In Hebron, the army has evacuated the disputed home. In Afula, a town in the North, both the families of Gavriel and Rivka Hertzberg are sitting shiva, seven days of sitting on small chairs and receiving those who comfort them. But even mourning takes a break on Shabbat, from Friday night to Saturday night. As the week comes to an end, our pace changes. Tomorrow night I will wear white clothes and go to my synagogue, join with hundreds of others in the harmonious singing that welcomes the Sabbath, like a bride, into our hearts.

From Jerusalem,
Barbara Sofer

This morning I went to a conference on Chronic Diseases for Children at Hadassah’s Mount Scopus hospital. Several hundred medical professionals from different fields and from all different ethnic backgrounds were there. There was a particularly interesting lecture about the dilemmas of child adoption.

Today in Jerusalem, our new mayor Nir Barkat takes office. He’s a person of good character, intelligence and vision and I wish him the best in helping to solve the complex problems of our very special city.

I was also involved in a meeting about a fundraising dinner for a new center to make the diagnosis process easier and more effective for women with possible breast cancer. So many women miss early detection because they are afraid of the testing. Breast cancer is a scourge for Jewish and Palestinian women, of course.

I also dropped in at the Hadassah Hospital emergency room to say a quick hello to my daughter, a new nurse. Lots of sick kids—no time for coffee. Too bad. There’s an Aroma café, my favorite brand, on the Hadassah campus. I got up at my usual 6:00 AM to finish my Jerusalem Post column. The last one, on Peacexpeace was picked up by usatoday.com! The archive of my columns is on my website www.barbarasofer.com

This morning began with a brit milah, called a bris in the US, the 8th day circumcision ceremony for a baby boy. This baby is the grandson of close friends and I know his parents very well, too. Brit means covenant and Dad Yossi talked about the different covenants in the Bible, promises beginning with Noah and then strengthened with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob of G-d’s continued involvement with the human race in general and the Jewish people in particular—for better or worse. And do we have to constantly confirm our part of the covenant by acting in a way demanded by G-d? Yes, answered Yossi. Acting in a godly way is a constant challenge. There’s the letter of the law, but we are commanded to go beyond the letter of the law in our personal interactions. In Israel, attending a brit is important enough to come late to work, as I did. The baby was named for his great-grandfather Rabbi Yitzhak who left Hungary in 1928 when ruffians surrounded him and cut off his side locks. It turned out well. His presence in the US allowed him to save most of his family from the Nazis. The family moved to Israel after Independence. I remember Rabbi Yitzhak well—particularly for his amazing sense of humor which survived the many traumas of his life. It’s a lesson to us all.

And speaking of Thanksgiving and life lessons, did you know that it was established as a national holiday by Abraham Lincoln who saw all we needed to be thankful for despite the Civil War?