The mission of the Jewish Federation of Peoria is to serve the Jewish people locally, in Israel, and throughout the world through coordinated fundraising, community-wide programming, social services, and social- cultural-educational activities.
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 22-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
News from last week…
The famous Israeli media talent Yair Lapid, (the former TV reporter in the most important TV station in Israel and a well known journalist ) announced he is quitting in order to get ready to run for a position in the Israeli parliament. He is also considering establishing a new political party.
Yair Lapid is the son of Tommy Lapid, Tommy was also a media talent who quit his job and established a new party that had as its goal to confront the ultra orthodox in Israel, the party had huge success during their first years. They got 15 parliament seats out of 120 in the Israeli parliament. After a few years the party vanished. Now the son is following his dad and according to recent surveys he is getting a lot of support from the public.
This is an interesting fact in view of the different voices in Israel that are already talking about an early election at the end of the year 2012, a year before it is supposed to be…
Turkey choose Can Bonomo as their representative for the Eurovision contest (the once a year music contest in Europe). The surprising fact is that even though there is a lot of bad energy between Turkey and Israel, Turkey choose Can Bonomo as their representative- A Jewish Turkish artist from a well- known Jewish family in the city Izmir in Turkey. Respect for the Jewish community in Turkey! Wish him luck! But more luck to the Israeli representative!
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 22-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
Hope you all have a happy New Year and you all had a good New Year celebration…!
As you probably know, in Israel we wish each other a happy New on Rosh Hashanah and not on December 31, still, we mention the beginning of the New Year in January, but the big New Year we celebrate is Rosh Hashanah.
Israel has two official calendars, one is the Jewish calendar and the other one is the Gregorian calendar.
In Israel almost no one mentions Christmas, so it was a really unique experience for me to see all the lights and the trees and listen to all the Christmas songs, I even went to the Festival of Lights in East Peoria. I know you are used to it but for me it was my first time so it was special.
At the beginning of the week a Saudi internet website published a list of 400,000 Israeli names and credit card details. They claimed that a few Saudi hackers stole the information of Israeli credit card companies. A few hours later the Israeli credit card companies confirmed the news but said that the number was substantially less than 400,000. Still it is going to be a real hassle for the Israelis whose information was stolen and for the Israeli credit card companies. After the Israeli credit card companies checked the numbers they found that there are 14,000 Israelis whose information was published. After we all thought this was behind us, yesterday morning the same Saudi hacker published another file with information on another 18,000 Israeli names, claiming that each day he will publish more names…
The wars in the world today are sophisticated, the wars doesn’t start and end on the field. There is always a conflict and the Internet is one of the arenas.
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 21-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
Happy Hanukah to all of you! Hope you will have fun during winter break and take advantage of the days off!
Enjoy lighting candles with your families and eat delicious Latkes and Sofganiot (Donuts)! But not too many
In Israel Hanukah it is not as big a holiday as in America. But still most families light the menorah and put it in their windows. During a short trip in an Israeli neighborhood you will see a lot of candles in the windows… a different view than the Christmas lights hahaha…
Remember- the Hanukah candles are just for being seen and we cannot touch them!
Hanukah is good holiday to talk about cruel leaders like Antiochus, so today we will talk about North Korea’s leader – the great dictator of North Korea, Kim Jong Il, died this week. His young son will inherit the position of President just as Kim Jong Il inherited his dad’s. North Korea is a poor country but has a very powerful army thanks to Kim Jong Il.
No one really know what happen in North Korea, and if they have nuclear weapons or not. This is one of the reasons that North Korea’s neighbor from the south, South Korea, is afraid to go to war with them.
While in the western world a lot of people made fun of Ill’s character, in North Korea he is revered and held in very high esteem.
The news reporter that announced Il’s death couldn’t stop crying during the announcement. There are videos of thousands of people who came to the main squares in the country to mourn the death of their loveable leader.
According to the press the nuclear reactor that Israel destroyed in Syria in 2006 was built by North Korea. Because North Korea has a poor and unsophisticated economy, Kim Jong Il decided to export his Military knowledge and make this industry the country’s leading industry.
We hope that the new young president of North Korea will change the country and make it more open to the western world, but TV commentators said it likely that the new president will be just like his dad. “Like father like son…”
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 21-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
This December, Hanukah is celebrated at the same time as Christmas. I notice that many Americans think Hanukah is one of the most important holidays in Israel and for Jews, when in fact, it is a minor holiday in Israel. Most people don’t even get a day off work.
Why do most Americans think this about Hanukah? The answer is simple; it because it coincides with Christmas.
Why do we celebrate Hanukah?
We remember that 2,200 years ago the Jews in Israel were forced by the Syrian king Antiochus to change their beliefs and pray for to the Greek gods.
Judah the Macabee rebelled against this and remained loyal to his beliefs, he gathered his four brothers and some of his friends and fought back against the Syrians. He fought for freedom of religion and won. The Jews were able to continue and pray for their beliefs.
The story of Hanukah relates to these times when the president of Iran, just like the King Antiochus of ancient times, called for the destruction of the state of Israel and the Jewish people. Ahmadinejad claims the land of Israel should be controlled by Islamic forces and not by the Jews.
The situation is made more complex because Ahmadinejad is working on the development of a nuclear weapon in order to achieve his goal.
Ahmadinejad’s targets are Israel, the United States and the Western world in general; we can only imagine what the impact of a nuclear Iran would be on the world. According to Iran, Israel is the small Satan while the United States is the big Satan. A nuclear Iran is not just an Israeli problem, but also a problem to most of the world. Iran is against everything that is not radical Shia Islam.
Iran’s rockets can reach Europe. Iran’s nuclear weapons program is hugely problematic to Iran’s Arabic neighbors as well as to Israel’s Arabic neighbors. The Arab countries are very concerned about Iran’s dreams of domination of that region of the world.
Judah the Macabee fought back against the Syrians for freedom of religion. You can be sure Israel will do everything she can in order to continue our traditions and fight back against those who call to destroy us.
All the countries in the Western world should be concerned about Iran’s nuclear program and should join Israel in this fight for the future of democracy.
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 21-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
Hope to see all of the TGIS families at the Fishkin’s house on Saturday for our early Hanukah party!
On Tuesday we will have the Israeli lunch with me. So instead of eating your lunch alone come at noon to the Federation to be with with other people in the community and hear what’s new in Israel, and learn one or two new words in Hebrew!
I’d like to remind everyone that the Federation will be ordering the bestselling Israeli book “Homesick“. I will be leading the book club discussion on Tuesday. Feb. 28 at 7:30, so if you have not ordered it yet please call the office and place your order, Great Book!
This week was embarrassing for the people in Israel.
The former president of Israel, Moshe Katzav was sentenced to seven years in jail. Katzav will be in jail after being convicted of raping an employee while he was a minister in the Knesset. Interesting thing is the fact that the judge who sentenced Katzav was an Arab judge in the Israeli Supreme Court; think about that fact the next time you hear someone claiming that Israel is an apartheid state that discriminates against its Arab citizens. No one in Israel pays attention to his background, because for the people in Israel it is obvious that an Arab can be a judge, we know that he is Arab based on his his name…
The cold war between Iran and the western world continues; this week Iran captured a very sophisticated Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle or Drone that belonged to the US. The US Air Force confirmed this fact. The Iranian government announced that their response to this incursion will be outside Iran’s borders.
“Homesick” a popular book written by Eshkol Nevo will be our first book to study. Discussion led by Gal Israeli.
Order your copy of “Homesick” by December 14, 2011. Cost: $16 per book.
This heart-warming, charming and clever first novel dips into the lives of each of the inhabitants of a village in Israel.
It is 1995 and Noa and Amir, a student couple, have decided to move in together. Noa is studying photography in Jerusalem and Amir is a psychology student in Tel Aviv. They choose a small apartment in a village in the hills, midway between the two cities.
Originally called El-Kastel, the village was emptied of its Arab inhabitants in 1948 and is now the home of Jewish immigrants from Kurdistan. Not far from the apartment lives a family grieving for their eldest son who was killed in Lebanon. The younger brother left behind, Yotam, forgotten by his parents, turns to Amir for support.
Further down the street, Saddiq watches the house while he works at a building site. He knows that this house is the one from which his family was dirven by the Jews when he was a boy, and to which his mother still has a rusty key. Despite friendships that develop and lives that become entwined, tensions among this melting pot of characters seem to be rising to the surface.
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 21-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
Hope you all had a great time with your family during Thanksgiving.
The Thanksgiving holiday really reminded me of Passover and Rosh Hashanah in Israel. In both of these holidays families get together and eat a big meal. All the shops close early and everyone wishes one another a happy holiday! And enjoy with your family! Before I came here I had no clue that the Thanksgiving holiday was such a family holiday and I really enjoy the unique atmosphere that you have in this holiday. It reminds me of Israel during the High Holidays…
This week we did our first Israeli lunch where we studied a few words in Hebrew and spoke about recent news in Israel. Our next lunch will be Dec. 13.
We also mentioned November 29th 1947 – the date when the UN made the decision to establish a Jewish state in the land of Israel. 33 countries supported the motion; 13 were against and 10 countries abstained. Still today people mention this day in Israel as one of the most important days in Israel’s history!
After the revolution in Egypt, last week the Egyptians went to vote for their first time in their lives.
During Mubarak’s regime nobody voted because the people knew that it did not matter what candidate they voted for. Mubarak always made sure that he was re-elected and that is what really happened.
The current election in Egypt is a complex thing and we will know the results in March. Meanwhile most of the people predict that as it happened in Tunisia so it will happen in Egypt; the Muslim Brotherhood will be the biggest winners from this election. It is not a good sign for Israel and not a good sign for the western world.
Last week the Arab League decided to suspend Syria’s membership and on the following day the UN has published a report saying that Assad had given orders to kill his own people and that the soldiers were shooting children and raping women. The UN report said that Assad’s regime is perpetrating a crime against humanity.
The Arab world is going through a major change and we will need to sit aside and wait and see what’s gonna happen.
A lot of people are thinking that the next decade will be the Muslim Brotherhood decade and that may mean a “democracy” in some of the countries but also ruling by radical and extreme Islamist parties.
Hope they are wrong, but unfortunately it seems like they are right…
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 21-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
Hope you all will have a fun Thanksgiving with your family!
Hope you will take advantage of the long weekend and have fun!
Next week I am going to New York for a conference of the Jewish agency to meet other “Shlichim” like me from all around the US.
Later, I will go to New York City…
On Nov. 29, we will do an Israeli lunch at noon; everyone will bring their own dairy or veggie lunch and the Federation will provide chips, hummus and soda. It will take place at the Federation office and I am looking forward to se you.
At the lunch, we will discuss recent events in Israel and other issues relating to Israel that people are interested in, and as a bonus, we’ll practice little Hebrew and study a few words…
Recently, a lot of people are concentrating on Syria. The Arab-League voted to suspend Syria’s membership because of the 3,500 murders that Syrian president Bashar Assad is alleged to have perpetrated against his own people.
In Israel, a lot of people are waiting to see what will happen there.
We need to remember the revolution and a democracy in Syria is not always a good thing or in Israel’s best interests as we are seeing now in Egypt. Perhaps, we will even miss Assad the dictator.
Days will tell…
An interesting thing is to notice how many days have already passed and the world didn’t take action against Syria as it did against Gaddafi’s Libya. Why? The reason is that in Libya, there is a lot of oil so it was in the Western World’s best interests to be involved there. And Syria, there is not a lot of oil.
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 21-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
Last weekend the fourth of November it was the sixteenth anniversary of the assassination of the former PM of Israel Mr. Yitzhak Rabin Z”l.
In Israel there were a lot of ceremonies and memorial services to remember Rabin’s legacy and Rabin’s Character and personality as a great leader and great fighter for Peace.We held a service for Rabin also in our community where we mentioned Rabin’s legacy and spoke about tolerance and the importance of being tolerant to others opinion.
I think this week while we remember Rabin we need to remember why he was murdered. And the reason is that people in Israel weren’t tolerant to Rabin’s opinions. If there is one important lesson from this case it is to be tolerant.
I want to thank Rabbi Daniel , Bree Smith, Grant Fishkin, Joel Marx, Aaron Talbott and Michel Uretzky, who all volunteered to take a significant part in the service and help me to do it. יישר כוח! It meant a lot to me and I am sure that also for people in Israel that a community in a distant city from Israel, like Peoria, remembered Yitzhak Rabin, the former PM of Israel. It’s not obvious that people in Peoria would come to the service. This reinforces the feeling that Jews all around the world are connected to each other.
Last week the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, got back to work after summer break.
In the opening assembly the PM (Prime Minister) made a speech in front of the parliament members. This time, Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu decided to dedicate a significant part of his speech to the Iranian threat to Israel. Following Netanyahu’s speech the Defense Minister of Israel, Mr. Ehud Barak related also to Iran saying that Iran must be stopped.
The following day the newspaper reported that the British Chief of the Army made a secret visit to Israel. In parallel Israel did a special Rocket experiment and the IDF announced that the IDF air force had trained in Italy for the last weeks training on attacking distant targets.
As you probably understand from this preview there is a feeling in Israel and around the world that Iran is very close to the point of no return and someone must prevent them from achieving a nuclear weapon.
Especially after the declaration of Iran’s president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who repeats his mantra that if Iran is attacked they will attack Israel and the US as well as repeatedly calling for Israel’s annihilation.
A few days ago he attacked the US again saying that Iran doesn’t have a problem with attacking the US, even without a nuclear weapon.
A lot of people in Israel are nervous about Iran’s nuclear capabilities, people are insecure regarding what will happen if Iran will have nuclear weapons on one hand and on the other hand what will happen if Israel or even the US will attack Iran- because Iran’s response will be rockets on Israel.
Following all this intense week the IAEA published that Iran is developing nuclear arms. Now we need to wait and see how the world will respond…
5 years and 4 months that Gilad was sitting in the dark without seeing or talking with his family nor with any other people except his captors, not even with Red Cross representatives.
Gilad is coming home after a lot of effort from people in Israel who decided to dedicate all their time to the effort of bringing Gilad back home.
In Israel there is a compulsory military service for 3 years.
Every family in Israel feels like Gilad Shalit could be their own son and that’s why people in Israel are so filled with emotion towards him.
The state of Israel is very small with just 7 million people. Of that, 5.5 million are Jews who served in the army. Many in Israel feel like they are part of a big family; everyone in Israel feels like the Shalit family is their own family and people are sensitive to the pain of Gilad’s parents and family.
During the day a lot of my friends and my family just called me to check to be sure that I know Gilad Shalit is coming back.
Today we celebrate Sukkut and in Sukkut there is a tradition to invite 7 guests (Ushpizin) to your sukkah, a lot of people in Israel left one chair empty for the last 5 years for Gilad Shalit too
People did it also on Passover and in Rosh Hashanah, and I have a
friend whose family left an empty chair for Gilad for all their Friday night dinners for the last 5 years.
Gilad was part of the Israeli society for the last 5 years and 4 months, Gilad, as the slogan in Israel said is the son of all of us.
And that why all of us are excited and have tears in our eyes when we see Gilad Shalit back home with his parents and his older brother and younger sister.
It’s impossible to try and explain for someone out of Israel about the feeling that the Israelis feel to Gilad Shalit but I will try to give short example.
On the night that the news reported on the deal everyone’s status on the Facebook was concentrated on Gilad Shalit. People wrote things like Finally, I am so happy!, he is coming back!, Yea!, Amen, We waiting for you!, and so on.. For all day the entire Israelis friend that I have wrote their Status just on one thing- Gilad Shalit.
However, the deal is not simple, Israel released 1,027 Palestinian prisoners and 450 of them are terrorist who killed Israelis. The prisoners that we will release are responsible for the killing of 599 Israelis people.
On one hand the price of Gilad is very high and it is very hard to release 1027 prisoners, on the other hand that illustrates how Human life is important for the Israelis 1027 for one Israeli.
A reporter in Kuwait (Iqbal al Ahmed wrote during the last days that she was jealous of Gilad because he has a country that justifies the life and not the death. She is jealous of Gilad Shalit’s country and people — this written by al Ahmed in Kuwait (a country that Israel does not have a diplomatic relationship with).
te: Gal Israeli, a 22-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
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Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 21-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
Editor’s note: Gal Israeli, a 21-year-old Israeli will be here in Peoria for approximately the next nine months as our shaliach or Israeli ambassador. His job, among other things, is to present views on issues that face Israel and Jews worldwide. Each week, he will try to post on various topics, some serious, others not so much.
