#Israel On My Mind:

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David  Ha'ivri is a Councilman on the Shomron Municipal Council. He has  traveled around the world speaking for Israel, in his capacity as an  Israeli political strategist he has led leadership delegations to meet  with elected officials in Washington D.C., London, and Brussels.

Featured  in a number of documentary films, David has been a dedicated  spokesperson on the contentious issues of settlements on the holiest  land on earth, widely discussing the Jewish side of the story for over  25 years.

A not to be missed event certain to enlighten with hard-hitting facts and insights!

Mazal Meni was born in Hevron in 1894 to one of the prestigious families of the Jewish community, her father Malchiel Meni was the first Jew to serve as a judge in the Ottoman empire and her grandfather Eliyahu Meni was the Chief rabbi of the holy city of Hevron. According to the Meni family tradition their linkage goes back to the line of King David. In 1901 the family moved from Hevron to Jerusalem where her father would sit as a judge in court. She completed her schooling in the Evelina de Rothschild School in Jerusalem and with private tutors. In 1912 the Egyptian Jewish Doctor Albert Mosseri came to Jerusalem to bury his father at the Mount of Olives century. He visited the Meni home and immediately fell in love with Mazal and asked for her hand in marriage. She wasn’t quick to agree to marry the Doctor who was 27 years her senior and only agreed after he promised that they would make their home in Jerusalem and that he would help her pursue medical studies herself. They were married in the Amdorsky hotel in Jerusalem with live music performed by the Ottoman military orchestra at the order of the Trukish governor of the city.

After the war was over, Mazal expected the family to return to Jerusalem, but a surprise was waiting for her. Her husband Doctor Albert Mosseri had a calling to go back into the world of journalism. He convinced her that by publishing a pro Zionist newspaper in Cairo they could be doing a greater service to the nation than simply going to live in the land of Israel. She agreed. Their newspaper called “Israel” would appear weekly in French, Arabic and Hebrew for the better part of the next 20 years.

Mazal Mosseri Zionist leader in Cairo

Publisher Dr. Albert Mosseri died suddenly in February 1933,his Mazal assumed leadership of the publication. The editorial board includes representatives of all parts of Egypt’s complex Jewish community, Sefaradi, Ashkanazi, local, and Karite Jews. This was not the only Jewish newspaper in Egypt during this period, but “Israel” was unique because it was published in three languages, French, Arabic and Hebrew which brought its message to all parts of the Jewish community in Egypt and also to non Jewish readers. The editorial positions lead by Mazal Mosseri were very clearly in support of the Jewish revival and settlement in the Land of Israel which was under the British Mandate, the paper also took a very strong and courageous stand agaist Hitler and Nazi germany. This was not without challenges in the internal Egyptian political atmosphere at the time. As mentioned above Egypt too was controlled by the British and emerging political trends believed that aligning with the Nazis might assist them in getting the British out of their country. Mazal was actually sued for libel by the German and Italian ambassadors for writing editorials against Hitler and fascist dictator of Italy Benito Mussolini. The Egyptian government threatened to close her newspaper.  As the Egyptian became more and more opposed to Zionism it became impossible to continue publishing the newspaper. Mazal started to receive direct anonymous threats. In August 1939 she decided to leave Egypt. The newspaper “Israel” was mergerd with a Zionist newspaper out of Alexandria called “La Tribune Juive”. Many leaders of the Jewish community in Cairo attended a farewell reception in her honor. She would return to the land of Israel to join her daughter Yehudit and her son Macabee who himself would become an officer in the Haggana and a war hero. On departing Egypt for the last her passport was stamped with the words “Not to be granted reentry to Egypt”.

Leviticus Chapter 12 and 13 read by David Ha'ivri from the Hebrew Bible JPS 1917 Edition

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses, saying:   2 Speak unto the children of Israel, saying: If a woman be  delivered, and bear a man-child, then she shall be unclean seven days;  as in the days of the impurity of her sickness shall she be unclean.   3 And in the eighth day the flesh of his foreskin shall be circumcised.   4 And she shall continue in the blood of purification three and  thirty days; she shall touch no hallowed thing, nor come into the  sanctuary, until the days of her purification be fulfilled.   5 But if she bear a maid-child, then she shall be unclean two  weeks, as in her impurity; and she shall continue in the blood of  purification threescore and six days.   6 And when the days of her purification are fulfilled, for a son,  or for a daughter, she shall bring a lamb of the first year for a  burnt-offering, and a young pigeon, or a turtle-dove, for a  sin-offering, unto the door of the tent of meeting, unto the priest.   7 And he shall offer it before the LORD, and make atonement for  her; and she shall be cleansed from the fountain of her blood. This is  the law for her that beareth, whether a male or a female.   8 And if her means suffice not for a lamb, then she shall take  two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons: the one for a burnt-offering,  and the other for a sin-offering; and the priest shall make atonement  for her, and she shall be clean.

Timeline - The Jewish Temple in Jerusalem was ransacked and destroyed by  the Romans in year 70. Masada, the last pocket oaf Judean resistance,  was conquered by the Romans in year 73. The Jews who survived fled or  were north west, Hijaz, later to be known as Arabia in the south, Egypt  and north Africa in the South West.      The events we will speak about today are based in North Africa and  Egypt, but also reach Cyprus, Persia and Judea.   The year is 115, 45 years after the devastating destruction of Jerusalem  and exile of the Jews. Large nukulus of Jews are now settled in North  Africa and other areas mentioned earlier. Again for timeline perspective  these events took place a least 100 years before the connotation of the  Mishna, long before the Talmud. Who were the Jews in the beginning of  the 2nd century and only a few decades after the loss of Jewish  independence in Judea? What were their core beliefs and objectives? Did  they dream to gather strength to return to their homeland and reclaim  independence.   We don’t really have precise answers to those questions. But we do know  that the Jews at the time were not happy with their reality living as an  oppressed minority in the vast Roman Empire. We know this because they  held a major revolt starting in Cyrenaica, now northern Libya. A Jewish  leader named Lukuas Andreas gathered forces and fought the Romans. They  took control of the city and destroyed many Temples of Idolatry and  Roman culture.   From there they proceeded east to Alexandria which too had a very large  Jewish population who readily joined the revolt against the Romans  which spread out to other provinces.    Not enough is known about the objectives of the Jewish revolt. Did  Lukuas Andreas actually declare himself Messiah and King of the Jews as  some historians have described or is that a later addition. The Romans  responded to the revolt with great force. By 117, two years after it  began, they succeeded in depressing the revolt at great cost to the Jews  who were totally wiped out in Cyprus and in great numbers in  Alexandria. The Jews who survived were forced to pay heavy taxes to  cover costs of rebuilding the ruins of the war.    For information on Tours in Israel https://www.tours.haivri.com   Follow David Ha'ivri for more updates from the Heartland of Israel Twitter: https://twitter.com/haivri Podcast: https://anchor.fm/haivri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haivri Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/david.haivri Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhaivri/

Regina Lukai a 16-year-old Jewish girl from Erbil, Kurdistan in northern  Iraq, was arrested by the Iraqi regime who found a letter in Hebrew in a  search of her home. She was imprisoned in one of the most infamous  Iraqi prisons, Nukrat al-Salman, a fortress in the desert with criminals  and political prisoners. 50 prisoners of the 162 political prisoners  were Jews.   For information on Tours in Israel https://www.tours.haivri.com  Follow David Ha'ivri for more updates from the Heartland of Israel Twitter: https://twitter.com/haivri Podcast: https://anchor.fm/haivri Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/haivri Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/david.haivri Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidhaivri/

The year is 1938 during the British Mandate of Palestine a 43 year old British Archeologist named James Starkey is murdered by local Arabs on the road to Hebron. What was he doing there and why was he killed? The period is known as the great Arab Revolt, hundreds of Jews in Jerusalem. Hebron, Tzafat, Yaffo and Teveria were murdered or mamed by Arab rioters who were lead by Nazi affilate Haj Amin Al Husseini.

The official British assumption at the time was that Starkey’s death was a result of the revolt and local rebel leader Issa Battat from nearby Dhahiriya was held accountable and later targeted and killed in retaliation by the British forces. It was later argued that Starkey was killed in a robbery or dispute with the Arab landowners of the Lakish site. He was buried in the Protestan cemetery on mount Zion.

But, what you might ask was doing here at the time? This might remind you of scenes in the hollywood productions of the Indiana Jones in search of the lost ark. Which by no coincidence is imagined in the same time period. Pre WWII western researchers and explorers took advantage of the region being under the control Christian nations examine the lands of the Bible and search for historical artifacts to prove its authenticity.

James Starkey was one of those individuals on who’s real life events the escapades Indiana Jones were imagined. And as his end proved, real live events were no less exciting and dangerous than in the movies.

Starkey led the Tel Lachish dig from 1932 until they came to a sudden end with his untimely death in 1938. During that time he discovered over 20 ancient Hebrew letters of correspondence between the governor of Lachish and the King of Judea in the capital city Jerusalem. The days were the leading up to the Babylonian conquest of Judea that is recorded in the Bible in the book of Kings. In one of the letters he writes “we don’t see Azaka any more…” Azaka was a Jewish city fortress on a hill to the north, they would communicate with fires lit in the night. From the report we understand that Azaka had been captured by the Babylonian invaders.

Lachish at the time was the second most important city after Jerusalem enclosed with a protective wall and guard towers.

The story of the Assyrian victory over the kingdom of Judah during the siege of Lachish in 701 BCE was displayed as a decoration on a wall carving of the South-West Palace of Sennacherib in Nineveh (Today Iraq). The events surrounding the conquest of Lachish are recorded in many sources; in the Hebrew Bible, the Lachish reliefs, Assyrian cuneiform prisms and in the archeological excavations at Lachish. Sennacherib's conquests of Judean cities, without the capital Jerusalem, are mentioned in the Bible, the book of Kings, Book of Chronicles and in the book of Isaiah.

Visit Tel Lachish National Park

The archaeological remains are a main attraction for the whole family

Where we can hike around and see the Old City Gate, the letter room where ancient Hebrew letters were found, they tell the story of the era, a central street where homes and small shops were discovered, The castle palace courtyard, and the foundation building of the fortress palace. The site has informational signs at each spot explaining what can be seen here.

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Hamuda Abu Al Ayniin was born to Arab Muslim parents in a village near Tzafat in 1926 during the British Mandate in Palestine at a time of servere hostilies and progroms by Arabs targeting Jewish towns. But, he chose to go to the Jewish Alliance school in Tzafat as its only Arab student. There he became intrigued with the Jewish culture and joined the Jabotinsky Batar youth movement.

His fascination with Judaism caused tension with his family and village who were clearly unhappy with his new affiliation and his excitement for the re-establishment of the Jewish commonwealth. For this reason he would stay in the Mystic city of Tzafat till late hours of the night studying Torah and activities in the Zionist youth movement. At first his new friends in the Betar movement were sceptical of the Arab youth who expressed enthusiasm for their movement. They thought that he was some kind of spy or at least mocking them. They tried to avoid him and even beat him when he persisted to be in their company. But, he didn’t let up on his aspirations to be a Jew.

In 1938 he completed his high school studies in Tzafat, he moved to Haifa after death threats from his family because of his decision to convert to Judaism. The rabbis turned him away a couple of times, but finally agreed to accept him as a Jew. At age 20 he was circumcised and immersed in the purifying waters of the mikvah and officially took on the observance of Torah as his lifestyle. From the Beit Din rabbincal court with his new official Jewish standing he proceeded to his next objective, to become a fighter for the freedom of Israel, he applied to join the “Irgun” underground who were fighting the British occupation of the land of Israel for an independent Jewish State in the historical homeland. Again he faced sceptical leaders of the Jewish national movement, but, ultimately he was accepted.

On an underground mission in 1946 he and two of his fellow Irgun fighters caught British soldiers and gave them a lashing in revenge for the British doing the same to Irgun fighters. Soon after, he and his comrades were arrested by the British. When asked for his identification he told the British that his name was Baruch Mizrachi, fearing that they would discover his original Arab identity which could have been very dangerous for him as his own family was out to kill him for becoming a Jew.

He was sent to British detention camp in Latrun where he was held for three month and then together with 55 other Jewish underground members transferred to camps in Eritrea in Africa. While in exile he remained dedicated to his faith. Each morning before sunbreak he would wake his Jewish friends for the morning prayers with Talit and Tefilin and pray to HaShem to bring them back to the land of Israel and remove the British invaders.

After the British discovered his identity, in collaboration with his Arab family in Tzafat they offered him release from prison on the terms that he would utrn his back on the Jews and return to his Muslim faith. He refused and remained in exile until 1948.

While in Eritrea he was shot by local  camp guards and severely wounded, his greatest concern was that he would die there and not be buried in a Jewish cemetery. When visited there by the Chief Rabbi Herzog he begged the rabbi to assure him that he would be buried in accord to the Jewish rites. The rabbi placed his hands on Baruch’s head and prayed for his full recovery and return to the land.

When the State of Israel was established and the banished were allowed to return. But, his service to the nation was not over. The newly founded Jewish State was fighting for its survival in the War of Independence.