Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Who Will Support the Victims of Terror?

There are many victims of terror in Israel. Far too many. Once the initial news reports are over, these precious people are left to walk through their nightmare~ usually alone.  An appeal has come to the attention of The 2 Spies that we would like to share. If you are in the Jerusalem area, maybe you can be part of the support this family is needing. If you are not, maybe you can send emails of encouragement and prayer.Click here for original story.

Jonathan & Asher Palmer
The family of Asher and Jonathan Palmer has called for the public to come support them at the next hearing in their murderer's trial.
By Gavriel Queenann


Supporters for the murderers of Asher Palmer and his infant son Jonathan have been staging protests at the court where the trial is being held.

Michael Palmer, Asher's father, has asked the public to come and stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the family at the next hearing in two weeks.

"In the previous hearing of about 20 terrorists, killers, murderers of supporters, sat in court, encouraged them, and shouted cries of support," Palmer explained. "Just me and my other son sat alone represent that Jonathan and all victims of terrorism in Israel."

"You can imagine the pain we felt when we saw the murderers receiving vocal support for killing my son and my grandson, and we were alone," says Palmer.

Palmer says the next hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m., on March 11, at the Ofer military base. The hearing is open to the public, but everyone entering the court has to be cleared by security first.

Those interested in supporting the Palmer family in court should email Michael Palmer by March 6 at mcpfiveone@gmail.com, so that he can submit the names to the army for security clearance.

Asher Palmer, 25, from Kiryat Arba, and his son Jonathan, a year old, were killed five months ago while traveling on Route 60, near the village of Halhul, north of Hebron.
Arabs hurled large stones at Palmer's vehicle, one of which smashed through the window and struck him in the head. Palmer lost control of the vehicle, which rolled of the road killing him and his son.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

40%

40% to our Goal!

Orr Shalom's Re'ut Intensive-Care Home for Boys

We know. We know.... we were to stop at the end of December.... but we just couldn't. We so love these children and are committed to help them as much as we can. SO.... we are continuing to raise funds. Other than this fund raiser, we are also helping out at the home with other more personal and immideate needs~ like games and toys, blankets, holiday celebrations. We wish you could come and visit and see their precious faces light up! Anyway.... back to today's blog~
 
We are 40% through our initiative to rescue 24 abused boys and help save their home from closure. Thanks to people like you, we have raised $8.035.00.

Our personal goal is $20,000. This is only part of what is needed to rescue these boys from going back into abusive situations. (Remember~ if renovations are not made the government will close the home)


We still urgently need your support to save the 24 boys’ home. A boy like Eliav.
Eliav, nine, has lived in Orr Shalom’s Reut Home for Boys for three years. Aged six, he was found scavenging for food on the Tel Aviv streets, at night. His mother, a victim of violence traumatized from life experiences, could not look after him. Home was the old Tel Aviv Central Bus Station. When Eliav arrived at Orr Shalom, he had suffered severe neglect. He did not speak, his clothes and body were dirty, and he had animal-like behavior.

Today, Eliav is an independent, sociable boy who has learnt basic life skills. He built up strong relationships in Reut, and can communicate through speech. His mother regularly visits him and the staff is helping them forge a positive relationship. Reut believed in Eliav and changed his life.

Reut is the only place in Israel that accepts and cares for boys who have suffered the most extreme physical, emotional and/or sexual abuse, neglect and tragedy. If we don’t raise money for urgent renovations, Reut will close, and Eliav, and 23 boys like him, will lose their home. 

Please give a little to save these boys’ home, and share the initiative with your friends via Facebook. Twitter and emails. You will have a real impact on these boys’ lives!
On behalf of Orr Shalom Reut Home for Boys, we thank you very much
The 2 Spies
Click here to donate
Click here to learn more about Orr Shalom (the parent organization)

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

The Flowering of Redemption

Today The 2 Spies would like to share with you from the Israel365 website. Thier posting is so appropriate to the theme of redemption that we have been focusing on... we felt we must share with you their thoughts. Also... while on their site be sure to sign up to have beautiful photos and inspiring words delivered to your email daily... 365 days! (You can also sponser a day's posting! What a neat thing to be part of) Enjoy....


“Your servants cherish her stones and favor her dust”

PSALMS (102:15)

כִּי רָצוּ עֲבָדֶיךָ אֶת אֲבָנֶיהָ וְאֶת עֲפָרָהּ יְחֹנֵנוּ

תהילים ק’’ב:ט’’ו

Hebrew Lesson

kee RAH-tzoo ah-vah-DE-kha et ah-vah-NE-ha ve-et ah-fah-RAH ye-kho-NAY-noo

Today’s Bible Lesson: Special Guest Writer

Rabbi Shlomo Riskin,

Chancellor and Founder of the Center for Jewish-Christian Understanding and Cooperation.


While the Bible is full of God’s promise to redeem the Jewish people, many have asked what the Jewish people have done to deserve His redemption. After all, too many Jews are far from a Torah lifestyle. Today’s verse demonstrates that our redemption will begin through our commitment to the Land of Israel. Even if the Jewish people demonstrate an insufficient commitment to Torah and acts of loving kindness, as long as they love the “dust and stones” of Israel, it will be considered sufficient by God to allow for the redemption. The Torah would like us to begin with commitment to our Land and then to progress to commitment to loving kindness and eventually to total involvement in Torah. Many of the early twentieth-century Zionists may not have been observant, but nevertheless, it was their love of the land which paved the way for our period of the beginning of the flowering of our redemption.

Photograph of the Negev Desert by Galit Trager.

Thank You


Today’s Israel365 Scenes and Inspiration is sponsored by Wendy Finch McCusker of Columbus, Ohio.
For sponsorship information Click here.

Cry No More

As we await our full redemption.... we must remember that ALL prayers ARE answered.... don't give up. Don't stop seeking. Keep looking upward... hearts lifted to the One who totally redeems and renews. As we begin a new month, a month of rejoicing in G-d's continual faithfulness to us and His victory over our enemies... Remember... Cry No More....

Monday, February 20, 2012

The Oldest Profession... Really?

Those of you who have been reading our blog this past year know that we try to be as upbeat and positive as possible about life here in Israel. We take this stand mostly because there are so  many false reports, twisted interpretations and just plain lies about the Land. We have not buried our heads in the sand and we do not deny that there are negatives to Israel. To know these things exist though is not to cast doubt on G-d, who is the giver of all good things, but to realize that we are all in the process of tikun olam.... redemption. We are responsible each for our part in that redemption. It is not the time to throw our hands up in defeat or become weary in well doing. It is the time to fight the good fight. Today, we are presenting a very difficult situation... and a possible solution. It is in the solution that we are finding our 'good report'.


Warning: we have never shown a side of Israel that is this dark. We ask that you not turn your hearts away because it is too hard to handle but that you, in prayer, help seek the solution.

Anti-Prostitution Bill
by Mati Shoshoni (from The Jerusalem Institute of Justice)

On Wednesday, February 15, the Israeli Knesset voted in favor of a law making the act of purchasing prostitution illegal. This vote was the first of three in the Knesset needed to officially approve the law. The law sets the criminal responsibility on the client, thus attempting to eliminate the demand, rather than deal with the supply end of the trade. The model presented to the Israeli Knesset is one already successfully implemented in four countries including Sweden, who was the first to pass such a law in 1999.
The act of prostitution is currently legal in Israel. It is estimated that the industry generates over 2.4 billion NIS annually, most of which goes directly into the pockets of organized crime syndicates. There are between ten to fifteen thousand prostitutes, who receive more than one million clients per month.
The women (95% are female) are regularly exposed to extreme violence, repeated rape, assault, emotional and physical torture, STD's, and post-traumatic syndrome at higher rates than soldiers returning from combat. The mortality rate of women in the sex trade is FORTY TIMES HIGHER than that of average women. The “profession” of prostitution leaves those who partake in it emotionally, physically, and spiritually depleted and destroyed.
In the weeks leading up to this Wednesday's vote the topic of prostitution became a hot topic, as articles in newspapers, blogs, and TV news shows debated the merit of the proposed law. Some of the liberal secular media has come out in support of legalized prostitution.
The Jerusalem Institute of Justice (with whom I work) has been instrumental in passing this law. ... In the following weeks a Knesset committee will be working on the final content of the law. There are two obstacles which could possibly prevent it from passing in the two upcoming votes: enforcement and financing.
If passed, this law will be a quantum leap in ethical legislation in Israel. Public consensus on this matter currently leans in favor of prostitution. We have received numerous complaints from people who are opposed to this law, but believe that with sufficient public debate, public opinion can be swayed. Please pray with us for this law to pass. We are praying to see the promise made in Isaiah 1:26-27 fulfilled; for justice and righteousness to be restored in Israel, from the top down.
Here are some statistics published in the Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot February 15, 2012:
  • Between 10,000 – 20,000 men and women work with prostitution in Israel
  • Approximately 1 million “customers” visit houses of prostitution every week
  • 1/3 of all prostitutes started between the ages of 12 and 14
  • 55% of prostitutes were sexually abused as children
  • Over 75% of prostitutes are addicted to drugs and/or alcohol
  • Approximately 60% have been raped or sexually attacked during their work
  • 46% – 59% were raped over 5 times
  • Approximately 68% of all prostitutes suffer from post-traumatic syndrome

 


For more information on The Jerusalem Institute of Justice go to their website http://www.jij.org.il/
Be sure to check them out on Facebook also.
 


Zona--Project NOA- with subtitles from Project NOA on Vimeo.


Ending the Scourge of Prostitution

Israel Approves Bill

Sunday, February 19, 2012

Come be Part of the Miracle

The main purpose of our blog is to encourage Aliyah. The miracle of the Jewish people being returned to our ancient homeland, the resurrection of Hebrew as a daily language, the barren wastelands producing lush green life, the obvious outpouring of blessings from G-d.... all part of the Aliyah experience. All products of the miracle of God to fulfill His promise to our Father Avraham. A destiny complete. The words of this song say it all:

Scattered throughout the world,
our temple was destroyed.
Our land lay barren and fallow,
in our hearts we felt the void.
But we held on to the promise,
to the message of our L-rd.
One day we would return,
our dignity restored.

Do you hear the whisper, of a faint and gentle call.
G-d is beckoning his children to come home, once and for all.
For the land of our past is where our future lies as well,
joined together as one people in the land of Yisrael.

Thousands of years we've waited,
in our prayers we've always yearned.
To be brought close once again,
for our souls to be returned.
Only once her sons came back to her,
did the land begin to bloom.
A dead language came to life again,
now the bride awaits her groom.

Do you hear the whisper, of a faint and gentle call.
G-d is beckoning his children to come home, once and for all.
For the land of our past is where our future lies as well,
joined together as one people in the land of Yisrael.


"The Call"
 Lyrics: Rivka David
Composer, Guitar & Vocals: Yehuda David
Keyboard & Vocals: Ariel Isaacson
Vocals & Recorded by Baruch Bergenfeld
Video by Dovid Yehoshua and Rivka David

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Never Too Old

Original JPost Article click here

The Torah says Abraham was 75 years old when he left his native land of Haran and set out to make his home in Canaan. But he was a spring chicken compared with the couple who arrived at Ben-Gurion Airport on Tuesday.
Phillip and Dorothy Grossman, ages 95 and 93, respectively, are probably the oldest married couple ever to immigrate to Israel.  
The couple from Baltimore, Maryland, who have been together for 71 years, were greeted at the airport by their family and immediately taken to their new home in Jerusalem.
“Phillip and Dorothy are probably the oldest olim couple that the State of Israel has ever absorbed, and they are proof that it is never too late to fulfill your dream and make such a significant decision in life,” said Erez Halfon, vice chairman of Nefesh B’Nefesh, a group that facilitates Jewish immigration to Israel. “We congratulate them and wish them many more years of health and happiness living together with their family in Israel.”

The Jewish Agency for Israel and the Immigrant Absorption Ministry also assisted in organizing their flight.
Before he retired, Philip Grossman earned a living as an accountant, while Dorothy was a housewife. They have three children – one already living in Israel and a second child who will make aliya in the summer – five grandchildren, 14 great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren.

“We love Israel and we are very excited about our aliya,” said Dorothy Grossman. “We are also extremely happy that we can live close to all our family in Israel.”

Yosef Segel, their 22-year-old great-grandchild, was one of those who was waiting for them at the airport.
The yeshiva student said he felt blessed to have greatgrandparents, and that his great-grandfather was relatively tech-savvy for his age. “He doesn’t have a Facebook account but he does a lot of work on the computer writing letters,” he said.

The Grossmans might be the oldest married couple to move to Israel together, but neither of them come near breaking the record for the single oldest person to make aliya. That distinction likely goes to two immigrants from the former Soviet Union, who are said to have arrived in Israel at the age of 111 during the 1990s. Belle Goldstein, the oldest oleh from North America, moved to Israel at the age of 102, in 1998. She passed away in 2001, three months shy of her 106th birthday. Belle's story here

As for the youngest Jewish immigrant to arrive in Israel, that title probably goes to eight children – five boys and three girls – who were born on planes during Operation Solomon, the dramatic airlift in 1991, which brought thousands of Ethiopian Jews to Israel.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

When He Brings Us Home

There are always so many wonderful and beautiful stories to share about Israel. People of strong character and moral fiber. Places that are miraculous in their history and prophetic future. The wonder of cultures colliding and melding together to make a great and mighty nation. The simple and yet profound reality of walking, eating, shopping and living where our ancient Fathers gave their lives. The dream-like state of having our lives braided with those Fathers of the past, the present pioneers (of which we are part) and the future masses who will join us here.
This Shabbat, again, we are in awe of the goodness of G-d to allow us to live here and to be part of the fiber of this Land.
May we meet you here one day soon!
Shabbat Shalom
(When He Brings Us Home by Caroline Hyde)

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Christian Pioneer Dies Leaving a Legacy in Israel

Today we honor a Christian pioneer.... Ken Crowell.  His love for God and for Israel were the driving forces in his life. He influenced many and totally was a blessing to all who knew him. A truly righteous man who gave his life for the Land. He will be greatly missed.
JERUSALEM, Israel -- It took pioneers decades to build the land of Israel both physically and spiritually. Ken and Margie Crowell were two of those pioneers, helping to build the Israeli economy physically while building a Christian witness.
Ken passed away on Jan. 25, after a long battle with Myelofibrosis, a bone marrow disorder that disrupts normal production of blood cells. Still, his legacy lives on.
Before Ken's death, the couple shared their story with CBN News.
They shared that they had been fresh out of Bible school when they moved to Israel with their two children in 1969.
"We both received the call at the same time, and I went home one day and told Margie, 'I think that God is calling us to go to Israel.' And she said, 'Well, I think he is calling us, too,'" Ken told CBN News.
"I look back at it as a great adventure with the Lord, that he supplied every need," Margie said.
Ken, an engineer by profession, worked for Motorola here for three years. Then he opened a company making antennas and brought it to Israel. It had three purposes.
"One -- come back to an area where there are no, or little Christian witness and to be a strong witness," Ken told CBN News.
"Number two was to give employment in the land, and we are seeing that exceed what we had thought," he said. "The third one was to bless the nation of Israel."
The couple didn't have much money when they started Galtronics, so Ken asked to use Margie's oven to cure the antennas.
"She said I could try it and it gave off a black smoke and a terrible smell," he recalled. "And she came over to me and she said, 'I've got news - either you have cookies or you've got antennas, but you can't have both.' So I chose the cookies."
But the company grew anyway, planted near Tiberias and the Sea of Galilee rather than Tel Aviv or Jerusalem.
"It was Ken and I in an office with a few papers on our desk and those [were] great years," said Margie, who besides being wife and mother was Ken's secretary for 22 years. "Ken had a great faith in what the Lord could do practically with work."
They started with 35 people and now have up to 1,000 employees.
"I don't know how many thousands of people have been touched by that, and this was God's plan all the way," Ken said.
And they've been able to bless Israel and even received the prestigious Kaplan Award in industry for employing many new immigrants during the waves of immigration from Russia in the 1990s.
The name Galtronics comes from Psalm 37 in Hebrew: "Commit they way to the Lord (or 'Gol al Adonai') trust in Him and He shall bring it to pass." 
Asked what he learned through all his experiences, Ken said, "I would say seek the Lord to know what He wants you to do as an emphatic, to know exactly what you ought to do and then Gol al Adonai, roll it over on Him and do it as you are led."
One statement put out after his death said he had had an impact on the lives of hundreds of thousands if not millions of people worldwide.
Ken Crowell is survived by his wife Margie, their three children, his brother, 10 grandchildren and three great-grandchildren. He was 79.
This story was originally published on Friday, January 27th.