Lag B'Omer Tragedy in Israel

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

Yesterday, my son and I were driving across the Columbia River Interstate  Bridge and I asked the question of what it would be like if we had an earthquake at that moment.  Of course the answer was not good.  Thank goodness nothing happened.  We were going there to see a beloved relative at Vancouver's hospice center and for us to say our good-byes.  it was a sad drive for us.  

Little did I know that at possibly that same moment, something was or had already happened that was terrible in Israel at almost the same place I had lived;  in Safed where the 2nd century Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai was buried.  

Something like a bridge between two places, a ramp, broke with too many people on it, and the people fell and over 40 were killed, including children.  They had been there, outside of Safed, celebrating a holiday many American Jews are not too familiar with, Lag B'Omer, which connects us to Rabbi Simeon Yohai .  I think of it as the holiday where you can make bonfires.  The story behind it is amazing.

According to legend, an outbreak of plague occurred among the people of Rabbi Akiva in the 2nd century, and had ended on 18 of Iyyar, the date of the 33rd day of the Omer.  It has since been considered the "scholars' feast-day."  The Omer period's regulations for half-mourning was that there were certain prohibitions during this period;  marriage, cutting one's hair, etc.  So it had happened during a sad period, and being the plague had ended, called for celebration and the suspending of the prohibitions.

The period of "Counting of the Omer" is a 7 week period (49 days) started from the day on which the Omer was first offered in the Temple which was the 2nd day of Passover to the 50th day being the Feast of Weeks, Shavuot.  Omer was the first sheaf cut during the barley harvest which was offered in the Temple as a sacrifice on the 2nd day of Passover.                                   

Schoolchildren are given a holiday and formerly used to conduct a mock-battle with bow and arrow.  In Israel, the day is marked by the lighting of bonfires and a mass pilgrimage to the tomb at Meron of Rabbi Simeon ben Yohai, who is said to have died, transmitting his mystical lore, on this day.  

Rabbi Yohai was a Tanna (teacher) , a very special highly rated rabbi.  He was a pupil of Rabbi Akiva.  He even followed his teacher, Akiva after Akiva's imprisonment by the Romans for continued instruction and discourse.  Simeon was putting himself in harm's way with his own opinions which the authorities thought rebellious and was forced to hide in a cave with his son, Eleazar for 13 years.  

This incident was the background for attributing to him authorship of the ZOHAR.  He was rather unworldly, teaching that Torah study should take precedence over the pursuit of a livelihood.  He even regarded a man who paused in his study to admire nature, which would be to take a break from his studies, worthy of deserving death. In his mind, nothing could be allowed to interfere with his goal of studying Torah.   He was indeed overzealous by our standards today. (I would have taken that break and called it my mental health break.  I'd say he was obsessive).  

However, Simeon was also a miracle worker of politics.  In later life, he was sent on a mission to Rome where he succeeded in obtaining the withdrawal of a persecutory decree against Jews. 

 He had an intense love for the Holy Land and considered emigration from there a grievous sin.  His pupil, Rabbi Judah ha-Nasi, frequently quotes him in the Mishnah.  Kabbalists have long made his traditional tomb at Mt. Meron a center of pilgrimage, especially on Lag Ba-Omer, the traditional date of his death.                                          

Magen David Adom at Mt. Meron after dozens killed, injured in stampede on Lag Ba'omer, April 30, 2021 (Credit: Magen David Adom)  Medics and rescue workers attend to the Lag Baomer event in Mount Meron, northern Israel, where fatalities were reported among the thousands of ultra-Orthodox Jews gathered at the tomb of a 2nd-century sage for annual commemorations that include all-night prayer and dance, at Mount Meron, Israel Apr 30. 

(photo credit: REUTERS)

That's when this unusual tragedy happened.  in their singing and dancing, the ramp fell, and people fell on people below.  45 were killed in a stampede.  

 Meron is 12.5 km from Safed.  By car, it's about 17 minutes away.  

Resource:

https://www.timesofisrael.com/dozens-said-hurt-as-stand-collapses-at-mass-lag-bomer-gathering-in-mount-meron/

https://www.jpost.com/breaking-news/lag-bomer-80-year-old-in-critical-condition-52-requiring-treatment-666768

Kerry Giving Information to Iran About Israel

 Nadene Goldfoot                                          

A big shock came from one of  New York's most unbending Democratic-siding newspapers .  On Sunday, the New York Times committed a turn about act of journalism in not supporting their favorite team. Former Secretary of State John Kerry informed Iran's Zarif that Israel had attacked Iranian interests in Syria at least 200 times, to his astonishment, Mr. Zarif said, wrote the New York Times. 

The New York Times reported on an obvious violation of the Espionage Act by the   former Secretary of State, former Democrat presidential candidate,    former senator  John Forbes Kerry , born December 11, 1943  in Aurora, Colorado, USA ,                                      

The Espionage Act of 1917  was, “An act to punish acts of interference with the foreign relations, the neutrality and the foreign commerce of the United States, to punish espionage, and better to enforce the criminal laws of the United States, and for other purposes.” It was intended to prohibit interference with military operations or recruitment, to prevent insubordination in the military and to prevent the support of United States enemies during wartime.  What Kerry did was blab information like a gossiper.  What role is he in now? Did he do this on purpose?   

Syria and Lebanon are proxies of Iran used  by the Iranians in attacking Israel.   

Mohammad Javad Zarif is an Iranian career diplomat and academic. He has been foreign minister of Iran since 2013.

'At best, this shows that Kerry is enormously and irresponsibly indiscreet; at worst, he’s exposing American intelligence to an enemy in order to attack an ally.' Tammy Bruce, host of Get Tammy Bruce on Fox Nation. in a twitter and David Ruiz is a senior editor  at Fox News. 

During the Trump Administration, which was only 100 days ago,  Kerry informed the Iranian Foreign Minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif, that Israel had been attacking Iranian “interests” — military targets — in Syria throughout the Trump Administration.Therefore this happened during the Trump administration.  Was it already in the public domain?

                                                                

John Kerry has a personal connection to Javad Zarif.  I've written about this before.  

"One of John Kerry's daughters,  Dr. Vanessa Bradford Kerry,  married several years ago  to Dr. Brian (Behrooz) Vala Nahid /(Dr. Behrouz Brian Vala Nahed) , an Iranian-American physician,  son of Nooshin P and Dr. Reza Vala Nahid, .  Part of the wedding preparations included Kerry attending a dinner party given by George Soros, billionaire,  at his Manhattan penthouse. 

 He also met the best man, Mahdi Zarif and his father, Mohammad Javad Zarif, who is today's Iranian Foreign Minister.  Zarif was the chief negotiator during the nuclear talks. 

 "Dr. Kerry and Dr. Nahed, both 32, are residents at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston where they married in her church. She is in her third year of a residency in internal medicine; he is in his fifth year of a residency in neurological surgery."  Dr.Brian, Nahid's father, is a pulmonologist and sleep medicine and critical-care physician, and is the chief of staff at Holy Cross Hospital in Mission Hills, Calif. He also runs a private practice there, which is managed by the bridegroom’s mother.

The information is highly critical of US-Iran relations, including the Iran nuclear deal that Zarif dictated to a hapless John Kerry. A recording of this oral history was leaked to a Persian-language outlet, Iran International, and shared with the New York Times.  Iran International is a Saudi and UK-backed, British-based Persian television station headquartered in London. It is aimed at Iranian viewers and broadcasts free-to-air by satellite. 

There is every reason to think the reason to believe the recording is legit. The Iranian foreign ministry has not disputed the authenticity. The opinions Zarif express are too unorthodox, to unusual to be anything other than frank and honest, and Zarif’s own account of Iranian foreign policy is not flattering to him. It makes him look deceitful  and unimportant and should leave any diplomat wondering why they should even deal with him when he admits that the the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), not the foreign minister, sets foreign policy.  

I thought for sure it was the Ayatollas.  I'm right.  "According to Iran's Constitution, the Supreme Leader (Ayatollah) is responsible for the delineation and supervision of "the general policies of the Islamic Republic of Iran," which means that he sets the tone and direction of Iran's domestic and foreign policies. The Supreme Leader also is commander-in-chief of the armed forces and controls the Islamic Republic's intelligence and security operations; he alone can declare war or peace. He has the power to appoint and dismiss the leaders of the judiciary, the state radio and television networks, and the supreme commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. He also appoints six of the twelve members of the Council of Guardians, the powerful body that oversees the activities of Parliament and determines which candidates are qualified to run for public office.

What this says is that Kerry gave out classified information which is a forbidden act.  Is it true?  If not, why do it?  Who did it?  Why did the New York Times take such a chance in doing this?  Both Kerry and the State Department spokesman Ned Price have denied it.  

Kerry said something like, I can tell you that this story and these allegations are unequivocally false.  This never happened;  either when I was Secretary of State or since.  Is he known to tell the truth always, like George Washington? 

 His immediate family members were reportedly observant Roman Catholics. As a child, Kerry served as an altar boy. Although the extended family enjoyed a great fortune, Kerry's parents themselves were upper-middle class; a wealthy great aunt paid for Kerry to attend elite schools in Europe and New England. Kerry spent his summers at the Forbes family estate in Brittany, and there, he enjoyed a more opulent lifestyle than he had previously known in Massachusetts. While living in the U.S., Kerry spent several summers at the Forbes family's estates on Naushon Island off Cape Cod. That's quite a background.  

John Kerry has not been a bosom buddy of Israel.  Critics say he is not only a critic but an adversary of Israel.  He hasn't been a supporter.  He would say something like this if he thought the person he was talking to was in agreement with him and was his bosom buddy, and he thought this family connection  of Zarif being the father of the best man at his daughter's wedding made that so. Perhaps that in this real world, it does not make Kerry Zarif's bosom buddy.  Welcome to the Iranian East, Kerry.  And Jews and the Shah were in good relations when the Shah was in, too.  

It is said that Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo,  blasted Kerry  for “actively undermining” U.S. policy on Iran, and, in a tweet, President Donald Trump accused Kerry of holding “illegal meetings” with Iranian officials.  Pompeo said he would leave “legal determinations to others,” but said there was “no precedent for this in U.S. history.”

U.S. officials said that Iran and its proxies (Syria) were preparing an attack on U.S. forces in Iraq, sending an aircraft carrier strike group to the region and deploying Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, to Baghdad in a show of force. Trump and his aides met at the White House, concerned about a clash between the 2 sides.  The president made it clear that he didn't want war with Iran;  just talking to their leaders, but Kerry blocked that and tells them not to call. 

 "That's a violation of the Logan Act, which could be prosecuted'', commented Trump, but his people were not for that.  The Logan Act is a United States federal law that criminalizes negotiation by unauthorized American citizens with foreign governments having a dispute with the United States. The intent behind the Act is to prevent unauthorized negotiations from undermining the government's position.Trump’s charges against Kerry come as his own administration had heightened tensions with Tehran.

"Facts First: Putting aside Trump’s charge against Kerry, which Kerry flatly denies, here’s what you need to know about the Logan Act. The act was established in 1799 and makes it a felony for individuals who are not authorized by the US government to negotiate with foreign governments which have disputes with the US. Though the term has been thrown around as an accusation several times this century – and has been used more than once by Trump to attack Kerry – there have been few cases when someone has been indicted for violating the act. These cases took place in the 1800s and no one was ever convicted.

Since the act’s creation, correspondence and interaction between Americans – lawmakers, former lawmakers, and citizens alike – has become increasingly common.

​It’s also common for former secretaries of states and diplomats to stay in touch with their counterparts around the world.."                                         

    PM Netanyahu at UN warning about Iran's nuclear progress and true goals in September 2012, nine years ago. Iran has reached that dangerous red line.  Israelis already have been running the 15 second stint to a bomb shelter almost daily lately.  What if one of those rockets were loaded with a nuclear device?  

Now Biden is changing the USA position back to Obama's position.  We should remember that US President Donald Trump withdrew from the Iran nuclear agreement in May 2018, when it was discovered that Iran had been hiding information about their activities.   

Disclosing operations of one's friend to his enemy is an act of espionage.  Kerry has acted as a spy for Iran by giving them secrets. All the rest of the grumbling about Kerry is averting the fact that he was said to have given secrets to Iran that will definitely harm Israel.  That must be investigated as fully as the investigation of any spy possibility.  New York Times has made the accusation.  Being a government official or past government official makes it even more concerning.  Kerry knows a lot.     

I wouldn't be surprised if Zarif's standing with the Ayatollah has diminished for being to close to John Kerry.  That's more like the Alice and Wonderland experience one has with Iran.  Maybe they see him as a loose cannon.  

                                              

Update:  I cannot find any  proof of Kerry actually telling Zarif any confidential information about Israel other than what was soon to be in the public domain, either dated or about the origin of the information leaked.  The tape would be in Farsi.  We do not know the translator.  On the other hand, we cannot trust Zarif's comment being truthful, either.  It's silly to trust the Iranians in the first place which we had done in dealing with honesty about the uranium goal or how far they have gone with their enterprises, so believing Zarif puts us in the same position.  Trust and opinion have to be replaced with facts.  This could all be old news.  I'm left with the knowledge of Iran's goal of snuffing out Israel, and they have bragged about it many times.  They are putting into danger the whole Middle East with their goal of having atomic weaponry.  This is the country Israel must be concerned with the most.  They even pay and promote Lebanon and Syria to fight against Israel since they are the closest.    

A tweet cited a 2018 article by the Reuters news agency in which then-intelligence minister Israel Katz said that Israel had carried out over 200 airstrikes against Iranian targets in Syria over the previous two years.  Kerry, former US secretary of state, cites Israeli minister’s 2018 speech mentioning raids, and State Department notes generally that such operations were public knowledge.   Following the exchange of fire on 10 May 2018, Israeli defense minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel won't allow Iran to turn Syria into a "forward base" against Israel.

Newest Update: Further research tells me that Kerry is not guilty.  The information was already in the Public Domain when Zarif brought this to anyone's attention.  An Israeli general first announced it, then a Minister of Intelligence announced it further.  It's much ado about nothing.  It was exciting to the Republicans for the moment but dates of who made the announcement and when cleared it up.  It all happened in 2017 when Trump was serving his first year in office.  Zarif was not being truthful.  

Resource:

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2015/08/john-kerrys-personal-connection-to.html

https://redstate.com/shipwreckedcrew/2021/04/26/nyt-john-kerry-disclosed-israeli-military-operations-in-syria-to-the-iranian-foreign-minister-n369173

https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/?tab=wm#inbox/FMfcgxwLtkSDPBJgxFDKsxMcjDHbkGKl

https://redstate.com/shipwreckedcrew/2021/04/26/nyt-john-kerry-disclosed-israeli-military-operations-in-syria-to-the-iranian-foreign-minister-n369173

https://jewishbubba.blogspot.com/2020/08/irans-use-of-syria-against-israel.html

https://iowaculture.gov/history/education/educator-resources/primary-source-sets/americas-involvement-world-war- 

  i/espionage#:~:text=It%20was%2C%20%E2%80%9CAn%20act%20to,interference%20with%20military%20operations%20or

https://www.ploughshares.org/issues-analysis/article/why-iran-deal-us-national-interest?gclid=Cj0KCQjwsqmEBhDiARIsANV8H3av9n44xuoA5HxtKGWJ-8PfpqZaZ7MJmJNlgPzizevPoapkTQDEYh8aAj5rEALw_wcB

https://en.geneastar.org/genealogy/kerryj/john-kerry

https://www.foxnews.com/media/new-york-times-buried-bombshell-kerry-iran-israeli-operations

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/26/us/john-kerry-iran-israel-syria.html

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/28/nyregion/rudy-giuliani-trump-ukraine-warrant.html

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=At2UbRrS5u8

https://t.co/BTOdFE1khW

— John Kerry (@JohnKerry) April 26, 2021

Albert Bouria and Pfizer Fighting COVID Virus and Israel's Connection

 Nadene Goldfoot

Marilyn Robinson                                      

                                  Waterfront of Thessaloniki, Greece

Jews lived in Greece  in Biblical times, and for sure by the 2nd century BCE.  Salonica attracted many settlers from the Spanish Inquisition of 1492.  Many Jewish communities were living in seaports.  Salonika (Thessaloniki) was captured in 1912 which gave Greece one of the largest Jewish communities of the Mediterranean.   On November 9, 1912, Greek forces led by Prince Constantine, the heir to the Greek throne, captured the ancient city of Salonika without firing a shot after the outnumbered Turkish garrison surrendered. Then what happened was an interchange of population between Greece and Turkey which reduced the proportionate Jewish population of Greece.  

Over 80 years ago by 1939 , 60,000 Jews lived peacefully in Thessaloniki, Greece. It was a valued and vibrant community.  Most of these Jews worked at the port.  So many worked there that the port was closed on Saturday, their Shabbat.   Great emeritus rabbis also lived and studied there.  Everyone rubbed shoulders and appreciated each other.

On September 2, 1939, on the eve of the outbreak of World War II, it was to this great community that the Nazi terror would suddenly rise.

On April 6, 1941, Hitler invaded Greece in order to secure its southern front before launching the famous Operation Barbarossa and its great offensive against Russia.                              

Of the 60,000 Jews in Thessaloniki, around 50,000 would be exterminated at the Birkenau Concentration Camp, in record time!  The massacre of the Jews of Greece was brief but intense.  Very few would have the chance to make it. Auschwitz Birkenau (1940-1945) was the largest in the Third Reich. According to historical investigations, 1.5 million people, among them a great number of Jews, were systematically starved, tortured and murdered in this camp, the symbol of humanity's cruelty to its fellow human beings in the 20th century.                                                                    

                   Now called Albert Bouria, 
   But among the survivors there was a family known as Bouria, and after the war, in 1961, a son was  born into this miraculous family in the camps.  His parents called him Israel Abraham Bouria.  

Israel grew up and studied veterinary medicine in Greece.  A brilliant student, Abraham received his doctorate in reproductive biotechnology at the veterinary school of Aristotle University in Salonika.                                                        

At the age of 34, he decided to move to the United States.  He changed his first name, Abraham, to Albert and was integrated into the medical industry.  He progressed quickly and joined a pharmaceutical company where he became "Head Manager."  Abraham AKA (Albert) rose through the ranks and got his appointment as CEO of this company in 2019.

" Albert Bouria was born and raised in Thessaloniki, Greece. His parents, who were Sephardi Jews, were among the 2,000 of 50,000 Jews in Thessaloniki to survive the Holocaust; his mother was minutes away from execution by firing squad when she was spared via a ransom paid to a Nazi Party official by her non-Jewish brother-in-law, while his father happened to be out of the Jewish ghetto when the residents were taken to the Auschwitz concentration camp and went into hiding, never to see his parents again.

Bourla earned a doctorate in the biotechnology of reproduction at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki's Veterinary School in 1985. He left Greece with his wife when he was 34 after a promotion within Pfizer and since then he has lived in seven different cities, in four different countries.  "

Throughout the year, Albert decided to direct the efforts of the company to try to find a vaccine against a new virus (COVID), which has just struck the world.  He expended great financial and technological efforts to achieve his goal.  A year later, the WHO (World Health Organization) validated his company to produce the long-awaited vaccine.                   

  Pfizer is in Manhattan, New York  

His vaccine will be distributed in several countries including Germany, which counts thousands of dead from the pandemic.  

That is why Israel became the first country to receive the vaccine.  it is in memory of his grandparents and his parents who gave birth to Israel-Abraham Bouria, known today as Albert Bouria:  CEO of  Pfizer.  

In 2020, Bourla pushed Pfizer employees for the fast development of a COVID-19 vaccine in partnership with German company BioNTech, while making sure it is safe and effective. He told his team that "financial returns should not drive any decisions" with regards to the vaccine. He took the risk of producing the Pfizer–BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine before approval from the Food and Drug Administration so that it would be ready to ship immediately upon approval.

In 2020, he was ranked as America’s top CEO in the pharmaceutical industry by Institutional Investor.

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Bourla  (their error, surname is Bouria-not Bourla).  It comes up as Bourla.  

https://www.statnews.com/2020/08/24/pfizer-edge-in-the-race-for-a-covid-19-vaccine-could-be-a-scientist-with-two-best-sellers-to-her-credit/

https://forward.com/culture/464340/pfizer-ceo-albert-bourla-covid-vaccine-thessaloniki-jewish-holocaust/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzzHtvRHkMk

https://www.nbcnews.com/nightly-news/video/exclusive-interview-with-pfizer-ceo-albert-bourla-101605957789

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xawG02DenNc

https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2020/12/14/albert-bourla-pfizer-ceo-vaccine-rollout-covid-newday-vpx.cnn

Facing Challenges Today: Our world

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

                                 36 rockets hit Israel overnight 3 days ago.  

Times are changing and things have been happening.  Over 45 rockets hit Israel, fired from Gaza again and the population has had to flee to bomb shelters within about 15 seconds for safety.  Rocket salvos fired after Hamas calls for attacks on Israel over Jerusalem unrest; barrages, reported in real-time by a terror group, mark worst assault from Strip in many months.   In May 2019, at least 300 rockets were fired from Gaza that struck Israel.  This has been a constant occurrence.  The Iron Dome missile defense system intercepted dozens of the rockets, according to the IDF.                                                       

Palestinians parade a burning a tire as they shout slogans in support of the Al-Aqsa Mosque during a rally in Gaza city on Friday night.  Israelis are not threatening anything, neither is the state.  People hear gossip and react.   Mohammed Abed / AFP - Getty Images

Uprisings of people in the form of marches:  Marches have been happening as a result of police killing a suspect, who is either innocent or guilty.  After one death, George Floyd, the toll rises in protest across all of the USA.  At least five people have died in unrest over the death of Mr. Floyd. Injuries have been numerous, and millions of dollars in damage to property has occurred.

This is true in Portland, Oregon, where marching protests have been going on nightly for over a year, seemingly always ending in destruction of some sort to the buildings of the once beautiful Portland, city of roses.  Police have not stopped it, the mayor has been ineffectual, and so it continues.  Most of us have no desire to enter our once greatest shopping area of Portland, DOWNTOWN.  

Even the earth is having its problems, one being volcano eruption.  Here's the latest belching: It's been happening in Iceland.  Tourists and scientists  have been arriving and visiting it to learn more about what being on other planets could be like.  There are plenty of dangers in the area.  Vocanoes are also erupting in other places as well.  

                                                                       

                    Dormant Volcano, Mt. Bental in Israel's Golan Heights

At least volcanic activity has been quiet in Israel.  The basaltic Golan Heights volcanic field in the Anti-Lebanon Mountains of SW Syria near the borders with Lebanon and Israel contains numerous cinder cones of Pliocene-to-Holocene age. 

 The Golan Heights volcanic field covers a broad area NE of the Lake Tiberius (the Sea of Galilee) and SW of the city of Damascus (Dimashq) and includes the prehistoric cone of Majdel Shams in the Golan Heights. The volcanic field lies on a basaltic plateau that dips to the west and SW, with steep slopes facing the Dead Sea rift valley. It lies within the northern part of the massive alkaline Harrat Ash Shaam volcanic field that extends from southern Syria through NW Jordan to Saudi Arabia.

Mount Bental is part of a chain of volcanoes spanning along the eastern edge of Israel's Golan Heights.  From the top of this dormant volcano, formed from a series of eruptions 100,000 to 700,000 years ago, you can witness spectacular views of the Hula Valley, Mount Hermon and the Golan. Its last eruption is said to have occurred more than 50,000 years ago.  Tens of thousands of people living in the Caribbean are on high alert as volcanoes come back to life after remaining dormaant for decades.  Israel's have been dormant for too long to do this.  

 Oregon had a big one in 1980 with a volcano that is not dead.   On March 27, 1980, a series of volcanic explosions and pyroclastic flows began at Mount St. Helens in Skamania County, Washington, United States. It initiated as a series of phreatic blasts from the summit then escalated on May 18, 1980, as a major explosive eruption.  Hundreds of square miles were reduced to wasteland, causing over $1 billion in damage (equivalent to $3.4 billion in 2019), thousands of animals were killed, and Mount St. Helens was left with a crater on its north side.  This eruption happened 2 months after warnings.  

It’s been 40 years since Mount St. Helens famously roared to life, sending ash and gas 15 miles high, flattening 135 square miles of forest, and killing 57 people in the country’s deadliest eruption. Today, the volcano is still one of the most dangerous in the United States, and the most active of the Cascade Range.                                                       

Earthquakes can even happen underwater, and one just did off the Oregon coast.  There have been almost 100 earthquakes so far this year that are significant.  Several 7.0 occurred in Japan; an 8.1 in New Zealand along with several others over 7; New Guinea, Philippines, Chile,  and different islands.  Israel can expect a major earthquake of 6.5 on the Richter scale in the coming years. Drilling barge in the Dead Sea, 2010.The last earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 on the Richter scale was felt in the Dead Sea valley in 1927, when hundreds of people were injured in Amman, Jerusalem, Bethlehem and even Jaffa.  During the past 30 days, Israel was shaken by 3 quakes of magnitude 3.0 or above and 6 quakes between 2.0 and 3.0. There were also 2 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people don't normally feel.

Biggest quake: 3.6 quake Rif-dimashq, 21 km northeast of Damascus, Dimashq, Syria, 24 April 2021 13:47 GMT 3 days ago
Most recent quake: 2.0 quake South Sinai, Egypt, 41 km west of Aqaba, Jordan, 26 April 2021 11:06 GMT 1 day 5 hours ago

Minor earthquakes (below 6.0)[edit]

• 1898 – Haifa damaged by earthquake^[9]
• 1956 – Chim earthquake: In the south of Lebanon in the Chouf District; 6,000 homes destroyed, and another 17,000 damaged; 136 persons killed. Magnitude - 5.3-5.5 Mw.
• 2008 – A 5.1 M_w  earthquake shook South Lebanon, causing power outages and some building damage on February 15. Of several hundred responses to the USGS' "Did you feel it?" system, three reports from northern coastal Israel indicated that a maximum Mercalli intensity of VI (Strong) was observed there. The oblique-slip shock was also felt lightly in Jerusalem, Cyprus, and Jordan.
• 2020 – A series of 4.7 M_w  earthquakes occurred at a depth of 20 kilometers in the eastern Mediterranean near Burj Islam, Syria.
• 
  
• Update: 5/1/2021:  During the past 30 days, there were 17 quakes of magnitude 6.0 or above, 158 quakes between 5.0 and 6.0, 1115 quakes between 4.0 and 5.0, 3827 quakes between 3.0 and 4.0, and 7753 quakes between 2.0 and 3.0. There were also 17170 quakes below magnitude 2.0 which people don't normally feel.
  Biggest quake: 6.8 quake North Pacific Ocean, 36 km southeast of Ishinomaki, Miyagi, Japan, 1 May 10:27 am (GMT +9) 1 day 13 hours ago
  Biggest quake today: 5.8 quake South Pacific Ocean, 38 km southwest of La Serena, Provincia de Elqui, Coquimbo Region, Chile, 2 May 2:57 am (GMT -4) 7 hours ago

When I was in Israel (1980-1985) I was at the top floor of a high rise apartment when an earthquake struck.  The building rocked back and forth but continued to stand.  

                 Doctors readying for the COVID 19 Unit

COVID 19 is a deadly virus that has caused a Pandemic.  There is a new mutation, far more deadly that has developed just as countries have a vaccine for the first.  Multiple SARS-CoV-2 variants are circulating globally. Several new variants emerged in the fall of 2020, To date, we have had 3,116,444 deaths.  147,539,302 people have had Covid 19, and they can expect possible future detrimental affects from this disease, according to facts discovered about it so far, possible other problems to overcome.

 As for Oregon, PORTLAND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- There is one new COVID-19 related death in Oregon, raising the state’s death toll to 2,486, the Oregon Health Authority reported Monday.  OHA also reported 630 new confirmed and presumptive cases of COVID-19 as of 12:01 a.m. today, bringing the state total to 181,321.  

COVID-19 affects different people in different ways. Infected people have had a wide range of symptoms reported – from mild symptoms to severe illness.  Reports have come in of problems with Johnson & Johnson  vaccine causing blood clots with at least one death as a result. The beauty of this was that it only required one shot, not two like the others.  Compared to how many were not affected by blood clots, this was a rare occurrence.   COVID-19 affects different people in different ways. Infected people have had a wide range of symptoms reported – from mild symptoms to severe illness.    As of 4/28/21, only 23% of Americans are fully vaccinated.  (abc TV news).                                                                        

School attendance has been affected world-wide.  Parents have been expected to help educate their children.  I never thought I'd see such a day.  Daily school was a sure as paying taxes.  The problem has been dealt with by using computers for teaching, creating home schooling .  This has been going on for over a year now, and the populations are are trying to create schooling in schools using safety precautions.  

Israel has all these things to face, except maybe an erupting volcano, but then I don't want to give this a kinehora.  

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Palestinian_rocket_attacks_on_Israel_in_2020

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/04/27/us/portland-protests-mayor-ted-wheeler.html

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/israel-airstrikes-hit-gaza-after-rocket-attacks-clashes-intensify-jerusalem-n1265180

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7yLjCGwNFE , volcano in Iceland.  

https://www.jta.org/2019/05/04/israel/at-least-300-rockets-from-gaza-fired-on-israel-on-saturday

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_St._Helens#:~:text=A%20dormancy%20of%20about%204%2C000,largest%20known%20eruption%20from%20St.

https://www.volcanodiscovery.com/earthquakes/israel.html

Volcano Activity Summary for 9 Apr 2021:

Currently erupting:

Dukono (Halmahera): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 12 Nov 2020)
Ebeko (Paramushir Island): explosive activity continues (updated 8 Apr 2021)
Erebus (Antarctica): active lava lake in summit crater (updated 8 Dec 2014)
Erta Ale (Danakil depression, Ethiopia): active lava lake in the summit crater (updated 19 Jun 2020)
Etna (Sicily, Italy): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 24 Feb 2021)
Fagradalsfjall (Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland): 3rd eruptive fissure opened yesterday (updated 8 Apr 2021)
Fuego (Guatemala): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 16 Feb 2021)
Ibu (Halmahera, Indonesia): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 7 Jan 2021)
Kilauea (Hawai'i): new developed pond entered into main lava lake; effusive eruption of the volcano continues (updated 12 Mar 2021)
Lewotolo (Lesser Sunda Islands): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 24 Mar 2021)
Masaya (Nicaragua): minor ashfall (updated 24 Oct 2019)
Merapi (Central Java, Indonesia): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 25 Mar 2021)
Nevados de Chillán (Central Chile): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 24 Mar 2021)
Nyiragongo (DRCongo): new vent on crater floor (updated 7 Aug 2019)
Pacaya (Guatemala): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 7 Apr 2021)
Popocatépetl (Central Mexico): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 8 Mar 2021)
Reventador (Ecuador): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 24 Mar 2021)
Sabancaya (Peru): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 17 Mar 2021)
Sakurajima (Kyushu, Japan): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 6 Apr 2021)
Sangay (Ecuador): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 7 Apr 2021)
Santiaguito (Guatemala): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 16 Dec 2020)
Semeru (East Java, Indonesia): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 16 Jan 2021)
Shiveluch (Kamchatka): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 2 Feb 2021)
Sinabung (Sumatra, Indonesia): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 11 Mar 2021)
Soufrière St. Vincent (West Indies, St. Vincent): effusive eruption continues with series of seismic swarm (updated 9 Apr 2021)
Stromboli (Eolian Islands, Italy): mild strombolian activity from several vents (updated 3 Feb 2021)
Yasur (Tanna Island, Vanuatu): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 27 Aug 2020)

Eruption warning / minor activity:

Bagana (Bougainville Island, Papua New Guinea): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 23 Dec 2020)
Kadovar (Northeast of New Guinea): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 19 Mar 2021)
Karymsky (Kamchatka): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 15 Mar 2021)
Kerinci (Sumatra): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 16 Mar 2021)
Langila (New Britain, Papua New Guinea): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 15 Mar 2021)
Nevado del Ruiz (Colombia): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 16 Mar 2021)
Nyamuragira (DRCongo): the eruption continues (updated 12 Nov 2019)
Raung (East Java): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 5 Mar 2021)
Semisopochnoi (United States, Aleutian Islands): occasional minor ash emissions (updated 6 Apr 2021)
Suwanose-jima (Ryukyu Islands): Volcanic Ash Advisory (updated 9 Apr 2021)
Taal (Luzon, Philippines): elevated unrest continues (updated 29 Mar 2021)
Veniaminof (Alaska Peninsula, USA): renewed activity raised Aviation Color Code to Orange again (updated 6 Apr 2021)
Villarrica (Central Chile): degassing; activity remains stable (updated 2 Feb 2021)