The Kotel, WOW, W4W and Common Sense by Batya Medad

Batya Medad..
Me-ander..
12 May '13..

Maybe I should be posting this on Shiloh Musings, but... I'm not.

In some ways I agree with the title of Heshy's post, My problem with Women of the Wall is that I agree with both sides. But on the whole I think that it's a lot of nerve for any group to try to take over a place they frequent barely an hour or two a month. That's even before getting into issues. IMHO that simple fact supersedes the issues entirely.

That simple fact, that this group of WOW* women, some who are very sincere in their belief that they are only trying to be good Jews, are trying to force their opinions on hundreds of thousands, if not millions of others, is outrageous and immoral. They have turned the Kotel into a media circus. (*I suggest reading Ronit Peskin's report, Massive Prayer Rally at the Kotel Today - The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.)

Except for that hour or two a month, the tens of thousands or possibly hundreds of thousands of women of all different backgrounds who come to the Kotel, the remaining wall of Hordus' expansion of the Temple Mount location of the Bait Hamikdash, Holy Temple, behave in a relatively calm, tolerant and spiritual way.

An Archaeological Battle Over Tel Shiloh

Yisrael Medad
My Right Word
27 April '11

http://myrightword.blogspot.com/2011/04/archaeological-battle-over-tel-shiloh.html

Seems Tel Shiloh (yes, with an "h" as it is written in Hebrew as שילה - shin yud lamed hey) is in the news.

First, the good news:

New Archeological Effort Seeks To Unearth Mishkan's Secrets


The Israeli government has authorized a large scale archeological dig at Tel Shiloh, the ancient biblical site that housed the Mishkan (Tabernacle) and served as the Jewish nation's spiritual capital under the leadership of Joshua and the Judges for nearly 370 years.


Tel Shiloh, which is located north of Beit El in the Binyamin Regional Council (Samaria), adjacent to the modern settlement of Shilo, has become a popular attraction for local and foreign tourists.


While the goal of the dig is to showcase the life and times of ancient Israel, Tzofia Dorot, manager and public relations director of the Tel Shiloh tourist site, acknowledged that the location (in the heart of the Ephraim Hills) could prompt an international uproar.


"No doubt, this is going to make political waves, on a local and international scale," she told The Jewish Press. "And it couldn't come at a more crucial time with everything that is going on in the region, with the international community clamoring for Israel to make concessions.


"The effort to discredit and delegitimize our connection to the Land of Israel is gathering steam. It has been particularly intense since Arafat denied that the Jewish Temple ever existed in Jerusalem. But even before the announcement of the large-scale dig, we were been seeing more and more local and foreign visitors here every day. I am certain that once we begin the actual work the interest and visits will increase exponentially."


Remnants of ancient Shiloh's ramparts were uncovered in previous excavations, including parts of the city walls, homes, wine and oil presses, cisterns and huge warehouses containing enormous earthen jars that once contained oil, wine and flour destined for use in the Mishkan.


A number of residents of modern day Shiloh, which was re-established in 1977 [8 actually], have picked up where their forefathers left off, engaging in a variety of agricultural endeavors. Several boutique wineries in the region have been lauded by local and international wine experts as being among the best in the country.


Dorot is actively engaged in raising funds for a new Tel Shiloh educational and historical visitor's center in anticipation of headline-making discoveries. "Recently," she said, "we had three companies present their ideas for development of a major visitor center. I believe that once we've uncovered the secrets buried here for over 2,000 years, many people will come forward to help us create a magnificent center."

Miraculously Beautiful, Tel Shiloh in the Jewish Month of Nissan

Batya Medad
Shilo Musings
21 March '10

Yes, it looks like a miniature lake. But there's neither a lake nor a pond at Tel Shiloh. This is no more than a giant puddle. Unless G-d blesses us with more rain, it will soon dry out.



I've been making a point of going to Tel Shiloh for Rosh Chodesh Prayers for over two years already, and month after month I'm WOWed by the beauty. Rosh Chodesh Nissan was stupendous, rich green leaves covering the earth and branches, wild wheat blowing in the wind like the most luxurious velvet, juicy almonds waiting to be picked and eaten and the colorful wildflowers sparkling like precious stones.



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