Grandma's army

  THE GIVING TREE There's a well-known children's book by Shel Silverstein about a boy and a tree. The boy keeps taking from the tree. The tree keeps giving. The boy never says "thank you" the tree never says "no". Until the stump of the tree is all that's left. This is similar to the story of Israel and the "Palestinians": Israel is the tree. The "Palestinians" are the "boy". Ungrateful, entitled, and permanently dissatisfied. In addition, the "boy" is invariably hostile. Baum/Boim (tree in Yiddish), is a common Jewish surname: applebaum (apple tree), birnbaum (pear tree), kirschbaum (cherry tree), nussbaum (nut tree), feigelbaum (fig tree), mandelbaum (almond tree). Here are a just a few examples of THE GIVING BAUM: Rescue from neglect and poverty: From 1948 until 1967, the "West Bank" of the Jordan river was controlled by Jordan. Jordan treated it as far less important than the "East B...

WHY ISRAEL MATTERS – II Almost a century before Israel existed and was controlled by the Sultan of Turkey, Mark Twain commented on the possibilities of a Jewish state being formed in its ancient homeland: “I am not the Sultan, and I am not objecting. But if that concentration of the cunningest brains in the world is going to be made into a free country, I think it would be politic to stop it. It will not be well to let that race find out its strength. If the horses knew theirs, we should not ride anymore.” The Jews, who finally returned to their only homeland were, indeed, far better equipped to transform their spiritual vision into a practical reality - capable of benefiting the entire world. In the world of technology and innovation, Israel’s contribution to the world is dramatic. The country has more hi-tech start-ups per capita than anywhere else in the world and is second only to the US in venture capital funds. This is an impressive feat for any state, but more so for one t...

  Life and death battles don’t figure only in wars. People all over the world are battling the COVID virus. Conversely, people battling a chronic disease are facing a life or death situation, against much greater odds. Since dialysis is a temporary solution, people suffering from kidney failure are faced with no other alternative but a kidney implant.   The kidney’s main task is to filter toxins and remove excess water from the bloodstream. Healthy people have four to five times the kidney capacity needed for this. Even with one remaining kidney, there is still plenty of spare function and one can live a perfectly normal life. An organisation called “Matnat Chaim” “The Gift of Life” was established in 2009 by Rabbi Yeshayahou Haver who himself was the recipient of a kidney donated by a friend. He was prompted from witnessing tragic situations - such as the death from kidney failure of a young 15 year old boy, whose older soldier brother was killed by terrorists. They w...

The purpose behind all wars is to capture as much enemy territory as possible. That is how all the world’s imperialistic Empires have been founded. The November 1947 United Nations vote to bring Israel into existence was a momentous reversal of imperialism. It gave back to the Jewish people the home taken from them by empire after empire. Judaism differs from the other monotheisms, Christianity and Islam, as it never created, or sought to create, an Empire. It was the imperialism of the Roman emperor Hadrian that led him in the 2 nd  century to change the country’s name to Palestine, one of the first - but certainly not the last – deliberate falsifications of history by those who seek to deny the Jewish people’s right to their land. There are 56 Islamic nations, and 159 in which Christians form the majority. There is, and only ever has been, one Jewish state, tiny and vulnerable though it is - and always was. That is why Anti-Zionism, denying Jews the right to their one an...

The dawn is just breaking on the 71 st Israeli Independence Day. A short time ago – while stilI dark outside - I was lying in bed contemplating the modern-day miracle of Israel. It is a miracle because it does not reflect reality in any way. For over 2,000 years prophecies written in the Bible of the ingathering of a scattered and oppressed people were read and believed. Today, we don’t have to “believe” the prophecies any longer – they are coming true right before our eyes. The flourishing of the land? Impossible. The greatest conquerers tried to build in this land and failed miserably - because it remained desolate. Today, we just have to look out of the window, or go for a walk, and see the beautiful trees and blooming flowers. We have even succeeded in making the desert bloom. Israeli agricultural innovations are not only benefitting Israel but many countries throughout the world. In what can be considered a single lifetime, the Jews emerged from the Holocaust weak, ex...

Israel has been continually provoked and battered by its enemies since  long   before becoming a State in 1948.   In just one of many examples: In the 1920’s, the grand mufti of Jerusalem, Haj Amin al-Husseini, incited pogroms against the returning Jews by claiming falsely that the Jews intended to destroy al-Aksa. Virtually the same words are being used today by the mufti’s contemporary leader, Mahmoud Abbas, leader of the PLO. In the 60’s and 70’s, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (before the Six-day War in 1967), specialised in attacking airports, airplanes, schools, and public events. By the 1990’s, Hamas focused on suicide bombs in buses and cafes.                   We are battling on all fronts.  While both my grandson (a commander in an   elite air-force unit)      and granddaughter (an arms instructor), are serving in the IDF , their father an...

I was informed of the engagement of my second grandson I wrote about   just a few hours after sending off my last blog. After completing his officer’s course and before beginning his task   as commander of his special brigade my grandson Meir, nicknamed “Memi” was given a few days’ vacation. He proposed to his girlfriend of 5 years while they were scuba diving in Eilat. “Meir” in Hebrew means “lighting up”. His future wife’s name is “Or”,   which is the word for “light” in Hebrew. Hopefully it will prove to be a “match” made in heaven. I am living in a senior residence complex and one of the most outstanding people living here is a man - of many parts - called David Darom. Apart from his worldwide   expertise on knives, hand guns and the flora of Israel, he   has perhaps more   first-hand knowledge about Eilat than anyone else. David Darom was the first student in Israel to study marine biology   at the Hebrew University. Conse...

Pandora was the first human woman in Greek mythology. She was entrusted with a jar, on condition that it remained closed. When her curiosity got the better of her and she opened it, all the world’s sorrows, plagues, etc. escaped. When she managed to close it - only hope remained. Pandora was the first human woman in Greek mythology. She was entrusted with a jar on condition that it remained closed. When her curiosity got the better of her and she opened it, all the world’s sorrows, plagues, etc. escaped. When she managed to close it - only hope remained. Hope is an existential necessity in a life clouded by uncertainty. I believe hope is what enables the survival of the Jewish people. Without hope for a better future, how could a people suffer the unbearable “present” throughout the ages, whether it was programs, exile, persecution, genocide. The stories comprising the narrative of the Jewish people as written in the Pentateuch, invariably show an unforeseen futu...

This year Israel celebrated the 70th anniversary of its statehood. Many, and not only Jews, have described the incredible progress and development of Israel during that period as a miracle. Looking at it objectively, it is difficult to see it in any other way. When David Ben-Gurion spoke of Israel as being The Light of the Nations the poor and arid country was barely able to sustain itself, let alone give humanitarian aid to others. Israel started off in the most humble and adverse conditions. With the end of the British mandate and the  establishment of the Jewish State of Israel in 1948 ,  a “war of extinction” was undertaken by all of Israel’s Arab neighbors. Israel’s small population then of just over 800,000 people managed not only to defend itself, but also to even conquer territory beyond the truncated partition lines allocated to it by the United Nations at the time. In addition, this mostly desert state absorbed in its early years hundreds of tho...

The prophet Isaiah said in the 8th century BCE:  “I the Lord have called to you in righteousness, and will take hold of your hand and keep you and present you as the people of the covenant , a  light unto the nations. ” (42:6) “It is too light a thing for you to be My servant, to establish the tribes of Jacob, and to restore the scions of Israel, and I shall submit you as a  light unto the nations , to be My salvation until the end of the earth”. (49:6) In his writings and speeches, Israel’s first Prime Minister  David Ben-Gurion  (1886–1973) emphasized his vision of the state of Israel as a moral and social beacon to the whole world, thereby implementing the vision of the prophets.  The selection of the Menorah  (candelabra) as the Emblem of Israel  was derived from the image of the state of Israel as a  Light Unto the Nations .   The present Prime Minister   Benjamin Netanyahu has referred, more than once to th...