Oh Chanukah Oh Chanukah...
Chag Sameach, Kulam!!!
Happy holidays, everyone!!!
This week has been really rough, but really rewarding as well. So, since I know everyone's been waiting by their computer screens breathlessly since my last post, I'll give you the breakdown of recent events in a somewhat different format than I've been doing.
Monday, we went for a walk around our lovely Kibbutz Tzuba with Reuven, uncovering in the process the wall of an ancient city from biblical times that was centered around the Crusader castle sitting up on the Tel, Mt. Tzuba. We crawled through a tunnel, 5 meters underground and 40 meters long, that led to a huge cistern fed from a natural spring in the rock that was the lifeblood of Tzuba prior to the municipality water system. And let me tell you that after drinking that water, I'm still trying to figure out why the kibbutz wouldn't just use that delicious natural water...it's so much better without any artificial additives. Later that day, it was back to classes as usual.
Tuesday morning, we held a mock Knesset meeting. This governing body is the center of Israel's law system, and is a sort of parliamentary system, with nearly 40 parties representing all different interests. Our job as students was to look up and represent one of six parties, ranging from far left wing (Labor/Likud) to far right wing (Ehud Leumi). There are even three Arab parties in the Knesset, but weren't assigned to us. That morning, we had to get up and state our party's platform, defend it, and at the end we took a vote to see who won. Unfortunately, even as spokesman for the Ehud Leumi Party, which is far far right wing conservative, I wasn't able to muster the votes to win...but their platform kind of sucks, so that might be part of it. Some very interesting issues came up, and I was able to see into yet another facet of Israeli society and actively participate in it. Very cool stuff. The Kadima and Likud parties, led by Netanyahu and Olmert (Israel's current PM), were the two winning parties and formed a coalition. The rest of us, well...we tried.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006:
Our last Jewish History Class. And at the same time, the biggest threat to the Jewish people and Israel in thousands of years raises its ugly head. A conference was called for in Tehran, the capital of Iran, led by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The purpose?
To question and examine as to whether the Holocaust actually occurred.
I should apologize, but my blatant opinion is about to raise its ugly head in response.
This "conference" is a disgrace to not only the Jewish people (5 Satmar Rabbis from Britain, France, and America were invited) but to the entire world (former KKK leader David Duke was also invited). According to official press releases (source: jpost.com), the Iranian president was "hosting 67 participants from 30 countries at a conference debating whether the World War II genocide of 6 million Jews took place."
Again, I say that this is a disgrace to all of humanity. After going to Auschwitz and seeing the destruction machines, seeing the killing machines used there, after keeping a sliver of bone in my backpack to bury in the land of Israel, after not finding one single openly worshipping Jew left in all of Poland, this is the kind of bullsh*t that I cannot and will not tolerate.
The Iranian excuse is that they merely want to look at "scientific evidence" in order to determine if the entire story of the Holocaust is true. In reality, they want to deny it completely, and with any kind of proof to wave around will be able to de-legitimize the State of Israel as a home and refuge for Jews, ultimately allowing them to wipe Israel off the map. Just as the Arab and anti-Jew, anti-Zionist supporters of the world have been trying to do since May 15, 1948, when the state was established. The fact that JEWS--RABBIS--would even go to such a conference is enough to make one spit into the wind. These rabbis represent a less-than 10% minority of all Jews that do not recognize the state of Israel and are vehemently anti-Zionist (if the State exists, the Moshiach cannot come, according to them).
To put a cherry on the collective top of all this, Iran is at this very moment enriching uranium for use in its brand-new, French-built nuclear facilities. By 2010, and maybe sooner, Iran will possess nuclear weapons. The President, Ahmadinejad, flat out told press that "Just like the Soviet Union, the State of Israel will fall." Many in Israel are speculating, and intelligence backs this up, that Iran is planning to use its newfound nuclear capabilities in order to carry out its Final Solution: turning Israel into a wasteland, devoid of Jews.
The United States has said that it cannot guarantee that in the event of Iran making an aggressive move of any sort, that Israel will be able to turn to the US for aid. Furthermore, the US has said that any pre-emptive strikes on Iran will be condemned and threaten US-Israel relations.
The issue of Iran, its holocaust denial, and its nuclear plans--this issue is the foremost issue of the Jewish people in the modern period. Many American Jews aren't even aware of this, but it goes on. Living in Israel, we hear first-hand what's going on, and see that this issue is almost as dire as that of the impending Holocaust pre-WWII.
Something must be done. Educate, Advocate, and make yourself heard. I sure as hell will be until the world responds in the way that it should--in the way a humane world should.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Moving on, and pardon my political rant, it had to get out somehow...
After an uneventful Thursday, we've arrived at Friday--today.
This morning, I took my ivrit mivchan hagadol (big Hebrew test). That's right, my course of study in the Hebrew language has come to an end. Another four months and I would be fluent...alas, though, plane tickets are already booked. I really love our teacher, and the language is beautiful. The good thing is, I'm able to continue studying back in teh States via correspondence with my teachers here. And when I come back one day, I'll be one fluent Hebrew-speaker. Sounds like a plan to me.
Later on, we watched as most of our chaverim (friends) left for the weekend, leaving only 10 of us to stick it out on the kibbutz. So again, I'll be reading Torah tomorrow (whoo!). This may be a quiet weekend, full of sleep and study. I could use one of those.
Tonight is special, though. Why is this Shabbat different from all other Shabbats? Well, because tonight is the first night of Chanukah!!! We went to a small Kehilah (community) in Modi'in for T'fillah tonight, and had a few sufganiyot (jelly donuts!) to celebrate as we lit the first candle. The kibbutz lights one light atop the grain silo every night, corresponding to hte nights of Chanukah. This holiday makes everyone happy, and I see it working for me already.
Even though I've got all my exams coming up Monday through Thursday, everything is Sabbaba right now. It's all cool. I'm full of sufganiyot, I've got Hebrew off my shoulders, and tomorrow night we're having a party with our Israeli friends from Beit Shemesh for Chanukah.
Everyone can expect one more update prior to the Negev hike, and for now I'd like to wish myself a big B'Hatzlacha (good luck!). If you'd like to contact me, e-mails only now, please, letters will arrive too late.
Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach,
--Aron
aronaltmark@aol.com
Happy holidays, everyone!!!
This week has been really rough, but really rewarding as well. So, since I know everyone's been waiting by their computer screens breathlessly since my last post, I'll give you the breakdown of recent events in a somewhat different format than I've been doing.
Monday, we went for a walk around our lovely Kibbutz Tzuba with Reuven, uncovering in the process the wall of an ancient city from biblical times that was centered around the Crusader castle sitting up on the Tel, Mt. Tzuba. We crawled through a tunnel, 5 meters underground and 40 meters long, that led to a huge cistern fed from a natural spring in the rock that was the lifeblood of Tzuba prior to the municipality water system. And let me tell you that after drinking that water, I'm still trying to figure out why the kibbutz wouldn't just use that delicious natural water...it's so much better without any artificial additives. Later that day, it was back to classes as usual.
Tuesday morning, we held a mock Knesset meeting. This governing body is the center of Israel's law system, and is a sort of parliamentary system, with nearly 40 parties representing all different interests. Our job as students was to look up and represent one of six parties, ranging from far left wing (Labor/Likud) to far right wing (Ehud Leumi). There are even three Arab parties in the Knesset, but weren't assigned to us. That morning, we had to get up and state our party's platform, defend it, and at the end we took a vote to see who won. Unfortunately, even as spokesman for the Ehud Leumi Party, which is far far right wing conservative, I wasn't able to muster the votes to win...but their platform kind of sucks, so that might be part of it. Some very interesting issues came up, and I was able to see into yet another facet of Israeli society and actively participate in it. Very cool stuff. The Kadima and Likud parties, led by Netanyahu and Olmert (Israel's current PM), were the two winning parties and formed a coalition. The rest of us, well...we tried.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006:
Our last Jewish History Class. And at the same time, the biggest threat to the Jewish people and Israel in thousands of years raises its ugly head. A conference was called for in Tehran, the capital of Iran, led by the Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. The purpose?
To question and examine as to whether the Holocaust actually occurred.
I should apologize, but my blatant opinion is about to raise its ugly head in response.
This "conference" is a disgrace to not only the Jewish people (5 Satmar Rabbis from Britain, France, and America were invited) but to the entire world (former KKK leader David Duke was also invited). According to official press releases (source: jpost.com), the Iranian president was "hosting 67 participants from 30 countries at a conference debating whether the World War II genocide of 6 million Jews took place."
Again, I say that this is a disgrace to all of humanity. After going to Auschwitz and seeing the destruction machines, seeing the killing machines used there, after keeping a sliver of bone in my backpack to bury in the land of Israel, after not finding one single openly worshipping Jew left in all of Poland, this is the kind of bullsh*t that I cannot and will not tolerate.
The Iranian excuse is that they merely want to look at "scientific evidence" in order to determine if the entire story of the Holocaust is true. In reality, they want to deny it completely, and with any kind of proof to wave around will be able to de-legitimize the State of Israel as a home and refuge for Jews, ultimately allowing them to wipe Israel off the map. Just as the Arab and anti-Jew, anti-Zionist supporters of the world have been trying to do since May 15, 1948, when the state was established. The fact that JEWS--RABBIS--would even go to such a conference is enough to make one spit into the wind. These rabbis represent a less-than 10% minority of all Jews that do not recognize the state of Israel and are vehemently anti-Zionist (if the State exists, the Moshiach cannot come, according to them).
To put a cherry on the collective top of all this, Iran is at this very moment enriching uranium for use in its brand-new, French-built nuclear facilities. By 2010, and maybe sooner, Iran will possess nuclear weapons. The President, Ahmadinejad, flat out told press that "Just like the Soviet Union, the State of Israel will fall." Many in Israel are speculating, and intelligence backs this up, that Iran is planning to use its newfound nuclear capabilities in order to carry out its Final Solution: turning Israel into a wasteland, devoid of Jews.
The United States has said that it cannot guarantee that in the event of Iran making an aggressive move of any sort, that Israel will be able to turn to the US for aid. Furthermore, the US has said that any pre-emptive strikes on Iran will be condemned and threaten US-Israel relations.
The issue of Iran, its holocaust denial, and its nuclear plans--this issue is the foremost issue of the Jewish people in the modern period. Many American Jews aren't even aware of this, but it goes on. Living in Israel, we hear first-hand what's going on, and see that this issue is almost as dire as that of the impending Holocaust pre-WWII.
Something must be done. Educate, Advocate, and make yourself heard. I sure as hell will be until the world responds in the way that it should--in the way a humane world should.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Moving on, and pardon my political rant, it had to get out somehow...
After an uneventful Thursday, we've arrived at Friday--today.
This morning, I took my ivrit mivchan hagadol (big Hebrew test). That's right, my course of study in the Hebrew language has come to an end. Another four months and I would be fluent...alas, though, plane tickets are already booked. I really love our teacher, and the language is beautiful. The good thing is, I'm able to continue studying back in teh States via correspondence with my teachers here. And when I come back one day, I'll be one fluent Hebrew-speaker. Sounds like a plan to me.
Later on, we watched as most of our chaverim (friends) left for the weekend, leaving only 10 of us to stick it out on the kibbutz. So again, I'll be reading Torah tomorrow (whoo!). This may be a quiet weekend, full of sleep and study. I could use one of those.
Tonight is special, though. Why is this Shabbat different from all other Shabbats? Well, because tonight is the first night of Chanukah!!! We went to a small Kehilah (community) in Modi'in for T'fillah tonight, and had a few sufganiyot (jelly donuts!) to celebrate as we lit the first candle. The kibbutz lights one light atop the grain silo every night, corresponding to hte nights of Chanukah. This holiday makes everyone happy, and I see it working for me already.
Even though I've got all my exams coming up Monday through Thursday, everything is Sabbaba right now. It's all cool. I'm full of sufganiyot, I've got Hebrew off my shoulders, and tomorrow night we're having a party with our Israeli friends from Beit Shemesh for Chanukah.
Everyone can expect one more update prior to the Negev hike, and for now I'd like to wish myself a big B'Hatzlacha (good luck!). If you'd like to contact me, e-mails only now, please, letters will arrive too late.
Shabbat Shalom & Chag Sameach,
--Aron
aronaltmark@aol.com
posted by aron at 1:46 PM
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