Words From Rabbi White

Dear Chevra Shaas/Shearith Israel,

We (i.e. my daughter, son in law and I) have just returned from a wonderful (albeit very busy) couple of weeks in Jerusalem. The purpose of the trip, (besides breathing the air of the Land of Israel,) was to celebrate the marriage of our son/grandson Shmuel (aka Shmuli) to Sarah Kusnitz from North Carolina, who, like Shmuli, had made aliya several years ago.

The wedding venue was a hall in Jerusalem called Bet Shmuel. Certainly, I had never seen a more inspirational huppa setting. For the ceremony, held on the roof of the hall, looked out on the walls of the Old City. The words "if I forget thee, O Jerusalem" had never taken on more force. And for the hours before and after the ceremony, there was spirited singing and dancing on the part of many friends and relatives.

It was wonderful seeing former Chevrashasniks Prof. Ron and Mary Ruth Gehr; Sara Leiba and daughter Malka Vann (Malka has completed her army service as a "tatspetanit" on the Gaza border, and is now working for her law degree at Bar Ilan,)

********

Some more highlights of the trip.

* We had rented an apartment in downtown Jerusalem, on a street called Keren HaYesod, (which is Hebrew for United Israel Appeal.) I am always fascinated by street signs in Israel, which can constitute a history lesson. Just in our neighborhood, we had streets named after such disparate figures as David HaMelech, Achad HaAm, Jabotinsky, Mapu, Ramban, ibn Ezra, Agron [he had been mayor of Jerusalem,] Rachel Imeinu, and others. [More inspiring than names such as St. Kevin, Westbury, Plamondon, St. Luc.]

* Of course, we spent some time in the Old City, where we davened at the Kotel, toured the Museum of the Temple, and saw a film describing the destruction of the Jewish Quarter by Jordanian forces in '48.

* On other days, my new granddaughter-in-law Sarah, who is completing her studies to become a certified tour guide, took us on a guided tour of the archaeological findings in the Israel Museum, and then the next day took us to the archaeological findings at the City of David. The message that comes from all this is that the Jewish people have a 3000-year history and connection to this place! As the old Megama song told us (with thanks to Woodie Guthrie) "this land is your land, this land is my land, from the Negev Valley to the Heights of Golan, this land is there for you and me.."

* Near our apartment, there was a friendly shul called Ohel Yitschak. Many of the members were retired Americans and Canadians. Despite all of Israel's problems, most seemed happy that they had made the choice to go on aliya.

* One day, while walking home from one of Jerusalem's many kosher restaurants, we passed 2 demonstrations on opposite sides of the sidewalk: on the one side, a demonstration to bring the hostages home; yet on the opposite sidewalk the theme was not to agree to the demands of Hamas, which entail the freeing of hundreds of murderers.

* We celebrated one of the sheva berachot at the home of Shmuli's cousin, in a  yishuv called Elazar, located in the Gush Etzion section of Yehudah. The inhabitants of these yishuvim are beautiful souls, who have built beautiful homes.  This area was conquered in the 6-day war of '67, when the Arabs had wanted to make the land of Israel Judenrein. So, the attack on Oct. 7, '23 was not some new-fangled idea of Hamas. [Unfortunately, many young people today have no idea of the history of Arab hatred.]

* During the final three days of our trip, we observed a three day "purim meshulash." The next one will not be until the year 2045. The only place in the world where this is observed is Jerusalem.  When the 14th of Adar falls on a Friday, as it did this year, the rest of the world observes Purim on that Thursday night and Friday. But in Jerusalem, the holiday is divided into three parts: (1) Thursday night and Friday, we read the megillah and give matanot to poor people; (2) Shabbat, we add "al hanisim" to the amidah and to the birkat ha-mazon and also read the special Torah portion about Amalek for the 2^nd Torah. (3) Sunday, we give mishloach manot and have the special Purim festive meal.

* On Sunday, we also walked down to see the annual Jerusalem Purim parade. As befitting a major parade, there were floats, marching bands, and gymnastic exhibits. One of the main themes was return of the hostages. It was wonderful to see Jerusalemites celebrating, despite all the problems.

*********

This shabbat, Mariam Mintz and Stanley Goldstein observe for their grandmother Sarah Miriam Goldstein.

On Thursday, 27 Adar, the Zilbert brothers observe for their father Aharon ben Nissan.

May the neshamot have aliya

Shabbat shalom, shalom `al Yisrael, May HaShem bless all the citizens of Israel; we pray for the safe return of all the hostages.