Michal

http://www.thegreatshofar.com/product_info.php?cPath=22&products_id=34

After my interview on the Yishai and Friend show, we decided to do a radio ad on Israel National Radio.  Let us know what you think.

I want to thank Yishai for having me on the show and giving a plug to our site.

How sad.  Imagine if California declared that Jews are not allowed to build but Koreans are.  Imagine if an order was made by the Prime Minister of France saying Jews could not build homes in Paris.  Such things are unthinkable in today’s day and age.  Yet here in the Jewish State of Israel, in the land of Judea, for which the Jews are named, we are not allowed to build our homes because we are Jewish.  Muslims and Christians build freely but not Jews.

Here is a video of part of what happened yesterday.  It is in Hebrew but what you are seeing is a line of vehicles coming to the gate of our village, entering and starting to fill out tickets to stop building that was legal last week but has now been declared illegal.  You will see some of the people from our village pleading with them to be reasonable and the inspectors ignoring them.  Toward the end you will see Knesset member Michael Ben-Ari (the guy in the suit and tie) chastising the inspectors for obeying immoral orders of the government.  He tells them:

You want to come here and show us that you are strong that we should be afraid of you?!  Let me tell you something, you are assisting the worst enemies of Israel!  The fact that you are following orders will not save you.  The people of the settlements are stronger than you and they will be victorious.

Here’s the video

You may wonder why I am posting this on a site about Shofars. I want everyone who visits this site to know that when they purchase from us, they are supporting the return of the Jewish people to the Land of Israel. I think that most of our customers will be very proud of that.

We hope you will take advantage of this sale to pick up some items for your gift list and to treat yourself. There is no coupon necessary to receive the discount price.

Our village of Tekoa as viewed from the neighboring Arab village.

If you have read the About Us page on our website you already know that we are located in Tekoa, Israel. Tekoa is a small Jewish village in Judea (also known as the West Bank). The original Jewish village of Tekoa was located just a stone’s throw away from modern day Tekoa. You may remember it from the Bible as the home of the prophet Amos, or as the place where Jehoshaphat gathered his troops to fight against Ammon and Moab.

Today Tekoa is home to about 400 Jewish families from many diverse backgrounds. It is a beautiful place with clean desert air where children play freely in the streets. It is a literal fulfillment of our hometown prophet Amos’ prophesy. 2,700 year ago he wrote of the destruction and exile that would befall the Jewish people. Then in the end of the book of Amos he wrote of the redemption that would come afterward:

I will bring back my exiled people Israel;
they will rebuild the ruined cities and live in them.
They will plant vineyards and drink their wine;
they will make gardens and eat their fruit.

I will plant Israel in their own land,
never again to be uprooted
from the land I have given them,”
says the LORD your God.

We are extremely proud that we moved from our home in California to Tekoa. We are proud to be part of the prophesy that is being fulfilled before our eyes that we know will culminate with the Messianic era and the redemption of all mankind.

From time to time we do get emails from people who say that they will not buy from us because the don’t want to support the “Israeli occupation”. We are saddened to hear of people who are so disconnected from God’s word that they can’t see the miraculous fulfillment of Biblical prophesy which is happening before the eyes of the entire world. We are even more saddened that more often than not, these attitudes are expressed by our fellow Jews.

On the other hand, we are extremely encouraged by the overwhelming support that we get from most of our customers both Jews and Gentiles.  Most of our customers are very happy to know that their purchase is supporting a small business based in Judea, the Biblical heartland of Israel.  Several customers have told us that they were going to purchase from other websites based in the USA because the shipping was faster, but they decided they would rather buy from us because they want to show us their support.  We cannot express our thanks enough when we hear that.

Over the next months, we are going to take this a step further.  Michal and I have started making contact with artists and craftsmen from our village and from other towns and villages in the Judea region.  We are going to put together a collection of Judaica products that are hand crafted in the “settlements”.   This will allow our customers to support the Jewish return to the land even more.  Keep your eyes open for new products in the near future.

This special offer is good on any 36 inch Yemenite Shofar, full or half polished.  This offer is for a limited time only and will not last forever.  So take this opportunity to buy a nice shofar and get a beautiful Shofar bag for free.

Most of the Judaica sold today in stores and online comes from one of a few large wholesale manufactures. These companies will typically shop around in Israel for the most beautiful hand crafted Judaica products. They take these products to the Far East where they have a prototype made that is just different enough from the original to avoid getting sued by the original artist. Within a few months, they have 10,000 pieces sitting in their warehouse ready to ship out to Judaica stores and websites all over the world.

One Judaica artist who I spoke to called these companies ’soul snatchers’. She told me that when she comes out with a new style she only has a few short months to market it before one of these big companies comes out with a Chinese approximation at a fraction of the price.

One of the largest of these companies is located in Israel. They write on their advertisements things like, “art of Israel”, or “designed in Israel”, everything except “Made in Israel”. I have noticed that they also do not put ‘Made in China’ stickers on their products even though that is exactly where they come from.

When Michal and I started this website we made a decision that we will not sell those kind of products. We think that when you buy a Judaica product it should have both a body and a soul. That is why when you shop with us, you can be assured that each and every item is actually made in Israel. Most of the items we sell are actually made by hand by Jewish craftsmen. Some of our items may cost a bit more than the competition, but we are confident that our customers will understand and support us.