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.
The Three are Rabbi Yehuda Glick, famous temple mount activist, and former Israel Mk, and then Robert Weinger, the world's greatest shofar blower and seller of Shofars, and myself after we had gone to the 12 gates of the Temple Mount in 2020 to blow the shofar to ask G-d to heal the world from the Pandemic. It was a highlight to my experience in living in Israel and I put it on my blog each day to remember.
The articles that I include each day are those that I find interesting, so I feel you will find them interesting as well. I don't always agree with all the points of each article but found them interesting or important to share with you, my readers, and friends. It is cathartic for me to share my thoughts and frustrations with you about life in general and in Israel. As a Rabbi, I try to teach and share the Torah of the G-d of Israel as a modern Orthodox Rabbi. I never intend to offend anyone but sometimes people are offended and I apologize in advance for any mistakes. The most important psychological principle I have learned is that once someone's mind is made up, they don't want to be bothered with the facts, so, like Rabbi Akiva, I drip water (Torah is compared to water) on their made-up minds and hope that some of what I have share sinks in. Love Rabbi Yehuda Lave.
Time to build the Holy Temple by Daniel Pinner
The Prophet Haggai's words about the Beit Hamikdash speak to us even as they did to the Jews in Israel of his generation:
Daniel Pinner
Model of Temple Mount iStock
Of the 200 Mitzvot listed in the Book of Deuteronomy, 55 appear in Parashat Re'eh: 17 positive and 38 negative.
The Book of Deuteronomy actually contains far more than 200 Mitzvot, and Parashat Re'eh contains more than 55; but most are restatements of Mitzvot which have already been recorded in earlier Books, so they are not counted in Deuteronomy. So it is more accurate to say that of the 200 Mitzvot in the Book of Deuteronomy which had not previously been recorded, 55 appear in Parashat Re'eh.
Among these Mitzvot is the obligation to bring offerings solely "in the place which Hashem your G-d will choose to make His Name dwell therein" (Deuteronomy 12:11).
A time there was when anyone could build a private altar anywhere and bring sacrifices to G-d upon it: Noah built an altar for sacrifices (Genesis 8:20), as did Abraham (12:7, 12:8, 13:18), Isaac (26:25), and Jacob (33:20, 35:1, 35:7) in several places in Israel.
However, as soon as Moshe had constructed the Mishkan (the Tabernacle) in the Sinai Desert, burnt offerings were permitted solely on the communal Altar in the Mishkan.
Nevertheless, there was no restriction on where the Mishkan could be erected: as a portable structure, it could be erected anywhere in the world.
But as soon as we crossed the River Jordan into Israel, it became forbidden to remove the Mishkan from Israel. It could still be erected anywhere in Israel – but nowhere else.
And as soon as King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, it became forbidden to construct any Mishkan or Holy Temple anywhere else in the world (Rambam, Hilchot Beit he-Bechirah/Laws of the Holy Temple 1:3).
And so, at the time when Parashat Re'eh was happening, "the place which Hashem your G-d will choose to make His Name dwell therein" was the Mishkan in the desert.
The phrase הַמָּקוֹם אֲשֶׁר יִבְחַר ה' אֱלֹקֵיכֶם בּוֹ לְשַׁכֵּן שְׁמוֹ שָׁם ("the place which Hashem your G-d will choose to make His Name dwell therein") appears six times in the entire Tanach – five times in Parashat Re'eh, and once in Parashat Ki Tavo:
"It shall be that the place which Hashem your G-d will choose to make His Name dwell therein – to there shall you bring everything that I command you: your burnt-offerings and your festival-offerings, your tithes and your donations and the choicest of your vow-offerings which you vow to Hashem" (Deuteronomy 12:11).
-"You shall eat the tithe of your grain, your wine, and your oil, and the firstborn of your cattle and your flocks, before Hashem in the place that He will choose to make His Name dwell therein" (14:23).
-"You shall slaughter the Pesach-sacrifice – the flock and the cattle – to Hashem your G-d, in the place that Hashem will choose to make His Name dwell therein" (16:2).
-"Only at the place that Hashem your G-d will choose to make His Name dwell therein shall you slaughter the Pesach-sacrifice towards evening, as the sun is setting" (16:6).
-"And you shall rejoice before Hashem your G-d – you and your son and your daughter, and your servant and your maid-servant, and the Levite who is in your gate – in the place that Hashem your G-d will choose to make His Name dwell therein" (16:11).
-"It will be, when you come to the Land which Hashem your G-d gives you as a heritage, and you will inherit it and dwell in it, then you will take from the first of every fruit of the ground that you will bring from your Land which Hashem your God gives you. You shall put it in a basket and you shall go to the place that Hashem your G-d will choose to make His Name dwell therein" (Deuteronomy 26:1-2).
I suggest that these six references to the place which Hashem will choose to make His Name dwell therein correspond to the six places which G-d chose throughout the generations:
-The Mishkan in the Sinai Desert;
-Gilgal;
-Shiloh;
-Nov;
-Giv'on;
-Jerusalem.
Ever since the yearly cycle of Torah readings was standardized towards the end of the Second Temple era, and the fixed calendar as calculated by Hillel II (Hillel ben Yehudah, Nasi or head of the Sanhedrin) was adopted in 4119 (359 C.E.), Parashat Re'eh has invariably been read either on the Shabbat of Rosh Chodesh Ellul (as this year) or on the Shabbat immediately preceding Rosh Chodesh Ellul.
Rosh Chodesh Ellul is invariably 2 days, 30th Av and 1st Ellul. The way our calendar is designed, Rosh Chodesh Ellul can only fall on Shabbat-Sunday, Sunday-Monday, Tuesday-Wednesday, or Thursday-Friday. Hence Shabbat Parashat Re'eh can only fall on the 25th, the 27th, the 29th, or the 30th of Av.
And this means that Shabbat Parashat Re'eh is often Shabbat Mevar'chin ha-Chodesh, the Shabbat on which we bless the coming month of Ellul.
This suggests that there is some connexion between Parashat Re'eh and the month of Ellul.
And so, in this context, I note the events at the very beginning of the second redemption, the redemption from Babylon and Persia-Media, when Zerubavel led the Jews back to Israel from Babylonian and Persian exile, and several years later Ezra and Nehemiah continued his mission.
"In the second year of King Daryavesh [Darius], on the first day of the sixth month [meaning Ellul], the word of Hashem came through Haggai the Prophet to Zerubavel son of Shealtiel, the Governor of Judah, and to Joshua son of Yehotzadak the High Priest, saying:
"Thus says Hashem, Master of Legions, saying: This nation has said, The time has not yet come! But it is time for Hashem's Temple to be built" (Haggai 1:1-2).
The "second year of King Daryavesh" refers to King Daryavesh II. The first King Daryavesh was Daryavesh the Mede, who succeeded Belshazzar, king of Babylon, when he was assassinated (Daniel 5:29-6:1); he reigned for two years.
Daryavesh II was the son of King Achashverosh (Ahasuerus) of Persia (Daniel 9:1); according to the Midrash (Vayikra Rabbah 13:5, Esther Rabbah 8:3 et al.) he was the son of Achashverosh and Esther.
He ascended the throne of Persia-Media in 3407 (353 B.C.E.), 16 years after Daryavesh I had died. Daryavesh II was the king who granted permission to the Jews to complete construction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, after his predecessor Koresh (Cyrus) had ordered a construction-freeze on the Temple Mount which had lasted for 18 years (Ezra 4:24).
Hence this event, with which the Book of Haggai opens, occurred on 1st of Ellul 3409 (351 B.C.E.), 2,373 years ago this Sunday.
The prophecy of Haggai is among the shorter of the Prophetic messages – just 38 verses long, 601 words in all. And his message is entirely about the obligation to rebuild the Holy Temple in Jerusalem.
Then, as now, the Jewish nation was returning en masse to Israel. Then, as now, a large proportion of the nation preferred not to get involved with rebuilding the Holy Temple. Then, as now, a common refrain was: The nation isn't ready for the Holy Temple.
The generation of the time had one major advantage over us today: They had Prophets to lead them.
But the generation of today has two major advantages over the generation of then:
First, we are independent, whereas Israel of 2,373 years ago had, at best, local and limited autonomy under the rule of the Persian Empire. Rebuilding the Holy Temple needed permission from a ruler 1,250 km (770 miles) away. Today, all we need is our own decision.
And second, we have the benefit of all the precedents, the prophecies which had not yet been written in the second year of King Daryavesh II. Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi had not yet received their prophetic calls, the generation had no precedent of rebuilding a Holy Temple to rely on.
The Prophet Haggai's words speak to us even as they did to the Jews in Israel of his generation:
"Is this your time for you to dwell in your securely-roofed houses, while this Temple remains destroyed? … Consider your ways: You have sown a lot, yet brought in so little! You have eaten, without being satiated!... Consider your ways: Ascend the [Temple] Mount, bring wood and build the Temple. I will be pleased with it and I will be glorified – says Hashem" (Haggai1:4-8).
And the Prophet continues by promising G-d's bounty on the Land – rain, plentiful produce, generous harvest – if the generation but builds the Holy Temple.
And indeed history bore out this Divine promise. As soon as the Jews set their determination to rebuild the Holy Temple, King Daryavesh II gave his royal assent to rebuilding it.
We are now in the final few weeks of the year, on the final approach to Rosh Hashanah. It is a time when the Haftarot (the Prophetic readings which follow the Torah-reading on Shabbat morning) are germane to the time of year, not to the Torah-reading.
The Haftarah is usually a Reading from the Prophets which somehow echoes or complements the theme of the Torah-reading. But the final ten weeks of the year follow a different paradigm:
The Haftarot of the three Shabbatot of the Three Weeks, from the 17th of Tammuz to the 9th of Av, are called the תְּלָתָא דְּפֻרְעָנוּתָא , the Three of Castigation (Aramaic), chilling prophecies of destruction from Jeremiah and Isaiah.
And then, from the first Shabbat after the 9th of Av until the final Shabbat of the year are the שֶׁבַע דְּנֶחֱמָתָא, the Seven of Comforting (Aramaic), some of the most beautiful and inspiring and magnificent prophecies from Isaiah depicting the glorious and majestic future that awaits us.
This is the time of year, especially on the 1st of Ellul, to begin – at the very minimum – to increase our awareness of the tragic lack of the Holy Temple, and to increase our determination to rectify this desperate defect.
We pray, three times every day:
תְּקַע בְּשׁוֹפָר גָּדוֹל לְחֵרוּתֵינוּ
"Blast the Great Shofar for our freedom…".
On Sunday 1st of Ellul, we will indeed begin to blow the shofar every day in Synagogues throughout the world. This should be, all too literally, our national clarion call to begin clearing the Temple Mount in preparation for rebuilding the Holy Temple.
And G-d Himself has promised us, through His Prophet Haggai, that if we take the first few simple and painless steps, then He will be pleased with us and our actions and will send His blessings on us and our future endeavours.
Daniel Pinneris a veteran immigrant from England, a teacher by profession and a Torah scholar who has been active in causes promoting Eretz Israel and Torat Israel.
A church is a place in which gentlemen who have never been to heaven brag about it to persons who will never get there.
H. L. Mencken, JOURNALIST
I like the silent church before the service begins,
better than any preaching.
Ralph Waldo Emerson, ESSAYIST
The first time I sang in the church choir;
two hundred people changed their religion.
Fred Allen, COMEDIAN
Too many church services start at eleven sharp and end at twelve dull.
Vance Havner, EVANGELIST
The Bible and the Church have been the greatest stumbling blocks in the way of women's emancipation.
Elizabeth Cady Stanton, ACTIVIST
People don't come to church for preachments, of course,
but to daydream about God.
Kurt Vonnegut, AUTHOR
Most of us spend the first six days of each week sowing wild oats;
then we go to church on Sunday and pray for a crop failure.
Fred Allen, COMEDIAN
Baseball is like church.
Many attend, few understand.
Leo Durocher, COMEDIAN
Every day people are straying away from the church
and going back to God.
Lenny Bruce, COMEDIAN
We all know that a church is not a building.
Robert H. Schuller
Minister
Joining a new church and starting a new life
is never easy and often frightening.
Joseph B. Wirthlin, Religious Leader
Many come to bring their clothes to church rather than themselves.
The Jewish and intellectual origins of this famously non-Jewish Jew
In Herzl's household—like so many other bourgeois Jewish homes—the success in looking normal on the streets came at a high Jewish cost, even at home.
editor's note: Excerpted from the new three-volume set, "Theodor Herzl: Zionist Writings," the inaugural publication of The Library of the Jewish People edited by Gil Troy, to be published this August marking the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress. This is the second article in a series. The first in the series is available here.
Theodor Herzl was born on May 2, 1860, in Pest, Hungary, across the River Danube from Buda. The second child and only son of a successful businessman, Jakob, he was raised to fit in to the elegant, sophisticated society his family and a fraction of his people had fought so hard to enter. But it is too easy to caricature his upbringing as fully emancipated and assimilated.
His paternal grandfather, Simon Loeb Herzl, came from Semlin, today's Zemun, now incorporated into Belgrade. There, Simon befriended Rabbi Judah ben Solomon Chai Alkalai. This prominent Sephardic leader was an early Zionist, scarred by the crude anti-Semitism of the Damascus Blood Libel of 1840, inspired by the old-new Greek War of Independence in the 1820s—and energized by the spiritual and agricultural possibilities of returning the Jews to their natural habitat, their homeland in the Land of Israel. It is plausible that the grandfather conveyed some of those ideas, some of that excitement, to his grandson.
Still, the move from Semlin to Budapest, from poverty to wealth, from intense Jewish living in the ghetto to emancipated European ways in the city, placed the Herzl family at the intersection of many of his era's defining currents.
The 1800s were years of change—and of isms. Creative ideas erupted amid the disruptions of industrialization, urbanization and capitalism. Three defining ideologies were rationalism, liberalism and nationalism—with each one shaping the next. The Age of Reason, the Enlightenment—science itself—rose thanks to rationalism. Life was no longer organized around believing in God and serving your king, but following logic, facts, objective truth. The logic of reason flowed naturally to liberalism, an expansive political ideology rooted in recognizing every individual's inherent rights. Finally, as polities became less God-and-king-centered, nationalism filled in the God-sized hole in many people's hearts. Individuals bonded based on their common heritage, language, ethnicity, or regional pride—and needs.
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Ideas are not static. In an ideological age rippling with such dramatic changes, the different isms kept colliding and fusing, like atoms becoming molecular compounds. Some combinations proved more stable—and constructive—than others.
Liberalism combined with nationalism created Americanism, the democratic model wherein individual rights flourished in a collective context yielding the liberal-democratic nation-state. An offshoot of liberalism emphasizing equality more than rights fused with rationalism and created Marxism, although Karl Marx admitted his theories could only be enacted with irrational terror. Marxism with that violent streak, drained of liberalism, became communism, while a hyper-nationalism, rooted in blood-and-soil loyalty, and the kind of Marxist rationalism and totalitarianism also drained of any liberalism, created Nazism.
A similar impressionistic summary of the Jewish experience would track how the nineteenth century's ideological clashes shaped the major movements and institutions still defining Judaism, from the Reform movement to Zionism, from the modern synagogue to the State of Israel. Judaism and rationalism set off the explosion of scholarship—the Wissenschaft—while Judaism mixed with liberalism triggered the Reform and Conservative movements' theological inventiveness. In response, ultra-Orthodoxy emerged, hostile to change—essentially subtracting liberalism from Judaism. Modern Orthodoxy synthesized, accepting some liberalism in Judaism and eventually Jewish nationalism without too much rationalism. And, thanks to Herzl and others, the compound of Judaism and liberalism and nationalism yielded Zionism.
The actual historical process was much messier. It began with the great double-edged sword of European Emancipation. First in the West, then in the East, some Europeans welcomed Jews with equal rights and extraordinary opportunities, liberating many to move to the cities—and for a few to succeed on legendary scales. Moses Mendelssohn (1729–1786), the Herzl of the Haskala—Enlightenment—was a Jew who as a philosopher dazzled Berlin. But, unlike Herzl, Mendelssohn was so fluent in Judaism and Hebrew that in 1783 he started translating much of the Bible into High German, adding commentary sporadically too. Mendelssohn epitomized the Haskala ideal of being a full, functioning, literate Jew in the house and a full, functioning, popular man on the street. And, unlike Herzl, Mendelssohn was ugly, infamously so, a walking ghetto stereotype with his crooked back and hooked nose.
Mendelssohn was accepted. Jews, however, realized that Europe's embrace often came at a cost: Jews had to be willing to give up their Jewishness, to fit in so much that many lost their way. Mendelssohn had six children who survived into adulthood—only two remained Jewish. Most disturbing, the Jewish rush into modern European society triggered a backlash, an updated, racist Jew-hatred that became increasingly potent as nationalist demagogues blamed the era's problems on Europe's traditional scapegoat, the Jews.
Rather than being welcomed smoothly into European life, most Jews felt mugged by modernity. The complex realities never matched the euphoric hopes of the maskilim, the Enlightened Reformers, that their people would "awake" from their ghetto-imposed long "slumber," as the Russian-Jewish maskil Y. L. Gordon would write in Hebrew in 1866.
Developing Mendelssohn's vision as the pioneering Jewish modernizer, Gordon celebrated the essential bargain Jews like Theodor and his parents accepted. The deal was: "Be a man when you wander outside and a Jew when at home." In Herzl's household—like so many other bourgeois Jewish homes—the success in looking normal on the streets came at a high Jewish cost, even at home.
For Herzl and his family, Middle European Jews caught in the middle, every educational choice became a marker. Were you looking backward to your traditional past or forward to your enlightened future? Initially, Herzl's parents, Jakob and Jeannette née Diamant, tried doing both. When their son was eight days old, they initiated their son Theodor into the great identity juggle by giving him a Hebrew name—Binyamin Ze'ev.
Ultimately, then, Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl was far more rooted in Judaism—and the Jewish struggle of the nineteenth century, than most legends acknowledge.
Professor Gil Troy is the author of The Zionist Ideas and the editor of the three-volume set Theodor Herzl: Zionist Writings, the inaugural publication of the Library of the Jewish People, to be published this August marking the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress.
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.
My letter to the Jerusalem Post about 7 day transportation in yesterday's editorial on 8.28
The only thing under "Siege" in Israel is Shabbat
While an editorial is not reporting the news but voicing an opinion, your latest editorial on Sunday August 28, 2022 promoting 7 day a week public transportation is a misstatement of truth.
The elephant in the room not mentioned, is the fact that Israel is the only Jewish country in the world. The signature of being Jewish is keeping Shabbat. Your editorial states: "There is no other place where public transport operates only six days a week".
Is there any other Jewish country where keeping Shabbat is an alternative value?
This is an unfair and misleading statement. The public transport is kept closed not to punish anyone, but to allow those that keep Shabbat not to be under pressure to lose their jobs when they want to keep Shabbat.
Regardless of how many surveys you quote that claim the public supports such a move, people died for the country and changed their lives to come to live in a country where Shabbat is a value that is worth keeping. Traditional people who don't keep Shabbat understand this and never considered it a "Siege". Either Shabbat is a value that the government of Israel respects or it is no longer a place that makes being Jewish special and if not what is the need for a "Jewish country".
It is painfully aware how our roads are overcrowded, but opening the public transport on Shabbat will obviously make it easier for some but at a cost that loses our Jewish heritage. It would be nice if the Jerusalem Post would recognize the obvious and not pretend that by using words like siege, which inflames the public about what they don't have instead of focusing on the beauty of a Country that takes one day off from the rat race and focuses on the wonders of the creator in giving us a country where we can sanctify our creator. Rabbi Yehuda Lave
The Three are Rabbi Yehuda Glick, famous temple mount activist, and former Israel Mk, and then Robert Weinger, the world's greatest shofar blower and seller of Shofars, and myself after we had gone to the 12 gates of the Temple Mount in 2020 to blow the shofar to ask G-d to heal the world from the Pandemic. It was a highlight to my experience in living in Israel and I put it on my blog each day to remember.
The articles that I include each day are those that I find interesting, so I feel you will find them interesting as well. I don't always agree with all the points of each article but found them interesting or important to share with you, my readers, and friends. It is cathartic for me to share my thoughts and frustrations with you about life in general and in Israel. As a Rabbi, I try to teach and share the Torah of the G-d of Israel as a modern Orthodox Rabbi. I never intend to offend anyone but sometimes people are offended and I apologize in advance for any mistakes. The most important psychological principle I have learned is that once someone's mind is made up, they don't want to be bothered with the facts, so, like Rabbi Akiva, I drip water (Torah is compared to water) on their made-up minds and hope that some of what I have share sinks in. Love Rabbi Yehuda Lave.
Israel sends thousands of instant meals to refugees in Ukraine
Earlier this month, Israel sent equipment to emergency and civilian organizations in Ukraine, the second such shipment since Russia invaded the country.
By TPS
Israel shipped on Wednesday 25,000 instant meals to Kharkiv, as part of continuing Israeli humanitarian assistance to Ukraine.
Humanitarian cargo will be delivered to other Ukrainian cities in the near future, Israel's embassy in Ukraine announced.
Earlier this month, Israel sent equipment to emergency and civilian organizations in Ukraine, including 1,500 helmets, 1,500 protective vests, hundreds of protective suits for mine clearance, 1,000 gas masks and tens of CBRN (chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear) filters, the second such shipment since Russia invaded the country.
Israel's previous mobilization to transfer extensive humanitarian and medical assistance to Ukraine includes flying children with cancer to Israel for treatment, sending the fully-equipped and staffed Kochav Meir field hospital and then donating the equipment, medicines, ambulances, food, generators and more.
Ukraine has demanded that Israel equip it with military gear. Seeking to avoid a clash with Russia, Israel has lent its support to Ukraine while maintaining a semblance of neutrality and has transferred tons of equipment in civilian aid.
With the latest technology in patient assessment, Tel Aviv's Ichilov hospital opens world's largest Emergency Room
President Herzog, Prime Minister Lapid, Health Minister Horowitz, and Tel Aviv Mayor Huldai join philanthropist Sylvan Adams in opening new Emergency Hospital at Ichilov.
Tel Aviv, Israel, 28 July, 2022 – With the participation of President Herzog and Prime Minister Lapid, as well as Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz, Tel Aviv's Ichilov Hospital today (Thursday), inaugurated the new Sylvan Adams Emergency Hospital, which at 8,000m2 stands as the largest ER in the world. It carries the name of philanthropist Sylvan Adams, who donated around $28 million for its establishment.
Opening the event, Israel's President Isaac Herzog spoke of his appreciation for the dedication of the medical staff, and of his pride on the opening of the new emergency hospital. He thanked Sylvan Adams for his generous support of the Israeli people and said, "You are a true ambassador of Israeli society".
Prime Minister Lapid added his thanks and said to Sylvan Adams, "Both of us are children of Holocaust survivors. You were brought up with a strong sense of responsibility for the State of Israel, for the next generation, for its welfare and for its values. Your father, Marcel, of blessed memory, would certainly have been proud of you today. On behalf of the State of Israel, thank you."
The facility is equipped with the latest technology in patient assessment enabling patients to self-triage, scanning in their identity documents or medical referral, and checking temperature and blood pressure levels before being assigned a medical professional for treatment. At each stage, the recording of any abnormal or critical results will immediately alert the medical staff. In addition, the hospital has dedicated sections for care to be provided based on the patient's condition and psychiatric classification, a short-term hospitalization department, and includes the "Maor" Center for the acute care of victims of sexual assault. The technologies will enable greater streamlining of triage patient assessment, lower waiting times, and more efficient and effective medical care provision.
The new technologies being implemented include:
Facial recognition station and digital self-registration: This station will be located next to the traditional reception and will allow people to self-register using facial recognition (identity verification using an identifying document, scanning documents such as a medical referral; entering demographic details etc). At the end of the process, a case is opened in the hospital's computerized system and the patient is instructed to move on to the next stage of care provision.
Station for "self-triage": Following reception, the patient arrives at the triage station, where can check their own temperature, blood pressure, pulse, and blood oxygen levels. The data is fed automatically to the patient's computerized file. In the instance of high concern, a medical professional is immediately notified.
Navigation robots: The facility is equipped with mobile robots to help patients navigate the emergency hospital as well as departments outside the facility. The robots greet the visitors and offer them help in finding their destination.
App for the patient to stay informed during their visit: The app will provide real-time reports to the patient about their status, will carry out checks and deliver responses, provide advice, inform the patient of the risk of hospitalization, and will also send a satisfaction survey.
The building was designed by Sharon Architects in collaboration with Rani Ziss Architects, and has three floors. The façade of the new building faces Weizmann Street with a reception and triage area where initial tests on the patient can be carried out. Medical care is provided by the medical staff and nurses who specialize in emergency care, with knowledge of a variety of areas of medicine and who are skilled in performing complicated and life-saving procedures.
On the ground floor of the new building there is an inpatient department that includes spacious halls that are being upgraded to the highest standards. The inpatient hall includes around 100 monitored beds – the largest number of beds in emergency care departments in Israel. If needed, during an emergency event, this number can be doubled. Also on the ground floor is a shock and trauma room with advanced equipment and an imaging area that includes two CT machines – the largest number in emergency care departments in Israel. This includes use of groundbreaking artificial intelligence for viewing clinical findings in real time.
The first floor includes an ambulatory wing with 30 medical testing rooms and a large treatment hall. This wing also provides professional treatment from the emergency care team, and now, for the first time in Israel, is reinforced by professional advisors in the fields of cardiology, neurology, dermatology, and sexual health. To provide fast and effective treatment, upon reception patients can also be referred to dedicated emergency rooms in the following areas: orthopaedics, eye, and head and neck surgery.
In addition, for the first time in Ichilov and Tel Aviv there is also a psychiatric emergency room.
On the rooftop floor there will be a short-term hospitalization and inpatient department with 32 monitored beds designed for hospitalization for patients who need further tests or continued treatment. The opening of this department is expected to reduce demand in other departments, and in particular, the internal medicine department.
On the upper floor on the roof of the building is an amphitheater that is open for the patients while they are waiting for their medical treatment. This includes lawns, benches and coffee stations, and it can also hold events for up to 500 people.
With the opening of the emergency care wing, there will be additional medical staff, nurses and helpers to provide the best and quickest treatment in Israel.
Sylvan Adams, businessman and philanthropist: "At Ichilov, I am happy to provide the residents of the State of Israel with the largest and most advanced emergency room of its kind. The innovative technology, the worldview that places the patient at the center, and the high level of infrastructure creates an advanced level of service and treatment for the benefit of the State of Israel."
Professor Ronni Gamzu, Ichilov CEO: "Our emergency room treats complicated cases on a large scale and therefore the challenge of providing outstanding service is significant. We are determined to change this and to prove that it is possible to demand and to receive quick, outstanding treatment even during busy periods. After over five years of strenuous work, I am proud to lead the medical and technological revolution in guaranteeing the best and quickest possible treatment in Israel. I am grateful to Mr Sylvan Adams, whose generosity has fulfilled Ichilov's dream on behalf of the more than 250,000 Israelis who visit Ichilov's emergency care wing every year."
MAJOR VICTORY: Israelis Defeat Supreme Court Expulsion Case
A Jewish town in Samaria earned a major legal victory on Wednesday when Israel's Supreme Court ruled against pro-Palestinian litigants trying to demolish the village.
By Ebin Sandler, United with Israel
With pristine views of the Jordan Valley and the Dead Sea, Mitzpe Kramim sits perched on cliffs above the Bika, the Hebrew term for the stretch of land separating Israel from its neighbor to the east, Jordan.
Around 40 Jewish families live in Mitzpe Kramim, their modern stone homes built on streets surrounding the synagogue and playground in the center of town.
Located about 45 minutes from Jerusalem, this vibrant, Torah-focused community counts among its residents professionals, farmers, and teachers, many of whom grew up in the Binaymin Region of Samaria. The town shares a supermarket and other amenities with a larger community called Kochav Hashachar, which houses 400 families.
The towns attract tourists from around the world, who hike the trails of Har HaKuba and take tours of a local organic soap company called Adva, established to provide employment opportunities for people with special needs.
Despite Mitzpe Kramim being established over two decades ago, with the permission of the Israeli government, the Supreme Court has entertained litigation for years attempting to expel the town's inhabitants.
In 1999, residents legally acquired the land from the relevant authorities, which held themselves out as possessing the right to transfer the area that became Mitzpe Kramim. Ten years later, a left-wing legal organization assisted a group of Palestinians who claimed they owned the land, filing a case before the High Court of Justice to try to expel the families from their homes.
Mitzpe Kramim responded with a suit in the Jerusalem District Court arguing that their community is protected by a government regulation designed to shield those who acquire land in good faith, even if the seller was in error with regard to its right to transfer the property.
That theory had received support from then-Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who said it applied to communities in Judea and Samaria, a region that had been excluded from the rule's application.
In August 2018, Judge Arnon Darel of the Jerusalem District Court ruled in a separate but related case in favor of Mitzpe Kramim residents.
Notwithstanding that decision, the cases continued to be appealed.
A Victory for 'The Rule of Law'
In 2020, a three-judge High Court panel held 2-to-1 that the standard for "good faith" had not been met by Mitzpe Kramim, which would thus be destroyed.
Residents appealed and a larger seven-judge High Court panel ruled on Wednesday that the market regulation rule can be applied, which would mean that Mitzpe Kramim meets the good faith standard, ultimately prohibiting its demolition.
The Yesha Council hailed the decision for ending "years of judicial torture, years of left-wing organizations wasting the state's resources," reported Israeli media.
The precedent-setting ruling could help other Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria under legal attack in the Israeli judicial system. Indeed, forced evacuations of communities in Judea and Samaria remain an issue for Jewish Israelis, some of whom find themselves being forced out of the homes they spent years living in.
"We innocently and honestly invested the bulk of our savings in a home in the heartland of Israel, and we were mortified to find out that the authorities had abandoned us and put our families and lives into a state of flux and limbo," said Shlomo Zwickler, a practicing Israeli attorney and resident of Kochav Hashachar whose home was initially affected by the High Court case against Mitzpe Kramim.
When the 2018 decision was handed down, Zwickler said "it reinvigorate[d] the rule of law for innocent well-meaning people who operate in good faith and simply want to live their lives in their ancestral homeland."
He also reflected on the hard work, development, and financial resources Mitzpe Kramim residents invested in their community and the profound sense of disappointment and betrayal that followed when the government attempted to rezone the land on which their homes had been built, transforming their houses into illegal structures.
With thousands of homes in Judea and Samaria facing a predicament similar to that of Mitzpe Kramim, the High Court ruling this week could have a major impact on the future of a number of communities in Judea and Samaria.
President Herzog to Visit Basel on 125th Anniversary of First Zionist Congress
Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl on the veranda of the Three Kings Hotel in Basel, August 29, 1897.
President Isaac Herzog of Israel will mark the 125th anniversary of the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland on Monday, August 29, the exact date it was held back in 1897.
A global event initiated by the World Zionist Organization will open in Basel in honor of the First World Zionist Congress, founded by Binyamin Ze'ev Herzl, with more than 1,400 Jewish leaders, entrepreneurs, and philanthropists from around the world. President Herzog will be joined by the chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Yaakov Hagoel. The 2022 Congress will discuss the implementation of Herzl's socio-economic vision and the vision and milestones for the next 25 years in dealing with the challenges facing the Jewish people.
The World Zionist Organization is supported by the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities (SIG) headed by Dr. Ralph Lewin.
The event will begin in the Stadt casino Hall in Basel, the place where the First Zionist Congress hosted the first 208 delegates who discussed their vision for the establishment of a Jewish state.
One of the main events in Basel will be the restoration of the historical photo of Herzl, who was photographed on the railing of the balcony of the city's Three Kings Hotel during the first Zionist Congress.
The synagogue where Herzl prayed on the Shabbat before the congress has hung over its ark the parochet it had received from the Israeli Knesset 25 years ago as a gift by then acting President of the State of Israel and Speaker of the Knesset Dan Tichon.
The Swiss government allocated 5.7 million Swiss Francs ($5.9 million) to secure the event, following warnings about huge anti-Israel demonstrations. The Rhine River will be closed to ship traffic and the city's airspace will be closed to planes for the duration of the congress, and thousands of police and soldiers will secure the area of the congress hall.
The Zionist Congress 2022 will be divided into two parts: the Herzl Leadership Conference, focusing on modern Zionism in light of Herzl's vision; and the Impact Conference for social and economic entrepreneurship which will host 125 leading entrepreneurs from the high-tech industry who were carefully selected from thousands of nominations and requests.
A special gala evening will feature President Herzog, President of the Basel-Stadt Canton Beat Jans, former President of Switzerland and current Minister of Economy Guy Parmelin, and Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel.
