My colleague, Rabbi Ron Kronish, said the following on the BBC:

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY-FOR BBC RADIO 4
AUG. 17.05
RABBI DR. RON KRONISH
Good morning.
Today is a difficult day in the history of Israel. We are sacrificing some
land-some parts of the land of Israel, which is holy to the Jewish
People-for the sake of peace, or at least a movement in the direction of
peace.

Is this worth the price? My answer is YES.

But the problem is more complex than this. We –the citizens of Israel, the
Jewish majority and the non-Jewish Arab minority-have voted for
disengagement. This is the policy of the democratically elected government
of Israel. Yet, we do this with much anxiety and many questions: will the
Palestinians see this as an act of peace or as an act of surrender, i.e. an
act of war? Will Gaza turn into a “terror state”, as some of our politicians
on the right suggest? Will this lead to peace agreements -between the two
peoples-rather than unilateral measures?? Or will this lead to more terror
and more violence on the part of the Palestinians as a way to achieve
political ends???

As a religious Jew, I am committed to the importance of living in the land
of Israel. This is why I chose to “go up” (to make aliyah) to live in this
land, with my family, over 26 years ago.

This land has been special-holy-for our people since the beginning of our
history. It is a sacred land. And the state of Israel is the “beginning of
the flowering of our redemption”, i.e. it is a vital political framework for
the achievement of our national aspirations as a Jewish people.

But land is not more important than life. Nor is land more important than
peace. Rather, peace -and the attempts to reach peace with all of our
neighbors-is our most important value.

In our Midrash, our literature of tales and traditions, we find this
statement about the importance of peace:

“If there is no peace, there is nothing at all, for Scripture
goes on to say in the Psalms, ‘And I will give Peace in the Land which
indicates that peace equals all else. Indeed, we say (in the morning
prayers), ‘When He made peace, He created everything.”

The search for peace is not simple. It will not end with this disengagement
from Gaza and a few settlements in Northern Samaria. But this is a good
beginning, an important step along the bumpy road to peace.

L’shalom,
Ron Kronish
Jerusalem

May the Divine Precious One lead us all to peace, shalom, salaam.

Today there was a nice example of diversity during the Maccabiah Games (a world-wide olympic-style competition) in Israel.

The 17th Maccabiah Games opened this week with a sterling example of Israel’s democratic values. An Israeli Arab teenage girl from the town of Sakhnin became the first gold medalist in this year’s Games with a victory on Sunday in the women’s 200-meter breastroke.

Asalla Shahada, 17, won the race in 2:46.93 after a close battle with Lauren Fox (USA), who trailed behind by 21 hundreths of a second.

“The Maccabiah belongs not only to all the Jews, but also to all the Israelis, and I am a proud Israeli,” Shahada told YnetNews.

Read the full story on Israel21c

Want to hear a thorough yet brief description of what and who Israel is today? Liron hs a brief yet thorough and clear description of Israel, especially for those who get most of their information on Israel from American mainstream media like CNN, FoxNews, MSNBC and the like. Listen to her June 25, 2005 podcast. Her description of Israel is in the first few minutes, just after she introduces herself.

Want to hear her podcasts? You can subscribe to her in iTunes or go directly to her podcasting web page.

Go, listen, learn and comment here.

Today has been another difficult day in Israel. This afternoon a truck errantly crossed a track in the path of the Haifa-Be’er Sheva train. Apparently, the truck driver did not follow any of the posted instructions to stop and ignored the train’s whistle. The impact careened cars off the track and according to some reports, crushed the first few cars. As of this posting, seven are dead and over 245 injured.

There are various stories in English and Hebrew available on the web. You can find the Ha’aretz English language story here and a Hebrew language Ha’aretz story here.

Recently officials in Israel have issued more frequent cautions and warnings to Israeli motorists of their dangerous driving habits. For example, there was a nation-wide warning issued following some deadly accidents during Passover.

I send my prayers of comfort to those who have lost loved ones and my prayers of healing to all who have been injured. May the Holy One be with each of them and their families.

After the modern State of Israel was founded in 1948, Jews across much of the Arab world were persecuted. The Jews of Yemen suffered attacks, discrimination and threats to their lives. An effort was organized, called Operation Magic Carpet to rescue the Jewish community of Yemen and bring them to safety in Israel. Many people participated in this rescue. (Incidentally, there are some wonderful stories and memories from the Yemenite community themselves about Operation Magic Carpet. I’ll look for some links and post, otherwise, check your library.) One of significant figures in this endeavor was Robert F. Maguire, Jr., the chief pilot. Mr. Maguire recently died and his part in Operation Magic Carpet is remembered in a New York Times Obituary. Some excerpts from the obituary include:

“Robert F. Maguire Jr., the chief pilot of Operation Magic Carpet, which evacuated more than 40,000 Jewish refugees from Yemen to the newly created state of Israel between late 1948 and early 1950, died on June 10 at his home in Northridge, Calif. He was 94….Requiring a little more than a year and 380 flights, Operation Magic Carpet evacuated 40,000 to 50,000 Yemenite Jews without loss of life. David Ben-Gurion, Israel’s first prime minister, was reported to have called Mr. Maguire “the Irish Moses.” The writer Leon Uris based a character in his 1958 novel, “Exodus,” on him….In Operation Magic Carpet, Mr. Maguire relied as much on his wits as on his aviation skills. He once ran out of fuel and was forced to land in Egypt. When airport officials rushed up to the plane, Mr. Maguire ordered them to send ambulances immediately.
“What for?” they asked him.
“I have smallpox on board,” Mr. Maguire replied.
He got his fuel, and flew on to Tel Aviv.”

You can also read an obituary of him in The Jerusalem Post.

Want to learn more about Operation Magic Carpet?
Take a look at these links:
Jewish Virtual Library information on & picture of Operation Magic Carpet.
Alaskan Airlines on the golden anniversary of Operation Magic Carpet. This profiles some other people involved in the rescue, you can read their words about Mr. Maguire at the bottom.
WZO background and program ideas for Operation Magic Carpet.
A description of Operation Magic Carpet including history on Jews in Yemen.
Photo exhibit on Operation Magic Carpet.
Words of another American pilot, Hank Mullineaux, on Operation Magic Carpet.
Israeli stamp remembering Operation Magic Carpet.
A filmography on Operation Magic Carpet.

Go and Learn!

Here is a brief (and belated) post on Jerusalem Day. IsraCast has published an English trasnlation of the IDF radio traffic as the Israeli Army reached the Western Wall of the Temple.

Words echoing moments of joy from our past. I pray that they lead us again to moments of a lasting peace.