The Prophesized In-Gathering Of Jews In Israel

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

Lots of people don't realize that the continuing immigration to  Israel had been prophesized long ago.  The prophecy of the ingathering of Jews (known in Hebrew as Kibbutz Galuyot) is a foundational tenet in Jewish eschatology, promising that God will gather the scattered Jewish people from the "four corners of the earth" and restore them to the Land of Israel in the end of days.  Well, it's been happening, right in our very own time;  hard to believe, isn't it?   This prophecy is primarily found in Isaiah 11:12, where God promises to assemble the outcasts of Israel and gather the dispersed of Judah from the "four corners of the earth."                                       

 Joshua entered Canaan with 601,730 Israelites (Jews).  They had been prisoners of Egypt for the past 400 years building storage buildings for the Egyptians.   Israel's Jewish population passed the 6 million mark for the first time in 2013. According to data released by the Central Bureau of Statistics that year, the milestone was considered symbolically significant as it was equivalent to the number of Jewish people killed in the Holocaust. Yes, we lost 6 million Jews in the Holocaust.

Ofra Haza (Hebrew: עפרה חזה; 19 November 1957 – 23 February 2000) was an Israeli singer, songwriter, and actress, commonly known in the Western world as "the Madonna of the East", or "the Israeli Madonna". Of Yemenite-Mizrahi descent, Haza performed music known as a mixture of traditional Middle Eastern and commercial singing styles, fusing elements of Eastern and Western instrumentation, orchestration and dance-beat, as well as lyrics from Mizrahi and Jewish folk tales and poetry.

                    Some Jews From Yemen, Ofra Haza's line

The largest waves of Jewish immigration (Aliyah) to Israel came from the former Soviet Union (mainly Russia and Ukraine), followed by mass exoduses from Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) countries.  When: The largest influx occurred following the collapse of the Soviet Union in the 1990s, with continued arrivals well into the 2000s, although when I made Aliyah in 1980, lot of Russians had already arrived in Haifa.  When: Following Israel's independence in 1948 and throughout the 1950s, large populations fled or were expelled from Arab nations. Major contributors include Morocco, Iraq, Yemen, Iran, and Tunisia.

Jews from Eastern and Central Europe can by the hundreds of thousands driven by the Holocaust.  They helped with the  founding of the state, and came as subsequent post-war waves from places like Romania, Poland, and Hungary in the late 1940s and 1950s.

A lawyer from Kenya was one of my pen pals..As I remember, he came to do his milueem and finally moved his family to Israel.  He's one I admired very much.  

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                   2024 Summer Olympics
• Gashau Ayale: one of many outstanding runners from Ethiopia Won gold for Israel's team at the 2025 European Athletics Championships and has been a top finisher in elite international races.  Ayale was born in the village of Gojam in Ethiopia to Tabak (his father) and Tesfia (his mother), and is Jewish. He was born into the Beta Israel ethno-religious community of Ethiopian Jews. 

Ethiopians came by the 10s of thousands by different airlifts. 

•  Notable organized airlifts, such as Operation Moses (1984) and Operation Solomon (1991), brought significant communities from Ethiopia.  
• This divine promise of restoration is a major focal point across the Hebrew Bible, emphasizing the ultimate redemption and return of the exiles.
  
                              made aliyah from France
  

The rising tide of anti-Semitism and fear of terror attacks prompted the largest immigration of Jews to Israel from Western Europe in history during 2015. The Jewish Agency reported that 9,880 Western European Jews made aliyah to Israel in 2015, the largest annual number ever recorded. The vast majority of these immigrants (7,900) came from France, where there were two large national terror attacks as well as many individual violent attacks against Jews during the year. An estimated 800 of these individuals made aliyah from England. In total, 2015 saw 31,013 Jewish individuals from around the globe make Aliyah to Israel, a 12-year high.

Approximately 135,000 Jewish Americans have made Aliyah to Israel since the country's establishment in 1948. In recent years, an average of 3,500 to 4,000 North Americans immigrate to Israel annually. Driven by a surge in Zionist solidarity, 4,150 Jewish individuals relocated from North America to Israel, which marked a four-year high.

Mordechai Deluca never considered delaying his move to Israel from the United States because of the war with Iran. If anything, the opposite is true. “My worry was, how could I get there as fast as possible?” said Deluca, 39, who arrived in Israel on March 9, just eight days after the war with Iran began.  Deluca, who grew up in North Carolina, said that being physically present in Israel during such a crucial time was important to him. He spent last year’s war between Israel and Iran in Washington, D.C., and “being so far away made me feel so much more powerless,” he said. Deluca had first thought about making aliyah, or immigrating to Israel, after he went on a Birthright Israel trip 20 years ago. His desire intensified after Oct. 7, 2026 which he spent in Israel, and where he attended a funeral for a lone soldier who didn’t have immediate family in the country.                                          

                    My mother's Bon Voyage party before leaving for Israel

I made aliyah in 1980 with my husband and a German shepherd.  I had to return by end of 1985 due to the illness of my son back home in Oregon.  Sometimes that can happen, especially with American Jews, I think. Then I was a Yored.   The English cannot do that as they lose their citizenship with England by accepting it from Israel.  That's why I started blogging by 2004;  trying to defend Israel.  

Following their expulsion and after the fall of Jerusalem to the Romans in 70 CE, the majority of the Jews were dispersed throughout the world. The Jewish national idea, however, was never abandoned, nor was the longing to return to their homeland. Throughout the centuries, Jews have maintained a presence in the Land, in greater or lesser numbers; uninterrupted contact with Jews abroad has enriched the cultural, spiritual and intellectual life of both communities.

 

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Forgotten Iranians That Count The Most, The Revolutionary Youth

 :Nadene Goldfoot                                            

"We are not your enemy," Sara Netanyahu tells Persians worldwide on Instagram next to an image of showing Israeli and Iranian lion embracing and looking at the sunset. Message evokes both Operation Rising Lion and Iran's exiled monarchy, now in hands of Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi.  The Revolution started on April 21, 2026 with my count, but do remember when Amini died. 

On 16 September 2022, 22-year-old Kurdish-Iranian woman Mahsa Amini, also known as Jina Amini, died in a hospital in Tehran, Iran, under suspicious circumstances. The Guidance Patrol, the religious morality police of Iran's government, had arrested Amini for allegedly not wearing the hijab in accordance with government standards.

Their world under hijabs in a hot weather climate, not fun

Following her arrest, she fell into a coma and died in the hospital. While authorities claimed she suffered a heart attack, witnesses and her family stated she had been severely beaten, a finding later corroborated by a UN fact-finding mission. Her death ignited worldwide protests under the slogan "Woman, Life, Freedom," highlighting women's rights and opposition to compulsory veiling in Iran.

The "Revolution of Iranian youth" is widely recognized as the nationwide movement and massive demonstrations triggered by the death of Mahsa Amini in police custody, which officially began on September 16, 2022.  2022–2023 Mahsa Amini Protests: At least \(550\) protesters were killed by state security forces over months of civil unrest.

The most disappointing aspect of the war between Israel, Iran and USA is their lack of mentioning the welfare of the Iranian youth rebelling against the Ayatollah government!  Iranian youth leading anti-government protests face a brutal state crackdown marked by mass arrests, torture, and thousands of deaths. 

While exiled Crown Prince Reza Pahlavi has urged demonstrators to form networks and occupy city centers to trigger a democratic transition, his movement faces ideological divisions within the broader opposition and has not achieved undisputed consensus inside the country which is a surprise and hard to believe, for all the news I get from Tousi, and I believe that more than AI, is that even some of the Revolutionary Guards and other police have joined the group.  It is our own USA's Trump who hasn't mentioned anything in the deals he has been making with the Ayatollah regime.  I know that Israel has been helping the youth all along.  International Diplomacy: Pahlavi is actively lobbying global leaders. He advocates for international diplomatic pressure, calling for measures that support the free flow of information for Iranian citizens.  Coalition Building: He has convened dissidents across ideological spectrums to draft transition plans, including a committee focused on transitional justice, to discuss a democratic and secular future for Iran.  He's packed and ready to go to Iran the minute he can be safe there; for if he is dead, he will be of no use.  

                              Sharif University

 Students at major universities, including Tehran’s Sharif University, have actively demonstrated against the theocratic establishment, facing suspensions and severe retaliatory violence.  The regime frequently enforces near-total internet and telecommunication blackouts during peak uprisings to suppress information and hide the scale of human rights violations.

 Security forces have responded to massive, nationwide uprisings with sweeping raids, mass arbitrary arrests, and lethal force.

Deaths are hard to count.  Initial Revolution and Consolidations (1979–1988): While historical consensus places deaths during the 1978–1979 revolution at around \(2,000\) to \(3,000\), subsequent revolutionary court executions, purges, and the 1988 mass executions of political prisoners claimed thousands more, with some human rights organizations estimating total historical victims in the tens of thousands.  2025–2026 Uprisings: The most intense state crackdown since the revolution began. Activists and human rights agencies like Human Rights Activists in Iran (HRANA) have documented thousands of deaths, with varying unverified and activist estimates citing tens of thousands dead over the span of this unrest. The Iranian government released figures of over \(3,000\) killed during the same period, citing both civilians and security forces.

Using the Term, "Cease Fire" Loosely In This War

 Nadene Goldfoot                                         

The holiday of Shavuot, which marks the beginning of the 1. wheat harvest as well as 2. the anniversary of the giving of the Torah on Mount Sinai, began last Thursday, May 21, 2026. . May we be blessed with health, success and peace. Chag Sameach!  With all the wars enveloping Israel one way or another, such a holiday can get forgotten.  Just what's been going on?                           

 First in line came the Torah, which means "teaching", "law," "the Written  Law." This law was given to Moses on Mt. Sinai together with a detailed oral exposition of the Torah and its commandments.  It includes the entire talmudic literature and commentaries. Yet, once we are freed from the bondage of slavery, we are not fully prepared to stand up as free people.  Rather, we need to undergo a transformative process to spiritually and psychologically prepare and cleanse ourselves. Once we have fully come into our liberated state, we are ready to receive the Torah on Shavout — true wisdom, the divine word, direct experience of revelation. 

According to the biblical narrative, Moses was 80 years old when he led the Israelites out of Egypt and received the Torah (including the Ten Commandments) at Mount Sinai. His life is traditionally divided into three distinct 40-year periods: Age 0 to 40: Raised as a prince in the royal court of Pharaoh.Age 40 to 80: Lived as a shepherd in the land of Midian.  Age 80 to 120: Led the Israelites through the wilderness, received the Torah, and guided the people until his death at the age of 120. At my age of almost 92 today, 80 seems to me like a young kid.  Yes, he could have done it and could have felt he was full of such knowledge. 

Harvest Festivals in Biblical days such as in Eretz Yisrael (later-Palestine) began immediately after Passover in April or May, especially in the Jordan Valley.  In the coastal plain and hill regions, it continued throughout the summer. 

 First came the gathering-in of barley and wheat, followed by olives and the vintage.  There were 3 harvest-festivals:  the Omer festival when the  barley-flour offering was brought to the Temple (Passover) and the counting of 50 days (counting the Omer) ; Counting the Omer is a Jewish commandment to verbally count the 49 days between Passover and Shavuot. The practice begins on the second night of Passover and ends the night before Shavuot, linking the physical Exodus from Egypt to the spiritual giving of the Torah at Mount Sinai.

the first-fruit (Bikkurim) festival 7 weeks later when the wheat ripened (Feast of Weeks);  and the feast of the ingathering (Asiph) marking the end of the entire harvest (Tabernacles).  

Agricultural significance of the festivals has been re-emphasized in modern Israel by special observances, especially in small villages.  

                         Giving the law on Mt. Sinai

In Temple times, they brought 2 loaves to the priests and the offering of first fruits.  After the Temple was destroyed, the tradition was emphasized that Shavuot commemorated the giving of the law on Mt Sinai on Sivan 6 (day of harvesting wheat).  

From the 16th century on, kabbalists have observed the eve of Shavuot by studying from the Torah.  The Book of Ruth, which mentions the barley and wheat harvests, is read in the synagogues on this time.  

 I remember that in Israel, we stayed awake all night long studying and discussing it.  That was the custom.                                               

According to U.S. media reports (including CNN, WSJ, Axios), Prime Minister Netanyahu has been urging President Trump, in several phone calls this week, to resume strikes against Iran, while Trump has been pushing for continuing negotiations. CNN reported that Trump told Netanyahu he wanted to allow several more days for a deal to emerge in order to save lives. The picture being painted is clearly one of Netanyahu trying to "pressure" Trump and drag the U.S. deeper into a war. 

But clearly,  President Trump is running the show and making decisions based on what he feels is best. Israel is following his direction. Yes, the U.S. military conducted airstrikes in southern Iran. U.S. Central Command (CENTCOM) described the attacks as "self-defense strikes" aimed at protecting American troops. The strikes hit Iranian missile launch sites and boats attempting to emplace mines.The action took place in the vicinity of Bandar Abbas, which is Iran's main naval base, located roughly 70km from the Strait of Hormuz. CENTCOM stated that the military action is being executed while utilizing "restraint" during the ongoing ceasefire. The strikes occurred simultaneously with ongoing ceasefire negotiations, as President Donald Trump recently indicated that talks with Tehran were "proceeding nicely".The United States struck targets in southern Iran on May 25, 2026. CENTCOM stated the action was taken in self-defense to protect American troops. The strikes specifically targeted Iranian missile launch sites and mine-laying boats off the Iranian coast, despite a fragile ceasefire that had been in effect since April.  This is past the time of counting the Omer which ended on Shavuot.  

Israel pounded Lebanon with more than 120 airstrikes in a single day, heavily targeting Hezbollah sites in the southern and eastern regions. The bombardment followed a tense phone call between Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President Donald Trump regarding ongoing US-Iran peace negotiations.  President Donald Trump’s stance on Israel's right to defend itself has been heavily shaped by the ongoing regional conflict, including massive joint U.S.-Israeli military operations against Iran that began in February 2026. While the U.S. and Israel have closely coordinated in combat, the administration has also placed certain diplomatic constraints on certain actions. Netanyahu says Israel deepening its operations in Lebanon.  Hezbollah targets Israeli forces with drones, rockets as Israeli strikes intensify.  I think IDF is trying to get as much Hezbollah terrorism destroyed as they can while they have a green light before a cease fire does exist.  

Resource:

Added: 5/27/26

israelAM

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia 

History Of Line Of Jewish People

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                    

The story in the bible of Jacob and his 12 sons that became the 12 tribes of Israel happens to come out of history itself, names and all.  This one story is surely the base of truth of what the bible relates.  From there, the rabbis could go back in time tracing Jacob's family as well as go forward. Judah is the tribe we get "Jewish" from. People have also heard of Judea and Samaria... This tale showing our early development is my favorite, and was just the right explanation Moses was able to give 4,000 years ago to people without today's knowledge we have stored in our brains.  This they could understand, and we can, too.  "In Jewish tradition, the Patriarch Jacob is a foundational figure whose journey from a shrewd, calculating youth to a mature, spiritual leader (Israel) represents the core ethical evolution of the Jewish people."

                                 Chief Rabbi in Ireland, Hertzog

 Jews use the 5 books of Moses by following it and the rest of scriptures in what is called the "Old Testament."  My personal book is called a Tanach which includes the Torah or 5 books, the prophets, and writings...the 24 books of the Bible translated and annotated.  The annotations are so informative, explaining the setting, often by the Rambam and Rashi, who I have found is one of my distant relatives, rabbis of the Middle Ages.   

There are people who do not believe anything in the bible is of value and is only a fairy tale. Usually they are atheists.  Atheists are individuals who do not believe in the existence of a god or any gods. The term originates from the Greek word atheos, meaning "without God". Rather than being a set of doctrines, it is primarily a single characteristic: the absence of a belief in deities.

DNA is the best way along with the Bible to understand our beginnings.  Middle Eastern Roots: Genome-wide scans show that global Jewish diaspora groups share common ancestral ties to the Middle East, tracing back over 2,000 years. Their ancient DNA frequently shows high affinity with historical populations from the Levant.  Ashkenazi Jewish Profile: For Jews of Central and Eastern European descent, DNA is typically an admixture of roughly \(40\% - 50\%\) Middle Eastern (Levantine) and \(50\% - 60\%\) European ancestry. Paternal lines typically trace back to the Middle East, while maternal lines often show Southern or Eastern European origins.

Autosomal DNA studies show high levels of genetic relatedness among Ashkenazi, Sephardi, and Mizrahi Jews, corresponding to a shared Middle Eastern ancestry with variations in regional admixture. Autosomal DNA evidence supports the historical narrative of Jewish populations originating from the ancient Levant, with genetic diversity shaped by migrations, admixture, and isolation over millennia  We can take tests with several companies on our autosomal DNA and go back quite far and find 5th cousins easily today.  Those men with J1 and J2 can see their Jewish line,  which is where the Cohens come from.  

                                       Rabbi Judah haNasi

Population Bottlenecks: Ancient DNA studies (like those examining medieval Ashkenazi remains in Erfurt, Germany) show that today's large Ashkenazi population descended from a very small founding group. This bottleneck amplified specific genetic mutations found within the community.  This is why we are distantly related with 20%-30% connection to our many cousins we didn't know we have.  Supposedly there are 4 women who were our base of origin, but not necessarily our own outstanding women of Sarah, Rachel, Rebecca, and Leah.                           

Dr. Neil deGrasse Tyson born October 5, 1958) is an outstanding American astrophysicist, author, and science communicator, and thinks well of our 5 books explaining the development of man and our planet. An astrophysicist is a scientist who applies the laws of physics and mathematics to understand how the universe works. They study the birth, life, and death of celestial bodies like stars, planets, and galaxies, as well as complex phenomena such as dark matter and black holes.

 He thought, as do I, that our beginning history as shown is a metaphor of the scientific facts.  I found him on You tube being interviewed and he explained his findings.  Though he has a Catholic background, he may not have found Jacob being the anchor to our history.                                   

Thomas Quinn Cahill (March 29, 1940 – October 18, 2022) was an American scholar and writer. He was best known for The Hinges of History series, a prospective seven-volume series in which the author recounts formative moments in Western civilization

Although there is Thomas Cahill's book, The Gifts of the Jews--how a tribe of desert nomads changed the way everyone thinks and feels..which may be talking about the fact that when Judaism, given to Moses, a descendant of Jacob,  came about when the world had gone for polytheism, and Jews staunchly stuck with Judaism and hasn't even accepted Jesus as the son of G-d.  ". He argued that ancient Israelites radically altered the trajectory of human history by introducing concepts like linear time, individual destiny, and ethical responsibility to the powerless.

                                 Rabbi Shnearson 

When asked during a question session at the University at Buffalo if he believed in a higher power, Tyson responded: "Every account of a higher power that I've seen described, of all religions that I've seen, include many statements with regard to the benevolence of that power. When I look at the universe and all the ways the universe wants to kill us, I find it hard to reconcile that with statements of beneficence. Beneficence is the ethical principle of acting in the best interest of others. It involves taking positive steps to prevent harm, remove harm, and improve the welfare of others. The word originates from the Latin benefactum, which literally translates to "good deed."

So here we go.  This happens to be a BIG principle in Judaism, though with the war at hand, Tyson may not accept that, and he may not be alone.  We have the MITZVAH in our belief system of trying to keep all of us from harm, to improve the welfare of others, even those who were our enemy.  We visit the sick, which is a mitzvah, and do many good deeds in our lives.  So does our army.  It so happens that our enemy, Iran and their terrorists of the moment, are fighting in a new way, that of destroying our good reputation.  Being anti-Semitism has been with us since the Hellenistic days, most people are now believing lies about us.  They allow their own people to be victims just to damage our good name.  So such opinions may have come to Tyson as well, and that would be very sad.  

In an interview with Big Think, he said: "So, what people are really after is what is my stance on religion or spirituality or God, and I would say if I find a word that came closest, it would be 'agnostic'... at the end of the day I'd rather not be any category at all." Additionally, in the same interview with Big Think, Tyson mentioned that he edited Wikipedia's entry on him to include the fact that he is an agnostic:   An agnostic is a person who believes that nothing is known (or can be known) about the existence of God. Unlike atheists, who assert that God does not exist, or theists, who believe in God, agnostics suspend judgment because they believe the truth is currently unknown or inherently un

                                Rashi
knowable. 

 So I'm trying to show that in Judaism, there is worth in our story of Creation and development of our tribes that led to Judaism, and that it doesn't have to be believed  word by word....until,....that is, when you get to Jacob. and how he was father of the 12 tribes.    

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_deGrasse_Tyson