Upgrades

Hello everyone!

I am back in Israel, now living here on my own setting up work and looking for a place to live. From here on out all posts to this blog will no longer be on this site. Instead they will be on my redesigned blog, www.dailylev.com.

Jesse

Raffle!!! JCorps Comedy night!!!

Hello,
The Raffle is getting under way. We have a chance for you to win $36,000!!!!! Tickets are $36 a piece. Just go to http://hakshiva.com/2009-raffle to enter!!!!!!! We need people to help us sell tickets!!!! If you can or if you have a friend who wants to email me!!! The email is on the site.

In other news, JCORPS JERUSALEM COMEDY EVENT!!!!!! If you are in Jerusalem on Sunday May 17, come on down!!!!!

What: An evening of hilarious comedy and discount drinks

Why: To benefit JCorps Jerusalem

When: 8pm Sunday May 17th

Where: International Community Center for Youth (aka where Shira Chadasha and Boogie meet)

12 Emek Refaim, German Colony, Jerusalem

How much: 30 shekels at the door, and if you sign up online before May 15, you get a FREE DRINK: http://jcorps.org/comedy_night_jlem/?s=jessen

Here's what you can do to help:

1. COME! It'll be hilarious and it benefits a great cause

2. Invite your friends on facebook. With the new facebook layout, it's a cinch to invite friends.

3. Tell your friends to sign-up!

For more information about the event: http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=84862111681

For more information about JCorps: http://jerusalem.jcorps.org

Good Shabbos

Ladies and Gentleman Good Morning/afternoon/evening (depending on when you read this),
As I continue my journey along the road of overworking myself finally my projects are starting to come to fruition. I am working frantically to finalize details on the raffle for $36,000! That's 36 THOUSAND DOLLARS!!!! What would you do with it???????

This Shabbos I am spending in Yemin Moshe in Jerusalem, beautiful place, great city.

The year is finally coming to a close and I am happy to announce that I have booked my return flight! I am comin home everyone! June 3rd is my flight and I will be landing JFK around 830 PM on June 3rd!!!! Yay!!! It will be so good to see everyone again, and to be home for a bit. End of the summer I plan to be heading back here to Israel for another year. I plan to work on my own, on my own projects and work to make money for college. Anyone looking for a place to live in Jeru let me know, im in the market for roomates. ;-)

More info coming very soon about your chance to win $36,ooo!!!!!!!
Good Shabbos all,
Jesse

Happy Birthday Israel!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

61 YEARS AND STILL GOING STRONG!!!!!

The government is a total balagan, and our state food is balls made out of chick peas, yet in just 61 short years we are considered a Major power in the world ( or a threat if you ask our neighbors surrounding us....) That’s how Israelis do it. I noticed an incredible phenomenon here in the past 2 days: The ability to transition from a complete sad and mourning state of mind, to a utter and complete euphoria. That’s how we roll. FIRST we honor and remember our fallen brothers and sisters, THEN we party our independence!

On Yom Hazikaron the Yeshiva took us to the Gush Etzion Military Cemetery for a small ceremony (the much larger one was at Har Herzal where I went later on. There were a number of soldiers there, and of course I took pictures. When the famous siren went off I was ready and had my camera out and started filming the soldiers standing so perfectly at attention. Lucky I was filming because during the famous siren IAF had a flyover, and I was able to catch it on film. I have uploaded it to youtube for you. Here it is:

After that we went to Har Hertzal as mentioned above. This is the official military cemetery of Israel. I took many many pictures there, and as always the best of are in my online gallery. Many famous people are buried there, some known ones include, Yonatan Netanyahu, all the way through Roey Klien. I am sure you know the stories of both. True heros.

The Soldier burried in the picture above is one of the holy men who fell in this pas war, Operation Cast Lead.

May all their Souls Have an Aliah

This is what we celebrate. The fact that we have a free land of our own, and it is the same place our forefathers settled years before us! We are just taking it back! This is what these brave men and women died for. For Us.

Moving right along and transitioning to a much happier feel, we have Yom Haazmaut!!!! Happy Birthday Israel!!!!!! 61 years!!!!!! Look how far we have come! Yea it hasn’t been easy but well worth it. This is our land and we are going to keep it! I didn’t get a chance to get to Jerusalem today or last night because the yeshiva had programs designed to keep us off the streets and the complete pandemonium that is known to ensue. Next year I will be able to witness it. Yay! To all you people who read my blog who will be attending Yeshiva in Israel next year, its awesome. No matter where you go make sure to stop and think once and a while, Dude I’m in Israel. We were here thousands of years ago, and we are back. Not only are we back but we are here to stay and are a force to be reckoned with!!!!

Other current events include this thing called the Swine flu. While serious, and has even hit Israel, I have come across a little comedic piece on the swine flu. It was actually created years earlier, but still funny! Enjoy!

Lots of projects coming up so stay tuned. If I go for a long time without posting that usually means im workin on something big. Well I haven’t posted since before Pesach so this just goes to tell you that I am working on a lot of Big something’s! For example how would you like to win $36,000?????? Details coming soon!!!!!!

Other projects include a comedy night out for JCorps, A clothing drive for Ethiopian children here in Israel, and an Adopt a Family program. All coming up!!!!

Remember online gallery is www.holylandphotos.smugmug.com

Enjoy!!!!!!

Jesse

Happy Pesach!!!!

Have an amazing Pesach everyone!
Jesse

Beach in Tel Aviv

Hello all,
Yesterday was a really spontaneous trip. Ran off with a bunch of friends to the beach! Well as always I brought along my camera, as I just knew there were going to be awesome pics to take. And that there were! Some samples:





The entire gallery is live here http://holylandphotos.smugmug.com/gallery/7832231_5CPm4/1/507440253_Fe2zU
Enjoy!
Jesse

New Stuff

Heyo,
Now you can waste even more time on my blog! Check out pack man, and a version of Mario where you just shoot everything in your path! Yay! lol.
In other news baseball starts again! Monday the Sox report to Fenway! Yay!!!
Last game in spring training today, new guy on the block hit a grand salami as they say in fever pitch. Check it out here
http://mlb.mlb.com/media/video.jsp?content_id=4004991
Enjoy!
Jesse

Hello again

So I am on vacation, kinda hangin low, catchin up on some work, sleep, readin, just all out relaxing cause its vaca. The yeshiva is pretty much shut down for the break. Most of the guys went home. I would say that there are about 15 guys left still here, and they occupy themselves with various things. Most take day trips or stay bored. Its pretty quiet here. Pesach as I said before I will be in Chasmoniam. No idea how to spell that but ok. Things here are mostly quiet here, as the year winds down, and you try to get the most out of it in the home stretch. I will be keeping the blog up, even when I am home, as well as in the future. Should proove interesting. I am going to try something new. I am going to write more, not just about me and the latest project keeping me out of trouble, but also about things that interest me. Might bore you, but we shall see. Also I need you people to leave me comments, I have no real feedback, I only know that people still read this thing cause I have secret little robots in the code that tell me when you are looking at my blog.....
Nah im just kidding, but I do have trackers that can tell when your on the site. :-)

So keep your eyes peeled for more funky kinds of posts, random mindless babbleing, and other stuff that keeps me busy. Enjoy!
Jesse

Updates and stuff

Hey all,
Been workin and stuff. Studying hard.
A friend of mine knew someone in a band who was looking for someone to run their media show. My friend paired me up with the band and now I have been working with them for a week, and we are working on an awesome show. I happen to be a powerpoint master, so I am giving their show a little bit of juice, just to spice it up a bit. They are called Low Profile, and there will be a show at Cnaan in Jeru. I think thats where it is. More details to follow. So they get someone to help with their show, and I get my dream to manage a real band. ;-) Rehearsals tonight! Yay!
Thats about it. I will write more later! Promise!
Jesse

Heh Heh...

Hello out there...
It has been wayyy to long since I posted here, so to anyone who still reads this blog of mine, here's to you!
Ok what has happened since the Blev Echad event. humm
Well to start with the event, it was amazing. I haven't been in a crowd that packed all for one cause since I attended the massive rally in Washington DC years ago.
I went outside before the event was getting started just to see the setup we had. People were starting to filter in, starting to linger around the courtyard of the Yeshiva. I went back inside to continue prepping everything, and later I went back outside for another view. It was about and hour and a half into the dancing with the Sifrei Torah, and the place was packed. We had closed off an entire city block in front of the yeshiva and the entire thing was filled with people. I climbed up on the fence to get a better view and still could not see the end of the crowd. In both directions people were lined up to watch the event and to participate in the dancing. There were about 300 kids lined up with candles proceeding the Sifrei Torahs which were under a massive chuppah on wheels. There were also 2 sound and light trucks, providing music and funky lights around the area. Really spectacular.

The broadcast was amazing as well. We had over 500 people watching the broadcast, and of that 500, 250 of them were schools/shuls/organizations that signed up to show live to a larger audience. The total number of everyone who signed up was just under 50,000 people, plus other sites embedded our stream as well. We really have no way of knowing how many people watched in the end, but it was a LOT.

We had people watching from 525 towns and cities in 36 countries around the world. The reach we had really was unbelievable. People continued to replay the broadcast for the days following the event and we were still having thousands of people on the site a day.
You can watch and download the broadcast at www.blevechad.com
You can also download the music video we produced for the event. You can download the song written for us for the video as well. I highly recommend it. Written and composed by Aryeh Kunstler, and produced by Jay Antelis. :-)

In other news 2 of the Rabbis in my Yeshiva, their wives had kids back to back, one girl and one boy. Mazal Tov!

Pesach is coming up and I will be in Chashmoniam for the Sedarim, I am keeping 2 days. Looking forward!

What else is going on... I am working always on my projects, and will give more detail as they become more developed.

Thats all for now,
Have a great week!
Jesse

Blev Echad

Hello,
All i can say about last night is Amazing. I am like speechless. To be there was one of the most moving experiences in my life. I am running to a meeting now but i wanted to share this with all of you. This was written after the event by one of the Blev Echad team. Enjoy. I will write up a full synopsis later!

A once in a life time experience, and more, was truly what I experienced today. Having been part of the blev echad committee for the last 6 months, I had no clue going into today, what it would actually be like. ( I am going to steer away from the broadcasting aspect, and focus more on what took place at the actual event). I will try my best to put into words what exactly took place and how I felt, but no matter what I say, words cannot possibly explain how much emotion is inside of me. After arriving at 2pm, we (the blev echad committee) were able to go into a separate room to look at the 8 sifrei torah all together. 6 ashkenazi torahs, and 2 sefardi torahs, all extremely beautiful. Walking into a room in the library and seeing 8 sifrei torah lying out on a table, the first thing that automaticly popped into my head was the exact room of the 8 boys who were lying in tallesim exactly one year ago. Here, in their place, were torahs. The exact thing which they died for. These very torahs are to help them live on. After that, the torahs were brought to their respective places where the letters would be filled in. 2 in the yashlatz (high school) beit midrash, the exact place that one year ago was being set up for a rosh chodesh adar chagiga which forced these 5 out of the 8 boys to go to the mercaz library and continue learning. Most people I know would take the break from learning to go chill out in their rooms, however these 5 special boys would not even think of wasting any time learning and because of that were brutally murdered. 2 sifrei torah were in there, 2 were in the beit midrash of mercaz harav, and the remaining 4 were in the library, exactly where the attack took place. One thing that really struck me were the signs with the arrows indicating which boy’s torahs went where. Coincidental or not, 4 of the signs pointing to the library were perfectly aligned next to the bullet hole left by the merciless attacker. To me, that really hit home. This bullet hole could have signified many things, it could have said, you know we were attacked, we are done learning for good, however right next to it, were signs saying “in your face”. Yes we were attacked, however we were not defeated, because inside the very place you tried to bring us down, we are writing sifrei torah to continue our learning and to continue serving hkbh. Watching all the different families react was truly remarkable. The Meharte family from Ethiopa was probably the most inspiring thing for me to watch, and brought home the idea of “blev echad”. Many gedolim showed up to fill in letters including the Bostoner rebbe, all the Roshei Yeshiva, and many of the talmidim from the yeshiva. However, watching the anonymous family fill in the letters of each of the sifrei torah was amazing. Paparazzi following him everywhere, however when asked what his name is, he simply replied “it doesn’t make a difference, you’ve probably never heard of it”, and than continued to focus on the ketiva. The midah of anava that one man/ family can display is something that I cannot even put into words. Can you imagine being completely incognito at an event that you’ve spent tons of money on. Can you imagine being nothing more than an observer of something you’ve put your entire neshoma into. Spending shabbos with this family and learning from them was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. Following the completion of the final letters, the sifrei torah were brought to one location outside with each of the fathers of the boys gripping their torahs for dear life. It looked as if they were holding onto their son who they lost, and would do anything to have back. Watching these fathers exit the balcony into the streets was one of the most emotional parts of the night. One of the fathers who has a connection with the anonymous family, was walking down the stairs, made eye contact with them, mouthed “thank you” and kissed his torah. Tears startred streaming down my face. All I kept thinking was about how much this father must miss his son, and how this torah was something that was going to help him live on, and he was truly grateful for this. The inspiration the parents gave me, and everyone else at the event was something I will take with me forever. These are parents who were mamish sitting in the exact place where their sons were killed a year to the day ago. And instead of being angry with hashem, they were embarcing his greatest gift ever. It is so easy to be angry with god after he takes away your child, but instead, not only were they not angry, but they were taking something so tragic and turning it into something so positive. Instead of being mad at the torah which their sons died learning, they were continuing to embrace it, how special. Can you imagine fathers dancing on the yertzait of their son?, its probably hard to, but that is exactly what happened. Going outside to the chatzer was insane. The committee as a whole was incredibly nervous about the turnout for this event. Going out into the streets and seeing literally over 10 thousand people was so memorable. So many different types of jews. Chasidim, Israelis, Americans, Chilonim, Daati Leumi and everyone else, all there to celebrate the 8 holy neshomot and the torah to which they were so commited. Tens of thousands of people were in the same exact place last year for a levaya pouring their hearts out, bawling, whaling, for the tragedy which had occurred. However tonight was different. Tens of thousands of people were here dancing, singing, and celebrating. Yes the night had an emotionally sad aspect to it, but it was not meant to be a night of mourning. It was a night of celebrating. 2 completely opposite events with the same turnout, exactly 365 days apart. The torahs finally made its way into the streets were everyone was able to dance with them. Light trucks, children holding torches, yeshiva bochurim, women, and men were all able to celebrate. We made it over one block in one hour. Looking straight ahead down the block and seeing that many people really touched me. Mi K’Amcha Yisrael?? The torahs from inside the beit midrash came out to meet the new torahs and escort them inside. The Beit Midrash of Mercaz filled immediately. The 8 fathers were upfront with their torahs in the air singing, “avinu malkeinu ptach shaarei shamayim” Hashem, open the gates of heaven and listen to us. Thousands of People were pouring their hearts and begging hashem to listen them. Begging him for an adar filed with simcha, to end our pain and suffering, begging him that there should be no need for such an event, and to bring our geula bekarov. There were many points in the night where I was convinced that moshiach was coming and this was one of them. This exact time last year this room was filled calls out to hashem with screams of pain and this year we were screaming sounds of happiness, achdut and love for the torah. There were speeches and than the whole world together, 75,000 jews sang acheinu kol beis yisroel all together. I had chills up my spine. Hamakom yirachem alehem veyotzeaim mitzara levracha umeafea leora, lishibud leguala… are there any words more appropriate than this for tonight? Hashem please take us out of our tzaros and bring us bracha (he did, 8 boys were killed, 8 sifrei torah were brought into this world) and iyh we will be taken out of galus and brought to geula, and tonight made it all the more clearer that we are extremely close to that. So much ahavas chinam going around. After the rav of mercaz was misayem what was learned by all of klal yisroel. Tanach was finished 14 times, and shas 3 times. PLUS, all the mitzvos that were done liluy nishmasam. AM YISRAEL CHAI! NOHING CAN BRING US DOWN! For the last part of the ceremony, the roshei yeshiva presented a gift to the hero who shot the terrorist and everyone sang “siu shearim rasheichem”. He seemed so embaressed and not into the kavod, but he was treated like a true melech for what he accomplished. Chas vshalom more people could have been hurt. But this hero took the intiative, risked his own life, in order to save fellow jews. We are one special people. The last part of the night was meeting the families during the seuda. We did not have a seat there since it was not really our place, but you could really tell towards the end that there was some sort of nechama on their faces and a certain sense of closure, not that there could ever be true closure. But they were so thankful to us, and mostly to all of klal yisroel who participated in helping their son’s neshamos have aliyos. That’s how it ended, and that is why it is 5:45am and I am sitting here writing this. Way too inspired, way too many endorphins, and thoughts to possibly go to sleep. But it is Rosh Chodesh once again, and it is time to go to vasikin, so I am going to cap off what has been an icredible trip with shachris at the kotel.
Lshana habbah beyerushalayim habenuyah

Talk to ya soon!
Jesse

Pray for Rain

I am sitting on a bus traveling through a very powerful storm in the north of Israel. With the holy city of Tzfat behind us and nothing but the open road and the power of the storm ahead of us i watch as flashes of pure energy light up the sky.
This shabbos was spent in Tzfat with my Yeshiva, we went up north on thursday. The trip took about 3 hours total and we had stops built in to see different sights. Along the way we stopped off at the Kever of Rabbi Akiva, and Rabbi Moshe Chiam Luzatto. From there we went up into the mountains with the kineret on one side and the mountains on the other. We went horse back riding!!! Yay!! In case you couldnt tell I love horses. It was amazing, we went slow, yet it was nice to just be on the horses and enjoy the scenery. Some of the guys went ATVing and got all muddy. Suckers lol. Shabbos was amazing It has been raining on and off all shabbos, with a little bit of hail and maybe snow balls thrown in! Mount Chermon was closed due to the snow it received and it was sure cold enough there for some. This storm is the first real storm I have seen in Israel, it is amazing. We have little storms in Ramat Bet Shemesh but they are just a ton of rain for a few hours and thats it. This is a full blown storm, thank G-d. Israel really needs the rain. The water level is right now at its lowest in a long time and Isreal really needs water for the next years supplu. So include in your prayrs that we need rain. In Tzfat we davened in a breslov shul and that was fun. Beautiful shul, really big, newly built, and the structure was amazing.
We stayed at the Tel Aviv hotel in Tzfat, kinda ironic. ;-)

I have been doing a lot of work lately on Blev Echad. We really want the whole world to know about it, so if you could just send an email, or tell everyone about the event. If you will not be in Israel the details are as follows.
The event is this Tuesday, Feburary 24th. The event will be broadcast live over the internet begining at 12 noon, EST. To view the broadcast go to our newly designed website, www.blevechad.com and click on view. We recomend you go to the site before the broadcast to test your settings. We have a feed online which you can use to test your settings now. For more information please visit the website and click on FAQ.

If you are in Israel, then please join us at Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav in Jerusalem at 5:30 to dance with the Sifrei Torah in the streets of Jerusalem. Dress warmly as we will be outside the Yeshiva.

This will be an amazing event with many many people at the event itself and many thousands joining us online as well!

If you have any ideas about marketing please email them to me at jesse@blevechad.com or put them in the comments below!

In other news afther Blev Echad is done, I am going to be meeting with Lemaan Achai to figure out with them how I can assist them in doing events to raise money. I am also working to start with Stand With Us doing the same thing.

Learning in Yeshiva is improving I have started learning about purim and doing research on Dovid on my own. Good luck to everyone of my friends trying to get into the various Yeshivos, I remember it is a painful and annoying process. But so worth it my friends, so worth it.
Thats all for now folks! Have a great week!
Jesse

Events

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, I have done it again. Another event about to come to fruition, because of many peoples hard work and amazing job well done. A friend of mine wanted to to a talent show, and we got to work. After quite bit of work we have done it. Tonight is the event and I shall let you know how it goes!

In other news ITS POURING IN JERUSALEM!!!! NOT JUST THAT BUT HAILING!!!! Baruch Hashem. Israel needs the water. its coming down in waves, its unbelievable.

Blev Echad Update: New site is live check it out www.blevechad.com!!!! We currently have over 31000 people signed up to watch it! Tell your friends family an others! Go to the site for the latest!!! Enjoy!
Jesse

Walking through the sands of time

Hey,
The past 2 days were kinda awol for the Yeshiva. We went into the desert for 2 days to watch the Superbowl. We went to some random place in the desert by the dead sea. In the end I did not end up staying up for the game cause the first quarter was boring, they werent showing the American commercials, and the Patriots were not even in it so what do I care? Besides I called the Steelers to win anyway.
Not to waste and oppurtunity to hike, the Yeshiva took us out into the desert to traverse the cliffs and canyons.

So we hiked down the never ending road through the sands of time, leading no where but taking an eternity to get there.

Fun stuff. I am uploading the pictures now! Enjoy!
Jesse

Back up and running

Hello,
Ever since the war started I was having trouble getting online. The past week or so it has been hardly working. The army was using Jamming frequencies and I think it was messing with my wireless internet. :-(
But I am back up and fully online now. Finally!!
Ok, now what was the last post about? Oh right the election. Not much coverage of that over here. We hear a little bit here and there. I hear he has been pretty busy. We shall see.
What have I been up to.... hum... Finally met with the internet broadcasting and PR company for the Blev Echad event. Got everything with them straightened out. We are working to have 20,000-50,000 people tuning in for the broadcast. Fun Stuff, all in a days work. ;-)
I have a ton of pictures to upload so stay tuned.
Other then that everything is pretty normal around here.
Have a good one!
Jesse

Alo

Hey all,
I hear you all gonna get a new president sworn in on your side of the water. Good luck with that one. jk
Ok nm new goin on here. I just took an awesome picture of the sunset about 20 minutes I wanted to share with you. Here it is. Enjoy!
Jesse

Gotta write more!

Ok so here is the deal. Every day I am really busy now that I have become involved in different projects, and its just keeps going from when I get up till I go to sleep. Now due to the fact that this is all around Yeshiva if I crash the projects suffer cause I need to keep up the Yeshiva, as thats why i'm yeknow, here. As you have read, I did the carnival, that was a 48 hour miracle. Thank G-d it was very successful and here are some pics from it!




Another project I am working on is called Belev Echad. This is a worldwide hachnasat Sefer Torah at Yeshivat Merkaz Harav, to commemorate the Yartzeight of the students who died in the shooting terrorist attacks a year ago. We are working to have the event be live broadcasted to the world via the internet. This is where I come in. Since the people who are doing the event are in America I am the liaison here in Israel for all the PR work. The website is http://www.blevechad.com/live/ The event is on February 24th and I will update with more info as it gets closer.

Another project I am working on is of course Jcorps. We are gearing up to start a new round of events. As we grow we are working to find new groups to assist. If you know of an organization here in Israel who would benefit from a team of hands on friday morning, ages 18-28, boys and girls, let me know. Either email me or post it in the comments.

I am about to take on another project which is a concert in the community center of Sderot to try and bring visitors to Sderot. More info on that one as I learn it.

Shabbos was good, I was by relatives just outside the old city. I stayed by the Bunins for those of you who know my family. That was fun. One of my Rebbiem from TABC (Rabbi Scott Friedman) came to Israel with 10 guys to look at yeshivos instead of going with their parents. This is a very interesting concept which usually is not done, the school taking some of the seniors to Israel for Yeshiva week. Clever to say the least. There was one kid I was talking to who was still deciding if he wanted to come to Israel at all next year who I talked to for a good while right by the Kotel on Friday night. Hopefully I was able to make an impact on him to really consider coming, and that combined with the trip will make him take the plunge and jump into the fun that is the year abroad.

On Thursday we went to the Latrun Tank Museum, which of course was alot of fun, since I love military stuff. All the tanks that were there have all seen battle, and you can see the tanks that they have used over the years. Wicked cool. I was there about 5 years ago, and they have added a tank or 2 since then. Here are a few shots of me with the tanks.

Ok so this first one is not of the tanks but I love shots like this and I took it there so enjoy!

I have to upload pics to the gallery, and there are already some new ones. Check it out!
Jesse

no title cause I cant think of one.

Hello,
I would like to direct you to another project that I am working on, and have just taken hold of the technical side of things. Take a look at http://www.blevechad.com/live/
This is an event which is a massive Hachnasat Sefer Torah in memory of the 8 yeshiva students who died in the Merkaz HaRav massacre a year ago. We will be live broadcasting the event on February 24th, and thats where I come in. I am working with a PR company here in Israel to insure that the event goes the way it should. :-) I shall update you further as we get closer to the event.

In other news yesterday was amazing!! We had the discovery seminars at Aish HaTorah. I will post the links to download them online as soon as we upload them to the Lev site.
Have a good day!
Jesse

Been Working

Hello,
This past week has been a crazy busy one. The carnival was a great success.
We are still around with the rockets and all, and the world press seems to have forgotten about it anyway. Yesterday I saw 15 planes flying in formation towards Gaza, it was awesome! lol.
The carnival was in the Jewish Standard, and I am told the Jewish Press, although I haven't seen that one yet. Yeshiva is the same old, same old. Everyone in the Yeshiva loved the carnival though. Great Success.

In other news I am going to begin work on Yiddia again. For those of you who don't know what it is, Yiddia is my idea for a Jewish style iTunes. But that is all I am going to tell you so that you dont go and steal my idea. muahahah.
ttys,
Jesse

Fire From The North

Hey, Sorry I haven’t written in a few days. I have been busy working on a flash project that has taken every second of my time. When I heard that there was people moving from their houses in the south to ‘higher ground’ I said we have to do something. Then when I heard that children from the south were going to be coming to our town of Ramat Bet Shemesh. So I thought to myself now I really have to do something. So I had the idea that the kids aren’t going to be too happy about having to drive an hour each was every day for school. So I went to the rabbi at my school who is also my night Seder Rebbe. He is also the trip programmer for the school and has a business in the summer making itineraries for trips in Israel, so if your panning a trip let me know and I will have him get in touch with you. Anyway, I got together with him and told him we needed to do a fun day for these kids. So in 48 hours we pulled together a carnival and in 24 hours we successfully raised $1560 from the local NJ/NY Yeshiva High Schools!! We needed only $1000 to run the carnival, and due to the extra funds, we are getting an extra ride and buying the kids lunch the following day. Now I have to go run the Carnival so I will write an update later.

Keep an eye on the news, we just received rocket fire from the North and no one knows yet if it was Hezbollah or someone else. Something is goin on and it could get real ugly real soon. Please G-d our army is big enough to be split in the event that we have a multifaceted war. Please G-d will give us the strength and ability to continue the war and completely eliminate our enemies.

Lockdown

Ok, Now I am officially stuck in the humdrum cement city of Ramat Bet Shemesh, of which we reside. As of this morning Lev HaTorah went on lockdown. We were holding out as one of the last schools to do it, and all the girls' schools have been on lockdown for a week already. Blah. Begin the boredom. Ok, Ok, I am making a big deal out of it but seriously, it's not fun. I like to be able to travel and go places, meet new people and see new things. Now I am stuck here where the city folk are not the most friendly people around.

Now that I have completely bashed Ramat Bet Shemesh for having nothing to do for anyone my age, lets talk about what the good they are doing. We are the first largest city outside of the special situation range and therefore people are emigrating to us. There will be thousands of kids shuttling up daily to our little town to be hosted in schools, gyms, and peoples basements so that they can continue school as apposed to being stuck in a bomb shelter all day. Beyond that there are also 1000 refugees who will be moving into homes in and around Bet Shemesh/Ramat Bet Shemesh. This is being pioneered by a grass roots organization who was created during the second Lebanon war.

Everything is being funded by its parent organization Leman Achai. Leman Achai is an organization that is very prominent in Ramat Bet Shemesh and Israel. To donate:
Online Donations: www.israelwar.org
USA Tax Deductible: "US Friends of Lema'an Achai", PO Box 532,
Oceanside, NY 11572-0532, USA.
UK Tax Deductible: "British Friends of Lema'an Achai", c/o Nava
Kestenbaum, 96 Rigby Street, Salford, Manchester, M7 4BQ, ENGLAND.
Canadian Tax Deductible: "Shaarei Tefilla Charity Fund", C/O Murray
Shore, 31 Marvill Street, Toronto, Ontario, M3H 3L2, CANADA.
Israel Tax Deductible: "Lema'an Achai", The Lema'an Achai Center,
40/7 Nahal Lachish, Ramat Bet Shemesh, 99093, Israel.
By Phone 24/6 Donations Hotline (Hebrew): 02 99.999.33

This is what is going on close to home here in Ramat Bet Shemesh. Also, any funds donated that is not used due to the fact that B'H the war ends, will be used for Leman Achai's usual work of supporting the poor.

In other news on the other side of the border, one IDF soldier has died in the hospital from wounds he received on the ground in Gaza. Baruch Dayin HaEmet. This is the first IDF soldier to be killed in this war and Im"H should be the only one.
As of this morning there have been 30 rockets flying into the south of Israel. 2 injured but not seriously. For those of you who read the Times or CNN please note that I have noticed not only clearly photo-shopped images on both publications, but also as always being very pro Arabs. Fox News on the other hand it should be noted has been very pro Israel. For the most up to date news check back here, or go to www.israelnationalnews.com or www.jpost.com
May there be no more Israeli soldiers, or any civilians killed in this operation.
Jesse - Writing to the sound of the military helicopters and an occasional IAF Jet flying overhead.

Thousands of troops called up

I have just read that thousands of reservists who were previously approved by the government to be called up have received their phone call. The military is not making it clear exactly how many troops they are bringing up.
Hamas sent out a message in hebrew on military frequency saying that they will kidnap or kill all the Israeli soldiers, and they have surprises waiting for the soldiers like nothing they have ever seen. Over the past 18 months since Israel last completely pulled out of Gaza, Hamas has had the chance to arm themselves with much more technologically advanced weapons. We have seen proof of this with what they have been firing at us recently. Reports say they have laid mines near the border. The Israeli intelligence for this operation has been inpeccable and I trust they know exactly what is waiting for them, and are equipped accordingly. Many troops have been set up near the border for a week now and have finally entered. There were many different kinds of troops and I am sure the IDF is prepared for whatever is waiting.
May Hashem help them to be receiving the proper information to properly protect and guard our brothers.
Jesse

Operation Cast Lead Ground Troops Enter Gaza

Breaking News:
Hello all,
Just a little while ago Israeli tanks and soldiers on the ground moved into Gaza. There has been reported fighting, and thankfully no Israeli soldiers killed BliA'H. On the other hand dozens of Hamas gunmen on the ground are reported as killed by Israeli troops.
The troops moving in was described by the press as a wall of tanks backed up by military helicopters.
Olmert is quoted as saying he is "aware of dangers of operation."
This is an operation that will not be short and will continue as they destroy Hamas strong hold on Gaza.
We are still outside the Special Situation Range which is the Army/Israeli Govt imposed effected area. As of now Hamas forces do not have any weapons that can reach Ramat Bet Shemesh. I will keep you updated. The rest of the world is condemning and calling for a cease fire. Clearly the Israeli government is not interested. Have a good Motei Shabbos.
Please pray for our brothers now in enemy lines, pray that they are successful and ALL have safe returns. May G-d be with them all, either in the air or by foot, may G-d be their shield.
Jesse