“It is a Land that the Lord your God seeks out; the eyes of the Lord your God, are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year.”
DEUTERONOMY (11:12)
אֶרֶץ אֲשֶׁר יְ-הוָה אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ דֹּרֵשׁ אֹתָהּ תָּמִיד עֵינֵי יְ-הוָה אֱ-לֹהֶיךָ בָּהּ מֵרֵשִׁית הַשָּׁנָה וְעַד אַחֲרִית שׁנה
(Transliteration of Hebrew below)
Hebrew Lesson and About the Photo
Eretz asher Ado-nai E-lohekha doresh o’tah tameed ei’nei Ado-nai E-lohekha bah mei’reisheet hashana v’ad achareet shana.
We wanted to start Israel365 by saying “Hello” in Hebrew based on a lesson from today’s verse. This verse contains the one time that the Bible goes beyond mentioning God’s divine attributes and specifies what He actually does each day: checks in with the Land of Israel, leed-ROHSH. In Biblical Hebrew, the verb לִדְרוֹש (leed-ROHSH) means to summon or to elicit and is often used in the phrase דרישת שלום (see Deuteronomy 23:7) meaning to ask about their well-being (literally, peace). In modern Hebrew, if you would like to send regards to your friend Michael, you would say, תִּמְסוֹר דְּרִישַׁת שָׁלוֹם לְמִיכָאֵל (teem-SOHR deh-ree-SHAHT shah-LOHM leh-mee-khah-EL) – literally, elicit peace to Michael. So as begin a New Year together, דרישת שלום לכלכם (dree-SHAT sha-LOM li-kool-CHEM) – Blessings of Peace to everyone!
Hebrew lesson from Ulpan LaInyan at http://ktzat-ivrit.ulpan.com
About Today’s Photo
Photograph of a flowering peach orchard in the community of Bat Ayin, in the Judean Mountains just south of Jerusalem, by Yehoshua Halevi. Bat Ayin hosts an archaeological site dating back the the Bar Kochba period, and ancient terraces and natural springs which surround the community. All who visit Bat Ayin are struck by the beautiful vistas, the peaceful surroundings, the ancient holy quality of the Land, and the profound level of devotion and spirituality of the people who live there.
Yehoshua Halevi is a Jerusalem-based photojournalist, event photographer, teacher, writer and trekking guide. To see more of his work, visit www.goldenlightimages.com
Did you Know?
The Jewish New Year’s is not January 1, but Rosh Hashana because the “Jewish calendar is lunar, with each month beginning at the new moon, when the first sliver of moon becomes visible.” The problem with this system is that the lunar calendar is 19 days shorter than the solar one and so, “as a consequence, Jewish festivities, though celebrated on the same day of the Jewish calendar every year, fluctuate with regard to the Gregorian calendar, hence Pesach (Passover), Rosh Hashana (the Jewish New Year) or Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) may be “coming early this year” or on the contrary “coming late this year.” In other words, like the Israelis themselves, they are never on time!” From “Israel for Beginners” by Angelo Colorni http://gefenpublishing.com
Today in Israel’s History
In 1927, Zionist essayist and thinker, Asher Ginsberg, whose Hebrew pen name was Achad Ha’am (Hebrew: אחד העם, lit. one of the people, Genesis 26:10) passed away in Tel Aviv. Born in 1856 near Kiev, to a Hasidic family, Ginsberg lived in England from 1906 until he made Aliyah in 1921. While living in England, he managed the Wissotzky Tea Company and worked with Chaim Weizmann negotiating the Balfour Declaration. Unlike Theodore Herzl, the founder of political Zionism, Ahad Ha’am strived for cultural Zionism, “a Jewish state and not merely a state of Jews.” His unique contribution was to emphasize the importance of reviving Hebrew and Jewish culture, something that was recognized only belatedly, when it became part of the Zionist program after 1898. Herzl did not have much use for Hebrew, and many wanted German to be the language of the Jewish state. Ahad Ha’am played an important role in cementing a link between the proposed Jewish state and Hebrew culture. Today in Israel, many cities have Ahad Ha’am streets named for this Zionist legend.