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What is VOICES Magazine? |
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WHAT’S RIGHT WITH ISRAEL "Ema look out the window," my nine-year-old son Moshie called out excitedly. "There are the sheep from Yaakov's dream - speckled, spotted, mottled, everything just like it says in the Chumash. There are the sheep." He was right. Pattering along right outside my car in Gush Etzion were the sheep of our father Jacob's dream. It is something I had never seen growing up in North Woodmere, and something my children had definitely not seen outside their home in Woodmere either. At that moment, I knew that our new life in Israel would be an adventure for eternity - one that would mix the past of our forefathers with a future for our nation that we still hope and pray will include the Geulah and the rebuilding of our Holy Temple. Through the years, I made special note of incidents like the sheep episode to remind myself how fortunate our family was to have made Aliyah in the summer of 1992, more than a decade ago. PURSUING THE GREATER DREAM I left the Five Towns, having lived the Great American Dream, to live the Greater Jewish Dream and add my family's seven links to the chain of destiny of the Jewish people in the Land of Israel living by the Torah of Israel. My husband, Israel, went right to work to support our family, and I went right to work to support Am Yisrael. I created a PTA in our children's yeshiva, became a founding "Mother" of Givat HaDagan (Efrat's northernmost hill) and helped begin the struggle for the hilltops of Eretz Yisrael, chaired the Committee for Rachel's Tomb and helped establish a yeshiva there, spearheaded a clothing campaign to aid Ethiopian Jews, started a community email list in our ever-expanding town of Efrat, and most recently founded the Gush Etzion Raise Your Spirits Summer Stock Company, producing "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" last year and "Esther and the Secrets in the King's Court" this summer. I was spending my free days doing-good-deeds or davening at the Kotel, Kever Rachel or Me'arat HaMachpelah, and my not-such-fun nights at demonstrations, emergency meetings and tehillim gatherings. But my husband and one of our friends thought I was bored. Having been a newspaper reporter in America for seventeen years, it's hard to speak to an interesting person (and Israel is FILLED with colorful talkative personalities) without seeing the makings of a perfect interview, and it's difficult to go anywhere without finding it fascinating (especially since every location in Israel is filled with history and drama) and figuring that other people would feel the same. So, I let them hoodwink me out of my retirement for one issue of VOICES, a publication that would give a voice to those individuals in Eretz Yisrael that you rarely hear from - the "red string" lady at Kever Rachel, the bus driver who has driven through gun fire and roadside bombs, the founder of a hilltop outpost, the head of agriculture for religious kibbutzim, the lone soldiers guarding the outskirts of a community, and the mother of seven who slept on the streets outside the Prime Minister's home to protest his concessions to the Arabs. That was eight years ago. Since then I have traveled throughout the country writing the stories whose facts are not important enough for CNN or the New York Times, but whose feelings when put together formed the real soul of our nation. SEE THE GOOD "See the good." Those are the words on the coffee cup coaster next to my computer. Whenever I write something for VOICES, I try to see the good in every situation. It is not always easy, and it is not always possible. But when there's been a terrorist attack, and I know thousands of people will be reading or hearing in the media, "Another attack today in…Police are investigating…The PA has denied…", I want to write something that will make a difference, "Hundreds of Jews crowded together at the funeral saying Tehillim and standing united…", "Women from throughout the area are cooking meals for the families…", "Children from nearby communities have reached out to…", "The entire yeshiva attended memorial services…" In these times when news travels as fast as a person can type, facts are not as important to our nation, as feelings of strength and truth. So, I haven't scooped Time Magazine or the Jerusalem Post. I haven't broken earth-shattering governmental secrets. That was never the point of VOICES. Instead, through 40-pages of news and shmooze, I have tried for five years to share with our 10,000 readers throughout the Greater Jerusalem area, some of the really great - yet sometimes really small - things that are happening in our beautiful country, like the special children's prayer at the Kotel in July 1998, or the growth of Tekoa's wine and cheese industries in January 1999, how our friends and neighbors were helping Ethiopian immigrants (February 1999) or how children felt participating in a walk-a-thon for Mercaz Harmony in the summer of '99. For the past five years, I've tried to take our readers to places that were important to the Jewish people, even if Newsday would probably never go there. We explored the first City of David in Tel Chevron in October 1999, attended a Hachnasat Sefer Torah on the controversial Maon farm in November '99, went into the Orient House (in March 2000), investigated destruction to Joseph's Tomb in June 2000 (even before the current intifada), traveled along the path of victory of the Six Day War (May 2001), visited communities like Netzarim and Negohot that are cut off by the Palestinian Authority (April 2000), and tried to get into an off-limits Rachel's Tomb on her yahrzeit (December 2000). I've introduced readers to new yishuvim (communities in Judea and Samaria) like Pnei Kedem, Netiv Avot, Mitzpeh Chagit and Givat Hachish. Together we've rejoiced together whenever a community grew or a new neighborhood was established on an adjoining hilltop. I don't think most other papers could understand the joy we all felt at these new beginnings. And while I have interviewed my share of politicians, government officials, mayors and Knesset members, I have probably been better able to inspire readers over the past five years through the example of people like young Peretz Shweiger who has helped Russian youth keep their faith (February 1998), the grandparents who recalled 1948 on the 50th anniversary of the State of Israel (June 1998), Rabbi Berel Wein (October 1998), Sgt. Savta Eudice Bauer who volunteered to help the IDF (June 1999), Rebbetzin Ruchama Shain in January 2000, Rabbi David Orlofsky (March 2000), the grandmother who created IDF Packages from Home - Barbara Silverman (December 2000), Rebbetzin Miriam Levinger (January 2001), artist Baruch Nachshon (October 2001) and little Eli Harow who dreamed of winning a day in an amusement park for the children of Yesha (November 2001). We've visited with the hundreds of new immigrants who have made their lives in Gush Etzion (February 2002), read the "love" letters that our soldiers have written to the "aunties" who volunteer for the benefit of the IDF (February 2002), traveled to uncover a Lost Tribe of Israel (March 2002), boasted of the unique contribution of many communities during Operation Protective Shield (April 02) and presented our soldiers' story of emunah and courage in May 2002. Together we have shared the fears of the past year-and-a-half. Actually, we've had our share of traumas from our very first issue - published right after former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu signed away Chevron. We have commiserated and comforted each other, and given one another strength. We have seen the dark side, and we have seen the lights in the darkness. For six years I have shared my Israel adventure with my readers, and I have shared my love of Eretz Yisrael with subscribers near and far. Sometimes life here is very exciting, and sometimes, B"H, it's not. But it's all in VOICES - real life, not headlines, life when you take off your shoes and share your heart with your friend. SUBSCRIBING You can share our real life. You can listen to our voices. You can read VOICES at home every month. Subscriptions are $75 a year in America and $125 for two years. You can pay by credit card, by emailing your information to voices@actcom.co.il. You can send a check locally to VOICES, c/o 747 Sherwood Street, North Woodmere, NY 11581, or directly to Israel to VOICES, PO Box 3089, Efrat 90435. For further information, contact Zev at 516-791-3344. HELPING ISRAELI BUSINESSES When the economy in Israel started to slump very severely three years ago, VOICES gave its advertisers a helping hand when they needed it. Now, unfortunately as the economy suffers even more than most of us thought was possible, many businesses are caught in a vicious cycle. Their businesses are suffering, and so they feel they can't afford to advertise. Then when they don't advertise, people think they're out of business, and their business deteriorates even further. Over the past many months, VOICES has been helping many affected businesses keep their presence in the public eye. VOICES readers are the most sought-after clientele of small businesses in Yesha and Jerusalem. You can help us help shops and self-employed servicemen who must advertise in order to stay in business, but don't have the financial ability right now. You can partially subsidize ads in VOICES for independent business people and small businesses that are suffering today. Communities throughout the Diaspora generously supported Israeli vendors at the "Shop Israel" fairs over the past few years. Their aid has been instrumental in helping many businesses stay afloat in these difficult times. But there are many businesses that cannot send their merchandise or their services out of the country. These businesses depend on the patronage of residents of Greater Jerusalem. We're ready to help those businesses. We hope you'll be part of our team. For further information, contact Israel Katz at voices@actcom.co.il or call Zev at 516-791-3344. Checks may be written to VOICES, PO Box 3089, Efrat 90435 Israel. |
