For those who are home, and for those who are on the way. For those who support the historic and just return of the land of Israel to its people, forever loyal to their inheritance, and its restoration.
Al Kol Eleh Words: Naomi Shemer Melody: Naomi Shemer
Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.
...Wake up and be renewed because there is hope for our future, and the rifts in our lives will give way to a loud blast of the shofar for our freedom: "Out with the old year and its curses; in with the new year and its blessings." Shanah Tovah.
A new year doesn't start from scratch; rather it is the accumulation of its predecessors, years both good and bad.
Nor does a new beginning erase what preceded it; we begin anew with the accrued beginnings and endings of the past. Even if we didn't reach what we had hoped for, even if we didn't achieve the goals we had set for ourselves a year or two ago, we must not despair. What may seem like failure has actually created some kind of change -- our efforts have made an impression on reality, and what appears on the surface is not the same as what is happening in the depths.
We are a nation with revolutionary spiritual and moral messages, but their practical application is dependent on lengthy historical processes. There is no "quick fix." Evolution, not revolution, "the gently flowing waters of Shiloah" (Isaiah 8:6). The return to Zion also takes time. There is no need to force the matter in every way possible. And this is not just the salvation of the nation, but also salvation of the individual, the human being, his soul, his spirit and his heart. All that we haven't managed to accomplish this year, we will continue next year. Patience.
1.
After we were exiled from our land and were distanced from it and from a healthy national life, the naturalness of the time cycle dissolved. Time lost its fullness and was reduced to only its religious aspect: Times of day (for prayers and the time-dependent mitzvot), times of the week (Shabbat and the other days), times of the year (holidays) and more. "Since the day that the Temple was destroyed, the Holy One, blessed be He, has nothing in this world but the four cubits of Halachah [Jewish law] alone" (Babylonian Talmud, Tractate Berachot 8a). From the beginning of the year, only the Day of Judgment remains. Global judgment, which will sentence humanity and the universe to their future in the upcoming year. Fear of this judgment is thick in the air, "mysterium tremendum" (a mystery that causes man to tremble), King of Judgment. Then the shofars will be blown. "This day, the world is born anew, and all creation awaits Your judgment," (from "Hayom Harat Olam," a prayer read on Rosh Hashanah).
But we live in this good land, and during this special time, we do not feel fear, but renewal and exaltation. I have always thought it is no coincidence that the school year starts at this time. Think of the excitement we felt as students and as parents of young students beginning a new year at school. One cannot deny the gap that exists for us between the religious story and the story of nature and culture.
...Wake up and be renewed because there is hope for our future, and the rifts in our lives will give way to a loud blast of the shofar for our freedom: "Out with the old year and its curses; in with the new year and its blessings." Shanah Tovah.
Dror Eydar..
Israel Hayom..
02 October '16..
A new year doesn't start from scratch; rather it is the accumulation of its predecessors, years both good and bad.
Nor does a new beginning erase what preceded it; we begin anew with the accrued beginnings and endings of the past. Even if we didn't reach what we had hoped for, even if we didn't achieve the goals we had set for ourselves a year or two ago, we must not despair. What may seem like failure has actually created some kind of change -- our efforts have made an impression on reality, and what appears on the surface is not the same as what is happening in the depths.
We are a nation with revolutionary spiritual and moral messages, but their practical application is dependent on lengthy historical processes. There is no "quick fix." Evolution, not revolution, "the gently flowing waters of Shiloah" (Isaiah 8:6). The return to Zion also takes time. There is no need to force the matter in every way possible. And this is not just the salvation of the nation, but also salvation of the individual, the human being, his soul, his spirit and his heart. All that we haven't managed to accomplish this year, we will continue next year. Patience.
Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.
Al Kol Eleh Words: Naomi Shemer Melody: Naomi Shemer
Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work.
Love of the Land..
Erev Rosh Hashana..
29 Elul 5775..
Wishing one and all, a Shana Tovah, a year of Besorot Tovot, a year of redemption for Am Yisrael, andEretz Israel.
Uploaded by letzshmo on May 30, 2011 Al Kol Eleh
Words: Naomi Shemer Melody: Naomi Shemer Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook which has additional pieces of interest besides that which is posted on the blog. Also check-out This Ongoing War by Frimet and Arnold Roth. An excellent blog, very important work as well as a big vote to follow our good friend Kay Wilson on Twitter,
Israel’s greatest strategic asset is our willingness to see things for what they are. It is my prayer for the coming year that our vision becomes ever sharper and that through our moral and strategic clarity we rally the Americans and other like-minded nations to our side in our fight for ourselves and for the noblest attributes of humanity.
Caroline Glick..
Column One/JPost..
10 September '15..
As we approach Rosh Hashana, the people of Israel need to recognize how lucky we are.
True, today, we find ourselves largely alone, set apart from our traditional partners in the Western world. But standing alone isn’t always the worst option. Today it is certainly not the worst option.
Over the past several years, we have witnessed the growing radicalization and fragmentation of the societies of neighboring lands. Sunnis fight Shi’ites and one another. Minority populations are slaughtered, enslaved and oppressed. Regimes fall, rise and fall again. Today, every Arab society is either in danger or at war. And in almost every case, it isn’t good fighting evil but varying degrees of evil and barbarism fighting one another.
From the PLO to Islamic State, through Hamas, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Assad regime in Syria, the ayatollahs of Iran, Hezbollah, the Erdogan regime in Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and every single actor in the region resorts to some degree of torture and oppression.
And all do so while quoting the Koran.
Israel has responded rationally to the carnage at our doorstep.
We help where we can. For instance, we are assisting the Egyptian regime in its war against jihadist forces in Sinai. We support the Hashemite regime in Jordan. We provide humanitarian assistance to the victims of the bloodbath in Syria.
And we are securing our borders.
After we finished building the border fence with Egypt, we built one along the Syrian border. Now we are fencing off the border with Jordan.
These fences may not make good neighbors. But they do keep the bad ones at bay.
Similar rationality is in short supply today in Europe and among the smart set in America. Westerners are increasingly at a loss in the face of the break-up of societies throughout the Arab world.
Consider for instance Europe’s disoriented, confused response to the massive wave of refugees from Syria now washing onto its shores. Perhaps the most notable aspect of the unfolding drama is that it appears the Europeans only just realized that Syria has fallen apart.
Friends and families all over Israel are coming together to celebrate the start of the Jewish Year. Behind the scenes, our soldiers work day and night, 365 days a year. These are our soldiers, and this is what they accomplished this year. Shana Tova from the IDF!
On the occasion of the Jewish New Year, a truly international group of IDF soldiers wishes the Jewish people a happy Rosh Hashana and Shana Tova. Bless their souls! Also a Shana Tova from Love of the Land to all our soldiers and citizens, readers and people throughout the world. We will return to posting Tuesday evening, Israel time.
Updates throughout the day at http://calevbenyefuneh.blogspot.com. If you enjoy "Love of the Land", please be a subscriber. Just put your email address in the "Subscribe" box on the upper right-hand corner of the page.Twitter updates at LoveoftheLand as well as our Love of the Land page at Facebook. .
Amazement, surprise, tsunami, disappointment: these words describe what a number of media sources reported after the publication, on the eve of Rosh Hashana, of the satisfaction survey of most Israeli citizens. Turns out that most Israeli citizens say things are good in the country and the great majority would never even consider the possibility of leaving. Satisfaction at this level is the kind of thing you find in countries like Sweden, Norway and Finland.
Who would have believed it? This tiny country, surrounded by enemies, fighting for its very existence for over 60 years against unending hostility, and still the citizens are proud of their country, believe in its path and are ready to sacrifice their lives for its continued existence.
Only 6 percent of the participants in the survey asserted that they had negative feelings toward the country. I would guess that some of them live in Kfar Shmaryahu, a wealthy suburb of Tel Aviv, or nearby it. It is well known that there is no connection between actual satisfaction and one's socioeconomic situation. Israel is the only country in the world, however, that has a directly opposite connection between one's personal happiness and economic satisfaction.
For more than two years, through impressive and sophisticated measures, the Israeli media has tried to breed fear and loathing into the lives of citizens by sowing despair and dread. From reading and watching media sources, many might get the impression that the state of Israel is on the verge of collapse. What haven't they told us: that Israel is an occupier, is corrupt, violent, leprous and isolated? How about the veteran television anchor who proudly decided to shatter the myth of the great Israel Defense Forces? As if we are talking about statues of Stalin or Saddam Hussein who oppressed their subjects with catapults and used shoes!
Now, following this survey, it turns out that all the efforts to depress Israeli citizens were fruitless. The public did not buy the wares from these wicked salespeople who tried to sell us oversized portions, two for the price of one, and all accessories included. There is a lack of trust between citizens and much of the media; a definitive lack of trust without a chance for mediation. The smart Jews learned how to read the newspapers and watch television with their personal white-out, erasing the necessary words of "objective" commentators that repeatedly are revealed as having little base in reality.
As Rosh Hashana this year runs back to back with Shabbat, Love of the Land will resume posting after Shabbat, Israel time.
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Nu, if you're like me, you thought that making aliyah, moving to Israel would eliminate the nightmare of the "three day yontiff." I got the shock of my life when just a few weeks after our aliyah forty years ago I discovered that the two days of Rosh Hashannah would be immediately followed by Shabbat.
2+1=3
Yes, simple First Grade arithmetic, a three day Jewish Holiday in the Land of one day holy days except for the traditional two day Rosh Hashannah. Over the four wonderful decades we've enjoyed as Israelis that long holy days weekend has been pretty rare, but things are changing. So save your menus and cooking tips from this year's three day holiday marathon, because we'll be doing it almost every year for the next few.
Are you wondering why? Well, here's Sabba Hillel's clear explanation:
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With Rosh Hashana (Jewish New Year) and the Sabbath which followed it just behind us, we have some catching up to do for the three days of non-blogging. And as usual, we find we're reporting on attacks on Israel that go largely unreported in the conventional news media - as if such attacks are trivialities, hardly worth the editorial effort.
Wednesday, the eve of Jewish new year, the jihadists of the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip lobbed a mortar shell into Israel. It landed and exploded between two adjacent kindergarten buildings on the grounds of the kibbutzim that are within firing distance of Gaza. Fortunately no injures were reported in that attack, but there was damage to one of the kindergarten structures. Ynet pointed out that kindergartens on this kibbutz are normally open and filled with toddlers on Fridays and on holiday eves. This time, thank heavens, the incoming mortar was fired about 30 minutes before the children were due to arrive.
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On the whole, the State of Israel functions according to the Jewish Calendar. Official state holidays and school vacations are all in accordance with Jewish Law and Calendar. The biggest national clash is the opening of the school year. That's today, September 1. Most years that's fine for all the schools, state-religious (mamlachti-dati) and state-secular (mamlachti.) The traditional time for the opening of yeshivot, religious Torah seminaries, is the first of the Jewish Month of Elul, the month before Rosh Hashannah, the Jewish New Year.
According to Jewish Law, our New Year is an extremely important spiritual time, an interactive spiritual time when we are supposed to make an accounting of our lives, deeds etc of the past year and beseech G-d to forgive our sins so we can begin the new year clean and pure. That's not something done vacationing, shopping and goofing off. So many schools and school districts must make a crucial decision, one permitted by Israeli Law. Should school open before the first of September or not?
The schools which only open today have less than a week of school before the Rosh Hashannah vacation/Holiday begins. That isn't enough time.
That's why many schools began earlier causing problems within families, neighborhoods etc. Our local school district, the Benjamin Regional Council had school open this past Sunday, August 29, so there would be just over a full week of school before Rosh Hashannah. The days will be made up as added (bridge) vacations during the year.
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There is no doubt about it. 5769 was a special year for Manhigut Yehudit. There is practically not one Israeli who was not exposed to our movement this year. But in truth, we need a wider perspective – perhaps a perspective of a decade – to understand the processes that we had the merit to set in motion.
Ten years ago, the dream of faith-based leadership for the State of Israel did not exist. The political leaders of the faith-based public were basically sectorial lobbyists. One of our main declared goals was to change the old guard and to integrate the faith-based public into Israel's leadership. Today, even those people who still do not connect to all of our ideas are beginning to understand that they must act within the national leadership arena and leave the sectorial field.
In the beginning, we encountered serious opposition. But today, ten years later, all the heads of the large local councils in Judea and Samaria are Likud members. A large cross section of the faith-based public is actively involved in the Likud.
We must remember that this fundamental achievement – the change of direction in the mentality of the faith-based public – is only a fringe benefit and a signal that we are on the right path in our progress toward our basic goal – that was, and remains, leadership of the Likud and the State of Israel.
In the primaries that were held at the beginning of this year and also in various events that took place at the end of this year we have witnessed Netanyahu's bizarre battle against the faith-based alternative. This battle has no political logic. It is a losing proposition for the Likud. But what we are experiencing is much more than politics. In actuality, this is the stubborn, rearguard war of Israel's ruling elite. Netanyahu is simply a tool in the hands of this elite, which is battling to stop the changing of the guard that is evolving in Israel's leadership arena – the Likud.
At the beginning of the year, we were just a hairsbreadth away from completing the political faith-based revolution. When I was elected to the Knesset despite all of Netanyahu's efforts – a wave of enthusiasm swept the general public. It was clear that the faith-based public would be registering en masse for the Likud and the faith-based revolution would become an accomplished fact.
If that scenario had played out, nobody would be talking about a Palestinian state today. All the Likud MKs and ministers would have lined up behind the dominant force in our party and with the Likud constitution and values. Even more important, my victory in the next elections for the head of Likud would have practically been in my pocket and would have already changed Israel's direction.
But G-d had different plans. Netanyahu was willing to lose approximately ten Knesset mandates and to lose to Kadimah just to stop this process. He used the Supreme Court to prevent me from claiming my Knesset seat, discouraged the faith-based public and delayed its entrance into the leadership arena. Many returned to their sectorial mentality and voting habits. Lieberman benefited most from the lack of a serious political alternative; the National Union was revived and even the NRP in its new form managed to get some Knesset seats.
Why should we continue to play this game?
We well understand that the Left was never truly democratic. After all, they are an avant garde , born on the lap of the Bolshevik revolution. We clearly understand that even when we will win the elections by a large majority, with G-d's help – nobody will roll out the red carpet for us. But no regime – no matter how despotic – can stand for any length of time when it loses its public legitimacy. With all due respect to the Israel ruling club, the Soviet regime was even stronger. But it also collapsed at once when the hearts of the nation were no longer with it and turned to others.
Our active involvement in the political arena builds public awareness. It is this change in awareness that will bring the revolution. Not the decisions handed down by this judge or the other, not the declarations of one corrupt election official or another. The true sovereign is always the nation. Wherever its dreams are is where the ruling power will ultimately be, as well.
Every drop of energy that we invest today in developing Manhigut Yehudit – even when we do not reap the immediate rewards in the Knesset – ensures that as the moment of truth draws near, Israelis will have a faith-based alternative to which to turn.
We had a small taste of the turn to the Jewish alternative in this year's Likud Knesset list primaries. What we learned is that the Israeli public is ready and waiting. We learned that all the separation fences and character assassination that the Israeli ruling club erects between the nation and us collapse when the time comes. As soon as the possibility of truly reaching out to the public is created, a natural connection to our ideas forms.
If somebody thought that now, when Netanyahu is in power and we are no longer constantly in the media eye, that Manhigut Yehudit has finished its role, the Manhigut Yehudit meeting with Minister Ya'alon at the end of the summer reminded us of the Archimedean point – the strategic outpost that we have conquered on the path to Israel's redemption. We learned that even in seemingly quiet times, the old guard is not afraid of Lieberman, not of Ketzaleh, not of Hershkowitz, not of Marzel and not of Deri. It is afraid of the faith based alternative that is slowly but surely growing within the Likud – by means of Manhigut Yehudit.
So now what do we do?
First of all, we must give thanks and praise to the Master of the Universe and also to you, our many members and activists. We are grateful to have had the merit to lead the most important process of these times – the establishment of faith-based Jewish leadership for Israel.
We are at the gateway to a new year and as we know from our experience – it is not going to be boring… The old guard will obviously continue to fight against us with all its might. But the experience of the past generation has shown that all the prime ministers who attempted to prevent the return of Israel to all parts of its land, to separate the Nation of Israel from the Land of Israel - soon lost their power. Sooner or later there will once again be elections for head of the Likud, that will likely determine who will lead Israel in the near future.
As I have promised in the past, as long as G-d affords me the possibility to do so, I will continue to run for the leadership of the national movement - to guarantee that the changing of the Israeli leadership guard will not stop.
Our time is running out. Next time, we must win. Without believing Jewish leadership, the State of Israel collapses. The price of that eventuality is too heavy for us to pay. Our victory depends mostly on us. Each and every one of us must join the team and convince friends and more and more Jews who will be loyal to the Likud to register for the party. This is critical to our success.
I have two requests from you on this Rosh Hashanah eve:
The first request is that by Sukkot, you will have sent at least five new Likud registration forms in to our offices. We all have friends, children who have recently turned 18 who have not yet registered, relatives, hitchhikers who we take in our cars. In short, people who, with a bit of good will, we can easily convince to register for the Likud. Believe me, this works and many people are registering today.
And now for the second request. Please include us, the staff and members of Manhigut Yehudit and the important mission that we have taken upon ourselves in your High Holiday prayers. If we do what needs to be done and if we add to that our worthy prayers – we can be sure that our Father in Heaven will answer our prayers and with G-d's help, we will merit in this coming year to establish authentic Jewish leadership and to experience the complete redemption.
In my name and in the name of the entire Manhigut Yehudit staff, I would like to bless you with a good year, a year of health and success in all that you do; a year of naches in all areas of your lives, a year of abundance and prosperity – a year in which all of our good dreams will come true – for the individual and for the entire nation. May this be the year that we merit to see authentic Jewish leadership that will eliminate our enemies, gather all the Jewish exiles to Israel, make the deserts of our Land blossom, build our Temple speedily, the year in which we will merit to perfect the world in the Kingdom of the Almighty.
Today's Golden Oldie is a Dry Bones cartoon done 15 years ago for Rosh HaShana 1994.
This year, the holiday will start at the sunset tomorrow, Friday, the 18th of September. Saturday, the 19th of September is the first day and the holiday will continue until sunset of Sunday, the 20th of September.
I visited Hevron in November 2000 after the outbreak of the Rosh Hashanah War to see what could be done to assist in the face of the growing daily attacks on the community. After returning to work for the community in the summer of 2001, a bond and a love was forged that grows to this day. My wife Melody and I merited to be married at Ma'arat HaMachpela and now host visitors from throughout the world every Shabbat as well as during the week. Our goal, "Time to come Home!"
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