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.
By: Avital Stern-Buchnick This month, we have focused on helping the neediest families in Samaria with their greatest need during the harsh winter – heat! For years, through the Samaria Family Assistance Program, we have provided food parcels for these families, especially during the holidays. But today, we have been asked to help them with … Read more
Aliyah’s story begins five years before she was born. Her parents, Avital and Michael Ezer were a young newly married couple in Soviet Russia. They were respected researchers in their fields and had big plans for the future when in 1980; they submitted a request to immigrate to Israel. Their request was denied, and as was the case for all families who requested to move to Israel at that time, their application triggered government persecution. They were targeted, interrogated and then watched by the KGB, and they lost their jobs.
During this festive week, we try to spend as much time as possible in the Sukkah. We eat all of our meals in it and some of us even sleep in it. This year my husband, little kiddies and I decided that we would all sleep in the Sukkah together. It was actually quite cozy and a great family bonding experience.
The senior center will be open every morning so that seniors have a place to go, rather than staying home alone. The community has already designated a building for this wonderful center, but they have no funding for programming and activities. The community is now turning to you, for help with the cost of lectures and creative workshops for the seniors. This gift will improve quality of life for Rachel and others like her living in this rural community. It will give them reason to get up and out of the house each day.