12 Adar 2 5782 | י"ב אדר ב' ה"תשפ"ב
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| The first bus I wrote about below was similar in structure to this one from Singapore, with the double doors in the middle. I lost the link...sorry about that! |
Ed: Tomorrow Jews the world over mark Ta'anit Esther (Esther's Fast), the day before Purim. I live in Jerusalem, where we celebrate Shushan Purim, the day after.
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A warning
It came to my attention while finishing up my last post that the Muslim month of Ramadan comes in when Nisan, our upcoming month, comes in. Meaning, we need to prepare now for a really nasty month ahead. Or, if G-d will have abundant mercy, our prayers now — and especially tomorrow — will prevail and we will be spared something like what we had all over Israel last Iyyar (Islam does not have leap years of any kind, so their years go all the way around our calendar and those of others who adjust their days or, in our case, our months; as you see above, the Jewish month is Adar 2 (or Adar Bet).).
A friend of the family who has a lot of experience, having lived in Morocco for a time, implored me to warn everyone clearly. Since our days start at sunset, Nisan and Ramadan come in on Friday night, 1 April.
Here is some news about it. Click or tap:
"Palestinians" anticipate more violence | Between Land Day in the Negev and Ramadan in Jerusalem: Efforts to Prevent Security Deterioration
Here's a snippet:
Israeli Minister Zeev Elkin’s intention to resume planting in the Negev, including in areas where violent clashes took place two months ago, is already receiving attention on the PA side, but the fear of escalation stems from a series of further developments, including the diverted global attention from the PA issue in the wake of the crisis in Ukraine, pressure on the Palestinian Authority to freeze security coordination with Israel, tensions between Fatah and Hamas, and due to Israel’s intention to approve the construction of housing units in Jerusalem.
In eastern Jerusalem, which was at the center of events last May that led to Operation Guardian of the Walls, Arabs are warning against Jews ascending the Temple Mount on Purim and the Passover holiday, in parallel with Ramadan. Sheikh Akram Tsabari, a preacher at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and head of the Supreme Muslim Council, called on Muslims on Sunday to increase their presence in mosques in the east of the city “and to repel the attacks of Jewish worshipers.”
Sheikh Tsabari also called for the prevention of Purim ceremonies on the Temple Mount, and explained that “such comic ceremonies hurt the feelings of Muslims.”
Land Day occurs on 30 March...the day before the new month. It's their day to proclaim their "ownership" of the land of ISRAEL; so, things might get started early.
Because the whole world's attention has been on Covid-19 and the war between Russia and Ukraine, it means that Israelis must pay attention to what is happening right here, right now. No one else in the world has as much at stake on this issue as we do.
Furthermore, the Ukranians who are here because of the war might become disoriented, at the very least, because of events here.
Tonight and tomorrow (the fast begins at sunrise tomorrow) is the most appropriate day to appeal to G-d ahead of time, not to act like a dog that bites the stick that is beating it, but like a Jew who knows his G-d is behind everything.
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A miracle...or two
The day before yesterday, 10 Adar Bet, I had gone to see a friend in a nearby city. On the way home two things happened that were very scary for me and for the others on the buses I was riding on.
The first was on the way to the Giv'at haTahmoshet light rail train station, where the bus had to negotiate a winding road down a large hill, or a small mountain, depending on how you look at it, in the rain.
The middle double doors somehow opened up while the bus was moving, and people could have fallen out of the bus through them and even gotten run over by other cars. There was one woman who ran to a pole and got a seat just in time to keep herself from falling out. I looked around, and I shudder to think what would have happened if someone had fallen out. Someone screamed towards the driver to close the doors. It took him about a minute to completely close them because they kept flying open...while he was driving the steep downhill curve!!!
I started singing to myself the last part of the Hallel prayer — Please, G-d, save us; please, G-d, forgive us! — knowing that if the driver took his mind off of either driving the curve or shutting the doors, a disaster was waiting to happen.
THANK G-D THE DISASTER DID NOT HAPPEN.
The second one was another bus, nearing my neighborhood, taking a right hand turn onto its main street...and a little child (I'm still under the impression it was a boy) started to cross the street...Some of us screamed, the driver hit the brakes hard, and stopped just in time. People who weren't seated were thrown about a bit, and got scared, especially the women with baby carriages...with the babies inside.
THANK G-D THE DISASTER DID NOT HAPPEN.
Neither inside, nor outside, the bus.
Here are some of the things that can happen...and have.
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I'm convinced that G-d, the same One who saved all of us on those buses, is willing to save all of Israel from the impending disaster of Ramadan...if we are willing to give Him His due ahead of time.
Let's not make the same mistake many of us (led by our authorities) made after the Six-Day War.
What was that? Not giving HQB"H the credit due Him for the miracles that occurred then, and those that have occurred before and since then, as well.
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If you haven't had enough yet, watch this video, thanks to SG:
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