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The Melet Farm on Itamar
THE BLESSING AND THE CURSE – May 2025 Leah’s blog
The Blessing and the Curse- a new movie filmed right here in Itamar some years ago has finally been released. Yours truly is in it. I recommend you getting it- you can do so on Apple TV, Amazon Prime or Chai flicks. The movie was filmed BEFORE October 7 2023 but deals with comparable topics- terror inflicted upon innocent Jews. It dredges up a discussion and a long addendum should be and must be added to it in the wake of the atrocity of October 7. The voice in my head can’t quiet down as I think about an entire Land, our biblical legacy that has been hidden from you intentionally but in this film you are able to get a sneak at it from a fresh new perspective. You will meet people that live here- people like me. Close to one million Jews live in Judea Samaria today. You would think that after the barbaric event of October 7, people of the world would be softer and more supportive of Israel. But no, now it comes to bite us in massive violent demonstrations of solidarity with the flag of rabid antisemitism- no one is even differentiating between Judea Samaria and the rest of Israel. Even if you wanted to remain apathetic to it- it takes form on every campus, in every city street- Manhattan, Amsterdam, Melbourne- the list is long. The tentacles reach out now and you have no choice but to face your conscience. Where do you stand? Far from being the fashion of showering praise upon this good good land – have you ever wondered why such a negative narrative has been placed upon it- the heart of the world, the pupil of G-d’s eye?-
I won’t brag, but I am a person of insight.
I stick to my guns. The major media you have been consuming for the last three decades has been telling you that I am wrong.
I am telling you now that there is no such thing as multiple realities- there is wrong and there is right- there is the curse and there is the blessing. Choose.
I was born subsequently fifteen years and two days after the State of Israel. Thereafter, my identity was defined by the Israeli flag up on the podium at school, in synagogue, books and music in our home. The sense that I was bound it to, albeit living many miles away from it had me knowing my fate would be intertwined with it deep in my heart. I don’t know when it became my intention to pro- actively bond with it, but I’m sure the picture book bible tales seared into my desire for it at a very young age. Around the time of our marriage and ensuing Aliyah in 1985, the vision of “peace” took form in Israel simultaneously, with the illusional idea that made Israel morph from a state of MIGHT and indestructible ability into a weakened notion of ideas and concepts that would weaken her integrity that left us here on the ground in our new home in the mountains of the Shomron powerless and vulnerable. Violence struck before trees we planted in the then wilderness gave fruit. We were targets- in our homes and on our roads. By reviving arch terrorists (Yaasar Arafat), bringing them from Tunisia into the heart of Israel and providing them with guns, forfeiting the very historical and religious sacred sites, endangering the people that live in the heart of Israel, let’s face it- endangering Tel Aviv and the Ben Gurion airport as well. Terror refuge cities mushroomed overnight yet Shimon Peres and the like continued to have a sparkle bounce off their eye tooth as they praised the peace that all Arabs knew was a Hudnah (from the Arabic meaning “truce” or “cease fire with the sole objective of reorganizing for the resumption of fighting). The western “progress” and its institutions such as The New Israel Fund, The Wexner Foundation to name a few, all fueled monetarily the passion of obstinate, headstrong opposition to Jews in Judea, remaining steadfast in this “conceptzia” for many years not realizing the Trojan horse that had been imported straight into the heart and lungs of the country. We became the thorn in the eye of peace, we became the reason for the conflict. We were thrown in the pit but luckily knew the end of the story of what had happened to Joseph after his brothers had so to him.
Moshe and I have lived here for almost forty years. Chagrined majorly by the masses- a thin margin of people from all around the world came to stand with us- people of insight. From this stage I say TODAH RABAH! We became a club of sorts- people from all walks of life connected to me and held me up, giving me the strength and fortitude to continue with our mission here in building it up and keeping it safe. Friends of Itamar, our 501c3 has been able to build it brick by brick and help the needy.
No-one wants peace more than the Jewish people. Will we live on the sword forever? Shalom. Peace. We cannot let our desire for it put us into a stupor, drug us, disregarding the facts that surround us. We need a complete victory- eradicating all evil- and there is plenty of it. That means that we don’t have the luxury to sit back- each one of us in his or her capacity must be proactive. We have to return to the original MIGHT this country was built upon without apologizing. The new Jew is a warrior- not schlepping on a stick through the world. We must gather ourselves, become sturdy and purge illusions. Return to the original stones, to the stories and role models our forefathers portrayed for us here in this land, deepening our hold on the territory before we are choked off from it. Israel and Zionism cannot live in dissonance with its mission, especially when the safety of all of its citizens have been so compromised. A new message has to sprout out of this pain, out of these mistakes.
I’m sure you will have a lot of comments when you see the movie- feel free to leave them with me for reviewing.
Shabbat Shalom! Leah
Holocaust Memorial Day – April 2025 Leah’s blog
We will be commemorating Holocaust Day officially here in Israel this Thursday. I, for one, do not need to be reminded. Reliving it in different ways as a second generation survivor– my perspective is shaped by events that have personally touched me then and now. The greatest lesson in how we view ethics and musar is happening right now as the war that was forced upon us sees two distinct converse approaches to survival, morality, values and honor that we grant this earth of Israel and her people.
We have survived thousands of years.
If there is someone out there that remains sensitive to the needs of the murderers, and that he/she remains apathetic to the poor innocent victims that were burnt alive in the liberal kibbutzim, who were raped brutally in the music festival, who were dismembered just because they were Jews- I question where your moral compass is. Chanting genocide as still our hostages, for no fault of their own, not committing any crime- wither away in the terror tunnels built specifically for that purpose from the start. The greater part of the victims (1,800 murdered, 143,000 displaced, 20,000 injured) had willingness to serve the enemy before this slaughter event. Yes, the kibbutznikim would take them into our hospitals for treatment, love on them.
When they came to kill us here the world said “You are settlers- you reap what you sow.”
Let’s go back to 2005 when Jews who were living normative productive lives in Gush Katif were forcibly dragged out of their homes “for peace”. No one occupied Gaza. It was Judenrein. Those greenhouses became the terror centers that planned the killing and devastation of Jews regardless of their political or religious affiliation. Muslims and Bedouins, and foreign workers were all murdered as well. So, in 2005 when we said “there’s no such thing as quiet, Hamas had patience and dug in -waiting for the kill. Throwing babies into ovens IS the holocaust. Mein Kampf, a standard part of the home of the Gazan. Nazi emblems everywhere.
For those of us who know me, you know my story and where I came from. In the merit of the righteous gentile my father was saved. That is how I am alive today.
There are no righteous gentiles in Gaza. Not one offered to deliver a hostage.
In fact, the mob that joined the marauding barbarians were encompassed of a wide range of Nazis, from the very young to the elder haters of Zion limping on crutches to pillage. This reminds me of King Saul, the first foundational level King of Israel. He kept Agag the King of Amalek alive, having mercy on him. It was a dismal time of cancel culture then too when it felt ethical to keep your enemy alive. Some things never change. The eventual fall of King Saul happened as his enemies did not appreciate that aspect of “good will.” Then, like now- a new understanding of who we are and what we need to do- a complete victory and total eradication of Hamas and their accomplices – only that will fix this atrocity.
We need King David.
With all of this said, obviously there is a reason for optimism even on this difficult day. People are identifying more with their Judaism. Israel stands strong, being realized despite the rhetoric and baseless hatred to it. The new Jews are warriors. There will be those that identify with this new phase of repair (hopefully) and those that do not want to see the Kingdom of Israel rise. It is a great pleasure to witness the perseverance of our nation and Hashem revealing what He promised. Turn the pages into prophecy restored.
BLESSINGS TO ALL MY DEAR FRIENDS!
I want to share good news- a movie has been released about Itamar enduring through thick and thin- it can be viewed on Amazon Prime and Apple TV- it is called ” The Blessing and the Curse”. Please let the word get around
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שירת הגאולה לשביעי של פסח תשפה
