
	View in browser

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.

Love Yehuda Lave

Join my blog by sending me an email to YehudaLave@gmail.com

Breaking news:

Health Ministry Director: 'We won't force people to take vaccine'

Health Ministry Director Hezy Levy to reporters: 'We won't force people to take a vaccine; Israeli law doesn't allow for it.'

Health Ministry Director Hezy Levy spoke to reporters and insisted that "we won't force people to take a vaccine. Israeli law doesn't allow for it."

He said a small amount of vaccines will arrive by the end of December, and more during the first two quarters of 2021.

He also said "there will be no initiated closure on Hanukkah." Prof. Hezi Levy said he was concerned about the current coefficient of infection and estimated that vaccines to arrive in Israel would not have significant side effects.

The Three Musketeers at the Kotel

To me, "drink responsibly" means don't spill it.

Age 60 might be the new 40, but 9:00 pm is the new midnight.

It's the start of a brand new day, and I'm off like a herd of turtles.

The older I get, the earlier it gets late.

When I say, "The other day," I could be referring to any time between yesterday and 15 years ago.

I remember being able to get up without making sound effects.

I had my patience tested. I'm negative.

Remember, if you lose a sock in the dryer, it comes back as a Tupperware lid that doesn't fit any of your containers.

If you're sitting in public and a stranger takes the seat next to you, just stare straight ahead and say, "Did you bring the money?"

When you ask me what I am doing today, and I say "nothing," it does not mean I am free. It means I am doing nothing.

I finally got eight hours of sleep. It took me three days, but whatever.

I run like the winded.

I hate when a couple argues in public, and I missed the beginning and don't know whose side I'm on.

When someone asks what I did over the weekend, I squint and ask, "Why, what did you hear?"

When you do squats, are your knees supposed to sound like a goat chewing on an aluminum can stuffed with celery?

I don't mean to interrupt people. I just, randomly, remember things and get really excited.

When I ask for directions, please don't use words like "east", "south", "west"...

Don't bother walking a mile in my shoes. That would be boring. Spend 30 seconds in my head. That'll freak you right out.

Sometimes, someone unexpected comes into your life out of nowhere, makes your heart race, and changes you forever. We call those people cops.

My luck is like a bald guy who just won a comb

Apollonia National Park (Tel Arsuf)

The moat
The Roman seaside villa
The Crusader fortress
The coastal path
The glass furnace
Sidna Ali Mosque
The Dinosaur House

details

The city moat – the southern side of the city moat was excavated in 1998, and helps us to estimate the size and strength of the city in Crusader times. In 1996 the eastern city gate, which still lies in grounds belonging to IMI (Israel Military Industries), was excavated. The moat can clearly be seen to continue beyond the excavated area, and it is about 4.5 m deep.

The Roman seaside villa– at the beginning of the 1980s a small part of the Roman villa was excavated, but it was only after intensive excavations in 1998 that the villa was revealed in all its glory. The Roman villa, overlooking the sea, is dated to the 1st century CE, and was destroyed in an earthquake in 118 CE.

The Crusader fortress– construction of the fortress is dated to 1241, and its destruction to 1265, when the city was captured by the Mameluke Sultan Baibars. The fortress building was influenced by similar fortresses in southern England, and is evidence that the architect was European. The fortress has three systems of fortification: a wide and deep moat, a first wall (the external fortification array), and a second wall and donjon (keep). The fortress was built by Balian of Ibelin, Lord of Arsur, but in 1261, at the start of Baibars' campaign to the land of Israel, it was handed over, along with the entire city of Apollonia, to the control of the Hospitaller Knights. Baibars besieged the city for 30 days, and the fortress for another three days. At the foot of the fortress is a small sea anchorage at which boats could tie up.

The coastal path– from the point where it splits off, the path descends towards the Roman villa, and then follows the route of the city wall. The trail rejoins the upper trail at the Tamarisk tree compound.

The glass furnace– the glass furnace at the entrance to the park was in use in the Byzantine period (6th century CE). So far 12 furnaces have been found around Apollonia, and it seems that the glass industry was one of the most important branches of the city's economy. By firing at a particularly high temperature (1,100°C) in the glass furnace, the raw material, mainly the silica found in beach sand, was turned into a sheet of raw glass, 50 cm thick. After firing, the glass sheet and the furnace were dismantled, and so the furnace was used for only one firing. From the quantity of potsherds found near the furnaces, it can be concluded that they were used a number of times for making pottery vessels before glass was fired in them, after which they were abandoned and a new furnace was made.

Sidna Ali Mosque– Sidna Ali mosque was built in 1481, and was named after the soldier Ali Ibn Alim (Al-Hasan ibn Ali), who, according to Muslim belief, fell in battle against the Crusaders at Apollonia in 1250. The minaret of the mosque rises to a height of 21 m. The mosque was built by Shams al-Din, whose tomb is in the town of Jaljulia. The mosque is in use today, and entry is permitted only in modest dress.
Between the mosque and the cliff is an ancient Muslim cemetery, which is an antiquities site, containing the tombstone of Sheikh Mansour and a number of neglected shaft tombs.

The Dinosaur House – quarrying the caves in the sandstone rock created an interesting and mysterious structure. It was named the "Dinosaur House", and Herzliya Municipality has given it the status of a tourist site. The Dinosaur House attracts many curious visitors, and beautifies the shoreline. The upper part of the structure is on the border of Apollonia National Park, but it lies mostly in the area of Herzliya Municipality.

Israel's pension system ranked third-best in the world

The Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index rated Israel's pension system 74.7 out of 100, giving it a B grade.

By ZEV STUB

OCTOBER 20, 2020

Israel's pension system ranks third in the world, according to an annual global survey.

The Mercer CFA Institute Global Pension Index rated Israel's pension system 74.7 out of 100, giving it a B grade and placing it third out of the 39 countries surveyed.

This was Israel's first year being included on the

12-year-old index. The two countries that placed ahead of Israel, the Netherlands and Denmark, were the only two given an A grade, and are already widely regarded as having the best pension systems in the world. For comparison, the US and UK both were graded C+. More than half of the countries on the list saw their ratings drop this year as global economies contend with the economic fallout from the COVID-19 crisis.Broken down, Israel's pension system ranked fourth for sustainability, seventh for integrity, and 12th for adequacy." Israel's retirement income system comprises of a universal state pension and private pensions with the compulsory employer and employee contributions," the report said. "In most cases, annuities are paid from the private pension system."The report noted that the Israeli system could be improved by "increasing the level of assets held in private pension arrangements; lowering the reliance on the public system; reducing government debt as a percentage of GDP; and introducing protection for members of private pension plans in the event of mismanagement or fraud."

Second Temple period jars and complete clay objects unearthed in Beit El

The ancient jars were discovered inside a water hole at the Khirbet Kafr Mer archaeological site at Beit El.

Dozens of jars and complete clay objects from the Second Temple period have been discovered by the Civil Administration in archaeological digs at Beit El in the West Bank.

The ancient jars were discovered inside a water hole at the Khirbet Kafr Mer archaeological site at Beit El.

The exciting discovery was made as part of an ongoing large-scale excavation that the Civil Administration has been leading at the site for more than a decade. In August, a richly decorated stone table dating back to the Second Temple era was discovered at the very same site.

The water hole was apparently part of a residential neighborhood in a Jewish community that lived in the area roughly 2000 years ago. The jars and other artifacts were founds stored within large plastered niches carved to the sides of the water hole.

For hundreds of years, the items were "set there in orderly fashion one on the other and ... remained that way till their discovery," a press release by the Civil Administration noted.

The placement of the items at the bottom of the water hole indicates, according to the Civil Administration, that at some point in history the waterhole was repurposed and turned into a storage basement for vessels. All jars and clay items discovered will undergo restoration before being displayed to the public.

Head of the Civil Administration's Archaeological Unit, Hanania Hizmi, congratulated the archeologists on their impressive finds, stating that "the great efforts that the Archaeological Unit of the Civil Administration invests in the Beit El dig have yielded results once more."

Hizmi added "the archaeological finds that have been unearthed testify to the rich Jewish history of the area and contribute greatly to historical research. We will continue to work night and day to preserve the archaeological sites throughout Judea and Samaria, including the assets of our national tradition and culture among them."

Sed ut perspiciatis unde omnis iste natus error sit voluptatem accusantium doloremque laudantium, totam rem aperiam, eaque ipsa quae ab illo inventore veritatis et quasi architecto.