Thursday, August 20, 2026

- 🇮🇱 NEW RECIPE & W4R UPDATE 116 - Shmuel Veffer in the Galilee

We're Your Family in Israel

WAR UPDATE 116

Things are getting chaotic, quickly

We are living through one of those weeks when every front is heating up at the same time and no one can tell you with any certainty what will happen tomorrow.

Gaza is still a war of attrition. We hold large parts of the territory, Hamas is battered but not finished, and the latest ceasefire understandings keep getting tested by rockets, raids, and targeted strikes.

In the north, our soldiers remain in a security zone inside Lebanon. Hezbollah is weaker than it was, yet the exchanges continue and the framework deals feel as fragile as paper. IDF soldiers continue to be killed and wounded.

Iran sits on high alert after two major campaigns; the ceasefire signed in June has expired and both sides are watching the other in a game of chicken that could restart everything.

The Houthis in Yemen keep firing. Syria is another open file with the Turks trying to establish bases there.

Judea and Samaria simmers. Shipping lanes are threatened in the Straits of Hormuz. The information war never sleeps.

It is confusing and exhausting. It feels like the pieces on the board can be rearranged overnight and we will wake up to a completely different war. After nearly three years, the question hanging over every Israeli household is the same: How long can this go on, and which front explodes next?

King David's Reminder

In the middle of all this uncertainty we are already in the Hebrew month of Elul. Twice a day in our prayers we recite the same chapter of Psalms that our people have been saying at this season for generations: Psalm 27,

“Of David.
God is my light and my salvation. Whom shall I fear?
God is the stronghold of my life. Of whom shall I be afraid?”

King David wrote these words while enemies surrounded him. He does not pretend the danger is imaginary. He looks it in the face:

“If a camp encamps against me, my heart will not fear.
If a war rises against me—in this I trust.”

Kind David makes one request:

"to dwell in the House of Hashem all the days of my life, to gaze upon His pleasantness."

And then the promise that keeps us going:

“For He will hide me in His sukkah on the day of evil;
He will conceal me in the shelter of His tent;
He will lift me high upon a rock.”

That is the clarity Elul gives us. I suggest you read the entire Psalm 27. We do not have to understand every move on every front. We do not have to know whether next week brings another barrage from the north, another round with Iran, or another tense pause.

We recite the same words in the morning and at night while the headlines keep changing. The Psalm does not deny the chaos. It simply refuses to let the chaos have the last word.

We are approaching Rosh Hashanah. The shofar is already sounding every weekday. The King is in the field. Our job is teshuva-return, prayer, and charity.

And to keep reciting, twice a day, that God is our light and our salvation.

May He protect us in His sukkah. May He lift our heads above the enemies who still surround us. And may we merit to see His salvation in this year that is about to begin.

With prayers for peace and a sweet year.

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R. Shmuel Veffer and Sarah Eliana

Galilee Green

Lemon Honey Ginger Morning Elixer

We love it when our GG Family share new and creative ways to use our Olive Oil and Raw Natural Honey.

Long time Galilee Green subscriber Dolly Tabor of Seneca, South Carolina, drinks a simple metabolic formula every morning. It uses lemon, honey, ginger, cinnamon and a pinch of cayenne.

Dolly drinks it 30 minutes before coffee or food. The taste is delicious. You get cinnamon, honey, and lemon first. The ginger and tiny bit of cayenne add a gentle spark that tells your body to wake up.

Use our raw Galilee Green honey from Israel. It never gets heated, so you keep the enzymes and full flavor. Citrus blossom or wildflower honey both shine in this drink.

Remember to share your recipes with us so we can include them on our website and newsletter!

FULL RECIPE!

What is the hidden message that the clouds of Elul whisper to us at the end of the summer?

Summer in Israel is almost over. I know, because it has been cloudy this past week and it rained last Shabbat!

All summer long the skies have been clear, sunny and hot. And for the last few weeks, it seems the entire country has been splashing in the Kinneret, bathing at a beach on the Mediterranean or rafting down the Jordan River.

But as we move into the month of Elul you can literally feel a change in the air.

As we approach the New Year, Rosh HaShanah, what should we be focusing on?

READ MORE

Subscriber Photo of the Week

"Yum!"

This week's photo is from Marie Scott of Chino Valley, Arizona.

Marie first discovered us in 2017 and has been a subscriber since 2021!

We have featured her creations in previous updates including a delicious tuna salad recipe.

This photo that she posted on August 10 caught my attention. Not becuase she tagged me, but because she had roasted her home-grown beets in GGOO!

We have beets almost every Shabbat, but we boil them, like my mother used to prepare.

Harvested my beets before I left for Colorado. Took a couple of extra days off before heading back to the office, so time to roast the beets with Galilee Green Olive Oil!

Well, we took your advice this past Shabbat, Marie and roasted the beets... they were amazing! Thanks for the idea! Keep them coming.

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