On the flip side...

Testing Testing

2011-09-02T15:03:00.001+10:00

Just testig the new Blogger interface. I have a number of post waiting to be written but that will wait for more free time or more wasted time.

Reading the Tisha B'Av news

2011-08-09T08:00:00.000+10:00

Reading the daily news is a good thing to do. It goes well with a cup of coffee.

Reading the news most days is enough to remind us of the churban. You can read about corruption in government, the rabbi stabbed by the guy unsatisfied with the bracha he got, the men who won't give gitten and the schools forced to close due to lack of funds. And that's considered a good news day, a day with no really bad news.

Most days we read these articles, krechtz, and move on because we have to. We have to bring home a paycheck, pay our bills, walk the dog and celebrate our kids’ birthday.

Going into Tisha B'Av this year it occurred to me how grateful I am for the halachot that we don't greet each other. I found myself in a beit knesset with a number of people who I hadn't seen in a while and not having to socialize allowed me to focus on my thoughts and on the issues of the day. In the same way that everyone understands that Yom Kippur is a day where we focus on teshuva and our connection with God, the halachot that free us from socializing allow us to be those mourners who, if they so choose, can wrap themselves in their own thoughts and in the sorrow that they feel.

I am also grateful that I live in a society that my boss understood when I told him that I was taking Tuesday off. I know that no matter what he won't think of calling me to discuss some technical problem or client (even though he would if I were home sick for the day). I can take the day and read the newspaper and not have to move on because today there is nothing more important than those articles.

Yom Hazikaron - two wars we are winning

2011-05-09T11:07:00.001+10:00

Today is Yom HaZikaron, where Israel remembers all of the brave men and women of the Israeli Defense Forces who gave their lives defending the people, land, and Torah of the great and divine Nation of Israel. The IDF is as highly professional, civilized, skilled, ethical, and humanitarian as an army comes, and they fight on the clearest of front lines between good and evil.

The above was written by my good friend Jason Pearlman. Throughout the day I've been hearing similar statements of remembrance and pride. What caught my eye about his comments was his closing note "the clearest of front lines between good and evil". In thinking about it, I'm not sure that is right. War never has "clear front lines between good and evil". That is a large part of the struggle. To kill and yet keep your humanity. To be compassionate while still being guarded.

I am bothered by people who in looking to make liberaler-than-thou statements go out of their way to find the photo shoot or the news story of the IDF soldier beating up an old man or keeping an ambulance from crossing a checkpoint. They are seeing the exceptions and they think that it is the rule.

In a similar fashion I am bothered by those who think that the wars we fight are cut and dry. That we are obviously right and the Arabs are obviously wrong. All Arabs are terrorists who will kill you if only given the chance and every action done for the cause of securing our claim to the land is a just one. Life doesn't work that way. We all know this from our own lives - why is war any different?

Part of what makes the IDF great is that they fight the fights anyway. Both fights. They fight for safety and survival and they fight to raise up banner of compassion and morality. In my service I have seen so many times and places where soldiers, officers, and army policy struggle with the dilemmas of how to keep people safe and maintain the highest moral standards. It doesn't always work and we don't win every battle. But fighting those fights, to my mind, shows the beauty of Am Yisrael and it's army.

Blogger and web design

2010-05-03T06:56:00.001+10:00

I'm here to amuse myself. In case that was not clear.

Do I want to amuse myself by upgrading the template of this blog?

Yom Ha'atzmaut Emunah

2010-04-20T21:25:00.001+10:00

Emunah that God would redeem us used to be easier.

If one were to ask a Jew in Hungary or Iran 300 years ago if they believe in God’s redemption they’d say yes. If you were to ask them how they will be redeemed they would say that God will redeem them and the details are unknown. There might be some eagles and wings involved.

The Zionists messed it all up for us. It is now a lot messier a topic and a harder question to answer. Today only the truly anti-Zionist Jew can give the answer his great-great-grandfather gave. For him, the world is in the same state and as such we wait for the redemption as we always have. The challenge is presented to those who view the events of 1948 as game-changing.

An Israeli family we know sent us an email invitation to their Yom Ha’atzmaut barbecue. In the body of the email they wrote that they were pleased to invite us and that dinner was called for 5pm. There was also an attached document which I assumed was a repeat of the email text in a nicer font along with a picture or two.

Opening the attached document opened my eyes both to them as individuals and showed me a different type of emunah.

Most unusually, the invitation opened with recognition of a challenge. They wrote that it is not so clear that we should be celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut anymore. Many people are unimpressed by the current situation in Israel. We've given it our best shot and the government we have is no better than the others out in the world and more corrupt than many. We have no clear plan to build God’s temple or to establish a Torah-based society. The great hopes of those who said Shechiyanu in 1948 have not been fulfilled and it doesn’t look like we are on a path to do so.

Despite our efforts to give the day spiritual significance and a religious nature, Yom Ha’atzmaut is little more than a day off from work, in a first-world, western society, where the celebrants happen to be Jews. Nu. Is this really a reason to have a religious holiday? This was the challenge posed by their invitation.

The response was a very honest and very religious one. Emunah – faith. The tradition passed down to us says that the exile of Edom is the last exile. If we see the events of 1948 as removing Jews from the exile of Edom by granting us self determination, then our faith in our tradition allows us to grant religious significance to those events. We will not return to wandering the earth, subject to the whims of other nations. This is the beginning of God’s redemption.

But as I wrote at the beginning of this letter, it is a different and perhaps more challenging type of emunah than that of eagles and wings. While in the past emunah in the redemption was in spite of the world beating us up, celebrating Yom Ha’atzmaut today requires an emunah in redemption in spite of our own flaws.

I can understand those who disagree with the above position that 1948 was the end of the exile of Edom. In that case, today should be a lovely day for a picnic and they can continue to have faith that God will redeem us from exile at some point in the future. But for those who point to the current problems of the state of Israel and say that the Zionist enterprise has failed or that Yom Ha’atzmaut no longer has religious significance... Well, they may just be lacking a bit in their emunah.

So I called up my friend and thanked him for his letter and I bless us all with emunah to celebrate despite the flaws.

Easy and cheap granola

2010-03-02T18:13:00.003+11:00

I wanted easy and cheap granola. I looked at lots of different recipes. I wanted crunchy. I wanted chunky. I wanted something that would not be too sweet.

Over the past two weeks (in preparation for Purim) I've made over 12 batches of granola. I'd like to share with you my final recipe.

1 C oats
1 1/2 C instant oatmeal oats (the fine cut ones)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 cup brown sugar (you can use more if you'd like)
2 tbsp oil
1 egg white, well beaten
1/3 C almonds, rough chopped
1/4 C raisins

Heat the oven to 350F. Cover a 9x13 pan with parchment paper.
In a bowl mix everything but the nuts and raisins. Spread it out on the parchment paper. Bake for 10 minutes.
Add the nuts and stir the mix with a spatula to incorporate the nuts. This is where you decide what size chunks you want. Turn the oven down to 325F and put the tray back in for 15 mins.
Add the raisins, stir again and put the tray back in for 5 mins. Let it cool and then pour in to a container.

That's it. It is a super flexible recipe. The only measurement I am exact about is the salt. Other than that you can change just about anything. You can toast it longer if you want but just add the raisins later. Stir more or stir less. Add coconut. Do whatever. Have fun!

Total time 35mins

Update: It's now three days later and I made a batch of granola according to my own recipe. It works! It is crunchy and not too sweet and has flavor. Cool!

Asking Moses, God, and Yeshivas about Halacha, Hashkafa, and IVF

2010-01-22T09:15:00.002+11:00

So the internet provides alot of anonymity. And it's great! I can search for anything and everything.
Among the few remaining challenges are: how to learn to find the needle in the haystack and what do you do when your needle ain't there.
Today's linkdump will include a few interesting things that I've found recently. To you they may be old hat but I feel they are good contributions to the online Jewish community.

First off is a blog of a New York simcha musician. He gives wonderful insight to what goes on behind the bandstand at your wedding, the frustration of being a musician, and a bit of an insight into being a religious artist.

Next is an alternative to AskMoses.com (the Chabad run ask-a-rabbi site). The BeitEl Yeshiva has open halachic Q&A forums with a Modern Orthodox bent. There were a few other such sites I wanted to highlight but for some reason many were down.

A project that (I think) was just opened is a set of information about fertility treatment and halacha. The Puah Institute has created a site with articles about IUI and halacha, ovulation testing on Shabbat, and the highly identifiable "halachic infertility" (ovulation before mikvah). I think it's a good idea that someone is finally putting all of this information in one place. Warning: it does say that it is currently in beta-test.

I'll close out this post for now with one truly strange little yiddel. A fellow by the name Jonathan Rose has created a news service about himself. So he shares his thoughts, reviews and daily schedule with the world at the JRNS (Jonathan Rose News Service). It seems he even has other people writing articles about him for this news service. Yet again, the internet shows us the best, the worst, and the strangest.

Intel interview questions and how to smile

2010-01-19T06:34:00.001+11:00

Today I learnt two lessons. The first was in an Intel interview. Sometimes you do what you what you were asked to do and no more. I was asked during the interview how I would respond if I was part of a project and part of the project was undefined and wasn't getting done. Would I step up and do it? Now the challenge is in the fact that while stepping up and doing something without being asked is a wonderful thing - it shows initiative. On the other hand, in most cases, when you take on the job you were not asked to do, the job you were asked to do often suffers. I answered that I tended to take initiative and pick up the slack on a project when I saw that something wasn't getting done. They wanted to hear that I would focus first and foremost on the job I was assigned and then, once all of my work was done, to look around and lend a hand with other aspects of the project.

The second lesson I had today was to smile. I met with a fellow who is a sales and organizational development guru. He told me that from my body language when I walked in to our meeting he could tell that I was depressed about my job hunt. He said that I should practice smiling more and that I need to take more initiative and chances. Walk into the bank and talk to the branch manager. Call up friends and ask them if I could do free work for them in exchange for a recommendation. Contact and cold call folks. And view every meeting, interview & sales pitch as a learning experience.

One day, two lessons. Not bad.

Industrial Engineering, Abe Lincoln & Planning

2010-01-05T22:44:00.002+11:00

I came across a wonderful quote that encapsulates, to my mind, everything about what industrial engineering is. It also is a wonderful rebuff to all the folk who say "enough with the paperwork and planning - just get it done!"

Abraham Lincoln: "Give me six hours to chop down a tree and I will spend the first four sharpening the axe."

How about that?

Vayishlach, universalism and the non-Jewish world

2009-11-23T16:09:00.001+11:00

So I'm looking to avoid my mistake from last year - forgetting to post this until the parsha passed. As such it's going up now, a week early. I hope you enjoy this thought. It was based on an idea by Rav Aaron Leibowitz and became a devar torah for Shir Chadash (R' Ian Pear's shul).

So...

Understanding Yaakov and Eisav is not so easy. In the text we have precious little information regarding the relationship of Yaakov and Eisav. For all the stories that revolve around them and the stories that medrashim give us, we have only two dialogs between the brothers. One, the selling of the bechorah and two the reconciliation in parshat Vayishlach.

In the reconciliation story, after Eisav accepts Yaakovs gift and things seem settled he makes Yaakov an offer. “Let us travel forth from here together” says Eisav. Yaakov responds that he can't travel quite as fast due to his children and flocks of sheep and tells Eisav that he will go at the pace dictated by his family but will catch up with him down the road in Sei'r. Eisav offers the services of his men, Yaakov politely refuses and Eisav moves on.

So Eisav really tried and tried to work with Yaakov. What was the issue? Why did Yaakov turn him down?

R' Aaron Leibowitz mentioned to me the Zohar's comments on this story and they are indeed worth sharing. The Zohar (172a) on these verses writes that this discussion has a subtext of world history. (The following is a paraphrase of the Zohar:)

Eisav (the nation of Edom) offers Yaakov (the nation of Israel) to go out in the world together - “Your brains and my looks. Together we'll be quite a team.” Yaakov responds that right now he has other priorities. He has children and flocks and must go according to their needs.

What needs? These children and flocks are the mission of Yisroel in this world. The children are the people who do the job and the nation's continuity. The flocks of sheep are the work to be done. Yaakov has different priorities than his brother. He looks at this world and sees he has a job to do and must move at a pace appropriate for that job.

Yaakov tells Eisav that in the future they will meet up. The Zohar notes the place (Sei'r) and reminds us of the posuk in Ovadiyah (1:21) “Volu moshiim b'Har Tzion lshpot et Har Eisav – Vhayah la'Hashem hamelucha”. Har Eisav is Har Sei'r, his inheritance. This is a prophetic reference to the end of days when we can be together - Yisroel and Eisav.

The Zohar offers us here our response to the world around us. The world offers us assimilation and wants us to join forces with them. It's a good idea and there is a time and place for it but not yet. For now we go at our own pace with our own values. For now, as Jews, we still have work to do.

So that was the vort that I shared two years ago at Shir Chadash. I'm glad I am able to share it with you here as well. This blog is a wonderful little outlet for all my different sides. Thank you for listening. Whoever you are.

Kids at risk of what????

2009-11-15T07:44:00.001+11:00

"Kids at risk" usually refers to a population marked not only by abandoment of observance but also by engaement in socially delinquent activities such as vandalism, theft, substance abuse, promiscuity, and running away from home.
- Margolese, Off The Derech

Over the past few years one of the hot topics in the Orthodox Jewish community is that of kids-at-risk. Half of the people are talking about the problem itself and how we can deal with it and half the people are talking about how wonderful it is that we are no longer denying this long-standing problem and are facing up to the challenge. How nice.

After seeing many articles in newspapers and magazines about this phenomenon and being involved in chinnuch and with "troubled teens" of different sorts for close to a decade I have a question.

Why do all the articles/books written on these topics link breaking from religion to drug and alcohol abuse? The story is always about the high school kids from (Golders Green / LA / Monsey / Englewood) who stop keeping shabbos and are soon found shooting heroin in an abandoned house. Or at the very least smoking a joint Friday night behind the pizza parlor. Why do we not address each issue separately?

Fact: There is a problem of drug and alcohol abuse in our frum communities. This is true. This is a challenge faced, as in all communities, by teenagers and adults, by parents and children, by college students and by lawyers. As it does in most societies, substance abuse leads to disconnect from life, family and traditional values. We are no different, but in our community the early warning signs may express themselves as not going to minyan.

Fact: There is a problem of youth growing up and not connecting to out traditions. This is true. As they get older they feel that they are able to shed their facade and act as they want in public. This means that they are able to turn to their parents and so to speak, come out of their (irreligious) closet. They no longer keep shabbos or kashrus. This does not mean that they are using drugs!

The two are not connected! Yes, the problems overlap and coexist but correlation does not imply causation. (Just because lots of people eat gefilte fish and eat cholent does not mean that eating gefilte fish causes the eating of cholent)

There are two maskonos I will suggest here.

One, there is a reality of boys and girls who grow up in the frum world who never really connected and as adults walk away. This is a flaw in our chinnuch system and in our community. The response given to these children, teens, and adults must not only come from the substance-abuse community. It may not be as intuitive a response because the problem is less blatant, but these neshomos deserve appropriate help for their challenges.

Two, there is a problem with substance-abuse in our community as in all communities. The shuls that are banning “Kiddush clubs” should not only be doing it because it is bad chinnuch for our children. There should be an acknowledgement of these challenges for all ages. Perhaps community leaders and educators need to be even more vigilant regarding the adults in our communities who have the resources to both buy and use alcohol and drugs easily and discreetly.

Stopping drug use will stop drug use.

Proper Jewish education will raise educated Jews.

Please stop confusing the issues!

Chocolate Cake!! Dairy-free (parve)

2009-09-07T17:14:00.003+10:00

Among the challenges of the kosher cook is baking without butter or sour cream or milk. Not because these items are not kosher but because you then have a super tasty cake that must be paired with a dairy meal. (Can't follow a meat meal with a dairy dessert immediately.) So you are left with tweaking either a luscious dairy cake with substitutes or tweaking a "kosher cookbook" cake that is just not that wonderful because it is intended for the hassled mother of 5 making Shabbat dinner for 17 guests.

Here is a cake that to my mind strikes a nice balance. I drastically cut the time listed in the cookbook and added cocoa and salt. Enjoy and please leave comments.

Chocolate Cake!!!!

2 ¼ C Flour (I use 70-30 whole wheat. For WW, remove 1/2 a tbsp for each cup)
2 C Sugar (I use light brown)
¾ C cocoa (plus a bit more for good luck)
1 C oil
1 ¼ C good, fresh, hot coffee
2 tsp Baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
¾ tsp salt
4 eggs (I use 3 + a white)
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat your oven to 325 F (If you need to convert between F & C use http://joshmadison.com/software/convert-for-windows/ because it is wonderful.)

Put everything in a big bowl and mix. You can do this by hand.

Pour in a greased and floured pan and place in the oven for about 35-40 mins. You can also use two layer pans and then have fun with the filling. Use the toothpick test to check it.

Cool and eat.

Now wasn’t that easy?

Turkey and lentils without love

2009-08-18T22:09:00.000+10:00

So tonight I made really good food but feel that I should get a bad husband award.
I've spent my day sending out CVs (entry level IE positions anyone??) so when the lovely wife said she was going out for the evening I planned on making my dinner quick & easy. In the end she stayed home with a less than happy tummy.
Rather than making tummy-friendly food I stuck to my guns and made my quick & easy (and cheap) dinner idea. Good food. Bad husband.

Turkey & Lentil
Cook up 1/2 C brown lentils (40 mins in boiling water)
Meanwhile back at the ranch....
Heat 3 T of oil in a frying pan
add 3 cloves of garlic (crushed)
& 1/2 med onion (minced)
add 1 tsp of curry paste and mix it all well.
Add 1/2 C of chopped leftover turkey. I used frozen "shwarma mix" which is pretty low-grade chipped turkey.
give it 3-5 mins then add the drained lentils for another 2.

Total hands on time (including checking/washing the lentils) time: 10-15 mins
Total time to plate: 50 mins

Risky Business

2009-03-25T20:33:00.000+11:00

I just postponed a project for half a year. I did this after talking to a bunch of people in and around my field. Some said don’t do it. Some said be careful and minimize your risk. Some said it could be nice. My gut kept saying “No risk, no reward”.

How do I know when I’m deferring to more knowledgeable folks than myself and when I’m just scared?

Trane's prayer

2008-12-08T13:20:00.000+11:00

Here is a quote I'd like to share with you. In talking about his wanting to be a "force for real good."

I want to discover a method so that if I want it to rain, it will start immediately to rain. If one of my friends is ill, I'd like to play a certain song and he'll be cured. When he'd be broke, I'd bring out a different song, and immediately he'd get all the money he needed. But what these pieces are, and what is the road to attain the knowledge of them, that I don't know. The true powers of music are still unknown. To be able to control them must be, I believe, the goal of every musician."

-John Coltrane, 1966

New Year

2008-10-08T20:59:00.002+11:00

Please God,
May we recognize the blessings of the past year and be grateful.
In the merit of our gratitude may God bless us in this year that has begun.

Bossaball

2008-07-02T14:25:00.000+10:00

Today's top story...
Recently nominated in my own head for the "Goofy Sport of the Future" award:Bossaball!

For all of you who ask, what is Bossaball ?

Bossaball is a ball game between 2 teams. It's a variation on the volleyball concept.
The court is a combination of inflatables and trampolines, divided by a net.

And if that isn't enough...

Bossaball can be played in teams of 3 or 4 or 5 players. The aim of bossaball is for each team to ground the ball on the opponent's field. Each team is entitled to a maximum of 8 contacts with the ball on its own field, meanwhile the trampoline jumper gains height to prepare a (spectacular) smash. Any body part can be used.
...
Bossaball mixes sports with music. Bossaball referees have a whistle, a microphone, various percussion instruments and a dj set. They referee the game and add riveting tunes to take it to a higher level.

Wow. This sounds like something out of Futurama's 3004 Olympics.

In other news, what you don't know can hurt you. Yesterday I was unable to enter an exam because I was 36 minutes late rather than the permitted 30. Had I known there was a 30 min limit I would have been there.
Learn something new every day.

I'm doing now... What?

2008-06-29T19:45:00.002+10:00

Doing my best to not study while still getting through the material for Tuesday's exam. Factory layout. If you are a business with manufacturing facilities you have a number of questions I can help you with.

How many manufacturing plants do you need?
Where should you put them?
How should each one be laid out?

Good questions no?

R' Cardozo - Risk Taking

2008-06-03T21:29:00.000+10:00

This is 90% R' Cardozo's last lecture for the DCA 2007-08. 5% is my interpretation. I don't know where the other 5% is from.
---------------

The Gemara relates Nachshon BenAminadav to Elimelech & Shalman (father of Boaz). The two are attributed as his descendants. What is the point of comparison for the Gemara?

Chazal clearly attribute a level of heroism to Nachshon. He was willing to trust in God to the point that he saw the miracle even before it happened. He is willing to take a great risk due to his trust in God and out of sensing a need within the nation.

His descendants also take risks. Elimelech takes a great risk by leaving his home and family. This risk is out of self-interest and disdain for his community but it is still a bold move. In a more positive light, Boaz takes an equally great risk by staying and leading the community in hard times. At the peak of the story he is also willing to risk his reputation by paskening the question of "moavi v'lo moaviyah" and by marrying a convert.

Let us also consider what the nation surrounding Nachshon thought of him. Perhaps they thought he was committing suicide out of desperation. Maybe they saw the act that we see as heroic as the hight of cowardice! Consider as well, what would have happened had his gamble gone wrong. He would have drowned and the people would have said "I told you so. I knew he was wrong. He should have surrendered to the Egyptians."

But that didn't happen. His gamble paid off, the sea split and he was hailed as a hero. Other pivotal figures in our history and their gambles: Avraham did not know that his new movement would succeed. R' Yochanan BenZakai did not know that he would not be killed when he asked for an audience with Vespasian.

When presented with questions and risks we want surety. We all want to think through our risks, analyze them, and be sure that we can deal with them before "taking a risk". The challenge of this is that big progress and big reward only comes from big risks. And big risks are risky.

What Jewish risks? What are Jewish gambles? They come in different forms. Sometimes risk is physical like Nachshon's. For some the risks are political like the early Zionists. For us, today's religious Jewish community, what are our risks and who are our Nachshons? Are there new ideas that people could take risks with even if they were willing? Finance people will tell you that when the market is undergoing big changes there are big risks. Today, our "market" of ideas, ideologies & religion is in massive upheaval. Boundaries between countries are increasingly blurred. The Jewish community feels this upheaval. What is our response?

To use the same financial mashal, the really successful finance people will tell you that big risks are also big opportunity for big rewards.

In contrast with segments of the Jewish community who respond by battening down the hatches, we should think big and think creatively. We should have some of the naivety that allowed for Nachshon to take his risks. We should take risks. True, we may go broke. We may be laughed at. Our responsibility is to be among the risk takers. This will open us (and the Jewish nation) up to the possibility of the big rewards.

Sad but true

2008-05-26T04:55:00.002+10:00

When an aid worker has to offer hot chocolate to their clients to entice them to come and get help there is something very wrong with the world.

There is very little that deeply offends me. The top of that list is child abuse & child prostitution. It sickens me like nothing else.
As such I'm moving away from my usual topics and posting a link about a fellow Helmut Wanner and an orginazation he started to help out the "rent boys" of Berlin.
Sub/Way in Deutsche Welle.

Financial stuffity stuff

2008-05-19T16:43:00.001+10:00

The question of how to deal with money is not an easy one. My current question is as follows. Please read and feel free to offer advice.

I have a chunk of $$ in the US. I need it here in the Holy land over the next 6 months and will have to return it, in $$, in 6 months.

Option #1: Move it in chunks exchanging it at the going rate as I need it. The $ to NIS rate is quite low. If it goes up I will get more NIS for my chunk of money. If it falls I get less.
Option #2: Move it all at once. If the $ falls further I'm safe but if it rises I will have a harder time paying back the $$'s in 6 months from now. As a safeguard I can buy an option of currency at the current rate for about 1000 nis. If the rate falls I'm safe and have an easier time returning the $$ but I lose my 1000 nis. If the rate rises, I can still buy $$ at todays rate.

The question is, will the rate rise? And am I missing something with my analysis?

Yom Ha'Zikaron

2008-05-07T11:16:00.000+10:00

11am siren
-------------

As a citizen I get to pay taxes
I don't think its any great shakes,
I'd prefer to keep the money.
I learnt to polish my shoes in the army

The words of our national anthem were posted in the army classrooms.
We marched into the parade ground and I felt like a man.
I stood by a flame & saluted
my brothers who allowed me to stand in their places.
I learned to polish my shoes in the army.

Get Dressed!

2008-05-06T08:21:00.000+10:00

Here is a wonderful salad dressing from Martha Ferrell of West Hartford. I saw it on Courant.com

HOOVER'S HONEY-MUSTARD DRESSING

•1 cup mayonnaise

•3 tablespoons yellow mustard

•3 tablespoons honey

•2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil

•2 tablespoons vegetable oil

•2 teaspoons cider vinegar

•1/2 teaspoon minced garlic

•1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper

I didn't have basil but it's still good. Go easy on the garlic.

Matza!!

2008-04-13T10:33:00.000+10:00

It's been a while since I told a good story and now I have a few.

I got to bake matza last week. Real, kosher, round, hand made,
shmurah matza. I'd never done this. In my mind matza came in two
types: square machine made, in the big 5kg boxes and hand shmurah, in
the white hat boxes wrapped in white paper. I had heard of people who
went and baked their own matzas. Not the world I grew up in. Two
weeks ago, R' Aaron (the rabbi of my Kol Rina) asked who wanted to come as
part of a group to bake matza on Rosh Chodesh. Why not?
Sunday 9:30am we started with cutting nails and washing hands. All
the tables were washed down with water (no soap) and dried. Jobs were
handed out and explained. I was assigned to be the hole puncher.
(There is probably a proper technical term in Yiddish for the job...)
"L'Shaim Matzos Mitzvah!" The water hits the dough and the clock started.
As long as the dough is being worked it can not become chametz but we
keep the clock running anyway. Each round included a breakdown and
cleaning of each station. Everything that wasn't smooth stainless
steel was tossed out (including my hole punchers). Each matza was
quick baked in an oven that set it on fire if it was in a moment too
long.
The dough went from the mixing to being beaten with oversize rolling
pins. After 8 minutes of that it was divided and rolled out. Dave
(my fellow holy roller) and I got the rolled matzas, pincushioned them
and yelled "MATZA!" out the little window. A stick magically appeared
and removed the hole-y matza. Wild and tiring.
I came home with my very own box of hand made matza. I feel like a
5th grader bringing home his pre-pesach school project. I think I'll
use it on my seder plate.

Moshe at 120

2008-04-04T10:22:00.001+11:00

The Torah writes about Moshe being at age 120 just as he was at 80. I always thought that was a positive idea regarding Moshe's strength and clarity of mind. What about a possibility that being at age 120 just like at 80 indicates that Moshe hadn't changed. His attitudes and perspectives were still those of the generation that left Egypt. This explains why God wouldn't let him enter that land - the nation had made a necessary shift and Moshe hadn't.

Thoughts?

Tachmod

2008-04-03T01:30:00.000+11:00

R' Zev Leff talks about positive and negative commandments are on ladders. Wherever we stand on those ladders, those are the commandments we struggle with. The ones below us are not so tough to do or not do and the ones above us are not even on the radar screen. As we grow and change with the years our place on the ladder shifts.
When I was 8 I struggled with fighting and swearing and being nice to my sister. At 20 I struggled with faith in God and living in Israel. These days I'm struggling with something I had never given much thought to: Envy.
I know its a big one. One of the top ten list. It was never an issue for me. I was happy for my friend and I was happy with what I have. I now find myself again and again looking around at my friends house, field, ox, ass, maidservant, and so on thinking... "Covet..... Envy.... Mmmmm... Doughnuts...."
It's a challenge.

A bit of beauty

2008-04-01T23:17:00.001+11:00

A Spring Walk

Each spring

my thoughts

sprout again

into poems.

R' Avraham Arieh Trugman

Music for the week

2008-03-03T09:26:00.000+11:00

In the interest of giving ya'll what to listen to here are a few links. First off, Matisyahu posted a studio recording of a jam he did with Danny Zamir. Get it here. Most wonderful.
If you're into Jewish Hip-Hop you can also check out Ezekiel. He's doing good stuff, much harder core and electronic than Matis. Good Jewish identity messages.
Last but not least, if you want to talk Jewish identity music you can't walk past Hip-Hop-Hoodios. Even if you've heard them in the past, check out their new track: Shalom Obama

Regarding Prayer III

2008-02-26T19:47:00.005+11:00

For a whole host of reasons many people feel uncomfortable with parts of traditional Jewish prayer. Some people are offended by negative references to non-Jews or women. Some people are bothered by phrases that seem to them archaic or incorrect.
A good friend is running a survey asking: Do the following prayers bother you? If so, why?

אב הרחמים
קרבנות
שלא עשני אשה
יקום פורקן

To answer these and other questions please take this survey. Also, spread the word among your friends.
Take the survey.
I'll pass along the results and any comment in this post to my friend.
Results will be reported.

Update: The poll is working again!!!

Regarding Prayer II

2008-02-25T16:36:00.001+11:00

Over the past week I asked a number of folks my new question. Most seemed unimpressed. People seem comfortable accepting the prayers as they are. A bit sad. I've become more free-form in my prayers of late and these questions have been on my mind even before Prof Yehudah Gelman crystallized them for me. Here are a number of possible solutions Prof. Gelman presented along with the question.

An easy response to using these in prayer: These are all poetic phrasing (metaphors) and refer to the perceived reality and not the physical reality. R' Hirsh and R' Kook take this approach. I feel this is less than honest, as the writers of these prayer were not seeking poetic descriptions despite knowledge otherwise but were describing a reality they believed true. For tefilot this is ok. For Yekum Purkan we are still left looking for what could be the metaphor in old political realities. Some siddurim "mistranslate" Bavel as Diasopra and the Reish Galuta becomes the archetype of a Diaspora leader. Also in this approach I feel a lack of honesty in that we are taking what was written to be literal and "re-writing" it as allegorical.

Another type of solution is to view prayer as quotational. I am saying what other people said. This is what allows me to speak in prayer. R' Soloveitchk (drawing on the gemara talking about what praises can be used in reference to God "V'Tu Lo?!") strongly opposed any new prayers on these grounds. I need a "matir" to pray. I stand on the shoulders of the chutzpah of previous generation.The issue with this is that prayer is no longer mine. One, this attitude lends itself to my prayer moving quickly to auto-pilot mumbling. Two, and more importantly, it is harder for me to relate to the content. I find myself singing a prayer called Adon Olam, not stating for myself and for the world that HaShem is the Adon of the world. Three, this feeds a "magical" perspective towards tefilah. Tefilah is not me talking to God but rather a mystical formula I dutifully chant and God will grant my wish.

Maybe we can change the prayers or write new ones to replace them? For tefilat haderech I might ask for driving skill, calm reaction, and clarity of vision rather than safety from wild animals. This would allow me to create a set of prayers that is purely me communicating with God - the purpose as we earlier noted. The drawback is that I loose the continuity that reaches generations back and between communities. I loose the ability to pray as a congregation and I am disconnected from my ancestors who prayed with the classical texts.

If disconnect is the only problem then we can add prayers. Keep the continuity and the community AND have new prayers allowing for present circumstances that we live in. This gives me a place to connect to God in the reality I live in and connect to God in the fashion Jews always have. I feel that after not so long of doing this you would end up with a prayerbook the size of the Brittanica. Also, in creating out own prayers, suited to our particular worldview and cosmology, might we not end up with (and stick future generations with) our versions of "Windows in the sky"?

Do any other answers occur to you?

Megilah I

2008-02-22T10:37:00.001+11:00

When we step out of our day-school classroom Esther is odd relative to the other books in the Bible. There is no historical context, no timeline, no wars, lots of large parties. There are more descriptions of clothing and food then of the content of the parties. It's like listening to the tabloid reporters outside the Oscars. The exaggerations of the storyline: "A party for 180 days..." You mean to tell us that all the leaders of the world (Hodu to Kush) ignored their countries for half a year?!?

Consider the following idea: The megilah was written as a satire. A farce. A comedy.
Consider the following scene. After his accession to power in October 485 BC, in 483 BC Xerces goes to war with Greece taking 6 million people with him. The is the 3rd year of his reign. Sounds familiar? Prior to the war he holds council with his trusted advisers. 13 The king conferred with the sages, those knowledgeable of the times for this was the king's custom, to [bring such matters] before those who were versed in every law and statute. 14 Those closest to him were Carshina, Sheitar, Admata, Tarshish, Meress, Marsina and Memuchan. These were the seven ministers of Persia and Media, who had access to the king and ranked highest in the kingdom. And what was asked of the wise councilmen?
"What should I do about my wife?" Right. Surely you jest.

We see this again towards the end of the story. Xerces goes to war with Greece and looses. What is recorded? King Achashverosh levied a tax upon the mainland and the islands of the sea. 2 And the entire history of his power and strength, ... are recorded in the Book of Chronicles of the kings of Media and Persia.
Right. Power and strength. He lost!! Nu. We won't say it outright.

Thoughts?

Religion & Romance

2008-02-18T20:08:00.000+11:00

Not being in the market myself I have npt given much thought the the dating world. I do clearly recall the piece of apologetic gobbledy-gook that was sagiously handed to me as to all good religoious boys and girls.

Regarding Prayer I

2008-02-17T10:05:00.001+11:00

As best I understand it, the goal is to have a personal communication with God.
A general question for Judaism today is how should we relate to the aspects of Judaism formed under a particular circumstance, worldview, or physical reality? Specifically, how do I pray using words referring to an incorrect cosmology or to a no-longer-existent political reality?

Cosmology becomes an issue when we regard what was the common cosmology at the time our prayers were composed. The earth was a flat chunk of land resting on pilers that extended down in to a giant sea. This sea surrounded the land and thus limited it. There was a half-sphere of sky above us upon which God orchestrated the daily movement of the stars and clouds. There were windows in this sphere through which water from the upper waters could pour down as rain and there were windows through which the sun, moon, & stars made their daily entrance and exit. Above the half-sphere of heavens was the sea of upper water and the heavens of the heavens.
Given this description we have examples of prayers referring to this cosmology including:

Chalonay Rakiya (Birkat kriyat shmah)
M'sader kochavim b'mishmirotyhen
Ha'Mayim asher me'al haShamayim (Tehillim 14?)
Arbah Kanfot ha'Aretz
Afsei Aretz
Mosdie Aretz
Rokah HaAretz al haMayim
Redet Sheol, and others.

Regarding the issue of changed political realities we have fewer problems. Ykum Purkun stands out in that we bless and ask for protection for the Jews of Bavel and the Reish Galuta, a political position no longer in existence.

As always - Thoughts?

Stop living in sin!!!

2008-02-05T20:32:00.000+11:00

There was a wedding 6 months ago but our respective documents still have us down as single.

We gathered up any documents that seemed relevant, a photo or three, and a fistful of shekalim. The waiting room has a wireless connection so I can share this experience with the world.

Misrad Ha'Pnim - Ministry of the Interior
Picture please a large, low-ceilinged, gray room. People around you sit and fidget. Glance up at the red flashing numbers that are nowhere near yours. Look at your watch and calculate how late you will be for your 12:30 allergist appointment on the other side of town.

Nice picture, no?

MS Visio - Grrrrr!!!!

2008-02-04T17:57:00.000+11:00

Frustration comes in many different flavors. The most common one in our day and age is the "Computer-related" flavor. Currently I'm running afoul of MS Visio. It's a cute little program built to help us all create flow charts and the like. I would like to create a flow chart. I need certain symbols. they do not seem to be in the vast symbol store Microsoft supplies. There is a enterprising fellow by the name of Gane Sarson who realized this and created the (four!) shapes needed for the type of flowcharts I want to do. He charges $20 for it.

Damn. Makes me want to pirate something. Like a treasure ship. Or an oil rig. Or a piece of software that wants $20 for 4 shapes.

Rich and Poor

2008-01-31T12:29:00.000+11:00

Poor isn't about being homeless.
Poor is standing at the free samples 'cause you can't afford to take any home.
Poor is beggin for the landlady to hold off just a few more days.
Poor is wondering if you will have milk this week.
Poor isn't about threadbare clothes.
Poor is about worn out soles.
Poor is about wonderin if it's worth turning on the heat or if there's another blanket.
Poor is worry.
Poor is unsure.
Brinkmanship.
-
Rich is relaxing with a coffee, with a doughnut, with a cookie.
Rich is knowing that there's more if you want seconds.
Rich isn't a yacht.
Rich is money for a cab when you're running late for dinner.
Rich is having a vacation day, just to stay in bed.
Rich is being at your child's party - on time.
Rich is knowing.
Rich is surety.
Safety.

--------------

Watching people in a bakery. Some would come in eat through the sample box and then buy something small to "justify". Scary.

Snowy in Jerusalem

2008-01-30T13:57:00.000+11:00

Wind chill at -5C - Check. Real temp bouncing around 0C - Check. Staying inside with the heater -Double Check.

The exam of the day has been canceled due to the city shutting down. I was at an early minyan and then toured through the shuk to see what was open. Nothing. Out of all Machane Yehuda there were 2 veggie shops, 2 bakeries, and 2 butchers. Snow drifts everywhere. Quite nice. I have a bit of time so I think I'm going to post a few things that have been sitting and gathering dust.

Let's see...

History??

2008-01-25T12:06:00.000+11:00

In halachic discussion the intellectual truth is what holds sway. History is irrelevant. Which of the parties in the discussion lived when and under what circumstance is all irrelevant. Rava says... Rashi says... Rav Gifter says... Alive or dead the truth is the only thing that matters. We in learning the opinions and the sides of the debate are the arbitrators. Our arbitration may lead us to a different conclusion than that of the arbitrator from 100 years ago and that's OK.

Also, regarding the need for a historical truth to Jewish historical events. Do we need to answer the question of "What if it didn't happen"? A first reaction might be "of course we do!". If it didn't happen why would keep to the religion? On the other hand if Shmuel HaNavi made up the character of Gideon to tell us a moral lesson of leadership pre-monarchy would it shake our faith in God and Torah?

So why study history?

For halachic discussions, history may give a better understanding of each theory. By knowing when and how each debtor lived we can better understand their statements. Knowing medieval French may help us understand an explanation of Rashi. Understanding Arabic may reveal fine distinction in Rambam's writings that we were previously unaware of.

Regarding historical truth of events I feel there is a difference between the historical accuracy of Sinai vs the historical accuracy of Gideon's battles.

Silent Torah

2007-11-02T06:46:00.000+11:00

Why do people villainize Betuel? Both he and Lavan come off in this weeks portion as nice guys. Even if you want to tar Lavan due to his later actions why villainize Betuel?

Another example of a person the text is silent regarding yet we villainize in medrash - Nimrod.

Learning Gideon

2007-10-14T20:53:00.000+10:00

This morning was giving a new learning program a try. Sulam Ya'akov is a local program run by the Rabbi of my synagogue. We'll see how it goes.

This morning was Judges chapter 6 - Introducing Gideon.
The most interesting idea of the morning for me was setting Gideon up as a Moses figure. Throughout the chapter there are references to the exodus from Egypt. Locusts, Egypt, the leader asking for signs, phrases evoking Mosaic phrases and more. Quite fun though I don't know what to do with it yet. Ideas?

It's been at least 4 years since I've learnt N'vieim. It's a very different language than what we are so used to in more modern writings. It's different way of relating to God. The people related to God and religion very differently.

Still sick at home

2007-10-08T23:59:00.000+10:00

Marking day 2 of sitting at home feeling bleah. What have I done? Made slow but real progress on some work.

In this post I asked a question on Jewish identity in our world. I have a longer form of that I'd like to share but I need feedback. Any interest?

I'm also wondering how long I should let my Facebook experiment run. I joined to see if it would prove useful or if I'd just waste more time. So far it's helped me a bit but I've spent more time throwing sheep at people than saving the world. This essay on class divisions paints me as having gone over to the Dark Side by joining Facebook. Thoughts?

To write?

2007-10-07T16:30:00.000+10:00

As always but more so now, time is short. My to-do list is growing and my free time shrinking. Should I be spending time writing and sharing my thoughts with this corner of the world? I'd like to but it's a challenge to make time.

On the positive side, HaMadregot have released their third album!

Staying "down"

2007-07-24T23:27:00.002+10:00

It's a real challenge to stay "down" on Tisha b'Av. To sink into the depression, the suffering and the tears is harder today than ever before.

For the last 100 years people have been asking "If we are returning to our land should we still sit and cry?" "Should I still cry over a destroyed city when I see the building all around me? We live in wonderful times & it's so hard to feel Churban. Our galut is comfortable and we can live in our land. We read Eicah in the city of Jerusalem rebuilt with with synagogues, shops, and a Jewish government.

R' Binny Friedman led a small tour through the Old City of Jerusalem last night. Listening to him I heard him struggle not to overemphasis the geula he feels. It's a challenge to walk in places that Jews were forbidden to go and not to feel lucky and hopeful. It's like R' Carlbach's Cracow niggun where the first part is slow and mournful and the second part is happy. It's so hard to just sing the first part.

This morning I heard a Rabbi speak about Kinnah 19, L'Cha Hashem HaTzedaka". He said maybe, 1000 years after the Kinnah was written, we can end the kinnah differently and tell God that we've paid our dues. After Kinnah 21, 10 Harugei Malchut, he reminded us that R' Akiva's Kriyat Shema & R' Elazars Kiddush live on in our being alive and connected to Torah.

Living as we do, blessedly disconnected from pogroms, war, and destruction it so difficult to stay down. It's so hard to cry.

Let's try this again...

2007-06-27T00:15:00.000+10:00

In the very long time since I last posted anything I:

Dealt with Pesach
Returned to Israel
Got engaged
Threw big party
Saw an old friend for proper "night-on-the-town"
Began drowning in school work.

All that and a bag of chips!

Other thoughts:
The sense of feeling out of place among non-jews (davening in an airport, wearing a kippah, tzitzit, etc) is part of the Jewish "thing" for everyone. I think even Jew who are not shomer mitzvot get it. We all respond differently, some people try to "Blend in" & some try to "Stick out" even more.

The question is:
Is this sense of "Ivri", however one choses to respond to it, L'chatchila (ideal) or B'deieved (not ideal)? Is it an intended part of the system that we should feel different or is the sense of Ivri a byproduct of our actions? Maybe God gave us mitzvot that will actively set us apart. Or maybe we only feel Ivri because the world around us is so messed up that no one sees our mitzvot as the positive, world-saving actions they are?

On another note, maybe right now, the Jewish people have so much to improve for ourselves we should just focus on that?

Poor Froggies

2007-03-31T07:26:00.001+10:00

Heard in a synogouge in Boca Raton.

One of the comments in the gemora is that the plague of frogs started with one frog and each time it was hit it multiplied. Looking in from the side you would think that the Egyptians would catch on and stop hitting the frog, no?

Maybe they were so enraged at that darn frog that the world narrowed down to hitting the frog, come what may. We should be careful of laughing too hard at the silly Egyptian. All to often we get in an argument or embroiled in something and all could be well if we'd just step back a moment and think.
But we just keep plowing ahead.

Sometimes we just need to stop hitting the frog
Stop hitting the Frog!

Pre-Pesach Torah I

2007-03-29T11:36:00.001+10:00

Moving toward Pesach I'm feeling good and also a bit tense. I'm feeling good because I'm thinking about things like Pesach, Haggadah, and holiday more than 48 hours in advance. I'm feeling tense because I tend to think to much and worry.

A teacher of mine, Rabbi Francis Nataf, shared the following thoughts on the Haggadah, Seder, and the point of the whole night. He felt that, after the story of the exile and redemption, the participants of a Pesach seder should, at the point of Hallel, feel a desire to sing and praise God for all the good we experienced having "just been brought out of Egypt". That is the Hallel. Not to read or sing through it like the rest of the seder but to feel a personal desire to praise God and to use the traditional text to focus that desire.

He went on to say that part of the reason people find this difficult to achieve, or feel it's unnatural is because of our relationship to Maggid. Many of us turn our Maggid into a group study session of the details of the text. We debate the timing of the Rabbis sitting in Beni-Brak or the "k'ben shivim" of Reb Elazar ben Azarya rather than grasping the idea behind these pieces. The Baal Haggaddah was giving us examples of people who immersed themselves in the story of the exodus the whole night long and people who had new idea shown to them that clarified their understanding of the story. The point is to similarly immerse ourselves in the story and the storytelling. We should feel the shiabud and the geulah. We should feel them and experience them and at the end feel grateful for having been redeemed.

After I heard this idea it struck a chord in me. I wonder if we, even with our religious, traditional upbringing also need some relevance for a ceremony remembering physical slavery and miraculous redemptions. I grew up in a world with Shabbos as part of my life and community. I didn't grow up in a world with slaves next door. Maybe it's no surprise that I don't feel personally relived that "anu u'vinynu" are not still mishuabadim to Pharoah.

Additionally, the more I thought about it, the more I saw the format of the haggadah pointed towards drawing us in. We ask questions even when we are just by ourselves, we tell stories about what "we" did, and we remind ourselves that we were personally saved by the exodus from Egypt way back when.

In a practical vein I need suggestions. What can we do so that we all feel a personal connection to the redemption and reach Hallel with gratitude and a desire to thank Hashem?

Dear Brother,

2007-02-07T16:48:00.000+11:00

I should be studying but I'm not. Instead I'll respond to an email of yours from this past summer.

On 7/19/06, My Brother wrote:

Sometimes I wish I lived in Israel. I know it's the wrong thing for me but I still wish it sometimes. When do I wish it? When northern Israel is getting Katushaed and Israel decides to do something about it. That makes me want to be there. Where the action is.

...
But there is a distinct feeling during these tense times that Jewish History happens in Israel.

Not only "during these tense times" but I'd say "on the whole" this is where it's happening. I feel hard pressed to say that the future of Am Yisroel is happening in NY.

I feel NY and American Jewry will be a parsha in the story of Am yisroel in Golus. Like Poland and Spain and Morocco. We still talk about the Golden Age of Spanish Jewry but when you look back there was a clear difference between the Jewish story of Spain, Germany, Russia, or even Bavel with all of it's Torah, and the Jewish story in Israel.

We have a fast day, Tzom Gedalya, commemorating the end of Jewish rule in Eretz Yisroel, there is no commemoration for the end of Babylonian Judaism.

Our situation here is not great but at least I'm up on stage.
Love,
YS

PS. I will admit, now that I realize I'm on the stage - I need to find me a part!

"Waste myself away"

2007-01-28T18:43:00.000+11:00

I'm plowing through exams and really should study a bit more but you know how it is.
You think "Let me just see if I have any urgent mail."
Of course there is none but then you say
"Let me just see if anyone commented on my blog." or "Maybe I'll just sort the spam folder."

Once you start with that you start really blowing time. Check the comics, read some blogs, find out what "omnisemiosis" means. (BTW, I'll give a special prize to whoever can tell me what it means.) Kasamba has a wonderful bit of silliness here.

Before you know it it's 3 hours later, you didn't eat lunch like you told your study partner you would and you're an hour late for sitting back down to study more.

A way to stay focused and normal would be wonderful. So far the only solution I have is to block out the world %100. I turn off the music. I turn off my phone. I don't hear a word people say to me. I don't look up. I ignore my back pains. My world narrows to just me, the papers, and my pen.

"Out of all thi things I've wasted, I miss my time the most."
Or
"Adam doeg al damav v'aino doeg al yamav."

Who is Adi Ben-Ze'ev?

2007-01-21T17:36:00.000+11:00

Prof. Alan Stillman shared with us today what he feels is his personal contribution to the Zionist enterprise. In my efforts to broadcast the good gospel I give you:

Stillman's 4 rules of tests:

First read all the questions and answer the questions in the order of those you know best.
Once you've chosen the questions to answer, write at least a few words on each of the questions and only then go back and finish the calculations.
Do not answer any questions that were not asked.
- Corr 1 - If the question appears simple - it probably is.
- Corr 2 - Do not volunteer information. You might be wrong.
The exception to Rule 3 is: When you need to write something - at least write something!

"Hot" Cocoa

2007-01-18T22:56:00.000+11:00

Spiced Hot Cocoa - Serves 2

1 small Thai chili pepper
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2.5 tbsp brown sugar
2.5 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
sprinkle of salt

1/4 C water
1 T honey
2 C milk
Dash vanilla

Crush the spices together and simmer for a few minutes in the water.
Dissolve the honey and then add the milk and vanilla.
Heat on low-medium until hot - Do not boil.
---------------

This was my concoction from Sunday night. I'd love any comments, additions, or similar recipes. Enjoy!

Comic Universe

2007-01-07T22:49:00.000+11:00

Is anyone else weirded-out by Liz and Jon dating after all these years? Now I realize that Garfield is not one of those "serious" comics (like Mary Worth) but a basic premise of the strip was that Jon never could get a date with Liz.

Say it with comics...

2007-01-04T21:41:00.000+11:00

It's been a tough week.

"I'm a blogger, you're a blogger..."

2007-01-02T18:56:00.000+11:00

With the trend of everyone blogging, even countries have gotten on board.

First off we have Iranian President Dr.Ahmadinejad's blog: http://www.ahmadinejad.ir/

As I found today on Blog in Dm, Hilla Hoitash at the Israeli Consulate's Dept. of Media and Public Affairs writes:

" I just wanted to bring to your attention to our new Blog. This is the official Blog of the state of Israel, the first state Blog out there. It's edited by our team of young professionals here at the Israeli Consulate in NY. Let us know what you think?"

Here's the link www.isrealli.org

Anyone know of other countries blogging?

The 10th of Tevet, translation of the Torah, and how to remain special.

2006-12-29T11:45:00.000+11:00

Two years ago Rabbi Natan Bar-Chaim shared these thoughts with the Jerusalem College of Technoligy. They made an impression on me and since then I've shared them with friends. Your turn.

***
3 things were recorded as reasons for the fast of the tenth of Tevet:
The translation of the Torah into Greek by King Talmai, an unrecorded event (many say it was the death of Ezra and Nechemiah, according to some the birth of Jesus), and the beginning of the siege on Jerusalem by the Babylonians.

The second two items are events that proved tragic to the Jews throughout history but the first one - the translation of the Torah needs some explanation. Why was/is it so awful that Torah, which we are supposed to be spreading to the world anyway, be translated and accessible to all? I could even make the case that the Jews should have taken the initiative to translate the bible into every language known and spread it around the world! What was the great tragedy?

Many social commentators have noted that it takes a lot to shock people today. By the time a child is 10 he has seen __ number of murders on TV, seen __ pictures of nude women, knows it all and has seen it all. What used to be shocking and scandalous is so commonplace it's not even noticed. Nothing is sacred.

Not only have we slaughtered the sacred cows but also the sacred Gods. In the name of open knowledge and education, even religions have no secrets; nothing is off limits, nothing is sacred. Kabbalah used to be viewed as high mystical texts that would burn your eyes out if you so much as glanced at them before the age of 40. Over the last ten years names of angels, hidden books, and even names of G-d drop off our lips with out thought. Everyone's a Kabbalist. There is a clear upside to this: more people can now understand the workings of G-d's holy world and many people have found the spirituality they sought within Judaism rather than the false spirituality of eastern religions and idolatries. But the price we pay is over-familiarity. It's no longer special, it's commonplace, we have become desensitized to what should be extraordinary.

This was the tragedy that King Talmai started. Torah, the dictated word of G-d given to man in a one-time revelation to two million people, was now able to fit on the bookshelf next to the suspense novels of the day. Torah went from being something one had to study, work for and strive towards understanding to a light pleasurable read that could one day be called "stories" or "Hebraic mythology".

That was then and so too now. The things that shock us today tomorrow become commonplace, the books we hold sacred, through overexposure lose their mystique and rate no higher than any other form of knowledge. Is it then not surprising that Torah is being abandoned at the drop of a hat? Why should I say that Torah is more important then my (novel/ video game/ phone call/ afternoon nap)? Zilzul of Torah is today's manifestation of King Talmai's translation and is part of what we need to repent for on this fast day.

A note on fasts:
(Hunger is a wonderful reminder, a gift that G-d gave us so we would remember to eat. Imagine if we had a little alarm clock telling us when to eat. We would treat it like an alarm clock – hit the snooze bar, sleep through it, not bother to set it, and end up starving to death without realizing. Hunger is continual and doesn't have a snooze bar. The purpose of a fast is not just to be hungry but to use the alarm clock called hunger as a constant reminder of something throughout your day, an opportunity/obligation for self assessment.)

Days of channukah

2006-12-27T17:23:00.000+11:00

Last year I spent Chanukah in Thailand. It was one long story with lots of little ones along the way. I was going to write about last years Chanukah memories of the River Kwai and those cute Indian sisters but now this years Chanukah is also memories. So I'll share a few memories from this year's Chanukah and maybe you'll decide to share some of yours with me.

Chanukah Day 3 - Last night at the jazz show
Last Saturday night I went to Art-L Bar on Hileni Ha'Malka St. Like all good Jewish anythings it started an hour late. Around 10:15 the quartet started. After the first set the drummer turned to the crowd "With your permission, we'd like to light Chanukah candles." He gave his kippah to the saxophone player and borrowed a scarf from one of the women to cover his own head. They set a small menorah on the bar and melted in 3 candles.
The sax player gave a surprisingly chazunishe rendition of the brachot. The crowd sang the first stanza of Maoz Tzur and the band started up again. It was one of those "Israel Moments". It was a good way to start my Chanukah.

Chanukah Day 5 - Dougnuts of my youth
In sharp contrast to the local oil bombs called sufganiyot I recall jelly doughnuts from Ungers bakery. I don't remember them in any connection to chanukah but I do remember walking home from school with my brother, each of us holding an Ungers jelly doughnut and stopping frequently to squeeze some of the excess jelly into one of the sewer grating along Bendemeer Rd. I think that part of the eating of these jelly doughnuts was complaining about how there was too much jelly in the doughnut. This now stands in sharp contrast to my breakfast this morning of an Angel's Bakery sufganiyah and me sitting and wondering "Why is there so little filling?"

From my man Ziv...

2006-12-15T06:15:00.000+11:00

פלסטני פוגש את חברו היהודי ואומר לו "איזה דיכאון. עכשיו תהיה לנו מדינה, מיסים, ארנונה..."

אומר לו היהודי, "מה אתה בוכה? אנחנו סובלים כבר חמישים שנה."

עונה הפלסטיני, מה אתה בוכה? אצלכם לפחות רואים את הסוף

Allow me to rant

2006-11-17T13:42:00.000+11:00

Life is hectic. Lots to do and when you try to get all of it done in the same day you run down and get sick. What are we really looking to "get" out of life?? where do I want to be in five years? Depressing thought. I'd be really happy to stop where I am and spend time doing things and learning things. S.O. and I watched Groundhog Day last week and I sat there being jealous of Bill Murry! I know, the point of the movie is that we should be nice people in our day to day lives and interactions. Damn it! I want to stop life, play piano, sleep around, read books, smoke a big wooden pipe and tell the world to piss off! Oh yeah, to clarify - sleep around *with no commitment*. But that may have been obvious. Hell, let me extend that no commitment to everything else too.

I want to have my cake and eat it too. Right now, as short sighted as it may be, I'm even ok just eating it.

Thoughts and Fun.

2006-11-06T00:51:00.000+11:00

So how's about if we start with the fun.

Rav Shmuel Skaits is releasing his first major album. He's been in the US for the past 4 years after a while in Israel. Here is one of the best music videos I've seen in a long time.

Also on my fun list is my new, addictive, shockwave game. "Double Wires." My high score is 180yd. Let me know if you best it.

On a more thoughtful note, I need to work on slowing down. How often do I live a moment? How often am I doing nothing more than just "doing what I'm doing"? It's tough. I get it when I'm playing music or when I'm cooking but how do I do that with my relationships? How can I dance without feeling self conscious and embarrassed? How can I sing without feeling that I need to organize, harmonize, syncopate, synchronize, or otherwise stick out? What is the recipe for "Just be"?

We could use a bit more fun in this post...

A guy goes over to his friend's house, rings the bell, and the wife answers the door.
"Hi, is Tony home?"
"No he went to the store."
"Well, do you mind if I wait?"
"No come in."

They sit down and the friend says "You know Nora, you have the greatest breasts I have ever seen. I'd give you a hundred bucks if I could just see one."
Nora thinks about this for a second an figures what the hell - a hundred bucks. She opens her robe and shows one. He promptly thanks her and throws a 100 bucks on the table. They sit there a while longer and Chris says "They are so beautiful I got to see the both of them. I'll give you another 100 bucks if I could just see the both of them together." Nora thinks about this and says what the hell opens her robe and gives Chris a nice long look. Chris thanks her and throws another 100 bucks on the table then says he can't wait any longer for Tony and leaves.

A while later Tony arrives home and his wife says "You know your weird friend Chris came over." Tony thinks about this for a second and says "Well, did he drop off the 200 bucks he owes me?

My Peretz

2006-10-15T11:24:00.000+10:00

Among the emails that get passed around are announcements about funds and collections for families in need. Even when I can verify that it's not a scam I just delete them. At best I'll say a short word of prayer. I don't care until it touches me.

Last week a friend of mine's family was shattered. Their car skidded and rolled while they were driving. He and his mother landed in the hospital while his father and sister did not survive. It's now a week later, he's at home weak and depressed, his mother is still in the hospital though thankfully out of the ICU.

A story is told about a little boy who slips and cuts his leg. As he is sitting there crying, one of his neighbors sees him, scoops him up and starts carring him home. He turns onto his street and from the distance a woman sees her neighbor walking, carrying a crying little boy. She calls out "Don't worry mamaleh, it'll be ok!" As he get closer she again calls to the little boy "Don't cry, don't cry."

The man and the boy come a few houses closer and the woman can now see the little boy clearly. She drops her gardening fork and runs toward the pair. "Osseleh! My Osseleh! What happened?!"

What changed between the calm reassuring woman and the panicked woman running up the street? The fact that it was "MY Osseleh". Everything was fine and everything would be ok until the hurt little boy became HER hurt little boy.

Do I really feel other peoples pain? No.

Do we have to?

Thoughts?

If you would like to contribute to the Golding Family Emergency Fund, you can help a mother and son who now have no income and some hefty medical debts.
Thank you.

He said, She said.

2006-10-05T10:30:00.000+10:00

The following was an exchange of comments following part 3 of my case for Israel's right-to-exist.
---

YS said...

In closing: do you truly believe that if Israel would return to the pre-'67 lines, none of it's neighboring countries would attack anymore? I ask this with zero sarcasm or malice - do you really think that such a retreat would bring peace and harmony to our region?

Elizabeth said...

Yes, I do. Because it would be enforced by the United Nations. No one could really object to it because the Palestinians have already said they would agree to it.

Of course, the borders issue does not resolve the refugee issue. That would also have to be resolved.

You have the classic paranoid, "they're all out to destroy us" view that so many Jews have. It's sad. It leads to a belief that there's nothing to do but try to kill the Arabs or beat them into submission, which of course is impossible and absurd.

----

Elizabeth,

If I understand your comment correctly, we could retreat to 1967 borders for two reasons:

1)The UN would enforce it.
2)Palestinians would not object as they have already said they would agree to it.

I feel that a few points have been born out by the past 50 years of history:

1)The UN and other foreign powers have proven themselves unreliable in protecting Israel. Case(s) in point: UNIFIL, who's officers claimed "We never saw any Hezbollah."¹ and when asked what UNIFIL would do if they saw Hezballah fighters attacking Israel the response was "We would not stop them. We would notify the Lebanese army and they could act as they see proper."². Nasser sending the UN home before closing the Suez Canal in '67. General lack of UN support for Israeli defensive measures this summer and specifically the statements of Kofi Anan during this summer's conflict in the north. Lack of protest to Aminjahad's speech in the UN Gen. Assem. in which he openly spoke of destroying another UN member state.

2)The Arab nations in the middle east ARE looking to get rid of the Jews in the region. Case(s) in point: Arab League and PLO documents have never, despite assurances to the contrary, been changed and the goal of destroying Israel is still touted. Our Iranian neighbors who pay for our Lebanese neighbors to bring rockets from Syria to kill Israeli civilians! While these are not Palestinian Arab per say, the overall pan-Arabian sentiment seems to be in line with an Israeli-free Middle East.

I feel that for us to retreat to the Israeli borders pre-67 would be one of three things:

Either, sticking our heads in the sand and believing that: One, The Arab world will keep it's unwritten (and often unspoken or contradicted) promise. And two, should they not, the UN and other world powers will step in and help us.

Alternately, you may feel that Israel has no right to exist as a Jewish state in the Middle East regardless of it's borders. Hence we should all leave or submit to being dhimmi in a Muslim state. Assuming we're not all killed.

Lastly, you may be one who intellectually understands the above mentioned facts but do not want to believe them because they run contrary to the fantasy "New Middle East" we all (myself included) would like to believe in.

Thoughts? Oooh, this should be fun!

1. Heard on a radio interview with the commander of a UNIFIL base near the Lebanese-Israeli border. He said they had only a handful of staff and their actions in the region consisted of a patrol route every few days.

2. Paraphrased from a J-Post interview published Fri, Sept. 22.

Snakes on my brain

2006-09-10T05:32:00.000+10:00

Last posts have been a bit down-esque. It's now week two of school and the big news is that I am slated for some income this year! Other happy things... Still trying to resolve what I want for myself but I know it's not to grow old alone with cats... I will finish off my current degree program before trying other ones... Did I mention I get some money this semester?!

I also get to spend one night a week talking philosophy of religion, something I know nothing about, and getting PAID for it!

For a fun happy note I give you:

And...

With all the SOP spoofs out there the ones I most enjoy are the movie posters.

Conflict

2006-08-30T14:55:00.000+10:00

From our friends at Prickly City:Thoughts?

Wherever you go, there you are.

2006-08-27T16:09:00.000+10:00

I am currently traveling in an undisclosed location (mostly) incognito. It's interesting being in a place where you know no one in a two state radius. A new experience it is. I am whatever I tell people I am.

The other observation of the week is about people and space. Some people should be launched into space. Alternately they could learn the limits of space.

When you are a house guest somewhere there is the question of "Where am I allowed and where am I not?" That's fine. Statements of "don't go crusin' around the house" normal and acceptable. When you come home to visit you parents and get told "You shouldn't be looking in the fridge without telling me." - That seems a bit far.

How about if ya'll weigh in? When a grown child comes home for a weekend, are they a guest or not? How should they be treated?

Forgive and forget?

2006-08-13T18:52:00.000+10:00

Do the two words forgive and forget have to go together? Can I forgive and not forget? Is the anger the only thing that will prevent me from forgetting?

The slogan I've seen on stickers, tshirt, bumpers, web-sites is "We won't forget and we won't forgive." Over Tisha B'Av I was wondering: Who is "we"? Who are the we that are withholding our forgiveness and who are the we that need forgiveness?

Last I checked, we are the same we.

Personal Hurdles

2006-08-08T01:16:00.000+10:00

While my blog tends toward the "I have something to say" side, I've been too busy to bang out real content. As it's late at night and the real world needs me more than the on-line one, I'll share some achivements of mine of late

Decided that I can keep moving.
Passed all my exams.
Finished a paper and am pleased with it.
Made damn fine fudge.
Haven't cracked.

I'm proud of myself. I also get to travel again soon so I may have better stories to tell.

BTW, I don't know who reads this, but I would appriciate people giving me even a tiny bit of feedback on my last Israel post. It was alot of work and I am interested to hear reactions.

My case for Israel - Part III

2006-07-04T14:50:00.000+10:00

Aaaand we're back! After way too long a break I can now share a (fairly) coherent third part to my historical-political defense of my homeland. I am still bothered that the existence of Israel needs to be justified and I am tempted to say "It's here so just deal with it." But that would not be productive for folks who are convinced of it's illegitimacy. So let's continue.

In Parts I & II, I hope I have covered the following points:
An internal justification of why Jews might think that Israel should exist from both a Religious and Nationalistic point of view.
A brief history of the region from ~2000BCE until ~1850CE

What I'll try and cover here is the political history that led up to the establishment of a Jewish state in the Middle East. I think we'll be able to see the processes that led to the establishment of the state and I hope to show that the state of Israel was created with both the legal and moral assent of (much of) the world.

History from 1870-1917. This is gonna be a chunk.

Capt. Albert Dreyfus - This guy was the poster child for post emancipation attempts at assimilation. He was 3rd generation removed from Judaism as a religion, and a 3rd generation Frenchman. His family had excellent social standing and he was a high ranking and well respected officer. The accusation, trial, imprisonment, and acquittal are all things you can read about on your own but it is worth noting that he was so passionate in his love for France that when he was publicly stripped of his rank and led off to prison he still shouted "Viva La'France!"

Theodor Herzl (May 2, 1860 – July 3, 1904) - An Austrian Jewish journalist who became the founder of modern political Zionism. After being sent to cover the Dreyfus trial he realized assimilation could never work. Jews could never live safely in a country not their own. To be safe and secure we needed our own bit of land. This would also have the benefit of (just maybe) being accepted in the world community. We would be a nation like all other nations - with a land.

His book "Der Judenstat" (or the idea within) was marketed to the European powers as a solution to their "Jewish Problem". Hertzl had a vision of a landed nation and finally, acceptance into the world community. The European powers who were supporting him saw a way to rid their countries of Jews who they didn't want anyway.

In 1897, together with Nathan Birnbaum, Herzl planned the first Zionist Congress in Basel.

This is what was agreed on during the congress:

Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Eretz-Israel secured under public law. The following idea were put forth as a path towards this goal

The promotion by appropriate means of the settlement in Eretz-Israel of Jewish farmers, artisans, and manufacturers.
The organization and uniting of the whole of Jewry by means of appropriate institutions, both local and international, in accordance with the laws of each country.
The strengthening and fostering of Jewish national sentiment and national consciousness.
Preparatory steps toward obtaining the consent of governments, where necessary, in order to reach the goals of Zionism.

The government in charge at that time was the Turkish. The initial strategy was to obtain permission of the Ottoman Sultan Abd-ul-Hamid II to allow systematic Jewish settlement in Palestine. Also, the good offices of the German Emperor, Wilhelm II, were sought, but nothing came of that. Instead the World Zionist Organization (WZO) pursued a strategy of building a homeland through persistent small-scale immigration, and the founding of such bodies as the Jewish National Fund in 1901 and the Anglo-Palestine Bank in 1903.

The Uganda Plan and the Land of Israel: (This paragraph is somewhat of a sidelight, feel free to skip it.)
Before 1917 some Zionist leaders took seriously proposals for Jewish homelands in places other than Palestine. Herzl's "Der Judenstaat" argued for a Jewish state in either Palestine, "our ever-memorable historic home", or Argentina, "one of the most fertile countries in the world". In 1903 British cabinet ministers suggested the British Uganda Program - land for a Jewish state in "Uganda" (what today is Kenya). Herzl initially rejected the idea, preferring Palestine, but after the April 1903 Kishinev pogrom Herzl proposed to the 6th Zionist Congress to investigate the offer as a temporary measure for Russian Jews in danger. Notwithstanding its emergency and temporary nature, the proposal still proved very divisive, and there was widespread opposition to the plan including a walkout led by the Russian Jewish delegation to the Congress. Nevertheless, a majority voted to establish a committee for the investigation of the possibility, and it was not dismissed until the 7th Zionist Congress in 1905.

The Balfour Declaration of 1917 and the creation of the British Mandate.
The first modern geopolitical entity in this area was the British Mandate for Palestine. Before the end of World War I, our region was part of the Ottoman Empire. The British defeated the Turkish forces in 1917 and occupied the area. The land was administered by the British for the remainder of the war.

The United Kingdom was granted control by the Versailles Peace Conference (which established the League of Nations in 1919) and appointed Herbert Samuel as its first "High Commissioner in Palestine". During World War I the British had made two promises regarding territory in the Middle East. Britain had promised the local Arabs, through Lawrence of Arabia, independence for a united Arab country covering most of the Arab Middle East, in exchange for their supporting the British; and Britain had promised to create and foster a Jewish national home in a letter by British Foreign Secretary Arthur James Balfour, to Lord Walter Rothschild for transmission to the Zionist Federation. The letter stated the position, agreed at a British Cabinet meeting on October 31, 1917, that the British government supported Zionist plans for a Jewish "national home" in Palestine

In 1920 at the Conference of San Remo, Italy, the League of Nations granted the British and the French "mandates" or temporary colonial administration, over former Ottoman "Vilayets" - provinces south of present day Turkey. The two powers drew arbitrary borders and created three Arab countries: Iraq, Syria, and Lebanon that exist to this day. Out of what had been known as "southern Syria," the British created an area it officially called "Palestine" in English. This territory at this time included all of what would later become the State of Israel, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, a part of the Golan Heights, and the Kingdom of Jordan.

In June 1922 the League of Nations passed the Palestine Mandate. The Palestine Mandate was an explicit document regarding Britain's responsibilities and powers of administration in Palestine and included the tasks of "secur[ing] the establishment of the Jewish national home", and "safeguarding the civil and religious rights of all the inhabitants of Palestine".

In defining Britain's obligations as Mandate power the document even copied the text of the Balfour Declaration concerning the establishment of a Jewish homeland:

"His Majesty's Government view with favour the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and will use their best endeavours to facilitate the achievement of this object, it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil and religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country."

In this area known as British Mandate Palestine (today Israel (including 1967 gains) and Jordan), at the time the mandate came into effect, the population consisted of approximately 638,000 Muslims, 93,400 Jews and 81,400 Christians. The area of the mandate was 118,000 square kilometers or 45,000 square miles.

British Rule 1917-1948
In 1922, Churchill's First White Paper separated 91,000 square kilometers of the Mandate from Palestine and created Jordan. The British did not allow Jews to live in Jordan. The southern part of the Mandate – the desert of the Negev – was closed by the British to Jewish settlement. The area was inhabited by 15,000 roaming Bedouins, and had no Jewish or Arab settlements in it.

In 1923, Britain ceded the Golan Heights (1,176 square kilometers) to the French Mandate of Syria. Jews were also barred from living in these areas. Jewish settlers on the Golan abandoned their homes and relocated inside the reduced area of the British Mandate.

October 1939 - The Second White Paper shows the first attempt at British disengagement from the "Jewish national home" provision of both Lord Balfor and the League of Nations mandate. This White Paper set limits on Jewish immigration to the area.

The Mandate wears thin:
As the mandate wore on the British began to question the wisdom of controlling the area. Haj Amin al-Husseini, the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem and the leader of the Arabs in Mandatory Palestine, encouraged rebellion against the British and attacks on the growing Jewish population many times during the Mandate. In response, Jewish underground groups were formed. The impetus was two fold: in part to protect the Jewish communities who were being attacked by Al-Husseini's gangs, and in part to prepare for the day that there would be a state that would have to defend itself. While some of the Jewish underground groups worked with the British and hoped to attain their ends through political means, there were some who attacked British interests in the hope of "driving them out".

Under the leadership of Haj Amin al-Husseini, the local Arabs attacked the growing Jewish population many times during the Mandate. These sporadic attacks began with the so-called "Hurani Riots" of 1921. In 1929, the Jewish community of Hebron was attacked and driven out with the loss of 60 lives. {A side note: When someone mentions the words "Hebron Massicer", do you think of the 29 Arabs killed in 1994 or the 60 Jews killed in 1929?} An increase in Jewish immigration followed the rise of Adolf Hitler and the Arabs held general strikes and riots from 1936 to 1939, targeting both the British and the Jews. They proudly called this: "The Great Uprising".

The British responded to the Arab and Jewish opposition in a number of ways. They kept their distance from the attacks on the Jewish communities, only getting involved when forced to. This is seen clearest in the British attitude towards the caravans of food, people, and supplies in and around Jerusalem. The hills around the main road to the capitol provided staging grounds for Fawzi Al-Qawuqji's bandits. The British, in their hat-tip towards claiming that the road was open, would zip a solitary armored car along the route every couple of days but would not escort caravans up to the besieged city. Many of these incidents (of British action or inaction) have been recorded from many different perspectives and with different accounts of the facts. I feel only God Himself knows the truth.

UN involvement, visits, and recommendations 1947-1948:
Regardless of which side was striking first, second, or third, it became clear that the mandate would not survive. In May 1947 UNSCOP (UN Special Commission On Palestine) was dispatched with it's members from states uninvolved in the region on a fact-finding mission. Upon return the possibilities and facts were presented to the UN and the recommendation for to partition Mandatory Palestine.

November 29, 1947 - UN resolution 181 detailed what became known as the Partition plan.
The resolution called for a three-way partition of Mandatory Palestine into a Jewish State, an Arab State and a small internationally administered zone including the religiously significant towns Jerusalem and Bethlehem. The land was divided between the two states largely according to where there was a significant Jewish or Arab population. The vision was of two states, each with about 3 large "chunks" of land, connected by international roadways. The theory was agreed upon and a commission was created to work out the details before the end of the British mandate in the area.

It must have been one hell of a commission to sit in on. Among the problems that arose: No-one wanted to be the "international-administrators" of that zone. Also, the Arabs (both the local population and the neighboring states) made it clear that they would never accept the presence of ANY Jewish population in the region.

War. November 1947 - March 1949.
There is no chance I can cover this. The short of it: The British Mandate ended on Friday, May 14th, 1948. The British left the "locals" to their own devices and in the hands of UN Res 181. That same day David Ben-Gurion declared Israel an independent state. The State of Israel was quickly recognized by the Soviet Union, the United States, and many other countries. He did not declare borders because he knew that borders would only be defined by what could be held or gained in the coming war.

The following day the war began.

Over the first few days armies from 7 countries and groups of local irregular fighters attacked. The numbers of Jewish fighters at the outset of the war is clearly tallied in Ben-Gurion's journals. Historians differ on the number of Arab troops sent against the new state. Taking the low estimates of the Arab armies strength we find the two sides evenly matched at about 30,000 soldiers on May 15, 1948.

Israel: 29,677

Egypt: 10,000
Iraq: 5,000
Syria: 2,500-5,000
Transjordan: 6,000-12,000
Lebanon: 1,000
Saudi: 800-1,200
An unknown number of Yemeni troops
Arab Liberation Army (led by Fawzi Al-Qawuqji) 3,500-6,000

The flip side of this was the weaponry and financial support the Arab armies had far outstripped the resources of the Jews. Also, the Arab armies were exactly that - armies. The Jewish army was mostly a group of survivors from European DP camps with no military training and often without even a common language. Anecdotal evidence for my statements is everywhere - feel free to ask questions and I will try to share some of the background.

The fighting continued through the fall of the Jewish Quarter in Jerusalem's old city, the besiegement of Jerusalem, the Egyptian advance to Ashdod, the battles over Safad, Latrun, Nazreth... the list goes on. A cease-fire for 3 weeks in the summer (June 11 - July 8, 1948) saved besieged Jerusalem from starvation and, by resupplying the Israeli Army, turned the tide in their favor.

At the end of the truce Count Folke Bernadotte presented a new partition plan that would give the Galilee to the Jews and the Negev to the Arabs, both sides rejected the plan. On July 8, against the protests of King Abdallah of Jordan, Arab forces resumed warfare, thus re-starting the fighting.

A second truce was called on July 18, 1948 and the fighting ended. Interestingly there were no peace agreements but only agreements to cease hostilities.

Each battle is a story in itself. Each person who died, on both sides, should be mourned. As in all wars, wrongs were committed on both sides and errors of judgment led to needless death. When I take a step back and see the war as a whole, I see 7 independent countries joining forces to kill what they saw as an unwelcome intruder. I see the hand of God in countless places and I see a country that was able to justify the trust shown by the UN member states. Not that I believe that might makes right but sometimes you need to show that you have the will and the ability to protect yourself.

Post-War and summary
78 years of nation-building, beginning in 1870, culminated in the reestablishment of the Jewish State.

Israel's international "birth certificate" was validated by the promise of the Bible; uninterrupted Jewish settlement from the time of Joshua onward; the Balfour Declaration of 1917; the League of Nations Mandate, which incorporated the Balfour Declaration; the United Nations partition resolution of 1947; Israel's admission to the UN in 1949; the recognition of Israel by most other states

Abba Eban said:
“Nobody does Israel any service by proclaiming its 'right to exist.'

Israel's right to exist, like that of the United States, Saudi Arabia and 152 other states, is axiomatic and unreserved. Israel's legitimacy is not suspended in midair awaiting acknowledgment....

There is certainly no other state, big or small, young or old, that would consider mere recognition of its 'right to exist' a favor, or a negotiable concession.”

---------------
When approached by a student at Harvard in 1968 who attacked Zionism, Dr. Martin Luther King responded: "When people criticize Zionists, they mean Jews. You're talking anti-semitism."
---------------

This concludes part three of our series:
The Pessoptimist Saeed, the Donkey, & the Israeli Big Man.
or
The Jingoist Shaheed, the Canine, & the Island of Man

And a happy 4th to my American friends!

Traffic in Jerusalem

2006-06-07T15:17:00.000+10:00

On the whole it's great. Traffic flows, horses ride, people walk - everyone gets where they need to be when they need to be there. But, as I'm sure the rule is in all major cities, I'm never on time.

The world conspires against me. Just at those times that I need a miracle to occur so I'll meet my Dad on time - it never does! One time it's an accident, one time I just miss the bus, sometimes I can't walk fast enough, or on that day in particular I discover that God won't let me fly!

Why always me? Doesn't the universe understand how many people are being inconvenienced by having to wait for me? Shouldn't the basic laws of physics be bent just a tad so everyone can avoid all this stress and anger? Just imagine - World Peace!!

"You put your right foot in.."

2006-06-05T17:37:00.000+10:00

There is a lot to be said for starting off on the right foot with a professor. I started the semester in Stats having done most of it at a basic level. Because I knew much of the material, he took a shine to me. I now seem to be in a state of "can do no wrong". Fun!

I am aware that right now we are hitting the material that I didn't really learn in Sydney and should learn it now. Time to pay attention.

juggling all this stuff is not easy. Add to it that I can't multitasking and I don't want to drown. When people ask me how my year is going I can tell them that academically, it's going very well. The rest is a little falling apart. This blog has not been updated as much as it could be mostly because I'm dealing with the real world. Which is a good thing. On the other hand I've always found it relaxing to organize my thoughts in writing. So less blog also means less reflection. Not great.

Another academic note is that: "No Instructor Should Answer A Phone In Class!!" neither should students, but the instructor!!??!

There is some stuff I've been reading and I will try to put up some interesting bits for discussion. On an unrelated note, does anyone know if corporate recipes are copyrighted or just kept hush-hush as trade secrets?

How old should I be?

2006-05-31T17:34:00.000+10:00

At some point I got older. Now I just have to grow up.

How big is the gap between how old you are and how old you see yourself as?

Are you "acting your age"? Doing the things you should do at your age?

The upside of acting younger than you are is you get to be called "youthful". The downside is that people might tell you to "lose the illusion that you are still ______". Damn them; but they are right. I realize I need to deal with some of my age-appropriate issues. Blech.

I'm 22 damnit!! Why not??!!

Staying the course

2006-05-17T16:37:00.000+10:00

Another Frum Blog's comment on To be or Not To Be... Frum prompted my interpetation of the thought.

Why do older singles often drift away from staying the course religiously?

I've noticed the thing about single people getting less frum. A large part of Jewish life (especially the religious world) centers around home, family, and marriage. The backlash to not being married is that you start to feel excluded from aspects of the Jewish world. Including things like how you dress. Her hair is covered. As opposed to mine which is not. He's wearing a talit (or saying bircat cohanim) and I'm not. They invite people to shabbat meals. I'm the random stray at other people's tables.

After a few years of being the random stray at someone else's table, you might dread Shabbat. "Maybe I'll just eat by myself this weekend." Or the question of "Why am I bothering with this?" rears it head as well. It gets depressing. It gets lonely. You look for things to bitch about in the world that so much of it is not the life you are leading. For many folks being single means excluding yourself from a big part of Judiasm.

Once I see myself as outside the Jewish world, it also means that I'm more likely to make friends with my non-religious or non-jewish co-workers. They don't give me a sense of being outside their world. As time goes on, I drift farther away from traditions. This is only made easier by that fact that some mitzvot a really hard to keep rigorously and when we falter, it's easier to justify our actions by lowering the importance of the law.

{We might be better off by embracing hipocracy and saying "This is the law. I know I should not be doing this. I'll try harder in the future but for now I'm not." But that is a whole 'nother post.}

As usual - any thoughts?

Have you ever?

2006-05-10T15:17:00.000+10:00

The Torah of Martial Arts

2006-05-09T12:16:00.000+10:00

Most people have a friend or two who has studies Martial Arts. Some form or another. Taikwando, Karate, Muy-Thai, or something else. With no disrespect meant towards those who study these arts, there are two things that any person studying them will confide in you, his friend: One, his teacher is the (pick one: best, most, highest) ranked ______ in his style. This will often be born out by a story or two of the teachers actions on a street corner or in some competition. Two, the particular style your friend is currently studying is the best. Why is it the best? Because it is a blend of (pick three: Japanese, Thai, Korean, Northern, Southern, or Brazilian) styles and is inclusive of all of the other styles that are out there. Interesting, no? Every one of your martial-arts studying friends will tell you the same thing. Hmmm.....

As I learn Torah I encounter many different ideas. What's amazing is that each of the idea have fervent adherents, each one claiming that his "set of Torah ideas" are the best ones out there. There may be an acknowledgment of other "styles" but "they're not the best way". "My Rebbi" is better than all the others. "My Style" of Torah can whup the ass of your Torah. This is how the world of Torah can look.

A different approach towards Torah can be as follows: Each idea you learn is a puzzle piece.

You hear a new approach to learning Medrash. It becomes like learning a new word - all of the sudden you start hearing it everywhere. The new concept you just gained begins to appear in every corner of your life. You attend a lecture and acquire a new understanding of free will and divine fore-knowledge. You ask yourself "How could I have been a religious Jew before I knew this?!" Again and again you watch as it all ties into your "Torah-world".

As the Martial Arts student progresses and learns more from more styles, he will usually stop denigrating the other styles. He understands that he can learn from Ju-Jitsu even though he only studies Nin-Jitsu. What the student is seeing, is that these are all parts of a huge puzzle. Each style fills in gaps in another one. To learn Muy-Thai and then to learn Tai-Kwan-Do can only help the good student become a more rounded fighter. Also with Torah cosmology - each idea you pick up can be fitted into a puzzle and added to the range of theological motion you have available.

I feel that this perspective is especially important in our current day and age of divisiveness. Assuming certain red lines, is the Torah of one rabbi less valid that that of another? No, they are all different pieces of one huge puzzle. The more we learn, the more we see it all fits together. The more it fits together, the more we see the greater picture. The more we realize that there IS a greater picture that we are trying to build from all the tiny little pieces, the less we will denigrate the other persons Torah. We see that each one of the different and even the contradictory pieces are all important. Each one in it's place and time helps us fulfill the will of God that is Torah.

Mishmar Ayalon to Jerusalem

2006-05-04T14:28:00.000+10:00

Biblical holidays are different than the modern ones. The way they are described in scripture is agrarian. We tend to relate to them as "other worldly", spiritual, and somewhat disconnected.

Like all good adjudicators I feel both views are correct. We see with many concepts that different people or places bring forth different aspects of that concept. The holidays can been viewed purely in their spiritual light and that's fine. I feel Israel brings out the biblical, agricultural, physical side of the Jewish holidays.

{Our bus is struggling up the hill towards the capital. We're not moving more than 10 km/h. The hills are green from all the rain I missed while out of the country. Before we hit the Jerusalem hills we drove past the wheat fields around Latrun. Those fields are soaked in blood and history, but that's a whole 'nother past for a different time.}

The wheat has turned brown and gold. Soon it will be sitting in stacks, drying in the sun. It helps me understand the references to the agrarian aspect of Pesach. Shavuot is the time to gather the wheat and you can look around and see it happening here. The time in between the two (Pesach to Shavuot) is clearly connected to the harvest of the wheat and therefore the offerings of the matza and the bread (Omer and Two Breads).

With all this so clear to me, how should I connect to these holidays when I celebrate them in the South African fall? Or Succot when we are supposed to live outside and it's snowing in Cleveland? Either something is wrong with the holiday or something is wrong with the place.

Pesach in NYC did have the perk of seeing family. And a Nets vs. Celtics game.

Yom Ha'Zicaron (Remembrance Day)

2006-05-02T12:44:00.000+10:00

There is a difference in Israel's Yom Ha'Zicaron (Remembrance Day) from Memorial Day in the United States or ANZAC Day in Australia.

The wars of Israel were not just wars to hold onto our land or our sovereignty in the land. That is was the first Gulf War - Iraq invaded Kuwait for it's oil. That was WWII - Hitler invaded Poland for the land. The Japanese took the Philippines so they could be a colonial power. The Japanese did not invade the Philippines in order to kill every Philippinenian. The Allied forces did not land at Normandy with the aim of killing Germans, they landed there for a political goal. The fact that German soldiers would die was true, but it was not the reason they attacked.

Here in the holy land, the wars declared against the state and the people of Israel had the stated purpose of driving us into the sea. It was not a case of resources that Egypt wanted or oil reserves that Syria felt it had a God-given right to. It was not that Jordan really wanted political control of the area. No, the wars were declared with the stated purpose of getting rid of every Jew in the land. Get them all out, dead or alive.

As such our memorial day looks a little different that those of other countries. No parades, no furniture sales. We have a national day of mourning for our dear brothers and sisters who died saving us from death. What was on the line was not "Who would be in power?" but "Who would live?"
People who told me about their feelings leading up to '67 and '73 remembered thinking that the Egyptians would be at their doors in two days and would kill them all. If it sounds harsh to judge our enemies like this, please remember that these were the stated goals of the wars - "To remove the state of Israel from the map and to kill all the Jews in it."

The soldiers who died in these wars were not fighting on a foreign battlefield for the social rights and freedoms of some other country. They were not ridding themselves of an unjust political oppressor. Those are both noble causes who's warriors deserve every word of praise heaped upon them. But the dead of Israel are different. They fought to keep themselves and their countrymen alive.

The other difference that shapes this day is how personal it all is. The Torah tells us that in Egypt there was no house with out a dead son. In Israel today, everyone knows someone who was killed or someone who's family member was killed. When I am sitting in morning over my dead son I can't appreciate a parade celebrating the liberty and justice he fought for. At best I can reflect on my life that he fought for and saved.

Time to waste....

2006-04-30T20:26:00.000+10:00

My Dad long ago commented that with all the information that is available in our world today the big challenge is not finding it but in sorting it and separating the wheat from the chaff. There are so many blogs, so many sources, so many radio stations, so many recipes....

Say I'm looking for a peanut butter cookie recipe. I can search for one and I'll come up with a mess of junk and 10,000 different recipes. How do I know which one I should use? That's is today's challenge. The world will belong to the man who can find what he wants.

Google is one good solution. Disambiguation pages on Wikipedia are another. Pandora is one. Blog carnivals are another good one. The four examples I just gave, two use people to sort the junk, two use algorithms. The trade is speed vs. quality.

MY problem right now is overload. I guess there are some people who get more stuff done in the same amount of time because they are more organized. They know where everything they need is.

No. That's not true. People who get lots of stuff done are just like you and me. They just waste less time. I can get much more stuff done in the same amount of time. I just need to focus more and waste less time. Roger Waters (of Pink Floyd fame) said: "We are entertaining ourselves to death." Not me, I'm wasting myself to death. Or at least to inactivity. Not good. Not acceptable.

I will waste less time. The next time you see me wasting time please remind me that I have a lot of stuff to do and I can do if I just stop mucking around.

Thanks.

Optimism of the Kenyon

2006-04-27T14:58:00.000+10:00

Our current security situation is no surprise to anyone. Whether you blame the Israeli politicians, the "settlers", the "terrorists", the US, the UN, the EU, or the H.A.M.A.S - none of us are shocked that there is still an issue of security in Israel.

With this reality as a backdrop it seems a little odd that security always looks like an afterthought. It always looks like we make a plan and then afterwards it occurs to someone "Oh, how should we handle security?" Case in point - The Kenyon.

Every Kenyon (shopping mall) is designed in the standard international shopping mall style. Multi-level & multiple entrances and exits on each floors. The mall is just about to be declared open and only then do we start thinking about security.

How do I know this? Just look at the security guards outside each supermarket, bus station, and mall - each one is sitting on a plastic chair, with the entrance cordoned off by plastic barriers, the metal detectors freestanding and a little plastic stool next to him for his coffee mug. If there had been even a little bit of forethought our loyal security guard would have an alcove, with the metal detector built in to the doorway, a proper table with a telephone, an ashtray, and a place for his coffee mug. The barrier would be built into the ground in the same style as the building and the malls would only have as many entrances as they could afford to staff. We wouldn't have stores with 15 doors and only 2 of them unlocked.

It's long been my opinion that the only explanation for this is our optimism. Even though we know the situation, we are all waiting for the day when we can unlock all the doors and throw out those damn plastic barricades.

Soon.

Real History

2006-04-07T11:09:00.000+10:00

As much as there is the fun and exciting part of the history, a friend reminded me of another aspect of our history in Madrid.

On our way to the Royal Palace we walked through Plaza Mayor. It's big. Closed in on all four sides by two and three story buildings, it's large enough to play a game of football. Or two. Or to hold public ceremonies. Or to burn Jews.

In the 1500's Plaza Mayor, known then as Plaza del Arrabal, was among the places that the church used for public trials for "crimes" of a religious nature. Among the paintings we saw later that day at the Museo del Prado was Francisco Ricci's painting of an auto de fe.

Yes, it's not all castles and banners in the breeze. And I know I can't ignore that side of history. Luckily, it was not thrown in our faces this trip. I'm still thinking...

Thanks for the reminder.

Castillo de los Mendoza

2006-04-05T23:22:00.000+10:00

Think Disney. Think knights and armor. Sword fighting and turrets. It was all real.

We went north of Madrid to Manzanares El Real on Wednesday. The backdrop was a mountain range and the town itself was all the cute little tiled roofs and orange brick you could want. In the town is Castillo de los Mendoza which was plucked right out of a Zorro film. Suits of armor, spiral staircases for sword fighting, and Spanish flags in the breeze. I was thrilled.

History is a collection of nice little stories. It so rare that we get to see that it was once a reality. One of my thoughts of late is that a Jew is a student of history. By definition. We are both a living part of it and draw our strength from it. Too much of our religion and ritual is history for us to ignore it. Every once in a while it´s nice to see that history was real. As goofy as that may sound, things we hear or read about have a very different flavor to them than things that we see and touch. Part of why Israel makes such a big deal about archeology is that it gives us something to touch. I saw a blurb in today's newspaper about Iran gloating over France because archaeologists found evidence of wine making that was 500 years older than what had been found in France. Everything needs a context and everyone wants a history.

The gift of a place like this is the reality it gives to the history books and the films. One of the wonderful things that Hollywood has done is to show us what life was like in long ago and far away. To a Jew,who is by definition a student of history this is invaluable. Sometimes it's nice to touch that reality.

Getting in. Again.

2006-04-04T21:22:00.000+10:00

This time, out fearless reporter has brought a companion to help ease the monotony and do the dishes. The super-dooper-cooker (Mini-Trangia) saves the day providing a bounty of rice for all. Hostals in this part of the world are a bit pricier than expected. A room for 50€ a night. thinking back to Thailand... 50€... 60$... 2,400Baht... 4 nights of luxury... Oh well.
Here there be Torros Bravos!

In reality, I sit in a hotal in Madrid, Spain. Which hotal? Depends when. We made a reservation at Hotal A. We showed up and were shown a room. We took a nap and emerged a few hours later to pay only to find we were in a different hotal. The pad of paper from which she was about to issue us a recipt said Bermejho when it should have said Luis Velez. Not good.

This was all further complicated by the lady who spoke no ingles and couldn´t understand that if Hotal A still had our reservation and credit card number, they could make us pay for the same night we were not staying with them. More not good. Our phrase book did not have the word for mistake. Also not good. In the end we found out that Hotal B works with Hotal A and all was well.

What would it take to be a tourist in your own city? You could have someone drop you at the airport and spend a few days at a cheap backpackers place while seeing all the sights that everyone else sees and you never got to. Thoughts?

Night Vision

2006-03-29T21:19:00.000+11:00

Late last night when I really should have been asleep and was just dozing off I had a vision. The problem with these great ideas is that you have them late at night and then all you remember in the morning was "I had a great idea for....". But you never remember the idea.

So I quickly jotted it down and rolled over to sleep quite happy with myself. This morning I got up and looked at what I had written:

"Oprah Winfrey, Danny Devito, Jim Carey, and Robin Williams all in one movie would be a huge concentration of energy."

Maybe there is a good reason we forget these things by morning.

Post-Zionism is Pre-Zionism

2006-03-21T04:45:00.000+11:00

A friend proposed the following idea to me: Post-Zionists are really Pre-Zionists.
How so?

In looking at the Israeli political scene of the past 10 years, have we seen the death of the New Jew? With our kowtowing to the world nations, have we returned to a pre-1870's Jewish mentality?

The New Jew was the dream of people like Ze'ev Jabotinsky. They saw a world in which the Jew was beaten left and right. They dreamed of a strong Jew who wouldn't take no crap from no one. Their thinking was that only when the world realized that this Jew was deserving of their respect could they treat him as an equal. Not would, but only then could they treat him as an equal.

This was the respect Israel gained, albeit grudgingly, post 67 & 72, Entebbe, and after Osarik(Iraqi reactor). I think that the political actions and overall spinelessness of our governments (of the past 10 years) have lost us that respect.

I do understand that in today's globalized economy no country stands alone but there should be limits. When the interests of your country are balanced against the "requests" of your allies I would hope that your country would lean in it's citizens best interest and consider the allies as no more than "a good thing to take into account".

About 3 years back Israel Military Industries developed Unmanned Ariel Reconnaissance Vehicles and China was interested in buying a few. Washington made it quite clear that it would show it's "displeasure" if such a deal were to be brokered. Now I'm not denying that US foreign aid has helped many countries, Israel included, but it smells like a gift from Grandma with big long strings attached.

The term I've heard is a "Mah-Yofis Yid". It seems that back in Poland there was a well known lively tune for the Jewish poem "Mah-Yofis" and non-Jews looking to poke fun at the Jews of the town would grab a Jew and have him dance to this tune. The idea of a New Jew (as opposed to a Exile-Jew) was that we would no longer dance to the Mah-Yofis of the Polish landlords. What happened? Why are we playing the puppet?

And for your entertainment, here is Revisionist Math!

UPDATE: Second Thoughts questions the nature of how "Israelis" see Israel as opposed to "Jews" looking at the state. The Modern Golden Calf.

Sex Ed

2006-03-17T07:44:00.000+11:00

It's a tough one. I think that the world at large struggles with how to do it right. It's understandable that we don't want to share our sex lives with our children. At best we get super-liberal children who are comfortable with their bodies and their sexuality. At worst we really freak them out and scar their psyche. Those are the two extremes, I don't know how many of us hit either one.

For most of us it ranges from a mildly uncomfortable conversation with Mom or Dad, to a few books from the top shelf of the closet, to conversations in the schoolyard, to getting freaked out by the girl who thinks she knows everything and is (thankfully) wrong. Toss almost any religion on top of that and it just gets harder.

The world at large has become comfortable with sex and sex education by decrimenalization of sexual activity. "It's all fine, be aware of the consequences, so here's a condom." We can't do that.

Should there be Sex-ed classes in religious schools? What should be included? Do we need to feed kids questions they are not (yet) asking? What is the "need to know" list?
What does the 9th grade, religious kid need to know?

Here is an indepth post on Masturbation, Guilt, and Ganzfried.
I think I'll be kicking this around with people for the next few days. It's fun throwing words like Sex and Masturbation into conversations with frum folk.

UPDATE: R' Chaim has posted a collection of more mainstream thoughts on the matter.

Should we be telling everyone to make Aliyah?

2006-03-09T22:38:00.000+11:00

I have two siblings in the USA. We all moved to Israel together and they have since moved back. I'm not sure if I can say anything to them about coming back to Israel. And even if I can I'm not sure what I should say.

They both know all the reasons I could give. They've both heard and could probably teach both the religious take and the national take. They've heard our father talk about the difficulty of raising kids in the US today. They know the security situation isn't as bad as CNN makes it seem. What more could I say?

If I were to imagine their response it would be one of the average "American Jew" responses with statements of how now is a bad time or when we have x amount of money or once y finishes school or the community would fall apart if we were not in the keystone position we are in. And it's no lie. It is a bad time and there is no money and they are doing wonderful things within their respective communities. And people would miss them and y is still in school. All true.

So what do I say?

I met a fellow from LA who was here to check out possibilities for moving to Israel. I rode in to Jerusalem with him and we spoke while he was driving. He told me that the big issue is his five kids. He has five kids between the ages of 9 and 19. Ken yirbuh. He realized that moving as a teenage was hard and he wanted me to share some of my thoughts because I had moved here as a teen.

I talked to him about a few of the schools. I told him about some youth groups and support structures that exist. I told him some of the problems he could expect and tried to give him a real picture of what his kids would be dealing with by moving here when they are in high school. We reached Jerusalem, I gave him my email and we parted company. I never did hear from him and don't know where he is now. Among the things I tried to tell him was that moving here with his kids as teenagers was taking a risk. My calculation of the odds were that one out of his 5 kids would be messed up by the move. To what extent? Depends on the kid, depends on the rest of the family. But one in five for teenagers moving to Israel sounds about right to me. I talked it over with a few friends and they were even more emphatic about "Yup, one of his kids will be screwed up." Who knows? I've seen families who make the transition just fine.

A few years ago I came to the following truth. Kids who move here before a certain age will be fine. They'll be Israeli with American parents. That age is about 8-10. Adults who move here after a certain age will also be ok. They'll be Americans who have moved to Israel. That age is about 22. The interesting group are those who move here between the ages of 10 and 22. The best term I've found to describe them is Nisht a'hin, Nisht a'herr (Yiddish - Neither here nor there). Their cultural background (manners, music, style of dress) is American but the life they live (school, travel, food, friends, politics) is Israeli. Some chose one group over another and stick with that. Others will live with one foot in each world and take what they can from each. None of these are easy solutions. None of them make being a teenager and growing up any easier. It is doable and many people pull it off and are happy, well adjusted adults. But it's tough.

There are many Israelis who when I tell them I have siblings in Chutz La'aretz tell me "So convince them to move back home!" I got the same comment when I told people about the community in Sydney: "So why didn't you convince them all to move home?"

The question is do I tell someone who's kids are in that gap of 9 to 19 he should be moving to Israel? Is it really for everyone? Should I have turned to that fellow from LA and said "You can move here but you are rolling a dice as to which one of your kids will end up _________."?

My father claims that the chances of 1 in 5 are about the same if you raise your kids in LA. I don't know. I know what I've seen here and the kids that I've worked with here and the kid that I was. I was that 1. Do I tell people it'll all be just fine?

Hindsight 20/20, I'm very grateful to my parents for dragging me here. Having Hebrew as a spoken language allows me to daven and learn Torah in a way I believe is not possible without that. The more Torah I learn I see in so many ways how as a religious nation we are supposed to be here. Each time I go back to the US I am further strengthened in my idea that it's a lousy place to live and raise children simply by dint of the topics discussed around dinner tables even in frum Jewish homes. But what do I tell the business man from St. Louis who wants to move here with his 10 year old son and his 14 year old daughter?

To move kids when they are 11,12,14,15 is a real risk. How that stacks up against the risk of raising kids in LA or Chicago I don't know. How that stacks up against the benefit of having your kids speak to God during tefila rather than just "praying", I don't know.

I have two siblings in the USA. We all moved to Israel together and they have since moved back. I'm not sure if I can say anything to them about coming back to Israel. And even if I can, in a few years I'm not sure I should say it.

Do you believe in magic?

2006-03-07T14:55:00.000+11:00

We are all religious.

A religion is simply living according to a set of values. If the source of those values is a revelation on Sinai, I could call my religion Sinai-ism. If my values come from what I decide is right and moral I might call it Jen-ism. I could even get fancy and invite people to join the Grand High Church of Self and come down every 5th Tuesday to see Rev. Jack Self light himself on fire. But I digress. We are all religious in so much as we all have certain ideas, values, and truths by which we live.

Seeing as we all have a religion, something that we should ask ourselves (or a leader of our religion) is: How should I relate to my friends religion? Let's put aside the question of missionizing. I don't want to address whether he/she is right or wrong. I am not thinking about asking other people to convert to my religion. I want to know: For me, what should be my perspective on Neighbor Bob's religion?

Here are 3 possibilities. If you can think of others please share them.

1) All religions but mine are completely false. They are a cobbled together pack of lies and any kernel of truth they might have based themselves on has been twisted beyond recognition and is worthless. I should stay as far away from them as possible.

2) There may be bits and pieces of truth in Bob's religion but those are simply the things it has in common with my religion. Any truth that exists in Bob's religion already exists in mine. There is no need for me to study his religion.

3) Bob's religion may have ideas, values, or truths that my religion doesn't have. I should talk to him about his religion and I might gain new (or at least improved) truth.

*For purposes of our discussion I would like to postulate that the existence of one unified, universal truth precludes the existence of another unified, universal truth. In plain English: We may or may not know what it is, but from a universally objective perspective there is only one set of truth.

Things that should be said

2006-03-01T16:52:00.000+11:00

Until now I haven't put up a blogroll. I still haven't. There are a few sites I'm thinking about pimping but for now I'll just have the occasional "Must read" post.

Do you wear a black hat? Both for those who do and don't. The rest of her blog is also quite wow.

CheckThisMate sent me this book excerpt. I was impressed. Anyone else want to weigh in?

How many recovering addicts does it take to change a light bulb?
-Only one but it may take him 12 steps.

Date

2006-02-27T18:59:00.000+11:00

Things I need:

Shabbat
Questions
Hugs
Music
Beauty/Awe/Joy
Admiration
Space

I want:

Social acceptance

Everything else can go out the window.
And then is the blank of something we call love. And a million people describe it and a million people discard it. It's fleeting, it's everything, it's chemical, it's wonderful, it's forced, don't force it, renew it, invent it, live it, don't deny it, and on and on and on and on. I don't know

Eilat to Chicago

2006-02-24T02:43:00.000+11:00

So here is my first attempt at describing Israel as a tourist.

We left Eilat around 11am. Of course after availing ourselves of the pool, the sun , and the breakfast buffet. Like I said, it's such a pleasure to be in a place with kosher restaurants and kosher hotel breakfasts. Happiness is going into a roadside cafe and being able to order something other than the black coffee.

Maps are all good but if a road was built (as you know) - it must lead somewhere. So we took it. To a less built road. To a dirt road. To a dirtier road. To a road that made us realize that Dan's Honda is not a 4x4. To a place to stop, leave the car and hike for an hour in random desertscape. We saw lots of desert.

While driving we saw a lot of desert art. Sculpture so bad that no city wanted it. "That? Go shove it down in the Negev." Objects d'art condemned to line route 90, a road with 60 and 70 kilometer stretches of nothing.
We saw: an eagle, a wall, 6 standing Egyptians, a cyborg cyclist, and a giant Easter Island-esque head! It was a long drive.

So that was leaving Eilat. And Chicago?
We needed to stop for lunch. Driving north from Eilat there are two options:Continue on 90 past the Dead Sea or turn left and take 40 up through Be'er Sheva. I was voting for the Dead Sea route but had we taken it there would have been no food for us till Jerusalem. Dimona was to the left and only 30 minutes away.

Upon arrival we remembered that Dimona is the home of the Black Hebrews. And they have a restaurant. Soul food in Dimona! A little miznon (cafe) in the Black Hebrew neighborhood, 6-7 tables and a tall elegant black man behind the counter. We ordered the chili and the fried tofu somethings (these guys are all vegan). That was some good chili and I don't think I've ever had such good tofu somethings.

Warning: After sprinkling chili powder with your fingers, wash your hands before going to the bathroom.

Time to move on?

2006-02-24T02:18:00.000+11:00

I'll have to give it some thought but I may move on. Over the past 3 months it's been creeping up on me that I'm losing my anonymity. I rather liked having it. I made one silly mistake and one person "found" me. I posted a few comments and a few more did. I submitted an article to a carnival and it may be all over. I think I have to decide between changing my style to reflect that people know it's me writing this or moving house.

I was closed off enough that one person linked to me and couldn't tell if I was a woman or a man. Good! I liked that. No-one knew where I lived. Great! I'll have to give it some thought. On the upside is that I now have "readers". I'm not sure I want to become a grand-high-blogger.
Hmmm.... Thoughts?

UPDATE:
The reason I care if people know who I am. Good question.
I use my blog to ask questions of myself and anyone else who wants to listen in. Anonymity allows me to ask those questions without people answering based on who I am.
For example:

Where do I live? Someone who knows where I live might pre-judge my political views.

How do I dress? Long sleeves or short? My religiosity is assumed by that.

Am I a man or a woman? My views on sexuality and relationships.

You get the picture. It also allows me to tell stories and ask questions that I could not voice in person.

Traveling close to home

2006-02-23T02:39:00.000+11:00

Part of traveling is the spirit. The idea that at any time I can pick up and go and do or be anywhere. Not to neglect real life but not to get tied down to a place or an item or to sink too deep into a comfort zone. I'm glad that when my friend said "I'm going to Eilat tomorrow, want to come?" I said yes. "Say yes to the music when it tickles...

Part of traveling is seeing new places & trying new things. I wonder how much traveling can I do in my day to day life? Forget far away exotic countries. I'm living in Israel! In the middle east! In (as Newsweek kindly puts it) a "war-torn country"! Jerusalem! Tel-Aviv! Hebron! Multi-cultural! Dominican monks and hassidic Jews!

Methinks that there is what to see here.

"What I have to say of Clarence Fud
(Who wouldn't say yes and wouldn't say no) is:
Once you turn into a stick in the mud,
You can't be sure where your big toe is.

Suppose it itches, suppose it twitches
And wants to go where the music goes?
-If you're stuck in the mud like Clarence Fud
You can't get the music into your toes.

Say yes to the music when it tickles.
Or else – well, just remember Clarence,
Whose toes turned into ten dill pickles.
That was a terrible blow to his parents."

-The Man Who Sang The Sillies

Everyone needs a chair

2006-02-19T11:04:00.000+11:00

I was out of the country for Katif and Amona. I'm still trying to figure out my take on it all. I am appalled by the treatment/attitude taken towards the people who used to live in Aza but that's a different post.

From a few days ago I found Yael K's post. It's an idea I've heard before but found it better food for thought this time in the aftermath of Amona.

-----------I was reading a new poll showing that pretty much everyone thinks that there will be even more violence with pull-outs from illegal and legal settlements alike. A not small percent thinks that the violence will even be of the deadly nature. I've got a position on this that I will probably change, probably moderate, but, depending on how things pan out could certainly go the other direction.

I don't see why our military or our police should be involved at all in future pull-outs. No, let me rephrase that. I think they should be available to help and support those who, having exhausted their petitions through court proceedings (we're talking in the event that those proceedings go against them) and then having accepted a relocation compensation package need help with packing and transporting their things. Those who refuse to move and refuse compensation should simply be left where they are. They want to stay there, let them stay there. They should at that point be treated like any other ex-pat living anywhere else in the world. The IDF is not there protecting Israelis living in New York, or Paris. Our soldiers and police are not there for those in London, Berlin, Rome, or Sydney. People choosing to live in those places must rely on the rules and laws and protection of the place they are in, not on Israeli protection. By choosing not to remove within the legally designated borders, as decided by our government and our courts, they are choosing to be ex-pats and that's fine. There are Israelis living all over the world. But once you choose to live on the outside, you are on your own --in Paris or Amona or anywhere else.
----------------------

The sad reality is that those people who stayed behind would be murdered very quickly. Take as an example the destruction of the Synagogues left behind in Aza. I agree it would be a good way to avoid all the internal strife but it would leave us party to the murder of many.

Question #1: What would be the moral implications of this scenario?

Once I was thinking about alternative solutions, the other thought of mine is: If the govt is OK moving Jews from place to place, could we make it a two way swap? Could we move both Jewish and Arab populations to create continuous, defensible, and economically viable areas?

Allow me to dream a moment: Clear all the Jews out of a nice big area around Aza. Sderot through to Askelon. Heck, I'd even give 'em Ashkelon, power plant, seaport and all. Next, move all the Arabs out of the Gallie, J-lem, and Hebron hills areas. Double check to make sure that the areas are roughly equivalent and stop the music. Everyone sits back down in different chairs and everyone has a seat. The Arab populace comes out somewhat ahead on quality of living but let's leave that aside. It might help us keep the world from bombing us to Tokyo.

The last part would be to say to our Arab cousins that we are sorry we could not live peacefully together and that we hope we will be able to live peacefully next door. We then declare an international border and proceed to build the biggest Berlin-wall the world has ever seen and seal it up. They have housing, farmland, industry, ports, a border with a friendly country (Egypt), basically everything an independent country needs to thrive.
{end dream}

Question #2: While I know this would be hard to do, and is unlikely to ever happen, what do you think? What do you think of this idea from a humanitarian perspective? What are the scenarios that might unfold politically?

I've had this scenario as a dream for years and this is the first time I'm sharing it with people. Please share your thoughts on my questions. And thank you Katie for the impetus to write this out.

Bravo!

2006-02-19T02:31:00.000+11:00

I went to see a friend a few days ago in Ra'anana. Beit Levinshtien is the rehab clinic he's been in for the past year or so. He was going home the next day and becoming an outpatient. It was good to see him even as a shadow of the big hulking hunk I remember. Mentally he seemed together, his speech was a bit slow and he's still sitting in a wheelchair but for a guy who spent a month in a coma he's doing great.

His signature style was always the jeans, short sleeved t-shirt, and sandals. Winter, summer, rain, cold, whatever. The night I went was the last of the Tuesday night torah classes he'd been hosting in his ward. About 20 people were there. Guys, girls, some rabbis, his parents. Everyone was sitting around in long sleeves or jumpers, a few in jackets. My boy? Black t-shirt. He told me "All that's left is to go back to the sandals." Refuah Shelaima!

Must Read Blog

2006-02-16T14:25:00.000+11:00

Read this Blog: You Ain't No Picasso.
I'll keep reading this for a bit but even after a short glance, I think this will get a link on the side. Maybe you want to help out? Let me know if you think it should get b-rolled.
And if nothing else, listen to Jesus and Mary Chain - My Girl. It's hosted by him and may get taken down soon so listen fast.

Warning!

2006-02-15T14:09:00.000+11:00

I just found the following lines in a musing of mine from early this year.
-------------------
Most guys will tell you that women should come with operating manuals. No. Women shouldn't come with manuals. They should come with warning labels:

WOMAN

Approach with caution.
Unpredictable. Volatile.
Hazardous if mixed with life.

Kosher Traveling

2006-02-15T02:31:00.000+11:00

It's a challenge. You do save money but after week 2,3,4,.. on the road it gets to be a bit much. If you are up to the effort (or have no better choice 'cause you don't want to plan your trip around Chabad houses and Kosher supermarkets) then here is the way I pulled it off. If anyone else has done this I'd love to hear how you planned it and how it actually worked.

Cook set: Mini-Trangia. This thing is amazing. Possibly the best bit of equipment I've ever bought. Most wow. I like. It's a pot, a frying pan and a burner in a tiny little package. You'll be the envy of all the other backpackers. Fuel is a bit tricky but I think it may be easier than finding gas canisters. The best is to find a chemical supply shop. In Thailand I found 2, one in Bangkok and one in Chang Mai. I think any major city will have such a shop but you'll have to break out of the tourist-only area. Which is a good thing. Methyl Alcohol is the best. The next best thing is to buy 70% Isopropenol from a pharmacy. This was what I had in Lao. You get less burn for your buck but it works. Some pharmacies will have 90% and that is just as good as the Methyl Alcohol. Always ask if they have the stronger stuff.

Utensils: Med size plastic cutting board, bowl, 2 cups (you might have a guest), knife, fork, spoon, a non-metal spoon(wood, melmac, plastic) for the frying pan so you don't kill the Teflon. That's it.

Condiments: Salt, Pepper, powdered soup mix. That's all you need for spices. Other flavors can come from the local market in the form of fresh anything. I usually had a head of garlic, some small onions and a hot pepper. Coffee & tea can be bought along the way, you might want to take powdered creamer. Sugar can also be bought along the way if you want. I had little use for it so I just had 1/2 a dozen little packets.

Food Stuff: The following are emergency rations. These are not your mainstay foods - you can't carry enough to use them that way. Main foods are things you can buy in markets. These are for when you: have no market, have no time, are too tired, whatever... Use wisely.
- 1 (400g) pkg of pasta
- 3-5 cans (or packets) of tuna
- 400-500g chopped dried fruit. Good for quick energy or to mix with rice.
- 10-15 packets of instant oatmeal.

Se Tu. That's it. Along the way I met people with kilos of prepared food! They couldn't move with all the weight they were carrying. One person would stay with the bags and the other partner would go look for a guesthouse. Not my style.

Eat local stuff. Have fun trying new things from the markets. Be surprised that the thing you thought was a turnip is not a turnip.

Welcome home

2006-02-12T03:58:00.000+11:00

I landed this past week.
My parents waited.
Until that evening.
To ask.
"A friend mentioned a name..."
Sounds interesting.
I agree with
Chavaleh.

All good things...

2006-02-06T09:39:00.000+11:00

Sigh. Going home is the best and worst thing in the world.
~Jen
-----------------------------------------------------------

Dec 13, 2005 - "And that's how I found myself in Bangkok Int. Airport.
7 weeks, $800, and no plan. It's gonna get mighty lonely"

Feb 6, 2006 - "I'm leaving Bangkok Int. Airport on ElAl flight #84.
7 weeks, $800, and I had one hell of a trip!"

-----------------------------------------------------------
I've been away for a long time. Hard to believe that it's over. Back to family, friends, school... Kosher food!

I hope that wherever I was I made a good impression.
I hope people liked me as much as I liked them.
I hope I will return to the beautiful places.
I hope I'll see my friends again.

I guess that is as much as I can ask for at the end of such a trip. Please God.

Let's go home.

Sunrise from a train

2006-02-03T18:02:00.000+11:00

Sunrise in Southeast Asia involves a lot of mist. In Lao it took a good few hours until it had all lifted above the mountain tops. Looking out the train windows, the fog thins and lets me see a bit more of the rice fields off to the left.

Paul Theroux writes about his train travels. I found he focuses on the inside of the train. With the exception of the young couple across the aisle, the inside of this train is unremarkable. To be fair, until an hour ago, so was the outside.

Returning past Ayutaya to Bangkok I'm closing the teardrop shaped loop I opened 5 weeks ago. North to Nong Khai, Vientienne, Luang Prabong, Nong Khiaw, Luang Nam Tha, Chang Rai, Chang Mai, and now back south to the City of Angels.

It's Friday. It's been a long trip.

The cold of Ban Phar Kham

2006-01-31T18:20:00.000+11:00

Driving a motorbike in the dark is not fun. Driving in the cold also. Not fun. Put them together and there is a whole lot of not-fun-ness going on.

It's was not a cold night in it of itself but the moment you add a 70kmh wind-chill your hands become unhappy.

How did I find myself in this pickle? Waiting on the side of the road for my friend to show up because I sped ahead. When you are waiting for someone there is a gamut of emotions that you get to run through. Stage one: You wait. "He'll be here any minuet now." Stage two: You start to get annoyed. "Nu! What's taking him so long? Did he stop again?!" Three, you start to worry.

Stages two & three often go together. You can entertain yourself by switching back and forth between them. Other fun things to do while waiting: Curse yourself for speeding ahead. Plan what you will say when you finally meet up. Count the California licence plates. (none.)

Not that any of this helps when it's dark and cold and you have very little choice but to keep waiting. Then there is always the question of: "Did he fly past when I sat inside drinking that cup of coffee?"

"This is Thailand!" - teenage boy who kept me company while waiting in Ban Phar Kham.

Expats are Expats

2006-01-27T13:15:00.000+11:00

Expats are expats. They often come fully equipped with expat friends and expat bars. You can spot them by the clothing or the accent; here in Thailand it's the face.

I spent last night in an expat bar with a food journalist who has been here for 3 years. It was different from expat conversations in Israel.

I didn't hear one complaint about the country, the people, the food or the culture. If someone moves to Chang Mai, Thailand it's because he wants to. For better or worse, with Israel there is this quasi-obligation. 1 part religion, 2 parts nationalism, and topped with a sprinkle of guilt. So it's not uncommon to hear "I'd never move back to _____, but sometimes the _____ here is...."
Maybe in Israel, olim are part expat and part refugee.

4 days on a bike

2006-01-26T16:57:00.000+11:00

Monday night - Pai
I guess certain things are on the backpacker trail whether you look for them or not. Tonight was a traditional "recreate high-school" evening around a campfire with grilling fish and veggies in the coals. A few Germans, some Israelis, a Brit... Oh, and a vegetarian South African, a rare find indeed. On the whole it was nice. Roast garlic - Mmmmm!

Tuesday night - Mae Hon Song
After a full day on a bike I'm wiped out. We're now in Mae Hon Song and tomorrow will be some small villages. I was passed by a few "Jeep Trek tourists" in their jeeps. We also met a few in the town while having coffee. "You got here how?!"
Lessons learnt: Coconut milk goes in the stir fry at the end, before the herbs. Use sunscreen. I think my nose is burnt.

Wednesday night - Mae Chaem
The hour before sunset was the most beautiful ride I've ever done. Every single minute of flying down the mountains we wanted to stop and look at the view. The problem was time. The scariest part of our journey was the half hour after sunset when it just got darker and darker. No moon only headlights and I had to wear my sunglasses so as not to end up with bugs in my eyes. Please try to imagine my relief when we pulled in to Mae Chaem. Real streets and streetlights. And a bed.

Thursday night - Chang Mai
We made it back to Chang Mai. By far yesterday evening was the most beautiful part of the ride. Khun Yuan to Mae Chaem - Wow!
This morning we set out early and it was freezing! Riding at 7am, in the mountains, in the cold. Around 8:45 I started to warm up enough to enjoy myself.