Nov. 23 Wed. Went to Bibleland Museum for free lecture on 'Inspiration in the Bible.' This museum is fabulous with artifacts from all cultures around Israel going back 4000 years. Incredibly it was all collected by one private rich guy who gave most of his collection to build this museum. It explains the influences of all the surrounding empires from ancient times to the Muslim period. After looking around for 2 hours, the lecture contrary to what was said or assumed by me, was in Hebrew and was actually a tribute to a modern Spanish artist who is displaying his works in the library. Hopefully 2 photos will show his modern bull, which is the symbol for the tribe of Ephraim, and his 30 ft tall Tower of Babel, both outside, so I could take a picture. After listening to a few talks in Hebrew we left and then got a tour of some parts by an Israeli working there who gave more info on a few key pieces. They also had a special exhibit on Shofars some dating back 300 years (they don't last due to their biologic basis). The British forbid blowing a shofar in the 1930's to appease Muslim sensibilities, so of course teenagers did it to their peril including 6 months in jail for one young kid. Most of the time they got away with it and they had videos of the now old men recant their stories of blowing the shofar and running away into the crowd or having dueling shofars to confuse the hapless British. The most famous shofar was used by Rabbi Goren in 1967 in the 6 Day War as he came running into the Old City blowing the shofar all the way to the Kotel just behind the troops. Part is on film and it is most moving as was the 'Prayer of Thanksgiving to Have Reached this Day' recited then! We walked back since buses ceased running at night, a pleasant 30 minutes walk.

Nov. 27 Sunday We meet some old friends from St. Louis, Albert and Eva Derby, and went to author S.Y. Agnon’s home in a south Jerusalem area called Talpiot. Agnon won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1966 for 50 years of work. The lecture was by a Rabbi Sax from WebYeshiva who puts the lecture on web conferencing. He talked about Agnon's short story 'In the Land of the Seas', which he provides on line. Agnon's house, built in 1931 by a famous architect, was so far out of the city then that the British waved the requirement to have Jerusalem stone as exterior. Of course being that far out, now 5 minutes away from the Old City, meant that Arab rioters were close by. In 1938 or so, his home was broken into and books destroyed. When he died in 1970, he had 8000 books in his home and they are still there! I will try again to finish his most famous novel 'The Wedding Canopy”, which like all his works weaves biblical stories and East European and Jerusalem experiences together.

We went out for dinner after with the Derby's. Funny story how we meet them here. At a lecture by Aviva Zornberg (to be discussed soon), I wiped off the blackboard before she came in , which led a woman to start a conversation which led to the fact her husband was Rabbi Krauss at Young Israel in St. Louis. Of course this lead to Jewish geography and to the fact the Derby's were in Israel now. I got their number and the next day before class started to dial them, when all of a sudden they walked in to Pardes to take a a class for the day. What a coincidence!


Dec 1, Thurs. went to play “The Art”by Yasmina Reza. The play won a 1998 Tony Award for best play. It is about a wealthy man who buys a painting and shows it to his best friend for approval. However the painting is all white and the friend lets lose his feelings, denigrating the artist and the person who would pay so much money for it. Incredibly, it is very Jewish relating to one of our courses on 'Rodef Shalom', which means seeker/ pursuer of Peace. What must one do to make or keep peace among friends is the basis for this very funny, but poignant, play. I recommended it in the next class for fellow students to go since it was so relevant.

Dec. 4, 2011 Sunday; Big adventure in Ein Gedi.. The is the site of an ancient spring , one of only 2 in the entire Judean desert, the other Jericho. We took bus #486 at 8am to Ein Gedi getting off at the Field School, sponsored by the Protection of Nature in Israel organization. There is also a hostel there. A short walk away is the National Park of Ein Gedi. We paid and got our map and started a hike they said was 3.5 to 4 hours. We hiked up Wadi David where in book of Samuel I Chapter 24 David is an outlaw running from King Saul who was crazy with hate for David and wanted him dead. David and his band of 400( a very common number used over and over and really meaning a few too many, but who is counting) were hiding in a cave and Saul came by and went into the same cave to relieve himself. David could have killed Saul then with his pants down and sword on the ground, but didn't because he revered the office of King. Later , when Saul leaves the cave, David follows him out . When David explains that he could have killed him but didn't and the proof is here-- part of your coat that I cut part off while you peed--Saul realizes David is correct and that David does love and respect him. So Saul lets David go. That occurred in Ein Gedi according to the Hebrew Bible, although there is no archeological proof for it. Oh well, it was 3000 years ago and David didn't stay long here.

We saw 4 waterfalls with crystal clear pools below, all very pretty and oh so amazing in this vast desert. Then after reaching the top of this wadi, we then started climbing the rock mountain on very steep steps or just rocks some times with a guard rail to hold onto and sometimes not. The cliff was 100- to 300 feet drop on the edge, so one had to be very careful and sure footed. We saw a very unusual mammal the rock hydrax (a very large guinea pig looking rodent but with reptile temperature regulation) and the ibex, a very small goat like animal that was rescued from near extinction but has been brought back very successfully. (Roberta thought the rock hydrax looked like a raccoon only brown instead of black and white. Also saw several small deer.
Next was a Chalcolithic temple built on a flat bluff on the side of the hill. Chalcolithic refers to 5000 years ago in the copper age , and 400 copper objects were found here. It was a large complex with a center fire pit. The view of the Dead Sea was great. There was another small spring close by also still yielding water. This water was used in the 13-14 C CE by the Mamelukes to power a wheat mill built close by also. Part of one large ans 2 small walls remain. Based on all the irrigation ditches still visible, it is calculated that 275 acres of land was cultivated thousands of years ago vs only 125 acres now, even with better methods. So they could have produced enough wheat to justify building a mill even so high up the hill just to use the water power. However it only lasted a short time and from 1400's to 1949 ,Ein Gedi had no permanent settlement. In 1949, some Jewish soldiers came here to ensure the land would be in Israel and the kibbutz they founded is still going strong growing dates and providing tourist activities. Some Hassids were coming to the kibbutz for a retreat.
Hiking down the hill on the side was easier, but still very rocky and the path outline was vague, and we came to an ancient synagogue built in 3rd C CE and expanded every 100 years as the people got more well to do. It was discovered in 1965 when the kibbutz started to plow the land. The mosaic floor is most unusual in that it is devoid of Jewish symbols except for some very small 7 branch menorahs. However the Hebrew inscription is really unique. At the top is genealogy from Adam thru Noah's grandsons. Then comes the Hebrew months of the year and then a dedication to the man who paid for the floor. Then a really unique sentence making a curse on anyone who tells the secret of Ein Gedi! What is the secret of Ein Gedi? Probably it was their method of making perfume from a persimmon ( but not our fruit by the same name). Their perfume was so well known that Mark Anthony gave the fruit groves here to Cleopatra. Titus exhibited the fruit in Rome in his victory parade in 70-71 CE after the destruction of Judah and the Temple. Piney the Elder writes that the Jews tried to uproot the trees to prevent them from falling into Roman hands and that the Romans literally had to fight for each tree.
Under one area of the mosaic floor another floor was found with a swastika ( not a bad symbol then) design. It was covered up and the top peacock mosaic restored. We then caught a bus, perfectly planned by you know who, to avoid walking 5 miles along the highway to the Ein Gedi Spa. Here we had a warm sulfur salt water float as one could have feet, head, and hands out of the water and still float. Then caught tram for ride to Dead Sea , now .3 mile from spa for a short dip in the water. The bottom was not sand, nor rock , but solid salt crystals all over. While my body was below the water a wave came and knock my beach shoe off. This was serious because the salt crystals are very rough and sharp. A kind woman threw my shoe to me but alas it didn't reach me, so I had to keep walking painfully to reach my shoe. Good bye Dead Sea. Next was the mud we spread all over our bodies and then rinsed off in the sulfur salt water. A regular shower felt so good but the highlight was a massage, which was delightful. We got out in front 2 minutes before the bus came and enjoyed a relaxing ride back to Jerusalem while watching the sunset colors bounce off the mountains. What a great day!

Dec 6, 2011 READ THIS!! ALmost Tragic and VERY FUNNY.
First, there was a big bike race in Jerusalem today, Tuesday, with top racers including winner of Tour de France racing around Old City. We were coming home from City of David ( See below) and walking on a street that was closed off for the race. We saw the 100 bikers riding by including some local who wanted to be in same race with the pros. He looked quite exhausted as he peddled uphill but we clapped anyway. Then we started home walking on sidewalk where race was still on. One place had no side walk so we walked very fast along the edge of the street to get to the next sidewalk . We reached the end of this very secluded area and looked back to see 2 Chassids ( very religious Jews with curly side locks, black socks up to midcalf and black Derby hats and long black coats) walking in the very middle of the street where the race was. I yelled at them to move to the side but they refused even as they got close to the area where many police were. The police yelled in Hebrew a long time and motioned them to move over and they still refused. 10 seconds after they reached the sidewalk, the pack of bikers came downhill around a blind bend just where they were walking. So 10 seconds faster bikers or if the 2 Chassids were 10 seconds slower, they would have been killed and many bikers injured. I continued to yell at them and tell them they could have been killed and also yelled at them to say the Gomael Prayer which is said after a close encounter with death. Actually it seems the police either are totally incompetent or didn't care if 2 Chassids were killed. All in all a a very scary situation. (This is for those who are worried about our safety here. R)

And now for the the FUNNY Story. We went to the “City of David' outside the Old City where it is thought King David lived for seven years before conquering the actual City of Jerusalem. He then ruled Israel/Judea for 33 more years. It is on the next hill south where the Gihon Spring, the source of all water for the city., was located, even going back to Canaanite time 3500 years ago. We saw a group getting a tour in English so we went closer and saw they had on Sar-El hats , the name of the volunteer Israeli army organization that we start Dec 25. Sar El takes the volunteers on a day of touring so I figured this was their day trip and so I thought why not join up with them. When I asked them what Army base there were on, I didn't get an answer. Strange but OK. Roberta is talking with many of the group and found out they were from Virginia. Their Israeli guide was good and friendly. He read from certain passages from the Torah about King Solomon coming to this spring to get anointed as next King and at the very spot we were sitting. Next a group member read from the New Testament from John a passage about Jesus curing a blind man at this same spot. I thought this was a little strange but OK, how ecumenical. After a while we left them, because the guide didn't know about the bike race and all streets were closed so their bus could not get to the group. We just started walking up the hill from the spring back to the Old City in order to see the race. After we left the group Roberta gently informed me that one they were not from Sar- El the Israeli army volunteer group but from a tour company with the same name!!. And even more, despite many wearing kipas, they were in fact Messianic Jews, in other words still believers in Jesus as the messiah at the same time professing some belief and interest in Judaism. How wrong can I get at one time!
The excavation is going on at a rapid pace at the original site of digging but also across the street, where 5-10 homes were, is now down 40-50 feet revealing many structures, some with columns indicating very rich inner rooms. The part of this we didn't tour was the tunnel dug by King Hezakiah in 710 BCE (about 200-300 years after King David) to bring water from the Gidon spring into the city some 600 meters under ground This was in order to secure a water source during a battle that was eminent with the Assyrians. Incredibly the stonemasons working from 2 sides of the mountain met in the center by means not fathomable. We mentioned the plaque they dedicated on the occasion of their meeting. The original is in Istanbul but the Israel Museum has a copy. The Canaanite tunnel, which we did walk through, is now dry and 10 feet high by narrow only 2 feet wide most places. The other tunnel (Hezakiah's) has flowing water from the spring and one can walk in it with water up to your knees, but one needs a flashlight and good water shoes to do it. And next time we will do it!

Nov. 21 8 PM lecture o by Prof. Gabriel Barkey of Bar Ilan University, and Director of the Temple Mount Antiquities Operation. The latter is sifting thru dirt removed by the Waqf ( the Muslim Authority of the Temple Mount. ) First history: From 1948 to 1967 the occupying Jordanian army destroyed all synagogues in the Old City, didn't let one Jew visit the Western Hall, and attempted to destroy all visages of Jewish life in the Old City. In 1967 Israel captures the entire Jerusalem including the Temple Mount, the Muslim area 1/6 size of the Old City, and, what is the first thing General Moshe Dayan does, he gives the keys to the Temple Mount back to the Waqf. Holy Cow, what nice guys we are, give the enemy back what they just lost in order to make peace. Now the Muslims deny the existence of Jerusalem as important to Judaism say that the Temple was elsewhere, and have dug a cavern big enough to hold 4000 men praying by removing dirt under an area called Solomon's stables (not really there, but still on the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount) and throwing the dirt in a trash heap, thereby destroying archeologically valuable information. Well that's chutzpa to the max and the thanks Israel gets for doing the right thing!!

Anyway our Prof. is in charge of sifting thru every pound of dirt. Roberta and I did this last time for one afternoon and plan to do it again. They found taxation documents from King Hezekiah (8th C BCE), an inscription with Hebrew 'The King', 6000 coins from Persian period ( 500 BCE), to Maccabean period ( 165 BCE), 1st revolt coin (66-67 CE), Egyptian pendent with Pharaoh from 15th Century BCE (but could have been made hundreds years later and not dated yet). All this shows the site is very old and a lot of information has been lost because no layers are available to determine dates from the enormous piles of dirt taken by the Muslims trying to obliterate Jewish history here.

And lastly, the work at the City of David, just outside the Old City Dung gate (that's what the Muslims called the gate next to the Jewish quarter for what they brought out). The dig next to the main spring and why the city is located here at all started in earnest in 2005 before real proof David was here despite the name. However, work has now shown that the site was inhabited 6000 years ago; they found 11th C BCE Jebusite pottery (David conquered the city from the Jebusites) , found a very large 10th C BCE building on bed rock perhaps even King David's palace with 10C BCE pottery. Thus the timing is right but no clear evidence linking building to David as yet. Nearby was a cistern build by the Canaanite in 18th C BCE that was filled with fish bones from fish from Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and even the Nile. These people loved fish. In the Book of Nehemiah , there is a discussion about fish and even trading fish on Shabbat. Hey the stuff doesn't last long after the long trip to Jerusalem.
Also of note is the oldest mention of Jerusalem is an Egyptian cuneiform document describing relations between the local King and the Pharaoh in 14th C BCE. Also many excavations have found many buildings from 1st temple period all around the Old City. Another large building with 5 rooms dated to about 600 BCE or before the !st Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE. And lastly, he discovered one of the most valuable finds of all, a tablet from the first temple period with the Priestly benediction that is exactly what said in all Jewish services from Reform to Orthodox to this day!. (May the Lord bless and keep you; May the lord let his face to shine upon you; and give you peace). We saw this in the Israel Museum a few days later.
Over and out and good night.


Nov 26 Saturday night Lecture by Rabbi Daniel Gordis , President of the Shalem Center ( political conservative think tank here in Jerusalem, where he now lives). He was previously Dean of the Conservative Seminary in LA, has written many books. At the Great Synagogues of Jerusalem. Topic was on ' Why American Jews are less Zionist and the peril for the future.' What got him started was a survey in America asking “ If Israel would be destroyed would you consider it a personal tragedy?” For those under 35 years old 50% said no and if over 65, 20% said no. It is unbelievable that Israel could be so unimportant. As one General here said, “if Israel is destroyed it would be the loss of the Third Temple.” Gordis felt while education about the conflict in Israel and the history of Israel is very weak among high school and even college graduates, that Israel has a very poor PR capability, and that antisemitism is gaining ground in Europe , these are not the fundamental reasons for the lack of love of Israel or at least the role it plays in securing Jewish liberties and safety in the world.
The best explanation, he senses is the loss of feelings of peoplehood among Jews. This concept of peoplehood was very strong for the last 200 years independent of location or condition. Now in the US, Jews are becoming like the Protestants who have no concept of peoplehood. Moreover intermarriage has increased now that it OK for Jews to marry Christians and even more important Christians can marry Jews. This is leading to to a loss in the dynamic of peoplehood identity and concern..Thirdly, is the loss of Hebrew language education and skills in the US. And quite unexpectedly, theology of Judaism is being stressed to the detrimental of Jewish peoplehood. One will care for Israel if he sees himself as part of the Jewish people not as part of some separate identity whose only unifying factor is religion. And lastly, is the rise of self -hating Jews who take on and promote the negative attitudes toward Jews in the culture they live in-- a phenomenon well known for thousands of years.


Nov. 27 Sunday we spent 7 hours at the Israel Museum newly reopened after a 3 year expansion. The archeology wing is enormous and has many spectacular things from all over Israel going back to ancient Egypt who continually attacked , controlled or dominated this area to the Roman period, and the Arab period. Some key items:
1. Mermeptah Steele from 1205 BCE from Egypt with earliest mention of Israel outside of the Bible.
2. 9th C BCE Steele from King Hazel of Aram that he killed a King of Judah of the House of David, the earliest mention of King David outside the Bible.
3. 6th C BCE clay tablet mentioning the Temple of Gd, the earliest mention of the First Temple in Jerusalem
4. Table from Cyrus the Great in 538 BCE where he allows people from Judah to return to Jerusalem after 54 years in exile Babylon after the destruction of the First Temple , it refers to 'Yehudim Nehemiah' or the first reference using word 'Jew'
5. The entire museum has only 2 copies and one is a enormous mural (30x20 ft) from the Asyrians ( in Damascus now.) showing the defeated Judeans at Lakish. It show the battle in 701 BCE where the Assyrians built a large ramp to attack the city, carry off the defeated to Assyria, how some were killed by impaling with large pointy logs, and the bounty and people being presented to the King. We visited Lakish in 2009 and one can still see the ramp and ruins of the city.
6. Many synagogues of the period 300 to 700 CE in Israel had mosaic tile floors of which many are in the museum. These have fascinating pictures of zodiacs, Temple items, and animals. They also have many lintels and other parts of the ancient synagogues. We studied many in our current course of Ancient Synagogues, with Dr Rosenberg, an archaeologist


Nov. 28 Monday 5 PM Concert Jerusalem Theater Piano Solo by Gilead Mishory playing Haydn, Debussy and Tarini 1692-1770, the latter for violin and piano but arranged for piano by the performer, and a premiere of a piece by him also. Both were dedicated to the memory of his father. Very good.

Nov. 28 8 PM ( yes same day) Lecture at Conservative Synagogue by David Keren, a Historian ( Stan took a course from him in 2008 on history of Jerusalem) and currently Director of Youth Programs of United Synagogue on “The 1947 UN Partition Plan for Palestine” He focused on the issue of Jerusalem through all the partition plans from 1917 Balfour Plan where Jews were to get the whole land and land east of the Jordan that was part of biblical Israel. Next this was modified soon to exclude land east of the Jordan as England and France divide up all of what is now Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Gaza, Sinai in 1921. This was followed by the British White Paper greatly limiting Jewish immigration as result of Arab riots of 1921, 1922, and the biggest one in 1929 where 69 Jews were killed in Hebron as well as some in Jerusalem. The British then forced all Jews out of the eastern side of Jerusalem in 1929.

The key in the late '30s was oil and still remains as the main driving force. England needed oil for the their fleet so the Arabs had to be placated. The British even banned the blowing of shofars at the Western Wall, then called the Wailing Wall, to appease the Arabs, which of course were allowed their call to prayer 5 times a day. Next came the first of official partition plans from the League of Nations, the Peel Plan of 1937. This split the land into 2 countries with Jews getting a very small amount only on the coast from south of Tel Aviv to Haifa and the coastal plain. This was refused by all the Arab countries and the locals whereas Jews accepted it. Next was the Woodward Plan of 1938 which re-sorted the land. This time both sides rejected it. In 1939, the 3rd White Paper limited Jewish immigration to 75, 000 over 10 years with additional limitation in Jews buying land restricted to just 5% of the land. Churchill and Samuels, the first Governor of Palestine, were against this but it went into effect. After the war, although England tried to enforce this, the Jews and Arabs both worked against it.

The United Nation took over the mandate laws from the League of Nations and sent a commission to investigate the land. The Jews took the commissioners all over the country and even to refugee camps in Europe, while the Arabs refused to meet the the Commission. In 1947 the Commission came out with a plan with Jews getting more land than the last plan but following populations more closely. However, greater Jerusalem stretching from Bethlehem to Shuvat in the north was to be run by a United Nations commission as an international city. Each country was to develop over 10 years with economic integration of both countries. The plan was accepted by the Jews , but rejected by all Arab countries and the local Arabs. The vote in the UN was 33 For with Russia included, 13 No and 10 Abstain ( Britain here.) The next day Israel declared independence and the next day was attacked by 5 countries, Jordan with Army headed by British Generals violating British law, Egypt, Lebanon, Syria, and Iraq. The fighting ended with a cease fire between the first four but not Iraq which technically is still at war with Israel. Israel gained some territory in all areas but only part of Jerusalem and not any of the Old City and Holy sites. Israel lost 1% of population or 6000 killed, a tremendous loss.

Jordan annexed the West Bank land and Egypt took control of Gaza but not granting Arabs there any rights, Universities, or eradication of malaria. So the local Arabs did not gain any freedoms nor their own country. Jews were not allowed in the Old City of Jerusalem and even Christians had to bring their baptismal certificates to prove their religion before entering the Old City. All the synagogues in the old city were destroyed.
How sad and that is where we are today with no prospects for peace at all. This is because, in my opinion, the Arabs can not tolerate any Jewish presence in what they consider Muslim land as it was from 638 at the first Muslim conquest to the defeat of the Turks who ruled from 1550(?) to 1917. Jews could only be allowed if they were second class citizens, paid a high tax, were limited in professions; no synagogues could be built without special permission, special clothes had to be worn-all like the good old days from 638 to 1917. Christians had similar restrictions. Of course now the Palestinians don't want even one Jew in their new country. Nor are their any jews in Arab countries anymore.

Since the Arabs rejected the International agreement on Jerusalem and Jordan attacked Israel in 1967 at East Talpiot ( not far from where we study at Pardes), Israel views that agreement now void and justifies its annexing all parts of Jerusalem. My idea , which I was told by the speaker had already been proposed and failed, was to give the Palestinians land east of Jerusalem for construction of their capitol and they could call it whatever they wanted. Actual construction of a capitol building was started in some territory close by but then stopped as they changed their minds.

In 2000 with the Camp David accords under the last days of the Clinton administration, Jerusalem was again the stumbling block where an incredible arrangement was proposed in with each local community would be part of the its respective country independent of which side of any line it ended up in. Arafat rejected this since he valued his life more than a peace agreement. To this day any Arab leader who seeks peace with Israel and/or gives up control of Jerusalem will be assassinated by his own people.


Nov. 29 &:30 PM Lecture by David S. Bedein, Bureau Chief, Israel Resource News Agency . Topic was his investigation of the UN RWA ( United Nations Relief & Works Agency).
This UN agency is sponsored only from voluntary contributions which go directly to the Agency bypassing the UN and is mostly supported from the US, European Union, Norway, and Sweden. This the only UN agency designed to keep refugees as refugees even 63 years! after the conflict! In all other cases of refugees, the goal is to get refugees settled somewhere within 3 years and self sufficient. The reason for this permanence of refugee status is the incredible idea that they will be able to go back to their home in Israel and move back in. The official policy of the Palestinians is that if the occupant doesn't want to move ,then killing the person/family is justified and will have international support. Stan says with this idea there will never be peace. How unfair to the Palestinians to give them this false hope. Of course if Iran sends nuclear bombs to Israel they will not get their homes, but they can have the land back. with the radioactive fallout. Also amazingly, the number on the official roles of refugees has grown from 700,000 in 1948 to 5 million now.

Bedein is trying to educate all contributing countries on exactly how their money is being spent and has made a film and published a book. UNRWA is mounting a fight against him and sent 20 paid staffers to the US to follow him and counter every word he says. His cameraman is an Arab hired from the West Bank since they filmed some of the refugee camps there. He told of going to his very capable camera man's house to hear his kids singing songs of killing Jews. He explained,” hey I am Jewish.” The camera man explained, “ oh not you.” REALLY?

The other main effort is to get Congress to pass legislation to withhold funds unless UNRWA shows that no member of UNWRA is a member of a terrorist group, distributes anti-Israel or anti-USA material, that its facilities are not being used by any terrorist group, and that it has an independent audit ( H.R. 2829 the UN Transparency , Accountability, and Reform Act). He commissioned a Christian Arab to interview 60 Muslim business all very successful doing business with Israelis. They were asked whether they would kill their Jewish business partners. All 60 said the Arabs will win and yes they will kill the Jews.

In the 1993 Oslo accords the Palestinians agreed to dismantle the refugee camps and absorb the people, but the PA soon ignored this provision completely. Likewise, they ignored another provision that they agreed to, namely to change their educational material to remove the teaching of hate, remove kill the Jews songs, that Jews and Israelis are monkeys etc. This I believe was one of Clinton's major failures and the Israelis' fault in not pushing and publicizing the total absence of progress on these two issues.

Interestingly the dozens of refugee relief projects of the UN are all done through another agency, the UN High Commission on Refugees. Why the Arabs are so special when in fact after wars the loser moves. After WW2 , 12 million Germans were kicked out of their homes all over Europe. They had to leave immediately, walk carrying whatever they could. About 20% (may need to double check this number) died in route back to Germany. After the India civil war in 1948, 30 million Hindus and Muslims changed sides into the 2 new countries. No one expects to get their old home back after losing a war. Only the Arabs have such a fantasy, but since their initial goal was to kill the Jews and that remains their goal, then there is hope they will get the homes back if they can kill all the Jews. See next lecture to continue this theme.
see : his web site www. IsraelBehindTheNews.com


Nov. 29 8:30 PM By Elihu Richter, MD, MPH, Former Head of Environment and Occupational Health at Hadassah Hospital, Jerusalem ( best Hospital in entire Middle East) for 30 years and now retired and now Head of the Jerusalem Center for the Prevention of Genocide. The prevention of genocide is now his all encompassing passion. He was an American who has been in Israel more than 30 years and is not religious. His whole career has been in helping people live healthy and genocide prevention is a logical progression of this interest.

First the Nazis and an American. Sigmund Freud's nephew Edward Bernays a psychologist too, was responsible for mass marketing of cigarettes in the US using the big lie technique, tell something often enough, people will start to believe it. His methods were studied by Goebbels, Head the Nazis Propaganda Ministry and a Ph.D. in Psychology!! He used Bernays methods perfectly to spread hate for the Jews. They also used these methods to stop smoking for the so-called master race since they knew the hazards of smoking. How one uses knowledge is the key!

OK, back to the Middle East. Dr. Richter reviewed some incredible intersections between the Nazis and the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem ( 1896-1974), one of the persons most responsible for the impasse between Israel and the Arabs to this day. Eichman came to Jerusalem in 1936 to meet with the Grand Mufti in the hotel the latter had built, the Palace Hotel, which is still standing . As a side bar, the construction company was headed by a Jew and a member of the secret Hagana, the the Jewish force to protect the people. This contractor told the Mufti the land is on a Muslim cemetery, but the Mufti didn't care at all. Second, the Jewish contractor built into the hotel secret places where he stored arms, since would the British look in a Muslim hotel for Jewish munitions. Genius!

Eichman and the Mufti talked about what to do with the Jews and how to get rid of them. The Mufti was responsible for killing many fellow Muslims in the 1930s' who wanted to have a peace with the Jews and the eventual state. The British kicked him out of Palestine along with all those with German roots in 1938. He went to Italy, then Berlin where he stayed the entire war, except when he went to Bosnia to form a SS regiment of Muslims designed to kill Jews in that area and then be ready to come to Palestine after the war. He meet with Hitler in Nov. 28, 1941 ( hell that's 70 years ago yesterday!) to plan the destruction of the Jews in the Middle East. They even picked a site for a concentration camp near Ramla, 20 miles southwest of Tel Aviv. They also signed a Genocide Pact to accomplish their aim. Interesting one week after this meeting was the infamous Wansee conference where the details in exterminating all the Jews of Europe were formulated.

After the war the Mufti escapes to Cairo where he inserts this Genocide pact into the Arab League constitution. He said ,but I have not verified this, that this provision is still in the Arab League constitution though I pressed him on this point. The Mufti also meets a young Yassar Arafat and passes on the Genocide Pact to him, and this also is inserted into the PLO charter when formed in 1964.

Dr. Richter is on a US Congress Commission to investigate hate literature in Palestinian Authority schools. The Arabs have mastered and perfected Bernays methods in the big lie technique. Second, he feels that incitement to genocide is a crime of genocide itself since history proves hate literature & incitement to violence always lead to genocide. Recent example was Rwanda where this happened with predicted results, but no one paid any attention to the hate propaganda being produced there. He wants the World Court to indite Iran leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad for his constant threats to destroy Israel as a form of genocide. The hate literature coming out of all Arabs countries is legend and no one seems to notice or care, except the Israelis. The problem is that it has been effective in turning many countries and people against Israel. Demand for oil and hate literature are an effective combination mixed in with long standing antisemitism to make stew of evil.

Denial of genocide is a form of genocide he believes and Israel doesn't come out good in this regard. Israel tried to make nice with the Turks and had to essentially deny the Turkish genocide of the Armenians in 1915-17(?). This obviously didn't help in their current crisis with Turkey and puts them on the wrong side of history. He also felt Israel made a big mistake in not stressing to the world the hate being taught in the Palestinian schools and on TV and instead relied on the economic improvement of the Palestinians to cement an eventual peace outcome. Israel assumed a that a good economy and a nice house and car would push the Palestinians toward peace. However all the evidence, including survey cited above (and many other public ones) prove this assumption false.

Dr. Richter has many Palestinian colleagues that he has worked with over 30 years and some of them are speaking out against hate. Studies show that 10% of any population will reject the message of hate. He wants to expand that 10% until it can have some positive influence. History has shown examples when a certain behavior or condition is no longer acceptable, then drastic change in a society is possible. One example is after WW2 when Germany and Japan made total about face in their thinking. He feels that until such time when hate is no longer accepted as the main message of the Arabs, there will never be peace.

And lastly Abbas the PA President got his Ph.D. with dissertation on the Jews in WW2. His thesis was that the Holocaust was greatly exaggerated and that the Jews in Palestine helped the Nazis kill the European Jews. Hard to believe!! He now says he no longer believes this, but his dissertation in book form is in every school library on the West Bank. The Arab way is to say one thing to the west and another to his fellow Muslims.
All in all a very enlightening lecture with some small measure of hope in that a few people are fighting for a civilized world.

Nov. 14. Concert 5 PM at Jerusalem Theater of Beethoven Symphony No. 3 (Eroica) and 2 other pieces, unusual in that it was played by a Quartet. It was arranged for a quartet by Ferdinand Ries (1784-1838) and was wonderful. A full house in large theater and standing ovation for 4 young performers. Wow.

Nov. 14 8 PM lecture at Fuchsberg Center ( Conservative complex) by Jim Lederman, the senior foreign journalist in Jerusalem since 1967 He talked about Turkey and how the current Islamist President Egdogan is ruining the country. To get reelected he loosed credit greatly, so borrowing sky rocketed, housing prices went up and boom started. Unfortunately, the reverse is happening now, with stock market down 40% this year as of a couple weeks ago plus business slowing down. Some things are constant, thousands of journalist in jail, Generals in jail, elected parliament members kicked out of office by a 'Constitutional Court” that can ban political parties or stop people from running, or even if elected removed one from office. The human rights record of Turkey is one of the worst in Europe. Also the switch from 'no problems with neighbor' policy of previous administration, to one where problems exists with most neighbors, Greece, Armenia, Israel, and now Syria. The hypocrisy of their concern about the Palestinian and those killed on the flotilla should be compared to the 30,000 Kurds they have killed in the last 30 years and to their current invasion of Iraq to fight the Kurds there.
He is getting little old but he stills writes position/ background papers for corporation etc. and gives a very clear and insightful talk. We heard him in 2009 also.

Nov 17. Trip to Shilo, West Bank, sponsored by Pardes Jewish study.
Shilo is 20-25 miles north of Jerusalem in the West Bank & was the location of the Tabernacle set up by Joshua (see Joshua 18:1) after the conquest of the land (for which there is no archeological evidence). This site was chosen as it was in the middle of the entire country. We traveled in a bullet proof bus just in case , but everything was calm. Many cars and trucks are going back and forth so it seems safe. Our goal was to see many sites as possible of the tribe of Benjamin or Land of Binyamin as it is called.
There is a new town formed in 1978 of Shilo of 300 families on a hill next to the ancient tel of Shilo. Excavation have uncovered a town, wall, and a potential site for the Tabernacle. The dimensions given in the Talmud are very large about 100 ft by 75 ( I forgot exact numbers), as were its location on a hill top, constructed on a stone base with stone walls, and a curtain top. On the south side of the ancient town is an outcropping of stone that fits the dimensions almost exactly. See pictures with hilltop location overlooking many other hills and straight stone outcropping which could be the foundation of one wall. However, no animal bones were found here which is a problem as for 369 years the Tabernacle was here (again according to the Talmud) there would have been a lot of bones all over the place because the holiday animal sacrifices. Nevertheless, the site was impressive to think the Ark and the Torah according to tradition were here for a very long time. Other sites have been proposed but none fits all the facts known. One other interesting fact showing how politics hasn't changed over 3400 years is the fact that Shilo the site of the Tabernacle was to be run by the Benjamites was actually in the tribal land of Ephraim. So the Torah then gerrymandered the bounder to create a finger of Benjamin's territory extending north to encompass Shilo.

Another key mention of Shilo is in Judges 21:21 where the men of Benjamin take wives from girls dancing here in the vineyards for a annual feast (Tu B'Av). If you want to read a rough story never taught in Sunday school or even for adults read Judges 19:1 to 21:25 which all takes place in the land of Binyamin (Benjamin). However I very much doubt this story, it just doesn't seem reasonable. In Judges 21:19 Shilo is mentioned with very detailed directions where it is. The tribe of Benjamin was the only tribe to have land surrounded by other tribes only and no external edge to a foreign kingdoms. They were a very close knit tribe with small total area, also warriors and shepherds as the land is very rocky even to this day fit for olive trees , fruit tree, and vineyard mostly.
An very important story takes place years later in Shilo where Hannah barren ,despite her husband offering sacrifices in Shilo, prays to GD for a child silently but with her lips moving. The priest in Shilo mistook her for a drunk and after clearing the matter up she dedicates her son ,if born, to the Lord. The son was Samuel the Prophet! Hannah is credited for starting silent prayers which were never done previously so this is very significant.(see Samuel 1:1 to 19) Samuel then picks Saul and later David to be Kings under Gd’s direction and much of the their stories takes place here as both are of the tribe of Benjamin. Later David abandons this area in favor of Jerusalem which is more protected by larger hills, a little more centered, and a wonderful spring, and will allow a fresh start to build a more permanent structure for the Tabernacle.
So Shilo was very important for many hundreds of years. Interesting the religious community of new Shilo wanted their synagogue to have features of the Tabernacle so they incorporated as many features as possible. These include a ramp for women to the second floor ( see Roberta grinding her teeth), blocks on the foundation held by silver pins, Ark with provisions for long poles to be inserted in cylinders on the side to carry it in the desert, billowy ceiling resembling curtain ceiling, and decorations described in the Torah.
The town was later destroyed by the Philistines and the Ark was captured as the Army of Israel wanted to take the Ark to the battle site to guarantee success. The Priest were very much against this bad idea since they did lose the battle and that Ark was taken. When a messenger returns from battle he runs thru the town of Shilo and then to the Tabernacle ( giving a clue as they relative position of each) to tell the High Priest the bad news. The Priest fell off his chair in shock, broke his neck and died. ( I-Samuel 4: 10-18).
In the Byzantine period 300 CE 4 churches were build here because of the Tabernacle and some claimed to be on the very spot. One impressive church was found and restored somewhat. It had nice very geometric mosaic floor with no religious or other symbols on it. A Muslim mosque was build onto of the church but all signs of it have been removed.
On the way to Shilo we stopped at the town of Beth El, another ancient city but no ruins. The town is known for its very kosher tefillin factory. We stood on a windsweep hill top where the ancient site might have been. However on the next higher hill over, it is thought the site where Abraham stood when Gd told him this land will be your offspring’s ( Genesis 12:7-8)

The last stop was the visitor’s center of the Land of Binyamin which originally was a wine tasting room with wine cellars in the cave like basement. The Psagot winery has won Gold Metals in a Paris wine completion and is very expensive. However the main purpose of our visit was to get the justification of settling this land both for religious reasons but also security and water requirements. There was a very modern setup for a quiz with everyone on the tour at a computer screen surrounding a large table with computer generated maps and visuals. The questions were asked on the large screen, we selected a choice and then an arrow would point at you if you got the right answer. Questions had to do with geography , How wide is Israel at its narrowest , 8 miles: How much water is recycled for agriculture use ( 70%), and many on security to justify these towns amongst Arab towns. We then saw a movie, a love story about a man who had to choose success in the business world or this LAND. It had flashbacks to biblical periods and flaming letters very hokey similar to Christian fundamentalist movie. I wrote the Rabbi in charge to complain about this political stuff which is nice to know about but not what was advertised.
We passed many Arab towns which looked good. In several the were very large mansion type homes. I was able to get one picture with a partial view of one mansion.

Nov. 20 Ethiopian Concert at Gerard Betar Theater. Most Unusual. First, the concert celebrated the 2500 year old 'SIGD' holiday of Ethiopians commemorating their yearning to return to Zion (Israel). Four men dressed in white robes and white hats something like a chazzan's kipa sang songs that could give one an instant headache, but the crowd loved it. Many in the audience were from Ethiopia and many of the were religious whereas the women not religious but good looking. Then the music shifted to modern music a cross between Israeli and Ethiopian pop sung in both languages. The MC was an Ethiopian pop singer Esther Rada that had the crowd jumping in the aisles. The 8 piece band had a featured sax player also from Ethiopia who was very good. The Israeli folk singer Korin Allal was great too. Also onstage were two Ethiopian dancers that had shoulder held by rubber bands as they were able to vibrate their shoulders faster than I ever seen. Overall another musical happening.


Nov. 21 8 PM lecture o by Prof. Gabriel Barkey of Bar Ilan University, and Director of the Temple Mount Antiquities Operation. The latter is sifting thru dirt removed by the Waqf ( the Muslim Authority of the Temple Mount. ) First history: From 1948 to 1967 the Muslims destroyed all synagogues in the Old City, didn't let one Jew visit the Western Hall, and attempted to destroy all visages of Jewish life in the Old City. In 1967 Israel captures the entire Jerusalem including the Temple Mount, the Muslim area 1/6 size of the Old City, and what is the first thing General Moshe Dayan does, he gives the keys to the Temple Mount back to the Waqf. Holy Cow, what nice guys we are, give the enemy back what they just lost in order to make peace. Now the Muslims deny the existence of Jerusalem as important to Judaism, that the Temple was elsewhere, and dug a cavern big enough to hold 4000 men praying by removing dirt under an area called Solomon's stables (not really there, but still on in the southeastern corner of the Temple Mount and throwing the dirt in a trash heap. Well that's chutzpa to the max and the thanks Israel gets for doing the right thing!! Anyway our Prof . is in charge of sifting thru every pound of dirt .Roberta and I did this last time for one afternoon and plan to do it again. They found taxation documents from King Hezekiah (8th C BCE), in inscription with Hebrew 'The King', 6000 coins from Persian period ( 500 BCE), to Maccabean period ( 200BCE), 1st revolt coin (66-67 CE), Egyptian pedant with Pharaoh from 15 C BCE ( but could have been made hundreds years later and not dated yet). All this shows the site is very old and a lot of information has been lost because no layers can be determine from the enormous piles of dirt taken by the Muslims trying to obliterate Jewish history here.
And lastly, the work at the City of David, just outside the Old City Dung gate ( that's what the Muslims called the gate next to the Jewish quarter for what they brought out). The dig next to the main spring and why the city is located here at all began started in earnest in 2005 before real proof David was here despite the name However, work has now shown that the site was inhabited 6000 years ago, found 11th C BCE Jebusite pottery ( from whom David conquered the city from), had a very large 10th C BCE building on bed rock perhaps even King David's palace with 10C BCE pottery. Thus the timing is right but no clear evidence linking building to David. as yet Nearby was a cistern build by the Canaanite in 18 th C BCE that was filled with fish bones from fish from Mediterranean, Indian Ocean, Red Sea, and even the Nile. These people loved fish. In the Book of Nehemiah , there is a discussion about fish and even trading fish on Shabbat. Hey the stuff doesn't last long after the long trip to Jerusalem.
Also of note is the oldest mention of Jerusalem is an Egyptian cuneiform document describing relations between the local King and the Pharaoh in 14C BCE. Also many excavations have found many building from 1st temple period all around the Old City. A another large building with 5 rooms dated to about 600 BCE or before the !st Temple was destroyed in 586 BCE. And lastly, he discovered one of the most valuable finds of all, a tablet from the first temple period with the Priestly benediction that is exactly what said in all Jewish services from Reform to Orthodox to this day!. Over and out and good night.

Nov. 7 Monday. Stan went on walking tour of the 'Shuk', the very old open air market in Jerusalem. The guide explained the history going back to 1880, I think. She showed us the Iraqi section and a poor person section that I never knew about. The most famous picture site also was new to me. She pointed out many tips for shopping here as well as her favorite stall for every item.



Nov 9 We had Dinner with Joel Moss ,a friend from 2008 visit, at his favorite kosher restaurant that was quite good with many tapas. He is now Director of HIAS in Israel. This very old organization, that helped Jews immigrate from all over to escape persecution and helped them get settled in their new land for the last 150 (?) years , now helps mostly Africans here in Israel either to stay or get send back if safe to do so,or helped get settled here even if temporary. It is still supported by Jews from all over. What a great country that Africans mostly from Eritrea and Sudan are risking getting killed by the Egyptian and and Bedouins in the Sinai to come to the land Of Milk and Honey and Safety too! We visited their new condo in a high rise on Pinsker street that was quite lovely. They have 3 sons with MDs and youngest son Josh just got into Hebrew University Medical school here. Two years ago he was in a Yeshiva here, and Joel and I went to study there one afternoon with him. With 3 brother as Doctors he decided not to be the odd one out Rabbi after all. The wife Ellie is a Professor in Montreal their home town and I studied with her in 2008. She goes back and forth between Montreal and Jerusalem until she retires.



Nov. 11 Friday A very Interesting day of the Old City of Jerusalem!! Start with the four Sephardi Synagogues built in late 1500's by Jews fleeing he Inquisition in Spain and elsewhere. The first one was named after Yohanan ben Zakkai of the Roman period who really helped save Judaism from extinction as most other cultures under foreign rule. In 70 CE he fought with the Jewish Zealots to allow himself to be smuggled in a coffin out of Jerusalem as it was being destroyed. The zealots wanted everyone to fight to the end. Ben Zakkai realized the situation in Jerusalem was hopeless and was thinking ahead. Once out he talked with the general in charge and pleaded for the formation of schools in the north first at Yavne, a seemingly simple request. This was granted and from the schools started that trained rabbis and wrote down 1500 years of oral tradition, both resulted in saving Judaism. So the first synagogue built, with some difficulty from the Muslim in charge then, was named after Ben Zakkai. Others were started as new waves of Jews arrived from different lands. The next added was the Istanbuli Synagogue, from Turkey, then a middle one was added between those two. All were built one floor below the ground so as to not be too tall to hurt the Muslim sensibility.
During the 1948 War of Independence this area was under heavy attach by Jordanian forces and after one month of fighting 40 Jewish men women and teenagers held off a entire brigade. Even though they were cut off from supplies from food a to ammunition. The Jordanian General in charge could not believe that such a small force could stop his forces for so long. So he took 300 men including many old men and women who did no fighting back to Jordan as prisoners to justify his great loss of life in his forces and slow pace of advancement. Fortunately all prisoners were treated well in Jordan and were freed after 1 year. However, the Jordanian used the 4 Sephardi Synagogues as horse stables for the next 19 years. After the 1967 6 Day War, Israel captured the entire Old City, all of Jerusalem, and all the territory annexed by Jordan. The 4 Synagogues were rebuilt as they were on the outside but the inside with reclaimed parts of synagogues from Europe that were not in use because of the Holocaust. So they have beautiful arcs and bimas from Italy and other countries. It is quite a treat to sit in the these 400 year old house of worship even if everything is not original. They also have a museum room with documents dating back to 1100's of legal proceedings from the Muslim in charge one of which is for the Jews to start a cemetery . Other documents showed that the Muslim courts did protect the Jewish population from encroachment and other abuses.
Next we went to 'The Huvra Synagogue' the largest and most famous synagogue in the Old City. This synagogue was started in 1700 by some very poor Polish Jews that left all their possessions and headed to Jerusalem and arrived after a 3 year journey. Their Rabbi whose idea this was died one week after arriving. This is really bad luck. They were leaderless and totally dependent on charity from European congregations. But after several years they obtained a loan from some Muslim business men to build a synagogue. However, after 30 years they still hadn't paid off all their debt, so the Muslims burned it to the ground. Hence the grounds were called the Huvra,or the destruction or wreck, which remained till 1864's when wealthy Jews from England and France paid for construction of a grand synagogue, but kept the same name. In 1921, Lord Samuels , a Jew appointed by England to be the Governor General of Palestine, came to pray at The Huvra. The Jewish community was so over joyed to have a Jew finally ruling the land for the first time since 70 CE or in 1851 years that they laid out 6 blocks of red carpet for him to walk on from his hotel to the synagogue as if he were royalty. However in 1948 the Jordanian captured this area and the first thing they did was put 200 lbs of dynamite on the magnificent dome and blow the building up. After 1967, Israel built an arch over the ruins which lasted till 2009, when construction started to rebuild it exactly as it was and again keep the same name. It is now finished and we went on a tour through it. It building a new foundation they discovered ruins from the FIRST temple period before 587 BCE when the first temple was destroyed. In the basement of 2 houses of the Priests were mikvas, ritual baths, and one even had 2 mikvas. You could see the steps leading down to the pool about twice the size of a bathtub and 5 feet high. Later additions were from the Second Temple period and had black burn areas from when the Romans burnt the city down . Another wall was of Byzantine period showing how each culture just built on top of the previous ruins. We also climbed to the outside of the large doom to get great view of the Old city and the tops of buildings. One wall survived from the Jordanian explosion and they kept this wall intact and unfinished as part of the back wall containing the Torahs facing the Temple. The upper wall is painted sky blue with clouds and Jerusalem and the temple floating in space waiting to come back to Earth in its proper place.


We then went to the 'Alone on the Ramparts' exhibit which is a photo exhibit of an American journalist who posed a s a Jordanian legionnaire and took pictures of the fighting in 1948 and the surrender that I talked about above. His name was John Phillips and in 1979 came back to Israel and found 6 of the fighters from 1948 and made a film about their experiences then. The courage of these young people was incredible and the movie is very moving as are his photos.


After a tradition lunch of felafel with everything, we went to the Armenian quarter to visit their big church, St. James Cathedral. It is opened from 3 to 3:30 each day only. The priests dressed in black robes with some having their heads covered about 8 inches over their head by some internal device. The chanting in the prayer sounded very similar to Jewish prayers. The place was very dark with many dozens of lamps hanging from the ceiling but all unlit. A heavy blanket was over the door to keep light out. We talked with the man in charge outside and he said the Armenians have been in their Old City quarter since 310 and have had good relations with the Jews. He said that relations with the Turks was all ways bad but was really a problem from the time of the Armenian Holocaust to the defeat of the Turks here in 1917.
Next we went to the first Protestant church in Jerusalem, Christ Church, built in 1849 as cooperative project between the Anglican Church of England and the Prussian Protestant Church. Their mission was to make a Protestant presence in Jerusalem, try to convert Jews, and lastly to hasten the arrival of Jesus. When we walked inside the church it was amazing to see Hebrew all thru the stain glass windows and even Magen David ( Jewish Star). But even more were the 2 Hebrew Torahs from the Jewish Publication Society on the reading table. We asked the man behind the desk what was is going on and he told us that the Protestants have been in Israel so long they all speak Hebrew and have services in Hebrew! Two other group use the church, which is very ungothic, Christian Arabs ( unknown what language they use) and Messianic Jews ( that I think should be called Messianic Christians instead ( presumably use Hebrew also). They have a nice restaurant and quaint courtyard worth returning to. In the early 1900, the Emperor of German paid a visit to Jerusalem He was the first to bring a car with him but it wouldn't fit thru the small Jaffa gate, so the wall was taken down to make room for a car. I never knew why he came to such an unimportant place but the info on the walls explained that he was visiting this church to see how his investment was going and to see what progress they were making converting Jews.
All in all a very interesting day, but just beginning for Stan, who went to the Kottel ( the Western Wall) for Shabbat Services. As the sun was setting thousands and thousands of Hassids, very religious Jews with dress from 1700 Poland or Lithuanian with philosophy that if was good enough for the nobility at that time , it is good enough for them now, arrived in mass. Perhaps 10,000 to 20,000 men were there to pray with no organized congregations. There were hundreds of services going on at the same time right next to each other. Some younger less Orthodox were dancing with certain prayers making for a unforgettable site. Many wanted to get a close to the wall as possible. I put a prayer for good health for my Mother, Brother, and a member of our Havura in Santa Rosa , Joel Blumberg who is battling throat cancer.



Nov. 12 After Shabbat: Sholomo Carlebach Concert at Binyanef HaUma concert hall, the largest in Jerusalem, In Remembrance of his 21th Yahrzeit. Rabbi Carlebach was a phenom in the 50-70' s writing music, recording CD’s, giving concerts everywhere from college campuses , where Stan was lucky to see him at Purdue in late 50's and Roberta a few years later at Stanford, to large venues. He touched a very large number of religious and non religious Jews with his music and his motto, “ Friends are so Sweet”. He also composed many melodies for religious prayers and in fact a whole Friday night services can be sung with his tunes only, which I love and have gone to two Friday night “ Carlebach Kabbalat Shabbat” services already. The concert featured 8 performers all singing Carlebach songs with crowd singing most of them too. Many times the audience would keep on chanting the song after the performer finished causing another continuation of the song. Many times also the young people would run to the aisle and start dancing and moving up and down the aisles jumping up and down to the beat of the holy music. All the music has a religious tone and is quite beautiful. It can only be described as an incredible happening, and 21 years since he died people are not forgetting him or his music. One might say if you crossed “The Grand Old Opery” with Elvis singing his love songs and a Jewish prayer service you would get close to the event. Ah, but I forgot 2 important parts. Since this was a Orthodox crowd only men were dancing, but did this stop Roberta from getting up and dancing her self. Heck no and after awhile did she drag her Stan to join her dancing while holding hands violating the Orthodox custom of touching one's wife, heck yes! Then on the way home on the bus, a large group of kids at the concert staring singing and dancing right on the bus in an open section. One young man with payases ( for very religious Hassid Jews uncut curly long hair from the temples) down to his shoulders, whipped out his banjo and offered prayers of Carlebach and played his songs. What a happy group after a wonderful concert.


Nov. 13. We walked ( 25 minutes each way) to the Shuk and bought vegetables and a sea bass. After saving a lot of money , we blew it on some pastry at 65 shekels per kilo or about $8 per pound. What fun.

2011 First 3 weeks in Jerusalem & Around Israel

First 3 weeks in Jerusalem- Lectures, Places, Concerts Oct 21 Shabbat at the Yeshrun Synagogue which featured a men's choir and great cantor and used Carlebach melodies which I love. Oct 22. Lecture at Great Synagogue by Vice Prime Minister Moshe Ya'alon, former chief of the Army talking on challenges facing Israel. Main point is Iran is now behind all the tough problems Israel is facing and will have to be dealt with at some point. Palestinians do not want peace and never have. He voted against Shalit deal as he followed his head not his heart, as death penalty he feels with have to be considered for terrorist murderers. Oct 23 Saw Russian Circus at Jerusalem Theater only 10 minute walk. Incredible. There are about 7 different theaters within 15 minute walk of our rental. Circus all in Russian was fun Oct 24 “Eichman in Jerusalem:50 years After” Lecture by Former Israeli Supreme Court Justice Gavriel Bach who was Deputy Prosecutor and Primary Interface with Eichmann in the 1961 trial. The Judge talked about incredible luck of his father to leave Germany just before Kristnacht, travel to Holland and get his family out of Germany and then leave Holland 1 day before Hitler invaded. Hitler postponed the invasion 6 times each of the last 6 days so every one was critical for his family to get to Palestine. On the next trip this boat was sunk with all aboard lost at sea. His father developed a reputation because of this excellent timing. When Gen Rommel was advancing toward Egypt and if successful would have captured all the Jews in Palestine, friends asked him when and where should they go next. His father replied we stay and fight here. Eichmann never changed his view of what he did. In a 1956 book deal he told his biographer he regretted not killing more Jews. The prosecutor amassed colossal evidence against him from all countries and had witnesses testify from all the countries the Nazis were in to set the record straight for all the countries where Jews were captured and killed. Eichmann didn't care about the war effort as when the General in charge of Paris , who had in custody a Jewish professor expert in radar, wrote to Eichmann asking to keep the professor in his custody to extract his knowledge. Eichmann wouldn't even consider it. Eichmann thought up the following idea in late 1944 when Hungary was finally invaded and the 400,00 Hungary Jews were to be killed,; before their arrival to the gas chambers they first wrote postcards back to Hungary telling their relatives that the work is not too bad , the food is good, and to come quick and bring extra shoes. The German army was running out of shoes then. The Judge though 84 was in great shape and is invited all over the world to speak about the trial and antisemitism. Recently he was in Japan where 50,00 Japanese learned Hebrew and sang Hatikva to him and treated him royally. He is still in contact with Eichmann's defense attorney in Germany; during the trial Bach shared evidence with him and they had a formalwithw but collegial relationship. Oct 26. Lecture by Rabbi Dr. Nathan T. Lopes Cardozo is Dean of the David Cardozo Academy for Jewish Studies and Human Dignity. He lectures regularly at over fifty institutions of Jewish and secular learning around the world. He is the author of several books on Judaism sponsored by Beth Midrash Cardozo in Jerusalem in memory of Rabbi David Lopes Cardozo of the Amsterdam Portuguese Spanish Synagogue (1808-1880). Regarded by many as a type of ambassador of Jewish conscience, he has, over the past twenty-five years, attracted a large number of students with his unconventional style. His fresh approach to many topics of social concern and his unswerving honesty continue to engage Jews and non-Jews alike. (from his web site) He talked about Spinoza and his times in 1650 Amsterdam. The Jews had been escaping to Holland from the Inquisition for some time as they were secret Jews but living as Christian. So they had to learn complete Judaism but it was filtered thru the Christian education they had received for many generations. Keeping the laws was not a problem but not having a list with a specific set of beliefs was. The Protestants of Holland welcomed the Jews with some specific requirements, namely that the Jews stay together, not interact with the Christians and don't question and not converse with them on religion. Secondly the Rabbis there were not the most educated and had difficulty allowing questioning of all Jewish beliefs where any place else this would not have been a problem. When Spinoza questioned the existence of God that was a problem! The method to keep the Jews in line was by a lay group that watched their community to make sure one went to services and bought meat form the Sephardic butcher and not the Ashkenazim one, etc. If one transgressed one was banned an appropriate time ranging from one day on. One then had to apologize in front of the congregations and then one was back in good standing. Spinoza was banned, then recanted in front of the congregation, but then soon wrote again that God doesn’t exist and then was banned again. This time he refused to apologize and therefore was permanently banned. He was one of only 4 excommunicated in this period. He then got angry at the Jewish community and wrote incorrect things about Judaism. Nevertheless, Rabbi Cardozo is a great fan of his philosophy books and reads them daily. Rabbi Cardozo was a very interesting person concerned with changing Judaism. He grew up in the same synagogue in Amsterdam, not the same building as in 1650 as a new building went up in early 1700s. Some of these Jews moved to England starting in 1660s. Oct 28 Shabbat services at very modern Orthodox Shir Hadash where women sit on the same floor as men, act as cantor for part of the services, though a see thru curtain separates the sexes down the middle. The singing is wonderful with actual harmony and much enthusiasm in singing . It is most inspirational. Oct 29 'Live at the New York Met' came to Israel and Jerusalem first. We saw Don Giovanni. What fun. Interesting that they are not showing the 2 Wagner opera here in Israel! Oct 30 Tour of east Jerusalem already discussed. Oct 31. Free concert with new music by an Israeli composer with roots in Yemen. Chorus with oud and other middle eastern instruments. Meet Shimshon (Sam) and Miriam Neikrug and son in laws parent Stu and Getta Krauss at concert and had dinner after. Really great pizza at Jerusalem Theater's restaurant. Nov. 1 Roberta goes to Hallel chorus at Hebrew Union College where Reform rabbinical students come for their first year of study. Roberta had to audition and she is in. They do Hebrew and Ladino songs. She goes from 8 to10 pm once aweek and it is only a 15 minute walk. Nov. 3 We went to an unusual concert the Mediterranean Andalusian Orchestra of some where in Israel. This was in still another theater within 15 minutes of our place. The word Andalusian refers to the southernmost part of Spain with capitol Seville, but here refers to the Jews who were significant in this region but also to the other north African countries with a lot of Jews, namely Libya, Tunisia, etc and all the way round to Turkey. The crowd knew all the music and sang along and capped the hands off. There was a big guy tenor and 2 teenage boys. Many of the instruments were of middle east origin. Songs were in Spanish, French, Ladino and even Arabic. When the cello soloist came out to perform some serious music, a clown came out and did a number along side. He brought a food wagon out and started chopping veggies with a large knife, saw, or ax and putting cut veggies into a large pot. He turned the burners on and large amount of smoke came out. Finally after much prancing and other stuff , he served the conductor some food from a plate he prepared and got a positive OK. It was very funny and was called the Couscous Concerto. Nov. 4 Spent weekend Shabbat with cousin Shimshon and Miriam Neikrug at their moshav Tiryat Yehuda. We took bus to Ben Gurion airport and he would pick us as his place is close by. When we got close to a stop the bus driver told us to get off and take the #5 to the airport. The bus web site said this was a nonstop to the airport and now we were on a corner of the highway at a bus stop. We called Shimshon and he knew were we were. He took us a a tour of the West Bank. We headed out #444 to #465 and headed east first to Beit Arye, a middle class secular town, then past several Arab villages, then Nacholot, then Kiyat Sefar which is most unusual. The super Orthodox called haredi, which means 'shaking' really for fear of GD, wanted to live in Bnai Braq and Jerusalem, the 2 ancient holy biblical cites but they got filled and /or too expensive. So the government built 2 cites for the this group starting in 1994 and only this group. One must be interviewed to get in and must agree to abide by all religious rules, including no TV. There are no businesses other than yeshivas where the men study and assorted services for everyday life. Population is around 50K with median age 10 years old!! It is just 1.5 miles over the border and so it would not be too much of a problem to adjust the borders. Miriam works part time in this town as a speech therapist and mentor to young speech therapists. We then drove to two secular towns, Lapid & then Kfar Oranium where their son Yehuda lives. The original town here needed to expand and then did but just across the Green Line. Changing the boarder will not be difficult here also, but some towns which are far from the former line will be more difficult. They live in a nice townhouse with 2 units side by side with a little side yard with fruit trees. Their kitchen is quite small by our standards as are most Israeli kitchens but has lots of electric appliances. We then traveled past the new town of Modi'in, population 75K and inside the border. The Chanukah story started nearby with the Maccabees and older brother Judah. In fact Shimshon's moshav Tiryat Judah is named after Judah Maccabee. This brand new planned town is a big success and some day will have high speed rail to Jerusalem in 30 min. Now it is connected to Tel Aviv by rail. On the way back we stopped at burial site of Macabees or 2200 year old. They carved coffin size caves in the rocks right on the surface. They were scattered around and some had a very large rock partial covering the opening. Then we stopped at a Roman mausoleum the size of a very large room. Inside on a side room was a pigeon roost that they used for eating and sacrifice. Next we saw a Biblical age water storage building. They lined this large building with limestone and then set the cavity on fire which made lime and a lining to hold water. Nov. 6 Went to concert at Jerusalem Theater called the Emunah Concert, a fund raiser for this charity, Emunah, that helps poor people with a very wide range of services. We got one of the last seats but didn't matter as concert hall is not that big. Music was ' Jewish Music at Its Best” and was 2 cantors from Israel who were incredible. Simon Cohen grew up and trained in England but now lives here. Shai Abramson is now the chief Cantor of the Israel Defense Force. They sang with the Jerusalem Symphony Orchestra and 2 men choirs many prayers in the full cantor's mode and it was very special. Also singing was a Orthodox musical talent Yonatan Razel who composed his own semi pop version of various prayers. Simon Cohen also did “Bring Him Home' from Les Miserables in honor of Schalit coming home. It was quite moving. They also did “ O Sole Mio' duet which was quite a treat. We certainly got our money 's worth. Interestingly the three cantors also related musically, singing harmonies and counter melodies together (unlike the Three Tenors who were almost always soloists.)

Everyday life in Jerusalem

We are having a great time. We have a three room apartment in the middle of Jerusalem, not far from the King David Hotel and the YMCA It has a bedroom, bathroom, and combination living room, dining room, and kitchen. We cook on a two burner hot plate. There is a microwave, electronic pot for heating water, and toaster oven, and a refrigerator with separate freezer on top. There is a stacked washer and drier in a closet. But of course one can only use one appliance at a time . If we use too many appliances simultaneously we have to reset the circuit breakers. Jerusalem is such an intellectually alive place. Then there is the challenge of every day life in a foreign country producing such activities as buying cottage cheese which we thought was yogurt, figuring out icons on the washing machine, mopping the tile floor Israeli style i.e. you wrap a thick cotton cloth (almost like a bathmat) around a squeegee, wet it with floor cleaner in water, and mop--or you throw the floor cleaner in water on the floor and then "mop" with the cloth. We bought canned tomatoes and then realized we didn't have a can-opener. When we want hot water to shower or wash dishes, we press a button and have lots of hot water in 10 minutes--it's a very energy efficient method--Germany and most of Europe had the same kind of system in the 1970s. Washer and drier are front loaders for energy efficiency. Most of the houses and apartment houses have some kind of solar energy set-up on the roof.