Ops & Blogs | The Times of Israel » Judy Lash Balint

Oh, Jerusalem! Yom Yerushalayim, Part 1

Judy Lash Balint — Tue, 07 May 2013 21:03:38 +0000

A few images for the start of Yom Yerushalayim. My favorite place to kick off the day that marks the 46th anniversary of the reunification of Jerusalem is Beit Orot, the hesder yeshiva on the Mt of Olives, a few hundred yards away from Hebrew University’s Mt Scopus campus, and just down the road from [...]

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How Obama Divided Jerusalem in 2013

Judy Lash Balint — Mon, 18 Mar 2013 21:10:09 +0000

Jerusalem is a divided city this week–divided into those professionals, politicos, celebs and security people who are preparing for the Obama visit and the rest of us who are preparing for Passover. It’s unlikely that the two sides will mix much, and with impending street closures and the presence of hundreds of visiting [...]

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O Little Near-By Town of Bethlehem: Christmas Eve 2012

Judy Lash Balint — Mon, 24 Dec 2012 19:47:06 +0000

Every Christmas I make the 15-minute drive from my Jerusalem home to Bethlehem for a reality check on the beleaguered town five miles away. This year, contrary to the customary gloomy reports from the international media, things were bustling in Bethlehem on Christmas Eve. Bright blue skies and comfortable temperatures help make things more pleasant [...]

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Celebrating Sigd: The Ultimate Zionist Festival

Judy Lash Balint — Wed, 14 Nov 2012 06:10:25 +0000

For most Jews around the world, the 29th of Cheshvan is not a particularly noteworthy day. But for Jews from Ethiopia, this date has long been observed as one of their main holidays, Sigd–a day celebrating their connection to Jerusalem and commitment to Jewish unity—you might say it’s the ultimate Zionist holiday. In 2008, the [...]

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How Ahmadinejad’s “Uncivilized Zionists” Celebrate

Judy Lash Balint — Fri, 28 Sep 2012 02:00:05 +0000

In his speech to the UN, that little fulminating Iranian twerp, Ahmadinejad, called us “uncivilized Zionists.” He should head over to Jerusalem to see just how uncivilized we can be around this time of year. Here are 17 ways (there are probably dozens more) that Israelis celebrate the coming Sukkot festival that has a theme [...]

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Israel’s Yom Kippur: Feel it in the air

Judy Lash Balint — Mon, 24 Sep 2012 13:30:25 +0000

Have you ever spent Yom Kippur in Israel? If so, go on to the next blog right now — if not, here’s a taste of the atmosphere as an entire country gets ready to retreat into itself for 25 hours. Preparations for Yom Kippur are in the air. Whether it’s the gmar hatima tova (May [...]

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Israel’s July 4th Entebbe Rescue: Why No Commemoration?

Judy Lash Balint — Wed, 04 Jul 2012 04:39:45 +0000

July 4 is the 36th anniversary of Operation Yonatan, Israel’s dramatic rescue of 103 hostages that took place on July 4, 1976 at Entebbe, Uganda. Where’s the commemoration? Wouldn’t an official ceremony marking the miraculous rescue be a meaningful moment for Israel today? As a college student in the US back in 1976, I vividly [...]

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Will the Real Chareidim Please Stand Up

Judy Lash Balint — Mon, 18 Jun 2012 19:38:38 +0000

A new exhibit opens at the Israel Museum this week. It’s called A World Apart Next Door: Glimpses Into Lives of Hasidic Jews. Through photos, video, music, books and clothing the exhibit tells the story of Hasidim, “a community whom we live next to but not too many of us know much about,” as Museum [...]

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Cheating on Shavuot

Judy Lash Balint — Mon, 28 May 2012 05:55:01 +0000

I cheated on Shavuot–twice. And I’m not sorry. Every year on Shavuot night I try to stay up for at least one or two of the classes offered in different spots around Jerusalem before heading to bed for a few hours and then setting out on the darkened streets to join the flood of Jews [...]

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Yom Yerushalayim: Abolish or Honor?

Judy Lash Balint — Sat, 19 May 2012 21:09:34 +0000

Aaron Ettinger, one of the paratroopers who fought in Jerusalem during the Six Day War, was severely wounded on Salah e-Din Street near Damascus Gate. Tonight, at a Jerusalem Day sing-along at a synagogue around the corner from the President’s Residence, Aaron was given the microphone in between the Jerusalem songs to recount his experiences [...]

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Yom Hazikaron–Remember These Faces of Israel

Judy Lash Balint — Mon, 23 Apr 2012 12:39:19 +0000

In Israel, the weeks after Passover are filled with a series of “meaningful days:” Yom Hashoah descends on us first, then the emotional roller-coaster of Yom Hazikaron–Memorial Day for Fallen Soldiers and Victims of Terror–that morphs without warning into Yom Ha’atzmaut–Independence Day, and a few weeks later, the triumphant Yom Yerushalayim–Jerusalem Day, that celebrates the [...]

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Echoes of the Shoah, 2012

Judy Lash Balint — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:37:53 +0000

A few days ago, within a week of Yom Hashoah, Holocaust Remembrance Day, my mother’s youngest brother passed away. His passing made me reflect on the long tentacles of the Shoah that leaves its mark on lives until today. Isi was the youngest of five children, born in 1926 to Avraham and Ida Ehrenreich, [...]

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Look who’s in Hebron: Passover 2012

Judy Lash Balint — Sun, 08 Apr 2012 19:33:02 +0000

While many Israelis fly off to various destinations around the globe for Passover, those of us who stay home and are fortunate enough to have some time off during the week-long holiday use the time to explore and get to know the country better. One group that’s helping make that happen is Mishkefet (Binoculars) whose motto [...]

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Twenty signs of Passover in Israel

Judy Lash Balint — Mon, 02 Apr 2012 17:14:56 +0000

Surprised? Israel’s Central Bureau of Statistics reveals in their latest data that 88 percent of Israelis will take part in a Seder and 47 percent eat only kosher-for-Passover items during the holiday. Pre-Passover fish shopping in the shuk Meantime, as Passover approaches, latest figures from the National Insurance Institute’s 2011 poverty report indicate there are [...]

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Faces of Israel Passover 2012

Judy Lash Balint — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 04:15:11 +0000

The so-called Global March on Jerusalem and the annual Land Day ritual that took place last Friday fizzled to a predictable end. But the non-event did produce yet another series of images that reinforce the world’s perception of Israel as a place of conflict and violence. I’m an occasional stringer for a photo news site [...]

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