Saturday, July 15, 2006
Compilation from May 2005-June 2006
Sparks From Israel (May 28,2005)
My Personal Pesach
Often people ask me why I chose to come to Israel, especially at this time. I say I didn’t come I was ‘taken’.
There are times in ones life when one sees G-d’s hand in history and can’t ignore it. Take September 11th for example. On that day we all knew the world was a different place. The events of the world and the events in one’s personal life are not disconnected; they are all taken into account by the Creator who fashioned each of us and placed us in this moment. We are given the free will to recognize the moments, to hear Hashem’s whispers, and to trust our intuition.
A year after the events of September 11th and the series of plagues that followed and continue to afflict every place we consider to be ‘safe havens’, I was fortunate enough to recognize the road of my personal exodus and follow it.
In the siddur there are two expressions for G-d’s hand of redemption. ‘Yad chazaka’ and ‘Be Chozek Yad’. A year before my exodus I remember asking what the significance of these two expressions were, but the only answer I found was one is masculine and one is feminine. After living through my own personal exodus, I now have discovered a meaning behind these two expressions.
There were three factors that contributed into my hurried departure. The events of our times, a love interest in Israel, and a free trip that was offered to me. I arrived like a king during chol hamoed Pesach, staying in one of the best hotels and tasting the finest fruits of the Land of Israel. With hardly any money in my pocket I decided to extend my trip and found a yeshiva that gave me free lodging. I wanted to see if I could survive in Israel and continue to do the same business as I did in chutz l’aretz. I realized right away, that not only could I survive, I could do even better. Israel is a modern country, yet is thirsty for new things all the time; a perfect place for those with an entrepenurial spirit.
After my first week in Israel, I realized that the ‘love interest’ wasn’t for me, but there was a greater love that surpassed all previous romances; the love of the Land of Israel. From each perspective, as a king, as a pauper, with romance or without there is always a feeling of satisfaction each day and fulfillment. I realized it was the hand of Hashem that had lured me out and I was ‘taken’, for I followed. After a months time I returned to fill out the Aliyah papers, get rid of everything I didn’t really need, and then I returned. This time it was ‘I’ who made the decision, and instead of leaving secretly, I left with certainty and with a trust that comes from experience.
In every way, I see the story of Pesach as ‘my’ story. Just as the Jewish people celebrate the ‘times’ of Pesach when we were taken and the ‘times’ of Simchat Torah when we willingly accepted our marriage vows, I too celebrate two dates. The day I was taken with a feminine ‘Yad Chazaka’ and the day I left with a masculine ‘Be Chozek Yad’.
This will be the first year that I will do Birkat Hailanim, the blessing on two fruit trees during the month of Nissan. I see now the significance of Pesach and blossoming of trees that is short lived like the fragrance of inspiration. It’s a season that blooms without fail; a season that arrives whether we are ready or not. Just as Shabbat arrives with it’s motto ‘ stop the world of action and reflect’ Pesach arrives and ‘blooms’. We must (as my brother once so aptly put) ‘grow or die’.
There are times in all of our lives that the doors of exodus seem clearly open but the flame inside flickers as the winds of doubt find their opening. Once I stood frozen as a giant wave crashed down on me. My experienced friend and laughed and advised me not to be scared of how big the wave is. ‘Just jump into the wave and go under it and you will come out on the other side. He was right. I hope Pesach becomes a personal experience for all of you as well. Take the plunge. Chag somayach. (Pesach 2004)
Sparks From Israel (Aug7,2005)
Obstacles to Peace
Many of my closest friends are ‘obstacles to peace’. They weren’t born that way, they just happened to move into a new apartment on the other side of an imaginary line which made them an ‘obstacle to peace’. There are hundreds of small settlements and towns that dot the country side and from a travelers perspective one cannot tell which one of these beautifully designed neighborhoods are filled with peaceful citizens or ‘obstacles to peace’.
I suppose one way you can tell is when you notice 55,000 soldiers and hired goons waiting to evict you or beat you for non-compliance. I suppose sometimes only brute force and violence shocks one into the realization that the last 25 years of building bright horizons and raising well adjusted patriotic families was a crime that finally caught up with them.
The Times They Are A Changing
There is a protest movement going on in Israel, the old revolutionaries are now the establishment, and have no answers for the troubled times we live in. While many of their children took cues from their parents and exchanged whatever was left of tradition and ideology for the gods of materialism and moral relativism, another generation born of more traditional parents has begun a new revolution that is growing every day.
The Nation is being overturned in a way that America was overturned in the 60’s, but not for drugs, orgies, and pacifism. This revolution is based on brotherhood, idealism, and the struggle for justice. Their love is felt on every street corner where they hand out orange ribbons from the Temple Mount to Tel Aviv. One can see the light in their eyes reaching out to their brothers and succeeding in winning the hearts of many, especially the young.
As they stand in the Gush, face to face, a fence separating soldiers and protesters, they speak to each other, for after all they are brothers. Brothers engaged in enforcing evil decrees stand opposite other soldiers who are engaged in defending their homes and the Land that they love; a Land they both have sacrificed for. The soldiers talk to each other between the holes of the wire fence and they pray together from both sides. The Final Revolution has arrived and it has everyone fighting inside of themselves between all the grey areas we thought were black and white.
It only takes a small light to enter a large dark room for it to be enlightened. History has always been written by these lights, and the indifferent masses are simply shaped by the changing tides. Today the light is more refined, and the masses are not as dense as they used to be. It’s a good time to be living in, for here ‘The Times They Are a Changin’, very rapidly.
Sparks From Israel(Aug 12,2005)
The Other Side
All across the country one sees determined young people standing at busy street corners handing out orange ribbons. These kids who would normally be spending their summer vacation at the beach and traveling with their friends, have done something different this summer – they have made a revolution.
Even the threat of prison has not deterred thousands of young people from taking to the streets to protest on a regular basis throughout the summer. Recently public outcry forced the ‘democratic’ state to release three girls ages 14-16 after being in jail for forty days for their crime of civil disobedience.
Now there is a different color ribbon – the blue ribbon. This ribbon is worn by the side of those who support the apparently ‘necessary’ expelling of their brethren from Gush Katif. Although one sees predominately orange ribbons, even in Tel Aviv, I have seen the blue ribbon on a number of cars as well and sometimes blue and orange together.
There is one thing, however, I have not seen. I have yet to see a youngster, or anyone of any age, standing on a street corner handing out blue ribbons. Despite all the money and government support on the ‘blue’ side, I have yet to see one protester out on the street fighting for their cause. Why is that? Where are the determined youth of the ‘blue’ side? Why aren’t they spending their summer vacation opposing the opposition?
I suppose they are busy enjoying their summer and not thinking too much about ‘politics’ or ‘Zionism’. The revolution of Gush Katif is a revolution against apathy. Those who support the expulsion of their brethren are embarrassed to say so and believe it to be a necessary evil that will enable them to continue their private lives undisturbed. Strangely enough, they continue to be disturbed.
They are not so disturbed by future Arab missiles that they hadn’t thought of, or of throwing their ‘fanatic’ brothers out of their homes. They are disturbed by something else. They see the conviction, faith and love that their brothers demonstrate each day and I’m sure must ask themselves, where does this come from?
The ‘blue’ side is silent. They have no answers. When they speak it is in an apologetic tone, as they convince themselves that the rape and pillage will be done with sensitive hands. However, as a growing amount of their friends join the ranks of the underdog, they feel more ashamed and embarrassed of their position.
It is only a matter of time before Israel is transformed into the Nation that the world is waiting to see – the ‘Light unto Nations’. Although there are a few bulldozers who try to dowse this flame, the silent masses in between are slowly finding in themselves the courage to feel love and concern for their brothers despite the propaganda painting them as enemies of the state or messianic extremists.
Even those who lack any ideology or faith are attracted to these determined youth. People like to be on the winning side, and today it is clear that the future is being shaped by 14 year old girls who will be Directors of Foreign Affairs some day.
State of Judea(Sept 2, 2005)
Jewish Holidays
According to our traditions, after each holiday we begin to study the laws of the next holiday and prepare for it. After Purim, we begin to study the laws of Pesach, and after Pesach we begin to study the laws of Shavuot and so on. After Gush Katif, I suppose it’s appropriate to begin thinking about the return of Judea as Hertzel once dreamed of Israel. Hashem rewards everyone according to their merit and when their merit is spent, it is time for the greater merits of others.
The Midrash tells us that in Egypt there was a large group from the tribe of Ephraim that left a number of years before the Exodus. They were warned by the spiritual leadership not to go, because it was not yet time. They left for the glory of Israel and to escape their slavery, but unfortunately the whole multitude perished by the sword of the Philistines.
Although their cause was noble; the emancipation of a people, it was not for the cause and glory of the Torah which was waiting in the desert. This was their mistake. However, Hashem, the true judge, always rewards each of us for whatever good we do. When Yecheskel prophesied that the dead will come back to life he describes the scene of bones arising from the dead. The Midrash tells us that the bones Yecheskel refers to are none other than the bones of Ephraim.
These two midrashim seem to describe the merit of modern day Israel that had enough of persecution and rebuilt their Nation again, with or without God. With our own eyes we have witnessed the dead come back to life as Israel became a State again and what was once barren is now filled with gardens and cities and modern day life.
The merit has been repaid, and now it is a new time. The body has come back to life, and Hashem is now breathing a soul into it. It is a time of fixing the flaws and mistakes that invited a history of Holocausts upon us. The tribes of Israel were the first to be exiled, and (it appears) the first to return. The body is now intact but missing some vital organs. Today Judah is returning, and he is coming to fix the damage caused by an adolescent body and rejuvenate these vital organs.
With good examples the body will not become an addict and drive the soul out of him to his demise. With good examples the body will learn to be subservient to the heart and the soul and the brain and benefit from the proper balance. No doubt the brain must take over and battles may ensue, battles that most teenagers go through. But whatever way the course of events turn, the State of Judea is being formed and the subjects of this kingdom are arriving every day at Ben Gurion airport.
Bar Kochba
I never understood something about the story of Bar Kochba. Rabbi Akiva felt that he was the Moshiach, and they say he could have been the Moshiach but in the end it was taken away from him because he said we will win, ‘with or without’ Hashem’s help. The commentators describe this as arrogance, and because of this arrogance the would-be Moshiach was defeated.
Why are we left with this Midrash? If the Torah isn’t a history book, but a book of the present, then what are we to learn? Is it possible that this statement of Bar Kochba was left there like the achievements of champion athletes that remain forever, until someone comes to break his record? What did he achieve by this statement and what did he lose, and what do we learn from it?
Is it possible that what the rabbi’s call ‘arrogance’ was the result of a perfect ‘faith’ that had become tarnished through battle? Were there not many innocent and god fearing Jews that Bar Kochba saw suffer as he battled for the glory of Israel? In light of what we have witnessed in Gush Katif, could we not have some similar feelings?
Maybe there are those among us who feel that despite Hashem’s lack of intervention, we will continue. Whether He joins us or not, we will continue to build. It seems entirely possible to me that this may have been the ‘falling out’ of Bar Kochba and the ‘Bar Kochba’s’ to follow.
Was Rabbi Akiva’s praising Hashem while he was tortured to death, the antidote for this tarnished faith? Can one love Hashem even as He destroys everything you believed in including what you thought was redemption? I suppose this is a question we can ask Avraham as well, as he saddled his donkey to destroy everything he lived for.
Certainly we must continue to build and to rebuild, and I suppose Hashem is still observing at a distance for some unknown reason. I’m only a reporter below speculating on things beyond my understanding. But today Bar Kochba seems a little more human to me than before.
The State of Judea (Sept 9, 2005)
Katrina and the Jewish Problem
There is a concept that when the Nation of Israel accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai, they effectively re-accepted the mission of Adam, to rule the Earth below while serving G-d above. It was with this concept in mind that a religious friend of mine remarked to me during the Tzunami disaster that he felt somehow that Israel was responsible.
The idea is that if Adam ruled the world below, then all the forces of nature were also subservient to him. His decisions, for good or for bad, would affect the harmony and balance of the world that was created to serve him. This concept is further reflected in the morning Shma which is read by observant Jews daily as they bind themselves in Tefillin.
‘And it will come to pass that if you continually hearken to My commandments ….I will provide rain for your land in its proper time’. Followed by the warning:
‘Beware lest your heart be seduced and you turn astray and serve gods of others and bow to them. Then the wrath of Hashem will blaze against you...’
If Israel is the foundation and rock that sustains the world, along with its stiff necked priests, then when that rock is under attack and shaken up, the effects reverberate around the world. It was no surprise to me therefore when a large section of the foundation stone of Earth was uprooted, that it would have not only national and spiritual side effects but also natural and earthly ones.
Many people I have spoken to seem to feel that what happened in Gush Katif was the result of American pressure (personally I think were old enough to make our own decisions). But regardless, it seems that if this is so, then America is being punished by a natural disaster that may be rooted in a kabalistic way, by the by our own self-imposed disasters.
It is strange to see a huge city, thousands of times bigger than Gush Katif being forcibly evacuated against the will of its settlers. Didn’t we just see pictures of policemen forcibly taking people from their homes in Gush Katif and Homesh because it was ‘unsafe’ for them to stay there? The timing was interesting. On the day the cadavers of Gush Katif arrived to be re-buried in Jerusalem, death blew into New Orleans to bury it under a flood.
Maybe it’s all just coincidence. Maybe there is no connection. Regardless, I am certain that after some time New Orleans will be rebuilt and re-settled again. Gush Katif was settled twice already, before 1948 and after 1967. Certainly if New Orleans, a city that celebrates the annual ‘Decadence Parade’ can be re-built, than all the more so will Gush Katif be re-built one day soon, after the flood, in the State of Judea.
State of Judea(Oct 24, 2005)
The Editor requested an article
Even Though…
Even though I am still mad at our Nation of slaves that cannot refuse orders and taskmasters that are compelled to give them. Even though the only ‘free’ people in this Nation are now homeless, in jail or persecuted. Even though a self inflicted Hurricane came and erased huge Jewish communities as if they never had been there for 25 years.
Even though the sound of children playing in the street has been replaced by the sound of jackals howling from the ruins. Even though all that is left of hundreds of the finest and most loyal communities is an orange ribbon I wear on my knapsack. Even though I had expected Hashem to notice the sons correcting the sins of their fathers as they trekked through the night with full faith in their hearts. Even though there was no miracle.
Even though we have the sensitivity of a donkey, as we stare blankly and say life goes on. Even though we are like the generation of Mitzrayim that is too weary with our labor. Even though we have a courageous army that trembles in front of a puny Goliath. Even though we allow ourselves to be bullied and our leaders represent our weak hearts. Even though I cannot understand why such a strong people is such a frightened people.
Even though I cannot understand why we divorce such a beautiful wife and are obsessed over such an ugly one. Even though I said to myself I would not write any more about such idiots. Even though the Arabs run wildly now through Tel Aviv on Ramadan, without any fear insulting and cursing their self-defeated enemies. Even though many Jews no longer go to their synagogue in Jaffo for fear of being mugged by Arab gangs.
Even though the ‘capo’ Jews of the past, who willingly beat their brothers for an extra piece of bread, still exist in the ghetto of Israel today, and are still willing. Even though before the Holocaust the rabbis who said don’t go to Israel were wrong. Even though the rabbis that said nothing would happen to Gush Katif were wrong. Even though my belief that this was the beginning of the redemption was also wrong.
Even though I still believe with perfect faith that Moshiach will come, not today or tomorrow, but probably after we feel suffering in our own living rooms, which may be the day after tomorrow. Even though I am still mad at the director for breaking His own rules and not explaining Himself. Even though in the end I must accept that this was His decision.
Even though I have many questions about the Divine. Even though I have no illusions about what His children are capable of. Even though I know that my disappointment comes from a tremendous love of G-d and His nation and His Land. Even though I have every right to be mad and upset..still…How can I be angry when a little girl shoves a plate of apples and honey in front of me and I look up to see an army of school children offering similar plates to commuters at the Central bus station? How can I be mad when a Chassid finds me walking the streets at midnight and then prepares a beautiful meal in his succah for me?
How can I get mad at the magical synchronicity that still exists within this chaos? How can I get mad at the picture of a full moon over Mount Meron? During all this time, did I even think for a second of leaving Israel who I married for better or worse? Did I ever wish to hear a foreign bird singing in my window? Is there another Nation I would trade for my dysfunctional family?
How could I remain mad at bitter opponents who still greet each other with hugs? How can I get mad when I hear 10.000 Cohanim blessing me, or dancing together on Shabbat? How can I remain upset when so many others feel the same way as I do, from bus drivers to businessmen who still call each other ‘Ach Sheli’ – ‘My brother’.
Ill get over it and Hashem will get over it, and the Nation will get over it, and something will grow from these wounds. As the storm clouds approach, one can still see the light at the other end. The light comes from ones choices, to be free or to be a link in the chain of indifference. To serve the one above though He remains hidden, or to serve the State that already knows everything about you. For now I suppose we must be like Avraham who woke up early to sacrifice his son, without understanding why suddenly everything is upside down. You can call this a spark from Israel, a dull glitter, or a raging fire, they are all true.
State of Judea (Nov5, 2005)
Formerly Sparks From Israel
Nachamu, Nachamu
This article is dedicated to those who have felt disappointed and disillusioned by the events of this summer. The after shock of those who had expected victory has left its mark. Many who have felt secure now feel that their own future is uncertain. A dangerous precedent has been set encouraging more terror, more retreat, and more betrayal. But there is yet hope.
Personally this is not the first time that I have felt this kind of devastation. It happened once before with a leader that many felt was on the verge of bringing the redemption ‘gloriously’. One who appeared more like a prophet than a politician, who's gaining popularity threatened to overturn the feudal establishment of Israel and so the barons banned him and later he was assassinated. His name was Rabbi Meir Kahane.
A similar devastation happened eleven years later, when his son who continued his work, was also assasinated. In those days I had expected terrible tragedy to follow and it did, but not in the way I had thought. Meir Kahane was murdered a block away from the twin towers and I expected the ground to shake. The ground did shake, but it was not until eleven years later, in the year his son was assassinated; a year that became famous as the year of September 11th.
Just like the twin towers, the two giants who once stood were no more. The two giants who warned of such possible events were foolishly silenced, as if silencing the messenger would stop the storm from arriving. The storm arrived and it took the twin towers down and thousands of other victims of Arab terror since, whose untimely deaths could have been prevented.
Who would fight the battle now, I thought? The great generals are no more, only a small handful of the broken hearted faithful. Who had the talent and courage to lead and to speak so eloquently? The future looked terribly bleak and redemption was only a story book idea in the far away future.
These days, with the events of the summer, I remember that devastation. But on Simchat Torah I found comfort. A thought I had in the back of my mind was confirmed. I sat at the table of a Chassid in the old city who had been friends with the Rabbi I never met, that great visionary whose last words emanated from ground zero. We spoke about Rabbi Kahane and his son Binyamin Kahane.
The Chassid knew both of them well. He was now a principle of a school in Yesha and he told me that in every child’s school book is a picture of Rabbi Kahane. ‘The generation before used to speak about Rav Cook’, he said, ‘but today it’s only Kahane’. The principle looked me in the eye and told me that these children never heard Rav Kahane speak; they were born long after he died, but if it wasn’t for Rav Kahane, the whole orange movement would not exist. The ideological leader of the protest movement in Israel is Rabbi Kahane. He was the first to protest for Russian Jews and from his almost single handed efforts many thousands were freed from Russia. His words gave me comfort.
A Tzadik lives long after his years. This Rosh Hoshanna I heard there were 2 million people in Uman celebrating at the grave of Rabbi Nachman. Two hundred years after the death of a tzaddik his popularity has become greater than anyone would have ever have imagined. It has only been 15 years since Meir Kahane was taken from us and the country was almost overturned by children; children who were motivated to protest from his example. Thousands went out into the street every day, to demonstrate their love and concern, to expose the fraudulent, and to re-establish Torah justice and patriotism.
As Leonard Cohen writes in one of his songs ‘I have seen the future and its murder’. Yes, it is, there are dark days ahead, but the forces of good will win, just as they did in ‘48 and ’67. The next war, however, will begin from within the heart of every Jew and will overturn that which oppresses us more than any gentile from without. The self-hate within our hearts will be expelled along with every other enemy that seeks our demise.
Gush Katif is only the beginning, and the government trembled. A new Jewish heart is being formed from the ashes of September 11th, to the dust of Gush Katif. Although we saw glimpses of this potential when Rabbi Kahane was alive, and his son, and the massive Orange protest this summer, Hashem has His own timetable. I have been disappointed each time I saw glory trampled and beaten and buried because I thought it would change the world, but it didn’t-or maybe it did. Maybe the seeds that were buried are still growing and are beginning to bear their fruit.
Those who have been waiting in their seats are upset because they came on schedule but the show hasn’t begun on time. Some say it is because the manager is trying to accommodate the thousands of late comers and make sure they get a seat too. Maybe this is the reason for the delay. Maybe this is a reason to find comfort. There are many sparks in Israel but our life blood beats from Judea and soon the two will be united. Soon the theatre will be full. May we all live to see the curtain opening and none of us should lose their seat. Shabbat Shalom
Sparks From Israel II(Dec 12, 2005)
After the Plague
A chapter in my life has now closed and a new one begun. The starry eyed oleh chadash who wrote about the Holiness of Israel from surfers to Satmars is no longer starry eyed. Yes, I am embarrassed and ashamed, and disgusted, because I had expected more of this Nation and I am disappointed because I was waiting for a miracle that never happened. What good is left from a redemption process that seems to have been reversed? What can one harvest from fields that were burned down by their owners? I have no answers.
The painful pictures of our own Jewish thugs pulling the holiest Jews of Zion out of the homes they had built and paid for with their blood was too devastating for me to watch. The name tags on the soldiers were removed so that their violence could not be reported, but one could see a prosecuting angel on the shoulders of each one writing his and her name down in an accounting book in Heaven.
There was another counting taking place as well. In the Torah, there are a number of places that Hashem counts His people after a plague. We are told this is because each Israelite is precious to Hashem, especially after He has suffered a loss. Well, in retrospect, over this summer, we certainly have counted many who tied the orange ribbon to their bags and cars and street signs. Judging from the predominance of this color in every city of Israel it is clear that what happened in the Gush did not reflect the Nation. Despite this tragedy, an accounting of goodness has also been registered above.
Not only is this a new chapter in my life, but this is a new chapter in the Land of Israel. Just as precedence’s were broken from the sacred cow of democracy, revealing it’s true face of tyranny, precedence’s among the Nation were also revealed. Hundreds walked for many hours under the cover of darkness, eluding police to arrive at the Gush. Millions crowded the squares and Kotel for demonstrations never before seen. Like the Israelites of old, who walked into a desert with nothing but faith, the generation of Moshiach is coming of age.
The Jewish spirit has been revived. The ‘Jewish’ soul of Israel is emerging at the very moment that the forces of assimilation seek to extinguish it forever. Yes it’s a black day in Israel, and I suppose Hashem was also in mourning. Maybe He is saving the big miracle for another day. Maybe the ranks of goodness must swell even more. Maybe the tyranny must be let loose for us to recognize its face and beg forgiveness for our neglecting its rise to anarchy. I have no answers.
I just wanted to point out that there is more good than bad, and now is a time when good people must rise to the occasion and be counted.
Sparks from Israel (May4, 2006)
Here’s to Jewish Heroes
It was a great sign for all to see. Hanan Dayan, a staff seargent being decorated on Yom Haatzmaut for outstanding service refusing to shake the hands of the Ramat Kal. Of all the heroic actions Hanan has participated in, this one was most glorified and most significant. It was the glory of a true Jewish soldier serving a higher authority; a Jewish soldier that cannot betray his brother at any price and cannot shake the hand of the architect or foreman of evil.
This was a fine example of a true Jew, and a true descendent of the line of David, to which his family claims a connection to. His action gave me hope that there is still a glimmer of fire that burns in the bosom of this Nation. May his fire increase, and may it light up the eyes of this Nation sick with apathy and self indulgence. May those who seek darkness depart into the night and not delay the dawn from approaching. May those who simply ride on the bandwagon of the most popular parties be convinced that goodness is better than selfishness and strength is better than weakness. Protecting ones honor better than accepting defilement.
Those who even call it a mitzvah to denigrate oneself, as they spiral into nothingness and grasp at radical philosophies of self-loathing. Let they without backbones, who follow the majority that do terrible things, let them stumble into the notion that the right way has become the easiest and accepted path. Let it be that those who kindle the sparks and blow on the coals, ignite the half-dead and hypnotized into blindly following a new trend of Jewish love and love of the Land. Let fools stumble on the truth for a change and usher in a new world initiated by heroes who refuse to accept the unacceptable. Let the lambs be led after so many years of wandering by a true shepherd who cares for his flock.
Sparks From Israel(Oct 1, 2006)
For Better or Worse
I told myself I would never write another Sparks from Israel. But tonight I am absolutely drunk, and it’s the 5th night of Chanuka and so I will tell you about the holiness of our nation, even though I still think we are a bunch of slaves and taskmasters.
At 3 am, after drinking all night in one club, I went to another club that was still packed, and lo and behold at 3 a.m. two men with black hats and beards had the DJ stop the music, as they lit the Chanuka candles, and the crowd sang along with the Chanuka prayers. I thought I was hallucinating, but no, this is Israel.
At 4 a.m. as I left that bar and staggered home, I stopped into the chips store, and asked the cook, what wisdom he could impart on the 5th night of Chanuka. He told me, that he always liked the passage regarding Yacov, that he worked for 7 years for Rachel but to him it seemed like only days. I kissed the Rav of the chips, and blessed him that his light should increase in the world.
Who would think the man who fries potatoes in oil all night would think of such passages of Torah. Such holy people, even though they worship America, and New York, and all that is there. Still in the middle of their parties and drunken stupors, they can light Chanuka candles and give divreh Torah.
There is no other people like the Nation of Israel, and in my mind, I don’t even have a choice to leave here. There is nothing like this land and I have absolutely no desire for a different land. Even if we lack vision and faith, still this is a land like no other. These are the sons and daughters of prophets, and the sons and daughters of slaves. There is absolutely no other choice in my mind. Better an Israel that is infected with foolishness, than an exile that dreams of a perfect Israel that will never be.
Sparks From Israel (June 27, 2006)
The Promenade
There is a tiny shul tucked away inside the Promenade where artisans, shmata traders and tourists walk by. Tonight on my way to my usual afternoon prayer I thought to bring along my new Talmud book. There is a reward for coming to shul, a reward for praying in shul, and a reward for learning in a shul. I thought to myself, even if I don’t find time to learn while the rabbi’s gather the minyan, at least I will begin a good new habit of bringing a book with the intent of learning. I recently saw a man who had not been in a shul for a long time, wave his hand across the book section and kiss his hand, as if to say ‘I love these books, and I wish I had time to study them, let it be that even though I don’t have the time, that their wisdom should somehow enter into me’. I have felt like that too. Judaism has many levels to it, learning is one of them, and service is another. I have grown accustomed to do at least the minimum of trying to make the afternoon minyan each day but of course there is no end to calling of a Jew. Today was one of those days where one is reminded that a Jew is called upon to interrupt his day to participate in a group activity that involves at least nine other Jews. To me this seems like the source of my religion. Even though prayer is a meditational practice that gives one a great spiritual satisfaction, there is pre-requisite practice that one must do before this meditation; gather the minyan. To me the minyan represents the nucleus of our religion which is not really a religion; it is a National Service that begins at home. It is not a lifestyle choice that you chose to do at your leisure, but a National Service that interrupts your quiet day to fulfill an obligation whose end result brings you much more than peace, it brings fulfillment. A person who’s peace and communion is dependant on gathering nine other souls, is a person who has the good fortune of seeing the divine presence each day. To understand this idea in a more practical sense let me return to the Promenade.
Today, as I arrived at the shul and saw a small handful of people and the sun rapidly setting, I realized that there would not be any time for study, and if I didn’t jump into action, there may not even be a minyan. I stood outside and asked passersby who shook their heads. Above the promenade on a second floor balcony were a group of young men who sat there drinking beer and whistling to the women on the street, inviting them up to party with them. As the day grew darker, and the usual minyan men where nowhere to be found, I yelled up to the party boys to come help us with a minyan. They laughed and said, ok. At the last second the minyan came together with more than ten men, and the young men in Bermuda shorts and bare feet prayed with fervor. The prayer books and the prayers were not foreign to these men for they were Jews too, and it was part of their National Service to interrupt their party and assist a minyan. The feeling of being needed and obligated to help out is a necessary pre-requisite that easily opens the gates of heaven where collectively each ones meditation is received. Although this is a wayward nation always on the brink of destruction, it is this improvised symmetry of spiritual needs and obligations that disturbs our day and rectifies many evil decrees. These actions endear us to our Father in Heaven, who in turn disturbs Himself and goes out of His way to protect us and annul thousands of evil decrees against us, so that we can have a peaceful Shabbat.
Sparks From Israel (May 28,2005)
My Personal Pesach
Often people ask me why I chose to come to Israel, especially at this time. I say I didn’t come I was ‘taken’.
There are times in ones life when one sees G-d’s hand in history and can’t ignore it. Take September 11th for example. On that day we all knew the world was a different place. The events of the world and the events in one’s personal life are not disconnected; they are all taken into account by the Creator who fashioned each of us and placed us in this moment. We are given the free will to recognize the moments, to hear Hashem’s whispers, and to trust our intuition.
A year after the events of September 11th and the series of plagues that followed and continue to afflict every place we consider to be ‘safe havens’, I was fortunate enough to recognize the road of my personal exodus and follow it.
In the siddur there are two expressions for G-d’s hand of redemption. ‘Yad chazaka’ and ‘Be Chozek Yad’. A year before my exodus I remember asking what the significance of these two expressions were, but the only answer I found was one is masculine and one is feminine. After living through my own personal exodus, I now have discovered a meaning behind these two expressions.
There were three factors that contributed into my hurried departure. The events of our times, a love interest in Israel, and a free trip that was offered to me. I arrived like a king during chol hamoed Pesach, staying in one of the best hotels and tasting the finest fruits of the Land of Israel. With hardly any money in my pocket I decided to extend my trip and found a yeshiva that gave me free lodging. I wanted to see if I could survive in Israel and continue to do the same business as I did in chutz l’aretz. I realized right away, that not only could I survive, I could do even better. Israel is a modern country, yet is thirsty for new things all the time; a perfect place for those with an entrepenurial spirit.
After my first week in Israel, I realized that the ‘love interest’ wasn’t for me, but there was a greater love that surpassed all previous romances; the love of the Land of Israel. From each perspective, as a king, as a pauper, with romance or without there is always a feeling of satisfaction each day and fulfillment. I realized it was the hand of Hashem that had lured me out and I was ‘taken’, for I followed. After a months time I returned to fill out the Aliyah papers, get rid of everything I didn’t really need, and then I returned. This time it was ‘I’ who made the decision, and instead of leaving secretly, I left with certainty and with a trust that comes from experience.
In every way, I see the story of Pesach as ‘my’ story. Just as the Jewish people celebrate the ‘times’ of Pesach when we were taken and the ‘times’ of Simchat Torah when we willingly accepted our marriage vows, I too celebrate two dates. The day I was taken with a feminine ‘Yad Chazaka’ and the day I left with a masculine ‘Be Chozek Yad’.
This will be the first year that I will do Birkat Hailanim, the blessing on two fruit trees during the month of Nissan. I see now the significance of Pesach and blossoming of trees that is short lived like the fragrance of inspiration. It’s a season that blooms without fail; a season that arrives whether we are ready or not. Just as Shabbat arrives with it’s motto ‘ stop the world of action and reflect’ Pesach arrives and ‘blooms’. We must (as my brother once so aptly put) ‘grow or die’.
There are times in all of our lives that the doors of exodus seem clearly open but the flame inside flickers as the winds of doubt find their opening. Once I stood frozen as a giant wave crashed down on me. My experienced friend and laughed and advised me not to be scared of how big the wave is. ‘Just jump into the wave and go under it and you will come out on the other side. He was right. I hope Pesach becomes a personal experience for all of you as well. Take the plunge. Chag somayach. (Pesach 2004)
Sparks From Israel (Aug7,2005)
Obstacles to Peace
Many of my closest friends are ‘obstacles to peace’. They weren’t born that way, they just happened to move into a new apartment on the other side of an imaginary line which made them an ‘obstacle to peace’. There are hundreds of small settlements and towns that dot the country side and from a travelers perspective one cannot tell which one of these beautifully designed neighborhoods are filled with peaceful citizens or ‘obstacles to peace’.
I suppose one way you can tell is when you notice 55,000 soldiers and hired goons waiting to evict you or beat you for non-compliance. I suppose sometimes only brute force and violence shocks one into the realization that the last 25 years of building bright horizons and raising well adjusted patriotic families was a crime that finally caught up with them.
The Times They Are A Changing
There is a protest movement going on in Israel, the old revolutionaries are now the establishment, and have no answers for the troubled times we live in. While many of their children took cues from their parents and exchanged whatever was left of tradition and ideology for the gods of materialism and moral relativism, another generation born of more traditional parents has begun a new revolution that is growing every day.
The Nation is being overturned in a way that America was overturned in the 60’s, but not for drugs, orgies, and pacifism. This revolution is based on brotherhood, idealism, and the struggle for justice. Their love is felt on every street corner where they hand out orange ribbons from the Temple Mount to Tel Aviv. One can see the light in their eyes reaching out to their brothers and succeeding in winning the hearts of many, especially the young.
As they stand in the Gush, face to face, a fence separating soldiers and protesters, they speak to each other, for after all they are brothers. Brothers engaged in enforcing evil decrees stand opposite other soldiers who are engaged in defending their homes and the Land that they love; a Land they both have sacrificed for. The soldiers talk to each other between the holes of the wire fence and they pray together from both sides. The Final Revolution has arrived and it has everyone fighting inside of themselves between all the grey areas we thought were black and white.
It only takes a small light to enter a large dark room for it to be enlightened. History has always been written by these lights, and the indifferent masses are simply shaped by the changing tides. Today the light is more refined, and the masses are not as dense as they used to be. It’s a good time to be living in, for here ‘The Times They Are a Changin’, very rapidly.
Sparks From Israel(Aug 12,2005)
The Other Side
All across the country one sees determined young people standing at busy street corners handing out orange ribbons. These kids who would normally be spending their summer vacation at the beach and traveling with their friends, have done something different this summer – they have made a revolution.
Even the threat of prison has not deterred thousands of young people from taking to the streets to protest on a regular basis throughout the summer. Recently public outcry forced the ‘democratic’ state to release three girls ages 14-16 after being in jail for forty days for their crime of civil disobedience.
Now there is a different color ribbon – the blue ribbon. This ribbon is worn by the side of those who support the apparently ‘necessary’ expelling of their brethren from Gush Katif. Although one sees predominately orange ribbons, even in Tel Aviv, I have seen the blue ribbon on a number of cars as well and sometimes blue and orange together.
There is one thing, however, I have not seen. I have yet to see a youngster, or anyone of any age, standing on a street corner handing out blue ribbons. Despite all the money and government support on the ‘blue’ side, I have yet to see one protester out on the street fighting for their cause. Why is that? Where are the determined youth of the ‘blue’ side? Why aren’t they spending their summer vacation opposing the opposition?
I suppose they are busy enjoying their summer and not thinking too much about ‘politics’ or ‘Zionism’. The revolution of Gush Katif is a revolution against apathy. Those who support the expulsion of their brethren are embarrassed to say so and believe it to be a necessary evil that will enable them to continue their private lives undisturbed. Strangely enough, they continue to be disturbed.
They are not so disturbed by future Arab missiles that they hadn’t thought of, or of throwing their ‘fanatic’ brothers out of their homes. They are disturbed by something else. They see the conviction, faith and love that their brothers demonstrate each day and I’m sure must ask themselves, where does this come from?
The ‘blue’ side is silent. They have no answers. When they speak it is in an apologetic tone, as they convince themselves that the rape and pillage will be done with sensitive hands. However, as a growing amount of their friends join the ranks of the underdog, they feel more ashamed and embarrassed of their position.
It is only a matter of time before Israel is transformed into the Nation that the world is waiting to see – the ‘Light unto Nations’. Although there are a few bulldozers who try to dowse this flame, the silent masses in between are slowly finding in themselves the courage to feel love and concern for their brothers despite the propaganda painting them as enemies of the state or messianic extremists.
Even those who lack any ideology or faith are attracted to these determined youth. People like to be on the winning side, and today it is clear that the future is being shaped by 14 year old girls who will be Directors of Foreign Affairs some day.
State of Judea(Sept 2, 2005)
Jewish Holidays
According to our traditions, after each holiday we begin to study the laws of the next holiday and prepare for it. After Purim, we begin to study the laws of Pesach, and after Pesach we begin to study the laws of Shavuot and so on. After Gush Katif, I suppose it’s appropriate to begin thinking about the return of Judea as Hertzel once dreamed of Israel. Hashem rewards everyone according to their merit and when their merit is spent, it is time for the greater merits of others.
The Midrash tells us that in Egypt there was a large group from the tribe of Ephraim that left a number of years before the Exodus. They were warned by the spiritual leadership not to go, because it was not yet time. They left for the glory of Israel and to escape their slavery, but unfortunately the whole multitude perished by the sword of the Philistines.
Although their cause was noble; the emancipation of a people, it was not for the cause and glory of the Torah which was waiting in the desert. This was their mistake. However, Hashem, the true judge, always rewards each of us for whatever good we do. When Yecheskel prophesied that the dead will come back to life he describes the scene of bones arising from the dead. The Midrash tells us that the bones Yecheskel refers to are none other than the bones of Ephraim.
These two midrashim seem to describe the merit of modern day Israel that had enough of persecution and rebuilt their Nation again, with or without God. With our own eyes we have witnessed the dead come back to life as Israel became a State again and what was once barren is now filled with gardens and cities and modern day life.
The merit has been repaid, and now it is a new time. The body has come back to life, and Hashem is now breathing a soul into it. It is a time of fixing the flaws and mistakes that invited a history of Holocausts upon us. The tribes of Israel were the first to be exiled, and (it appears) the first to return. The body is now intact but missing some vital organs. Today Judah is returning, and he is coming to fix the damage caused by an adolescent body and rejuvenate these vital organs.
With good examples the body will not become an addict and drive the soul out of him to his demise. With good examples the body will learn to be subservient to the heart and the soul and the brain and benefit from the proper balance. No doubt the brain must take over and battles may ensue, battles that most teenagers go through. But whatever way the course of events turn, the State of Judea is being formed and the subjects of this kingdom are arriving every day at Ben Gurion airport.
Bar Kochba
I never understood something about the story of Bar Kochba. Rabbi Akiva felt that he was the Moshiach, and they say he could have been the Moshiach but in the end it was taken away from him because he said we will win, ‘with or without’ Hashem’s help. The commentators describe this as arrogance, and because of this arrogance the would-be Moshiach was defeated.
Why are we left with this Midrash? If the Torah isn’t a history book, but a book of the present, then what are we to learn? Is it possible that this statement of Bar Kochba was left there like the achievements of champion athletes that remain forever, until someone comes to break his record? What did he achieve by this statement and what did he lose, and what do we learn from it?
Is it possible that what the rabbi’s call ‘arrogance’ was the result of a perfect ‘faith’ that had become tarnished through battle? Were there not many innocent and god fearing Jews that Bar Kochba saw suffer as he battled for the glory of Israel? In light of what we have witnessed in Gush Katif, could we not have some similar feelings?
Maybe there are those among us who feel that despite Hashem’s lack of intervention, we will continue. Whether He joins us or not, we will continue to build. It seems entirely possible to me that this may have been the ‘falling out’ of Bar Kochba and the ‘Bar Kochba’s’ to follow.
Was Rabbi Akiva’s praising Hashem while he was tortured to death, the antidote for this tarnished faith? Can one love Hashem even as He destroys everything you believed in including what you thought was redemption? I suppose this is a question we can ask Avraham as well, as he saddled his donkey to destroy everything he lived for.
Certainly we must continue to build and to rebuild, and I suppose Hashem is still observing at a distance for some unknown reason. I’m only a reporter below speculating on things beyond my understanding. But today Bar Kochba seems a little more human to me than before.
The State of Judea (Sept 9, 2005)
Katrina and the Jewish Problem
There is a concept that when the Nation of Israel accepted the Torah at Mount Sinai, they effectively re-accepted the mission of Adam, to rule the Earth below while serving G-d above. It was with this concept in mind that a religious friend of mine remarked to me during the Tzunami disaster that he felt somehow that Israel was responsible.
The idea is that if Adam ruled the world below, then all the forces of nature were also subservient to him. His decisions, for good or for bad, would affect the harmony and balance of the world that was created to serve him. This concept is further reflected in the morning Shma which is read by observant Jews daily as they bind themselves in Tefillin.
‘And it will come to pass that if you continually hearken to My commandments ….I will provide rain for your land in its proper time’. Followed by the warning:
‘Beware lest your heart be seduced and you turn astray and serve gods of others and bow to them. Then the wrath of Hashem will blaze against you...’
If Israel is the foundation and rock that sustains the world, along with its stiff necked priests, then when that rock is under attack and shaken up, the effects reverberate around the world. It was no surprise to me therefore when a large section of the foundation stone of Earth was uprooted, that it would have not only national and spiritual side effects but also natural and earthly ones.
Many people I have spoken to seem to feel that what happened in Gush Katif was the result of American pressure (personally I think were old enough to make our own decisions). But regardless, it seems that if this is so, then America is being punished by a natural disaster that may be rooted in a kabalistic way, by the by our own self-imposed disasters.
It is strange to see a huge city, thousands of times bigger than Gush Katif being forcibly evacuated against the will of its settlers. Didn’t we just see pictures of policemen forcibly taking people from their homes in Gush Katif and Homesh because it was ‘unsafe’ for them to stay there? The timing was interesting. On the day the cadavers of Gush Katif arrived to be re-buried in Jerusalem, death blew into New Orleans to bury it under a flood.
Maybe it’s all just coincidence. Maybe there is no connection. Regardless, I am certain that after some time New Orleans will be rebuilt and re-settled again. Gush Katif was settled twice already, before 1948 and after 1967. Certainly if New Orleans, a city that celebrates the annual ‘Decadence Parade’ can be re-built, than all the more so will Gush Katif be re-built one day soon, after the flood, in the State of Judea.
State of Judea(Oct 24, 2005)
The Editor requested an article
Even Though…
Even though I am still mad at our Nation of slaves that cannot refuse orders and taskmasters that are compelled to give them. Even though the only ‘free’ people in this Nation are now homeless, in jail or persecuted. Even though a self inflicted Hurricane came and erased huge Jewish communities as if they never had been there for 25 years.
Even though the sound of children playing in the street has been replaced by the sound of jackals howling from the ruins. Even though all that is left of hundreds of the finest and most loyal communities is an orange ribbon I wear on my knapsack. Even though I had expected Hashem to notice the sons correcting the sins of their fathers as they trekked through the night with full faith in their hearts. Even though there was no miracle.
Even though we have the sensitivity of a donkey, as we stare blankly and say life goes on. Even though we are like the generation of Mitzrayim that is too weary with our labor. Even though we have a courageous army that trembles in front of a puny Goliath. Even though we allow ourselves to be bullied and our leaders represent our weak hearts. Even though I cannot understand why such a strong people is such a frightened people.
Even though I cannot understand why we divorce such a beautiful wife and are obsessed over such an ugly one. Even though I said to myself I would not write any more about such idiots. Even though the Arabs run wildly now through Tel Aviv on Ramadan, without any fear insulting and cursing their self-defeated enemies. Even though many Jews no longer go to their synagogue in Jaffo for fear of being mugged by Arab gangs.
Even though the ‘capo’ Jews of the past, who willingly beat their brothers for an extra piece of bread, still exist in the ghetto of Israel today, and are still willing. Even though before the Holocaust the rabbis who said don’t go to Israel were wrong. Even though the rabbis that said nothing would happen to Gush Katif were wrong. Even though my belief that this was the beginning of the redemption was also wrong.
Even though I still believe with perfect faith that Moshiach will come, not today or tomorrow, but probably after we feel suffering in our own living rooms, which may be the day after tomorrow. Even though I am still mad at the director for breaking His own rules and not explaining Himself. Even though in the end I must accept that this was His decision.
Even though I have many questions about the Divine. Even though I have no illusions about what His children are capable of. Even though I know that my disappointment comes from a tremendous love of G-d and His nation and His Land. Even though I have every right to be mad and upset..still…How can I be angry when a little girl shoves a plate of apples and honey in front of me and I look up to see an army of school children offering similar plates to commuters at the Central bus station? How can I be mad when a Chassid finds me walking the streets at midnight and then prepares a beautiful meal in his succah for me?
How can I get mad at the magical synchronicity that still exists within this chaos? How can I get mad at the picture of a full moon over Mount Meron? During all this time, did I even think for a second of leaving Israel who I married for better or worse? Did I ever wish to hear a foreign bird singing in my window? Is there another Nation I would trade for my dysfunctional family?
How could I remain mad at bitter opponents who still greet each other with hugs? How can I get mad when I hear 10.000 Cohanim blessing me, or dancing together on Shabbat? How can I remain upset when so many others feel the same way as I do, from bus drivers to businessmen who still call each other ‘Ach Sheli’ – ‘My brother’.
Ill get over it and Hashem will get over it, and the Nation will get over it, and something will grow from these wounds. As the storm clouds approach, one can still see the light at the other end. The light comes from ones choices, to be free or to be a link in the chain of indifference. To serve the one above though He remains hidden, or to serve the State that already knows everything about you. For now I suppose we must be like Avraham who woke up early to sacrifice his son, without understanding why suddenly everything is upside down. You can call this a spark from Israel, a dull glitter, or a raging fire, they are all true.
State of Judea (Nov5, 2005)
Formerly Sparks From Israel
Nachamu, Nachamu
This article is dedicated to those who have felt disappointed and disillusioned by the events of this summer. The after shock of those who had expected victory has left its mark. Many who have felt secure now feel that their own future is uncertain. A dangerous precedent has been set encouraging more terror, more retreat, and more betrayal. But there is yet hope.
Personally this is not the first time that I have felt this kind of devastation. It happened once before with a leader that many felt was on the verge of bringing the redemption ‘gloriously’. One who appeared more like a prophet than a politician, who's gaining popularity threatened to overturn the feudal establishment of Israel and so the barons banned him and later he was assassinated. His name was Rabbi Meir Kahane.
A similar devastation happened eleven years later, when his son who continued his work, was also assasinated. In those days I had expected terrible tragedy to follow and it did, but not in the way I had thought. Meir Kahane was murdered a block away from the twin towers and I expected the ground to shake. The ground did shake, but it was not until eleven years later, in the year his son was assassinated; a year that became famous as the year of September 11th.
Just like the twin towers, the two giants who once stood were no more. The two giants who warned of such possible events were foolishly silenced, as if silencing the messenger would stop the storm from arriving. The storm arrived and it took the twin towers down and thousands of other victims of Arab terror since, whose untimely deaths could have been prevented.
Who would fight the battle now, I thought? The great generals are no more, only a small handful of the broken hearted faithful. Who had the talent and courage to lead and to speak so eloquently? The future looked terribly bleak and redemption was only a story book idea in the far away future.
These days, with the events of the summer, I remember that devastation. But on Simchat Torah I found comfort. A thought I had in the back of my mind was confirmed. I sat at the table of a Chassid in the old city who had been friends with the Rabbi I never met, that great visionary whose last words emanated from ground zero. We spoke about Rabbi Kahane and his son Binyamin Kahane.
The Chassid knew both of them well. He was now a principle of a school in Yesha and he told me that in every child’s school book is a picture of Rabbi Kahane. ‘The generation before used to speak about Rav Cook’, he said, ‘but today it’s only Kahane’. The principle looked me in the eye and told me that these children never heard Rav Kahane speak; they were born long after he died, but if it wasn’t for Rav Kahane, the whole orange movement would not exist. The ideological leader of the protest movement in Israel is Rabbi Kahane. He was the first to protest for Russian Jews and from his almost single handed efforts many thousands were freed from Russia. His words gave me comfort.
A Tzadik lives long after his years. This Rosh Hoshanna I heard there were 2 million people in Uman celebrating at the grave of Rabbi Nachman. Two hundred years after the death of a tzaddik his popularity has become greater than anyone would have ever have imagined. It has only been 15 years since Meir Kahane was taken from us and the country was almost overturned by children; children who were motivated to protest from his example. Thousands went out into the street every day, to demonstrate their love and concern, to expose the fraudulent, and to re-establish Torah justice and patriotism.
As Leonard Cohen writes in one of his songs ‘I have seen the future and its murder’. Yes, it is, there are dark days ahead, but the forces of good will win, just as they did in ‘48 and ’67. The next war, however, will begin from within the heart of every Jew and will overturn that which oppresses us more than any gentile from without. The self-hate within our hearts will be expelled along with every other enemy that seeks our demise.
Gush Katif is only the beginning, and the government trembled. A new Jewish heart is being formed from the ashes of September 11th, to the dust of Gush Katif. Although we saw glimpses of this potential when Rabbi Kahane was alive, and his son, and the massive Orange protest this summer, Hashem has His own timetable. I have been disappointed each time I saw glory trampled and beaten and buried because I thought it would change the world, but it didn’t-or maybe it did. Maybe the seeds that were buried are still growing and are beginning to bear their fruit.
Those who have been waiting in their seats are upset because they came on schedule but the show hasn’t begun on time. Some say it is because the manager is trying to accommodate the thousands of late comers and make sure they get a seat too. Maybe this is the reason for the delay. Maybe this is a reason to find comfort. There are many sparks in Israel but our life blood beats from Judea and soon the two will be united. Soon the theatre will be full. May we all live to see the curtain opening and none of us should lose their seat. Shabbat Shalom
Sparks From Israel II(Dec 12, 2005)
After the Plague
A chapter in my life has now closed and a new one begun. The starry eyed oleh chadash who wrote about the Holiness of Israel from surfers to Satmars is no longer starry eyed. Yes, I am embarrassed and ashamed, and disgusted, because I had expected more of this Nation and I am disappointed because I was waiting for a miracle that never happened. What good is left from a redemption process that seems to have been reversed? What can one harvest from fields that were burned down by their owners? I have no answers.
The painful pictures of our own Jewish thugs pulling the holiest Jews of Zion out of the homes they had built and paid for with their blood was too devastating for me to watch. The name tags on the soldiers were removed so that their violence could not be reported, but one could see a prosecuting angel on the shoulders of each one writing his and her name down in an accounting book in Heaven.
There was another counting taking place as well. In the Torah, there are a number of places that Hashem counts His people after a plague. We are told this is because each Israelite is precious to Hashem, especially after He has suffered a loss. Well, in retrospect, over this summer, we certainly have counted many who tied the orange ribbon to their bags and cars and street signs. Judging from the predominance of this color in every city of Israel it is clear that what happened in the Gush did not reflect the Nation. Despite this tragedy, an accounting of goodness has also been registered above.
Not only is this a new chapter in my life, but this is a new chapter in the Land of Israel. Just as precedence’s were broken from the sacred cow of democracy, revealing it’s true face of tyranny, precedence’s among the Nation were also revealed. Hundreds walked for many hours under the cover of darkness, eluding police to arrive at the Gush. Millions crowded the squares and Kotel for demonstrations never before seen. Like the Israelites of old, who walked into a desert with nothing but faith, the generation of Moshiach is coming of age.
The Jewish spirit has been revived. The ‘Jewish’ soul of Israel is emerging at the very moment that the forces of assimilation seek to extinguish it forever. Yes it’s a black day in Israel, and I suppose Hashem was also in mourning. Maybe He is saving the big miracle for another day. Maybe the ranks of goodness must swell even more. Maybe the tyranny must be let loose for us to recognize its face and beg forgiveness for our neglecting its rise to anarchy. I have no answers.
I just wanted to point out that there is more good than bad, and now is a time when good people must rise to the occasion and be counted.
Sparks from Israel (May4, 2006)
Here’s to Jewish Heroes
It was a great sign for all to see. Hanan Dayan, a staff seargent being decorated on Yom Haatzmaut for outstanding service refusing to shake the hands of the Ramat Kal. Of all the heroic actions Hanan has participated in, this one was most glorified and most significant. It was the glory of a true Jewish soldier serving a higher authority; a Jewish soldier that cannot betray his brother at any price and cannot shake the hand of the architect or foreman of evil.
This was a fine example of a true Jew, and a true descendent of the line of David, to which his family claims a connection to. His action gave me hope that there is still a glimmer of fire that burns in the bosom of this Nation. May his fire increase, and may it light up the eyes of this Nation sick with apathy and self indulgence. May those who seek darkness depart into the night and not delay the dawn from approaching. May those who simply ride on the bandwagon of the most popular parties be convinced that goodness is better than selfishness and strength is better than weakness. Protecting ones honor better than accepting defilement.
Those who even call it a mitzvah to denigrate oneself, as they spiral into nothingness and grasp at radical philosophies of self-loathing. Let they without backbones, who follow the majority that do terrible things, let them stumble into the notion that the right way has become the easiest and accepted path. Let it be that those who kindle the sparks and blow on the coals, ignite the half-dead and hypnotized into blindly following a new trend of Jewish love and love of the Land. Let fools stumble on the truth for a change and usher in a new world initiated by heroes who refuse to accept the unacceptable. Let the lambs be led after so many years of wandering by a true shepherd who cares for his flock.
Sparks From Israel(Oct 1, 2006)
For Better or Worse
I told myself I would never write another Sparks from Israel. But tonight I am absolutely drunk, and it’s the 5th night of Chanuka and so I will tell you about the holiness of our nation, even though I still think we are a bunch of slaves and taskmasters.
At 3 am, after drinking all night in one club, I went to another club that was still packed, and lo and behold at 3 a.m. two men with black hats and beards had the DJ stop the music, as they lit the Chanuka candles, and the crowd sang along with the Chanuka prayers. I thought I was hallucinating, but no, this is Israel.
At 4 a.m. as I left that bar and staggered home, I stopped into the chips store, and asked the cook, what wisdom he could impart on the 5th night of Chanuka. He told me, that he always liked the passage regarding Yacov, that he worked for 7 years for Rachel but to him it seemed like only days. I kissed the Rav of the chips, and blessed him that his light should increase in the world.
Who would think the man who fries potatoes in oil all night would think of such passages of Torah. Such holy people, even though they worship America, and New York, and all that is there. Still in the middle of their parties and drunken stupors, they can light Chanuka candles and give divreh Torah.
There is no other people like the Nation of Israel, and in my mind, I don’t even have a choice to leave here. There is nothing like this land and I have absolutely no desire for a different land. Even if we lack vision and faith, still this is a land like no other. These are the sons and daughters of prophets, and the sons and daughters of slaves. There is absolutely no other choice in my mind. Better an Israel that is infected with foolishness, than an exile that dreams of a perfect Israel that will never be.
Sparks From Israel (June 27, 2006)
The Promenade
There is a tiny shul tucked away inside the Promenade where artisans, shmata traders and tourists walk by. Tonight on my way to my usual afternoon prayer I thought to bring along my new Talmud book. There is a reward for coming to shul, a reward for praying in shul, and a reward for learning in a shul. I thought to myself, even if I don’t find time to learn while the rabbi’s gather the minyan, at least I will begin a good new habit of bringing a book with the intent of learning. I recently saw a man who had not been in a shul for a long time, wave his hand across the book section and kiss his hand, as if to say ‘I love these books, and I wish I had time to study them, let it be that even though I don’t have the time, that their wisdom should somehow enter into me’. I have felt like that too. Judaism has many levels to it, learning is one of them, and service is another. I have grown accustomed to do at least the minimum of trying to make the afternoon minyan each day but of course there is no end to calling of a Jew. Today was one of those days where one is reminded that a Jew is called upon to interrupt his day to participate in a group activity that involves at least nine other Jews. To me this seems like the source of my religion. Even though prayer is a meditational practice that gives one a great spiritual satisfaction, there is pre-requisite practice that one must do before this meditation; gather the minyan. To me the minyan represents the nucleus of our religion which is not really a religion; it is a National Service that begins at home. It is not a lifestyle choice that you chose to do at your leisure, but a National Service that interrupts your quiet day to fulfill an obligation whose end result brings you much more than peace, it brings fulfillment. A person who’s peace and communion is dependant on gathering nine other souls, is a person who has the good fortune of seeing the divine presence each day. To understand this idea in a more practical sense let me return to the Promenade.
Today, as I arrived at the shul and saw a small handful of people and the sun rapidly setting, I realized that there would not be any time for study, and if I didn’t jump into action, there may not even be a minyan. I stood outside and asked passersby who shook their heads. Above the promenade on a second floor balcony were a group of young men who sat there drinking beer and whistling to the women on the street, inviting them up to party with them. As the day grew darker, and the usual minyan men where nowhere to be found, I yelled up to the party boys to come help us with a minyan. They laughed and said, ok. At the last second the minyan came together with more than ten men, and the young men in Bermuda shorts and bare feet prayed with fervor. The prayer books and the prayers were not foreign to these men for they were Jews too, and it was part of their National Service to interrupt their party and assist a minyan. The feeling of being needed and obligated to help out is a necessary pre-requisite that easily opens the gates of heaven where collectively each ones meditation is received. Although this is a wayward nation always on the brink of destruction, it is this improvised symmetry of spiritual needs and obligations that disturbs our day and rectifies many evil decrees. These actions endear us to our Father in Heaven, who in turn disturbs Himself and goes out of His way to protect us and annul thousands of evil decrees against us, so that we can have a peaceful Shabbat.
