Category: Health & Leisure

IT’S A QUESTION OF HABIT

Some key ingredients to building lasting habits

By Justine Friedman

That’s it! You’ve made a decision. You reach a point where you have had enough of feeling unfit or unhealthy or overweight and uncomfortable or disorganised in your life. You are finally going to be happy and have the relationships you have always wanted. It’s now time to start to make changes so that you can finally succeed in the area you’ve been desperate to succeed for so long. This time it’s going to be different! This time you are not going to break the diet or stop until you get to your goal!

Can you relate to these sentiments? Have you been in a position or are you currently feeling this way? That spark of motivation and inspiration can be so powerful. It is the driving force behind every persons push to finally start to improve the quality of their lives.

So, the question is how do we go about making positive changes and implementing habits that will allow us to reach our health and wellness goals? These can be food or lifestyle related (improving relationships with self and others). In fact, any habit that will improve day-to-day life falls into this category. When we decide to achieve a specific goal and we are very “psyched” about it, it is easy to feel motivated and positive. Unfortunately, the reason so many people find themselves giving up too soon may arise due to not setting realistic or achievable outcomes. It is so human to feel overwhelmed and fall off the wagon if you’re trying to do too much all at once. 

In over-reaching and attempting to take on too much and too soon, as well as expecting perfection from oneself, we set ourselves up to fail. Can you relate to the feeling when you try to do everything all at once and then you miss a step of the process? The sense of disappointment and failure can make you think:

 “This is impossible, I just can’t do this, so why should I even bother?”

When we try to use our willpower to resist temptation and impulses, we can end up exhausting ourselves, particularly when we are trying to change too much all at once. In fact, we each have a limited amount of willpower that we use each and every day. If we are finding that we have other challenges to face, our newer habits that we are so desperate to implement, fall by the wayside as we use any energy towards addressing these situations. It is so common for people to find themselves, even after a few weeks of managing to build a new habit to be faced with a trigger that causes any old and more entrenched habit to take over. This can lead one to feel frustrated, despondent, and annoyed at one’s inability to just do what they set out to do.

A great example that is often used is trying to run a marathon. You wouldn’t go out and try to run 42km in one day. You would need to slowly build distance over time, pushing yourself a little more each day, and setting yourself realistic goals. 

Working towards a new goal is the same. Even though it may not seem like you are doing a lot by taking baby steps each day, when you manage to do things in bite-size amounts, that’s where the greatest power lies. Changing and implementing lifetime habits are best achieved by taking small, manageable steps so you don’t fall over at the first hurdle and fail or give up. 

So, what are habits? They are behaviours that are influenced by cues, routine, and rewards. When we consistently repeat the same behaviour over time it becomes a habit. Our habits can be so layered and enmeshed in our lives. Each habit is built on another. It can feel like peeling an onion. Each layer that is removed reveals another underneath until you get to the core. There is always a lot discussed about how long it takes to either break or create a new habit. In general, most people settle on 21 days as the accepted average. I feel that it takes far longer (not to put you off!) for with each new behaviour there are many components to it, just like the many layers of the onion, and if we wish to ensure that the new habits that we are forming over time are there to stay, then each element of the old behaviour needs to be addressed and each aspect of the new behaviour needs to be consistently practiced. It is very human to desire something greatly and then revert to a comfort zone in old habits and behaviours the minute we feel uncomfortable or experience emotions that trigger us.

So how do we go about ensuring our success? One of the first steps is putting perfection on notice. When we expect perfection, and we can’t sustain it we will give up very easily.

The next step is identifying what it is that you wish to improve or change. Without judging or criticising the behaviour that you would like to shift, become curious about why you practice it and when you are most likely to do it. For example, if you find yourself snacking or grazing from 3pm in the afternoon all the way until dinner time, you can become curious about what you are eating and drinking at the beginning of your day until 3pm. Are you trying to be too strict? Are you so busy that you ignore your hunger signals? Are you out and you haven’t taken any food with you so that by the time you get home you are over-hungry? Does this lead you to making poor choices or desperate to fill what feels like a bottomless pit? There are many different situations that can either set you up for success or trip you up along the way.

Once you have identified potential hurdles then you can work to avoid them. You can ensure that you take a break during the day to eat more regular meals and snacks, ensuring you keep your energy and blood sugar levels balanced. If necessary, you can set an alarm on your phone to remind you, particularly if you get too busy. You can make realistic choices about what you will eat at different times of day and pay attention to whether you are drinking sufficient water. Planning ahead of time is always more likely to lead to success. The key is to be able to be flexible if it doesn’t pan out exactly as you anticipated.

This is where one of the most crucial elements comes in. The element of forgiveness. It is the opposite of perfection as it allows us to feel compassion for when we simply can’t follow through or when we find ourselves in front of a hurdle. If we expect perfection in this moment the hurdle may act to block our path. However, if we are more forgiving of how we feel in the situation we become open to reassessing where we are and more likely to find a different way to deal with the obstacle. There are always many ways to reach the same destination and it may not always be the shortest or most anticipated path that gets us there. If we are to truly succeed on this journey, allowing ourselves to experience the steps and “scenery” along the way will make it more meaningful. Not only will reaching our destination seem more victorious but we will have stretched ourselves and grown as the process unfolds.

Does this all sound like too much? Would you rather stay in your safe and comfortable zone, wishing you weren’t? Change is always possible! With the right support you can implement lasting patterns and behaviours that will positively impact your life. Each person and situation is unique and the path to success is too. If you truly desire to reach your destination setting yourself up for success will get you there.

So many wait for January 1st to make new year resolutions. And while these are generally well meaning, the long term success of them are rather short lived. If you truly wish to see positive change in your life, start small and start now, building lasting habits is within your grasp, you just need to take the first step.



About the writer:

Justine Friedman works as a clinical dietician and a mindset mentor. She has over 20 years experience in supporting clients to make sustainable and practical lifestyle adjustments. Her focus is empowering women over 40 to make the necessary changes to feel confident with their food choices and at peace with food, while at the same time managing their weight without restriction or guilt. She works with women both 1:1 as well as in her online signature group program, “The Wellness Upgrade”. For more information visit her website on www.justinefriedman.com






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavors to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO) .

THE BUBBLE HAS BURST

Three Phases Every Healthy Relationship Repeatedly Goes Through

By Bev Ehrlich

Have you ever questioned whether the person you’re in love with is capable of making you happy? Well, how is that working out for you? The marriage we want is like the body we want – flawless!! Relationships are not perfect! Real relationships are the collision of your partner’s imperfections with your flaws. How you manage that, is key to your healthy relationship.

Ed Tronick introduced the idea that all relationships are a constant dance of harmony, disharmony, and repair. Closeness, distance taking, and closeness once again. This pattern can play itself out over decades or 30 times over one dinner.

Photo: Julia C. Basso, PhD

Phase 1: HARMONY – I FEEL CONNECTED

Harmony is when you feel relational with your partner. You can listen to what their needs are, and see their perspective.

Terry Real refers to this first stage as “love without knowledge.” It’s the promise phase in which you might recognize a soul connection. You feel this person completes you. They get you! They will surely heal all your wounds and hurts. They get you in every way.

Real calls this phase “love without knowledge” because, while you may feel like you’ve known this person for your entire life, you don’t know how they keep their sock drawer or how they manage their finances, or if they leave their dirty laundry on the floor.

As you move from being wrapped up in one another, you begin to notice other things going on in your world. Living life together doesn’t seem quite so simple and disillusionment sets in.

Phase 2: RUPTURE – I FEEL DEFENSIVE AND DISCONNECTED

Knowledge without love now comes to the fore. You now know more about your partner. You may feel you now know more about them than you ever wished you knew! You don’t feel very loving at this stage. You begin to behave in a way that keeps you protected and disconnected. Much to your shock and frustration, not only is this person not going to deliver you from all the broken places you’re trying to run from, but you discover that your partner is beautifully designed as Terry Real so eloquently puts it “to stick a burning spear right into your eyeball.”

Looking more closely, we have married our unfinished conversations with our early caretakers.

When we were dating, we met many potential partners who would not have recreated our old family dramas. Our lives together may have been calmer, however, none of them attracted us.

This disillusionment hurts like crazy! You can feel betrayed, angry, and even trapped.

Phase 3: REPAIR ‒ RETURNING TO CONNECTEDNESS   

The third phase of the dance is repair. This is the “knowing stage of love.” You know all about your partner. You know all their ugly and imperfect parts. You know they never pay bills on time or always leave their shoes and socks strewn all over the living room floor, they squeeze the toothpaste tube in the middle!! However, despite all this knowledge you choose to love them anyway.

Thomas Hübl  teaches that “healthy intimacy is not something you have, it’s something you do. It’s a minute-to-minute practice; as such, we need to create conditions for sustained practice and build a relationship-cherishing subculture around ourselves, our children, and our marriages. “

A healthy relationship flows from harmony to rupture and doesn’t get stuck there but works its way back into repair and closeness.



About the writer:

Beverly Ehrlich is a relationship coach. She firmly believes that we heal, grow and thrive through healthy and cherishing relationships that show appreciation for each other’s strengths and build on them. Feeling helpless and strained when her husband of many years found himself in the depths of depression, they turned for support to Terry Real’s Relational Life Therapy (RLT). She has since dedicated her life to bringing couples back into healthy connectedness. Beverly encourages her clients to stand up for themselves with love while cherishing their partner at the same time. She teaches strategies that help clients speak their truth so that their partner can hear them and come into repair quicker each time.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

ISRAEL UPPING ITS PACE

The Jewish state’s cycling team, ‘Israel-Premier Tech’  soars at the Tour de France

By David E. Kaplan

There is hardly a more prestigious thrill in the world of professional cycling than winning a stage at the Tour de France. However, when there are 176 riders as began the 2022 Tour de France with the Grand Depart in Copenhagen on July 1; and there are only 21 stages, the odds are challenging. The commentators common line every day for 21 days is:

 “Who will have the legs to sprint for the line.”

Talking about legs, I knew something was ‘afoot’ when I received a WhatsApp from a friend on July 6 asking:

 “Are you watching?”  

He did not have to specify what – it was a given. I turned on Eurosport just in time  to see  an Israeli team make history in the Tour de France when one of its riders won a stage of the world-famous race.

Pulsating Pedaling. The name ISRAEL is now a recognised winning brand at the Tour de France.
 

Australian Simon Clarke of Israel-Premier Tech won stage five of the tour in a photo finish after a 157 kilometer (97.5 miles) run from Lille to Arenberg featuring 20 kilometers (nearly 12.5 miles) of cobbled roads.

It was the first time ever an Israeli team had performed so well.

It was a sheer joy and pride for Israelis, to see  their country’s name branded on the riders cycling top at the podium.

Riding into History. Stage 5 winner, Israel-Premier Tech’s Simon Clarke at the podium following a photo finish after a 157km run from Lille to Arenberg.

With the Tour de France being the most prestigious cycling race in the world, reaching more than 15 million spectators and over 1 billion television viewers globally, this was a refreshing media spotlight on Israel.

Could it happen again at this Tour?  Having happened once, anything is possible!

So when I again received a WhatsApp from my friend and a co-founder of Lay of the Land, Yair Chelouche this time on the 19 July, saying again: “Are you watching?”, I replied, “You gotta be kidding.”

“Turn on your TV we may have a story in the making!”

I flipped to Eurosport and screamed in joy as there was the name ISRAEL in bold leading the pack. However, it was still some 40 kilometres to the finish line and anything could happen. Could the rider keep it up with the profusely panting predators lunging from behind?

This was riveting stuff and warranted cracking open a beer. After all, this rider needed all the support and I thought cracking a Gold Star – one of Israel’s premier beers – was my thoughtful contribution.

After dropping on the Port de Lers, the Israel-Premier Tech rider Hugo Houle chased back to the front of the race with 40 kilometers to go before attacking from a reduced group at the foot of the final climb. The beauty of the French countryside – its medieval churches and chateaus were but passing flashes of distractions as all eyes were on Hugo Houle, who was like horse with blinkers bolting back to the barn as if stung by a wasp!

At the Finish Line. Pointing to the heavens, Stage 16 winner for Israel-Premier Tech, Hugo Houte, engages with his deceased brother saying to himself, “WE DID IT”

When he attacked he was  – in his words – “setting the table” for fellow Israel-Premier Teck team member Mike Woods but “ when I saw that they let me go, I just went all in, full gas. You never know how it will turn out in the breakaway. Sometimes you need luck. Nobody wanted to commit…and then it was just a time trial to the end.”

‘Luck’, ‘legs’ and ‘commitment’ saw the Israel-Premier Tech rider take the stage. A joy for Israel, it was an enormous emotional win for Houle.

With one minute and ten seconds ahead of the chasers behind him, Houle had plenty of time not only to raise his arms in celebration on the approach to the line but also to point to the sky in memory of his brother.

“It sounds incredible, but I know my brother helped me,” said an emotional Houle of his younger sibling Pierrik who was killed by a hit-and-run driver a decade earlier.
“He went to run in the snow and was hit and left dead by the roadside. It took me three hours to find him.”
“It was my dream to win a stage of the Tour de France since he left us,” said the  Stage 16 Israeli-team winner.

From Impossible to Possible. “I never won a race, so I guess it’s the right place to win my first race,” Houle said shortly after his win of Stage 16. “I think what I achieved today can be an inspiration of what is possible.”

So while most Stage winners express absolute joy as they are received by their teams after crossing the finish line, “This one is for my brother,” Hugo Houle  could be heard saying as he was embraced by his team after the 178.5-kilometer (111-mile) leg from Carcassone to Foix,

“This means a lot to me,” Houle told reporters shortly afterward, with his voice breaking as he struggled to hold back the tears.

The Tour de France is not all about racing and picturesque countryside –  it’s about human stories.

With the name of the Israel team having changed from Israel Cycling Academy to Israel Start-Up Nation and finally to Israel-Premier Tech,  there was something common in all the name-changes – the inclusion of the word ISRAEL.

I thought back to my Hilton Israel Magazine 2019 interview with the Israeli-Canadian entrepreneur and philanthropist and powerhouse behind the renaissance of cycling in Israel, Sylvan Adams. Credited for  the successful campaign to have Israel host in 2018 the Big Start of the Giro d’Italia, I recalled his words:

“I intentionally insisted on ISRAEL in the name of the team – our name is part of our identity, so that sports commentators cannot avoid mentioning ‘Israel’ in their coverage of races where our riders compete. It’s strategic branding. Instead of TV viewers around the world hearing of ‘Israel’ in news reports relating mostly to political issues, they will increasingly hear it in the context of sport. We are resetting the visuals.”

Rough Riders. On gravel, Israel-Premier Tech’s Simon Clarke on Stage 5 which he wins in a photo finish.

How right he was.

I also think back to early 1990’s when Avi Ganor, a former business correspondent for Israel’s daily Haaretz, gave it all up to start a local monthly magazine called OFANAYIM (Bicycle).

“Meshuga (crazy)!” my friends said. “How can you make a living out of a magazine about a sport that nobody in Israel takes seriously?”

Really? Takes seriously?

Two decades later, an Israeli team is winning stages in the Tour de France.

Israel is a country that faces endless existential challenges but always has the knack of getting – literally and figuratively – ‘back on the saddle’



Hugo Houle solos to emotional TDF win



The Road Ahead. The writer interviewing Sylvan Adams in 2018 in Tel Aviv following the Giro d’Italia in Israel, where he said, “Next up, is the Tour de France”.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

‘Ruck’ & Roll

From rugby to netball, squash to tennis, the 21st Maccabiah is “rocking”

By David E. Kaplan

When cynics scoff that the Maccabi Games “is not real sport” or

“it’s not front page, back page or any page news” or even more disparaging, “Who cares?” they are wrong.

In sport parlance – “It’s on track”.

In one 24-hour period – in full view of the international media -visiting US President Joe Biden was introduced to two polarized but defining components of the Jew of the 21st century – a journey from the depths of near oblivion to Jewish national sovereignty when in the morning he visited the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Center and in the evening the opening of the 21st Maccabiah, commonly referred to as the “Jewish Olympics”.

Let the Games Begin. Raising his USA cap as the USA delegation marches onto the field in the Opening Ceremony at Teddy Stadium in Jerusalem, July 14, 2022, Joe Biden becomes the first USA president to make an appearance at the Maccabiah or ‘Jewish Olympics’. Joining him in jubilation are Israel’s President, Isaac Herzog (left), and Prime Minister Yair Lapid. (Ronen Zvulun/POOL/AFP via Getty Images).

When Joe met the two American Holocaust survivors at Yad Vashem, he was meeting not only  Giselle Cycowicz and Rena Quint but a stark reminder that only a few years before the State of Israel was born in 1948, Jews  were lining up to be mass murdered while much of the world stood by and yawned. At same day’s end, as the golden summer sun’s rays settled over the sublime skyline of Jerusalem, the American President waved as Jewish athletes – over 10,000 from 80 countries including the USA, the largest overseas delegation – marched  proudly onto the field at Teddy Stadium for the 2022 21st Maccabiah. These athletes were the living embodiment of “Muscular Zionism”, the concept conceived by Max Nordau who sowed the seeds for a “Jewish Olympics” when at the Second Zionist Congress in Basel in 1898, he spoke about forging a new Jew – far removed from the stereotype Ghetto image – who would be strong in appearance and resolute in spirit.

Moving Meeting. Giving both women and hug and kiss on the cheek, President Joe Biden speaks with Holocaust survivors Giselle Cycowicz (r) and Rena Quint in the Hall of Remembrance during a visit to the Yad Vashem Holocaust Remembrance Center in Jerusalem on July 13, 2022. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Image.
 

While the concept of “Muscular Zionism” was born, it took a further three decades before the first Maccabiah opened in 1932 in Tel Aviv with a colourful parade through the streets of Tel Aviv led by Mayor Meir Dizengoff riding his iconic white horse.

That triumphant march in what was nicknamed the “White Horse Olympics” would culminate in 1950, the first Maccabiah held in a sovereign State of Israel. Edna Kaplan who I interviewed  some years ago was a participant in the South African delegation that year.

Rose among the Thorns. Edna Kaplan (centre) was the only woman in the South African running squad at the 1950 Maccabiah.

“I was the rose amongst the thorns,” she said chuckling. “I was not the only woman in the South African athletic squad, I was the only woman in the entire delegation.” A sprinter, Edna described the conditions of the rough track, with Tel Aviv’s Reading Power Station in the background. In keeping with the family’s sporting tradition, her daughter Janine, literally ‘ran’ in her mother’s footsteps, participating in the1973 Maccabiah also as a sprinter.  Janine was then part of the Rhodesian (later Zimbabwe) delegation. Such an impression did it make, that within six months, she immigrated to Israel.

This has frequently proved the impact of the Maccabiah.

Running for Gold. In the first post-WWII Maccabiah in 1950, South African Edna Kaplan competes in the Woman’s 100m at Reading in Tel Aviv.

A South African ‘Israel Prize’ recipient, Dr. Ian Froman – the driving force behind the Israel Tennis Centers – credits representing South Africa at the 1961 Maccabi Games in tennis – having competed in the men’s singles at Wimbledon in 1955 – leading to him to making Aliyah (immigrating to Israel) shortly thereafter. As a young graduate in dentistry “I fell in love with Israel” and then got his teeth into tennis instead of dentistry!

FAMILY AFFAIR

“How important is the Maccabiah today?” was a question I put to veteran Israeli squash player Stanley Milliner originally from Cape Town. A multiple Maccabiah medal recipient over five Maccabi Games – including gold – Stanley says that “While there is a lot of feeling in Israel that the Maccabi Games has passed its time,” he disagrees. “It brings together Jews from all over the world. What’s more, it bring them together IN ISRAEL. This remains so important today as it affirms the centrality of Israel to global Jewish life in such a warm and entertaining way.  There is nothing like sport to achieve this. It creates this feeling of ‘mishpocha’ – of getting together for a ’family affair’.”

Super Siblings. Holders of multiple Maccabi Games medals, including gold, former South Africans Stanley Milliner for squash and sister Jillian Milliner for tennis will be again proudly competing for Israel

Stanley elaborates that this feeling was all-pervasive at the opening ceremony attended by Biden, “who we knew was there but we did not see.” Says Stanley:

 “You have never seen these people before  from all over the world, speaking different languages  and yet you feel you have known them all your life. This is what I mean – like long-last family coming together.”

What was interesting, continues Stanley:

 “was that for some of the Israelis in squash who had never before participated in a Maccabiah, it was a new experience for them. For the first time they realized that they were part of a huge Jewish global experince. “

Staying within ‘the family’ is Stanley’s sister, Jillian Milliner who has also participated in five Maccabiah and is a three time Israeli gold medalist in tennis. Now playing in the 65-plus age category, I caught up with Jillian following her hard-fought victory against a  Chilean in the soaring heat. She collapsed and required treatment from the para-medics, “but only after I won the match in a tie-breaker!”

Striving for gold both in singles and doubles, Jillian is “so proud to be again representing Israel. For me it’s very meaningful. I was speaking with someone from the US delegation that said it was the largest US delegation in history – over 1,600 athletes and this is in the age of Covid.  They so much wanted to come, to be in Israel. This is the spirit of the Maccabiah. Despite the cynics and those who want to denigrate and pull Israel down, the Jewish world with Israel at the core is thriving.” While looking for gold on a personal level, “for the Jewish world,” says Jillian, “this is our Golden Age.”

SHOOTING STARS

Manning the kiosk at the Maccabiah Netball venue in Ra’anana was  Carol Levin, Treasurer of Netball in Israel, Carol was not exaggerating when she said:

 “This place is rocking.”

I had not yet stepped into the hall but could hear the high pitch screaming. Then entering, I was met by a kaleidoscope of colour and a cacophony of cheering supporters. I understood this is what Carol meant when she said only minutes before:

 “What a VIBE!”

This “vibe” represents netball’s popularity at the Maccabiah and in Israel which has come a long way since its founder, Jodi Careira,  arrived in Israel over 25 years earlier with her family “and a netball that I got for my Bat Mitzvah. My friend Yoni Weil called me and said let’s go play outside and here we are at the Maccabiah, with Israel competing with top teams from all over the world.  Who knew then, what would be today?”

Who would indeed!

Golden Girl. Prime mover for netball in Israel,  gold medalist Jodi Carrera at a rugby match at a previous Maccabiah.

UPROAR IN THE STANDS

It was a treat watching – or ‘experiencing’ – the rugby at Wingate.

Irrespective of who was playing or the scores, it was refreshing for Israelis who instead of arguing over divisive issues plutzing the nation, could plutz instead over the decisions of rucks, mauls, scrums and lineouts – “important stuff”. After all,  the ref couldn’t see what us experts were seeing in the stands enhanced in our observation skills by copious tall glasses of  frothing beer from the pub that was doing a roaring trade!

Having a Field Day. South Africa beats Israel in a round robin match on the 15 July 2022 at Wingate. (Photo D.E. Kaplan)

Sitting in the stands at the semi-finals, I noted with the banners, giant flags and national team T-shits there was always the Magen David – Star of David –  reflecting the ultimate victor – the Jewish people.

Following  the first Friday afternoon’s packed match between South Africa and Israel, everyone shook hands – nothing to do with the rugby. Spectators from across the world were wishing each other “Good Shabbos”.

Cruising while Watching the Bruising. Supporting Israel – as well as the local pub – at the rugby at Wingate are former South Africans (l-r) Leigh Freedman, Barry Kornel and Phillip Levy.
 

Beyond the sights and sounds, the message of the Maccabiah is clearly – A Jewish world divided by geography is united by history.

I only hope, Max Nordau is a “spectator” watching and smiling from above.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

“WORDS, WORDS, WORDS”

Tapping into famed Israeli poet and musician, Nancy Pelosi’s recitation of lyrics struck the right note

By David E. Kaplan

They say Israeli food in New York has never been hotter!

This is tantalizingly reflected in the ever increasing number of restaurants owned or run by Israelis with such alluring names from ‘Operation Falafel’ conjuring up the image of a culinary Middle East offensive on the palette to the mouthful ‘Balaboosta’, a term of endearment in Yiddish, which means “perfect homemaker” suggesting someone who loves to bring family together by cooking. However, the smorgasbord of delicious delights from Israel does not end at its cuisine, for Israeli culture has an endearing irresistible resonance that permeates American life and even its politics. This was spectacularly illustrated this week by none other than the United States House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who in an emotional response to a controversial Supreme Court ruling rolling back reproductive rights in the United States by half a century, recited a poem by the celebrated Israeli lyrist and poet, Ehud Manor (1941-2005).

“My country changed her face”. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi reacts to the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe v. Wade, during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)

At a pivotal disturbing moment in America’s history where the leading country in the world is shown to be as “never-so-divided  since the Civil War”, one would think there was no shortage of fine words to recite from an American poet that would capture a frustrated people’s torment. None quite cut it for the Speaker because America’s leading Democrat in the House – while directing the cataclysmic cause for America’s backward somersault into the past on former president Donald Trump and Mitch McConnell, the top Republican in the Senate for a decision that gives American women in 2022 “less freedom than their mothers”, Pelosi found solace in the words of an Israeli.

From Capitol Hill to Israel’s Capital. As part of a Congressional delegation to the country, Nancy Pelosi at the Knesset in February 16, 2022 where she reiterated her country’s “iron clad” support for Israel’s security. (photo: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)

With this divided America facing an uncertain future over the Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade, a downhearted and dispirited looking Pelosi walked to the podium at the press conference at the Capital and recited Ehud Manor’s poem:

“I Have No Other Land” (“Ein Li Eretz Aheret” in Hebrew)

The words that were heard by American ears – her intended audience – were heard too in Israel whose citizens are however more familiar with the words in Hebrew.

She recited:

“I have no other country

though my land is burning

Only a word in Hebrew

penetrates my veins and my soul –

with an aching body and with a hungry heart.

Here is my home

I will not be silent,

for my country has changed her face”

For Pelosi, her country has indeed “changed her face” as Americans have been heard saying, “We have awoken to a new America”, and not an America they feel comfortable with.

Poignant Postage. A 2009 Israeli stamp commemorating Ehud Manor. (Photo: public domain)

Emotionally distraught throughout the recitation of Manor’s poem, Pelosi felt compelled to repeat which might have been for her the most compelling line “my country has changed her face” and were in not for who she was – and where she was – one sensed she could have gone on repeating that line over and over again like a stuck gramophone needle so shocked and shaken was she.

Her fighting spirit to ‘march on’ returns when she concluded with Manor’s final line:

“I shall not give up on her. I will remind her and sing into her ears until she opens her eyes”.

 The poem having ended, Pelosi laments:

“Clearly, we hope the Supreme Court will open its eyes”

With a conservative 6-3 majority of the judges this is unlikely to happen and with multiple states, including Texas, Missouri, Kentucky and Tennessee where abortion will now be illegal under all circumstances – including in cases of rape and incest, there is little wonder that a protest movement is mobilising with its voice heard loud and clear as well as in Israel.

On Tuesday evening, 28 June, over a 100 people gathered in Habima Square in Tel Aviv to protest the US Supreme Court overturning of Roe v. Wade. Filling the square were loud chants of carefully crafted wording such as:

“Pro-life that’s a lie,

you don’t care if women die”

A young 8th grader with family and friends in Texas – one of the states where abortion will be banned without exception, even in instances of rape or incest – was Rut, holding a sign that said, “Women just want to have fundamental human rights”. Devastated, she told  The Jerusalem Post that she decided to attend the protest for more than one reason.

“I’m really young, and I already have friends who have gone through incredibly hard things. I think it’s incredibly important that we have rights over our own bodies. I spent three years in the US. I go there every summer. It’s extremely important to me to be here today.”

Sign of the Times. Rachel and Michael, two protestors holding signs during a pro-choice protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 28, 2022 (Photo Simcha Pasko/i24NEWS)

Not everyone at the protest was born in the US or even had a personal connection to the country like Rut. While many expressed feelings of solidarity with the women in the US who have had their access to reproductive healthcare revoked, others shared fears that their own rights would be taken next, that the ‘infection’ that has inflicted the US could spread like an all-to-familiar pandemic.

“Is this another Covid coming our way?” was the prevailing sense of fear.

This fear was emphatically conveyed to The Jerusalem Post by a protestor who requested to remain anonymous. Having no connection whatsoever to any family or friends in the US,  she said that the overturning of Roe v. Wade indicated:

 “worse things to come for women everywhere, not just in the US.” She went on, “…. It doesn’t make a difference where in the world it’s happening – a woman is a woman is a woman. It can happen to all of us.”

Redirecting ‘Aim’. A woman holding a sign reading “Pro-life would be regulating, not this,” with a picture of a gun and a uterus at a pro-choice protest in Tel Aviv, Israel, June 28, 2022. (photo Simcha Pasko/i24NEWS)

This was not the first time that Pelosi had responded to worldwide events through poetry or even the first time she has cited this particular Israeli poem by Ehud Manor – “I Have No Other Country”.

Awarded in 1998 the Israel Prize, the country’s highest cultural honor for his contributions to Israeli music, Manor remains an icon in Israel. Why his songs remain ever so popular, his widow Ofra Fuchs, whom Pelosi has met on her visits to Israel, explains:

 “the perfect language, which sounds contemporary to this day. That is why young singers keep performing his songs, and that means that Ehud is still alive. He had the ability to create perfect harmony between the words and the music.”

Lasting Legacy. Considered to have been Israel’s most prolific lyricist of all time, having written or translated over 1,000 songs Ehud Manor with his wife Ofra Fuchs.

May the day soon dawn when Nancy Pelosi might find cause to recite another of Manor’s poems In the Year to Come  (BASHANAH HABA’AH), where the refrain reads:

“Just you wait and you’ll see
How much good there will be
In the year, that’s to come, that’s to come.”

Clearly, major battles will have to proceed before!





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Can women across the world move freely in their cities?

A British study says no – an Israeli app now says yes

By Diana Grosz

Most people would say that life today is far safer compared to previous centuries. International agreements and treaties protect us from wars; innovative medicine saves millions of lives from diseases, and local and international laws provide security and a feeling of safety on the streets in a majority of Western countries.

However, despite these monumental developments, half the world’s population is not truly protected – even in highly developed states!

Even though politicians and the media constantly talk about equal rights of all citizens and the growing success in the fight against gender inequality in recent years, feeling safe and secure is still a privilege reserved mostly for men.

According to a research in 2019 bythe British international Internet-based market research and data analytics firm, YouGov, around half of all women feel unsafe in various routine situations. Men however, in the same context, feel relatively secure and safe.

50% of women say they always or often feel unsafe walking alone at night.

The insecurity and awareness of women in this study are related to them moving from one place to another; whether it’s a walk from work to their home or traveling to another country. For instance, the average man is able to easily travel by hitch-hiking, while among women this practice is considered high-risk. Such an evident polarity in opportunities leads to thoughts about the difference in men’s and women’s freedom, which are in the end validated and maintained by our own societies.

The situation seems even grimmer after realizing that the surveys from 2007 have very similar data as the same surveys from 2019, and the data hasn’t significantly changed during the last twelve years.

For instance, 62% of women that had to go out at night were afraid to go alone, and 66% of interviewed women were afraid to go through certain neighbourhoods.

Women are as insecure while using public transport, walking in the park, or going out alone as they were more than ten years ago. This is according to the data provided in 2007 by Stéphanie Condon, Marylène Lieber, Florence Maillochon in their research entitled:

‘FEELING UNSAFE IN PUBLIC PLACES

understanding women’s fears’ .

From the data, it appears that society is indifferent to the problem of women’s safety and hence makes little effort – if at all – to effect change. The statistics reveal that women’s freedom of movement is constantly violated and somehow it has become the norm, sadly even for women themselves.

As a consequence, women might not even try to move freely anymore, their mindset programmed to accepting this ‘reality’ as a normal part of life.

Regrettably, this constant sense of danger leads women, instead of availing themselves of various creative methods to protect themselves to instead succumb to their feared situation and restrict their lifestyle accordingly.

Six in ten women – fearing a sexual assault or street harassment – will avoid walking in certain areas or walking alone preferring instead to travel in their own vehicle or take a taxi.

Most women say they regularly take steps to avoid being sexually assaulted.

The point therefore is that women adapt their routines and daily activities to meet safety considerations, when safety should not even be an issue.

What do women need to do to feel and be safe?

The evident obstruction of women’s rights and freedom due to safety concerns has challenged people towards creating solutions to protect women in potentially dangerous situations.  The market already offers women and girls access to self-defense tools and techniques that might be useful for particular live situations.

On such is the Israeli app SafeUP, a social network for women that allows them to help each other in real time to feel safer and prevent incidents of harassment and sexual assault.

For those 50% of women who feel safer when accompanied, SafeUP is the perfect and simple solution to their day-to-day worries.

No neighbourhood will ever be too scary or dark when knowing that a community near you will have your back.  Just pull out your phone and within seconds our SafeUP guardians will be with you.

It was an incident as a girl that sowed the seed for 30-year-old Israeli Neta Schreiber Gamliel to made her first steps in the hi-tech world and cofound  SafeUP. The start-up’s CEO explains:

“I went out with some friends to a party at the villa, when one of my friends disappeared from us. We went to look for her and after a few minutes we found her in one of the rooms with two men, half naked, half conscious. When they entered the room, the men ran away and we realized that we had saved her life. From that moment on, we created a system of internal laws between our friend group that was designed to protect each other.”

Co-Founder and CEO of SafeUP, Neta Schreiber Gamliel.

A decade and a half later, this event ignited the creation of SafeUP, which she launched with her partner Tal Zohar together with the Tel Aviv Municipality. Within three months, they had reached 11,000 users and six local authorities paying for the service. Breaking into the US market, the Israeli duo have created communities of female guardians in Boston, New York and Washington that protects women walking alone at night.

TIME TO CHANGE

But these solutions are for real-time situations. It is still imperative to change society and its vision on women’s safety. We should all be able to comprehend that actions such as catcalling, whistling, unwanted sexual comments, unwelcome sexual touching, or following girls as an attempt to demonstrate interest, joke or to get her phone number is not acceptable. 

Any of these inappropriate behaviours that are usually perpetrated by men, even if they think it’s funny or not, are the main reason why women do not feel safe while out on their own.

However, until the process of educating people on gender violence, its roots and how we can solve it,  women must have the right and opportunity to create communities and safe spaces in which they can share their experiences and perspectives on the subject. The idea of creating empathic and trustworthy communities, where its members could assist each other in dealing with difficult and even harmful situations – is one of the main goals of SafeUP.

We are trying to not only provide women with a useful and secure app but also to show them how important and meaningful the power of community can be. By joining SafeUP,  women are provided the means to connect with women willing to help and support them, and the chance to be the ones who provide this support and help.

Only by combining powers and aspirations to protect our right to feeling confident regardless of whether we are walking at night, during the day, wearing a mini or maxi dress, can women begin to change the reality we live in.

The greater our numbers, the greater our power. By joining SafeUP and becoming a guardian, you can easily take an active role in helping women feel safer wherever they are going.


Join a global solidarity of women, to belong, be free and be safe together



About the writer:

Diana Grosz  is a history teacher, Middle Eastern specialist, and a women’s rights advocate. Diana’s mission is to raise awareness about women’s issues and promote equality. She started her journey in South America and later immigrated to pursue her passion of helping women in the Middle East.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Taking Control

Understanding your body and how it works is  fundamental to good health –  a focus on the “Control Centers” of the Human Body Processes

By Lionel H. Phillips D.O.

Whilst seeming over-technical, don’t be deterred! Do persist, for this article is meant to remind and / or inform readers on just one of the many remarkable functions of their most important asset – IF we provide it with its NEEDS as required.

The Endocrine System

Metabolism is the conversion of nutrients into energy and building materials to meet the body’s needs.

Hormones are your body’s chemical messengers and are part of the Endocrine System.

Endocrine glands make hormones, which travel through the bloodstream to tissues and organs, and control most of your body’s major systems. Hormones affect your body’s functions, from growth and sexual development and mood to how well you sleep, how you manage stress and tension and how your body breaks down food.                                     

The Endocrine System regulates your heart rate, metabolism – how your body gets energy from the foods you eat – appetite, mood, sexual function, reproduction, growth and development, sleep cycles, and more.

Hormones play a very important part in your body’s chemistry by carrying messages between cells and organs. Hormone imbalances can occur any time regardless of one’s age, whilst causing serious health problems, requiring ongoing medical management.

Various functions and rhythms of the body are controlled by Hormones. Chemical messengers produced by the Endocrine Glands are discharged into the bloodstream. These glands include the Pituitary, Thyroid, Parathyroids, Adrenals, Islets of Langerhans, and the sex glands or Gonads. Some interaction takes place among all the endocrine glands, but only the hormones from the pituitary are able to control production of hormones in other glands. Most glands produce several types of hormones – the pituitary, for example produces at least nine – and each type reaches its own target area in the body, no matter how far from the gland producing it.

Glands are organs that secrete and release substances essential for the proper functioning of the body. There are two types of glands – Exocrine and Endocrine. The exocrines have ducts that carry their secretions to particular parts of the body.

The salivary glands that provide the mouth with saliva, and the mammary glands that produce milk, belong to this group.

The Liver, an exocrine gland, is the largest gland in the body, weighing about 1.5 kg (3.3 lbs.) in an adult. The liver has many roles in the digestive system. For example, it produces a green fluid called bile, which breaks down fats and ducts convey their content to the gall bladder, where it is stored and concentrated, before being released into the digestive tract.

Your pancreas is a large gland that creates natural juices called pancreatic enzymes to break down foods. These juices travel through your pancreas via ducts. They empty into the upper part of your small intestine called the duodenum. Each day, your pancreas makes about 8 ounces of digestive juice filled with enzymes.

Endocrine glands have no ducts and release their substances, called hormones, directly into the bloodstream. The endocrines and their hormones help to regulate as well as control the balance of salt and water in the body and the level of sugar in the blood.

The Pituitary Gland is about the size of a pea and lies in a small hollow well within the skull at about the level of the top of the nose. It is connected to the part of the brain called the Hypothalamus, and this link gives the brain direct control over the pituitary’s hormone production. The most important function of the pituitary is to stimulate, regulate and coordinate the functions of certain of the other endocrines. For this reason, it is called the Master Gland.

Diseases of the pituitary gland are fortunately relatively rare. Too little pituitary secretion causes certain types of dwarfism, while too much stimulates the body to grow to gigantic proportion. Pituitary tumors may press on the optic nerves, resulting in headaches and loss of vision. Another rare disease is diabetes insipidus, which causes excessive thirst and excessive secretion of urine.

Two hormones in the rear lobe of the pituitary gland are produced in the adjoining hypothalamus and piped in along nerve fibers. One, vasopressin, helps to maintain the balance of water in the body. The other, oxytocin, stimulates contraction of muscles in children and the milk-flow of nursing mothers.

The Thyroid Gland is in front of the throat, below the Adam’s Apple and just above the breastbone. It is U-Shaped, each end of the U flaring back into a lobe that is about the size of the big toe. The thyroid’s hormonal production stimulates or affects almost every important body process, including the body’s use of oxygen. Too much or too little of the hormone, called thyroxine, can cause serious health problems.

Hypothalamus – Is the portion of the middle part of the brain that is known to regulate body temperature and help control the functions of the internal organs.

How the Body Fight Germs – The body is not helpless against germs. It has filters, such as the tiny hairs in the nose, to keep them out; and secretions, such as the tears to kill them or wash them away. If germs do get into the blood, leukocytes (white blood cells) attack and devour them. When an infection develops, the number of these white cells increases rapidly. Fever raises the body’s temperature to inhibit or destroy germs.

Pancreas –The pancreas makes Insulin and glucagon which are hormones that control the level of glucose or sugar in the blood. Insulin helps keep the body supplied with stores of energy. The body uses this stored energy for exercise and activity, and it also helps organs work as they should.

The body has other resources as well. It manufactures substances that counteract the germs and render their poisons (toxins) harmless. These germ fighters are called antibodies and the poison-controlled substances are known as antitoxins. After the body has overcome a disease, these substances remain in the blood and prevent the germs of that disease from getting a foothold again. Physicians refer to this condition as an “acquired immunity”. People who are immune to a disease without ever having it, are said to have natural immunity. Many immunities are partial or temporary.

Most of the germs that penetrate the body are bacteria or viruses. These disrupt bodily functions and release poisons called toxins. Their effects are counteracted by the body’s defensive cells.

In order to have a healthy, active and free-of-diseased body, we should endeavor to ingrain the following habits. Should the facts below NOT BE part of your lifestyle at present, why not give yourself three (3) months to incorporate them 24/7, and then take stock of the situation. The links below will provide explanations on how best to provide for each one. I will be available to assist with questions via my email address – global@globalhealth-education.com .

Nose (Diaphragmatic) Breathing – for the cleanest oxygen intake;

Natural Breathing (see link)

Our Digestive System – No matter the quality of the food one eats, the best chance for maximum nutrient absorption is SMALL MOUTHFULS. This also assists in excess fat loss without the need to diet, as you will be eating less and tasting each mouthful, whereby the need for second helpings is a rarity.

A quick Look at GERD (see link)

Finally, it may be a “Tall Order”, but I can’t over-emphasize the importance of posture. See my previous articles on  lay of the land . Any variance away from the required good posture, will have a negative effect on muscles, nerves and joints.

Water – Without clean air and sufficient water, our body will not survive.

Items24 (see link)

The NEEDS of our Human Body are actually extremely logical and easy to provide.

Albeit that habits are difficult to change, it is well worth the effort.

Every one of the body’s numerous systems will welcome and act positively to the response.




About the writer:

Lionel Phillips is a Doctor of Osteopathy (1975), an International Fitness & Health Instructor, Consultant and Lecturer. He has researched and designed ‘The Needs & Functions of the Human Body’ as an educational subject for inclusion in all School Curriculums World-Wide. A past Federation Member and Israel Liaison Representative of IHRSA (International, Health & Racquet Sports club Association) and member of their worldwide “Panel of Experts”, Phillips is a recipient of the “Prime Ministers Award of Merit” (PM Menachem Begin).





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

When Jews Thrive, the World Thrives

Surviving the Shoah and its impact on human survival today

By David E. kaplan

Interviewed from the USA on Israel’s Channel 12, only a few days before Holocaust Memorial Day on the 27 January 2022, this year’s Genesis Prize recipient – dubbed Israel’s “Jewish Nobel” -gave an answer to a particular question that was touchingly telling.

Savior from Salonica. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, who as chairman and CEO of Pfizer pharmaceutical company helped develop the lifesaving COVID vaccine, owes much to the valiant efforts of others to save the lives of Greek Jews during the Holocaust. His mother and father were among the very few to survive the Nazi occupation of Salonica, the ancient Greek city where he was born.

Dr. Albert Bourla, the CEO of Pfizer, was asked whether – because of Covid –  he would be travelling to Israel to accept his $1 million prize from President Isaac Herzog at a ceremony in Jerusalem to be held on June 29, to which he replied with an engaging smile:

 “Well, there is the incentive for me to work even harder.”

And work hard he has.

Not only has the Pfizer vaccine protected tens of millions of people around the world and prevented even more, from suffering severe illness or even death from the coronavirus infection, it may have also saved the global economy.

The Pfizer CEO took over at the 173-year-old pharma giant just a year before the pandemic when the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 surfaced. When Bourla was confronted about taking on the world-crippling coronavirus, there wasn’t the vaccine technology yet for the job that lay ahead, but he trusted his scientists. 

Disappointed but Undeterred. While “disappointed” during 2020 by COVID vaccine rhetoric, Pfizer CEO Bourla wrote that Pfizer is “moving at the speed of science,” driven by the deadliness of the disease and urgent need for a vaccine. 

It was here that Israel’s Genesis committee recognized Dr. Bourla for his “leadership, determination, and especially for his willingness to assume great risks”. Unlike CEOs of most other major companies working on developing COVID-19 vaccines, Dr. Bourla declined billions of dollars in US federal subsidies in order to avoid government bureaucracy and expedite development and production of the vaccine. As a result, Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine was ready in record time –  MONTHS instead of YEARS!

However, let us remember that if Hitler had his diabolical way,   the health of the world today would not be so secure.

Born in Thessaloniki, Greece, Dr. Bourla was raised in a family that faced the horrors of the Holocaust first-hand. His parents were among only 2,000 survivors out of a once-thriving, ancient Jewish community of 50,000, almost completely wiped out by the Nazis.

Precious Few. The parents of Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla were among only 2,000 of Salonika’s once-thriving Jewish community to survive the Holocaust.

A year ago on January 27th for International Holocaust Remembrance Day, Dr. Bourla joined the Sephardic Heritage International where he shared his Greek Sephardic family’s story of tragedy and survival.

“My father’s family, like so many others, had been forced from their homes and taken to a crowded house within one of the Jewish ghettos. It was a house they had to share with several other Jewish families. They could circulate in and out of the ghetto as long as they were wearing the yellow star.

But one day in March 1943, the ghetto was surrounded by occupational forces and the exit was blocked. My father and his brother (my uncle) were outside when it happened. Their father (my grandfather) met them outside, told them what was happening and asked them to leave the ghetto and hide because he had to go back inside as his wife and two other children were home. So later that day, my grandfather, Abraham Bourla, his wife Rachel, his daughter Graziella and his youngest son David were taken to a camp outside the train station and from there, left for Auschwitz. My father and uncle never saw them again.”

He explained how his father and uncle were able to escape to Athens. Thanks to local police who were helping Jews escape from the Nazis, they were able to obtain fake IDs with Christian names.

“When the Germans had left, they went back to Thessaloniki and found that all of their property and belongings had been stolen or sold. With nothing to their name, they started from scratch, becoming partners at a successful liquor business that they ran together until they both retired.”

Greek Tragedy. The Greek city of Thessaloniki  (Salonika) under occupation by German troops. Bourla’s parents were among only 2,000 survivors out of  a once-thriving, ancient Jewish community of 50,000 that survived the Holocaust.

Then followed Bourla relating the harrowing story of his mother who was also saved in miraculous circumstances. 

So well-known in the town, she was afraid to venture outside her house for fear of being recognized on the street and turned over to the Germans. She essentially stayed at home “24 hours a day“, said Bourla.

However, on one of her rare ventures outside, she was recognised and forcibly escorted to a local prison.

“My Christian uncle, my mother’s brother-in-law, Costas de Madis approached a Nazi official and paid him a ransom in exchange for a promise that my mother would be spared.

However, my mother’s sister, my aunt, didn’t trust the Germans. So she would go to the prison every day at noon to watch as they loaded the truck of prisoners. One day, her fear had been realised, and my mom was put on the truck. She ran home and told her husband, who then called the Nazi official and reminded him of their agreement – who said he would look into it. That night was the longest night in my aunt and uncle’s life because they knew that next morning, my Mom would likely be executed.    

The next day, my Mom was lined up with other prisoners against a brick wall. And moments before she would have been executed, a German soldier on a motorcycle arrived and handed some papers to the men in charge of the firing squad. They removed my mother from the line. As they rode away, my Mom could hear the machine gun slaughtering those that were left behind. Two or three days later, she was released from prison after the Germans left Greece.”

Eight years after narrowly escaping death, Bourla’s parents met by way of matchmaking and were married.

“My father had two dreams – one, that I would become a scientist and two, that I would marry a nice Jewish girl. I’m happy to say he lived long enough to see both dreams come true.”

Afraim Katzir, Director of the Sephardic Heritage International, said at the time that “It is very inspiring that it is the son of Holocaust survivors who is on the front line of fighting the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

A year and more variants of covid later, the Genesis committee recognised the role of Bourla in leading the development of a COVID-19 vaccine and will be awarding him $1 million in prize money.

A Light unto the Nations. This year’s virtual lighting of the Chanukah candles at Israel’s embassy in Washington, D.C., was led by Albert Bourla.

And what does Bourla intend to do with this money? He is donating it to projects aimed at preserving the memory of the victims of the Holocaust, with a particular emphasis on the tragedy suffered by the Greek Jewish community.

In welcoming Dr. Albert Bourla to the distinguished family of Genesis Prize Laureates, Co-Founder and Chairman of The Genesis Prize Foundation Stan Polovets said that:

 “Dr. Bourla personifies two of the most fundamental Jewish values: the commitment to the sanctity of life and to repairing the world.  And while the pandemic is far from over, millions of people are alive and healthy because of what Dr. Bourla and his team at Pfizer have accomplished.”

So while Dr. Bourla is praised for his services in fighting Corona,  2021 was recorded at the most antisemitic year in the last decade, fueled by the very pandemic he was fighting against. Even in in his native Greece, which should have taken pride in Bourla’s achievements, there were those in media that instead perverted the facts in order to fuel antisemitism.

The Good, Bad and the Ugly. Pfizer CEO albert Bourla was attacked by a Greek newspaper –  the Makeleio daily  – with horrific antisemitic Nazi tropes. November 10, 2020. (Courtesy/Central Board of Jewish Communities in Greece via JTA)

There was Bourla educated at the university in Salonika and who after graduation joined Pfizer in Greece to begin his steady climb through the executive ranks of the multinational corporation and is generally credited with driving the company to develop the two-shot COVID vaccine in record time, and what do they do?

Following in November 2020 the welcome announcement by Pfiser of promising results in clinical trials, Greece’s Makeleio newspaper claimed that “Bourla is evil” and the vaccine that “Pfizer is working on is actually deadly.” The paper juxtaposed a photograph of Bourla with that of Nazi war criminal Dr. Josef Mengele, who conducted gruesome experiments on Jewish prisoners. Albert Bourla wants to “stick the needle” into Greeks, delivering what the paper described as “poison” in the guise of a vaccine.

Despite some criticism from the Greek Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs calling it “most vile anti-Semitism reminiscent of the Middle Ages”, the unrepentant newspaper responded by publishing another hate-filled article three days later, describing Bourla as a “Greek Jew” who was under the control of a sinister-sounding “Israel Council”.

In its annual report on the eve of Israel’s Holocaust Remembrance Day 2021, Tel Aviv University’s Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry found that antisemitic conspiracy theories blossomed as soon as the coronavirus began spreading around the world in February 2020.

According to its report, the false theories circulating went on the lines as follows:

Jews and Israelis created and spread the virus so that they could rescue the world with lucrative vaccines.

The report said:

“The advent of the vaccines, coupled with Israel’s vast vaccination campaign, assisted by Israelis and Jews who hold prominent positions in the companies that produce these vaccines (such as Tal Zaks, Chief Medical Officer at Moderna, and Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla), was used to reinforce these accusations: Israelis and Jews join hands so that Israel may be the first to recover from the pandemic, while the rest of the world stands in line and begs the Jews for help.”

Writing on the Wall. Anti-Semitic graffiti scrawled in a UK stairwell in this undated photo juxtaposes Holocaust imagery with the current coronavirus crisis. (Community Security Trust)

Contrast the hate of the antisemites with the words of the Genesis Prize recipient, which explains not only Jewish survival but why an unappreciated world is forever enriched by Jewish survival:

Says Bourla:

“I was brought up in a Jewish family who believed that each of us is only as strong as the bonds of our community; and that we are all called upon by God to repair the world. I look forward to being in Jerusalem to accept this honour in person, which symbolizes the triumph of science and a great hope for our future.”


IsraelPresidentIsaacHerzog
Israel President Isaac Herzog

Watch the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s global program, in partnership with The King Hamad Global Centre for Peaceful Coexistence, featuring leaders and peacemakers from the Gulf, Indonesia, Israel, and the United States, commemorating International Holocaust Remembrance Day.






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Respect for Freedoms

Israel scores high on Freedom House Global Score

By Bev Goldman

“Freedom House works to defend human rights and promote democratic change, with a focus on political rights and civil liberties. We act as a catalyst for freedom through a combination of analysis, advocacy, and action. Our analysis, focused on 13 central issues, is underpinned by our international program work.”

Freedom House is a non-profit NGO that conducts research and advocacy on democracy, political freedom, and human rights in countries across the globe. Founded in October 1941, its first honorary chairpersons were Wendell Willkie, the 1940 Republican nominee for President of the USA, and Eleanor Roosevelt, former and longest-serving first lady of the USA; and it is founded on the core conviction that freedom flourishes in democratic nations where governments are accountable to their people.

A Force for Freedom. A central figure among Freedom House’s early leaders was First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt seen here holding up the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights in November 1949. Eleanor Roosevelt was a strong supporter of Israel from that nation’s founding in 1948 until her death in 1962.

In analysing the countries, Freedom House speaks out against the main threats to democracy while encouraging citizens to exercise their fundamental rights through a unique combination of analysis, advocacy, and offering direct support to frontline defenders of freedom, especially those working in closed authoritarian societies. 

As an independent watchdog organization, its research and analysis focus on the progress and decline of freedom across the globe by empowering human rights defenders and civic activists to advance democratic change.

The 2020 Freedom House Annual Report on Israel is impartial, objective and candid, acknowledging the government’s faults but giving credit wherever it is due, and presenting a picture which to Israel’s enemies would be anathema, but to those who recognise her strengths, it is factual and accurate.

The report begins with an introduction, followed by rigorous analysis of the issues on which they focus: 

“Israel is a multiparty democracy with strong and independent institutes that guarantee political rights and civil liberties for most of the population. Although the judiciary is comparatively active in protecting minority rights, the political leadership and many in society have discriminated against Arab and other ethnic or religious minority populations, resulting in systemic disparities in areas including political representation, criminal justice, education, and economic opportunity.”

The coverage then focuses on the topic of free and fair elections. The report notes that the Central Elections Committee (CEC), which is composed of delegations representing the various political groups in the Knesset and chaired by a Supreme Court judge, guarantees the fairness and integrity of elections, and acknowledges that they are generally peaceful and orderly with results accepted by all parties.

Regarding political pluralism and participation, the reports delineates Israel’s multiparty system as “diverse” and “competitive” but adds that parties or candidates that deny Israel’s Jewish character, oppose democracy, or incite racism are prohibited.  It then includes comments by critics of the 2016 law – which allows the removal of any members who incite racism or support armed struggle against the state of Israel with a three-quarters majority vote – alleging that it is aimed at silencing Arab representatives.

Vibrant Voting. Israel’s “diverse” and “competitive” national elections always attract high turnouts. Seen here are people casting their ballot at a voting station in Jerusalem on March 2, 2020 in an election that at the end of voting, the committee put turnout at 71%. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The report illustrates the fact that while women generally enjoy full political rights in law and in practice, they are somewhat underrepresented in leadership positions and can encounter additional obstacles in parties and communities – both Jewish and Arab – that are associated with religious or cultural conservatism.

It discusses further that Arab residents of East Jerusalem have the option of obtaining Israeli citizenship in order to be allowed to vote, though most decline for political reasons. While these non-citizens are entitled to vote in municipal as well as Palestinian Authority (PA) elections, most of them have traditionally boycotted Israeli municipal balloting.

The report observes that Israel’s basic laws are considered equivalent to a constitution (which the country does not have). It adds that in 2018, the Knesset adopted a new “basic law” – the Nation-State Law – which granted only to Jewish people the right to exercise self-determination in the State of Israel. Those opposing it, according to further research done, claimed that it created a framework for the erosion of non-Jewish citizens’ political and civil rights.

This report was released before the election of the current coalition and stated that no Arab party had ever been formally included in a governing coalition, nor did Arabs generally serve in senior positions in government. But the current government under Naftali Bennett is the first to include an independent Arab Israeli party as an official member of the governing coalition. How things change!

History in the Making. An Arab dentist, Mansour Abbas, leader of the Islamist party  Ra’am, emerged as the “Kingmaker” in the 2020 Israel election and made history by ensuring for the first time an Arab party joined a governing coalition.

Israel’s laws, political practices, civil society groups and independent media are recognised as generally ensuring a significant level of governmental transparency, though corruption cases are not infrequent and high-level corruption investigations are regularly held. Israel’s judiciary is especially lauded in the report for its independence and its regular rulings against the government. As an addendum to this, the Supreme Court is verified as having played a crucial role in protecting minority groups and overturning decisions by the government and the parliament when they threaten human rights; and court rulings are almost always adhered to by the State, involving both Israeli citizens and Palestinian residents of the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

Moving forward, the report commends Israel’s media as being among the most vibrant and free of any country. But while criticism of government policy is uninhibited, vociferous, candid, and forthright, the rules differ for print articles on security matters which are routinely subject to a military censor. Security considerations are behind the action of the Government Press Office which withholds press cards from journalists to restrict them from entering Israel. While a law passed in 2017 allows police and prosecutors to obtain court orders to block websites publishing criminal or offensive content, the report acknowledges that freedom of expression advocates are concerned that the same law could suppress legitimate speech if applied indiscriminately.

The report applauds Israel’s commendable respect for total freedom of religion, notwithstanding the fact that the country defines itself as a Jewish state. In matters of marriage, divorce and burial, Christian, Muslim, and Baha’i communities have jurisdiction over their own members, but it mentions that while the Orthodox govern personal status matters among Jews, this power they wield is often objected to by many non-Orthodox and secular Jews. It is also revealed that while the law further protects the religious sites of non-Jewish groups, the latter face discrimination in the allocation of state resources.

Mention is made of the ever-present security concerns in Israel which forced Israeli authorities to set varying limits on access to the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif in East Jerusalem in recent years, affecting worshippers across the broader area. However, in 2018 the government lifted restrictions on Jewish lawmakers visiting the site, restrictions that had been in place for nearly three years, a move much approved of by the citizens.

Jitters in Jerusalem. Freedom of worship is guaranteed in Israel but becomes problematic when praying at places held sacred to both religions as seen with Israeli security forces standing guard, as a group of Jews visit the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa) compound in Jerusalem, on July 18, 2021. (AHMAD GHARABLI / AFP)

With reference to education, all primary and secondary education is national but is divided into multiple public-school systems (state, state-religious, Haredi, and Arabic). A law passed in 2018 bans groups that favour legal action abroad against Israeli soldiers, or that otherwise undermine state educational goals by criticizing the military, from entering Israeli schools or interacting with students.

Israel’s universities are celebrated as being open to all students and have long been vocal centres for argument, protest, and discord; but again, security concerns have resulted in restricted movement and limited access for West Bank and Gaza residents/students. 

Campus Freedom. A clear show of tolerance and freedom, it is no problem for hundreds of Israeli Arab students to demonstrate against Israel on “Nakba Day” at Tel Aviv University.  Arab students registered at Tel Aviv University comprise about 14.5% of the total number of registered students. (Photo: Al Ittihad).

The report refers to the persistent threat of small-scale terrorist attacks in Israel which usually involve stabbings or vehicle onslaughts; and this is combined with ongoing rocket and artillery fire from Syria and the Gaza Strip. While Israeli soldiers are always on alert, trying to obtain the truth from the terrorists, the report adds that while the Supreme Court banned torture in a 1999 ruling, it said that “physical coercion might be permissible during interrogations in cases involving an imminent threat. Human rights organizations accuse the authorities of continuing to use psychological threats and pressure, painful binding, and humiliation.”

Freedom of assembly in Israel permits protests and demonstrations which are typically peaceful. However, some protest activities – such as desecration of the flag of Israel or a friendly country – are seen as criminal acts and draw serious criminal penalties.

Education for All. The number of Arab students in Israeli universities grows 78% in 7 years. Seen here are Arab Israeli students at the campus of Givat Ram at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
 

Regarding NGOs, particularly those engaged in human rights – and governance-related work, the report observes that a 2016 law states that NGOs that receive more than half of their funding from foreign governments must disclose this fact publicly. The measure mainly affects groups associated with the political left that oppose Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians. But foreign funding for right-leaning groups that support Jewish settlements in the West Bank, for example, more often comes from private sources.

The report deals with additional issues including freedom for labour organisations; due process in criminal and civil cases; freedom of movement; personal and social freedoms; equal treatment of all sectors of society; and equality of opportunity and freedom from economic exploitation among others. However, they were not covered because of space constraints.

True Colours. A clear image of freedom and liberalism is Israel’s annual Pride Parades that attract hundreds of thousands of people from across the world. The parades are the largest in Asia and the Middle East. (photo:Guy Yechiely)

The final summation awarded Israel 73 out of a possible 100 points on the Freedom House Global Score, acknowledging it to be a free state, one of 77 out of 196. Included in those not free, with very low results (some in brackets), are Algeria, China (9), Egypt, Gaza Strip (11), Iran (16), Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Liberia, Oman, Qatar, Russia, Saudi Arabia (7), South Sudan (2), Sudan, Syria (1), Turkey, UAE, West Bank and Yemen. All Israel’s enemies.

The results speak for themselves.


About the writer:

Bev Goldman national president of the Union of  Jewish Women South Africa (UJW), worked for many years in education and journalism, and she holds a master’s degree in Feminist Literature. Prior to joining the SA Zionist Federation where she dealt with media and education for 12 years, she was the editor of the ‘Who’s Who’ of Southern Africa; a member of WordWize which taught English language skills to Russian and Polish immigrants in South Africa; an occasional lecturer in English at RAU (now the University of Johannesburg); and Director of Educational Programmes at Allenby In-Home Studies.  Currently, she runs the Media Team Israel for the SA Zionist Federation; she sits on the Board of Governors of the Rabbi Cyril Harris Community Centre (RCHCC); she is an executive member of the International Council of Jewish Women (ICJW); and she edits and proofs Masters and PhD dissertations.





While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).

Robbie’s Story

Surviving cancer – a personal account from South Africa to Israel

By Robbie Eddles

I am now 20 years old.

My journey with cancer was an eleven-year intermittent battle, due to two relapses. It began in 2008, when I was almost 7- years-old and I was diagnosed with Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), a type of cancer of the blood and bone marrow that affects white blood cells.  It appeared as a lump on the left side of my groin. At first, the lump was small, and our doctor examined me, but didn’t appear too worried as she just advised my parents to keep an eye on it.  However, the growth grew larger, and our doctor referred us to a paediatrician. 

A biopsy was performed, and the results were shocking; I had Leukaemia.  I started treatment, chemotherapy and after a very long and difficult battle, I was finally in remission and then I completed two years of maintenance treatment.  I was cured, there was no trace of cancer in my bone marrow.

Or so we all thought…

Five years later, in January 2014, at the age of 13, I had an unrelated MRI scan, which showed unexpected signs of leukemia. Another biopsy was performed, which confirmed that my leukemia had returned and that I had relapsed. We were all distraught and devastated at the news and I was shattered that I had to go through the stringent regime of chemotherapy again. It was during this relapse that my oncologist told me I would need a bone marrow transplant.  High dose chemotherapy started, and I had to endure all the side effects as a teenager, which included high risks of infection, isolation, nausea and vomiting, changes in smell and taste, mucositis, hair loss and fatigue. At the end of it, I was thankfully in remission once again. A worldwide search for a bone marrow donor started but no donor match was found. I had reached remission, I was clear of cancer, perhaps a transplant wasn’t necessary.

Or so we all thought… again…

Robbie’s Road to Recovery. Surrounded by his South African family, young Robbie Eddles (left) at Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Hashomer.

Another 5 years passed, and at the end of January 2019, when I was 17 years old, I got extremely sick. I felt extraordinarily tired and was very pale.  My mom took me for blood tests. The blood results indicated that I was anaemic, with very low red and white blood cells. I was immediately hospitalised for further investigation to determine the diagnosis.  I had been in remission for 5 years, so no one suspected a relapse.  I had been on a school trip to India, and I had also swum in the Tugela River, the largest river in South Africa’s  KwaZulu-Natal Province. We thought that perhaps I had caught a bug from the river. 

Shockingly, it turned out to be a second relapse with the same Leukaemia.   Chemotherapy options had now run out and my oncologist had to start the process of looking for a bone marrow donor.

No match was found!  

Next destination – Israel.

A treatment called CAR-T therapy was offered in Israel and my doctor consulted with the Israeli oncology team and they accepted me as a patient.  Two weeks later my Mom and I travelled to Israel as I had to urgently start the treatment. I experienced severe side effects, but they managed to get me back into remission. Remission meant I could have a haplo transplant (from a family member that is not a perfect match).  This is a relatively new treatment, which has only been available in South Africa since 2014.  My eldest sister was my closest familial match. 

Right Track. Robbie and mother, Gilly Eddles, at Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Hashomer outside Tel Aviv.

After months of recovery, some minor Graft vs. Host disease in December of 2019 and two years post-transplant, I am back to full health and strength.  I am no longer in fear of having a relapse.

I consider myself as extremely fortunate because I had access to the CAR-T treatment.  My South African doctors, the fantastic Israeli doctors, my transplant doctor, my oncologist, and my sister saved my life.

To my parents, family, and friends, thank you for giving me strength, courage, and wisdom to face cancer.  Thank you for all the sacrifices you made, for never giving up on me.  I love you with all my heart and I am grateful l am yours.

Sight Seeing. Time out from treatment in Israel, Robbie enjoying a scooter ride in Jaffa.

I went to this amazing city-like medical centre, Sheba Medical Centre in Tel Hashomer outside of Tel Aviv. The staff – the doctors, nurses and the social worker – were incredible. They were very kind, friendly and hospitable. I also managed to go out and see the beautiful and historical cities and places, such as Jaffa, Tel-Aviv, Caesarea, and Jerusalem. I am so thankful to the staff, for all that they did for me and to the doctors for clearing my bone marrow of Leukemia, which allowed me to have a transplant.

I will always have fond memories of Israel and it will always hold a special place within my heart.





About the writer:

Having experienced much of his young life receiving treatment for cancer, Robbie Eddles is today 20 years-old, living with his family in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa and is currently preparing for his final matriculation examination. 






While the mission of Lay of the Land (LotL) is to provide a wide and diverse perspective of affairs in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world, the opinions, beliefs and viewpoints expressed by its various writers are not necessarily ones of the owners and management of LOTL but of the writers themselves.  LotL endeavours to the best of its ability to credit the use of all known photographs to the photographer and/or owner of such photographs (0&EO).