Despite All of The Differences, Israelis Stick Together

One of the things I miss about Israel (and hope to experience one day soon) is the closeness that everyone feels with each other. Its known to be a small country and news travels from one end to the other quickly. I think that is why Israelis are always fighting - its like how siblings fight. And I find this closeness to be across all divisions, irrespective of the different groups with their different political and religious views. I truly felt on an Egged bus, with the chilonim on one side, and the Charedim on the other side, that everyone was in "it" together.

Anyways, I read a story on Aliyah Blog today that I though demonstrates this idea well:

Jews And Their Kippas

Jonathan Pollard wrote: “The kippah is a sign of accepting the yoke of Heaven; the Holy One, blessed be He, is our aide and protector forever.”

Two people donated a black kippah...Baruch Marzel of Hevron...wears it in order to come closer to the hareidi-religious public...: “A Jew’s purpose is to collect the truth from everyone.”

Walking Between the Kippot

"Walking Between the Kippot" is the name of a exhibit currently in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem (in Lander's College). It features over 60 kippot that were donated from various high profile Israeli figures (or their families), with an explanation to why they donated that particular kippa. Each kippa was a different size and color.

Dvar Torah: Why Jews Always Dance in a Circle (Bnei Yisaschar)

As mentioned in my dvar torah post about Tu B'av, one of the themes of Tu B'av is love and unity amongst Jews with each other.

Dvar Torah: Tu B'av - Celebrating Love and Unity (Mei Hashiloach)

"No days were as joyful for the Jewish people as Tu B'av" - (Taanis 26b)

"...we need to "chop" and cut all barriers away that divide the Jewish people" - Mei Hashiloach

6 Joyous Events Happened on Tu B'av

The gemara lists 6 joyous events that happened in Jewish history on the date of Tu B'av which cause us to celebrate this holiday. The Mei Hashiloach (Reb Shlomo Carlebach's favorite sefer) explains that the common theme between all of these events are love and unity:

• amongst Jews with each other and


• between Hashem and the Jewish people;

Here is the list of the 6 historical events and how they demonstrate the aforementioned theme of love and unity:

Event 1: No More Deaths In The Desert

On each Tisha B'av of the 40 years of the desert, anyone who turned 60 would die. This was because of the Hashem's decree after the sin of the meraglim that all men would die during the 40 years in the desert. In the 40th year, on Tisha B''av, no one died. The Jewish people thought that maybe they were mistaken about the date for Tisha B'av and prepared for the deaths to come the next day. On Tu B'av, when the full moon had appeared, the Jews of the desert knew that Tisha B'av had definitely passed and Hashem's decree had ended. This demonstrated the loving unity between Hashem and the Jewish people.

Events 2 & 3: Ban Lifted on Intermarriage

Originally, the 12 tribe of Israel were only allowed to intermarry with each other. This ban only applied to the original members of the dor hamidbar who died in the desert and thus, the ban was lifted on Tu B'av of the 40th year in the desert. Similarily, there was ban to marry into the tribe of Binyamin after the episode of the "Concubine of Giv'ah) (Shofrim 19-21). This ban was lifted during on Tu B'av. The lifting of the bans created increased amongst the Jewish people.

Event 4: The Ability To Go to Jerusalem Again

Tu B'av is the day that Hoshea ben Elah removed the guards from roads leading to Jerusalem, and Jews were allowed to once again go to the Bais Hamikdashn and participate in the Shalosh Regalim. This event also increased the unity amongst the Jewish people.

Event 5: The Jews of Beitar Were Allowed To Be Buried

After the Romans conquested Beitar, they did not let the corpses of the Jews who died during the conquest to be buried for 7 years (miraculously, the bodies did not decompose). After 7 years on Tu B'av, the Jews were permitted to bury the bodies of these deceased. The Jews being allowed to bury their dead showed the Hashem once again was showing favor to the Jewish people. Similarly, by burying their bretheren, the Jews were able to demonstrate the loving kindness for each other.

Event 6: The Jews stopped cutting down trees for the Mizbeach's Aish

The Mei Hashiloach teaches that the celebration of having enough wood for this mizbeach teaches that we need to "chop" and cut all barriers away that divide the Jewish people.

(source: Artscroll's A Daily Dose of Torah)