Levitt Letter Extra News

By  Orli Gold-Haklay   www.JPost.com

Hadas Tzaban, an 18-year-old high school student from the development town of Netivot, recently won first place in the international “First Step to Nobel Prize” research project competition held in Warsaw, Poland. To compete, high school students submit projects – in Hadas’s case her final matriculation project – which are then judged by professors of physics for originality and academic excellence.

Tzaban prepared her project as part of a special program for high school students interested in physics at the Ilan Ramon Youth Physics Center at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, under the supervision of Prof. Natan Kleeorin from the Department of Mechanical Engineering. Three other students from the center took second place in the competition. “Israel is just a tiny dot on the globe, but we are proving that we are a much bigger dot on the scientific map,” says center director Prof. Victor Melamed. “These talented kids are our future.”

The Ilan Ramon Youth Physics Center, on the Marcus Family Campus in Beersheba, was established in 2007 by the Rashi Foundation of Israel, collaborating with the Department of Physics to advance hands-on learning activities to high-school pupils from Kiryat Gat to Eilat. The center, named in honor of Israel’s first astronaut, who is originally from Beersheba, is located in the Sacta Rashi Physics Building and includes sophisticated teaching laboratories, a planetarium and rooftop observatory.

In addition to offering applied studies for all southern high-school pupils matriculating in physics, the center also assists pupils in preparing individual projects in physics, and identifies and advances those who are gifted. It aims to increase the number of pupils who take physics at a matriculation level and improve their matriculation results; establish and operate physics centers in schools; and ultimately increase the number of physics and engineering students in academic institutions, explains Melamed.

The fascination for physics runs in the Tzaban family: two years ago, Hadas’ older sister Mor, now 20, took second place for her research paper in the same competition. Originally from Tunisia, the Tzaban family is well known in Netivot. Hadas and Mor’s great grandfather, Rephael Hadir Tzaban, was the town’s head rabbi. Hadas’s father owns a printing press and her mother is a first-grade teacher.

“My parents have always encouraged us to pursue our interests, to work hard in school and excel,” says Hadas, one of five girls. “Natural sciences has always fascinated me and that’s why I joined the physics track at school. When I heard about the opportunity to conduct a research project at the Ramon Center, and I saw how much Mor enjoyed it, I jumped at the opportunity to broaden my horizons.”

Hadas began her research project on “Turbulent Convection in Sciences and Nature” in November of 2008 and completed it this past January. Although professors at the center as well as at the Weizman Institute in Rehovot had told her they were impressed with her work, she never expected to actually win the contest. “One day, I sat down at the computer to check my e-mails. When I read the announcement about the prize, I couldn’t believe it! I wasn’t sure I read it right, so I kept reading it again and again to make sure!”

As part of her prize, Hadas will be traveling to Warsaw, Poland, in November of this year to spend a month pursuing her research. Upon her return home, she will resume her national service, where she plans to help organize after-school activities for school children in Jerusalem’s Katamonim neighborhood – “not teaching them physics, just helping them and taking a ‘time-out’ before I pursue my studies.

“Physics just does it for me,” says Hadas, who hopes to either go to medical school or study at BGU’s Department of Physics. “To me, its just amazing, to see the theories of nature’s wonders come to life. The Ramon Center really makes you want to study. It lets kids get involved. If it wasn’t for the Center, I wouldn’t have done any research, and I never would have believed I could get this far.”

Hadas insists the physics gene isn’t hereditary, “and it isn’t something my mother puts in the food, either!” she says. But the facts speak for themselves: her younger sister, Chen, 16, will join the physics track at school and begin studying at the Ramon Center this fall.

The Ilan Ramon Center is the unique brainchild of the Rashi Foundation, driven by the realization that physics is the key to all advanced sciences. The foundation decided to create a center for youth to develop physics in the Negev and try to get more young people passionate about this area, says Melamed. “The Rashi Foundation does things very scientifically: first they targeted their objective; then they went full-force ahead to make sure it was accomplished.”

Melamed, a physics teacher with many years of experience in local Beersheba high schools, says that the sooner pupils are exposed to physics, the better. “Kids need to taste and smell science, and physics is the ultimate gateway to all sciences. I think anyone can get excited about science if he is exposed to it the right way. It’s hard to say which kids have a ‘natural tendency’ for physics, but there are definitely a lot of talented kids out there who are highly motivated. They have a natural curiosity that just needs to be cultivated, and at the center that’s what we do.”

The center is already yielding results. Over the past three years, there has been a phenomenal 25 percent increase in high school physics track pupils involved in the center, says Melamed, who attributes this dramatic leap to the center and its exciting activities: “Pupils at the center tell their peers what a great learning experience they’re having, and it makes more and more of them want to pursue this path.”

www.Israel21c.org

In the U.S., the brilliant autumn foliage with its variations on red, orange, brown, and yellow never fails to delight the eye. In Israel and Europe, however, it’s mostly a one-color spread of yellow.

Researchers at the University of Haifa in Israel and the University of Kuopio in Finland have a new theory that stretches back 35 million years to solve the color riddle.

Their research, published in the journal New Phytologist, posits that during a series of ice ages and dry spells many tree species began an evolutionary process of producing red leaves to ward off insects.

In North America, north to south mountain chains enabled plant and animal “migration” with the advance and retreat of the ice, and the trees’ insect “enemies” migrated along with them.

In Europe and Israel, the mountains reach from east to west, so no protected areas were created. Many tree species did not survive the severe cold and the insects that depended on them for survival also perished.

At the end of the ice ages, most tree species that did survive in these areas had no need to cope with the insects because they were extinct, and therefore, over time, they no longer produced red leaves.

Agence France-Presse (AFP)

PARIS — A Paris swimming pool refused entry to a young Muslim woman wearing a “burqini,” a swimsuit covering most of the body, officials said recently, adding to tensions over Muslim dress in France.

The incident came as French lawmakers conduct hearings on whether to ban the burqa after President Nicolas Sarkozy said the head-to-toe body covering and veil was “not welcome” in France, home to Europe’s biggest Muslim minority.

Officials in the Paris suburb of Emerainville said they let the woman swim in the pool in July wearing the “burqini,” designed for Muslim women who want to swim without revealing their bodies. [see pictures below]

But when she returned in August, they decided to apply hygiene rules and told her she could not swim if she insisted on wearing the garment, which resembles a wetsuit with built-in hood.

Pool staff “reminded her of the rules that apply in all (public) swimming pools which forbid swimming while clothed,” said Daniel Guillaume, an official with the pool management.

Le Parisien newspaper said the woman, identified by her first name Carole, was a French convert to Islam and that she was determined to go to the courts to challenge the decision.

“Quite simply, this is segregation,” the newspaper quoted her as saying. “I will fight to try to change things. And if I see that the battle is lost, I cannot rule out leaving France.”

The newspaper ran a photo of the woman sporting her three-piece “burqini” which she said she purchased in Dubai during a recent holiday.

“I bought it thinking that I could enjoy swimming without having to uncover myself,” she said.

Local mayor Alain Kelyor said “all this has nothing to do with Islam,” adding that the “burqini” was “not an Islamic swimsuit; that type of suit does not exist in the Koran,” the Muslim holy book.

France has set up a special panel of 32 lawmakers to consider whether a law should be enacted to bar Muslim women from wearing the burqa.

In an address to parliament in June, Sarkozy said the burqa was not a symbol of religious faith but a sign of women’s “subservience” and declared that it was “not welcome” in staunchly secular France.

The country has had a long-running debate on how far it is willing to go to accommodate Islam without undermining the tradition of separating church and state, enshrined in a flagship 1905 law.

In 2004, it passed a law banning headscarves (hijab)or any other “conspicuous” religious symbols in state schools to defend secularism.

The burqa debate in France has drawn chilling warnings from Al-Qaeda that it was ready to “take revenge for the honor of our daughters and sisters.”

Communist MP Andre Gerin, who heads the National Assembly’s burqa commission, called the “burqini” ridiculous and said pool administrators were right.

“We can’t allow this. This is proof that there is a political agenda behind such dress,” Gerin told Le Parisien.

By Ludwig Schneider, Israel Today

Most of the Jewish prayers are brachot (benedictions or blessings), in which the one praying blesses God. Blessings begin with this formula:

Baruch Ata Adonai, Eloheinu,

Melech ha’olam…

Blessed are You, O Lord our

God, King of the universe…

There are specific blessings for all occasions—for bread and wine on the Sabbath, for festivals like Passover and Hanukkah, and for simchot (joyous occasions) like bar mitzvahs and weddings.

Any individual Jew can pray alone in his room or at the Western Wall, but when the prayer occurs in the context of a religious service, there must be at least 10 men praying together, or a minyan. This is derived from Abraham’s struggle in prayer for the rescue of Sodom, going down to 10 men (Genesis 18:32Genesis 18:32
English: World English Bible - WEB
32 He said, “Oh don’t let the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. What if ten are found there?” He said, “I will not destroy it for the ten’s sake.”

WP-Bible plugin).

In accordance with the daily sacrifices at the Temple in Jerusalem, three prayer times were established, which were later taken up for the service in the synagogue:

Shacharit—The Morning Prayer

Mincha—The Afternoon Prayer

Ma’ariv—The Evening Prayer

At all three prayer times, these two prayers are recited: the Shmoneh Esrei (18 benedictions), and the confession of faith, Shema Yisrael, the “Hear O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one” (Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one:

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The prayers are mostly from the Psalms. However, when the word sela appears, the one praying can add his own extemporaneous prayers and bring his personal requests before the Lord. The sela acts as a finale in the sense of “God is my final help.”

In addition, one is to pray after getting up in the morning and before going to bed, as well as before and after meals and on other set occasions. These prayers are contained in the common prayer book, the Siddur. The word siddur comes from seder (order) because the book gives directions about what to pray and when.

For the Jewish festivals there is the Machzor (cycles), which has several volumes and regulates the cycle of prayers throughout the year. Since the Jews were scattered among the nations and spoke many different languages, the Hebrew text is often printed on the right-hand page of the Siddur while a translation appears on the left-hand page.

A religious Jewish man wears a kippah (skullcap) when he prays. The word kippah means cap, which in turn can be linked with kapparah (atonement), implying that “I am covered by a propitiation.” A religious woman wears a headscarf when praying.

The men also wear a prayer shawl or tallit (Numbers 15:37-41Numbers 15:37-41
English: World English Bible - WEB
37 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ³⁸ Speak to the children of Israel, and bid those who they make them fringes in the borders of their garments throughout their generations, and that they put on the fringe of each border a cord of blue: ³⁹ and it shall be to you for a fringe, that you may look on it, and remember all the commandments of Yahweh, and do them; and that you not follow after your own heart and your own eyes, after which you use to play the prostitute; ⁴⁰ that you may remember and do all my commandments, and be holy to your God. ⁴¹ I am Yahweh your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am Yahweh your God.

WP-Bible plugin; Deuteronomy 22:12Deuteronomy 22:12
English: World English Bible - WEB
12 You shall make you fringes on the four borders of your cloak, with which you cover yourself.

WP-Bible plugin), which has tzitziot (tassels) on each of its four corners. In the New Testament, this term is often translated as the “hem” of the garment.

During morning prayers observant men bind prayer straps or tefillin (phylacteries) to their arms and foreheads. Inside the small tefillin box, which is tied to the forehead, are the following texts written on parchment: Exodus 13:1-10; 11-16Exodus 13:1-10; 11-16
English: World English Bible - WEB
13 ¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.” ³ Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴ This day you go forth in the month Abib. ⁵ It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. ⁶ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. ⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be yeast seen with you, in all your borders. ⁸ You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’ ⁹ It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. ^{11 1} Yahweh said to Moses, “Yet one plague more will I bring on Pharaoh, and on Egypt; afterwards he will let you go. When he lets you go, he will surely thrust you out altogether. ² Speak now in the ears of the people, and let them ask every man of his neighbor, and every woman of her neighbor, jewels of silver, and jewels of gold.” ³ Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians. Moreover the man Moses was very great in the land of Egypt, in the sight of Pharaoh’s servants, and in the sight of the people. ⁴ Moses said, “This is what Yahweh says: ‘About midnight I will go out into the midst of Egypt, ⁵ and all the firstborn in the land of Egypt shall die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sits on his throne, even to the firstborn of the maid-servant who is behind the mill; and all the firstborn of cattle. ⁶ There shall be a great cry throughout all the land of Egypt, such as there has not been, nor shall be any more. ⁷ But against any of the children of Israel a dog won’t even bark or move its tongue, against man or animal; that you may know that Yahweh makes a distinction between the Egyptians and Israel. ⁸ All these your servants shall come down to me, and bow down themselves to me, saying, ‘Get out, and all the people who follow you; and after that I will go out.’” He went out from Pharaoh in hot anger. ⁹ Yahweh said to Moses, “Pharaoh won’t listen to you, that my wonders may be multiplied in the land of Egypt.” ¹⁰ Moses and Aaron did all these wonders before Pharaoh, and Yahweh hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he didn’t let the children of Israel go out of his land. ^{12 1} Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt, saying, ² “This month shall be to you the beginning of months. It shall be the first month of the year to you. ³ Speak to all the congregation of Israel, saying, ‘On the tenth day of this month, they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to their fathers’ houses, a lamb for a household; ⁴ and if the household be too little for a lamb, then he and his neighbor next to his house shall take one according to the number of the souls; according to what everyone can eat you shall make your count for the lamb. ⁵ Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male a year old. You shall take it from the sheep, or from the goats: ⁶ and you shall keep it until the fourteenth day of the same month; and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it at evening. ⁷ They shall take some of the blood, and put it on the two side-posts and on the lintel, on the houses in which they shall eat it. ⁸ They shall eat the flesh in that night, roasted with fire, and unleavened bread. They shall eat it with bitter herbs. ⁹ Don’t eat it raw, nor boiled at all with water, but roasted with fire; with its head, its legs and its inner parts. ¹⁰ You shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; but that which remains of it until the morning you shall burn with fire. ¹¹ This is how you shall eat it: with your waist girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and you shall eat it in haste: it is Yahweh’s Passover. ¹² For I will go through the land of Egypt in that night, and will strike all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and animal. Against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgments: I am Yahweh. ¹³ The blood shall be to you for a token on the houses where you are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and there shall no plague be on you to destroy you, when I strike the land of Egypt. ¹⁴ This day shall be to you for a memorial, and you shall keep it a feast to Yahweh: throughout your generations you shall keep it a feast by an ordinance forever. ¹⁵ Seven days shall you eat unleavened bread; even the first day you shall put away yeast out of your houses, for whoever eats leavened bread from the first day until the seventh day, that soul shall be cut off from Israel. ¹⁶ In the first day there shall be to you a holy convocation, and in the seventh day a holy convocation; no manner of work shall be done in them, except that which every man must eat, that only may be done by you. ¹⁷ You shall observe the feast of unleavened bread; for in this same day have I brought your armies out of the land of Egypt: therefore shall you observe this day throughout your generations by an ordinance forever. ¹⁸ In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month at evening, you shall eat unleavened bread, until the twenty first day of the month at evening. ¹⁹ Seven days shall there be no yeast found in your houses, for whoever eats that which is leavened, that soul shall be cut off from the congregation of Israel, whether he be a foreigner, or one who is born in the land. ²⁰ You shall eat nothing leavened. In all your habitations you shall eat unleavened bread.’” ²¹ Then Moses called for all the elders of Israel, and said to them, “Draw out, and take lambs according to your families, and kill the Passover. ²² You shall take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning. ²³ For Yahweh will pass through to strike the Egyptians; and when he sees the blood on the lintel, and on the two side-posts, Yahweh will pass over the door, and will not allow the destroyer to come in to your houses to strike you. ²⁴ You shall observe this thing for an ordinance to you and to your sons forever. ²⁵ It shall happen when you have come to the land which Yahweh will give you, according as he has promised, that you shall keep this service. ²⁶ It will happen, when your children ask you, ‘What do you mean by this service?’ ²⁷ that you shall say, ‘It is the sacrifice of Yahweh’s Passover, who passed over the houses of the children of Israel in Egypt, when he struck the Egyptians, and spared our houses.’” The people bowed their heads and worshiped. ²⁸ The children of Israel went and did so; as Yahweh had commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ²⁹ It happened at midnight, that Yahweh struck all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the captive who was in the dungeon; and all the firstborn of cattle. ³⁰ Pharaoh rose up in the night, he, and all his servants, and all the Egyptians; and there was a great cry in Egypt, for there was not a house where there was not one dead. ³¹ He called for Moses and Aaron by night, and said, “Rise up, get out from among my people, both you and the children of Israel; and go, serve Yahweh, as you have said! ³² Take both your flocks and your herds, as you have said, and be gone; and bless me also!” ³³ The Egyptians were urgent with the people, to send them out of the land in haste, for they said, “We are all dead men.” ³⁴ The people took their dough before it was leavened, their kneading-troughs being bound up in their clothes on their shoulders. ³⁵ The children of Israel did according to the word of Moses; and they asked of the Egyptians jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing. ³⁶ Yahweh gave the people favor in the sight of the Egyptians, so that they let them have what they asked. They despoiled the Egyptians. ³⁷ The children of Israel traveled from Rameses to Succoth, about six hundred thousand on foot who were men, besides children. ³⁸ A mixed multitude went up also with them, with flocks, herds, and even very much cattle. ³⁹ They baked unleavened cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Egypt; for it wasn’t leavened, because they were thrust out of Egypt, and couldn’t wait, neither had they prepared for themselves any food. ⁴⁰ Now the time that the children of Israel lived in Egypt was four hundred thirty years. ⁴¹ It happened at the end of four hundred thirty years, even the same day it happened, that all the armies of Yahweh went out from the land of Egypt. ⁴² It is a night to be much observed to Yahweh for bringing them out from the land of Egypt. This is that night of Yahweh, to be much observed of all the children of Israel throughout their generations. ⁴³ Yahweh said to Moses and Aaron, “This is the ordinance of the Passover. There shall no foreigner eat of it, ⁴⁴ but every man’s servant who is bought for money, when you have circumcised him, then shall he eat of it. ⁴⁵ A foreigner and a hired servant shall not eat of it. ⁴⁶ In one house shall it be eaten; you shall not carry forth anything of the flesh abroad out of the house; neither shall you break a bone of it. ⁴⁷ All the congregation of Israel shall keep it. ⁴⁸ When a stranger shall live as a foreigner with you, and will keep the Passover to Yahweh, let all his males be circumcised, and then let him come near and keep it; and he shall be as one who is born in the land: but no uncircumcised person shall eat of it. ⁴⁹ One law shall be to him who is born at home, and to the stranger who lives as a foreigner among you.” ⁵⁰ Thus did all the children of Israel. As Yahweh commanded Moses and Aaron, so they did. ⁵¹ It happened the same day, that Yahweh brought the children of Israel out of the land of Egypt by their armies. ^{13 1} Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Sanctify to me all of the firstborn, whatever opens the womb among the children of Israel, both of man and of animal. It is mine.” ³ Moses said to the people, “Remember this day, in which you came out from Egypt, out of the house of bondage; for by strength of hand Yahweh brought you out from this place. No leavened bread shall be eaten. ⁴ This day you go forth in the month Abib. ⁵ It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Amorite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite, which he swore to your fathers to give you, a land flowing with milk and honey, that you shall keep this service in this month. ⁶ Seven days you shall eat unleavened bread, and in the seventh day shall be a feast to Yahweh. ⁷ Unleavened bread shall be eaten throughout the seven days; and no leavened bread shall be seen with you, neither shall there be yeast seen with you, in all your borders. ⁸ You shall tell your son in that day, saying, ‘It is because of that which Yahweh did for me when I came forth out of Egypt.’ ⁹ It shall be for a sign to you on your hand, and for a memorial between your eyes, that the law of Yahweh may be in your mouth; for with a strong hand Yahweh has brought you out of Egypt. ¹⁰ You shall therefore keep this ordinance in its season from year to year. ¹¹ “It shall be, when Yahweh shall bring you into the land of the Canaanite, as he swore to you and to your fathers, and shall give it you, ¹² that you shall set apart to Yahweh all that opens the womb, and every firstborn which you have that comes from an animal. The males shall be Yahweh’s. ¹³ Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb; and if you will not redeem it, then you shall break its neck; and you shall redeem all the firstborn of man among your sons. ¹⁴ It shall be, when your son asks you in time to come, saying, ‘What is this?’ that you shall tell him, ‘By strength of hand Yahweh brought us out from Egypt, from the house of bondage; ¹⁵ and it happened, when Pharaoh would hardly let us go, that Yahweh killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both the firstborn of man, and the firstborn of animal. Therefore I sacrifice to Yahweh all that opens the womb, being males; but all the firstborn of my sons I redeem.’ ¹⁶ It shall be for a sign on your hand, and for symbols between your eyes: for by strength of hand Yahweh brought us forth out of Egypt.” ¹⁷ It happened, when Pharaoh had let the people go, that God didn’t lead them by the way of the land of the Philistines, although that was near; for God said, “Lest perhaps the people change their minds when they see war, and they return to Egypt;” ¹⁸ but God led the people around by the way of the wilderness by the Red Sea; and the children of Israel went up armed out of the land of Egypt. ¹⁹ Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, for he had made the children of Israel swear, saying, “God will surely visit you, and you shall carry up my bones away from here with you.” ²⁰ They took their journey from Succoth, and encamped in Etham, in the edge of the wilderness. ²¹ Yahweh went before them by day in a pillar of cloud, to lead them on their way, and by night in a pillar of fire, to give them light, that they might go by day and by night: ²² the pillar of cloud by day, and the pillar of fire by night, didn’t depart from before the people. ^{14 1} Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ² “Speak to the children of Israel, that they turn back and encamp before Pihahiroth, between Migdol and the sea, before Baal Zephon. You shall encamp opposite it by the sea. ³ Pharaoh will say of the children of Israel, ‘They are entangled in the land. The wilderness has shut them in.’ ⁴ I will harden Pharaoh’s heart, and he will follow after them; and I will get honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies; and the Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh.” They did so. ⁵ It was told the king of Egypt that the people had fled; and the heart of Pharaoh and of his servants was changed towards the people, and they said, “What is this we have done, that we have let Israel go from serving us?” ⁶ He made ready his chariot, and took his army with him; ⁷ and he took six hundred chosen chariots, and all the chariots of Egypt, and captains over all of them. ⁸ Yahweh hardened the heart of Pharaoh king of Egypt, and he pursued after the children of Israel; for the children of Israel went out with a high hand. ⁹ The Egyptians pursued after them: all the horses and chariots of Pharaoh, his horsemen, and his army; and overtook them encamping by the sea, beside Pihahiroth, before Baal Zephon. ¹⁰ When Pharaoh drew near, the children of Israel lifted up their eyes, and behold, the Egyptians were marching after them; and they were very afraid. The children of Israel cried out to Yahweh. ¹¹ They said to Moses, “Because there were no graves in Egypt, have you taken us away to die in the wilderness? Why have you treated us this way, to bring us forth out of Egypt? ¹² Isn’t this the word that we spoke to you in Egypt, saying, ‘Leave us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians?’ For it were better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the wilderness.” ¹³ Moses said to the people, “Don’t be afraid. Stand still, and see the salvation of Yahweh, which he will work for you today: for the Egyptians whom you have seen today, you shall never see them again. ¹⁴ Yahweh will fight for you, and you shall be still.” ¹⁵ Yahweh said to Moses, “Why do you cry to me? Speak to the children of Israel, that they go forward. ¹⁶ Lift up your rod, and stretch out your hand over the sea, and divide it: and the children of Israel shall go into the midst of the sea on dry ground. ¹⁷ I, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians, and they shall go in after them: and I will get myself honor over Pharaoh, and over all his armies, over his chariots, and over his horsemen. ¹⁸ The Egyptians shall know that I am Yahweh, when I have gotten myself honor over Pharaoh, over his chariots, and over his horsemen.” ¹⁹ The angel of God, who went before the camp of Israel, moved and went behind them; and the pillar of cloud moved from before them, and stood behind them. ²⁰ It came between the camp of Egypt and the camp of Israel; and there was the cloud and the darkness, yet gave it light by night: and the one didn’t come near the other all the night. ²¹ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and Yahweh caused the sea to go back by a strong east wind all the night, and made the sea dry land, and the waters were divided. ²² The children of Israel went into the midst of the sea on the dry ground, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ²³ The Egyptians pursued, and went in after them into the midst of the sea: all of Pharaoh’s horses, his chariots, and his horsemen. ²⁴ It happened in the morning watch, that Yahweh looked out on the Egyptian army through the pillar of fire and of cloud, and confused the Egyptian army. ²⁵ He took off their chariot wheels, and they drove them heavily; so that the Egyptians said, “Let’s flee from the face of Israel, for Yahweh fights for them against the Egyptians!” ²⁶ Yahweh said to Moses, “Stretch out your hand over the sea, that the waters may come again on the Egyptians, on their chariots, and on their horsemen.” ²⁷ Moses stretched out his hand over the sea, and the sea returned to its strength when the morning appeared; and the Egyptians fled against it. Yahweh overthrew the Egyptians in the midst of the sea. ²⁸ The waters returned, and covered the chariots and the horsemen, even all Pharaoh’s army that went in after them into the sea. There remained not so much as one of them. ²⁹ But the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea, and the waters were a wall to them on their right hand, and on their left. ³⁰ Thus Yahweh saved Israel that day out of the hand of the Egyptians; and Israel saw the Egyptians dead on the seashore. ³¹ Israel saw the great work which Yahweh did to the Egyptians, and the people feared Yahweh; and they believed in Yahweh, and in his servant Moses. ^{15 1} Then Moses and the children of Israel sang this song to Yahweh, and said, “I will sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea. ² Yah is my strength and song, He has become my salvation: This is my God, and I will praise him; My father’s God, and I will exalt him. ³ Yahweh is a man of war. Yahweh is his name. ⁴ He has cast Pharaoh’s chariots and his army into the sea; His chosen captains are sunk in the Red Sea. ⁵ The deeps cover them. They went down into the depths like a stone. ⁶ Your right hand, Yahweh, is glorious in power, Your right hand, Yahweh, dashes the enemy in pieces. ⁷ In the greatness of your excellency, you overthrow those who rise up against you: You send forth your wrath. It consumes them as stubble. ⁸ With the blast of your nostrils the waters were piled up. The floods stood upright as a heap. The deeps were congealed in the heart of the sea. ⁹ The enemy said, ‘I will pursue, I will overtake, I will divide the spoil. My desire shall be satisfied on them. I will draw my sword, my hand shall destroy them.’ ¹⁰ You blew with your wind. The sea covered them. They sank like lead in the mighty waters. ¹¹ Who is like you, Yahweh, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, Fearful in praises, doing wonders? ¹² You stretched out your right hand. The earth swallowed them. ¹³ “You, in your loving kindness, have led the people that you have redeemed. You have guided them in your strength to your holy habitation. ¹⁴ The peoples have heard. They tremble. Pangs have taken hold on the inhabitants of Philistia. ¹⁵ Then the chiefs of Edom were dismayed. Trembling takes hold of the mighty men of Moab. All the inhabitants of Canaan are melted away. ¹⁶ Terror and dread falls on them. By the greatness of your arm they are as still as a stone; Until your people pass over, Yahweh, Until the people pass over who you have purchased. ¹⁷ You shall bring them in, and plant them in the mountain of your inheritance, The place, Yahweh, which you have made for yourself to dwell in; The sanctuary, Lord, which your hands have established. ¹⁸ Yahweh shall reign forever and ever.” ¹⁹ For the horses of Pharaoh went in with his chariots and with his horsemen into the sea, and Yahweh brought back the waters of the sea on them; but the children of Israel walked on dry land in the midst of the sea. ²⁰ Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a tambourine in her hand; and all the women went out after her with tambourines and with dances. ²¹ Miriam answered them, “Sing to Yahweh, for he has triumphed gloriously: The horse and his rider he has thrown into the sea.” ²² Moses led Israel onward from the Red Sea, and they went out into the wilderness of Shur; and they went three days in the wilderness, and found no water. ²³ When they came to Marah, they couldn’t drink from the waters of Marah, for they were bitter. Therefore the name of it was called Marah. Marah means bitter. ²⁴ The people murmured against Moses, saying, “What shall we drink?” ²⁵ Then he cried to Yahweh. Yahweh shown him a tree, and he threw it into the waters, and the waters were made sweet. There he made a statute and an ordinance for them, and there he tested them; ²⁶ and he said, “If you will diligently listen to the voice of Yahweh your God, and will do that which is right in his eyes, and will pay attention to his commandments, and keep all his statutes, I will put none of the diseases on you, which I have put on the Egyptians; for I am Yahweh who heals you.” ²⁷ They came to Elim, where there were twelve springs of water, and seventy palm trees: and they encamped there by the waters. ^{16 1} They took their journey from Elim, and all the congregation of the children of Israel came to the wilderness of Sin, which is between Elim and Sinai, on the fifteenth day of the second month after their departing out of the land of Egypt. ² The whole congregation of the children of Israel murmured against Moses and against Aaron in the wilderness; ³ and the children of Israel said to them, “We wish that we had died by the hand of Yahweh in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh-pots, when we ate our fill of bread, for you have brought us out into this wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” ⁴ Then said Yahweh to Moses, “Behold, I will rain bread from the sky for you, and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day, that I may test them, whether they will walk in my law, or not. ⁵ It shall come to pass on the sixth day, that they shall prepare that which they bring in, and it shall be twice as much as they gather daily.” ⁶ Moses and Aaron said to all the children of Israel, “At evening, then you shall know that Yahweh has brought you out from the land of Egypt; ⁷ and in the morning, then you shall see the glory of Yahweh; because he hears your murmurings against Yahweh. Who are we, that you murmur against us?” ⁸ Moses said, “Now Yahweh shall give you meat to eat in the evening, and in the morning bread to satisfy you; because Yahweh hears your murmurings which you murmur against him. And who are we? Your murmurings are not against us, but against Yahweh.” ⁹ Moses said to Aaron, “Tell all the congregation of the children of Israel, ‘Come near before Yahweh, for he has heard your murmurings.’” ¹⁰ It happened, as Aaron spoke to the whole congregation of the children of Israel, that they looked toward the wilderness, and, behold, the glory of Yahweh appeared in the cloud. ¹¹ Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² “I have heard the murmurings of the children of Israel. Speak to them, saying, ‘At evening you shall eat meat, and in the morning you shall be filled with bread: and you shall know that I am Yahweh your God.’” ¹³ It happened at evening that quail came up and covered the camp; and in the morning the dew lay around the camp. ¹⁴ When the dew that lay had gone, behold, on the surface of the wilderness was a small round thing, small as the hoar-frost on the ground. ¹⁵ When the children of Israel saw it, they said one to another, “What is it?” For they didn’t know what it was. Moses said to them, “It is the bread which Yahweh has given you to eat.” ¹⁶ This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded: “Gather of it everyone according to his eating; an omer a head, according to the number of your persons, shall you take it, every man for those who are in his tent.” ¹⁷ The children of Israel did so, and gathered some more, some less. ¹⁸ When they measured it with an omer, he who gathered much had nothing over, and he who gathered little had no lack. They gathered every man according to his eating. ¹⁹ Moses said to them, “Let no one leave of it until the morning.” ²⁰ Notwithstanding they didn’t listen to Moses, but some of them left of it until the morning, and it bred worms, and became foul: and Moses was angry with them. ²¹ They gathered it morning by morning, everyone according to his eating. When the sun grew hot, it melted. ²² It happened that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one, and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses. ²³ He said to them, “This is that which Yahweh has spoken, ‘Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy Sabbath to Yahweh. Bake that which you want to bake, and boil that which you want to boil; and all that remains over lay up for yourselves to be kept until the morning.” ²⁴ They laid it up until the morning, as Moses asked, and it didn’t become foul, neither was there any worm in it. ²⁵ Moses said, “Eat that today, for today is a Sabbath to Yahweh. Today you shall not find it in the field. ²⁶ Six days you shall gather it, but on the seventh day is the Sabbath. In it there shall be none.” ²⁷ It happened on the seventh day, that some of the people went out to gather, and they found none. ²⁸ Yahweh said to Moses, “How long do you refuse to keep my commandments and my laws? ²⁹ Behold, because Yahweh has given you the Sabbath, therefore he gives you on the sixth day the bread of two days. Everyone stay in his place. Let no one go out of his place on the seventh day.” ³⁰ So the people rested on the seventh day. ³¹ The house of Israel called the name of it Manna, “Manna” means “What is it?” and it was like coriander seed, white; and its taste was like wafers with honey. ³² Moses said, “This is the thing which Yahweh has commanded, ‘Let an omer-full of it be kept throughout your generations, that they may see the bread with which I fed you in the wilderness, when I brought you forth from the land of Egypt.” ³³ Moses said to Aaron, “Take a pot, and put an omer-full of manna in it, and lay it up before Yahweh, to be kept throughout your generations.” ³⁴ As Yahweh commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. ³⁵ The children of Israel ate the manna forty years, until they came to an inhabited land. They ate the manna until they came to the borders of the land of Canaan. ³⁶ Now an omer is the tenth part of an ephah.

WP-Bible plugin; Deuteronomy 6:4Deuteronomy 6:4
English: World English Bible - WEB
4 Hear, Israel: Yahweh is our God; Yahweh is one:

WP-Bible plugin-9; 11:13-21.

Jews always pray facing Jerusalem, and those who live in the Holy City pray facing the Temple Mount. In places of Jewish worship and in private homes abroad, a mizrach (a decorated plaque with a blessing, often Psalm 16:8-11Psalm 16:8-11
English: World English Bible - WEB
8 I have set Yahweh always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. ⁹ Therefore my heart is glad, and my tongue rejoices. My body shall also dwell in safety. ¹⁰ For you will not leave my soul in Sheol, Neither will you allow your holy one to see corruption. ¹¹ You will show me the path of life. In your presence is fullness of joy. In your right hand there are pleasures forevermore.

WP-Bible plugin) is often placed on the wall facing toward Jerusalem, indicating which way to face in prayer.

The posture of prayer includes bowing down, particularly when the name of God is spoken, or a spreading out of one’s hands before the Lord. Those who wish to demonstrate particular reverence will cover their heads with their prayer shawl or move back three steps. Placing your hands in your pockets while praying is considered irreverent.

While some holy days like Yom Kippur are solemn, prayer is supposed to be joyous, especially on the Sabbath and other festivals. For instance, on the festival of Simchat Torah (Rejoicing in the Law), congregants rejoice like a bridegroom over the bride, dancing around the synagogue while holding the Torah scrolls in their arms.

Outward appearance is not the key factor when praying; however, the outward appearance should mirror one’s inward attitude.

By Dudi Cohen, www.YNetNews.com

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Monday, Sept 21,  he was proud he had managed to enrage the West by denying the Holocaust during a speech he made in Tehran in honor of Jerusalem day [actually, al-Quds Day, the last Friday of Ramadan when Muslims protest Zionism. Begun in 1979] .

Ahmadinejad was quoted by the Iranian News Agency (IRNA) as saying that the angering of “professional man-slayers is a source of pride for us and will not stand in our way”, apparently in reference to Israel and the West.

“The more these imperialists, enemies of humanity and those whose hearts have no love for the human kind run wild, screaming and throwing accusations, we know our path is correct,” said Ahmadinejad.

During his speech last Friday in Tehran University, the president once again questioned the existence of the Holocaust: “If the Holocaust was planned by the west, why won’t they let anyone investigate it? They have turned the holocaust into a black box and won’t let anyone open and examine it…if this event is so important why don’t they let us expose the truth to the whole world?”

Ahmadinejad continued to attack Israel, saying that “Zionists are the biggest criminals in history, and resisting them is a national duty, a religious commandment and a human obligation. The Zionist regime is a tree with rotten roots.”

“It is obvious this deceptive regime was founded to fulfill colonialist aspirations, and that there is no logic behind its establishment,” added the president, to which the crowd replied: “Death to Israel.”

Ahmadinejad’s words received condemnations from around the world; Britain announced that the Iranian President’s Holocaust denial is repulsive and is a sign of ignorance, adding that the national community must stand against him united.

The German foreign minister said that Ahmadinejad brings shame to his country, while the White House said his words only increase Iran’s isolation from the rest of the world.

Russia, Iran’s ally, also condemned Ahmadinejad’s speech, saying that “his words oppose the truth and are completely unacceptable. The attempt to deny history, especially in the year that marks 70 years to the beginning of the war, desecrates the memory of the victims and all who fought against fascism.”

By Stephen Adams, www.Telegraph.co.uk

Seventy years ago they rode in silence, travelling on trains from Prague, not knowing if they would ever see their parents and siblings again. None of them did.

But by virtue of the foresight, humanity, and sheer bloody-mindedness of a young British stockbroking clerk called Nicholas Winton, 669 Jewish children were saved from the clutches of the Nazis.

Last September, 22 of them were reunited with their 100-year-old savior – now Sir Nicholas – who has come to be known as the “British Schindler.”

A steam engine specially requisitioned to re-enact the last stage of their journey pulled into the very same platform at Liverpool Station in London where as virtual orphans they had disembarked in 1939.

The emotional ceremony marked what is likely to be the final chapter in the odyssey begun by Sir Nicholas as a 29-year-old.

He was packing to go skiing just before Christmas in 1938 when he received a call from a friend working in a refugee camp in Nazi-occupied Czechoslovakia.

“Cancel your holiday,” said the friend, Martin Blake. “I need you in Prague. Don’t bring your skis.”

The young banker was so moved by what he saw that he immediately set about persuading the British authorities to let in refugee children. The response was sluggish. But after much work by Winton, a Christian whose family had Jewish roots, the paperwork for each child was painstakingly put in order.

Finally the wheels began to move.

Between March and August 1939, eight trains carried to Britain 669 children who otherwise would probably have perished in the death camps. Fifteen thousand Czechoslovakian children died in the war.

Three weeks ago, on September 4, Sir Nicholas, who was knighted in 2002, stepped off the Peppercorn A1 Pacific class steam engine to loud applause from those he had saved, now grey-haired, and their families.

The train had travelled from Harwich in Essex, containing 22 evacuees about 150 other passengers, on the last leg of the 800 mile journey from Prague.

Each survivor was given a moment to talk to Sir Nicholas.

Speaking to the crowd, Sir Nicholas, from Maidenhead, Berks, joked: “This is much harder work that it was 70 years ago.

“Seventy years ago it was a question of getting a lot of little children together with the families who were going to look after them.

“It all worked out very well and it’s wonderful that it did work out, because after all history could have made it very different.”

He added: “It’s wonderful to see you all after so many years – don’t leave it quite so long until we meet here again.”

His grandson, Laurence Watson, 21, who recently graduated from Cambridge University with a degree in physics, spoke of his pride at his grandfather’s actions.

He said: “There has always been bad things going on in the world and there has always been wars and conflicts.

“You see it every day in the newspapers. Very occasionally you meet someone who has read those same articles but who decides to do something about it.

“That’s what my granddad did. He said ‘Something needs doing and I am going to do it’.”

The timing of the reunion contains a sad epitaph, however.

The ninth train, containing 250 children, was due to leave Prague on 3 September 1939, the day Britain declared war.

The Germans never let it leave the station, and most of the children never lived to see 1945.

Almost as remarkable as the scheme itself, and a mark of Sir Nicholas’s modesty, was that he chose to conceal his achievements for decades.

It was only when he wife Greta unearthed a briefcase in the attic contained lists of the children he saved and letters to the parents did he admit his part.

He said in 1999: “My wife didn’t know about it for 40 years after our marriage, but there are all kinds of things you don’t talk about even with your family.

“Everything that happened before the war actually didn’t feel important in the light of the war itself.”

He also rejected the comparison with Oskar Schindler, who saved about 1,200 Jews in the war, saying unlike the German his actions never put him in danger.

By Michael Ledeen– www.PajamasMedia.com

By Amy Teibel, Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Lebanon on Sunday that Israel “will not hold back” when attacked and holds the Lebanese government responsible for any assault on his country.

Netanyahu delivered the warning after two rockets fired from Lebanon struck northern Israel on Friday. Israel responded immediately with artillery fire, and the exchange ratcheted up persisting tensions between the two countries.

“We view this very gravely,” Netanyahu told his Cabinet. “We will not hold back when Israeli territory comes under fire, and will not reconcile ourselves to missile fire or any other form of terror directed at Israeli citizens.”

It was not immediately known who fired the rockets Friday. But radical Palestinian factions in Lebanon have been blamed in four firings at Israel this year.

The Israel-Lebanon border has been tense since Israel mounted a monthlong war against Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas in the summer of 2006. More than 1,200 people in Lebanon and 160 Israelis died in that conflict, which ended in a United Nations-brokered truce.

On Sunday, Netanyahu put the onus of maintaining the cease-fire squarely on the shoulders of the Lebanese government.

“We see it responsible for all these violations and hostilities directed at our territory that originate from Lebanese soil,” he said.

Hezbollah has a large rocket arsenal, but is not believed to have used them against Israel since the 2006 fighting. It has denied involvement in previous rocket attacks on Israel.

But friction between Israel and Hezbollah has escalated as Lebanese politicians wrangle over the formation of a new government. The Hezbollah-led opposition would likely be a part of that cabinet.

In mid-July, a suspected Hezbollah arms depot exploded near the Israeli border. Israel said this was proof the group was rearming and stashing weapons in populated villages.

Lebanon’s An-Nahar newspaper reported Sunday that the U.N. force in Lebanon, which was beefed up significantly after the war to monitor the border, had been warned of a possible attack 10 days earlier.

The U.N. force relayed this information to the Lebanese army two days before the attack, the report said.

A spokesman for the U.N. force, Milos Strugar, said an investigation under way “is pointing in the direction of some extremist groups.” He did not elaborate.

www.online.WJS.com   Wall Street Journal

g. 12, 2009g. 12, 2009
English: World English Bible - WEB
Izbrano poglavje ne obstaja!

WP-Bible plugin file photo, an Israeli activist held a banner of Israeli soldier Sgt. Gilad Schalit at the Western Wall in Jerusalem." width="300" height="200" />

JERUSALEM — An Israeli soldier seized by Palestinian militants more than three years ago described his captivity as an “intolerable and inhumane nightmare” in a handwritten 2006 letter to his parents made public on Wednesday.

In carefully printed script, Sgt. Gilad Shalit reported deteriorating health and deep depression, and made an anguished appeal to the Israeli government to release him from his “closed and solitary prison.”

Sgt. Shalit, now 23 years old, wrote the 14-line letter three months after gunmen affiliated with the Gaza Strip’s Islamic Hamas rulers captured him in a cross-border raid. The existence of the letter had been known, but his parents hadn’t published its contents.

It was leaked to the Israeli media ahead of the publication of a new book that purports through militant sources to chronicle his captivity and Israel’s unsuccessful efforts to trade him for Palestinian prisoners it holds.

Sgt. Shalit’s captors haven’t allowed anyone to see him. Three letters and an audio tape relayed to his parents have been the only signs of life from him since he was seized.

“My health is deteriorating from day to day, particularly my mental health, and this causes me much depression,” Sgt. Shalit wrote in the letter, which was carried by Israeli media outlets. “I am waiting for this intolerable and inhumane nightmare of mine to end, to be released from this lonely and closed prison.”

“I ask of my government … to do everything it can to win my release as quickly as possible, because everyday that passes hurts me more,” he added.

Some of the letter’s contents may have been dictated by the militants holding him. Sgt. Shalit refers to his captors as “mujahedeen,” writing the Arabic word for “holy warriors” in Hebrew letters. He also uses the Arabic name for the border crossing where he was captured.

In exchange for Sgt. Shalit, Hamas officials have demanded that Israel release hundreds of long-serving Palestinian prisoners, including masterminds of attacks that killed Israeli citizens. Israel has so far balked, and three years of negotiations through Egyptian and more recently, German, mediators have failed to wrest a compromise.

Hamas officials had no comment Wednesday on the indirect negotiations.

By Hillel Fendel, www.IsraelNationalNews.com