7 April 2023, Samaria: Over 44 rockets fired from Lebanon and Gaza at Jews in Israel. This year, the Muslim 30-day holiday Ramadan overlaps the Hebrew Passover & Matza 7-day feast; see below for dates and explanation.
Rockets incoming from the South and the North simultaneously. This is unusual for Lebanon to get involved. In Lebanon, the Hezbollah (Hez b’Allah = “Party of Allah”) political party that rules over the government is, like Hamas in Gaza, an identified terrorist organization which is funded by Iran and supported by Syria. So – the only reason I can think – is that Hez b’Allah has received instructions from Iran to coordinate their rocket attacks and synchronize with Hamas, from Gaza in the south.
Currently, the entire Northern section and Southern section of Israel are opening up their public shelters (that’s one of the reasons why the rent is so much less in those areas, compared to here in the Center).
Islamic months go by the visible sliver of the moon, so Ramadan began March 23 (meaning, the evening on March 22) this year and goes until April 21.
To show the Feast overlap:
Passover (Biblical calendar – by the lunar Conjunction) started April 5 (just before sunset on the 4th) and goes until April 12.
Passover (Rabbinic calendar – by a Metonic cycle rather than observation of the moon cycles) started April 6 (around sunset on the 5th) and the Feast of Matzot ends on April 13.
Here are a couple of starting points for the Biblical calendar topic:
Wheel of Stars and Biblical Calendar
When is the Passover Lamb Eaten?
Leading up towards Ramadan, the IDF and Israeli polititians made extra effort to renew security cooperation with the PA (Palestinian Authority) security and police. Israelis knew that Ramadan could bring extra violence against Jews.
Fun fact: Muslims abstain from eating, drinking, sexual intimacy each day of Ramadan until sunset. Some also abstain from smoking, medicine, and chewing gum. Too bad they don’t all abstain from rockets, haha!! The public-facing English Muslim sites state that the monthlong holiday is for studying the Quran, donating money to the needy, and extra time for prayer. After sunset each day of the month, families and friends gather around a dinner table for “Iftar,” the meal for breaking the fast each day.
In my own experience, fasting from food/water for a meal or a day is helpful spiritually, but for extended fasts, the fasting doesn’t begin to become easier until after the third day of fasting with no breaks. Breaking a fast each night is making it more difficult than just going straight thru.
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