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Arutz Sheva Daily Israel Report http://www.IsraelNationalNews.com ------------------------------------------------ Delivered Daily via Email, Sunday thru Friday Monday, Apr. 10 '17, י"ד בניסן תשע"ז HEADLINES: 1. THE TEARS OF PRISONERS AT THE SEDER TABLE 2. TRUE STORY: PASSOVER SEDER IN SYRIAN PRISON 3. 'HER SON WAS HER WHOLE WORLD' 4. IVANKA TRUMP'S CHILDREN PERFORM FOR CHINESE PRESIDENT 5. ROCKET EXPLODES IN ESHKOL REGION 6. 'BEDIKAT HAMETZ' AT THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE 7. MIRACLE IN THE GOLAN 8. WATCH: IDF ENTERS ILLEGAL WEAPONS FACTORY 1. THE TEARS OF PRISONERS AT THE SEDER TABLE by Ido ben Porat In a talk with Arutz Sheva, Rabbi of the prison service Rabbi Yehuda Weisner described preparations underway for the Passover holiday in Israeli prisons, where prisoners are soon to sit down to the Passover eve "seder" ceremony without friends and under lock and key - as they try to feel like free men in the spirit of the holiday. "Operation Passover" for the prison service began already the day after the Purim holiday a month ago. Rabbi Weisner described the complicated logistical preparations and brought up the fact that the prisoners cannot buy special products for Passover aside from those given as options at the "canteen," therefore it is the responsibility of the rabbis of the prison service to supply matzah, wine, haroset and the like for the seder and the days of Passover that follow. "Unfortunately - or maybe fortunately - there are a large number of prisoners who keep the Torah and its commandments. I am happy that I can provide service, unfortunately it is in this sad situation behind the walls of the jail," Rabbi Weisner said. The military rabbinate has reservists and "hesder" soldiers helping them make IDF kitchens kosher for Passover and leading the Passover seder. What happens in the prison service? "We, the rabbis, do it, with the prisoners and also with non-Jews certified to do the work. All the canteens are made kosher. We distributed a ton of hand-made matzah, and for tonight we are preparing some 2,000 seder plates. Yeshiva students come to lead the seders. The prison service sets aside a budget for haredim and national religious who come and lead the seders in the different branches." What special requests have you encountered on the last days before Passover? "There were prisoners who requested special matzot, there were those who couldn’t give up on the gefilte fish. Things which to Jews on the outside look trivial, inside the jail are a lot more complicated. Remember - the prison service forbids bringing in food from the outside, so we provide for everybody." Rabbi Weisner, formerly the Rabbi of Central Command, said that "during holidays its very hard on the spirit to be in jail, and during Passover it is doubly hard. During the holiday of freedom you’re sitting in jail and your children and family aren’t with you. It’s a very hard situation. "I see the people preparing themselves for the seder, and you can see their tears, there’s a lot of sorrow, and we explain to them that man is always in the midst of a test. There’s no choice, you have to get through this situation, it has a price and if you don’t work on yourself and undergo a process of physical and spiritual repair, then apparently you’ll be stuck in the same place and the lemon will still be sour. I tell prisoners that a man is in the place where his thoughts are, so you think good - the lemon will become lemonade," Rabbi Weisner said, testifying that "many prisoners want with all their hearts to start on a new path." "When you sit with prisoners and talk with them, what do you tell them to encourage them? "Everything is a function of trust in the Creator of the World and of Man. Every man falls. If you really believe that man can change his ways, there is a good chance that he can gather the strength to set out on a new path. If, as a society, we don’t believe this, then there’s no chance. He’ll get out of jail, and the next day the society that brought him in will push him out, and the whole process we went through with him will disappear." Around the seder table, prisoners succeed in being happy? "I think that there is some sadness somewhere at the bottom of their hearts. Some of them show it more, but I believe that most of the people try to say ‘if we’re already here, let’s make it nice and not cause ourselves to fall’ It really works differently for each individual. "Without connection to Passover, we have 1,200 prisoner studying in the Torah halls, we have treatment frameworks in the spirit of Torah and we have integrated treatment frameworks - Torah combined with work, and we, the prison service, give the prisoners all the tools to be happy and to succeed." 2. TRUE STORY: PASSOVER SEDER IN SYRIAN PRISON by Baruch Gordon On Thursday, April 2, 1970, the Israeli Air Force attacked Syrian tanks and artillery in the Golan Heights. Three Syrian MIG jets were downed, as well as one Israeli Phantom jet. Israeli pilot Gidon Magen and navigator Pinny Nachmani parachuted out of the jet safely, but were captured by the Syrian enemy. They sat the next three years in the high-security Mezze military prison in Damascus where they spent four Seder nights, the festive first night of Passover. Writing on small pieces of toilet and wrapping paper, Pinny kept a secret diary of 300 pages; he made the following entry after their second Seder night in 1971: The Pesach (Passover) holiday has passed, the quintessential national holiday of the Jews. We are amongst the few who are prevented from celebrating with our families. It's difficult to describe the Passover atmosphere in Syrian prison. On the morning before, we meticulously cleaned our cell (removing any crumbs of leavened bread) in a way that the cement floor had never been cleaned before. On cardboard, we drew a Seder plate, with a Star of David in the middle and room to place each ingredient on the six protrusions of the star. In the afternoon, we succeed in organizing permission to shower, albeit in freezing water, after which we donned our holiday clothes and anxiously waited for the beginning of the holiday (at nightfall). These were difficult hours of contemplation - the memories which swelled up to the point that we choked as we recalled our homes, and tried to feel the atmosphere of Pesach as sundown approached, and sense the distinct smells of the late afternoon. We yearned to feel on our flesh the festive excitement... [click here to sign up for full story] To read the full story of Passover Seder in Syrian Prison, click here to sign up to Bet El Friends' email list here and the story will be sent to you immediately. 3. 'HER SON WAS HER WHOLE WORLD' by David Rosenberg The body of a woman found at a construction site on Yigal Alon Street in Tel Aviv Sunday morning is almost definitely that of a bereaved Givatayim mother who went missing Saturday morning, police say. Sivan Lavi, 46, disappeared over the weekend after her 12-year old son was found dead under mysterious circumstances last Thursday in a burnt-out apartment. Lavi was found lightly injured. The two had returned to the apartment after it had been damaged in a fire, and had spent the day cleaning and repairing it. The two then retired to their rooms in the apartment. Authorities suspect that Lavi’s son was killed after breathing in air contaminated by poisonous materials released into the air by the fire, though the exact cause of death has yet to be established. After she went missing, friends and relatives of Lavi feared she might take her own life, prompting searches for her across the Tel Aviv-area. On Sunday morning a body matching her description was found, though the remains must be examined by forensic experts to verify that it is Sivan Lavi. Zahava, a friend of Lavi’s mother, suggested that the death of her son could have pushed Lavi to take her own life. "It’s hard to imagine yourself in her situation; she lost her whole world," Zahava told Army Radio. 4. IVANKA TRUMP'S CHILDREN PERFORM FOR CHINESE PRESIDENT by JTA JTA - The children of Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner, the Jewish daughter and son-in-law of the president, performed for the Chinese president and his wife during their official visit to the United States. Arabella, 5, and Joseph Kushner, 3, sang a Chinese folk song and recited verses from classic Chinese poetry. Ivanka Trump posted a short video clip of the performance and wrote in a tweet: "Very proud of Arabella and Joseph for their performance in honor of President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan’s official visit to the US!" President Donald Trump retweeted the praise of his grandchildren. Very proud of Arabella and Joseph for their performance in honor of President Xi Jinping and Madame Peng Liyuan's official visit to the US! pic.twitter.com/fu3RIh26UO — Ivanka Trump (@IvankaTrump) April 7, 2017 Trump met with the Chinese First Family on April 6 and 7 at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. The children reportedly have a Chinese nanny who has taught them the language. 5. ROCKET EXPLODES IN ESHKOL REGION by Chana Roberts Terrorists launched a rocket on Monday morning from the Sinai area towards the Eshkol Regional Council communities, the IDF reported. The rocket landed in a greenhouse in community in the Eshkol Regional Council's south. No one was hurt, but the greenhouse was damaged. When the rocket was launched, "color red" air raid sirens were sounded in several communities in the region. Residents report hearing explosions. Authorities are still searching the area. Israel decided on Monday morning to close the Taba Crossing into Sinai,not allowing Israeli citizens to exit Israel to Sinai until after conclusion of the Pesach (Passover) holiday, due to information claiiming that there would be ISIS-sponsored terrorist attacks during that period. It had previously issued a travel warning only, but has now urged Israelis to return if they are in the Sinai Desert at present. 6. 'BEDIKAT HAMETZ' AT THE PRESIDENT'S HOUSE by Arutz Sheva Staff Jews around the world are completing the final preparations ahead of the Passover festival, which begins Monday evening, and President Reuven Rivlin is no exception. The President and First Lady Nehama Rivlin will host both family members for the festival and lone soldiers serving in the IDF while their families remain abroad. On Sunday evening, President Rivlin, aided by his grandson Shai, completed the traditional "bedikat hametz", to search for any remaining leavened bread in the house. Last week all hametz in the president’s residence as sold (so as to not remain in his possession during the festival), and the usual kitchen dishes and utensils swapped with ones kept clean from hametz and used only during Passover. Since he became President of Israel in 2014, the President and the First Lady have kept a tradition of inviting lone soldiers to join their extended family for the Passover seder, a tradition they will continue this year, with two long soldiers joining the Rivlin family Monday night. The two lone soldiers invited to the Rivlin family seder are Valeria Kogan, a Border Police officer who immigrated by herself from Russia; and Omer Openheim, an American-born paratrooper now living in Rehovot. 7. MIRACLE IN THE GOLAN by Shimon Cohen Last Thursday, a stray bullet fired by combatants on the Syrian side of the Golan Heights struck and Israeli girl, wounding her in the back. Luckily for the girl, Aviya Frankel, the bullet caused no serious damage, missing her vital organs. But the bullet nearly struck Aviya’s spinal cord, her father Shai told Arutz Sheva on Sunday. A few centimeters over and the injuries could have left Aviya paralyzed – or worse. According to Shai, the incident occurred Thursday afternoon, while he and his family – with the exception of Aviya – were relaxing in their home in Hispin, in the Golan. At the time the shot was fired, Aviya was hiking outside the town of Aloni Habashan, also in the Golan, with the local chapter of the Bnei Akiva Religious Zionist youth movement. Initially it was believed that Aviya had only been very slightly injured by a rock which had exploded after being struck by the gunfire, spreading fragments into her arm and back. During her first trip to the hospital, in fact, no signs of a bullet wound were found. After she was injured, a friend of Aviya called her parents to notify them that Aviya had suffered a minor injury and to reassure them that everything was going to be fine. "We thought that it’s an [organized] hike and everything will be fine," Shai told Arutz Sheva, but then a few minutes later the group’s educational counselor called up about an injury that wasn’t serious but that they didn’t know what it was exactly, but that it looked like they would need to evacuate her to the hospital." A few minutes later Shai and his wife received another call, again from the educational counselor, but this time she said that Aviya was about to evacuated by helicopter. From what initially appeared to be a very minor injury, the situation quickly escalated to a medical emergency, with Aviya’s parents left in the dark as to what exactly had transpired. "We saw an intensive care unit, a regular [ambulance] unit, police units," said Shai, describing the scene just outside Aloni Habashan when he and his wife arrived. "Police were taking testimony from Aviya, while a medic was explaining that it was unclear what had injured her, but she believed that once we got to the hospital, [Aviya] would be released quickly. [People mentioned] scenarios involving gunshots or even worse things, but it seemed like it was something else entirely." Even after Aviya and her parents arrived at the hospital, few answers were forthcoming. "We went to the hospital – my wife went with Aviya in the ambulance – but we didn’t get anything official beyond what we heard in the field [the scene of the incident]. We were left with a lot of uncertainty. The girl was in a state of shock, especially from everything going on around her, which made her a feel overwhelmed," said Shai, adding that the helicopter evacuation was ultimately cancelled. A surgeon inspected Aviya’s injury, opening it up and looking for any foreign objects, but nothing was found. Aviya was released, the family returned home, and the story appeared to be over. After they got back home, however, Aviya said she was suffering from serious pains in her back. Her mother felt around her back and felt a hard object underneath the skin. Shai consulted with a neighbor who is certified as a paramedic who recommended they return Aviya immediately to Ziv Hospital. Once there, Aviya was returned to the emergency room. This time, doctors quickly found the foreign object – a bullet, lodged two centimeters from the entry wound. "She [the doctor] saw that there was something there. I don’t know why they didn’t see it in the afternoon [during the first visit to the hospital]." The bullet just narrowly missed Aviya’s spine by several centimeters. "It appears that the bullet ricocheted off of a rock and penetrated her back horizontally. A few more centimeters and it would have reached her spine – then the whole thing would have ended up very differently." 8. WATCH: IDF ENTERS ILLEGAL WEAPONS FACTORY by Arutz Sheva Staff [youtube:2026817] On Sunday night, the Judea Brigade carried out an extensive operation, in cooperation with the IDF, Shabak, Border Police, and Judea and Samaria Police. The entire Judea Brigade worked to halt the manufacture of illegal weapons in the region, as well as to confiscate the weapons themselves. During the operation, the brigade uncovered an illegal weapons factory which had 7 lathes used to manufacture weapons. The lathes were disassembled and confiscated. ------------------------------------------------ Subscribe to this Daily Israel Report: http://www.israelnationalnews.com/Subscribe/ | |
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