Tikkun Olam

There is a very, very difficult mitzvah* in Judaism (plural: mitzvot ),that people should be happy.  In Hebrew, it's expressed by the phrase:  מצוה גדולה להיות בשמחה , "mitzvah gedola li-hiyot b'simcha,"  meaning 'it's a great commandment to be in a state of happiness." That's it. The Jewish belief is that G-d has put us here for a reason; some say that we actually choose our parents before we are born: each individual has a purpose in life, which we have to discover in our life's journey.  Some of us have great insight, even as young people, and we have a sense of what our purpose is.  But for most people, that purpose is very hard to determine.  During our life's journey, good things happen, and bad things happen.  No matter what, we always have free will to decide how we will respond to those events, even if they are outside of our physical control. My daughter who has RSD/CRPS made a decision about two months ago.  She decided that, n...

Eli E. Hertz of Myths and Facts puts the lie to the Palestinian contention that Jerusalem is and always was an Arab city.  It is actually exactly the opposite.  In fact, in the 1,300 years of various Islamic dynastic rulers, it was never made the capital city of any of the dynasties, nor did Mohammed, founder of Islam, ever set foot there.  Rather, Jerusalem has always been a Jewish city and is integral to the history and spirituality of the Jewish People.  Here are some excerpts (emphases mine).  Read the entire article on Arutz Sheva . Op-Ed: Islam's Connection to Jerusalem - vs. Israel's Published: Thursday, March 29, 2012 8:00 AM Various Islamic dynasties governed Jerusalem, but not one made it their capital. The Jews were a majority there - in what is called East Jerusalem today - for generations, including in 1948. Despite 1,300 years of Muslim Arab rule, Jerusalem was never the capital of an Arab entity. Oddly, the PLO's National Covenant, wr...

For the better part of a year, I've had an on-again, off-again debate with my D.H. as to the "correct" adjective in the children's finger-play nursery rhyme, "The Itsy-Bitsy Spider" (now you know which one I favor). My D. H. insists that the correct descriptive is "inky dinky," whereas I demur.  I vaguely recollect from my own childhood, either hearing " itsy-bitsy spider ," or even more familiar to me, the description "eency-weency," referring to said spider's miniscule size, yet plucky persistance, and how he (she?) braved the violent rainstorm which "washed it out" after the arduous climb up the water spout, yet doggedly climbed the spout again, after the sun came out and 'dried up all the rain.' Many, if not most of our American nursery rhymes originated on the other side of the pond, in England, for obvious reasons: the American colonists were British in origin, and brought with them the culture an...

In honor of the approaching holiday of Pesach (Passover), I am posting this funny Israeli commercial (hat tip to Jacob Richman, here , and here, too ). Now I know the real reason why the Jewish people wandered 40 years in the desert after the Exodus from Egypt.  They, uh, got lost...until in the 40th year The Lord finally sent them...the new GPS by Ituran, heheh. Watch Aaron admonishing his brother Moses for 'getting lost,' using the Hebrew slang word   התברברנו (transliteration: "heetbarBARnu," or "heedbarBARnu") which is also a play-on-words for the word for desert: מדבר (transliteration: "meedBAR"). A Pesach kasher ve-sameach* to you all! *Pesach kasher ve-sameach: Hebrew holiday wishes we say before Passover, meaning 'a kosher and happy Passover.'

President Obama spoke in emotional terms about Trayvon Martin, the boy who was tragically killed by a citizen member of a neighborhood watch. He stated that there should be an investigation of "every aspect" of the incident, and expressed his views in very personal terms. From Fox News :  “I can only imagine what these parents are going through and when I think about this boy I think about my own kids,” Mr. Obama said. He aimed his message at Mr. Martin's parents, saying, “If I had a son he'd look like Trayvon. I think they are right to expect that all of us as Americans take this with the seriousness that it deserves and we're going to get to the bottom of what happened.” Does that mean that because the boy was black, the case should be investigated? This does not seem to have been a calculated, premeditated murder. Rather, it may have been a terrible accident. Did the president express this kind of sympathy and concern for that other tragedy--the atrocity...

Again, thanks to Arlene Kushner , this time for alerting us to an eye-opening video of a black member of the South African parliament, Mr. Kenneth Meshoe, responding to a reporter at a press conference, who asked for his opinion about claims that Israel is an apartheid state:  "If people make such statements, I believe that they are exposing their ignorance... because anybody that has knowledge...about what apartheid is...cannot make such a ridiculous statement."

The Obama campaign video seems to show how he is a friend of Israel?  Here's another video, created by the Emergency Committee for Israel which shows his words and actions throughout his presidency, and how they indicate the exact opposite (hat tip, Arlene Kushner .) It's half an hour long.  Get yourself a cup of coffee, then sit down and watch it.  It's worth the investment of your time.