Upcreek Without A Paddle

Zionist High School Flashbacks

2007-04-19T20:44:00.000+03:00

The big arguments going around today have to do with this story from the JPost:

Seven pupils at a Beit Ya'akov school in Netanya were punished after they stood up for the siren that sounded Monday in honor of Holocaust Memorial Day (Monday), Yediot Aharonot reported.

According to the report, the school principal removed the girls from their classroom and forced them to stand up for the rest of the day and read psalms.

In haredi circles, using sirens and "moments of silence" to mark memorial holidays is considered a gentile custom and is discouraged.

Haredi rabbis often encourage their followers to recite psalms or other prayers silently during the siren.

As I read this I had a flashback to 10th grade:

I was in a Yeshiva High School, I didn't know it was Yom Haatzmaut, and in all honestly I didnt really care. My friend who lived in the area came to my dorm room the day before (which I didn't even know was Yom Hazikaron) with an Israeli flag and a banner from Coke that said something about saluting Israel.
When I left my room Yom HaAtzmaut morning I hung the banner on my door and the flag in my room. I came back to the dorm after Shachrit and the banner was on the floor. I hung it back up and again, after breakfast, it was on the floor. I hung it up a third time and when I came back to the room during a break I saw the Mashgiach carrying it away.
"Rebbi, thats mine", I told him
"Twice I threw it on the floor and you didnt understand so now I'm taking it away", he answered.
"You threw it on the floor", I asked him, "I thought it was one of the guys who didn't understand the importance of Israel to the Jewish People. I didn't think a Rabbi would throw something so important on the floor."
"Not only am I taking the banner, but your flag is on the floor where it belongs."
I immediately went and started calling everyone I know telling them about this horrible thing that happened. If I would have known a reporter I would have tried to get the story in the news. The headlines would have read "Charaidi Rabbi Tramples Israeli Flag", or some other such title. The reality was that
a. I only did it to irritate them. If I would have cared I would have requested permission to hang something up.
b. This one Rabbi was an extremist and in no way showed the character of the school. The school was a yeshiva with strong secular education, AP courses and all, and while they werent Zionist they certainly werent anti.
c. If I would have talked to a reporter I would have exaggarated (such as, "the principal made me stand up all day")
d. although I didn't get a punishment, I deserved one, not for hanging up the flag, but for speaking very disrespectfully, and if I would have gotten a punishment I would have told everyone the punishment was for the flag.

Only in Israel...

2007-04-19T01:06:00.000+03:00

I was in an Israeli elemetary school the other day and I saw this sign on the wall. If they had signs like this in Palestinian schools then we would be able to solve our problems much quicker and easier.

"Two nations dividing the same land, and it will be best that they knew to live together."

The Jewish Santa Claus?

2007-04-04T13:37:00.000+03:00

Every year at the seder we pour an extra cup of wine, called the "cup for Eliyahu". and as the story goes, Eliyahu comes around to everyone's seder and drinks from the cup. I would say that the majority of kids at a seder are told some sort of fable about Eliyahu coming around to them. Being the kind of person who is against all things not explained (unless clearly written in the Torah, or has a known connection to sinai, [i.e. how to wear Tefillin]) I never really liked the story that Eliyahu goes to every house; it's a logistical nightmare! Here is my explanation. Every argument in the gemara that no answer is found, they use the word "taiku". In modern hebrew that means a tie, and I dont know if it has a meaning in Aramaic, but we always learned it as an acronym that meant "Eliyahu will come and answer all our questions". And that is why we have the "cup of Eliyahu". We dont know if we're supposed to drink four cups or five cups, and we have no way of knowing; it's a taiku. So we fill up the fifth cup as a symbolic way of saying that if the Moshiach comes tonight, with Eliyahu at his side, and tells us we need to drink five cups, we have it ready.

And may he come soon and tell us that yes, we DO need to drink five cups!

Recent Things I've Learned

2007-03-14T16:30:00.000+02:00

The paper is delivered at 5:20.

Part of parenthood is to suction snot out the baby's nose.

Mother's milk is kosher and parve. I still don't know what it tastes like, though.

I no longer need to set an alarm clock

The words to "Happy Birthday" in hebrew. It's not just a translation. there's a tree growing in the song.

Car seats go in backwards.

Not all babies look the same.

We had a boy!!!

2007-03-04T14:02:00.000+02:00

Last week we had a boy. His brit was today on Purim. Not my Purim, since I'm in Jerusalem, but everyone elses.
His name is Shilo Tchelet.
The explanation I gave was as follows. Shilo was born on 7 Adar, the birthday of Moshe Rabbainu. Shilo was the place of the mishkan, and is now a city on the Palestinian side of the border. But to us, Shilo is always a part of Israel. In addition, Shilo in gematria is the same as Moshe. The brit was on Purim, and the Parshat Hashavua of his is Parshat Titzave. In Titzave the Kohen's clothes were made of many material, including Shany and Tchelet. So that's connection. Secondly, in the Megilla when the Jews were at the height of their power, it says Mordechai went out from the king in tchelet, etc. On a personal note, Tchelet for me symbolizes the return of Jews to Israel, as seen in the flag, on my tzizit, etc. We want our son to continue in our path here in Our Land.
Then I said a bunch of thank you's.

1984

2007-02-09T10:42:00.000+02:00

I was glancing through keywords that got people to my site (one of the main keywords that keeps repeating itself is Pittsburgher Rebbi. It comes up every time I look and from different places. What do you think you're going to find about the Pittsburgher Rebbi here???) and I saw that someone had googled "MyShan site:stillruleall.blogspot.com". I thought this was a bit weird, so I clicked on the link and it says "ISP Israeli Government Network". Am I being monitored? I don't think I update this enough, or write about anything too important to be monitored. Do they know where I live??? And if they know the blog name, why do they google it? Why not just type it into the address bar???????

In unrelated news, it was brought to my attention that I had blocked comments. I must have done that by mistake while updating the blog look. Comments have been turned back on.

I have an amazing costumer service story to tell, about a level of service people don't believe exists in this country. But I have to start cooking the chicken now, so I'll save it for another time.

Shabbat Shalom.

Viagra Saves Life

2007-02-08T23:11:00.000+02:00

I was in a cab tonight on my way home and I heard the most bizarre story. A baby was born in Tzfat with a life threatening blood flow problem three weeks ago. All conventional methods of dealing with it didn't work, so they tried something different. They gave the three week old viagra to help the blood flow. and it worked! She's out of danger now.

Viagra-it's not just for old men!!

P.S. I cant find the news story anywhere in English, but here it is in Hebrew.

Nir Barkat is a Good Man

2007-02-01T01:14:00.000+02:00

Yesterday we received a bag with a little booklet from Nir Barkat. The booklet was entitled "City Watch-Taking the Cleaning In Our Hands." Nir Barkat has been running a campaign to clean up Jerusalem. Every few weeks he has volunteers go around to different neighborhoods and clean them up. The latest project is this Friday, Tu Bshvat. "Everyone throw away one piece of trash, Together there will be 700,000 less pieces of garbage." All I know about Nir Barkat is that he started one of the first (the first?) hi tech companies in Jerusalem and he ran for mayor last time but lost to Lapoliansky. I don't know if he'd make a good mayor or what he stands for, but I'm glad he came up with this campaign.

Terror In Eilat

2007-01-29T11:32:00.000+02:00

When I moved to Israel I became a news junkie. Every few hours I would check the news, always bracing myself for some form of an attack. Very often, there was. More recently I've been getting over this addiction, being as I am sick of reading every day about a new minister or government official indicted. Out of habit I click on the tabs and open the news homepages, but I rarely do more then scan the headline of the first article before switching to a different site. And then I see it, in big underlined letters. Suicide bomber kills three in Eilat bakery blast. I have that first frantic thought, I just spoke to a friend last night who was in Eilat! I already know he wasn't in the attack, since he wouldn't be in a bakery in the city in the morning, but the connection still has me shaken.
I have been doing some soul searching recently about my feelings towards settlements. I would like to see Israel in ontrol of all of Greater Israel, but the reality is that there are millions of Palestinians who either will need to be allowed to become part of our country or need a country of their own. This current situation can't continue to go on, where we own the land but don't treat the people as citizens. At some point we will have to pull in our people from the settlements (obviously not in the horrid way that was done to the people of Gush Katif). We will need to build cities beforehand for them to live in, immediately release the money they will be promised for relocating, and work out al the other problems that were faced by the people expelled from Gush Katif. We will also need to work with some form of Palestinian government to try and prevent the anarchy that is going on now in Gaza. Recently I have been leaning more and more towards this reality.
Then they send another suicide bomber, kill more of our innocent people, and all thoughts of wanting to make their lives better are erased.

The Bird's Story

2007-01-21T00:29:00.000+02:00

It was sometime Shabbat afternoon; maybe it was the morning, I'm not so good with time. I was flying through Jerusalem, on my way to circling the Kotel, when the sky starting getting overcast. Looking down, I saw a partially open door in the city. Thinking it may be a warm place to wait out the upcoming storm I let myself in. But then it happened; the moment that changed my life forever. When I flew in to that home, that warm little home, I clipped my wing. It wouldn't have been so bad if I hadn't reacted so strongly. I flew around the house, banging into walls, doors, closets, and whatever else I could hit. Next thing I knew I was on the floor in the kitchen, gasping for air. I tried to get up and couldn't. No, I said, no, it can't be! If I can't fly, then what am I worth? What? Again and again I tried to move, only to be rejected by nature. I passed in and out of consciousness as the day passed me by. Somewhere in the recesses of my pain numbed mind I heard a noise I hadn't heard before. Yet I knew it was the sound of a door opening. Voices approached me. I prayed that held was near, but trembled at the possible danger. I saw the human before it saw me. But only moments before. The voice that I had heard turned into a scream of shock! The woman left and I heard her talking to another human. But what about me, I wanted to ask them, what are you going to do for me? They murmured together, that man and that woman, and then they disappeared. Then the man reappeared, holding a broom. I lay there trembling, wishing to move but not being able, while the man waved a broom at me. I did a pathetic crawl/walk trying to get away, while the man and woman watched me. Somehow they managed to corner me next to a window, which they promptly opened. Knowing what would happen next, I tried to bury myself under some shopping bags. But I was no match for that man. He reached down, his hands wrapped around a shopping bag, and grabbed me from my place of refuge. I shook a mighty shake, as the fear overwhelmed me, and the man lost his grip. Again I tried to hide, and again he caught me. This time he lifted me high enough and threw me out the window. I managed to flap my wings enough to slow down my descent, and I landed gracefully on the cold wet sidewalk. Rain was mercilessly beating down on me as I quickly tried to find a warm, safe refuge. I saw the man watching me as I beat my wings, beat them to no avail, while hopping in circles. Then he turned around and left. From the corner of my eye, I saw the woman look at me. A look of horror filled her face, a look I thought was directed at me, at how pathetic I appeared. Chills passed through me as I realized what she knew but was as powerless as I was to stop. All I wished for was it to end quick. The black cat jumped out of the bush, and in one quick move, I was gone. The last thing I saw before those sharp teeth and that swishing tail was the woman's hand go up to her face in shock and disgust as she saw the darker side of nature take it's course.

New Cell Phone Regulations

2007-01-05T14:18:00.000+02:00

I don't know how it works in America and the rest of the world, but in Israel for most plans you get charged a minute of calling even if you're on the phone for less then a second. This is especially annoying when you get a voice mail and immediately hang up; you still get charged for a minute. Until now. The government has passed a law (or a regulation. or something. whatever you call it,) not allowing the cell phone companies to charge people for a service they dont want. At the start of this year (now) when you call a cellphone, instead of going immediately to the voice mail, there is a recording, "you are now being transferred to a voice mail". this gives you those few seconds ot hang up and not be charged. Thank you regulators, for stopping the phone companies from charging us for unwanted services!

Winter has Started

2006-12-26T21:03:00.001+02:00

Today the heavens opened. After a month of nothing, it came all at once. Visibility was zero, and if not for someone pulling me back to the sidewalk, I would have been hit by a car. But he pulled me back, and I'm fine. By the time I got on the bus, my jeans had soaked through. I of course only wore a sweater and no coat, so I was pretty well soaked from top to bottom. As I sat there shivering on the bus, I tried to think about how Lake Kinneret is in desperate need of this storm. Its water level current stands as minus 212.2 meters below sea level, only 80 centimeters above the lower red line at which a drought is officially declared, one of the largest deficiencies in years.
(I didn't know the actual number by heart, but I knew we were in need of rain)
This didn't make me any warmer, but at least it passed the time til I got home and took a hot shower and had hot soup MyWife made for me. Hopefully this storm (which isn't supposed to end for a few days) will fill up the water reservoirs and the Kinneret.
Another bus story:
I was on a Mehadrin bus going from Bnei Brak to Jerusalem earlier this week. Mehadrin busses are busses with seperate seating (women sit in the back), the radio is kept off, and I'm sure there's other rules but I dont know them. I sat down near the front, put on my headphones, and took out my Haaretz newspaper. I noticed people looking at me, and figured they weren't too pleased with my choice of reading material. A few minutes into the ride, a man behind me tapped me on the shoulder. After the incident of a few weeks ago, I was sure he was looking to pick a fight for me having brought a non religious newspaper on the bus. My body tensed up, and I turned around and stared at the guy who tapped me.
"We're having a class in gemara on the bus, and we're wondering if you'd like to join". He tells me. Half out of an interest to learn, and half out of embarrasment for having been so quick to judge him, I told him I was interested, and he gave me a gemara. After receiving permission from the driver, he hung up a speaker connecting to a microphone, and began the class. In addition to what he talked about, I learned the valuable lesson of not to judge a whole group of people just because a few of them are fanatics.

Winter has Started

2006-12-26T21:03:00.000+02:00

Thank You Egged

2006-12-16T23:49:00.000+02:00

Egged is one of the few bus services in this country, and the only one in Jerusalem. In Jerusalem (possibly elsewhere but I really only know Jerusalem), they bend over backward to cater to the Charaidi (UltraOrthodox) community. This is as much business sense as it is a public service-the majority of Charaidim only travel by bus and as such they have a strong hold on the company. One of the more recent ways they've catered to the charaidi crowd is through the mehadrin bus. A mehadrin bus is that certain busses that go through religious neighborhoods have certain rules. They are seperated by gender, with men in the front and women in the back. The driver isn't allowed to listen to the radio. All women have to be dressed modestly. I'm sure there are more rules but I don't know them offhand. While I don't agree with the need for a Jim Crow bus, everywhere I need to go there is always another bus that doesnt have these rules. Another move by Egged is that they don't post immodest ads on their busses.
But all this isn't the focus here. The service I am most thankful for is the Saturday night free bus from the Kotel.This Shabbat, my wife and I walked to the Kotel, about an hours walk. Instead of having to walk home, Egged has free busses that leave the Kotel starting around a half hour after Shabbat is over. This is because no one at the Kotel has money on them. Without this service we wouldnt have been able to go to the Kotel on Shabbat. The reason the busses arent ready the minute Shabbat is over is so that the drivers dont have to break Shabbat to get the busses ready. So thank you Egged for allowing us to go to the Kotel without having to worry how we're getting home.

The Jewellery Store

2006-12-14T13:44:00.000+02:00

(For an explanation on my rededicated blog, look at the post below)

MyWife bought a pair of earrings a while ago from a store in the center of Jerusalem. Nothing expensive, just nice earrings. Something about them broke so she took it in to get it fixed. We came to pick it up a week later, and it was gone. Apparently someone else had come in to pick up their earrings and took ours. Possibly by mistake, possibly because MyWifes earrings were nicer then hers. OwnerOfStore apologized profusely for the mixup. Mixups happen everywhere, but its how the store deals with it thats important. This guy dealt with it wonderfully. He offered MyWife any earrings she wanted in place of the original pair. We started looking at the same price bracket that the originals had cost, so StoreOwner took out a tray of more expensive earrings and showed us some of those, and then repeated that we could have any of them, clearly showing that we shouldnt think about the price. MyWife chose a pair that she liked, which cost less then the original by a few shekels. StoreOwner first made sure that she understood she could take something mroe expensive, but when he saw she was happy with what she had found, he offered us money, which was more then the difference between the original and the new pair.

Mistakes happen all the time, but this man took a mistake and used it to turn us into very happy customers who will buy from him again.

Starting Over Again

2006-12-13T23:57:00.000+02:00

There's too much bitching going around. I feel the negative vibes everywhere. Whether it's about the government, the police, the bakery, the fact that the Israeli equivalent to the DMV is seven different offices in different parts of the city, taxes, how we messed up in the last war, how we're going to mess up on the war, etc, etc. I'm not saying this isn't all true, but I'm tired of hearing about it. So I am rededicating my blog. The main focus will be publishing good news, stories with happy endings, the kind I was sick of as a kid, but now crave. I may also include my thoughts on Judiasm, and about life in general, but thats all side dishes.
My first two posts will be about two instances where I was very impressed with the customer service I received. In Jerusalem. After that I don't know where I'll go. Or if I'll just get bored and fade out again.
When I started this blog, I really did it becase everyone else was, hence "Junping on the Bandwagon". But now that I'm stepping into new turf, being an anglo in Jerusalem and not bitching about it, I felt the need to change my blog name to "Upcreek Without A Paddle".

Do I support Terrorism?

2006-11-05T22:45:00.000+02:00

Terrorism is a very subjective word. In the most obvious of cases, Palestinians and Israelis each consider the other side to be terrorists, while defending their own actions as "necessary" and "vital" to achieve their moral goals. The dictionary definition of terrorism is "the unlawful use of -- or threatened use of -- force or violence against individuals or property to coerce or intimidate governments or societies, often to achieve political, religious, or ideological objectives."
Let's jump back to last summer's disengagement. The nationalist camp, which I am a part of, was strongly against the disengagement, fighting with everything we had to stop it. Rallies, marches, handing out flyers at every corner, the nationalist camp was as proactive as they could be. But at every step, the leadership encouraged us not to cross the line into violence. There were those that did, but the movement as a whole was a non violent one. People sat in the roads blocking them, but they did not fight back as they were pulled away. The message was passed down again and again; while we disagree with the government, the cops and soldiers are our brothers and we are forbidden to hurt them. The end result of it was that the nationalist camp lost, and the disengagement happened.
Fast forward to today. The Gay Pride Parade is being scheduled for next Friday. Once again, I am part of the camp that strongly feels that the parade is an insult to our beliefs and our holy city. I can't put the two events on a scale and judge them, but each one in its own is a horrific event. This time, the protest camp, or at least the active protest camp, is charaidi. Their protests, which I have not attended but read about on the news, seem to be made up of blocking a road, burning trash in at, and throwing racks at anyone who dares come close. Due to these protests, the police have said they are unable to protect the parade, and asked for it be cancelled. So far the government has refused to cancel it, saying that they must allow freedom of expression. But they have suggested it be moved to smaller streets, or held in a park, or somehow made to be less offensive to the protestors. This is more concessions then we received in six months of protesting the disengagement.
So I stop and I ask myself, were we wrong by protesting non violently? If we had blocked roads, not with peaceful people but with burning cars, and if instead of marching we had stormed buildings, perhaps we could have accomplished something. We would be rightfully labelled terrorists, but we would have stopped the greater tragedy from ocurring.
I think it all comes down to, how strong do you believe in what you stand for.

Back To School

2006-10-27T01:02:00.000+02:00

Israel is all about the small things. Everyone has so much to complain about, the government, the territories, the presidents alleged behavior, etc., but no one ever focuses on the good small things. I started school this week. The school schedule is based on the Jewish calender, and we always start after Sukkot. We get off on fast days, and school ends at 4PM on chanuka so everyone can get home in time to light their menora.
I have to take two general studies classes this year, one of the ones I chose was called "We are sick of corruption-political and social criticism" (my translations never sound like the actual thing). This sounded like a really interesting course, with such practical application, that I immediately signed up. I went to the class this morning, the room was full, about 70% students and 30% old people that take classes for fun. The teacher walked in and said he was surprised so many people signed up to his course, he usually has much smaller groups. Then he passed around a paper for everyone to write their names down, and told us to write yes or no if we spoke yiddish or not. This threw me off a bit, but I wrote down no and let it pass. Then the teacher went on for a while about how the grading works, the test, all the side issues. Then he asked who already knows about Mendele the book seller. All the old people said yes, the students said no. He started explaining about how Mendel lived around 150 years ago, and wrote criticim on the politics pf hs time. He went on for a few more minutes about Mendele, and then a girl got up and started leaving. The teacher asked her how she could have given up already, and she said she had thought the class was on todays politics, not from 150 years ago. He looked at her really confused and asked, "why would a class on Mendele Mocher Sefarim be on todays issues?" Then he looked around and asked who else thought this was a class on politics. Every studets hand went up. He told us to take a few minutes and discuss if we want to stay or not. I had no interest in learning about Mendele, so I left. How could they call a class "we are sick of corruption", right when half the Knesset is being tried for every charge possible, and have the class be about MENDELE MOYCHER SEFARIM!!!

Initial Baseball

2006-10-21T21:47:00.000+02:00

Tiger fever is in the air. Maybe not so much in Jerusalem, but I was invited to watch the game at around 1AM, and people I call for work in detroit mention it, so I am feeling it a bit. For about a minute I thought it was cool that my used-to-be home team was going all the way. Then I realized I dont care. I was trying to think if I ever cared, or why I dont care when everyone else I know does, and I think it all goes back to initial baseball...
I dont know if initial baseball is a real thing, or someone in my shul made it up, but it went like this. Two people played, one a "batter" and one a "pitcher". The pitcher would say the initials of the player he's thinking of, and the batter had to guess who it was. If he guessed it right away, it was a home run. If he need one hint (which team?) it was a triple, two hints a double three a single, four, you're out. Generally, brother Shu played it with a guy who wore brown loafers(I used to think it was weird he would wear brown shoes on shabbat when I was wearing a suit and black dress shoes-wow, things have certainly chanegd since then!). I used to try and join in, but in order to play you actually had to know players names, team, position, and answer to whatever other question they asked. I could usually only come up with C.F., Cecil Fielder, who was the most famous player at the time, so not a very good player for me to "pitch" with. I dont know if I disliked baseball before then, but I do remember studying the backs of cards so I could play, and hating it. I've passed the hating stage, now I'm at total indifference. Maybe if I knew more people on St Louis, I would at least gain bragging rights, but I don't.

2006-10-15T19:27:00.000+02:00

What Goes Around

2006-10-11T00:26:00.000+02:00

We went to the Bet Shemesh concert tonight. It was fun, although definitely a different feeling then when I went there drunk as a single guy. I called a friend of mine who lives in Bet Shemesh and he met me there. He lives opposite the field where the concert was, and I laughed as he told me how every year all the Americans pile into their area and blast music until late. All the neighbors are Israeli, and he only came to the concert to meet me. I laughed at him some more and reminded him that not only does he have to deal with the noise, but his tax dollars help pay for it. Then I went home, and Mercaz HaRav is having a simchat Bet Hashuava, with music blaring into our house from across the street. It's around 12:30 AM, and they have cut to quieter songs, but we still feel it.

Some Sukkot memories:
going to the Bet Shemesh concert, slightly drunk, dancing the night away with dust flying everwhere, then finding out the stands had sold out of water. Luckily, we found a girl who gave us a bottle of water.
Telling a girl at least fifty times that I had a girlfriend, then mentioning that I liked vodka, and her buying me a big bottle of Absolut Vodka from the Sheraton Plaza. When I asked her why she would buy from the most expensive place, and for a guy she can't get, she answered "it's only shkalim anyway".
My masa kumta was on Sukkot. We were supposed to hike 75 kilometers. We were also supposed to sleep 8 hours the night before. We slept 3 hours, due to a heightened alert on the Lebanese border, and then we started walking. I made it 65 kilometers, from 4PM til 8AM of walking with all my gear, when I fell over. I had a heat stroke and got rushed to the hospital. My girlfriend at the time came to the hospital with candy, and so I married her. I left the hspital later that day to attend my tekes. The nurse made me sign a release form that I was leaving against the doctors wishes for the tekes. Then my Mem mem (officer) gave me his kumta (beret) at the tekes.

(The time had nothing to do with the song. Now theyve switched to a loud one. "Vivaser lanu, bsorot tovotm yishuot vnechamot")

Our engagement party in Israel was on Sukkot in my in laws sukka.

Moadim l'simcha!

They're Back

2006-09-29T12:19:00.000+03:00

How anyone can believe that Israel is God's country, Jerusalem is His city, Rosh Hashana is the Holiday to proclaim His kingship, and so on that day one has to be in.....Uman, is beyond me. I even got a DVD dropped in my mailbox before Rosh Hashana called "Uman: You are also invited!" I havent watched it yet. But all the Na-Nachmanites go off, even collecting Tzedaka to get there. Point of all this is, I was sitting in my house last night when the building starting to shake from the volume of the music coming from outside. I went out, and there, sitting in traffic, was the Nachman tank: a van, painted all over in Nachmanite colors and symbols (I don't either know what that means), with huge loudspeakers on top, and at least twenty Nachmanites dancing in front off it. They were playing the Nachman theme song, but after about twenty minutes they changed to something else (there was a lot of traffic). So I guess the Uman trip is over.
I actually have something to thank the Nachmanites for. A few years ago I was travelling with my fiance-at the-time from New York to Israel. Amir Peretz was in charge of the Histadrut, so of course they were on strike. We flew via Budapest, and we were told that they can't promise we would have a connecting flight. It was a few days before Yom Kippur, but we knew the strike would have to break, so we flew anyway. We made it to Budapest, the strike had ended, and our conecing flight was nine hours later. BUT the airline gave us our luggage, becuase they had not checked it all the way to Israel. So we went to the ticket counter, but they wouldnt take it until three hours before the flight. We tried to put it in a safe room, but they wanted around $100 to hold it for the nine hours. We really wanted to get out of the airport and tour a bit, but we didnt knwo what to do. Then Shany saw a Nachmanite circle. Around fifteen men were sitting in a circle with their luggage around them, in a way that reminded of circling the wagons on the Yukon Trail. They had been there already a day, and were waiting for a flight out. They agreed to watch our luggage, refused payment, and we went out to explore. We came back seven hours later, or so, after having seen the old Jewish Quarter in Pest, a massive shul, crossed the Danube river, and looked at castle ruins in Buda. We looked for the Nachmanites, but couldnt find them anywhere. We got a bit nervous, but then we saw our luggage in a corner. We couldnt believe that they had abondoned our luggage, and ran toward it before security took it. As we got there, an old lady yelled at us in Hebrew for leaving our luggage. The Nachmanites flight had been called, so they found another Israeli to watch our bags. She was very angry, til we offered to pay her. Then she got insulted, called us motek, and said we could buy her a coffee in Israel. She wasnt on our flight, so she never got her coffee. So thanks to Uman and Nachmanites, I saved $100 and we got to see BudaPest.

Keyword Analysis

2006-09-21T00:40:00.000+03:00

I've gotten a lot of hits recently from people looking for things such as "monsey butcher", "Shevach butcher", "kosher meat scandal", etc. But now i've gotten a few really creepy hits. One search was "monsey butcher killed", and the other "kosher chicken monsey kills himself". Is there more to this story then I know? I looked up these keywords and didn't find any story like it...

Shevach Butcher

2006-09-18T09:48:00.000+03:00

The big news in the Jewish world this past week was the Shevach butcher scandal. In short, a Monsey butcher has been buying non kosher chicken, sticking a kosher label on it, and selling it to the Monsey community. This may have been going on for years.
FoxNews has a great clip. Notice that the reporter lady is tzniut.
Many people seem to be shocked about this whole thing. How can a Chassidishe guy trick the whole community in such a grave way?? I think the qestion that SHOULD have been asked a long time ago is, How can Rabbis charge so much for a hechsher when they're only working fifteen minutes a day??
Here in Israel there is kosher and mehadrin (superkosher). But that's not enough. So there's also mehadrin min mehadrin (uberkosher) and bdatz mehadrin min mehadrin (ultimate kosher). Very often on an ultimate kosher poduct, there is also a regular hechsher (kosher certificate). So what's really going on there is that the company is paying the Rabbinut to check and make sure their plant is kosher. And it is kosher, so they get a little kosher label. But then the find out that a large population wont eat it because their Rabbi hasnt checked it. So the ompany pays more money so that another Rabbi can walk through, confirm that its kosher, and give them his label.
I was a waiter at a simcha in Har Nof. The caterer was obviously a mehadrin min hamedrin, as Har Nof is. That means that in terms of truma and maaser (tithing fruit and vegetables), the farmer seperated, the middle man seperated, the Rabbi seperated, and the caterer seperated. So now we're in the kitchen with the many-tithed fruit, and a man walks in and says he cant eat food that he personally didnt tithe. And then he starts taking off pieces of fruit and vegatables. Isnt there a point where it's just called "wasting" and not "tithing"?
My local pizza place doesnt sell Coke, only Pepsi. I asked him why, and he told me that he has an "Edah Charaidi" Hecsher, so he can only sell food that they certify. I was shocked, and asked him if Coke isnt considered Kosher enough. He told me of course Coke is very kosher, but its certiied by a different label, so he cant sell it. IN OTHER WORDS, the Edah Charaidi doesnt care if the food he sells is kosher, they care that they are the ones profiting off the kosher label. This is not in the category of kosher/not kosher anymore, it's in the category of business. They have a solid business plan to keep away the competition.
I asked a shwarma guy once why he doesnt have a mihadrin hechsher, since his food all had mehadrin stickers on them. He told me that he had looked into it, and the price for the mehadrin was more then double the price of the regular hechsher, and he couldnt afford it.
Naive people may actually think that the Rabbi's goals would be to increase the amount of kosher food around. The more kosher food there is, the more people will eat kosher, and the better it is for Israel. The objective would be to encourage people to have kosher eateries. The reality is just the opposite. "Kosher" is a big business. If you want your store to be kosher enough for everyone, its nots enough to only buy the highest kosher products, you also have to be willing to pay top dollar for the Rabbi to check it out.
In this world, where Kosher isn't about "food that's fit to be eaten", and is all about money, is it any surprise that the butcher found a way to screw the system? Is that any more immoral then the price he was paying for his hechsher?

Memorial of a Friend

2006-09-11T10:32:00.000+03:00

I went back to Eli last night for the official memorial service for Amichai. There were several thousand people there, including the soldiers that fought under his command and watched him fall. There was a dvar Torah from R' Eli Sadan, the head of the Yeshiva in Eli, friends of his got up and spoke about him, his smile, his sense of humor, his natural ability to lead, and his strong idealogy. There was a twenty minute video with pictures of him growing up, friends of his talking about him from his yeshiva, his bnei akiva group, etc, etc. The two speeches that stuck out the most to me was Effie Eitams, and the commander of Golani 51. I thought at first I didnt understand Eitam, but I read in the news today what I thought he said. Being as it was a memorial service for a soldier who was killed in Lebanon, i didnt think it was appropriate for him to use the time to spell out his political parties agenda for dealing with Israeli-Arabs and Palestinians. The last speech was Yaniv Asor, commander of Golani 51. He showed, using sattelite images, exactly how the fight happened that Amichai was killed in. where each company was sitting, where their targets were, etc. Ro'i Klein was with Amichai and they identified Hezbolla terrorists and opened fire on them. The terrorists returned fire, and Amichai took his team in an effort to surround the enemy. They didn't know it, but there was a big wall blocking their way, and they got stuck in a dead end. They exchanged fire and grenades with the enemy, and then Amichai got on the radio. "Need backup, there are injured soldiers here." Someone got on the radio to answer him, but Amichai didnt answer anymore. He was gone. Ro'i Klein then took his men to rescue Amichai's team, and they also got stuck in the exchange of fire. Then a grenade was thrown at them, and Ro'i jumped on it, saving the lives of the soldiers around him by sacrificing his own, while screaming "Shma Yisrael!" It took a full day of fighting to finally remove all the wounded and killed. Yaniv then spoke about what Golani meant to him, and what it should mean to all of us. How it is a family, it symbolizes strength. He quoted Rav Kook from Midot Reiya (he is not religious, but he knew the crowd he was talking to..), and said Golani is about humility. Then the evening ended and we went home.

Tonight I'm going to a wedding of another friend from the unit. The same guys who were at the memorial will be at the wedding. Me'avalut l'simcha. From mourning to joy.

Not Another Strike!

2006-09-04T15:13:00.000+03:00

The latest budget idea to pay for the war is to increase university tuition 50%, following the tried and true method of "when in trouble hit the poor hard". In response, the National Student Council has threatened to strike. Luckily, school doesnt start til ater Sukkot (Oct 22) so we have time to work this out. They will probably leave that as the plan until the day before school starts, then realize we really are going to strike, and then start negotiating. Unless we are lucky and the coalition falls apart due to the budget. But more likely is that Labor and the Old People Party will cave in to Kadima, even though the budget runs one hundred percent against everything they believe in. Because how important is belief when you can lose your chair at the Knesset, or maybe even your Minister position.
Where else can they pull money from if not students? How about fining every public official who is found to be corrupt. We'll call it "Embarrasment to the State of Israel" fine. We can also charge every minister who is in charge of something he knows nothing about, just because he wants to be a minister. We'll call that one, "Minister at any price" fine. The fine to be a Defense Minister will be double.
I really hope we dont end up striking. Then we'll start the school year late, cut into our Pesach vacation, and instead of the year ending in July, it wont end til August.

Something A Bit Lighter

2006-08-31T23:44:00.000+03:00

I've gotten past my melancholy, at least for the day.

A friend of mine is in Israel, and asked me to take him somewhere interesting in Jerusalem. I dont know what touristy fun things there are to do in Jerusalem, unless you like shopping, and I don't. Its at times like this that a beach in Jerusalem would be very helpful. There is of course the Begin and Israel Museum, Yad Vashem, and whatever other little museums are laying around, but none of that is much fun. After discussing it with a few people I decided on the zoo. The main problem was that I already went to the zoo this summer, but I didn't have any other ideas, so off we went. At first it was a regular zoo trip, lions were sleeping, bears were eating, chimpanzees were eating each others poop, etc. etc. The penguins in the Biblical zoo are warm weather penguins, much different thenthe huge display of ice penguins in he Detroit zoo. but I digress. We caught the mandarins (the monkey in the Lion King...simbasanasobanana...on that note, they had a big display of meerkat, but no warthogs...) getting fed and learned a bit about them from the zooboy. The reason why the male mandarin tush is so big and pink is that when they move at night as a pack the women can follow them. And their face gets more color as they get stronger to scare away other animals, who understand the whole color means stronger thing (same reason poison dart frogs are bright yellow, but I digress again).
The next thing on the schedule was the elephant show. Until we got there the elephant show had ended (or it just never happened), but elephants are always fun to watch, so we hung around there. At first they were just sticking their trunks into the wall and not doing much (there are four of then by the way, Susan R. and Teddy, who were donated by the government of Thailand, and Micheala and Abigail who were donated by rich people from New York who love Jerusalem and I guess also love elephants). Then one of them started spraying himself with mud and water, which was fun to watch, but then we got bored and were ready to leave. Then we saw one of them (Teddy) starting poking his tusks into one of the other ones. Watching animals fight is always fun at the zoo, so we went back to the fence to keep watching. Teddy kept poking the other elephant and putting hs trunk on here, but it doesnt seem to be going anywhere so I was ready to leave when my friend pointed out that Teddy was thoroughly enjoying himself. And then I realized they weren't fighting. This went on for awhile, but right as it seemed to start getting somewhere Teddy walked off and took a cold shower (totally serious, he walked into a flowing stream and starting sucking water up his trunk and spraying it all over himself. We saw it wasnt going anywher so we left. We finished the zoo, and on our way back towards the elephants heard a kid yell, "Mommy, there are two elephants in the water!" So we walked back over right as the female darted out of the water and the male ran and knocked her back in. Then, suffice it to say that we, along with all the little kids watching, learned a little bit more about nature then we thought we were going to do. We also got great pictures. My only question at the end is, are elephants modest animals and thats why they use the pool, or is it just a gravity/agile thing?

Life and Death Mixed Together

2006-08-29T15:55:00.000+03:00

I've sat down a few times to sit and write something, but I keep stopping. I want to write light things, but there's to much on my mind. I visited this guy in the hospital a week ago, his APC was hit by a rocket and his legs are in terrible shape. He was part of the team that brought out the bodies of the soldiers that were killed in Bent Jbail, including Amichai, a friend of his. That same day I had to make a horrible decision; go to a memorial ceremony for a friend's brother who was killed, or go to an engagement party for my wife's friend. I couldnt do both since they were on seperate sides of the country. I ended up missing a ride to the memorial so I went to the engagement. It was probably for the good since I was so depressed after the hosital visit. I stopped at my friends grave in Eli on Friday. They haven't put a stone on yet, so it is just dirt with a little sign that says his name, rank, and date of death. Then a friend and I went to visit his parents and talk to them. His father wasnt home, but his mom was, and she seemed to appreciate our visit. My friend brought a framed picture of our unit with Amichai in the middle. Tonight I am going to a wedding. In a few weeks I have a memorial ceremony on Sunday and a wedding on Monday.

ושבו בנים לגבולם

2006-08-23T15:43:00.000+03:00

(Hattip: JoeSettler)

It says, "Return Gilad, Uri and Eldad home, and send Olmert, Peretz and Chalutz home!"

I saw an ad today outside the bus station in Jerusalem. It was a huge picture of Ehud Goldwasser with the words "ושבו בנים לגבולם", "and the children returned to their borders", written underneath.

August 22

2006-08-23T00:13:00.000+03:00

I've been seeing a bunch of doomsday articles about August 22nd, and a friend even called to warn me that Aechmeidianajaied was supposed to bomb us today. But, it is now the 23rd. Unless he was lookng at a New York clock, and there's still a few more hours. to the 22nd. But I'm feeling safe enough to go to sleep.

We went to a BBQ at my inlaws tonight. My brother in law made a party for his unit since they got a few days off to relax. No one throws a BBQ like my inlaws. We all ate and then sat around smoking nargila and they told some crazy stories, which are now funny since they are home safe.

Back To Normal

2006-08-21T22:29:00.000+03:00

I was listening to my favorite country radio station today, and just being happy the war is over. It may start up again in a few weeks, it may start up in Gaza, it may have been really dumb of us to pull out without accomplishing any of our goals, but it's good not to be at war. I went up north with the family last Thursday, there was traffic on the roads, a minyan every four seconds in Meron, life is getting back to normal.

The First Scapegoat

2006-08-16T17:59:00.000+03:00

Insider trading is wrong. And when the head of the army places his bets against his own country, some might even refer to that as treason. Also, I haven't forgotten how Sharon quickly got rid of "Bogey" Yaalon right before disengagement and put his own puppet, Dan Chalutz, in his place.
So I have no qualms with everyone screaming for his resignation. BUT, let's not lose focus here. We have just witnessed a horrible war. Lots of unnecessary deaths. Lots of unkept promises. Dan Chalutz did something wrong, and we are all angry, but his selling shares is not the main point here.

What about Olmert, a man who was "tired of winning". A man who sent other people's children to war, but not his own. Or Peretz, one of the founders of 'peace now', a man who was given the defense minister chair as a way of buying his party into the coalition, and refused to place someone who knows defense in the chair since he was scared of the political repercussions. Or maybe Chalutz himself, who admitted he has no understanding of ground troops and tanks, only planes. And who also declined an offer from America a few years ago for bombs that destroy underground bunkers.
Or maybe Nassralla just fought well. Regardless, this need to find someone quick to hang from a tree is counter productive, as it allows the true culprit to get away.

Nothing More To Say

2006-08-11T17:20:00.000+03:00

I would update more, but I ran out of what to say. This war is taking too long. We arent even talking about destroying Hezzbala, we have no real objective other than grabbing as much land as possible, which is entirely pointless when the enemy is shooting long range missiles. So we can continue fighting, continue killing and getting killed, but we will end up exactly where we were, with Ehud and Eldad still kidnapped, and rockets raining down on us. We can't either give up, as that would set a horrible precedent and guarantee another war. So we are stuck fighting an unwinnable war, with no end in sight that will be good for us.

My brother-in-law got the weekend off, my in-laws are calm for the first time in a month. We are going there for Shabbat so we can finally see him.

I may have just read this on someones blog, or just randomly remembered it, but theres an old joke about a Jew in Germany in the 1930's who was reading the German paper. His friend yelled at him, "How can you read that anti-semitic propaganda?!?" He answered him, "In the Jewish papers all I read about is poverty and hunger, and how bad the Jews are doing. But in the German paper they talk about how the Jews are rich and taking over the world. I'd much rather read that!" In that same vein, I've stopped reading Israeli news about rockets falling and soldiers getting killed. Instead I read Aljazeera about cities we've bombed and how we're taking everything over.
May we have a Shabbat of peace and quiet.

Defense Minister?

2006-08-07T19:41:00.000+03:00

from Arutz 7

Addressing a Tel Aviv session of the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee, Defense Minister Amir Peretz stated that in the face of failed diplomatic efforts to stop Katyusha rocket attacks, he will order a more comprehensive IDF operation.

Peretz stated such an operation would strike Hizbullah throughout Lebanon, targeting rocket launchers wherever they may be.

Why arent we doing that now? 12 soldiers killed in a rocket isn't reason enough? 3 killed and over 100 injured and trapped in fallen buildings due to rockets isn't reason enough? Sadly, he seems to prefer the Arab approach of maximizing our casualties to make us look more pathetic so the world will pity us.

Too bad he didn't explain why he ordered an incomprehensive IDF operation frst, designed to risk our soldiers. I wonder what is going to be comprehensive about the new operation. Is it going to clearly state that our first priority is the safety of our civilians and soldiers, and only after the safety of others? Probably not.

Shavua Tov

2006-08-05T23:43:00.000+03:00

May this week be better than last week, and bring us lasting peace...or at least an effective cease fire...ok, may we just have a bit of quiet. I've once again seen how happy I am we dont have a TV. Friday afternoon we were at someones house where the TV was on, and we were unable to tear our eyes away as they showed funerals, the effects of rockets, detroyed families, etc. It's too depressing to bear. Non-stop they had the names of soldiers and civilians who had been killed scrolling across the bottom of the screen.

Shabbat was very peaceful, at least for us. We went to a Shabbat Chattan (aufruf [Shabbat celebration before someone gets married]) of a friend of ours. It's really nice to take a step back from all the fighting and see something happy for a change of pace.

I spoke with a friend of mine last week who's an officer in Golani 51. His platoon brought back some of the bodies of the soldiers that had been killed in Lebanon. He sounded tired but seemed upbeat, and said his soldiers still have a high morale, and are ready and waiting to avenge the deaths of their friends. May God guard them and allow them to avenge the deaths of all our fallen soldiers. I spoke with another friend who is doing reserves on the border, he is doing guard duty and a few other minor things, but seemed fine. I havent spoken to my brother-in-law, but last we heard he was fine. I'm so glad I don't have to rely on the media for everything, and can get real updates from soldiers there, without the spin that whoever is reporting wants to put on it.

Important Post At The Muqata

2006-08-03T00:11:00.000+03:00

click here. Read it, and then act on it. (Title of article is "Woe Unto Israel")

על אלה אני בוכה

2006-08-02T23:42:00.000+03:00

Tisha B'Av started tonight, a sad day when we sit and mourn all the tragedies that have befallen us. From the destruction of our Temples through the Inquisition, the Holocaust and all the way to last years losing part of our Holy Land. This year the mourning is more poignant as our country is in a turmoil, millions of residents are either living in bomb shelters or fled their homes, and many of our soldiers are over the border engaged in heavy fighting with our enemy. Tomorrow is also the funeral of Micheal Levine, an American oleh who cut a vacation short with his family to come back here and fight for his country. He was killed in Lebanon. While we are mourning the destruction of our country from 2000 years ago, our Prime Minister is talking about destroying more of the country as soon as he has the opportunity.

May this be the last time we have to fast and cry over Destruction.

Olmert's Propaganda Game

2006-08-01T21:05:00.000+03:00

Ehud Olmert's speech at the Knesset, July 17:

...in Lebanon, we will insist on compliance with the terms stipulated long ago by the international community...The return of the hostages, Ehud (Udi) Goldwasser and Eldad Regev;
- A complete cease fire...
- Expulsion of Hizballah from the area, and fulfillment of United Nations Resolution 1559.
...We will search every compound, target every terrorist who assists in attacking the citizens of Israel, and destroy every terrorist infrastructure, everywhere. We will persist until Hizballah and Hamas comply with those basic and decent things required of them by every civilized person. Israel will not agree to live in the shadow of missiles or rockets against its residents.

Ehud Olmert's speech at the National Defence College, Aug 1:

...The military campaign has already created a new equation between the ability of Israel and that of Israel's enemies...No one promised that at the end of this war there would be no missiles left that could reach us.

My Theory:

Ehud meant what he said at first. Then he found out how powerful international pressure can be. So he is trying to save face, saying things like "we've already won", and then when he announces a ceasefire and pulls back our troops, while we are still being fired on, he will keep referring to his "we've won" speech, and he hopes if he says it enough we will believe him.

Galilean Refugee

2006-08-01T20:15:00.000+03:00

My brother is still seeking refuge in Jerusalem, but has to go up from time to time to work in Haifa and see his house in Maalot. He is happy to report it is still there. He is selling t-shirts and coffee mugs through Zazzle, he gets a part of the proceeds which will go to help Northerners. Check it out here. In order for him to get the money, I think you have to go through the link on his website.

FoxNews has been reporting for some time now that many Israeli troops have been killed or injured. Our news just reported that some soldiers have been injured. Unfortunately, usually the foreign news are right, and our news is censored until the families have been notified. We have already heard from my brother-in-law that he is alright, thank God. It is a horrible feeling, when you at the same time are happy to hear your family is alright, but at the same time know that another family is receiving the worst news.

Here is a picture of a friend that someone sent me a link to:

In other news, my parents came to visit for the month. Kol HaKoved to them for coming when we need tourists the most. And Kol HaKoved to them for taking us out to dinner, and supporting our restaurants :-)

The market in Israel is doing well. I have heard some negative feedback about this, that Tel Aviv only cares for itself, and doesnt care we're at war as long as Ramat Aviv isn't hit. But its a good thing the market is fine, it's one less thing we have to worry about. A major deal was just made, SanDisk bought M-Systems for 1.5 billion dollars. They're both Israeli companies that make flash drives and USB devices and other high tech things. This will add more money to the Treasury, which is in major need of it now.

Was There An Alternative?

2006-07-30T22:48:00.000+03:00

Israel is getting attacked on all sides after bombing a building and killing 60 people, many of which were children. But honestly, what were we supposed to do? Rockets are being shot at us, purposely, from that village. We could either
A. listen to all world leaders and do nothing, and allow them to keep shooting rockets and keep killing us,
B. send in ground troops, which would take weeks of planning, all while we're getting bombed, risk the soldiers lives, and try and take out the Hezballa hidden amongst the civilians,
C. drop leaflets urging all civilians to leave, send out radio messages urging all civilians to leave, and then, when everyone should be gone, bomb the buildings that we are being shot from.

If anyone would choose anything other than C., I feel bad for them. I feel bad that they have no respect for their own lives, and the lives of the people around them.

My Brother-In-Law, The Soldier

2006-07-30T01:14:00.000+03:00

We spent a very enjoyable Shabbat with my parents and all the Israeli members of our family at the Kings Hotel. Brilliant idea, Shabbat, having a day to relax, when you can't follow the news. It really helps lower the stress. I recommend it to everyone.
After Shabbat my in-laws came over to drop off some food. While they were here my brother-in-law Yosefi called them, so we were able to talk to him. We hadn't heard from him in over a week, since he wasn't allowed to bring his cell phone into Lebanon with him. He was a bit in shock, after being in such real battle. His friend lost a leg after an enemy soldier threw explosives at him. A commander was killed earlier in the week. He couldn't give us details, but he had taken part in this battle. When we spoke to him he was back on our side of the border.. I spoke to him about the nine soldiers that had been killed, he was friends with one of them, Shimon Dahan הי"ד. (Shimon's older brother Meir is also a friend of mine, he was part of the same group in the army as me and Amichai הי"ד.) He seemed a bit weary after such an intense week, but his morale is high and he is ready to go back in and destroy our enemies.
May God guard Yosefi and all the other soldiers that are out there fighting to keep our country safe!

My Friend's Funeral

2006-07-27T23:12:00.000+03:00

I went to the funeral of Amichai Merchavia today. It was in Eli, the city that he grew up in and loved. Many thousands of people were there, many of them who knew him from the army, from Yeshiva, from Eli, or others whos lives he touched. Some spoke about his famous smile, others about his desire to help, his love for Torah. Natan Sharansky spoke about how sad it is that soldiers die, but we have to keep going on, and we have no choice but to win the battle. His mother told us how wonderful of a son he was, never complaining, always helping, and always with a smile. Who could ever forget his smile?!? But the two most moving eulogies were from his friend in Yeshiva, and his father. His friend told stories about him, how much he loved Israel, how important Torah and the army was to him. The friend was talking to him once about what the actual mitzva (commandment) of living in Israel is, and is it really a mitzva today? Amichai jumped up and yelled at him, it doesn't have to be a mitzva! It is our teva (nature) to be here! It was the only time he ever heard Amichai yell. He believed so much in the importance of buiding Israel that he bought three olive trees and planted them in an orchard in the settlement. They were roommates, and he cried, "I always saw Amichai laying on his bed with a sefer (book) before going to sleep. How can I see him now laying in a casket!" He told many stories, about conversations they had, and trips they took. There wasnt a dry eye when he had finished. After the eulogy, we went to the cemetery for the burial. Then the father spoke. "I spoke to Amichai last week, and I asked him if he was afraid. He said the only thing he was afraid of was not being the best officer he could be, and letting his soldiers down. He never thought of himself, only of other." The father went on and said, "my son died protecting this country. And while I'm heartbroken, I know he died for a good cause, a cause he and we believe in. Defending Israel. And this war must go on. We can't quit until we've won. And I thank you, all you soldiers out there watching out for us, I thank you and I praise you." Such powerful words from a man who had just lost his son, not to blame the army, the government, and to even praise them. I was amazed at his strength. And then we stood outside the cemetary in two rows and as the parents and their remaining children walked by, we all said "May God comfort you amongst the rest of the mourners of Zion and Jerusalem."

My Friend Is Gone Forever

2006-07-26T21:32:00.000+03:00

From the first day we met him we called him "the officer". He was very precise with his words, always to the point, always somehow knew what was going on before we did. We were a hesder unit, made up of a few different Yeshivot. He was the only one from Mercaz HaRav Yeshiva, and he instantly became a leader. Amichai Merchavia from Eli. The first Shabbat we were in the army, we were given the weekend off, but two soldiers had to stay on base. We all looked at each other, no one wanted to be the guy stuck there on our first weekend off. But not a moment passed before Amichai's hand was in the air. "Ani mitnadev", he said. I'll volunteer. Those words defined who he was, always volunteering first to do the things no one else wanted to do. It became a matter of pride to try and volunteer before Amichai. We were stationed in and near Eli for a few months, and constantly went to his house for good food and company. We saw then where he acquired his wonderful traits, of always looking out for and helping others. At our "tekes kumta", the ceremony upon finishing training, he received an award for "chayal miztayen", most excellent soldier award. No one was surprised, and no one deserved it more. He left our unit to go to commander training, and after to officer training, as we all knew he would. He strongly disagreed with the Disengagement from Gaza, and was very torn about being in the army while it went on. He wrote a letter to a high ranking officer, letting the officer know how much, and why, he disagreed with the disengagement. Six months later he was punished for the letter, and lost his command on his unit. I saw him then, when he was still an officer but in command of nothing. He was depressed, but told me that he still had people on his side and he was going to get back in. I didn't hear how, but I was happy when I heard he was given command of another unit. I knew it was what he wanted. The army was his life. He was very religious, never compromising on anything, and knew all the Halchot as they relate to the army. He was an inspiration, a natural born leader, someone people enjoyed learning from. The last time I saw him, he gave my wife and I a ride home after we had spent a reunion Shabbat with our unit. I offered him to come in if he would like, but he wanted to go over to his Yeshiva, across the street, to talk to his Rabbi. He said he would try to come by later, but in the end couldn't. And now he never will.
We made a yearbook after we finished training. One of the columns was "Where we'll be in twenty years". We said Amichai will be the Head of the Yeshiva of Eli. It would have been perfect for him. He loved beng in control, and was good at it. He loved Torah, loved teaching, and was an excellent leader. He loved Israel, and he loved our people, and he was willing to give up anything to help others. In the end, he gave up everything for others. He will never become a Rosh Yeshiva, but he has already taught us the lesson he held most dear.

Where Have All the Young Men Gone, Long Time Passes

2006-07-23T18:40:00.001+03:00

My friends called me on Friday
"Zacks, where are you?"
"At home. Where are you?"
"We've all been called up for reserves. We're on our way North. They didnt call you?"
"Apparently not."

So I called their reserve unit.
"Excuse me, my entire unit got called up for reserves today, but I didn't. Any reason why?"
"You're not in my computer"
"Can you put me in your computer?"
"I dont think so."
"Who can?"
"I dont know"
"Is there someone I can talk to to find out what my deal is with reserves?"
"I dont know"
"Whats the number to the main reserves office?"
"I don't know."
"What do you know?!"
"If you get a call telling you to be somehwere at a specific time, then you've been called up."
"Thank you so much for your help."

On my way to take a test today, I passed a friend from my class, sitting in uniform at the bus station with his girlfriend.
"So, you got called up?"
"Yeah. Your on your way to take the test?"
"Yeah. I tried to go to reserves instead of the test but they didn't take me."
"Too bad. I wanted to take the test but instead I have reserve duty."
Long silence.

I get to the test, and overhear a conversation.
"Hey, where's Avi?"
"Reserves."
"Also Rafi?"
"I don't know, probably."

Stressed and Annoyed

2006-07-21T01:01:00.000+03:00

Ahh, the stress of having a brother in law in the army "somewhere in the north" but refusing to tell us where. Especially after reading the news tonight.
I was looking though the Hebrew blurbs and thought a new world leader decided to jump in who's name I didnt recognize. I clicked on the link and, of course, it was Shakira, telling America to end the war. Thank you Shakira. What is wrong with everyone? Why is that news??
My internet hasn't been working well recently, so I went to my ISPs website. They have a note that says (translated) "As a proud Haifa company, we will continue to give service and support from bomb shelters and worker's homes. We are sorry for any delays. With hope for quiet in the North, Netvision is here for you."
Just another little way Hezzballa is pissing me off.
I'm going to sleep. Maybe things will be better in the morning. Yeah right.

My Brother, The Refugee

2006-07-18T23:08:00.000+03:00

A few years ago one of my older brothers emigrated to this Holy country with his wife and four kids, to live the dream. While most American immigrants move to American communities, they opted to move to the fertile northern Galilee, a beautiful green mountainous region. They became members of their community, learned Hebrew the hard way, and their children flourished. All was happy for the Northern Zacks'. Then, last week, the Katyushas came in. At first, they refused to leave, deciding to weather out the storm. But the storm got worse, their house shook from the rocket's explosions, and their bomb shelter was too small for a family of six. So they decided to take a day off, to let the kids run free for a bit in a more secure, central location. They intended to go to work the next day in Haifa, and then return home. But at work the next day they had to run down to the bomb shelter numerous times, until they decided to escape to Jerusalem. Having not returned home, they were stuck with only the one change of clothes they had originally brought. They are now currently seeking shelter in Jerusalem, where my brother can work and his family can roam free. We met them tonight for dinner, they seemed well if not a bit frazzled. Child number four was very happy to run around non-stop. They have no long term plans, but may stay out the remainder of the war in Jerusalem. For more on the Refugee Zacks', click here.

Quick Update

2006-07-15T23:39:00.000+03:00

Shabbat was very nice here in Jerusalem. It is very nerve wrecking not to be able to hear the news for 25 hours. Especially with Northern Brother and Fam living in Maalot, which has been hit a few times already. He spent a lot of time in their bomb shelter over the weekend but thank God is fine. Brother-in-law is also on the border as a soldier, he wont give us any specific updates other then that Shabbat sucked and he is fine. Please pray for him and all our other soldiers...We saw Recent Oleh Brother and Fam on Shabbat, they seem to be adjusting well to living in a country constantly under attack. I have a test tomorrow on war strategy, I think I'm learning more from the news than the actual material...

You've Got The Wrong Blog

2006-07-13T21:58:00.000+03:00

I've been getting a lot more hits than usual, and I realize this is probably becuase everyone is searching for what's going on here with keywords like Israel Lebanon katyusha, and so on. All my information comes from here here ,or here, so you can just read it from there instead of me updating. If you want a good blog that has all the news from our side updated, click here. For all the news from a Lebanese side, click here.
We've just ended one of the more meaningful fasts. All day today Jews have been fasting to commemorate the 17th of Tammuz, a day that marks many tragic events in our people's history. I've never felt the meaning of some of the prayers til now "Our Father, our King, remove pestilence, sword, famine, captivity, destruction and plague from the children of Your covenant." Captivity, a fate on par with death. for some, it's worse than death. At least death brings with it closure. The family of Ron Arad hasnt had closure yet for twenty years! Dear God, please bring back home our three soldiers, Gilad Silat, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, plus our other MIAs that are still out there. Make us victorious over our enemies and put the fear of You in them.

Please Understand, Lebanese Friends

2006-07-12T23:21:00.000+03:00

I should be studying but here I am glued to my computer waiting for news updates. I found a very interesting blog, by Labenese people who are against Hezzballa. I feel very bad for them. Their country is being held hostage and they are going to be paying the price. Until now I thought of Lebanon as a sort of extension of the Palestinians, but they are very different. The Pals elected a terrorist group by a large majority to rule over them. Whatever the terrorists than do has the people's support, and I find nothing wrong with punishing the people for it. In Lebanon, Hezzballa is a minority faction who, apparently, are not well liked. I do hope that while we retaliate, they understand that we have no other choice, and that they blame the terrorists among them and not us. We cannot sit back and allow this to happen unprovoked. We cannot trade prisoners, as that would encourage more kidnappings. We cannot allow our soldiers to be held hostage, and not fight for them. What would that say about how much we value our own men? And we certainly cannot have all our northern citizens sleeping in bomb shelters. So we bomb Lebanon, and innocent people will get hurt. And the world will forget that our soldiers were kidnapped and jkilled and our cities are being attacked, and they will condemn us. But hopefully one day Lebanon will understand that all we want is a border with them like we have with Egypt and Jordan, and that it will be beneficial to all of us.

No, They Haven't Called Me

2006-07-12T20:46:00.000+03:00

I've gotten this question a lot today, so here's the answer to whoever hasn't asked yet. Yes, I am signed into reserves. No, they haven't called me. If they do, I will let y'all know.

3 tests down. I passed the highest level of Hebrew, which is kinda sad since I really don't know grammar at all. Another 6 tests to go. The next test is in a class called "strategy", I don't know what this has do with my degree, but it's all about war strategy. Could be useful.

Finals Finals Finals

2006-07-05T20:00:00.000+03:00

It's finals time now, til the end of the month, so I will probably not be blogging much til after they are over. Wish me luck!

My Premiere In Real News

2006-07-02T21:18:00.000+03:00

The Dallas News quoted my blog in a section they have of opinion blogs taken from all over. They contrasted mine with one from a Palestinian from Gaza. Jameel was just talking about how he blogs to promote aliyah awareness, and while I really just started blogging cuz everyone else was (hence jumping on the bandwagon..) I am really happy to see that I can assist us in the propaganda fight. Here's the contrast, for those too lazy to go there and see it themselves...

And then it gets worse. A soldier kidnapped, and then another boy kidnapped. We sit and wait, frustrated by our inability to do anything. ... The army is back in Gaza, ... arresting the enemy leaders, bombing bridges ... I don't care. ... All I wait to hear is the news I haven't heard yet. Where is [hostage Gilad Shavit]? How is he? When is he coming home?

Stillruleall, Jerusalem

stillruleall.blogspot.com

DallasNews.com/extra

The Sickening Sigh of Relief

From Gaza, With Love

The operation against Gaza is continuing. It is 1.30 a.m. [Wednesday]. The Gaza Bridge has been destroyed. The jet fighters are still in the sky hitting many targets.

The Gaza power plant was hit by at least seven missiles. I can see a big fire from my window and hear the sirens of emergency vans. The gunboats started shelling, too ...

Things are clear for me. The military operation in Gaza aims to destroy the infrastructure completely, to end up with no government, no [Palestinian Authority], no negotiations with Palestinians. Peace is not Israel's goal.

Mona El-Farra, physician in Gaza City, Occupied Gaza Strip

fromgaza.blogspot.com

The Sickening Sigh of Relief

2006-06-30T00:21:00.000+03:00

Every time there's a terror attack, we feel the pain. We think that there's nothing worse then this. And each time our enemies strike again, twisting the knife a little further. A pregnant mother and her four kids, murdered. A father and his daughter on the night before her wedding, murdered. And then it gets worse. A soldier kidnapped, and then another boy kidnapped. We sit and wait, frustrated by our inability to do anything, refreshing news page every few minutes, listening to the news every hour, maybe theres been an update. Rarely there is. The army is back in Gaza, bombing away, arresting the enemy leaders, bombing bridges...I dont care. All those details used to interest me, but not now. All I wait to hear is the news I havent heard yet. Where is Gilad? How is he? When is he coming home. First Gilad was captured, then Eliyahu. A boy tremping like everyone does, from the spot everyone tremps from. Do they have him, or not? There was always that bit of a chance, maybe they're bluffing, maybe they just heard he's missing and are playing with our emotions. Them we see one of them, those animals, holding a copy if his identity card. Now we know the worst has happened. What are they doing to him? How long will they hold him, taunting us? Then the news, a body has been found in Ramalla. Is it him? Finally hours later, we finally sigh with relief. Yes, his body has been found, yes, he was killed right away. We sigh with relief at the very thing we thought we feared the most, being killed by a terrorist. At least they dont have him to do their horrible things we know they are capable of. At least not another lynch. At least they killed him right away. There are so many things to be thankful for, things we didn't even know we could be thankful for. But it's a sigh of relief that is filled with pain. Another one of us killed, another piece of our flesh ripped out, gone forever. And what about Gilad?

Quick Note

2006-06-29T14:09:00.000+03:00

This latest template edition is courtesy of Jameel. A lot is going on now but I'm really not in the mood to post. Please everyone pray for Gilad Ben Aviva, our soldier who is still in the hands of Hamas. And pray for all of our soldiers that are in or going in to Gaza now to bring him back home.

Only in Jerusalem

2006-06-25T22:19:00.000+03:00

MyShan and I were in a cab the other day, when a charaidi beggar came collecting while we were sitting at a red light. Our non-religious cabdriver gave him a shekel, and asked him to pray for someone. He gave the fellow the name (Michal Bat Yardena), and then we kept going. Shan asked who that was, and the driver said it's his daughter, and she is sick with something. Shan told him that she'll say tehillim for her. When we got to our destination, the driver gave us back five shekel and told us to put it in tzedaka for his daughter.

Embrace It

2006-06-21T12:10:00.000+03:00

The summer is here which means seven planeloads of Nefesh B'Nefesh Olim are coming in, including my brother and his fam. Here's my one piece of unsolicited advice.

EMBRACE THE CULTURE AROUND YOU

There are many olim here that I feel the only difference between their life in America and here is that they now have a smaller house and les income. They get understandably bitter, and either they go back to America or give off negative aliyah vibes. Here's some thoughts of mine on how to avoid being the bitter olim.

Go to the Army or do some form of National Service-You are going to be living here, and your kids are going to be growing up here and able to move around freely because the army is watching out for you. You owe it to the soldiers who are watching over you and will be/are watching over your kids, that you will take your turn and watch over them. An added benefit is that it's an easy way to become a part of the culture and society here.

Live in an Israeli or at least a Mixed Community-MyShan has a friend who told her before a test that she's nervous because the Hebrew level is so high on the exam. Shan asked her when she made aliyah, and the girl answered that she was BORN here and lives in Ramat Bet Shemesh. It's hard to make aliyah, even harder to have to speak a foreign language in addition to everything else. It's much easier to move into a "mini-America" where they sell all the same products you're used to, and everyone speaks English. But you will forever be handicapped. While almost everyone speaks English, you miss out a lot by not knowing Hebrew. Once you're settled in your Anglo community, it will be a lot harder to make friends with the natives. I have friends who came here for a few years and left since they found it too hard to live here. They also lived in a very American area, and the only native Israeli they ever met was my wife. Adapt yourself to your sorroundings.

Read a Hebrew Paper-The Jerusalem Post is a very good paper, but it is geared for people who dont live here. Reading Yediot or Maariv will help you with hebrew, and also you'll know what people around you are thinking. If you want more tznua/rightwing, go with Makor Rishon.

Be Aware-It can be very frustrating to wake up one day and not have any water. It's less frustrating if you read the sign that had been posted a week earlier that they are cutting off your water for half a day to work on the pipes. If you have to go to an office, call and make sure exactly what documents to bring. If they dont mention something that you think might be needed, bring it anyway. It's a lot better to bring extra papers thento be told, "oops, you do need that document. Come back when you have it."

I'm sure there's more, but I have to go study.

The gods of noise

2006-06-20T14:59:00.000+03:00

Last year during finals, our upstairs neighbor gutted their entire apartment and redid it. The decibel level was insane, and of course it was impossible to study. This year, our neighbors are not doing construction, so we shoul be having a quiet and peaceful time sudying. But the gods of noise could not allow that to happen. So instead of neigbors pounding on our heads, the city decided to rip up the sidewalk in front of us and lay cables underground. Theyve been here about a week, and one of the construction guys said it should take another two weeks to finish our area. So now every morning we get awoken by the pounding of a huge tractor smashing the concrete. I am slowly going crazy.

An Unforgettable Experience

2006-06-16T09:35:00.000+03:00

I went to a wedding of one of the guys from my unit last night. First, some background. The guy is from Susia, a settlement near Chevron. Actually, its not near anything, just a lot of barren hills. After about an hour in the army, the guy turned to me and said he had never worn shoes for so long. For those with army understanding, he was a negevist, and on hikes would help with the pakal mayim in addition to the negev. And he came to my wedding barefoot playing the flute.

The wedding was in Sussia, the families provided busses for transportation. We crossed the green line, passed all civilization, drove another twenty minutes, and there we were. Except the wedding wasnt actually in Sussia the settlement, it was in the ancient ruins of Sussia, a mountain or two over. The Chattan was dressed in sandals, khaki pants, and a white loose t-shirt with a small design on the side. We talked to him, and then we wandered around. We found the Kalla further down, dressed in white pants and a long shirt/dress. We wandered some more and found a bonfire with pots around it, we later found out that this is a delicacy called poykl (pokly? poilyk? I dont think there is a correct way to spell or say it) which is basically goulash. I dont have time to write the whole thing down, all of which was so different from what I am used to, yet so amazing, but here are some highlights.

The Chuppa was held in the courtyard of the ancient shul of Sussia. People were perched on top of the ruins, including the cameraman, who kept jumping from ruin to ruin.

The Kalla danced around the Chattan seven times, instead of the usual slow walk.

The father of the Chattan read the Ketubah, with the funniest commentary I've ever heard, saying it's basically a document like signing on a mortgage at the bank, just more expensive. He also spoke about the shephard of Sussia , who was killed by the arabs, and who was a freind of the chattan.

Before the Chattan broke the glass, he requested that no one say mazal tov right after. He then spoke about how, for him, the Churban is not just about the Beit HaMikdash, but about the settlements of Gush Katif. When he hears Churban Bayit, there is a specific house in gush Katif that he thinks about, and may the settlements there be rebuilt speedily in our day. Then he said Im Eshkachaich (If I forget thee, Jerusalem), took a guitar, and started playing and singing Al Ele Ani Boche (On these I cry). while playing the song he broke the cup and continued playing. Then he sang Im Eshkachaich, and the Chuppa was over. It was a tremendous mix of joy and sorrow.

The dancing was outside on pavement. About half the people danced without shoes (including me-I felt it was part of truly experiencing this kind of wedding instead of watching from the side). There was no singer, just a band playing music.

While I was in culture shock for most of the wedding, it was truly a beautiful affair, and the Chattan and Kalla both were so happy the whole time.

How Much I Hate Our News

2006-06-13T12:12:00.000+03:00

There are certain things I expect from Al Jazeera. This may still be my naivety speaking, but I didnt think I should expect a similar thing from all the leading Israeli papers. This past weekend an explosion went off on a Gaza beach killing a family, including infants. While this is a very tragic thing, explosions happen very often in Gaza, and not always from us. This didnt stop our news from immediately reporting that we had killed them.
Haaretz "We came, we shelled, we killed" and, as a statement of fact without mentioning any other side to a story, "The hardest hit in the Israel Defense Forces artillery strike on a Gaza beach Friday was the Ghalia family, which lost six members, among them the father, one of his two wives, an infant boy and an 18-month-old girl. "

Ynet "7 killed by IDF artillery fire" They at least had the decency to write in the article "Palestinian sources report 7 Palestinians, including children, killed by artillery shells fired by IDF", but the title is what most people see, and still remains incriminating.

Maariv "(translated)7 innocent Palestinians killed in attack" " in the article, "The Gaza Strip is burning: 10 Palestinains were killed by the IDF yesterday, inlcluding 7 innocent civilians"

Even the BBC was more even-handed. " Palestinians killed on Gaza beach", no mention of how they were killed in the title, and in the article it immediately says "Seven people, including three children, have been killed by Israeli shells which hit a beach in the northern Gaza Strip, Palestinian officials say.

All this isn't even what bothers me (OK, it does bother me, but it's not my main point). The army is now looking into the matter and finds it very unlikely that the killing had anything to do with us. So how do these news agencies report that?
"
Haaretz "Probe: Hamas bomb, not IDF shell, caused Gaza deaths"

Ynet "IDF: Palestinian bomb, dud may be behind Gaza incident"

Maariv, I cant even find an article saying that the original story may not be true.

How is it that when they write their original story they dont feel the need to limit it by saying that their may be another side, only when they write that maybe their own country wasn't at fault do they feel the need to tell everyone this may not be true!!?

How much do they hate themselves?

Yesterday I Went To Heaven

2006-06-07T20:41:00.000+03:00

Yesterday I went with a few friends to a ma'ayan (natural pool) somewhere outside of Jerusalem. A few years ago, a few guys were hiking on a mountain and discovered a (very) small stream of water that was flowing down into a nachal. They dug a huge pit, plastered the walls, planted fruit trees, and set up a piece of heaven on earth. They hung up sheets next to the ma'ayan, and put a chair and some logs for sitting, so people can relax in the shade. A little further up the hill they set up an area for camping. There is a box with cups and things for tea, coffee, and other little items. There is also a photo album of them digging and setting the area up, along with a whole story of they how they found it, how they dug it, etc. And there is a little book with a pen for people to sign. It was the most relaxing place to be, especially during the heat wave we've had. Thank you, whoever you are, for taking the time and energy to build the ma'ayan, and for keeping it clean and nice.

This City Stinks!!

2006-06-05T22:14:00.000+03:00

Is it only in Jerusalem, or did they decide not to collect garbage in the whole country? As we took a walk today, I was reminded of the days of Amir Peretz's Histadrut and the garbage collectors strikes. Everywhere you look is garbage, all you smell is burnt garbage. I understand the first time garbage wasnt collected, people didnt know what to do, so they burnt it. But after that, didn't they realize it smells worse to burn then to let it sit there the extra day?? Even when they eventually realize garbage hasn't been collected and collect it, the small of burnt garbage will linger in the air. Not to mention that a lot of the covers of the garbages are plastic, and when they burn them off they're allowing the cats free access to hide in the garbage and wait for you to throw a bag in so they can jump at you. Did anyone see on the news that garbage wont be collected today?
We have a serious dilemna. We are going through a serious heat wave (although I hear its supposed to start breaking tomorrow), but we dont have screens for our porch doors. If we keep them closed, our apartment is a sauna, but if we open them we get inflicted with mosquitoes. I bought Raid, against the advice of my sis-in-law, and she was right; the mosquitoes clearly don't care. Other than sleeping with mosquito repellent on, there's got to be something else to do. Any advice??

Why Do Some of Us Make Aliyah and Others Do Not?

2006-05-31T21:08:00.000+03:00

WestBankMama is maming a collection of why people have made aliyah links. So here's my story.

I never intended to make aliyah. I was on par to finish college in America before I was 20. I was enjoying life in Providence, RI, in a joint yeshiva/college program, and I was planning on dropping the yeshiva and doing the college full time. When I suggested this to my parents they countered with a "why don't you go to Israel?" I talked to friends of mine that were in yeshiva here, and they were all having fun, so I figured why not. I would still be able to go to Israel for a year and graduate before I was 21, still a bit ahead of the game.
I came here after Sukkot 2001, a month after the Twin Towers went down and during a really bad intifida year. I was in a charaidi yeshiva in northern Jerusalem. I tried to get into the learning, but I really wasnt into it. I spent most of my time hanging out with my friends in Jerusalem and touring the country. That winter, on a Saturday night, I was on my way to meet some friends, and was about to pass through town when three suicide bombers went off and killed 10 people and injured hundreds. I saw it all firsthand. A month or so later I was in town and had to run away from a Palestinian who opened fire on Yaffo street. As I ran I thought "if I would have had a gun I could have stopped him". These incidents helped me to decide I wanted to go to the army, in addition, I felt that it was my responsibilty that just as I was able to tour freely and enjoy myself at the expense of the soldiers guarding us, it was my turn to guard so others could be free. I switched to a Hesder Yeshiva and went into the army with the guys from there. At that point, although I had never made a formal decision, I knew I could never live in America again. I officially tied the knot with this country when I married my Israeli wife, and although I am still in university and not planning on finishing for at least another year, making aliyah was a decision I have not regretted at all.

Chiloni Weddings

2006-05-31T00:13:00.000+03:00

Here's the thing I dont like about Chilone weddings. the Chattan and Kalla are hanging out, then they say, see you in a second, and then they walk down the aisle and see each other. Not so exciting. Not like relig weddings, where the chatan and Kalla havent seen each other in a week, and when the kalla walks down the aisle it is truly exciting. What I do like is that you can dance with your wife. weddings celebrate the unity of man and woman. So why do we force men and women to be seperate? Another weird thing, which I've seen a few times, is when they break the glass. We break the glass in memory of Jerusalem of Old. Because no celebration is complete as long as Jerusalem is not rebuilt with the Temple. But in chiloni weddings they like to say that it's a shattered world out there, and the chattan and kalla stand on top of that world united, to make it a better place. Where does that come from??? Another thing I learned tonight is how good ice coffee and vodka go together. So if this isnt coherent there's yor reason why. Layla Tov to all.

Pictures from Student Day

2006-05-30T11:48:00.000+03:00

BET HABUBOT-NOTICE OLD MAN ON LEFT. You can't tell from this picture, but he looks about 70. Man with hat. Also from Bet habubot.
Ultraviolet experience.
Us with Mosh ben Ari behind us. I am entirely burnt from a day on the beach in Tel Aviv with Cuz Bobby

Student Day

2006-05-30T11:03:00.000+03:00

Last nigth was Bar Ilan's student day. Student day is a day when classes are cancelled from the afternoon, and the student council arranges a massive concert/fair. There's some rides and games, a lot of stands selling stuff, and very overpriced food. I went with Shan and Cuz Bobby, who just finished his birthright trip and is hanging out for a few weeks here. The night started with Mosh Ben Ari jamming away. We were standing right next to the stage, feeling the music (and the drinks). then Shan's favorite new band come on; Bet Habubot. They played another awesome set, which ended way too quickly. We were joined then by soem friends, including MenACHEM and British Adina. Then we wandered around while Miri Misika and Ivri Lider sang. Their music is more singy and less jamming, and not nearly as good as the first two sets. There was one show called the ultraviolet experience which everyone was running to go see. We got to the front and they gave us tickets to see the show in two hours, and a coupon for a free lighter. We picked up the lighters, which were very cool and butane, and then I burned someone. Those lighters get really hot fast! But we invited her for dinner on Shavout, so I felt a little better. The ultraviolet experiance turned out to be a total dud, it was a dark room with a few dancers playing with ultra violet lights. Sounds as dumb as it was. Turns out, they were promoting a new kind of cigarette. I found that rather odd. I think they were sending subliminal messages the whole time. I havent donestarted smoking yet, so maybe they havent affected me. The last concert of the night was Shalom Chanoch with Aviv Gefen. It was way too heavy metal, we werent impressed at all, so we went home. All in all, an excellent student day as always!

High School Holiday

2006-05-25T21:41:00.000+03:00

I went out today to celebrate Yom Yerushalayim the traditional way-dancing in the streets of Jerusalem to the Kotel and dancing more once I get there-but I felt out of place. I met a friend who was already there, and together we stood on the side and realized that everyone around us was either in high school or younger. This may by the first time I've ever felt old. My friend left after a bit and I looked towards the Old City debating if I wanted to go-and decided against. I no longer read the Mah Nishtana, no longer get candy at shul, and now I dont do the dance to the Kotel.
I went to a concert last night in honor of Yom Yerushalayim. Many of our top performers were there, including Sarit Haddad, Shlomi Shabbat, and Kochav Nolad (Israeli Idol) stars. At the end there was fireworks, and as Shan and I lay on the ground watching them right on top of us, I thought, what is Yom Yerushalyim. To me, it has always been Yom Ha'atzmauts more religious brother. Yom Haatzmaut we BBQ and party, Yom Yerushalayim we go to the Kotel and pray. The whole holiday (or so I think) is celebrating that "Har Habayit B'yadainu", the Temple Mount is in our hands. That is of purely religious significance. So why are we celebrating with a concert in the park? But I looked around and noticed the mixture of people that were there, a mixture of charaidi, dati leumi, and not religious people, all sitting together on the grass watching, and realized this may be what it's for. 39 years ago Jerusalem was united. But the people are still divided, each living in their own world or sect, with minimal if any connection to any other groups around. But here, there was unity. Everyone sitting together, and enjoying themselves. And the concert was great!
There is a lot of music coming right now from Mercaz HaRav next door. Maybe I can dance in the streets with people more in my age bracket :-)

Zionism Reconsidered

2006-05-25T08:32:00.000+03:00

I went to my favorite book store the other say desperate for something new to read. I have gotten sick of novels, so it made finding a book a lot more difficult. Usually I just pick up a Grisham/Clancy/Kellerman book, but they have all turned into the same book for me and I needed something new. I ended up finding a book called Zionism Reconsidered. It has around ten essays on why Zionism is wrong, from Achad Ha'am to the late Lubavitcher Rebbe. Being a born-again Zionist (Neo-zionist maybe?), I think this will make for interesting reading. I don't think this book will turn me against my zionist beliefs, but it should be interesting. More about this later

Happy Yom Yerushalayim-more about that later as well!

Thoughts at the Grocery

2006-05-24T12:08:00.000+03:00

Things I wish we had here: Oreo non-chocolate cookies, ziploc bags, Claussen pickles
Thing I miss the most: Light beer. Why can't we have light beer?!?! and when you ask for Ligh beer they think you want white beer, as opposed to goldstar, which is a dark beer. Do they not make carlsperg or heineken light? or do we just not import them??
Things I'm glad we have: Tivol brand frozen food, especially the mushroom and cheese one, milk in a bag (dont know why, but I'm a big fan),
Things I wonder: How much do oranges cost in America? I paid 3 shek for a kilo (about 30 cents a pound).
Things that make me laugh: Every time they ask if I want to do a payment plan on my grocery purchases.

Crappy Day

2006-05-23T13:59:00.000+03:00

Most days have ups and downs, some good things happening, some bad, and it all balances out to make up a day. Yesterday was just crappy. To start off with, I had to go to class at 8, which means getting up around 6. then I had Hebrew class, which is definitely the biggest waste of 4 hours possible. We learn things like how to write a paper in Hebrew. (Hint: It's like writing a paper in English...only in hebrew!) Towards evening I went out jogging, and after about ten minutes, realized I didnt have my cell phone. I raced home to make sure it wasnt there, and of course, it wasnt. So I took Shan's phone to call mine and see if I could fnd it. Then I remembered that I had put it on silent when I went to Maariv so I wouldnt be able to hear it anyway. So I walked and called it hoping I would see the light from the phone. After about four calls, the phone turned off. Being as it was on full battery, it didn't die. So it was either hit by a car or taken. Another slow walk along the path I took, and I determined that someone had my phone. I sent a text message to the phone saying I would pay whoever found it, and we called the cellphone company at the same time. The minute we told them it was gone they blocked it, so whoever has it cant even read the message! So even if he would want to return it, he wouldnt know how.

Point of this all is, I dont have anyones phone number, so email me your phone number.
stillruleall@yahoo.com

WOW

2006-05-21T11:02:00.000+03:00

A Qassam rocket, one of three fired at Israel Sunday morning, struck a school classrom in the Negev town of Sderot, but the pupils were away at morning prayers at the time and there were no injuries, witnesses said.

"It landed in one of the classrooms, but all of the students were still at prayers, and the classrooms were still locked," said witness Shay Yisrael. "It was a great miracle, there was tremendous emotion."

Europe Down The Tubes

2006-05-21T01:10:00.000+03:00

Eurovision was tonight. Overall the performances were very poor. Israel managed to get 2nd to last place, which is actually pretty hard to do. Only France gave them points. I voted for Lithuania, whose lyrics were "We are going to win the Eurovision". The winner was what we thought was the worst group possible, yet they won by a huge margin. You know how punk rock was kinda cool for maybe a half a year in the 80's in America? Here's a picture and bit of info about the band that Europe thinks is the best. Finland. I think this explains a lot about Europe as a whole.

Night of the Sirens

2006-05-16T08:56:00.000+03:00

As we came home last night from dinner we passed two enormous bonfires in empty fields. The pyro inside of me started awakening, and then I heard the sirens. The closest thing that I can associate with Lag B'Omer is movies where Indians dance around the fire before or after fighting the white people. We walked from the bus stop to our apartment, less than a five minute walk, but still smelled like smoke when we got inside. And heard more sirens. I went on the computer and saw a blurb that a 20 year old was in the hospital in serious condition with burns all over his body from the bonfire. And I heard more sirens. Earlier in the day I watched kids setting up their bonfire. One of them had an old wooden cabinet that he was trying to stand up as a middle beam for his bonfire. He stood it up, and then it came crashing down the other side where another kid was standing. Very luckily, the little kid on the other side dove away in time and didn't get crushed. All this, for a Christian or pagan custom that is based on a typo? How sad. At least I finally got to shave...

Marginalizing Themselves

2006-05-14T16:18:00.000+03:00

I looked at my newspaper this morning, and I was sickened by what I saw. Granted, I read Haaretz, the most left wing of all papers, but these are the facts all the same. The army needs to send jeeps and soliders to protect Palestinian children from settlers on their way home from school?? Due to earlier problems, the army had sent four soldiers to accompany the children. But even those four soldiers were not enough to stop the children from getting attacked, so now they are accompanied by five jeeps and ten soldiers.
The settlers often complain that they are being "marginalized" or "demonized" by the government in order to increase the public's approval of the disengagement plans. One case that comes to mind is the olive trees that were uprooted. The popular story is that settlers went in and destroyed Arab-owned olive trees. While no settlers were ever caught or arrested doing this, that is how the story stands. Arutz7 reported, and showed a video, of Arabs pruning their own trees. Yet another example of "settler demonization". I gave a quick glance at Arutz7 but could not find this story reported anywhere. Is it not news-worthy? Or is there no positive way to present it so it's not presented?
During such a time that settlers are being scrutinized so thoroughly, it is on them to act beyond reproach. As a protester to the Gaza disengagement, I believed the residents of Gush Katif had the moral high ground. The government sent the people there, they are the most highly patriotic citizens, etc. I was truly disgusted at how they were regarded in the papers overall, as being "obstacles to peace". etc. I don't feel the same about the residents of the West Bank. On a visit to a West bank settlement, I asked a resident why they dont have a fence. "Our fence is as far as an M16 can shoot", was his reply. That is not the answer of a person who wants to live peacefully.
Obviously I don't believe all West bank settlers have this same attitude. But the quiet ones arent the ones getting any press. With the support for the next disengagement at a very shaky point (only 60 members of the coalition support it; they need 61), it is imperative for the settlers to regain the moral high ground they have lost. They need to dismantle problmatic outposts, to publicly condemn acts of terror performed by settlers on Palestinians, and to show the country that they are not the "obstacle to peace" that they currently are portrayed as. If they continue as they are they will lose the support that they have left, at a time when they need all the support they can get.

Where Politics End

2006-05-02T16:13:00.001+03:00

This morning I went to Har Herzl for the Yom Hazikaron tekes. The actual ceremony is at one corner of the cemetery, surrounded with tons of security, while the people that come stand in front of the graves of fallen soldiers and listen over the loudspeakers. This year I decided to go into the ceremony itself. I went through three security checks, one very tight as I had made the dumb decision of buying steel toe shoes when I was last in America. I missed the beginning of the tekes, but I was there for Ehud Olmerts speech, the laying of flowers by heads of different departments (mayor of the city, head of police, Idf, etc.) 21 gun salute, and then the singing of hatikva. While I didnt find it to be a very religious ceremony, I did find it to be very moving. Two things greatly bothered me during the ceremony. One, a girl turned to her friend as Olmert started to speak and said loudly, "let's get out of her, I dont want to waste my time listening to him." The second thing was a group of kids wearing Gush Katif T-shirts, "We wont forget, we wont forgive." There is a time and place for everything, and Har Herzl on Yom HaZikaron is not the place for any of that. As I walked into the cemetery, I thought how sad it is that the only time our nation stands together is to memorialize the dead. Why can't we stand together and help secure our future?

Where Politics End

2006-05-02T16:13:00.000+03:00

There's A Lot To Learn From Cartoons

2006-04-24T23:22:00.000+03:00

There are a few shows I watch on a regular or semi-regular basis. One of them is South Park. For the most part, I find South Park to be brilliant. They take real issues, throw in some crudeness, and using the worst graphics make some of the best points. They had a two part episode that aired recently that truly brings out this point. In the episodes, all of America was freaking out because Family Guy was going to air an episode with the prophet mohhamed. To make a long story short, Family Guy aired the episode, showing mohhamed, and as revenge, muslim TV showed Jesus defacating on George Bush and the American flag. In the actual episode of South Park, comedy central wouldnt allow them to show Mohhamed, so at that point where (stay with me) on South Park they were watching Family Guy and Mohammed appeared, the screen went black and said "Comedy Central wont allow us to air this part. Mohhamad gives Peter a hat." But later in the episode Comedy Central had no problem airing Jesus crapping on George W and on America. Brilliantly showing the hypocrisy that we live in today. Comedy Central has no problem airing god as a flying pink elephant, Jesus on a regular basis, nonstop anti-semitic, anti black, anti gay slurs, anti-whatever-else-is-out-there-ness, but they wont show Mohhammed. In the episode, Cartman wants the Family Guy episode not to be shown, ostensibly because its offensive to muslims, but really it's because he hates Family Guy and says that once the Muslims can get a show removed that they dont like, then so can everyone else, and in the end Family Guy will be forced off the air. Kyle argues that the epsiode should be shown for the same reason, because once you allow one group to supress something, you open the door to everyone else to get away with what they dont like.
I thought about this as I walked past a paint-splotched ad the other day. Ads with pictures of women, not necessarily imoodestly dressed, get paint thrown at them at a regular basis. This happens very often, but I have yet to hear of anyone getting arrested for it. The people that do that sicken me. The city (or Egged, whoever own the bus stop ad spots) should put a provocative ad, and then either put up a hidden camera, or have someone waiting there to ambush people that throw the paint. By allowing this to go on, we're encouraging the attitude that "I don't agree with it, so I can destroy it". Its this same attitude that allows people to burn garbage bins in the street, costing the city tens of thousands of dollars, because they think someone was jailed unfairly. These Jews are scarily close to Islamic fundamentalists, and need to be stopped now.

I'll Have 3 Matzot To Go

2006-04-19T22:52:00.000+03:00

It's over. Seven days of not eating bread, which somehow transformed to seven days of not eating beans, corn, chummus, and anything else that falls under the category of "legumes" is now over. I have yet to exercise my right to eat leavened food, but just knowing that I can makes me calm. Chummus has really been my main crave. two days of Chag and Shabbat, with no chummus? That's hard stuff. I went on a pretty cool walk this Chol Hamoed in the old city. I wandered the Arab shuk, ended up by Sha'ar Prachim, and then climbed to the top of the old city wall. There are a few Jewish families living in a compound there, right near the gate, and behind them is the old city wall. So I climbed to the ramparts and walked above the old city around in a big circle til I got to Temple Mount. The view was incredible, looking both inside the walls and out at Har Hazeitim and the other mountains that are over there. The ramparts ended there, and the guards dont let Jews on the Mount, so I had to go back through the city. I took the first street I saw, which happened to be the Via Delorosa, and traced Jesus' walk of the cross. I got up to station 8 and then found the Jewish Quarter. It was an awesome walk I'll hopefully do again soon.
Many restaurants didn't open this year, they all did repairs instead. I was hungry one night and went to town with Menachem. We couldnt find a single appetizing place to eat. There was chinese being served outside that looked liked a soup kitchen, cafes that only had salads, and every place else was for legumes eaters only. We ended up getting potato chips and coke and then we went to the mall for food. We ended up going to a movie and didnt get food til around 1AM when we found a shwarma place that the schwarma was "legume-y" but the chicken wasnt. Another night I went to the mall with MyShan and had soup and fried haloumi cheese. That's good cheese. They served the soup with matza instead of bread. That seemed a bit weird to me.
We are off in our search for chametz. Hopefully pizza. Happy Mimuna to everyone

Second Day Yom Tov

2006-04-14T16:41:00.000+03:00

While half my family was in shul or getting ready for their fourth yom tov meal, I went to Tel Aviv. Shany had a class to go to, so I had 3 hours to kill wandering Tel Aviv. If I had to describe Tel Aviv in one word, it would be balagan. Especially after the conformity of all the building in Jerusalem, seeing every buiding there a different color was slightly unsettling. Also, every block there was a house or two that was renewed, and looked very modern, except it was surrounded on all sides by decrepit buildings. Dizengoff Mall, which semed to be a major marker in the city, is built on a slope, the first floor kind of blending into the second and third. I wanted to walk from Azrieli Mall to Dizengoff, so I asked people where it was. Nobody knew. Finally a cab driver looked at me like I was crazy and told me the direction but said its too far to walk. It too 15 minutes to walk it, and it was straight down one long street. How do these peopl live in Tel Aviv and not know where things are? I went to the beach, enjoying the cold water on the hot day. Then I went over to Nachalat Binyamin and Shenkin, an outdoor market and the "hot spot" street next to it. There was an art fair going on, which I thought of buying things, but didn't. Then I went back to Azrielli where Shany was, and we ate Kosher for Pesach BurgeRanch. Now we are up north with the rest of the Israeli part of the family getting ready for Shabbat. All in all, a great first day Chol Hamoed.

I Love the Smell of Napalm in the Morning

2006-04-12T09:50:00.000+03:00

Nothing says Pesach like that sick smell of burning plastic that hovers over the entire neighborhood as every few buildings has a little bonfire going on and everyone comes by and throws their chametz in plastic bags into the fire. Going outside is like going into a bar. I went out for 15 minutes and I smell like smoke.

Ripped Apart

2006-04-09T18:23:00.000+03:00

One of the chief Rabbi's of Israel has been investigated for bribery and other allegations I can't recall. The Attorney General finished his investigation, announced he wasn't going to indict the Rabbi, but the Rabbi should step down anyway. This weekend in the paper he was ripped to pieces. How can such a person represent our country spiritually, what kind of a Rabbi is he, etc, etc. But he was never given a chance to defend himself. The attorney general found a way to destroy the man without allowing him to defend himself. Even in our not so democratic country there is still supposed to be some form of "innocent until proven guilty", isnt there?

There was a great quote that came out of this story, although it was used sarcastically in the article to further degrade the Rabbi. Apparently he was given a place to stay before Pesach a few years ago but instead stayed in a hotel at the taxpayers expense. When asked why, he said he didn't have enough time to clean the house. Then the reported quoted R' Aviner, one of the leading Dati Leumi Rabbis as saying,
"It shouldn't take more than a day to clean the whole house, including the kitchen. Anything more than that is a stringency. Each room shouldnt take more than an hour, and the kitchen two to three hours. Not only is there increased tension between husband and wife, but we show our children a very negative example by shouting at them... The husband and children are trembling in fear in some corner and eating while the mother glares at them like a drill sergeant. Is this preparation for Pesach!? No, it is a reign of terror, with the mother as Pharaoh presiding."
While I feel the Rabbi has been horribly mistreated, at least something good came from it all. I learned yet another piece of brilliance from R' Aviner.

Ishikawa

2006-04-03T02:27:00.000+03:00

One of the worst parts about living in a country that is constantly under attack is that you get used to it. Thursday night a couple picked up people waiting to hitchhike, unknowingly also picking up a palestinian terrorist who then killed them and two others that were also hitchhiking. If that doesnt really make headlines in world news, that doesnt shock me. But that here, 4 citizens are killed, murdered because they went out of their way to help people, and it only made page 6 in the paper (Maariv)?!?You could almost feel the aggravation of the editor that he had to give up one of his precious stories about the election to fit in a little blurb about it. Where is the public outcry? I waited all day Friday to hear the official response from our acting Prime Minister. I'm still waiting. Maybe Olmert didn't get to page 6 in the paper. Or maybe he's just "too tired of fighting" and he's decided to let this one go. I took an aimless walk this afternoon just thinking about this attack. What are we doing to prevent these attacks? What is the proper protocol to follow when one realizes there's a terrorist in his car. Is there a proper protocol? Is there a number you can dial or a certain worded text message that would alert the police that someone is in immediate danger without them having to talk on the phone? There should be. It might not have helped in this case but it can certainly help in case of a carjacking/kidnapping, like what happened today.
There's two dominant thoughts in business, the American way and the Japanese way. The American way is to avoid problems or cover them up. Instead of risking falling low on supplies, you buy tons of extra supplies and you'll for sure have when you'll need, but you never deal with the issue of why you're falling short. The Japanese way is to go back to the root of the problem. If you're running low in supplies, find out exactly why. Does it have to do with old machinery? Fix the machines. Unhappy workers? Then find out why they're unhappy and solve that problem.
Our way of fighting terrorism seems to be more about covering up the problem then dealing with it. Instead of asking ourselves, what could lead someone, and not just one person but hundreds of people, to kill themselves in order to kill us, we just build a wall. And we have plans to evacuate more than half the settlements. Or we assassinate their leaders, raid their villages and confiscate their weapons. But what does any of this accomplish? The wall? there are so many ways to break through it. Sure, it may stop lots of attempts at attacks. But it doesnt stop their desire to kill us, so they will find a way through it. There will always be Palestinians going to our hospitals, working in Israel, cargo trucks going through, the wall can't stop all the bombers. Evacuating territories is a joke. We evacuated Gaza, and now they can get Katyushas from Egypt without us stopping them. If the entire fight was over the West Bank, then there would be a plan. We evacuate the West Bank, they get what they want, we get the rest, and everyone is happy. But we know they want the whole thing. So what do we think is going to happen when we give them a small piece of the pie. They're going to say thank you and be happy? It's such a half-assed plan it's ridiculous. The last "win-the-war-quick" solution we have is to assassinate their leaders. I can't count the amount of times I've read that "the Israeli army shot a missile that killed Machmoud/Idbrahim/Abdul, the head of the Hamas/Fatah/Islamic Jihad cell in Shechem/Rammalla/Jenin". Proabably about as many times as I've read "suicide bomber kills Israelis." Sure, it feels good to know that we've killed another terorist-except that every time we shoot one down, his brother/son/sister/neighbor gets fed up and becomes a bomber. So what does any of this accomplish. It's time we stopped and realized there is no "get-out-of-war-quick" card. We need to find out what are the root causes of this terror, follow it back as far as we can, and then learn how to deal with it properly. Until then, with all our big walls and army, we will be waiting every day, even if its quiet for months or even years, just waiting for the next one to happen.

A Lesser Of Two Evils?

2006-04-02T20:41:00.000+03:00

There are two parties vying to make the coalition and become the ruling party til the next election; Kadima and Labor. I really don't know which scares me more. Kadima's main platform is withdrawing from the West Bank. (Since we withdrew from Gaza, they elected Hamas to be their leaders, daily have been shooting rockets at us, and now have started shooting Katyushas. The people who were evacuated are for the most part jobless, homeless, with little or no help coming from the government that threw them out. After such a "success story", who wouldn't support another withdrawal?) In addition, Kadima is being run by Olmert, a man strongly disliked in Jerusalem where he was mayor (at least by my in-laws and everyone they know), a man who has said he used to be right wing til his leftist wife wore him down (direct quote from an article in Maariv), a man who has said he is "tired of fighting and tired of being courageous". How could a man who is tired of being couragous become our Prime Minister? On the other hand, his coalition will almost definitely have to include a right wing party, probably Shas or UTJ, and if they don't entirely sell out (which is very possible) Olmert won't be able to fulfill his dream of self destruction. The government could then continue running as it is now, with a strong hand against terrorists (while everyone complains how we dont do anything, we are in the middle of bombing the hell out of Gaza, we've closed down Shechem, and Thank God we have been catching suicide bombers before they can do any harm almost every day [with the exclusion of the bombing on Thursday night, more on that later]), with further privatization of governement companies, and getting rid of more monopolies.
The other possible leader is Amir Peretz. In terms of withdrawal, the Labor party is against the concept of one-sided withdrawal, and wont negotiate with Hamas (at least not yet), so meantime that is not an issue. They will probably evacuate most small outposts, but any elected government would have to do that. Peretz's platform was purely a social one. Socialist to be exact. You know, that failed experiment that disencourages competition, lowers motivation, doesnt think that doctors should earn more than burger-flippers? Which I guess is expected from a man that finished his education at high school. the scarier part is that his coalition would consist of Shas (more exponential benefits for every child), Pensioners (more money for pensioners) , maybe UTJ (more money for yeshivot and kollel people) , all of which are parties looking for more socialist benefits. Which of course translates into higher taxes. And raises the question, why get a job when you can make more on welfare? This is also the same man that was in charge of the strikes that struck this country over the past years, sometimes totally crippling it. Most notorious was a strike right before Sukkot that shut down the airport. God forbid that tourists should come here for the holiday and spent their dirty capitalist money! It might even help the economy! The only positive part of him being Prime Minister is that it stops Olmert. Then Kadima may fall apart, since the only common denominator amongst its candidates is a need for power. But that may just be wishful thinking.
Point of this all is, there's no coalition I support, and I'm just going to wait for the next elections and hope whoever is in charge now doesnt do irreparable damage.

Bloggers Who Admitted Who They Voted For

2006-03-28T18:28:00.000+02:00

Likud amechad muqata zman westbank
Kadima shai
NU/NRP shiloh cosmic cahans me mrs.rock
Labor purple olehgirl
UTJ jak rock
Tafnit theview
Hazit Joe cop sofi
Meretz shay nir skeptic

Celebrating Democracy

2006-03-28T10:57:00.000+02:00

For my first time, I have exercised my democratic right and voted. I could have voted in the last American elections but I didnt care enough to vote as an expat. And anyway I would have voted Bush. So for the first time, I voted. I was hoping there would be a big ink bucket so after I could raise my ink-stained finger and yell like a monkey. But instead I went into the room, was given an envelope, and sent behind the curtain (actually more of a mechitza). There's a bunch of little cards with letters on it and you have to pick one and stick it in the envelope and then show them that you're putting it in the box. for some reason instead of writing the name of the party in big letters on the little cards, they have big letters and the party name written in small. I chose National Union/NRP. Then I went and bought a danish from Angels to celebrate.
The Rock has posted his election predictions based on nothing, and I believe he is off. Here's my predictions (also based on nothing).
Kadima : 32
Labor : 21
Likud : 15
Shas : 11
NRP/NU : 13
Lieberman: 9
Arabs : 6
Meretz : 5
UTJ : 6
Some Small Party: 2

And He Shall Be Called In Israel...

2006-03-25T22:33:00.000+02:00

Our friends had a baby boy, and the brit was on Shabbat. I dont think there's any difference between a Shabbat brit and a regular brit except that we had to walk there. Anways, it was a nice ceremony, lots of chanting, baby crying, etc. The part I didnt get was why do people insist on speaking in Yiddish when calling people up for a ceremony? The guy calling and the guy being called dont speak Yiddish. Yet every time they always say "mit the brucha", "da rebbe", or "foon" something or another. I've noticed this at weddings too when calling people up for shave brachot. They named the baby Yehuda, the father said that it is accepted that the wife picks the first name, and she named him Yehuda to thank God (hoda) for giving them the child. I like that, not naming after dead (or alive) people.

Yehuda, son of Nissim and Ricky, welcome to the fold!!

The Truth Is Out There

2006-03-24T00:32:00.000+02:00

Someone just showed me the coolest website! You upload a picture of yourself (or anyone really) and they analyze it and tell you which celebrities you look like. He put in a picture of us from Purim, the closest match to me was Lena Olin. Yeah, I never heard of her either. Although I did also score pretty close to George Clooney and Carson Daly. But that's not even the important part. I uploaded a few more pictures, and BAM, I got 68% likeness to Kate Hudson! Now I finally understand my Almost Famous obsession........ Shany got likened to Lana from Smallville and Marissa from the O.C. No wonder theyre two of my favorite shows.....It all makes sense now, thanks to myHeritage.

Have Fun, See You Later

2006-03-17T12:40:00.000+02:00

Purim, firstly, was awesome. Two nights of partying to God, Seudah, mishloach manot, a bit of drinking lshaim shamayim, tzedaka, it was all covered. We were invited to a wedding Wednesday night, after Purim ended in Jerusalem. Why anyone would choose to get married on a day when the majority of guests were going to be drunk that same day is beyond me, but thats what they did. So I did my seudah, got drunk, fell asleep, wandered around a bit with the parents, and then Shan and I went to the wedding. And then we found out: it was seperate seating. Ive already skipped a few weddings since they were seperate seating. Especially those weddings were Shany's friend is getting married, so the onyl people I know are on the ladies side. This wedding wasn't as bad, since I knew a bunch of the guys there, but the whole concept bothers me. Do people that make seperate weddings also have seperate Shabbat tables? One of the reasons I got married (other than that whole love thing) is that there's always someone around to talk to. I never have to worry about being too bored becuase I always know at least one person every place I'm at.
But we did end up at this seperate event. Luckily, they had a lot of wine at every table, and I managed to get slightly drunk for the second time that day. The dancing was side by side with the ladies, with a mechitza down the middle. How un-tzniut is that?? Especially when the ladies move the mechitza to watch the guys dance. So we still had to look at women while we were dancing. Also, the band can see the ladies side. I think the next chumra, after seperate seating becomes mainstream enough, is not to allow women to dance at weddings. And the photographer was also watching them. Why are they filming it at all if a man might watch the video or see the pictures. After they stop allowing women to dance, next step is not to serve food. Someone might eat without saying a bracha, so better that there is no food at all. Also, food can never be kosher enough, better not to have it. After that, we can just not allow women to come to weddings. They dont have to be there. The kalla can get married through a shaliach. That will eliminate the big problem I had, I had to say excuse me to women a few times when I passed them in the hallway. Can you believe it, this wedding forced me to talk to a woman! I still feel dirty. The next obvious chumra is not having weddings at all. It's such bitul Torah!! there should be a dedicated ten men who it's known cant learn so well, and whenever people want to get married they use them as their shlichim to marry them off. Then the chattan also avoids the problem of possibly seeing women on the street before he gets to the wedding.

purim sssshpielo

2006-03-15T01:52:00.000+02:00

hi i jusrfrt came from the mercazghharav yeshiva. the4yare cdancing up a stormn, . earlirre we weto the boogie. ijust wnat to say thaty the boogie is a ltor f fun,. everyoens hsouldgot tot eh booigie ieven fifg ti siexpensive a bit evrfror everyone but measndashany . wer ca.ledsendyand hewad ahavig a apuri sudA BUTHISREBVETGXIN WAS IN SCHOL .IHOPE EV ERYOEN AHDS A GUWETAEDE DNISHOACHA, CPRGODDFSV BNHYDE

Nothing Compares

2006-03-12T13:52:00.000+02:00

It has already started. The feeling is in the air. That feeling of....happiness. I went out today to celebrate the gorgeous weather, that I didnt have class (well really that I didnt go to class), and to look around for costumes for me and MyShan. Everywhere I walked people were dressed up, singing, smiling, just being happy. town was mobbed with costumed people. Strangest went to a girl dressed as a watermelon. I'm not even talking about the little kids who were all dressed up. There are grandmothers walking around costumed, babies costumed in strollers and everyone in between. And Purim doesn't even start here until Tuesday night! I had a quick flashback to America, and just felt sorry for all the Jews living there, thinking they know what Purim is. When every store is selling costumes and mishloach manot, when the entire city is dressed up three days before the holiday, when there is Purim music being played spontaneously from every corner, when you see people everywhere in a good mood and you can feel their happiness, that is Purim in its true unaltered state.

The Times They Are A'changing

2006-03-11T22:43:00.000+02:00

Once upon a time, I lived for Purim. Once upon a time I also lived under a totalitarian regime known only as South Bend. Anyways, Purim was the highlight of the year. First there was the breaking the fast on a cup of vodka. then dressing up and going door to door, singing in peoples houses and collecting for whatever cause we were assigned to. It never mattered who were collecting for. We just went into peoples houses, danced away, drank whatever they offered, and went to the next house. By the time we got to the yeshiva'a party we were all very sick from mixing too much, but danced anyway until we were too sick to move. then somehow I always woke up in bed the next morning. I went to megilla, usually threw up either right before or had to hold it in til the end, and then started drinking again. I think there was more dancing and collecting duringthe day, followed by the big family seuda, and once again, somehow waking up in bed the next morning, usually very sick. After high school, I stayed in yeshiva for Purim, there was no collecting at night, just dancing the night away til we got very sick and were dragged home. The next day my rebbi would have everyone over for a good breakfast, which usually cured us from our night sickness, and then we would start all over again. The seuda was in the yeshiva, and I have some beautiful pictures of a table full of wine bottles and nothing else. Then there was dancing and somehow waking up in bed in the morning. On shushan Purim we had a parade through the wonderful city of Providence. One year I was Ernie, and the next I was Daisy Duck. then I came to Israel and discovered what two days of Purim really was. first night was spent in Bnei Brak, I think collecting. the rest I dont really remember.
Point of this all is, that Purim always had wonderful memories, or the wonder of not having memories, but always in a purely single guy setting. Now as a married man, its a different world. Last year we went to a Bar Ilan party, very much a singles scene. And it was a very far cry from the yeshiva parties I am used to. Two years ago, we went to "The Moshav", but nothing really was happening there. This year, I dont know what to do. I dont think what I'm looking for exists for me anymore. I've adapted everything else, and now it's time to adapt Purim too.

Too Early For Talking

2006-03-09T23:09:00.000+02:00

As I was walking towards the bus at the very early hour of 9Am today, braving the freezing cold weather (so cold that I left my house with a jacket and went back in to put on a coat), I was waiting for the light to change when someone said to me in Arse (thats the Hebrew dialect spoken by punks) "hey, I'm also a gingi" (redhead). not being a redhead, I was sure he wasnt talking to me, but no one else was around so I looked up, and there was a very bleach blonde boy looking at me. He was holding up with another guy (with similar fake blond hair) a huge Likud sign (Likud strong-Israel safe). we started shmoozing, and I asked him if he agrees with the sign hes holding. "I agree with anyone who's going to pay me 20 shek an hour," he tells me. "Likud would get a ticket cuz its illegal for them to hang up these big signs on street corners, so they hire us to hold them. Who do you want to vote for," he asks me. I tell him I'm leaning towards Ichud Leumi, but I'm not totally decided yet, and he tells me "I'm going to vote for Marzel, he'll throw all the Arabs out of here." meanwhile, the light had already changed and changed again, and as I crossed the street I watched my bus go by, and had to wait 20 minutes for the next one. Which didnt matter cuz class was so boring I was glad I came late. The whole conversation was very weird, starting with him calling me a gingi like him. Also that Likud has to pay people to help them, I believe Ichud Leumi has all their people volunteering for free. And you'd think part of the guys job, other then standing holding a sign, should be to try and convince people to vote Likud instead of for Marzel. But it was nice to see a right wing chiloni, even if he was a bit overboard right wing, and probably not old enough to vote.

Top Of My Hate List and Other Stuff

2006-03-08T00:24:00.000+02:00

I dont usually have a hate list, but I had to make it so I could have a top of it. And the top of it is shared with two parties. The people selling firecrackers, and the kids that are setting them off in my neighborhood. WhenI was a kid, we had little tiny popper things that made less noise then knocking on a door. Also, I lived in a place that when people heard loud exploding noises they knew it was firecrackers because there were no bombs around. Over here, it sounds like these kids are setting off TNT, all in the name of Purim fun. Car alarms go off from the strength of these things, and they sound like bombs. And they throw them all night. I really want to catch one of these kids about to light one so I can make him swallow it right before it goes off. Then maybe theyll see how annoying those things can be.

In other news I have a coke habit I cant get rid of. I used to only drink Sprite or 7up, recently I started drinking coke and now I'm feeling addicted. I don't think I've had a bottle stay overnight. I open it and its finished the next minute. I cant even blame Shan cuz she doesnt drink coke. At least coke bottles are only a literand a half here and not 2 liters.

There's a great series going on right now at Jameels. He has purim parodies of different blogs. Very worth checking out. My personal favorite so far is this parody of this blog.

My Dog Ate My Homework

2006-03-06T08:50:00.000+02:00

This morning, as I was about to leave the house, I heard loud explosions, so I cursed out the little kids that run around throwing firecrackers before Purim and left the house. I made it to the street, and got yelled at by a chablan (police in charge of blowing up things) to get back in the house. So far there's been like 5 (controlled) explosions. I dont know if that means they found five seperate suspicious objects laying around, or this was something real. So now, for the first time, I get to go to school and tell my teacher, I'm sorry I was late, there was a bomb on my street and the police wouldnt let me leave my house.

Who Makes Up These Dumb Things? And Why Am I Answering?

2006-03-05T22:13:00.000+02:00

I have been tagged by shu, and not having much else to do now, here goes. who makes up these stupid questions??? Mendy, you're tagged.

Q: WHO'S THE 4TH PERSON ON YOUR RECEIVED CALL LIST?

A: Shany (7 out of 10 spots-I need more friends!!)

WHAT'S YOUR MAIN RINGTONE ON YOUR PHONE?
A: Kill Bill-twisted

Q: WHAT WERE YOU D0ING AT MIDNIGHT LAST NIGHT?
A: wasting time by the computer. Kinda like now

Q: WHAT DID THE LAST TEXT MESSAGE ON YOUR CELL PHONE SAY
A: the watch guy isi open til 6

Q: WHOSE BED DID YOU SLEEP IN LAST NIGHT?
A: Mine

Q: WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
A: green Golf shirt. I have crossed that line and I wear Israeli brands.

Q: MOST RECENT MOVIE THAT YOU WATCHED?
A:Memoirs of a Geisha. I wasn't so impressed but Shany liked it.

Q: NAME 3 THINGS THAT YOU HAVE ON YOU AT ALL TIMES?
A: Boxers, Wedding band, Cell Phone

Q: WHAT'S THE COLOR OF YOUR BEDSHEETS?
A: All different colors.

Q: HOW MUCH CASH DO YOU HAVE ON YOU RIGHT NOW?
A: 80 shek

Q: What is your favorite part of the chicken?
A: the part you eat

Q: What's your favorite town/city?
A: Tormus Aiya

Q: I can't wait to (til)...?
A: own a helicopter

Q: When was the last time you saw your mom?
A: January

Q: When was the last time you saw your dad?
A: summer

Q: When was the last time you talked to them?
A: Friday

Q: What did you have for dinner LAST NIGHT?
A: pizza

Q: How long have you been at your current job?
A: About a year

Q: Look to your left. What's there?
A: a huge map of Michigan and a plant I need to water

Q: Who is the last person you spent over $50 on?
A: Shany. I bought her a necklace

Q: What's the last piece of clothing you borrowed from someone?
A: I borrowed jeans and a shirt from Abis about three years ago because I got drunk and slept in his apartment and threw up on my clothes. and on him. He still lent me clothes anyway.

Q: What website(s) do you visit the most during the day?
A: Yahoo, Haaretz and Arutz7

Q: Do you have an air freshener in your car?
A: In my car??

Q: Do you have plants in your room?
A: I have a plant.

Q: Does anything hurt on your body right now?
A: My soul. It craves to be fed Maariv right now

Q: What city was your last taxi cab ride in?
A: Jerusalem

Q: Do you own a camera phone?
A: No. I own a camera, and a phone. I'm still able to function well enough not to need them together.

Q: What's your favorite Starbucks drink?
A: We dont have those.

Q: Recent time you were really upset?
A: When someone called me very stoned and laughed how they had mistakenly burned my couch.

Q: Have you been in love with anyone?
A: still am

Culture Shock

2006-03-04T23:40:00.000+02:00

Having lived here for awhile, I've gotten used to most everything. One of the big differences between here and there is with language. Four letter words here, especially English ones, are used very regularly without any meaning attached to them. In fact, in the army, when you do something wrong, its called doing a fack (rhymes with truck, but with Israeli accent). If you've done many things wrong, you've done many fackim. I've also been shocked when seeing someone talking to their proffessor wearing a shirt that said "F!## you, you F@#$@#$ F@#$! But the other day I was especially surprised when a proffessor was discussing workers in the early 20th century, and said in English, "they were treated like sh@#." Didn't even say "pardon my French" or anything. The other time I was shocked last week was when Shany's friend was over, a charaidi girl who is married to a chassidish guy. He is American, learning here for now, but they plan on moving to America soon, and she is an Israeli who speaks English. She kept complaing about her f@#@# teacher giving too much f#@$#@ work and she doesnt understand sh@#, and I was thinking how over here she can say that without a problem, but it'll be really funny when she joins the Monsey or Boro Park crowd and talks like that.....

In other weird news, on our way to the Kotel Friday night a nun passed by and wished us a Shabbat Shalom....

The Small Things

2006-02-28T00:07:00.000+02:00

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

More Political Ranting

2006-02-21T14:58:00.000+02:00

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

2006-02-20T19:29:00.000+02:00

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....

2006-02-17T11:33:00.000+02:00

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

2006-02-15T17:31:00.000+02:00

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.