tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-215385972024-03-13T19:13:41.622+02:00Isramom~Feminist ~ Jewish ~ Orthodox ~ Zionist ~ Wife ~ Mother ~ GrandmotherRisa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.comBlogger217125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-80564872472323430592013-10-21T23:59:00.002+03:002013-10-22T00:07:02.252+03:00Teaching Jewish Girls in the Shtetl!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vWoRtrdwYpQbpl82oM7MjcTNkEYGAsvwE8zNfFuQUa8kz-wgBVDL7ApVbz_Z7KYKXqB_By-itIS28GsnJlWc5lGbFQxFmxHg3wCBj2ZgajiLA2yN7AQLBar_7vxLUMR_lJA6Gw/s1600/family+history0045.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5vWoRtrdwYpQbpl82oM7MjcTNkEYGAsvwE8zNfFuQUa8kz-wgBVDL7ApVbz_Z7KYKXqB_By-itIS28GsnJlWc5lGbFQxFmxHg3wCBj2ZgajiLA2yN7AQLBar_7vxLUMR_lJA6Gw/s1600/family+history0045.jpg" height="311" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Greiding, Ukraine c. 1900<br />Binyoumin Kreplach and the class of girls</td></tr>
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The girl, top row second from the left is my grandmother Rissel the Ruta (the readhead!) and this picture was taken in <a href="http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/horodok/" target="_blank">Gorodok/Horodok, Ukraine</a> where she was born around 1888. The teacher's name was Binyoumin Kreplach who gained this name having once expressed his yearning for yesterday's kreplach one Yom Kippur afternoon. Small town's don't easily let you live these things down. It seems this didn't spoil the shidduch because the little boy to the left of Mr. Kreplach is his son. <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rissel Schwartz<br />official ID photo</td></tr>
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My grandmother Rissel Schwartz left the shtetl for Odessa where she lived with cousins and studied in a Gymnasium which as I understand was a secondary school, like a high school. I guess she must have learned enough from Binyoumin to hold her own in the school. She was there during the revolution but immigrated along with her brother to the United States around 1922.<br />
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I would love to have asked her questions about her childhood and education but unfortunately she passed away a few months before I was born and I am named for her.<br />
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-66698633960195031352013-08-07T08:30:00.000+03:002013-08-07T08:42:42.729+03:00Aliya TodayIt's that time of year again.<a href="http://nbn.org.il/"> Nefesh B'Nefesh </a> has the Internet buzzing with live broadcasts of olim arriving early in the morning at Ben Gurion airport to the cheers of bleary eyed veterans who come there to meet them. Everyone is smiling and crying tears of joy.<br />
Around our virtual campfire (Facebook) folks who came here pre-NBN reminisce about what it was like 'before'. NBN has only been around for the last decade and has certainly revolutionized the immigration process. Many of the arrangements that took weeks of running around and filling out forms at different venues are now done at the airport or at central meeting places where the newbies are helped with opening bank accounts and signing up for health insurance, all of which make the process smoother, I'm sure.<br />
Deep down under it all, all of us who choose Israel as our home arrive with an uplifting feeling of pride in the country mixed with a certain fear that we and the country will not live up to our expectations. Like every relationship we will become more realistic as we go along. But those first impressions, those first heady days, those patting ourselves on the shoulder moments, those 'this is actually happening' feelings, they help us in our new role as immigrants.<br />
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My own first hours in Israel were just a few weeks after the Six Day War (which has become ancient history it seems). My most vivid memory is of going with my friends to Tel Aviv where just about every balcony had an Israeli flag hanging out. The flags were in honor of the liberation of Jerusalem and in celebration of the survival of the State of Israel when just a few weeks before many had not been certain that this Zionist experiment would live out its second decade. That euphoria is sort of like the laughter after a particularly scary roller coaster ride, you know the kind where you ride a loop that has you completely upside down and you doubt your sanity. When it's over your laughing from relief. Only this danger was real. And then it was miraculously over. (Or so we thought.)<br />
Thank you Facebook friends for that trip down memory lane and thank you NBN for bringing home so many more American Jews.<br />
And to our new citizens:<br />
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<b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">!</span></b><b><span style="color: blue; font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: x-large;">ברוכים הבאים</span></b></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-22600980238138803492012-10-24T02:07:00.002+02:002012-10-25T12:32:37.803+02:00The Road to the 19th Knesset<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Fellow Jerusalmite<a href="http://esseragaroth.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/haveil-havalim-382-dual-elections.html" target="_blank"> Esser Agorot </a>has posted <a href="http://esseragaroth.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/haveil-havalim-382-dual-elections.html" target="_blank">Haveil Havalim #382 - The Dual Elections Edition </a> in honor of the interest generated by the US elections and the Israel elections to be held Tuesday, January 22, 2013. <br />
In Israel voters go behind a partition and choose a piece of paper with the letters of the party they wish to vote for and put that in an official envelope which they were given. When all the votes are counted the seats in the Knesset are divided among the parties proportionally. If your party received 10% of the votes then you would get 12 Knesset seats. <br />
But how do you know which 12 party members get the seats? Each party submits a list of 120 names of would-be Knesset members. Then in the order they are on that list, they take seats in the Knesset so in our example names 1-12 on the list become Knesset members. If one of these 12 should happen to resign (or falls as in \bottles of beer on the wall') then the 13th name takes her place. So the order on the lists submitted to the election board really matters. <br />
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The Likud party has primaries and anyone who becomes a member of the party can vote (after 16 months membership). My favorite candidate on the Likud's list is<a href="http://www.knesset.gov.il/mk/eng/mk_eng.asp?mk_individual_id_t=825" target="_blank"> Tzipi Hotovely.</a> At age 33 she is finishing up her first term in the Knesset with an impressive record as the Chairwoman of the Knesset Committee on the Status of Women as well as some other important committee membership. She is firmly planted in the nationalist wing of the party of the current Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. She is an eloquent proponent of many important family issues as well an advocate for strengthening Jewish settlements all over the country. <br />
This week I answered a call to help out in her office as the primaries in the Likud are November 22. I got there and joined a group of young people in stuffing envelopes (!) with flyers extolling her achievements in the 18th Knesset to be sent out to Likud members who will be voting in the primaries. <br />
That brought back memories of the last time I stuffed envelopes in an election campaign. It was 1966 and Bobby Kennedy was running for Senator from New York. I went to a midtown New York City office with some friends and we were put to work stuffing envelopes with campaign material.<br />
It was in that same election that I spent a Friday afternoon with some high school friends accompanying the candidate from one department store parking lot to another supermarket parking lot where he took to the platform and made a short speech to the cheering crowd and shook hands with anyone willing to step up. Our 'job' was to go on the bus and arrive at each venue before Kennedy and hand out campaign material and lead the cheering when he showed up. We were a very enthusiastic group of teenagers and did our job with gusto. <br />
I was having a good time and thinking how nifty democracy is. Then someone from the campaign came on the bus and said that since we had done such a great job we were all invited to have a fish dinner with Kennedy his staff at a nearby restaurant. Remember it was 1966 and Kennedy was a Catholic and it was Friday. It would be very exciting and really something to remember. But it was Friday and I had to get home to light <a href="http://isramom.blogspot.co.il/2010/04/from-generation-to-generation.html" target="_blank">Shabbat candles with my mother</a>. It was a sunny breezy fall afternoon and I remember as if it were this morning the thought that went through my head a I got off the bus and headed in the opposite direction to my family and home. No matter how integrated I might feel, in the end I would always be an outsider. <div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-39349662233336321242012-10-18T01:23:00.003+02:002012-10-18T13:04:11.354+02:00Peripheral Vision <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This coin was found at the archaeological dig at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gamla" target="_blank">Gamla</a> in the Golan Heights, often called the Massada of the north. The coin says "For the redemption of Jerusalem the (H)oly". It is from the Great Revolt against the Romans in the first century CE. The coin is one of six found at Gamla and it is said that they were cast there in Gamla as well. Its message is not lost on us. Even though these Jews were carrying on their battle in far away Gamla the aim of the revolt and the purpose of the battle was not merely survival but 'the redemption of Jerusalem'. Jerusalem's survival requires Jewish settlement in the rest of Land of Israel.<br />
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I won't be giving away any secret if I tell you that Jerusalem is my favorite place in the world. I spent some very happy years here. David and I were married overlooking the Old City. It is with great joy and an enormous sense of gratitude to God that we make our home here once again. I am certain that those of us who live here and all of us who bear witness to the miracle of the State of Israel with the united city of Jerusalem as its capital are aware of the magnitude of that privilege. <br />
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Since arriving in Jerusalem I have been having a wonderful time discovering what's changed and rediscovering the familiar in the city I used to call home. There are so many possibilities for learning and cultural events and so many new things to see and do. I don't think I'll ever be bored again. And of course if your want a centrally located place to get together with friends from all over the country Jerusalem would be a great choice. That happened last week. A Facebook group of ladies who coffee klatch virtually, which my good friend <a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/face-2-facebook.html" target="_blank">Batya Medad</a> -- who has been my friend since before the Internet was even a gleam in Al Gore's eye -- added me to it. We got together for what we call F2F <span style="font-size: x-small;">(Face to Face)</span> right here in Jerusalem. It was a lovely day for connecting and connect we did. I think everyone knew someone in the group 'from real life' but no one knew everyone. The conversation flowed as we got to know each other and learned about the challenges and victories of life. <a href="http://voices-magazine.blogspot.co.il/" target="_blank">Sharon Doubler Katz</a>, described it nicely as did <a href="http://mishanehmakommishanehmazal.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/powerful-women.html" target="_blank">Rachel </a> and <a href="http://rutimizrachi.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/party-party-party.html" target="_blank">Ruti</a>.<br />
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Three of my new friends live in or near Netivot and they shared their feelings about living and raising children under fire. Yes, while I enjoy my new life here in Jerusalem my friends in Netivot are exposed to this day in and day out: Take fifteen seconds to watch the clip below. Go ahead, but first turn down the volume, especially if you're reading this at work or there are children asleep in your house.<br />
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Now read what my friend <a href="http://miriamswords.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/tzeva-adom-tzeva-adom.html" target="_blank">Miriam </a>says. And another gave her take on Batya's blog under the name <a href="http://miriamswords.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/tzeva-adom-tzeva-adom.html" target="_blank">Netivotgirl</a>. Another woman, mother of 7 children all under 15, told of children afraid to go to sleep and younger ones not sleeping through the night because of the booms. </div>
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It's important for all of us to keep in mind that while we are safe at night others in the south don't know if they will sleep through the night. It's important for us to keep these people in our thoughts and prayers. AND it's important to remind our leaders that this is not a situation we should get used to living with. </div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-88228362882846091092012-10-14T20:44:00.001+02:002012-10-15T06:58:35.120+02:00First Day of School <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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This morning I began my studies at <a href="http://www.matan.org.il/eng/default.asp">Matan</a>, an institute for Torah studies, founded by Rabbanit Malka Bina in 1988. Rabbanit Bina is one of the pioneers of learning and teaching Torah to women, breaking ground by learning Talmud and teaching women to learn. Matan has a rich and varied schedule for both full time serious advanced students as well as part time students like <a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.co.il/2012/10/never-too-late-to-learn.html">Batya </a>and me. There are dozens of classes given four days a week, both in English and Hebrew. </div>
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Today I went to two classes. The first class I chose is a class in Talmud. tractate 'Brachot'. I have attended classes in Talmud before which were informal and we worked as a group along with the teacher to understand the materiel. So, it isn't like I've never see a page before. But in this class we are expected to do a bit more on our own in pairs. I was fortunate to be sitting next a very nice woman and we were able to figure out the work. Then our teacher, a relatively young (everything is relative) man, Rav Yitzhak Bazak, pulled it all together and we had an interesting discussion which included some practical conclusions and left me with as we say in Hebrew 'a taste for more'. I am so fortunate to be able to do this!</div>
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The second class is a comparison of several of the prophets and an exploration of the types of prophecy in Judaism given by a really gifted teacher Yael Schlossberg. I heard several of her lectures in the two weeks in September when Matan held lectures by their scholars as well as others in preparation for the High Holidays and I was sold. She managed to create an intimate learning atmosphere, encourage participation and say everything she wanted in her allotted time in a packed auditorium with what I would estimate was about 150 women. </div>
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I am looking forward to a fruitful and interesting year of learning. </div>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: small; text-align: start;">Jerusalem is the center of the world!</span></td></tr>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-41563031088048520682012-10-13T23:20:00.005+02:002012-10-14T20:57:01.315+02:00Beginnings*A lot of water has flowed in the Jordan since the last time I wrote. That would give me an excuse to continue not writing, since there's no way I can make up for all the events I didn't post about. I am therefore faced with either giving up blogging altogether (continuing not to blog) or picking up and moving on. I have chosen to move on, take the bull by the horns, get back in the saddle, batten down the hatches and full speed ahead and go at it once again.<br />
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<span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;">*I would have written "New Beginnings" but David tells me that this is an oxymoron as all beginnings must be new and I don't like being called a moron, oxy or otherwise. </span></blockquote>
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<b>Two major bits of news you may have missed if you are not my friend in real life or on FaceBook: </b><br />
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<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVY1RNd79TJo9ipO863xdksTkimmtZo8nICN4vJJpnmB23u46tgHQWDD8y-m208MwqtqlMoSqgxMay_eOt4dUbD3i_5F5NmC6_enOViBU9WPj8bB97R_D6D1k7fT6Dml9qeOKKLQ/s1600/IMG_0057.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVY1RNd79TJo9ipO863xdksTkimmtZo8nICN4vJJpnmB23u46tgHQWDD8y-m208MwqtqlMoSqgxMay_eOt4dUbD3i_5F5NmC6_enOViBU9WPj8bB97R_D6D1k7fT6Dml9qeOKKLQ/s200/IMG_0057.jpg" width="200" /></a></ul>
The birth of Eitan Harari on 21 Iyyar 5772 in Sroka Hospital Be'er Sheva. Eytan is the long awaited brother of <a href="http://isramom.blogspot.co.il/2008/07/my-babys-baby.html">Tamar</a>. He is named in honor of my father <a href="http://isramom.blogspot.co.il/2011/05/honoring-my-fathers-memory.html">Abraham Rich</a>. The connection is from the Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur service where we ask God to listen to pleas of our father Abraham - the first to advocate for God's mercy on sinners - to intercede for us with the Almighty. The words in Hebrew: עוד יזכר לנו אהבת איתן אדוננו are translated (in my Birnbaum siddur) "O Lord, remember still the love of faithful Abraham". But in the Hebrew, Abraham is not named but instead called Eitan which can be translated as steadfast or strong or firm or sound or secure, you get the idea. It is, of course, our wish that our Eitan grow into the kind of man who will do justice to his namesakes, both my personal father and the father of our nation.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption"><b><span style="font-size: large;">We moved to Jerusalem!</span></b><br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-44840025209730104972012-02-17T01:36:00.000+02:002012-02-17T01:49:05.237+02:00Welcome Ye'elah Tzohar!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last Wednesday the country celebrated Tu B'shvat, the new year of the trees. The very next morning my daughter-in-law and son were in the nearest hospital delivering a new baby girl to the world. They called from the delivery room to tell us about this little (actually not so little - over 4 kilo - 9 pounds!) miracle which God sent. </div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QJP7_-2hK4Y/TzUfJV1J-bI/AAAAAAAAVbk/HXzEe9GvipQ/s1600/IMG229.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QJP7_-2hK4Y/TzUfJV1J-bI/AAAAAAAAVbk/HXzEe9GvipQ/s320/IMG229.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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Friday I went to visit the newbornYe'elah, barely a day old, in Sroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva.
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2QBQ79QIjiU/Tz2OayFEXXI/AAAAAAAAVgY/JxZH3_y8Y5A/s1600/image" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="220" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2QBQ79QIjiU/Tz2OayFEXXI/AAAAAAAAVgY/JxZH3_y8Y5A/s320/image" width="320" /></a></div>
I joined big sister <a href="http://isramom.blogspot.com/search?q=gali">Gali</a> now 3 years old and big brother <a href="http://isramom.blogspot.com/2010/05/milestones.html">Eytam </a> who will be 5 in a few weeks. Ye'elah, who had not yet been named slept peacefully through the visit. </div>
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rLwWK76UzDw/Tz2FXZX1_aI/AAAAAAAAVfw/ceq51x1HIVI/s1600/IMG232.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rLwWK76UzDw/Tz2FXZX1_aI/AAAAAAAAVfw/ceq51x1HIVI/s320/IMG232.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
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She was born the day after Tu B'Shvat, the new year of the trees, a time when the almond trees begin to bud. In Israel it has turned into a celebration of nature. </div>
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<a href="http://www.freeisraelphotos.com/pictures/13/95/free_israel_photos_extras_gazelle1_640.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://www.freeisraelphotos.com/pictures/13/95/free_israel_photos_extras_gazelle1_640.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
We wouldn't have been surprised if she were named for a tree or a fruit. Her name reflects the family's love of nature and alludes to the graceful Negev gazelle and is used poetically to allude to a graceful and gracious woman. </div>
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Now I have to add a picture to my banner. I will wait till I can get a shot of her with her eyes open</div>
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<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-46779573580369190732012-01-22T03:42:00.003+02:002012-01-22T08:08:16.249+02:00Haveil Havalim #344 New Banner EditionWell, there it is ~ my new banner! The kids grow so quickly, thank God, and the photos get outdated.<br />
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>Haveil Havalim is meant to be a roundup of posts from the Jewish blogsphere. I didn't get many submissions so what you will be seeing here are the ones who did send their links along with a few links that I consider worth taking a look at. </i></span><br />
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<a href="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/408256_2961940690356_1316757104_33248324_829989315_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/408256_2961940690356_1316757104_33248324_829989315_n.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday marks the first day of the Jewish month of Shevat and Batya reminds us:</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Women's Prayers at Tel Shiloh</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Rosh Chodesh Sh'vat</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Wednesday, January 25, 2011</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">8:30am</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Shiur Torah, Short Tour & Torah Lesson</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">You're welcome to join our </span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2905292794194.2154269.1316757104&type=3&saved#!/groups/45344511220/" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #1155cc; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #225fbc;">facebook page</span></a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px;">. Tel Shiloh is open to visitors daily. Tours can be arranged through the office. Email </span><a href="mailto:telshilo@gmail.com" style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #1155cc; font-size: 13px;" target="_blank"><span style="color: #225fbc;">telshilo@gmail.com</span></a><span style="background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.917969); color: #222222; font-size: 13px;"> or phone 02-994-4019</span> </span></div>
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Kosher Cooking Carnival for Sh'vat (which I read but don't contribute to) will be up at <a href="http://www.thisamericanbite.com/">This American Bite.</a> so if you do blog about your cooking or anything kosher food related you should be submitting.<br />
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The holiday we are all looking forward to this month is Tu B'shvat, the new year for trees. The Velveteen Rabbi shares some nicely put together <a href="http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2012/01/three-tu-bishvat-haggadot.html">Haggadot to use for Tu B'Shvat</a> worth looking at for ideas for your celebrations. </blockquote>
<span style="text-align: left;">Susan
Esther Barnes shared a thoughtful take on how and what we pray for over at </span><a href="http://tcjewfolk.com/praying/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TcJewfolk+%28TC+Jewfolk%29" style="text-align: left;">TCJewfolk.com</a><span style="text-align: left;">, she regularly blogs at </span><a href="http://kissamezuzah.blogspot.com/" style="text-align: left;">To Kiss a
Mezuzah</a><span style="text-align: left;"> and speaking of praying, Batya gave her opinion on </span><a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2012/01/talking-in-shul.html" style="text-align: left;">Talking in
Shul</a><span style="text-align: left;">. </span><br />
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David has been studying Talmud Yerushalmi and posted his siyyum of <a href="http://tzoharlateiva.blogspot.com/2011/12/hadran-masechet-bikkurim-seder-zeraim.html">Massechet Bikurim and Seder Z'raim</a> (OK, not this week but I am taking the liberty of pointing you there.) </div>
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Israel is on the cyber-maven's map as <a href="http://rjstreets.com/">The Real Jerusalem Streets</a> contrasted tweeting
about the nifty stuff that was going on at <a href="http://rjstreets.com/2012/01/17/tweets-from-jerusalem/">SMX Israel</a>
last week with some less pleasant stuff going on outside. Anthony Reich, writing at <a href="http://www.israelsituation.com/">The Israel Situation</a> addresses what he terms <a href="http://www.israelsituation.com/2012/01/racism-has-no-place-in-the-state-of-israel/">Racism </a>in Israel about challenges faced by immigrants from Ethiopia. We can only hope that next week brings good
news inside and outside. </blockquote>
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Just to show us how the world has become a global village <a href="http://rutimizrachi.blogspot.com/">Ruti Mizrachi</a> points us toward <a href="http://rutimizrachi.blogspot.com/2012/01/little-light-dispels-lot-of-darkness.html">the
intriguing blog</a> of a young woman who has left Islam, but cannot come
out in the open. Batya weighs in and <a href="http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2012/01/anti-government-israeli-media-campaign.html">defends our way of life in Israel</a>, recounts a story of <a href="http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2012/01/rami-levi-stores-not-just-cheap-chicken.html">meeting
famous people</a> and lets us in on a <a href="http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-not-chinese-to-chinese-or-greek-to.html">new
initiative involving China</a> and Israel. In more news from Israel <a href="http://ourshiputzim.blogspot.com/">Mrs. S</a> shows us that new immigrants eventually
acclimate and gives us <a href="http://ourshiputzim.blogspot.com/2012/01/how-to-tell-if-youve-finally-become.html">10
ways</a> to measure progress. </div>
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In these days of financial uncertainty both here in Israel and in the rest of the world I thought it would be interesting to point you toward this post <a href="http://www.thesimpledollar.com/2012/01/17/in-god-we-trust-your-money-and-a-higher-power/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+thesimpledollar+%28The+Simple+Dollar%29">In
God We Trust: Your Money and a Higher Power</a> written by an American (not Jewish, I believe agnostic) whose blog deals with money management. Rabbi Reuven Spolter (who did not submit but whose blog is a nice mix of Torah and commentary which I read often) shows us something about community expectations over at <a href="http://choppingwood.blogspot.com/2012/01/changing-communal-expectations.html">Chopping Wood</a> and Batya has something to tell us about <a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2012/01/three-bad-things-kappora.html">priorities
and possesions</a> as well. <span style="text-align: left;">More on the economic front from the Velveteen Rabbi as she </span><a href="http://velveteenrabbi.blogs.com/blog/2012/01/passing-the-virtual-hat-for-a-vandalized-shul.html" style="text-align: left;">'passes
the hat'</a><span style="text-align: left;"> for a vandalized shul.</span></blockquote>
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<span style="text-align: left;">On my own blog I have set out to define those words under the banner. Meantime I wrote a bit about <a href="http://isramom.blogspot.com/2012/01/feminism.html">Feminism</a>. In trying to define Jewish (all by itself, as Orthodox will have its own explanation) I was looking for a way to say that I feel akin to Jews of all stripes. There's a <a href="http://youtu.be/GJe0uqVGZJA">clip over at YouTube</a> that puts it very nicely. </span></div>
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For instructions on how to contribute to the next edition check out our<a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/207100179378968/#!/groups/283537885020583/">facebook Havel Havelim page</a>. HH comes out every Sunday on a different blog. Next week's Havel Havelim will be <a href="http://beneaththewings.blogspot.com/">Beneath the Wings</a>. If you don't have facebook, you can still contribute a link by sending it <a href="mailto:risa.tzohar@gmail.com">to me</a> and I'll pass it on to the hostess. </blockquote>
</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-36857718767057635882012-01-11T01:22:00.000+02:002012-01-11T01:22:22.563+02:00Feminism<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">What really defines me? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEkFoSixiL6PjmVhf7Au5beVJAZOG9dFBCiOb_PXIC8nFzjEinU2M062RR-k5L5U2AVHbEvdasq7ODUH5LAygzMJxnkatuYZgn67VJpZJFBIHcYJ8FwsMXIKQOFgT99grx3tl8g/s1600/IMG_0428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I'm working on a new banner since some of the photos in the present one are really outdated. (Some change faster than others!) I also noticed that the subtitle really needed to be updated. So I fixed that too. I chose seven words for what's really important in my life. </span></div>
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I put <b><i>feminism </i></b>first. </div>
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Little girls, growing girls, adolescent girls, women need to be able to view themselves positively and grow up expecting to be treated fairly in the workplace, in law, politics and leadership, in educational opportunities and in the workforce. We need to be comfortable with our femininity and our boundaries need to be respected. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">That means I'm <b>for</b>:</span> </div>
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<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpEDSiH4CYa-eFv1i552s3GbfRwu7NKUUx4uGEzo_Konar7jEwJByacLxn-4L-lFrwshpJGpVtMCI1ON4vwsvTI6zvXeFjzlDTDcWofCGtvYMYQVGw2R-4xbi8_DINUn7QAjUDg/s1600/IMG_0086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKpEDSiH4CYa-eFv1i552s3GbfRwu7NKUUx4uGEzo_Konar7jEwJByacLxn-4L-lFrwshpJGpVtMCI1ON4vwsvTI6zvXeFjzlDTDcWofCGtvYMYQVGw2R-4xbi8_DINUn7QAjUDg/s1600/IMG_0086.JPG" /></a>
<li>Equal pay for equal work and the corollary that women not be penalized or discriminated against because of child care issues. If we don't have a really good system of day care then we need to compensate for that with extended maternity/paternity leave or some other creative solution. Most of us can't be in two places at once. </li>
<li>Positive encouragement of women in leadership roles in business and government. I will not vote for a party which doesn't have women in prominent leadership roles. I want to see more women involved in running thing at all levels. </li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">And I am <b>against</b>: </span></div>
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<ul><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEkFoSixiL6PjmVhf7Au5beVJAZOG9dFBCiOb_PXIC8nFzjEinU2M062RR-k5L5U2AVHbEvdasq7ODUH5LAygzMJxnkatuYZgn67VJpZJFBIHcYJ8FwsMXIKQOFgT99grx3tl8g/s1600/IMG_0428.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmEkFoSixiL6PjmVhf7Au5beVJAZOG9dFBCiOb_PXIC8nFzjEinU2M062RR-k5L5U2AVHbEvdasq7ODUH5LAygzMJxnkatuYZgn67VJpZJFBIHcYJ8FwsMXIKQOFgT99grx3tl8g/s200/IMG_0428.JPG" width="200" /></a>
<li>Excluding women from any profession, employment or educational opportunity based on the fact they are women. I once inquired about a government sponsored course in computer maintenance and told by the clerk that he didn't think it was good for me since I might need to lift heavy computers. It didn't work out for other reasons. But <i>really ?</i></li>
<li><strike>Using</strike> Misusing women (and children) in advertising. I am annoyed by the pollution of our public spaces and thoroughfares with suggestive and sometimes downright offensive portrayal of women and children. It troubles me when I see women and girls dressing in what I can only describe as degrading. </li>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I'd like to see:</span></div>
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Women and men cooperating in making our world (for me that means starting right here in Israel) a safer and more stable place to live. One where women can be what and where they like and not be threatened or viewed as a threat. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I don't like to see: </span></div>
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Man-bashing. It's counterproductive and gives us all a bad name. </div>
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<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i>This post will (b'ezrat hashem, bli neder) be followed by others elaborating on the other defining words. </i></span></div>
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<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com4Rehovot, Israel31.892772 34.81127431.8388455 34.73231 31.9466985 34.890238tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-44081374246918507992012-01-10T22:43:00.001+02:002012-01-10T22:50:18.267+02:00What's new in the JBlogsphere?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBFt89wbM5LZ7BHq94V5oz5uRPlBr-AiESMP3ei7hbw3NFqdKM-el7itdbT9YcHroqjcYhj8hkZ1vtYP1gITUyrfAcIFdwKXy9x_rkEKX0TZyKG6bK6qv1EXzscqv6s3Ye1Jdvg/s1600/IMG_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEidBFt89wbM5LZ7BHq94V5oz5uRPlBr-AiESMP3ei7hbw3NFqdKM-el7itdbT9YcHroqjcYhj8hkZ1vtYP1gITUyrfAcIFdwKXy9x_rkEKX0TZyKG6bK6qv1EXzscqv6s3Ye1Jdvg/s320/IMG_0013.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/">Batya </a>has been busy doing lots of interesting things as well as hosting the newest <a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2012/01/squeezing-myself-back-into-hh-hosting.html" style="font-size: 16px; text-align: left;">Haveil Havalim</a> and </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2011/12/sorry-its-late-tevet-kosher-cooking.html">Kosher Cooking Carnival</a>. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.leoraw.com/blog/">Leora</a> posted <a href="http://www.leoraw.com/blog/2011/12/chanukah-photo-gallery/">J-Pix</a> a review of photos on our Jewish blogs. </span></b><br />
<b><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Yasher koach to both of you!</span></b><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>Haveil Havalim is now being organized and administered over at a <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/283537885020583/">Facebook</a>. So if you want to host that is the place to sign up. </b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><b>I will be hosting the January 22 edition so you can send me your links either in the comments here, by email or by messaging me on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/risa.tzohar">Facebook</a>. </b></span><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-7190279406055839002012-01-02T23:30:00.000+02:002012-01-03T21:10:33.464+02:00Post Box Rehovot<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Risa, coming to you from beautiful downtown Rehovot reporting on a historic "find". A genuine relic of a bygone age. You heard it here first. (maybe)</span></i> </div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIKpoiKMpgPR0nuiFxIiKej_M_BNAQmOuNXsbzRhDvHeibG3RZ7kjDP6y_jVCLM7M-QFwzCMyWG-B1UVPk-qlCJU5o6nWl6OHFrG3OB4xkH4rMf7i_5Kzww5JJvvmZPvdbsoTRQ/s1600/IMG010.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIKpoiKMpgPR0nuiFxIiKej_M_BNAQmOuNXsbzRhDvHeibG3RZ7kjDP6y_jVCLM7M-QFwzCMyWG-B1UVPk-qlCJU5o6nWl6OHFrG3OB4xkH4rMf7i_5Kzww5JJvvmZPvdbsoTRQ/s320/IMG010.jpg" /></a> </div>
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This post box is a reminder that from the end of the World War I until the declaration of the State of Israel on May 15, 1948, Palestine was governed by Great Britain as a mandate of the League of Nations. With 63 years of paint it might be just a bit difficult to see but there is a crown there above the words POST OFFICE.<br />
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<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com6Ya'akov 1-5, Rehovot, Israel31.896196245644386 34.81200456619262731.894511245644388 34.809537066192625 31.897881245644385 34.814472066192629tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-7577133316438035462012-01-01T08:00:00.000+02:002012-01-01T08:00:00.554+02:00Winter Friday in Rehovot<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frNpKovFacg/Tv-NmnwjSbI/AAAAAAAAVHM/6L84OPnHuOU/s1600/IMG191.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-frNpKovFacg/Tv-NmnwjSbI/AAAAAAAAVHM/6L84OPnHuOU/s320/IMG191.jpg" width="250" /></a><span style="text-align: left;">Nothing says Israel more than Friday noontime downtown. People are coming and going with their last minute purchases and there is a general feeling of rushing to get ready. By 3 PM (summer or winter) everything is closed or closing down. Religious and the not yet religious alike are winding things down in preparation for something that unites us all. Shabbat, <i>shabbos</i>, sabbath. This is Israel's day of rest. No matter how you define it. </span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fTS_aqJLr3c/Tv-NPMwkN9I/AAAAAAAAVHE/7hvCLOuSm5Y/s1600/IMG191.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="198" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-fTS_aqJLr3c/Tv-NPMwkN9I/AAAAAAAAVHE/7hvCLOuSm5Y/s200/IMG191.jpg" width="200" /></a>My daughter Racheli and I met for conversation, coffee and quiche on Friday. I met her on the busiest corner of downtown Rehovot. The one where these three men have been singing for many years. They brighten even the grayest of Fridays making getting ready for Shabbat special. </div>
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Racheli and I spent almost two hours at a lovely cafe and bakery a few blocks from this crosswalk where the proprietors had enlisted this gentlemen (dressed as I'm not so sure exactly what) to brighten our coffee date. </div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Have a great week everyone!</span></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2Hertsel 127, Rehovot, Israel31.893153837997943 34.81189727783203131.879672337997942 34.792156277832028 31.906635337997944 34.831638277832035tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-33812294925226815942011-11-04T06:15:00.000+02:002011-11-11T14:32:56.695+02:00Soldiers, Sons and Daughters<br />
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pmbgqB3ujNM/SKNMMBWkuJI/AAAAAAAAT-w/n91INcBnQMg/s1600/av+5768+058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="174" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pmbgqB3ujNM/SKNMMBWkuJI/AAAAAAAAT-w/n91INcBnQMg/s200/av+5768+058.jpg" width="200" /></a>It is painfully clear that Israel needs a strong well equipped army in order to defend the country against threats from our enemies. Some countries, like the United States have professional armies where service is a career choice and there is no draft. That's good and bad. Good because it's efficient for training motivated soldiers for service and bad because the burden (and consequences) of army service is not evenly distributed among the citizens.<br />
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In Israel we do it differently. Israel Defense Forces (Tzahal) is known affectionately as 'the army of the people'. That's because (in theory) there is universal draft here. By their 17th birthday everyone has received a letter from the army to report for preliminary examinations. Thus begins a series of physical, psychological and aptitude testing geared to finding the right people for the right jobs in this complex organization.<br />
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In addition to keeping us sage and secure the IDF figures heavily in educational, economic and social aspects of our country. Through programs like <a href="http://idfspokesperson.com/2011/11/02/30th-anniversary-of-the-center-for-promoting-special-populations/">MAKAM</a> which gives young people from problematic situations (drop-outs, disadvantaged, delinquents, immigrants having difficulty adapting) intensive help so that they can serve better and also build up their life skills and help them get further in life. There are special programs for integrating deaf soldiers as well as those with other handicaps into appropriate jobs in the army.<br />
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Mystical Paths, a charedi blogger describes his daughter's army service <a href="http://www.mpaths.com/2011/10/are-you-proud-of-me.html">here</a>. (definitely worth reading the whole post)<br />
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"Among general Israel you move from immigrant to real Israeli when you or your child enters the IDF. You’ve joined the ranks of those who have put their blood on the line to defend our common lives and community."</blockquote>
Lives depend on soldiers doing their jobs right. It is dangerous for us to treat soldiers like children. Of course on a personal level, they are our children. (Although I'm 62 my mother still expresses concern about my losing sleep when she realizes that it's sometimes midnight when I call her, so I know that you are always your mother's child.) But, in a world where adolescence is often prolonged well beyond the age of 18 these men and women are trusted with adult responsibilities and all of us have to take that seriously.<br />
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This week, <a href="http://www.jpost.com/NationalNews/Article.aspx?id=243738">Anat Kamm</a> was sentenced to four and a half years in jail for systematically stealing and passing on hundreds of classified documents to a journalist. Her father testified "in her favor" saying that his daughter had not intended to harm state security but was merely “foolish, stupid, idiotic and vapid.” <br />
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The court disagreed saying that it was difficult to believe that "the defendant, who has a high level of intelligence, did not understand the meaning, implications and danger of transferring huge amounts of data to a journalist for publication.” They also dismissed the notion that this was youthful folly pointing out that the security of our nation depends on the commitment of young people to the responsibility of military service which they take seriously and do well.<br />
Our soldiers bear this tremendous responsibility with honor and we owe it to them to treat them as responsible adults.<br />
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Here is another heartwarming project of the IDF: (Can't help but love this army!)<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/GBpVqqqqqR8" width="420"></iframe><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-40893891487322226132011-10-30T16:09:00.000+02:002011-10-30T21:26:00.675+02:00Our Children, Ourselves<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Chuck Hornstein hy"d</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Eli Solomon hy"d (left) </td></tr>
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Thirty-eight years ago our country was engaged in a war of survival and we came pretty close to not winning. You can not avoid the association of Yom Kippur with the war as it marks the beginning of the memorials for the fallen soldiers. Over two thousand soldiers were killed between Yom Kippur 1973 and the final cease fire agreement with the Syrians in May 1974. I lost two good friends in that war <a href="http://betarimna.blogspot.com/p/eli-michael-solomon.html" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">Eli Solomon</a> hy"d and <a href="http://betarimna.blogspot.com/p/charles-chuck-haim-hornstein.html">Chuck Hornstein</a> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">[I described my feelings about going to their memorials last year (<a href="http://isramom.blogspot.com/2010/09/after-yom-kippur-come-memorials.html">here</a>).] </span><br />
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Last night when I got around to seeing the news on the computer I was greeted by reports of renewed shelling in the south. I re-shared a link to <a href="http://qassamcount.com/" style="text-align: -webkit-auto;">qassamcount.com</a> because as they say "many media outlets do not report on these attacks". It often does seem like we hear and see more about Israel's retaliation than the rockets which provoke the reaction. Yesterday a<a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/149202#.Tq1U5PQge9l"> 56 year old father of four</a> and grandfather of five was killed in Ashkelon when one of those rockets hit his car on the road home. </div>
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I teared up when I saw the following immediate response from Debbie, Eli's younger daughter.<br />
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We want to believe that things will be better for our children and our grandchildren after them. We want to believe that we have fought the last war, that our children will not have to. Is it too much to want Eitan to celebrate his birthday with a cake, with his classmates in their school?<br />
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</div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2Israel31.046051 34.85161229.3051945 32.324756500000007 32.7869075 37.3784675tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-67011870711995106932011-10-16T06:27:00.000+02:002011-10-16T06:29:12.148+02:00Counting My Blessings<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<i><b>My granddaughter Tamar singing new year greetings learned in kindergarten</b></i></div>
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The month of Tishrei brings a whirlwind of celebration, soul searching, stock taking, resolution and renewal. I was privileged this year to be a guest at my children's homes this year for Rosh Hashana and Succot. It must be a mother's greatest pleasure to see her children raising their own children and passing on traditions. On Rosh Hashana this year I heard my eldest son lead the morning prayers. I heard him say words of Torah to his students both at home and at the Yeshiva where he teaches. The first night of Rosh Hashana at my other son's house included besides the usual symbols of the holiday a quiz aimed at the younger set which had us all laughing and applauding. Having seven holiday meals in three days gave us an opportunity to do justice to all three families of our married children in Mitzpe Ramon. </div>
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Succot brought another first opportunity. This time we went to the brand new settlement of Naveh in the western Negev. This is where my other son moved from the temporary settlement at <a href="http://isramom.blogspot.com/2010/04/making-deserts-bloom-and-other-miracles.html">Yated</a>. So not only was this the first time we visited him in his new home, it was also the first time he built his own sukka. After the holiday we were joined by my son from Mitzpe Ramon making it real family celebration. </div>
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This post can best be summed up by the traditional blessing thanking god for having kept us alive and sustaining us and bringing us to this season. </div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: large;">ברוך...שהחיינו וקיימנו לזמן הזה!</span></div>
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<br /></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-51226156117518055122011-10-04T15:20:00.000+02:002011-10-04T15:29:44.710+02:00Baruch Dayan Emet ~ Rabbi Hanan Porat<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">report here: </span> <a href="http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/148472#.TosCCeZohBA.blogger">Rabbi Hanan Porat Passes Away </a><br />
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Over the years that I have lived in Israel there has been no one person who I felt ideologically closer to than Rav Hanan Porat. His total commitment to Torah both in learning and teaching, his commitment to building up the land and people of Israel and his commitment to social justice will probably remain unequaled for a long time to come. It is not just that he said the right things, he <i>lived </i>them. And he expressed these ideas clearly and what I can only describe as gracefully.<br />
His life was a blessing to our people and may the family find comfort in the rebuilding of Zion and Jerusalem.<br />
יהי זכרו ברוך<br />
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-2420433624960989852011-10-03T21:05:00.001+02:002011-10-03T21:07:10.535+02:00Alternative Library in New York City<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;">
Bryant Park is located behind the famous <a href="http://newyork.cbslocal.com/top-lists/7-best-spots-on-new-york-citys-fifth-avenue/">5th Avenue Library in Manhattan</a>. Before I left New York in 1967 it was a place you walked past quickly or avoided (if you can avoid walking around 6th Avenue and 42nd Street)<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgythS4ZtX5CbkKFwKwJ1rc25zCuWk4HWjs3dZjQnvmo8e4ThCmRG2tSDkZ4eUxU0e_JdqWvsM-dFG3jXH0KyNr0B3b_OrfJSoSHvPwuUHP9jxxjqK50uWq3dzDwjz23k6obRz2YA/s1600/IMG_0102.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgythS4ZtX5CbkKFwKwJ1rc25zCuWk4HWjs3dZjQnvmo8e4ThCmRG2tSDkZ4eUxU0e_JdqWvsM-dFG3jXH0KyNr0B3b_OrfJSoSHvPwuUHP9jxxjqK50uWq3dzDwjz23k6obRz2YA/s320/IMG_0102.JPG" /></a> </div>
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It remained a dark and mean place for several decades. And then in the early 1990s it got a makeover and new lease on life. The gentrification made the park livable once again and folks took to eating lunch there on nice days buying coffee and sandwiches at the kiosks. Add some outdoor concerts and other activities and the whole citiscape felt friendlier and safer. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkdxaLU0jVxyLyAzXQ-FoKB-5_gTAf1km3DMmcVf_vtElk0DM0nB7THjA9mW1ZZP6NvPjWTIiAT8BzeifjqEDvJP1NgzNY76xJnKPb-zmUZJq2oUNes_fR91smJNeiekcIn866Q/s1600/IMG_0103.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrkdxaLU0jVxyLyAzXQ-FoKB-5_gTAf1km3DMmcVf_vtElk0DM0nB7THjA9mW1ZZP6NvPjWTIiAT8BzeifjqEDvJP1NgzNY76xJnKPb-zmUZJq2oUNes_fR91smJNeiekcIn866Q/s320/IMG_0103.JPG" /></a> </div>
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Imagine an island of calm, where you can come with children, choose a book and spend some time reading. And guess what? There's an adult section too!</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJF4LsaZyBX8w4K_8DyPdF0n1xJPm9XG3wrANK1ucGqssuS6jKdeejc0lFu4xR3aPVMG1MWGrVg6X4LTJMGMmOzvyap0ETaoBPNSEL02lIda7qk9am5vuIOMmur38HFAVTZUI-Q/s1600/IMG_0109.JPG"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZJF4LsaZyBX8w4K_8DyPdF0n1xJPm9XG3wrANK1ucGqssuS6jKdeejc0lFu4xR3aPVMG1MWGrVg6X4LTJMGMmOzvyap0ETaoBPNSEL02lIda7qk9am5vuIOMmur38HFAVTZUI-Q/s320/IMG_0109.JPG" /></a> </div>
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I love this sign!</div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-87404702284174756092011-09-27T06:00:00.000+03:002011-09-27T06:15:10.994+03:00Preparing for Tishrei <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">I always feel empowered when I am surrounded crowds of Jews in Israel. How much more exciting can it get than two thousand Jewish women converging on the site where the woman who taught us all what prayer is all about. The <a href="http://isramom.blogspot.com/2011/09/preparing-for-new-year.html">T'filat Hannah at Shilo</a> featuring the Rabbanit Yemima Mizrahi was an excellent prelude to Rosh Hashana which is after all about reaffirming God as our king, doing <i>tshuva</i> (repentance, but the English lacks flavor) for our sins, recalling our past and praying for our future. The chapter of Hannah's prayer is read as the haftara on Rosh Hashana.</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Rabbanit Yemima is an interesting phenomenon and this was my first direct encounter with her stand-up sermonizing. She is knowledgeable and well versed in sources and in between her jokes and impersonations she has deep and serious messages. She keeps the crowd interested and the time passes quickly. It was a moving experience and I was overcome by emotion by the time she had finished speaking and we had come to a moment of silent prayer. She challenged us to take the opportunity to single out three things on which to focus our prayers; one personal, one for another individual close to us and the third for Jewish people. It was an exercise in soul searching which I am still mulling over. Batya tells me that Rabbanit Yemima also gives talks in English but I wasn't able to find an example of this.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">There are many fine programs here in Israel and everyone has something special going on leading up to the high holidays. My personal favorite shiur is a podcast from Yeshivat Har Etzion's <a href="http://kmtt.libsyn.com/">KMTT </a>(ki mitzion tezei torah) series given in April 2007 by Dr. Yael Ziegler which you can listen to <a href="http://kmtt.libsyn.com/2007/04/24">here</a>. Rabbanit Ziegler addresses what we associate with the Yom Kippur ceremony done in the Temple by the <i>Cohen Gadol</i> (high priest) of sending one goat away and sacrificing the second goat on the altar. In less than half an hour she teaches us how this ceremony, while associated with Yom Kippur is really a paradigm for the different kinds of tshuva required by different situations. She brings ideas from Rabbi Soloveitchik, Rav Kook, Rav Bruer and Talmudic sources tying it all to our patriarch Abraham's experiences with his two sons. On the first day of Rosh Hashana we read about how he must distance Yishmael from his household and on the second day we read of his taking Yitzhak to be bound before God as a sacrifice on Mt. Moriah. This parallels the two goats, one driven away and the other brought before God. [The word קרבן translated as sacrifice in English actually reflects the Hebrew root krv which means closeness.] These two actions can be related two ways of viewing tshuva. One is by distancing the bad deeds and inclinations from ourselves and the other by harnessing the energies and using them to become closer to God and to the person we want to be. Each way is appropriate in certain situations and probably totally out of place in others.</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;">You should really listen to Rabbanit Ziegler because she says it much better than I do. You can find more of Dr. Ziegler at <a href="http://www.matan.org.il/eng/default.asp">Matan </a>an institute for women's Torah studies in Jerusalem, where she teaches.</span><br />
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And if you're still with me here's something to help me wish you all a happy and sweet new year!<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="233" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vys7tJuLfPA" width="400"></iframe></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-87817580961698207922011-09-26T06:30:00.004+03:002011-09-26T06:30:00.347+03:00Preparing for the New Year!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1rRJDIehGSFZIaqxrQSQHaMpfT3zQzQZKYWcYyaDr5dmuNN8G6zadhxjx0a6oDjFVn1MKNNDZv1CWr_xuGU3f7cvjqEIha3LHfcuIK2or07Vb3g5cy8NbX4tzVmcG8bgYSVLJA/s1600/new+year.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhX1rRJDIehGSFZIaqxrQSQHaMpfT3zQzQZKYWcYyaDr5dmuNN8G6zadhxjx0a6oDjFVn1MKNNDZv1CWr_xuGU3f7cvjqEIha3LHfcuIK2or07Vb3g5cy8NbX4tzVmcG8bgYSVLJA/s320/new+year.JPG" /></a>Like my sisters and brothers around the world I am busy getting ready for the upcoming Rosh Hashana holiday. This year the New Year begins on Wednesday night and on Thursday and Friday we gather in our synagogues to hear the shofar blown. Then without any further ado we go right into Shabbat. All this heralds a marathon of eats and on Rosh Hashana we go all out with symbolic foods signifying all the good things we wish for ourselves and our community in the coming year. For a thoughtful discussion of these symbolic foods you should read<a href="http://rechovot.blogspot.com/2008/09/apples-and-honey-and-superstition.html"> this post by The Rebbitzin's Husband </a>. You might also be interested in this post of <a href="http://www.leoraw.com/blog/2008/10/our-simanim-experience/">Leora's about the symbolic foods</a>. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><i>While we're on the subject of cooking for this amazing holiday let me remind you to take a look at the </i><i>Tishrei edition of the <b>Kosher Cooking Carnival </b>at <a href="http://nonrecipe.blogspot.com/2011/09/kosher-cooking-carnival-holidays-are.html">Cooking Outside the Box</a> a delightful blog with lots of interesting ideas while the </i><i>Elul edition of the <a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2011/08/4-weeks-to-countdown-3-day-rosh.html">Kosher Cooking Carnival</a> is up over at<a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/"> Me-ander</a> . </i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6Fz1xqTttQiqaqcTWBt5HTG-N6lb1uK6xwKm7VwRc0Eb3-QwOIcgmMvuEHzCjpL1KLtJr-8gCD0hU15VR-IdJPObANIL6_fQVOn8IQ4OEMR8jn4OP2Z1xd-urc1xjflvv-oemg/s1600/IMG_0151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEio6Fz1xqTttQiqaqcTWBt5HTG-N6lb1uK6xwKm7VwRc0Eb3-QwOIcgmMvuEHzCjpL1KLtJr-8gCD0hU15VR-IdJPObANIL6_fQVOn8IQ4OEMR8jn4OP2Z1xd-urc1xjflvv-oemg/s200/IMG_0151.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Batya Medad</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GUcDGiW-6PPK41U-i2f5j76VzWVMRladp3_CJ9G53N2k0bxzBCsJpFZL6_DNpGGQAc2gEhgXLQnKfyVq8Q6CXeXyS-neEJEwN8EbGEVQijR24NDCm2YYfWx5KqDOA98OfkujAg/s1600/IMG_0149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GUcDGiW-6PPK41U-i2f5j76VzWVMRladp3_CJ9G53N2k0bxzBCsJpFZL6_DNpGGQAc2gEhgXLQnKfyVq8Q6CXeXyS-neEJEwN8EbGEVQijR24NDCm2YYfWx5KqDOA98OfkujAg/s200/IMG_0149.JPG" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rabbanit Yemima intoduced by Tzofia Dorot</td></tr>
</tbody></table> And speaking of Batya, my favorite Shilo resident, I had a lovely <a href="http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/2011/09/why-prayer-at-tel-shiloh-is-better-than.html">experience at Tel Shilo</a> where both she and I attended the Tfilat Hannah and heard the inspirational Rabbanit Yemima Mizrahi. I hope to write separately about this moving experience. She was followed by concert given by Leah Shabbat and Tal Bril.<br />
The event was organized by <a href="http://www.telshilo.org.il/">Ancient Shilo</a> which runs tours of the<a href="http://www.goisrael.com/Tourism_Eng/Tourist+Information/Jewish+Themes/Jewish_Sites/Tel+Shiloh+jew.htm"> archaeological dig</a> at the site where the Tabernacle stood. Besides Batya I also ran into a very good looking reservist who was called up especially to guard us and the approximately two thousand other women and young girls who attended this event. This particular reservist also worked as a guide at this site when he lived in the nearby settlement Eli. He also happens to be my son. How thoughtful of the army. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZPqJTMkmw9hB4X3TYw5Ow9I5TpXkxWHALfg0q_RVmL1GDiiyMjg6mJ9mSRSWCcP-GPA3SVeD8tiWHhETy45Dv-7WsWn2D2SQxprMUAfriCO50wxP1n8Iq8Gi1qBUVhnlpWofAw/s1600/IMG_0144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJZPqJTMkmw9hB4X3TYw5Ow9I5TpXkxWHALfg0q_RVmL1GDiiyMjg6mJ9mSRSWCcP-GPA3SVeD8tiWHhETy45Dv-7WsWn2D2SQxprMUAfriCO50wxP1n8Iq8Gi1qBUVhnlpWofAw/s320/IMG_0144.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Reservist Shayke Tzohar </td></tr>
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</div></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: CENTER;"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-41502252954173457632011-09-09T12:45:00.002+03:002011-09-09T12:46:41.138+03:00September 11, 2001 ~ Tenth Anniversary<br />
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<a href="http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/interactives/pentagonmemorial/images/1525.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/nation/interactives/pentagonmemorial/images/1525.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://mi-cache.legacy.com/legacy/images/portraits/114921port.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://mi-cache.legacy.com/legacy/images/portraits/114921port.jpg" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12.5px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">This post is part of a memorial project called Project 2,996 </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><b style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">Read more about it </span><a href="http://project2996.wordpress.com/" style="color: #6699cc; text-decoration: none;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;">. </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333;"><b style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"> a memorial post about Ronald John Hemenway who was killed when a hijaced commercial jet was purposely crashed into the Pentagon in Washington DC.. Read more </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;"><a href="http://isramom.blogspot.com/2009/09/ronald-john-hemenway.html">here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: medium; line-height: normal;">.</span></span></span></b></span></div>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><a href="http://isramom.blogspot.com/search/label/9%2F11%20Memorial">Here </a>is the post about </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; line-height: 20px;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;">Margaret R. Echtermann. </span></b></span></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-51339872117240054382011-08-23T05:04:00.000+03:002011-08-23T05:04:30.373+03:00Revisiting my childhood streets<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9YDtlPxRmn_5ZWJIxFoKC4mFhbvlyNc4fUYciDOX_ewcTIAjB2DzTvoLSbpJu1DW8bqHBOfOxVVFTLw3aXTyquEzDIg2cMsZyXBUx2fTQufdp6Ej_EDM1zwLpkRQ5jGgRshyphenhyphenNSA/s1600/IMG_0077.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; display: inline !important; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9YDtlPxRmn_5ZWJIxFoKC4mFhbvlyNc4fUYciDOX_ewcTIAjB2DzTvoLSbpJu1DW8bqHBOfOxVVFTLw3aXTyquEzDIg2cMsZyXBUx2fTQufdp6Ej_EDM1zwLpkRQ5jGgRshyphenhyphenNSA/s320/IMG_0077.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
The streets have the same names and numbers as then but close to fifty years have passed since we moved out. I recognize Liberty Avenue and the deafening sound of the "A" train over our heads is, if anything, louder than I remember. That has not changed. I point out the kosher butcher store which now sells mobile phones. The Casino movie where we used to see double features plus a newsreel and cartoons is now a colorful fruit market stripped of its marquee. On the four blocks between the house where I was born and the one we moved to when I was 3 there are four or five stores selling Indian clothing and fancy wedding sarees and other objects of Indian art and culture. Bearded Siekh men in turbans are on the streets as well as their colorfully dressed wives and children. About the only shops that remain the same are the bank (which has a different name now and the laundromat. <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJI-aSssR3wiGBs6GlJGp8rRosMxNBV3DUqMz1BigCDuAvJN_Glx_2QN9Mpzl5b86s7Q8tAY7xDdrt92KnJTRlo7h1N0rKNlJgMfCqFxV9lrSNTO_d29H_Gi6ZgHYThg60E0w1g/s1600/IMG_0074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkJI-aSssR3wiGBs6GlJGp8rRosMxNBV3DUqMz1BigCDuAvJN_Glx_2QN9Mpzl5b86s7Q8tAY7xDdrt92KnJTRlo7h1N0rKNlJgMfCqFxV9lrSNTO_d29H_Gi6ZgHYThg60E0w1g/s320/IMG_0074.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
We turn up our side street which used to be shaded by canopy of tall oak trees which in summer made our street feel appreciably cooler than the hot elevator covered main street. But today many if not most of those original trees are gone. There is much more cement than front gardens which once flourished. A few tall trees are left and a few more young trees are optimistically planted where the old ones used to be. They give hope, but for now, the street looks sad as if forcibly shorn of its locks. <br />
</div><div>Everything looks smaller too, as if some alien force shrunk the houses. What I remember as a big apartment house turns out to be just three stories high. And then we are standing in front of my house. The siding has been redone and the front porch taken down and new steps lead to the front door. At first I say to David 'that's not my house'. But that's the door that my father and grandfather installed when we bought the house and they 'fixed it up'. Then I look at the picutre window in the front bedroom where we used to put our Chanuka menoras and it looks more familiar. My mind is racing, flooding with memories and trying to reconcile the proportions. I am expecting to see my Italian and Irish neighbors, but like us, they have moved away making room for the newer immigrant communities. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJb-kAflHUB30kqieiTzns1pMAuUEDQVPnPS8m0-YSZjTubbLn1HZQSoPxc4Oeh4Sj22kR0oe0QZl75Zk7A8WTVA60HQg4ceoHdNF21-65G-FMNKDcjwtK_DOsxYiEcDIca_b-ZA/s1600/IMG_0081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJb-kAflHUB30kqieiTzns1pMAuUEDQVPnPS8m0-YSZjTubbLn1HZQSoPxc4Oeh4Sj22kR0oe0QZl75Zk7A8WTVA60HQg4ceoHdNF21-65G-FMNKDcjwtK_DOsxYiEcDIca_b-ZA/s320/IMG_0081.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div><br />
I am reminded of the summer evening between the 7th and 8th grade. My best friend (from the neighborhood, not the Jewish day school I attended) had graduated Catholic elementary school and her parents made her a party in their backyard. They played records and we danced the Twist ('round and around and up and down we go again!). I didn't eat the hamburgers they served. A friend named Frankie walked next to me from Ginger's house to mine (all 4 houses down the block) and my mother saw us from the window. That was all it took, she told my father it was time to move on to a neighborhood with more Jewish kids. By January we were out of Richmond Hill.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCjfQGgxIKcc8FXcLhIba04HaMo64QmdzBOu7RICnJe1IIooxESaePwbY38BAypRpmtGh673PyaZqKV0l-BTzaEGJ24QILx4C_9JoESx9Po2wC6njucsj5FMvwxgvHJWon6Uo3Q/s1600/IMG_0082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitCjfQGgxIKcc8FXcLhIba04HaMo64QmdzBOu7RICnJe1IIooxESaePwbY38BAypRpmtGh673PyaZqKV0l-BTzaEGJ24QILx4C_9JoESx9Po2wC6njucsj5FMvwxgvHJWon6Uo3Q/s320/IMG_0082.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div><br />
<div>We drive on the street where the <i>shul </i>used to be. I know it is not there. It was sold and then there was a fire. It was painful to see an apartment house standing where the double staircase had been. I couldn't even bring myself to photograph it and we didn't stop the car. I was afraid I would cry. I loved that synagogue with its stained glass windows and crystal chandeliers. My great-grandmother used to be there every week with her green covered <i>t'chinos </i>book. It was where I learned to <i>daven</i> and love Israel. If we had stopped, I might have cried. </div><div><br />
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</div></div></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com4United States40.6858538 -73.827722514.304603799999995 -135.087335 67.0671038 -12.56810999999999tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-77195268967139219022011-08-15T19:29:00.001+03:002011-08-16T18:38:32.607+03:00Flying (& other news)<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDscZToLi8wpngGFUcsng0U6gQ4qDCKG0Jvmy6KLoNqJAUKxuJRlBeODIBHZrinxT9zZkKVk4Et46ybwtOMa-X-qFnWj9xU5h89jO2c5cvJnOcsKxJD03g-RATm9bH76R446ueg/s1600/IMG_0602.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQDscZToLi8wpngGFUcsng0U6gQ4qDCKG0Jvmy6KLoNqJAUKxuJRlBeODIBHZrinxT9zZkKVk4Et46ybwtOMa-X-qFnWj9xU5h89jO2c5cvJnOcsKxJD03g-RATm9bH76R446ueg/s320/IMG_0602.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bunji</td></tr>
</tbody></table>That's my almost 6 year old granddaughter 'Bunji jumping' at a local shopping center this week. She is getting ready to go to the first grade. Just two weeks away!<br />
They came to say l'hitraot (see ya) because we are flying to Philadelphia tonight for two weeks of visiting family there and in the New York/New Jersey area.<br />
<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-toAKv6HBcho/TklIF06HDEI/AAAAAAAATRc/ZVVQb4Hyh_U/s1600/IMG_0585.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-toAKv6HBcho/TklIF06HDEI/AAAAAAAATRc/ZVVQb4Hyh_U/s320/IMG_0585.JPG" width="239" /></a>Meantime <span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><a href="http://kissamezuzah.blogspot.com/2011/08/haveil-havalim-325.html" style="color: #bb5321; text-decoration: none;">Havel Havelim #325</a> is hosted by <a href="http://kissamezuzah.blogspot.com/" style="color: #bb5321; text-decoration: none;">To Kiss a Mezzuzah</a> and while there is a lull in posting around the net (I am not the only one going on vacation) take a look at </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> <a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/2011/08/jpix-feast-your-eyes.html" style="color: #bb5321; text-decoration: none;">JPIX</a> and <a href="http://ronypony.blogspot.com/2011/08/kosher-cooking-carnival-av-love-edition.html" style="color: #bb5321; text-decoration: none;">Kosher Cooking Carnival</a>. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Arial, Tahoma, Helvetica, FreeSans, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"> </span>Here she is with her brand new ready to go rain resistant back pack and trolley set. (The school is about 100 yards from their house and it rarely rains in Mitzpe Ramon, but <b>we </b>are prepared!) Good luck in your new career young lady!<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-50528055915180416832011-08-09T23:42:00.003+03:002011-08-10T22:49:52.975+03:00A Meaningful Fast<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNciWkBo3_A_4mSJsnU9AyLlIt2BnUXQE5hV5IlEQj5kkPGoE3dD3jmca68WOmDH5xGPYIc7BzuMUm9Pf4CXfMd7NOJSrvPKMvmeQ5_IRf2xPao9Jo2I__Wf17QoJZmtvjGcZRSQ/s1600/IMG_0591.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNciWkBo3_A_4mSJsnU9AyLlIt2BnUXQE5hV5IlEQj5kkPGoE3dD3jmca68WOmDH5xGPYIc7BzuMUm9Pf4CXfMd7NOJSrvPKMvmeQ5_IRf2xPao9Jo2I__Wf17QoJZmtvjGcZRSQ/s320/IMG_0591.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>It would have been nicer if we didn't have to fast on Tisha B'Av this year. But since we did not merit the rebuilding of the temple in Jerusalem we fasted and mourned the destruction of the first two temples.<br />
This year I had some very meaningful experiences which I'd like to share.<br />
On the night of Tisha B'Av we gather in our synagogues for the ma'ariv (evening) prayer and read the scroll of Eicha (Lamentations). This year I participated in a special reading done by women. It was followed by a program which included reading the Kinot (poems of mourning) with a view to better understanding them. The program moved on to learning other literature relevant to the destruction interspersed with our singing solemn songs a capella. It was a very moving experience. <br />
In the morning I went to my regular <a href="http://bermanshul.org/">synagogue</a> where we had the usual morning service followed by reading the Kinot with historic and contextual explanations by our own Rabbi Aryeh Frimer. That was followed by a lesson about the legend recounted in the Talmud of <a href="http://www.ou.org/yerushalayim/tishabav/kamtza.htm">Kamtza and Bar Kamtza</a> given by another member of our congregation.<br />
Marking Tisha B'Av is not easy for us today. On the simplest level we are talking about events which took place thousands of years ago. It's hard to keep up the sense of loss over so many years. Of course, it wasn't just a building that was destroyed, it was the entire way of life of the Jewish people in their land and their religious observance. It was the start of the exile which has still not come to an end. Over the years Tisha B'Av has become the day for mourning many other serious tragedies which have befallen the Jews all the way from the Crusades through the Holocaust. So while it is not difficult to relate to mourning historically it is a challenge to make it personal.<br />
Experiences like the ones I had this year make the day much more meaningful. And here lies another paradox. Jewish mourning rules do not permit learning Torah because we love it and it brings us comfort. For this reason on Tisha B'Av we are permitted to study only 'bad' things (i.e. about the destruction) or nothing at all. So if I have a sense of satisfaction because I have come closer to understanding the tragedy that is Tisha B'Av is that good or bad?<br />
My hope and prayer is that next year I won't have to deal with these questions.<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-26015380937736720622011-07-31T01:26:00.002+03:002011-07-31T13:38:10.927+03:00Announcing the Month of Av<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_xgcVmo1aUQ" width="425"></iframe><br />
On Shabbat in synagogues around the world we announced that on Monday we will be marking Rosh Hodesh (the first day of the month of) Av. We are already in the midst of the three weeks marking the period between the time that the walls of Jerusalem were breached (17th Tamuz) before the first Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians and the the 9th of Av 586 B.C.E (and again on that very same date by the Romans 70 C.E.) The 9th of Av, known as Tisha B'Av is a fast day in commemoration of the destruction and the book of Eicha (Lamentations) is read in the synagogue.<br />
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<ul><li>I would like to recommend a series of podcasts published on the Internet by <a href="http://kmtt.libsyn.com/">KMTT</a> a daily podcast from Yeshivat Har Etzion which is just part of an amazing set of Torah <a href="http://www.kimitzion.org/">resources </a>made available by the Yeshiva. The series consists of 9 installments of about 30-40 minutes recorded by Dr. Yael Ziegler in 2009 found <a href="http://kmtt.libsyn.com/category/Megillat%20Eicha" style="background-color: #d9ead3;">here</a>. Dr. Ziegler teaches at the <a href="http://www.herzog.ac.il/">Herzog College</a> in Gush Etzion and at <a href="http://www.matan.org.il/eng/all.asp">Matan</a> Women's Institute for Torah Learning in Jerusalem. She looks at the book through literary analysis and historic perspective without loosing sight of the religious message for all generations. I have listened to the series once and plan to listen again this week in preparation for this year's fast.</li>
</ul><br />
May we merit that this year the fast be cancelled and we all instead celebrate instead the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the temple. Amen.<div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21538597.post-59004091612103323612011-07-28T14:27:00.000+03:002011-07-28T14:27:06.712+03:00In Real Life!<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"> </div>Last night the Jbloggersphere welcomed <a href="https://www.facebook.com/hsabomilner">Hadassah </a>of<a href="http://hadassahsabo.wordpress.com/"> In The Pink</a> and<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><a href="http://william%20daroff/"> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #333333; font-size: 16px; line-height: 20px;">William Daroff</span></a>.</span><br />
<div style="margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-GZqtnIfFWrWnptUpJnvSml8684hRhueetagv0GgCIYSbbNrWmkoifB6naFEuJO-PgIgV8qAr5VZCu0EYjLIhRWba2sizCX4XOly08BgZaHFfhdVrBSyUhH9F9vvT05fgNh36w/s1600/2011-07-27.jpg"><img alt="" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgj-GZqtnIfFWrWnptUpJnvSml8684hRhueetagv0GgCIYSbbNrWmkoifB6naFEuJO-PgIgV8qAr5VZCu0EYjLIhRWba2sizCX4XOly08BgZaHFfhdVrBSyUhH9F9vvT05fgNh36w/s400/2011-07-27.jpg" /></a> <br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">Also there were many folks from my sidebar like the Medads of <a href="http://me-ander.blogspot.com/">me-ander, </a><a href="http://shilohmusings.blogspot.com/">Shilo Musings</a>, <a href="http://myrightword.blogspot.com/">My Right Word</a> etc. and <a href="http://www.amotherinisrael.com/">Mom in Israel</a>, <a href="http://lifeinisrael.blogspot.com/">Life in Israel</a>, <a href="http://www.benjilovitt.com/">Benji of What War Zone</a> etc. etc. There was lots of cheer and good food and drink. A good time was had by all. </div><div style="text-align: left;">Definitely worth doing if you're visiting Israel!</div></div><div style="clear: both; text-align: CENTER;"></div><div class="blogger-post-footer">From Israel, With Love!</div>Risa Tzoharhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05012097234847651866noreply@blogger.com4