Blog/July 2008/Jul 25th - Revision history

Ron at 11:05, 1 August 2008

2008-08-01T11:05:57Z

Ron at 11:13, 25 July 2008

2008-07-25T11:13:09Z

Ron at 10:35, 25 July 2008

2008-07-25T10:35:16Z

Ron: Replacing page with ' {{blog}} {{bheader|July 25th|Devar/5768/Matot}} Hi again! Shabbat shalom! {{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/July 2008/Jul 18th|Jul 18th||}}'

2008-07-25T04:58:06Z

Replacing page with ' {{blog}} {{bheader|July 25th|Devar/5768/Matot}} Hi again! Shabbat shalom! {{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/July 2008/Jul 18th|Jul 18th||}}'

Ron: New page: {{subst: :Blog/Latest}}

2008-07-25T04:56:30Z

New page: {{subst: :Blog/Latest}}

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'''July 18th''' (Sorry, no devar torah this week) <br>

Hi again!

I thought last week was hard ... but this week, I spent every day but one working until after midnight, trying to get ready for my upcoming trip to India. I'm so tired I can barely keep my eyes open, but I'll give you a bit of news on the 'goings on'.

First, the house passed the 'test' from the electric company, which means we are now hooked up with "three phase" power instead of "single phase". That's a good thing, since it means we can use more appliances at the same time without flipping breakers, and it also means the electric company can balance the load on its systems more evenly.

Second and more important, we had our first fruit from our trees! Figs, fresh from the tree. Sweet as honey and delicious. The birds get them before we do, but there are enough for both of us. I'm going to have to have a professional gardener here after Rosh Hashanah, to trim the trees properly and take care of them as they should be. Today I picked about a kilo of figs, which we'll be able to enjoy on shabbat.

Third, on Sunday I opened my email to find out that my Mom had been hospitalized on Thursday! By the time I called, she was mostly better -and is back home, B"H. That was a kind of shocking way to start the week. She's fine now - and I wish her a complete and full recovery.

Esther and Daniela spent some quality time while I was toiling. They attended a "comedy night" here in M"A. Then the other day, they went to the Israeli Film Festival (actually it was just 'shorts' - it must have been some other show). So hopefully, when I'm back from India I'll be able to enjoy time with my family as well.

This shabbat we'll be having as guests on of the families which made aliyah last week. Welcome home! These are people who spoke to use before making aliyah, and we didn't scare them off I guess.

The long hours at work were due to the fact that one of our number left the company, and did not do much of the work he was supposed to have done. So we were left 'holding the bag' -- and with deadlines approaching which could mean the end of the company if breached, we've been burning midnight oil. I'll have to let you know next week if we were successful - as of the moment, we only had partial success untangling the spaghetti left us.

That's about it. Until next week,<br>
Shabbat shalom!

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 The ladies went to IKEA to correct a problem we've been dealing with poorly for a year: no place to put our plates.  Shabbat plates, that is -- and glassware.  We used to have a china cabinet, but that got sold when we made aliyah.  So our fragile glassware and shabbat china have been precariously perched on (IKEA) bookshelves.  No longer!  After correcting this problem (or perhaps it was before, I wasn't there) they went to the separated beach in Netanya.  Not separated by race, but by gender.  They enjoyed the scenery and the sun and surf, and then came home and assembled their purchase.
-Sarah finally got home yesterday, after having been delayed in New Jersey for a couple hours.  We are happy to report, however, she made it home fine and is over her flu.  Glad she wasn't here to give it to us...
+Sarah finally got home yesterday, after having been delayed in New Jersey for a couple hours.  We are happy to report, however, she made it home fine and is over her flu.  Glad she wasn't here to give it to us!
-India ... what a place!  Huge, densely populated, diverse, developing and an assault on the olfactory senses.  This business trip took me to five cities over five days (Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai), so I can say I've been all over India -- but haven't really seen India.  Certainly it wasn't an enjoyable trip, as I was working long days and getting no sleep.  Ah, yes, and not eating anything since ... nothing in India is kosher (more or less).  But it was successful from a business standpoint, and that is really important (and the reason I was sent in the first place).
+India ... what a place!  Huge, densely populated, diverse, developing and an assault on the olfactory senses.  This business trip took me to five cities over five days (Mumbai, Bangalore, Delhi, Hyderabad and Chennai), so I can say I've been all over India -- but haven't really seen India.  Certainly it wasn't an enjoyable trip, as I was working long days and getting no sleep.  Ah, yes, and not eating anything since nothing in India is kosher (more or less).  But it was successful from a business standpoint, and that is really important (and the reason I was sent in the first place).
 From a Jewish perspective, India was fascinating. I felt completely safe though I wore my kippa all the time.  In fact, the only comments I got were from Israelophiles who went on and on about how much they enjoyed their trips to Israel.  Even in the Muslim majority areas, I felt safe.  The people were very nice and polite everywhere I went.  However ...
-...however, as a religious Jew you can't help but notice the real, Biblical-level idol-worship going on almost everywhere.  Hindus aren't content with a trinity -- they have tens of thousands of gods.  I heard an explanation that the various divinities are different 'aspects' of some over-god.  But then there was the temple to the sun (where the sun itself is worshipped).  And the cows (which are also worshipped).  And the list is endless...
+...however, as a religious Jew you can't help but notice the real, Biblical-level idol-worship going on almost everywhere.  Hindus aren't content with a trinity -- they have tens of thousands of gods.  I heard an explanation that the various divinities are different 'aspects' of some over-god.  But then there was the temple to the sun (where the sun itself is worshipped).  And the cows (which are also worshipped) allowed to take over the streets because they are holy.  The list is endless...
-However, as I wasn't staying in anyone's house, nor purchasing anything from anyone, I didn't have too many problems.  Except that (as in most cultures) food is important, and hospitality is paramount -- and my refusal to eat anything but a plate of fruit caused a great deal of frustration to my Indian contacts.  Oh well, they got over it and I'm back in my Land, thank God!
+However, as I wasn't staying in anyone's house, nor purchasing anything from anyone, I didn't have too many problems.  Except that (as in most cultures) food is important, and hospitality is paramount -- and my refusal to eat anything but a plate of fruit caused a great deal of frustration to my Indian contacts.  Oh well, they got over it and I'm back in my Land, thank God!  Now that I've experienced India, I will probably more tolerant of Israeli "balagan".  India wins, hands down.
-And as a final note: praying outside the Land, where you have to kind of guess what direction to pray, cannot be compared to looking out your window that the site where the Holy Temple will be rebuilt, and praying.  No comparison at all.
+And as a final note: praying outside the Land, where you have to kind of guess what direction to pray, cannot be compared to looking out your window at the site where the Holy Temple will be rebuilt, and praying.  No comparison at all.
 Shabbat shalom!
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 Shabbat shalom!
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