Tamar. All of the females of the herd came from Lampang in Thailand, while Teddy hails from the Safari Park in Ramat Gan.
The Biblical Zoo, which displays animals mentioned in the Bible alongside specific passages referring to them, was also recently blessed with the birth of a new giraffe, named Shelly.
Friday, December 09, 2005
Kummunique - Issue 10, Parshat Vayeitzei 5766
Kummunique - Kumah's Shabbat and Holiday Bulletin
Issue 10, Parshat Vayeitzei 5766
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!
In this issue you will find:
1. "Illness Buster" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Kommemiyut" by Yishai Fleisher
3. "Adjusting To Israeli Life A Year After Making Aliyah"
4. "Jewish Agency Poll Shows Aliyah Getting Easier"
5. "Aliyah Figures On The Rise Again" By Ron Littman
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1. "Illness Buster" by Malkah Fleisher
So how's about that weather, huh? The world over, weather is weird. In France, they've tired of letting the grandfolks broil, so now they're letting them freeze. In America, people are no longer amused at the concept of the weather outside being frightful and the fire being SO delightful, and letting it snow, letting it snow, letting it snow. And here in Israel, our big trouble is that we've dug out the winter coats but have no opportunity to put them on. Alas - another day in shirt sleeves! Prayers for rain continue unabated in the Holy Land, with nary a drop in sight.
And the entire world is calling in sick, winter weather of all kinds affecting our immune systems.
Barring the Avian Bird Flu (Lo Aleinu!), you have two friends out there who want to get you through it. One friend likes Italian and is often seen hanging out in a well known Jewish healing part of town, Chicken Soup. She's pale, small and unassuming, but is also a warrior, wily and merciless. You guessed it: Garlic.
The other is ruddy-faced and fur clad, laughing at the snowy slush under his heavy winter boots. Gruff and manly, his booming voice has you toasting Glasnost and dancing in circles in the square. With a mandolin in one hand and a Kalashnikov in the other, he's: Vodka.
Like the Jews: apart their tough, but together they're invincible. Your enemies (the germs) won't know what hit them.
Malkah's "Get Away From Me!" Illness Annihilator
2 cups Vodka
15 cloves Garlic
Peel garlic cloves and put in a jar that you can seal tightly. Pour the vodka over the garlic, and seal the jar. Put the jar in the refrigerator and leave it there for 6 weeks. If you feel a cold coming on, pour a shot glass full of the liquid, and say l'chaim. Follow up with another if you're feeling a little dangerous. It's called "Get Away From Me!" because that's what people will be saying to you for at least 24 hours. But at least you'll have your health.
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2. "Kommemiyut" by Yishai Fleisher
When Jacob was running from his brother Esav - he was scared. Jacob was scared that his brother may catch him and kill him - but he was even more afraid to leave Eretz Yisrael. On his way out of the Land of Israel, Jacob laid down to sleep and dreamt of angels ascending and descending a ladder.
There in Beit El, G-d, in His kindness reassured him:
"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (28:15)
This indeed reassured Jacob that everything would work out and therefore he put the peddle to the metal:
'And Jacob lifteth up his feet, and came to the land of the children of the east.' (29:1)
Many adventures and many years passed and finally Jacob returned to Beit El, his special place, to thank G-d for keeping His promise.
There in Beit El, Hashem appears to Jacob again, as once did, so many years before:
'God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; you shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." Thus He called him Israel.'(35:10)
Our Rabbis ask: why should the Torah tell us that 'You should no longer be called Jacob' - isn't it enough just to tell him his new name 'Israel'?
Rashi explains: "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob: Yaakov is an expression of a man who comes with stealth and guile (Akava), but Yisrael is a term denoting a prince (Sar) and a chief."
Now that you gone through so many adventures and you have returned to the Land of Israel - it's time for you to throw off the old name which signifies being a "thief in the night" - now it is time for you to show the world what you really are: a prince, a noble, an emissary of G-d on this world. The name 'Yaakov' represents the Galut and the constant hounding of the Jewish people. We managed to succeed, to stay alive, but always by the skin of our teeth. 'Yisrael' represents our pride - when we can say proudly (but without haughtiness) - Hashem has returned us to our rightful inheritance. Israel is the name of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.
***
Recently, I looked up the word "dignity" to see how to say it in Hebrew - I was astounded by the answer:
KOMMEMIYUT = "Uprightly" = Dignity
It is time now to return dignity to the Jewish people - to be proud to be strong. Proud to be Hashem's people, strong in fulfilling His will. The Torah tells us in Parshat Behukotai:
`If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out" Then:
`I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. `I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and walked you erect - KOMMEMIYUT!
We are slaves no longer - we are Yisrael, and Hashem has walked us proudly to our Land.
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3. "Adjusting To Israeli Life A Year After Making Aliyah" By Dina Kraft
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=16094&intcategoryid=1
BEIT SHEMESH, Israel, Dec. 6 (JTA) Sara Benuck, age 8, who immigrated to Israel with her family a little over a year ago from the United States, comes into the kitchen and thrusts a take-home science test in front of her mother. What does this mean? she asks, pointing out a long question in Hebrew about how electricity works.
Her mother, Marni, a trained psychologist, tries to make sense of the Hebrew but then passes the test on to her husband, a doctor, who goes word by word through the question and helps translate it for Sara.
Sometimes its a very humiliating experience doing homework with the kids says Marni, 35, a mother of four. But we show them we struggle too but are not giving up. We will persist.
The Benucks made aliyah from their home in Passaic, N.J. They had good jobs, a spacious house and their children were happy in school. But they had always wanted to make their life in Israel, so they sold their home, packed up their books, the childrens toys, the cherry wood dining room set and matching dark green leather couches and set off to live their dream.
Theirs is a story of planning, realistic expectations and happy landings.
Before they even made aliyah, the couple visited Israel on a pilot trip and chose a community Beit Shemesh, a town in the Jerusalem foothills that has become an increasingly popular residence for American olim and even decided which home they would buy a two-story townhouse still under construction on the end of a quiet street.
There were delays and not everything went as planned. The townhouse, for example, was supposed to be completed by last November, but the Benucks only received the keys in July.
But, Mitchell, 36, says, We had realistic expectations that not everything would go well.
The couples first goal was to find work a process that proved easier than expected. Marni, who worked as a school psychologist at a Jewish day school in New Jersey, was offered a job through Beit Shemeshs municipality to work at two fervently Orthodox schools before they even arrived. The municipality noted her credentials through a posting on a Web site sponsored by Nefesh BNefesh.
Mitchell is one of a group of North American physicians who have immigrated to Israel with their families as an Applebaum Fellow. The program is in memory of Dr. David Applebaum, a Chicago-born Israeli doctor who served as head of emergency services at Jerusalems Shaarei Zedek Hospital until he and his daughter, Nava, were killed in a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem caf? in 2003, on the eve of her wedding. As an Applebaum Fellows of Nefesh BNefesh a North American organization funded by private, philanthropic sources, and the Jewish Agency for Israel the Benucks receive financial and logistical support of up to $18,000 toward beginning anew in Israel.
According to a recent survey commissioned by JAFI of North American olim who just passed their one-year mark in Israel, 90 percent describe themselves as either satisfied or quite satisfied with their arrival into Israeli society. More than a quarter, however, have yet to find job.
Mitchell, a pediatrician, says he feels lucky to have found work in Beit Shemesh working at one of the national health funds. Before he could look for a job, however, he had to get his Israeli medical license. There were some bureaucratic delays such as the Ministry of Health temporarily losing his American license, but fairly quickly a committee convened and determined he would have to do three months of work in an Israeli hospital emergency room before he could be accredited.
Now, medical license in hand, he spends his days working shifts at four different clinics of one of the national health funds in Beit Shemesh. Last week he could be found in a bright, airy office with dangling butterfly and zebra mobiles stethoscope slung around his neck and wearing a Bugs Bunny tie inquiring about the X-ray for a young boy.
The medicine he is practicing in Israel is very different from what he did as an attending physician at a major New Jersey hospital but that, he says, has more to do with the difference between working in a hospital environment and an outpatient clinic.
Two of the clinics service fervently Orthodox neighborhoods, the other two mixed neighborhoods of immigrants from North America, the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia and local Israeli-born residents.
When it comes to his and his wifes new jobs, there is a significant difference in take-home salaries, said Mitchell, but there is one major expense they no longer have to worry about tuition for their children at private Jewish day schools.
Last Tuesday he finished his morning shift at the clinic on Bar-Ilan Street and walked outside into the warm sunshine to pick up his two youngest children from day care. Marveling at the weather, he smiled and said, I hope to not lift a shovel again in my life.
Mitchell then walked a few blocks away to pick up the youngest member of the Benuck family and the only one to be born in Israel Shoshana Meira or Shani for short. She was born just two months after the Benucks made aliyah and was named for Marnis close friend, Shoshana Greenbaum, who had been the maid of honor at the couples wedding. She was killed in the suicide bombing of the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem in August 2001.
Once Shani is in hand, Mitchell walks another few blocks to collect Yonatan, age 5, from his nursery school. Most of Yonathans classmates, like him, are the children of American immigrants.
They are more polite and relaxed. Israeli-born children are more aggressive, says his teacher, Michal Hadad. Yonathan, after his 15 months in the country, speaks Hebrew without an accent.
Abba, look at my picture, he says, pointing out his artwork of the day hanging on the wall.
Meanwhile his teacher thanks Mitchell for the referral to a good orthopedist who has been helping her with her back problems.
The oldest Benuck child, 10-year-old Eli, joins his father and two youngest siblings on the walk home. They pass newly planted palm trees in traffic circles and low stone walls that line the sidewalks.
When they reach their home on Gad Street, they wave to neighbors most of them also recent American olim and then push open the front door, walking past the dark wood side table covered with framed family photos. The table was originally part of a display cabinet that did not make the move when the family realized it would not fit in their new, slightly snugger surroundings.
After lunch, the children settle down for an afternoon of homework with the help of first Mitchell and then Marni when she returns home from work.
Eli, wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap, sits in a corner of the Benuck homes combined living room and dining room and thumbs through a book in English, explaining that he still prefers to read in his native tongue. But, he says, he is adjusting to reading books and doing schoolwork in Hebrew. He figures he only understands about two-thirds of what he reads in Hebrew.
One of Elis new friends, a fellow immigrant from the United States who came a year before he did, is helping him and that, he says, is making a difference Of America, says Eli, I miss my friends. I kind of miss my school.
At his new school he is not an anomaly as an immigrant. Many of his classmates are the children of parents from English-speaking countries, and there are also children from France and Hungary.
And there are advantages to being a kid in Israel, he says. You can play in the street on Shabbos, you can get a taxi without a grown-up and you can ride the public bus. Kids are more independent.
Another added plus: going to the center of town to eat pizza with friends without having your mother or father take you. Another addition to the Benucks life that Eli is thrilled about is that one set of his grandparents Marnis parents now live just a few blocks away, instead of the 3,000 miles away when they all lived in America.
Marnis parents made aliyah three months ago from their home in Los Angeles, in large part to be near their grandchildren. They said they have met other grandparents like them who moved to Israel to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
These are choices that are not easy to make, says Sharlene Balter, Marnis mother. But when I walk down the street and see my grandson going to the park or my granddaughter coming over, this is why we are doing this.
In the backyard the Benuck children swing on their new swing set and laugh and play.
I think there is less stress than people imagine there would be our life is day-to-day. We have jobs to go to, a supermarket to shop in. Weve settled into a routine and it is here, says Mitchell, who is especially looking forward to voting in Israel in the upcoming elections.
And after over a year break since they made aliyah, its back to Tuesday night Grill Night. Its time for hamburgers and a taste of America in their new Israeli backyard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. "Jewish Agency Poll Shows Aliyah Getting Easier"
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1132475664744&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
As opposed to popular perception, a new poll shows that the aliyah process for North American Jews is a much less daunting ordeal than previously thought.
Representatives of 402 households consisting of 1,464 individuals who made aliyah during the 12-month period from the beginning of September 2004 until the end of August 2005, were polled in the survey, which was carried out by Dr. Mina Zemach of the Dahaf Institute, and was coordinated by the Information, Planning and Evaluation Section of the Department of Aliyah and Absorption of the Jewish Agency.
A large majority of 93 percent of the interviewees expressed a high level of satisfaction with their absorption in Israel.
Seventy-four percent said that they would recommend making aliyah to others.
The amount of economic assistance one receives is a critical factor in ensuring successful aliyah, and here too interviewees expressed a great deal of satisfaction.
Eighty percent of the new olim said they had received substantial assistance from organizations such as government ministries, the Jewish Agency and, or Nefesh BeNefesh, while 84% of the olim received assistance of some kind in the aliyah process.
Nonetheless, the survey results confirm that employment is a central component in successful absorption and that a comprehensive effort is required to improve the assistance provided to olim in this area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. "Aliyah Figures On The Rise Again" By Ron Littman
http://info.jpost.com/C005/Supplements/5766/08.html
The number of new immigrants to Israel in the past year increased for the first time since 1999, according to The Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization.
The new change was attributed to an increase in Aliya from France and North America. Immigration from Ethiopia also increased in the past year. On the other hand, the number of Olim from the CIS was lower than in the previous year, although they still represent nearly half of the total annual immigrants.
Some of the places that contributed smaller amounts of newcomers included more "exotic" countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, China, Japan, Mali, and Zimbabwe.
In total, since September 2004, 23,124 Olim immigrated to Israel, as compared to 21,604 who arrived in the previous year.
Zeev Bielski, chairman of the Jewish agency, credits the change to the improved security and economic conditions in Israel and to new marketing strategies taken by his agency and by other local institutions. One of these strategies was "stepwise Aliya" in which prospective youth were first brought to Israel for brief visits, followed by longer introductory periods in which they got acquainted with Israeli life and learned about relocation options.
Bielski stated that the prime minister and his staff placed the issue of Diaspora and Aliya in particular as his highest priority.
Issue 10, Parshat Vayeitzei 5766
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!
In this issue you will find:
1. "Illness Buster" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Kommemiyut" by Yishai Fleisher
3. "Adjusting To Israeli Life A Year After Making Aliyah"
4. "Jewish Agency Poll Shows Aliyah Getting Easier"
5. "Aliyah Figures On The Rise Again" By Ron Littman
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1. "Illness Buster" by Malkah Fleisher
So how's about that weather, huh? The world over, weather is weird. In France, they've tired of letting the grandfolks broil, so now they're letting them freeze. In America, people are no longer amused at the concept of the weather outside being frightful and the fire being SO delightful, and letting it snow, letting it snow, letting it snow. And here in Israel, our big trouble is that we've dug out the winter coats but have no opportunity to put them on. Alas - another day in shirt sleeves! Prayers for rain continue unabated in the Holy Land, with nary a drop in sight.
And the entire world is calling in sick, winter weather of all kinds affecting our immune systems.
Barring the Avian Bird Flu (Lo Aleinu!), you have two friends out there who want to get you through it. One friend likes Italian and is often seen hanging out in a well known Jewish healing part of town, Chicken Soup. She's pale, small and unassuming, but is also a warrior, wily and merciless. You guessed it: Garlic.
The other is ruddy-faced and fur clad, laughing at the snowy slush under his heavy winter boots. Gruff and manly, his booming voice has you toasting Glasnost and dancing in circles in the square. With a mandolin in one hand and a Kalashnikov in the other, he's: Vodka.
Like the Jews: apart their tough, but together they're invincible. Your enemies (the germs) won't know what hit them.
Malkah's "Get Away From Me!" Illness Annihilator
2 cups Vodka
15 cloves Garlic
Peel garlic cloves and put in a jar that you can seal tightly. Pour the vodka over the garlic, and seal the jar. Put the jar in the refrigerator and leave it there for 6 weeks. If you feel a cold coming on, pour a shot glass full of the liquid, and say l'chaim. Follow up with another if you're feeling a little dangerous. It's called "Get Away From Me!" because that's what people will be saying to you for at least 24 hours. But at least you'll have your health.
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2. "Kommemiyut" by Yishai Fleisher
When Jacob was running from his brother Esav - he was scared. Jacob was scared that his brother may catch him and kill him - but he was even more afraid to leave Eretz Yisrael. On his way out of the Land of Israel, Jacob laid down to sleep and dreamt of angels ascending and descending a ladder.
There in Beit El, G-d, in His kindness reassured him:
"Behold, I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you." (28:15)
This indeed reassured Jacob that everything would work out and therefore he put the peddle to the metal:
'And Jacob lifteth up his feet, and came to the land of the children of the east.' (29:1)
Many adventures and many years passed and finally Jacob returned to Beit El, his special place, to thank G-d for keeping His promise.
There in Beit El, Hashem appears to Jacob again, as once did, so many years before:
'God said to him, "Your name is Jacob; you shall no longer be called Jacob, but Israel shall be your name." Thus He called him Israel.'(35:10)
Our Rabbis ask: why should the Torah tell us that 'You should no longer be called Jacob' - isn't it enough just to tell him his new name 'Israel'?
Rashi explains: "Your name shall no longer be called Jacob: Yaakov is an expression of a man who comes with stealth and guile (Akava), but Yisrael is a term denoting a prince (Sar) and a chief."
Now that you gone through so many adventures and you have returned to the Land of Israel - it's time for you to throw off the old name which signifies being a "thief in the night" - now it is time for you to show the world what you really are: a prince, a noble, an emissary of G-d on this world. The name 'Yaakov' represents the Galut and the constant hounding of the Jewish people. We managed to succeed, to stay alive, but always by the skin of our teeth. 'Yisrael' represents our pride - when we can say proudly (but without haughtiness) - Hashem has returned us to our rightful inheritance. Israel is the name of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel.
***
Recently, I looked up the word "dignity" to see how to say it in Hebrew - I was astounded by the answer:
KOMMEMIYUT = "Uprightly" = Dignity
It is time now to return dignity to the Jewish people - to be proud to be strong. Proud to be Hashem's people, strong in fulfilling His will. The Torah tells us in Parshat Behukotai:
`If you walk in My statutes and keep My commandments so as to carry them out" Then:
`I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people. `I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt so that you would not be their slaves, and I broke the bars of your yoke and walked you erect - KOMMEMIYUT!
We are slaves no longer - we are Yisrael, and Hashem has walked us proudly to our Land.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. "Adjusting To Israeli Life A Year After Making Aliyah" By Dina Kraft
http://www.jta.org/page_view_story.asp?intarticleid=16094&intcategoryid=1
BEIT SHEMESH, Israel, Dec. 6 (JTA) Sara Benuck, age 8, who immigrated to Israel with her family a little over a year ago from the United States, comes into the kitchen and thrusts a take-home science test in front of her mother. What does this mean? she asks, pointing out a long question in Hebrew about how electricity works.
Her mother, Marni, a trained psychologist, tries to make sense of the Hebrew but then passes the test on to her husband, a doctor, who goes word by word through the question and helps translate it for Sara.
Sometimes its a very humiliating experience doing homework with the kids says Marni, 35, a mother of four. But we show them we struggle too but are not giving up. We will persist.
The Benucks made aliyah from their home in Passaic, N.J. They had good jobs, a spacious house and their children were happy in school. But they had always wanted to make their life in Israel, so they sold their home, packed up their books, the childrens toys, the cherry wood dining room set and matching dark green leather couches and set off to live their dream.
Theirs is a story of planning, realistic expectations and happy landings.
Before they even made aliyah, the couple visited Israel on a pilot trip and chose a community Beit Shemesh, a town in the Jerusalem foothills that has become an increasingly popular residence for American olim and even decided which home they would buy a two-story townhouse still under construction on the end of a quiet street.
There were delays and not everything went as planned. The townhouse, for example, was supposed to be completed by last November, but the Benucks only received the keys in July.
But, Mitchell, 36, says, We had realistic expectations that not everything would go well.
The couples first goal was to find work a process that proved easier than expected. Marni, who worked as a school psychologist at a Jewish day school in New Jersey, was offered a job through Beit Shemeshs municipality to work at two fervently Orthodox schools before they even arrived. The municipality noted her credentials through a posting on a Web site sponsored by Nefesh BNefesh.
Mitchell is one of a group of North American physicians who have immigrated to Israel with their families as an Applebaum Fellow. The program is in memory of Dr. David Applebaum, a Chicago-born Israeli doctor who served as head of emergency services at Jerusalems Shaarei Zedek Hospital until he and his daughter, Nava, were killed in a suicide bombing at a Jerusalem caf? in 2003, on the eve of her wedding. As an Applebaum Fellows of Nefesh BNefesh a North American organization funded by private, philanthropic sources, and the Jewish Agency for Israel the Benucks receive financial and logistical support of up to $18,000 toward beginning anew in Israel.
According to a recent survey commissioned by JAFI of North American olim who just passed their one-year mark in Israel, 90 percent describe themselves as either satisfied or quite satisfied with their arrival into Israeli society. More than a quarter, however, have yet to find job.
Mitchell, a pediatrician, says he feels lucky to have found work in Beit Shemesh working at one of the national health funds. Before he could look for a job, however, he had to get his Israeli medical license. There were some bureaucratic delays such as the Ministry of Health temporarily losing his American license, but fairly quickly a committee convened and determined he would have to do three months of work in an Israeli hospital emergency room before he could be accredited.
Now, medical license in hand, he spends his days working shifts at four different clinics of one of the national health funds in Beit Shemesh. Last week he could be found in a bright, airy office with dangling butterfly and zebra mobiles stethoscope slung around his neck and wearing a Bugs Bunny tie inquiring about the X-ray for a young boy.
The medicine he is practicing in Israel is very different from what he did as an attending physician at a major New Jersey hospital but that, he says, has more to do with the difference between working in a hospital environment and an outpatient clinic.
Two of the clinics service fervently Orthodox neighborhoods, the other two mixed neighborhoods of immigrants from North America, the former Soviet Union and Ethiopia and local Israeli-born residents.
When it comes to his and his wifes new jobs, there is a significant difference in take-home salaries, said Mitchell, but there is one major expense they no longer have to worry about tuition for their children at private Jewish day schools.
Last Tuesday he finished his morning shift at the clinic on Bar-Ilan Street and walked outside into the warm sunshine to pick up his two youngest children from day care. Marveling at the weather, he smiled and said, I hope to not lift a shovel again in my life.
Mitchell then walked a few blocks away to pick up the youngest member of the Benuck family and the only one to be born in Israel Shoshana Meira or Shani for short. She was born just two months after the Benucks made aliyah and was named for Marnis close friend, Shoshana Greenbaum, who had been the maid of honor at the couples wedding. She was killed in the suicide bombing of the Sbarro restaurant in Jerusalem in August 2001.
Once Shani is in hand, Mitchell walks another few blocks to collect Yonatan, age 5, from his nursery school. Most of Yonathans classmates, like him, are the children of American immigrants.
They are more polite and relaxed. Israeli-born children are more aggressive, says his teacher, Michal Hadad. Yonathan, after his 15 months in the country, speaks Hebrew without an accent.
Abba, look at my picture, he says, pointing out his artwork of the day hanging on the wall.
Meanwhile his teacher thanks Mitchell for the referral to a good orthopedist who has been helping her with her back problems.
The oldest Benuck child, 10-year-old Eli, joins his father and two youngest siblings on the walk home. They pass newly planted palm trees in traffic circles and low stone walls that line the sidewalks.
When they reach their home on Gad Street, they wave to neighbors most of them also recent American olim and then push open the front door, walking past the dark wood side table covered with framed family photos. The table was originally part of a display cabinet that did not make the move when the family realized it would not fit in their new, slightly snugger surroundings.
After lunch, the children settle down for an afternoon of homework with the help of first Mitchell and then Marni when she returns home from work.
Eli, wearing a New York Yankees baseball cap, sits in a corner of the Benuck homes combined living room and dining room and thumbs through a book in English, explaining that he still prefers to read in his native tongue. But, he says, he is adjusting to reading books and doing schoolwork in Hebrew. He figures he only understands about two-thirds of what he reads in Hebrew.
One of Elis new friends, a fellow immigrant from the United States who came a year before he did, is helping him and that, he says, is making a difference Of America, says Eli, I miss my friends. I kind of miss my school.
At his new school he is not an anomaly as an immigrant. Many of his classmates are the children of parents from English-speaking countries, and there are also children from France and Hungary.
And there are advantages to being a kid in Israel, he says. You can play in the street on Shabbos, you can get a taxi without a grown-up and you can ride the public bus. Kids are more independent.
Another added plus: going to the center of town to eat pizza with friends without having your mother or father take you. Another addition to the Benucks life that Eli is thrilled about is that one set of his grandparents Marnis parents now live just a few blocks away, instead of the 3,000 miles away when they all lived in America.
Marnis parents made aliyah three months ago from their home in Los Angeles, in large part to be near their grandchildren. They said they have met other grandparents like them who moved to Israel to be closer to their children and grandchildren.
These are choices that are not easy to make, says Sharlene Balter, Marnis mother. But when I walk down the street and see my grandson going to the park or my granddaughter coming over, this is why we are doing this.
In the backyard the Benuck children swing on their new swing set and laugh and play.
I think there is less stress than people imagine there would be our life is day-to-day. We have jobs to go to, a supermarket to shop in. Weve settled into a routine and it is here, says Mitchell, who is especially looking forward to voting in Israel in the upcoming elections.
And after over a year break since they made aliyah, its back to Tuesday night Grill Night. Its time for hamburgers and a taste of America in their new Israeli backyard.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4. "Jewish Agency Poll Shows Aliyah Getting Easier"
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1132475664744&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull
As opposed to popular perception, a new poll shows that the aliyah process for North American Jews is a much less daunting ordeal than previously thought.
Representatives of 402 households consisting of 1,464 individuals who made aliyah during the 12-month period from the beginning of September 2004 until the end of August 2005, were polled in the survey, which was carried out by Dr. Mina Zemach of the Dahaf Institute, and was coordinated by the Information, Planning and Evaluation Section of the Department of Aliyah and Absorption of the Jewish Agency.
A large majority of 93 percent of the interviewees expressed a high level of satisfaction with their absorption in Israel.
Seventy-four percent said that they would recommend making aliyah to others.
The amount of economic assistance one receives is a critical factor in ensuring successful aliyah, and here too interviewees expressed a great deal of satisfaction.
Eighty percent of the new olim said they had received substantial assistance from organizations such as government ministries, the Jewish Agency and, or Nefesh BeNefesh, while 84% of the olim received assistance of some kind in the aliyah process.
Nonetheless, the survey results confirm that employment is a central component in successful absorption and that a comprehensive effort is required to improve the assistance provided to olim in this area.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
5. "Aliyah Figures On The Rise Again" By Ron Littman
http://info.jpost.com/C005/Supplements/5766/08.html
The number of new immigrants to Israel in the past year increased for the first time since 1999, according to The Jewish Agency for Israel and the World Zionist Organization.
The new change was attributed to an increase in Aliya from France and North America. Immigration from Ethiopia also increased in the past year. On the other hand, the number of Olim from the CIS was lower than in the previous year, although they still represent nearly half of the total annual immigrants.
Some of the places that contributed smaller amounts of newcomers included more "exotic" countries such as Pakistan, Thailand, the Philippines, Brunei, China, Japan, Mali, and Zimbabwe.
In total, since September 2004, 23,124 Olim immigrated to Israel, as compared to 21,604 who arrived in the previous year.
Zeev Bielski, chairman of the Jewish agency, credits the change to the improved security and economic conditions in Israel and to new marketing strategies taken by his agency and by other local institutions. One of these strategies was "stepwise Aliya" in which prospective youth were first brought to Israel for brief visits, followed by longer introductory periods in which they got acquainted with Israeli life and learned about relocation options.
Bielski stated that the prime minister and his staff placed the issue of Diaspora and Aliya in particular as his highest priority.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
Kummunique - Issue 9, Parshat Toldot 5766
Kummunique - Kumah's Shabbat and Holiday Bulletin
Issue 9, Parshat Toldot 5766
-----------------------------------------------------------
Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!
In this issue you will find:
1. "Birthright" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Olah Temimah" by Yishai Fleisher
3. "The Month of Kislev According to Sefer Yetzirah"
4. "What's Hockey?" by Yocheved Miriam Russo
-----------------------------------------------------------
1. "Birthright" by Malkah Fleisher
Picture the scene: Abraham, the father of monotheism, the great and powerful patriarch, dies at a "good old age", having personally fathered 8 children, themselves the progenitors of mighty nations. Of all of his children however, Avraham passes his heavenly covenant down through Isaac, Sarah's boy - "Avraham gave all that he had to Isaac." (Bereishit 25:5).
In Isaac's tent a proper mourning environment is being established, as the family prepares to grieve for the tremendous loss of Abraham. Jacob, Isaac's second child and Rivkah's favorite, is doing his part to prepare for Isaac's period of mourning, cooking up a meal which has made its way down into Jewish life as a traditional mourning food - a pot of lentils (Bava Basra 16b). At the same time, the kings and princes of the surrounding nations come to comfort the bereaved, crying "Woe to the world that has lost its leader; woe to the ship that has lost its captain!" (Bava Basra 91b) Yet we see that Esau, Avraham's grandson, is not moved - he goes about his usual business, hunting and worshipping idols, coming in from the fields famished. Jacob becomes disgusted with his brother's inadequacy, and offers an exchange - Esau's birthright for some of the "red stuff", a bowl of the mourner's meal. The deal is made - and Avraham's heritage is safe from squander on the day of his death.
Some time later, with the help of another tasty dish (some lamb prepared by Rivkah) and a couple of hairy skins, Jacob succeeds in securing Isaac’s blessing which was intended for Esau. But there is a price to pay - he must flee his father's house, and will never see his beloved mother alive again.
What a sacrifice Jacob made to secure to his children the inheritance of Avraham: the Torah and the Land of Israel. In days such as these, let us not squander what is precious like Esau did - for an easy meal. In our times, a lucrative job, a big house, or high stature may call to us. In the end, we learn that these things come and go, but the birthright is forever: "Indeed (Jacob) shall remain blessed!" (Bereishit 27:33)
I don't usually like to give recipes which aren't mine, but Jacob would have been hard pressed to come up with a lentil stew better than Faye Levy's from her cookbook "1,000 Jewish Recipes". May you eat it in joy rather than mourning, and may it remind you of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - and everything they wanted for you.
Esau's Lentil Pottage
3 cups red lentils
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
6 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
6 cups vegetable stock
5 or 6 cups of water
1 dried hot pepper (or some red pepper flakes)
2 bay leaves
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Spread lentils on a plate, pick through them carefully, rinse, and drain. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and saute over medium-low heat 7 minutes. Add garlic, coriander, and cumin and saute 1 minute. Add lentils, stock, 3 cups water, hot pepper if using, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat 30 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and 2 cups water to lentils and return to a boil. Simmer 15 more minutes or until lentils are tender. If soup is too thick, add remaining cup water and bring to a boil. Discard hot pepper and bay leaves. Add cilantro and salt, and season generously with pepper. Serve hot.
-----------------------------------------------------------
2. "OLAH TEMIMAH" by Yishai Fleisher
The Torah goes out of its way to tell us that under no conditions was Yitzchak our forefather allowed to leave Eretz Yisrael.
Here is a snippet of conversation between Abraham and his servant regarding finding a wife for Yitzchak:
5. The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?"
6. Then Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there!
7. "The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, `To your descendants I will give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.
8. "But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there." (Bereishit 24)
Abraham is pretty adamant - 'don't take my son Yitzchak out of the land!'
Later, Yitzchak has thoughts about going down to Egypt:
1. Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
2. The LORD appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.
3. "Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham." (Bereishit 26)
G-d is pretty adamant - 'Yitzchak, don't leave the Land!'
Yitzchak was the only one of the Patriachs who never left Israel, living his entire life all 180 years in Eretz Yisrael. Why? Our Rabbi's explain that Yitzchak's requirement to remain in Eretz Yisrael stemmed from his designation as the Olah Temimah, the perfect burnt-offering, when he was bound and prepared as a sacrifice by his father Avraham at the Akeidah - the Binding.
According to the halacha it is forbidden to remove any sacrifice from its prescribed boundaries (mechitzot), and removal renders it unfit. Each type of sacrifice has its own defined area. For example, the Korban Pesach (Passover sacrifice) must not be removed from the city of Jerusalem. An Olah must remain within the precincts of the Bet Hamikdash - the Holy Temple. For Yitzchak, all of Eretz Yisrael was defined as his Bet Hamikdash, where he carried out his avodah (service to Hashem). In the words of one Midrash, when Hashem tells Yitzchak SHCHON (26:2), to remain in Eretz Yisrael, this actually means Cause the Divine Presence (SHCHINAH) to reside in the Land.
Olah Temimah however can mean another thing: A simple, female, new immigrant.
My friend David Wilder, just told me about Ralookah, a new female immigrant who came from Romania with only 100 Shekel in her pocket. New Olim, immigrants to Israel, are all comparable to an Olah Temimah in that we go up to Israel with the simple faith that everything will work out for us, and that G-d will sweep us off our feet.
And why not - we have a promise!
1. Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb.
3. Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. (Psalm 37)
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3. "The Month of Kislev According to Sefer Yetzirah"
http://www.inner.org/times/kislev/kislev.htm
According to Sefer Yetzirah, each month of the Jewish year has a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a zodiac sign, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, a sense, and a controlling limb of the body that correspond to it.
Kislev is the ninth of the twelve months of the Jewish calendar.
Kislev is the month of Chanukah (the only holiday in the Jewish calender which combines together two months: Chanukah begins in the month of Kislev and continues to enter and conclude in the month of Tevet).
The name Kislev derives from the Hebrew word for "security" and "trust." There are two states of trust, one active and one passive, both of which are manifest in the month of Kislev (see Bitachon, confidence). The miracle of Chanukah reflects the active trust of the Chashmonaim (Maacabim) to stand up and fight against the Hellenistic empire (and its culture). Kislev's sense of sleep reflects the passive trust that G-d's providence always guards over Israel.
In the tradition of Chassidut, the 19th day of Kislev, the day of the release and redemption of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the author of the classic text of Chassidut, the Tanya (the disciple of the Maggid of Mezerich, the successor of the Ba'al Shem Tov) from prison (where he was placed for the dissemination of the innermost mysteries of the Torah) is referred to as "the New Year of Chassidut" (implying that it is through the spiritual channel of this day that the inner wisdom of Chassidut and the power in integrate this wisdom into one's daily life is brought down into this world). The foundation of the way of Chassidut is absolute trust and faith in G-d's omnipresence and the omnipotence of His Divine providence.
Letter: Samech
The name Samech means "to support." The experience of feeling supported corresponds to the trust and confidence in Divine providence associated with the month of Kislev, as described above. So do we find expressed in Psalms: "G-d supports (somech) all the fallen and lifts up all the bent over;" "Even when he falls he will not be let to fall to the ground, for G-d supports (yismoch) his hand."
The shape of the samech is a circle, which represents the all-encompassing omnipresence of G-d and His providence. The "great circle" of G-d's Infinite light is explained in Kabbalah and Chassidut to reflect His "right arm" which embraces (and supports, from beneath) with great, infinite love all of reality, as is said: "And from beneath, the arms of the universe."
Mazal: "keshet" (Sagittarius--bow)
The bow of Kislev is the bow of the Maacabim. It symbolizes their active trust in G-d to fight against the empire and culture that then ruled the earth.
Though the Chashmonaim themselves were from the Priestly tribe of Israel, the "art" of the bow is ascribed in the Bible to the tribe of Benjamin in particular, the tribe of the month of Kislev.
The Kohanim (and Leviim) are not considered as one of the twelve tribes in the correspondence of the tribes to the months of the year (according to the Arizal). As an all-inclusive manifestation of the Jewish soul, the Kohanim contain and reflect the spiritual source of each of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is especially so with regard to the tribe of Benjamin, for in his portion was the holy Temple wherein the Kohanim served. Thus the relation of the Kohanim to Benjamin is similar to that of soul to body. The Kohanim fight the holy war embodied in the bow of Benjamin.
The bow of war of Kislev is actually projected ("shot") from the bow (the rainbow; in Hebrew both "bow" and "rainbow" are identical--keshet) of peace (between G-d and Creation) of the end of the previous month of Cheshvan, as explained above. The two bows (semi-circles) unite together to form the complete circle of the samech of Kislev.
Tribe: Benjamin
As mentioned above, Benjamin is the tribe most gifted with the "art" of the bow. In his portion is the holy Temple in Jerusalem, as is stated in the blessing of Moses to Benjamin in the end of Torah (which, in accordance with above explanation of the relation between the Kohanim and Benjamin, directly follows the blessing to Levi and the Kohanim, and which actually prophesies the war of the Maacabim against the Greeks): "To Benjamin he said: the beloved of G-d, He shall dwell in trust over him, He hovers over him all the day, and between his shoulders He rests" (Deuteronomy 33:12). Here we explicitly see that Benjamin symbolizes both trust and rest, the sense of the month of Kislev.
Of all of the tribes of Israel, Benjamin was the only tribe who was born in the land of Israel. The land of Israel is the place where one most experiences Divine providence and G-d's absolute omnipresence. In the words of the Zohar: "There is no place vacant of Him."
Sense: sleep (sheina)
The sense of sleep is the tranquillity and restfulness that comes with trust and security in G-d and His Divine providence. So do we find in the blessings at the end of Leviticus (26:5-6): "And you shall dwell securely in your land. And I shall give peace in the land, and you shall lie down without fear...."
As the word "sense" (chush) is cognate to "quick" (chish), the sense of sleep implies the ability to sleep well but quickly (as is told of great tzadikim who required very few hours of sleep per day).
The very talent of Benjamin to shoot straight at his target depends upon a most tranquil inner spirit. He shoots and hits almost asleep. G-d carries his arrow to its intended destination. A tranquil personality is one with little inner friction and tension. The sense of sleep entails the ability to release stress, confident in the support of G-d.
The sense of sleep entails as well the sense of dreaming. In accord with our faith in Divine providence, especially manifest in relation to the connection between the weekly Torah portions and the annual cycle of months and their events, all of the dreams of the Torah are contained within the portions that are read during the month of Kislev.
When one possesses complete trust in G-d one dreams good dreams of the future. Good dreams at night reflect good thoughts throughout the day, especially the optimistic attitude and consciousness taught by Chassidut (whose New Year is the 19th of Kislev): "Think good, it will be good."
Controller: belly (keiva)
The keiva is one of the three gifts which we are commanded to give to the priests upon slaughtering a kosher animal. Our sages teach us that all three gifts--"the arm, the cheeks, and the belly"-- allude to Pinchas's act of self-sacrifice to kill Zimri (the prince of Simeon) and Kozbi the (princess of Midyan), and thereby save the children of Israel from the plague which had already begun amongst them. There, the word keiva refers to the womb of Kozbi.
Thus we see that keiva means "belly" in a general sense, including the entire region of the abdomen, whether stomach, (large) intestines, or womb (similarly, the word beten in the Torah means either stomach or womb). The womb, in particular, relates to the tribe of Benjamin, who in Kabbalah personifies the secret of the feminine yesod (womb).
The relation between the belly (when "full" and satiated) and the tranquil state of sleep is clear (and explicit in the teachings of our sages).
The word keiva derives from kav, which means "measure." Of the great Tanniac sage, Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosah, it is said: "The whole world is fed in the merit of Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosah, yet for Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosah one measure (kav) of carobs is enough for him from Friday to Friday." A tranquil belly is one who knows its proper measure. This concept will appear again with relation to the month of Shevat, its sense (the sense of eating and taste) and its controller (the etztomchah or kurkavan, from esophagus to stomach).
In the rectification of one's character traits, the rectified keiva (and sense of sleep) is never to be jealous of others. Our sages teach us: "a man desires one measure [kav] of his own more than nine of his friend." And so are we taught in Pirkei Avot: "who is rich, he who is happy with his portion."
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4. "What's Hockey?" by Yocheved Miriam Russo
http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1132053874452&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FPrinter
In the beginning, ice hockey players in Israel had it tough.
"I made aliya in 1981 from Hamilton, Ontario", says Mike Green, now a resident of Ra'anana. "I was just a kid, enrolled in a hesder yeshiva out in the Negev. I'm big - I look like I'd be good at sports, but basketball was the local game and I was really bad at it. So the guys would ask, 'If it's not basketball, what sport do you play?' I'd say, 'Hockey.'" "Then they'd say, 'What's hockey?' So I'd explain: It's a game you play skating on ice, using a stick to hit a little black disk into a net." "The next question was always, 'What's ice?'" "Israel was a very different country in 1981," Green laughs. "One of the guys did know what ice was - 'It's that cold stuff we get in drinks at weddings, right?'"
A large chunk of the credit for getting ice hockey up and running in Israel goes to Paul Shindman, a Toronto native who made aliya in 1987. "To get anything started in Israel, you have to be crazy, inspired or rich - or a combination of the three. I'm in the crazy category. Here in Israel, every Canadian jock dreams of hockey - so for me to help get a team going, to live out that dream of playing hockey here, has been great. I still play; about once a month I get up to Metulla. There's a group of older guys who play. It's a great group," says Shindman.
Hockey players still face a territorial disadvantage in Israel. "The only Olympic ice hockey rink in the whole country is in Metulla," says Green, noting that there is another one-third rink in Ma'alot. "Still," he says, "Israel's national team is one of the best." In April, Israel played its best tournament ever, defeating Iceland to win the gold medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation Division II Group B World Championships in Belgrade. "Ice hockey is alive and well here, but it's hard for most of us to get to Metulla, which is about as far north as you can go and still be in Israel," says Green.
Israel's first venture into international ice hockey was the World Championships in 1992, but the early days were pretty dark. "In 1993, we were at the Internationals. We were really getting creamed," Shindman recalls. "Latvia beat us 32-0, and Ukraine beat us 28-0. I happened to be sitting near Rene Fasal, who's now the president of the IIHF [International Ice Hockey Federation]. He leaned over and said, 'I'm really impressed with the poise of the Israeli team. You're playing your hearts out, and I want to congratulate you.' That was great. There we were, taking a real shellacking, but Fasal went out of his way to encourage us, to urge us on."
All the early encouragement worked: Now Israel's team, coached by Canadian Jean Perron, will be playing in Division I of the IIHF World Championships. The sport was nonexistent in Israel less than two decades ago. "My first few years were frustrating because I love hockey and there was simply nowhere to play," says Green. "After Paul came, things started to change. Then the Canada Center was built, which helped a lot."
Metulla's Canada Center, named for its Canadian donors, is a massive sports complex with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a soccer field, sports hall, squash courts, weight rooms and an indoor sport shooting range, in addition to the Olympic ice rink. Immigration from the former Soviet Union also helped. "Wherever there's a concentration of Russian immigrants, there will be hockey. In 1990, there was another big wave of immigration, and a group of Russians started to play in Bat Yam", Green says.
"It was a small, very primitive rink - sometimes you'd be skating on asphalt. The rink was intended for figure skating, not hockey, so we'd have to put up boards and nets. When more Russians arrived, more rinks opened - one in Ramat Gan, just a little corridor, not in good condition either. But then the Russians sort of took over the sport in Israel. They're very good players. But for us Canadians, it wasn't fun anymore. Russians have a very different style of play - not bad, just different - so most of us left," says Green, who maneuvered over to roller hockey, which is played on an asphalt surface on roller blades, not ice skates.
"I left the ice hockey league in 1995. In 1997 I bought roller blades. The transition wasn't hard. The difference is in stopping. There are a lot of roller hockey rinks around. We have a fine one in Ra'anana, where my nine-year-old son is in a hockey class. It's very popular. In our roller hockey group, about half of us are over 40, the rest are kids; but out best player is a guy who's 56 and plays all the time. Roller hockey is big internationally, with leagues and competition. But we just play for fun."
"In Canada, the national sport is hockey. Every house, whether religious or secular, has a hockey stick and pucks. It's something every kid grows up with. Here in Israel, hockey is a great way to ease absorption into the country. You have to do it in Hebrew, and you have to learn the system. For immigrants, sports are fun, but they're valuable tools, too," says Shindman.
Israel Canuck Hockey, an active Yahoo Internet group, welcomes newcomers: israelcanuckhockey@yahoogroups.com
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Issue 9, Parshat Toldot 5766
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Shalom! We are proud to present another issue of Kummunique.
This issue is filled with Aliyah and Eretz Yisrael inspiration - so enjoy!
In this issue you will find:
1. "Birthright" by Malkah Fleisher
2. "Olah Temimah" by Yishai Fleisher
3. "The Month of Kislev According to Sefer Yetzirah"
4. "What's Hockey?" by Yocheved Miriam Russo
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1. "Birthright" by Malkah Fleisher
Picture the scene: Abraham, the father of monotheism, the great and powerful patriarch, dies at a "good old age", having personally fathered 8 children, themselves the progenitors of mighty nations. Of all of his children however, Avraham passes his heavenly covenant down through Isaac, Sarah's boy - "Avraham gave all that he had to Isaac." (Bereishit 25:5).
In Isaac's tent a proper mourning environment is being established, as the family prepares to grieve for the tremendous loss of Abraham. Jacob, Isaac's second child and Rivkah's favorite, is doing his part to prepare for Isaac's period of mourning, cooking up a meal which has made its way down into Jewish life as a traditional mourning food - a pot of lentils (Bava Basra 16b). At the same time, the kings and princes of the surrounding nations come to comfort the bereaved, crying "Woe to the world that has lost its leader; woe to the ship that has lost its captain!" (Bava Basra 91b) Yet we see that Esau, Avraham's grandson, is not moved - he goes about his usual business, hunting and worshipping idols, coming in from the fields famished. Jacob becomes disgusted with his brother's inadequacy, and offers an exchange - Esau's birthright for some of the "red stuff", a bowl of the mourner's meal. The deal is made - and Avraham's heritage is safe from squander on the day of his death.
Some time later, with the help of another tasty dish (some lamb prepared by Rivkah) and a couple of hairy skins, Jacob succeeds in securing Isaac’s blessing which was intended for Esau. But there is a price to pay - he must flee his father's house, and will never see his beloved mother alive again.
What a sacrifice Jacob made to secure to his children the inheritance of Avraham: the Torah and the Land of Israel. In days such as these, let us not squander what is precious like Esau did - for an easy meal. In our times, a lucrative job, a big house, or high stature may call to us. In the end, we learn that these things come and go, but the birthright is forever: "Indeed (Jacob) shall remain blessed!" (Bereishit 27:33)
I don't usually like to give recipes which aren't mine, but Jacob would have been hard pressed to come up with a lentil stew better than Faye Levy's from her cookbook "1,000 Jewish Recipes". May you eat it in joy rather than mourning, and may it remind you of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob - and everything they wanted for you.
Esau's Lentil Pottage
3 cups red lentils
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 large onions, chopped
6 large cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons ground coriander
1 tablespoon ground cumin
6 cups vegetable stock
5 or 6 cups of water
1 dried hot pepper (or some red pepper flakes)
2 bay leaves
1 14oz can diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons tomato paste
salt and pepper
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
Spread lentils on a plate, pick through them carefully, rinse, and drain. Heat oil in a large saucepan. Add onions and saute over medium-low heat 7 minutes. Add garlic, coriander, and cumin and saute 1 minute. Add lentils, stock, 3 cups water, hot pepper if using, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer over low heat 30 minutes. Add tomatoes, tomato paste, salt, pepper, and 2 cups water to lentils and return to a boil. Simmer 15 more minutes or until lentils are tender. If soup is too thick, add remaining cup water and bring to a boil. Discard hot pepper and bay leaves. Add cilantro and salt, and season generously with pepper. Serve hot.
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2. "OLAH TEMIMAH" by Yishai Fleisher
The Torah goes out of its way to tell us that under no conditions was Yitzchak our forefather allowed to leave Eretz Yisrael.
Here is a snippet of conversation between Abraham and his servant regarding finding a wife for Yitzchak:
5. The servant said to him, "Suppose the woman is not willing to follow me to this land; should I take your son back to the land from where you came?"
6. Then Abraham said to him, "Beware that you do not take my son back there!
7. "The LORD, the God of heaven, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying, `To your descendants I will give this land,' He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son from there.
8. "But if the woman is not willing to follow you, then you will be free from this my oath; only do not take my son back there." (Bereishit 24)
Abraham is pretty adamant - 'don't take my son Yitzchak out of the land!'
Later, Yitzchak has thoughts about going down to Egypt:
1. Now there was a famine in the land, besides the previous famine that had occurred in the days of Abraham. So Isaac went to Gerar, to Abimelech king of the Philistines.
2. The LORD appeared to him and said, "Do not go down to Egypt; stay in the land of which I shall tell you.
3. "Sojourn in this land and I will be with you and bless you, for to you and to your descendants I will give all these lands, and I will establish the oath which I swore to your father Abraham." (Bereishit 26)
G-d is pretty adamant - 'Yitzchak, don't leave the Land!'
Yitzchak was the only one of the Patriachs who never left Israel, living his entire life all 180 years in Eretz Yisrael. Why? Our Rabbi's explain that Yitzchak's requirement to remain in Eretz Yisrael stemmed from his designation as the Olah Temimah, the perfect burnt-offering, when he was bound and prepared as a sacrifice by his father Avraham at the Akeidah - the Binding.
According to the halacha it is forbidden to remove any sacrifice from its prescribed boundaries (mechitzot), and removal renders it unfit. Each type of sacrifice has its own defined area. For example, the Korban Pesach (Passover sacrifice) must not be removed from the city of Jerusalem. An Olah must remain within the precincts of the Bet Hamikdash - the Holy Temple. For Yitzchak, all of Eretz Yisrael was defined as his Bet Hamikdash, where he carried out his avodah (service to Hashem). In the words of one Midrash, when Hashem tells Yitzchak SHCHON (26:2), to remain in Eretz Yisrael, this actually means Cause the Divine Presence (SHCHINAH) to reside in the Land.
Olah Temimah however can mean another thing: A simple, female, new immigrant.
My friend David Wilder, just told me about Ralookah, a new female immigrant who came from Romania with only 100 Shekel in her pocket. New Olim, immigrants to Israel, are all comparable to an Olah Temimah in that we go up to Israel with the simple faith that everything will work out for us, and that G-d will sweep us off our feet.
And why not - we have a promise!
1. Do not fret because of evildoers, be not envious toward wrongdoers.
2. For they will wither quickly like the grass and fade like the green herb.
3. Trust in the LORD and do good; Dwell in the land and cultivate faithfulness. (Psalm 37)
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3. "The Month of Kislev According to Sefer Yetzirah"
http://www.inner.org/times/kislev/kislev.htm
According to Sefer Yetzirah, each month of the Jewish year has a letter of the Hebrew alphabet, a zodiac sign, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, a sense, and a controlling limb of the body that correspond to it.
Kislev is the ninth of the twelve months of the Jewish calendar.
Kislev is the month of Chanukah (the only holiday in the Jewish calender which combines together two months: Chanukah begins in the month of Kislev and continues to enter and conclude in the month of Tevet).
The name Kislev derives from the Hebrew word for "security" and "trust." There are two states of trust, one active and one passive, both of which are manifest in the month of Kislev (see Bitachon, confidence). The miracle of Chanukah reflects the active trust of the Chashmonaim (Maacabim) to stand up and fight against the Hellenistic empire (and its culture). Kislev's sense of sleep reflects the passive trust that G-d's providence always guards over Israel.
In the tradition of Chassidut, the 19th day of Kislev, the day of the release and redemption of Rabbi Shneur Zalman, the author of the classic text of Chassidut, the Tanya (the disciple of the Maggid of Mezerich, the successor of the Ba'al Shem Tov) from prison (where he was placed for the dissemination of the innermost mysteries of the Torah) is referred to as "the New Year of Chassidut" (implying that it is through the spiritual channel of this day that the inner wisdom of Chassidut and the power in integrate this wisdom into one's daily life is brought down into this world). The foundation of the way of Chassidut is absolute trust and faith in G-d's omnipresence and the omnipotence of His Divine providence.
Letter: Samech
The name Samech means "to support." The experience of feeling supported corresponds to the trust and confidence in Divine providence associated with the month of Kislev, as described above. So do we find expressed in Psalms: "G-d supports (somech) all the fallen and lifts up all the bent over;" "Even when he falls he will not be let to fall to the ground, for G-d supports (yismoch) his hand."
The shape of the samech is a circle, which represents the all-encompassing omnipresence of G-d and His providence. The "great circle" of G-d's Infinite light is explained in Kabbalah and Chassidut to reflect His "right arm" which embraces (and supports, from beneath) with great, infinite love all of reality, as is said: "And from beneath, the arms of the universe."
Mazal: "keshet" (Sagittarius--bow)
The bow of Kislev is the bow of the Maacabim. It symbolizes their active trust in G-d to fight against the empire and culture that then ruled the earth.
Though the Chashmonaim themselves were from the Priestly tribe of Israel, the "art" of the bow is ascribed in the Bible to the tribe of Benjamin in particular, the tribe of the month of Kislev.
The Kohanim (and Leviim) are not considered as one of the twelve tribes in the correspondence of the tribes to the months of the year (according to the Arizal). As an all-inclusive manifestation of the Jewish soul, the Kohanim contain and reflect the spiritual source of each of the twelve tribes of Israel. This is especially so with regard to the tribe of Benjamin, for in his portion was the holy Temple wherein the Kohanim served. Thus the relation of the Kohanim to Benjamin is similar to that of soul to body. The Kohanim fight the holy war embodied in the bow of Benjamin.
The bow of war of Kislev is actually projected ("shot") from the bow (the rainbow; in Hebrew both "bow" and "rainbow" are identical--keshet) of peace (between G-d and Creation) of the end of the previous month of Cheshvan, as explained above. The two bows (semi-circles) unite together to form the complete circle of the samech of Kislev.
Tribe: Benjamin
As mentioned above, Benjamin is the tribe most gifted with the "art" of the bow. In his portion is the holy Temple in Jerusalem, as is stated in the blessing of Moses to Benjamin in the end of Torah (which, in accordance with above explanation of the relation between the Kohanim and Benjamin, directly follows the blessing to Levi and the Kohanim, and which actually prophesies the war of the Maacabim against the Greeks): "To Benjamin he said: the beloved of G-d, He shall dwell in trust over him, He hovers over him all the day, and between his shoulders He rests" (Deuteronomy 33:12). Here we explicitly see that Benjamin symbolizes both trust and rest, the sense of the month of Kislev.
Of all of the tribes of Israel, Benjamin was the only tribe who was born in the land of Israel. The land of Israel is the place where one most experiences Divine providence and G-d's absolute omnipresence. In the words of the Zohar: "There is no place vacant of Him."
Sense: sleep (sheina)
The sense of sleep is the tranquillity and restfulness that comes with trust and security in G-d and His Divine providence. So do we find in the blessings at the end of Leviticus (26:5-6): "And you shall dwell securely in your land. And I shall give peace in the land, and you shall lie down without fear...."
As the word "sense" (chush) is cognate to "quick" (chish), the sense of sleep implies the ability to sleep well but quickly (as is told of great tzadikim who required very few hours of sleep per day).
The very talent of Benjamin to shoot straight at his target depends upon a most tranquil inner spirit. He shoots and hits almost asleep. G-d carries his arrow to its intended destination. A tranquil personality is one with little inner friction and tension. The sense of sleep entails the ability to release stress, confident in the support of G-d.
The sense of sleep entails as well the sense of dreaming. In accord with our faith in Divine providence, especially manifest in relation to the connection between the weekly Torah portions and the annual cycle of months and their events, all of the dreams of the Torah are contained within the portions that are read during the month of Kislev.
When one possesses complete trust in G-d one dreams good dreams of the future. Good dreams at night reflect good thoughts throughout the day, especially the optimistic attitude and consciousness taught by Chassidut (whose New Year is the 19th of Kislev): "Think good, it will be good."
Controller: belly (keiva)
The keiva is one of the three gifts which we are commanded to give to the priests upon slaughtering a kosher animal. Our sages teach us that all three gifts--"the arm, the cheeks, and the belly"-- allude to Pinchas's act of self-sacrifice to kill Zimri (the prince of Simeon) and Kozbi the (princess of Midyan), and thereby save the children of Israel from the plague which had already begun amongst them. There, the word keiva refers to the womb of Kozbi.
Thus we see that keiva means "belly" in a general sense, including the entire region of the abdomen, whether stomach, (large) intestines, or womb (similarly, the word beten in the Torah means either stomach or womb). The womb, in particular, relates to the tribe of Benjamin, who in Kabbalah personifies the secret of the feminine yesod (womb).
The relation between the belly (when "full" and satiated) and the tranquil state of sleep is clear (and explicit in the teachings of our sages).
The word keiva derives from kav, which means "measure." Of the great Tanniac sage, Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosah, it is said: "The whole world is fed in the merit of Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosah, yet for Rabbi Chaninah ben Dosah one measure (kav) of carobs is enough for him from Friday to Friday." A tranquil belly is one who knows its proper measure. This concept will appear again with relation to the month of Shevat, its sense (the sense of eating and taste) and its controller (the etztomchah or kurkavan, from esophagus to stomach).
In the rectification of one's character traits, the rectified keiva (and sense of sleep) is never to be jealous of others. Our sages teach us: "a man desires one measure [kav] of his own more than nine of his friend." And so are we taught in Pirkei Avot: "who is rich, he who is happy with his portion."
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4. "What's Hockey?" by Yocheved Miriam Russo
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In the beginning, ice hockey players in Israel had it tough.
"I made aliya in 1981 from Hamilton, Ontario", says Mike Green, now a resident of Ra'anana. "I was just a kid, enrolled in a hesder yeshiva out in the Negev. I'm big - I look like I'd be good at sports, but basketball was the local game and I was really bad at it. So the guys would ask, 'If it's not basketball, what sport do you play?' I'd say, 'Hockey.'" "Then they'd say, 'What's hockey?' So I'd explain: It's a game you play skating on ice, using a stick to hit a little black disk into a net." "The next question was always, 'What's ice?'" "Israel was a very different country in 1981," Green laughs. "One of the guys did know what ice was - 'It's that cold stuff we get in drinks at weddings, right?'"
A large chunk of the credit for getting ice hockey up and running in Israel goes to Paul Shindman, a Toronto native who made aliya in 1987. "To get anything started in Israel, you have to be crazy, inspired or rich - or a combination of the three. I'm in the crazy category. Here in Israel, every Canadian jock dreams of hockey - so for me to help get a team going, to live out that dream of playing hockey here, has been great. I still play; about once a month I get up to Metulla. There's a group of older guys who play. It's a great group," says Shindman.
Hockey players still face a territorial disadvantage in Israel. "The only Olympic ice hockey rink in the whole country is in Metulla," says Green, noting that there is another one-third rink in Ma'alot. "Still," he says, "Israel's national team is one of the best." In April, Israel played its best tournament ever, defeating Iceland to win the gold medal at the International Ice Hockey Federation Division II Group B World Championships in Belgrade. "Ice hockey is alive and well here, but it's hard for most of us to get to Metulla, which is about as far north as you can go and still be in Israel," says Green.
Israel's first venture into international ice hockey was the World Championships in 1992, but the early days were pretty dark. "In 1993, we were at the Internationals. We were really getting creamed," Shindman recalls. "Latvia beat us 32-0, and Ukraine beat us 28-0. I happened to be sitting near Rene Fasal, who's now the president of the IIHF [International Ice Hockey Federation]. He leaned over and said, 'I'm really impressed with the poise of the Israeli team. You're playing your hearts out, and I want to congratulate you.' That was great. There we were, taking a real shellacking, but Fasal went out of his way to encourage us, to urge us on."
All the early encouragement worked: Now Israel's team, coached by Canadian Jean Perron, will be playing in Division I of the IIHF World Championships. The sport was nonexistent in Israel less than two decades ago. "My first few years were frustrating because I love hockey and there was simply nowhere to play," says Green. "After Paul came, things started to change. Then the Canada Center was built, which helped a lot."
Metulla's Canada Center, named for its Canadian donors, is a massive sports complex with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, a soccer field, sports hall, squash courts, weight rooms and an indoor sport shooting range, in addition to the Olympic ice rink. Immigration from the former Soviet Union also helped. "Wherever there's a concentration of Russian immigrants, there will be hockey. In 1990, there was another big wave of immigration, and a group of Russians started to play in Bat Yam", Green says.
"It was a small, very primitive rink - sometimes you'd be skating on asphalt. The rink was intended for figure skating, not hockey, so we'd have to put up boards and nets. When more Russians arrived, more rinks opened - one in Ramat Gan, just a little corridor, not in good condition either. But then the Russians sort of took over the sport in Israel. They're very good players. But for us Canadians, it wasn't fun anymore. Russians have a very different style of play - not bad, just different - so most of us left," says Green, who maneuvered over to roller hockey, which is played on an asphalt surface on roller blades, not ice skates.
"I left the ice hockey league in 1995. In 1997 I bought roller blades. The transition wasn't hard. The difference is in stopping. There are a lot of roller hockey rinks around. We have a fine one in Ra'anana, where my nine-year-old son is in a hockey class. It's very popular. In our roller hockey group, about half of us are over 40, the rest are kids; but out best player is a guy who's 56 and plays all the time. Roller hockey is big internationally, with leagues and competition. But we just play for fun."
"In Canada, the national sport is hockey. Every house, whether religious or secular, has a hockey stick and pucks. It's something every kid grows up with. Here in Israel, hockey is a great way to ease absorption into the country. You have to do it in Hebrew, and you have to learn the system. For immigrants, sports are fun, but they're valuable tools, too," says Shindman.
Israel Canuck Hockey, an active Yahoo Internet group, welcomes newcomers: israelcanuckhockey@yahoogroups.com
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