Tikkun Olam

To the Honorable Judge Rachel Barkai: This is to implore you to release Daniel Pinner from jail for supposedly shooting at Arab marauders who were attacking Jews in the Gush Katif area by the shore before the expulsion last summer. It is a TRAVESTY that Mr. Pinner should be incarcerated for NINE MONTHS for an incident that was in SELF-DEFENSE, and possibly which DIDN'T EVEN OCCUR because of the lack of credibility of conflicting so-called 'testimonies' presented by some of the Arab perpetrators. Why is it that those conflicting testimonies were believed, but Mr. Pinner's statement that he shot in the air as a deterrent, was not?? Why is it that the Jewish victim does not get the benefit of the doubt, as much as the Arab aggressor? Was Daniel Pinner attacking others? No, he was present at the site working as a volunteer electrician. There would be no sane reason for him, a lone person, to endanger himself by attacking a group of people! Though it may not be politically c...

Teleportation to Our Homeland So, how do I explain this? It is the morning of Elections 2006 in Israel. Right now, it is 8:05 a.m. there...Here I sit, at my computer; listening on one browser to the Hebrew song גבעת התחמושת (Ammunition Hill) from the Six-Day War of June, 1967. On a second browser I am listening to Israel radio about the elections. On a third, I have in front of me the live Kotel (Western Wall) camera; I am watching - in real time - people walking to and fro; there is a group of about 30 or so men standing in a semi-circle around the Israeli flag at the Kotel Plaza, with a group leader standing in front of the flag. People in the group have flags as well. The leader is speaking to them; they are applauding, waving their flags. In the background, there are men davening (praying) at the Wall. Also women, on the women's side. In spirit, and almost physically, I am there...I think G-d invented technology... Do you know that I recently saw my youngest daughter at the Ko...

Since I sent my email letter-to-the-editor at the Wall Street Journal, I have seen two more articles in that newspaper relating to lack of scholarship and maybe even security in our universities. On March 23rd on the Opinion Page there was an article entitled Taliban Man at Yale. On Sunday, March 25th, there was yet another editorial about the very same "working paper" from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government by Messrs. John Mearsheimer and Stephen Walt, about which I first wrote. It seems that I am not the only one who is bothered by all this. At least, thank G-d for that! In the Taliban Man at Yale article, it mentions a problem with Columbia University: How does a university with a reputation such as Columbia's allow a megalomaniac dictator like Libyan leader Muammar al-Qaddafi to speak at a conference, even if it is by video? Qaddafi has, since 1969 when he overtook the Libyan government by revolution, run a decidedly anti-Western fundamentalist Islamic regime. ...

I would like some feedback on color. I am experimenting with a color that may not be as hard on the eyes as the green of the previous posts. Please comment on which color is easier on the eyes, but still readable and pleasant to view. Thank you, Lady-Light

To The Editor: KUDOS to Ruth R.Wisse and to the Wall Street Journal for publishing her erudite commentary on the editorial page on March 22, 2006 debunking the veracity of the essay by Messrs. Walt and Mearsheimer of Harvard and the University of Chicago, respectively - to the universities' shame - on the so-called 'power of the Israel Lobby'. I have been listening to and reading ad nauseum, with a sense of dread and (G-d forbid) impending doom the diatribes spewing forth from the Arab leaders against Israel, most of which are supported by Europe, who at best is silent. Why the entire world is so pre-occupied with a tiny country comprising less than 1% of the world's real estate, I could say is a mystery to me - but it actually isn't! It is the very same reason the world has been so pre-occupied with the Jewish people, who themselves are a tiny minority among the nations. It is all-pervasive anti-Semitism, (again) rearing it's ugly head. All sorts of ills are bl...

Several days ago I received an email from a friend forwarding an article from a wonderful website dedicated to promoting 'random acts of kindness' in the world. I concurred that it was a good thing to do, (while I believe in doing other things as well) - and I actually signed up as a member! That said, I want to expound on an idea related to those acts, and related to my previous blog, which paraphrased the letter I sent to the author of that website. We are Jews. What the heck is that ? Who exactly are we? Well, lets go back in history a bit... Crash Course in Jewish History, 'al regel achat' ("on one leg" = quickly and superficially!): [source: Jewish Virtual Library - errors or omissions are mine alone] Way, way back, before Avraham (Abraham) came on the scene and even before his father Terach, there ruled and warred in Mesopotamia beginning from around the year 1170 BCE various Semitic peoples. The Assyrians for a time ruled in the north, but they were be...

[I am posting this letter I emailed to Mr. Shmuel Greenbaum, the originator of the wonderful website entitled Tradition of Kindness, with some minor changes; comments are welcome] bs"d To Shmuel, Shalom u'Vrakhah! I received this 'Kindness' email from a friend of mine, and after reading your terrible story and seeing the wonderful way you are responding to it, decided to subscribe. I know from whence you speak: I raised my children to be tziyonim (Zionists) who also love the Torah. Four of my five children, grown and almost-grown, are now living in Israel. My younger son is still in the army, having enlisted with his older brother for regular army service when they made Aliyah almost three years ago. I have one daughter in a year-program at Hebrew University, planning on staying on in Israel for the rest of college, and our youngest daughter, now 17, who has been in the Na'aleh program for more than a year and a half. She is planning on G-d willing, completing...

Today, Shabbat 17 Adar 5766, the Torah portion (portion = "parasha" or "parsha" in Hebrew) Ki Tisa was read in the Torah. It is an extremely deep and important parsha which, among other things, speaks about the census of the Jewish people by counting the giving of the " machtzit ha-shekel " (the half-shekel coin), the sin of the " aigel ha-zahav ", the golden calf, and Moshe Rabbeinu ("Moses our Teacher") receiving the Ten Commandments on Har Sinai (Mount Sinai), coming down and smashing them when viewing the Jewish people committing that terrible sin. Also, in this parsha is the retelling of Moshe seeing G-d almost 'face to face' - but because G-d says no man can see Him face to face, Moshe only sees the back of G-d, so to speak. To this day, it is customary not to count Jews directly, but rather, indirectly, as done in the Torah portion, by counting the half-shekel contribution which each male gave to Moshe Rabbeinu . So...

After searching blogs with the keywords 'Tikkun Olam', I was really surprised to see so many blogs so titled! -guess it's more popular than I thought. I doubt if anyone will find this one, so I am considering changing the title, but I would love some input from you: What would you title a blog about LIFE (-too narrow a subject, is it?!). About RIGHT and WRONG and WHY we are HERE, about the creeping EVIL that is engulfing this world of ours. GOOD vs EVIL?? MORAL and IMMORAL?? GOING to HELL in a HANDBASKET? Personally, I still think 'Tikkun Olam' says it all; that there may be serious problems in the world - consequently the world needs repair; and here's the forum in which to talk about how. I will temporarily leave it as is, and we'll see what happens... Shabbat Shalom! In Friendship, Lady-Light

This is my first blog, ever. I have never done this before in my life. I was accessing a friend's weblog, when I inadvertently created my own. Out of the blue. Perhaps there was a hidden reason for this... So, I named it "Tikkun Olam". Tikkun Olam is Hebrew for 'Repairing the World'. I welcome your (serious or humorous, but CLEAN) opinions and comments on this subject. Do you agree or disagree, that the world is in dire need of 'repair'? A phrase comes to mind, by Charles Dickens: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." My first question is, with regard to that aforementioned phrase, do you believe it is the former, or the latter - and why?? I am eagerly anticipating your comments and reactions! In Friendship, Lady-Light