"You shall strengthen yourselves and take from the fruit of the land."

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Goldberger in Israel - photo by Ezra Leventhal

Yom revi'i, 13 Sivan 5771.

I always think of my Rav and Rebbetzin when Parashat Shelach rolls around.

There are a few reasons for this; but a primary reason is that Rabbi Menachem and Rebbetzin Bracha Goldberger refuse to fit any stereotypes.  A typical stereotype, for instance, is that American Chasidic rabbis do not traditionally support aliyah to Israel.  And yet, a very large percentage of Rabbi Goldberger's congregation either lives in Israel or is in the process of making aliyah; and a disproportionate number of Congregation Tiferes Yisroel's young people has served in the IDF.  Of course, there are also a number of our young people who have attended yeshiva in Israel for a year or two; but, again, a surprising number of those return and settle in the Holy Land.  This is due in large measure to the unabashed love the Goldbergers have for Eretz Yisrael, a love they share happily with their congregants.

This blog is named for my favorite pasuk in the Chumash, which can be found in this parasha, a pasuk I believe to be a favorite of Rabbi Goldberger's as well:  "!עלה נעלה וירשנו אתה כי-יכול נוכל לה" -- "We shall surely ascend and conquer it, for we can surely do it!" (Bamidbar, 13:30)

There are many beautiful and inspirational p'sukim in the Chumash.  So what is it about Calev's rallying cry to the Jewish people, in the face of the spies who were trying to dissuade them from entering the Promised Land, that resonates for me so much more than all those other bits of Torah wisdom?

Besides the fact that it is all about aliyah to the holiest place in the world, this pasuk also reminds us not to "go along to get along."  If G-d thinks we can accomplish something with His help, who are all of those naysayers to tell us that it is not possible, that there are too many obstacles between us and success?

A Jew must remember that he works for The Front Office.  He doesn't just work for himself; and he certainly doesn't work for all those who tell him he can't succeed.  If G-d tells us (as He seems to, many times throughout the Torah) that He wants His people in His land, why should we let anyone tell us that it is not where we belong?  And why should we believe that surviving here is beyond our poor abilities?  (I mean -- it IS.  But it isn't our project.  Our job, to paraphrase a favorite military expression, is as follows:  "When G-d says jump, we say 'How high?'")

How high, indeed.

Rabbi and Rebbetzin Goldberger have helped us to become ourselves, and not some cookie-cutter version of themselves.  They have helped us to love every kind of Jew, no matter how different from us.  They have taught us such a sense of kehilla-as-family that all "TYers" feel connected, no matter how long it's been since we davened together or how far apart we live on the globe.  They have shared with us their version of Chasidut, which includes the injunction to use the tools G-d gives us to make our own decisions -- and to live by them.

They made it okay to leave their shul to come to live in Israel.  Not easy, but okay.

Thank you, Rabbi and Rebbetzin, for taking us higher.  Rebbetzin, I wish I could be there for your Coffee House Concert.  I know that it will be wonderful, and will inspire the ladies of our community to even greater closeness, and to the fun of being spiritual -- another instance of a stereotype you sidestep.  Thank you both for being our teachers, our friends, our family.


Glossary:
Pasuk, p'sukim: verse, verses
Parasha: chapter
Kehilla: community, especially the tight-knit community in a synagogue or small town
Davened: prayed
Shul: synagogue

Rachel's Daughters

Yom sheni, 28 Nisan 5771.

It seems fitting that on the date the Israeli government designated "Holocaust Heroes and Martyrs Remembrance Day" that Osama bin Laden (may his name be erased) has been declared dead.  But this post is not about the enemies of the Jews.  It is about friends, and how they can be balm for the soul.

Last week, Baltimore and Israel converged at Kever Rachel, and then again in a little cafe in Efrat.  Two ladies from my former kehilla came to visit those of us who have already made aliyah.  Baruch Hashem, one is on her way to aliyah very soon...  and the other will follow shortly, I am sure.  Four of us went to daven at Kever Rachel, each with her own prayers.  I was davening for all of those who need a refua or a yeshua of any kind, with specific energy pointed toward Eliezer Baruch Chaim ben Rachel Leah, the beloved brother, husband and father of members of my Neve Daniel community.  (May he have a refua shelaima mehaira!)

Soon we'll all be Home, G-d willing!

At Kever Rachel, we met a lovely Iraqi lady who gave us heartfelt brachot.

After our deeply meaningful stop at Kever Rachel, we picked up another friend in Efrat, and headed for a small cafe called The Bagel Place, where yet another friend joined us.  A lovely young waitress not only gave us extraordinary service (running out to purchase a product the cafe was out of!), but willingly took photos of our happy little reunion.

Nothing like good friends to lift the spirits!

Our sweet waitress made her first hafuch bunny just for us.

After our visit, I was so happy, I went on a flower hunting spree.  These flowers are my thank you to Karen, Miriam, Sandra, Shoshana and Yehudis, as well as to Eliora.

"You think when we grow up we'll be as big as that guy?"

Frume Sarah has done an exceptionally sensitive job with this week's Haveil Havalim #314, "The Post-Pesach Edition."

Glossary:
Kever Rachel: the tomb of our Matriarch, Rachel
Kehilla: community
Daven: pray
Refua or yeshua: healing or salvation
Refua shelaima mehaira: a speedy and complete recovery
Brachot: blessings
Hafuch: literally "upside down," the Israeli name for Cappuccino

Baltimore news about Israeli soldiers

Yom shlishi, 2 Adar bet 5771.

A request to Baltimore friends and family ~

You may not have heard about it...  but Chana and Ken Birnbaum are hosting a parlor meeting on Tuesday, March 8, from 7:00 PM until 9:00 PM, that touches our hearts here in Israel.

If you can, please join them at 6204 Pearce Avenue to help out our Israeli soldiers.

Some of our Baltimore boys are holding that line against our enemies.  Please do what you can to help -- to keep them warm, to get them the equipment they need, to remind them that you are there for them, right behind them.  Your support keeps them strong.

For more information, call 419-358-7736 or 410-236-5398.

Tell them Josh E. and Aryeh and Michoel and Ami and Yaakov T. and Petey and Josh R. and Yaakov A. and Meir and Aaron sent you.

Their mothers, in Israel and Baltimore, thank you.

Haveil Havalim, Edition #307, is up at Esser Agaroth.  Among other great articles, be sure to check out West Bank Mama's explanation of the outpost phenomenon in The Forest Is The Politics, The Trees Are Our Children.  You will finally understand some of the concepts that the media obscure.

Chol HaMoed Sukkot Sunday Morning

Yom rishon, 16 Tishrei 5770, first day Chol HaMoed Sukkot.

Getting an early start on the first day of Chol HaMoed gives me the chance to get some nice photos.

We had a special guest, a friend the boys grew up with back in the Old Country.  As is so often the case in this holy place, the guys are together again, going to yeshiva.

Here, the Dearly Beloved and Shaya remind each other of how to tie the lulav.

While they davened the special prayers for the intermediate days of the Sukkot festival, I took a stroll around the the new neighborhood of the yishuv, and took a few more shots of the most recent settlement construction.  (I'll delve into the old neighborhood later, to prove to my friend in New Zealand that we do have more green here than she imagines.  Though it cannot be argued that G-d gave NZ a special measure of green.)

This fierce guard dog is protecting his owners' newest home.

Peeking in through one open sukkah door, we saw some lovely art work, and asked the owners if we could take a few photographs.  They were happy to oblige, and gave us a little of the history of the beautiful papercuts.

The work was done by the grandfather, who is in his eighties.  It is clear that his hands and eyes are still sure.  His son proudly explains to us that he still takes care of himself, still maintains his own garden.  Before the Holocaust, this grandfather did beautiful papercuts in Hungary.

Thankfully, he survived, to produce beautiful art here in Israel -- some from paper, and some in the form of strikingly handsome children and grandchildren.  Thank you, Hashem, for the few bright lights You did not allow to be extinguished.*

Quiz question:  Which are the temporary dwellings here?

Fun observations aside, these trailers are the way a lot of young people start out in Israel.  The Dearly Beloved and I have very fond memories of our very first and very simple home together.  May these young people share equally happy memories of their first "mansions," from within their future beautiful, permanent, child- and grandchild-filled homes here in the hills of Judea -- or wherever else in this Holy Land they choose to build and grow.

Home again.  Kedusha, in my own precious sukkah.  Baruch Hashem!

This post is in part for you, Micha and Suri.  Thanks for sharing, and adding some of your light to our chag.

*Dear Hashem, now that You have caused us to see the film of Gilad (ben Aviva) Shalit, still alive and well, please bring him home to us.  You are the only One who can.


For a translation into English of Gilad's words, please visit A Soldier's Mother.

Chol HaMoed:  intermediate days of seven- or eight-day festivals

Lulav:  palm branch used during the Sukkot holiday; also refers to a collection of palm, myrtle and willow branches

Kedusha:  holiness
Chag:  holiday

 

238 more reasons for dancing on Tu B'Av

Yom revi'i, 15 Av 5769.

After so much sadness, yesterday was a great way to prepare for the special joy of Tu B'Av.

"There were no holidays so joyous for the Jewish People as the Fifteenth of Av (and Yom Kippur) for on those days, daughters of Yerushalayim would go out dressed in white clothing and dance in the vineyards located on the outskirts of the city."  [Mishna, Masechet Taanit 4:8]

Another planeload of olim landed at Home, courtesy of Nefesh B'Nefesh, El Al, and the Jewish Agency.  It included 55 young people whose first goal in life is to strengthen the IDF with their vigor and idealism.  One of these is a young man who decided to leave West Point to fight for his People in his Land.

Among the olim were the head of the largest greeting card company in America, the head of epidemiology at Johns Hopkins, and a musician who backed up the likes of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin, Miles Davis, Seals & Crofts, and the Doors.  We hope to be privileged to jam with him here in the yishuv, as rumor has it he has family here...

For folks back in the Old Country, Penina looks beautiful, the married Goetz daughter and baby look radiant.  Mrs. Colabella is of even greater regal bearing than in the past.  Israel will be richer and even holier, now that these precious Baltimore neshamot have arrived.

Welcome Home, dear family.  May we dance together through many joy-filled days in Yerushalayim ha'Bnuya!

To see great pictures of this event, check out Jacob Richman's always-amazing photos, as well as the extremely professional shots at the Nefesh B'Nefesh site.  Bring a box of tissues, if your heart swells with the thought of filling our holy Land with the Jewish people.

Dear Baltimore, here's a chance to connect to your Israeli heart.

Yom shishi, 10 Adar 5769.

I don't have to tell any of you the Koby Mandell and Yosef Ish-Ran story.  I couldn't tell it, anyway.  There are certain memories that are a part of us forever, depending on our place in history.  The day JFK was shot.  Nine-eleven.  Mercaz HaRav.  Koby and Yosef.  Some of them, we can tell over now.  Some of them are just too hard.  Unless the people who were directly affected speak out.  And then our hearts yearn to listen, to connect.  To try to make sense out it.

 In the words of Todd Salovey, the director of "The Blessing of a Broken Heart":

"The play is ultimately about resilience and love.  I don’t know if one leaves the show 'full of hope' – I think that a person who sees the show understands that there IS pain in the world, and that one can face life’s tests, and one can face pain and loss and use it to grow, to become stronger, to be a better person, and possibly even to be happier and closer to G-d.  What’s incredible about the story is that Sherri uses the tragedy to become more filled with purpose, closer to G-d, and becomes not only a more comfortable mother to her own family, but a significant nurturer to hundreds of other kids who have also been victims of terror.  As her daughter Eliana says in the play, they may have a broken heart, but they can bond together with others and make a new heart."


Tickets can be purchased online at www.tiferesyisroel.org or at Hats to Hose, Perns, and the Knish Shop, or by calling:


Ellie Kagan:  (410) 653-1316
Gail Feinstein:  (410) 764-2532
Devory Margolese:  (410) 642-7321


Thank you, Baltimore, for keeping us in your thoughts and prayers.  The more we connect, k'ish echad b'lev echad, the more we together heal the world, and all our broken hearts.


Glossary:  
K'ish echad b'lev echad:  as one man with one heart