Tikkun Olam

I was trying to figure it out: I have all week, while I'm looking for work; why is it that I save it all up to post erev Shabbat, when I should be: 1) cleaning, 2) doing laundry, 3) cooking, and 4) baking -- Instead, I'm sitting at the computer, having this strong need to express that: 1) I sometimes feel as if the world is going to POT. There are wildfires in California, levees being breached in Missouri, flooded cities in Iowa, and heat waves on the East Coast. My new daughter in law, to whom I spoke earlier, is afraid to visit the U.S. because of all the Day After Tomorrow - type weather we are having (le-havdil. Have you seen that movie? In the light of the fact of global warming it might not be so far-fetched; G-d forbid. . . ) . 2) I'm upset about the political and military-security path Israel is taking. The so-called "cease-fire" has been declared, but of course (as we all knew it would) it has already been breached by mortars fired from Gaza , as writt...

For all you Jewish (and-non) bloggers and readers, the Jewish blog carnival, Haveil Havalim #170 hosted by Soccer Dad , it's founder and doting father--is UP. There are links to 71 posts (my numbers could be off: I'm numerically challenged) by various, wonderful bloggers, and guess what?--three of 'em are yours truly's! Peruse, and enjoy. (p.s., any comments on my font changes, pro or con, eagerly awaited)

I just saw this on Joe Settler , and it, well-- unsettled me. It seems that, according to this YNet article , some Negev communities are planning on taking matters into their own hands and organizing into an "independent Western Negev State," with its first act of defiance towards the government a tax strike. They are angry over the government's inaction in the face of daily rocket and terrorist attacks. The residents of Nir Arm, Kfar Aza and Miflasim are also distrustful of the cease-fire , believing that it will be ineffective and I would add, will probably be used by Hamas to re-arm and re-group, if last summer's war in Lebanon taught us anything. As far as the idea of 'seceding from the union' goes (they said): We are not the one's [sic] breaking away from the State, it is the government that has led us to this. They feel as if the government has abandoned them , not the other way around. I was wondering how long it would take before someone '...

As you can see, today I changed and added some elements to my blog homepage (I really lose track of time when I'm at the 'puter; it's been hours and I'm starving ), so please feel free to give me a little feedback as to how they look.  Right now, I'd like to tell you a bit about one of my new additions: Ohr Chadash . In my opinion, Ohr Chadash is one of the most wonderful sites on the web.  It is run by Rabbi Avraham Arieh and Rabanit Rachel Trugman, who have been involved in Jewish education and teaching Jewish spiritual paths for over thirty years. They have run Jewish programs for adults and youth, in Israel and the United States. For years Rabbi Trugman directed the NCSY youth group (founded by the Orthodox Union) in Denver, Colorado. Way before that, in 1976, the Trugmans were one of the founding families of Moshav Modiim, and the Rav served as the Director of Jewish Education on the Moshav, while Rabanit Rachel was one of the main educators. After their retur...

Found this interesting little piece on Fox News on the 'net: it seems that, according to the Egyptian actor Omar Sharif , who starred in blockbuster Hollywood productions such as Lawrence of Arabia and Dr. Zhivago--Arabs and democracy are not great bedfellows. The story, based on information on the MEMRI website, states that Mr. Sharif told President Bush that democracy will never take hold in the Arab countries, because they are made up of sects, and prefer to go to their sheik to handle disputes: "I said to Bush, even before he entered Iraq: Forget about all that. We, the Arabs... We are not like [regular countries]," said Sharif. "You will drown there." By gosh, if we only had known this before our president got us into the war in Iraq - I mean, who knew - about Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds ("-oh my!")? And who knew that people with no concept of and not prepared culturally for democracy - when Mr. Prez praised the "democratic" electio...

I know this is old-ish news; you've probably seen it already on Jameel's blog. But the truth is, I intended to post this last week (do intentions count?). I intended to post lots of things last week, but being true to my title as Queen of the Procrastinators, I procrastinated. This video of the interview of Bar-Ilan University's lecturer in Arabic Dr. Mordechai Kedar on Al-Jazeera just warmed the cockles of my heart, and gave me strength to hope. Would that our 'fearless' leaders (doesn't matter which country-you name it) had the courage to speak with such conviction, about such a Truth: May we go from strength to strength.

I heard the news on Friday, erev Shabbat, on NPR, and thought I was' hearing things.' Tim Russert, host of Meet the Press , had died of an apparent heart attack, at 58 years old. I used to be an avid watcher of Meet the Press , which aired Sunday mornings. I loved the direct, hard questions he asked of the guests on his show, whether they were media people, CEOs or Presidents. He wasn't afraid of dissent, he wasn't concerned about political correctness, and he wasn't afraid of offending his sometimes exalted guests: He always held them accountable for past statements. I was always excitedly looking forward to hear whom he was going to show up, to force to "clarify," "explain," or backtrack from their current or previous statements, stands and comments on the issues, whatever they might have been. After I heard the news, I read about and listened to the story of his life, and I learned that 'off the job' he was a truly religious man (he ...

I have written before, in my posts of February 5,th 13th and April 13th about my uneasiness with this unknown quantity-cum-current-Democratic-nominee for president of the United States, and now have reason to write again. After a lovely speech before AIPAC in which he said all the right things (or should I say, said the right sentiments and feelings, but nothing much on 'tachlis' - the 'how-to' was missing), we now learn that Mr. Obama hastily changed his tune. Is it because he was confronted with Arab opposition to his stance on keeping Jerusalem undivided? Initially, in his AIPAC speech, he said: Jerusalem will remain the capital of Israel, and it must remain undivided," Obama declared Wednesday, to rousing applause from the 7,000-plus attendees at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee policy conference. That didn't sit too well with PA Chairman Mr. Mahmoud Abbas nor with Hamas spokesman Sami Abu-Zuhari. Is that why one of Mr. Obama's campaign...

I feel very separated from my people and heritage being here today...and not in Jerusalem, where I should be. Today is Yom Yerushalayim , (Jerusalem Day) which falls on the 28th of the Jewish month of Iyar commemorating the liberation and reunification of the city of Jerusalem, which took place during the "Six Day War" of June, 1967 (for some background on the events leading up to that war, click here ). This year, 2008 (5768 in the Jewish calendar) marks the 41st anniversary of that event. This holiday is one of the four new holidays added to the Jewish calendar in the twentieth century, the other three beingYom HaShoa (Holocaust Remembrance Day), Yom Ha'atzma'ut (Israel Independence Day), and Yom HaZikaron, Israel's memorial to its fallen soldiers. This event marked the first time in thousands of years that the city of Jerusalem was once again under Jewish sovereignty. This special city has always been vital to the Jewish people as a Nation, even during 2000 ye...