The Small Things

I love how every Rosh Chodesh, Mercaz HaRav has a band play that you hear through the whole neighborhood.

More Political Ranting

Is it only every bus in Jerusalem or does every bus in the country have a Bibi ad on it? I think we should all sign a petition, we know you're strong against Hamas, now please take down those ads, theyre freaking me out!! Stop staring at me, Bibi from ten years ago!! At least they've come up with a new ad, so not every bus has Bibi's face. This one combines the word smol (left wing) with Olmert, and calls him SMOLmert. Now come on people, admit it, how many of you were going to vote for Olmert but changed your mind because Olmert rhymes with Smolmert? There's got to be better strategies out there!! Who's running these campaigns? Focus on how Kadima is a party with politicians who have no common goals except to be in the Knesset...or something! Problem is Netanyahu is just as indecisivie as Omert, and Likud is just as corrupt...
Incidentally, I heard the left wing tried to stick the word Yamin (right wing) into Bibi's name, but couldnt find anywhere to stick it....

He Does It Again

It all started one day in Providence, in 2000. I was on vacation from yeshiva but I had to be there for college. I was bored and alone so I decided to go to a matinee to kill time (and cuz it's cheap). I didn't recognize any of the movies playing, and bought tickets for the movie "Dr. T and the Woman." Just to be on the safe side, I saw that another movie was starting 20 minutes later on the screen next to mine, so if mine was bad I could jump over. I didnt even make it 20 minutes. I dont think the movie made it past the credits and I had already left. I hopped over to the next screen, hoping I would have better luck. The movie was "Almost Famous." I sat there for the next 122 minutes completely spellbound. And from then, no movie has replaced Almost Famous as my favorite. I had at first attributed this greatness to the acting of Kate Hudson, Patrick Fugit, and the rest. I went on a Kate Hudson movie frenzy, watching everything she was in, but never feeling that magic again. One of the worst movies I ever saw, 200 Cigarettes, was during this Kate Hudson spiral. Alex and Emma I never even finished. And while "How to Lose a Guy in 10 days" wasn't a bad movie, it wasnt a top ten either. It took me a long time to realize that the magic was all Cameron Crowe. A flatmate of mine got me hooked on the movie Vanilla Sky, and there was the magic again. Not on the same level, but magic still. And now we've just watched Elizabethtown, yet another awesome movie from an amazing director. The brilliance of the road trip she plans (OK, its a new movie still so I wont spoil it) leaves you wondering who can think up things like that. Cameron Crowe. Cameron, I'm sorry that for so long I gave the actors of Almost Famous the credit for that captivating magic that kept me glued to me chair, and has kept me glued to my chair hundreds of times since then. While the acting is amazing, and one of my favorite movie scenes will forever be Penny Lane slowly running her hand through her hair in total pain after being sold out for $50 and a case of beer, then looking up at William and asking, "what kind of beer?" (Heineken), I now acknowledge that the magic comes from you Cameron. Thank you.

With A Family Like This....

There's an interesting e-mail that's been circulating in hebrew, roughly translated it says this:

What do you think of a family like this:

Wife: Author, playwrite, and artist, originally a kibbutznikit with left wing ideology

First Son: Left Israel, lives in America, extreme left winger who associates with the organization "Yesh Gvul"

Second Son: Also left Israel, refused to serve in the army


First Daughter: Openly lesbian, lives with her partner in Tel Aviv, is part of left wing group "Machsom Watch" that stands at IDF checkpoints and interferes with the soldiers from doing their job

Second daughter: Known left winger

So you definitely ask, who's the father? whats his beliefs? And how much does he care about the interests of the Land of Israel and the people of Israel, and what sort of education did he give his children? And is it possible that he's lived for so long with a family like this and their views didn't stick onto him at all?




EHUD OLMERT-ACTING PRIME MINISTER-IS THE HUSBAND AND FATHER

Is he fitting to be our next prime minister???

(All information is facts taken from articles in the paper)




Another thing I saw, not in the same email, was about his service in the army.

Recent Prime Ministers:
Yitzhak Rabin-Ramatkal
Benyamin Netanyahu-officer in sayeret Matkal
Ehud Barak-Ramatkal
Ariel Sharon-general of southern command

Ehud Olmert- writer in the army newspaper!!!

The Sad Truth

I was catching up with a friend from Detroit today, eating pizza with him and a few other guys. These are all guys that have spent their whole lives in yeshiva, are in Israel for a few years of learning, and then plan on going back to America to learn more. We were discussing life in Israel and what not, and they asked me if I really plan on living here permanently. They were genuinely surprised why I would want to do that. It wasn't til after I left that I was hit by the sad state of affairs. That people who have spent their entire life learning Torah can explain to me how each kinyan works, but don't understand why anyone would want to live in Israel. It's good to know all the little details, but what about the big picture? Judaism and Israel are one. The majority of the Torah is about the Jewish people leaving Egypt and coming to Israel. That's the basis of our religion, before we even got the Torah we had already been promised the land. It doesn't matter what you think of the government or the army or the settlements. Even if, chas v'shalom, the Israeli government would hand over total control of this entire country to the Palestinians, it wouldn't change the fact that this is our homeland and this is where we should be. I shouldn't ever have to explain to a Jew, and certainly not to yeshiva guys, why I am living here. They should have to explain how they can walk away.

The Dreaded Fifteen Minutes

I have test at 8:30. right now it's about 8:15. So what should I be doing? I always have this fear that if I study right now, I'll only remember that last thing I put in my head. I don't know anyone who's taking it with me, so there's no one to talk to. I could say tehillim, but then I'll A. feel guilty that I'm only saying it so I pass a test, and B. feel dumb that I'm saying tehillim for passing a test. Well, at least there's blogging.
I have made a (tentative) decision who I'm voting for. Very tentative really, since everything changes her real fast, so it's hard to really decide before the actual day of elections. Do they have slogans during American elections? Everyone has another slogan around here. As far as I can recall, in America they just had the candidate and vice candidates name on a sticker with the year. Nothing cool like "Canada is trying to take the Dakotas, vote Bush to save them."
Test is in five, got to get ready...

תקופת מבחנים

What a horrid day yesterday. Just horrid. Finals start tomorrow (yes, I have a final on a Friday-such chutzpa!) and as studied I heard on the news about the fighting in Amona. Not having a TV, I surfed through a few news websites and ended up listening to Arutz7 radio, live from the battlefield. Then they announced that whoever wants to see what was going on can go to the knesset channel online. Of course I went over and saw some of the worst things I've ever seen. I forgot how happy I was that i didnt have a TV during hitnatkut so I didnt have to watch it all. Police swinging their batons, chasing kids with their horses, kids throwing rocks at police, it nauseated me. If the government really just wanted to knock down the houses, why didnt they quietly just go in? Why announce exactly when your doing it a month before if you know its going to lead to violence? I'm against any use of force against our soldiers. But I've seen the police here in action. There are vicious animals. I've seen them smiling before they go and punch and kick people to the ground. But obviously both sides are to blame. One video clip showed a girl trying to push a ladder away from the roof while a cop climbed up. Then the cop took his baton and whipped the girl with it and she ran away. That girl was trying to do a horrible thing, and the cop was really saving himself. Other clips showed a cop on a horse chasing a kid and whipping him from behind. The kid was running away, what danger was the cop in that he needed to level the kid? I've seen it on their faces, the cops like to see blood.
What are these kids trying to do? Thats the part I just dont get. Obviously in a fight of force they are going to lose. So why throw rocks? It hurts your cause, because it lowers who you are, and doesnt help, because you're clearly going to lose against the army. If you really don't want the buildings to be knocked down, you have to fight with intelligence, not rocks.
So my test is tomorrow, and instead of studying, I sat here in pain watching a civil war that has been brewing for years start happening.