Category: Jerusalem Insights — Page 46 — Shorashim of the Old City

The Healing Power of Elul love

August 30, 2010August 30, 2010 by Moshe Kempinski

True and deep relationships develop with subtlety and gentleness, far from the public eye. During this month of Elul, whose initials stand for the verse, “I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine,” relationships with our Divine beloved are being nourished and developed throughout this land.

Makom BaLev (“A Place in the Heart”) supported and created by the OU runs centers in the development towns of Israel with the purpose of giving the youth and their families a place to serve as an oasis of warmth and spirituality in the midst of the hectic existence of Israeli life. It is only in the spiritual safety of such an environment that people can and do make qualitative decisions regarding the Jewish nature of their lives.

The Courage to Dream

August 27, 2010August 16, 2010 by Moshe Kempinski

Since the first handshake with the arch-terrorist Yasser Arafat on the lawn of the White House we have been living in a strange, almost surrealistic, nightmare. Truthfully, the nightmare has been going on for a very long time. It actually began with the destruction of the Temple and the long night of exile. A long night that included pogroms, crusades, forced conversions, expulsions and gas chambers.

Yet, when an Israeli Prime Minister shook the hand of the devil in Washington, the nightmare became even more intense and frightening. The handshake symbolized the beginning of a time when nothing made sense anymore. The enemy ceased to only lie in waiting outside the ghetto walls or in the other part of the village. The dangers began from within the very body of the Jewish people.

Loving The Land

August 1, 2010July 30, 2010 by Moshe Kempinski

A friend recently returned from a trip to the United States where he was teaching and lecturing. We discussed that common sense we all get of feeling depleted when spending time in the lands of the exile . We also agreed that the feeling upon returning is one of being replenished and refilled.

A recent Gallup poll showed that Israelis are amongst the top ten happiest populations in the world ,placing far ahead of the United States and Britain. The Gallup poll surveyed thousands of people in 155 countries focusing questions on their sense of overall “life satisfaction”. In fact some of the countries that topped Israel also top the lists regarding suicide and alcohol abuse ( both are areas in which Israel does not even enter the list). Another recent poll called ,”The War and Peace Index” conducted by the Tami Steinmetz Center for Peace Research found that 80% of the Jews polled defined their personal status as “very good” or “good,” 90% said they think Israel is doing “very well” as a nation; and 81% said they were “very optimistic” or “optimistic” as to the nation’s future.

Five Years Ago I Was Expelled

August 1, 2010July 26, 2010 by Moshe Kempinski

My name is Rachel Saperstein. I am almost seventy years old. My husband and I have three children and twelve grandchildren. We lived in Jerusalem for close to thirty years, in Gush Katif for nearly nine years, and now we live in a plasterboard caravilla in the refugee camp of Nitzan between Ashdod and Ashkelon. During the Cast Lead war we were bombed by missiles coming in from Gaza. The missiles and rockets followed us from Gush Katif to Nitzan. There is no escape from enemy assault.

Anatomy of a Palestinian “concession”

August 30, 2010July 9, 2010 by Moshe Kempinski

By Michael Freund

Earlier this week, just in advance of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu’s visit to Washington, a brief flurry of excitement took hold of the media, as word spread of what appeared to be a major conciliatory gesture by the Palestinians.

In a well-timed leak, the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper reported over the weekend that Palestinian Chairman Mahmoud Abbas had offered Israel the Western Wall and the Jewish Quarter of the Old City as part of a future peace agreement.

Rav Eliyahu, the Man Of Prayer

August 30, 2010June 24, 2010 by Moshe Kempinski

Much has and will be written about the spiritual giant that was Rav Mordechai Eliyahu “Z’Tzl” . He was, as his son Rav Shmuel said, a spiritual father to many . Many will describe his courageous and unflinching stands on the sanctity of torah and torah life. Others may speak with loving words of the Rabbi who stood at the forefront of the battle to protect and secure the Land of Israel and its people. Many others will focus on his miraculous blessings and the spiritual strength he imparted to every needy and hurting soul that came to him for comfort and hope. All these are true and powerful descriptions of this towering personality.

Two Became Twenty

June 17, 2010 by Moshe Kempinski

It was a quiet Friday, one in which I wanted to study and prepare for the coming Shabbat, when my phone rang. Renee said, “Did you get the flyer? The one about the CAIR anti-Israel rally this afternoon at 4:30? I thought you might want to do something about it.”

“No, I didn’t get the flyer. What’s happening.” And that began the end of a quiet afternoon.

Simple Truths

June 13, 2010June 8, 2010 by Moshe Kempinski

Why are the nations in an uproar? And why do the peoples mutter in vain? The kings of the earth stand up, and the rulers take counsel together, against HaShem , and against His anointed:(Psalm 2:1-2)

When the hordes gather around Israel to attack with words and deeds, the only trustworthy weapon is simple truth. It is true that untainted facts can not always pierce the darkness that has seemed to envelop the world by truth needs to be stated and affirmed. Those that have been lying in waiting to pounce on the nation of Israel waited patiently until the flotilla of “Peace” achieved its purpose. That purpose was to of evoke a powerful defensive response that could then be turned around as a weapon and a narrative of hate.