Shvayg Shosh

Getting to my blog has been really hard lately. I keep looking over the Jerusalem Post and Haaretz and thinking ehhh. My friend Scott works for the Jewish Agency getting new Olim situated there first few months in Israel. He always posts on Facebook his activities: camps for kids just off the plane or " OLIM CHADASHIM @ MEZCAL עולים חדשים @ מזקל because aliyah is supposed to be fun." They meet every Wednesday night for Mexican food and conversation. Every time I see a post, I think, "Wow, I want to go." The young immigrants group has a page on Facebook for people to ask questions, post jobs, look for help. Of course, he's not the only one helping olim find their place in Israel. Dreams of making aliyah are great. Dreams may even get you there, but once you're actually on the land, you need a job. The reality is without a job, making it is hard. When people can't find jobs, they move back to galut. (exile). That's where Brad Bernstein c...

I love that people in Israel care about lone soldiers. Before I met my husband, he was in the Marine corps for almost eight years. One of his biggest complaints was that men with families always got precedent over him. Holiday coming up? He had to work because it was important for the men with families to be with their families. They received more time off because they weren't alone. However, in Israel lone soldier doesn't mean they have to be singled out for being single. Instead, informally they have the opportunity to see their faraway families or connect with Israeli families. Now, the lone solider program has become official. They have opened a center where lone soldiers can connect with each other. Jpost article They have more than a center. They also have an online social network where they can connect to one another. The online community allows them to ask each other questions like " how long can I go home to visit my family for?"

My  My professor posted an article on my class forum: Weaker Nakba bill approved as government legislation . The article talks about legislation fining Arab-Israel groups who commemorate Nakba . He then posed the question: Does the State of Israel have the right to deny its Arab citizen's desire to commemorate the establishment of the State as a catastrophe?   In the article, one of the Arab-Israeli groups stated, "Acknowledging the fact that the establishment of the State of Israel was accompanied by a human tragedy does not challenge Israel's fundamental right to exist," the NGO argued. However, I think that's just plain wrong. At its very core, Nakba commemorates the day of catastrophe. For them, it's really analogous to tisha b'av. The Orthodox Jews mourn the destruction of the Temple and pray for the building of a new Temple just as Arabs mourn the creation of the state of Israel and pray for its eventual destruction.  Nakba isn't simply acknowle...

I came across a post from the Obama meeting. I think it gives a wider perspective then I can ever offer: http://rabbicreditor.blogspot.com/

Anyone else see anything wrong with these models on this website for Israeli army shirts?

HAARTEZ posted an article today on Obama's Monday meeting with Jewish leaders. Obama to Jewish Leaders What are we supposed to take from this meeting? It seems a lot of the same blah blah blah… "Stop building settlements, but don't worry I totally believe you should be a secure state." Then he says, "he wants to help Israel overcome its demographic problem by reaching an agreement on a two-state solution, but that in order to do so, Israel would need "to engage in serious self-reflection." What is this serious self-reflection? I think Mr. Obama needs some serious self-reflection. Although I understand why he doesn't want Israel to build more settlements…why is he really meeting with Jewish leaders? Does Israel really care if he has a good relationship with American Jews? Wouldn't Israel rather have the President of the United States and the Prime Minister of Israel on the same page? While certain unnamable sources believe he's out to de...

Hmmm, I wonder about the story behind this article. Do you think he's hiding in Israel because he was planning an attack? Or was he hiding in Israel because it's the last place anyone would look? Either way, this sounds like the start of a thrilling novel.

My professor brought this article to our attention in our forum. In Perspective: It's a new world, Bibi By DANIEL GORDIS http://http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?apage=1&cid=1246443703081&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull Gordis basically argues that Israel, like Sholem Aleichem's famous character Tevye, needs to learn that this is a new world, and it has to find a way to stay true to herself while rolling with the punches of the international community. Here's the thing Gordis misses with his Tevye analogy, although he caves to the traditional norms of his eldest Tsaytl marrying a tailor instead of a scholar (and by the way, he wanted her to marry a scholar, but he had her set to marry a rich butcher which was just as out of norm as marrying a tailor) and his second oldest Hodl from following a Jewish socialist to Siberia. All of Tevye's love, patience, and openness to new modern ideas do not prepare him for his daughter Chava. Like her two older sisters,...

I was writing my paper on Truman and the creation of the State of Israel, and I found myself revisiting two speeches by Obama. I thought I'd share with you the introduction and the conclusion to my paper. The middle of my paper gives an analysis of the role Truman played in the creation of the state of Israel. I'd like to revisit Truman in more depth in the near future. According to the research for my paper, Truman was much more interested in gaining Jewish votes than actually supporting the creation of the State of Israel. I found great similarity between President Truman and President Obama. In June, President Obama’s speech in Cairo sought extend a hand to the Muslim world and remind the world of the American stance on Israel. “I have come here to seek a new beginning between the United States and Muslims around the world; one based upon mutual interest and mutual respect; and one based upon the truth that America and Islam are not exclusive, and need not be in competition....

My father wants me to remind everyone that back in the day there were famous Jewish NBA players! http://www.nba.com/history/players/schayes_bio.html I would like to remind him that I do live near enough to philly that I'm very aware of the South Philadelphia Hebrew Association. However, for those of you who need a little reminder of Great Jewish Basketball History, here is an old, yet good article: http://www.aish.com/societyWork/arts/Jewish_Basketball_Giants.asp (btw, I wrote my first post before reading the article, so forgive me for making the same joke)

When I saw that the Sacramento Kings picked Israeli Omri Casspi in the first round of the NBA draft, images of the movie Airplane flashed through my mind: Elaine Dickinson : Would you like something to read? Hanging Lady : Do you have anything light? Elaine Dickinson : How about this leaflet, "Famous Jewish Sports Legends?" The stereotype is hard to shake. I also think that it's a stereotype most Jews would just laugh at if a gentile made a joke about. I certainly can't think of many professional openly Jewish athletes in America today. (My father would scream, "what about Sandy Koufax?" To which I'd reply, " Sandy Koufax who refused to pitch on Yom Kippur during the 1965 world series? 1965!" of course, Shawn Green of the LA Dodgers also refused to play on Yom Kippur in 2004 http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=3935847 How many people even know about that?) Obviously, in Israel the stereotype of the weak athletic abili...

I thought the Dead Sea was supposed to be relaxing! http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap_travel/20090623/ap_tr_ge/ml_travel_brief_israel_dead_sea_sinkholes The sink hole brings up a real conundrum...on the one hand we want tourists to come to Israel and we want industry so Israel makes money. On the other hand, the tourists are injuring the land. I suppose we just can't win.

My course this week focuses on early Zionism and the characters leading up to and involved in the First Zionist Congress. so I was drawn to this opinion article "The myth of Zionist imperialism" by Eli Kavon on jpost.com. Kavon argues that calling Zionist imperialists is absurd. He explains that Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai desired a Jewish homeland far before Herzl as a direct reaction to the imperialism of the Ottoman Empire. In fact, the Zionism movement in general was a reaction to the Jews inability to true members of European nations. "From the beginning, the Zionist movement has been a foe of imperialism. Rebellions of national independence against the Ottoman and Russian empires influenced precursors of the Zionist movement, such as Alkalai and Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Kalischer. Moses Hess, a socialist, looked toward Garibaldi's Italy as his inspiration for a Jewish homeland in Israel." (Kavon, 2009). The Zionist never wished to create an empire. They wanted only a hom...

With all this talk of conflict and violence, I thought I'd turn my attention to an Israeli working on making her country a better place for those who can't always speak out for themselves. An educator and rabbinical student at Hebrew Union College, Judith Edelman-Green devotes her life to Israelis with special needs. She created a program Bar/Bat Mitzvah for the Special needs child. She's devoted her life to ensuring that children and adults in Israel get a chance to work in their community and actively participate in Jewish life. Her newest project is the Rimon Village: a living community for young adults with mild to moderate special needs. "In Israel there are more than eight thousand adults with special needs who do not have a housing/living solution." (rimon village website). The village will be located in Kfar Sava just north of Tel Aviv. They have volunteers, a board, and land. Now, they just need enough money to turn their vision into reality. www.rimonvi...

Yes, I know the shooting yesterday at the Holocaust Museum has nothing to do with Israel. It has to do with a crazy American White-supremacist. However, I can't stop thinking about the Guard that died protecting the lives of the people in the Museum. www.seattlepi.com/national/1110ap_us_holocaust_museum_shooting_guard.html Of course, the scene made me stop and think more than usual because it was the Holocaust Museum. More than anything, it makes me appreciate the people out there who risk their lives to protect us no matter what race or religion. Despite the crazy racist old man hell bent on destruction, not everyone is hell bent on destruction. Many are willing to put their own lives on the line, so that we don't have to worry as much when we go out in the world. I saw a short blurb in the Jerusalem Post two days ago http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1244371054699&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull A settler woman and her baby were trapped in an overturned ca...

I wrote this little story a year or so ago...It was on my other blog, but I thought this viewing audience may appreciate it: Morning In Jerusalem It is a little past four in the morning and I cannot sleep. My internal clock is screaming at me, so is the baby. I'm not sure who built this house, but I'm starting to think Jesus may have turned water into wine next door. I think I watched a chunk of the wall fall to the ground. I thought that I knew Jerusalem, but I'm confused. I got lost like three times walking to that playgroup. I don't understand why my sister felt the need to live close to so many relics. I'm frightened of falling in a large hole. I'll open my eyes and find a small group of smelly, teva-clad Brown students trying to figure out what archeological pile I fit into. Then they'll find little Jacob tipped over in his bugaboo stroller. They'll decide that the Bal Shem Tov really is the Moshiach and he's come back as an Israeli child stuffe...

I ran across this letter to the editor from Minneapolis's Star Tribune. I'm still mulling over how I'd respond. http://www.startribune.com/opinion/letters/47240652.html?elr=KArksc8P:Pc:Ug8P:Pc:UiD3aPc:_Yyc:aULPQL7PQLanchO7DiUr

My friend Josh is an Israeli Solider. When we were young our parents were very good friends, they moved we we lost touch. In the past few months, I've reconnected with his family. Josh and I send information back and forth about Israel. I love following his tweets because he gives another more personal perspective to life in Israel...especially life as a solider. His mom was the one who sent me the article in my last blog post. As I was reading and writing about settlements from America, Josh was actually spending time there. Here are a few of his last tweets: RT @andyls was attempted infiltration at migdal oz, 1 palestinian arrested 4 escaped 9:03 AM Jun 6th from mobile web @andyls security guard said migdal oz or something like that 8:42 AM Jun 6th from mobile web Left the area. Not sure how serious it was, will only be reported if someone was hurt 8:32 AM Jun 6th from mobile web Shooting at settlement next to us, leaving now before main road is closed 8:07 AM Jun 6th from mobile...

If I'm going to jump into this blogging about Israel, I might as well start bold. As my high school drama teacher used to say, "Do it big or go home." My dear friend Stephanie who made aliyah, sent "The Settlements Myth" by Charles Krauthammer in the Washington Post via Twitter. http://bit.ly/1r2Tl Basically, the article admonishes the Obama Administration for it's stance on Israel. While assuring every other country that American will no longer make Policy for them, the Obama Administration tells Israel what they need to do in the West Bank Settlements: close them, stop building, stop growing. The author, Charles Krauthammer, wonders what will happen to the settlements that already exist. What happened to the plans for the settlements in the past? "That was envisioned in the Clinton plan in the Camp David negotiations in 2000, and again at Taba in 2001. After all, why expel people from their homes and turn their towns to rubble when, instead, Arabs and...