Category: Leah’s Blog

Pesach – The bitter coated treasure 2025       –          Leah’s Blog

Tradition has it that we have collectively been sitting down to seder night for thousands of years. Our daughter in law, whose parents are from India and Yemen, as well as the mix that has flavored this family, all from around the world did the same seder centuries ago. What is the magic that calls to us to remember the great pyramids and the miracles of leaving? Codifying the Haggadah in the times of the Mishnah (complied in 20 C.E.) kept the tradition during a time Hellenistic culture raged, a time we were banished from our Land by the Romans. Forever the line, “Next year in Jerusalem” on our lips.

It was a bitter banishment from our Land and it sears into our memory. Lest we become too comfortable in exile- the seder imprints on a collective consciousness that Israel belongs in Israel.

Anyone coming to a seder for the first time would be perplexed at what goes on. Before the banquet of the seudah, a good stretch of time passes. Finally after breaking Matzah and making “Hamotzi” we eat maror (bitter herbs). Strange huh? Or not. As our souls are now in full charge of our hungry bodies, just a tad of harsh seals that part of the seder before the real eating begins. Our sages long ago taught us that the world is not a sugar coated place. We have to “rise above it”- through humble recognition that we are being rectified. From the very beginning we learn about the trials Abraham had to endure even when he was promised the Land, all of our forefathers have stories to tell of struggles in owning who they are. Many of our Matriarchs had to yearn and endure the wait until a baby finally came.

It is a long haul but it accelerates towards the climax of our story. Like now. Israel, like no other place is not “just” a property, it is a super natural place that you have to earn by personally leaving Egypt. When we are having a bitter moment and pass through the fire- as all of Israel did in the exodus- we are ready to celebrate life. Now too, pinch me- we are back after centuries that this land laid waste and no nation could make it fruitful.

In an age of bible criticism, warped ideas prevail, when prayer books are changed to even exclude Israel (yes- there are those), when Israel has become a bone to pick in Hellenistic circles, our old return to wine stained Haggadahs from the past are made to jolt in mind body and soul. Prior to Pesach, many of us boil out our everyday vessels, purging chametz from our pots and pans as the cleansing of nefesh and all of this hard work has us thinking- are we slaves or are we truly masters of ourselves, not letting other identities take over, rise and puff down over us squashing and conquering us. As we deflate internally, leaving no room for alter ego, a new season of budding begins in us. We have risen above it.

This Pesach we hope to witness the true return in all aspects to what Hashem wants from us as we have already entered this Land with so much more to do. We pray our hostages all come home and be able to sit at the table of complete redemption. Amen

“Let my people go!”

I want to personally thank all of those who have been so caring and supportive in our mission to get Pesach food to the needy all over the Shomron with a special thank you to Alan Hirsch and the Matzoh Fund for again pulling it off. Awesome!

Chag sameyach and Shabbat Shalom dearest friends! Xoxoxoxo BLESSINGS! Leah

Pekudey 2025 – Leah’s Blog

“Lord save me”, I mumble under my breath as there is a huge balagan in our house now. Our fridge died last week unexpectedly but better now than if it would happen the week before Pesach! As Moshe pulled it out of its nook, he quickly brought paint and started brightening the wall no one will ever see. Getting carried away, saying “this tint of white is a shade darker than what we have here, he continued like a stroking wave into the kitchen proper. Unscrewing shelves, taking down cups, glasses and saucers, one thing led to another. “Leah, bring an old sheet for the stove. Now!” I couldn’t mobilize fast enough. Eventually the entire kitchen quickly became a revolution. But I thought everything before that was just right- ooof.

The mess is just piling up.

At the time of my personal challenge, another uprising is surfacing here in Israel. The deep rises and chaos prevails, to the point where the very foundations of what this State was built upon shakes and rattles. Something, like my fridge that went on me, went wrong. A trace of rotting scent fills the air here and we must clear it out. For too long the old hegemony has persisted, an aging and obsolete ruling minority class that persisted, chugging away on its last breath until its durability to hold up in the circumstances surrounding October 7^th have crashed. They thought all the wrong things like evacuating all settlement on the Golan Heights in surrendering it to Syria (sounds insane now ah?), making Judea and Samaria judenrein completely with the country’s border on Kfar Saba, here comes the best part (!)- arming the Palestinian Authority with guns in order to “keep the seder (order)”. Biding time while charming the enemy, thousands of Israelis have been murdered but the defiance to logic evaded them in the drool for power.

So the messes pile up here. The foundational attempt at governance, like the Golden Calf, had only a small segment enamored in offering to a foreign god, praising false idols. It threw Israel into turmoil and disarray just as Moshe Rabbeinu was about to deliver the Torah. What timing!

As the bulk of our brothers and sisters abroad balked at the idea of stubborn adherence to Jewish places and customs, to the endurance of the Jewish settler – against all of this we stood and stand and pushed back. Now it is toppling, and not soon enough as we bring in a new view of integrity in who we are, where we are and what we need to do.

Pekudey- The time the Tabernacle becomes completely ready- the curtains hung in place, the tiny screws, the knobs, the accessories, all of it in complete order. We have what to aspire for now- in our homes and for our Land. The dance between Hashem and Israel takes place in a perfected state, everyone must partake of it. Some do the actual building, some do the actual carrying, some make the ornaments- all contribute in their way. The Tabernacle was a tikkun for the mistake of The Golden Calf. We read and reread the Torah to know it’s going to be ok. There is always tikkun after havoc. Here too in my own home.

Shabbat shalom dearest friends! Xoxoxoxoxoxox Leah

Terumah February 26, 2025

I felt the silence so loud. Years and years of silence.

Walking baby Benayah in his stroller through newer and newest neighborhoods here in Itamar, the sound of music wafts up to us from the construction site below the Fogel house. The melody is shattered by the loud took took took of the excavator chopping into rock. The building going on here is staggering. Baby and I continue walking in the winter sun past older neighborhoods. The Shabo house, closer to mine, if a house can feel- is viewing and understanding what the soil diggers are preparing. That house, once ridden with bullet holes, the scene of a bloody carnage, now has pink cyclamens growing out of old cut out jerry cans. The sun shines on them.

Living here almost forty years has been a roller coaster taking an incredible amount of emotional and mental stamina. Our collective history, going way back to the beginning has had tribulation and successes. We have had and prayed for hope. The idea that our nation has made it this point as perfidy itself tries to swallow Hashem’s promise, that the silence of liberal Jews deafened my soul until this point has me loving the sound now. BUILD BABY BUILD. And we need to do it faster and better as we secure this Land – right here from the pupil of Hashem’s eye, from the middle axis. The sound of silence is far better suited as a song for these last forty years than The Graduate, a movie we all watched as kids, seeded with all bad things that sprouted into the moral bankruptcy of woke.

Somehow I got plucked out and was sent on this mission.

Our Parsha, Terumah, talks about the offerings to where people are commanded to contribute to the building we worship in. But before we go into the beautiful accessories that adorn the Mishkan and Temple, the template of foundation is consisted of bare logs of wood. The Haftarah, if not for being Rosh Chodesh, would have been relating to the fact that not only were the people of Israel engaged in the construction of the Temple, but members of other nations participated as well. The masons of Hiram and the Givilim to mention a few. Where was Gebal and why was it significant in material and craftsmanship in this mission? Located between Beirut and Tripoli in a forested area of Lebanon (Joshua 13:5) (Ezekiel 27:2), logs and logs of the finest cedar wood floated on rafts to Jaffa and were then transported to Jerusalem. Through that same road, Mark Twain came and called it a “dreary hopeless broken land” in 1867. But then something happened. Nations in the Sykes-Picot Agreement, San Remo, and ultimately the UN all lead up to the declaration of our State. The catalysis of nations and peoples has had Israel revealed only partially through modern history.

Now, President Donald Trump and his administration is the climax to our story. Like Hiram and the Gvilim who supported and assisted in the building of our Temple, all nations and people of the world can choose as GOOD and EVIL are clearly in your face, as the SOUND of SILENCE has been broken. DID YOU HEAR THE EARTH SHAKE JUST NOW? If you too want to remedy the ache you feel in your heart today, live Terumah. Live giving. This is enabling us here on the ground to build redemption and reach the complete victory. BUILD BABY BUILD!

Shabbat Shalom to my besties xoxoxoxo, Leah

Leah’s blog -Yitro February 2025

I don’t know if I ever told you this but – I’m hot blooded – to the point where my sweaters are still tucked on the bottom shelf of the closet; my preference for footwear is still a nice sandal, ok a fuzzy kind, and in ZARA I’m always looking for the T shirts. The temperatures plummet, yet I feel- “Is it hot in here- or am I crazy?’ I know I’ve said this but our story peaks now. This charade has gone on long enough and no I really do not want to talk about the weather. Prisoners serving life sentences are being released into my back yard. They were incarcerated for murdering innocent Jews. But the former President said “The show must go on”. The funneling of millions and millions of aid and money into our enemies and I do not differentiate between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority- they both pay for slay. The fancy suits of Doha have been paying for this deplored state, the lack of justice, as we groan and agonize. I for one, regret that most people do not even know how the USA and your tax paying dollars have likewise gone to annihilating, maiming and humiliating Jews in Israel. And they made a deal- for every hostage (coming out as skeletons) Israel must release hundreds of beasts.

I’m not only feeling highly heated- I’m thirsty. I’m dry with waiting.

I pull back the curtain of our home that faces the mountains of the Blessing and the Curse. Har Eval is slashed and damaged in a ploy by the PA to rupture our very monumental affinity to it. Illegal land works, even to the point of scraping the very rocks of the altar of Joshua- the place of our betrothal to Hashem in the Land. They are squatting on every empty parcel of land. The view for me is still laced with pain; our Rabbi was murdered up there. He bled to death after PA gunmen shot him – like Nazis do. There was an entire year I could not open my curtain. But now, twenty five years later, two helicopters are hovering above it. Something is beginning to change. Almost completely cut off from us- the tie was forever unbroken because we persisted to live and build at the base of this mountain. Against the odds. Never give up.

My dear mom of blessed memory always said “Better late than never.”

Did you know that the previous administration cancelled the Taylor force Act? Wicked devious plans for the Jews of Judea, yet the bulk of our fellow Jews abroad persisted in hating truth or remaining apathetic to it. They remained apathetic to the fact that we teach our children Perkay Avot (The ethics of the fathers) while the Arabs here teach how to hate Jews and methods to kill them. No- lah lah lah I do not want to talk about the weather. I want to talk about the lobotomy any and every Jew that nodded yes to Blinken and his henchmen.

Everything has reached a boiling pitch.

Remember that line in the vampire movie when Edward Cullen says to Bella “It’s because you believe the lie.” And even so- she grasps on to his cold hand and becomes embedded in vampire reptilian emotionally cold unloving unsympathetic stony hearted heartless zombie like life choice. My rabbi bled to death. The cold has affected too many.

Yitro is an influential man of power that has a reciprocal relationship with Am Yisrael. Unlike Pharoh who seeks to annihilate, throw babies into river, slash and enslave, he sees the Jewish people as the beacon of light and strives to cleave (as later Ruth does and others). His advice and stance is valuable and dear. He is the role model of a beloved friend and mentor. The mutual cooperation between Israel and Yitro through Moshe R is a collective story that remedies. For such a time as this, even now, so many years succeeding the atrocity of Oslo and the wicked stance of the governments that fanned its fire- PRESIDENT TRUMP has come to advise and fix. He has been able to see through the cold fog and witness the miracle of our return. Administer justice! Believe in Hashem! THANK YOU FOR COMING AT THIS APPOINTED TIME!

Shabbat shalom and blessings to all of our dear friends, LEAH

Beshalach – February 2025

February is here and Tu B’shvat is just around the corner. The almond trees are blossoming early this year since we never really had a winter. I remember years we would drive down to Petach Tikva, just one hour west, and people would stand in their tracks staring at our car covered in snow. The virginal white quickly melted as the temperatures- as close as one hour away can mind boggle- are way higher on the coast. Wide eyed and childlike people are simpletons in Israel. Each town, each tribal portion- specific in what it knows- which is usually local. I’ll be quite frank and open with you- thank you Hashem for enabling a wider perspective for all Israelis about the other tribes- my tribe- that live over the hills and “far away”. Up until recently nobody knew a thing about the topography geography or history of the heartland of the Land of Israel. I would have to fly to Oklahoma and Texas to have a listening ear. Literally.

Now the wind blows, it is raining thankfully- this has been the driest winter ever recorded. No snow on our car but when people in Petach Tikva ask me where I am from and I say Itamar, they say Thank You! “You are our armored vest!” Finally- in this appointed time after much brain washing- yes- people were taught through our media that I, that WE were the obstacle to peace- not our enemies. They alienated the nation from their very heart. Day after day for years upon years the one or two TV channels fed this nation the lie of Oslo- aligning to world- wide media. Why was the recipe for peace always throwing Jews out of Judea? Like the Pavlov syndrome- mention the heartland of Israel and immediately people saw a mirage without ME here. What I saw was a burnt down Tomb of Yosef, swastikas on the Tomb of Itamar and Elazar, slaughtered friends and neighbors- hundreds of them.

Then something opened up. People began to watch for truth. Like the teaching of Rabbi Nachman on clarity of faith. If you are a witness to an open miracle but do not have clarity in faith- you will not experience it. “Seeing is believing” is not enough- watch for it through faith. Hold the heavenly yoke of heaven in your heart. This refreshes and enables new energy that defies the laws of nature to spring forth. This means that despite the incredibly difficult challenges that prevented us from KNOWING- Hashem enabled technology now to reach you with the truth. And now I must thank Arutz 14 for that! We are getting REAL news now. Someone out there (Yotam Zimri) is saying- “The Land of Israel- Judea-Samaria is our precious legacy. We will never forfeit it. Someone is calling to strengthen us. Thank you!

Suddenly and sometimes through much travail, as October 7 had everyone realizing just what happens when you live on the rim of hell, no amount of peace love and good music will help. Sometimes you need to be knocked over the head to understand how to view.

I remember the hot summer of 2005 when we took a bus to Gush Katif and stand against the bulldozers of our own government. All along the brim that led to Gaza there were signs of doves and peace. On the brink of disaster- we knew. We knew. Ripping out Jews from their graves in Gush Katif, destroying homes, thriving businesses, oasis’ of paradise and synagogues on that sultry heated day has caused this tsunami. We have been shamed, lacerated and castrated. ENOUGH!

What haven’t we tried.

This generation will not tolerate disgrace.

Our mouths open now- finally as we enter the stage of Malchut in this journey HOME. As on the sea of the Yam Suf in this portion of Beshalach-when the Egyptians began chasing Am Yisrael, we were engulfed between two cliffs and the sea before us -some said- “Jump into the sea” Some said “Turn back, submit” , others that screamed to Hashem- paralyzed. The last group consisted of those who perceived with clarity of faith that said “We are an army of soldiers now- Hashem is with us!”  On the verge of losing on October 7 and SINCE then- all divisions of the IDF that came and fired out the hellholes of the Nazis. Our boys- the sons of the mothers of Israel- who brought this monster down to its knees. How many have fallen, how many have been maimed? And they would do it again. For we are the army of Hashem. Yes, He does it for us USING OUR DEEDS! If it weren’t for the embargos placed upon Israel coupled with the plethora of humanitarian aid going straight to Hamas, we would have had all of our hostages back by now and had a complete victory.

THANK YOU PRESIDENT TRUMP! THANK YOU HASHEM WHO ENABLED THIS! THANK YOU TO ALL OF OUR DEAR FRIENDS WHO BELIEVE IN US OUT HERE AND SUPPORT!

ISRAEL MUST CONTINUE TO BE A LIGHT A LIGHT UNTO THE NATIONS, REVEAL TRUTH, RESTORE HONOR, CLARITY, SECURITY, TRUTH, FAITH IN G-D and HOPE.

Shabbat Shalom and blessings to all of our dear friends xoxoxox, Leah

Parshat Bo – January 2025

Memories of Butter bun Bakery on Nostrand Avenue in Brooklyn, where I used to wait for the school bus, has me watering at the mouth. My fellow classmates loved candy while I loved a nice plain croissant. Ah, the onion buns. Suzi always loved the black and white cookies and when she slept over it was the highlight. Her neighborhood in Canarsie probably had its own delicious bakeries but Butter Bun- WOW! Ecstasy. Moshe lived in Flatbush right across from our school, Yeshiva Rambam, and I can even recollect the seven layer cakes his father bought for Shabbat. I found that very grand- in honor of Shabbat! On Rosh Hashana my parents would send me to Butter bun to buy the round sweet challah breads, mandel bread and kichalahch. This reminiscence resonates spiritually with me, as I feel the vibe of the holidays of my childhood. They were wonderful and delicious. The sponge cakes and whiskey at shule after service were just as much a part of the exaltation.

Only later when I found myself on a bald mountain facing empty hills here in Israel’s heartland, with not a bakery in sight, I learned the private acts of baking bread. This is something, I believe, we inherit as women. Rachel, my new Moroccan neighbor (at the time) taught me what was passed down through her family recipe. Over time, Itamar developed and even sells challahs in the local store, but I do try to bake. As my bread is kneaded, entire prayers not written in any psalm book pour forth: for our daughters’ future families and homes, for the safety of our sons and their families, for the release of our hostages, for Am Yisrael and the list goes on. I try on occasion to bake things my grandmother made, honoring those that have passed away, their recipes living on. I see her smiling now in this.

Baking gives a feeling like those babushka dolls, that the home is cocooned into the deepest layer from the world outside, the kitchen nestled deepest. We bake when we emotionally and physically survive through good and hard times. Dough needs to rise- it takes great patience.

This took thousands of years-

TIME TO GO

I can tell you a lot of what has transpired in my life as I transitioned into an Israeli settler. Reflecting on the past and my origins as a second generation holocaust survivor- but mostly straddling the next phase of history, of the merit and worth in the face of consequences of my decision. Forever shaping my character as the State of Israel stands and I stand on its heart- truly a rare mission. The longing I feel for the future, of fixing horrific mistakes that have been made in relinquishing our holy sites here in the heartland- all that is embodied in the next page of restoration and its challenges- I knead, I knead and the bread answers in a fragrant whiff our Matriarchs experienced so, so long ago. Going back to the beginning of this story- the pilgrimage site for Israel as a people- we long to return in the full sense of the word. This is what every Jew prays for. They baked here!

Chazzal teach us that during the tenth and final plague, as we were collecting the back pay for our slave wages in gold, silver and garments, Moshe Rabbeinu was extracting the bones of Yosef from his coffin the Nile. We do not leave with dough of bread. The ebb and flow of time is in Hashem’s hands. Sometimes it can feel like eternity – then- there is no ample time for the dough to rise. Eat Matzah. The Yosef era- the “Goldena Medina” of exile that you have blessed and made rich, and built storehouses and businesses and you thrived along with Egypt ENDED. Now, you are walking out with a burnt piece of Matzoh. And by the skin of your teeth. At first Yosef blessed the land with bread- in the hardest of times. Then time went by and Yosef was forgotten. Putting a mask over our mouths we had no voice. We became hostages not even realizing it.

The lesson – Israel is only in exile for a limited time.

We eat the matzah remembering that the bakeries of Mitzrayim are only temporary. We begin our return holding a thin matzoh and then baking new bread in The Land.

Chodesh Tov to our dear Friends of Itamar! We will be planting 150 trees this Tu B’shvat here. For all of those who would like to participate in this special mitzvah – please earmark your donation- FOR PLANTING TREES. The whole landscape here is changing thanks to you!

Donate

Shabbat shalom and blessings- Leah

Leah’s Blog – Vayigash – January 2025

“And the brothers sat down to eat bread”, the end of the first Yosef Hatzaddik Chapter in what I call the real book of Pride and Prejudice. The selling of Yosef was so tragic that the repercussions Chazal teach us, is an unfolding story to this very day. Baring the consequences of baseless hatred, Yosef is “brought down” to Egypt. As if that wasn’t enough, he continues to descend until he finally drops rock bottom. Internally however, his honor and integrity are not hurt. Yosef, in complete self -confidence rises- all that is on his tongue he accredits to Hashem. Always dignified, even when stripped from his garments once by his brothers and then again by eshet Potiphar- naked, he retains dignity because he is clothed in Hashem. Yosef brings a great delight to everyone that knows him. Yosef holds inside himself zero personal ego which is why he is able to hold the storehouses of the wealth and bread of Egypt. In later chapters of the Yosef story, the brothers come laden with delicacies of the Land- almonds, balm, dates, honey gum, etc. but they were seeking bread. Seeking Yosef. “הבה לנו לחם” asking for specifically bread. There was a famine in the Land- but clearly we see there were other things to eat. Being a conduit for the giving of massive amounts of bread to his brothers and the world, he said, “This success is not from the work of my hands or my greatness- but from Hashem.”

BREAD – THE SYMBOL OF PRIDE

On Pesach when we review the main commandment of not eating bread- the symbol of pride and arrogance we remember that we were slaves in Egypt. The honor given to the first generations that settled in Goshen quickly dissolved “And a new king took over Egypt who did not know Yosef.” Instead of honor going to Israel, Pharoh reeked of arrogance as he said “I have done all of this” (in the great building up of cities and ruling power of the world.) Nor did he know Hashem, and his heart became very stubborn and hard (הכבדתי את ליבו)- (meaning- from the root word of honor- kavod- it turned into a curse). Am Yisrael almost slipped away reaching the 49^th level of 50 in being lost forever. Extremely hard times were upon us – we are commanded to remember them. Moshe Rabbeinu miraculously was born and restored the true honor to Am Yisrael as he delivered the honor of the Torah enabling them to arise from that low place finally.

In the desert we ate mahn for there was no bread.

The story of Yosef begins with a lad so good looking, he curled his hair and even applied eyeliner. What we thought was a prime example of arrogance teaches us a lesson that you can’t judge a book from its cover. He took glory from Hashem and shined it out. His mother, Rachel who is laid to rest in literally “the house of bread- Beit Lechem” is the primordial and everlasting description of gorgeous. We learn from Rachel however that she forfeits personal ego and gives over the signs to her sister surrendering any personal benefit – relinquishing herself of her very pride. What came out of the special attributes of our Matriarchs and Patriarchs have survived and brought us to this very special time when the entire world stands in awe of us. Israel is come alive again. October 7 2023 brought us down on our knees. The fall was even harder with international anti-Semitic tribunals looking to lock us up and persecute heartlessly. Israel has tried in every what way to be recognized but sometimes it takes, as in our parsha, a total falling back in awe for a time when all nations will know Hashem through our light. We rise now -bringing Hashem honor. Those whose pride and prejudice bore down on Israel will now behold revelation.

Shabbat shalom! BLESSINGS xoxoxox Leah