From the same source:
Peruvian Teddy Bears Convert to Judaism,
Move to Settlement
Avraham Avinunu, BNN, 15 October 2002
KIRYAT DOV--This dusty cluster of
Above: Peruvian convert Paddington
Bear prays at the Western
Wall in Jerusalem. Human rights groups warn that the flood of
Jewish omnivores has barely begun (BNN).
trailers atop a West Bank hill may
seem like an unlikely place to find
Paddington Bear and his teddy bear friends. But in a stunning new
development in its efforts to bolster the flagging settlement drive, the
Israeli government recently assisted Paddington and seventy eight
other cuddly toys to convert to Orthodox Judaism and move here to
Kiryat Dov.
"Operation Honey Pot" began
almost two years ago when a
delegation of rabbis from the Yesha Council (the body representing
Israeli settlers in the Occupied Territories) traveled to Darkest Peru
to look for potential converts who could come and populate the
dozens of settlements, many of which are only partly empty. They
happened upon the tribe of teddy bears whose origins are lost in the
mists of time.
Paddington, who still wears his signature
blue Duffel coat, but now
adorned with a traditional prayer shawl, and a knitted blue kippa
under his well-worn bowler hat says that he is very happy to be in
the West Bank. Sitting on a plastic chair outside the trailer, with an
Uzi lying at his feet, Paddington reflects on the decision to make
aliyah. "Things had become very difficult for us in Darkest Peru,"
said the bear. "It was not easy to find honey, due to clear cutting of
the forest where we live." Also, we teddy bears very much like to
have tea parties and picnics, and this is not possible where we lived.
This is when we decided to seek an alternative."
But the move to Kiryat Dov (which
is Hebrew for "Bear Village," was
not Paddington's first attempt to leave Darkest Peru. "A few years
ago," said the stuffed toy, as he licked honey from his paws, "I
traveled to London, with nothing but this Duffel coat and a beaten
suitcase. I was found in Paddington station with a sign hanging
round my neck which said 'please look after this bear.' This is where
I got my name. Unfortunately my experience with the English was
not very satisfactory and I decided not to bring my people to London,
even though the tea is very good."
After a spell living with a kindly
lady, Paddington soon found himself
jobless and destitute, drifting through London's seemier underbelly.
He managed to save enough money by appearing in children's
books and cartoons, and returned to Darkest Peru.
Asked how he feels about the Palestinian-Israeli
conflict raging all
around him, though seemingly far away from this deceptively quiet
hilltop, Paddington is philosophical: "We teddy bears, we have
nothing against the Arabs. We came here to fulfill a promise to our
children that they will always have honey. If the Arabs will leave us
alone, we will not have trouble. If they want to bother us, they will
see we are not so cuddly."
Challenged that the land on which
Kiryat Dov is built was
confiscated by the Israeli army from Palestinian farmers whose
trees were plowed by bulldozers, Paddington throws his paws up: "I
am just a teddy bear, not a politician. If they shall make a state for
the teddy bears, maybe we will go there. But now we are Jews and
we belong here in Samaria district."
How did the settler rabbis convince
the bears to convert to Orthodox
Judaism?
"They told us that we were a
lost tribe of Jewish bears," says
Paddington, "and that our place was in the Moledet, the homeland.
At first we did not believe them, but then the chief rabbi asked us,
'do you bears not live by honey?' Of course we answered 'yes.' Then
he said, 'so your place is in the land of Milk and Honey.' We said,
'okay for the honey, but what about the milk?' The rabbi, said 'the
honey is for you. After we finish here we are going to Wonderland to
convert the Cheshire Cat. For him is the milk."
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