Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Showing posts with label israel. Show all posts
Monday, April 15, 2013
Wednesday, April 25, 2012
Happy birthday, Israel!
A few years ago, I wrote my own list, 13 things I love about Israel. I'm not as funny as Benji but here they are....
1. Felafel with cheeps and charif and pickles. Mmmmmm....
2. Walking on Ben Yehuda on Motzei Shabbat.
3. Watching kids play in parks that are full of ancient artifacts.
4. The whale sculpture in Old Jaffa.
5. Seeing Israeli kids riding the buses, hanging out, running around, just being kids and speaking Hebrew!
6. Spotting the blue paint in Tsfat.
7. Bumper stickers!!!!
8. The grottos of Rosh Hanikra, especially when the water levels are really high....
9. Watching the faces of first-timers when they really do float in the Dead Sea.
10. Reading Rachel's poems at her graveside.
11. Knowing that the young men and women carrying those big guns are Jewish kids ready to defend their homes and families.
12. Feeling Shabbat as it comes into Jerusalem...the frenzy of activity followed by the lovely calm. (And the shuk - rugelach and tomatoes and hummus and pita and spices and oranges and.....)
13. Feeling like I'm coming home.
Happy birthday, Israel. May you be safe and healthy and proud.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Making Bourekas
I somehow got it in my mind that I wanted to make Bourekas for Shavuot. One of my favorite Israeli treats, a boureka is a flaky pastry stuffed with...cheese, potatoes, tuna...etc. I found a recipe online and it went something like this:
You need:
1 egg, lightly beaten
8 ounces (1 3/4 cups or 225 grams) cups shredded mozzarella cheese
salt, pepper, your favorite seasonings
(chopped leeks - which I added into half the bourekas, because I had one leek from my vegetable delivery)
1 package frozen puff pastry
1 egg, lightly beaten
What to do:
1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a bowl, mix the egg, cheese and spices (and leeks)
2. In a bowl, mix the egg, cheese and spices (and leeks)
3. Divide puff pastry into 5 inch squares. Place a heaping tablespoon of cheese filling in each square. Dampen the edges of the squares with water, and fold in half diagonally to form triangular pastries. Pinch the edges together to seal the filling inside.*
*Working with the puff pastry was super easy. I defrosted it overnight, and then when I was ready to use it, I spread it out onto a lightly floured surface, cut each piece into quarters (so I ended up making 8 bourekas), and made the pastries. So easy I did it with one hand - held the baby with the other hand!)
4. Brush tops of borekas with beaten egg.
4. Brush tops of borekas with beaten egg.
5. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden.
Serve with salad - super duper yummy. I have one more package of puff pastry left in my freezer, can't wait to make them again. Next time I'm trying a potato filling...or a potato and cheese filling...or mushroom and spinach...or....yum.
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Solidarity With Israel
Today was Israel Solidarity Day/Walk With Israel.
I must admit to being less than impressed with the whole event. Too much speechifying, without enough crowd-pumping. I know that the Maccabeats performed at the end, but my small companions pooped out before the entertainment!
So here are my Israel-loving companions:
I must admit to being less than impressed with the whole event. Too much speechifying, without enough crowd-pumping. I know that the Maccabeats performed at the end, but my small companions pooped out before the entertainment!
So here are my Israel-loving companions:
My children have a pretty strong connection to Israel, even though they've never been there. They know that their parents met there, they know that we lived there for a time, and they know that their Uncle Harry lives there. They also hear about it all the time, they read books about it, watch videos about it...and they know that they will travel to Israel when they're older. We talk about those journeys all the time.
...but I must admit that the Walk With Israel leaves me wanting...it doesn't inspire. It's hard to get the kids to enjoy something that I find to be missing the proper excitement and energy. I have to think a little harder about what I want to do about it in the future. Where's the sparkle!? I know that there are so many political issues and questions about Israel...but that doesn't matter - I want my children to Ohavei Zion - lovers of the land of Israel.
How do you inspire your children to love Israel?
...but I must admit that the Walk With Israel leaves me wanting...it doesn't inspire. It's hard to get the kids to enjoy something that I find to be missing the proper excitement and energy. I have to think a little harder about what I want to do about it in the future. Where's the sparkle!? I know that there are so many political issues and questions about Israel...but that doesn't matter - I want my children to Ohavei Zion - lovers of the land of Israel.
How do you inspire your children to love Israel?
For some beautiful pictures from Israel and around the world go see my pal, Robin at Around the Island, who is again hosting Summer Stock Sunday. And link up!
What are you up to this summer?
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
8 Days - Aliyah and Chanukah
As you may know, my brother made aliyah in August of 2009, with Nefesh b'Nefesh. So they definitely hold a special place in my heart for what they helped him to do. (In case you're wondering, he's doing great and still in the army.)
Here's their entry into the Chanukah YouTube video fun, a trek throughout Israel celebrating each night (well, it's daytime but it's a music video, not really known for their realism) of Chanukah in a different part of the country. Cute, catchy, and entertaining. My favorite part is when he "unearths" a sufganiya, brushes it off with an archaeological tool, and then takes a big bite. Ew! But funny nevertheless.
What's your favorite Chanukah video?
Monday, July 12, 2010
Carrying the Torah with Pride
Today, I was greeted with this news about the arrest of Anat Hoffman, one of the leaders of Women of the Wall and the Reform movement in Israel.
From the Facebook page of Women of the Wall, this press release:
I'm torn, truthfully. I consider myself an ohevet Tzion, a lover of Zion. But I am intensely and incredibly hurt by this action taken by the police in Jerusalem. (I do, however, smile a little at the 30-day ban from the Kotel proscribed for Anat - which ends just in time for Rosh Chodesh Elul. Reminds me of the wise judge in the story of the sukkah who gave the owner 7 days to take it down...)
For now, I will continue to wait and see what happens in the land I love. I will fill my days and world with Torah and I will teach anyone who will listen about my own beliefs about equality and plurality and fairness and right.
And I will continue to carry the Torah with great pride.
Support Women of the Wall: on Facebook, or at their Website.
From the Facebook page of Women of the Wall, this press release:
ANAT HOFFMAN TAKEN INTO POLICE CUSTODY FOR CARRYING TORAHThis morning at OSRUI, Torah was read all over camp. Our readers were women and men. The Torah was carried by rabbis and teachers, counselors and staff - male and female. The Torah for which Anat was arrested is the Torah from which we teach and learn each and every day. The country that allowed for the arrest of a woman carrying the Torah is the country for which we pray for peace and safety each and every day.
Chairperson forcefully removed by police for carrying Torah
Jerusalem, Israel – One of the leaders of the Reform movement in Israel and Women of the Wall (WOW) was arrested for holding a sefer Torah during a Rosh Chodesh celebration at the Western Wall.
Women of the Wall (WOW) gathered this morning for their monthly Rosh Chodesh services at 7 a.m. on the women's side of the Kotel. Anat Hoffman, with a sefer Torah in her arms, led the 150 women strong prayer group in song as it continued its celebration in a procession toward Robinson's Arch.
Moments after leaving the Wall, police confronted and blocked the procession and began menacingly to attempt to remove the Torah from Hoffman's arms. Hundreds of participants watched in shock and distress as the Torah was jostled by police.
Hoffman was detained under the pretext that she was not praying according to the traditional customs of the Kotel. Hoffman was taken into police custody and interrogated for five hours. Police claim that holding the sefer Torah is against the Supreme Court ruling. Police are currently consulting with Attorney General to determine her charges.
Anat and her lawyer stated that the act of carrying a Torah is not mentioned in the Supreme Court ruling. Women of the Wall stood in solidarity with Anat outside of the Kishle Police Station near Jaffa Gate. Hoffman was released from police custody and banned from the Kotel for 30 days.
The arrest of a woman on the first day of the month of Av is a harsh reminder of the price that Israeli society may pay for its religious intolerance and fanaticism. Tomorrow at 13:30, WOW will lobby at the Knesset for civil equality and pluralism at the Kotel, emphasizing the Wall as a holy site for all streams of Judaism and advocating for equal rights of women at the Wall.
I'm torn, truthfully. I consider myself an ohevet Tzion, a lover of Zion. But I am intensely and incredibly hurt by this action taken by the police in Jerusalem. (I do, however, smile a little at the 30-day ban from the Kotel proscribed for Anat - which ends just in time for Rosh Chodesh Elul. Reminds me of the wise judge in the story of the sukkah who gave the owner 7 days to take it down...)
For now, I will continue to wait and see what happens in the land I love. I will fill my days and world with Torah and I will teach anyone who will listen about my own beliefs about equality and plurality and fairness and right.
And I will continue to carry the Torah with great pride.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
The Heroes of Israel
It was the War of Independence. Ilana was a teenager, a volunteer in Moshav Shafir. She, along with other teenaged volunteers, had been recruited as a saboteur. The tanks were coming, a long line of them, up through Gaza from Egypt. She and her fellow saboteurs were ordered to find all the explosives they could and place them under the bridge in Shafir, to blow up the bridge as soon as the first tank was on the bridge.
All the women and children had been evacuated from the area in anticipation of the arrival of the tanks, so the girls had been told. Ilana and her team stationed themselves directly under the bridge, awaiting their task.
The sound of a vehicle came, and they prepared to set the charges. Suddenly, Ilana said “Stop!” She heard something, something that indicated to her that this was not the tank they thought it was. She insisted to her compatriots that she heard the cry of a baby. As the vehicle came closer, they discovered that it was indeed true, the car held a woman with a new baby as well as another pregnant woman, being evacuated from a nearby town. Had they exploded the bridge…
Ilana, a young woman who became a heroine. Today Ilana is an older lady (she refused to reveal her age…a lady never tells), telling her story to groups of visitors to Shafir, standing on the bridge that she did not blow up. (The tanks never got that far.)
On the day we heard her story, another woman came over as Ilana finished telling her story. She was introduced to our group as “the pregnant woman’s baby” – Ilana had never met her before. But these two were forever linked by their story, their part in the formation of the young State. (The baby who cried, so they said, grew up to be a member of Knesset…) I felt goose bumps on my skin as these two women met and embraced. They were like long-lost sisters, joined by history.
The heroes of Eretz Yisrael are not politicians and soldiers (although they are so often heroes as well), but they are the ordinary citizens who have stories of their own to tell. These stories are what fill me up in the Land of Israel, and make the Land come alive.
Sixty-two years of stories…may the future bring so many more.
Looking Up at the Moon
This is the post I wrote for the 60 Bloggers for Israel project in 2008. In honor of Israel's 60th birthday, 60 bloggers each posted over the course of 60 days leading up to Yom Ha'atzma'ut. Unfortunately, the domain is no longer active, so my links to that post (which, for some reason, I didn't cross-post) aren't available. Luckily, I saved my post and here it is.
---
It was living in Israel that I really became aware of the cycle of the moon. Was it the clearer skies? Was it the life lived by the Hebrew months? Or was it the metaphorical closeness of the heavens? I believe it was all of the above. Only in Israel did the moon seem to guide my life, give me a sense of the date, greet my nights.
1.
Moses Montefiore’s windmill, Jerusalem, 3:00am, Shabbat morning.
Watching the moon rise and set over the Old City of Jerusalem…
talking, holding hands, waiting for him to kiss me for the first time.
2.
Mitzpe Ramon Crater, the Negev, 11:00pm
Laying on the rocks, looking up, the moon so close
we can reach out and touch it.
3.
Keren haYesod Street, Jerusalem, midnight, Yom Kippur
Walking on a quiet, car-empty street
the moon is half-there, growing in potential as we grow ourselves…
Wherever I am, wherever I go, when I see the moon, I am in Eretz Yisrael.
The waxing and waning of the moon has been compared to the Jewish people, always returning, always present, always renewing ourselves. The moon may be hard to see but it always returns, even more vibrant, more beautiful each time we see it. Israel is like this to me – no matter how many weeks, months, years pass between my visits, it is more vibrant, more beautiful.
“You are a crown of glory for those who are borne in the womb, for they, like you, are destined to be renewed.” (from Kiddush Levanah)
Eretz Yisrael…our crown of glory…may its shimmering light shine for us always.
---
It was living in Israel that I really became aware of the cycle of the moon. Was it the clearer skies? Was it the life lived by the Hebrew months? Or was it the metaphorical closeness of the heavens? I believe it was all of the above. Only in Israel did the moon seem to guide my life, give me a sense of the date, greet my nights.
1.
Moses Montefiore’s windmill, Jerusalem, 3:00am, Shabbat morning.
Watching the moon rise and set over the Old City of Jerusalem…
talking, holding hands, waiting for him to kiss me for the first time.
2.
Mitzpe Ramon Crater, the Negev, 11:00pm
Laying on the rocks, looking up, the moon so close
we can reach out and touch it.
3.
Keren haYesod Street, Jerusalem, midnight, Yom Kippur
Walking on a quiet, car-empty street
the moon is half-there, growing in potential as we grow ourselves…
Wherever I am, wherever I go, when I see the moon, I am in Eretz Yisrael.
The waxing and waning of the moon has been compared to the Jewish people, always returning, always present, always renewing ourselves. The moon may be hard to see but it always returns, even more vibrant, more beautiful each time we see it. Israel is like this to me – no matter how many weeks, months, years pass between my visits, it is more vibrant, more beautiful.
“You are a crown of glory for those who are borne in the womb, for they, like you, are destined to be renewed.” (from Kiddush Levanah)
Eretz Yisrael…our crown of glory…may its shimmering light shine for us always.
Monday, April 19, 2010
13 Things I Love About Israel
In honor of Yom Ha'atzma'ut, Israel's Independence Day, here is one of my favorite posts, a list of 13 things I love about Israel...
(13 of the 13 bazillion...)
1. Felafel with cheeps and charif and pickles. Mmmmmm....
2. Walking on Ben Yehuda on Motzei Shabbat.
3. Watching kids play in parks that are full of ancient artifacts.
4. The whale sculpture in Old Jaffa.
5. Seeing Israeli kids riding the busses, hanging out, running around, just being kids and speaking Hebrew!
6. Spotting the blue paint in Tsfat.
7. Bumper stickers!!!!
8. The grottos of Rosh Hanikra, especially when the water levels are really high....
9. Watching the faces of first-timers when they really do float in the Dead Sea.
10. Reading Rachel's poems at her graveside.
11. Knowing that the young men and women carrying those big guns are Jewish kids ready to defend their homes and families.
12. Feeling Shabbat as it comes into Jerusalem...the frenzy of activity followed by the lovely calm. (And the shuk - rugelach and tomatoes and hummus and pita and spices and oranges and.....)
13. Feeling like I'm coming home.
Here's the post I wrote about my brother's aliyah - it's his first Yom Ha'atzma'ut as an Israeli!
Happy birthday, Israel! May each day bring more blessing to your land and people.
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Found in Translation...
The new movie, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, came out over the Rosh HaShanah weekend. For obvious reasons, we haven't seen it yet, so this isn't a movie review.
Some movies are translated directly from one language to another. But this one...
"Rain of Felafel"
Sounds about right to me!
Kippah tip to Mixed Multitudes.
(Can't wait to see the movie. It's one of my favorite books!)
Some movies are translated directly from one language to another. But this one...
"Rain of Felafel"
Sounds about right to me!
Kippah tip to Mixed Multitudes.
(Can't wait to see the movie. It's one of my favorite books!)
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
I ♥ Israel...a Tu B'Av Post
Wednesday is Tu B'Av, a relatively unknown "holiday" in the Jewish calendar. Coming fast on the heels of Tisha B'Av (the 9th of Av), Tu B'Av (the 15th of Av) is completely its opposite. It is a Jewish "love" day - young unmarried girls would dance in white dresses and sing in the vineyards of Jerusalem. Less than a week after the mournful day of Tisha B'Av, Tu B'Av offers a respite, a reminder that life goes on, that love goes on, that we must endure and continue to celebrate. It is a chance to be joyous and silly after weeks of preparation for mourning.
Yesterday, my brother made aliyah. This means that he "went up" to the Land of Israel, it means that he accepted his "Right of Return" available to all Jews all over the world, it means that he officially became an Israeli citizen.
He left Monday on a chartered Nefesh b'Nefesh flight and arrived at 6:45am on Tuesday in Israel. If you asked him why he was making aliyah, his basic answer was "I want to be Israeli. I want my kids to be Israeli. I love Israel." I have not always been thrilled with this choice that he's making. I love my brother and I want to have him around. I suppose in so many ways, I have been selfishly wanting to keep him here, to have him be a constant presence in the lives of my children and my family. But I have watched his determination in the last few weeks that he's spent here in the US with us, and I watched him kiss the ground when he got off the plane (thank you NBN's webcast!) and I cried tears of joy for him.
Some pictures that I grabbed from the NBN webcast. I wish I could have been there to celebrate with him. (captions below pictures)
Getting off the plane.
Kissing the ground (he and 2 friends did this - I actually saw less people do this than I thought. I would totally kiss the ground. Good job, Harry!)
Getting off the bus at the terminal
Waiting for the ceremony to start.
Many dignitaries spoke, including the Prime Minister. No matter what your political feelings are, it is a pretty remarkable event in this history of the Land and in the history of each of these individual olim (immigrants). What an incredible experience.
My little brother, the aliyahnik. My baby brother, the soldier. Yes, that's right, he's going into the IDF starting in about October. I'm so proud of him that I could burst.
And who knows....maybe someday we'll join him??? Life takes lots of turns and I'm not ever going to rule it out.
So today on Tu B'Av, a love of Israel that blossomed into an amazing, life-changing commitment for my brother and our whole family. May God watch over him and keep him safe, may his journey be blessed, and may he know much happiness and peace.
Yesterday, my brother made aliyah. This means that he "went up" to the Land of Israel, it means that he accepted his "Right of Return" available to all Jews all over the world, it means that he officially became an Israeli citizen.
He left Monday on a chartered Nefesh b'Nefesh flight and arrived at 6:45am on Tuesday in Israel. If you asked him why he was making aliyah, his basic answer was "I want to be Israeli. I want my kids to be Israeli. I love Israel." I have not always been thrilled with this choice that he's making. I love my brother and I want to have him around. I suppose in so many ways, I have been selfishly wanting to keep him here, to have him be a constant presence in the lives of my children and my family. But I have watched his determination in the last few weeks that he's spent here in the US with us, and I watched him kiss the ground when he got off the plane (thank you NBN's webcast!) and I cried tears of joy for him.
Some pictures that I grabbed from the NBN webcast. I wish I could have been there to celebrate with him. (captions below pictures)
Waiting for the ceremony to start.
Many dignitaries spoke, including the Prime Minister. No matter what your political feelings are, it is a pretty remarkable event in this history of the Land and in the history of each of these individual olim (immigrants). What an incredible experience.
And who knows....maybe someday we'll join him??? Life takes lots of turns and I'm not ever going to rule it out.
So today on Tu B'Av, a love of Israel that blossomed into an amazing, life-changing commitment for my brother and our whole family. May God watch over him and keep him safe, may his journey be blessed, and may he know much happiness and peace.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
We're Still Waiting for Gilad Shalit
Last year I posted a similar post on this day.
I truly, horribly, completely wish that I were not writing the same post today.
From this website:
Gilad Schalit was born on August 28th, 1986, in Nahariya and raised in Mitzpe Hilla in the Western Galilee by his parents Aviva and Noam with his siblings Yoel and Hadas. At the end of July 2005 Gilad began his military service in a combat unit of the armored corps. For the two months prior to his kidnapping, he has been on duty guarding and ensuring the security of the settlements around Gaza.
On Sunday, June 25th 2006, in a terrorist attack on an IDF post at Kerem Shalom during which his unit friends have been killed, Gilad was taken captive and has been held since in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.
To this day Gilad didn’t receive any visits from an official faction, including the Red Cross, and there is no reliable information about his well being.
Three years have passed since his abduction. Let's remind everyone that he has yet to come home and demand his quick return.
On June 25th, the three-year anniversary to his abduction, please replace your personal profile picture with Gilad’s picture on Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, ICQ, Tapuz, bona, Mekusharim, news groups and any other social network or blog you’re a member of, and show the world that you are waiting for Gilad Schalit’s return.
Unfortunately, since my post last year, the remains of soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, abducted at the same time as Gilad, were returned to Israel.
We are still waiting for Gilad. Each and every day.
May his return come speedily and safely.
I truly, horribly, completely wish that I were not writing the same post today.
From this website:Gilad Schalit was born on August 28th, 1986, in Nahariya and raised in Mitzpe Hilla in the Western Galilee by his parents Aviva and Noam with his siblings Yoel and Hadas. At the end of July 2005 Gilad began his military service in a combat unit of the armored corps. For the two months prior to his kidnapping, he has been on duty guarding and ensuring the security of the settlements around Gaza.
On Sunday, June 25th 2006, in a terrorist attack on an IDF post at Kerem Shalom during which his unit friends have been killed, Gilad was taken captive and has been held since in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.
To this day Gilad didn’t receive any visits from an official faction, including the Red Cross, and there is no reliable information about his well being.
Three years have passed since his abduction. Let's remind everyone that he has yet to come home and demand his quick return.
On June 25th, the three-year anniversary to his abduction, please replace your personal profile picture with Gilad’s picture on Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, ICQ, Tapuz, bona, Mekusharim, news groups and any other social network or blog you’re a member of, and show the world that you are waiting for Gilad Schalit’s return.
Unfortunately, since my post last year, the remains of soldiers Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser, abducted at the same time as Gilad, were returned to Israel.
We are still waiting for Gilad. Each and every day.
May his return come speedily and safely.
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Let's Take it Real World, Old School
I was talking with some folks (as I do constantly) about the matzav (situation) in Israel. I feel a bit obsessed, as I think many of my fellow Israel-lovers and bloggers do, with the news. I can't stop refreshing Muqata and IsraellyCool and I scroll through my tweets looking for the news.
There are so many misconceptions being played out in the mainstream media (MSM). I nearly have an aneurisum each morning as I read my newspaper and I definitely almost ripped the radio out of my car the other day as I heard Jerome McDonnell say "well, there have just been a few rockets sent into Israel, right? and no one's really been hurt by it, right?" as he interviewed an Israeli journalist. (Who responded, wonderfully, by saying "That's like having the doctor say - your 14year old is pregnant but the good news is that she's only a little bit pregnant. There is no such thing as good rocket fire.")
I really believe that I am getting a balanced view. I'm sure there are those who would disagree with me, who would say that all my sources are Israeli in origin so I'm bound to get a biased view of the operation from that perspective. And I suppose that would be true. But I do believe that the MSM seems so biased against Israel, and since I continue (oddly enough) to read newspapers and MSM websites, I feel that I'm getting a pretty good sense of what might be the "Real Story."
(Picture from Reuters.com - of Israelis sheltering from a Qassam missile.)
The thing that bothered me the most this week, however, was the very well-intentioned person who listened to me refute information about the UN "school" that was bombed. (When we think of school, I'm pretty sure you all have the same idea in your head that I do - kids running around, books, desks, teachers, papers, pencils and erasers....but this is not that kind of school. So I feel that it puts the wrong idea into people's heads right off the bat. But I digress...)
Back to the well-intentioned person. She asked in a not-snottty, totally honest and well-intentioned way: "How are those of us who are not as informed supposed to know all of this?"
And I know that she is not an internet user, beyond the email and other tasks in the office. I know that if I asked her to regularly visit Muqata or even Haaretz.com she would not really be able to do it. So truthfully, I was a bit stumped and didn't quite know how to asnwer her except to say that I could provide her with a list of sources for her to look at.
But she probably won't.
She'll probably continue, in her kind and well-intentioned and well-informed way, to read the newspapers and watch the 6 o'clock news (which I haven't watched in years...it's still on, right?). And she'll believe, like so many Americans and Europeans do, that the nicely coiffed men and women sitting so officially behind those shiny desks or standing in front of those pretty flat-panel monitors are telling The Truth and reporting The Facts.
When we know they're not always.
So I offer this challenge to you, my dear readers. I am always asking you to blog or tweet or comment or visit. But today's challenge is a little different.
I'm asking you to pick one site or post or picture that you feel is representative of The Truth -- not the stuff being thrown around by the MSM but the stuff that you find to be Real and Right. Start, perhaps, with one of Jack's round ups or one of Jameel's liveblogs, or even just the count from your QassamCount status update.
Print it out.
(I know, I know, I'm supposed to be all green, but bear with me.)
And share it with the people that you care about most, the people that you think will not be reading it, the people that you think might look at you when you suggest that they log into TwiddleEast as though you're suggesting they jump through the Looking Glass. Share the paper with your co-workers, your friends, your grandmother.
We're all working so hard out here on the Internet. I think the time has come to move beyond that and back out into the Real World, Old School...
Are you with me?
There are so many misconceptions being played out in the mainstream media (MSM). I nearly have an aneurisum each morning as I read my newspaper and I definitely almost ripped the radio out of my car the other day as I heard Jerome McDonnell say "well, there have just been a few rockets sent into Israel, right? and no one's really been hurt by it, right?" as he interviewed an Israeli journalist. (Who responded, wonderfully, by saying "That's like having the doctor say - your 14year old is pregnant but the good news is that she's only a little bit pregnant. There is no such thing as good rocket fire.")
(Picture from Reuters.com - of Israelis sheltering from a Qassam missile.)
The thing that bothered me the most this week, however, was the very well-intentioned person who listened to me refute information about the UN "school" that was bombed. (When we think of school, I'm pretty sure you all have the same idea in your head that I do - kids running around, books, desks, teachers, papers, pencils and erasers....but this is not that kind of school. So I feel that it puts the wrong idea into people's heads right off the bat. But I digress...)
Back to the well-intentioned person. She asked in a not-snottty, totally honest and well-intentioned way: "How are those of us who are not as informed supposed to know all of this?"
And I know that she is not an internet user, beyond the email and other tasks in the office. I know that if I asked her to regularly visit Muqata or even Haaretz.com she would not really be able to do it. So truthfully, I was a bit stumped and didn't quite know how to asnwer her except to say that I could provide her with a list of sources for her to look at.
But she probably won't.
She'll probably continue, in her kind and well-intentioned and well-informed way, to read the newspapers and watch the 6 o'clock news (which I haven't watched in years...it's still on, right?). And she'll believe, like so many Americans and Europeans do, that the nicely coiffed men and women sitting so officially behind those shiny desks or standing in front of those pretty flat-panel monitors are telling The Truth and reporting The Facts.
When we know they're not always.
So I offer this challenge to you, my dear readers. I am always asking you to blog or tweet or comment or visit. But today's challenge is a little different.
I'm asking you to pick one site or post or picture that you feel is representative of The Truth -- not the stuff being thrown around by the MSM but the stuff that you find to be Real and Right. Start, perhaps, with one of Jack's round ups or one of Jameel's liveblogs, or even just the count from your QassamCount status update.
Print it out.
(I know, I know, I'm supposed to be all green, but bear with me.)
And share it with the people that you care about most, the people that you think will not be reading it, the people that you think might look at you when you suggest that they log into TwiddleEast as though you're suggesting they jump through the Looking Glass. Share the paper with your co-workers, your friends, your grandmother.
We're all working so hard out here on the Internet. I think the time has come to move beyond that and back out into the Real World, Old School...
Are you with me?
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
13 Things I Love About Israel
This is a (slightly edited) repost from May, 2008, in honor of The Real Israel's "Why I Love Israel" Carnival (to be posted on Wednesday, I believe) Now UP!!!
(13 of the 13 bazillion...)
1. Felafel with cheeps and charif and pickles. Mmmmmm....
2. Walking on Ben Yehuda on Motzei Shabbat.
3. Watching kids play in parks that are full of ancient artifacts.
4. The whale sculpture in Old Jaffa.
5. Seeing Israeli kids riding the busses, hanging out, running around, just being kids and speaking Hebrew!
6. Spotting the blue paint in Tsfat.
7. Bumper stickers!!!!
8. The grottos of Rosh Hanikra, especially when the water levels are really high....
9. Watching the faces of first-timers when they really do float in the Dead Sea.
10. Reading Rachel's poems at her graveside.
11. Knowing that the young men and women carrying those big guns are Jewish kids ready to defend their homes and families.
12. Feeling Shabbat as it comes into Jerusalem...the frenzy of activity followed by the lovely calm. (And the shuk - rugelach and tomatoes and hummus and pita and spices and oranges and.....)
13. Feeling like I'm coming home.
Plus, read my 60bloggers post about Israel here.
What do you love about Israel?
P.S. Make sure you're still checking out Jack, who is regularly posting updated roundups of posts and news, as well as Muqata and IsraellyCool who are both live-blogging. Other really great posts this week have come from A Soldier's Mother and this piece by Daniel Gordis too.
(13 of the 13 bazillion...)
1. Felafel with cheeps and charif and pickles. Mmmmmm....
2. Walking on Ben Yehuda on Motzei Shabbat.
3. Watching kids play in parks that are full of ancient artifacts.
4. The whale sculpture in Old Jaffa.
5. Seeing Israeli kids riding the busses, hanging out, running around, just being kids and speaking Hebrew!
6. Spotting the blue paint in Tsfat.
7. Bumper stickers!!!!
8. The grottos of Rosh Hanikra, especially when the water levels are really high....
9. Watching the faces of first-timers when they really do float in the Dead Sea.
10. Reading Rachel's poems at her graveside.
11. Knowing that the young men and women carrying those big guns are Jewish kids ready to defend their homes and families.
12. Feeling Shabbat as it comes into Jerusalem...the frenzy of activity followed by the lovely calm. (And the shuk - rugelach and tomatoes and hummus and pita and spices and oranges and.....)
13. Feeling like I'm coming home.
Plus, read my 60bloggers post about Israel here.
What do you love about Israel?
P.S. Make sure you're still checking out Jack, who is regularly posting updated roundups of posts and news, as well as Muqata and IsraellyCool who are both live-blogging. Other really great posts this week have come from A Soldier's Mother and this piece by Daniel Gordis too.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Haveil Havalim #199
Welcome to Haveil Havalim #199:
The We Can't Stop Twittering/Blogging/Reading/Worrying/Watching/What's Going On in Israel Right Now Edition....
or....The Stuck To My BlackBerry Like Glue Edition....
It's been a stressful week for our friends and family in Israel as well as all of us chutz l'aretz.
As Jameel says....my blog turns toward Israel.
The standard opening line:
Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs -- a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It's hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Jack. The term 'Haveil Havalim,' which means "Vanity of Vanities," is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other 'excesses' and realized that it was nothing but 'hevel,' or in English, 'vanity.'
Founded by Soccer Dad, Haveil Havalim is a carnival of Jewish blogs -- a weekly collection of Jewish & Israeli blog highlights, tidbits and points of interest collected from blogs all around the world. It's hosted by different bloggers each week and coordinated by Jack. The term 'Haveil Havalim,' which means "Vanity of Vanities," is from Qoheleth, (Ecclesiastes) which was written by King Solomon. King Solomon built the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and later on got all bogged down in materialism and other 'excesses' and realized that it was nothing but 'hevel,' or in English, 'vanity.'
Please please please publicize HH on your own blog
and share the news about it!
Israel on our minds and our blogs...
Let's start with what's on-going...Jack, in his amazingly put-together way, has been posting regular updates and round-ups of posts.
Make sure to check them out, they are incredible:
(Sorry, Jack, if I'm not caught up with you. But y'all get the idea...go see what he's got.)
Live blogging here: muqata.blogspot.com and israellycool.com
and if you're not on Twitter, I think this is the time to join or at least look at it.
I recommend http://twiddleeast.com/ for a pretty interesting roundup of Tweets.
And in case you missed it, the Israeli Consulate held a Twitter-press-conference. It was pretty darn cool.
(In case you're getting started with Twitter, see Leora's post: Intro to Twitter at Here in HP.)
While you're at it, checkout http://helpuswin.wordpress.com/ - and help to digg, facebook, tweet, and blog about Israel.
Then again, we all seem to be doing pretty well considering the volume of posts I got this week! (and I thought I had picked a quiet week to host...) There are tons of posts below about how Israel is being portrayed in the media, what's being done about the "PR War" and so on.
Okay, onto the posts. I tried to get them all in. Sorry if I missed any.
Jill Miller Zamon (Writes Like She Talks) wrote this really great round-up post on BlogHer. (quotes and links to some of you!) I think it's particularly good because I'd guess that the majority of BlogHer's readers aren't as intimately connected to Israel as most of us HH'ers are.
Jill Miller Zamon (Writes Like She Talks) wrote this really great round-up post on BlogHer. (quotes and links to some of you!) I think it's particularly good because I'd guess that the majority of BlogHer's readers aren't as intimately connected to Israel as most of us HH'ers are.
A Soldier's Mother is getting a lot of traffic on this post What I Want...What I'll Do.
Rabbi Eric Yoffie, President of the Union for Reform Judaism, had this to say about the Gaza War. I'm proud of him.
Mottel agrees with me about Social Media and How it Will Help Israel Win the War posted at Letters of Thought. He also posted Qassams in Brooklyn.
Mordechai Torczyner presents Community Rabbi, reporting from Gaza and also Behind the United Nations' War on Israel.
Daled Amos caught onto The Obvious Tipoff To Israel's Operation Cast Lead--And We All Missed It! He also offers his notes on the Conference Call: Daled Amos: Notes On Today's Conference Call On Gaza and also A Good Indication Of Which Party Is Really Better For Israel
Bangladeshi Hindu offered these thoughts on Israeli Gaza Operation effective in Military and Propaganda Wars.
Tikkun Olam muses on the confluence of Chanukah and the war with Last Night of Chanukah,or: Oferet Yetzukah
Did you know that Jews barred from Nachmanides cave, Maara given to Wakf (posted at Expulsion pictures - תמונות של הגירוש בחברון) Very interesting in light of the current crisis.
Mother in Israel gives her Report from the Home Front.
Joel Katz shares Religion and State in Israel - December 29, 2008 (Section 1) posted at Religion and State in Israel, reminding us that despite the matzav, life goes on...here's part 2: Religion and State in Israel - December 29, 2008 (Section 2)
Read this really great first-person account of living under the rocket fire: Out of the Frying Pan – Into the Fire posted at Shiloh Musings, and here's more on the "Sewer Shelters": Life-protecting Sewers for Gush Katif Expellees. Epileptic Seizures, Expulsion, and War Related Stress also gives a first-hand look at the effect this is having on everyone.
FrumeSarah encountered some nasty comments and responded strongly with Answering Hatred. (We continue to wish you a refuah shleimah, FS!)
Duckrabbit בירושלים describes an afternoon wtih her roommate in Galgalatz, spaceheaters and tea in Niv's room. a great capture of life in Israel during the crisis...
me-ander is thinking about a different kind of pop than you might think in I'm Afraid of That "Pop!" (which just goes to show that life must go on...)
Jewish Life and Culture...
Ari's Blog is sharing the music of Maya Bouskilla.
Dan Illouz shared this post Killing a terrorist when he has stopped murdering from Torat HaRav Aviner.
Shiloh Musings presents Burying The Dead, End of the Goyishe Year (2008) Update and also I Don't Drink The Stuff (which was probably my favorite pic of the week).
Shtetl Fabulous wonders if there's a yenta gene in this post, A Blessing on Your Head. (If there is one, I think I've got it)
Cynthia Samuels shares this post, Don't Gel Too Soon : Farewell to A True Anti-Apartheid (and Jewish) Hero(ine) of South Africa: Helen Suzman.
Rabbi Arnold Jacob Wolf died this week. He was a truly amazing man. Here's one remembrance.
If you haven't heard, the story of the apples was a hoax. See what Batya said: A "Corny" Con at Shiloh Musings.
Moshe Kranc@Hasidic Management actually has something nice to say about Madoff!? Before you flame, go read....A Few Observations on Madoff. I think it's a great piece.
Heshy@Frum Satire makes me laugh again wtih Metrosexual Fashions come to the Yeshiva World. (I never ever ever thought I would read "metrosexual" and "yeshiva world" in the same headline. You?)
Joel M. Hoffman compares our current economic situation to the famines our ancestors faced in the Torah: There's a Famine in the Land (kippah tip to Rabbi Rosenberg)
Everything Else...
Yechezkel wonders about age and adulthood in Parsha Challenge - Parshat VaYigash: A Breech in Protocol.
Batya is also thinking about the parasha in This Week In The Bible--Just Wondering.
On the subject of Torah, Ilana-Davita has this excellent parasha post too: Serah, Joseph and Speech.
New blogger on the scene Ahava Ariel launches her blog with It is Hardly Her Fault, a conversation about intermarriage and Miketz. Go and welcome her to blogland!
Ari's Blog examines the First Koren Bibles in a pretty neat historical post, inspired by the upcoming new Koren siddur. (post by Ilana-Davita.)
People have been talking about books they're reading, like Baila and Leora and Ilana-Davita and MominIsrael and SuperRaizy and even the Ima (that's me). (did I miss anyone? Sorry.)
A big mazel tov to 2008 Weblog Award Finalists: Jew Wishes, Israelly Cool, Elder of Ziyon, Fundamentally Freund, Israel Matzav and Daled Amos (Kippah tip to Mom in Israel)
That's all for now....
Please send your posts for the next edition (#200!)
of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form.
If you're interested in hosting or receiving more information about the carnival,
please contact Jack at talktojacknow-at-sbcglobal-dot-net
(and please, for the sake of our hosts,
try not to submit more than 3 posts a week!)
of the Haveil Havalim Blog Carnival via the Blog Carnival Submission Form.
If you're interested in hosting or receiving more information about the carnival,
please contact Jack at talktojacknow-at-sbcglobal-dot-net
(and please, for the sake of our hosts,
try not to submit more than 3 posts a week!)
Send your posts to Ilana-Davita for the Kosher Cooking Carnival this month.
Please please please publicize HH on
your own blog and share the news about it!
You can just copy and paste this nice little
sentence into your blog if you'd like:
A very nice edition of Haveil Havalim, the Jewish Blog Carnival,
is now up over at Ima on and off the Bima. Check it out!
Please please please publicize HH on
your own blog and share the news about it!
You can just copy and paste this nice little
sentence into your blog if you'd like:
A very nice edition of Haveil Havalim, the Jewish Blog Carnival,
is now up over at Ima on and off the Bima. Check it out!
(you might have to copy with properties. Some software just takes it all in...)
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming...
come back regularly to see what's cooking here!
There's a new group on Facebook for Jewish Twitter-ers...are you one? Join us!
(And feel free to follow me, too!)
And if you're not in the HH Facebook group, come and join that too!
We now return to our regularly scheduled programming...
come back regularly to see what's cooking here!
There's a new group on Facebook for Jewish Twitter-ers...are you one? Join us!
(And feel free to follow me, too!)
And if you're not in the HH Facebook group, come and join that too!
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
My Heart is in the East...
New people to follow:
http://twitter.com/Muqata
http://twitter.com/israelconsulate
Read this Post from Mother-in-Israel
and Jack continues to post updates and share posts from lots of people.
(original words by Yehuda HaLevi - My heart is in the east but I am at the end of the West...)
http://twitter.com/Muqata
http://twitter.com/israelconsulate
Read this Post from Mother-in-Israel
and Jack continues to post updates and share posts from lots of people.
(original words by Yehuda HaLevi - My heart is in the east but I am at the end of the West...)
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Israel/Jewish Blog Updates
In case I forgot to link to it, Kosher Cooking Carnival is up here.
This week's Haveil Havalim is here.
And Jack is rounding up the Gaza posts right here. Jameel is live-blogging, but he's resting right now.
And of course, I'm following #gaza (although there's a lot of misinformation and inappropriate statements there....) and cnn.com and jpost.com and ynetnews.com with great concern.
Next week, I'm hosting Haveil Havalim, so get your posts in early, it always helps!
Plus, don't forget to comment on my birthday post to win a Birthday Party for a child in Israel.
This week's Haveil Havalim is here.
And Jack is rounding up the Gaza posts right here. Jameel is live-blogging, but he's resting right now.
And of course, I'm following #gaza (although there's a lot of misinformation and inappropriate statements there....) and cnn.com and jpost.com and ynetnews.com with great concern.
Next week, I'm hosting Haveil Havalim, so get your posts in early, it always helps!
Plus, don't forget to comment on my birthday post to win a Birthday Party for a child in Israel.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Soldiers & Chanukah...a Tzedakah Giveaway
It's very clear that the story of Chanukah is a military one. Most renditions of the tale indicate the the holiday is a celebration of a military victory. It's relatively clear to me that the rabbis of the Talmud weren't super-comfortable with a holiday that celebrated military might, especially while they were living in Babylonia (and therefore subject to a foreign power), and so they reworked the story to focus on the miracle of the oil instead.
But all of this does allow me the link from the military victory of Chanukah to the present-day Israeli soldiers, many of whom serve at checkpoints, bases, and other various military installations. Standing Together is an organization that was founded to send pizza to soldiers and has expanded to sending coffee, donuts, and other treats and comforts that helps soldiers feel appreciated and cared for. More than anything, the soldiers of Israel are her children, and Standing Together helps remind us of that.
So....in honor of one wonderful and very lucky commenter, I will provide Chanukah donuts for four soldiers! Comment away on this post. How do you find comfort when you're away from home?
And, if you so desire, click over to Standing Together and make your own donation. Five bucks goes a long way, and if you're in Israel, contact them to arrange to deliver the pizza, coffee and donuts.
P.S. The awesome Leora has posted a great edition of Kosher Cooking Carnival. Go check it out!
But all of this does allow me the link from the military victory of Chanukah to the present-day Israeli soldiers, many of whom serve at checkpoints, bases, and other various military installations. Standing Together is an organization that was founded to send pizza to soldiers and has expanded to sending coffee, donuts, and other treats and comforts that helps soldiers feel appreciated and cared for. More than anything, the soldiers of Israel are her children, and Standing Together helps remind us of that.
So....in honor of one wonderful and very lucky commenter, I will provide Chanukah donuts for four soldiers! Comment away on this post. How do you find comfort when you're away from home?
And, if you so desire, click over to Standing Together and make your own donation. Five bucks goes a long way, and if you're in Israel, contact them to arrange to deliver the pizza, coffee and donuts.
P.S. The awesome Leora has posted a great edition of Kosher Cooking Carnival. Go check it out!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
Nothing to Say....Baruch Dayan HaEmet*
I don't know what to say.My heart hurts today.
Here's what the JTA Telegraph had to say. And Esther too.
Treppenwitz is angry. (Me too)
This headline at Jewlicious says a lot about it.
Even the funny one isn't funny today. FrumeSarah is still hoping.
People are really furious about this. Things like this make me really sick.
And I am too. I just don't know what to think or say or do.
*This is the traditional words that Jews say when hearing of a death.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
I've Been Waiting for Gilad Shalit for 2 Years - Tuesday Torah
From this website:Gilad Schalit was born on August 28th, 1986, in Nahariya and raised in Mitzpe Hilla in the Western Galilee by his parents Aviva and Noam with his siblings Yoel and Hadas. At the end of July 2005 Gilad began his military service in a combat unit of the armored corps. For the two months prior to his kidnapping, he has been on duty guarding and ensuring the security of the settlements around Gaza.
On Sunday, June 25th 2006, in a terrorist attack on an IDF post at Kerem Shalom during which his unit friends have been killed, Gilad was taken captive and has been held since in the Gaza Strip by Hamas.
To this day Gilad didn’t receive any visits from an official faction, including the Red Cross, and there is no reliable information about his well being.
Two years have passed since his abduction. Lets remind everyone that he has yet to come home and demand his quick return.
On June 25th, the two year anniversary to his abduction, please replace your personal profile picture with Gilad’s picture on Facebook, Windows Live Messenger, ICQ, Tapuz, bona, Mekusharim, news groups and any other social network or blog you’re a member of, and show the world that you are waiting for Gilad Schalit’s return.
And he's not the only one. We still await the return of Eldad Regev and Ehud Goldwasser as well, both abducted at about the same time.
Their abduction, unfortunately, was part of what launched my interest in blogging. I started reading Israeli blogs as they "live-blogged" the war in Lebanon. I definitely felt like the blogging community was telling the news in a far more reliable and "on-the-scene" method (than the mainstream media). I was fascinated by articles that explained the media bias in ways that I thought were blatant and shocking.
It does seem hard to believe that it's been 2 years. And that we haven't heard anything from them at all. And that the world media is largely ignoring them.
May their return come speedily and safely.
What's your torah this week?
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