Tikkun Olam

I wish I could take credit for thinking this up, but alas, it is from another circulating email that my friend, M. (yes, that M) has sent me.  After reading it, I think I know the reason Jews are so smart, and neurotic.  It's the diet. Subject:    Jewish Weapons of Mass Destruction Latkes A pancake-like structure, not to be confused with anything a first-class health restaurant would put out. In a latke the oil remains inside the pancake. It is made with potatoes, onions, eggs and matzo meal. Latkes can be eaten with applesauce but COULD also be used to comb your hair, shine your shoes or lubricate your automobile. There is a rumor that in the time of the Maccabees, they lit a latke by mistake and it burned for eight days. What is certain is that you will have heartburn for the same amount of time. It tastes GREAT but will stop your heart if the grease gets cold. ...

Okay, I know I joked about my kiddees eating our home-made spinach latkes which I just froze, when they visit us just before the holiday of Passover starts because, of course, they--the latkes, not the kids--are not kosher for Passover? I don't have nothin' on this, however:* They can't spell, either. Makes those old latkes look good, wouldn't you say? And, guess who sent me this? Correct: my Chief Chef, of course (see his blog at www.kosherkook.com). *( Warning : viewer discretion advised, for un-tzniyusdik and absolutely gross content. Must be over 18 to view this, accompanied by a. . .EMT guy with blinders on. Blog Administrator not responsible for any physical or spiritual consequences to video-viewer.) Alka-Seltzer, anyone?

The last day of Chanukah was this past Shabbat. I have a lot of trouble transitioning from a chag * to a regular week; I never want to let go of the holiday: it is my connection with ha-olam ha-ruchani *, and I keep wanting to hang on. . .so it was just today that I uploaded my Chanukah pictures and am posting some of them here (and will share them on Me-ander , too). This year, unlike last year, I took plenty of pics, as we had a full chag (Baruch Hashem), including a friend's annual open-house, a Chabad family dinner and a party of our own on the 6th night, complete with home-made latkes, or levivot* in Hebrew (a joint venture) and home-made sufganiyot * (the Head Chef did it all by himself). It all culminated with a shared family-and-friends-Shabbat-dinner on the last night of Chanukah, at our home. Here are some of the highlights: The two photos above are of our card table which annually morphs into a chanukiya table. Our dining room table transformed into a Chanukah Party ...

The holiday of Chanukah is going splendidly so far (Baruch Hashem). We have had Chanukah party after party, get-together after get-together, and eaten home-made and store bought levivot ('latkes' for you Eastern European-type Yiddish folks) and sufganiyot (jelly doughnuts or "Bismarks" for you, uh, other folks. . .) In addition, which actually was the highlight of the week, the sixth night of Chanukah--in Israel--it was the fifth day for us--we had the great treat of being with our children & grandchildren , albeit virtually, for their Chanukiyah lighting ceremony and songs. How, you ask? (thought you'd never). Very simple: my younger son Nathaniel Blumenstein invited his brother, Mister Arnold Mayergi & his lovely wife Hardally & their baby sister Rambo to Jerusalem for that night's candle-lighting in their apartment (or flat , for you Europeans). N.Blumenstein ( he can cook, a little like his Abba) had fried yummy levivot for the occasion, ...

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...

Chanukah is coming. I wrote that before the chag began. I can't believe that I haven't been able to post since November 30th: my computer has been out of commission so long that now Chanukah is here ! Thank G-d we have the most wonderful chagim (holidays) to remind us of Goodness, and Light, and the Purpose of Life--especially in the light (NO pun intended there) of what is happening in the U.S. with the revelation of serious corruption and fraud, some major one even perpetrated by a Jew named Bernie (a shanda): fodder for anti-Semitism, of course. My computer had been corrupted by 2 Trojans which disabled the security software - how appropriate, in this season, to beware of Greeks bearing gifts --but now they have been quarantined (the Trojans, not the Greeks) and I can reconnect to the internet, my lifeline. I felt totally disconnected (not a pun. really.) without it . Now to my earth-shatteringly-important question: why, oh why do they NOT have levivot* in Israel? You ge...