RETURN TO SHDEMA

Met with a Friendly Face
My car was packed with those who were thrilled to return to Shdema after several weeks of it being a ‘closed military zone’ because of our battle with foreign anarchists. And we can add a big victory to our message; the beginnings of a new illegal Arab building off the side of the hill of Shdema has been destroyed for lack of a proper permit to build!
Upon my arrival, I was met with a friendly face. It was 'My Friend', an officer who had escorted me down the week before. We had carried on the beginnings of a great conversation as we descended the hilltop, and now we were continuing, finding out that we had a lot in common. (Name and photo of the officer is withheld by request for security reasons, therefore I will refer to him only as 'My Friend').
'My Friend' immigrated from India some 20 years ago with his family, although his distant family remains in India doing quite well financially. And where is 'My Friend'? Defending the hills of Judea with a passion for the God of Israel and the Land.
I asked him at one point: “What has changed with the Jewish people since the earlier years when we had the unity of Zionism? I don’t understand the mentality of the younger generation who is ready to relinquish the Land, including many of the soldiers under your command. And they won’t listen to those of us who have come from other countries, and know full well the Jews have no other place to go.”
'My Friend's' reply was as simple as the answer truly is: “They have forsaken God! They no longer believe in Him!”
As much as it grieves the heart, and how much more so Hashem’s heart, many Israelis have abandoned their belief in the God of their fathers. The Western culture has become their golden calf, along with a deceptive belief that democracy will be their Meshiach. They have forgotten the cost of freedom, not only having been resurrected from the ashes of the Shoah, but also the blood of their kinsmen througout Israel's wars.
Hopefully, many among the nation of Israel will truly hear the sound of the shofar this Rosh Hashana, and awaken to repentance, awaken to return to the God of our fathers, awaken to embrace the gift of His Land, awaken to the hope of Meshiach and renew a love for one another which will heal the breach of disunity.

(PHOTO: Haddasah sharing her new umbrella.)

Voices of a Bride and Bridegroom

Again there shall be heard in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem… a voice of joy, a voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, the voice of the bride, the voice of them who say: Praise the L-rd of hosts; for the L-rd is good; for His mercy endures forever! Jeremiah 33:11
I was recently visiting friends in Hebron, the Horowitz family who had invited me into their Succah last year at Succot. This time when I left their home, I couldn’t resist going by the Machpeleh (Tomb of the Patriarchs) and found myself in the middle of preparations for a wedding on the grounds. Although I was entirely in the wrong attire for a wedding, this ‘camera-packin’ mama’ wasn’t about to leave without shooting a few photos of the bride and groom under their Huppa.
I waited among the guests in anticipation for the bride to arrive. When she finally pulled up in her limo her bridesmaids whisked her off to a secluded spot where her throne awaited, because every Jewish bride becomes Queen for a day. She greeted and blessed each and every guest, while her entourage sang and danced before her and she intermittently joined in the glee.
Then came another sound of rejoicing beyond the trees. The sound of the bridegroom coming for his bride, surrounded by the groomsmen dancing as they approached the bride sitting veiled upon her throne. The candles had been let so that her face glowed as he lifted the veil to confirm that she was his choice for a bride, a tradition among religious Jews in remembrance of Yaakov who was hoodwinked by Rachel who exchanged her position as bride with her sister Leah. This tradition of lifting the veil and taking a peek at the bride along with other witnesses ensures the groom will not be deceived.
After the groom recognized his bride and confirmed her as his wife to-be, there were shouts of joy and the men escorted the groom to his place under the Huppa as the women escorted the bride to stand beside him. She began with the Sheva Brachot, sealing the covenant between a man and a woman, followed by blessings including the wine, the reading of the Ketuba, and smashing a glass, a symbol of Jerusalem never being forgotten.
The bride and groom disappear for a short time while the guests indulge in wine and food, ending with dancing the night away when the bride and groom reappear.
Every bride is aglow from within on her wedding day. She has fasted and prayed for an entire day, and the fast is only broken after the Huppa ceremony.
I left with a deep satisfaction having witnessed another indication that Hashem is enthroned on the praises of His people! Each marriage between a man and a woman is another reminder of His covenant with His bride, His beloved Israel!

APPROACHING THE HIGH HOLY DAYS

I'm sure some want to ask: "So, what's your point?" My point to the Jews is that if we don't possess our inheritance, someone else will! As we approach the High Holy Days, consider the gift of educating your children and visit the Kotel.

For now, let’s abandon the argument of whether it is kosher for a Jew to ascend the Temple Mount as it stands today. And let’s focus on the excuses of Jews not visiting the Western Wall, the significant Kotel.
The sad truth is statistics report more and more Jews are showing less interest in visiting the Wailing Wall, also known as the Western Wall. Even among very religious Jews, much less secular Israelis, children are not being taught the importance of visiting the Wall on a regular basis, not even to go up to Jerusalem for the Shalosh Regalim: Pesach, Shavuot and Succot, as Torah commands. The lack of a show of interest from the Jews plays into the propaganda machinations of Islam and confirms to the world that dominance over the Temple Mount should remain within Islamic control, and more so, that Jerusalem in reality belongs to Muslims because they display more fervor for the Holy site and the City where it stands.
A few years ago, when it was exposed that the debri from Solomon’s Stables was being discarded in the Kidron Valley, there was a major demonstration at the site of the so-called ‘rubbish’. Already our fine youth had retrieved a number of huge stones from the Temple era. Later, as they sifted through the ‘rubbish’, fine treasures were discovered, and are still being found, proving the Jewish Temple once existed.
I remember touching one of the damp cold stones and it was as though a message was transmitted in the contact. As a result, I wrote the following poem in memory of our forefathers and mothers.

ANCIENT STONES OF JERUSALEM
Huge stones tumbled into the Kidron Valley,
hewn stones cut with skilled hands in ancient times,
Temple Mount antiquities reduced to waste,
cast among the rubbish on an obscure hillside.

I stumbled upon the stones
one cold damp evening
in the dark eerie place they had come to rest.
Moisture from the dew of night,
formed seeping drops of tears ran down the sides.

A sudden urge, an impulse within,
I stretched out my arms
and lay my breast upon a stone.
Quietly I lay, heavy hearted.
Then I heard a mysterious sound
that suddenly awakened my soul—
Like waters of the sea rushing in with the tide!

Hush! Be still! Quietly I lay ear to stone,
until I finally realized it was voices instead of waters
contained within the stone!
Voices! Tens of thousands of historic voices!
Voices of many Jews crying out to their Maker:
“Have mercy! Forgive us, O L-rd, our G-d!”
It was the voices of our fathers and mothers
weeping for their children:
“O L-rd! Keep them safe until they return to their Land!”

Overcome with emotion,
I gathered their many voices—
pleas and prayers—
to my heart,
and lifted their burden upon my soul,
carrying the weight,
I returned all to their original place,
and lay it safely at the Kotel,
the Western Wall of the Temple Mount,
the only remaining evidence of the Jews most sacred place.

A STANDOFF BECOMES A SHOWDOWN!

From 090826 Standoff at Shdema

I've come to the conclusion that if anyone standing up for this country got arrested, we would be in good company. Since only the best of Israel are ever arrested and put in jail. Of course that doesn't apply to anyone on a tourist or student visa, only to Jewish Israeli citizens. If you want protection from the criminals, get a gun and invite them to your home. Before you shoot, make sure they are INSIDE your house!
I come from Texas where 80-year-old women have been known to shoot first and ask questions later. They have maimed, wounded and killed intruders coming onto their property. And even running them down in their vehicle while talking to the police enroute, making it possible for the police to apprehend the suspects. There have been incidents where the criminals actually welcomed the intervention of the police for fear of losing their lives at the hand of a "Texas mad-woman"!
I'm not so sure we don't need to recruit a few of these "Pistol-packin' Grannys" to come and volunteer to protect the average Israeli citizen. One thing for sure, if they are not an Israeli Jew, they would get off scot-free and have more freedom to roam our roads on a tourist visa than we do as an Isreli citizen.