Tikkun Olam

MominIsrael has put up a meme about tzniyut ('tziyus' for you solid-core Ashkenazim), or 'modesty' as it's translated to in English. I had the honor of being one of the tag-ees, and I will answer the questions here. These are my feelings based on what I have learned from Torah and Halacha, and from what I have observed over the years. Here were her questions: 1) For married women, do you dress by the same standards as you did when you got married? Also for married women, do you and your husband conflict about this issue? I actually dress by stricter standards than when I first married; I little by little became more observant, from initially being 'conservadox'--walking to shul, but using electricity on Shabbat (!), to returning to my Chassidic roots and becoming fully Orthodox, albeit still 'modern' by certain standards. My husband is not concerned about this issue. He is more laid back and nonchalant about these things. For example: once, just ...

It is midnight here where I am; I couldn't be there. The most I could do besides talking to my kids (and my cousin. And my uncle.) about what they were doing, was go to Reshut Hashidur (Israel Broadcast Authority) online and watch first the ceremony for Yom Zikaron le-Halalei Tzahal * , and then, the winding down of the sadness, and the step by step emotional-lifting-up to the opening ceremony starting Israel Independence Day, Yom Ha-Atzma'ut* . I thought you might like to see the video (FYI, it is almost all in Hebrew), so I am linking it here. Take a break (it takes a bit of time, but is worth it), sit back with a cup of kafeh hafuch* , and enjoy! ['Yom Zikaron le-Halalei Tzahal'= Memorial Day for Israel's fallen soldiers; 'Yom Ha-Atzma'ut'=Israel Independence Day; 'kafeh hafuch'= Israeli "upside-down" coffee: milk first, coffee second!]

I am still reeling from the news of the deranged person who systematically executed 32 individuals in a residence hall and classrooms on the Virginia Tech University campus (click on title link.) My heart goes out to all the victims and their families; Baruch Dayan ha-Emet . . . I first saw only the headlines on msnbc, but didn't have the time to actually read about what happened. My kids in Israel were the ones who instant messaged , called and commented to me on the horrific news; by that time, I had read all about the Holocaust survivor-Israeli Professor, Liviu Librescu- zecher tzaddik livracha - who in great mesirut nefesh gave his life to save his students. At first, after seeing the headlines, my first reaction was, terrorist attack ! Then the news came out that it was a single individual, apparently deranged, sick enough to take out his rage by the act of murder, with no compunctions or regard for anyone (including himself). I began ruminating about this and worrying (I a...

Because of Template Troubles, I was forced to upgrade to the new, more wysiwyg ed template. I knew my customizations would disappear, and it pained me. I couldn't sleep. So instead, I decided to be productive and design a slightly new look, still using my favorite color (I call it " seafoam green "), into the wee hours of the morning. I was looking for more color coordination, and a softer clock. The old code didn't work ( html drives me crazy), so I searched for one that would, and eureka : I found code that worked, and a bubbly Holyland clock! I'm so excited (it takes very little to make me happy), I want feedback before I do anything else. I don't mind if you don't like it-just please comment on whether the new format, colors, fonts are easy on the eyes, etc. (I will have to decide in the end, anyway.). I look at it this way: I was instant messaging with my daughter Toodles in H-------- at the same time, so it doesn't really matter that it's FO...

Please accept my apologies--my blog hiccupped and rearranged itself erev Shabbat. It now looks as if it has a BMI of 83. What nerve! (I know this is my cyber-punishment for playing around with HTML in my Template.) I have written to tech support twice, and even joined an HTML Tutorial group-with no responses so far, so unless I get an EMT at my email door soon (that's Emergency Metatag Technician), I might have to take matters into my own hands, and change my Template. I liked my Template. It had my favorite color in the blog title... I have learned my lesson; I will write 50 million times on the blackboard, wysiwyg is my friend, wysiwyg is my friend, wysiwyg is my ....

So apparently the DSL Forum , in their study of broadband growth in the Middle East, is redrawing the global map to one without the State of Israel. That's not nice (and it would get an F in geography). Instead they only list "Palestine," which by the way when last seen was actually not a recognized country--as the intrepid investigative reporter-cum-blogger says in his piece on Telecomweb . But for some reason, some people will go to great lengths to appease the bully, as I've said many times in previous posts (see labels arabs, media, politics ) which of course is why the bully gets cockier and cockier, strutting about posturing and threatening and often acting out on his threats--committing murder and mayhem, kidnappings and beheadings--and not one nation (let alone the so-called 'moderates' of their own people, if such a thing even exists-except for a precious few like Wafa Sultan and Brigitte Gabriel- again, see my previous posts) has the guts to stand u...

I read Elie's post-seder-Pesach-post (whew!) and really liked his idea of asking four--er--eight questions on what we liked (or, horrors--disliked) most about the Seder. I got the idea of doing a "Pesach Meme" with these questions, and Elie agreed, so I am inviting everyone to go to his and my blog and answer these questions. On my blog I am specifically tagging the following people: HappyJew , Toodles , Ari, Tzipi, Lakewood Venter , Jameel , and last but not least, Kasamba and The Sabra (where the hey have you been, ladies??!) The questions are as follows: 1) How long did your sedar(im) run this year , to the nearest 1/2 hour? 2) If you have two sedarim , which one is usually better, and why? 3) What is your custom for Afikomen? a) Seder leader hides it, kids have to search for it. b) Seder leader puts it aside, kids have to "snatch" it. c) Other - please describe 4) What do you use for Karpas ? a) parsley b) potato c) celery d)onion e) other - please s...

(you gotta click on the title link...couldn't resist it...) See? I left my incorrect-time-Israel-clock alone for a few weeks until they went on daylight saving time just before Pesach , and now it's correct. Aren't I smart? (Just lazy, actually). Did I tell you I was in somewhat of a depression weeks before Pesach? Probably not. Well, I was. I knew the kids were not coming in, and we were not going there. So why prepare for Pesach? I didn't have the cheshek to do it. A week and a half before Pesach, some friends called (until then, I hadn't cleaned much of anything nor invited anyone for the sedarim ) and actually asked to be invited to our seder. We had already been invited out for the second seder to a friend , and although I really only enjoy our sedarim (our minhagim and nigunim-traditions and melodies) and don't eat just anywhere on Pesach, I accepted my friend's invitation (no kashrut questions here), because without the kids at home I just couldn...