Tikkun Olam

Dubai, the Persian Gulf emirate which grew into a fantastical, magical world with the tallest planned skyscraper in the world and palm tree-shaped islands, might be going bye bye. Dubai World cannot pay pack its loans and is asking for a 6-month moratorium on repaying its $60 billion debt, which is sending the international financial world reeling. (Hat tips to Rafi , and Yeranen Yaakov ). Now what if they had, with all that investment money, helped out their own brethren, say, the so-called Palestinians, in building an infrastructure of a new "Palestinian" state? Wouldn't that have shown the world that the Arabs do care for their own people, and are working towards building a better future for themselves? Instead, they built a Middle Eastern fantasy land. And now the bubble has burst. Good thing Israel didn't BUY much into Dubai. . . ( But boy, do I love those hotel interiors! ) Oh, and let's not forget about the sheik's silver Audi A8. That is, it's...

It took 73 years, but Margaret Bergmann Lambert's 1936 high-jumping record, disallowed by the Nazis because she was Jewish, has now been finally restored. She had been on the German Olympic Team in name only, as the Nazis never intended for her to play in the Olympic Games of 1936. They were actually putting on a show for the Americans and Europeans who were threatening to boycott the games because of Nazi discrimination against Jews. A little late, wouldn't you say?

I have written previously about my feelings on Thanksgiving, and am linking my post from 2007 on the subject, here . This year, we are going to friends on Thanksgiving Day, and on Friday night-as per our years-long tradition-we are having another Thanksgiving/Shabbat dinner, this year at another friend, our regular 'Thanksgiving buddy' with whom we started this minhag , many snows ago. But being that I still wanted to share a post related to the holiday, and seeing that I received this interesting holiday wish by email (from my now-famous "sister-in-law's sister-in-law"), I decided to pass it on to you, my loyal readers. ( No animals were harmed in the making of this picture ). May your stuffing be tasty. May your turkey be plump. May your potatoes 'n gravy have nary a lump. May your yams be delicious. May your pies take the prize. May your Thanksgiving dinner stay off of your thighs. HAVE A BLESSED THANKSGIVING (as always, thank you so much for...

Oh, I wish I had been on Rehov Ben Yehudah street this past Friday, November 20th, 2009, to see this flash mob dance in the middle of the midrachov * ! It looks 'spontaneous,' but of course it was planned and choreographed to look that way, by none other than Nefesh b'Nefesh . It is just so catching and contagious. Makes one feel like celebrating. Chanukah is not far off; hey I've got an idea: let's all celebrate it in. . . ISRAEL!! *midrachov: pedestrian mall, lit. "sidewalk-street."

Okay, I searched and searched, and with my old eyes it went right past me. I knew my daughter, the one in the IDF, was going to be commanding new Golani recruits, and as they were filmed and a clip shown on Arutz Shtayim (channel 2) news which I embedded on this blog, I looked for her, in case she was on camera. Couldn't find her. Then, she called last night (this morning early, her time), and said she saw herself on TV! While still on the phone, my husband and I found her on the news site on my blog, and took screen shots as she walked across the screen. Here she is (her 3 seconds of fame. . . )! (If you are reading this today, you might still be able to see her in motion: watch the Channel Two News site to the right, it's in today's news.)

Well (I was taught never to begin a sentence with 'well'), big brother (all 1 year of him) --my new grandson's baby sister has a name, henceforth, in the interest of anonymity to be referred to as Googles and Tiddly, respectively. Her father, Nathaniel Bloomenstein managed to get to shul on Shabbat and get an aliyah to name her. Everyone (Mister Arnold Mayergi and his lovely wife Hardally, Nathaniel's sister Rambo, and of course, his wife Noodles and their two kids Googles and Tiddly) were together for Friday night seudat Shabbat. I know that Toodles, who left Israel in July, misses them terribly and really wanted to be there, but like us, she couldn't, for financial reasons. But I also know that she is thrilled at their choice of the baby's name, Tiddly, which is very close to Toodles' own--can't you tell? ( -Just spoke to Nathaniel B. on the phone-he was in bed already-and he said his sister Toodles' name had nothing to do with it!) He (Tiddly...

Yesterday I was not feeling well. After suffering chills and exteme fatique during the day--I managed to make through four hours of work (contract)--I went home and went to bed at 3:30 p.m. An hour and a half later, upon waking up, I realized that I was still weak and couldn't concentrate, so I cancelled the classes I was supposed to teach that night, and went to bed for the night at 8:19 p.m. I am feeling a little better this morning, and I have to--because we are volunteering at the Lamp Lighter Tribute tonight, on the occasion of the first yahrtzeit of the deaths of Rav Gavriel Noach and Rebbetzin Rivka Holtzberg, ztz"l, who were brutally murdered last year, November 26th, 2008, during the terror attacks in Mumbai, India. There is no need to repeat the praises about the Holtzbergs and the work they did as Chabad shluchim in Mumbai, because everyone in the tribe knows how wonderful they were, what good they did, what kindnesses they showed to strangers, and how they brou...

. . . To see a bit of the meteor shower last night, er, this morning! I came out of REM sleep a little after 3:00 a.m., having gone to bed too late--slightly after eleven, figuring that that was it, I'll never wake up in time--and said to myself, 'groovy (I'm from the 60's), I have another hour's sleep before I need to do this.' So I dozed till slightly after 4 a.m., heaved myself out of bed, padded downstairs still in my PJs and night socks, put on a snood and my warm Shabbat coat and went outside, first to the front of our townhome (there was no way I was getting into a car and driving anywhere half asleep.). I had already decided not to wake my husband, who was snoring -uh, in deep sleep, and wasn't that interested anyway (he said to me prior to going to bed, approximately--'it comes once a year, what's the rush?!) The problem with the front of our place is, we have outside lights which go on automatically at night--turned on by the management--...

My husband and I now have a NEW BABY GRANDDAUGHTER in Jerusalem!!! She was born about an hour ago, and I am plastered on the ceiling!!! Will posts pics of baby sister as soon as I get them; the following are pics of her Abba and her Big Brother! (oh, and Haveil Havalim #243 is up at Ima on & off the Bima . Go, read--but first wish me a MAZAL TOV!!!)

Really, Leora's post and looking at her photo of her 'chanukah table' with all their menorahs on them made me wax nostalgic. . . Chanukah was one of our favorite magical holidays when our kids were little. I know it's a very Northern Hemisphere view of it, but our memories of Chanukah are of dark, snowy evenings with our chanukiyots'* blazing candles in all the colors of the rainbow, or their oil wicks flickering in the air, creating dancing shadows on the walls and reflections in the frosty windows, lighting up the night from within. A Jewish Holiday Meme via Here in HP (who got it from Ima on the Bima , who got it from--oh, enough already!): Everything that I am writing about below took place in the past. Our children haven't been home for a long time now, and except for 2004 in a different state, and 2005 in Israel, we have not been together for Chanukah in years. But this is what we used to do, and hopefully, in the near future, do again (with the ad...

The Leonid Meteor Shower is supposed to be at it's peak in the wee hours of the morning Tuesday, which in my language is the 'middle of the night.' As much as I want to see it, I don't know if I can get up at 2 or 3 a.m. to watch the peak at 4 a.m. (you have to allow for driving time out of the city). On the other hand, this might be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity (although G-d willing I will live to 120, so I might see it once or twice more. . . ). I need to make a decision. Go to bed at 8 p.m., perhaps, in order to get my 7-8 hours sleep? I also don't think I have such good " dark-adapted vision "; last time I remember, I couldn't see all the stars of the Little Dipper with my naked eye. Nevertheless, it would be an adventure, if I have the energy for it. Will let you know... Found some interesting facts through the first article linked: Top Ten facts about Leonid meteor showers, here . *Copyright alert: No infringement of any text or graphic c...

Oops. The army, er, "screwed up" (direct translation). At the Maccabim checkpoint near Modiin on Highway 443, the spikes suddenly. . . popped up. And more than twenty cars went across and had blowouts, all over the road. See the whole story on the Kikar Shabat site, here . The Israeli equivalent of the AAA, called "Yedidim" ('friends') had their hands full that day. As they say, STUFF happens. . .

I didn't put up my "Dept. of Redundancy Dept." pic by accident, but rather by design. In this blog, I find myself repeating myself and repeating myself (and, um, repeating myself). I've written about the legitimacy of the Jews' right to the Land of Israel and the BIG LIE of the so-called "Palestinians" many times, case in point, here , back in November of '07. So I decided to post again a related excerpt of an article from Myths and Facts , about the BIG LIE (don't like that? Okay, call it a HUMONGOUS UNTRUTH) perpetrated by the Arabs after June 1967, when they lost yet another war that they had started against Israel. It is called " Palestinians- Peoplehood Based on a Big Lie " by Eli E. Hertz, from March 31, 2008: The Palestinians claim that they are an ancient and indigenous people fails to stand up to historic scrutiny. Most Palestinian Arabs were newcomers to British Mandate Palestine . Until the 1967 Six-Day War made it exp...

This is the response of some New York Muslims, praising the atrocity committed by Major Nadal Hassan at Ft. Hood, Texas (hat tip, Aharon): America, when will you wake up? When it's too late?

Okay. This has got to 'take the cake.' Thanks to my illustrious, industrious sister-in-law's sister-in-law (thanks, A.!) in sunny Flawriduh, you are privileged to view this video news report (as seen on WeJew) about Kosher Gasoline, er--Gefilte Fish with Gas (as in, "I'll have some gas with that fish , please). What's really cute, is people in the know can see immediately that the "reporter" (yeah, right) hasn't a clue of what she is reporting about. Unfortunately, the interview-ees don't seem to, either. But, hey--just geeve ah keek , and enjoy. (let's hear it for Borough Park!)

The recent horrific events at Ft. Hood, Texas and everything else that is going on in the world have thrown me off kilter. I need to get back to the Good, the Fun, and the Silly & Talented. Here's another video by (drum roll, please) -- The Voca People . (I wrote about them this past May, here .) If the every nation worked on kindness and generosity to others, getting " Geshmack " divrei Torah and making people laugh with great performances by talented people, THE WORLD WOULD BE A BETTER PLACE! (You know, with the two of us still unemployed, I really could use some royalties and commission from these free plugs...could someone--anyone--please support this blog??!) (*btw, Haveil Havalim is UP, at Jack's .)

While the Palestinians and other Muslims are rioting, burning cars, boycotting Israeli products, beheading infidels, beating women, stabbing guards, blowing themselves up in the midst of civilians and murdering soldiers on Army bases , A United States and Israeli team (should I assume Christians and, yes-- J-E-W-S ?) are studying supernova and discovering exploding stars . *Copyright alert: No infringement of any text or graphic copyright is ever intended on this blog. If you own the copyright to any original image or document used for the creation of the graphics or information on this site, please contact the blog administrator with all pertinent info so that proper credit can be given. If you wish to have it removed from the site, just say the word; it shall be, ASAP.

A major who was a psychiatrist in the United States Army who treated soldiers with PTSD, went on a rampage today and gunned down now 13 people, injuring 31 or so more, at Ft. Hood, Texas. He was about to be deployed to Afghanistan. Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News , World News , and News about the Economy Everyone is trying to figure out what his motives were for doing this horrific deed. The pundits are attributing possible political motives to his actions, as he had made statements that Muslims in Iraq should 'rise up against the Americans' and he spoke about 'suicide bombings' as an effective way to kill soldiers. Oh, by the way--his name is Major Malik Nadal Hassan, a Virginia-born Muslim who chose "Palestinian" as his nationality. (Did you expect anything different?) He signed up for medical school, joining the Army after high school and completing college. The Army paid for all of it--at least six years. He worked at Walter Reed (and got a poor wo...

U.N. Watch has done it again--brought to light testimony by an Israeli physician who was injured along with her patients when her clinic was attacked by rockets from Gaza. In the course of her formidable speech at the U.N. she asked several important questions of Judge Goldstone, which he totally ignored. The full text of the speech is below the video (emphasis mine). UN Watch Oral Statement Delivered by Dr. Mirela Siderer, 29 September 2009 Agenda Item 7: Report of the fact-finding mission on Gaza My name is Dr. Mirela Siderer. I am a gynecologist living in Ashkelon, Israel. Judge Richard Goldstone, in July you invited me to testify. I told you my story. I am known by my patients -- including many women from Gaza. For me, every human being is equal. On May 14, 2008, my life was changed forever. I was working in my clinic. Suddenly, the building was hit by a missile, fired from Gaza. I was terribly wounded. Blood was everywhere. My patient was also wounded, and more than 100 others....

I know this is an annual event (my husband just tonight alerted me to it's impending appearance)--the Leonid meteor shower --but I am still reeling from the video we saw last night, a 3-hour production made from the TV mini-series, "Impact." It is a science-fiction story about a meteor shower during which a brown dwarf crashes into the moon and jars it out of it's orbit, putting it on a collision course with Earth. The brown dwarf embedded in the moon also has a mass twice the mass of Earth and a strong magnetic and gravitational pull, and wreaks havoc on Earth with intermittent EMP events and gravitational anomalies. I have no idea whether or not this is scientifically possible, but I have to admit, the premise gave me pause. Now, with the Leonid Meteor Shower about to present on or about November 17th, I am thinking, we are so vulnerable here on our little lonely planet, out there by itself in vast space. . . Ok, enough of that. What we'll do is just break o...