Category: General
Categories
Leah’s Blog Yom Kippur 2024
Leah’s Blog – Yom Kippur תשפה – – October 2024
There are signs of endurance laced throughout our lives. My own father- whose yartzeit is on Yom Kippur walked it and lived it. Moshe Ben Yaakov ZT”L met the burning bush in Poland when his entire family and village of Nisko Poland saw every Jew but himself and two others perish. He was but a boy when this happened and he spoke about his survival unabashed adding his wonderful memories of synagogue, his grandfather, the table at festivals and all the things that make you Jewish. The theme of his life was Jewish Pride. My father had a great vibe and was full of handsomeness and charisma. Not the bent over Jew – he saw the burning bush. He carried the flame of Judaism with him and passed it down to his children. This is the meaning of the burning bush- the ner tamid in our Temple.
“I will be with you and this will be the sign that I have sent you, a burning bush that is not consumed”. In hebrew- this is what it says on my father’s stone on Har Hamenuchote in Jerusalem.
אוד מוצל מאש
My father’s story is a personal one of fortitude and courage – the DNA of the Jewish people. We are all linked on a long chain that goes back to our forefathers who par example lived nisayone, dealt with evil and overcame; of our Matriarchs who await the sons return to our land. These are all stories of self- sacrifice and tenacity. Soon after Yom Kippur we enter the Sukkah of protection and meet the Ushpizin- our forefathers who each had their own particular test, tribulation, war, coping in even the relationships they had within the family. Their will to come out of the burning furnace and make it to the other side is our original imprint. Our souls are being recreated from their first kernels and now we are making the full circle in time. The imprint of Yaakov wrestling the angel there by the Jordan and limping away to independence and more challenges, more dramas as the Land covenant ever increasingly teaches us Hashem is giving it to us but we have to earn it. We have to fight for it.
Now more than ever it is time to strengthen Israel– return to Zion is seeing to that; evil insists on erasing it – we rise like the lion and prevail – in the merit of our fathers and forefathers. This is the time to illuminate- not assimilate! It is a war on all fronts,
The bush is burning yet we endure.
This is the struggle for consciousness.
There is one particular day- Yom Kippur- a day of complete return to Hashem, where you meet G-d and make it to the other side.
May you all have a gmahr chatimah tova, a wonderful New Year of health, celebration, and all goodness. I invite you to direct your Pidyone kaparote charity towards us as we continue to secure and develop Yishuv Itamar at this protracted period of war in Israel. Here in the heartland of Israel we are digging in even deeper in order to ensure that Israel can never implode! With boots on the ground here it takes a lot of work. See the link below to donate-
https://friendsofitamar.com/donate/
Shabbat shalom and blessings to all of our dear friends
Mother’s Day- Memorial Day- Yom Haatzmaut 2024
This is dedicated to all the amazing mothers that love Israel and have taught their children to.
Mother’s Day had me thinking about our own Matriarchs; as I always say- the foundation stones we read about in the very beginning are a reflection of the very end of this time as we know it. Our forefathers had many “stories” surrounding their persona and tikkun- all things we glean from in knowing and understanding these times. The love between Yaakov and Rachel spreads out over many topics, of patience, self -sacrifice, beauty, and emotion. Rachel, our Matriarch was cherished and adored by her husband and her son, Yosef. A scene, like no other, of PROTECTION given to Rachel we read about after Yaakov finally leaves her father’s house, only to contend with his brother, Esau who hated him and desired to kill him. Now came the time of the face off upon coming home to Eretz Yisrael after a long stay in exile of twenty two years. When Esau came to meet Yaakov, our other matriarchs came to prostrate themselves before Esau, but of Rachel it says- “And Yosef came near to his mother and stood before her.” Yosef said- “This wicked man, Esau is bold wanton and cruel- he may want to take my mother.” Yosef, therefore stood up (as it says in his dream- קם וניצב- Stood erect) covering and protecting her. Yosef is described as ” “עלי עין- meaning that as he stands upright, no evil eye can penetrate. All will SEE and bear witness to his greatness.
The story that surrounds Yosef is one of baseless hatred. We are familiar with the brothers who sold him out. The son of Rachel became the viceroy of Egypt, the feeder, the one that blessed that nation with abundance. The brothers eventually realized that Yosef’s dreams came true and came to VIEW him in a different light. Yosef was a seer and he used that quality to bless others with plenty.
The Jewish people when scattered, blessed many nations and lands. Now they are returning to their land as promised. The sons stand over the mothers and run to battle evil now here in Israel. We are being protected by our heroic fearless sons now as Yosef stood up to Esau then. – Then is now. No evil eye can penetrate the exalted transcendental position of Am Yisrael. It has all been promised. Baseless hatred and replacement theology cannot and will not hold. This Parsha speaks about an eye for an eye- this is what the Torah means. It seems as if the brothers of Yosef had an evil eye, it seems as if the nations of the world seek an evil eye, one that wants to grab Rachel- but in the merit of Rachel our Matriarch who saw with a GOOD EYE- the blessing was handed down to Yosef and to us- a great PROTECTION.
The moral of the story- Many nations seek to destroy us. This is the persona of Esau. We overcame and we will overcome.
TODAY WE REMEMBER THE HEROES OF ISRAEL.
Nations of the world: Count how many times it says in the Torah that the Land and People of Israel are one. Am Yisrael Chai!
Dear Friends of Itamar- I rub my eyes as I am writing this to you from the territory of Yosef. Thank you for standing with us. Shavua TOV! Blessings, Leah
Categories
Memorial Day 2024
With Memorial Day beginning this evening, we honor the memory of the tens and thousands that have given their life for the State of Israel, we remember the victims of the Oct 7th massacre – we remember the martyrs of Itamar that have fallen on behalf of our community and country. Attached to this post is a picture of some of the Itamar victims who lost their lives at the hands of terrorists in or around our town of Itamar. Unfortunately, the list has grown over the years – it also does not include the tens of family members of Itamar residents that have fallen in battle as well. In their sacred memory we pledge to continue to grow and thrive as we strive to fulfill our goal of making Itamar into an important city of Israel one day.