Grandma's army

The Koran mentions Mecca and Medina countless times. It never mentions Jerusalem, which is not surprising, since there is no historical evidence to suggest Mohammad ever visited Jerusalem. Muslims today cite a passage in the Koran from which they claim that the two temples vaguely mentioned there are in Mecca and Jerusalem. Never mind the facts, such as that when Jordan controlled East Jerusalem, until 1967 no Arab ever thought to make it significant or endow it with any special importance, or move an Arab capital there. All they did was systematically destroy every synagogue and memorial there, using tombstones for latrines and to pave roads. The Arab Muslims contend there never was a Jewish Temple, only the al-Aqsa mosque. Or that the land of Israel was ever the Jewish homeland. Yet, when illegally excavating an area for another mosque on the site they disposed of tons of earth containing artefacts proving, beyond doubt,   the existence of the Temple.   Archaeo...

The destruction of the First Temple in 586 B.C.E., was the most traumatic and transformative event for the Jewish people to have ever taken place.   According to rabbinic tradition, the Second Temple in 70 C.E. was destroyed by the Romans on the very same day, and this time the Jewish people were exiled from their homeland of Israel. From then on, the Romans promised, it would be known as Palestine . The name was derived from the Philistines, a people conquered by the Jews centuries earlier. It was a way for the Romans to add insult to injury. Another long list of traumatic events suffered by the Jews are believed to have occurred around the same day, quite a few of which have been   historically proved. Since then, from that day to the present time, Jews all over the world have fasted in order to commemorate specific events related to the Destruction. Today, we are almost at the end of the three weeks of mourning preceding the fast known as Tisha b’Av (ninth of the mo...

In Judaism, human life reigns supreme, and saving lives takes precedence over all other contingencies. “Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a soul, it is considered as if he saved an entire world.” [Jerusalem Talmud]. Giving to the poor, is a form of   a life-enhancing obligation in Judaism, a duty that cannot be rejected even by those who are themselves in need. Some sages have said that “ tzedakah ” is the highest of all commandments, equal to all of them combined, and one of the three acts that gains us forgiveness from our sins. " Tzedakah " is the Hebrew word for the acts that we call "charity" in English: giving aid, assistance and money to the poor and needy or to other worthy causes. However, the nature of tzedakah is very different from the idea of charity. The word "charity" suggests benevolence and generosity, a magnanimous act by the “haves” for the benefit of the “have nots...

Over the border in Gaza, a Hamas supported invasion attempt has been raging for over a month, with rioters throwing firebombs, blazing kites,   and shooting at IDF soldiers. Almost every day at least 20 fields are burned, up to a distance of 40 kilometres from the Gaza border. Death and destruction has become the way of life for young Gazans who have been taught to hate and destroy – as they did when Gush Katif was given to them with all the greenhouses intact. In the last few months the green landscapes in the fields worked by the Israeli settlements and villages on the   Gaza borders have been turned to black and scorched earth. A few girls from the  Kfar Maimon  moshav decided to change this grim scenario and to introduce some colour into the burnt territories. They felt that, by organizing a fashion show they would increase public awareness to the terrible damage being caused by the many fires which were burning up the crops, nature reserves...