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<\/a><\/p>\nWow.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to believe that this is the last morning of the year 5774.\u00a0 Tonight at sunset we will celebrate the Jewish New Year of 5775. For days already, throughout the streets of Jerusalem and all of Israel, everyone is saying to everyone, \u201cShana tova\u2026\u201d wishing one another a good new year.<\/p>\n
The New Year in this country is not celebrated with revelry like the 1st of January is celebrated in the rest of the world.\u00a0 It is a solemn holiday, together with Yom Kippur called the \u201cHigh Holy Days\u201d.\u00a0 It begins after sunset with a holiday meal with family and friends, similar to the weekly Shabbat meals that are a part of life here.\u00a0 The table is set with a white tablecloth.\u00a0 There are the usual blessings over the bread and the wine with a wonderful meal to follow.\u00a0 But on this night, we also dip apples into honey with hopes for a fruitful and sweet year to follow!<\/p>\n
It is one of the holidays where you will hear the sound of the shofar (ram\u2019s horn) reverberating in the quiet streets, as on Rosh Hashanah the trumpets are sounded in the synagogues.\u00a0 The streets are quiet because on this holiday, where we pray to the God of Israel to be written into the book of life for another year, the country grinds to a halt.\u00a0 No public transportation, the airport is closed, all of the shops are shuttered, and there is very little traffic on the roads.<\/p>\n
The shofar is sounded 100 times on Rosh Hashanah. On the morning news, Rabbi Shimshon Nidel gave a message that will help you to understand the significance to us as the shofars are blown.\u00a0 He said, \u201cThere are two types of prayer, articulated and unarticulated.\u00a0 The music of the shofar is unarticulated prayer, something that just cannot be expressed in words. When we blow the shofar on Rosh Hashanah, we are calling out to our Father in Heaven, saying, \u2018Abba, Father, I don\u2019t know what I need, I might not be able to express it in words, but I know I need You.\u2019 After blowing the shofar, the chazzan in the synagogue recites three verses from Psalm 89 responsively.\u00a0 We begin, \u2018Fortunate is the people who know the blast of the shofar.\u2019 We don\u2019t just hear and listen, we know.\u00a0 It is a deep understanding.\u00a0 The call of the shofar is something beyond words; it speaks to us in a deep way and at the same time expresses that which we can\u2019t verbalize.<\/p>\n
We live in challenging times both in Israel and abroad, there is so much confusion. In these times of uncertainty, the shofar speaks both to us and through us. We awaken something deep within ourselves just as we awaken the Heavens. May the shofar song inspire you and may you and your family be inscribed in the book of life for a sweet New Year filled with health and happiness\u2026\u201d(IBA News)<\/p>\n
Next on this Rosh Hashanah blog I\u2019d like to share with you part of the message that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave to the nation. (By the way, please pray for his safety and protection as he travels next week to address the United Nations in New York and also meets with President Obama). Bibi said, \u201cFor the first time in the history of Israel, there are more than 6 million Jews in the country; that number has a double meaning given the history of our people over the past century.
\nOn the eve of the holiday I would like to send our best wishes for a full and rapid recovery to the wounded IDF soldiers and citizens and at the same time send our deepest condolences to the families of the fallen.<\/p>\n
I would like to commend the entire people of Israel for the determination and the unity that they showed during \u2018Operation Protective Edge\u2019.\u00a0 I would like to send greetings from the government ministers and myself that you should now have the vacation that was denied you during the summer war.\u00a0 Be with your families and above all, have a happy, quiet and safe New Year.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since the press is usually so anti-Israel, it means sadly that you rarely hear some of the truly special things that happen in this little land.\u00a0 So as the eve of a new year approaches, and before this blog is launched later this morning, I\u2019d like to share one of those special things with you today!
\nThe story I am about to tell involves what we call the \u201clone soldiers\u201d in Israel.\u00a0 These are Jewish young men and women who leave their homes of origin in different countries around the world to become citizens of Israel (some are already citizens whose parents are Israelis living abroad).\u00a0 They come home to serve in the Israeli army, the IDF (Israeli Defense Force).\u00a0 There are 2700 lone soldiers from outside of Israel who are part of the army. Since Israel is a very family-oriented society, it is not simple for these young ones to be in this country without any family at all.\u00a0 But as one Brigadier General said on the news as he told of the story I\u2019m about to share, \u201cThey are never really alone.\u00a0 Israel is one big family and they are a part of us\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
Well, in the days before the Rosh Hashanah holiday, Ben Gurion International Airport was the scene of great rejoicing.\u00a0 EL AL Israel Airlines, the Israel Hotel Association, the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel\u2019s soldiers, and the IDF\u2019s Manpower Directorate all joined together to truly bless the lone soldiers who fought this summer in \u2018Operation Protective Edge\u2019.\u00a0 Flights took off from New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, St. Petersburg, Kiev, Moscow, Paris, London, Brussels and Amsterdam bringing to Israel the parents of 550 lone soldiers to enable them to spend the Rosh Hashanah holidays with their sons or daughters serving in the IDF.\u00a0 EL AL provided the tickets and Israeli hotels are hosting the soldiers and their families for five days.<\/p>\n
One mother of a lone soldier, Dvorat Ifis, commented that the most meaningful part of the trip was to spend Rosh Hashanah together.\u00a0 \u201cI can\u2019t put into words how happy I am right now.\u00a0 My heart is pounding with excitement,\u201d she stated. The reunions at Ben Gurion Airport in recent days were scenes of joy!<\/p>\n
David Maimon, Chief Executive Officer of EL AL, which provided the parents with the free flights, said, \u201cWe initiated this project in order to show our appreciation to the lone soldiers who bravely decided to leave their home country and protect Israel.\u201d Avigdor Kahalani, the Chairman of the Association for the Wellbeing of Israel\u2019s Soldiers. also added that lone soldiers will always be supported.\u00a0 \u201cWe are all here to embrace them after \u2018Operation Protective Edge\u2019 and just before the New Year, we managed to bring them their loved ones from home.\u201d (Jewish Press.com)\u00a0 An additional 2000 lone soldiers were given free flight tickets to visit their families in their countries of origin for the Rosh Hashanah holiday.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that just one of the loveliest things you ever heard from this family called Israel?<\/p>\n
Before I close this Rosh Hashanah blog, here are some statistics for you. At the end of 5774, the total population of Israel reached 8,904,373.\u00a0 For the very first time, the Jewish population in Israel exceeded 6 million. (You can be sure that every single Jewish person in this land that heard that statistic\u2014a statistic that includes every single Jewish person in the land\u2014from the cities, the towns, the villages, the kibbutzim and moshavim\u2014from Metulla to Eilat, from the Mediterranean to the Jordanian border\u2014every single one of us\u2014equals the number of the Jewish people that we lost in the Holocaust.\u00a0 It is oh so hard to fathom!)\u00a0 There were 24,801 new immigrants or returning Israelis this year and 176,230 new births. And finally, the most popular Jewish names for new babies were Yosef and Amar followed closely by Noa and Daniel. (Muhammad was the most popular name in the Arab population of Israel).<\/p>\n
All of us at the Jerusalem Gift Shop want to take this opportunity to first of all thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your friendship and for your support and for your prayers.\u00a0 And we would like to wish each and every one of you a blessed and a happy New Year.\u00a0 Shanah Tova!<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s pray that this will be the year that \u201call of Israel will be saved\u201d and that at long last Yeshua will show His people that He is indeed our Messiah and King.<\/p>\n
Have a sweet New Year, dear ones!\u00a0 And now together we are on our way to 5775\u2026<\/p>\n
<\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By Esther Korson Wow.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard to believe that this is the last morning of the year 5774.\u00a0 Tonight at sunset we will celebrate the Jewish New Year of 5775. For days already, throughout the streets of Jerusalem and all of Israel, everyone is saying to everyone, \u201cShana tova\u2026\u201d wishing one another a good new more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2276,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[10,1],"tags":[75,625,631,181,213,214,391,125,390],"class_list":{"0":"post-2275","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-biblical-spiritual","8":"category-the-feasts","9":"tag-israel","10":"tag-israeli-news","11":"tag-israeli-life","12":"tag-jewish-calander","13":"tag-jewish-feasts","14":"tag-jewish-holidays","15":"tag-new-years","16":"tag-news-from-jerusalem","17":"tag-rosh-hashana","18":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2275"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2277,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2275\/revisions\/2277"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2276"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2275"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2275"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.thejerusalemgiftshop.com\/israelnews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2275"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}