The Moshav of Reb Shlomo will rock again!

On Lag ba’Omer, the Moshav has burned down. There are two kinds of people, those who’re shocked and those who need to be shocked. But shock or not, that doesn’t mean that life is over. There are a great history and a great future to be had at the Ben Shemen forest.

I grew up in a forest so visiting was always strangely familiar. Strangely because Holland doesn’t have hills, let alone mountains to look out on. Or days without rain. This village was founded by Reb Shlomo Carlebach and his chevreh with great effort in 1975.

The tall pines were almost as high as the ideals of the people who lived there. Each house was an individual humble palace. It still looked like camping — what we did when we first received the Torah.

There lived the artist and healers, the singers and players but foremost, the enthusiastic Jews. Nothing was taken for granted and especially not the messages of Judaism and people.

There in the shul, you could grab a guitar and lead Mincha. Just another Minche became the last one before Mashiach’s arrival!

At one of those Chol haMo’ed faires, I needed a place to eat my sandwiches. At the first house after the entrance, I found a lovely ritual booth. It was empty, at the heat of the day but I was sure they wouldn’t mind me eating there. When they came, they were startled for a split second to find someone munching in there but they immediately joined me and suggested I’d eat from their food too. And they asked who I knew until they got to someone in their family whom I knew. Now I was really family. They wanted me to come again. They had a quality that is so often lacking and greatly undervalued; it’s called: relaxed friendliness.

There was a time that the residents of Reb Shlomo’s village, of the “Moshav,” didn’t have enough money to buy food for themselves, so they needed to stop receiving guests for Shabbat.

Reb Sholomo on his next visit disagreed. They said: But when you have scarce means, your own needs take precedence. Try winning an argument with the greatest rabbi alive. He said: That is true generally. But in this case, the whole reason d’être of the Moshav is hospitality.

This is how Reb Shlomo lived himself. Money was only to help others.

The people and the Torah scrolls were saved from the flames, most houses and animals not. It’s the opposite of the Holocaust when books and people were burned but stuff stayed behind — to be looted.

Two generations grew up there. Will the elderly founders have the spirit to start all over? You betcha. When you’ve been living in the palm of G^d’s hand, things can hurt you but nothing can break you.

I don’t know much of what really happened. False stories, fake news, abound on the Internet. Like the aerial picture “proving” that the shul was miraculously saved, not showing the shul nor the grounds of it.

After Israel succeeded to reunite the City of Jerusalem in 1967, Reb Shlomo asked for government funds to buy tons of flowers to have Jewish children go from door to door in the Arab neighborhood and bring a message of peace. His request was not answered and the moment was lost. Thinking of this now the suspicion is that anti-Zionists tired to burn down the forest which consumed his Moshav.

But I do know that now it’s our turn to help the Moshav. A nice sum has been raised but that’s not enough. The villagers need toothbrushes and phylacteries. Then they need fresh clothes. Then they need money to buy food and a table and candles for Shabbat. Then they need money to pay rent and heating (winter will come). Then they need money to rebuild. Please open your hearts and be generous like mad.

About the Author

MM is a prolific and creative writer and thinker, previously a daily blog contributor to the TOI. He often makes his readers laugh, mad, or assume he's nuts—close to perfect blogging. He's proud that his analytical short comments are removed both from left-wing and right-wing news sites. None of his content is generated by the new bore on the block, AI. * As a frontier thinker, he sees things many don't yet. He's half a prophet. Half. Let's not exaggerate. Or not at all because he doesn't claim G^d talks to him. He gives him good ideas—that's all. MM doesn't believe that people observe and think in a vacuum. He, therefore, wanted a broad bio that readers interested can track a bit what (lack of) backgrounds, experiences, and educations contribute to his visions. * This year, he will prioritize getting his unpublished books published rather than just blog posts. Next year, he hopes to focus on activism against human extinction. To find less-recent posts on a subject XXX among his over 2000 archived ones, go to the right-top corner of a Times of Israel page, click on the search icon and search "zuiden, XXX". One can find a second, wilder blog, to which one may subscribe too, here: https://mmvanzuiden.wordpress.com/ or by clicking on the globe icon next to his picture on top. * Like most of his readers, he believes in being friendly, respectful, and loyal. However, if you think those are his absolute top priorities, you might end up disappointed. His first loyalty is to the truth. He will try to stay within the limits of democratic and Jewish law, but he won't lie to support opinions or people when don't deserve that. (Yet, we all make honest mistakes, which is just fine and does not justify losing support.) He admits that he sometimes exaggerates to make a point, which could have him come across as nasty, while in actuality, he's quite a lovely person to interact with. He holds - how Dutch - that a strong opinion doesn't imply intolerance of other views. * Sometimes he's misunderstood because his wide and diverse field of vision seldomly fits any specialist's box. But that's exactly what some love about him. He has written a lot about Psychology (including Sexuality and Abuse), Medicine (including physical immortality), Science (including basic statistics), Politics (Israel, the US, and the Netherlands, Activism - more than leftwing or rightwing, he hopes to highlight reality), Oppression and Liberation (intersectionally, for young people, the elderly, non-Whites, women, workers, Jews, LGBTQIA+, foreigners and anyone else who's dehumanized or exploited), Integrity, Philosophy, Jews (Judaism, Zionism, Holocaust and Jewish Liberation), the Climate Crisis, Ecology and Veganism, Affairs from the news, or the Torah Portion of the Week, or new insights that suddenly befell him. * Chronologically, his most influential teachers are his parents, Nico (natan) van Zuiden and Betty (beisye) Nieweg, Wim Kan, Mozart, Harvey Jackins, Marshal Rosenberg, Reb Shlomo Carlebach, and, lehavdil bein chayim lechayim, Rabbi Dr. Natan Lopes Cardozo, Rav Zev Leff, and Rav Meir Lubin. This short list doesn't mean to disrespect others who taught him a lot or a little. One of his rabbis calls him Mr. Innovation [Ish haChidushim]. Yet, his originalities seem to root deeply in traditional Judaism, though they may grow in unexpected directions. In fact, he claims he's modernizing nothing. Rather, mainly basing himself on the basic Hebrew Torah text, he tries to rediscover classical Jewish thought almost lost in thousands of years of stifling Gentile domination and Jewish assimilation. (He pleads for a close reading of the Torah instead of going by rough assumptions of what it would probably mean and before fleeing to Commentaries.) This, in all aspects of life, but prominently in the areas of Free Will, Activism, Homosexuality for men, and Redemption. * He hopes that his words will inspire and inform, and disturb the comfortable and comfort the disturbed. He aims to bring a fresh perspective rather than harp on the obvious and familiar. When he can, he loves to write encyclopedic overviews. He doesn't expect his readers to agree. Rather, original minds should be disputed. In short, his main political positions are among others: anti-Trumpism, for Zionism, Intersectionality, non-violence, anti those who abuse democratic liberties, anti the fake ME peace process, for original-Orthodoxy, pro-Science, pro-Free Will, anti-blaming-the-victim, and for down-to-earth, classical optimism, and happiness. Read his blog on how he attempts to bridge any tensions between those ideas or fields. * He is a fetal survivor of the pharmaceutical industry (https://diethylstilbestrol.co.uk/studies/des-and-psychological-health/), born in 1953 to his parents who were Dutch-Jewish Holocaust survivors who met in the largest concentration camp in the Netherlands, Westerbork. He grew up a humble listener. It took him decades to become a speaker too, and decades more to admit to being a genius. But his humility was his to keep. And so was his honesty. Bullies and con artists almost instantaneously envy and hate him. He hopes to bring new things and not just preach to the choir. * He holds a BA in medicine (University of Amsterdam) – is half a doctor. He practices Re-evaluation Co-counseling since 1977, is not an official teacher anymore, and became a friendly, powerful therapist. He became a social activist, became religious, made Aliyah, and raised three wonderful kids. Previously, for decades, he was known to the Jerusalem Post readers as a frequent letter writer. For a couple of years, he was active in hasbara to the Dutch-speaking public. He wrote an unpublished tome about Jewish Free Will. He's a strict vegan since 2008. He's an Orthodox Jew but not a rabbi. * His writing has been made possible by an allowance for second-generation Holocaust survivors from the Netherlands. It has been his dream since he was 38 to try to make a difference by teaching through writing. He had three times 9-out-of-10 for Dutch at his high school finals but is spending his days communicating in English and Hebrew - how ironic. G-d must have a fine sense of humor. In case you wonder - yes, he is a bit dyslectic. If you're a native English speaker and wonder why you should read from people whose English is only their second language, consider the advantage of having an original peek outside of your cultural bubble. * To send any personal reaction to him, scroll to the top of the blog post and click Contact Me. * His newest books you may find here: https://www.amazon.com/s?i=stripbooks&rh=p_27%3AMoshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&s=relevancerank&text=Moshe-Mordechai%2FMaurits+van+Zuiden&ref=dp_byline_sr_book_1