Tikkun Olam

I've written time and time again on this blog about the Arab, so-called "Palestinian" culture and mentality, and how they are focused on hatred of the Jews and Israel, on whom they blame all their troubles. From early on, young 'Palestinian' children are indoctrinated to hate Israel and to grow up to be "martyrs" and do "jihad."  Mitt Romney, on his visit to Israel, stated something similar when he remarked that Israel's economic success was due to its culture.  If the Arabs focused on bettering their lives, on extending rights to their women, on building infrastructure and creating jobs--not as they did in Gaza when they were handed functioning greenhouses on a silver platter by the Israelis when they withdrew, and trashed them--their economic situation would improve greatly. In addition to blaming all their problems on The Other : Israel, thus removing the responsibility from their own corrupt leadership, they are also an authoritarian,...

(nablopomo day 15) An interesting cultural Israeli mix.  Have to put this stuff, each song in its entirety, on my MP3.  I love just hearing the Ivrit* , and the beat (I'm a poet!).  And in my opinion, good Israeli RAP music is much better than American rap--and this from someone who dislikes rap intensely.

Ok, this is not original as I received it in an email from my famous relative, my "sister-in-law's sister-in-law," you know the one. (-and there is absolutely no offense meant to either Jews or non-Jews.) But it's still cute...er, maybe not...so just have a laugh (or cry, whatever!) JEWISH VS GOYISH Judges Are Jewish Juries Are Goyish Packing all the mini hotel shampoos is Jewish Using them is Goyish Ordering family style is Jewish Ordering a la carte is Goyish Cruises are Jewish Walking tours are Goyish Laugh-In was Jewish Hee Haw was Goyish Grabbing lox from the back of the buffet first, is Jewish Grabbing melon from the front is Goyish Bunions are Jewish Flat feet are Goyish Simon Says is Jewish The Hokey Pokey is Goyish " Bewitched " is Jewish " I Dream of Jeannie " is Goyish The Limbo is Jewish Line dancing is Goyish Picking from your mate's plate is Jewish Not wanting even a "little taste" is Goyish Fruitcake is Goyish Fru...

I saw this on IsraellyCool and fell off my chair. Then I went to the article by Youssef M. Ibrahim * as published in Jewish World Review and saw that it was originally written in June of 2006. My heart sank; it's two and a half years, and they still haven't learned their lesson. What's it gonna take. . . I dread thinking about it. To my Arab brothers: The War with Israel Is Over — and they won. Now let’s finally move forward With Israel entering its fourth week of an incursion into the same Gaza Strip it voluntarily evacuated a few months ago, a sense of reality among Arabs is spreading through commentary by Arab pundits, letters to the editor, and political talk shows on Arabic-language TV networks. The new views are stunning both in their maturity and in their realism. The best way I can think of to convey them is in the form of a letter to the Palestinian Arabs from their Arab friends: Dear Palestinian Arab brethren: The war with Israel is over. You have lost. S...

. . . to CNN for it's brilliant, one-sided histrionic reporting-again- with their article entitled In Gaza, Living with Anger and Fear . I've got an idea: let's subsitute the word "Sderot, Ashkelon or Gedera in the same paragraphs, use Jewish names and paraphrase it, something like THIS: "Listen, listen to this!" shouts Fida Qishta Re'ut as the crackling of rockets is heard over her phone receiver. "It's difficult for anybody to imagine that in a second, maybe when I am talking to you on the phone, maybe something [will] happen to me or to my family," the Palestinian blogger Israeli mother told CNN from her home in Gaza Sderot, [or Ashkelon, or Gedera, or the rest of Southern Israel]. She has gotten little sleep during the past 10 days as Israel Hamas continues its attacks on her homeland, prompting the [defense] attacks the Jewish state says are designed to stop months years of rocket strikes on southern Israel by Hamas militants t...

Where is the United Nations in all this? Where is their "moral compass?"(-as Dennis Prager would say). Oh, here it is; seems they dropped it. I think it's irreparable: 3 January 2009 – Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has voiced his deep concern over Israel's launch of a ground operation into Gaza today, with the Security Council calling an emergency meeting to discuss the situation. Mr. Ban expressed his extreme disappointment to Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert. “He is convinced and alarmed that this escalation will inevitably increase the already heavy suffering of the affected civilian populations,” according to a statement issued by the Secretary-General''s spokesperson. “He called for an immediate end to the ground operation, and asked that Israel do all possible to ensure the protection of civilians and that humanitarian assistance is able to reach those in need.” All I hear the U.N. spouting is anti-Israel rhetoric. Where is the protest of the ...

Instead of fressing on left-over chicken (see previous post) I think I'll have some of my husband's heavenly left-over chicken soup, complete with (I'm salivating already) matzah balls, so light, they float on air. . . No wonder those smart Chinese Zoo Keepers at the Beijing Zoo are feeding their pandas the same thing. They know what food is the best stress-reliever (such as the stress from suddenly realizing that there is no one to vote for for President of the United States this November.) He Zhihua said 3-year-old Xiwang and Weiwei — literally meaning "Hope" and "Greatness" — were tired and suffering from a little shock since the start Monday of the weeklong National Day holiday. . . That's exactly how I feel after two intense days of Rosh Hashana and the vice-presidential candidate debate: tired and suffering from a little shock. "They had been getting less sleep, and they had to run around more," No, DUH. I'm going downstairs ri...

Today there was a new type of terror attack in Yerushalayim. An Arab drove a bulldozer through a major street deliberately targeting civilians in private cars and public buses. He drove into two buses repeatedly until they overturned, and he drove over several cars, crushing the occupants. A brave young off-duty soldier took the initiative and climbed onto the bulldozer in an attempt to stop the murderer. He succeeded in shooting the driver several times, and finally a police officer also climbed onto the 'dozer and put the final shot into him. Read more about this young man who helped save countless lives, here . Below is the Israel Channel 10 video (also on Tamar Yonah's blog on Israel National News, Arutz Sheva): This is the second terror attack on civilians since the Mercaz HaRav murders of eight young unarmed Yeshiva students. Thank G-d, at least in this attack in Jerusalem, there more people who were ARMED, were already there and ready to TAKE ACTION IMMEDIATE...

( This post is rather long, but bear with it-there's a movie at the end, children !) Pesach is just around the corner. It was my most favorite chag as a child; different dishes, utensils and pots and pans; different tablecloths, kiddush cups and beautiful embroidered matzah covers instead of challah boards. Even different bedspreads on the beds; a scrubbed and polished apartment: I was entering a new universe, olam habah on this earth. My new and shiny surroundings set the stage for the important message of that holiday: That the Jewish People were delivered from slavery to freedom, to form a nation under the one G-d, who chose us for a higher purpose, to be a higher civilization; perhaps to give the world The Law, the Torah that Hashem gave us-to set the standard for ourselves and to raise the world to that standard as well. But I think we Jews have lost our way. Two thousand plus years in galut , and we are still having growing pains and identity crises. These were not so pre...

In my post entitled The Reason to Support Israel I made certain statements about Arab culture. While they were not meant to offend anyone, I did intend to tell the truth, even if it was not politically correct. And that, by itself, could offend, if the offendee is not willing to see himself and his culture in bright light. Here is a portion of a comment left on that post: "... to call all Arabs barbarians is simply disgusting and outrageous. While there are more than certainly extremists, it is no excuse to belittle a nation who has contributed much to the world (have you not learned about the Islamic expansion not to mention the niceties they gave to the Jews and Christians living under their rule). I would look at our (Jewish) religious extremist too..." What can I say? Of course there are exceptions; the exceptions (as in most cultures) are mainly the ordinary people – the ‘little guys’- who just want to raise their families and live their lives in peace. But we don'...

I began responding to a comment by "joseph" on my previous post, when I realized I should just post about it--it was that important. So here it is: You say Senator Barack Obama is good for America, because he will stop America from financially supporting the Arabs or Israel. From what I know about him and his record, I don't think he will support Israel. In any event, I agree with the former: not supporting the Arabs, yes; but I totally disagree with not supporting Israel. The Arab rulers are multi-millionaires, who are not only keeping the power and money for themselves without regard to their own people, many of whom are impoverished and exploited, but they are also holding the United States and much of the rest of the world 'over a barrel' by their control of the price of oil, which they know that the USA desperately needs to function. They are cutthroat , authoritarian and barbaric (with some exceptions; can't think of any off the top of my head at this mo...

Someone used this phrase in a comment on a post about the hijab wearing Jewish women in Ramat Bet Shemesh Alef: "modern Hareidi community;" this is an oxymoron. Just for the record, I rarely agree with a Hareidi interpretation of anything. This mode of dress is just a bad interpretation of a good concept ( tzniyut ) taken to extremes. Personally, I cover my hair because I feel it increases my humility by remembering that there is a G-d above me ( not because of the reason of less attraction to men). I chose many years ago to do so; but I have come to believe a woman can be Orthodox without covering her hair all the time; just while in shul, and where it shows respect for the Torah, such as at shiurim, or where it is the preferred mode of dress, such as at yeshiva dinners and the like. But to go to the grocery? Not necessarily . I think the whole message of tzniyut is lost in those hijab cases: where will they go next? Hiding in the home and not going out? Sitting behind a cur...

Another phony attempt at so-called "peace-talks" is coming up at Annapolis this week. I say 'phony' because it is Israel who is offering concessions while the Arabs have not stopped the kassam attacks coming from Gaza and are basically not offering anything, just demanding more and more. Arlene Peck says it so well. It just angers me so much, that I am beside myself. I find myself repeating myself to friends, in letters to the editor in newspapers, on my blog, and it falls on deaf ears. I could be sending this to the State Department; and it would still fall on deaf ears. What kind of stupidity is this, Israel 'getting together 'with Arab nations who hate her, some of whom won't even change their charters to acknowledge that she exists or has a right to exist-to conduct talks for 'peace?' When the basic premise hasn't even been met yet? And have you noticed that the world doesn't acknowledge Israel's contributions, to anything? The few...

Thanksgiving Day is an interesting phenomenon. I just love the traditional Thanksgiving dinner: Roast turkey with stuffing, a sweet potato or winter squash souffle-type side dish (sometimes with yams, sometimes with marshamallow fluff mixed in), cranberry sauce (sometimes cranberry-orange), and then those fantastic desserts which we rarely have during the rest of the year, such as pumpkin pie, and a special tradition in our house thanks to my-husband-the-chef, french chocolate silk pie, and pecan pie as well. Years ago we also used to make apple pie, in addition to the three aforementioned ones. It's no wonder we gained a little spare tire over the years. . . In their great wisdom, the powers that be of the time, the early Pilgrims, set aside a holiday after their first harvest in 1621, which was " ...an autumn celebration of food, feasting, and praising G-d." In 1789, President George Washington issued a " National Thanksgiving Proclamation " assigning the ...