יום שישי, י״א תמוז תשפ״וFriday, June 26, 2026
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Forest Rain Marcia 'made aliyah', immigrated with her family to Israel at the age of thirteen. Her blog, 'Inspiration from Zion' is a leading blog on Israel. She is the Content and Marketing Specialist for the Israel Forever Foundation and is a Marketing Communications and Branding expert writing for hi-tech companies for a living-- and Israel for the soul.
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By Forest Rain
Could we be ignoring this holiday because of what it teaches us?!
By Forest Rain
As we mourn the destruction of the Temple, we should learn some often overlooked facts about the site.
By Forest Rain
Outsmarting those who wish to erase Israel from the cultural realm
By Forest Rain
It doesn’t mean we should demand Israel stop the war. On the contrary.
By Forest Rain
There are no reports in Israel or worldwide of anyone with injuries as severe as Kfir's who has survived.
By Forest Rain
A new wall has appeared along the highway near Israel’s southern town of Sderot.
By Forest Rain
Words are not enough but after the clinic was bulldozed on March 11, 2025, they are all we have left
By Forest Rain
Each generation has defining moments that give rise to the questions: “Where were you when…?” and “What was it like when…?” Today, the defining question is: “Where were you on October 7th? What was it like?”
By Forest Rain
A mother’s fight, two little lions, and a nation forever changed
By Forest Rain
To address reality, we must recognize it. And getting this wrong puts our lives in danger. I have had enough hostage-taking and brutal terrorism for a lifetime. We cannot live like this anymore.
By Forest Rain
Dear nice people, you are lovely. But it isn’t “nice” to let evil survive.
By Forest Rain
How many of us would have the courage to say to murderers and rapists: “Free him. Take me instead”?
By Forest Rain
Any of us could have been in the place of the hostages or their immediate families.
By Forest Rain
“Every Hebrew mother must know she entrusted the fate of her sons to worthy commanders”
By Forest Rain
For anyone coming from a large country like America, it is hard to comprehend just how small Israel is and how connected we all are.
By Forest Rain
Cucumbers don’t wait for the politics to be right or the nation to stop grieving. They need correct care, at the right time – as do all crops.
By Forest Rain
7 October "taught me to never, ever give up. No matter how hopeless. We can never give up.”
By Forest Rain
If Hollywood produced a movie about what happened in Kibbutz Erez on October 7th, viewers would find the plot unbelievable.
By Forest Rain
On October 7th, 2023, Hamas brought the Holocaust to Israel. They came with lists and maps of Jews marking them for death – just like the Nazis.
By Forest Rain
Yesterday we were told on the news that 14 year old Benjamin Achimeir went missing. He left his home early in the morning to herd sheep. His home is in the Benjamin region, named after the ancient Jewish tribe of Benjamin who lived more or less in the same area during biblical times. A missing […]
By Forest Rain
I would rather write about the oranges of Be’eri. Or their extraordinary printing business. I don’t want to write about the horror or the feeling of being violently violated.
By Forest Rain
The message the commandos announced on the radio to everyone connected to the mission: “The diamonds are in our hands!”
By Forest Rain
A terrorist throws a grenade into the shelter...Aner, with his bare hands, threw it back.
By Forest Rain
On Martin Luther King Day we honor all the men, women and children who spoke when it was terrifying to do so. The people whose names we know and those who we will never know.
By Forest Rain
Beautiful rolling plains, clear blue sky, and low unobtrusive houses. Spots of greenery, a step away from the desert. Just enough civilization to not feel lonely with open spaces that give the feeling of air. Freedom. Who wouldn’t imagine they had reached heaven? Residents of “Otef” Gaza, the Israeli communities near the border with Gaza […]
By Forest Rain
Listening to the descriptions of Osheri, and the impact he had on so many lives, it would be easy to forget that he was just 22 years old
By Forest Rain
The battlefield of Gaza is unequal. The IDF is stronger, better equipped, and well-trained. And yet Hamas has the advantage. They have knowledge of the terrain that we do not. They know where the openings to their terror tunnels are, where there are weapons caches, and what is booby-trapped. And from what we are hearing, […]
By Forest Rain
This is the unfathomable faith of the Jewish People in the face of horror. It is the strength of a People broken, yet still standing – the mysterious factor that leads to deep confusion about Jews.
By Forest Rain
But we will prove to them and everyone watching that we meant it when we said Never Again.
By Forest Rain
It’s the moral duty of the IDF to fulfill the promise of NEVER AGAIN.
By Forest Rain
We cannot take our existence, our survival for granted. We need to fight for it. An unfathomable number of our best have already died. At the same time, we are the People that rise from the ashes.
By Forest Rain
The winners write the history books
By Forest Rain
A Jewish father teaching his kids in this place should be the most natural, obvious image in the world – but it’s not.
By Forest Rain
Zili was a combat dog, considered one of the best. Zili took part in hundreds of critical counterterrorism operations,
By Forest Rain
SHAVUOT 2022. THE TEMPLE MOUNT CALLED TO ME.
By Forest Rain
Why do so many Jews barely notice Shavuot? What does this say about us as a people? What does this say about our future? Could we be ignoring this holiday because of what it teaches us?!
By Forest Rain
You can see that the police were deliberately provoked for the cameras, to enable the “narrative.”
By Forest Rain
Living elsewhere, the news of horror is theoretical. In Israel, the news is a visceral punch in the gut
By Forest Rain
You might ask, who is attacking Israel? Why? The real question is, why not? There are many individuals and institutions who are motivated to attack Israel and the war in Ukraine provides a perfect “let no crisis go to waste” opportunity.
By Forest Rain
All this, not for a rock star, politician, or even a charismatic influencer. Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky was a vessel of Jewish knowledge, an example of Jewish scholarliness, of putting learning, wisdom, and faith above all worldly comforts.
By Forest Rain
In Israel, this war provides a convenient excuse for our media to not cover many uncomfortable and critical issues including dangerous lack of sovereignty and frightening levels of corruption...
By Forest Rain
There are many voices, particularly those backed by progressive Jewish, American-based organizations declaring that Israel needs to stand on the side of morality and help ALL Ukrainian refugees, without inquiring if they are Jewish or have any connection to Israel. I say, "No. Just no."
By Forest Rain
This war is NOTHING like the Holocaust
By Forest Rain
Taharlev, an astoundingly prolific writer, articulated the primal truths of what it means to be part of the greatest love story ever documented – the love story between this Land and her People, between the People and our Land.
By Forest Rain
An International Day for Holocaust Remembrance in today’s world is bizarre and almost laughable. Today Jews are denied the right to live safely in our own land while the world denies that a problem even exists.
By Forest Rain
Am I happy that my friend became Prime Minister? Absolutely--At the same time, I am absolutely horrified by the way it happened and the problems it is and will create in our society for the years to come
By Forest Rain
While UK’s Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn honors terrorists that committed this atrocity, repeated attempts to give the slaughtered Israeli athletes the recognition they are due, have fallen on deaf ears.
By Forest Rain
You don’t need Ben & Jerry’s in order to have good ice cream. If you have a mixer in your house, you can make your own ice cream, any time you want.
By Forest Rain
HOME is the place where your FAMILY is. That’s why, in Israel, family extends beyond the walls of our private homes to include strangers – they are just family members we haven’t met yet.
By Forest Rain
Children’s thoughts about colors should not be dictated by a terrorist organization. Children should be free to play outside, free to walk from their home to visit a friend, without having to worry about where the closest bomb shelter is.
By Forest Rain
Today Israel is a land of freedom for all – unless you are Jewish. On the Temple Mount, the holiest place in the world for the Jewish people, Jews are not allowed to pray.
By Forest Rain
Purim tells us about the power of one person to change the fate of our people. Esther is not described as particularly brilliant or talented. She is just a woman, with a big heart who, with courage and feminine intuition, changed the world.
By Forest Rain
An Esther neighborhood. Horgen Hill. A place where more Jewish children can live, grow and thrive in the land of our ancestors. That is how it is done.
By Forest Rain
Yesterday was Father’s Day. The fact that someone thought it was necessary to set aside a specific day for dads shows me that we don’t honor fathers enough in our everyday lives.
By Forest Rain
“Thousands of generations I dreamt of you, to be granted to see the light of your face, Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Shine your face to your sons! From your ruins, I will build you!”
By Forest Rain
Words shape reality. Using our tongue for bad can create a nightmare. Use words for good.
By Forest Rain
Attempting to convert Jews is an attack on our identity, an attack on our souls and can be interpreted only as a curse.
By Forest Rain
A quick look at Bennett’s resume makes it crystal clear that there is no place for the word “weakness” in any sentence describing the man.
By Forest Rain
With Gantz the issue is more his incoherent sentences which seem to reflect very confused thinking. But many Israelis want anything that isn’t Bibi.
By Forest Rain
New plants will cover the ugly scars terrorism left behind. Tu B’Shvat should not have to be used in this way but it is fitting that it was. Ours is a love story between a people and their land, between a land and its people.
By Forest Rain
And each time she mothers a soldier, she not only takes care of him but she also provides balm for the aching hearts of his worried parents
By Forest Rain
These are the 3 reasons I not only hope to God Netanyahu doesn’t resign but that he also continues to serve as Israel’s Prime Minister.
By Forest Rain
Pres. Trump said two words no one wanted to hear, pointing out a situation many recognize but most are afraid to mention: Disloyal Jews. With a piercing, instinctive understanding, Trump put a spotlight on an identity crisis in the Jewish community.
By Forest Rain
In the middle of the concert Jon rededicated “We Don’t Run” to our People.
By Forest Rain
Kay is like Israel. This is our beauty and our strength. Broken, yet still standing. Wounded physically and in spirit. Together we survive and we love and we infuse good into the world to counter-balance the evil.
By Forest Rain
The definition of apartheid is two separate sets of laws for the same people. The Temple Mount is the only place in Israel where Israelis are subject to different laws based on them being Muslim or Jewish.
By Forest Rain
The Eurovision is one of the largest events in the world. Larger than the Super Bowl, the Eurovision brings together 200 million viewers every year. The Olympics and the World Cup are the only events that have more viewers.
By Forest Rain
It is the shackles of the mind that are truly preventing freedom. No matter what Jews of diaspora mentality (or the world powers) say, we will not willingly join them in their bondage but our hands are outstretched to pull them into freedom.
By Forest Rain
Jews choose life. We choose building a thriving, happy future. THAT is our identity. Others choose victimhood, anger and stewing in past offenses against them. These two positions are diametrically opposed. THAT is why we can never take part in the intersectionality equation, no matter how “nuanced” it is.
By Forest Rain
Watching him, I felt sorry for Gantz. He was trying to make the gestures and say the things he was told would make the best impression but his body language expressed louder than words just how uncomfortable and unsure of himself he was.
By Forest Rain
We are a stiff-necked people. Our greatest fault, also our saving grace and an example to the nations of the world that anything is possible. Not even the sky can limit us.
By Forest Rain
Ori’s murder is different because it wasn’t just a horrific attack on her, it was an attack against our nation. It wasn’t an attack on a woman who happened to be a Jew, it was an attack on a Jew who happened to be a woman. It was an attempt to erase the Jew from Israel.
By Forest Rain
This week a new IDF Chief of Staff took on the responsibility of leading our military, defending our legacy and protecting our future. Lt.-Gen. Aviv Kochavi, Israel’s 22nd IDF Chief of General spoke of his responsibility and vision, defining his role and that of the IDF in a way I have never heard before.
By Forest Rain
And because his was a life of symbolism, his parents gave him a name that means everything: Ami-ad Israel--My Nation forever, Israel.
By Forest Rain
Hanukah is a celebration of Jewish nationalism (which does not exist without God) and not a holiday of religious holiness although there are some prayers that are specifically associated with Hanukah. It similar to celebrating Israel’s Independence Day which also commemorates the victory of a tiny group of stubborn Jews fighting for sovereignty and freedom, against an enemy much more powerful and well equipped and – by the grace of God – WINNING.
By Forest Rain
The calendar may have changed but the events are unfortunately familiar--another attack, another ceasefire.
By Forest Rain
Sir Ben Kingsley, promised Elie Wiesel, the voice of morality and Holocaust Memory that he would, at the next appropriate opportunity, take on a role and dedicate it to him – and that is exactly what he did.
By Forest Rain
What kind of modern child would willingly put down their phone, turn off the tv and go outside to sweat in the sun? What for? They don’t know what hard work is and why in the world would they want to do any kind of physical labor? There is no necessity that could drive them, no demand. It could never happen. Or at least that’s what the founders of the Shomer HaChadash Youth Movement were told.
By Forest Rain
The new law sparked an uproar, mostly within the Jewish world. The question is, why? Is there something wrong with the law? In order to address these questions, we must first examine the content of the law. It is short and written in very clear language.
By Forest Rain
Unlike in the United States, there is no person in Israel who is untouched by terrorism or war; soldiers are an integral part of Israeli society.
By Forest Rain
The excellent employment opportunity was not enough to stave off the terrorist's hate. He preferred to murder Jews than to continue working there. The Palestinian Authority will pay him handsomely for the blood of Kim and Ziv.
By Forest Rain
Indigeneity is the strongest claim any People can have to any specific land: this specific piece of land and no other is the ancestral homeland of my People.
By Forest Rain
Every Jew murdered is Ari Fuld. Every Jew alive is Ari Fuld – whether they know it or not. Now that Ari is no longer here, it is our responsibility to carry on where he left off.
By Forest Rain
We all know the war is coming. It’s only a question of when. We actually had thought it was going to happen earlier but whatever is happening behind the scenes on the political level is keeping the attacks on a low flame rather than a full-blown war.
By Forest Rain
Kite firebombs don’t sound like a real threat. Balloons sound even sillier (especially when the balloons are made from inflated condoms) but this is no game. The kites and balloons have been found up to 25 miles from Gaza,
By Forest Rain
Statements from Jews, usually from America, prefaced by “my Jewish values” usually precede some sort of accusation against Israel that has little to do with facts – or an understanding of Jewish values. The basics are really simple, if you take the time to actually look at them:
By Forest Rain
It makes me physically ill to see Jews abroad and even my own government in Israel bend over backward to not seem “too aggressive” to the nations of the world who love to condemn Israel for defending her citizens.
By Forest Rain
The IDF didn’t go on a manhunt because they were ordered to. They certainly didn’t do it because it’s fun. They did it because we are one family
By Forest Rain
What fuels the violence is European leaders sending the message that Arab violence is only to be expected because Arabs feel wronged by the existence of Israel and her eternal ties to Jerusalem.
By Forest Rain
All our soldiers are precious, every life matters but sometimes you get a glimpse into a life and see a quality of character that is rich in everything we value most – kindness, decency, willingness to work hard and do for others, hope.
By Forest Rain
Kind, caring people, genuinely concerned people keep saying to me , Stay Safe!" Why do I find this so annoying?
By Forest Rain
The embassy move is important. It is an end to ambivalence, a declaration of understanding that the Jewish people have always been connected to Zion and will never leave. It is up to the rest of the nations of the earth to make the same decision and officially give up the secret, or not so secret hope, that the Jewish people will somehow disappear.
By Forest Rain
This is what a hero looks like - an Israeli teenager, still in 12th grade, not yet 18. Service, putting others first, wanting to protect others. These weren’t dreams for Tzur, they were life-goals which he worked hard to fulfill, which he died fulfilling.
June 19, 2026 
