Tikkun Olam

This is a comment I saw on a video of Netzer Hazani commemorating one year since the hitnatkut (so-called 'disengagement'): "The poor child, caught with the stolen bag of candies, cried when the good father plucked out a single sweet and charitably handed it to the shop owner." Stolen? Really? From the "shop owner?" OK, let's forget about it belonging to the Jews (Jews = rightful 'shop owner') from the days of the Bible, shall we? Of course you really meant to say, "captured from the arab aggressors in 1967 ," didn't you? - which according to laws of engagement belong to the victor. So what did the victor do? He built it up into communities, beautified it, grew vegetables, greenhouses, creating a thriving economy and tried to live there in peace for thirty plus years, only requesting to be left alone in peace, by the so-called religion of peace . Now, we have returned [our] land to the enemy (who had invaded us) as a gesture of go...

(hat tip: my London connection, M---) Jewish Buddhist Haiku to be read with a straight face: If there is no self, whose arthritis is this? Be here now. Be someplace else later. I s that so complicated? Drink tea and nourish life. With the first sip ... joy. With the second ... satisfaction. With the third, peace. With the fourth, a danish. Wherever you go, there you are. Your luggage is another story. Accept misfortune as a blessing. Do not wish for perfect health, Or a life without problems. What would you talk about? The journey of a thousand miles begins with a single "oy." There is no escaping karma: In a previous life, you never called, you never wrote, you never visited. And whose fault was that? Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkes. The Tao does not speak. The Tao does not blame. The Tao does not take sides. The Tao has no expectations. The Tao demands nothing of others. The Tao is not Jewish. Breathe in. Breathe out...

IDF - צה Watch this. Does this video depict an evil people? Filled with hate? Power-hungry? Racist? Imperialist? To me (and any rational person out there) it shows a people who would prefer to live their lives in peace, and not have to fight for survival. Compare and contrast with certain other nations surrounding them...what do you see?

(Okay. I'm better. Sometimes it's good to vent. ) New topic: my new kallah ! I've had several requests to tell about my son's fiancee, so I will wax eloquent (hopefully you won't want me to wane . ) I had never made a shidduch in my life, though I did try once or twice with friends, but without success. Never did I think I would be a shadchanit for my own son. He is engaged to a lovely Yerushalmit, from a wonderful Sepharadi family (a real 'mixed-marriage', as we are Ashkenazim.) But (nyaah nyaah) I found her first! She came to the States for six months to broaden her horizons, improve her English and work for a while - for one of our acquaintences, a family who also davened at our Chabad. I met her first (she remembered where--I didn't; that's what you get with age...) at a friend's sukkah party a year ago Sukkot. We saw each other in shul, almost every Shabbat, and we talked. I was so excited to meet someone from Jerusalem, someone who spoke ...

I was torn whether or not to write this post. It is upsetting me, and I'm afraid it will upset others who don't want to hear anything negative about the State of Israel. However, I feel this great need to express what I experienced, to expose to others some facts of life in Israel, and flaws in our collective character, as Jews. Maybe, just maybe, if we all do our small part, and live according to the Torah (*see below), it will trigger change for the better... I am back 'home' with mixed feelings. I miss being in Israel, but I am happy to be home --one of the big problems in Israel was that I didn't have a 'home', rather I kept moving from place to place and living out of suitcases. Everywhere I went, especially when I stayed somewhere overnight, I carried a loaded backpack on my back and usually an extra huge shopping bag filled with clothes or personal items. I felt like the original bag lady! When I was in my sons' apt., I felt as if I was putting th...

Shalom y'all (learned that from my Dallas days). Don't want you to worry--all three readers of you--my blog is not dead, just resting. That's life in Israel for you; so intense, there is not an extra moment to sit down at (somebody's) computer for hours and blog. So here is just a quick note to say that much has happened, including a could-have-been-seriouser car accident (car gone, people not Baruch Hashem ), son being discharged, getting engaged, husband visiting first time in 26 years-not necessarily in correct order-and youngest daughter getting her first tzav gius. I now have a return ticket to the USA, for what it's worth. As we say in Ivrit, le-da'avoni ha-rav. Will write more worth reading b'ezrat Hashem soon. Don't give up on me, y'hear?

I have been remiss - I have not posted since November. I've been here since 19 Tishrei, chol ha-mo'ed Sukkot. Right now I am almost all recovered from my second illness (both upper respiratory), be-ezrat Hashem. Between being sick for almost half my stay here and being with my family (mainly being sick), I haven't gone anywhere nor done much. But I am witnessing "the situation" from the inside: reading the news, listening to people, watching talk panels on TV, and discussing it with my kids. It is dire. The world has gone mad; it is an "olam hafuch", an upside-down world. War against Israel is imminent. Even some so-called Palestinians (I use this term for common recognition only; they are all merely ARABS) are starting to question the general deadly looniness, as seen on The Jerusalem Post site column about the exploding grandmother by Saul Singer : " How is it that the political factions have led the Palestinian people to the brink of national, po...