Jonathan (Jonny) Stein - יחיאל דוד שטיין

Current Mood: accomplished
Current Music: Terry Cashman - The Song of October

• The first family we visited was in Rosh Ha'Ayin. We caught them at a bad time and weren't so prepared with what we were going to say, so we didn't get a chance to talk to them much. Here's the story about the soldier:
  August 10, 2006 – Maj. Nimrod Hillel, 42, of Rosh Ha’Ayin, was killed when an antitank missile fired by Hizbullah terrorists exploded near him in the southern Lebanese village of Labuna.
  Hizbullah terrorists fired a number of anti-tank missiles at IDF forces in the western sector of Southern Lebanon near the seashore. An engineering vehicle and a Merkava Mark Two tank were hit. Maj. Nimrod Hillel was in the tank.
  “Unfortunately, we are very good at organizing funerals,” said Nimrod’s wife Ofira at his funeral, “But we are not so good at protecting our children. People should think about this.”
  “It seems cliché, but there has never been a father and husband like Nimrod,” Ofira said over his grave.
  A family friend said that, “G-d takes the best ones. He knows what He is going. Nimrod was a saint, modest, a faithful and devoted husband, and always ready to help – even before he was asked. This is a wonderful family with terrific children. Nimrod was the glue that held them together. It is simply heart-breaking.”
  Nimrod’s uncle Yossie said that despite his name, Nimrod was not rebellious. He asked that Nimrod “get as close to the throne as possible, and tell G-d enough. 100 years He has been testing us. Tell him that we want a little peace and quiet.”
  Maj. Nimrod Hillel was buried in Rosh Ha’Ayin. He is survived by his parents Michael and Chava, his wife Ofira, and four children: Yasmin (12), Noam (6), and twin daughters – Hadas and Sapir (3).
  


• The second family was a British family who made aliyah (the soldier's parents - the soldier's widow went back to live with her parents). The soldier had only been married 3 weeks and had not yet gone on his honeymoon or moved into his new apartment with his wife. We sat and spoke to them for awhile. They told us about a fund that they started in memory of their son. The fund is to pay for a large house in their city to be open for lone soldiers (without family or friends here) to go whenever they don't have somewhere else to go - ie when they're off for a Shabbat or even during the week and need a meal, laundry, bed, etc...
  July 20, 2006 – Maj. Binyamin (Benjy) Hillman, 27, of Ra’anana, was killed, along with four other soldiers, in a clash with Hizbullah terrorists on the Lebanese side of the border near Moshav Avivim.
  Even among a generation of remarkable Golani field commanders, Benji Hillman, 27, stood out. He spent a large part of his service in Egoz, which was established in 1995 to deal with Hezbollah and developed expertise in fighting guerrilla forces in South Lebanon. After the withdrawal from Lebanon, in May 2000, the unit was left nearly unemployed. Its then-commander, Tamir Yidai, incorporated Egoz into the fighting that erupted in the territories several months later. Because of his previous job, running the deputy chief of staff's bureau, Yidai continued to get beeper notices from the operations brigade. He located the more active sectors in the West Bank and sent his men there.
  In the summer of 2002, ahead of an Egoz arrest sweep in the Nablus casbah, a newspaper snapped Hillman as he painted his face together with other officers. For Hillman, then the unit's operations officer, it was a final mission before a big trip overseas. Even a momentary visitor could not miss him: energetic, brimming with humor, the object of open affection from commanders and comrades alike.
  Benjy Hillman was not married long enough to go on his honeymoon in Thailand. He was married just three weeks ago and had yet to move into the apartment that he and his wife had bought in Modi’in.
  One of Hillman’s new relatives on his wife’s side told Israel Radio that Hillman was a gentle person, "One out of tens of thousands.‘ The relative said Hillman had been ’dedicated to those around him, to his soldiers and his family."
  Hillman, who immigrated from Britain at age 4, is survived by his parents, Daniel and Judy, sister Abigail, brother Shimon, and his wife of three weeks, Ayala.
  Relatively few brown berets could be seen at his funeral on Friday in Ra'anana, because most Golani soldiers are busy fighting up north.
  


• The third family we visited was in Netanyah. Before describing this visit, let me just say that our goal was more than just delivering money; it was also to strengthen and show solidarity and support with the mourning family. We left this family as much strengthened and inspired from seeing them, if not more, than they from us. This is an exemplary family. We could truly use more families like this one in Israel. It may surprise you when I tell you that this is a secular family. This family, however, understands the importance of our traditions and heritage, and doesn't believe in giving up to post-Zionism, but rather fighting for our country with the feeling and spirit of Zionists in the 1940s-1970s. Again we visited the soldiers parents. They have lost other family members in wars, but understand that they are dying for a good cause and will still be happy to go out to the battlefield in the future. Everyone in the family is an elite unit too. The soldier's father was in an elite unit in 1 of the wars. Some of the family's ancestors were founders of the first kibbutzim. The soldier's mother is a nursery school teacher at a public school. She teaches the children brachot (blessings) even though she may not necessarily say them at home when she's eating because she understands that without our traditions and heritage, we have nothing, and certainly no right to the country. She told us that she makes sure her family celebrates the holidays and even follows such traditions as starting to build their Succah right after Yom Kippur ends. They have a pomegranate tree in their backyard (1 of the 7 species of Israel). She gave us some to eat. They were amazing! Our whole trip was worth it just to meet this family.
  July 20, 2006 - Maj. Ran Yehoshua Kochva, 37, of Moshav Beit Hanania, was killed when the helicopter he was piloting crashed in a mid-air accident while en route to battle against Hizbullah terrorists in South Lebanon.
  The accident occurred at around 11:30 pm when two Apache helicopters, part of an Israel Air Force formation en route to southern Lebanon to engage in anti-terrorist operations against Hizbullah strongholds, crashed in mid-air near Ramot Naftali in northern Israel.
  At the funeral, Ran’s widow Galit dedicated the song “Who loves you more than me” to his memory. She said that her husband gave her the disc with the song, by Micha Sheetrit, which describes the love of the Land of Israel.
  “From the place where I am now, I cannot imagine life without you,” Galit said at the funeral. “I have no clue how to make our children feel like a family.
  You were so beautiful inside and out. You were loving and dedicated. You had a good and caring heart. I could count the days you were upset on one hand. You taught me to love and to know the land. I know that you count on me to be strong for the children.”
  Ran Kochva was an architect by profession, and served in the reserves in the Apache fleet. His commander eulogized Ran: “The eyes see, the head knows, and the heart refuses to accept it. I have known you for 18 years, from the time of our pilots’ course. You were a true professional, an excellent warrior, and a superb reservist. We will always remember your sharp humor. We will continue with our task, even if the tears blur our vision and choke our throats. You were a loving friend.”
  Dovrat, a family friend, described how much Ran loved Israel. “You were the only one who could put everything into proportion. The name you chose for your architecture company, “Sabra” was very fitting. Thorny on the outside but very sweet on the inside. You knew how to focus on the love of life. You were a wonderful father, who cooked as a hobby, and a pilot whose love of the land was in his soul.”
  Maj. Ran Yehoshua Kochva was buried in the Kiryat Shaul military cemetery. He is survived by his wife Galit, a 5-year-old daughter, and one-year-old
  twins.


• The last family we stopped at was the widow of a soldier who had worked for Microsoft Israel. This was particularly interesting for me as a computer guy. He was relatively high up in Microsoft, worked on some advanced projects that I recognized, and did some teaching to new recruits as well if I recall correctly. It was interesting to see all the emails that people in the company sent in his memory.
  August 9, 2006 – Sgt. Maj. Nimrod Segev, 28, of Ramat Gan, was killed in an IDF operation against Hizbullah terrorists in southern Lebanon.
  Nimrod Segev was called up a week ago for reserve duty, where he served in an armored brigade.
  “Who would have believed that the day after he entered Lebanon, he would be dead?” asked his father Chezi. “Nimrod loved military service, and despite the fact he didn’t feel well, that he had become dehydrated and needed to spend two days at home, he insisted on returning to be with his comrades. During the last few days, he was still joking with us and told us that his unit was staying outside Lebanon, and that it was not certain they would even go in at all. The day after he went in, an anti-tank missile hit his tank, and he and his friends were killed. It’s a tragedy for his wife and his small children, whom we need to hug now and tell that they no longer have a father.”
  Nimrod worked at Microsoft Israel. His brother Ehud, a known personality in Israel, is a successful magician around the world, who was performing abroad when word of his brother’s death was delivered.
  Sgt. Maj. Nimrod Segev was buried in Rosh Pina, where his parents live. He is survived by his wife Iris, his sons Vick (9) and Omer (3), his parents Chezi and Iris, and his brother Ehud.
  

• The 1st family we visited was the parents of a soldier killed in a helicopter that was shot down. The helicopter had just unloaded 36 other passengers as they realized they were being shot at and didn't want to take a chance losing more soldiers. 1 of the other soldiers you'll read about below was also on this helicopter. This was a special soldier who saved 36 lives in his last act in the army. His parents are Olim from a Spanish speaking country (in South America?) if I remember correctly. His wife was 6 months pregnant with their first child.
  August 12, 2006 – Capt. Daniel Gomez, 25, of Nehalim, was one of five soldiers killed when the helicopter on which they were serving, was shot down by Hizbullah terrorists over southern Lebanon.
  Daniel Gomez and his wife Sarit celebrated their wedding anniversary last Wednesday. On Friday, a piano was delivered to their home – something Sarit had always dreamed of having – as an anniversary present from Daniel to his wife.
  Sarit is in the sixth month of pregnancy, expecting the couple’s first child.
  Matan, a friend of Daniel’s who has known him since the age of 14, said that, “He grew up in Moshav Nehalim, and studied at the pre-military academy in Atzmona. As long as I can remember, he always dreamed of being a pilot. He was the guy who held our group together, always joking and making everyone laugh. He loved the army, and was devoted to the air force. He wanted so badly to take part in the fighting in Lebanon. When people asked him if he was afraid, he told them that he was more worried about the soldiers who are on the ground. He was a modest and shy person.”
  Capt. Daniel Gomez was buried in Nehalim. He is survived by his wife Sarit, his parents Patrick and Miriam, and four siblings – Ayelet, Orly, Liora and Yair.
  


• We came at a bad time to the 2nd family, but there were kids running around and the family told us how much they missed their dad.
  August 9, 2006 – Maj. Natan Yahav, 36, of Kiryat Ono, was one of nine soldiers killed when an anti-tank missile fired by Hizbullah terrorists struck the building in which they were positioned in the southern Lebanese village of Dibel, causing it to collapse.
  Natan Yahav was named after an uncle who was killed in the War of Independence. He worked as an electronics engineer for Motorola, and was called up for emergency
  reserve duty three weeks ago. He entered Lebanon on Tuesday. “We had a feeling he was in danger,” said his sister Hagit. “It was a bad feeling. He knew it, and would always make sure to call us.
  About three years ago, Natan established the company he then commanded in the Engineering Corps. The company was composed of reservists from the Paratroopers Engineering Company, and members of the “Yahalom” unit of combat engineers.
  “He had a lot of motivation,” said Hagit. “He never spoke of his fears. He was optimistic without question. The country was as important to him as his family. He served a lot of time in the reserves and never once criticized.”
  Natan received a few hours of leave on Monday, before entering Lebanon. He spent the time with his family. “They were supposed to travel abroad together in the next few weeks,” said his brother-in-law Yair. “Natan worked very hard, but spent all his available free time with his children.”
  Maj. Natan Yahav was buried in Kiryat Ono. He is survived by his wife and two children, and his siblings.


• The last 2 families we stayed at for over an hour each. The 3rd family was the widow and children of another soldier who saved lives - he told most soldiers (maybe all married soldiers, I don't remember) to go home for the weekend because nothing was happening. Soon thereafter a katyusha hit where they were stationed in Kibbutz Kfar Giladi (a kibbutz up north where I stayed once for a Yavneh Olami shabbaton and once on my bar mitzvah trip to Israel), killing the remaining soldiers. This family is secular, but traditional Sefardi. The widow was talking about how everything is from Hashem and she can't understand things and was upset obviously, but Hashem has a plan and she knows her husband is in Heaven. When we handed her the gift (check), she called us angels. She wants to move because it's hard for her without her husband remembering how he used to be all over the apartment. She found the perfect apartment, but didn't have enough money to pay for the deposit and it was due. Then we handed her a check. All she could do was thank Hashem for sending angels. I got the chills. Talk about Shaliach Mitzvah. I can't even describe how we felt after leaving there.
  August 6, 2006 – Sgt. Maj. Shmuel Halfon, 41, of Bat Yam, was killed when a Katyusha missile fired by Hizbullah terrorists landed in Kibbutz Kfar Giladi, where he was stationed.
  Shmuel Halfon lost his father at a very young age. Last week, his son Gil asked him how he felt when his father died. “I cried,” he answered. “I cried, and in the end, I got stronger.”
  “At eight in the morning, I spoke to him,” said his wife Iris, “but the battery on his cellphone died. He told me he would recharge it, and promised that he wasn’t going into Lebanon. In the afternoon, when we heard what had happened, we tried calling him again, but couldn’t reach him. No one at the hospital or the army had any information.
  “In the afternoon, Aharon tried calling his father’s cellphone, and a military policeman answered. Aharon asked if he was in Kfar Giladi, and he said yes, and that he happened to answer the phone. That’s how we realized he was gone. When the IDF representative came to the door, I begged him to tell me Shmuel was wounded. He took my hands and asked me to sit down. That’s when I saw my whole world collapse in front of my eyes.”
  Iris said that her husband loved to do reserve duty, and that he had gone two weeks ago. A week ago, they told him to go back home. He came home, and the following day was called up again. He was also a big fan of the Hapoel Tel Aviv soccer club.
  Iris said that Shmuel was, “The perfect father. On Saturday night, Gil called him to tell him the team had won, and they were so happy together.”
  Their youngest son Liad was born August 24 last year after a very difficult pregnancy and an emergency delivery. The family decided to celebrate his birth on the 24th of eery month. They went out for dinner every month on that date to celebrate. “Now, he won’t be with us to celebrate his real birthday,” said Iris.
  “Now his children will have to deal with the same pain he did.”
  Sgt. Maj. Shmuel Halfon was buried in Bat Yam. He is survived by his wife Iris, and three sons – Aharon (16), Gil (12), and Liad-Or (11.5 months).
  


• The last family we visited was the parents of another of the 5 soldiers killed when their helicopter was shot down, right after saving 36 lives. This soldier had been on many special operations for the army throughout his career around the world. Each time he brought back a stone and his parents proudly showed us his collection. His widow was also 6 months pregnant with their first child, just like the first soldier whose family we visited. We spent a long time at this family, talking to them, looking at pictures, memorabilia, and more. He was a hero. All of them were heroes.
  August 12, 2006 – Sgt. Maj. Ron Mashiach, 33, of Gedera, was one of five soldiers killed when the helicopter on which they were serving, was shot down by Hizbullah terrorists over southern Lebanon.
  Ron Mashiach served as a helicopter technician, aboard the Yassur helicopter that was shot down. He had barely seen his wife Sivan or his other relatives since the beginning of the war in Lebanon. Sivan was in the sixth month of her pregnancy, expecting the couple’s first child, and other than looking forward to the upcoming birth, the couple had planned to celebrate her birthday this coming weekend.
  Sivan and Ron got married two and a half years ago, after having met during their service in the Air Force. “She joined the flight squadron as an adjutant,” said her brother-in-law Gal Keidar. “They simply liked each other. The entire squadron and all the soldiers were at their wedding. She personally knew the entire helicopter team – everyone who was killed.”
  Ron’s father Avraham said that, “We were supposed to meet – the entire family – on Shabbat. Yesterday morning, he called and said that he was on alert. He didn’t say more than that. We are a fighting family, and we don’t speak about such things over the phone. We don’t talk about secrets like these talking heads on the television.”
  Ron’s father wasn’t the only one who didn’t know the details of what his son was doing. Sivan also didn’t know much. “She didn’t know, and I told her it was better for her to know only after the fact,” said Gal. “You could see in his eyes how good a person Ron was. His favorite pastime was raising fish in their home aquarium.”
  Ron took part in an operation in the Baalbek region two weeks ago, where special forces were dropped in enemy territory. His brother Dov remembers that, “I never even heard the details from him. The last time we spoke, he just said that he was rushing to go out on more missions.”
  Avraham Mashiach said that his son never expressed any fear about his activities in Lebanon. “He was sure of himself. He knew exactly what he wanted. He was an exacting person – straight as an arrow, very orderly, and very devoted to his wife and family.”
  Sgt. Maj. Ron Mashiach was buried in Gedera. He is survived by his wife Sivan, his unborn child, his parents Avraham and Rivka, and two older siblings.
  

Current Mood: happy
Current Music: Avraham Fried - Chevron Sheli

Aliyah is probably not all it's cracked up to be. But that does not mean you shouldn't do it. Aliyah is not always easy, it's easier for some and harder for others. Israel tends to have a bureaucracy and sometimes it is tough to deal with different things. Sometimes Israelis can be rude and pushy. You may also get angry at the government and court system depending on your political views. As with anywhere else in the world, you will have to find a job at some point and that may not be easy. Even though you can often get by in English, if your Hebrew isn't so good, it makes life here a bit harder. </div>

But you're not making aliyah for an easy life, you're making aliyah for a meaningful life. As annoying as Israelis can be, as frustrating as the bureaucracy can be, at the end of the day, you're living in Israel, the country Hashem promised us, the country we've returned to after 2,000 years of exile, fulfilling prophecies in our Tanach, a beautiful country which has a little of everything from skiing to swimming, from desert to mountains to sea, the Holiest place in the world, the places where our ancestors walked or yearned to walk, national holidays are Jewish holidays, Christmas and Easter sales are Chanukah and Pesach sales, the overwhelming majority of people are Jewish. You'll meet a very diverse crowd of people, some very nice people, some who will touch your heart. You'll be doing a mitzvah - Mitzvat Yishuv Ha'Aretz.

And though you might make less money here, you'd face some of the above problems in other countries as well. At least in Israel, you're doing something important and meaningful which you can always feel good about even when times are rough. So aliyah on the outside may not always be all it's cracked up to be and can sometimes be very difficult, but maybe deep down it's more than it's cracked up to be.

I hope this helps you.

By the way, I've been living in Israel on a student visa for 5 years and at the end of the summer, I'm finally making aliyah officially. I'm 23.

250 N. American Jews Move to Israel Despite War
By Ezra HaLevi

A record-setting year of North American Aliyah continued Thursday, with a plane full of immigrants touching down at Ben Gurion Airport. They were not deterred by the war and some are going up north.

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In what organizers have billed "the ultimate solidarity mission," hundreds of Jews from North America chose to pack their bags and leave the comfort and stability of the United States and Canada for the rocketed State of Israel Thursday.

The olim [new immigrants to Israel] were greeted by former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, Efrat’s Chief Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, who himself came on Aliyah more than two decades ago together with many members of his congregation, Nefesh b'Nefesh co-founder Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, and representatives of the Jewish Agency and the Absorption Ministry.

"Israel is not Disneyland. We don't just come to Israel when it is fun and sun," said Rabbi Riskin. “Israel is our motherland - we come to our mother when she needs us."

"Israel needs you," Riskin added, "but it is a two-way street - each of you also needs Israel. What anyone does in the Diaspora is a footnote in our history, what is being written here is the chapter heading."

Rabbi Fass recalled the Jewish tribes of Gad, Reuven and Menashe, who requested of Moses to be able to stay east of the Jordan River as the Jewish nation crossed into the Land of Israel. “They told him, ‘We like our comfortable houses and we don’t want to go,’” Fass said. “And Moses asked them, ‘How can you break the hearts of your brothers and sisters in Israel?’ You olim who are standing here today have mended our hearts and are making the hearts of our nation complete.”

Knesset opposition leader MK Netanyahu pointed to the crowd, saying, “You are the best answer to Hizbullah!” He added that Aliyah is the very essence and lifeline of Zionism, “which never envisioned a world where people would stop attacking us, but a world where we would defend ourselves… build cities and create industry.”

Asked later by reporters about the security situation, Netanyahu said it is critical that the fighting in the north continue until all of Hizbullah’s rockets are destroyed, “so they do not fall on these new olim.”

Many of the immigrants are, in fact, moving up north. Two families are moving to the Galilee and one to Haifa, and several young people will be learning Hebrew and working as part of a gar’in (community nucleus) at Kibbutz Kfar HaNassi, near Rosh Pina.

Kfar HaNassi has been hit by Katyusha rockets in the recent bombardments by Hizbullah, but young idealists Keren Engoltz, 18, from Albany, Yair Koenig, 25, from Woodmere, New York, and Moti Tufeld, 18, from Boston refused to postpone their Aliyah and are eager to arrive in their new home. “I can’t wait,” said Liat, from Forest Hills, New York, who is also going to Kfar HaNassi. “We are going to be picking avocados, lychees and grapefruits.”

The way the core-group method of Aliyah works is that a number of people meet regularly while still in their home country to plan and develop a bond between themselves. Gar’in Tzabar (literally, the Cactus Nucleus, referring to native Israelis) comprises several core-groups, of which the Kfar HaNassi group is one. “We plan on studying Hebrew for three months while volunteering on the kibbutz,” Engoltz says,” after which we each go to our preferred service within the army.” After that, the group will see each other during furloughs and when they are spending Sabbath back at the kibbutz. “It is a great way to make Aliyah,” Yair says as he heads toward the bus bringing the new olim to collect their bags.

Arielle Listoken is making Aliyah to join her Israeli fianc? in Jerusalem. The wedding is in October and Listoken (soon to share the last name Achdut, meaning unity, with her husband) says that in the meantime, “all the Jews back in America should get their butts over here.”

19-year-old Laura Kessous came to Israel on a ten-day Birthright trip, after which she called her mother and told her she didn't want to come home. She eventually agreed to come back to finish high school. Now she is back for good and will continue her studies at Tel Aviv University. "My mother came to Israel on a visit from Morocco when she was younger, telling her parents the same thing. So I am just following in my mother's footsteps," she explains.

As usual, Wednesday’s flight heralded many family reunifications. Nachum Kligman came to Israel on the first Nefesh B’Nefesh flight in 2002. “My younger brother came a year later,” he says, “and today my parents are finally coming.”

Current Mood: optimistic
Current Music: Naomi Shemer - Yerushalayim Shel Zahav

Jerusalem Day, Arutz-7 Style
By Yishai Fleisher

This past Friday, the 28th of Iyar, Yom Yerushalayim, two buses packed full of English speakers left Binyanei HaUmah, the national convention center, on the way to a unique Jerusalem Day experience.

In a bid to imbue Jerusalem Day with meaning and style, Arutz Sheva and the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund organized a special trip to some of the less visited holy sites in and around Jerusalem. The day began at the National Convention Center where almost 100 people met at 9 AM and boarded two yellow buses that which wisked them away to their first stop: Kever Shmuel HaNavi, the Tomb of Samuel the Prophet.

Kever Shmuel HaNavi is situated on the north-western outskirts of Jerusalem, near the neighborhood of Ramot. It is a long-standing Jewish practice to pray and study at the holy site, and especially on the 28th day of Iyar, the Prophet's Yartzeit (anniversary of his death).

Samuel is considered one of the Jewish people's greatest prophets, likened to Moses himself. It was Samuel who anointed Israel first King, Saul, and subsequently also anointed King David, the founder of Jewish Jerusalem. Samuel wrote three of the books of the Bible: Judges, the book of Samuel, and the Scroll of Ruth which is generally read aloud on the upcoming holiday of Shavuot, also known as the Feast of Weeks.

Samuel's Tomb is strategically placed at one of the northern entrances to Jerusalem and dominates the entire area, including parts of the main Tel Aviv-Jerusalem highway. During the Six Day War, the Arabs used the site as a military fortification, shelling Israeli forces and the passing traffic below. Providentially, Jewish soldiers entered the compound and liberated the Prophet's tomb from the Arabs on the 28th of Iyar, on the very day that Jews throughout generations marked his passing almost 3,000 years earlier.

The Arutz-7 group felt privileged to pay homage to the Prophet, to hear explanations, and to take in the awesome vistas afforded from the Tomb - from central Samaria in the north to southern Judea in the south, from the mountains of Moab in the east, to the coastal plain of Tel Aviv and the Mediterranean Sea in the west.

The group then boarded the buses and headed to the Mount of Olives (Har HaZeitim). While the Mount is famed for its graves of sages and dignitaries, the visitors took the opportunity to see the very vibrant and growing Jewish community known as Maaleh HaZeitim. Piling in to the makeshift synagogue at the basement of the gigantic new apartment complex at the Mount of Olives, the group heard resident Miriam Schwab tell the complex story of the purchase and development of this extraordinary plot.

The land, it turns out, was originally bought by a group of Hassidim for the purpose of burial, but the ruling Turks did not allow them to bury there. Instead, the Hassidim leased the land to an Arab farmer, who paid rent and grew wheat. The Hassidic group, however, continued to pay the property tax on the plot throughout the years - and many years later, when the Arab tenant claimed to own the land, the tax receipts convinced both Jordanian and Israeli courts that it was really the Hassidim who owned it. The Hassidic conglomerate later sold the land to Dr. Irving Moskovitz, the ideological land purchaser from Miami Beach, for the purpose of development.

After passing many hurdles and receiving the necessary permits, construction began. Immediately, Yasser Arafat, sensing yet another victory for Jewish land reclamation in Jerusalem, intervened and asked then-U.S. President Clinton to have the project stopped. Clinton leaned on then-Prime Minister Netanyahu, and Netanyahu in turn secured Moskowitz's pledge to stop construction for a year. At the end of the year though, Moskowitz resumed construction.

After hearing the fascinating tales associated with the property, the group ascended a staircase which opened up to the roof. Suddenly, it became clear why Arafat was so intent on stopping the project, and why Moskowitz was so intent on completing it. There, directly across from the roof, was the Temple Mount and the Muslim shrines that bedeck it today. The group uttered a prayer that the Jewish attempts to reclaim Jerusalem would be successful and that G-d should reveal His glory upon the Mount.

Back on the buses, the group sat and stared as the bus navigated streets swarming with Arabs heading to their Friday prayers on the Temple Mount. Past the Lions Gate, through which the IDF Paratroopers burst into the Old City 39 years ago on this day, past the Rockerfeller Museum which became an overnight command post in the Six Day War, the buses took a left and entered an area called Wadi Joz, full of mechanic shops and the smell of grease.

Chaim Silberstein, who heads the Jerusalem Capital Development Fund, one of a few organizations dedicated to purchasing lands from the Arabs, explained that Joz in Arabic means "nut" and that some cartographers therefore mistakenly call this area the "Vally of the Nut." In truth, Chaim added, this area was originally called Emek Yehoshafat, the Valley of Jehoshaphat (as mentioned in the Book of Joel), a name which the Arabs could not verbalize and therefore shortened 'Yehoshafat' to 'Joz.'

The buses then banked right and the participants got off near a complex of caves penetrating into a rock face in the side of the mountain. This is the Tomb of Shimon HaTzaddik - Simon the Pious - who is mentioned in Pirkei Avot (Chapters of the Fathers 1:2) as "among the last of the Great Assembly." He is the author of the famous dictum, "The world stands on three things: on study of the Torah, on service of G-d, and on the performance of kind deeds."

Shimon Hatzaddik was the "Kohen Gadol," a High Priest in the Second Temple period for 40 years, and he was able to uphold a high level of observance during his tenure, including the preparation of two red heifers. The Talmud relates the famous story of the meeting between Alexander the Great, the world-conquering Macedonian Emperor, and Shimon HaTzaddik. At the behest of Jew-haters, Alexander marched on Jerusalem, with intent to destroy it. Shimon the High Priest donned the White Priestly Garments that he wore on Yom Kippur when he would enter the Holy of Holies, and went out to meet Alexander. To the surprise of his entourage, when the Emperor saw Shimon HaTzaddik, he dismounted and prostrated himself before Shimon. Alexander's generals asked him why he was bowing to this Jew, to which he replied that every night before a battle, he would see in a dream the figure of that Jewish High Priest, who would advise him on tactics to use the following day - a service that never failed him.

Shimon HaTzaddik took Alexander the Great on a tour of the Temple. Alexander was very impressed and requested that a marble image of himself be placed in the Temple courtyard. Shimon explained that it was forbidden for the Jews to have images, and certainly not in the Temple, but he suggested an alternative way giving homage to the Emperor: that all male babies born that year would receive the name "Alexander." The Emperor accepted, and that is how "Alexander" became a Jewish name.

At the Tomb of Shimon HaTzaddik, lunch was served to the group as they sat together under an awning, while Breslov Chassidim played guitar and sang joyfully. Over cups of grape juice and wine from the Beit El winery, participants heard tales of Shimon HaTzaddik, the words of the Paratoopers who captured the area in the Six Day War, and an explanation of the purchase of the property around the Tomb by an affiliate of Jerusalem Capital Development Fund. Today, seven Jewish families live in the vicinity of the Tomb and a kollel of 20 students is on premises.

The tour was winding down, and the buses came to a stop where they started that morning at the Jerusalem International Convention Center. As the participants disembarked they thanked the staff and wished them Shabbat Shalom.

Among emails later received at Arutz-7 were the following:

"We wanted to thank you for all the work you did to make today a successful tiyul. We really enjoyed ourselves and we learned a lot about the history of Jerusalem. All the best and Shabbat Shalom, Sruly & Rivkah"

"Thank you and all of your friends at Arutz Sheva for the lovely tiyul [trip]. As new olim (just under 2 yrs. since coming home), we very much enjoyed learning more about our new home. Thanks to Yishai, Malkah and Baruch, Alex, and Chaim (and anyone else who made this wonderful tiyul possible). Shabbat Shalom, Yechiel & Tova"

For more information about purchase of land and reclamation Jewish property in Jerusalem, please send email to <info@jcdf.org>.

The Arutz-7/Jerusalem Capital Development Fund trip was subsidized in the memory of Alexander Fleisher.

Photos by Jonathan Stein, Dan Paleh, and Yishai Fleisher

Current Mood: content
Current Music: Naftali Abramson - Tshu'atam

A rally protesting the political and security policies of Acting Prime Minister Ehud Olmert brought an estimated 100,000 demonstrators to Jerusalem’s Zion Square Sunday night.

The demonstration, the largest since the government uprooted 25 Jewish communities from Gaza and northern Samaria last August, is taking place under the shadow of last week’s demolition of nine homes in Amona and the brutal police reaction to people who protested the destruction.

Banners reading “Olmert is bad for the Jews” and “Olmert is bringing about civil war” were positioned at the center of Sunday night’s demonstration.

Speaking at the rally, MK Uri Ariel (National Union) said, “Yes it’s correct, Olmert is bad for the Jews…Olmert wants to shed Jewish blood and we won’t let him. We’ll remove him from office” on election day, scheduled for March 28.

Ariel called on the government to set up a special committee to investigate the large-scale police brutality that characterized last week’s demonstration to save Amona from demolition.

“I call on Olmert not to run away from an appointing a committee to objectively investigate” the prime minister’s involvement in calling for the brutal confrontation, said Ariel.

The mayor of Ofra, Yitzhak Meir, read passages from the Book of Psalms (Tehilim) and led the demonstrators in prayer for persons wounded by police at Amona and for those wounded in Sunday’s terrorist attack in Petah Tikva.

Video footage showing mounted police attacking and beating back demonstrators at Amona was shown on giant video screens during the rally. A video showing MK Effie Eitam (National Union) being trampled and mauled by mounted police was repeatedly shown to counter government claims that Eitam violently engaged the police by throwing rocks at them.

Tal Yahav, representing Amona residents said, “The number of people who came to us, to Amona, was incredible, men, women, young adults, and young couples with children….” Yahav also demanded that the government investigate the police brutality against the unarmed demonstrators.

“This violence was deliberately directed against us,” she said. “We never dreamed that Jews in this country would beat other Jews without mercy with horses and truncheons.”

"Jewish Seeds Planted at Cave of the Patriarchs"
by Alex Traiman
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/news.php3?id=98515

Fifty new immigrants ascended to one of the world's holiest sites Monday,
along with IDF soldiers, to plant Tu B'Shvat trees adjacent to the Cave of
the Patriarchs in Hevron.

The unique event, organized by Arutz Sheva and Kumah, tied together many
spiritual elements, combining one of Judaism's four holy cities with the
Jewish New Year for trees. Jewish sages devote great attention both to the
city, which Kabbalistically symbolizes 'Earth,' and to the holiday
considered the beginning of the Spring season.

Monday's planting was the first of its kind to take place at the holy site
since it was reopened to Jews following the 1967 Six Day War. After learning
about the clearing of the site just a few meters from the Patriarchs' burial
site - above the area known as the Seventh Step - Arutz-7 and Kumah
collaborated to organize the planting. The group was joined by members of
the Israeli Defense Forces who regularly provide security in the area.

IsraelNationalRadio's Yishai Fleisher, who arranged the trip, explained how
the planting came to be:
"It was simply Divine Providence. I was at a wedding in Hevron a couple of
weeks ago, and I happened to be chatting with a local resident. I asked him,
'What's going on here on Tu B'Shvat?' He told me that a unique army permit
had just been received to plant right outside the Machpelah Cave. I asked
him if I could bring a busload of people to take part, and he said, 'Let's
do it!'"

Hevron is known as Judaism's first city, home to the Jewish forefathers
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the place King David first ascended the
throne and established his kingdom. The Jewish holiday Tu B'Shvat celebrates
G-d's many creations, particularly the seven species inherent to the Land of
Israel: wheat, barley, grape, fig, pomegranate, olive, and date.

Participants ascended to Hevron and were greeted by Jewish community
spokesman David Wilder. Wilder toured with the group through the handful of
Jewish enclaves in the holy city.

In Tel Rumeida, participants viewed excavations uncovering remnants from
Biblical times. The site was home to the Patriarchs and Matriarchs, and
later King David. Additionally, Tel Rumeida features a view of the entire
city of Hevron.

The group then proceeded to the tomb of King David's father, Yishai, and his
greatgrandmother, Ruth.

The group continued its journey with stops at the historic Beit Hadassah and
Avraham Avinu neighborhoods, learning about life in Hevron over the past
3,000-plus years. Wilder enchanted the group with stories of physical
determination and mystical magnetism.

The group continued to the holy Cave of the Patriarchs, where are buried the
forefathers and mothers Avraham and Sarah, Yitzchak and Rivka, and Yaakov
and Leah. The site is also believed to house the tombs of Adam and Chava,
the world's first man and woman.

The monument surrounding the site was built by the Roman King Herod over
2,000 years ago. Herod similarly commissioned the building of Jerusalem's
Second Holy Temple and its supporting structure, which includes the Western
Wall, where millions of Jews pray each year.

After learning of the history of the site - from its purchase recorded in
the Torah, through recent efforts to discover the locations of the actual
graves in a series of underground caves - the group toured the
mega-monument, which is today a prayer site for both Jews and Muslims.

Following the visit inside the Machpelah Cave, the group exited to plant
fruit trees and flowers just a few meters from the building and its
courtyard. The group was joined by local infantry and officers of the
Israeli Defense Forces, who were able to turn their attention away from
their normal duties for a few moments to beautify the holy site they
regularly protect.

Fruit trees planted at the site included dates, figs, pomegranates, and
dates, some of the seven holy species indigenous to the land of Israel.

Participants then celebrated by eating a festive Tu B'Shvat meal. A
Kabbalistic ceremony modeled after the Pesach Seder was performed, exploring
the spiritual connection between man, earth, and each of the species.

The festive and historic day culminated in the home of legendary Israeli
artist Baruch Nachshon in the neighboring large Jewish community of Kiryat
Arba. Nachshon was among the first Jews to live in Hevron following the
reclamation of Jewish land in the Six Day War.

The experience was moving for trip organizers and participants alike. For
many on the trip, this was their first Tu B'Shvat in Israel, and for others
- their first trip to Hevron. Dinah Levitan, who was on the trip with her
family, called the trip "an unforgettable experience."

"Those of my children who had never been to Hevron before," she said, "and
those who had, shared the same wonder and sense of connection to our
history. Planting on the grounds of the Me'arat HaMachpela [Cave of the
Patriarchs] was so special. We will forever consider those trees as 'ours.'
What an unbelievable way to celebrate our family's first Tu B'Shvat in Eretz
Yisrael [the Land of Israel]!"

Current Mood: relaxed
Current Music: BaShanah HaBa'ah

Youth Honored for Fighting Against Disengagement
By Hillel Fendel

Well over 10,000 people, mostly youth, took part in an event called "Orange Thanks" last night, in appreciation of the youth who expended active efforts against the expulsion this past year.

The event, held in Sacher Park in Jerusalem, drew 13,000 people, according to police estimates. It was promoted beforehand as a "gathering of memorial, of pain, of protest, of crying out, of appreciation, and of faith - an internal gathering of the family of religious-Zionism sponsored solely by institutions and personalities belonging to the religious-Zionist camp."

Elchanan Glatt, Director-General of the Bnei Akiva Yeshivot movement, explained beforehand that the event was to be primarily a salute to the youth, "to show them thanks and recognize the strengths they displayed throughout this difficult period."

Glatt explained the three parts of the event: "First, expression of the tremendous pain of the terrible expulsion and destruction. Second, admiration and thanks to the youth, in many ways, chiefly by bringing them to the stage, emphasizing their faith and their actions that gave strength to the adults. And third, a view to the future, which our youth will shape."

Among the sponsoring organizations were school networks such as Tzviya and Amit, as well as rabbinical and settlement organizations. The original plan was for the Disengagement Authority to finance part of the costs, but this was changed due to public pressure. Limor Har-Melekh, the young widow of terrorist victim Shuli Har-Melekh who was murdered two years ago, explained to Arutz-7 on Tuesday,
"I too said I was not willing to take part in an event sponsored by the Prime Minister's Office [under which the Disengagement Authority operates]. The organizers understood that if they want the youth to take part, they have to call off that partnership."

Controversy was not avoided, however, on two other fronts. Though Rabbi Yigal Kaminetzky - the rabbi of Gush Katif - as well as Rabbi Chaim Druckman, Rabbi Moti Elon and Rabbi Elisha Vishlitzky took part, some felt that the more "activist" rabbinical approach was not sufficiently represented. Limor Har-Melekh said afterwards, "I heard that Rabbis Avraham Shapira and Dov Lior were invited, but they were not there." Blessings from Rabbi Shapira and Rabbi Eliyahu were read aloud.

"I'm among those," said Ms. Har-Melekh, "who did not like the embracing of soldiers and policeman [during and immediately after the expulsion], nore all this talk of how much we love the IDF. In the little talk that I was asked to give last night, I emphasized the youth's active struggle, and their refusal to accept what was going on, and the anti-Diaspora approach they displayed. I felt that this was not sufficiently emphasized by the others."

"The terrible events that we underwent in Gush Katif and northern Shomron have led to a major attempt to clarify our stands," Limor said, "and this is underway among our youth as well. There are those who are more mamlakhti [supportive of the holiness of the State], while there are those, like myself, who are less so. But it would be a mistake for those who are involved in education to try to shut out the side that doesn't agree with them; both sides have to be heard."

Asked to elaborate on her position, Limor said,
"For instance, I believe there must be a clear differentiation regarding those in the army who took part in the expulsion, and those who didn't, and between the army of expulsion and the army that defends Israel. We can no longer blindly regard the army as something holy; we should realize that it is merely a means - an important means, of course, but not more than that...

"When people talk about the 'victory of the spirit,' I'm not sure what they mean; where's the victory in the fact that there are no Jews left in Gush Katif or northern Shomron? Where's the victory in the fact that Sharon just won another vote in the Likud for his policies?"

Films of the destruction were screened at last night's event, eliciting many tears in the audience. Speeches by rabbis, as well as MK Tzvi Hendel, David Hatuel, and other Gush Katif expellees were interspersed with recorded songs, poems and film clips shown on large video screens.

The atmosphere took on a different hue when Israeli rock star Meir Banai got up to perform. Though he is known for the traditional bent of some of his songs, the ambience thus created was a letdown for many in the audience. Rabbi Kaminetzky told INN-TV,
"This is one big mistake. I think that on the eve of Rosh HaShanah, after all that happened, this event should have been totally different. After the public was uplifted so high [in the course of the struggle for Gush Katif], I would have expected an event that would inspire and uplift everyone - an evening of teshuvah [repentance], of great challenge, of strengthening, of words of Torah, of spiritual song and dance - but unfortunately, that's not what this was."

Rabbi Druckman, one of the most veteran and highly-regarded rabbis of Religious Zionism, told the audience, "Our task at this time is to uplift the nation, and to correct the source of the problem - namely, the distancing from our Jewish roots. Precisely for this reason we are not disengaging from the State of Israel and from the IDF, but rather looking for the ways to repair, inspire and direct them along the correct path."

The three-hour ceremony concluded with a tribute to Jonathan Pollard. On the stage for the occasion were his wife Esther, a group of youngsters holding orange helium balloons, and a young former resident of the Gush Katif community of Gadid who read aloud Jonathan's framed Gush Katif Honorary Citizenship certificate. Mrs. Pollard then spoke, praising the youth and passing along a message from her husband to "please hang on to your keys, because we going to home to Gush Katif, G-d willing, sooner than anyone thinks!" The orange balloons were then released into the air, floating away in an orange cloud to conclude the moving event.