Every year the entire community of Leshem, where I live, goes on a one night camping trip at the Sea of Galilee. A group of volunteers organizes the entire trip. This year the trip was set for the 15th day of Av (July 26th), the Jewish version of Valentine’s day, so the theme of the trip was LOVE.
We arrived at the party fifteen minutes early because he wouldn’t let us be late and he stood by the door greeting his friends and their parents as they walked in. I was amazed. He is usually such a whirlwind, jumping off the walls, bumping into things and basically all over the place. But on that day there was nothing of that frenetic energy. The party started and he was amazing. Standing in the middle, the tallest in the class, he knew all the words to the songs and sang loud and clear. Actually, he was the loudest, and so off key! My husband wondered who Matan takes after but I knew right away – I laughed and told him that he is just like my grandfather.
Family was the most important value in my grandparents’ household. We would come together regularly at their house and like every other Jewish family, food was always the main event. Nothing made Bubbe happier than watching her grandchildren eat her amazing overloaded Mexican tortillas and play soccer in her big backyard.
Your donation today will provide new swings and a jungle gym specifically designed for babies and toddlers. Having a place to go that meets the development and activity needs of babies and toddlers is vitally important to families living in Sde Boaz. Community life, connecting with neighbors and friends, getting outdoors to run and play, is a central part of daily life in a Jewish community in Israel. You can be part of the fulfillment of God’s promises to return children to the land of Israel! Just imagine the squeals of joy and peals of laughter that will ring across the mountains of Judea as these precious children play once again in the fields of Boaz! You can make that happen!
This week we celebrated Shavuot, my personal favorite holiday of the Jewish year. While the Bible references this holiday as the Festival of First Fruits, on this holiday we also commemorate receiving the Ten Commandments at Mount Sinai. In fact, since our exile from the Land of Israel nearly 2,000 years ago and our separation from the Biblical harvests, this aspect of the holiday has become its central theme.
Zufim would like to focus on additional emergency equipment that will help the volunteers and professionals of Zufim ugrade their security protection. There is a pressing need to establish a network of surveillance cameras with a central command control station, including solar transmission ability, to prevent infiltration and breaches of security by hostile elements. All of these important improvements to Zufim’s security system will represent a huge step towards creating that safe home that Zufim residents are so eager to provide for their families. I hope you will do whatever you can to help the people of Zufim stay safe, feel safe, and protect their children to the best of their ability.
Last week, we celebrated Lag BaOmer, an ancient Jewish holiday that connects us to the events of the Bar Kochba Rebellion, the last Jewish revolt against the Roman Empire which came to a tragic end in the year 135. In Israel, we celebrate the day by lighting bonfires, reminiscent of bonfires that were used by the ancient rebels to send signals to one another. Today, the bonfires are pure fun, as children and adults gather around, roast potatoes and hot dogs, sing songs and just enjoy the warm fire against the usually cool night air.
Since joining CFOIC Heartland in 2013, I have made the most wonderful friends, both Jewish and Christian, in Israel and all over the world. I have learned so much about a whole group of people, you our Christian friends, that I had not really known much about. I have come to value and appreciate the vital support we have from our Christian Zionist friends around the world, support that often comes with a love and passion that we rarely find anywhere else.
Rivi Lev Ohayon, a young woman who survived a lynching attempt on the Sde Bar-Jerusalem road. She was the first car in a line of traffic when she saw a violent Arab mob on the side of the road. “I saw that one of the men had a very large stone in hand” she recounts. “I did not know if my windshield was protected against rock throwing, so I debated in those seconds whether to continue driving ahead or to turn back. But Sde Bar is more than just a vulnerable community located in a hostile region. Sde Bar is a magical place. Not far from the ancient fortress of Herodian, where King Herod’s palace looked over the mountains of Moab, Sde Bar overlooks the majestic Judean Desert. The community started twenty years ago as a youth village for homeless and abandoned children,
Maale Levonah Gymboree has seen better days; it is dilapidated, run down from all of the good fun use over the years. It desperately needs a face lift. The building must be renovated and new Gymboree games and equipment must be purchased.