Wednesday, 26th november 2009:

Why? An Expression of Frustration.

by Rabbi Yehiel Grenimann

Last night I was awoken with some alarming information. Armed settlers had broken into the El Kurd home in Sheik Jarrah at approximately 2:00 a.m. This is the home which was invaded about a month ago by the same settler group (Nahalat Shimon). They were then removed from the rest of the house, but allowed to stay in one room, which was an extension built 'illegally" onto to the original structure. The family - refugees from 1948 - is due to be evicted next week anyway, because the court sees the extension as an inidcation of "breach of contract" and so ending their recognized status as protected tenants. They will be the fourth family evicted in the area as the settlers and their government supporters continue to "liberate' and "Judaize" the neighbourhood.

Apart from the apparent injustice of the whole thing there appears to be collusion between the settler organization, the courts, the municipality and business interests in the U.S.A. That's what surprised me last night. The police removed the settlers, after reading the court decision, rather than backing up the settlers, which they have so often done in the past.

But beyond all that I am still unable to understand the logic behind the settlers' behaviour last night. Why couldn't they just wait and go in under police escort as has been done in the past? And why do thisin the middle of the night?

Furthermore, these people claim to be "religious". I can't comprehend their behaviour in that context either. I always thought that the message of Torah was the pursuit of justice, the pursuit of peace and minimally basic decency in neighbourly relations. There are many, many laws in the Torah regarding decent treatment of sojourners (Gerim) in our midst, and the general statement that the laws are given so that others should say "what a wise and just law" this is. How do they justify such behaviour to themselves? Do they not understand that it is "hillul haShem' of the worst kind? They have the courts, the police, the city authorities, the border guards behind them, the apathy of the Israeli public and press regarding Palestinians and their rights regaarding the whole matter, not to speak of extremely wealthy American supporters to finance them. So why do they need to resort to violence in the middle of the night? In what way does it serve their interests? In what way does it reflect on the justice of their cause? What reflection is it of their understanding of Torah?

And why is there this thundering silence from Israeli society as this travesty of justice continues in our midst? Why are we unable so far to change that?

Yehiel Grenimann
Director, Occupied Territories Department,
RHR

1. Yanosh and Eva:

The old oak tree in Pilsudski square, Warsaw, provided them with privacy. It stood there in the square, house-like in its immensity, its thick branches crowned with a safe canopy of leaves under which children played. The agile ones would climb up into their haven, whispering secrets, telling jokes, teasing those below. Brave boys would hang from them shouting, imitating "Tarzan of the Apes". More often it was quiet there, particularly as evening approached and it grew colder.

rewrite of first paragraph

A TIME TO BE BORN
A tale of survival and recovery.
Written by Yehiel Grenimann

1. Yanosh and Eva:

The old oak tree in Pilsudski square, Warsaw, provided them with privacy. It stood there in the square, house-like in its immensity, its thick branches crowned with a safe canopy of leaves . Agile ones would climb up into their haven, whispering secrets, telling jokes, teasing those below. Brave boys hung from them shouting, imitating Tarzan. As evening approached it grew colder and became a quiet spot.

It was there that Yanosh and Eva would meet after school. He was learning in a Polish state high school, she in the Peretz Yiddish school. His parents did not approve of the relationship, neither did hers. They were "too young". She was too politically radical and too "Jewish" for them; he from too assimilated a family, lacking Jewish loyalty, or pride.

He inscribed their initials into the bark, etching in the date in Roman numerals. He translated it for her. June 7th. 1933.

She laughed watching him. He worked away at the tough material with his Swiss pocket knife. It glinted in the afternoon sun.

Yanosh loved this handy red knife. Marek had given it to him as a birthday gift when his father last returned from overseas. Marek's father, a diplomat, would enchant the boys with stories of exotic far-away places, like Jamaica or Australia. He often brought gifts for his son from these travels. Marek already had a pocket knife just like this one.

Yanosh promised Eva that when they were old enough he would marry her and they too would travel far away to one of those distant lands. There no one would stop them seeing each other, and no one would attack or spit at Jews or Communists any more, like they did in Warsaw.

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Warsaw, October 1944:

It had been a long night. The sounds of explosions and shooting outside had terrified them. A strange, eerie silence now reigned.

Eva looked pale. She was curled up in the corner, wrapped in her blanket, staring at nothing.

Yanosh crawled over to the window to look outside. He lifted the curtain, and glimpsed out. He looked up at the sky. Night was receding before the first rays of the morning sun.

Down below he could see human silhouettes moving between the darkened ruins of once elegant buildings, which were still smoldering.

The tanks were gone. So were the German soldiers.

A new beginning to the novel

A TIME TO BE BORN

a tale of survival and recovery.

Written by Yehiel Grenimann

1

Yanosh and Eva

The old oak tree in Pilsudski square, Warsaw, provided them with privacy. It stood there in the square, house-like in its immensity, its big leaves hanging from long twisted branches. Sometimes children would climb them and boys would hang from the twisted tree limbs imitating Tarzan of the apes.. More often it was quiet there, particularly as evening approached and it grew colder.

They would meet there regularly after school. He was learning in a Polish state high school, she in a Yiddish school, Peretz it was called. His parents did not like the relationship, neither did hers. She was too radical politically and too “Jewish” for them; he from too assimilated a family, lacking Jewish loyality or pride

He inscribed their names into the tree, a sign of their mutal commitment. He cut the date in Roman numerals as he had learned in school to show her how clever he was. Then he translated them for her. June 7^th. 1933. She laughed watching him work away at the tough bark with his little Swiss pocket knife. It glinted in the afternoon sun.

He loved this handy red knife, given him by his friend Yanek. Yanek’s parents had been overseas many times.They often brought small gifts on their return from a trip.Yanek’s father was a diplomat, who often would enchant Yanosh with his stories of exotic far-away places, like Jamaica or Australia.

Yanosh promised Eva that when they were old enough he would marry her and they would travel far away to one of those distant lands. There no one would attack or spit at Jews or Communists any more, and no one would stop them seeing each other.

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