Grandma's army

Books are made of paper which, of course, comes from trees . Today, a very special festival, celebrated by all sectors of the Israeli public, is the New Year of trees (Tu Bishvat). David Gefen writes in this weekend’s Jerusalem Post: “Tu Bishvat has a beauty of its own – a time when we continue to ensure that our land will grow and develop through afforestation.” To commemorate the 70 th  year of the State of Israel the Jewish National Fund published a call to all Israeli citizens: “Whether we are from the right or the left, religious or secular, new immigrants or veteran citizens, let’s all give back to Mother Earth. This year we celebrate Tu B’Shvat as a symbol of unity.” As I write these words - from  kindergartens to Senior Residence Homes, trees and other green plants are being planted all over Israel. There are also Tu B’Shvat events being celebrated in every part of the country.  It is written in the Bible “When you come into the land you shall plant….” [Leviticus 19:

Few things in life are as satisfying as a good book. This week, and maybe the next, I am deviating from my usual subjects to write about this other passion of mine. Although I have been living in Israel for the past 62 years, my mother tongue is English. That has remained my preferred langue for reading, the exception being books concerning Judaism. Going back a long way, when we were young parents, before we were invaded by TV, smartphones, etc., it was a daily practice to read to the children before they went to sleep. I remember that I loved the Dr. Seuss books just as much as they did! Something special happens when a loving parent shares a story with a youngster. “Reading is fun” is the message we send to our youngsters when it is an anticipated part of each day.  Not only fun, reading is the cornerstone of self-esteem, accomplishment and even a simple pleasure, that is lifelong. In those days, a bookcase was usually in pride of place in every home which loved books.

Too often I found myself saying something like,  “ If only I hadn’t done this or that” and them went on to contemplate how very different things would have been, if I had taken note of the word if , stopped to think about what I was doing and changed direction. The most popular poet of his day, Rudyard Kipling, even wrote a poem called if . I can still remember some of the lines by heart and they sum up, for me, the eternal Jewish story: “ If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs and blaming it on you If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, but make allowance for their doubting too: If you can wait and not be tired of waiting, Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies, Or being hated, don’t give way to hating And yet don’t look too good nor talk too wise….. The unreasoning hatred in this world to the Jewish people is one of the great mysteries of the human story. It is the oldest social disease and, unfortunately, it is still viru

As proud of most Jews are of being Jewish – they find it hard to understand how someone seemingly “normal” would be foolish enough to convert to Judaism.  One outstanding example of a convert (by default) is Dr. Micah Goodman. His mother came from a wealthy Catholic family from Oklahoma, and converted to Judaism in an Orthodox ceremony. She married a secular Jew and made Aliya with her husband, in 1969.  Dr. Goodman is a very successful researcher and lecturer on Jewish philosopher, and has written several books on the subject, apart from heading an Academy of Jewish Thought. His latest book, Moses Final Speech, made its way to the top of the bestseller list very quickly. He has dedicated a few years of his life to Moses because the last of the five books of the Pentateuch (Torah) Deuteronomy , is the first book in the Torah that doesn’t profess to be of divine creation, but is a repository of Moses’s insights and thoughts. In his speech, Moses is trying to warn the Jewish