A shofar message for Doron Almog

Image Source

On August 16, 2022, Doron Almog took the helm of the Jewish Agency.  

Since his nomination for that position, on June 16, 2022, Almog has been hailed as an Israeli hero. Here is the Times of Israel summarizing his claim to that status:   

Almog, 71, a past head of the Israel Defense Forces’ Southern Command, dedicated his life after leaving the military to running a widely lauded rehabilitation village in the Negev desert for people with physical and mental disabilities. ADI Negev-Nahalat Eran is named for his son Eran, who had severe autism and physical disabilities before his death in 2007... [Times of Israel, August 21, 2022]

Since then, hardly a week goes by without a news item about Almog and the Jewish Agency. They have all been unadulterated hagiographies. And occasionally when no such report appeared, he - or his staff - seem to have produced their own. 

So it's fair to predict that some will be enflamed by what I have to say about him.

Almog oversees two large, closed institutions (one of which he founded) named ADI, for people with disabilities ranging from infancy to young adulthood. Its motto: "It’s all in the name: ADI celebrates ability at every level, promotes diversity and insists on inclusion."

He does so despite growing global opposition to institutionalization of this population. 

And he does so despite the recent passage of a new Israeli law that, once implemented, promises to begin the mass transfer of people with disabilities out of the sort of warehouses that Almog champions.

One would have hoped that Yom Kippur and the self examination it encourages would stir Almog to reconsider this major "life achievement" of his. It doesn't seem so when you read his latest op ed, replete with content like this:

"After honoring my late brother Eran who was killed in battle during the Yom Kippur War and my late son, Eran, who was born with severe disabilities, my life philosophy has always been to never leave anyone behind. This applies to my approach regarding aliyah as well. That is because how we treat the vulnerable among us reflects our morality as a society... The absorption of olim should be a national responsibility... We must continue to work, in accordance with the government of Israel, to reunite families and bring olim home, no matter where they are in the world. It is also our obligation to ensure that Ethiopian olim become the absolute best version of themselves. It is what they deserve and what Israeli society needs." ["A full-circle journey: Bringing Ethiopian Jewry home", Times of Israel Blogs, September 28, 2022]

I would remind Almog that much of what he promises to deliver to our new olim has never been provided to our "most vulnerable" as he refers to our population with disabilities.

"Absorption", "reuniting families", is also a national obligation toward those with disabilities who are taken from their families and locked up in large, isolated, closed institutions because the government refuses to provide for their needs at home.  

I am not alone in this assessment. 

Recently an employee at ADI Negev visited (infiltrated?) one of the Whatsapp groups in which I am active. It's designated for people with disabilities, their families and activists in the field.  She said she was soliciting employment as an aide for people with disabilities. But she added her view of ADI Negev: 

"I am referring to ADI Negev, the Rehabilitation Village, a wonderful place for any age with one on one projects and programs." [My translation of the Hebrew source]

And after she received negative responses re ADI, she wrote:

"First of all I didn't request opinions about ADI Negev. The place is not a fortress. It is actually a village, suitable and pleasant for residents happy with many programs and choice and they create gift (sic) and go out and more. I am only asking that if any of you are seeking a worker, for independence with individuals, approach me." [Again, my translation from Hebrew]

Naama Lermer, a disabilities-rights attorney and founder of Hatnu'ah L'atzma'ut ("The Movement for Independence") and formerly of Bizchut, then posted to the same Whatsapp group in response [again my translation of the Hebrew source]:

I know ADI Negev well. I visited there more than once . It's an institution in every sense of the word. Many groups of residents with disabilities. With a uniform daily schedule. Without any real connection to the community. Some of them are cut off from their families because their families live very far away. People who won't experience what it's like to lick an ice cream in an ice cream shop in the mall. To buy clothes in a clothing store. To get on a train and see the view. Adults who spend most of the day sitting with construction games or children's toys. And it's sad. I wouldn't want to live like that. I wouldn't want my children to live like that. So I don't wish that on anyone else. I want more than creative works and children's games for them. I want more than a clean, tidy place. I want a real life for them. Even if their disabilities are very present."

Many of us have just heard the shofar blown at the close of Yom Kippur prayers. In his New York Times op ed this week, the former chief Rabbi of Moscow, Pinchas Goldschmidt, wrote:

And this is perhaps what the shofar, the ram’s horn that Jews blow on the High Holy Days, represents. According to the Bible, the shofar blow is the sound of freedom. It was historically blown at the beginning of the jubilee year — the year that freed all slaves and returned all sold ancestral property. The sound of the shofar blow is meant to remind us of both freedom and equality.

Let's hope that message will reach those, like Almog, who persist in their perversion of "freedom and equality" to include the warehousing of citizens with disabilities in institutions.

Waiting for sundown

My daughter Haya awaits the start of Yom Kippur 5783.

To everyone from all of us. May this be a year of good health and joy, a targeted treatment for SCN2A, and the advent of de-institutionalization and in-community living for all citizens!

(I prepared this for posting on Tuesday, the eve of Yom Kippur, but didn't manage to do so before sundown.)

Two thousand days

Click image to enlarge

Today is Day 2,000.

That's how long it has been since our Malki's murderer, Jordanian fugitive Ahlam Aref  Ahmad Al-Tamimi, was indicted by the United States Department of Justice on terror charges ["Individual Charged in Connection With 2001 Terrorist Attack in Jerusalem That Resulted in Death of Americans"].

But she remains free.

The consequent demand that Jordan - where she was born, raised and educated and to which she returned in October 2011 - extradite her to be tried in a US court has been refused by King Abdullah II's regime. 

Never mind that the valid US/Jordan extradition treaty cited by the DOJ was signed and ratified by both countries in 1995. And that Jordan breaches it, according to the State Department.

Never mind that Abdullah's own father, the widely respected King Hussein, formally ratified it, declaring via the use of the Royal "we": 

"We further pledge to carry out its provisions and abide by its Articles, and We, G-d willing, shall not allow its violation. 

Never mind that Tamimi is one of the FBI's Most Wanted Terrorists with a $5 million reward for her capture. (But in reality it's hard to see why any reward is called for since her whereabouts in Jordan are public knowledge.)

It would be hard to find a more egregiously defiant reaction by a purported US ally - an ally that depends on generous, ongoing financial backing from its benefactor totaling close to US$2 billion annually.

Jordan's conduct has been variously ignored, excused or justified by nearly every politician and influencer that we have approached.

That stance crosses the aisle, religious lines and geographical boundaries.

It is shared by many respected Jewish organizations and leaders whom we plan to name at some suitable moment. I am certain many of you will be shocked to learn them.

For now, please... remember, condemn and rage with us against this travesty of justice.

Pushing buttons

Over the past two years I've accumulated what is undoubtedly an impressive collection of button-push-toys. Each produces a wide range of animal calls, musical scores, automobile and instrumental sounds. 

Some even light up - an irrelevant perk for us, of course, with Haya cortically blind.

A few were inexpensive, others not so. But none has suited Haya and they have been relegated to the grandchildren's toy collection.

A few were inexpensive, others not so. But none has suited Haya and they have all been relegated to the grandchildren's toy collection.

So I have continued hunting for the ideal one. 

Here below is my latest acquisition which cost me a whopping 20 shekels, about US $6. (Well, that's without batteries, but still rates as a bargain IMHO). 

Haya has been working on reaching for the buttons and pressing them to trigger a sound. 

As the video clip shows, Haya's rather adept at stretching out her fingers but pressing down is often still a challenge.

Beside my daughter's grave today

Malki and me, Jerusalem, 1993 

I spoke at the graveside Azkara ceremony today, the anniversary according to the Hebrew calendar of the day we lost our daughter Malki הי"ד to the monsters who bombed the Sbarro pizzeria. The text below is translated from the Hebrew in which I addressed the family and friends who attended.

* * *

For most, the terror attack that robbed us of our precious Malki and [her close friend] Michal is relegated to history.

But for their loved ones, it is as vivid and deeply painful as it was 21 years ago.

While at past azkarot [memorial services] we said we didn’t believe there will be any nechama [comfort, respite], this year we can declare that in fact there wasn't and isn't any.

I have been combing through old papers that were stashed away at the time of our move from another part of Jerusalem where we lived for the past thirty years to where we now live.

In the storage room, I found a collection of scores of notes that Malki had left to me, and to other members of our family, most of them tucked under the challah cover on Friday evenings.

I force myself to read a few. Each one is a fresh stab at my heart. 

Each one reminds me again of Malki's love, generosity, warmth and empathy.

Here is one from when she was little:

לאמא המקסימה!

אמא! תודה רבה על כל ההשקעה שהשקעת בי כל השנים הללו מכשהיית בהריון איתי ועעעעדדדד היום.

א - ותך אוהבת לעולמים

מ - ימך קיבלתי את כל הצרכים

א - מא אחרת לא מוצאים

אני אוהבת אותך ככה ------ הרבה.

מבתך,

מלכי

To my mag-nif-i-cent Mom!

Mommy! Thank you so much for all that you've invested in me all these years from when you were pregnant with me uuuuntil today.....

I - love you forever
F - rom you I have received all my needs
A - nother mother cannot be found!
I love you this ---- much 
From your daughter,
Malki

A couple of them remind me that she was a normal child with a full range of children's emotions including anger and resentment.

Tragically, I can't right those wrongs now. The only thing I can do for her is continue our fight to attain the elusive justice for which her blood cries out.

That travesty too is now deemed history by most others but for us it is fresh, painful and demanding of action .

Let's hope it will be rectified sooner than we anticipate.

Mourning the loss of our doctor and friend

Dr Greenfield recites one of the seven traditional blessings

under the huppah of our daughter's wedding in 2010

Dr. Geoffrey Greenfield, who was our children's pediatrician since our aliyah in 1988, passed away two weeks ago here in Jerusalem. An obituary appeared on August 10, 2022 in the Los Angeles Times.

He was unsurpassed in his devotion, medical knowledge and diagnostic skill. He was also incredibly warm, friendly and interesting. 

He never limited his conversations with us to the medical matter at hand but chatted about wide-ranging, captivating topics. Often he shared personal anecdotes. 

He related to us his vacations climbing mountain ranges in the United States. 

He told us about the concerts he organized in private homes for Russian immigrant musicians in the early years of the Soviet immigration to Israel when many of them were struggling financially. 

Geoffrey - he insisted we call him by his first name - was himself a proficient flautist and pianist.

On several occasions when our children were hospitalized, he appeared unannounced at their bedsides. 

He once brought one of our daughters who spent weeks at a time in hospital a disc of Etti Ankari's songs.

When our children reached adulthood, (actually when they were well into their twenties) he requested that they switch to a family physician which they reluctantly did. But we pleaded that he continue caring for Haya, our severely disabled child, even after she aged out of pediatric care. And he agreed.

When he retired suddenly in January 2022, all we knew was that he was having pains that prevented him from working. I emailed him immediately to convey our thanks for all he had done for us and our children and our regret that he had left his practice. He never responded. 

We later learned that immediately after retiring, his condition deteriorated and he was hospitalized for long months until he passed away.

We miss him terribly and I am certain we always will. יהי זכרו ברוך.

Tail wags dog: How does Jordan keep getting away with it?

Via Twitter

While we note our Malki's departure from this world on the 20th day of the Hebrew month of Av which this year falls on Wednesday, August 17, 2022, we mark today - August 9 - as the secular anniversary of the Sbarro bombing in which she perished.

 
It has also become the day when Arnold and I note the injustice with which we are grappling: Ahlam Tamimi, the Hamas operative responsible for the Sbarro massacre that snuffed out 15 precious Jewish lives remains... free!

She publicly boasts of her guilt or, to quote her, of "my operation". She has been indicted by the United States Department of Justice. Her extradition from Jordan, her home and refuge, has been demanded by the US under a valid 1995 extradition treaty with Jordan. She is an FBI Most Wanted Terrorist and has a $5 million reward posted for her capture.

 
Yet despite the open-and-shut nature of this case, Arnold and I find it near impossible to win the support of influencers: neither Democrats nor Republicans, neither Jews nor non-Jews, neither Americans nor Israelis. 

All are caught in the thrall of Jordan's dictator, a.k.a. King Abdullah II, whose impoverished regime refuses to extradite this monster.

 
A minor player on the global geo-political stage, under constant internal threat, hanging on to power by his fingernails and by repression ("Jordan is unfree"), Abdullah enjoys massive cash support and unadulterated reverence from all.

 
Why? 

Why is this tail able to wag the dog incessantly? Why does everyone we encounter sing his praises?

Of course, there is no shortage of lame excuses fed to us for this travesty of justice. But the truth remains elusive.

So, on this anniversary of the Sbarro massacre please join us in our grief and fury and ponder what can be done to right this egregious wrong.