Congratulations Israel for Being Number One!

 

Photo by Giorgio Trovato on Unsplash

Israel, congratulations!You are number one in the world – and this is no small feat for a small country. But you tried so hard, and now you are the number one in Corona infections in the world! 

All of those va((ines you delivered. The government was so efficient, Israel soon become the number one va((inated country in the world! They turned this place into one testing laboratory and used the citizens as guinea pigs. The citizens complied, rolling up their sleeves for an unproven product. 

This product was supposed to stop transmission but seemed to only invite it. It was supposed to lessen the side-effects of the disease in the elderly and immunocompromised, but if so, why also go after the robust, healthy population, pregnant women, and children with perfect immune systems? 

And despite the fact that the short-lived trials never offered extra doses for protection, you took on the medical mantle and decided to take a risk. You kept offering more doses, and more, becoming the first nation in the world to administer a fourth!  

All because you want to be number one. Desperately. Meanwhile, many other countries are taking a step back and looking at Israel and scratching their heads. Why are the numbers so high? And why are so many of the infected va((inated? And why are they vaccinating the Israeli children? 

And why are they keeping the totalitarian green passports if this virus goes after immunized and non-immunized equally, without checking their papers at the door? 

Because you love control. In fact, like thieves in the night, you passed the Enabling Act on January 26, giving yourselves even more bracing controls over the public. Is there a relationship to the act by the same name that Germany passed on March 23, 1933? After Hitler was appointed chancellor in January of 1933, he wasted no time in getting rid of democracy in Germany. Hitler’s Enabling Act of 1933 enabled him to pass unconstitutional laws without objection. This paved the way for a legal dictatorship, and the rest is history.

Times are dark as liberty is engulfed into shadow. Meanwhile, a large part of the Israeli population is either sick or recovering, homebound and weak. People try to go to work, but are often find themselves back home in quarantine again and again and again.  

Meanwhile, many are running for the fourth va((ine, in the hopes that it may offer extra protection, but by now, everyone knows immunity wanes after a few weeks. Yet the virus mutates, becoming even more evasive and contagious in the hopes of visiting up all. Some things you cannot escape. 

Israel needs to stop trying to control a fight it may never win. Light, love and trust are our healers, along with healthy doses of vitamin C, D, quercetin, and zinc. 

Natural immunity is also under-rated, but it a G-d given gift. Go out and exercise, enjoy friendships, and keep a sense of humor. It may be a long, tough ride, but darkness never stays triumphant.

"Silence ensures that history repeats itself"

Quote by Erin Gruwell, American teacher

Photo by Brandi Redd on Unsplash.

History repeats itself. Over and over. Onstage, the actors change roles, their wardrobe switches, and the conflicts and weaponry are revised. Yet the underlying script remains the same. It is a story of diminishment, scorn, and persecution. 

As domineering corporate and governmental leaders write a narrative of hate, they entrench their power by manipulating masses. This is done with propaganda, fear, and cloaked science.

I see this happening before my eyes every day here in Israel. The noose of persecution is pulled tighter as the leadership desperately fights for authority over the impertinent “children” who won’t listen to their stringent rules.

And yes, this is a replay of another atrocity, and as a Jew living in Israel, I feel that I am able to draw a parallel. Aspects of life in Israel in 2021 can be compared to Germany in the 1930s. Many who survived the horrific Holocaust, and now their offspring, become incensed when such a comparison is made. Yet, these Jews must allow the world to learn from this dark history so it does not repeat itself. The players, the costumes, and the weapons are different, but the plot is the same.

My husband’s parents were Holocaust survivors. On both his mother’s and father’s sides, siblings, parents, and most relatives perished. The tragedy did not end in 1945 with Germany’s surrender; although my husband’s father survived, he then died of a massive heart attack at the age of 49 from the typhoid he contracted in the Bergen Belson concentration camp. Many distant relatives in my family also perished.

So, yes, I can write about this subject, especially in the light of current events, and more so because now the perpetrator is the Jewish state subjugating its own people. Some of these Israelis survived the Holocaust, only to now witness another one looming in their own so-called free Jewish state.

There are a few child survivors like Vera Sharav who are calling a spade a spade. She said in an interview, “I can’t believe I have to bear witness again.” Her prophetic words and wisdom can be heard in this YouTube video.

A new version of the Holocaust is beginning, yet there are those Jews who take offense to any comparisons being made. In the Netherlands, Dutch politician, Thierry Baudet was forced to remove social media posts calling the new underclass the “new Jews,” as reported by MSN. The judge ruled that Baudet “pointlessly” offended Holocaust survivors and their families. Is this judge effectively ruling that history is pointless?

This ruling, in effect, forbids others to learn important lessons from history. If we do not see the daily brainwashing of the masses and the subsequent demonization against these new second class citizens, we are sleepwalking. 

If we do not fight against the unfair persecution of a people who simply want to preserve their bodily rights and defend their power of choice which are protected by the Nuremberg Code from 1947, we are complicit. 

If we continue turning our backs on this authoritarianism and discrimination, it could get worse, with every single person losing rights, dignity, and freedom. No, we are not going back to what people call normal any time soon–just look at the history books.

If we not show solidarity and acceptance of the other, we are missing out on what it is to be human and to have a soul. Our humanity is our compassion, our empathy, and our ability to think for ourselves. 

If we remain compliant and tribal and stiff-necked, we are nothing more than animals, and that is exactly where the authorities want us; coralled and fearful like sheep in a pen.

When a survivor told of his own experience in the Holocaust, he explained that at first the Jews weren’t allowed to sit on certain park benches, so they thought, fine, there are places on the grass to sit. And then they were not allowed in public pools. Fine, the Jews thought, we can swim in the lakes and the rivers. Over time, the rules became more stringent and the public accepted them, allowing this to become a new normal. Slowly, slowly, freedom eroded into authoritarianism and totalitarianism.

Today, in Israel, a large part of the population cannot go to public pools. They cannot go into shopping malls, large stores, theaters, restaurants and more. Those who care about bodily freedom cannot learn at school or university without submitting to unreliable medical tests every few days. And even these “freedoms” are being eroded. Slowly, slowly, it drips its torpid poison.

This is not a localized phenomenon in Israel; it is happening around the world right now. Australians are being forcibly detained in so-called hotels (internment camps). Freedom of expression is curtailed, with learned experts being ridiculed and their words erased. The list goes on and on, yet most people are oblivious, blinded, and paralyzed.

So please open your eyes and see the other. Take time to investigate and try to respect others' opinions. Do not take the narrative you are fed in the media at face value. Do not believe that governments have our backs: they do not. This is an insidious war abut power, not health. 

Instead, look back at history, think for yourself, and compare today to the past. History is your most valuable teacher while your individuality, conscience, and soul are your precious humanity. Do not remain silent; listen and cry out, for history is trying to repeat itself.

 

I am reaching out, please take my hand.

 

Photo by Roman Kraft on Unsplash.

 

 

 

I started this blog upon making Aliyah in 2005. I kept writing for close to 15 years, annotating the many enlightening experiences I had in this special land. From golden desert to oak forested mountains, I was inspired by the beautiful landscapes, dazzled by the brilliant sunshine, and fascinated by the rather zesty culture. I wrote about how these places and people impacted me, touched my heart, and swelled my soul. I felt alive and I felt at home. At last.

 

 

And then C_V_D hit. I no longer had anything positive and inspiring to report. I stopped writing when I first felt the fear from a scary and ubiquitous police presence. I saw an iron-fisted government that soon clamped down on personal freedoms. I watched terrifying one-sided newscasts preaching a dogma fueled by propaganda. 

 

I witnessed freedom of speech being shut down as the health ministry and the TV, radio, and social media mocked, then silenced any and all opposition. Rabbis took on the narrative, showing bewildered congregants Torah's solutions to heal in these dark times. This too mirrored the government's narrative, and so most Israelis followed directions with shocking obedience. I had no idea that such a “charif,” confrontational and outspoken people could obediently and unquestioningly stand in line with such innocence and trust.

 

And so I witnessed our society being divided into two camps who have now spun so far from the other, it looks as if there is no rectification. These two sides now live on two planets elbow-to-elbow in a tiny orbit.

 

This country that has always been a tinderbox awaiting the next blaze. But the threat has always been from the outside: be it the anti-Semites, the many enemies that surround every border, or the haters who live within.

 

I have lived here for 16 years and witnessed three wars, plus the recent rocket barrages that incited pogroms from Arab Israelis within our midst. These last acts of hate gave me a sense of hopelessness regarding a peaceful future in Israel. Yet this too subsided, as if a lid were capped on the simmering volcano. All returned to calm, as both Jewish and Arab Israelis went back to living and working side by side. That is, until the next eruption will occur, for the volcano still simmers beneath.

 

The wars that erupted from the north and from Gaza were devastating and terrifying, yet they miraculously strengthened the Jewish people. Jews united in these times; they opened their homes to strangers who fled the rockets; they gave, they cared, they felt as one nation.

 

And here we are in what I will call another “battle.” Yet this war is different as it pitches Jew against Jew in their Jewish homeland. It is a battle without traditional weapons; fear and a one-sided narrative have replaced bullets and rockets. And this non-violent weaponry is proving to be even more powerful as it is forcing Jews to reject other Jews.

 

I feel like I am watching a boxing ring from the sideline. A great, strong and confident boxer is in the ring awaiting the next round. He is punching the air, biting, grinning in anticipation of his next win.

 

And I want to curl up and cry in the corner of this ring because the Jews are failing by setting up such a fight. They are failing each other and are failing in the eyes of Hashem. The Jews lived in exile, and suffered pogroms, and died in millions at the hands of the Nazis. Yet, they were given back their ancient homeland to rebuild and to care for and to respect.

 

The biggest responsibility of Jews, especially those who have the merit to live in Israel, is to be a light to others, to show love, to honor, and to treat one another well. I fear we have gone astray, and this is under the auspices of the first Prime Minister who is an Orthodox Jew.

 

It is a time of confusion, fear and separation. Yet if we are to learn from our errors of the past, we should know that baseless hatred spells the end of the people in this land. This happened in the times of the First Temple, when the Jews were banished to Babylon; and again, with the destruction of the Second Temple, when Jews were enslaved and walked away in chains to Rome and exiled beyond.

 

Some 2,000 years later, it was finally time to come home and set up a nation with both a high conscience and consciousness. Yet 73 years after the establishment of the state, I see fractiousness, disrespect, inequality, indignity, and corruption. I can see this failure as clearly as the radiant, magenta sky that soars above me. And I can see the ticking meter is running out.

 

Data records over 8,000 Israeli deaths from C_V_D, and this is a true tragedy. Yet despite a zealous campaign to restore health, the government’s plan has not brought back any sense of normal. In fact, just the opposite of normal is true.

This week, the government extended their C_R_N_A powers until the end of 2022 and have renewed the “state of emergency” for another two to four months. They increased the fines of violating the so-called Green Pass to 10,000 NIS, and have legislated that they will close businesses which do not enforce their discriminatory measures. Such actions do not restore health.

 

Instead, their tightening muzzle instills a new reality of fear, confusion, and distrust. The worst offense is that the government of the Jewish people is fostering a division among its own people and those on the two sides now find themselves separated by an invisible iron curtain.

 

Old friends are afraid to gather together, families are being split up over the narrative, and marriages are crumbling. Many have lost their livelihood, their hope, and their sanity. Children have lost the innocence of their childhood, while he youth have lost their sense of adventure. Those who believe in sovereignty of the body and a freedom to make their own decisions now find themselves to be pariahs.

The boxer is starting the next round. The punches are coming closer and lower, and I fear those Jews cheering for the strong opponent’s side will jeer and cry in delight upon seeing painful blows inflicted.

I cower in the corner at this “fight.” The Jews are perpetrating injustice upon others in their own society, especially their own children. We, who have been banished and exiled and then fought for freedom, justice, and dignity, should know how to respect others’ rights.

Photo by Bogdan Yukhymchuk on Unsplash.

We should intuit how to hold the two opposing sides in one hand and stay above judgement and hate. We should respect the other, and even if we cannot understand another’s position, let go of the fear and sit with it. 

 

We should be healing ourselves from within, not lashing without. We should be praying to Hashem for the strength to be better people instead of spending energy trying to coerce and enslave the other. We should know better.

 

For truth and peace live between two opposites. The light is there for us to touch and to take and to warm our hearts. We all need to reach out to the other with respect and to unify as one people with a higher consciousness. We need to gracefully bow to the other, step out of the boxing ring, and grow as a people. I am reaching out, please take my hand.

Where Robots Meet Herring

Life has taken us all for a bumpy ride. In Israel, it looks as if the ‘Corona Ride’ is starting to slow down and let us off. We open our doors and walk out a bit dazed, weakened and unstable. We take the first few steps and feel uneasy, insecure, almost incapable of returning to the same pace as we once knew.

But that’s ok – the Israeli weather system has taken care of anyone’s desire to move too fast. We are now in day eight of scorching temperatures that blister in the mid-forties. Just yesterday, three people died from the heat. As everyone cranks up the air conditioning, the electrical grid in Israel hit an all-time high. Children, just returning to school after months of being at home in quarantine, arrive with backpacks and face masks. Yet, because of the heat, they are allowed to take off their masks in school.

Walking down the simmering street in my mask yesterday, I felt as if I could faint, with sweat beading and pooling inside the mask. I quickly did my errands then retreated to the cool safety of home, my hiding place for the last few months.

Despite the fear and anxiety surrounding COVID-19, the mystery villain hiding in droplets emitted by coughs and lurking on door handles, gas pumps and the buttons of bank machines, Israelis are overcoming the unknown in creative ways.

As the world adapts to this new way of being, Israelis do so ‘Sabra style.’ My daughter told me about the camp sites that popped up on lawns in her neighborhood over Pesach. These families, whose tradition is to go camping on the Jordan River or beside Lake Kinneret, promised their kids a Passover camping trip. A promise is a promise so the parents put up tents on their lawns and everyone slept cozily outside their front doorstep.

Only ‘essential’ services were open. These included pharmacies, grocery stores, doctor’s offices, delivery services and smoked herring. Herring? Seems like this is such an important delicacy in Israel, it made the essential services list, with shmaltz and pickled herring delivered to your door. Turns out that herring has selenium, an important mineral that can help protect one from Coronavirus disease progression.

Entrepreneurs did not miss a beat. When weddings were cancelled and postponed, an online registry company, had a plunge in sales. But Bracha Lamm who owns La’Bayit Gifts, decided to think out of the box. Since it was just before Pesach and many families who had always had seders at their parents’ homes were now on their own, Lamm switched to selling Passover items online. She was able to help the suppliers who were stuck with a large inventory of items and connect them with people who did not even own a seder plate.

A pastry chef who specialized in weddings, workshops and festivals saw the same sudden downturn. Suddenly she found herself at home with bored young boys. Inspired by her own children who love baking, she invented a service where she provided a box filled with ingredients and a recipe to families once a week. The next day, she and her boys made a Zoom a class to bake the yummy recipe, sharing her knowledge with kids all over central Israel.

An Israeli robotics company called Robotican took the Coronavirus issue to heart and developed a robot that can enter a patient’s hospital room to check their vitals without the doctor having to make direct contact.

Israel’s Medtronic, a company that produces ventilators, decided to give away their blueprints for free. With a demand in April for hundreds of thousands of machines, the company decided that saving lives was the most important factor in this emergency situation.

On May 4, the Corona ward at Shaarei Tzedek hospital closed as there were no more patients. Nurses, doctors and secretaries celebrated, as seen in this sweet, heart-warming video.

 

We pray this will soon end across the world. During these hard times, there have been countless stories told of charity, unity and creativity from every country affected. Governments in many nations also rallied to the cause, offering assistance through money and loans.

Mired in political crisis after a third election resulted in a deadlock, Israel did not even have a government during Coronavirus. On May 17, after 508 days of infighting, the 35^th Knesset was finally sworn in among affable elbow knocking.

Speaking to family and friends who live in other countries, I sadly realized that Israel was not in the forefront of financial assistance. Far from it. The government offered empty promises to aid its citizens. Seeing the suffering of so many small businesses, I would call this negligence, creating an even bumpier ride for many. Yet perhaps this forced the people to step up to the plate and, in true Israeli style, help themselves. It is the Israeli people who are the true heroes of this harrowing ride.  

Wedding Essentials

It’s so refreshing to be sitting in the sunshine.  Being inside for so long, I’m now aware of small details that I don’t always notice: soft fresh air, beaming spring flowers, birds gliding from tree to tree, moving about with no restrictions. All seemingly carefree.

Just waking up feeling healthy and able to embrace a new day is now a palpable blessing.

There have been so many restrictions put in place here in Israel – each day a new proclamation comes out. As of this writing, it is prohibited to leave your home unless you are buying food or items at a pharmacy or heading out to do ‘legitimized’ work. 

You must now go out with a face mask and gloves and stay two meters from people. As my family does not even own masks, I will have to be inventive as soon as I finish writing this.

Just yesterday morning, a ruling came out restricting weddings of more than ten people. Previously, tiny weddings were allowed here. For the seven-week period between Pesach and Shavuot, weddings are not celebrated in accordance with Jewish custom.

Our friends’ son was engaged to be married this June. Given the challenging COVID-19 situation and the inability to predict what will be, he and his fiance did not know if they would be able to have their wedding at that time. They had already rented a hall and the guest list was completed, the bride had excitedly selected her dream wedding dress and the seamstress was sewing it. Family from abroad had planned to fly in to celebrate. It was all ‘b’simcha’ as they say here – as all weddings should be.

However, about a week ago we were informed that the wedding would now be on April 5th. The couple had decided that they did not want to deal with uncertainty and would instead have a small outdoor wedding, with only ten guests, in accordance to the regulations.  We were happy to be invited.

Earlier this week, rumors of additional restrictions were circulating. Soon there would be no more weddings until further notice.

On Tuesday evening at 6:30pm my friend, the mother of the groom, was contemplating having an early night curled up with a book when she got the call.

“Mom,  looks like they'll prohibit all weddings starting tomorrow so we’re planning on getting married tonight. The wedding's at 10pm.”

With three hours to make a beautiful wedding for her son, adrenalin kicked in. As for the bride, she had three precious hours to find a dress, go to the mikvah and do her makeup and hair. They would also need to get the ketuba (the marriage contract) ready, find a chupah and call a photographer.

My creative friend set to work placing candles and flowers, whatever she could grab from home, in the outdoor area. They found a long white cloth to drape down as an aisle and sprinkled flower petals along it. A local violinist came and positioned himself above, plucking his strings as a true fiddler on the roof.

Lone guests appeared from the darkness as if the wind had blown them in. The beaming groom came in and no one could hug him. He stood alone, waiting. His mother arrived and desperately tried to reach one son who lived in another city but there was no answer. He would not know about the wedding until it was over. Another brother was on a video call ready to watch the ceremony.

The guests wore face masks and gloves and did their best to stand apart from each other. We waited with excitement for the bride.

The rabbi arrived with a huge smile on his face and the two witnesses came forward to sign the ketuba.

The fiddler suddenly changed tunes – he had a bird’s eye view from his eyrie and could see the bride approaching along the deserted street.

She entered, accompanied by the groom’s father and walked down the aisle, her long white train swishing behind her. The couple stood under the chupah and the ceremony quickly began. She circled the groom, men were called up to say the sheva brachot, a ring was exchanged, a ketuba read, wine was sipped by the couple and the glass smashed.

“Mazal Tov!” shouted the rabbi. One of the more nervous guests piped up, “Now everyone, please run home. You can have a festive meal in your house to celebrate this marriage. Say the sheva brachot in honor of this beautiful couple. Good night and be well.”

The violinist packed up his instrument. The candles had already been blown out by the wind. The lone guests left one by one, crossing the desolate street, footsteps echoing into emptiness until they were enveloped into the thick, black night.

This lovely young couple had extracted the essence of a wedding and we were their witnesses. They had created the sweetness and beauty of a marriage much like a perfumer designs a scent from flower essences.  

This requires bravery and humility; so many of us are caught up in what a wedding should ‘look like,’ we have forgotten what a wedding essentially is.

They were married by a rabbi under a chupah. They made a pledge to be there for each other. And they carried a signed ketubah to their new home, ready to begin a ‘Bayit Ne’eman b’Israel.’

Due to the circumstances and to their commitment to be married, they forfeited the printed invitations, the party planner, the florist, the caterer, the band, the videographer, the dessert table, the dancing, the center pieces, the specially designed wedding dress, the manicurist, the bride’s maids plus having their best friends and close family members there.

This is one wedding that I will never forget. These times are forcing us to reframe and to realize that we really can exist with less.   

We all need health, love and connection to thrive and when we understand this, we can have more meaning in our lives. When the extraneous is peeled away, we see the shining gem beneath.

Mazal Tov to Yael and Alex!

Thanks for bringing so much light into the darkness.