Newsletter Page 2

No. 134 – May, 2007

Greetings,

From beautiful Northern, Wisconsin where geese, ducks, blue herons, loons and eagles have decided to make the lake we live by their home.  There have been reports of turkey sightings but the funny thing is that these sightings always seem to coordinate with the times Kip ventures out into the woods.  Hmmm.

“ A Time to Dance…”  Happy Birthday, Israel!!
Israel has just celebrated her 59th birthday.  59 years of trials and miracles, of wars and peace agreements, of tears and laughter, of brilliant inventions and devastating losses.  Through all these years the very existence of Israel has been proof to the world that the G-d of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the G-d of Israel, is the one and only true G-d!  The One who created us and gave us the Holy Scriptures is who He says He is!!!!!!  It has been through the Jewish people and the reborn nation of Israel that Biblical prophesy has been fulfilled and that the Lord has shown the world His plan for His creation.  The existence of Israel gives us the hope and inspiration to continue on toward the fulfillment of our personal destiny – no matter what the circumstances look like right now.

It is time to dance with joy with the knowledge that the Lord of creation does care about each one of us and He keeps His promises!

We pray that the next year will be one of peace, health, unity and life for Israel and her war weary citizens.  We ask the Lord to give Israel favor with her neighbors and with Him.  We also ask the G-d of Israel to guard His inheritance with His mighty right hand and to continue to show the whole world who He is!

“A Time to Mourn..”
This time of year takes Israel through Holocaust Remembrance Day, Memorial Day and Independence Day.  Both Holocaust Remembrance Day and Memorial Day bring with them painful memories from the past and growing fears for the future.
On Memorial Day Israel, and those who love her, united in the memory of its 22,305 fallen soldiers and victims of terror.  On Holocaust Remembrance Day much of the world took time to remember the millions of Jews and others who died at the hands of evil.

As wars come and go, and as evil rears its ugly head we tend to try to make some sense of all that is happening.  When we realize that we are not able to understand these things it is easy to distance ourselves from them.  It is frustrating to see what is happening and not be able to alter the situation.
Because of this we decided to put human faces on the situations some individual Jews are facing at this time.  In this newsletter we have included some memories of an Israeli mother and a tribute to one brave professor who was also a Holocaust survivor.

Thoughts from a bereaved Israeli mother.  By Martha E. Lichtenstein             
Each name a promise. Each name a dream. Each name a hope. We can only bring them to life by naming them but they cannot answer our call any longer.
They are gone. Extinguished their dreams, vanished their hopes.
Death seized them at some point during the days of the conflict. Inflicted randomly by a demonic enemy that had no qualms about using civilians as human shields and blaming it on Israel.

It is easy to react with well-deserved indignation but much harder to close that immense black hole that has opened in our homes, because when one child dies, Israel mourns the loss collectively.
These are the random thoughts of a bereaved parent; the child could be yours or mine. We have been through this pain many times, the wound will always be there, deep inside.

August 2006.  The dreaded call, the door that opens to an unwilling messenger of terrible news. The end of life at its peak.

The loving words, the lullabies I sang to put you to sleep, the laughter and the fights, the character that I custom made for the stories you liked me to tell you, the brave maternal smile when I sent you off with one final kiss and a 'Call us when you can!', the tears that spring up before I know it, and seemingly come from a bottomless pit of anguish, who will dry them, what will give me some peace?

Our friends call on us at all hours, we smile to make them feel better, but our heart grieves, and they know it. I am grateful for their company but I would prefer to reminisce alone, to evoke your smiling face and your wit.

Our dear rabbi tries to pronounce words of comfort but I feel sorry for him because they only make me weep. And so I, like too many Israelis, must attend to the mechanics of daily living with a heavy heart, pretending the note he sent us from the front before his tank got hit is not there, in the precise corner of my first dresser drawer, because I know that if I read it once again I will break down and our younger son is watching me, afraid and trying to cope courageously.

I am unable to abide by Camus' words ("We will forgive but not forget"). I will neither forgive the aggressors nor forget their despicable deeds.  am not yet ready for that.
I must be strong, I must face up to the supreme challenge to go on living, with my loved one unseen by my side, in my heart, an indestructible part of my soul. If I don't the enemy wins. I will not grant them that victory, my child would not have wanted that. And I am certain that he is watching me, giving me the courage to affirm that, out of the depths, I will rise and affirm my humanity in the face of their lack of.

Today there is an empty place at the table but we will still meet again, and together we will watch the sun dispel the darkness...     An Israeli Mother
                 
Slain Israeli Professor Saved Others in Va. Tech Massacre by Gil Ronen
As Israel observed Holocaust Day, thousands of miles away, A Rumanian-born Holocaust survivor gave his life in another senseless murder - and apparently in an act of heroism.

Among the 32 people killed by a lone gunman at Virginia Tech Monday (4/16/07) is 77-year-old engineering professor, Liviu Librescu, a citizen of Israel. According to eyewitness accounts, Librescu ran to the door of his classroom and blocked it with his body – preventing the gunman from entering but getting shot to death himself as a result.

Alec Calhoun, a 20-year-old student who had been in Librescu's class in room 204, told a reporter that at 9:05 a.m. they heard screams and a loud banging sound from the next-door classroom. When the students realized it was gunfire, he said, some hid behind tables, and others leapt from the classroom's windows. Calhoun himself was among the last to jump. "Before I jumped from the window, I turned around and looked at the professor, who stayed behind, maybe to block the door. He had been killed."

Librescu is survived by his wife of 42 years, Marlena, who was with him in Virginia, and sons Aryeh and Joe who are in Israel. They intend to bury him in Israel.
Asael Arad, an Israeli student who visited the widow after the tragedy, told Army Radio Tuesday that Marlena had been receiving e-mails from students who credited Prof. Librescu with saving their lives. "I lost my best friend," the widow told a reporter for NRG at her home near the Blacksburg campus. "He was a great person, who loved teaching more than anything." Marlena said someone had initially informed her that her husband was injured in the shooting. "I looked for him in the hospitals all day but I didn't find him," she said.

The Librescus are Rumanian Jews who came on aliyah (immigrated to Israel) in 1978 – after then-Prime Minister Begin interceded on their behalf with the Rumanian government, according to Marlena. The couple went on a sabbatical to the United States since 1986 and has been living there ever since.
My Stand – A Tribute to Liviu Librescu – By  Philip Selz

In the darkest times we've seen, I was sent into the camps
As I smelled the stench of burning flesh, I knew my kin were gone
Survival was my only thought.  I knew I must come through
But I didn’t know the reason that my living must go on

And when the war had ended, liberation finally came
And I grew to be a man and shortly after took a wife
And we raised our kids in Israel and we did the best we could
And we lived for those who died and worked to make a useful life

Then a teaching job came to me in America one day
And I thought that building new young minds was destiny for me
So I traveled to Virginia and I made a brand new start
And I taught engineering in this homeland of the free

Now I hear the hallways screaming as shots are fired there
And I hear the terror in the screams and understand their plight
So I bar the door from danger and I tell my students Run!
And as the bullets breach the door I know that I must fight

And in these final moments as my life is seeping out
I think back over 60 years and finally understand
My own salvation now makes sense as children flee and live
I was saved that day to save this day, I’ve finally made my stand.
(from Jodie Anderson – Battalion of Deborah)
Quote To Note!!
Golda Meir astutely summed up Israel's precarious position in the Middle East, "The Muslims can fight and lose, then come back and fight again. But Israel can only lose once."  Battalion of Deborah  4/18/07

Signs of the Times!!
British Schools Drop Holocaust Lessons for Fear of Offending Muslims
Schools in the United Kingdom are dropping the Holocaust from history lessons to avoid offending Muslim pupils, a Government-backed study has revealed, London's Daily Mail reported.  The Lekarev Report  4/2/07

UNICEF "Outraged" At Taliban For Using Child To Behead Pakistani 
The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says it is outraged at the Taliban in Afghanistan who recently released a video of a child beheading a Pakistani who reportedly gave information to U.S. forces that resulted in a deadly airstrike which killed senior commander Akhtar Mohammad Osmani.
All Headline News    Worthy Brief News Update 4/25/07

Because You Prayed!!!
TERROR ATTACK FOILED 
A major suicide attack on Tel Aviv was prevented this Passover, as Shin Bet and IDF forces arrested 19 Hamas members in the West Bank city of Qalqilya for planning to detonate a car bomb containing some 220 lbs of explosives, it was cleared for publication on Tuesday.   Ynet News  4/10/07

Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC!!!!!!!!
Kip and I have been invited to attend the Sixth Annual Israel Solidarity Event at the Israeli Embassy in Washington, DC on May 4th.  We will be leaving on the 3rd and returning on the 6th.
Trip to Israel!!!!

There are 7 of us joining with Aglow International for the May 14-24 trip to Israel.  When the trip was first being developed Aglow was hoping to have over 1,000 people sign up.  However, at this time there are 250 of us going.  Many people are nervous about the threats by Iran, Syria, Hamas and the Hezbollah in Lebanon.

This will be my 15th trip to Israel and there always seems to be some sort of extra tension right before our trip leaves.   However, I have always come home safe and sound. 

We who love and care for Israel need to remember that our Israeli friends live under these threats all of the time and seldom have a respite.  If we say we care for them and will stand with them in their times of peril but are not willing to spend a week or two visiting them – our words do not mean much.

Two Notes From Our Projects!!!
Another Note From Karnie Shomron
Dear Gini & Kip,  Thank you so much for your recent contribution of CFOIC - Heartland for the Special Ed Center in Karnei Shomron,  We just dedicated the new building and it is so beautiful.  I will have pictures for you soon and will send them on by e-mail or on a CD.  Your ongoing support has been so important to Karnei Shomron and the mayor has personally asked me to convey his appreciation to you.  You are well known here!  Sincerely, Sondra Baras  Director

Good News From Shuva Israel
 On Jan. 30, 2007, the Samaria Absorption Program (95% of their budgetary needs are met by Shuva Israel) received official recognition from the Ministry of Absorption and the Jewish Agency of the State of Israel – for their efforts in absorbing hundreds of immigrants yearly in Samaria.  This letter reflects the hard work of Immigrant Absorption Director, Baruch Lior.  Baruch has worked tirelessly to gain this recognition at the highest levels of the Israeli government.  Official government recognition has been tied up for years due to the fact that the new immigrants that your efforts support come to the politically contested hills of Ezekiel 36.  Now, we have gained recognition from the Israeli government for our continuing efforts to successfully absorb new immigrants as well as our efforts to absorb 15-25 French Jewish families between this summer and the end of 2007.  From, Eliezer Braun  (spokesman)

Thank you to all of you who helped fill my 2nd suitcase with things for those in need in Israel!

Prayer Requests:  Please pray –

• For “comfort” & “blessings” for Israel.

• For continued healing for Dr. David Lewis & Ariel Sharon

• For safety and favor for the people traveling to Israel this month.

• For divine appointments and direction for us while we are in Washington, DC.

• That the Lord will lead those in the governments of Israel and the USA.

• That the enemies of Israel will be scattered.

Scriptures to Hold On to:

• “I will sing of thy steadfast love, O Lord, for ever; with my mouth I will proclaim thy faithfulness to all generations.  For thy steadfast love was established for ever, thy faithfulness is firm as the heavens.  Thou hast said, ‘I have made a covenant with my chosen one, I have sworn to David my servant; I will establish your descendants for ever, and build your throne for all generations.’” Psalms 89: 1-4

• “Remember me, O Lord, when thou showest favor to thy people; help me when thou deliverest them; that I may see the prosperity of thy chosen ones, that I may rejoice in the gladness of thy nation, that I may glory with thy heritage.” Psalms 106: 4&5

Happy Birthday Israel,
Gini & Kip Detry (receive monthly newsletter - contact Isaiah 40 Ministry)