Golan Heights – Between Heaven and Hell

Last week I visited the Golan Heights twice. On Wednesday, I drove up to Mt. Hermon with a friend to do some skiing.  On Friday and Saturday I went up with a group of friends and we hiked two segments of the ‘Golan Trail’ (שביל הגולן). The winter storm that blew a week earlier covered the Golan Heights with fresh snow - the whole area turned into a “fantasy land”. The Israeli side of the border was filled with visitors who came up to play in the snow. But on the Syrian side, you could hear explosions and heavy machine guns, as the battles raged between pro and anti-government forces. It was a surreal experience.

Abolishing the [financial] Pyramids

For thousands of years Jews have been celebrating Passover. Celebrating the liberation of our forefathers from slavery in Egypt, where many broke their backs building the Pyramids.  While ancient pyramids serve as archeological artifacts now days, new types of pyramids are still being built. Over the past decade, several “financial pyramids” have been erected in Israel, exploiting the fruits of labor of common people.  But this past week, the process of abolishing these pyramids achieved a few important milestones.