An alternately structured and sometimes stream-of-consciousness journal of my view of the purpose and essence of life as a Jew, the importance of the Land of Israel, how to differentiate good from evil, and perhaps even what to do about it. Oh,and also some technology thrown in for good measure. And whatever else comes to mind, actually...
In short: "BLOGITO Ergo Sum"
I haven't had time to post for ten days--we were in the process of a forced move--better known as hell week--difficult enough and tiring for younger people; kal va-chomer for...older people ('physically challenging' is putting it mildly), and are just now getting settled in our new temporary apartment for a month, while our townhome is being renovated. Then, in about a month, we have to do the whole thing all over again back into the townhome. This was not our choice, but the management's, with an excuse of fulfilling their purchase contract in a timely fashion ("lender compliance").
What do we get out of this? New paint, carpeting, light fixtures, kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets and fixtures, and $200 more in rent. There is not enough time to express my feelings on this...Shabbat is in two minutes so I have enough time to say. . .
Shabbat Shalom!
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El Al is instituting new gourmet, Israeli breakfasts on their flights to Israel. Now, there's a reason to fly El Al (also, on a side note--it's safer...).
In several previous posts I compared U.S. airport security to it's Israeli counterpart, and in my considered opinion the United States comes up lacking.
In my post of January 21, 2010 I wrote about an airplane being diverted from its flight because a Jewish teen was davening* on the plane. Wasted time and effort, and a scare for an airplane filled with passengers and a teen traveling with his sister to visit relatives. In December, 2009 I posted about our poor intel gathering and screening techniques which allowed Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab to board a Northwest flight and attempt to blow up the plane. As recently as last month I posted about the new, invasive security system which reveals everyone's birthday suit.
Thank G-d Abdulmutallab and others failed in their Jihadist mission. But one day, if we don't change our methodology for screening these evil people off the passenger lists, one of them might, G-d forbid, succeed. It is only a matter of time...
And yet, we in the United States are resistant to anything that sounds like "profiling," even if it is the logical, intelligent thing to do. We have also been focused in the past on objects that the passengers might be carrying on their person, such as in shoes or in containers, e.g., gel and liquids.
But how about profiling behavior? The system used in Israel and shown to be extremely effective has been questioning the passengers going through security with key questions, and listening and watching their responses to those questions. Now Israel has just developed a screening device which continues to focus on passenger behavior rather than the objects they are carrying. It can catch suspicious behavior whether or not they are armed, and speeds up the questioning process (which will still be used).
Unlike security teams in other countries, who take all liquids from passengers or conduct invasive searches, the Ben-Gurion screeners engage passengers in conversation and use their training to scout out unusual reactions, which lead to passengers being pulled out of line for further screening. While the human conversation-based system works well, it can be time consuming. If the new devices being developed for security are put into action in airports, they are expected to significantly speed the process.
This conversation-based security screening is designed to take into account an ordinary, non-terrorist person's anxiety, say, or nervousness. Sounds like a good idea. I usually wear lace-up athletic shoes (with orthotic inserts), and I'm sick and tired of removing them every time I go through U.S. airport security. It's a pain in the neck for this Savta, and won't weed out the terrorists. Maybe the United States should learn from Israel's expertise, and institute this new system into our screening as well.
Read the article about this new system on Arutz Sheva, here.
Brigitte Gabriel tells of her childhood in Christian Lebanon, and how the Christians were "rewarded" by the Muslims after having received sanctuary there.
Why are Christians not raging against this? All I hear is...silence.
Israel, thank G-d, does have friends around the world, friends who care enough to come and see the Carmel fire destruction for themselves, and help rebuild by planting new trees to replenish the depleted forest.
I am posting the URL to the memorial site for Rabbi Uriel Malka (the English page), because I wanted everyone to see this. If you can, please financially contribute to his family: his widow and five children. I thank you in advance for your concern and your kindness. May we in the future know only smachot--occasions for happiness and joy.
Here is a good post from Jewish Israel about the holiday confusion in galut (the diaspora), symbolized by the so-called Chanukah video by Matisyahu.
People may not understand why an American who loves America would consider leaving this great country to live in a tiny little, old-new country such as Israel. If I were a Christian, or another non-Jew, I would be out of my mind to leave this country. But I am a Jew. I want to be in a country where my holidays, my religion and my culture are prominent, and are the "official" ones of the land in which I live. That is why my long-term goal (hopefully shorter than longer) is to move back to Israel. Although I love seeing the lights, colors and decorations of the holiday season--I have always loved lights and colors, my artistic nature craves it--I ache to see chanukiyot in people's windows and in doorways.
This excerpt of the Jewish Israel article might help explain some of my feelings to you, my loyal readers:
Despite the tragedy of last week's fire, this is the time of year when a Jew is especially grateful to be living in the land of Israel.One of the great joys and miracles of making aliyah is that we Jews can clean our system from Christmas imagery. We get to escape the trappings of America's holiday season and the feeling that somehow Hanukah and Christmas have been unwillingly pitted against each other in a grossly unfair competition. Alternatively and, perhaps, even more upsetting is when the holiday rites and customs of the Judaic and Christian faiths are mixed and assimilated to the point of Hellenistic absurdity.
I posted earlier about the YU a cappella choir, and how in my opinion it was better than another band of singers. What I hadn't mentioned in my post was Matisyahu's Chanukah video, which I had viewed. And didn't appreciate. I have no idea what his intent was--I think he is a talented and an observant Jew, so I can't figure this one out--from this video mixing Christmas imagery with Chanukah. But it did not promote Jewish values and have any Jewish meaning to me. The impression I got was that Matisyahu was looking to please his non-Jewish fans by sticking in non-Jewish holiday jokes, garb and general references.
This sort of sums up what I feel:
Mixed and Ironic Hanukah Messages
Perhaps the ultimate irony this Hanukah is that a Hasidic reggae singer Matisyahu, named after the hero of the Hanukah story, produced avideo version of his Hanukah song "Miracles"which is loaded with Christian imagery. After viewing the Santa outfits, endless evergreen trees, and snow - not to mention one hedonistic "babe" – Jewish Israel was at a loss as to which "miracle" the video was referring to.
Jewish Israel entered the talkback fray atShiloh Musingsand, in a nutcracker, felt that Matisyahu's video serves to reinforce a Hellenistic (melting pot) culture. The very people who need definition and clarity - assimilated Jews - aren't getting it, and it's a shame that the talented and Torah observant Matisyahu didn't rise to the challenge and produce a dynamic and catchy video with an unambiguous and authentic Jewish message. That would have been a major Kiddush Hashem.
A Kiddush Hashem in A Capella
Yeshiva Univeristy's a capella Maccabeatsappear to have overwhelmingly trounced Matisiyahu with their new Hanukah video "Candlelight" - based on Mike Tompkins' version of "Dynamite".
As of this blogging, the Maccabeats YouTube video is enjoying over 2 million hits and 4,500 comments, compared with Matisiyahu's 340,000 plus hits and 1700 comments.
Could the popularity of unadorned singing bochurim indicate that American Jewry is hungering for latkes accompanied by simplicity and authenticity, and that American society appreciates a genuine, no frills Hannukah story (even if it is a musical imitation delivered a capella style – which in Italian means "in the manner of the church")?
Here is one American Jew hungering "for the latkes accompanied by simplicity and authenticity...[and] a no frills Hannukah story."
Had nothing to do today as I took an unpaid day off to see a doc about my carpal tunnel syndrome which has been festering for over twenty-seven years and getting worse (it hoits) and in the early evening I visited Dov Bear's blog (boredom can drive one to do strange things sometimes...) and read his dissing of the Maccabeats relative to another group singing a Chanukah song. I hadn't been on the bandwagon, and so hadn't heard the Maccabeats sing.
After reading DB's post and listened to the group whose video he posted, I decided to watch one the Maccabeats' videos. I am hooked. There is no question that the latter (that's the Maccabeats, to you) is better. They have a great ear for music, are on key, harmonize beautifully, and do it a cappella, for gosh sake. Basically, it's like this: if I were a guy, I would've gone to YU and been in that choir. That's it. Maybe in my next gilgul...
I mean, they sing Matisyahu better than Matisyahu. Am ending a difficult Chanukah on a happier note (pun intended). Give a listen.
On December 2nd I posted about the shock of hearing of the terrible untimely death of Rabbi Uriel Malka, whom I knew. Here is an article which describes what sort of man he was. I was wrong about his age. He wasn't 34. He was 32.
Rabbi who survived Hizbullah fire among dead on bus
Uriel Malka, former Winnipeg school principal and Denver emissary, 32, was working as a chaplain in the Prisons Service.
Rabbi Uriel Malka, 32, who fought in the IDF against Hizbullah in hand-to-hand combat in the Second Lebanon War, was among those killed on the Prisons Service bus that was engulfed by flames in the Carmel forest fire on Thursday.
Malka, from Karnei Shomron, who was training to be a chaplain in the prison system, was with Prisons Service cadets en route to Damun Prison to evacuate prisoners from the paths of the flames.
He was laid to rest Sunday night at the military cemetery in Yavne.
A former principal at the Ohr Hatorah Day School in Winnipeg, Canada, Malka recalled in an extensive interview in October 2008 that he narrowly escaped death fighting Hizbullah two years earlier.
“It is a miracle that I am alive, as there were times in the war when I was shot at directly by Hizbullah terrorist fighters,” he said. “I met them face to face. I could see their eyes.”
Twelve of Malka’s colleagues from his paratroop unit were killed in a Katyusha rocket attack on Kfar Giladi, as they were standing outside, in a parking lot, en route to deployment in the Lebanon War on August 6, 2006.
“I was not in Kfar Giladi with them because I was already in Lebanon,” he recalled in the interview.
“We did not find out that those in our unit had died right away. Our commander had us take out the batteries to our equipment so we could not hear the names of those who died so we wouldn’t realize they were from our unit. Four days later our commander called us together in the [deserted] home of a Hizbullah terrorist and told us what had happened. He told us we had to be strong.
As you might have heard--it has been all over the news--a huge fire of suspicious origins broke out simultaneously in three different places in the Mount Carmel area today in Israel.
I found out about this from a parent of one of our students just this morning. As upsetting as it was, I didn't know what was coming. This evening, as my husband and I were going out to dinner - a Chanukah treat for ourselves - we met an acquaintance who told us that an Israeli Sephardic Rabbi whom I knew, a beloved former teacher in our local Jewish Day School--was one of the 40 or so victims on the bus that was engulfed in flames. He was heading--as a chaplain--along with the prison guards to evacuate a prison which was in the path of the fire.
Here is a post from a Yid about Rav (Rabbi) Malka and the terrible tragedy of his sudden death. Rabbi Malka leaves a widow and small children. He was only 34.
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