Showing posts with label Southern Israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Southern Israel. Show all posts
Jun 21, 2026
The Land of Milk and Honey
Ben and Jerry's of Israel, a strong Zionist company that is no longer related to the anti-Israel American global company Ben & Jerry's, has produced a new flavor that just recently hit the shelves of our retail stores. The new flavor is called Chalav uDvash - Milk and Honey.
I have seen some people describe the flavor as basically vanilla, maybe vanilla chocolate chip, but I think it is better than that. We really like it in our house. It is at minimum a super enhanced vanilla chocolate chip. The honey makes a big difference in it not just being a shade of vanilla.
What makes this flavor unique is that it is produced from ingredients all locally sourced in southern Israel from the communities in the Gaza envelope. The milk comes from a dairy farm in the area, the honey is produced from bees in Yad Mordechai, the magen dovid, the six pointed Jewish star, shaped chunks of chocolate are made by a chocolatier in the area and the artwork on the container is from a local artist in the area. And it tastes great as well. And is also a mehadrin flavor, for those that only eat their mehadrin flavors. And profits (I do not know what percentage) from the sales of this flavor are donated to an organization that is involved in helping with the rebuilding of the affected communities...
the following videos are taken from the Ben and Jerry's website (again, the Israeli company, not the American global company)... and you can get more details about the production of this flavor there...
enjoy the new flavor, and feel good about eating ice cream knowing you are also supporting a good cause in the support of our southenr Gaza envelope communities.
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Jul 31, 2023
Interesting Psak: camp abroad, in southern Israel
With the yeshiva world's bein hazmanim upon us, an interesting question arose.
It is common in Israel for yeshivas to arrange "camps" for their students for a portion of the vacation. They will organize a trip to a campus somewhere, stay a week or 10 days, have a learning schedule interspersed with hikes, interesting speakers, barbecues, singers, performers, and other events..
According to Hamechadesh, a yeshiva arranged a trip to a campus in Miztpe Ramon, down south. They got a good deal and it is a place with excellent views and surroundings, so they were happy with the arrangements.
One of the staff members raised the issue that Mitzpe Ramon is considered questionable if it is included in halachic Eretz Yisrael or if it is considered out of the borders and part of chutz laaretz. It is a matter of dispute, and its halachic status is considered questionable. This staff member asked how could the yeshiva arrange to take the boys out of halachic eretz yisrael for no good reason, no halachic justification, just for camp and a good time, and additionally among the boys would be kohanim, for whom leaving Eretz Yisrael is halachically even more problematic?!
Interesting question, even though as a kid I might think the guy trying to ruin our camp is just a douche..
The question was presented to Rav Yitzchak Zilbershtein, rav of Ramat Elchonon neighborhood of Bnei Braq. The question is what to do about this issue:
On the one hand, this is considered leaving Israel (if it is) for a mitzva, as the boys need to re-energize for the coming zman. Additionally they might not be able to find another location to relocate to at all, let alone at a reasonable price and if they cant go to the original location they might have to cancel the whole thing.
On the other hand, how can they go to Mitzpe Ramon and teach the boys that a "safek issur" can be ignored or dismissed?
Rav Zilbershtein discussed the various aspects of the issue, bringing the various opinions as to the halachic status of Mitzpe Ramon and concluded that it is indeed a real safek if it is Eretz Yisrael or not. He then also discussed the issue of leaving Eretz Yisrael, when it is allowed and when not. Being that it is allowed to leave for the purpose of a mitzva and this vacation for refreshing and re-energizing to learn is a mitzva, so even though initially they perhaps should not go to Mitzpe Ramon, after it was already reserved in error and they signed a contract, and it is a safek, and it is close to Eretz Yisrael rather than very distant, they can be lenient and keep the reservation.
Rav Zilbershtein added though that it is worthwhile to make it a lechatchila allowed trip and not just a bdieved. How can they do that? If they were to arrange shiurim and invite the local community, then it would be considered leaving to teach Torah which is allowed lechatchila. And they should have shiurim on these very issues - the status of Mitzpe Ramon, the issue of leaving eretz yisrael, etc among other topics..
Rav Zilbershtein concluded saying that nowadays it is common for people to travel abroad to vacation without even asking a rav if it is allowed. It is prohibited to leave Israel unless it is for one of a few specific reasons, and someone who is not careful about this can be considered a "mumar ldavar echad" - someone who intentionally violates a specific torah commandment and is not trustworthy in some matters because of it. That is in addition to all sorts of other problems that occur, such as improper environments and seeing immodest dress and behavior in the airports and abroad, and they can defile the eyes of the person and his limbs...
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Nov 3, 2021
where to live?
The government had a discussion today about establishing new Jewish towns in the southern region of Israel, along with legalizing some of the existing Bedouin towns.
The discussion was regarding 12 new generally Jewish towns in addition to one Haredi city. Minister Shaked said this is necessary and an important decision the government made (based on decisions made by the previous government). The government decision had been made to establish new communities in the south so that there will be a strengthened Jewish presence there.
Minister Merav Michaeli interjected saying that too do so would be a mistake.
I have seen no explanation why establishing Jewish communities in the south would be a mistake, or a critical mistake as she stressed. I respectfully tweeted my question to her on Twitter, but I dont expect a response.
So, why would it be a mistake?
And to add, where do they expect people to live? Central Israel is stuffed up and too expensive for too many people. Merav Michaeli does not want Jews to live in Judea and Samaria. She does not want Jews to live down south, it seems. I dont know what she thinks about Jews living in the Golan Heights. So where does she want Jews to live?
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