Books

As the news of the attacks began to circulate in communities around Israel, the first reactions were shock and disbelief. Surely, the numbers were exaggerated, people thought. An attack of this magnitude couldn’t happen in Israel. Memories of the Yom Kippur War flooded in and the thought that history thought to never be repeated was occurring all over again. Israel’s intelligence services can hear conversations in Jericho and Ramallah, find hidden tunnels from Lebanon, and even steal tons of material from a warehouse in Tehran. Is it possible that intelligence services could miss an attack that required months of planning?! The news of killed, kidnapped, and raped Israels were too much to contemplate. This was the Yom Kippur War all over again, and the invincibility Israelis felt for the past few decades had been shattered.

Juxtaposing Israel’s reaction after what is being called “Israel’s 9/11” with America’s actual September 11th attacks, one finds a remarkably different reaction. While America flew its flags at half-mast in public signs of mourning, Israelis immediately flew their flags high in support of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers called up for reserve duty to eliminate the threat facing the nation. Israeli soldiers, police, and first responders didn’t put black bands on their arms as a sign of mourning over fallen comrades. Israel didn’t declare a day of mourning. Other than funerals and shiva houses, there weren’t public displays of bereavement.

We don’t know how the attacks of the Simchas Torah massacre on October 7th will transform Israel years from now. At the moment, when the Israeli people are at war, it is too early to fully understand the effects that the attacks have had on Israel and her people. Since the attack, Israeli society has pulled itself together into a united block, fighting its enemies, supporting its refugees, and praying together for the return of the hostages. Israelis on the right and the left, religious and secular, and from all regions, have pulled together to defeat Israel’s enemies and strengthen Israeli society. One thing is certain, with unity, together we win! This book aims to teach that lesson and many more from Israel’s war in Gaza.

In a time when Israel has accomplished well beyond its founders’ wildest dreams, where do the values of Zionism direct the Jewish people today? The State of Israel, Zionism’s ultimate achievement, is no longer solely thinking about survival. Today, Zionism must guide the Jewish people to its next frontier – success. In “Zionism Today”, educator Rabbi Uri Pilichowski challenges the reader to think about issues Zionists face today.

With all the planning a wedding and starting life requires, it might seem daunting to take time to study and understand the laws, customs, and lessons that a wedding and married life entails. At the same time, a wedding becomes so much more meaningful for the bride and groom when they understand the different parts of their wedding.

This book was written for the busy bride and groom to be able to take a little time each day as they count down the days to their wedding to study the different parts of their wedding and learn valuable lessons for their marriage. The book is written to be read a chapter a day. This gives the reader a chance to think about the ideas for an entire day before going on to the next idea.