Your Favorite Things About Israel

[Sixties Fan]

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And us He freed from there, that He might take us and give us the land that He had promised on oath to our fathers
Deuteronomy 6:23 (The Israel Bible™)

Hear the verse in Hebrew

v’-o-TA-nu ho-TZEE mi-SHAM l’-MA-an ha-VEE o-TA-nu LA-tet LA-nu et ha-A-retz
a-SHER nish-BA la-a-vo-TAY-nu

The Mayflower and the Jews
Israel’s first Prime Minister, David Ben Gurion, summed up this verse in a speech he gave to the Peel Commission in 1936. “Three-hundred years ago, there came to the New World a boat, and its name was the Mayflower. The Mayflower’s landing on Plymouth Rock was one of the great historical events in the history of England and in the history of America. But I would like to ask any Englishman sitting here on the commission, what date did the Mayflower leave port? How many people were on the boat? Who were their leaders? What kind of food did they eat on the boat? More than three-thousand three-hundred years ago, long before the Mayflower, our people left Egypt, and every Jew in the world, wherever he is, knows what day they left. And he knows what food they ate. And we still eat that food with every anniversary. And we know who our leader was. And we sit down and tell the story to our children and grandchildren, in order to guarantee that it will never be forgotten. And we say our two slogans: ‘Now we may be enslaved, but next year, we'll be a free people.’ … Now we are in the prison of the Soviet Union. Now, we're in Germany where Hitler is destroying us. Now we’re scattered throughout the world, but next year, we’ll be in Jerusalem. There'll come a day that we'll come home to Zion, to the Land of Israel. That is the nature of the Jewish people.”

 

[rylah]

Shuli Rand just released today:

 

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Ester Rada & Red band - Should I Stay Or Should I Go

 

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RedBand and Gidi Gov Featuring OSOG - Hey Brother

 

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For those who know Hebrew: Israeli comedy series about the life in the 80's (full episodes)

 

[Mindful]

Ester Rada & Red band - Should I Stay Or Should I Go

I like this version of it:

 

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[Mindful]

Take note, Roger Waters!


Bon Jovi Heading to Israel: “Israel Really Has a Special Audience!”

 

[Sixties Fan]

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Then I said to them, “You see the bad state we are in—Yerushalayimlying in ruins and its gates destroyed by fire. Come, let us rebuild the wall of Yerushalayim and suffer no more disgrace
Nehemiah 2:17 (The Israel Bible™)

Hear the verse in Hebrew

va-o-MAR a-lay-HEM a-TEM ro-EEM ha-ra-AH a-SHER a-NAKH-nu VAH a-SHER
y’-ru-sha-LA-im kha-ray-VAH ush-a-RE-ha ni-tz’-TU va-AYSH l’-KHU v’-niv-NEH et
KHO-mat y’-ru-sha-LA-im v’-lo nih-YEH OD kher-PAH

A City Rebuilt
One of the Jewish prayers recited on the ninth day of the Hebrew month of Av, the day of the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple)h, states: “You destroyed Jerusalem by fire, so too will You rebuild it with fire.” Near the Western Wall, archaeologists uncovered a complex destroyed in the Roman fires of 70 CE, and spear-pierced skeletal remains found there gave silent testimony to the tragedy. Destruction by fire is comprehensible, but the idea of construction by fire is more difficult to understand. Perhaps it indicates the degree of passion necessary to engage in such a task. If this is the case, indeed we have merited living in a time where the latter fire is burning brighter, and many are answering Nechemya’s (Nehemiah's) call: “Come, let us rebuild!”

 

[Sixties Fan]

 

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In the ninth year, on the tenth day of the tenth month, the word of Hashem came to me
Ezekiel 24:1 (The Israel Bible™)

Hear the verse in Hebrew

vai-HEE d’-var a-do-NAI ay-LAI ba-sha-NAH ha-t’-shee-EET ba-KHO-desh ha-a-see-REEbe-a-SOR la-KHO-desh lay-MOR

The Tenth of Tevet
In the final chapter describing Yerushalayim’s (Jerusalem's) downfall, the prophet mentions the date of the start of the Babylonian siege of Yerushalayim, describing it as the tenth day of the tenth month. This day, the tenth of the month of Tevet, is one of the four fast days mentioned in Zecharya (Zechariah) (8:19) that were instituted after the destruction of the Beit Hamikdash (Holy Temple), in commemoration of various stages of its destruction. Until today, Jews all over the world fast on the tenth of Tevet, to remember the Babylonian siege of Yerushalayim, to mourn over its destruction and to pray for it to be rebuilt.

 

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Rainbows over the Jordan Valley
Photo Credit: Leah Shlomo
"This is the sign of the covenant which I make between Me and you and
every living creature that is with you, for perpetual generations"
Psalms 9:12

 

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Today we are slaves, and the land that You gave our fathers to enjoy its fruit and bounty—here we are slaves on it!
Nehemiah 9:36 (The Israel Bible™)

Hear the verse in Hebrew

hi-NAY a-NAKH-nu ha-YOM a-va-DEEM v’-ha-A-retz a-sher na-TA-tah la-a-vo-TAY-nu
e-e-KHOL et pir-YAH v’-et tu-VAH hi-NAY a-NAKH-nu a-va-DEEM a-LE-ha

Serving God
This chapter speaks of Hashem’s (God's) original promise to Avraham (Abraham) to grant the Land of Israel to his descendants as an inheritance. It then continues with an overview of history, including the exodus from Egypt, the years in the desert, the acquisition of the Land of Israel and the many trials and tribulations that were the plight of the Israelites for many centuries. One might assume that Hashem gave the land to the People of Israel so that they could rest in it at ease, and yet this verse states that in fact “we are slaves on it.” The Land of Israel is not just a homeland or national territory. It is a tool, a vehicle through which the people can fulfill their ultimate purpose: To serve God and serve as a light unto the nations – a mission requiring much hard work.

 

[Mindful]

Tevet 12

In 1936, the Israeli Philharmonic Orchestra performed its inaugural concert, consisting of 75 Jewish musicians from major European orchestras who had made aliyah. The opening concert (of the "Palestine Orchestra," as it was then known) was conducted by the great Arturo Toscanini, who had escaped the rise of fascism in his native Italy. Said Toscanini: "I am doing this for humanity."

The IPO has earned a reputation as one of the pre-eminent orchestras in the world: over the decades it has featured Isaac Stern, Leonard Bernstein, Yehuda Menuhin and Itzhak Perlman. One profound moment came in 1991 when Zubin Mehta conducted the orchestra during a Scud missile attack.

 

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Daily Quote

The Jewish people are compared to the stars sparkling in the high heavens; by their light, even he who walks in the darkness of night shall not blunder. Every Jew possesses enough moral and spiritual strength to influence friends and acquaintances, and bring them into a place of light.

— Hayom Yom, Cheshvan 5