WILDFIRE

It is Shabbat and we are all heaving a sigh of relief. It has been a hard week for our little country. Apart from everything else we are facing, this past week we experienced record-breaking heat over the entire county as a scorching sharav (hamsin), the dry east wind, sent temperatures into the 40s Celsius all over the country. Yesterday the thermometer in my porch hit 43 degrees (110 degrees F) in the shade. In the Dead Sea area and the Jordan Valley it was even hotter with temperatures reaching the 50 degree mark. Add to that a humidity of only about 16%, strong winds in places and it is a recipe for disaster. After our lovely wet winter all the grasses and annual plants are now tinder dry just waiting for the merest spark to set off forest fires. As if that were not enough, many were celebrating Lag B’Omer, a holiday during which it is traditional to sit around bonfires. Even though the police and fire service enforced strict bans on fires in risky areas, even going around and dismantling bonfires, there remains the ‘idiot factor’ and some people ignored the warnings. On Thursday and Friday some 800- 1000 wildfires raged around the country and some of these were caused by bonfires that had not been extinguished properly. Others were caused by arson, electrical faults and incendiary devices flown over from Gaza. The worst hit area was in the Judean forest areas around Jerusalem. The town of Mevo Modiin, founded by the ‘singing rabbi’ Rabbi Shlomo Carlebach, was almost totally destroyed with 40 of the 50 homes being totally burned. Kibbutz Harel, also near Modiin suffered the loss of about 10 homes. Some 3500 people were evacuated from various towns and many more held on ‘standby’. Many spring crops were lost, much forested area burned and many animals lost their lives too. Thankfully no human lives were lost in the fires although there were some injuries mainly caused by smoke inhalation. On Saturday however a toddler lost his life in an apartment fire in Haifa and this is also being attributed to the heat wave. In addition, a 70-year-old man succumbed to heat stroke and died.

Israelis are a resilient people and I have no doubt that the communities affected will rally around, support each other and rebuild their towns again. Nevertheless I can only imagine how heartbreaking it must be to so suddenly lose everything, your home, your treasured possessions, your livelihood and in many cases, farm animals and family pets. Tzofia Tazizi, a resident of Mevo Modiin had this to say, ” As a child I thought we lived in paradise, and yesterday we lost it. I hope the nature will come back and we can rebuild... Our Garden of Eden has burned (1)”

With our fire fighting forces becoming overwhelmed Netanyahu sent out a request for help and Cyprus, Greece, Croatia, Italy and even Egypt sent fire-fighting planes and teams to help. Russia also offered aid and the four Palestinian Authority fire crews worked alongside Israeli firefighters. It is heartwarming to see such support especially since in the past Israel has often been the first to arrive at the scene of emergencies in other countries. Now Netanyahu has announced plans to increase our own firefighting resources. This is truly necessary as the fire season is only just beginning and we can expect many more this summer. Please pray for safety for all our people. Please also pray for me and my neighbours upstairs as our home is in the ‘front line’ right on the edge of the forest and there are tall pine and cypress trees all around, with much dry grass and weeds as well.

Election woes

Binyamin Netanyahu has just until Wednesday midnight to form a government and it appears that the coalition talks are stalled because of the issue of military service for the ultra-orthodox. Avigdor Liberman, the head of the Yisrael Beitenu party, Netanyahu’s main coalition partner, is insisting that the proposed law making military service compulsory for haredi (ultra-orthodox) men remain intact, which the ultra-orthodox parties needed to complete the coalition are adamant they will not support it. Without them, Netanyahu’s 60 seat coalition would not have a majority in the 120 seat Knesset, and this means the government would be very weak and unlikely to last very long. The alternative? New elections? We will see in the next few days no doubt.

Meanwhile Netanyahu is pushing for a new law which would give immunity against the prosecution of a Prime Minister while in office. There is of course a great deal of opposition to this move that would make Prime Ministers above the law and let Netanyahu off the hook with regards to the current court cases against him. Last evening about 100,000 people demonstrated against this patently anti-democratic proposal and many wore Turkish fez hats likening Netanyahu to the Turkish dictator, Recep Tayyip Erdogan (2).

Please pray for righteous government in Israel and also for justice, integrity and honesty in all our public affairs. Most of all pray that the people will listen to God and walk in His ways.

But my people would not listen to me;
    Israel would not submit to me.
 So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts
    to follow their own devices.

 “If my people would only listen to me,
    if Israel would only follow my ways,
 how quickly I would subdue their enemies
    and turn my hand against their foes!
 Those who hate the Lord would cringe before him,
    and their punishment would last forever.
 But you would be fed with the finest of wheat;
    with honey from the rock I would satisfy you.

Psalm 81: 11-16

In my last blog entry I spoke of the curious juxtaposition of God’s punishment of Israel for her sins and his promises of blessing. These are not contradictory. As a teacher of teenagers, I deal every day with the results of parents who have failed to discipline their children. These children are self-centered, disrespectful and uncaring towards others, and sadly they lack the self-discipline and toughness needed to cope with the normal rigors of life. Educators even speak of an epidemic of anxiety disorder amongst this generation. Just as a good parent disciplines their child with love, so too does God. It is because he loves us that he disciplines us.

The writer of the book of the Hebrews said this:

And you have forgotten the exhortation which speaks to you as to sons:

“My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor be discouraged when you are rebuked by Him;
 For whom the Lord loves He chastens,
And scourges every son whom He receives.”

 If you endure chastening, God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom a father does not chasten? But if you are without chastening, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate and not sons.  Furthermore, we have had human fathers who corrected us, and we paid them respect. Shall we not much more readily be in subjection to the Father of spirits and live?  For they indeed for a few days chastened us as seemed best to them, but He for our profit, that we may be partakers of His holiness.  Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.

Hebrews 12: 5-11

The quotation in verse 5 comes from the Book of Proverbs,

My son, do not despise the chastening of the Lord,
Nor detest His correction;
 For whom the Lord loves He corrects,
Just as a father the son in whom he delights

Proverbs 3:11-12

It is because God loves Israel that he chastises her. All the troubles we go through are intended to turn our hearts towards God, so that we would call upon His name for salvation and walk in His righteousness. In the midst of the fires of last week I came across these verses in Isaiah. It sent shivers up my spine.

Surely wickedness burns like a fire;
    it consumes briers and thorns,
it sets the forest thickets ablaze,
    so that it rolls upward in a column of smoke.
By the wrath of the Lord Almighty
    the land will be scorched
and the people will be fuel for the fire;
    they will not spare one another.

Isaiah 9: 18-19

References:

1. https://www.timesofisrael.com/devastating-wildfires-mostly-contained-as-major-heatwave-begins-to-recede/
2. https://www.jpost.com/Israel-News/Thousands-gather-in-mass-rally-against-Supreme-Court-override-bill-590645