Thurs July 4th

Here in Machane stone, July 4th marks the yahrtzeit of Yoni Netanyahu. We learned about Entebbe, Uganda in 1976 and the IDF coming to the aid of hijacked Jews – at the cost of slodiers’ lives. The shiur today was about the mitzvah of Pidyon Shvuyim – redeeming captives and how complicated that can get when the captives are Israeli soldiers and when the ransom isn’t money but rather prisoners. (For many eidah aleph groups, the shiur teacher just kept it about Yoni Netanyahu) Again, this was an opportunity to discuss a very nuanced issue that the Israeli government has to deal with.

This blogger, being so committed to her job of up-close reporting, went along with the winning bunks of Nikayon (clean up) to their prize – trip to the ice cream store. When duty calls, I am there! The winners were an eidah aleph boys bunk and an eidah gimmel girls bunk. They were proud winners and enjoyed their ice cream on a very hot day! We brought along a photographer (again, work can sometimes be very hard) who made sure we documented the occasion. Each week, there is a boys bunk and a girls bunk chosen as Nikayon winners! The Roshei Moshava go around themselves each Erev Shabbat, right before mifkad.