Another Intifada? Why are you surprised? and Unique Sites of Israel: Biblical Beit Shemesh By Nosson Shulman and Hundreds of Guest Rooms to be Built in Mitzpe Ramon By Hana Levi Julian and The Art Of Passoverby Saul Jay Singer
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.
Our Place Of Faith By Rabbi Dr. Warren Goldstein
Photo Credit: Wiki
Family scene from the historic Szyk Haggada
Our world feels so turbulent at the moment. Just as we emerge from the pandemic, war breaks out in Europe, Israel experiences a wave of brutal attacks on its citizens, and the dangers of Iran's pursuit of nuclear weapons seem to be mounting.
At this time of great uncertainty, we can draw our emotional and spiritual strength from the Seder. There is one particularly dramatic scene described in the Haggadah that took place during similarly turbulent and uncertain times. Five of the greatest sages of the time were there. The Beit HaMikdash had just been destroyed and Roman soldiers were all over Israel. The future looked bleak.
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But on that Seder night, they find faith and light, strength and hope. They are so enveloped by the experience of relearning and re-looking and retelling the story of the Exodus – of the historic events of our enslavement and divine liberation from Egypt that led to the birth of our people – that they lose track of time. An entire night passes by.
And then – their students enter the room to announce that the dawn has broken. As if to say that the darkness dissipates; that, after delving with such tremendous faith and energy into the story of the Exodus, the light has broken through, and the time has come to recite the Shema – the ultimate declaration of our faith.
This episode illustrates something crucial. The faith we imbibe from the Seder experience can carry us through times of uncertainty and challenge, as it has done for generations of Jews. Renewing our faith means that we can actually feel the presence of Hashem at our Seder tables. One of the divine names is HaMakom, literally, "The Place." It is significant that this divine name appears twice in the Haggadah.
The midrash says in explanation for the name HaMakom that "the world is not the place of Hashem; rather, Hashem is the place of the world." In other words, we don't look at Hashem as part of, and contained by the universe; rather, He contains everything. He holds the universe together. He holds our lives together.
The name HaMakom has special resonance on Seder night when we remember how Hashem freed our ancestors, and how He looked after them; how He has held us throughout Jewish history, and how He holds us still today.
Rav Soloveitchik, zt"l, takes a deeper look at this midrash. He points out that the name HaMakom often appears in the context of situations where it seems G-d is absent or unavailable, yet is there holding us: "Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me." G-d is with us no matter what we are going through. He is always with us. Thus, HaMakom is His name of reassurance; G-d is "The Place" – He is with us because He is everywhere.
This could be the reason that we invoke the name HaMakom when comforting mourners ("May HaMakom comfort you among the other mourners of Zion and Jerusalem"), or when praying for the divine protection from danger in the moving words of the tefillah of Acheinu ("May HaMakom have compassion on them and deliver them from distress to relief…"). Hashem is everywhere holding everything together for us. He holds us all within His loving embrace.
And He does so with unconditional love. Rav Soloveitchik points out the significance of the two occasions the name HaMakom appears in the Haggadah – in introducing the "the four sons" and in the passage when we acknowledge we are descended from people who didn't believe in Hashem and who worshipped idols.
Rav Soloveitchik explains that one might assume it's only the wise son whom G-d is close to. Yet the responses to the simple son, the son who doesn't know how to ask questions, even the wicked one, are all introduced with the name HaMakom. It doesn't matter who we are, how far we have strayed: G-d is close and available to us and loves us all.
Similarly, we might have thought that because we are a nation descended from idolators, Hashem could be distant from us. Yet the Haggadah invokes the name HaMakom to say that He is always there for us, holding us, holding everything together, comforting and empowering us.
When we sit around the Seder table this Pesach, let us hold in our minds this famous Seder in Bnei Brak. A Seder filled with the light of faith held during a dark time in Jewish history. As we progress through the Haggadah, let us draw faith that will not just illuminate our Seder, but uplift us throughout the year, empowering us to meet a turbulent world and an uncertain future with hope and courage. And let us remember that HaMakom, G-d, The Place of the world, is with us now, just as he was with us then – and that He is with us always.
Hundreds of Guest Rooms to be Built in Mitzpe Ramon
Har Gamal viewpoint (Camel Hill or Camel Lookout, so called because it vaguely resembles a camel) in Mitzpe Ramon, Israel. On a cliff overlooking Makhtesh Ramon, facing west on March 14, 2017
The Israel Land Authority (ILA) has announced the winners of the tender, in cooperation with the Ministry of Tourism, for the construction of 780 guestrooms in four plots in the 'Spice Route' tourism quarter of Mitzpe Ramon, more than doubling the current inventory.
The tender related to two lots, to build 130 accommodation units in each lot, and two lots to build 260 units in each lot. The project will have minimal impact on the unique nature and climate of Mitzpe Ramon, the ministry said.
There are currently about 700 guest rooms in Mitzpe Ramon.
A total of 65 bids were presented and examined by the Israel Ministry of Tourism, with most receiving the recommendation of the ministry to the Israel Land Authority. Of those, 23 bids were submitted to the tender in the ILA.
There was a significant gap between the minimum price (hundreds of thousands of shekels) and the amount of the winning bids (millions of shekels), indicating the attractiveness of investing in Mitzpe Ramon in particular and the region in general, the ministry said.
"This is another successful marketing of land for hotels, which will significantly expand the variety and supply of guestrooms for domestic and international tourism in Mitzpe Ramon, which is continuing to develop, and answer the growing need for hotels throughout the country and the Negev in particular," said Yaacov Kwint, Director of Israel Land Authority.
"The tender will also directly and indirectly expand employment opportunities and will help economic growth in the city and the area as a result of the hotels' construction of hotels and the related services."
The Ministry of Tourism said it encourages grants at a rate of up to 20 percent of the investment for entrepreneurs wishing to establish hotels in Mitzpe Ramon.
The purpose of the program is the creation of a varied tourist center in Mitzpe Ramon which integrates into the landscapes of the town.
The tourist quarter will include hotels, special housing (studio apartments / student dormitories), a promenade, sports facilities, commercial and employment areas, a new park and forest.
"The actions we are taking in the Ministry of Tourism are encouraging entrepreneurs to establish hotels, increasing competition and bringing down the cost of vacationing in Israel by increasing the supply of tourist accommodation in Israel," said Tourism Minister Yoel Razvozov.
"As a result, we are witness to the great interest shown by entrepreneurs to build hotels in Mitzpe Ramon. Initiatives like this one are establishing the right infrastructure, which will help us as a state to meet the objective we have set ourselves of 10 million tourists a year by 2030."
Another Intifada? Why are you surprised?
This is what happens when the canard of "settler violence" is promoted, instead of exposing violence against Jews. And much more.
Dr. Moshe Dann
The Arabs have been planning this ever since the last one, 20 years ago.
This is what Arafat envisioned when he formed the PLO in 1964, and used (via the Oslo Accords) to implement his goal of destroying Israel.
This is what happens when the PLO Covenant and Hamas Charter, which call for Israel's destruction, and promote incitement against Israel, are ignored.
This is what happens when the PA has a "pay-for-slay" program that sends money to families of terrorists who were 'killed-in-action,' and glorifies them.
This is what happens when children in schools run by the PA/PLO and UNRWA are taught to hate Jews and Israel.
This is what happens when Jews were expelled from the Gaza Strip, which enabled Hamas to occupy it; similarly, destroying "hilltop" Jewish communities and preventing Jews from building in Judea, Samaria and eastern Jerusalem is an anti-Zionist message of surrender.
This is what happens when Hamas, Jihadists and Islamists are empowered, especially by the news media that won't even call them terrorists.
This is what happens when the international community supports terrorist groups and condemns Israel as a "racist, Apartheid country."
This is what happens when foreign governments support the "two-state-solution" (2SS) and fund anti-Israel NGOs.
This is what happens when the canard of "settler violence" is promoted, instead of exposing violence against Jews.
This is what happens when Arab violence against Jews is excused as legitimate and when violence within Arab communities including killing those who are accused of opposing the PLO and Hamas, is ignored.
This is what happens when the fence that was built to prevent illegal entry into Israel has gaping holes and is unsupervised.
It's what happens when the Israel government is dominated by leftists and depends on an anti-Israel, anti-Zionist party to stay in power. It's what happens when Israel's police and security agencies are compromised.
Dr. Moshe Dann is a PhD historian, writer and journalist in Israel.
Passover is a festival that readily lends itself to broad artistic expression. Many of our greatest artists have produced striking graphic works on these subjects, and I present here a selection of original artwork from my Pesach collection.
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'Weighing and Kneading in Presence of the Rabbi'
'Weighing and Delivering the Matzes or Unleavened Bread'
Exhibited here are two etchings from Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly: "Weighing and Delivering the Matzes or Unleavened Bread" (1858) and "Weighing and Kneading in Presence of the Rabbi" (1877). Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper was an American literary and news magazine founded in 1855 and published until 1922 that was renowned for its reports featuring beautiful artistic wood engravings depicting American life.
As Passover approached in 1858, tens of thousands of Jews lived in Manhattan, comprising about three percent of the population, and there were thousands of poor Jews needing kosher staples for the holiday – not the least of which, of course, was matzah. The Association for the Free Distribution of Matzos to the Poor, a group of benefactors and Jewish organizations, raised $681.87 (almost $24,000 in today's dollars) for Passover provisions.
The effort was led by Robert Anderson and Mark Isaacs (Isaac's name may be seen in the etching) and the 14,330 pounds of matzah that were purchased were distributed to 640 families for the benefit of some 3,000 people; about five pounds per person were apportioned to larger families and seven pounds per person for smaller ones.
Illustration signed in the plate of a seder from Raban's Chageinu (1928).
Raban original pencil sketch of a seder.
Zev Raban's rendering of a family sitting around the Seder table exhibited here is the initial draft of the illustration of the Seder that appears in Chageinu, his famous book on the Jewish holidays (the final illustration, also exhibited here, is significantly different from this sketch). Raban wrote several comments on the right side of the leaf (which are not shown here), including "try to add grandfather"; "Map of Eretz Israel on the wall"; "Pitcher with the bowl?"
Raban (1890-1970), who acquired his reputation through the designs he created for Bezalel, was undoubtedly one of the most important artists and designers in pre-state Eretz Yisrael. Synthesizing European techniques with authentic Jewish art based on specifically Jewish motifs, he developed a visual lexicon of Jewish themes with decorative calligraphic script and other decorative devices which came to be known as the "Bezalel style." His work, which closely follows the historical events of the building of the Jewish state, reflected his desire to strengthen the identity of the emerging Medinat Yisrael through the revival and artistic expression of Jewish symbolism, and he designed symbols and brands for Zionist entities.
Budko's original sketch of "The Ten Plagues."
"Let all who are hungry come and eat," an original Budko etching.
Displayed here are three original works by Joseph Budko, all signed by him. The first is The Ten Plagues, an original etching from his famous Pesach Haggadah; the second is a miniature engraving of a Seder; and the third depicts the head of the household, about to commence the Seder, standing by his open door issuing an invitation to anyone in need of a Seder.
Budko (1888-1940) created a whole new Jewish iconography ranging from Zionist symbols to representations of the world of the shtetl of his youth. Developing a unique style that combined his personal approach with Jewish character and synthesized Jewish tradition with a modern artistic approach, he was among an influential group of graphic Jewish artists who embraced the revival of the woodcut, a medium which lent itself perfectly to express the views of Israel and Jewish culture in various lands. He used the expressive form of the printing methods – etchings, woodcuts, and lithographs – to revive the use of graphic and book illustration in the Jewish art world.
Three Alphonse Levy Passover postcards.
Exhibited here are three postcards of Passover works by Alphonse Levy that feature a smiling Jewish peasant woman. From left to right: Pesach, in which the woman rolls kreplach for the soup (the caption underneath delightfully reads "the pellets of Passover"); Kosher for Pesach, where she is stirring soup with water vapor wafting upward; and Seder, in which she is bringing the Seder plate to the table dressed in her Yom Tov finery.
Born into a strictly Orthodox family, Levy (1843-1918), affectionately called "the Millet of the Jews," infused his subjects, who came from among the native and pious Jews of the French villages, with a rare combination of whimsy and love. In particular, he was struck by the beauty and majesty of Jewish tradition, which formed the core of the subject matter of his work and, against bitter criticism from the upper-class Jews of Paris, who refused to recognize his work, he remained determined to be "the witness of the lives of the Jewish people."
Gur-Arie's sketch of The Four Questions.
The original pencil sketch by Meir Gur-Arie exhibited here was most likely a design for an ad for kosher for Passover chocolate. To the right, a young man asks the four questions of the Ma Nishanah; an elderly Jew on the left panel answers him with Avadim Hayinu from the Haggadah; and the caption below reads, "we were slaves (in Egypt) . . . and now we are in Eretz Yisrael; eat, my son, the good chocolate . . ."
Born Meir Horodetsky (1891-1951), Gur-Arie studied at the Bezalel School of Art (1909-11), where he later taught painting and ivory carving (1911-29). His work is exhibited worldwide, including at the Israeli Museum in Jerusalem.
The Search for Leavened Bread &c., a Domestic Ceremony in the Jewish Religion (London, 1780) by noted engraver and publisher Alexander Hogg.
The striking Alexander Hogg engraving of the search for chametz exhibited here was included in Dr. William Hurd's A New Universal History of the Religious Rites, Ceremonies, and Customs & Ceremonies of the Whole World: or A Complete and Impartial View of all the Religions on the Various Nations of the Universe (1788). The book included engravings of the religious practices of "the Jews [interesting that the Jews got top billing], Egyptians, Carthagenians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Medes, Persians, Chinese, Japanese, Africans, and all other Idolators and Pagan Nations [one of the engravings depicts "natives of the Caribee Islands feasting on human flesh"], Greeks, Christians, and Romish Church, with the Various Orders of the Communion.
The Feast of the Passover, by Oppenheim.
The engraving of The Feast of the Passover exhibited here is by Moritz Daniel Oppenheim (1800-1882), the first Jewish painter of the modern era to receive classical artistic training, to gain recognition in the non-Jewish art world, and to be broadly recognized as one of the foremost Jewish artists of the nineteenth century. Always outspoken about his Jewish identity, his work, which was influenced by his cultural and religious roots, often explored the encounters between Jewish tradition and the modern world.
In Passah, Ephraim Moses Lilien depicts an old Jewish man in Egypt on the eve of the Exodus. The artist draws a pyramid to the left, Egyptian sarcophaguses at the upper center, and the rising sun of redemption and freedom beginning to rise on the far horizon.
Postcard of Lilien's Passah
Lilien (1874-1925), the first artist to become involved in the Zionist movement, collaborated closely with Theodor Herzl, and his photograph of the Zionist leader on the Rhine Bridge has come to be the definitive pictorial representation of the Father of Modern Zionism. Along with Boris Schatz and others, he was a member of the committee formed to establish the Bezalel School of Art in Jerusalem (1905), where he taught the following year. His drawings, executed mainly in India ink, show a crisp, elegant line and a strong contrast between black and white areas, and many of his better-known etchings, which record his impressions of Eretz Yisrael, have entered the collective Jewish consciousness.
A 1945 reproduction of The Search for Leaven, subtitled The mistress of the family puts Leavened Bread in various places, to the end that her husband in his search may find it.
Whenever I look at these old artworks that illustrate the Pesach scenes so familiar and beloved to all of us, I remember a short story that my mother asked me to read about 60 years ago, which she characterized as "remarkable." It was little more than a mundane description of cleaning the house for Passover, baking the matzot, and preparing for the Seder, which left me distinctly unimpressed – until she told me that it was a translation of an account written over 400 years ago. None of these things had changed, and that story, as well as the art exhibited here, speaks eloquently to the eternity of the Torah, the festivals, and the Jewish people.
I live in Beit Shemesh, which is Israel's fastest growing city. In 1995 this sleepy town had only 17,000 residents, today the population stands at 130,000. Based on construction and demand, in 7 years this number is expected to increase to 250,000. From every vantage point, one can see new neighborhoods being built on the horizon
The majority of Beit Shemesh's residents are observant Jews. Olim (immigrants) from English countries like the U.S., Canada and U.K. make up a sizeable part of its population. In some of the neighborhoods English, rather than Hebrew, is actually the more dominant language.
Beit Shemesh was founded in the early days of the State of Israel. It has grown to become an amazing place to raise a large family, having beautiful parks, great schools, many synagogues, and a low crime rate. However, the story of Beit Shemesh did not begin in modern times, but in the Bible.
Beit Shemesh can be translated as "The House of the Sun". Originally a Canaanite city, the city got its name from its inhabitant's worship of the sun.
Ancient Canaanite mud bricks found in Beit Shemesh. Most Canaanite homes in the area were built with this material.
Tel (Hebrew for Archeological mound) Beit Shemesh is literally across the street from the outskirts of the modern city.
Tel Beit Shemesh in the foreground with the outskirts of the modern city in the background. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Beit Shemesh was conquered in the days of Joshua. Situated on the border between the tribal territories of Dan and Judah (Joshua 15:10), it was one of the 13 cities given to the Kohanim (i.e. Priests who serve in the Temple) as an inheritance (Joshua 21:15).
A large, biblical-era olive oil industrial zone complex uncovered in Beit Shemesh Photo Credit: ShutterstockModel of a typical Jewish home in Ancient Beit Shemesh. Photo Credit: Nick Laarakkers at nl.wikipedia – CC BY-SA 3.0
The most well-known story connected to Beit Shemesh involved the holy Ark of the Covenant, which had rested in the Tabernacle of Shiloh for 369 years. It was then stolen by the Philistines and brought to Ashdod. While there, the residents of the city were struck with extremely painful stomach ailments while the statue of their idol Dagon was found destroyed in its temple. Realizing that G-d might not be happy with their city possessing the Ark, they sent it to Gath, another Philistine city. When its inhabitants were smitten with similar results, it was then sent it to Ekron, where the same occurred. At this point, the Philistines understood that perhaps G-d did not want any Philistine city to host the Ark.
To test whether the previous afflictions were indeed divine retribution or merely a coincidence, the Philistines put the Ark on a wagon pulled by two cows, and placed them on the biblical route of Nachal Sorek. If the cows headed towards Beit Shemesh, a Jewish city, they would take it as a sign that G-d wanted them to return the Ark to the Israelites. This is, of course, exactly what happened.
Nachal Sorek. The arrow shows the exact route the cows took to get to Beit Shemesh. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
When the Ark arrived at Beit Shemesh, its residents "Were reaping the wheat harvest in the (Sorek) valley, when they…saw the Ark, they rejoiced to see it (1 Samuel 6:13)." But then all of a sudden, G-d brought a plague that struck down many residents of the city because they "Peered into the Ark of G-d". This was something they should not have done at their spiritual level.
According to Jewish belief, the higher one is spiritually, the more G-d expects of him. While peering at the ark in that manner may have been overlooked for most, the people of Beit Shemesh knew better at their level, and were thus judged harshly. Indeed, one can see the contrast between the Philistines who wanted to rid themselves of the ark which was "causing" them havoc to the people of Beit Shemesh, who didn't blame the Ark but themselves saying "Who can stand before G-d?". Instead of ridding themselves of the Ark, they sought a different, more suitable host for it and sent emissaries to the Jewish town of Kiriath-Jearim, whom they deemed more worthy to come and take it from them.
In 2007, the most impressive find on the tel was discovered. Some bored teenagers took a camera, tied it to a string and put it inside a hole in the ground and took pictures. Unwittingly, they had just found the largest water system ever found in Biblical Israel (outside of Jerusalem).
Diagram of Ancient Beit Shemesh Water System. Photo Credit: Bas Library
Since there were no springs in the city and the closest springs were too far for everyday use, almost all of their drinking water was supplied by rainfall. Because every drop of rain was vital for their survival, all of the roofs had a system of pipes which would channel the water to the cistern so as not to waste anything.
About 1500-year ago, the Byzantines built a large monastery which serviced Christian pilgrims to the Holy Land. Since then, the city was largely abandoned until modern times.
Remains of the large Byzantine Monastery. Photo Credit: Shutterstock
Beit Shemesh is relatively close to the hotels of Tel Aviv and/or Jerusalem. There are also many other incredible sites in the area, which can be visited on the same day. The next time you are in Israel, request that this wonderful Biblical treasure be on your itinerary!
