Category: Leah’s Blog

Leah’s Blog – Purim – The Theater of the Absurd 2024

A barrage of missiles hits the northern border here in Israel now. The burnt bloody houses of the kibbutzim in the south are washed now in the heavy rain, yet Purim is nearing and we are commanded to celebrate. Every family, every home is preparing their costumes and the treats they will send to honor Purim. Children especially anticipate the joyous day. For us here in Itamar, it will always conjure up a bitter sweet time- the Fogel Massacre- HY”D thirteen years later….But we are commanded to make a beautiful Purim no matter what.

Purim should BE a fun, fun time. Megillas, shalahch manote and we drink some wine- trah lah lah lah lah lah. In the opening chapter of the story of Purim we read about the theater of the absurd. Only some seventy years had passed since the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem, King Achashverosh celebrated it’s destruction also thinking that “Hashem Himself was defeated” being that the Temple had not been rebuilt. The lavish banquet of six months continued, boasting the beautiful vessels of our Temple – used in the wine orgies. The detailed finery we have been reading about in the Tabernacle was all displayed there in the courtyard. Some Jews, skin deep, assimilated and glorifying in their new identities, took part in the king’s party. They had pleasure, felt elevated, honored and happy to collaborate with the theme of the celebration- “The people of Israel are severed from the Promised Land and from G-d.” What prestige as they negated their Jewishness! You may ask- how can such a thing be- Jews really did take part in this theater of the absurd, they took the side of the enemy?

The answer is YES. Am I conjuring up thoughts about today now?

As if we need a reminder, this coming Shabbat, all of Am Yisrael will be reading what Amalek did to us when we left Egypt: “Remember what Amalek did to you on your journey, after you left Egypt, how undeterred by fear of G-d, he surprised you on the march when you were famished and weary, cutting down the stragglers in the rear. Therefore, when G-d grants you safety from all your enemies around you, in the Land that your G-d is giving you as an inheritance- you shall blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven! Do not forget!” Amalek does not care what political party you belong to, if you are observant in mitzvoth, what your skin color is or where you live. In Germany Jews were hunted down from the most intermixed acculturated families. Amalek feeds off of weakness and submission.

This theme constantly repeats itself through the thousands of years we have endured. Purim is approaching as the world turns and events seem to echo what was and what is. The Persian Empire seeks to destroy us THEN AND NOW, for now using its proxies that have situated themselves on our borders and even within us here in the very heart of Israel. Trying to prevent the inevitable restoration of our Land our enemies encroach with bombs, missiles, guns and knives- yet- there are those who seek to collaborate with them and wish to implode our very heartland, not a stone’s throw from Tel Aviv, Afula, and Kfar Saba.

Purim is a time we re-define who we are, whose side we are on. Like in any good story, the protagonist (Am Yisrael) has to deal with a crisis, make a decision, overcome obstacles as the riveting story of the Megilah takes us through all of these scenes, in and out of sub plots of the wicked antagonist Haman, Mordechai (who does NOT capitulate) and Queen Ester (whose beauty went beneath the surface) who call out in Jewish Pride and do not bend, and finally the end result- Am Yisrael is saved.

Purim gives us a chance to embrace our identity, to look in the mirror as we take off our masks at the end of the day. Israel has suffered an unprovoked horrific attack, the worst since the holocaust. Amalek seeks to destroy us when we are not who we are supposed to be- Jews connected to our Land, to our Temple and to each other. WE WILL NOT BEND to world pressure but destroy our enemies to their very foundations. ISRAEL STANDS STRONG.

Please consider Friends of Itamar a charity worthy of your half shekel offering.

Purim Sameyach dear Friends of Itamar, our family. Shabbat Shalom! Leah

Vayakhel – March 2024

October 7 2023 which was a Shabbat and Simchat Torah had our family together as a unit which had not been possible for some time due to Yosef and Efrayim being away for a while. Our home was snug with the fullness of that togetherness, the scent of chulent in the crockpot and as the boys like to say- “The quiet of Shabbat on Itamar, there is none like it, precious.” There is a time- there is a place. We enjoy Shabbat in a blissful way, together. That shattered as the boys came rushing down the stairs at 6:30 that morning to tell me something terrible had happened in the south, unspeakable horrors. Slowly I could hear cars drive down the street below us: Men leaving for duty. I thought, unless the boys stay here to fortify the safety of this area, they too will end up in the steady stream going south- to the carnage. However the day ended, I don’t remember, but the reverberation of that still silence dashed lingers as we await the release of the hostages from the terror cages of the barbarians, as missiles fall in the Galilee and the Golan. Israel is at war, attacked from all sides.

Here it is silent now; you can even cut the peace with a knife- the fullness of it has been disturbed through time though as you remember similar events that happened not once or twice, a decade ago, two decades ago. Then the shaking, swinging and vibrating sound of too much to bear came swooshing down like the broken tablets of Moshe Rabbeinu. The Fogel family yartzeit is coming up soon HY”D. Suffering the deep pain of loss, Yishuv Itamar, thanks to your incredible support, rebuilt, and kept their memory alive by digging in even deeper creating a beautiful green Gan Eden.

October 7 2023 began a new time for Israel as a nation. Despite the evil pogrom, the castrating international diplomacy, and blatant Antisemitism, something ignited in the nation of Israel, and in many who were dormant, in many who believed peace was just up to us and even in those who just don’t care. It might seem that even as the token has fallen, we are regressing as things are so volatile on all fronts, yet the buds appear, time is evolving, soon blossoming. The enemy pushes on our borders yet this Land is expanding, redemption uncurling. Things are changing faster than pushes on Instagram. Truth is rising from the dregs of where it was swept. The “concepts” that were prevalent in placating, whether that meant disengaging (actually I mean being expelled) from our thriving communities in order to satisfy the beast, abandoning our holy places and turning them into donkey stables or maintaining status quo hold no more. Remember the time and the place –the House of Israel: the place of national uprightness, the seat of our sacred culture, the consciousness of us as a kehilla, a community – where we are all collected into one house- the Tabernacle of Hashem. The outcome of the shattered hearts of October 7 gave cause to true selflessness on the part of many individuals who thirsted to reconnect and be a part of it. Instead of showing grace to the enemy and hatred toward their fellow settler, a shard sticks now into the pain of real recognition. We as a nation stand alert now. The apprehension we felt here in the heartland is now shared by most Israelis. This is our home!

TIME TO MEND

In these last Parshas of Shemot, after being built up from Abraham as an individual, to Yaakov who had the family of the tribes of Israel, through Yosef Hatzaddik and the Golden era of exile past the exodus into the giving of the Torah, also the shattering of the tablets and the dramatic after effects of this break, Israel evolves from a slave nation into a sovereign state with catastrophes and dilemmas along the way, always carrying the precious broken pieces of the tablets in the Holy Ark. The Torah never glosses over events because history repeats itself, we are not angels. Then and now too we are faced with broken pieces, broken hearts. Now in spite of all this pain, we come together as a kehilla. We mend together in one place, at this one time of restoration. Hashem says to Israel- “I will always be with you.”

Shabbat shalom, Leah

Leah’s Blog – Tezaveh – February 2024

It was a day that I stepped out of the house towards Michal who sat parked, car engine running. Excited to go to the Petach Tikva Mall, our occasional getaway- an hour’s drive, so close but so far. The window shopping escapism, merging with the masses in terrific ambience as we pass our favorite shops, mostly checking the prices ( expensive!!) but also the styles bring us delight. From the driver’s seat Michal is taking off her sun glasses and glaring at me. “You are NOT wearing that!” “Huh?” I answered, looking down at my simple perhaps dowdy outfit. She flicked her pointer finger towards the house and said, “Go change.” Dolling up with a pretty cotton dress I save for Shabbat and black boots with a bit of heel I returned within five minutes and we sailed away. Michal smiled and said nothing. But I heard her thoughts in my mind. “Why do you wear shmahtas? What does that say about you?” “You’re beautiful- celebrate that.”

From that moment on I went through an inner process that I’m still working on even now. There were Covid days I would apply eyeliner as usual (lipstick was futile), but mostly a sifting out of lots of things I will never wear from my closet. How do you feel when you wear these clothes I asked myself. The change of consciousness on how my clothes inspire, what dredges up, are they comfortable, is the fabric right? (I find I really only wear cotton), is the color right for me? I was getting rid of a lot of black. Some of my clothes I discovered were literal false attire, not me.

A new kind of cute easy and snug hat came into the market that made wearing a head covering a blessed event perfectly at the time I was feeling I needed it. This was and is also a journey into inwardness – that affects outwardness. Your body too has physical clothing affecting your inner nefesh that wear internal garments. It’s a reciprocal relationship. What you wear- as the Torah points out in this Parsha- even influences your Middot. You pick the uniform of the idea you represent. People respect you more. My kids smile at me more, my grand -daughters take notice, admiring.

Purim comes out of a box. Costumes are strewn all over even now as kids are choosing what they will wear in a month. In Adar we begin to think about wearing something different, even extreme for one day. It’s fun! It is also a time that the weather warms up a bit; our wardrobe is about to change. Let’s face it, I know it’s not Purim yet but the world wears costumes. From the judges at The Hague with their ridiculous wigs and their pensive faces they brand Israel with hot irons, the famous politicians, mannequin like in their stiff suits as the sun glints off their eye tooth tailoring Israel to build a Hamas state in the heart of our country, cloaking it in a banner of terrorism. Everything seems fake, and it’s apparent. The policy, as we were sunbathing in Tel Aviv and turned our backs on the holy mountains left our holy sites draped in garbage, skeletons of stolen cars and donkey dung, of defeatism, eviction within our own land and avoidance of the core issue of our identity. Clothed in false garments, these places must shed all wrong, all ghouls, all gloom, all disrespect. For those that pushed us out of Jericho, the Temple site, out of the resting places of the sons of Aaron- Itamar and Elazar who are buried right down the road from this very house I am writing to you from- from the tomb of Yosef HaTzaddik – hopelessness is not the way we want to dress this land. By withdrawing from our core heartland we left the northern and southern borders vulnerable. We must do a turnaround- “clean out our closets”, uncover, sifting out of all the demons, terrorists and “concepts” of the past, a time we remove the mask. What regard do we show the altar of Joshua, what esteem do we gift the heart of Israel? Adar is a time of “”נהפוכו, a time of changing our clothes, a turnabout, a time we must dress the Bride, a time we celebrate restoration and respect. You are beautiful- celebrate that.

A special thank you to YAD LEAH, Nachamu, Kees and Tinekeh, Anita and Enrico and many of you- dear friends for making it possible for Friends of Itamar to be a pipeline of beautiful Purim costumes as well as fine quality clothing for all of us out here. We love you.

Shabbat shalom, Leah

Parshat Terumah – THE RESCUE OPERATION- February 2024

On a hill here tucked behind a mountain, my friend Orna is weaving the curtains for the Third Temple. Inconspicuous as they come, she prepares crimson and purple threads of linen. The wind moans through the window, it is cozy in this treasure house. She opens a little drawer and shows me newly minted coins for the Temple. It’s the hidden things that are yet to shine their light. At this time when everyone publicizes – perhaps precisely now, the most secret things await for a time coming, not revealed yet. Like the Special Forces soldiers who released the hostages yesterday; we will never know who they are. The first thing they did in “Operation Golden Hand” was to take off their own shoes to give to the captives, who in army jargon were coined “the Diamonds”. The fierce soldiers asked kindly if they want nourishment- “to eat? To drink?” Gentle, respectful, then run out shoeless to fight evil. Veiled by fire walls, shrouded in gear, they fight the wars of Malchut, not known to us. Like the cherubs- our soldiers are our covering- they are the beautiful human shields, halos of gold. Super heroes- clear the way for these Jewish warriors of King David. Paving the way to justice in our fight to survive, there are intensities of revelation this nation is experiencing here in Israel, now in this war. Some choose to light the spark, some have been arisen not by any choice of their own. The spirit that has been under wraps for so long reaches out now. We want to know the hidden things.

Terumah is all about what we do, our contribution. The inner chambers of the Mishkan blend nourishment of the showbreads that face the spirit lights of the Menorah. “The lamps shall be set up to give light to the space in front of it.” The perfect mix of material items that raise us to spiritual heights. The cherubs couple in peace and friendship, guarding just as at the entrance to Gan Eden. “ופניהם איש על אחיו- Avoda in the Mishkan is about relationships. The connection of shamayim vaAretz, the linkage of you to this pan of incense- ahh the myrrh, the frankincense, the whiff of cloud. Things shine here; it’s a place you encounter, even the little rings of the tent covers- golden, they too face each other, illuminating. Not bound to time- the Ner Tamid glows here, always- even now- in every synagogue of the world.

We don’t know where our menorah is, where our ark is or any of the Temple vessels. Some say they are in Rome, some say under the Temple Mount, some say in Qumran. They were seized; they were stored away. Somewhere. We must rescue them. We were lost as well, only we forgot that we too were taken hostage. In every synagogue of the world ask to bring them home- the vessels, the hostages, Am Yisrael. Our Temple is being held hostage. The same captors of today are holding them both. This is an attack on goodness and restoration. The fusion of the people and land of Israel will bring forth celebration as something is rescued, as someone is rescued. What is our contribution? Restore our shining home.

“May it be Your will that the Temple be speedily rebuilt in our own time!”

Shabbat Shalom! Leah

Yitro –   February 2024

When our dear friend Mike Clayton came this week we thought we’d take him on the less travelled road east of our cliffs tipping down into the Jordan Valley. Surprised that in so remote a place to see the Electric Company putting in infrastructure, we waited patiently on the side of the road for a while, enjoying the vista of the Sartaba and now green with rain, marshmallow mountain looking panorama. Mike said, “No photograph can capture this.” Picturesque, the outer appearance of it in a photograph truly doesn’t do justice to the inner soul you feel and know when you witness it. Like a giant about to wake up, lying on its side- the mountains breathe, the easy pulse of swooping downward to the valley, the road opens and a tan line cuts through the lush winter grasses of open space. Your imagination goes out to meet what was and what is, all in its context to you. Traveling in this peace has you knowing too to have your weapon in case of an attack which means YOU CAN NEVER DRIVE HERE UNPROTECTED.

Hungering for this land, we all drank up the vista.

For those who love Israel- now is a deciding moment.

We are in the throes of the Exodus story, then and now too. Pharoh had three advisors on “how to handle the Jews”. Bilaam, Yitro and Job. Bilaam told Pharoh to enslave them, make their lives bitter and later set out to curse them. Bilaam was killed in the battle of Midyan. Job remained apathetic at the decree to kill all newborn males. Immense suffering was brought upon him in the famous book of Job. Finally Yitro, a famous Priest and advisor who chose to run away from malicious hateful hard hearted Pharoh merited sitting in the chamber of the hewn stone. These three bring us to today- in the portion of the Ten Commandments that are being honored in Yitro’s portion. Hashem’s inquiry into man’s moral choices and interaction with world events- justice, truth and ethics are all brought to be clarified here.

Israel must be robust now as nations bare down on the heart of this Land. Listen up, you have seen the outcome of choices of Bilaam, Job and Yitro. Creating a fictitious narrative about the Land of Israel and its precious people of peace who are under attack will not bring blessing not upon those who curse it, nor the people of that nation. This is what happens when we are called to battle, not just in the field but on the screen, in the newspaper and on the media. Challenges on steroids are being set up before us like the beasts that peep out of the pit holes, like the underground rat tunnels that hold Jewish baby boys hostage. Giving a trophy to terrorism should cause an outcry.

Israel is only made to grow, not shrink. The electric company knows that and is preparing for more and more groundwork here. Israel is everlasting and indestructible. It was promised. The nation that brought the Ten Commandments to the world needs your support now. Am Yisrael has accumulated so many zechuyote (merits), along with all the righteous gentiles like Mike who came during this war, fearless to identify and help. It was holocaust memorial day this week. Being a second generation survivor I can’t help thinking that not one Gazan, not one- would release a baby boy hostage. The picture of a Jewish girl sitting on the window sill in her house in Berlin looking at the Nazi flag flying in her face sends a strong reminder as the Nazi flag flies not meters from here in the very heart of this country. Do we want a terror state NOW of all times??? Does Bilaam succeed in evil or does Yitro become OUR advisor.

THE GIANT IS ABOUT TO AWAKEN.

Shabbat Shalom- Special thanks to YAD LEAH for another incredible shipment of the best quality clothing to us here in Itamar. Xoxoxoxoxoxox

Leah

Beshalach – Tu Bshvat

It has been a very hard week here in Israel but before anything – “I am G-d who heals you.” Take that with you, now – especially on this day that has us planting trees- the sign of entering Eretz Yisrael and determining prophecies coming true. The dust settles, the rain drips, the temperature dips, we are in the throes of winter now. “When you come into the Land, you shall plant trees bearing fruit.” As the first man was created as the connector between heaven and earth but was later exiled from the garden- now we return to Eretz Yisrael, “to the GOOD LAND I gave you.” We are living in end times as we reestablish, there can be no greater sign than what Ezekiel prophesized 36:8- “Oh you mountains of Israel shall shoot forth your branches and yield your fruit for My people. “Oh to see it and partake in it- you are being healed.

In the Torah and our history we see repetitive patterns, like recurring dreams that represent repeated principles that happen over and over again. In just a few months on the full moon like today we will be in Spring on Passover night. It will be warm, the fields will be green, flowers will blanket the Land, we will begin to leave our homes to sit outside yet we will be commanded to return home, to where our doorpost holds the scroll of Shema Yisrael, and sit at our table remembering how Hashem took us out of slavery, redeemed us, saved us at sea, gave us to eat and drink and finally brought us to the Promised Land. Cloud by day, pillar of fire by night, the repetitious theme has us over the hills and far away yet home. Now as we read in the Parsha of leaving Egypt we will repeat the experience on the Seder night as each person is required to view himself as having left Egypt. We will remember being between the devil and the deep blue sea (and now too we are as well). We remember a primordial time way before this enslavement when Lavan chased Yaakov “שביקש לעקור את הכל”- that sought to destroy even then the house of Israel. When Yaakov’s son Yosef was born, he remembered home and made a vow to get there. On leaving and dealing with his father in law, he fought with the angel all night before crossing the Jordan. The end war of leaving exile is done in the dead of night.

This Parsha has Moshe carrying the very bones of Yosef into the Red Sea as it split with Pharoh, his adopted father, pursuing him and running after Am Yisrael, too similar a story pattern to ignore. Towards the end of the night Hashem struck the Egyptians- the same sky time as Yaakov limped away victorious. The attack on Am Yisrael seems to be a theme that’s syndrome hasn’t ended even today as we make our way home and now it feels like a dark and trying time. Yosef is weaved into this same theme of contention- the tomb of Yosef sits exactly in the center of the Land of Israel – make no mistake – INSIDE the very heart of the Land where nations want to obliterate our historical right and national connection to from time immemorial, from thousands of years ago when Joshua and our nation put him to rest in the plot Yaakov bought from Shechem. This can’t be anything BUT ISRAEL.

This is the generation of the watchmen on the walls- we are planted here now like the tree.

Adam was told to guard the garden. We plant trees today here in Itamar as we safeguard defend and protect the integrity of keeping and defending Israel from here at the core of this Land. This is a just war: we have no other option but to continue the revival, determined to plant and rebuild our national home even now as nations bare down upon us in spiteful belligerence and resentment that we have crossed over this Jordan and made it to the other side. In their denial- we acknowledge. In their rejection – we confirm in planting ourselves and the trees. The night is ending, the sun is rising.

Shabbat Shalom to all our dear friends- stay cozy- Leah

Parshat BO

Not too far from our house here in Itamar, torches were lit in the Jordan Valley on the Sartaba (Alexandrion) every Rosh Chodesh to usher in the New moon. The first sightings set the striking of signal fires that lit up from the Mount of Olives to Mount Scopus all the way up to here and then across the Jordan River, even to Babylon to let everyone know the new moon had arrived. In those ancient times, oak trees stood in forests here contrasting to the small stark tan desert of Shomron. In the night here now, the porch made up of mountain has our eyes on the fine silver moon and a million stars – just like then. It has been a long way. Though so much has changed through the thousands of years, the ticking of time continues month after month. Now I am here on that mountain watching the night sky. Jews have always been time minded, starting with the chronology of the world, of the turn of events that brought us back to this mountain, to the future time we are now living in.

The first mitzvah is one of counting time; now it is here because it is needed.

You feel the ebb and flow of time in these Torah portions. How long and drawn out a time did Sarah have to wait to have Yitzchak? How long did Yaakov wait to see the face of Yosef? How long did we groan in slavery? But then the eleventh hour arrives. The crunch, the moment of truth. We are commanded to eat the Pascal sacrifice swiftly and immediately. A rapidity enters the narrative loaded with urgency. At the stroke of midnight everything changes. Fulfilling the promise made to Avraham that his descendants would leave Egypt loaded with back wages, the boiling point came briskly even after all those years, carrying silver- the exodus.

When the moment comes there is no waiting anymore without delay. As Shabbat is ushered in early, 18 minutes before the sunset, FIRST- things require time in preparing for Shabbat. The time we light the candles of delight ends the time of preparation, all things led up to this moment. Friday afternoon is that rollercoaster in time. You can’t do things fast enough. When the sixth day meets the seventh as night time approaches, when yesod and malchut meet at that licht benching, בעיתה- אחישנה- , as it says in the book of Isaiah- “I, the lord will hasten it in its time”. When Shabbat arrives time sits still; we can finally sit down.

There is a difference between the concept of “now” (like peace now), and “the time has come”. Now is a lack of patience. The time has come means you are delivering. It’s like a pregnancy- nine months of development and then the birth. You can’t have a baby “now”- it takes nine new moons. It’s like that song- “עם הנצח לא מפחד מדרך ארוכה”- the People of forever are not afraid of the long way”. Forever reaches the zero hour as well- AFTER all the preparation has been made for it, painstakingly and miraculous

On October 7 in half of a second, half of our country was in uniform.

Yes, a son was born to Sarah and she was 99 years old when she gave birth to him. Yaakov did finally see the face of his beloved son Yosef HaTzaddik, after the text tells us-  “and they brought him HASTILY out of the dungeon”. The Jewish people are compared to the moon- we are destined to be renewed like it, therefore the hour of delivery happens now, in the same parsha with the sighting and announcing of the new moon. The moon seems closer here, rising in the east. We are preparing Eretz Yisrael for the end time now and hope to turn the places made barren into the birth of restoration and progress. Time is vanishing- do you feel that? In that all that we are experiencing now in the direction, movement and changes we all now feel.  We are entering the Shabbat of time, a time of renewed light. If you too want to see the heart of Israel fortified and revived please consider FRIENDS OF ITAMAR a place to visit and support.

Hashem’s love endures.

Blessings and Shabbat Shalom! Leah