Your Favorite Things About Israel

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“Alexa, Is Israel an Apartheid State?”

I’d finished going through this weeks’ “What’s new with Alexa” email and started asking my own questions. Too many times the machine offers an apology and says it can’t answer that but this time, it had the answer clear and concise:

“Alexa, is Israel an apartheid state?”
“Israel, like South Africa, is an apartheid state”

Alexa does state her source, an entry on Wikipedia “Israel and the apartheid comparison“, but that article discusses opinions and does not give a conclusion. The hard and fast answer is one given by Amazon, not Wikipedia.



So, is Israel an apartheid state? Well, if you want to consider that question you firstly have to ignore the fact that apartheid is specific to South Africa, white Europeans and native Africans.

Apartheid is racial segregation – in Israel there is no racial segregation. Over 20% of the population of Israel are Arabs and have full citizen rights. There are 18 Arab members of the Israeli parliament.

In Israel, your religion doesn’t preclude you from being a doctor, a lawyer, a soldier, a high court judge or any other position.

There is no separation on buses, trains, planes, toilets or any other public facilities. And despite reports to the contrary, there is no segregation of roads.

All this lack of separation applies equally to everyone regardless of gender and sexuality – something that can’t be said for most of Israels’ neighbors.

Amazon have promised to have their technical department look into this matter, or maybe that was what another of their algorithms


'Alexa, Is Israel an Apartheid State?'

 

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Mehereta’s Reality: From Ethiopia to TV to Knesset? – The Land of Israel

 

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Three young Israeli scientists win $100,000 research prize

 

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Avraham said of Sara his wife, “She is my sister.” So King Abimelech of Gerar had Sara brought to him.
Genesis 20:2 (The Israel Bible™)

Hear the verse in Hebrew

va-YO-mer av-ra-HAM el sa-RAH ish-TO a-KHO-tee HEE va-yish-LAKH a-vee-ME-lekh ME-lekh g’-RAR va-yi-KAKH et sa-RAH

Brave Jewish Heroines: Biblical and Modern
Although Sara was taken captive by both Pharoah (Genesis 12:19) and Abimelech, her courage and bravery inspired many Jewish women over the centuries, especially those who carried her name. Sarah Braverman, the “first lady of the IDF,” was born in Romania in 1918, and arrived in Israel when she was 20 years old. Upon her arrival, she immediately joined the Jewish liberation movement. Braverman was one of the first women to join “Palmach,” the special fighting forces of the Haganah and one of the forerunners of the Israeli army. Braverman was chosen to be one of three women in a group of 37 Palmach fighters to take part in the 1943 parachuting mission behind enemy lines into Nazi Europe. After the creation of the State of Israel, Braverman helped establish the IDF Women’s Corps. Sarah Braverman truly lived up to her namesake, the original Sara. She was a brave and devoted Jewish heroine, who put her life on the line time and again to protect and defend her people.

 

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Israel relaunches "virtual Gulf embassy" on Twitter ~ Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

 

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Biblical King David with Harp in Jerusalem (Pixabay).
There is no safety—said Hashem—for the wicked.
Isaiah 48:22 (The Israel Bible™)

Hear the verse in Hebrew

AYN sha-LOM a-MAR a-do-NAI la-r’-sha-EEM

Popular Rock Songs You Didn't Know Were Based on the Land of Israel and the Bible
There are many well-known songs inspired by Israel and the Bible, including Cage the Elephant's "Ain't No Rest for the Wicked," a wildly popular song that made it to the Billboard Hot 100, reached number 3 on the Alternative Songs chart and number 8 on the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart. The song's title and catchy verse is paraphrased based on Isaiah 48:22, in which Yeshayahu concludes a triumphant account of the future journey out of Babylon and the return to Israel saying, “There is no safety—said Hashem—for the wicked.” Most commentators suggest that this is a continuation of the above contrast between Israel and Babylon; while Israel is redeemed, the wicked Babylon will find no peace. A second popular song inspired by Israel and the Bible is Johnny Cash's “He Turned the Water into Wine," written during a tour Cash did in Israel with his wife, June Carter, in 1968. He said that the sound of a church's cistern and everything he felt being in Israel inspired him in this song and his career. In a third song by Jewish artist Leonard Cohen from 1969, "Story of Isaac," there is a clear theme of the story of God commanding Abraham to sacrifice Isaac on Mount Moriah, from the perspective of Isaac (as opposed to his "Highway 61 Revisited," which addresses the subject from Abraham's perspective). References to the Hebrew Bible are common in Cohen's songs, such as the modern-day standard "Hallelujah," from his 1984 album Various Positions.

 

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[rylah]

Shoteiy HaNevuah (Wanderers of Prophecy) - Kol Galgal

"The sound of a wheel rolling from down upwards
Sealed chariots are going and rolling.

The sound of melodies ascends and descends
Going and wandering in the world.

The sound of a Shofar is drawn at the depths of the stairs,
And turns the wheel around.
It is a voice, it is the sound of a wheel rolling up and down"

The words of the song were taken from the Zohar (of Parashat Vayechi), which Rashbi wrote: "The wheel" is a term for this world (which is round and rotating) and the whole nature, and the whole nature wants to rise up from above. And on the other hand - there is also an awakening from above - Hashem, too, wants us and desires us. The sound of the shofar expresses the same Divine will. Furthermore, the shofar is the one that rolls the wheel, meaning that our very desire is also derived from the Divine root. As a general rule, one must know that all inner wisdom is based on the connection between the upper worlds and the lower worlds. "The awakening of the lower worlds and the awakening of the upper worlds" (ie, a spiritual awakening that comes from man, arousing his heart to the worship of Hashem, overcoming his earthly and trying to rise up and reach the closeness of Hashem. That is a pure spirit that falls on man above, without himself being prepared and worthy of it. The matter is very deep to comprehend, but the main thing is that the people of Israel, and in fact all of creation wants to be close and adhere to Hashem and Hashem wants to infuse His presence among us.

 

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Was a mound of ash from Temple sacrifices visible as late as 1900? ~ Elder Of Ziyon - Israel News

 

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