Drink more liquids when you are over 60 to save your life and What's My Line? - Sammy Davis, Jr (Mar 13, 1955) and The Kielce Pogrom By Rabbi Hanoch Teller and MK Itamar Ben-Gvir Ascends to the Temple Mount Surrounded by Lawmen By David Israel and Tourism Minister Cancels ‘Israel Vacation’ Program over ‘Insane’ Prices By David Israel and Israel’s COVID vaccination rate soars again as teens flock to shot centers
Yehuda Lave is an author, journalist, psychologist, rabbi, spiritual teacher, and coach, with degrees in business, psychology and Jewish Law. He works with people from all walks of life and helps them in their search for greater happiness, meaning, business advice on saving money, and spiritual engagement.
Dear Readers: The Jewish Press came up with such a sanguine title for my column, as "story" usually connotes an upbeat tale. Although I try not to disappoint, upon occasion (like our last column and this current one) we encounter a story that does not have a happy ending. Any student of Jewish history is well aware of this, and I am committed to presenting you the unvarnished tale.
One year after the guns of World War II had been silenced, matters were far from rosy for the Jewish community worldwide. Hundreds of thousands of Jewish refugees in Europe who had nowhere to go were still not being allowed into Palestine by the British Mandatory Authority who had sealed the border to Jews to appease the Arabs.
David Ben-Gurion announced in a press conference in New York that if the British would continue to enforce the White Paper's restriction on Jewish immigration to Palestine, then all Jewish military forces in the Yishuv (meaning the Hagana, Irgun, and Etzel) would have no choice but to unite and fight the British with constant and brutal force. Indeed, this is what happened.
The most successful assault of this united resistance was on June 16 and 17, 1946 when 11 coordinated attacks seriously injured the road, bridge, and railroad system in Palestine. British personnel were now isolated and crippled in Palestine, and could not move their goods or soldiers beyond Palestine's borders. The repairs cost over four million pounds sterling, an enormous figure at that time.
Twelve days later, the British retaliated with Operation Agatha, which the Yishuv labeled "Black Sabbath." The British placed Tel Aviv, Ramat Gan, Jerusalem, and Haifa, under lockdown. Seventeen thousand British soldiers swept across Palestine, hunting militants, weapons, and incriminating documents. They arrested some 2,700 Jews, many from the Zionist leadership; Ben-Gurion escaped arrest only because he was in Paris.
As Jews were being rounded up in Palestine, they were still being murdered in Europe. Just five days after "Black Sabbath," on July 4, 1946, Kielce, Poland, which had a large Jewish population prior to the war, was now home to less than 200 beleaguered Jews who had returned to their former community or had been placed in a Jewish Committee home in the town's center.
It was on July 3 that 9-year-old Henryk Blaszczyk, a non-Jewish boy, returned to Kielce after having left home without informing his parents. To avoid punishment for wandering off, he told his parents and the police that he had been kidnapped and hidden in the basement of the local Jewish Committee building.
Police officers went to investigate the alleged crime in the building, even though Henryk's story began to unravel (for one, the building did not have a basement), as a large crowd of fiercely antisemitic Poles assembled outside. The mob began to circulate a rumor that Jews were kidnapping Christian children for their blood. The Poles were also fearful that the Jews who had returned to Kielce would reclaim their prewar houses and businesses, which represented substantial parts of downtown Kielce.
Polish soldiers and policemen entered the Jewish Committee house and began to shoot the Jewish residents and loot their possessions. Outside, the incensed mass viciously beat Jews fleeing the shooting, murdering some of them. By day's end, civilians, soldiers, and police had murdered 42 Jews, beating and stoning the remainder, seriously injuring 40. Two non-Jewish Poles died as well, killed by the mob for having offered aid to the Jewish victims.
Wounded Jews were brought to the hospital. While being transported, they were beaten and robbed by soldiers. The mob subsequently made their way to the hospital and demanded that the maimed Jews be handed over to them.
The pogrom spread all over town. A Jewish mother and baby were dragged from their home and murdered in broad daylight. There were also attacks on Jewish rail passengers traveling through Kielce that day.
In exquisite tragedy, after all that Polish Jewry had endured during the war – somehow, miraculously, surviving the Holocaust – a medieval blood libel yet again resulted in more Jewish martyrs, perpetrated by their own neighbors and countrymen.
Kielce's Catholic clergy, who were silent during the War, had no change of heart one year later. They were unsympathetic to the massacre, and insinuated the lethal absurdity that Jews require Christian blood for their matzah.
Like Kishinev for the Jews in the Russian Empire, the Kielce pogrom was a watershed for the scant remnant of Polish Jewry. It was now manifest that remaining in Poland was a death trap for them. Tens of thousands of Polish Jews left their homes and headed to the borders to get out of Poland en route to Palestine. Czechoslovakia humanely offered them aid and passage, but the British stopped them when they arrived at the Occupied Zone in Austria. The mass of refugees was growing, but they had nowhere to go.
The story of one desperate attempt to make it to Palestine aboard the Exodus shall be described in our forthcoming column, G-d willing.
What's My Line? - Sammy Davis, Jr (Mar 13, 1955)
MYSTERY GUEST: Sammy Davis, Jr
PANEL: Dorothy Kilgallen, Fred Allen, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf
Arnaldo Liechtenstein, physician ---- For People over 60 and their family members.
Whenever I teach clinical medicine to students in the fourth year of medicine, I ask the following question:What are the causes of mental confusion in the elderly?
Some offer: "Tumors in the head". I answer: No!
Others suggest: "Early symptoms of Alzheimer's." I answer again: No!
With each rejection of their answers, their responses dry up.
And they are even more open-mouthed when I list the three most common causes:
It may sound like a joke, but it isn't. People over 60 generally stop feeling thirsty and consequently stop drinking fluids.
When no one is around to remind them to drink fluids, they quickly dehydrate. Dehydration is severe and affects the entire body. It may cause abrupt mental confusion, a drop in blood pressure, increased heart palpitations, angina (chest pain), coma, and even death.
*This habit of forgetting to drink fluids begins at age 60, when we have just over 50% of the water we should have in our bodies. People over 60 have a lower water reserve. This is part of the natural aging process.*
But there are more complications. Although they are dehydrated, they don't feel like drinking water, because their internal balance mechanisms don't work very well.
*Conclusion:*
People over 60 years old dehydrate easily, not only because they have a smaller water supply, but also because they do not feel the lack of water in the body.
Although people over 60 may look healthy, the performance of reactions and chemical functions can damage their entire body.
So here are two alerts:
1) *Get into the habit of drinking liquids*. Liquids include water, juices, teas, coconut water, milk, soups, and water-rich fruits, such as watermelon, melon, peaches, and pineapple; orange and tangerine also work.
*The important thing is that, every two hours, you must drink some liquid. Remember this!*
2) *Alert for family members: constantly offer fluids to people over 60.* At the same time, observe them.
If you realize that they are rejecting liquids and, from one day to the next, they are irritable, breathless, or display a lack of attention, these are almost certainly recurrent symptoms of dehydration.
Inspired to drink more water now?? Send this information out to others! DO IT NOW! Your friends and family need to know for themselves and help you to be healthier and happier.
Sent from my iPhone (Murray F Shore) .
MK Itamar Ben-Gvir Ascends to the Temple Mount Surrounded by Lawmen
tzma Yehudit chairman MK Itamar Ben-Gvir on Sunday returned to the Temple Mount and toured the place, according to a PR note from his office.
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The visit came after Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai had issued a specific ban against Ben-Gvir's ascending to the mountain, which was complemented by and after a threatening video in Arabic that circulated on the Internet and called for harming him.
At that point, the MK approached the Knesset Officer and coordinated the visit with him. The police allowed the visit and sent a large force to accompany the MK as he entered the holy compound.
His visit went flawlessly, and as he left, Ben-Gvir said: "We will never give up the Temple Mount. This is the holiest place for the people of Israel."
He noted that "the situation on the mountain is improving, but our demand is still for full sovereignty, the hoisting of the Israeli flag on the mountain and the removal of all the agitating elements of the Waqf who seek to harm Jews."
"The threats against me only motivate me to continue working for the mountain, the people, and the country," Ben-Gvir declared.
As many as 30,000 (and more) annual Jewish visits to the Temple Mount have been claimed by groups that encourage these visits – even though the majority of modern halachic authorities forbid it. There are many authorities—religious Zionists for the most part—who permit the ascent provided one avoids the sacred areas on the mountaintop.
Tourism Minister Cancels 'Israel Vacation' Program over 'Insane' Prices
Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov announced Sunday night that in light of the "insanely high" prices for vacations in Israel, he decided not to continue his ministry's campaign promoting urban vacations in Israel. On Monday morning, Razvozov told Ynet that vacations in Israel are too expensive, but when asked what he intends to do about it, the minister refrained from giving away his plans.
"I have been in office for a week and a half," he said. "I have a lot of information I need to process. The first decision was to stop the campaign and there will be more later."
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A press release issued Sunday night on behalf of Razvozov stated that "even before the Minister of Tourism took office, the Ministry of Tourism launched a campaign in the media that encourages vacations in Israeli cities. But since then, vacation prices have risen, in part because of the corona crisis, high costs, labor shortages, and restrictions on entry into Israel. Therefore, today the Minister of Tourism held professional talks in collaboration with the director general of his office, Amir Halevi, in which it was decided not to continue the campaign's ads."
The Tourism Ministry quoted Razvozov as saying, "I see no point in continuing a campaign when the cost of vacations is so high – it's a shame to waste the taxpayer's money on this. A vacation is not only for the rich. I intend to act urgently to take care of this matter."
The Tourism minister stressed that he is a great believer in the free market and is aware of the fact that prices are impacted by supply and demand. He suggested that his office has an arsenal of tools at its disposal, to be used in collaboration with the hotel industry.
One of Razvozov's plans would be to cut regulations on the industry, provided that the savings would go back to the taxpayers.
Israel's COVID vaccination rate soars again as teens flock to shot centers
Health Ministry data shows over 30 percent of 10-19 age bracket at least partially protected, with overwhelming majority of shots now going to adolescents
The number of adolescents getting vaccinated against the coronavirus has risen sharply in recent days, raising hopes that a large portion of the country's minors eligible for shots will be protected against COVID-19 in coming weeks.
As of Tuesday morning, nearly 32 percent of Israelis in the 10-19 age bracket had received at least one dose of the vaccine, up from around 23% a week earlier, Health Ministry data showed.
Authorities launched a renewed drive to vaccinate teens aged 12 to 15 last week, responding to mounting numbers of new cases, many of them attributed to the fast-spreading Delta variant of the virus.
Since then, the number of shots distributed daily has climbed to back over 10,000 for the first time since early April. That's when Israel's world-leading vaccination drive stalled after distributing the vaccine to nearly 5 million people, the majority of its eligible population.
On Monday, over 14,314 people received the first dose of the vaccine, up from 13,513 people who received the first dose a day earlier, according to Health Ministry data. Over 11,000 first doses were distributed by noon Tuesday.
The vast majority of those getting the shot in recent days fall into the 10-19 age category, according to official figures, which only go to Saturday. On June 24, 9,866 people in the age bracket received a first dose of the vaccine, representing over 83% of everyone getting the first shot that day. Similar percentages have been seen on other days as well.
Among those getting vaccinated on Tuesday was Michal Bennett, the 14-year-old daughter of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett. The premier tweeted a picture of his daughter and called on others to go get vaccinated.
"The Delta disease can harm those who are not vaccinated, and that is the children," Bennett said Tuesday while touring a youth vaccination center in Holon.
He set a goal of 30,000 vaccines a day for the next 10 days.
According to reports, Israel has 1.4 million doses set to expire at the end of next month and Bennett is hoping to use as many of them as possible by getting 300,000 children vaccinated by July 9, leaving enough time for a second dose from the expiring batch as well.
Prime Minister Prime Minister Naftali Bennett right, and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, left, at a youth vaccination center in Holon on June 29 2021. (Marc Israel Sellem/POOL/Flash90)
Three of Israel's four major health funds say that around 50 percent of their members aged 12 to 15 will be protected from the virus by next month, adding together those who have been vaccinated, those who have scheduled vaccinations, and those who have recovered from the disease, Channel 12 news reported Tuesday.
Israel okayed the vaccine for 12-to-15-year-olds in early June, but authorities only began encouraging vaccinations for the age group last week in response to rising case numbers.
Israel in recent days has seen daily caseload levels climb to levels not seen since April. Nearly 300 cases were confirmed on Monday and another 287 were reported by Tuesday evening.
The hospitalization rate has remained low, however, with only 22 people hospitalized in serious condition as of Tuesday, the ministry said. Many experts consider hospitalizations to be better than total case numbers for measuring an area's health.
Israelis attend a movie at Cinema City in Jerusalem for the official reopening after 14 months of closure during the coronavirus pandemic, on May 27, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
"So long as there's no serious morbidity, we can continue to live our lives as normally as possible," Dr. Arnon Afek, head of Sheba-Tel Hashomer Medical Center near Tel Aviv told Army Radio Tuesday.
Nonetheless, some officials have reportedly expressed fears that the number of seriously ill will rise, with Israel unprepared to deal with the influx.
"The staff are tired, frustrated and still haven't had a chance to recover. They simply won't be able to handle it. It will be a catastrophe," an unnamed health official was quoted telling the Ynet news website.
Ziv Hospital team members wearing safety gear as they work in the coronavirus ward in the northern Israeli city of Tzfat, February 4, 2021. (David Cohen/Flash90)
The Delta variant of the virus, first identified in India, is more contagious than other variants and may be better able to bypass vaccines, but apparently does not cause serious infection. The transmissibility of the Delta variant over the original strain is around 40%, according to the United Kingdom's Public Health agency. The effectiveness of two vaccine doses for protection from hospitalization is at 96%, according to the agency.
With case numbers rising, Israel has thus far reimposed an indoor mask mandate and cracked down on travelers arriving from countries with high infection rates or breaking quarantine, but has sought to avoid a return to the restrictions it has largely emerged from over the last two months.
"We can beat the current coronavirus wave without restrictions," Bennett said Tuesday. "Vaccinations instead of lockdowns, masks instead of restrictions."
