Netanyahu's Qiddush HaShem קידוש ה' של אבנר נתניהו

מוצש"ק פר' נשא תשע"ג

(Tip Credit: Jews News)

Avner Netanyahu with Rabbi Avraham Greenberg
Ohel Moshe Synagogue, Shanghai, China
אייר תשע"ג/May, 2013

When I saw this photo, and heard the story surrounding it, I just had to put it up.

While they were touring this ancient, Shanghai synagogue, Prime Minister Netanyahu's son Avner asked the rabbi for a pair of Tefillin to put on. So, the rabbi brought him a pair. Avner put them on, and then takes out his smart phone, and starts to pray. He used the siddur (prayer) on his phone, and there weren't any available in the synagogue.

When asked by the Chinese on-lookers what those leather straps were, Avner replied, "They remind us who we are."

I have been very critical of Prime Minister Netanyahu, as well as his his wife Sara. Yet, even Sara gets points for the time when she and her son had to endure shouting from on-lookers as they walked home from schul on Yom Kippur. They could have rode in an escorted vehicle with full security, yet Sara chose to walk with her son.

The Netanyahu Family playing in the pre-election, Jerusalem snow
שבט תשע"ג/January, 2013

Say what you will about the Netanyahus. But, as we say in the educational psychology field, if this is how this kid is turning out, then his parents must be doing something right.

In this case, the result was a Qiddush HaShem.

Kvelling Avigdor And Grinning Bibi

 ערב שבת קודש פר' וארא
ערב ראש החודש האחד עשר תשע"ג

Israels' Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman (Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu) with his granddaughter

הגן של נכדתי הגיע למשכן הכנסת במסגרת פרוייקט ביקור של גני ילדים במקום. אין ספק, לקבל באמצע יום עבודה חיבוק כזה מהנכדה, מעניק רגעים גדולים של אושר. 

My granddaughter's Kindergarten visited the K'nesseth as part of a project.  Without a doubt, getting a hug like this from a granddaughter in the middle of a workday gives me great moments of happiness.

Prearranged photo opportunity?

Maybe.  But, it's still clever, even cleverer that Tzippy Livni's attempt to have parents identify with her having a son in the IDF, and on the the front lines.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu (Likud-Yisrael Beiteinu) has snowball fights with his family, in yet another shameless photo opportunity precious, family moment captured on film.

Too bad it's a month too late.  This could have made the cover of a great Christmas Hanukkah card.