Tikkun Olam

OK, so David was kind enough to compliment me on my A-Z Meme answers, for which I thank him profusely. It's not as if I am brilliant, but just average; the reason my responses were so thought-out, is because I sat here (my daughter really got mad at me) until 3:00 a.m. my time working on the blog. OK, I admit it: It was the HTML which got me! I asked JCop in one of my comments for help in inserting active links and didn't get a response from him, so I decided to just get down to business myself. I'm always fighting my lazy nature, so this was a pain, but I did it! And they work! Basically, it was everything you wanted to know about html but were afraid to ask (or not) . As far as my 'well-thought out' responses, m y problem is two-fold: a) I am sick with pneumonia and have nothing better to do with my time, and b) I am [unfortunately] currently unemployed, i.e., I have nothing better to do with my time (!) I would love to write, but nobody wants to pay me for it...

I am really honored that the sabra tagged me. 'who am I to go against the wind?' (Paul Simon). Just as a little primer for those who, like me, had no clue what was going on until yesterday (when I was born) MEME: implies doing the same thing over and over; in French, "la meme chose" means exactly that: 'the same thing'. So Here Goes : Accent: (paraphrasing the sabra): 'EH'. that's what I always said between phrases from the time I was a kid. never 'uh.' Everybody joked at that; called me 'The Israeli'. I spoke English with an Israeli accent ever since I remember...don't know where it came from 'cause I was born & raised in New Yawk City... Booze: yes, every Friday night and Shabbat lunch for kiddush. Favorite: Kesser. Nothing like it. Chore I Hate: cleaning the toilet? but somebody's gotta do it. Dogs/Cats: had a Dalmation I loved named Samson...died years ago after traveling the world (Florida, Israel, Texas,...

Even Tel-Aviv - the city without a Jewish Soul, some say - is beautiful. Because Jews built it. And no Jew is without a Jewish Soul. It might be buried under layers, but it is there. I found this photo after a search on my computer. If it isn't misplaced in cyberspace, it's misplaced on the hard drive. Oiy...

With regard to color, in my post titled "Experimenting with Color" of 26 March: I don't know if you've noticed that some posts are in a black font, some in green and some in aqua. That's not what I intended -- It's not working! Whatever I try, does not seem to publish the way I set it. Color is very important to me; it enhances life, it is one of Hashem's beautiful creations. And I can't get it to work on my blog! I choose the font style, size and color. Font style and size sometimes screws up a bit, but most of the time comes through. Color published in black, then sometimes in the middle of a paragraph, burps and reverts to color chosen. I have no explanation for this, except for my being technologically impaired. So meanwhile, while I try to figure this out, enjoy my posts (and the burps !).

The beach at Ceasaria; sent by my daughter; when I look at it (it's my monitor background) I feel as if I am there. With my children.

Yerushalayim shel Zahav. Needed to 'moisten' my Blog with photos; before it was too dry...

Sunset in Yerushalayim, sent sometime back by my daughter. Double whammy: beautiful creation; Eretz ha-Kodesh. Need I say more?

I agree that we are on the threshhold of the geula. However, there are two ways the geula can come: 1)If we help bring it by our doing mitzvot, and rooting evil out of our midst, as it is written in the Torah, or 2) "be-ito" - 'in it's time; when G-d scheduled it to come, regardless of our deeds or lack of righteousness. If it is the latter, it is said that it will come with terrible trials and tribulations for us. Unfortunately, the way the world is going now, and the way Israel is conducting itself, I'm afraid it will be the latter...

Not to throw a damper on all this rah-rah-sis-boom-ba-aliyah stuff - 'been there, done that' - but the older I get, the less energy I have to put up with or change all the bad parts of living in Medinat Yisrael. Notice I didn't say 'Eretz Yisrael', which will always remain holy. Unfortunately, the Medinah is FAR FROM holy at this juncture.This post is so OPPOSITE the general view on this blog. That's probably because it is 4:00 a.m. and I think I am coming down with bronchitis or pneumonia...must have caught it from my husband, who is currently sick. I love Israel with a passion. But I am no longer the starry-eyed Zionist I was in 1977, when I first moved there. It's a long story for another time... Kol Tuv!

I am SO impressed! I had no idea there were such wonderful blogs out there. And on my dearest subject as well: All Things Jewish; All Things Israel; All Things Ivrit. What is it about that tiny country?? That less-than-one-percent-of-the-middle-east-land-mass mass of land?? That alt/new people, land, language, culture, customs?? We Jews all love/hate it. But we know it is our only Homeland. The whole world is pre-occupied with it. Llike an itch you keep scratching, but it doesn't go away. Oiy, I repeat myself. Somebody stop me.

Now that Pesach just ended...I can reflect somewhat on the beauty and intensity of the chag. I can only say, with utter ethnocentricity , that I am IN LOVE with my Judaism. I don't know quite how to explain it. I just know that every day I thank Hashem for creating me a Jew. It is such - (and believe me, I see the faults. we are far from perfect) - a high-level, highly civilized, do-good religion and culture, thanks to our connection with Hashem - that I am absolutely awestruck. I am humbled by the holiness of just what our religion can be (and of course, as I said before, not always is. But the framework is there for it to be). Just compare it with other religions to figure this out (hey, try Islam, for starters!). Who knows - if I had been created a non-Jew, would I have had the smarts (and insanity) to realize TRUTH and CONVERT? Aw, I probably would have just kept the שבע מצוות נח and גמרנו ! Pesach, I started to say in a previous post (see two down) creates for me and hopefull...

I am again horrified and disgusted by the sub-human perpetrators of this heinous atrocity. Another sub-human exploded himself and 9 other ordinary people in a popular and crowded fast-food felafel stand in the city of Tel-Aviv, and wounded (read: mutilated with severe pain) approximately 100 others. This is the reason I call it a 'homocide' rather than the accepted term 'suicide' bombing. This person committed an act of homicide . Which is not the same thing as killing civilians in the course of defending yourself, as Israel does. Does Israel target civilians? Let me put it another way: Does Israel set its sights on restaurants, schools, buses or playgrounds when it retaliates? Does it ever take the offensive that way? Not on your life! Tell me, do you want to live next to the type of culture which perpetrates these acts?? Would you feel safe living near a sick culture which glorifies death?? When was the last time you got on a bus and had a panic attack worrying if th...

It is one a.m. here in the Mountain Time Zone where I am. I am tired. But I can't leave my blog without posting a terse, pithy piece (!) about the incredible holiday of Pesach , or Passover as it is called in English. In short, there is no holiday ever, in any religion that I know of, that equals Pesach in it's spirituality, awareness of G-d and intensity. Basically, Orthodox Jews must turn over their entire homes, cleaning them thoroughly of any chametz , or leavening. It is a prosciption from the Torah , our Holy Bible (Old Testament) not to have any leavening in any form - bread, cake, flour, or any non-kosher for Passover processed foods - visible or found during the enitre week of Pesach. Leavening is a 'puffing up'. It is also a metaphor for egotism and self-centeredness. We are not only cleaning out our physical leavening, but cleaning ourselves out spiritually. In this holiday, we need to relate the story of the Children of Israel's Exodus from Egypt, not a...

To the reader, Shalom u'Vrakhah (peace, hello & blessings)! Long time no BLOG. Preparations for Pesach (Passover) took up an inordinate amount of time, as always, and there was no way I would get to the computer before the holiday began. Gee, it feels good to BLOG again!! (I must really be out of it. I never use the word 'gee!' ) OK, I confess; I gave up on my first choice of templates. For some reason (- too verbose?) couldn't get my profile to post on the same page in the right-hand column no matter what I tried. So, I chucked the whole thing, and chose a new template, where it seemed the columns were a bit wider for the blog posts. So far, it seems to work. Now all of my myriad of readers can fall all over themselves fighting over who's to read my profile first. ahem. Actually, I think I actually like the new template better; it's light and airy, and I hope more readable. Again, I would just love feedback from my readers. What do you think of the new ...