Strong Heart, Strong Body

A Strong Heart, A Strong Body, A Strong Mind

The other day in Shilo we were surprised to receive a wide spectrum of visitors and at the same time to experience to two different types of horsepower.  Our northern countrymen visited the Shilo region from the Jezreel Valley, in the Lower Galil.  About 40-50 people from the various Kibbutzim and communities there decided to see the Shilo region from an equestrian point of view, in other words… on horseback.  It was a wonderful sight, not just because I love horses, but also because when I asked about their trip here, and why they came over to us, their response was simple… it’s a beautiful area, and it’ s our land.  We are talking about many folk from the most socialist of the Kibbutz Movements, not the National Religious camp.  When asked if they were concerned about safety and so on, again their various responses warmed us…our land, our history, and one guy came up to me and said "you might not expect to hear it from a 'shmutznick' (a derogatory term for someone who is anti-religious) like me, but I love coming to your communities and enjoying Shabbat.”  Others jumped in “one people”, “more unity”… [fuggedaboudit]… A Festival of Zionism.

We bid them Shabbat Shalom and a fun day and went back to Shilo via the “Tel” (Ancient Shilo)…and were greeted by at least 50 “bikers” coming into the village, not bicycles, but bikes…big bikes, motor bikes…you know with names like Harley, Suzuki, Honda, Royal Enfield and so on. Many wearing their leathers with “Israel Association of Motor-Cycles” on their backs.  These guys came from all over Israel and were riding all over Judea and Samaria.  The same answers once again: our land, our history.

Definitely not the norm for a Friday morning, but quickly becoming so, as more and more Israelis flock to Judea and Samaria, reconnecting, regrouping and reiterating…our land, our history and one people.

For a body to be healthy, it needs to have a strong heart pumping blood throughout.  Judea and Samaria is that heart, it is where we started as a people in our land…but you all know that, don’t you?  Do you know how many people do not know that, do you know how many Jewish people don’t know that, refuse to know that?

In Israel we watch daily as the buses and cars roll in to our communities, filled with people from all over Israel, religious, not religious, young, middle aged and older, many of them climbing to the hilltops throughout Judea and Samaria and picking out their houses and communities below.  Some, viewing Tel Aviv and Ben Gurion airport, are surprised to discover just how small a country we actually are.  So many are glad to bring their children out and connect them physically with the history they are told about in school with the reality  of the place.  But this is our advantage living in Israel.

What about the rest of our body, the extended limbs living outside our country? I am very concerned about them.  They do not come to see the reality for themselves, they are kept away or, when they do arrive, are for the most part are poisoned by the people they call “leaders”.  How many of their “Sunday schools” do not show them where Abraham, Isaac and Jacob walked?  How many of the “day schools” do not have the complete map,  an accurate map?

How many “limbs” are not getting good circulation from a strong heart?

Strong Heart, Strong Body, Strong Mind…work it, feed it properly, let it stretch out and you have health.  Abuse it with junk food, let it get lazy, stop getting around and it will get sick and disease may set in.  Germs from the outside will attack it, and if there is not a strong immune system in place, that body will become a victim, weakened to a dangerous state.

We in Israel are strengthening our heart, and from our heart, healthy blood is being pumped all over our body and our mind, we are working hard to regain and build our health… even though there are a few “limbs” here that need extra attention.

I am reminded of how when an animal is trapped, it might chew off a limb to save itself, there are some politicians, political parties and movements that are trying to chew off their heart in order to “save” themselves… I guess they don’t realize the importance of a heart.

Some simple advice to our extended “limbs”, if you wish to stay healthy, you will also have to work to strengthen our heart, you will have to work harder because you are farther away and more susceptible to the poisonous germs that surround you.  You will have to build your immune system and protect yourselves even better, especially from “inside” dangers.

It may seem like an uphill challenge, but that is all it is, a challenge, a challenge we can and will overcome, as long as we keep “working out” and keeping our “heart” and mind strong.

The heart of our land and our people lie in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria…check it out for yourselves.

We have just passed the solemn day of Yom HaShoah (Holocaust Memorial Day) and now Israel’s Memorial Day. We then will celebrate Israel’s Independence Day and Day of Liberation of Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria.  

Our existence in Israel is the only way to say and show the world and our enemies…Never Again.