The Third Temple – Dayenu

Dayenu

From the Pesach Haggadah How many levels of favors has the Omnipresent One bestowed upon us:

If He had brought us out from Egypt, and had not carried out judgments against them Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had carried out judgments against them, and not against their idols Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had destroyed their idols, and had not smitten their first-born Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had smitten their first-born, and had not given us their wealth Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had given us their wealth, and had not split the sea for us Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had split the sea for us, and had not taken us through it on dry land Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had taken us through the sea on dry land, and had not drowned our oppressors in it Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had drowned our oppressors in it, and had not supplied our needs in the desert for forty years Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had supplied our needs in the desert for forty years, and had not fed us the manna Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had fed us the manna, and had not given us the Shabbat Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had given us the Shabbat, and had not brought us before Mount Sinai Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had brought us before Mount Sinai, and had not given us the Torah Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had given us the Torah, and had not brought us into the land of Israel Dayenu, it would have sufficed us!

If He had brought us into the land of Israel, and had not built for us the Beit Habechirah (Chosen House; the Beit Hamikdash) Dayenu, it would have sufficed us! Historic Omer Barley Offering Held in Jerusalem ט’ז ניסן תשע״ה Counting The Omer ספירת העומר

As you can see from the last line of Dayenu which we say every Pesach (Passover) the Beit Hamikdash is the final step of ending the Exile.

Pesach Tips and Schedule

When Erev Pesach Is Shabbat

Coronavirus and the search for chametz
The Real Hillel Sandwich

Has American Jewry lost their way?

Historic Practice Passover Offering

 


 

God gives the 3rd Temple


daniel hanukayeb-tweet-18April2025-God gives the 3rd Temple
Amen?

daniel hanukayeb-tweet-18April2025-God gives the 3rd Temple

daniel hanukayeb-tweet-18April2025-God gives the 3rd Temple

 

 


 

http://harhakodesh.co.il/ The Har Hakodesh (lit. “The Holy Mountain”) website includes educational material about the history of the Temple Mount, which was the site of the First Temple and Second Temple. The Temples were the focus of divine service for the Jewish nation.

http://harhakodesh.co.il/ The Har Hakodesh (lit. “The Holy Mountain”) website includes educational material about the history of the Temple Mount, which was the site of the First Temple and Second Temple. The Temples were the focus of divine service for the Jewish nation.

From Tomer Devorah: A Jewish website that aims to teach Israelis about the Temple has been met with an angry backlash from the Arab Muslim community.

The Har Hakodesh (lit. “The Holy Mountain”) website includes educational material about the history of the Temple Mount, which was the site of the First Temple and Second Temple. The Temples were the focus of divine service for the Jewish nation.


The site also includes stunning photographs of the Temple Mount, including pictures taken by a non-Jewish photographer from parts of the Mount which Jews may not enter.

And of course; Muslim Anger over Virtual ‘Third Temple’

They need to grow up and to quote Golda MierPeace will come when the Arabs will love their children more than they hate us. 

"בית מקדש שלישי בירושלים Third Beit HaMikdash Holy Temple in Jerusalem; And rebuild Jerusalem the holy city soon in our days! Blessed are You, O Lord, Who will rebuild Jerusalem in His mercy.

“בית מקדש שלישי בירושלים Third Beit HaMikdash Holy Temple in Jerusalem; And rebuild Jerusalem the holy city soon in our days! Blessed are You, O Lord, Who will rebuild Jerusalem in His mercy.

The Temple institute is in a new location.

The Temple Institute’s Holy Temple Visitors Center

Bringing the Awesome World of the Holy Temple to an Unprecedented Level of Understanding The Temple Institute is delighted to announce that after twenty five years of introducing visitors the world over to the sacred vessels of the Holy Temple and the dream, along with the practical measures being taken for rebuilding the Holy Temple, our headquarters are now located in a new, expanded facility, which includes a brand new Visitors Center. Just a few hundred meters from our former location the new center is located just above the Yehudah HaLevy stairs which lead from Jerusalem’s Old City Jewish Quarter down to the Western Wall Plaza facing the Temple Mount.

Efrat Chief Rabbi Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, a Kohen himself, gets measured for his own set of Kohanim garments

Efrat Chief Rabbi Rabbi Shlomo Riskin, a Kohen himself, gets measured for his own set of Kohanim garments

mourning maze Temple Institute.org

mourning maze Temple Institute.org


Historic Omer Barley Offering Held in Jerusalem

ט’ז ניסן תשע״ה On Saturday night/Sunday, the 16th of Nisan 5775, the Temple Institute, in cooperation with the Women on Behalf of the Holy Temple, performed a reenactment and training session for kohanim of the Omer harvesting and offering of the new barley crop in the land of Israel. The Omer offering is a Torah commandment to be performed every year in the Holy Temple. It marks the first day of the fifty day countdown between the start of Passover and the festival of Shavuot commemorating the receiving of Torah at Sinai.


The Passover Recipe That You DON’T Want to Miss!

Tisha B’Av 2013: The Children Are Ready II TEMPLE INSTITUTE

The Children are READY - kohanim children in uniform at the kotel 5782

The Children are READY – kohanim children in uniform at the kotel 5782

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Has American Jewry fallen to this with Pesach פסח (Passover)?

An American Passover Greeting Card 2015 A family was ordering a McDonald's like Clown Passover Happy Meal Voice on Speaker: "Welcome to the Seder Shack. May I take your order?" Father: "Yes, We'll have three Matzo Meals, some Maror Nuggets with the special Seder Sauce, and a SuperSize kosher grape juice shake." Son: "Dad, don't forget the collectible Elijah cation figure!" The Card States: " Passover in the not-so-distant future."

An American Passover Greeting Card 2015 A family was ordering a McDonald’s like Clown Passover Happy Meal Voice on Speaker: “Welcome to the Seder Shack. May I take your order?” Father: “Yes, We’ll have three Matzo Meals, some Maror Nuggets with the special Seder Sauce, and a SuperSize kosher grape juice shake.” Son: “Dad, don’t forget the collectible Elijah cation figure!” The Card States: ” Passover in the not-so-distant future.”

 Of Stead of This for preparations for Pesach פסח (Passover)

Purim Banner

Celebrating Purim

Day After Purim

Day After Purim

Planning for Pesach פסח (Passover) the Day after Purim

Pesach Tips and Schedule

 

Getting ready for Pesach

Getting ready for Pesach

Cleaning for Pesach פסח (Passover). Remove all the Chametz and Don’t forget the Kitchen

Remember: Each individual needs their own Haggadah

Remember: Each individual needs their own Haggadah

Pesach Supermarket Shopping

Shop for Pesach פסח (Passover)

Click to download PDF file Click to Download the Printable Hebrew-English Haggadah-Chabad

Michael Dickson-tweet-16March2023-Passover flavors of Israeli-owned Ben & Jerry’s

Michael Dickson-tweet-16March2023-Passover flavors of Israeli-owned Ben & Jerry’s

Ben and Jerry's-All-Kashrut-Pesach-כל-כשרויות-פסח

Ben and Jerry’s-All-Kashrut-Pesach-כל-כשרויות-פסח

Another reason to make Aliyah!

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Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff, searches for leavened bread, also called chametz, at Chabad of Uptown April 17, 2008 in Houston. The candle is used to search for the chametz, while a feather is used to sweep it in to a wooden spoon. All three items are burned along with the chametz. The burning of leavened bread represents the eradication of the ego and all of the negative energies associated with the ego according to Jewish religious scripture. Pesach, or Passover, celebrates freedom. Egypt represents the limitation of ourselves. The observance of Passover is an exercise in being better today than we were yesterday and unleashing personal boundaries to drive ourselves to perfection. Thursday, April 17, 2008, in HOUSTON. ( Eric Kayne / Chronicle )

Rabbi Chaim Lazaroff, searches for leavened bread, also called chametz, at Chabad of Uptown April 17, 2008 in Houston. The candle is used to search for the chametz, while a feather is used to sweep it in to a wooden spoon. All three items are burned along with the chametz. The burning of leavened bread represents the eradication of the ego and all of the negative energies associated with the ego according to Jewish religious scripture. Pesach, or Passover, celebrates freedom. Egypt represents the limitation of ourselves. The observance of Passover is an exercise in being better today than we were yesterday and unleashing personal boundaries to drive ourselves to perfection.
Thursday, April 17, 2008, in HOUSTON. ( Eric Kayne / Chronicle )

13 Nissan Did you remember to sell your chametz? Your local Chabad rabbi can help, or complete an online “Authorization for the Sale of Chametz” form by clicking here.Search for the chametz after dark (click here for the exact time). Recite the blessing prior to the search, and the nullification of the chametz (Kol Chamira) following the search. Click here for more information on the search and removal of chametz.

checking for Chametz the Night before The day before Pesach פסח (Passover)

Daily Halachic Corner – 110 – CoronaVirus 17- Pesach – Rav Dayan Elgrod!

Burning-Chametz"

Burning-Chametz”

Burning and Nullifying the Chametz the day before Pesach פסח (Passover)

14 Nissan
The day before Passover

Stop eating chametz before the end of the fourth seasonal hour (click here for the exact time).

Burn your remaining (unsold) chametz before the fifth seasonal hour (click here for the exact time).

When burning you chametz be sure to throw your iPhone or Smartphone into the fire.

 Place The Wonder Pot, סיר פלא, on top of the flame heat diffuser so that the bottom grove of the pot is on the rim of the flame heat diffuser.

Place The Wonder Pot, סיר פלא, on top of the flame heat diffuser so that the bottom grove of the pot is on the rim of the flame heat diffuser.

14 Nissan
The day before Passover

Start Cooking for Pesach פסח (Passover)

Seder-A family affair

Seder-A family affair

Seder-A family affair-Cafe

Seder-A family affair-Cafe

An Israeli Pesach Seder סדר פסח (Passover Seder)

IDF Passover Seder

IDF Passover Seder

IDF Passover Seder

At the Seder when you say “Next year in Jerusalem” really talk to your family about making Aliyah (immigration to Israel) and come on home to your real home and homeland!

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Holiday Havdalah

We Are Living The Passover Story

Israel Defense Forces 08april2020

Jewish Family Celebrating Seder

22 Mar 1989, San Francisco, California, USA — Jewish Family Celebrating Seder — Image by © Roger Ressmeyer/CORBIS

-15 Nissan Pesach Night
Light the Passover candles, reciting blessings 3 & 4. Click here for the blessings, and here for local candle-lighting times. Click here for a summary of the laws of Yom Tov. Pesach Seder סדר פסח (Passover Seder): The Seder contains the observance of many biblical and rabbinical mitzvot, including: eating matzah, eating maror (bitter herbs), drinking four cups of wine, relating the story of the Exodus to our children, reclining as a symbol of freedom, etc. (Click here for a How-To Seder guide.)To locate a public Seder near you, please click here.The first night of Passover is referred to as leil shimurim (a night of guarding), based on Exodus 12:42.
 —15 Nissan Pesach Morning
1st day of Passover
Morning service. Full Hallel is recited. Two Torah scrolls are taken out of the ark.
Torah reading: Exodus 12:21–51 and Numbers 28:16–25.
Haftorah: Joshua 3:5–7, 5:2–6:1, 6:27.Beginning with the Musaf Amidah, we recite morid hatal, the prayer for dew, and we omit the prayer for rain. This practice continues until Shemini Atzeret, the day after Sukkot.The priests bless the congregation with the priestly blessing during the Musaf prayer.Festive lunch meal.According to Chabad custom, complete Hallel is recited during Maariv evening prayers, followed by the “Counting of the Omer.” We count the 1st day of the Omer. The counting of the Omer is recited during each of the next 49 days, leading up to the holiday of Shavuot on the 50th day. The 49 days embody the 49 steps of self-improvement—beginning with the departure from our “personal” Egypt, until our arrival at Mount Sinai, when we are ready to accept the wisdom of the Torah. —16 Nissan Pesach Night If you live in Eretz Israel You have 1st Night of Chol Hamoed Pesach (intermediate days)If you live outside of Eretz Israel You have a Second Seder: After dark, light candles for the second day of Passover, using an existing flame, and recite blessings 2 & 4. Click here for the blessings, and here for local candle-lighting times.The Seder contains the observance of many biblical and rabbinical mitzvot, including: eating matzah, eating maror (bitter herbs), drinking four cups of wine, relating the story of the Exodus to our children, reclining as a symbol of freedom, etc. (Click here for a How-To Seder guide.) Havdalah is incorporated into the Kiddush prayer. We look at the holiday candles for the blessing on fire and do not recite the blessing on spices.
At the Seder when you say “Next year in Jerusalem” really talk to your family about making Aliyah (immigration to Israel) and come on home to your real home and homeland!

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Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream US & CAN 1-866-4-ALIYAH | UK 020-8150-6690 or 0800-085-2105 | Israel 02-659-5800 https://www.nbn.org.il/ info@nbn.org.il

It’s time to come home! Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream 1-866-4-ALIYAH

Nefesh B’Nefesh: Live the Dream US&CAN 1-866-4-ALIYAH UK 0800 075 7200 Israel 02-659-5800 www. nbn.org.il
Alyah : mode d’emploi http://www.jewishagency.org/fr/aliyah/program/7618 Choisissez celle qui vous correspond et inscrivez-vous sur notre site Internet en cliquant ICI ou par téléphone, en appelant le Global Center au 0800 916 647
The Jewish Agency Global Service Center http://www.jewishagency.org/global_center US 1-866-835-0430 UK 0-800-404-8984 Canada 1-866-421-8912


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Holiday Havdalah

By Naftali Silberberg
https://www.chabad.org/library/article_cdo/aid/611296/jewish/Holiday-Havdalah.htm

Holiday havdalah can be divided into two categories: 1) Havdalah recited at the conclusion of a holiday. 2) The special havdalah recited on a holiday which falls on Saturday night. Havdalah is made when entering a day of lesser holiness. Since Shabbat is holier than all the holidays, we recite the havdalah when Shabbat leads into a holiday. Following the same logic, havdalah is not recited if a holiday leads into Shabbat.

Havdalah at the Conclusion of a Holiday

Havdalah is only made when entering a day of lesser holiness

Havdalah is recited at the conclusion of the following biblical holidays: Rosh Hashanah; Yom Kippur; the first days of Sukkot; Simchat Torah; Passover, both its first and last days; and Shavuot.

If the final day of the holiday was Shabbat, then the exact same havdalah procedure as a typical Saturday night is followed. If the holiday ended on another weeknight, the procedure is very similar to the Shabbat havdalah, but with some differences:

  • In some communities, the prefatory verses (from “Hinei E-l” until the wine blessing) are omitted. Many communities, however, including Chabad, do recite these verses.
  • Spices and a havdalah candle are not used. The exception to this rule is the Yom Kippur havdalah, which includes the blessing on a havdalah candle. The Yom Kippur havdalah candle is kindled from a fire which burnt throughout the holiday, such as a yahrtzeit candle.
  • The V’yiten lecha prayer is not recited following a holiday, nor is it customary to partake of a Melaveh Malka meal. (The Atah chonantanu insert is included in the post-holiday evening prayer.)
  • If one forgets to make havdalah following a holiday, it can be recited until sundown of the following day.

Havdalah From Shabbat to a Holiday (“Yaknahaz”)

Whether a holiday begins on a Saturday night or if Saturday night ushers in the second day of a holiday, that night’s holiday kiddush incorporates within itself the havdalah for Shabbat as well.

The whole text of the kiddush/havdalah can be found in your standard or holiday prayer book. The following is the basic procedure:

For the havdalah candle we use the standard holiday candles

  • The order of the night’s kiddush/havdalah is: 1) The wine blessing. 2) The holiday kiddush blessing. 3) The blessing on the candle. 4) The havdalah blessing — which is different than the standard Shabbat havdalah blessing. 5) The Shehecheyanu blessing (aside for the last days of Passover when it is not recited).
  • No spices are used.
  • For the havdalah candle we use the standard holiday candles which are on the table. It is not necessary to conjoin two candles. During this havdalah, many, including Chabad, have the custom to only gaze at the candles after reciting the candle blessing without looking at the fingernails.

Note: There are many activities which are forbidden on Shabbat but permissible on a holiday. All such activities must wait until one verbally “separates” between Shabbat and the holiday. This, however, does not have to wait for kiddush/havdalah, as a special havdalah themed insert, the Vatodi’enu paragraph, is inserted in the Amidah of the night’s prayers. Alternatively, one can say: “Baruch hamavdil bayn kodesh likodesh” — “Blessed is the One who separates between (the) holiness (of Shabbat) and (the) holiness (of the holiday).”

By Naftali Silberberg

Rabbi Naftali Silberberg is a writer, editor and director of the curriculum department at the Rohr Jewish Learning Institute. Rabbi Silberberg resides in Brooklyn, New York, with his wife, Chaya Mushka, and their three children.

Havdalah Blessing for Motzei Shabbat and Yom Tov

Havdalah Blessing for Motzei Shabbat and Yom Tov

Click to Enlarge

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When Erev Pesach Is Shabbat

Guidelines for Passover when it begins on Saturday night

 

By Menachem Posner https://www.chabad.org/holidays/passover/pesach_cdo/aid/5025853/jewish/When-Erev-Pesach-Is-Shabbat.htm

 

Approximately once every nine years, Passover begins on Saturday night. This means that erev Pesach, the day before Passover, coincides with Shabbat, bringing with it a number of unique laws and guidelines. Let’s address them chronologically.

 

Fast of the Firstborn

It is an ancient tradition for the firstborns to fast on the day before Passover. Since we (generally) do not fast on Shabbat, which is a day of feasting, or on Friday which may interfere with our Shabbat joy, this fast is observed on Thursday, 12 Nissan. The widespread custom is for firstborns to participate in a siyum or another celebratory event that overrides the fast and allows them to eat for the remainder of the day. This, too, is done on Thursday.

More About Fast of the Firstborn

 

Search for Chametz

On the night before Passover we search for chametz (which we are forbidden to own or eat on Passover) by candlelight. Since this cannot be done on Friday night, which is Shabbat, we do it after nightfall on Thursday.

How to Search

 

Destroying Chametz

The last bits of chametz must be burned the day before Passover, before the fifth halachic hour of the day. Since this cannot be done on Shabbat, the burning of the chametz takes place at the same time on Friday, even though we keep just enough chametz to eat at the Friday night and Shabbat morning meals.

Burning the Chametz

 

The Sale of Chametz

All chametz that we wish to save for use after Passover must be sold to a non-Jew and then repurchased after the holiday has passed. This sale typically takes place on the morning before Passover. Since buying and selling are forbidden on Shabbat, the sale is transacted (by the community rabbi on behalf of his community) on Friday.

Sell Your Chametz Online

 

Eating Chametz on Shabbat

Since the house cannot be cleaned on Shabbat, all the cleaning must be finished on Friday. Yet it is a mitzvah to eat bread at the Friday night and Shabbat morning meals.

It is also forbidden to eat matzah at this time, in order that we enjoy it on Passover eve with gusto. (It is possible to eat kosher-for-Passover egg matzah, since one may not use this matzah for the seder. According to Ashkenazi custom, all healthy people must finish eating egg matzah before the latest time to eat chametz, like bread. For more on this, see Is Egg Matzah Kosher for Passover?)

In practice, we retain a small quantity of chametz, carefully kept away from our food and utensils, all of which are strictly kosher for Passover by this time.

On Shabbat morning, services are held early so that the Shabbat meal, which requires two challah loaves (which are chametz), can be concluded before the deadline.

On a practical note, it is advisable to prepare small rolls, one per meal for each participant, which can be distributed and eaten without the use of a knife.

Make sure that you eat all the chametz that has been left for Shabbat before the deadline (which you can calculate here), as chametz cannot be sold, burned, or taken out to the street on Shabbat. Any remaining challah pieces and crumbs should be flushed down the toilet. At this point, we say the second Kol Chamira declaration, disowning any leftover chametz.

 

Shabbat Hagadol

The Shabbat before Passover is known as Shabbat Hagadol, “the Great Shabbat” (read why this is so). It is the Chabad custom to only read the special Shabbat Hagadol Haftarah1 in years like this, when Shabbat Hagadol is the day before Passover.

Like every Shabbat Hagadol, after the Minchah services on Shabbat afternoon, it is customary to read a selection of texts from the Haggadah, beginning from the words, avadim hayinu, “We were slaves…”

Print a Haggadah Here

 

Preparing for the Seder

Shabbat is a day of rest, and we may not start preparing on Shabbat for after Shabbat. As such, setting the table, cooking, and preparing can only be done once night has fallen on Saturday night. Before these tasks may be commenced, one should say bah-rookh hah-mahv-deel bayn koh-desh leh-koh-desh, “Blessed is He Who divides between the sacred (Shabbat) and the sacred (holiday).”

Even though cooking is allowed on yom tov (with certain caveats), it is forbidden to kindle a fire from scratch. So if you wish to have your oven and/or stove on over yom tov, be sure to make sure the fire is on before Shabbat, even though no cooking is allowed on Shabbat itself.

How to Prepare the Seder Items

 

1.

Malachi 3:4-24.

 

By Menachem Posner
Rabbi Menachem Posner serves as managing editor at Chabad.org, the world’s largest Jewish informational website. He has been writing, researching, and editing for Chabad.org since 2006, when he received his rabbinic degree from Central Yeshiva Tomchei Temimim Lubavitch. He lives in Chicago, Ill., with his family.

More from Menachem Posner  |  RSS

 

© Copyright, all rights reserved. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with Chabad.org’s copyright policy.

 

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The Green Zionist Alliance
The Future is Local, the Future is Organic

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Fukushima nuclear fallout Mutant Fruit 17July2013

Fukushima nuclear fallout Mutant Fruit 17July2013

With all the concern about:

it is time to look at Israeli Agriculture.

Israel is the vegetable and fruit garden for both Europe and the Middle East.

From The Green Zionist Alliance: You might think that Israel — where chalutzim, pioneers, throughout the 20th century broke their backs to make the land support a burgeoning population, and where the Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel is the country’s largest membership organization — would be a natural haven for organic farming. But it’s not easy to make the desert bloom without chemical assistance.

Environmentally Friendly Fruit

There is a growing awareness of the importance of ecologically-oriented agriculture. This has led to the development of “green” fruit, which is grown with minimal use of chemicals, to avoid interfering with the ecosystem or harming the environment.

Production is according to the quality management requirements of the European market, in compliance with EurepGap 2000 principles, ISO standards and crop management protocols.
As part of the policy to reduce the use of chemicals, 65% of Israel’s citrus groves have instituted Integrated Pest Management (IPM) programs, which use natural control agents such as parasitic wasps and predator insects and minimize the need for chemicals.

Organic vs. sustainable

“Organic” is sometimes used as a catch-all phrase to describe any food or technique that is good for the environment and human health. But officially, organic comes down to a labeling designation and is not always the same as environmentally sustainable agriculture.

 

Dr. Elaine Solowey, director of the Center for Sustainable Agriculture at the Arava Institute for Environmental Studies in southern Israel, describes sustainable agriculture as a tailored, area-specific agricultural practice integrating local natural components. Thrifty in water use and relying on local materials, perennial plants, and “target materials” instead of pesticides — such as pans of warm beer to attract slugs or kohlrabi as a sacrificial plant to deflect pests’ attention from other plants — sustainable agriculture enriches the area in which it is practiced. Sustainable agriculture is often, but not necessarily, organic — meaning it lacks chemical pesticides, chemical herbicides and chemical fertilizers. The defining feature of organic food is certification by an outside body. In Israel, the Ministry of Agriculture’s Plant Protection and Inspection Services issues certifications. Organic plant products are labeled and the first laws about organic certification for animal products went into effect last month.

 

In both sustainable and organic agriculture, “the whole idea is to get off the chemical dependency,” said Solowey. Chemicals not only kill microlife that is healthy for the soil and the environment, but they also harm humans who eventually consume food grown with them. Solowey warned: “All the things that aren’t target materials … end up in the food that we eat, making us more vulnerable because we are made of the same stuff that the insects are made of. We shouldn’t kid ourselves about that.”

In other words, if it huts insects, it will hurt us too.

Israel’s organic future

“In the span of a man’s lifetime, you can turn a very good field into a parking lot if you’re not careful about chemical fertilizer,” said Solowey. “We don’t have an infinite amount of land. … If we had [abundant] arable land, I wouldn’t be out in the desert growing things in rocks and sand.”

 

Slowly, interest in organic and sustainable agriculture is growing in Israel. Increased commercial interest in organic products could bolster farmers doing good for the land and their community, and wider use of biological pest control would result in healthier, sustainable agricultural systems throughout Israel. Such efforts would make a real long-term difference in the viability of Israeli agriculture.

 

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The Future is Local, the Future is Organic

Archived: https://web.archive.org/web/20131005112619/http://www.riseearth.com/2013/09/the-future-is-local-future-is-organic.html

The future is local. The future is organic. Well, at least it could be if we base our food production on an increasing body of evidence that indicates the harmful effects of petrochemical, corporate-controlled agriculture.

 

In June, researchers at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand concluded that the GM strategy used in North American staple crop production is limiting yields and increasing pesticide use compared to non-GM farming in Western Europe. Led by Professor Jack Heinemann, the study’s findings were published in the International Journal of Agricultural Sustainability.

 

The study finds that Europe is decreasing chemical herbicide use and achieving even larger declines in insecticide use without sacrificing yield gains, while chemical herbicide use in the US has increased with GM seed.

 

organic food

organic food

In effect, Europe has learned to grow more food per hectare and use fewer chemicals in the process. The US choices in biotechnology are causing it to fall behind Europe in productivity and sustainability. The decrease in annual variation in yield in the US suggests that Europe has a superior combination of seed and crop management technology and is better suited to withstand weather variations. This is important because annual variations cause price speculations that can drive hundreds of millions of people into food poverty.

 

The report also highlights some grave concerns about the impact of modern agriculture per se in terms of the general move towards depleted genetic diversity and the consequently potential catastrophic risk to staple food crops. Of the nearly 10,000 wheat varieties in use in China in 1949, only 1,000 remained in the 1970s.

In the US, 95% of the cabbage, 91% of the field maize, 94% of the pea and 81% of the tomato varieties cultivated in the last century have been lost. GMOs and the control of seeds through patents have restricted farmer choice and prevented seed saving. This has exacerbated this problem.

 

The conclusion is that we need a diversity of practices for growing. We also need systems that are useful, not just profit-making biotechnologies, and which provide a resilient supply to feed the world well.

 

On the heels the Heinemann team’s research comes a September 2013 report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), which states that farming in rich and poor nations alike should shift from monoculture towards greater varieties of crops, reduced use of fertilisers and other inputs, greater support for small-scale farmers and more locally focused production and consumption of food. More than 60 international experts contributed to the report.

 

The report, ‘Wake up before it is too late: make agriculture truly sustainable now for food security in a changing climate’, states that monoculture and industrial farming methods are not providing sufficient affordable food where it is needed, while causing mounting and unsustainable environmental damage. The system actually causes food poverty, not addresses it.

 

Over the past few years, there have been numerous high level reports from the UN and development agencies arguing in favour of small farmers and agro-ecology, but this has not been translated into real action on the ground where peasant farmers increasingly face marginalisation and oppression, as we have seen in India. According to Vandana Shiva, the plundering of Indian agriculture by Big Agra is resulting in a forced removal of farmers from the land and the destruction of traditional communities on a scale of which has not been witnessed anywhere before throughout history.

 

Elizabeth Mpofu, general coordinator of the organization La Vía Campesina says that long before the release of this new report, small farmers around the world were already convinced that we need a diversified agriculture to guarantee a balanced local food production, the protection of people’s livelihoods and the respect of nature. To achieve this goal, she feels the protection of the huge variety of local seeds and farmers’ rights to use them is paramount. Small farmers are struggling to preserve their indigenous seeds and knowledge of farming systems.

 

Evidence is mounting that the industrial food system is not only failing to feed the world, but also responsible for some of the planet’s most pressing social and environmental crises. Industrial food system is directly responsible for around half of all global greenhouse gas emissions. We cannot solve the climate crisis without confronting the industrial food system and the corporations behind it.

 

Pat Mooney of the ETC group adds that the corporate food chain uses about 70-80% of the world’s arable land to produce just 30-40% of the food we eat. In the process, peasant farmers, the real food producers, get thrown off their land and tremendous environmental harm is done. This is clearly not the way to feed the world.

 

There are lessons here for India, as the biotech sector continues to push its second ‘Green Revolution’ – GMOs. The original Green Revolution in India has been a failure, with Indian farmers in debt, paying high costs for seed and pesticides, committing suicide, and resulting in a depleted water table and a poisoned environment.

 

Punjab was the ‘Green Revolution’s’ original poster boy, but is fast becoming transformed from a food bowl to a cancer epicentre and now reels under an agrarian crisis marked by discontent, debt, water shortages, contaminated water, diseased soils and pest infested cops.

 

As the new UN report indicates, what is required is a shift from corporate-controlled agriculture towards more biodiverse, organic systems that place emphasis on local economies and food sovereignty. The answer is to return to basics by encouraging biodiverse, organic, local crop systems, which is more than capable of feeding the world – and, unlike chemical intensive agriculture – feeding it healthily.

Source: Global Research

The Three Kittens

 Neo, the feisty Tabby, named after the Fictional character in the Matrix. Duke, with the white paws, Named after John Wayne.

Neo, the feisty Tabby, named after the Fictional character in the Matrix. Duke, with the white paws, Named after John Wayne.

 Cookie, named after the Sesame Street Character, Cookie Monster.

Cookie, named after the Sesame Street Character, Cookie Monster.

These are three kittens that were rescued in Jerusalem. Neo, the feisty Tabby, named after the Fictional character in the Matrix. Duke, with the white paws, Named after John Wayne, and Cookie, named after the Sesame Street Character, Cookie Monster.

We wish to thank the JSPCA in Jerusalem for all their help. If you would like a bundle of Joy and Love in your life. Please call the JSPAC at 02-678-0222 or visit their site at:

J.S.P.C.A. | Jerusalem Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals

Remember that you are not only saving a Cats life you are also saving your life and health by giving love to the cats.

Update:

Neo was murdered by the Rabies vaccine, she died of Cancer.
I found Seven at our Bus stop, She fit in the palm of my hand, she was that small. Now look at her.

Seven on Pillow

Seven on Pillow