A few comments since I doubt I'll be blogging till after Yom Kippur (Monday evening).
1. Israel's changing its clock tonight, gaining an hour at 2 AM, going back to 1 AM.
2. The Hevron winery has regained their Kashrut certification of the Kiryat Arba rabbinical authority.
3. Hakarat Hatov (Appreciation)
I would like to thank WebAds and Nefesh b'Nefesh for organizing the 2cnd annual Jewish blog convention. Everyone has so been busy kvetching about the food, admission fee and content (you can't please everyone), that I've seen almost no one thank these 2 organizations which invested countless hours. Thanks!
I would like to thank the Muqata staff for posting during the Cast-Lead operation, Litvshe, JoeSettler, Lurker, BOTH, and others.
Thanks to my wife and kids for putting up with the blog.
4. I would like to ask forgiveness:
- if I didn't answer your email
- if I forgot to link to your blog/add you to my blogroll
- if I neglected to write a post about something requested.
- if I wrote anything factually incorrect on the blog over this past year.
I have tried extremely hard to only post factual updates, complete with sources and hyperlinks and have tried to correct any story or post that I found to be inaccurate.
To that note, I would like to say that of this time, it appears that there is no Obama Administration intention to announce a plan of internationalizing Jerusalem. At the time, I purely quoted from IDF radio which broke the story -- August has come and gone, the Cairo speech has come and gone, and it would appear there is no initiative.
This does not mean I believe the Obama administration is making life easy for Israel as they press the issue of settlements over and over, calling them illegitimate, and calling for the halt of Jewish building in post-67 unified Jerusalem.
Personally, I think the Palestinian issue will fall by the wayside in the coming weeks due to Israel vs. Iran and Israel vs. Hamas in Gaza.
5. Yom Kippur in Israel is a fascinating day. This past Friday, my wife showed me a flier from our mailbox that a traveling bicycle company was at our local mall for a few hours -- and that it would be a good opportunity to fix one of the kids' bikes. Only when I was there getting the tire fix did I realize why they had come this past Friday.
Yom Kippur, the day when there's virtually zero vehicular traffic is also known by secular children a "chag ha'ofanayim" -- the bicycle holiday. As many go to shul for the Kol Nidre prayers, there are kids biking everywhere as well.
Not the ultimate realization of a Jewish State...but its a start.
Our settlement is participating yet again in the "Biyachad" (Together) community prayer service, in which secular and religious Jews come together in prayer on Yom Kippur. It takes place in a local school, not in an official synagogue -- yet in neutral ground so that no one feels "out of place."
A community praying together, with ALL sectors represented is truly special. On this day of solemn holiness, the Jewish people put aside their difference, politics, and quibbles -- and beseech G-d's forgiveness.
From R' Ari Enkin at the Hirhurim blog:
1. Israel's changing its clock tonight, gaining an hour at 2 AM, going back to 1 AM.
2. The Hevron winery has regained their Kashrut certification of the Kiryat Arba rabbinical authority.
3. Hakarat Hatov (Appreciation)
I would like to thank WebAds and Nefesh b'Nefesh for organizing the 2cnd annual Jewish blog convention. Everyone has so been busy kvetching about the food, admission fee and content (you can't please everyone), that I've seen almost no one thank these 2 organizations which invested countless hours. Thanks!
I would like to thank the Muqata staff for posting during the Cast-Lead operation, Litvshe, JoeSettler, Lurker, BOTH, and others.
Thanks to my wife and kids for putting up with the blog.
4. I would like to ask forgiveness:
- if I didn't answer your email
- if I forgot to link to your blog/add you to my blogroll
- if I neglected to write a post about something requested.
- if I wrote anything factually incorrect on the blog over this past year.
I have tried extremely hard to only post factual updates, complete with sources and hyperlinks and have tried to correct any story or post that I found to be inaccurate.
To that note, I would like to say that of this time, it appears that there is no Obama Administration intention to announce a plan of internationalizing Jerusalem. At the time, I purely quoted from IDF radio which broke the story -- August has come and gone, the Cairo speech has come and gone, and it would appear there is no initiative.
This does not mean I believe the Obama administration is making life easy for Israel as they press the issue of settlements over and over, calling them illegitimate, and calling for the halt of Jewish building in post-67 unified Jerusalem.
Personally, I think the Palestinian issue will fall by the wayside in the coming weeks due to Israel vs. Iran and Israel vs. Hamas in Gaza.
5. Yom Kippur in Israel is a fascinating day. This past Friday, my wife showed me a flier from our mailbox that a traveling bicycle company was at our local mall for a few hours -- and that it would be a good opportunity to fix one of the kids' bikes. Only when I was there getting the tire fix did I realize why they had come this past Friday.
Yom Kippur, the day when there's virtually zero vehicular traffic is also known by secular children a "chag ha'ofanayim" -- the bicycle holiday. As many go to shul for the Kol Nidre prayers, there are kids biking everywhere as well.
Not the ultimate realization of a Jewish State...but its a start.
Our settlement is participating yet again in the "Biyachad" (Together) community prayer service, in which secular and religious Jews come together in prayer on Yom Kippur. It takes place in a local school, not in an official synagogue -- yet in neutral ground so that no one feels "out of place."
A community praying together, with ALL sectors represented is truly special. On this day of solemn holiness, the Jewish people put aside their difference, politics, and quibbles -- and beseech G-d's forgiveness.
From R' Ari Enkin at the Hirhurim blog:
"The Holiness of an ordinary weekday in Eretz Yisrael is like that of a Shabbat in Chutz La'aretz. The Holiness of Shabbat in Eretz Yisrael is like that of Yom Kippur in Chutz La'aretz. The Holiness of Yom Kippur in Eretz Yisrael cannot be found anywhere else in the world" -ZoharMay we all be inscribed in the book of life, health and prosperity.
I first saw this teaching shortly after making Aliya five years ago and it has been with me daily ever since. Frankly, for me it is one of the most compelling pieces of introspection and mussar – to know that I am in the palace of the King, where the Holiness is incomparably powerful - and even tangible. How those of us who live in Eretz Yisrael must properly prepare for, utilize, and appreciate Yom Kippur.
Sincerely,
Jameel R
The Muqata
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