Beyond the Headlines

A weekly glimpse into the Israel you won’t read about in the news 

Women from the Taglit mission in Bat Yam. Sylvia is in the center

(L to R) Sivan Rahav Meir; Israeli Ambassador to the UK, Tzipi Hotovely, with her husband, Or Alon; and Gabi Harow, VP of Ariel University

An American Hug in a Bat Yam Apartment

Sylvia is an elderly woman from Bat Yam whose home was damaged by an Iranian missile during the war with Iran in June. Last week, dozens of Jewish women from the United States met her when they came to Israel for the first time with the Taglit program, on a volunteer mission.

They arrived in Bat Yam, armed with cleaning supplies and boundless energy, ready to help the city on a rehabilitation mission. For an entire day, these American women dedicated themselves to making Sylvia’s apartment habitable, scrubbing and cleaning as they deciphered labels on Israeli cleaning products. The work was conducted in English mixed with Hebrew, a lot of hand gestures, laughter and hugs. Then came the moment when Sylvia exclaimed: “The floor! The floor! I can see my floor again, it’s clean!”

The women looked at each other, confused: “What is ritzpah [floor]?” And just like that, they learned a new Hebrew word.

They watered Sylvia’s dried-out plants, took photos and promised to stay in touch. It’s hard to say who benefited more. That night, Sylvia’s daughter sent them a message:"You brought back the smile my mother had lost. I’ve never seen her this happy. A million thank-yous wouldn’t be enough. I’m in tears."

Every day of the week, the group volunteered in a different location. “This isn’t a retreat, we came to sweat,” one woman told me. In the south, they worked at Rimon Farm, where trauma is treated through agriculture and sheep herding. They helped out in a new vineyard named after Eliahu Kay, z”l, who was murdered in a terror attack.

What else did they do? They packed food with the Latet organization, visited patients at Shaare Zedek hospital and at Sheba’s rehab department, spent time in a nursing home, and more.

Netivot. Sderot. Teveria. Jerusalem. Tel Aviv… In every place, they supported small businesses and lifted spirits, sometimes by simply showing up.

And these missions keep coming. After October 7, the country was flooded with donors and visitors. Now, almost two years later, their presence carries even greater significance. Throughout the week, the organizers tried to get this story into the media. No one picked it up.

So I’m writing it here. Because more groups are coming. And sometimes, in the middle of our everyday chaos, a chance encounter with them reminds us of our shared story, and just how beautiful it really is.

Knowledge Isn’t Enough

I was privileged to speak at the first event on behalf of the Friends of Ariel University, held at the Israeli Ambassador’s residence. The following are a few remarks:

"Especially in times like these, we’re reminded that knowledge alone is not enough. Academic knowledge, intellectual understanding, all of it means nothing if it isn’t grounded in the right values.

“We’ve seen the distortions coming out of some of the world’s most prestigious institutions, universities that are considered the pinnacle of higher learning. You can be a professor at Harvard, yet a three-year-old child can still tell right from wrong better than you, can still distinguish between Israel and Hamas with greater moral clarity.

“We’ve learned that, in the end, everything must be rooted in the right values. Without that foundation, every degree in the world is meaningless.

“There’s much talk about advocacy, and that’s important, but Rav Kook taught us the proper mindset. When the Balfour Declaration was issued here in Britain, recognizing the Jewish people’s right to a national home, Rav Kook said something profound: 'I do not thank Britain, I bless it for the historic privilege it has to do what is right.' In other words, Rav Kook wasn’t pleading or overflowing with gratitude. He didn’t see it as a favor. He knew that God chose us and chose the Land of Israel, and that this is the true direction of history, for the entire world. So he simply blessed Britain for having the merit of standing on the right side of history.

“Thank you to the many brothers and sisters who, even in these confusing and turbulent

times, still stand today on the right side of history."

5 Points About the Jewish “Festival of Love”

This Shabbos is parashat Va’etchanan, but it is also Tu B’Av. Here are 5 things to know about this special day:

1) Following the sin of the Golden Calf, it was decreed that Bnei Yisrael would wander in the desert for forty years and die there. Tu B’Av marked the end of their punishment and the beginning of their entry into Eretz Yisrael. Thus, it is also a festival celebrating our love of the Land of Israel.

2) On this day, the daughters of Jerusalem would go out in borrowed white dresses and dance in the vineyards to find their spouses. Reflecting on this beautiful custom, our sages declared: “There were no days of greater joy in Israel than the fifteen of Av and Yom Kippur.”

3) In later years, following the division of the land into two kingdoms, King Yeravam ben Nevat did not allow the residents of the kingdom of Israel to travel to the Beit Hamikdash in Jerusalem for the festivals. But on Tu B’Av this decree was abolished. From that time forward, the Jewish people could once again celebrate the holidays together, as one nation, in Jerusalem.

4) According to Kabbalah, Tu B’Av ushers in the period of Teshuva (Repentance), which formally begins in Elul. Starting on this day, many have the custom of greeting one another with the words: “Ktiva Va’Chatima Tova, May you be inscribed and sealed in the Book of Life.”

5) What is the underlying theme of Tu B’Av?  For thousands of years, this has been a day of connection, reconciliation, and love. May we all feel this way today!