HaYovel Newsletter

I am posting this newsletter on my blog trusting that many will read and meditate on this historic event that should never have happened, but IT DID! We need to never forget history or it will be repeated!

Dear Harold, After a wonderful time of fellowship during Family Week Kentucky we are finally settling in for a few days here in Tennessee and have already begun preparing for our next adventure. As sweet as the time was we are reminded this weekend of a time not so sweet. Bloody Wednesday Several days before what would be known as "Bloody Wednesday" a work crew of military soldiers, POW's, and Jews at the concentration camp in Poland began digging three six foot deep ditches that measured 100 yards each. "Bloody Wednesday" began at 6 or 7 o'clock on a low hill in full view of the local residents with the loud unusual sound of dance music. The Jews, who had worked the day before to dig the ditches, were ordered to march into the ditches 10 at a time and lay face down. The music was used to cover up the machine gun fire that began and ended the massacre. By 5 pm on Wednesday, November 3rd, 1943 over 16,000 Jews were dead. 800,000 shoes found at Majdanek Another 14,000 Jews were executed at Poniatowa on the same day ....in the same way. What was their crime? How was this act justified? They were Jews. That's it ....They were Jews. If you're like most Christians you've never heard of Majdanek or Poniatowa. Sad, isn't it? Saturday evening at sundown will mark the beginning of Yom Ha'Shoah - Holocaust Remembrance Day. It will last until Sunday evening at sundown. Please don't go to a local church service expecting to see or attend a special memorial service - you won't find it. Why? Maybe because the music is still covering up the reality of it all. It was then and still now difficult for us as Christians to admit to or hear that our religion .....our forefathers were to blame for this barbaric extermination of the innocent. For me the music wasn't muted until I made my first visit to Yad Vashem - the Holocaust Memorial in Jerusalem. For the first time I understood how my religion played a part in the murder of 6 million people. I grew up in a rural Southern Baptist Church and was once proud of my protestant heritage. Not once did I hear any cruel or unpleasant discussions concerning the Jewish people - the fact is, in small town Tennessee - I never heard anything about the Jewish people. Maybe I wasn't paying attention ......or maybe the music was just too loud. I grew up believing that Martin Luther was a great man with great courage in bringing reformation to my faith. To read his simple minded foolish quotes from the book "The Jews and Their Lies" made me embarrassed. I was more than embarrassed - I was angry. You see ...every Jew who lives in Israel ...at least those who attend high school or serve in the IDF must visit Yad Vashem ...with a guide. A guide that makes sure every Jew hears the story - every Jew knows the truth. You see ....every Jew knows the things we were not told. Every Jew knows that without the teaching of - the hatred of Luther the Holocaust would not - could not have occurred. Some of us, knowing the truth, have become so embarrassed that we've stopped calling ourselves Christians. We still believe that Jesus/Yeshua is the Messiah, but we just can't deal with the hypocrisy of the past ....especially where it involves the Jewish people. Does it matter what we call ourselves? What matters is that we stop making the music louder - stop keeping our head in the sand. Is there a way to undo the sins of our fathers? Maybe - probably not. And if we can never undo what's been done, we still must do something. This Sunday every Jewish community across the world will observe Yom Ha'Shoah. What if you - all of us - went online and found out what time the event is taking place in your city and take your family? As for my family we will be attending an event held at the Gordon Jewish Community Center here in Nashville on Sunday, May 1st at 11 o'clock am. Go to BridgesToZion.org for more info. I want to leave you with an article written by my friend Moshe Kempinski from Jerusalem. A Whisper of Glory in Maidanek On a trip to Poland with Rabbi Mordechai Elon several years ago, my son and his classmates produced a movie describing their trek into the abandoned valleys of death. Their voyage was focused on the death and the destruction, but it also attempted to relive the lives, dreams and culture of a thousand years of Jewish communal life in Poland. There are several minutes in that film that will be forever etched in my mind, and on this Holocaust Remembrance Day I feel a need to recount those minutes again. I watched the video and saw their arrival in the Maidanek concentration camp. They entered the gas chambers and huddled together because of the cold temperatures, mainly because of that inescapable chill that was clutching at their souls. They stood listening to one of the Holocaust survivors that had volunteered to come with them on their trip from Israel. At one point in the description, the guide asked them to look up at the ceiling. The concrete was streaked with swatches of a bluish tinge. The guide explained that the bluish streaks were the remnant of the poisonous Zyklon-B gas that snuffed out the lives of so many men, women and children. He continued to describe how every year, a group of Polish Christians would come and try to whitewash the ceiling. Yet, their efforts proved to be fruitless, as the blue-singed testimony would always return. The blue color was all that remained of those horrific moments and it would not be covered. I thought of those horrifying moments and the terror and the cries. I thought about the prayers in that darkened cell. I suddenly realized that the bluish tinge was not what was left over from the Zyklon gas. It was what remained of the victims' prayers. The prayer that filled that horrific chamber was the Sh'ma prayer: " Hear O Israel, HaShem our G-d, HaShem is one." It is this same prayer that had risen and rent the heavens so many other times in the history of this people. It was a prayer uttered in the torture chambers of the Inquisition, during the pogroms of the Crusades and in the massacre of the Jewish community in Hebron. It was the last words of a father and little son as they lay dying on the floor of the Sbarro's restaurant after a Palestinian terrorist attack. It is a prayer that declares for all eternity that faith cannot be bludgeoned, burned or gassed into oblivion. Faith lasts forever. The last paragraph of the Sh'ma ( Numbers 15) describes the string of t'chelet (blue) that was added to the fringes of the tallit - "put with the fringe of each corner a thread of t'chelet." (Numbers 15:38) This color would be reminiscent of another blue color, the color of the divine Throne of Glory, "And above the firmament that was over their heads was the likeness of a throne, as the appearance of a blue sapphire stone." (Ezekiel 1:26) The last prayer in that horrible concrete room was the Sh'ma and it was the Sh'ma that left that bluish tinge, not the gas. The victims' collective prayer left an imprint of t'chelet on the ceiling as their prayers rose unto the Throne of Glory. That is where their prayers, and their souls, reside together with six million others, never to be forgotten. The bluish tinge in Maidanek is but a whisper of Glory. Yet, it is also a constant reminder of divine promises that will yet be fulfilled. If you would like to be added to Moshe's email list or order merchandise from his shop in the Old City please contact him at shop@shorashim.com. Blessings, Tommy Waller

I took these three weeks ago of the green house and outside planting beds, then before I could down load them to the computer the camera went on a road trip. The camera, along with Hannah and Megan, visited Prescott, Jerome, Sedona and Flagstaff before returning home.

The only reason that I was able to down load this week end is because the camera's LCD died and so it missed out on a trip to Reno.

Back to the pictures, to the left is lettuce inside the green house, it is just about ready to eat now and has also provided plants for the Hydro garden.

Below on the left is more lettuce getting close to eating size. On the right is one of the outside planting boxes. In the corners I planted cucumber and Italian squash. In the major open area I planted green beans. We will have to wait and see if anything comes up. There are also some tomatoes and peppers in the center.

Above left is an out side bed with tomatoes and bell peppers. On the right you can see that I have expanded the hydro garden to 12 pots. These plants are about 2 inches in the picture, currently closer to 6 inches and very full. Everything grows so much faster in the hydro. The one tomato plant in the blue hydro has already put on a set of blossoms and grown at least 4 inches.

The next step will be to add another 12 pots to the hydro and get spinach growing again. The end goal is to have enough lettuce and spinach to not have to buy at the store.

If I was smart enough to know how to maneuver the pictures I would put them in a better lay out. For right now I am at the mercy of the program and my lack of knowledge.

Our Green House

About two and a half months ago we used the lumber from our Sukkah to build a small green house (4 x 8). The lattice helps to protect the plastic from the wind.

Eight weeks ago I set up a hydroponic system along with two growing beds. The idea was to grow some cucumber and spinach in the hydroponic system and lettuce in the growing beds. By planting some seeds every week in the beds I hoped to have a continuous crop of lettuce.

Since I eat two huge salads a day I consume about eight bunches of red and green leaf and romaine lettuce a week. Also lots of tomatoes, cucumbers, red bell peppers and Italian squash .
Growing some of everything would help the grocery budget and at the same time have fresher and better quality veggies.

What I have ended up with are no cucumbers, they did not even sprout; six spinach plants in four cups, I planted six seed to a cup; and two lettuce plants that I moved to the hydroponic system last week. The lettuce has tripled is size in just a week in the growing system. I harvested a small baggie of spinach today. I am hoping to start harvesting lettuce in two weeks.

The growing beds are not growing as fast, that may be due to the cold weather. The first lettuce I planted was very close to the door and six feet from the heater. It is only about 1/2 inch after eight weeks. the next planting which is closer to the heat is about two inches and I am thinning it out and planting in another area so it can grow larger.

The left end of the bed is the first planting and the right end is the second, a week later. There are suppose to be three rows, but the back row by the plastic just has not sprouted well or grown.

The bed below was planted three weeks ago. It is amazing how the temperature effects how fast they grow.

As the days get warmer the results should be better. I am glad that I had the heat cube in there this week with all the extra cold for Arizona weather. One morning the thermometer said 40 at about three feet off the floor. The water bucket has a thin layer of ice in it.

Thursday update

Healing is slow and full of pain. Helen is starting to be more alert at times. Unfortunately those are the times when we need to be rolling her around to make changes. It is quite painful for us to roll her around.

We are needing to watch her skin really close. there are some spots that are very red, not good signs. It is good that the bathing aid is here three times a week and keeps a very close eye on all areas. Breezy is excellent and very thorough.

We will have a patient lift delivered Friday and a reclining wheelchair. Next week we will start trying to get her into the TV room with David for a while each day. She needs a change of scenery. That will be a new experience for Carla, learning to use the patient lift. I will let her practice on me first.

I would say she is doing quite good for being only about two weeks since the break and only eleven days since surgery.

Helen is Home

She is resting comfortably in her own bed tonight with a cat for company. The healing process will take quite a while, but the home environment with family around will be much more comforting.

Home health should be back in on Monday, Wednesday and Friday to bath and the nurse should be back some time during the week to do the normal weekly check ups. We will need physical therapy to set up a schedule and exercise plan.

It is good to have the convenience of being able to walk into her room to check on her anytime instead to a trip to the third floor of KRMC. They serve there purpose, but home is always better.

Alert and ready to roll

Helen was very much with what was going on tonight. She is confused at times, but about the same as before last Friday. Her vitals have stabilized and she is eating with assistance. She may discharge as early as Saturday or Sunday.

We will need a patient lift to move her from point A to point B. She is not to be more than 20% weight bearing on the right leg. The home environment with her cats and family close at hand should help the progress.

We will need a transport to bring Helen to the house as it is just to hard to load her into the car and get her back out. The nurses are quite surprised that we want to bring her home instead of transferring her to a skilled nursing facility. There will be more challenges for a while, but home is always better.