This is cool

Do you like word clouds? I never did until I found Wordle. It's a neat little tool/toy.

You can enter the address of your blog and it will generate your cloud automatically, or punch in specific words that you want to appear. Now play some more with the look of your cloud. It's addicting :)


http://www.wordle.net/

DYFS is run by idiots or How I spent my 3 week vacation

Names will be changed to protect the innocents, sadly DYFS has no concept of innocent until proven guilty.

In case you are wondering, 'The Division of Youth and Family Services (DYFS) is New Jersey's child protection and child welfare agency within the Department of Children and Families. Its mission is to ensure the safety, permanency and well-being of children and to support families.DYFS is responsible for investigating allegations of child abuse and neglect and, if necessary, arranging for the child's protection and the family's treatment.'

How can they take serious an allegation of child abuse, in this case, a diagnosis of a spiral fracture, if it turns out that the so-called experts who read the so-called x-ray were so oh so wrong? Well, they did. Now in my family we have a very disturbed 2 and a half year old boy.

My great nephew and his mom were out playing ball when he fell backwards. His mom was concerned so she and her partner, my nephew took, we'll call 'A' to the hospital to be checked out. My nephew said that as soon as the x-rays were developed he and his partner were given dirty looks. These fine professionals, I imagine who were short of their tattle tale quota, called DYFS.

Meanwhile, my sister, her friend and I were in Atlantic City for a couple of days. My sister started getting phone calls from her son with what was happening.

The hospital released my great nephew so his parents took him home to my sister's house where they live. Then at 2am on a Tuesday morning, the blond storm trooper disguised as a DYFS worker stormed my sister's house with two policemen, like the coward she is. They took 'A' who was in pain and confused and put him in a foster home, location unknown.

My sister, 'A's grandmother got more and more upset, especially after her mobile hone died. To make a long night shorter by 3:15am we were on the road home where we arrived a little after 4. No sleep that night.

DYFS said that if my parents' home met their approval then 'A' could live with them but first we had to await a call about the court date which had to come within 72 hours.

On Wednesday my sister was over at our parents' trying to figure out things for our parents' 60 wedding anniversary luncheon. She called home to see if there had been any phone messages when she heard that the court case was to be heard at 1pm that day. So she rallied the troops and I found myself going too. We left dad at home. Mind you he had just got out of hospital the week before after suffering a heart attack.

So after going through security we went up to the floor where the case would be heard. My mother, younger nephew and I sat in one alcove with a young woman who was there for the same reason. My sister, older nephew and his partner went into a room where they met their public defender and to sign papers.

The young woman's lawyer came out, handed her some papers to read (must have been 2 inches thick) and he used twice the 'F' word, very unprofessional. She borrowed a pen to underline all the things that were wrong and according to her there were plenty.

My nephew came out saying that their lawyer said that he didn't understand why we were in court, that the hospital was wrong. Then my nephew started pointing out what was wrong in his papers. How about misspelling his son's name? The best was yet to come and for this alone the blond storm trooper should be fired, she had reported that my nephew was the biological father of 2 other children and gave their names.

At that the young woman looked up and said but that's my children's names. Yep, the blond twit got the 2 cases mixed up.

At 1:45 the guard ushered us in to the court room where we sat and listened to the judge mumbling at the divorce cases he was hearing. Should I mention that my mom knows his father? We sat there for 2 hours on those hard benches until the judge finished the divorces and he asked my nephew what his case was. Gee, the idiots ushered us to the wrong court room. DYFS gave us the wrong room number.

To make another hour short, 'A' would be returned to his mom and dad who have to live at my parents' until they deem that my sister's house was 'uncluttered' enough. Umm, you try living in 2 bedroom house with 5 adults, one toddler, and a Newfoundland dog and not find clutter. So we had to wait for 'A' to be taken from his foster house, taken to a doctor for a check-up and only then he would be brought to my parents. When the nice caseworker came over to check my parents' home (and she was nice), to make sure that 'A' would have his own room she actually asked if they had hot water.

So 'A' and his mom moved into my parents' home, in the room where I had been staying, I had to move into my former childhood bedroom.

DYFS never said a word how 'A' got along in the foster home except to say that he had just started to talk that morning. Nothing about if he had his medicines which he has to take for a condition, not a thing. Disgusting. The next day DYFS was to pick him, his mom, and my sister to a hospital to have his leg checked out since he only had a half cast on. She got lost driving them there. They returned with a full cast on his leg which he wasn't allowed to walk on. He quickly discovered that he could scoot around on his tummy to be mobile.

The disturbing thing was the way he wanted, in the evening, to be held and to stand in a corner so no one could see him. Yay DYFS for making this child scared and insecure. A bunch of incompetents in charge of the loony asylum. By the time I left he was more secure but he was still having separation anxiety if he couldn't see his mother. My nephew and his partner were able to work opposite shifts so at least one of them was with him all the time.

Hopefully, next week DYFS will give their blessing and let my nephew, partner and 'A' go home to my sister's. No apology nothing came out of DYFS' mouth. They should be ashamed of themselves and go and disrupt the lives of people who do abuse their children.

'A's doctor has agreed for a referral so a bone density test can take place. Apparently my nephew when he was young broke bones easily as does my sister. There is a condition, which I don't know the name of it, which causes bones to break easily. I wonder and am glad that I don't nor my children have it.

Oh why did I mention that the storm trooper was blond? A former classmate/friend came over for a chat and 'A' was scared of her. Why She's blond. Thank you DYFS for that too. I wonder if they will agree to pay for counseling for 'A' after what they did to him.

Probably not, of course they will say they were only following orders and protocol. Gee, where have we heard that before?

Time and a book that raised my hackles

I can't believe that I haven't posted since September, it's not like life has passed me by.

The thing I want to discuss is a book I've just read, "Journal" by Helene Berr, translated by David Bellos.





The product description from amazon says:

"From April 1942 to March 1944, Helene Berr, a recent graduate of the Sorbonne, kept a journal that is both an intensely moving, intimate, harrowing, appalling document and a text of astonishing literary maturity. With her colleagues, she plays the violin and she seeks refuge from the everyday in what she calls the "selfish magic" of English literature and poetry. But this is Paris under the occupation and her family is Jewish.

Eventually, there comes the time when all Jews are required to wear a yellow star. She tries to remain calm and rational, keeping to what routine she can: studying, reading, enjoying the beauty of Paris.Yet always there is fear for the future, and eventually, in March 1944, Helene and her family are arrested, taken to Drancy Transit Camp and soon sent to Auschwitz.

She went - as is later discovered - on the death march to Bergen-Belsen and there she died in 1945, only weeks before the liberation of the camp. The last words in the journal she had left behind in Paris were "Horror, Horror, Horror...", a hideous and poignant echo of her English studies from "The Heart of Darkness". Helene Berr's story is almost too painful to read, foreshadowing horror as it does amidst an enviable appetite for life, for beauty, for literature, for all that lasts."

What the translator mentions and which I couldn't stop mentally yelling as I read the diary was Denial!!


It was horrible to read and I had no sympathy for her and her family. How arrogant were they to presume that since that they considered themselves French first and Jews second that they wouldn't suffer with the German or 'Kraut', as she called them, occupation? At no time she discussed any food shortage nor any deep down fear that they will be taken. Despite being Jewish and going to shul on Rosh Hashannah her observance was more Xian.

I couldn't believe that she was taking classes up to the last.I have to admire her though for working for the Jewish Agency helping to rehome Jewish children who became orphaned when their parents were deported or killed. But yet, couldn't she see that she and her family were doomed? And the stupidity of them not sleeping at home in case someone would come for them. Why not run and hide?

Then the one night that they did go home for a good night's sleep in their own beds, guess what happened? Yep.

This book really opened my eyes to French Jews during the Shoah and has me want to read more. I think deep down I resented the freedom she had compared to my family in Poland during the same time. They had the same horrific outcome but I am sure that my aunts and their families truly suffered while Ms Berr had her life go on with just a few adjustments.

I've started reading the biography of Irene Nemirovsky by Jonathan Weiss. 'Irene Nemirovsky: Her Life And Works'.




What I have read so far about Ms Nemirovsky I don't think that I would have liked her when she was young.

Other books that have caught my eye and will buy and read are:

'Beyond These Walls' by Jamina Bauman
'Mendel's Daughter' by Martin Lemelman
'Crime of my Very Existence:Nazism and the Myth of Jewish Criminality' by Michael Berkowitz.

Oh,before I end this, something, not sure how to describe it, happened to me last week. My town since the beginning of the government's decision to have a 'Holocaust Memorial Day' in January has always had some activity to remember those who died. (Holocaust Memorial Day is marked each year on 27January – the anniversary of the date of the liberation of Nazi death camp Auschwitz-Birkenau.)

Last year we had a survivor to speak to us.Less said about that the better.

The beginning of the month I looked in the local paper for some notification that something would take place.I thought perhaps a rededication for newly planted trees. Last month I went to see the trees and plaque that the town placed near the lake at the edge of town. No trees and no plaque. I got touch with the council who ignored me until I wrote to my MP who got in touch with them and then back to me. Apparently some yabbos pulled out and killed the trees however some new trees in a safer position were planted and a dedication would occur.

So I emailed the council and received an email froma man who didn't know anything.Then I received a second one with him saying that nothing was planned this year.I told him that I thought that that was a disgrace. Then the somewhat funny incident happened. I received another email from him which I shouldn't have received, it was meant for a co-worker. In it he asked his cw what can be done to placate me. So I mailed him back asking if he thought that I should be placated. He apologised,He did say that the council was starting a fund to get the Anne Frank exhibition to come to town.We'll see.

Shana Tova!!

Happy New Year!

It's going to be a strange beginning to the new year. My son has bought a house and will be moving out within 2 weeks. The cat is happy. I am very pleased for him. He'll be 27 this year and should be out on his own.

I thought that I would give ideas for a healthier New Year.


First Tip: Think Sampler Sizes

In order to taste everything at the Rosh Hashanah table, have a small amount of everything - like apples and honey and apple challah; have just one matzo ball in the soup; enjoy the brisket in moderation; and have the fruit compote instead of the honey cake.

Second Tip: Lighten up the dishes that are rich and at the same time particularly desirable and comforting (and easy to over eat).

A healthy recipe for tzimmes:

Carrot Tzimmes
(Carrots are sliced into coins and eaten as a symbol of prosperity and good luck in the New Year)

1 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced into coins
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
4 tablespoons freshly squeezed orange juice
1/3 cup seedless golden raisins
Kosher salt and pepper to taste
Minced fresh parsley

Mix everything except the parsley together in a medium saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat and simmer gently until the carrots are crisp tender, about 25 minutes. Remove the cover from the pan, raise the heat and cook the carrots until most of the liquid has evaporated and the sauce is thickened, about five minutes. Sprinkle the parsley on top and serve.
Serves 6

Per Serving: 125 calories, 2 g protein, 26 g carbohydrate, 2.5 g fat, .2 g saturated fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 3.3 g fiber, 42 mg sodium (not including salt). Percent calories from fat: 17%

Light Changes: (In order to bring down the calories and grams of sugar a bit). Take out a tablespoon of non-dairy margarine and upped the orange juice by a tablespoon. You can also cut the honey and brown sugar in half (from 3 tablespoons to 1 1/2) and decreased the raisins from 1/2 cup to 1/3 cup.

Potato Kugel

1 large onion, grated
6 large potatoes, peeled and grated (about 1.75 pounds of potatoes before peeling)
2 eggs well beaten (higher omega-3 if available)
1/2 cup egg substitute (if you don't want to use egg substitute increase the higher omega-3 eggs from 2 to 4)
1/4 cup canola oil (in the old days this used to be schmaltz - rendered chicken fat!)
1/4 cup double strength or condensed chicken broth (low sodium chicken broth can be used)
Kosher salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grate the onion first. Grate the potatoes and add to the onion to stop the potatoes from turning brown. Further chop half of this mixture with the blade of the food processor. This makes the kugel less dense. Mix everything together. Pour into a 2-3 quart rectangular casserole dish that has been coated with canola cooking spray. Bake for about an hour or until very brown and crusty. Cut in to squares to serve.
Serves 8

Per Serving: 187 calories, 5.5 g protein, 23 g carbohydrate, 8.3 g fat, .9 g saturated fat, 53 mg cholesterol, 2 g fiber, 91 mg sodium (not including salt to taste). Calories from fat: 39%

Light Changes: You can cut the oil in half (from 1/2 cup to 1/4 cup) and specified canola oil which is higher in mono-unsaturated fats and plant omega-3s. You can add some double strength chicken broth to compensate for the moisture loss and to add a nice chicken flavor. You can also replaced half of the eggs called for with a nice egg substitute (like Egg Beaters) and suggested higher omega-3 eggs are used if available.


Not so healthy but very tasty sounding:

Sliced Lamb In Apricot Mushroom Sauce

4 pounds lamb, cubed
2 onions diced
3 cloves garlic, whole or minced
1 pound mushroom, sliced
2/3 cup apricot preserved
1 cup dry red wine
½ cup water
¼ tsp. Pepper
2 bay leaves

Preheat oven to 350.

Place vegetables, apricot preserves, liquid, and seasoning into a medium bowl. Mix until combined. Place meat in roasting pan and pour apricot mixture over it. Bake covered for 2 to 2 ½ hours.

Check meat during baking. You may want to mix it so that the flavor of juice gets well absorbed. When done, remove from oven and allow to cool. Refrigerate for a few hours or overnight.

Preheat oven to 300. Return meat to sauce and reheat for 30 minutes. Serve warm.

Excerpted from Spice and Spirit, The Complete Kosher Jewish Cookbook, published by Lubavitch Women's Cookbook Publications

The content on this page is copyrighted by the author, publisher and/or Chabad.org, and is produced by Chabad.org. If you enjoyed this article, we encourage you to distribute it further, provided that you comply with the copyright policy.


May You have a Happy and Healthy Year.

The Olympics

Has anyone else been glued to the television watching the Olympics these past 2 weeks? I swear I must have lost weight and voice with the straining, pushing and yelling as I urged the athletes on and I wasn't partial to any team. Well, okay, I'm fibbing. I cheered for the USA, Team GB (what a horrible name) and of course for Israel.

Taking Israel first. Mazel Tov to Shahar Zubari for winning Israel's only medal at this Olympics.




We still have today and tomorrow for the Games so I am sure that many more medals will be won by the USA and Team GB.

And hasn't the British team done well this time? So far they have won 18 Gold, 13 Silver and 13 Bronze.

Rebecca Adlington clinched her second gold medal of the Beijing Games in the 800m freestyle. I do hope that someone in power does recognize her with an award, OBE sounds nice. The cyclists Chris Hoy, Bradley Wiggins, and Rebecca Romero have done well also.

Sailor Ben Aislie did so well on the water.

It came as a surprise that Christine Ohuruogu win the Gold for the 400 meter. She has caused so much controversy with her lifetime Olympic ban for missing 3 drug tests. Should she have taken part? I think not.

Jamaica has been fantastic with Usain Bolt and the 3 women who won the 100 meter race Shelly-Ann Fraser, Sherone Simpson and Kerron Stewart. Veronica Campbell-Brown won the 200.

Oops, excuse me for yelling but I had to yell for the USA team in the Women's 4 x 400 Meter Relay. Sandra Richards really had to work for it but she did beat the Russian. *happy dance*

So Michael Phelps beat Mark Spitz's record. *sigh* Congratulations to Michael, well done.

I remember 1972 and being glued to the tv then too. I had just come back from a year at Tel Aviv University. Cheering Mark on, well he is a nice Jewish boy, and then watching the horrible events of what was happening inside and outside of the Athlete's Village.

So in writing this article about the Olympics I have to mention what happened in Munich.

On the morning of September 5, with six days left in the Games, the worst tragedy in Olympic history hit. Eight Arab terrorists stormed into the Olympic village and raided the apartment building that housed the Israeli contingent. Two Israeli athletes were killed and nine more were seized as hostages. They demanded the release of over 200 Palestinians serving time in Israeli jails, along with two renowned German terrorists.

After a day of unsuccessful negotiations, the terrorists collected the hostages and headed for the military airport in Munich for a flight back to the Middle East. At the airport, German sharpshooters opened fire, killing three of the Palestinians. A horrifying gun battle ensued, claiming the lives of all nine of the hostages, along with one policeman and two terrorists.

The first 2 Israelis murdered were Joseph Romano and Moshe Weinberg.



Hostages killed at the airport



(middle row, L-R) wrestling referee Yossef Gutfreund, age 40; American-born weightlifter David Berger, 28; wrestler Mark Slavin, 18; and weightlifting judge Yacov Springer, 51.
(bottom row, L-R) weightlifter Ze'ev Friedman, 28; track coach Amitzur Shapira, 40; wrestler Eliezer Halfin, 24; shooting coach Kehat Shorr, 53; and fencing coach Andre Spitzer, 27.


At 3 a.m., a drawn and teary-eyed Jim McKay, who had been reporting the drama throughout the day as part of ABC's Olympic coverage, announced: “They're all gone.”

Five of the terrorists were killed along with one policeman, and three were captured. A little over a month later, on Oct. 29, a Lufthansa jet was hijacked by terrorists demanding that the Munich killers be released.

The Germans capitulated and the terrorists were let go, but an Israeli assassination squad was assigned to track them down along with those responsible for planning the massacre. According to George Jonas in Vengeance: The True Story of an Israeli Counter-Terrorist Team, eight of the 11 men targeted for death were killed. Of the remaining three, one died of natural causes and the other two were assassinated, but it is not known for sure if they were killed by Israeli agents.

Typical that the Germans let the murderers of Jews free. Even more disgusting was the fact that the massacre of 11 Israeli athletes was not considered sufficiently serious to merit canceling or postponing the Olympics. “Incredibly, they're going on with it,” Jim Murray of the Los Angeles Times wrote at the time. “It's almost like having a dance at Dachau.”

Would the Olympics have been canceled if another country's athletes been horribly murdered? I believe it would have. It's a shame that the German government has never outgrown it's 'It's only Jews' mentality.

A memorial ceremony was held the first Monday in Beijing to honor the 11 Israeli athletes.

The ceremony was organized by the Israeli embassy in the city and the Israel Olympic Committee at the Hilton hotel.

Hundreds attended the event, including representatives of Israel's athletic delegations, and Science, Culture and Sport Minister Raleb Majadele.

A significant number of foreign delegates, military attaches and Olympic officials were in attendance as well. Among the guests of honor was Juan Antonio Samaranch, International Olympic Committee president from 1980 to 2001, and Alex Giladi, Israel's delegate to the IOC.

For the past 36 years, the IOC has denied any culpability in the athletes' deaths. ON Monday Samaranch gave a heartfelt speech about keeping the slain sportsmen's memories alive, describing the massacre as the "blackest moment in the history of the Olympic movement."

While in office, neither Samaranch nor his successor, Jacques Rogge, made even the slightest effort to commemorate the victims. Those most hurt by the committee's inaction were the families of the slain athletes.

Since Munich, widows Anki Spitzer and Ilana Romano have tried to persuade IOC officials to erect a monument to the slain athletes in the city's Olympic Village.

On Monday, Romano pleaded with Giladi, who was present at the 1972 Games as a broadcaster, that the "next ceremony be held under the Olympics' five-ring banner."

Spitzer spoke in English about the families' desire not for vengeance, but for peace of mind, and of the difficulties the widows have faced in raising 14 children between them as orphans.

She also leveled damning accusations at Rogge and his predecessors.

"The sons, husbands and fathers who were murdered weren't tourists or bystanders, but part of the Olympic family. But the Olympic family doesn't recognize them," she said, receiving a standing ovation from the audience.

Despite the emotional pleas, the ceremony will likely remain an Israeli-organized event at the London Games in 2012, and indeed for the foreseeable future.

So now the Olympics will come to London in the year 2012. It should be interesting to see how this develops. I do want to go and watch some of the events in London. Apparently my town is applying to be one of the places where the athletes can practice before the Games.

Disgusted at Obama

According to Arutz Sheva today:

Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign seems to have purposely leaked the contents of the note that he placed in the Kotel, web magazine Israel Insider wrote Tuesday. While Israel's Hebrew newspaper Maariv came under fire for publishing the note, "it now appears that Maariv had collaborated with the Obama campaign in getting the 'private' prayer, with its 'modest' supplication to the Lord, out to the public, buffing his Christian credentials and showing his "humility," the web magazine said.

Last Friday, on the morrow of Obama's visit to the Kotel, Maariv published a close-up picture of the note written by Obama to G-d, supposedly after a yeshiva boy took it from the crack between the Kotel stones in which Obama deposited it. Maariv's competitor Yediot Acharonot slammed the paper for violating Obama's privacy.

Filched or released for publication?
In a statement issued following the public outcry over the leak, Maariv said that "Barack Obama's note was approved for publication in the international media even before he put it in the Kotel, a short time after he wrote it at the King David Hotel in Jerusalem." A third newspaper, Haaretz, quoted Maariv as saying that "Obama submitted a copy of the note to media outlets when he left his hotel in Jerusalem."

Based on these statements by Maariv, Israel Insider concluded that the Obama campaign "managed the event brilliantly, if deceptively, getting the double benefit of appearing to be victimized by the invasive Israeli press and prayer-thieving Jew while at the same time leaking out his humble Christian plea to the Lord." The report noted that by the week's end, "a (relatively) slick video appeared on [public video website] YouTube that blended Obama's Western Wall prayer with various church scenes, crosses aplenty, a dove of peace, and a soundtrack based on Amazing Grace. The video closes with a "vote" button and an invitation to visit the official campaign website."

Apparently unaware that the leaking of the note was coordinated by the Obama campaign and Maariv, Kotel Rabbi Shmuel Rabinovitz called the publication a "sacrilegious action" which "deserves sharp condemnation and represents a desecration of the holy site." He stated: "Notes which are placed in the Western Wall are between the person and his Maker; Heaven forbid that one should read them or use them in any way. The custom of placing notes between the stones of the Western Wall is ancient and is used as a means of expression by a person praying to his Creator."

Maariv's editors, Doron Galezer and Ruth Yovel, are considered to be hard-core leftists. The paper said that it was "pleased" with its "journalistic accomplishment."

"In any case," Maariv added, "since Obama is not a Jew, publishing the note does not constitute an infringement on his right to privacy."

Campaign denies
An Obama campaign spokesman claimed that the campaign hadn't approved the publication of any kind of prayer note. "Prayer notes at the Wall should remain private," a campaign aide said.

Israeli Channel 2 TV reported Sunday that the note was returned to the Kotel. It showed an interview with an anonymous yeshiva student, whose face was not shown, who did not want to say how he got possession of the note and claimed that the note was filched from the Kotel by a yeshiva student as a prank.

Call for boycott
Jerusalem lawyer Shahar Alon asked Attorney General Menachem Mazuz Monday to order a police investigation into the removal and publication of Obama's note.

"By making the note public," Alon wrote to Mazuz, "Maariv violated the law protecting holy sites, several clauses in the penal code and also infringed upon the basic rights of a person's honor and freedom."

Alon also initiated a boycott of the newspaper. In a public letter, he called on all who felt that Maariv had desecrated the holiness of the Kotel to refrain from purchasing the newspaper.


And we are supposed to vote for a man who mocks the Kotel? Who thinks that our prayers to G-d is a way to get votes? If any American Jew votes for him then they should be ashamed of themselves. "The Maariv" should also be ashamed of themselves to have let this happen.

Heart breaking News Today

The bitterly contested prisoner exchange has developed into one of Israel's most riveting and painful episodes, while Hizbullah and the PA celebrate victory and renew their threat to kidnap more IDF soldiers.

The conclusion of the prisoner exchange began Tuesday night with the release of child-murderer Samir Kuntar and four of his co-terrorists, and continued through Wednesday morning with the release of the coffins of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, all caught on camera for the nation and the world to see.

To the families of the two captured IDF soldiers, the news that their sons are dead is a tragedy, while to others in Israel the prospect of handing over alive-and-well murderers of innocent Jews in exchange for dead bodies is a travesty. For those who support terrorism, the release is being hailed as a victory for Hizbullah and the struggle to destroy Israel, coupled with an admission of defeat from the Jewish state.

As images of the coffins of Regev and Goldwasser appeared on television, cries could be heard coming from the Regev family home when they suddenly realized what they feared most: They would never see their son Eldad alive again.



Once the news he was dead began to spread, the area around the Regev residence became quickly crowded with family members and friends of Eldad, who gathered outside his home to show support for the grieving parents and to honor the memory of their loved one. The visitors began a vigil outside his Kiryat Motzkin home as they lit memorial candles for Eldad. Another vigil formed at the Goldwasser home.

Eldad Regev's aunt, Hanna, collapsed when she saw the images of her nephew's coffin, and had to be treated by paramedics who were standing by.

Shlomo Goldwasser, father of Ehud Goldwasser, had defiant words for those who killed his son. "If Hizbullah's great achievement is the release of Kuntar, who is nothing but a repulsive murderer, then I pity them."



The Regev and Goldwasser families have quietly accepted the fate of their slain sons and expressed gratitude for Israel's willingness to hand over the terrorists in order to get their boys back, dead or alive. However, there are many who have strongly opposed the swap, including top military and intelligence officials who urged Prime Minister Olmert's cabinet to reject the deal, considering it a big mistake for Israel.

Now what about Gilad Shalit?

Gilad Shalit (born 28 August 1986) is a soldier who was captured in a cross border raid on the crossing Kerem Shalom from the Gaza Strip by Palestinian militants on 25 June 2006 and has been held hostage by Hamas since.

And we mustn't forget Ron Arad

Ron Arad was born on May 5, 1958 in Israel. He is the son of Batya and the late Dov Arad, and is the oldest of their three sons. Arad, an air-force navigator in an F-4 Phantom jet, had just completed his first year of chemical engineering at The Technion-Israel Institute of Technology in Haifa when he was called up for reserve duty. On October 6, 1986 Arad was captured by members of the Amal Shi’ite militia after bailing out of his crippled warplane over the Lebanese city of Sidon.

When negotiations for Arad’s release collapsed in 1988, Arad was “sold” by Amal security chief Mustafa Dirani to Iranian backed forces in Lebanon. Since that time there has been a great deal of contradictory information regarding his fate and whereabouts. Israeli intelligence sources have maintained that Arad is being held in Iran or Lebanon by Iranian backed forces.

The Iranians have never publicly admitted to holding Arad or to having any information regarding his condition or location. Over the years many foreign governments have pressured Iran on the matter. Particularly the German government has continually attempted to utilize its close relationship with Iran to broker deals for Arad’s release, but without success to date.

For years there have been rumors if he is alive or dead, the latest says that he's dead.

While it is good that our boys finally came home it is Israel's shame that the terrorists get off so lightly. Why should Israel give up so much and get little or nothing in return.

Olmert should be gotten rid of and a stronger pro Israel PM should be in office. He is a disgrace. I'm sure that the next heinous act he does will be signing away more precious Jewish land.