Shimona from th...'s profileTHE VIEW FROM THE PALACEPhotosBlogListsMore  |  Tools Help |
|
May 27 ShavuotThe festival of Shavuot (Pentecost) starts tomorrow evening. Unlike all the other festivals mentioned in the Torah, the date of Shavuot is not specified. Instead, the Children of Israel were commanded to count a period of seven weeks from the day following the Pessach (Passover) festival (hence the name Shavuot,meaning "weeks"). Like Pessach, Shavuot is a harvest festival. Thus, it is also known as Chag Hakatzir ("The Festival of the Harvest") and as Yom Habikkurim ("The Day of the First Ripe Fruits"), when it was customary to bring a thanksgiving offering to G-d for His bounty. But most importantly, Shavuot is Zman Matan Torateinu ("The Season of the Giving of our Torah").
Pessach is a spring festival, marked by the blossoming of flowers, but while the flowers are beautiful, it is only when the fruits ripen that they have a use and a purpose beyond mere beauty. In the same way, the Exodus from Egypt brought freedom to the Children of Israel, but it was a freedom without use or purpose - anarchy, in fact. Only when the Children of Israel accepted the Torah, and adopted a set of rules and a morality by which to live, did the flowers of freedom ripen into the fruits of nationhood.
You might ask yourself, why is Shavuot called "The Season of the Giving of our Torah" rather than "The Season of the Receiving of our Torah". The reason for this is that whereas we make the decision, daily, to accept the Torah and live by it (or not, as is, unfortunately, too often the case) the Torah was given by G-d once, and once only, on Mount Sinai, on the 6th day of the month of Sivan - a specific time and place.
In the Book of Exodus, Chapter 19, we read how the Children of Israel prepared to receive the Torah by purifying themselves for three days. Since then, it is the custom to spend the eve of Shavuot in all-night prayer and study - Tikkun Leil Shavuot. In modern Israel, outside ultra-orthodox circles, this often takes the form of lectures and symposia on the application of Torah and Halakha (Jewish Law) to topical questions arising from the problems presented by modern lifestyles and technology. For example, I noticed that tomorrow night, Jerusalem's Yeshurun Synagogue will host a number of lectures on subjects ranging from how to determine the moment of death according to Halakha (vitally important in an age when organ transplants are an accepted fact of life) to the Halakhic aspects of Operation Cast Lead.
Shavuot is when we read the Book of Ruth, the story of the most famous convert to Judaism in history. Her story takes place round about the time of the wheat harvest. We read about her gathering corn in the field of Boaz - for in Jewish law, the corners of the field, the fallen and forgotten sheaves, the gleanings, were to be left for the poor. Ruth, as we know, was the great-grandmother of King David. Thus, a foreign woman, a convert, was the ancestress of the most famous of the kings of Israel, the mother of the line from whom the Messiah will one day come. Furthermore, Shavuot, according to Jewish tradition, is the birthday of King David. It is also the day of his death.
One of the most beautiful of Shavuot customs is that of decorating the synagogue with flowers. In our synagogue in London, if my memory doesn't deceive me, they were always white flowers - lilies and so on. Here in Israel, I have seen this custom extended even to the extent that the supermarket was decorated with flowers and ears of wheat!
As with any Jewish festival worthy of the name
 , Shavuot too has its special foods. There doesn't seem to be any single authorised reason for the tradition of eating dairy foods on Shavuot but just as Purim wouldn't be Purim without Hamantaschen, Shavuot wouldn't be the same without cheesecake. Some claim that it is because light, dairy foods are more suited to the hot weather usual at the time of this early summer festival. Another explanation is that until the Torah was given, the Children of Israel did not have to abide by any special dietary laws. They did not, in short, have to "keep kosher" and so they ate meat even of animals which were later deemed "unclean". In consequence, their meat dishes were unfit, not kosher. Therefore, from the moment the Torah was given, they could no longer use those utensils until they had been ritually purified. But this they could not do on Shabbat or on a festival, so they had to make do with eating only dairy products until the festival ended. Whatever the reason - I just love cheesecake .When I was a child, I was entranced by an ancient Jewish legend, according to which, at midnight on the eve of Shavuot, the heavens split wide open and one may see the Almighty and all the heavenly host. At that moment, any wish one makes will be granted. Year after year, I struggled to keep awake, in vain. When I grew older, staying awake was no longer a problem, but I still never saw anything but a black night sky. In cloudy, rainy England, I couldn't even see stars. I realised then that to see this miracle, one had to be in Israel. But alas, when I came to Israel, I was again disappointed. Each year at Shavuot, midnight came and went - and still, nothing. I understood then that this vision was only given to those who spent the night studying and praying. Year after year, I have tried to approach midnight on Shavuot able to say, honestly, that I have been studying Torah, even if it's just a few verses.
I still haven't seen the heavens split open.
I don't despair.
Maybe this year... May 22 If I Forget Thee, O JerusalemYesterday we celebrated Yom Yerushalayim, Jerusalem Liberation Day, the anniversary of the Liberation and Reunification of the Holy City by the Israel Defence Forces in the 1967 Six Day War. According to the Jewish (lunar) calendar, the actual day of the Reunification falls on the 28th day of the month of Iyar (today, in fact) but when that date falls on a Friday, as it does this year, the celebrations are brought forward to Thursday, as they continue into the night, with fireworks and other activities which are forbidden on the Sabbath. Therefore, so as not to curtail the festivities (as well as to allow observant Jews to prepare for Shabbat), the festivities take place a day earlier. However, since it was actually 42 years ago today that the whole of Jerusalem was reunited under Jewish sovereignty for the first time in almost 2000 years, I bring you a gift in honour of the festival - a performance by the Jerusalem Oratorio Chamber Choir of Zvi Avni's setting of Psalm 48, verses 2-4: "Beautiful of vista, the joy of all the earth, is Mount Zion".
Enjoy!
Shabbat Shalom and a pleasant weekend to you all.
May 20 The Call of the SouthYesterday (Tuesday) I returned to Jerusalem from a three-day trip to Eilat with "the Gang" from work - our annual outing, designed to enhance social bonding within the Department. As I mentioned in a previous blog, we alternate between trips to the north (to a variety of destinations) and trips to Eilat, Israel's southernmost town,on the Red Sea. Eilat enjoys (if that's the right word), very hot, dry weather, even in winter
 , while as for the summer, it can often reach the mid 40s (Celsius) in the shade. On Sunday, when we travelled down there, it was 28 degrees in Jerusalem, 38 degrees in Eilat. We were supposed to set out at 7.30 AM, but, as usual, when you tell our lot to be there and ready to leave at 7.30 AM, they view that as a suggestion only  . In fact, it was almost 8.15 AM before we hit the road. In years gone by, before the first intifada, and long before the establishment of the Palestinian Authority, we used to stop off for brunch in Jericho, but that, alas, is no longer possible. In the event, we had a late (and pretty substantial) breakfast in Moshav Hatzeva in the Arava. The moshav specialises in desert agriculture and we were treated to a banquet of fresh, locally produced vegetables, cheeses, omelettes, cakes and - I'm getting hungry just writing about it
!The original plan had actually included a guided tour of the moshav, but the sweltering heat made that impractical so we returned to our air-conditioned bus and pressed on to Eilat, which we reached by about 2 pm (an hour later than planned). Unfortunately, we had to wait almost an hour and a half for our rooms - half the country having seemingly descended on Eilat in general and on our hotel in particular! That left just about enough time for a shower and a rest before supper, at seven, followed by an evening of drinks, snacks and party games (social bonding, remember?), rounded off with a traditional Israeli singalong to the accompaniment of Yair on the guitar and Miriam on the flute.
By the following day, it was 43 degrees in the shade and we were all set for a day at the beach. Foolhardy, some might say, but the beaches in Eilat are well equipped with sunshades and straw-topped booths (public toilets are a much rarer commodity!), and by dint of slathering on suntan lotion with a Sun Protection Factor of 30, I managed to avoid both UVA and UVB rays so successfully that not only did I escape sunburn, I didn't even tan!!! The day was given over to water sports - pedal boats, kayaks, "banana boats" (to be avoided like the plague in my opinion) and outboard motor boats. The latter I did enjoy. Though the motorboats are designed for 6 passengers, we were only three. A few hundred metres from the shore, we formed a circle with the other boats and some intrepid members of our gallant band decided to dive in for a swim. On the way back, my two companions suggested I take the wheel. Mindful of my brush with near disaster at the Go-Karting track last year, I ventured to suggest that this might not be quite the best idea. However, my friends would not take no for an answer so I gave it a try. I did suspect that my steering left something to be desired but apart from helpfully pointing out that I seemed to be headed in the direction of Aqaba, on the Jordanian side of the bay, they left me to my own devices, until it was time to dock.
In the evening, after supper, I went to Eilat's biggest shopping mall. Eilat, you see, is a Tax Free Zone and therefore, many upmarket retail chains have branches there, where one can purchase the latest fashions, swimwear, sports gear, shoes and jewellery, for far less than in the rest of Israel. Earlier in the day, I had spotted a few items that I fancied but couldn't try on, as I was wearing a wet swimsuit under my clothes, so now , I returned, to see if they looked as good on me as they did on the hangers. Alas. The black trousers by Zara I had thought would be great for courtroom appearances, or even for concerts with the choir, looked really odd on me and of the two dresses that had caught my eye, finding one in my size proved harder than I had expected. The salesgirl thought (as I did!) that Medium would be right for me (I take a UK size 12/14, and a continental 40/42) , but evidently Zara's sizes are on the small side. I needed Extra Large!!! The only dress of the two I had liked available in that size was in a red I could not possibly wear. I gave up and proceeded to Renuar. There, I found another red dress (in a more flattering shade) and in the right size but - it made me look fat! (Considering the lavish supper I had consumed, this was, perhaps, not so surprising after all...)
Empty handed, I walked back along the seashore promenade, with its booths and stands selling all the rather tacky paraphernalia of a seaside holiday (of the sort I remember from childhood vacations in Bournemouth and Brighton), and then along the Lagoon (in reality, a man-made Marina) to the hotel. Some of the others had gone to a club specialising in eastern-style music. From what I heard at breakfast the following morning, most of them hadn't enjoyed it much except for what one of them described as "the anthropological research". In short, I think I had a lucky escape...
At breakfast, too, it was suddenly decided to set out for home at 11.30 AM instead of at 1 PM, as called for in the original programme. Dutifully, I presented myself in the lobby at the appointed hour. I found precisely two of my workmates there. As you have probably guessed, we didn't actually leave till 12.15. You see, nobody had thought to inform the bus driver of the change in plan.
Today, it was back to the grindstone once more. This is unusual, as we generally take our annual trip during the second half of the week, from Tuesday to Thursday which, I think, is preferable, as we can then benefit from the extended absence from work to wind down from the long and rather tiring bus journey home. Still, we are not yet completely back to normality (whatever that may be) as tomorrow, we celebrate Jerusalem Liberation Day - 42 years since the liberation and reunification of Jerusalem in the Six Day War.
But that, my friends, is another story... May 16 There Must Be Another WayIn my last blog, I more or less promised to write about the role of the Roman Catholic Church in promoting antisemitism, and this would probably have been an appropriate time to do it, in the wake of the Pope's visit to Israel earlier this week. However, I don't feel in the mood for polemics at the moment, so instead, I would like to bring you Israel's entry for the Eurovision Song Contest which takes place in Moscow tonight, together with a translation of the words. The song Your Eyes (There Must be Another Way) is performed by Achinoam Nini, (better known in Europe as Noa), who is of Yemenite Jewish origin and Mira Awad, an Israeli Arab who enjoys huge success in Israel on stage and on TV (she played Eliza Doolittle in the recent Israeli production of "My Fair Lady").
Oddly enough, despite the song's message of peace, the duo have come under fire both from the Israeli Left and from Palestinian supporters in Europe, who claim they are covering up Israeli "atrocities" in Gaza.
There's no satisfying some people, it seems. The song, which was chosen by an open poll of TV viewers, days after the end of Operation Cast Lead, is sung in Hebrew, Arabic and English. The translation below is a literal one, and therefore does not rhyme. I ask you, how can anyone interpret this as anything but a heartfelt prayer for peace?
There must be another way!
Your eyes, sister, say all that my heart asks for.
We have come such a long, hard way together, hand in hand.
And the tears fall and flow in vain, a nameless pain.
We are only waiting for the day after.
There must be another way!
Your eyes say, a day will come
When all the fear vanishes.
In your eyes there is a determination
That it is possible to continue the road,
However long it may take,
Because Sorrow has no single address.
I cry to the wide spaces, to the stubborn skies -
There must be another way!
It's a long road we will travel,
Such a hard road, together, to the Light.
Your eyes say, all the fear will vanish.
And when I cry, I cry for both of us.
My pain has no name.
And when I cry, I cry to the merciless sky and say:
There must be another way.
There must be another way!
Your eyes, sister, say all that my heart asks for.
We have come such a long, hard way together, hand in hand.
And the tears fall and flow in vain, a nameless pain.
We are only waiting for the day after.
There must be another way!
Truly, for all our sakes, there MUST be another way!
|
|
|
