Pesach Is Here, Fauda Is Back, War On Terror, Joseph's Tomb, And Inflation | Gili's Goodies | Amazing Gift Baskets For Your Loved Ones In Israel

Welcome to Gilis Good Newsletter #55!

This newsletter puts together a little bit about what’s been happening in Israel over the last week. We try to keep it positive. That’s why it’s the Good Newsletter.

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Another week has passed, and we’ve officially arrived at Pesach 2022!!

I’ll try to keep it brief, but I love providing you with some things to smile about or touch your heart a little, so Gili’s Good Newsletter must get done even though there is much to do.

The government shakeup is still in full force, and it’s anyone’s guess how this stalemate will end.

Pesach is in the air. If you’ve never been to Israel for Pesach, I can’t recommend it highly enough. Here are my top five reasons that Pesach is the best holiday to celebrate in Israel.

1. The weather is usually perfect – It doesn’t matter if Pesach is early or late but generally, the weather in April for Tel Aviv.

“Daily high temperatures increase by 5°F, from 71°F to 76°F, rarely falling below 63°F or exceeding 88°F.” – Weatherspark.

Jerusalem is slightly cooler, but the bottom line is that April is a fine month to be outdoors.

2. The entire country celebrates. According to the latest polls, over 96% of Israelis will be at a seder, while 87.5% said they’d enjoy the festivities! The excitement for chag is palpable. You can feel it in supermarkets and on the roads. For example, the erev chag traffic can be compared to Thanksgiving traffic. It’s in parks on chol hamoed, everywhere, and it’s consuming.

3. Do you want to do the seder twice? We only talk about ‘the seder’ because there only is one. That’s it.

4. Matza is a lot cheaper here. We pay about 20 NIS/lb for machine matza, and hand matza goes between 30 and 50 NIS per pound.

5. Eretz Yisrael: Do you need any other reasons?

I hope I didn’t upset anyone with those. If I did, let me know. Either way, no matter where you are for Passover, it should be beautiful and meaningful. Thank you all for being a part of the Gili’s Goodies family, and I wish you the most beautiful Passover.

The army has been fighting the uptick in terrorist activity with an offensive to make arrests throughout Judea and Samaria, among other activities. As a result, there have been clashes, particularly in the Jenin area, with two terrorists killed on Thursday morning and three more yesterday. That’s in addition to army activity to prevent infiltrations along the security fence. We all pray for a quiet and safe Pesach for all.

The Central Bureau of Statistics is expected to announce that inflation rose 0.7% in March, bringing total inflation to 4% for the last year. In response, the Bank of Israel already raised interest rates from 0.1 to .35. The governor of the Bank of Israel, Amir Yaron, said he expects interest rates to rise to 1.5% over the next year. #economics #costofliving

I don’t watch Fauda. I watched the first episode or two, and it was too real for me. But apparently, it’s not too much for others because the show is an international hit. It even enjoys excellent ratings in Arab countries. Season 4 is coming to screens, and Israel21c did an excellent article about the show I’ll link to below.

Finally, Yosef’s tomb in the outskirts of Shechem was vandalized last week. So this week, renovation teams from the Samaria Regional Council, in conjunction with the army, went back to the tomb and repaired it overnight. A unique video of the unit commander talking to his troops about the mission went around WhatsApp, and I was able to find it on youtube. I’ll do my best to translate it.

Today we’re heading out on a mission to fix the destruction that was done to Yosef’s tomb. This place was promised to Avraham Avinu, as it says, “to your children I will give this land” Bereishit 12:7. And we are working today with a strong hand like our forefathers. That upon their exodus from Egypt on Pesach that we’ll be celebrating in three days as it says in the verse, “in the middle of this day .”Not like thieves in the night but rather as the children of kings. Through this, we’ll restore the honor of the land and to the nation of Israel. Begin moving toward the city of Shechem. Out!

Chag Sameach!

As always, I hope to make you smile with some articles and nuggets from the past week.

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Shabbat Shalom and Good Shabbos.