A Settler's Olive Tree

With all the nastiness thrown at settlers about allegedly cutting down Arab olive trees, (and emerging proof that the Arabs are the ones cutting down their own trees) I decided to post a personal story about the lone olive tree...at the Muqata.

My 2 oldest kids informed me last week that they were going to pick the olives from our tree. We'd never done it before, and I was too busy to bother. Let them have their fun...

Enterprising as ever, they proudly presented me with their handiwork 2 hours later:



I won't put up any pictures of what our poor tree looked like AFTER they got through with it, but I'm reminded of the Giving Tree, by Shel Silverstein (a book I used often as a madrich)


Stuck with buckets of olives at our front door, I was given the job of dealing with the olives. On my way to work this morning, I stopped by a neighboring settlement, Itamar.




Located near Shechem, Itamar is home to the only Jewish-owned olive press in the area -- and it's run by Mr. Barak Melet. In addition to operating the olive press, Barak has his own olive grove and wheat fields -- and he also produces organic flour with his own flour mill. (We use his organic flour for baking matzot on Erev Pesach)


Inside the olive press, I was greeted by many buckets and bags of olives awaiting pressing. (It costs 6 NIS per liter of oil pressed from your olives -- and has an output maximum capacity of close to 200 liters an hour)



The press itself has a panel that controls all the functions of the press.



Barak pouring olives into the press.


Oil dripping out of the press...



And is poured into yellow containers.


Stats:

• Each tree produces about 5 liters of olive oil
• You can fit about 75 trees per dunan (100 square meters)
• Price per liter of oil: 32 NIS.
• Amount of money possible per dunam: 12,000 NIS (roughly $2800)

What's left of the olives after pressing: (Barak uses this stuff for heating his home)


Leaving Itamar (I had to get to work already!!)





Off to the North was Shechem...in between the mountains.





On my way westwards to route 60, I passed the local IDF base.



And continued on to Road 60...


Mission Complete: Our olive tree provided us with 5 liters of olive oil which we hope to use this coming Chanuka; and if my wife approves, for cooking as well.

The last remaining issue is that I need to take off terumot and massrot (with a bracha). Note: trumot and massrot are taken from the oil, and not the olives.


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Backstabbing Continued.

Partial List of people backstabbed by Israel:

• Jonathan Pollard
• South Lebanese Army
• Madhat Youssef
• Palestinian Collaborators
• Refugees of Gush Katif/Northern Shomron

Latest addition to the list:

The residents of Rajar.

Huh, I hear you ask? What's Rajar? (Sounds like, "Where's Waldo?")




Rajar is a village on the border of Israel and Lebanon/Syria, which has been part of Israel since 1967. It's residents are Israeli, vote in Israeli elections, receive their services from Israel...and till today -- had IDF soldiers stationed in their town.

YNET reports:

About 2,100 residents live in Ghajar, some 1,550 of them in the northern part, the latter were surprised to hear in the media about the government's decision that they will be supervised by the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon and that IDF soldiers will be stationed on the 'Blue Line.'

The village's secretary, Najib Hatib, was furious: "We have been living without a mother or father for almost seven years. Who will take care of brining food to the babies? Who will take care of repairing electricity and phone problems? Perhaps the UN, perhaps the Lebanese army?"

But the residents have nothing to worry about.

The National Security Cabinet has decided to adopt the proposal calling for Israel to withdraw from the northern part of the Lebanese border village of Ghajar and to hand over responsibility there to the UN peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon.

I'm sure they'll be able to sleep soundly now.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

ELAL On Shabbat...the boycott looms

On my way home from work last night, I was listening to the "Kol Chai" radio station, and heard the following halachik proclamation in the name of R' Chaim Kanievsky (shlita): "Because ELAL flies on Shabbat, flying ELAL is now a safek pikuach nefesh" (roughly translated as: possibly life threatening) -- and as a result...a Chareidi boycott against ELAL is looming.

Last week, ELAL flew many planes on a very late schedule -- with flights flying and landing on Shabbat at Ben Gurion Airport in Israel. The reason for the Shabbat flights was that ELAL trying to "catch up" to their schedule after the Histadrut's Labor Strike last week, which grounded the airport, thereby preventing all incoming/outgoing flights.

The reason for the strike...happened to have been very justified (for a change). Prime Minister Ehud Olmeret's government has refused to pay the salaries of municipal workers in different cities -- with some have not received a salary in over five months. Think about that for a second. Salaried employees, even some who work for the chevra kadisha in certain municipalities as well, have not received salaries for FIVE months or more.

This is the same Olmert who heartlessly continues to refuse housing and job solutions for the people kicked out of their homes in Gush Katif more than 15 months ago. (Hey OU, are you listening?)

So, in typical domino-effect fashion;

• Olmert refuses to pay legally, salaried, employees...for 5 months and more.
• The Histadrut Labor Union strikes after being ignored by the Israeli government.
• The airport gets shut down.
• ELAL can't fly out of many locations
• Many people are inconvenienced who wish to fly to Israel.
• Labor Judge Steve Adler rules against Olmert -- forcing immediate salary payment within a week.
• Strike called off.
• ELAL rushes to rearrange it's flight schedule -- and due to some stupid consultants, end up flying on shabbat. Bad Move.

So...the Chareidi world is on the brink of calling for an economic boycott against ELAL.

Now, I've posted before about ELAL and how I think they're a decent airline (or perhaps, mostly to their business customers), but they really dropped the ball on this issue.

Unfortunately, the Chareidi world is also blowing things out of proportion by not even trying to talk to ELAL. ELAL is no longer the "State Airline"...and they "desecrate the Shabbat" every Shabbat on all sorts of flights run by the airline, but not with the name ELAL on the plane.

More so, ELAL's competition in Israel also flies on Shabbat...

Lastly; there are all sorts of companies in Israel that operate on Shabbat, but I don't hear the Chareidi community calling for a boycott against them;

• Intel works on Shabbat in Kiryat Gat.
• Egged buses operate on Shabbat, but not regular bus lines (except in Haifa and a few other places)
• The Israel Electric Company transports generators on Shabbat, which is not an essential operation that needs to happen on Shabbat.

And there are many others.

While the Chareidi community usually "tries to solve issues quietly" -- I think in this case, it might have the the right way to go. This boycott is going to be a slippery slope; and where it ends is a big question.

• A secular backlash could result in ELAL davka operating on Shabbat...with treif food being the default.
• If the boycott starts, then ELAL may just start flying all their flights on Shabbat as well -- resulting in MUCH more Chilul Shabbat.

And more.

sigh

UPDATE 5:20 PM: Reported on Walla & IDF Radio, the CEO of ELAL, Chaim Romano just said something incredibly stupid at a Tourism Conference. "We will continue to fly on Shabbat under certain circumstances. We expect the religious community to accomodate us, just like we accomodate them."

He could have apologized. The slippery slope has started...

Coincidence Update? (5:26 PM) ELAL Jumbo 747, Flight 007 from TLV to JFK just made an emergency landing on runway 26 at Ben-Gurion airport, after fire and smoke were seen coming from one of the engines shortly after take-off.

The plane dumped 150 tons of fuel over the Mediterranean, circled around and returned for the emergency landing. Flight should take off again in another 90 minutes...


Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Encompassing Judaism...not just "Zionism"

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Bnei Akiva symbol painted on a trailer (caravan) at a hidden location in Israel.

Adopting the Muqata's Slogan, this Bnei Akiva caravan reads
"To any place where I may walk, I am always walking towards Eretz Yisrael."
The blue, white and orange colors are the nationally recognized symbol of "Shvil Yisrael"
-- the hiking trail which goes from the Northern tip of Israel,
to the Southernmost point.

This past weekend was "Shabbat Irgun", the culmination of a month of activities of the Bnei Akiva youth movement in Israel. I was never part of Bnei Akiva in the United States -- it always had a stigma of being "not religious enough" or much too aliya-centric...in fact, there was no real Bnei Akiva in my hometown growing up. (And the town was happy that way, with little encouragement for aliya, and a "frummer" environment)

Yet, here in Israel, I'm happy my kids are part of Bnei Akiva. (Also, it's not mixed -- like it was when I was a kid in the US. And its alot more fun than Pirchei Aguda).

I will admit, that I don't have patience for their Motzei Shabbat (Saturday Night) performances following Shabbat Irgun, and it's painful waiting through them when your kids aren't in a particular skit or dance.

Let me go home already...please?

And I still only get home at midnight. Yet as my wife is reading this, I know not to complain since I didn't go last year at all (I think I was away on a business trip, whew), so it was definitely my turn this year.

After lunch this past Shabbat, we all took a stroll to our local Bnei Akiva trailer-park (they're called caravans in Israel), which were painted by each group in honor of Shabbat Irgun.

Now, as I was getting this blog post ready for publication, I was pointed (thanks WBM :-)to a posting on Chayei Sarah's blog, where she opinions that Religious Zionism is all about "the land" and doesn't focus on the other mitzvot.

Bnei Akiva kids put a banner up in my neighborhood during the Lebanon War stating their solidarity with the people of the North. I smiled every time I saw it. It made me happy that in a time of crisis, the whole country felt unified and that young people in Jerusalem were proudly proclaiming their solidarity with people they'd never met.

Now that the war is over, and the Gaza pullout is long past, I wish they'd put up banners about other things. About loving your neighbor as yourself, about helping the poor and other things that, after all, are Torah values. Perhaps the kids do discuss these things within their chapters. Certainly they have wonderful activities around the holidays, and they do learn Torah, but in terms of the public face of the organization . . . they don't seem to have learned anything from what happened two summers ago. The self-reflection of the rabbis I heard has not trickled down to the level of the kids' banners and the paintings on the chapter's walls.

It makes me sad that, in practice, Religious Zionism continues to be all about Zionism and hardly about religion at all.

Unfortunately, Chayei Sarah's experience with Bnei Akiva in Israel must be rather limited. I took pictures of the caravan walls, and you can see for yourself what messages they are fostering. (Not that there is anything wrong with solidarity)


Justice in Society. They kids painted every imaginable quote from the Torah, Jewish religious source that deal with Justice...and Social Justice.

On that day...that Jews love one another, respect one another, respect their heritage and when their actions are influenced by love of the Torah, love of the people, and love of the land in its holiness...on that day there will be a "Jewish Culture."



Social Justice was a major theme this year...culminating in the realization that social justice brings about realization of G-d.

And yet, we do not forget.

Over the door of each caravan was a zecher l'churban - a reminder of the destruction of the Beit HaMikdash, the Jewish Temple(s). We have one in our home as well...where we also mourn the destruction of the Jewish communities of Gaza.



Finally - the Bnei Akiva kids make sure they will also never forget the destruction of the homes in Gush Katif. While some may think they learned "nothing" from two summers ago -- I think they learned quite alot. That the Israeli government can easily turn its back, and stab in the back, some of it's most loyal of citizens. I think they learned that when the government ignores the plight of fellow Jews, then THEY fill the void. I think they seek justice for themselves as well as for others.

While it may bother some, we "don't forget" -- the lack of justice then during the disengagement, and the apathy today -- the blatant lack of simple human care by the Israeli Knesset and Government for the plight of the Gush Katif refugees (many of whom still have no real housing solutions, over 50% unemployment, and many other problems).

Judaism is about ALL the mitzvot. And Bnei Akiva tries to encourage the observance of all of them.

Right now, I'm blogging this from the lobby of a hotel in Northern Israel, (during my break for dinner), where I'm attending a MDA enrichment course [I'll blog about that later as well]. There are MANY religious Zionists here...and Chareidim...and secular Israelis...and they all volunteer all over Israel -- not only in their closed environment. Why would they? Don't they only care about themselves?

It's so simple to shoot an arrow, and draw a target around it.

While it may seem like good blog material to go after Religious Zionists and say the "right wing" only cares about the Eretz Yisrael; in reality, you'll find them all over Israel, doing all sorts of wonderful inter-personal mitzvot.

And we still love Eretz Yisrael.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Posts coming soon...

0. Despite the rest of Israel being on strike, I'm not. Really.

1. I'm just not able to post now...but will have some important posts up around 7 PM. (with an explanation of why I can't post now...this time, it's a good excuse ;-)

2. Sorry if anyone was offended by the Matza Ball ad on my blog; the ad publishers are sending me a slightly more tzanua version (Ive since taken it down till I get the new one).

Thats all. Gotta Run -- be back soon.

Jameel



Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Been Way Too Busy

Yes, I'll admit it -- I've been way too busy to blog the past few days. Combination of work, stuff at home, the kids, etc., etc. etc., all lame excuses for a blogger, but nevertheless, I've been busy. Really. I hope to rearrange my schedule to get back on the blogging track soon, but don't expect much till the end of the week, unless the special guest blogger I'm trying to get, accepts my invitation.

However, let me tell what I would have blogged about (and still plan to) in the coming week:

While so many bloggers used to go after settlers for allegedly uprooting and destroying Palestinian Olive trees, the Muqata kids picked all the olives on our own local tree (in our backyard). Will there be enough oil for Chanuka? Who really is destorying the trees? All that and more with pictures...




This past shabbat was "Shabbat Irgun" -- the shabbat honoring Bnei Akiva. I wasn't involved in Bnei Akiva till college and all these weird things my kids do is beyond me. Shabbat was the culmination of a month of intense "Bnei Akiva" activities, and I hope to post about it (again, with pictures of the caravan my kids painted)





Olmert and the OU. If the OU convention now issues such pro-Yesha (and anti-disenagement) sentiment, then what the heck were they doing inviting Olmert to be a guest of honor? Carl of Israel Matzav makes sure to give the OU the credit they deserve (for doing something right.) On the other hand, the Palestinians are re-arming and continuing to fire rockets at Sederot (despite the ceasefire...hahahahahah, oooops, sorry for laughing, it's a very serious ceasefire) , showing off their Kassam rockets in the Shomron, and threatening to kidnap more Israelis. Our brilliant Prime Minister (don't forget, he's also an honoree of the OU) has decided that the Palestinians deserve in return for their heroic efforts, land for nothing, the release of terrorists, and a full State.


As Orthomom pointed out, the Renegade Rebbitzen has made a cameo apperance on her own blog...(apparently she's really busy, but always funny!)

R' Gil Student referenced The Muqata in a posting on his blog, Hirhurim. I'm honored. Really. Thanks.

A few postings back, I asked who knew what caused the damage in the pictures, and when did they occur? The correct answer is, an earthquake in 1927 in the Jordan Valley. The pictures are from Yericho. Points to all who answered correctly, with an extra 5 to Olah Chadasha for answering first, and 10 extra points to Kasamba for the best answer :)

FINALLY:

DovBear had a very good post up about Teens at Risk. DovBear will probably be upset with me, but I changed the first two sentences which I found bothersome. You can see them on his site if you wish -- I normally wouldn't include an entire posting, but it's very important to read, and he gets full credit for this important post.

At-risk teens

Like it or not, the "at-risk teen" phenomnon affects teens from all parts of Judaism, including religious Orthodoxy. The "at-risk teens" aren't necessarily druggies, or pathologically rebeluous, or otherwise abnormal-- in fact, most of them are perfectly ordinary. They are kids who like to read, listen to music, play sports, or hang with friends. Kids who may not have a taste for serious learning, or the discipline to sit at a desk for long stretches at a time, or the brains to keep up with the top of the class. Kids who are curious or impatiant or positive they know more than their elders. Kids who are in a rush to grow up. Kids who just want tolerance and guidance as they find their own way into adulthood.

These are ordinary kids, then, ordinary kids, the sort of kids who flourish when given love and patiance and understanding. Unfortunately, they are also the types of kids often cruely labled "at risk." And, by the scores, these are the types of kids who are abandoning a religious community that tells them that unless they can look and act just like the the best and the brightest they aren't worth anything at all. How can Judaism survive if this continues? Yaakov Horowitz tells us more:

Over the past twenty years, I conducted hundreds of terribly painful ‘exit interviews’ with children and adults who have abandoned Yiddishkeit. I can tell you in no uncertain terms what it is that they wanted – and why they took their business elsewhere. They were looking for respect and understanding. Acceptance. Safe and nurturing home lives. Hands-on parents who offer unconditional love along with their guidance. Caring educators who dealt with their admitted misdeeds gently and privately (firmly was OK). The ability to be a bit different without being labeled or judged. More time for hobbies and more recreational opportunities. On an educational level, I can tell you some additional things that they needed. A slower pace of learning. More skill-based teaching. Visual and diverse learning.

Some simple, and absolutely intutitive right? So are these things being provided?

In many communities, I’m sad to report, exactly the opposite is happening. School hours are getting longer and longer. Kids have less time and opportunity to engage in desperately needed recreational activities. In fact, in some communities, normal sports activities are frowned upon or outright banned – sometimes for children above the age of ten years old!! Greater demands are being made on children. Schools that dismiss children are valued and pursued. Acceptance criterion for high schools is getting increasingly more challenging. On many occasions, I have clearly stated that in today’s climate I would probably not have been accepted to any ‘normal’ high school when I graduated eighth grade thirty-three years ago!!

The great Yaakov Horrowitz an at-risk teen? Talk about your near misses.

Most peculiar is the reaction of parents who respond to their fears by striving mightily to place their children in the most rigorous programs – the ones with the longest hours, the least in the way of recreation, and with the most strident demands on their children. The thinking is that their children will be safe there, as the ‘chevrah’ will be better and the ‘at-risk’ children will be excluded from those elite schools. However, this thinking is terribly flawed. For there is no guarantee that their child – or one of their children some time in the future of their family life – will not be one of those children who will need some adjustment, tolerance, or understanding. So, in effect, the parents are raising the bar – and the ante of this very high-stakes gamble – by opting to send their child to a program that purports to produce a ‘metzuyan’ or ‘mitzuyenes’ (exemplary children). But at the same time, they are greatly increasing the odds that their child may find the train running away from him or her. And, in all my years of dealing with the at-risk teen population, I have not noticed that the elitist schools have any lower percentage of kids abandoning Yiddishkeit. All the more so if you include those who were asked to “find another school,” midway in their school experience.

The answer, I think, is to lower your standards. Let your kids fail. Let them ask questions. Let them go through phases. Let them embaress you in front of the neighbors, expecially if the neighbor is a moron and an idiot and shallow self-centered git. Who cares what he thinks anyway? Is he the one who is going to visit you in the nursing home when you're old and useless? And remember two things (1) you don't owe the world a perfect child; but you do owe your child unconditional love; and (2) so long as you don't destroy the bridge that exists between you and your kids, they will always find their way back to you. Always.

[Read the rest]

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Uri Geller: Quack? Charlatan? Magician? Sorcerer?

I usually don't pay much attention to the psycho spoon bender Uri Geller. I don't know why anyone pays much attention to him...so it really annoys me when R' Shmuel Eliyahu (Rav of Tzefat) comments publicly about Geller in an interview with Arutz-7 that "people should not use supernatural powers for cheap entertainment."

Use of supernatural forces for entertainment purposes

To make matters worse, an 11 year old kid tried "duplicating" Geller's TV performance last night of holding his breath...and the kid passed out and was hospitalized.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

As Thanksgiving Ebbs Away

I didn't eat Turkey this year, since we went to a wedding. Actually, we didn't eat Turkey last year either; guess we just grew out of it...too much craziness to bother...I guess.

A 57 year old Muslim woman blew herself up this evening near IDF soldiers in Northern Gaza. Thankfully, 3 IDF soldiers were only lightly wounded as the Palestinian terrorist blew herself to bits.

Picture of the ethical 57 year old Palestinian terrorist

While we have much to be thankful for, the people have Sederot are still getting shelled daily by Palestinians, and the Israeli government is too scared to act.

The families of kidnapped IDF soldiers aren't too happy either...and the Baumel family is convinced their son is still alive after they received new information about the fate of their son, IDF soldier Zecharia Baumel who was kidnapped 23 years ago.

A lot to think about, as Thanksgiving ebbs away.

Shabbat Shalom to all our readers...

Jameel & Co.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael

Priest and Nun try out for Rachel Corrie's Darwin Award.

AP Photo of Priest and Nun from Michigan, residing in the house
(slated for demolition by the IDF) of a wanted terrorist.
Please note terrorist dressed in green in the back left.
You can't miss him, but I think the priest and nun did...

Southern Israel has been incessantly bombed by Palestinian Qassam rockets for over 2 years. Israel even "Disengaged" from Gaza, (against my better judgment) pulling out the last IDF soldier, and forcibly removing some of Israel's most loyal and pioneering citizens from their Gaza settlements. This hasn't stopped the Palestinians (Fatah, Hamas, Islamic Jihad, etc.) from continuing to shell Israel, intentionally wounding and killing as many Israeli civilians as possible. So Israel retaliates.

Who do Michigan's Priests and Nuns run to save? Those getting shelled indiscriminately, and being targeted for simply being citizens of Israel?

G-d forbid. Turn the other cheek morality is lectured only towards JEWS.

To give us a lecture in uber-morality, Father Peter and Sister Mary Ellen of Michigan have joined the Brudi family in Jabalya (Gaza). The Brudi's were told by the IDF, that they intended to bomb and demolish their home due to their sonÂ’s activities with the Popular Resistance Committees (terrorist organization) [read: He's a terrorist, and they support hisactivitiess by giving him food and shelter in their home.]

YNET reports:

These homes have become pilgrimage sites in recent days not only for locals. Foreign peace activists have started to show interests in the phenomenon, and two Americans, a priest and a nun from Michigan, arrived at Jabalya from Michigan to take part in the human shield mission at the Brudi family home.

Sister Mary Ellen told Ynet, "We are here to find out the truth and to be with the family and these people, who are trying to prevent the demolition of a home where an entire family lives."

The Sister continued, "We are against any type of violence, whether from the Palestinian side or the Israeli side, by we are here to be with a family that may have their house bombed and demolished because of the claim that one or two members are involved in violence."

She also explained that she was well aware of the Qassam rockets fired from the northern Gaza Strip towards Sderot, and said, "I adamantly oppose and condemn the firings like I condemn all violence."

Thanks Sister. Here are some better activities for you:

1. Convince the family to stop aiding and abetting a wanted terrorist, or better yet - turn him in. He won't be killed by the IDF if you turn him in; he'll probably even be released as part of a prisoner swap. Rachel Corrie already won a Darwin award for this sort of stupidity -- do you really want this coveted award as well?

2. Why aren't you moving to Sederot? Be a human target (instead of a terrorist-housing shield) Show the world that you care about Israeli civilians. This kid (hat-tip:Kasamba) in Sederot was crying on national TV because no one was coming to his Bar Mitzva (in Sederot) -- maybe you should have dropped by to say hi.

Then again, I'd rather you didn't move to Sederot.

Your ethics match those of Gaza, perfectly.

Wherever I am, my blog turns towards Eretz Yisrael