A Prayer for the austronauts of Columbia: Eli Eli......

[Sirotnikov]

eli, you should change your handle to "eli eli"

[Az]

Eli, please be more accurate in your posts. Some people were mislead in the shuttle thread.


Siro:

[Sirotnikov]

Israelis see shuttle disaster with horror
By Joshua Brilliant
From the International Desk
Published 2/1/2003 2:42 PM
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TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 1 (UPI) -- Israelis, tuning in as the Sabbath ended to watch live broadcasts of the landing of the U.S. shuttle and Israel's first astronaut, watched in horror Saturday as the festive mood turned first to confusion over its delayed arrival and then to tragedy, bright flashes and puffs of vapor taking over their television screens.

Eliezer Woferman, the father of Israel's first man to fly in space, was in Channel 2 TV's studio for the broadcast. Before the attempted landing he smilingly described the family's videoconference with Col. Ilan Ramon aboard Columbia.

Ramon's children asked him to do somersaults in the air, which Ramon did. "Under those condition I would have done it too," the elderly Woferman joked.

After a television reporter in Florida broadcast that contact with the shuttle was lost, Wolferman still tried to maintain his composure. Shortly thereafter, however, he took a taxi home to Omer, near Been Sheba, and told reporters, "I hoped the shuttle's pilots would land it even without communications, but of course I thought of (problems with) radio communications, not something like this."

"I don't have a son," the Jerusalem Post Web site reported Wolferman as saying later. "I prefer not to talk right now. It's very hard for me. I was sure that the people met (the shuttle pilots) that they could land the shuttle, even without radio contact."

"It was a shock to us all," said Professor Zeev Levin, who was responsible for one of the Israeli tests. "We can't comprehend what happened," he added.

In recent weeks Ramon had become a local hero. Israel is very secretive about its pilots' identities, and until the accident had tried to suppress reports that he had been part of the fighter-plane team that hit the Iraqi nuclear reactor in 1981. United Press International confirmed with the mission's commander that Ramon was indeed the eighth, and the youngest, of eight pilots who flew without detection over Iraqi airspace to the French-built Osirak reactor near Baghdad.

Ramon's unassuming composure, his choice of mementos to carry with him to space -- including a drawing by a boy killed in the Holocaust, in which Ramon's own mother and grandmother were also interned -- endeared him to many. His wife Rona and their four children moved to Texas to be with him during the final phases of his training.

During his trip he talked of his excitement about flying over Israel, seeing Jerusalem and realizing how thin is atmosphere that surrounds the world.

Israel's Government Coins and Medals Corp. announced before the shuttle loss it would issue a medal commemorating Ramon. The medal will still be released, but now in the form of a memorial, the Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported.

A former Israeli air force commander, Avihu Binnun, declared, "The cooperation with the United States in space does not depend on one failure. There can always be failures. We come from an area where accidents happen and friends fall, and we know to continue living."

President Ariel Sharon released a statement that said, "The state of Israel and its citizens are standing at this difficult hour at the sides of the astronauts' families, the Ramon family, the American people and its government in a prayer to the almighty."

"For nearly 30 years, Colonel Ramon served and protected Israel. His mission to space was shared by all of Israel and all the world, and shines on as a beacon of light for our nation," said Itamar Rabinovich, president of Ramon's alma mater Tel Aviv University, said in a statement. The former ambassador of Israel to the United States then added, "He, and all the astronauts onboard, will be in our hearts forever."

Among the 80-odd experiments aboard was one from Tel Aviv University. Ramon was collecting data about the effect of dust on imaging over the Mediterranean region.

Israel Swept by Sorrow Over Space Hero's Death
Sat February 1, 2003 02:50 PM ET
By Michele Gershberg
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - A rare symbol of hope for Israel vanished in three trails of smoke on Saturday when the country's first astronaut died in the explosion of the Columbia space shuttle over Texas minutes before landing.

Israeli Air Force Colonel Ilan Ramon was part of Columbia's seven-member science mission which took off on January 16, briefly restoring a sense of celebration and pride to a country mired in more than two years of conflict with the Palestinians.

The launch of Ramon's space flight had virtually erased news of the country's woes, spreading space fever among Israelis embittered by a Palestinian uprising for statehood, a scandal-plagued national election and a domestic recession.

On Saturday, shocked Israelis wondered if fate could have anything worse in store for them as they tuned in to watch the disaster broadcast live on local television channels, instead of the landing which had been scheduled at 9:16 EST.

Their disbelief deepened as newscasters reported the shuttle's break-up was first witnessed over a town in Texas named Palestine, a bitter irony lost on no one.

"It's terrible because Israelis, my kids in school for instance, have been studying about space and the Israeli astronaut Ilan," said Ricky Ben-Or in Jerusalem.

Ramon's space mission was "one of the best things that has happened to us for a couple of years," he said. "We are a very depressed country at the moment... This is going to hit Israelis quite hard because it is very personal."

President Bush called Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to offer his condolences on "a tragic day" for the families of the seven astronauts. A short time later, Bush said in Washington that there were no survivors.

ISRAEL PRAYS FOR ASTRONAUTS

"The president said he knows that aboard the shuttle was a brave Israeli...and asked that the Ramon family receive the condolences of the entire American people, his personal condolences," Sharon's office said in a statement.

Sharon told Bush that "at times like these, the hearts of the American and Israeli peoples beat as one. We hold hands together and pray together."

Israel's Education Ministry declared a week of special classes dedicated to Ramon's memory.

Palestinian Information Minister Yasser Abed Rabbo said that the Palestinian Authority was "shocked at the news of the tragedy. We sympathize with the families of the astronauts."

Ramon, 48, served as a fighter pilot in the Israeli air force, first as a cadet during the 1973 Middle East war and on through Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon.

The son of a Holocaust survivor, he viewed his space flight as the fulfillment of the dreams of many and dedicated it to Israelis and Jews worldwide.

"My son is gone. How do you think I feel? It is sad, terribly sad," Ramon's father, Eliezer Wolferman, told reporters in Israel before heading to the United States. Ramon's wife and four children were in the United States for the mission.

Ramon was the youngest pilot in a team that bombed Iraq's nuclear reactor in 1981 which Israel said was intended to develop nuclear weapons.

But it was a mission of peace which sealed Ramon's image in Israel as a hero.

Heading out to space, Ramon was entrusted with several scientific projects on dust storms and a palm-sized Torah scroll kept safe by a Jewish boy who survived a German concentration camp during World War II.

Sharon had spoken to Ramon in a televised Earth-to-space exchange on January 22. The astronaut told Israelis to take heart and remember their "ability to survive despite everything from horrific periods of time."

RAMON FAMILY GATHERING TURNS TO HORROR

Ramon's brother Gadi gathered relatives and friends in Israel to raise a toast in honor of the landing. Instead, they tried to comfort one another while watching his sad fate.

"We are in shock and don't know what to do," Gadi Ramon told Israel's Channel 10 television, choking back tears. "This was a dream come true for Ilan. He wrote me e-mails from the shuttle...and was literally on cloud nine."

Israelis stopped in their tracks during the Jewish sabbath to watch the news. One group which had gathered to play tennis in Tel Aviv crowded around television monitors in disbelief.

"It was a celebration for the country and it is ending so tragically," Hezi Yitzhaki said. "An entire country was so proud of him. We are already in such a bad state."

They might have taken comfort in words Ramon himself had for reporters on the eve of his flight, re-broadcast on Saturday by Israel's Channel One television.

"The route to the target is more important than the target," Ramon said. "We are going to go for the target, but we enjoy the route as well."

(Additional reporting by Maia Ridberg in Tel Aviv)

[chequita guevara]

Several people have remarked that when they were in situations where they really thought they were going to die, they instantly accepted it. I was in such a sitatuation once (obviously I was wrong). I simply looked at my friend who was in the car with me. He had the same expression on his face that I had on mine. A mixture of, "Oh well," and "Damn, this is a stupid way to die."

[Az]

I am horrified to think that they didn't died immediately, only imagining them sitting in the cockpit, knowing there is nothing they can do.

[Sirotnikov]

Azazel, can't I make any jokes?

One of the jewish qualities is that people continued to joke around even during the holocaust, about thier grim situation.

Anyhoo, when I first opened this thread, I really was confused, why does it address Eli in the title.

[Az]

I thought the thread about eli as well.

We'll continue the debate about is laughing at everything a distinctly jewish quality ( e.g.: russians ), and if so, is it a good thing?

I am a strong believer in the importance of Myths and "Parot Kdoshot". If you feel that something is wrong, just destroying hardly should be your no.1 choice. Altering it is much more efficient, productive, and painless.

[Sirotnikov]

I agree about destoying vs. altering, usually.


But while I do think that people shouldn't be cynical in their actions, I fully support cynical humor.

And yes, I like to laugh about almost verything.

Don't forget though, that timing has it's place in humor. Making jokes too soon is a nono.

[trevor]

chegitz guevara, I know the same feeling. Last July I was up in Jersey and was hit by a semi on I-287. All I could think of as I was speeding towards the guard rail was... "Oh, crap. This is how it ends." I bounced off the guard rail and was broadsided by another semi. I walked away.

Back on topic, hope that the deaths of the seven crew members was not in vain. I hope that this doesn't cause Congress to cut back funding.

[Seeker]

This a terrible day for humanity, the space exploration effort represents one of those rare positive distillations of the human spirit, and today that effort was dealt a cruel blow, many irreplaceable men died like heros in the service of humanity.

EDIT:

https://www.space.com

[Bereta_Eder]

Nice song/prayer!
How old is it?

Also does "Eli" really mean My Lord or do I have it confused or does it also mean something else?

[Sirotnikov]

El - god. Elohim - God.

+i = addition for "mine".

Eli = my god.


The song was written by Hana Senesh. She was an immigrant to Israel from Hungary in the 30s IIRC, and a writer.

She later joined the Jewish brigades, and was the only woman in a group of 12 israeli jews who parachuted in Nazi occupied Europe, with the help of the brittish.

She was caught, tortured and executed.

[Bereta_Eder]

Toda raba

[Sirotnikov]

bevakasha

ani rak mevakesh she titmoch banu ba inyan im ha falestinaim, im tuchal.

toda merosh

siro

[Bereta_Eder]

lost me (apart from bevakasha and toda merosh)