Happy #Shavuot, 1 of 3 Jewish pilgrimage festivals in the Temple in Jerusalem.
The day commemorates receiving the Torah on Mt Sinai & the wheat harvest which concluded 7 wks after Passover.
Here's pic of a wheat harvest, probably taken in 1898 in Mikve Yisrael. Note the rabbi. 1/
Why the rabbi? Wasn't the wheat kosher?
He was probably making sure no water came in contact with the wheat which would disqualify that grain for making matza for Passover. 2/
The Book of Ruth (the Moabite) is read on #Shavuot. Much of the story takes place in wheat fields of Bethlehem. She, too, accepted the Torah & faith of Israel. She was rewarded to be great grandmother of King David.
The photographers of the American Colony recreated her story. /3
/4 Ruth is seen returning to Israel from Moab with her mother-in-law Naomi. For food for Naomi and herself, she gleaned the fields of Boaz.
Boaz and his workers noticed her virtuous actions. Eventually, Boaz took her for his wife.
5/ #Shavuot also commemorates receiving the Torah at Mt. Sinai from Moses. Traditionally, the Torah is conveyed to the nation by teachers, rabbis.
Here are some of the rabbis photographed over the last 160 years in the Land of Israel.
Two photographed by Mendel Diness circa 1859
6/ In 1898, German Emperor Wilhelm and his wife visited the Holy Land. The visit was considered monumental and was covered by the world's press.
The Jews of Jerusalem built this arch in their honor.
Waiting for the Emperor beneath were 2 chief rabbis.
7/ The Jews bedecked the arch with Jewish ornamental treasures. They were dressed in their best finery (the day was Shabbat).
Sitting below were Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yaakov Shaul Elissar and Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi of Jerusalem Shmuel Salant.
One rabbi was missing. Why?
8/ Ultra-Orthodox Jews turned out, but not their rabbi, Chaim Yosef Sonnenfeld, who believed the German nation was embodiment of Israel's Biblical arch-enemy Amalek, He refused to recite a blessing upon seeing an Amalekite king.
Pic 2: Sonnenfeld w Czech Pres Tomas Masaryk 1927.
9/ To mark #Shavuot, here's another great rabbi from almost 100 y.a. Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook, first Ashkenazi rabbi appointed chief rabbi under British mandate.
Pics: on way to meet President Coolidge at White House in 1924, mtg Churchill 1921, & meet with Czech Pres Masaryk.
10. The best reserved for last.
Great rabbis all, who conveyed the Jewish traditions during very trying times in Eretz Yisrael.
Film clip of Winston Churchill, 1921, & the leading rabbis: Kook, Sonnenfeld, and Sephardi Rabbi Jacob Meir.
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The @washingtonpost and reporter @John_Hudson have gone rabid in their attacks on Israel. See the #1 story in the paper yesterday. 1/ Hudson must be challenged on every fact: 1. Biden never accused Israel of a "scorched earth" invasion. The term is used by Hudson and some of his colleagues. Biden also "walked back" the term "red line." (DeYoung) 2. Hudson lists quantities of 2,000-pound bombs transfered to Israel that "have been linked to previous mass-casualty events." Hudson DID NOT list the $320 million of JDAM and SPICE guidance kits which transform unguided bombs to precision guided munitions. 3. The "mass casualty" events he cites were discredited. Why? Because he couldn't recognize bunker buster bombs were used so that they would explode meters underground.
2/ Hudson and WaPo must be challenged on every fact:
4. Details and video on Israel's JDAM & Spice bomb kits were published in WSJ. The kits are expected to decrease collateral damage. When "dumb bombs" have been used, the IDF dive bombs to release close to target. wsj.com/video/series/e…
3/ Hudson and WaPo must be challenged on every fact:
5. "A Coordinated Media Attack on Israel by the New York Times, Washington Post, and CNN" details the newspapers' ignorance about dumb bombs, bunker busters, and precision guide munitions. jcpa.org/article/a-coor…
The US raises treatment of imprisoned Palestinian leader Marwan Barghouti and not allowing Int'l Red Cross reps to see security prisoners in Israel.
Now this? The US is seeking the death of Israel by a thousand cuts.
Barghouti is a thug in prison for life after ordering bomb attacks during the Intifadas that killed 5, including a Greek Orthodox Priest. He was a leader of the Al Aqsa Brigade terrorist group.
It's claimed that Barghouti, now a #Hamas fan, is a potential successor to Mahmoud Abbas. Is that why the #Biden Admin is supporting him? @JakeSullivan46 @NSC_Spox
As far as the Int' Red Cross visiting Pals in prison, how dare @SecBlinken make that demand when they do not see Israeli civilian hostages?! wapo.st/3xh0r2s
2/ You can tell a lot about a person by his friends.
Here's Marwan Barghouti with his prison pals -- Samir Kuntar, who smashed a baby's skull with his rifle butt during a terrorist attack, and Ahmed Saadat, who ordered the shooting of Israeli Minister Rehavam Ze'evi.
Kuntar was released in an exchange & joined Hizbullah. He was killed in an air strike while planning a terrorist attack on the Golan.
3/ You can tell a lot about a person by his WIFE's friends. Here's Mrs. Barghouti, Fadwa, with #Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.
I am enthralled w #ghostsofbeirut, but a tinge of PTSD.
I was in Beirut in 1982. Alexander Hotel (Bob Simon's room). It had a nice outdoor cafe (used to be indoors til a bomb). Watched the IDF missile shooting down a Syrian jet, Syrian troops evacuate, Arafat & crew sail off. 1/
#Beirut 2/ Silly me. I bought a postcard & went to a post office to buy a stamp. Everyone howled. No service in yrs.
Went to Bashir Gemayal's office to talk with an aide about the president-to-be's PR in DC.
Not to be: the office & Gemayal were blown to smithereens 2 wks later.
#GhostsofBeirut@issacharoff 3/
PTSD? I still have rolls of film, developed but not viewed. Mental pic of the entrance to huge PLO cave/armory & a Saiqa soldier sitting as a guard, his skeleton in full uniform.
A mortar (no warhead) as a paperweight. Shrapnel was everywhere.
"3D analysis shows how Israeli troops fired into group of civilians."
WaPo deep dive is a classic case of JOURNALISTIC MALPRACTICE by Evan Hill who just left NYT where he crucified Israel for the May 2021 war in Gaza, He lied hid evidence, old clips. 1/ washingtonpost.com/investigations…
Journalistic Malpractice 2/ @EvenHill, formerly from NYT, Al Jazeera, Human Rights Watch. He wrote civilians were killed in Israeli raid that nabbed "several Palestinian fighters." At least 8!, including commanders.
The civilians - & all of Nablus - are used as human shields.
J Malpractice 3/
Hill was behind a NYT hit job, “Gaza’s Deadly Night” It claimed Israel collapsed Gaza apt buildings, killing many.
Hamas had a massive tunnel network UNDER residential areas. Hill ignored the fact & pics.
My indictment of Hill is here: jcpa.org/article/the-me…
#Purim's over; costumes are in the attic. With some trepidation, many Jews see the #Passover preparations & cleaning ahead.
Traditionally, this is a time to get Matza for the holiday.
125 y.a. students at Mikve Yisrael ag school were harvesting wheat. Why was a Rabbi there? 1/
Making of Matza is very meticulous. No water can enter the process until the last minute, lest the grain, flour, or matza becomes leavened. Must complete the process from the second H2O is added to the flour, kneaded, rolled out & baked in under 18 minutes.
Rabbis supervise.
2 types of Matza made in the Ashkenazi world -- machine-made & hand-made. Below: Round hand-made baked in the UAE & machine-made in Haifa ~ 1920.
Workers had signs up to remind them to have intention to fulfill the mitzva of matza; it's not automatic.
Also a sign: don't smoke.
This is outrageous on so many levels. 1/ 1. The Palestinians deny the existence of the Jewish People in Biblical time, even the existence of the Temple. 2. Palestinian looters & grave diggers plunder archeological sites constantly. 3. Most Pals aren't... nytimes.com/2023/01/05/art…
2/ "Palestinian relic" 3. Most Arab residents did not show up in Palestine until maybe 1400 yrs ago & many only in last 150 yrs. Erakat's claim to have been a Canaanite is bunk. 4. Dangerous precedent by US. Imagine US Embassy trucks emptying Israel Museum, Shrine of the Book...
3/ Pal relic.
...4. Pals claim the contents as well of Bible Lands Museum, Rockefeller Museum... 5. Pals strategy is to delegitimize the Jewish State any way it can, including religiously. Therefore, destruction of JEWISH RELICS on the Temple Mt.