Friends of Itamar

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