Our modern day heroine, one of many from the past ten days, Rachel from Ofakim, aka Yael (married to Hever the Kenite) met with president Biden today

Who was Yael? Who was Yehudit?

Several years ago there was a rash of terror attacks and some attacks were thwarted by regular bystanders. By "regular bystanders" I mean not members of any of the security forces. While generally we think of people stopping an attack by pulling out a licensed gun and shooting the terrorist dead in his tracks, or maybe we might fantasize about someone driving by and seeing an active shooter and driving right into him to stop him, or maybe driving alongside him and swinging open the door to smash into him, James Bond style of whatever, back then some of the attacks were stopped by people brandishing household items.

We are seeing a lot of patriotism and heroism in this Russian Ukrainian war, specifically on the Ukrainian side. And we specifically are interested in the Jewish aspects of this. President Zelensky, a nice Jewish boy, has already become famous for his level of heroism and patriotism and willingness to stand up for his country.

I admit, this was surprising, and shocking, to me. I don't remember hearing about these allegations before.

I dont think I have ever heard this amazing story before

During the Holocaust, a diplomat from a faraway land used one piece of paper to save innocent lives. Jose Arturo Castellanos of El Salvador worked with Gyorgy Mandl, a Hungarian Jew, to secretly issue Salvadorian citizenship to Jews across Europe. Those with citizenship of El Salvador were protected from the Nazis. Their daring work saved the lives of at least 25,000 Jews. This is their story.

Ben Hartman of the Jerusalem Post tweeted the above picture with the explanation 'Guitar Hero' adjusting to newfound fame after trying to hinder Jaffa terrorist - this is the guy that beat up a terrorist yesterday with his guitar...

facinating

Meir Kalmanson, an awesome person, writes the following:

3 1/2 years ago I was inspired to grow my hair out to donate it to a child with cancer. Over this period of time it brought me close to the brave children who go out to battle every single day with their head held high and take on challenges way beyond any human being should have to. 
I hope through this video it will inspire others to go and do what they can, whether it's donating their own hair, visiting a child in the hospital or volunteer for a local organization.
May we only celebrate happy occasions! Cheers! 



some people are, simply, amazing. Like Kalmanson above. Another amazing story is that of Molly Allanoff who donated her bone marrow to Avi Ruderman.

And then there is the group of octogenarians (people in their 80s), former Palmach fighters, who wanted to volunteer with the police to fight Palestinian terrorists..

These people, all mentioned here,  are all heroes. As are so many others who do awesome things to inspire and help others.

unfortunately it looks like this is going to be a new feature in the near future...

Mickey Rechavi heard an attack taking place nearby. He grabbed his umbrella and ran over. he then beat the terrorist into submission with his umbrella.




who needs guns when we have umbrellas and nunchucks??

and then there was another hero (I haven't seen the details yet) who stopped a terrorist with a selfie stick...

Yair Ben Shabbat took down a terrorist this evening with nunchucks. When the terrorist grabbed the gun from the soldier, and the bus stopped, Ben Shabbat jumped onto the bus and beat the terrorist with his nunchucks until the police disposed of the terrorist with more finality.

If Nir Barkat is Batman, Yair Ben Shabbat is Chuck Norris

According to this report on Kooker, initially reported on Israel's Channel 2 News, the fellow who saved those five American tourists in Hebron from the potential lynching a few days ago, is now afraid for his life.

This fellow was brave and went against the sentiment in his neighborhood. He stood up to everyone around him and did the right thing and saved some poor helpless kids from a mob.

He deserves an award for that. He is a good and decent person. He is courageous and a hero.

And, unfortunately, he now fears for his life. He is receiving death threats.

When we first heard the part of the story (it was not initially reported and only came out a bit later) that someone had taken them in to save and protect them, we cynically joked that he will turn up dead within a week. I was actually hoping that after the fact the mob would calm and realize he did the right thing.

Unfortunately, that is the way it is over there. That is very sad. That somebody has to fear for his life for doing the right thing. For saving some innocent people from a lynching.

It also makes what he did all that more courageous, knowing he would be putting himself at risk.

Nir Barkat, mayor of Jerusalem, can basically do whatever he wants right now. he has achieved such popularity by his actions yesterday that he has already won reelection for mayor, if he would run again. If he wanted to run for prime minister he'd probably win that in a landslide.

What other mayor would act like Batman and save his citizens from terror attacks. Who else in a position similar to hi would choose to attack the terrorist rather than sit safely ensconced in his secure car and let the security guards take care of it or be satisfied with calling the police/army? What other mayor can say he has put his own life on the line to save people in his city?

Don't mess with our mayor! People should move to Jerusalem just to be able to vote for him! Barkat's heroic efforts seem to have given the people a bit of a swell in the chest, pride, bravado.

And Barkat did not just show himself as a brave hero. The injured victim thanked Barkat for being sensitive and placing upon him, while injured on the ground, his coat to keep him warm. Barkat said he realized the ground was icy and cold and put the coat on him. Not only is he a hero and courageous, but sensitive as well!

In a moment of humor I suggested the headline for the report on the Associated Press.. I would suggest a headline like:
Jerusalem mayor attacks Palestinian man with a knife near East Jerusalem border

Lassana Bathily is a hero.

Bathily, a Muslim from Mali who is an employee of the Hyper Kosher market where the terrorists had taken hostages, led 15 customers down to the freezer room in the basement of the market. He led them into the freezer and closed the doors, then shut off the freezer. When the incident was over, he led them out to safety.

I guess Bet Shemesh is just like any other city. We have our share of both heroes and crooks..

in Bet Shemesh news today, we have a hero featured and a crook.

The hero is a soldier in the IDF from Bet Shemesh. Rotem Shabbat was on duty at a checkpoint in Jerusalem near Shuafat. While checking the Arabs passing through the checkpoint, one seemed suspicious to her and she took him aside for further examination. It turned out that this Arab fellow was the suspect of a manhunt as info pointed to the fact that he was planning an attack.

When the border police searched him, by Rotem's orders, they found a large knife and learned that he was planning to commit a stabbing attack in Jerusalem.

Rotem Shabbat, from Bet Shemesh, has now averted two terror attacks during her service at the Shuafat checkpoint.
source: Shemeshnet

and we don't just have heroes here in Bet Shemesh, but we also have our share of crooks...

Some guy from Bet Shemesh with a metal detector went and raided an archaeological site. After initially denying involvement in the theft, police discovered over 800 ancient coins in his house, along with other bronze materials such as jewelry, stamps and other items, the fellow admitted to his guilt. The loot was from the end of the Persian rule, and into the Hellenist, Roman and Byzantine eras up until the Ottoman era.
source: NRG

wow! I was unaware of this person or his role in the history of Israel. Amazing.

I would like to know how it came to be that his remains were now re-interred to Israel...




check out Rabbi Slifkin's post on Patterson