On 29 November 1947, the United Nations General Assembly recommended the adoption and implementation of the partition plan of Mandatory Palestine.
On 14 May 1948, David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, declared ”the establishment of a Jewish state in Eretz Israel, to be known as the State of Israel,” a state independent upon the termination of the British Mandate for Palestine, 15 May 1948.
May the Almighty continue to bless and protect Israel.
I visited Israel this year for the first time from February 11th to the 25th. It was a mind-blowing experience.
One of the top, if not THE top, “must see” sights is the Western Wall in Jerusalem.
This is the view most people have in mind when they think of the Western Wall.
What most people fail to realize is that section of the Western Wall is only about the top 55 feet or so. It continues down underground for another 100 feet! This is because the section of the Western Wall Plaza you see above was built on a series of arches extending up from true ground level.
In order to more fully appreciate all of the Western Wall, you really need to take what is known as the Tunnel Tour.
Once you get underground, you can see how the Plaza above rests on top of huge arches leading up to the Wall.
The first thing you encounter when you reach the Wall is what is known as the Western Stone.
It’s big. REALLY big. The stone is 13.6 meters (44.6 feet) long and 3 metres (9.8 feet) high and has an estimated width of 3.3 meters (10.8 feet).
This single stone is about the size of a modern day bus. It is one of the largest building stones in the world. It weighs 570 tons!!
(Right section of the Stone)
It starts here at the right…
(Centre section of the stone)
… continues on… and on… for almost 45 feet..
(Left section of the Stone)
And ends at the left of this frame.
(Me obstructing the view of the Western Stone)
No one knows how the Jews were able to place a block this big in this spot!
There is not a crane in modern day Israel today that is capable of lifting this stone.
(Me at the Western Wall)
So if you are ever looking at The Wall from the Plaza, think of the depth (in all senses of the word) of that structure.
May the Temple be rebuilt, speedily and in our time.
On Monday, I arrived in Israel for the first time in my life after so many years… decades… of waiting, hoping, praying.
I came alone.
I knew it was going to be emotional. I knew it was going to be intense.
I was prepared… or so I thought.
It was like being prepared to be hit by a bus… compared to actually being hit by a bus.
When the plane touched down in Tel Aviv, I began weeping. [1]
I could barely stand. Other passengers grabbed their carry on bags and headed out. I was in a daze.
I made my way through a blur of tears. I couldn’t stop. I didn’t want to stop. I moved as if in a trance. Was this really happening? Am I in one of the thousands of dreams and daydreams I’ve had over the last 30 or 40 years?
I was nervous about being questioned by Israeli authorities. Who was I? Where was I from? Where was I born? Why was I coming to Israel? Was I Jewish? A Jew with an Italian name? Were my parents Jewish? Did I convert? What rabbinical court converted me? My daughter lives in Israel? She immigrated to Israel? Where does she live? What is her address? Is this my first visit? What prayer does a Jew make when he embarks on a trip? Recite the first line. Do I wear tefillin? When do I wear them? When do I NOT wear them? What was the Torah reading for last Shabbes? What’s the Torah reading for next Shabbes? Was I married? Did I have an aufrufen? Did I read from the Torah? What was the Torah portion? Can I recite the first line from my haftorah portion? What holiday is coming up in 2 weeks? What book is read? Recite the blessings that are read before the book is read. Can you read the first few lines from that book? Do you know the melody that goes with that reading?
I had heard so many stories about Israeli security. I was nervous. I stepped up to the customs officer and handed her my passport.
“What is the purpose of your visit?”
I explained that this was my first visit to Israel and that I came to see my daughter who made aliyah (i.e. emigrated to Israel) a year ago.
“Where does she live?”
I told her she lives in Ramat Gan.
“How long are you going to be in Israel?”
I said I was staying for two weeks, returning on February 25.
The customs officer looked at me for a few moments, sizing me up.
She smiled and handed me back my passport and told me to proceed to baggage claims.
I walked to the baggage claim area and searched for my luggage. A plain black suitcase. My dear friend (and international travel guide) Tracy suggested I attach some brightly-coloured masking tape or cloth to make it distinguishable. I found it. Both wheels were broken off.
I extended the handle and dragged the suitcase behind me as I moved out into the main lobby. I felt numb. It all seemed so unreal. I couldn’t help feeling that I was going to wake up at any moment.
A tall handsome young man with a wide smile. Tomer. My daughter’s boyfriend. He waves and comes to me, giving me a big warm tight hug.
And then I see my beloved daughter. I’ve not laid eyes on her in over a year.
I cry again. I can’t help it. Tomer helps me with my crippled suitcase.
We walk out into the fresh air. I breathe it deep into my lungs.
I’m here. I feel I’ve finally come home to a place to which I’ve never been before.
[2] I will be in Israel from February 10th to the 25th. I hope to keep posting blog articles as usual (Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays) but I may miss one here and there.
When I am in The Heart of the Old World[1], there is a certain pervasive sound you hear… a kind of omnipresent background music… a gently swaying ‘bed track’ to the place. It is a general all-encompassing soundtrack permeating the entire area… made up from the voices of hundreds of Jewish girls and women.
It is useless trying to explain a symphony with words,. I will at least give you a tiny taste of some of the lyrics. Try to imagine the sing-song tones blending in and through each other, above and underneath each other, mixing and intertwining, separating and repeating, like a Bach fugue.
Those who know what I am talking about are well familiar with the melodies, counter-melodies, tempos and keys. To the uninitiated, I can only say that one cannot describe a colour adequately with words… it must be seen to be fully understood. Similarly, like a Shakespearean play, the words are meant to be heard, not read. [2]
At the grocery store, on the sidewalk, in the coffee shop, in the parking lot… it binds us and keeps us together. It forms a warm comforting blanket around us.
And now… let us listen… and hear those precious voices all around us…
Boruch HaShem! Im Yirtzeh HaShem. B’ezras HaShem!
It’s all shtuss. It’s just a bunch of shtuss.
Yes, bli neder. Absolutely, bli neder! Of course, bli neder!
Make a brochah, Shmuley. Did you make an after-brochah?
Chas v’sholom! K’neine hora! Lo aleinu!
You hold by that? We don’t hold by that! Who holds by that?
Look at that punim! What a shayna punim! Can you believe the punim on this kid?
Where are you for Shabbes lunch? You’re coming for Shabbes dinner, right?
Where does he daven? What time do they finish davening over there?
She lives in Beit Shemesh now. Ramat Gan. She’s in Bnei Barak.
I had occasion the other day to spend a leisurely afternoon with my dearly beloved friend, Davka Frei. [1]
Davka is a stunningly beautiful Jewish girl who has zero interest in Yiddishkeit. [2]
It’s not that she hates Judaism or even dislikes it. It’s simply not on the radar with her. As such, she is continually flummoxed at the fact that I live an observant Jewish life.
I did not grow up Orthodox. I chose to become Orthodox later in life. And this is what gets her!
You see, while Davka can wrap her mind around someone being observant because he or she was raised that way and ‘did not know better’ (i.e. FFB – Frum From Birth [3]), she has a much harder time understanding why someone who ‘knew better’ (i.e. had a normal non-observant life) would choose a frum lifestyle.
(Frum vs Frei)
Fortunately for the both of us, the Frum/Frei debate hasn’t affected our relationship in the least because for the most part we are completely dippy about each other. For all of our differences in terms of religious observance, we thoroughly enjoy each other’s company.
(Frei vs Frum)
And it is that genuine affection that trumps just about everything else.
In our own way, we are both as Loonie as they come… but we arrive at our loopiness from different angles.
(That’s not us, btw)
That’s what makes lunch (kosher, of course… my friend puts friendship over flavour! [4]) with Davka such a wonderful, delightful experience.
[1]Davka Frei (pronounced ‘DAHV-kah FRY’). Not her real name. Davka Frei is a pseudonym. Davka is an Aramaic word that has no precise English translation. The closest you can come is probably ‘very’ or ‘exactly’ or ‘precisely.’ Frei (lit. ‘free’) is a Yiddish/German word meaning ‘non-observant’or ‘not Orthodox’… as in ‘free’ from religious observance.
[2]Yiddishkeit (from the Yiddish; Lit. “Jewishness”) – the word is usually used to mean Judaism and everything related to Jews and Judaism.
[3]Frum (from the German fromm, meaning “devout” or “pious”. The ‘u’ is pronounced like the ‘oo’ in ‘book’ or ‘cookie’) meaning committed to the observance of Jewish commandments and law, specifically of Orthodox Judaism. Frum is the opposite of Frei.
[4] Truth be told, our last lunch together was at the Oasis Cafe in downtown Toronto. I wasn’t expecting much. We both had the Eggplant Parmigiana with caesar salad and Peach Snapple. It was astonishingly good. Davka: “It’s so delicious, you’d never know it was kosher!” LOL
The ninth day of Av (Tisha B’Av) is perhaps the saddest day in the Jewish calendar.
It is the day we commemorate and mourn the tragic events that occurred on that day.
(Romans carrying the Menorah taken from the Temple of Jerusalem)
Tisha B’Av in History
On Tisha B’Av, many national calamities occurred:
During the time of Moses, Jews in the desert accepted the slanderous report of the 12 Spies, and the decree was issued forbidding them from entering the Land of Israel. (1312 BCE)
The First Temple was destroyed by the Babylonians, led by Nebuchadnezzar. 100,000 Jews were slaughtered and millions more exiled. (586 BCE)
The Second Temple was destroyed by the Romans, led by Titus. Some two million Jews died, and another one million were exiled. (70 CE)
The Bar Kochba revolt was crushed by Roman Emperor Hadrian. The city of Betar — the Jews’ last stand against the Romans — was captured and liquidated. Over 100,000 Jews were slaughtered. (135 CE).
The Temple area and its surroundings were ploughed under by the Roman general Turnus Rufus. Jerusalem was rebuilt as a pagan city — renamed Aelia Capitolina — and access was forbidden to Jews.
The Spanish Inquisition culminated with the expulsion of Jews from Spain on Tisha B’Av in 1492.
World War One broke out on the eve of Tisha B’Av in 1914 when Germany declared war on Russia. German resentment from the war set the stage for the Holocaust.
On the eve of Tisha B’Av 1942, the mass deportation began of Jews from the Warsaw Ghetto, en route to Treblinka.
(To this day. Jews pray at the Kotel [Western Wall] – what remains of the ancient Temple compound)
The Tisha B’av fast begins Saturday, July 28th at sunset. It ends approximately 24 and a half hours later, Sunday night. Check for local times in your area.
May you have an easy fast and may HaShem protect and save the Jewish people from the hands of those who wish to destroy us.
