Editor: Batsheva Pomerantz Inspiring Event for Midrasha Students "Today Eretz Yisrael has the largest Jewish community and is the Torah center of the world, with an unprecedented growth of Torah" said Rabbi Sholom Gold of Har Nof, Jerusalem, MC of the evening. Rabbi Meyer Fendel of Aloh Na'aleh recalled the importance of the Law of Return which means that every Jew can now come to Israel. "It is the greatest miracle after the Holocaust. Words of the prophet speak to us right now - millions will live in Eretz Yisrael." Dyonna Ginsburg, whose first aliya anniversary coincided with the festive evening, spoke about utilizing the passion of the times. She made aliya upon graduating from Columbia University to answer the persistent "ayeka", ("where are you?") question. "Israel is the place to be if you look for the extraordinary rather than the ordinary, the sublime rather than the normal," stated Ginsburg, a Tehilla Tzeira coordinator. An inspiring shi'ur about Eretz Yisrael and anticipating redemption with action was given by Nefesh b'Nefesh immigrant Shira Smiles, an educator in two seminaries. She presented sources about the closeness one feels to HaShem in Eretz Yisrael, complemented by anecdotes from her own experience attesting to this. The Chagiga concluded with a concert
featuring Chaim Dovid and his band. Aloh Na'aleh thanks all those involved in organizing the evening, including the steering committee with Chaya Passow, Marcia Frank and Sherrie Miller. Director Rabbi Yerachmiel Roness hopes to follow-up with a Yom Iyun for students which will provide information on preparing for aliya. To help us sponsor many more such
creative programs, we need your support and generosity. Your generous
tax-deductible contributions will help us continue our activities both in
Israel and abroad. Kindly make your checks payable to American Friends of
AACI, for Aloh Naaleh and send it to us at: Aloh Naaleh, c/o AACI, 11
Pinsker St., Jerusalem 92228 Assisting the Oleh • AACI Jerusalem wished to give its members knowledge to cope in these difficult times and so it gathered, collated and published the AACI Emergency Handbook. This Handbook contains information on what to do: in case of an attack on Israel, in the event of a Biological or Gas Attack, a Terror Attack, and a Natural Disaster. It explains how to assist others at the scene of a terror attack, what to do in a shooting incident, how to prepare a protected space or shelter, as well as how to help your children cope in your protected space. It also gives pertinent information on how each one of us can cope. It tells us about the various degrees of distress and what the normal reactions include. It also tells us what to do if a loved one is injured in a terrorist attack. A list of emergency numbers is also given. This AACI Emergency Handbook is being sold at the AACI Jerusalem Office. AACI Jerusalem members receive this Handbook free. For further information, please telephone 02-561-7151. Aliya Pen Pals • Potential olim can contact David Magence at magence@netvision.net.il for names and addresses of aliya pen pals. Aliya pen pals, listed according to profession, are veteran or recent olim interested in providing assistance. Only in Israel • It is fascinating to hear people use words or expressions in regular, spoken, “secular” Hebrew that come from Traditional sources. One wonders if the average Israeli knows that these words have such origins. Who won the soccer match? No one. The final score was 2-2, TEIKU. In modern Hebrew, TEIKU means “tie”. In the Talmud, the word is used for a dispute that is unresolved, and which will remain so until Eliyahu HaNavi will settle the dispute. TISHBI (a nickname for Eliyahu) Y’TAREITZ KUSHYOT VA’ABAYOT (will resolve questions). Initial letters of this phrase is TEIKU. What does that have to do with the price of tea (or rice) in China? That’s how we’d say it in English. In Hebrew, regular, spoken, modern Hebrew, MA INYAN SH’MITA EITZEL HAR SINAI? From the SIFRA, popularized by Rashi. You can here the expression on the street. Here to Stay; Inspiring stories of olim from different periods of aliya are welcome. The essay should be up to 450 words long and emphasize one of the following: motives for aliya, contributions to Israel, how Israel contributed to the oleh, the main challenge in aliya and overcoming it. Please avoid publicizing businesses. Send the essay to: aloh-naaleh@aaci.org.il. Chaya Passow, a Jewish Studies educator and her husband Eli, a retired mathematics professor, came on aliya with their teenaged son in August 2002. Other children and grandchildren live in Israel or the US (temporarily, they hope). Chaya, of Old Katamon, Jerusalem writes about her attitude towards the dangers of living in Israel. "How brave are you to go on aliya during this 'matzav'!" This is the reaction we heard in the US from people surprised by our decision to move to Israel at this time. Since arriving, we've been told the same by Israelis in tones of admiration and/or disbelief. It would be lovely, but not quite honest, to react by murmuring in a modest way, "Well, one does what one has to do." However, there was little self-sacrifice, let alone martyrdom, in our decision to move here. Rashi comments on the words "Lech Lecha" ("Go for yourself") "For your benefit and your good." That's how and why we came, to immeasurably enhance our lives. Our lives here are so full. My husband learns in yeshiva each morning and I also attend shiurim, spend time with family and teach English. To be sure, we do miss family and friends in the US (especially 3 delightful grand- children). But, it is so wonderful to be "home". My husband Eli and I had wanted to make aliya for many years. Though we had good lives in the US, B"H, we felt somewhat incomplete. Only on trips to Israel did we feel totally "at home." We relished the thought that we could be "real" Israelis, real Yerushalmim, and not just tourists. Our initial meeting with our shaliach in Philadelphia was on Sept 11th, 2001. As we walked into the offices and heard what had happened, my husband said, "Well, at least we're moving to a safe country!" Anyone who has lived in New York, as I did for about 25 years, realizes that it could be dangerous "out there." I've formulated the difference between "here" and "there" in the following way: If something were to happen to me in New York, HaShem might say to me, when I appeared before Him, "But, what were you doing in New York!?" One thing I am fairly sure of is, that if something were to happen to me in Jerusalem (chas v'shalom), HaShem would not ask, "What were you doing in Jerusalem?!" Before we left Philadelphia, the local Jewish paper interviewed our family about our aliya. The reporter asked our 14 year-old son, "in four years from now, if you were living in the States, your only concern would be where to go for college. But, in Israel, you'll be going into the army. How do you feel about that?" Our son's unrehearsed answer was, "Well, when I go to Israel I'll get my own country, the Kotel, and the army; it's all one package!" We think it's a wonderful package, an eternal gift to us from HaShem. It's our hope that many other American Jews will take this precious opportunity to be on "center stage" for Jewish history. Because of this hope, my husband and I have become very active in Aloh Na'aleh, the organization formed to put aliya on the American Jewish agenda. We're convinced that American Jews have much to gain from and to contribute to our wonderful country. Israeli Street Names by David Magence, Licensed Tour Guide • Wandering around the streets of Israeli cities can be an educational experience if one pays attention to the street names. Streets in Israel generally avoid such names as "Main Street", "First Avenue" or "Avenue A". Virtually every city in Israel has a
street named for Theodore Herzl, the father of political Zionism. The
notable exception is Herzliya, since the city itself was named for Herzl.
(Thanks to Hayyim Mageni z”l for teaching me this.) The streets of Rehavia memorialize the great luminaries of the Golden Era of Spain. Among others, we find here, Ramban, Rambam (called Ben Maimon Blvd., to avoid confusion with Ramban), Abarvanel, Radak and Rashba, a virtual "who's who" of Rishonim. The neighborhood also honors the Jewish Marco Polo, Binyamin of Tudela (Metudela Street). Not too far from Rehavia, Katamon has streets whose names reflect the period of the War of Independence. Palmach (Plugot Machatz - the elite strike force units of the Hagana) is intersected by Kovshei Katamon (liberators of Katamon), which leads us to Lamed Hei (the 35 members of the Palmach killed trying to bring supplies to the besieged Gush Etzion). Lamed Hei, in turn brings us to Mechlkei haMayim ("the water distributors" during the siege of Jerusalem, which is parallel to haShayarot ("the convoys" which attempted to bring supplies to the city during the War of Independence). My personal favorite is the Jewish Quarter, where most of the street names (more exactly, alleyway names) reflect a connection to the period of Jerusalem's greatest glory, the time that the Temple stood. Here we find streets named for various sacrifices (Tamid, Omer). Each of the three types of musical instruments played by Levi'im when the Temple stood (Kinor, Nevel, Metziltayim) has given its name to a Jewish Quarter alleyway. Another five instruments mentioned in the Tanach have also merited street names. The Quarter offers a street for every class of Jew. For the Kohen - Mishmerot Kehuna - recalls the 24 divisions of Kohanim who rotated work in the Temple; for the Levi - HaShoarim and HaMeshorerim (gatekeepers and musicians - the jobs of Levi'im in the Temple); for the Israelite - Ma'amdot Yisrael, who were paired with the Mishmerot Kehuna. Paying attention to the street names in the Jewish Quarter is taking a tour through our traditional sources. [The Parshat
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