Category: Current Events

Leah’s Blog – Chanukah 2024

Reminiscence of Chanukah lights up warm spots on my heart. Once upon a time before cell phones, my sister and I would be waiting for the bus to Coney Island on a snow packed street with wind chill factors freezing our faces. We would go ice skating; there the world felt magical as I glided in my mittens and hat and scarf to the symphony of Celtic music and festive air. Coming home to latkes and playing dreidels that glowed in the dark, I could stare at our electric chanukiah by the window sill for hours. It was and is a time of year that everyone bundles up and you can’t discern who anyone even is under all those coats and jackets. The Chanukiah shines bright at the window pane of our homes, telling our story – a victory of the Jews in Judea, the story of who we are.

Now is a time of hearth and home, which all the more so have me thinking about our hostages and our soldiers in the cold mud. Again, as a nation we find ourselves in the same template of plot and theme. This is a story of the same territory as then and like then we are clarifying what fighting spirit for territorial integrity means. In the story of the Maccabees the wars spanned over seven years in eight battles with us losing twice. We cannot afford to lose even once. Now we refine what ethical means, as the battle for our safety and the safety of our soldiers knocks on the panes of our very doors. There is no wind chill but the Ruach factor blasts now and you feel it.

These are miraculous times!

This is the battle of PURE vs. Evil.

This is the battle of light over darkness

As the enemy creeps unto and into us, we fight Hellenism at the same time as it threatens to have us assimilate into the abyss. This is the story line. Our drive for eternal honor then as now has us knowing hope is not lost. The message of Chanukah is about being pro- active. It is not about receiving gifts but about self -sacrifice as the Maccabees had to be out in the rain in Gofna, giving their lives. The Judea- Syrian wars are happening again. This is a fight for Israel’s sovereignty.

Friends we are about the end the fiscal year. This war is costing dearly not only in precious lives but families are roughing it. Please keep Friends of Itamar, our 501c3 in mind as we continue in our mission in helping out in so many realms here. We have also embarked on a new project and will be Beezraht Hashem building a science room for our girl’s elementary school. Continue to join us on Facebook at Friends of Itamar and our website. Bring friends and family into this crucial pipeline of love and support from you into Israel.

HELP US HELP THEM

Chanukah Sameyach to our dear friends and a huge thank you for all of your love and care. The word Chanukah means dedication, coming from the root word chinnuch- to educate. This is a crucial time for all lovers of Zion to continue carrying the torch of truth and identity in the darkness that surrounds us now. The miracle is we’ve made it until this time of restoration. Feel blessed in the awesome light you shine my dear brothers and sisters!

Blessings, LEAH

Vayishlach – December 2024 ARROWS ON BASHAN

I don’t know if I ever told you this, but our boys teach special- forces all over the world, coming from Israel is all the more GRADE A par excellence. When growing up in the wake of the intifada, they witnessed the castration of Jewish might as our enemies were given guns not a five minute drive from here. Our little boys were shooting arrows, running and preparing for D day. When there was hallucination on the part of the land for peace bloc in planning a withdrawal from the Golan Heights we all went to demonstrate- a miracle happened and we remained steadfast. Imagine if the defensive line was at the shore of the Kinneret. A delusion took over the western minded infused leaders of Israel in the 1990’s and we are paying for it dearly now.– For me, it was essential to buff up our kids integrity as friends and neighbors were murdered here for just being Jews. My own father was a Partisan in Poland, a character that bore likeness to the idea of strength in the backdrop of the ghostly holocaust; it imprinted itself unto us in the darkness of Oslo. The mission of my life, more than any other would be to be a light in the darkness- in my own capacity in raising our children during this crossroads of struggle and crisis to be forever connected to PLACE AND MEMORY- our historical and holy sites were turned into garbage dumps and our holy cities here in the heartland into cities of refuge for terrorism. If you would ask me what was the greatest challenge during the years we raised our five children I am saying it likened the journey back to Israel as Yaakov took entailed raising a family as time morphs, family history is shaped- in the face of struggle both within the family and crisis from outside forces. I would nick name our sons Shimon and Levi and they knew what that meant. The word stone in Hebrew means father and son- אבן. The Land of Israel is described as “stones of metal” – “”אבניה ברזל. They had to be.

Israel is at war and she roars now. Isaiah’s prophecies of Damascus in ruins at the end of days is this close to coming true. The scenes we are witnessing now of the destruction of our enemies is putting the world into a different mindset- people want to side with the victor. How did Damascus fall? If I would have told you about the dead zones that now exist between us and our enemies before October 7 2023 you never would have imagined. Push has come to shove. It is a Shimon and Levi moment. This is the generation of victory, of sons who are made of metal. The resistance to truth and integrity became the catalyst for our passion for it. This is what it means to be a light in the darkness. Taking root now as our own sons are fathers now, they too will sweat in the challenges presenting themselves in the momentum of restoration. But these metal stones have a heart- for their land, for their people and the only way to combine being a rock in a hard place and being kind is to know the Torah and follow it.

In this week’s Parsha, Yaakov emerges complete. He crosses the Jordan back home to the Promised Land leaving the “old world” behind. He faced new enemies and his attitude was split into three decisions: 1)- war 2)- diplomacy 3)- gifting to appease. Although Yaakov, now Yisrael becomes a new man on return home, he felt “progress” could be achieved through many methods in handling the enemies of Israel.

Sons rectify their fathers.

“For the sake of our little sister” there is only one way to deal with evil.

The generation that left Egypt is not the generation that entered the Promised Land.

The generation that created Zionism and believed we could swipe hummus in Damascus by giving away our precious tiny land – that era has just ended. Yaakov realizes this as in his blessing to his sons before passing – “ואני נתתי לך שכם אחד על אחיך אשר לקחתי בחרבי ובקשתי “- “And I have given you one united Shechem which was taken with swords and arrows. “His sons did that for him and for eternity.

Shabbat shalom! Leah

Leah’s Blog Nitzavim – September 2024

I don’t know what the source to having sponge cake and whiskey after prayer service is, but that’s what we did in our shul in Brooklyn, a sweet memory. Displayed on the table outside the prayer room were all sorts of delicacies like herring, white fish salad, crackers of course and sometimes candy (I remember the orange white and yellow triangle candy corns). On holidays like sukkot, we huddled under the schahch in often dripping rain eating hot potato kugel, the scent of etrog and fresh lulav filling in the space there with us. These memories are tender, festive and beloved.

Now I walk through a field of pomegranates; everything feels surreal.

As Jews, our cultural and social relationship with food and eating takes us way back to ancient times. The Gemara (Rosh Hashana) teaches out about the symbols we eat on the evening of the New Year. This is not mere folklore but a custom that has been done for most Jews wherever they may be in the world. Bringing the essence of Eretz Yisrael to the table, the bountiful sweet Land flowing with milk and honey closer to you.  This year especially the “simanim” take on urgent meaning. We chime together at the table raising the beets ((סלק-“our enemies should be driven from here!”- Most of what we hold high in our dishes are actually about our adversaries, hostile forces that want to do us harm. We don’t need to imagine barbaric terrorists- we have seen them. We ask that judgement be upon them. Eating these symbolic foods never felt more right as RIGHT NOW. Even eating the honey date has us saying יתמו שונאינו-May the vicious be eradicated!

It’s like all of these traditions were made for this New Year! Feeling danger imminent, we remember what is vital, our togetherness, our thankfulness. Psalm 23:5 “You have prepared a table before me in the presence of the enemy.”

Eating is in the realm of lovingkindness, a pleasurable, blessed event in which we take great enjoyment in. Coming from one side of this gratitude to the “other side” of Din and wishing it disappear in these blessings that we recite is the perfect way to begin the New Year. We are grateful for all the goodness, all of this deliciousness yet we are aware that evil exists and we want it as we say over the leeks ((שיכרתו אויבינו severed from our reality. The world was created on Rosh Hashana- the world now has a chance to rectify.

There is a horn blowing.

There is a siren blowing.

There is a shofar blowing.

The year is ending- we are entering a new time, a time of tikkun.

FRIENDS OF ITAMAR! We are helping our welfare committee FEED families on chag. Please consider our 501c3 – Friends of Itamar your designated charity this year as many fathers are away with the IDF and other challenges this war has presented. May bountiful blessings be upon you- shana tova umetukah- yours always, LEAH

And a huge thank you to those who have contributed to this appeal!

https://friendsofitamar.com/donate/

שנה טובה ומתוקה! שבת שלום