Category: Leah’s Blog

Vayigash    December 2023

It all started when I was a little girl sitting at my bedroom window in Brooklyn New York. Sitting on the nook there, I held my favorite book, “The Old Testament Bible”, a hard covered book full of pictures illustrating the subjects of my daydreams. Enthralled with Abraham and Sarah at the Terebinths of Mamre, beautiful Rachel with her flock, Ruth by the golden wheat stalks in Bethlehem. I loved the one of King David playing his harp as his leather purse hitched to the side of his hip. All of these became objects of fascination to my childlike impression of things. Especially one scary looking picture which I always passed over quickly, only to turn the page back a second later and examine it. It was Yosef cast in the pit, his coat of many colors torn and bloodied. His attractive face, on closer inspection, showed a regal calm which I felt was not consistent with the illustration. It imprinted itself into my psyche and I would later not only remember it but be chosen to be embedded into it.

Little did I know then, that a greater portion of my life would be spent in the territory of Yosef, who was sold by his brothers and later carried back to the valley of Shechem, the place where all the tribes came together as one. It became the place of an almost daily pilgrimage. Just a five minute drive from home with the windows open, we would park outside on the lane leading to the gate, leaving the car doors unlocked, I would grab clumps of micromeria there and inhale sweet heaven . The tomb of Yosef HaTzaddik had a sense of comfort as the inside of a genii bottle, velvety. Just outside the domed entrance stood the famous mulberry tree, sturdy and handsome like Yosef. Some of the inner walls were painted sage green, some off white embellished in gold. Her finery, the many holy books sitting in built in chambers on the dated walls; it felt home. Yartzeit lights flickered, as well as the Ner Tamid. The mechitzah ran down the middle of the room stopping at the pillars of Efrayim on one side and Menashe on the other. Understand, this is a short lived part of my testimony as the pages turn now in the book of my life. Some years later we too were thrown into the pit and sold to the Yishmaelim- as Yosef was.  Black as pitch, two years after its destruction, in the dead of night in an army escort I was on the first bus back. Burnt and desecrated, the tomb of Yosef was abandoned in the wake of the Oslo Accords- this was how the peace plan worked- they banish you from your holy sites, their police who were coordinated to keep the place secure together with you shot at you as they held Hamhass and PA flags. Abandoned, the bewitched lane that led into the compound became littered with the burnt sifrey kodesh that I, in the light of a projector in the dead of night was able to still see after its destruction. Turning our shrine into a stable for donkeys, the place reeked. When I came to tell the story of Oslo in many situations, both in shuls and within our own wider family circles it was shocking to see so many following the same hallucination- that I was the obstacle to peace.

Machloket and Sinat chinam are old warped and tainted perceptions of things. Yosef’s brothers were so startled when they finally did see his face and know it. Pay attention: When you hallucinate about things it doesn’t mean you are prophesizing. When you imagine something like “Peace” and have been brainwashed enough, your vision may seem perfectly prolific, yet ask yourself if you are not being delusional. Now, like Judah- we need to make amends. We need to fix this. The enemy is just about onto the major freeway of Israel. See and recognize. There are those who thrive on keeping machloket alive- just look at the story of the sin of the spies. It was two against ten. Are we living as individuals, for our own pleasure, honor and delusional evil or as a nation whose integrity is its history, people and places. Where is the home of this nation? This is a story about us.

The repercussions we feel today after the failure of Oslo, bankrupt of morality, and the collapse of old concepts has sent ripples and waves in multidimensional ways first to here, then to all of Israel. You may say- “How did this happen?” The scenes we witnessed on October 7 had a precedent. The time has come to repair, the dam has burst- fix our broken hearts. FROM THE RIVER JORDAN TO THE MEDITERRAEN SEA- If Itamar was not here- Israel would cease to be.

Blessings!

Reminding you all about our 501c3 Friends of Itamar-

Shabbat shalom, Leah

Leah’s Blog Parshat Vayeshev – December 2023 Chanukah

When you were sleeping, and I was dreaming, something was whirling in the air.

When people come to visit me here they say, “Gosh it feels so peaceful here Leah; you could cut the atmosphere with a knife!” Literally despite the tension and nervous apprehension, the still peacefulness of the inner truth and soul spirit are sensed in a strong way here. Ecstasy of serenity I call it, ay yay yay. Polar forces pull hard at the core of the world and now more than ever before. When we came to settle this mountain, you couldn’t see for dust. There was a stillness in the air, albeit charged with that battery of aqueduct of Shechem, but an unusual quiet. This is my testimony. You could have heard a pin drop. But from the moment we put our boxes down into the prefab, the momentum changed. It was as if the land was waiting for us to come and switch the lights on.

Igniting a response activated at the same time an aversion to it. Set in motion, the machine churned in return to the heartland of Israel with every second, every moment every hour had the dust blooming, the sheaves rising. The wheels of the machine grinded together creating sparks. Suddenly a minaret shouted incitement nearby. A little boy from Elon Moreh was kidnapped and murdered, Rami Chabah HY”D. Those were the early days when the trees we planted were not high enough to even give shade. So much for self -sacrifice, there were worse ordeals than sunburn. We became keenly aware that as time progressed the vacant desert that faced us became an urban nightmare of terrorism in our backyard. World governments imposed plans for “peace”- arming the enemy and freezing our development. Good plan? Ask yourselves today, after the events of October 7 the rhetoric holds no more here in Israel. We feel the disaster of it on our own skins. Raw to touch, how do you feel in your own skin?

Feeling in your bones is a whole other level. Of any personality most suited: Yosef. His persona brings to mind two levels of deep rooted telepathic duality. On one hand his bones are brought to be buried in the place we first read about sexual violence in the Tanach. The tranquility his father sought was taken here in this place. It was from here that Yosef was taken and sold as a slave. Even later his situation worsens and he becomes a prisoner, a far greater horror. Slaves can at least aspire to become free. When he was thrown in the pit, he never thought he would spend many years in a terror tunnel, in the epitome of degradation. On the other hand, Yosef clearly reaches the first leadership role of the sons of Yaakov. Yaakov had a dream about a ladder, Yosef dreams and becomes that ladder. Stepping up to his abduction and later incarceration, Divine Providence has him succeeding against these odds and having his dreams come true on the deepest of levels. The harder his situation, the greater the Divine intervention. His father, old and crippled with despair STILL did not know he was already feeding the world. There was a segment in time that Yosef was VICEROY to the greatest kingdom on earth and his brothers didn’t even know.

The family of Israel is fragmented from the beginning of their story. The cornerstone that was detested became the salvation. The family of Yisrael soon becomes a nation, unified as we will read in the following parshiote of the Yosef trilogy.

There are internal problems from the start of the story of this nation. The only way to solve the external ones are to follow the methodology of the original covenant stories. Yosef serves as the “shahmash” of the menorah welded into one unbroken piece of candelabra. The Yosef drama ALWAYS falls out on Chanukah. We are different and have different ideas, like different colored candles- yet we are all on the same level and undivided. Chanukah 2023 has us here in Israel without exception as one army fighting for the very integrity of this Land- one unbroken piece. Stories of heroism then and now infuse us with the theme of this ongoing plot. Our soldiers, then and now rise above our enemies. This is a story of a nation of miracles.

Blood libels are also spewed forth on a daily basis at this time. I have to say, personally that an all – time low now in the wake of the rape abduction and murder of hundreds of Jews, the propaganda and populist lies about Jews that live in Judea and Samaria is yet another brick in the intended wall that separates us from our beating heart. Blinken, from this spot I ask you- are you trying to create a “see saw” of violent sides- Chamahs- murdering vicious beasts vs. Jewish settlers, the most law-abiding patriotic segment of Israeli society. This is the bone truth. Real tranquility can only be restored when we fight the enemy like the Maccabees, restoring purity to our Land. This also means destroying the concepts of the past that separates Israel from her people and places. THE TRUTH and fulfillment of all of our dreams will be what brings the lasting peace of COMPLETE REDEMPTION. We now take the shahmash in hand creating a whirl of light in this darkness. Yes there is light at the end of this tunnel.

Remember we are at war now on all fronts and we need your help.

Wishing all of our dear friends a beautiful shining Happy Chanukah! Shabbat shalom! , Leah

Parshat Vayishlach – November 30 2023

The terrain and setting in which we live affects us for the good and the bad depending on how we internalize, sift and make sense of the intervention in it and of it. Bustling avenues or quiet tree lined streets are just one dimensional description of a place. Sure, it creates a mood, the setting, but there is more to it than meets the eye.  Still, the wider known vision of a place contains opposing rules and values such as darkness and light, right and left, and on a deeper level a moral sphere- good and evil that exists there. Dualism is in everything- our task: to make harmony, sift out the bad and encourage the good. The juxtapose of a place creates energetic flows – like where I live and am writing to you from: facing the mountains of the Blessing and the Curse. My window faces the animation of what appears as a complex paradox, and now it is affecting the entire world. I’ll explain.

It was here “in my neighborhood” that we learn of the first nightmare that happens to Israel; the kidnapping and bitter rape of Dina. The Torah teaches that Dina, a little girl of just eight years old “went out to see…” while all the time Dina was actually being watched. There was more than meets the eye; things more difficult to understand at first glance. Not far from here Yosef was “sold” and taken down the path to Egypt where he spent many years in a dark prison cell. Riddled with worry and anguish Yisrael never thought he would see his son again.  These difficult painful things reawaken acts of barbarism much like the horrors of knowing our hostages today are not nearly all out now. The wicked still have power, the inferno does not leave us for a second. This is the first time I really understand Parshat Vayishlach. None of us have been the same since October 7. We were being watched as we thought looking at them was enough. Our “little sister Dina” is still not with us as the families of the kidnapped, many of them children, live in doubt and worry along with all of Am Yisrael. The bereaved families can have no solace. The sheer evil of the event of October 7 has caused us to dismay, dread and disgust. The families of soldiers fighting are holding their breaths that they can finish the job, praying for their safe return. Jews worldwide feel the pain as well as all lovers of Zion wherever they may be. We are one nefesh. Things were percolating for some time. Now they have boiled over. This is the final foundational clarification that draws the light out of the darkness, the way each of us is involved some way in this nightmare. This is time to choose good over evil.

From the leaning tower of Pisa, to the Eiffel Tower, to the streets of London, the gates of the White House and the Manhattan Bridge; the statue of Benjamin Franklin, all were defaced, the mob chanted “From the river to the sea” but we know the deeper level: The Jordan to the sea Israel will forever be. The conduit for choosing good over evil comes out from this place, my vista. The narrative has another side as well. It’s not all horror stories. It is here that the tribes come together as one nation, as now, to declare allegiance to Hashem and to the Torah, this is the instruction, this is the modus operandi. The heart of Israel is the focal point here in this story. You can’t rebrand a land as you cannot rebrand a people. You can’t rebrand our sacred heritage sites and call them “Area A” or “territories” or “West whatever”. The narrative of the old nostalgic stories are here to reinforce important lessons in policy. They are deeply rooted into our psyche and into our souls. Now the subconscious has been made conscious. No excuses. Nostalgia forces us to act.

The story of the taking and violating of Dina also has a tactical lesson that we learn out from Shimon and Levi. Erasing the enemy, the strong spirit of DIN TZEDEK (true justice). We here in Israel wait in apprehension to finish the beastly adversary completely. We need to return to the original well planned, prudent clever and calculated approach. Erase the desecration of G-d’s name from this earth.

Shabbat Shalom, Leah

Toldot – Vayishlach   November 23, 2023

If you have been here and I have taken you up to the mountain of the three seas (866 meters above sea level), you have seen the Yabbok crossing to the east of here. In this sunny afternoon the mountains of Jordan look pink and peaceful facing the sun setting here in Israel on the Mediterranean Sea. A tributary to the Jordan River, from a higher place than where we are standing (1,090 meters above sea level) the Yabbok flows through a cleft in the mountain’s chin down into the Jordan River. The water flows in a wild and deep ravine in a path carved out into the valley. The Yabbok is located exactly between the Sea of Galilee and the Dead Sea, facing Sukkot, a place in the Jordan Valley where Yaakov spent two years before following the path to Shechem. It was here at the river bank of the Yabbok that Yaakov met and wrestled the angel of Esav. Yaakov, as we know him was a gentle and caring man that “stayed in tents” while his brother Esav was a cunning hunter with a careless sense of entitlement. Chazal tell us that he caused great distress at home. He liked to torture his subjects, the impact of such a persona forced Yaakov to leave to his family to Charan into the house of Lavan. Esav married Pagan women and eventually intermarried with the Yishmael clan. Yaakov as we know married Leah and Rachel plus two handmaids, Bilhah and Zilpah who all bore and built up the tribes of Israel. The Land of Israel is described as a place where  אבניה ברזל- her rocks are built of IRON- while each letter of the word BARZEL indicate Bilhah, Rachel, Zilpah, Leah. Toldot has told us all we need to know about the root of the split in birthright. In Toldot Yaakov appears a “nehbuch” white faced, smooth skinned wimp. In Vayishlach Yaakov morphs before our very eyes into Israel; a strong, muscled victor over all who try to trick and castrate his powers. He is IRON CLAD.

The iron stones we are reading about now echo important insights into what has happened what is happening and what will happen.

Avraham is inherent to morning- ” So Abraham rose early in the morning, saddled the donkey … and went to the place G-d had told him”

Yitzchak is intrinsic to the afternoon – ” And Yitzchak went to meditate in the fields before the evening fell”

Yaakov represents the night – ” You shall not be afraid Yaakov for the fear of night”. Yaakov’s ladder connects shamayim vaaretz (Heaven and earth)- He is both spiritual and wordly.

Yaakov sought refuge in the “White House” for some years. Craving independence and yearning to return HOME, Lavan ran after him reiterating that everything Yaakov has is from him. Accumulating massive wealth and a family of his own, Yaakov earned it all with hard labor and even blessed Lavan’s house a hundred fold. The archetype for the exodus- TIME TO GO- after being chased hurt and somewhat impaired- Yaakov marched to his destiny eventually crossing the Yabbok : resilient and victorious, Clark Kent into Superman. Israel as a nation crosses this same Yabbok after the long journey after slavery in Egypt and a chase to the finish. We have blessed every nation we have ever stayed with, in our temporary state of exile. Now we must return to our iron stones. CROSS THS YABBOK!

It is the month of Kislev now. The Macabbes were a class IRON JEWISH SOLDIER. The darkness we must obliterate. DO NOT FEAR THE NIGHT! We must cross this Yabbok and become truly Israel- WE must wade through to the other side now- independent of Lavan, Esav and Yishmael. An eternal people do not fear! The nation of Israel in her LAND LIVES!

Shabbat Shalom, Leah

Chayeh Sarah

I’ve been putting extra sugar in my coffee these days. Heck, we need to sweeten life. After venturing out through the terror town of Huwara and into civilization- we reach one of many strip malls in the city of Ariel. I come alive upon seeing the stores, the cafes and bustling crowds buying their Shabbat needs. I sit sipping hot latte in a glass cup, breathing in that shopaholic satisfied sigh. Viewing the street before me, it isn’t hard to notice that almost everyone out here are women. Here and there a soldier sprinkles the shopping vista in olive green and gives a contra to the colorful headscarves everywhere. Taking a closer look- these ladies look great! Their gracefulness and majestic postures, their styles all class in their Blundstone boots and settler panache say it all. Consider waking up every morning and deciding to put your make-up on and march to the order of the day, wow- especially now. Spot on, bravo – as we feed, pray cry and beautify. Sweetening life is our mission statement now.

Our women have been put in a sense on the front lines as well. We are “sisters are doin it for ourselves”. We are “And Your faith in the nights”. We are lionesses. When someone asks me- “how are you?” I think not you- “we all in this together!” When the boat rocks, WE are the anchor. Resilient, not conformable, versatile yet unbending in our stand, we do not have the ability to hesitate. From the beginning of this war mamas have been braving the brunt of home completely on their own. There is worry, hardship and panic when missile alerts hit. Wondering what could be in the terror tunnels as their husbands cannot call home. Women of all kinds- wives, mothers, grandmothers, daughters are in the forefront. This is when we turn to our Matriarchs.

BE DECISIVE

As in Abraham’s view to be more inclined to give evil a chance, our Matriarchs were firm and immutable! Sarah discerns- “שלח את האמה הזאת!”- Send away this evil from our home! Sarah was able to recognize the imprint Yishmael will make in his murderous ways. Rivkah Immeinu held these traits as well from the very first scene when she says “I will go with Eliezer!” – not hesitating and later being able to assess and use guidance on the story of Esau and Yaakov. Their candles burned from one Shabbat to the next, lighting up as later the light of the Holy Temple shone out from Jerusalem. Their dough was blessed, a cloud hung over their tent as later the clouds of glory would take Israel to the Promised Land.

The Matriarchs are known for their trait of discernment. Crucial for the survival of the Jewish people. In honor of our Matriarch Sarah Immeinu, I’ll laugh a little more like she did. I’ll believe the impossible is possible as did occur to her and as for me, I will sprinkle more sugar, and not hesitate because FAITH calls us to be decisive. I know it might be in now in some cultures to say you can be fluid and have many identities and many opinions on the same thing. That is not the way of our Matriarchs. That is not my way.

At this opportunity I would like to thank you all dear Friends of Itamar for your tremendous outpouring of support during this time. We feel your chizuk and we are grateful for it! There are so many people we need to thank for their incredible encouragement- TODAH RABAH! Many ladies around Israel have been cooking 24/6 for the war effort – from Nir Tzvi to Raanana and all over Israel. Thank you Buchmans Pizza for feeding thousands of soldiers everywhere. Anyone interested in helping these efforts can find them online.

Shabbat Shalom! Leah

Leah’s Blog – Vayera – November 2023

The prickly pear still grows in Shunem, just north of Mount Gilboa. This time of year the cactus flowers, its fruit hangs red, heavy and plump over dilapidated walls of rocks turned black with age. Sunken now deep into the ground, the home of the Shunamite, with the little attic of Elisha – old stories become revealed.

The history of the Jewish people is etched into the Land of Israel. Our stories happened here and the story of now is happening here as well – the focus of the world. It is not by chance that Hashem chose the very center of the world to be the axis, the portal and gateway- the center of attention. The narratives are not metaphors and the accounts are not fables but lessons imprinted into our DNA for times to come. Everything we could ever need, seek advice and wisdom are all there, printed on the pages of our Torah. Returning to the root portions of Genesis and their haftaroth take us back to what is happening now, right now. When Chesed meets Din. Isaiah (51:2) tells Am Yisrael- “look to Avraham your father, and Sarah who bore you.” The enactments of Vayera and mirrored in the haftarah have a design line of pro action, vessels filling up, hospitality, a place to stay for the wayfarer, and in turn offspring miraculously and uncannily coming in old age to childless mothers. The hidden and sublime are all here for us to take heed at this time of desperation. The story is still unfolding.

Israel is a place and people of miracles. There are those who want to cleave to us. There are those who want a holocaust. Our people have survived holocausts indeed, I too being a second generation survivor. Our people are described as in the vision of Zechariah “Is not Am Yisrael a burning stick snatched from the fire?”  ” “אוד מוצל מאש – Yitzchak and the son of the Shunamite both had these promised sons at deaths door and coming back to life. Our deliverance depends on knowing these stories in our bones as the horror of what happened here just a few weeks ago hits us, as our sons go in to eradicate the beast.

PREPARE

A bed, chair, lamp and table are set up for the prophet in the little room above their home in Shunem. The lamp- to be a lighthouse. The chair- to make a Divine Throne. The table- “Thou prepares a table before me in the presence of my enemies.” The bed- a resting place. Even before the story of the Shunamite, the oil was made plenty and ready for bounty in times of anguish. “Thou has anointed my head with oil. My cup runneth over.” Arrange and develop practical and spiritual tools, endless ones to receive Divine blessings. Make YOURSELF a vessel!

There is a remedy to the evil. We revive and breathe new life into this burning stick. Yitzchak walks off the altar and the boy reawakens and returns to life in Shunem. The world rumbles, old ideas crumble in a day. Prepare the room now. Here in this Land it may seem like a place of death and devastation, of war and sorrow. Prepare! It is in fact the REVIVAL- the light- the lamp- the place of rest- the bed- the table- a place of endless bounty- the SEAT after this long journey. EQUIP! See that we must set the table and obliterate the enemy first. Most of you do not know this but Mount Gilboa is under attack now as well. The evil is not limited to one specific area but is on multiple fronts, on our borders, beyond our borders and deeply rooted into the heart of Israel. This is a war on our very home. Wherever you may be- we need you. Bless and be blessed.

Shabbat shalom! Leah

Lech Lecha – October 2023

The biography of the Jewish people is what is known as the Bible. As events unfold, folds of time become revealed to us and teach us. Every portion of every week has messages for you. The interaction of events then and now have perpetual meaning for us as a people. We are graced with spiritual flashbacks; now intuition hits you in the face as Israel against all odds forms skin and tendons. There is a rhythm to the Torah. Its recital replicates all events of our people from the first kernel of Avraham Avinu who was told- “Lech lecha”-” Go to yourself.” The annals record nisayone– tests- tribulations and chronicles strong witness of faith in one G-d, the beginnings of a people in one land. Long ago, and today we return.

Lech Lecha.

The Torah is the wisdom the Jewish people. The Land of Israel, its destiny. Revelation depends of your perception. Vision and discernment has not always been in the hands of the many. Then comes cataclysmic events that decipher for the dull minded, that interpret for the fey, that clarifies for the ones that knew. THIS IS ONE OF THOSE MOMENTS.

Amalek has been through time echoing upon our story- a component weaved into the mussar and light we bring to the world. It is our antithesis. We must blot it out.

Just prior to Iron Swords, four iron swords were revealed in the caves above the Dead Sea. The Land of Israel is transmitting messages to us now. Archeologists have confirmed and validated the swords as well as iron and wood accessories of Roman origin dating back 1900 years. In a niche there in that cave north of Ein Gedi, south of Qumran were also wedged into hidden crannies coins of the Bar Kohkba Great Rebellion. These were swords reclaimed by Bar Kohkba and used against the enemy. Pieces of the past become revealed. What do they signify? This was a sunset time for our people as we were chased by Rome and dispersed, our horn fallen.

Before we can turn our swords into ploughshares we must fight the evil. Not skipping over military strategies, this is the mandate that the Jewish nation NOW must do. We fight not only the enemy beasts but take this historic opportunity to make a tectonic change that will have a major transformation on the twisted mindset that has seeped into the western world. It starts and ends with us here in Israel. If the remedy was “avoiding trouble” by holding back, keeping the beast at bay, and fireproofing by putting up a costly fence- this all proved to be false. If it assumed feeding the beast and building its hospitals, giving it gas food and supplies, – it collapsed. If it entailed throwing Jews out of their homes and putting up signs of DOVES and PEACE- this perished along with 1400 victims of men women and children in a slaughter more gruesome than we have ever known along with hundreds of our soldiers and police force who fought the battle heroically and fell. All concepts crumble. This is a Bar Kokhba moment. The sun rises though now. Our army must retrench, SWIFTLY, our media must abbreviate, all of our government institutions must revamp now- time is of the essence.

Now we hold the sword.

Remove the rust.

This is Israel’s moment.

Shabbat shalom to all of our dear friends, Leah

The Ark

It is 11 days now that we are mourning, churning, gathering. Usually my body temperature is hotter than most people. Today I burn. Even now as the autumn makes its way into the Middle East breathing a cooler breath unto the breathless, the clouds swirl into the horizon creating a cozy still climate, I sweat. Iron swords, red hot are preparing for a great war of reprisal. They sear now as they are being made, as our scars scald in this hot blaze. The Torah teaches -an eye for an eye- we have known war since Yishmael was born. The dead and lifeless now call to us, igniting a fire that we can only rise from. Incinerated Jews is not a new concept. The thing is, when a Jew views his identity as such with no sprout – he is lost. When the nations view our identity as such – they blunder.

We are in a new time.

We are in a biblical event.

In the still heat that surrounds the pupil of Hashem’s eye now- ISRAEL – We arise from the blaze. It is always safest in the eye of the tornado. We climb off the false concept that Rome embedded into the conscious of the world, that Israel has been replaced, that Israel is lost. Now we alight and light, Jews with M16s. Now we sharpen our weapons. Now we rise as the lion, melting away the assessment of us as the slain, we advance. Do not slip now Esav!

Under the hospitals of Gaza, the schools, regular places, is a place called the Metro. It is a vast tunnel under the ground where 40,000 soldiers of orc beasts prepare to behead innocent Jews. They hide like rats now as they cling to our hostages, as they cling to human shields. Do not foul-up now- this is an army. This is a war. This is an army of sub human barbarians.

The narrative even after the brutally murdered here on Itamar, even after shootings and anti-Semitic attacks on our people, and on our holy places desecrated is still NOT fixed. IFNotNOW, Jews for the enemy are marching now unto the White House asking to curb Israel’s response to the bludgeon, self-hating antisemites with prejudices against their own grandparents and what they prayed for. Even now, the size of hate is still misconstrued. The slip up here in this Black Sabbath is the gaffe of the mouth of the media, STILL. The “Progress” taught and teaches to love your enemy and hate your brother. Amalek breathes in every corner and it will come to burn you as well, as Shaul let Agag live and fell shortly after!

Now King David the warrior is this nation’s response.

Here in Israel, modern dogma of the most elite army generals of the past did not grasp the fact that the Palestinian Authority actually pays Hamas a third of its budget and allots salaries to terrorists who murder innocent Jews here in Judea and Samaria and everywhere in the world. The response to our plight here of suffered terrorism has caused me to catapult into the world to seek donations in order to protect our community, a vast rural area with many blind spots. You- Friends of Itamar answered the call at desperate times. You have been our anchor and our family. I want to personally thank you for not believing the lie, for being empathetic, nurturing and most of all for strengthening all of us here. You have enabled us to rise from horrific bereavement with our heads up and enabled us to heal.

You did not believe the lie.

Israel MUST do a complete restart. I won’t go into “I told you so”. It is too late.

Parshat Noah- focuses on an ark and the survivors of the world. It also hints at today’s events because all is forecasted from the day of creation and before. Hamas and Magog are mentioned in this portion. In juxtaposition to this evil stands the ark. Israel IS the ark. Those, both Jew and gentile who march against Israel now, who fumble in “moral” concepts like those of the generation of the flood might at the last moment scratch at the ark and beg to enter it, to NO AVAIL. Those who reacted to apathy to the blood of their brothers calling from the ground, the ark is firmly sealed now.

A deluge will come to quench this fire. It is coming fast. The rain begins to fall in Israel now.

עץ חיים היא למחזיקים בה “”- The Torah – Israel- is the tree of life! Her ways are ways pf pleasantness and her paths are paths of peace”. This call to arms IS the pathway to peace.

May all of our soldiers and hostages come home in peace. Blessings to you – Leah