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{{bheader|March 7th|Devar/5768/Pekudei}}
  
 
Hi again!
 
Hi again!
  
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Last shabbat Esther wanted me to use the ''mangal'' (Israeli-style BBQ {{wiki2|mangal|it's Turkish, actually}}) to cook chicken for shabbat. So I prepared the mangal, trying to find bits of charcoal which had not been drenched by the rains we had.  Dutifully, I got the coals burning and finally started the chicken.  After it was done, Sarah dolefully informed me I had "smoked" her clothes, which were out on the line to dry!  Moral of the story: make sure you don't have clothes hanging above the BBQ when you're using it! (Note: birds can also be detrimental to your clothing...)
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By now you have probably heard that [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1204546422275&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull the brave "freedom-fighters"] chose this Thursday night to attack.  Not a military facility, or a strategic facility -- but the {{wiki2|Mercaz_haRav|Mercaz haRav Yeshiva}} in Jerusalem.   Into this institution, packed with hundreds of young Jewish men studying Torah and celebrating the new month of AdarII, the terrorist came with an AK-47 and fired indiscriminately.  Finally he was silenced by answering fire from one of the students.  To celebrate their courageous battle against the unarmed students, ''in Gaza City, residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in celebration in the air after hearing news of the attack on the seminary'' (from the AP). These are our "partners for peace". May the memory of the dead students be a blessing, and may the memory of the sub-human murderers be erased.
  
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Daniela took first-place in the "bible contest" at her school, so she's extremely excited (as are we!).  Her prize is a set of tanach (bible) with extensive commentaries, which she was looking forward to winning.  Now I know who to ask when I have questions!
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The internet-based waster of time [http://www.facebook.com Facebook] has determined that I live in "Palestine".  According to a recent email I received, "Facebook seems to have decided that Yehuda and the Shomron don't exist- it's no longer possible to list any yishuv in {{wiki|Yesha}} as your hometown!".  When I checked, indeed my "hometown" had been removed.  When I tried to change it to Maaleh Adummim, the country "Palestine" was  displayed, not "Israel".  Never mind that there is not, in fact, any such country; never mind, that 99.8% of the residents of M"A are ''Jewish'' (the remaining 0.2% are Christians); never mind that we all pay taxes to Israel, speak Hebrew, etc. etc... "Farcebook" knows better than we do.  Maybe this explains [http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1759,2265105,00.asp their slow spiral of death?]
  
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This week we met with our friend Dov-Ber, and went out to a nice restaurant in Jerusalem.  We don't go out so often, so when we do go we try to go to nice places. Anyway, two odd things. First, as with most of the "nice" places which are geared for the tourist trade, all the staff speak English. They great you at the door in English, give you menus in English and so on.  The odd thing was that the "specials" were written on a blackboard in Hebrew!  The second odd thing was that we noticed a group of men in suit-jackets.  Yes, in Israel that's pretty unusual -- but that's not what was weird. We noticed the guys in suits had earpieces hanging off their ears, and their suits were just a bit ''too large'' for them. They accompanied a smaller group of people, whom they were apparently guarding. Since they were all speaking English, we assumed the group they were guarding contained a Senator or something -- but we didn't recognize anyone from that group.
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The ludicrous [http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y23/drsanity/diversity.jpg liberal open-mindedness] which doesn't condemn the attack on the yeshiva or the politically-correct fiction of Facebook, also doesn't see fit to condemn [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/142585 swastikas in Los Angeles and Brooklyn].  Feh!  I don't care much for the newspaper "HaAretz", but this commentator [http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/960745.html gets it right].
  
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Aliyah notice for our friends on the West coast of the US: [http://www.nbn.org.il/index.php Nefesh b'Nefesh] is going to be [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125410 in Washington State] conducting seminars.  If you are even slightly interested in aliyah, we urge you to attend and get information.  Speaking of information about aliyah, Israel this year has hit the [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1204127197499&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull lowest unemployment rate in 12 years]!  It's easier to get a job here than it's been in a long time; and if you are older, it's much easier than in the US (they actually appreciate experience here).
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Both Sarah and Daniela were on "tiyulim" (trips) this week, with their schools.  Daniela went to {{wiki|Mount Carmel}} and then to the {{wiki|Golan Heights}}, and Sarah went to the Golan Heights for three days.  They both had fun and got to see some beautiful landscapes.  Neither one of them enjoyed the abundance of cows, however.
  
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A friend sent me [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uwZ0tPCL6Vg this video clip] of an Iranian propaganda piece.  Interesting, and frightening at the same time.  From another person I was told of [http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/196110/gellhorn a fascinating piece written in 1961] about the "Arabs of Palestine".  It's long, but worthwhile reading.  It is interesting to note that the attitudes expressed by the Arabs she interviewed in 1961 have not changed at all in the past 47 years.  It's also interesting to note that their intransigence did ''not'' start after Israel "occupied" their lands in 1967... but then, most of us already knew that.   
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The point of these trips is to instill in the students a love of the Land and to teach our historic connections to it.  One of the really cool things about living here is that almost anywhere you go, there is a story in the Bible or in the Talmud concerning it.   
  
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The problem the Arabs have has nothing to do with Jews per se. Their problem is that they are incapable of dealing with reality and insist on living in the idyllic past (which was, of course, neither idyllic nor even as good as the present in many cases). They allow their feelings of insecurity over the fact that the Islamic world has produced not one positive contribution to the world since algebra to completely overwhelm what logical faculties they possess. As a result, they repeatedly throw away the opportunities to advance themselves and benefit their own people, on the vain hope that if they kill enough (Jews, Americans, infidels...) they will regain their vaunted past.  Sadly, the time has come where their lunatic fantasies can lead to world war.  The only solution which will truly lead to world peace (in my humble opinion) is to turn Mecca into a glass parking lot.  Unfortunately, the leaders of the "free world" won't take my advice until it's too late.
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One thing about Israelis -- you can't say [http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2008/03/05/wcroc105.xml all of them are smart].  This fellow is lucky to still be in one piece.
  
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On a positive note: my boss tells me that the potential customer I have been dealing with is very pleased with how I have worked with them; so my boss is also very happy.  He's decided to give me more responsibility (a promotion, from a certain point of view) -- which I suppose means he's not planning on firing me soon.  So that's a good thing!
 
  
 
Shabbat shalom!
 
Shabbat shalom!
  
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{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/February 2008/Feb 29th|Feb 29th|Blog/March 2008/March 14th|Mar 14th}}

Latest revision as of 11:55, 14 March 2008

March 7th (See this week's devar torah)
Send Ron feedback on this blog

Hi again!

By now you have probably heard that the brave "freedom-fighters" chose this Thursday night to attack. Not a military facility, or a strategic facility -- but the Mercaz haRav Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Into this institution, packed with hundreds of young Jewish men studying Torah and celebrating the new month of AdarII, the terrorist came with an AK-47 and fired indiscriminately. Finally he was silenced by answering fire from one of the students. To celebrate their courageous battle against the unarmed students, in Gaza City, residents went out into the streets and fired rifles in celebration in the air after hearing news of the attack on the seminary (from the AP). These are our "partners for peace". May the memory of the dead students be a blessing, and may the memory of the sub-human murderers be erased.

The internet-based waster of time Facebook has determined that I live in "Palestine". According to a recent email I received, "Facebook seems to have decided that Yehuda and the Shomron don't exist- it's no longer possible to list any yishuv in Yesha as your hometown!". When I checked, indeed my "hometown" had been removed. When I tried to change it to Maaleh Adummim, the country "Palestine" was displayed, not "Israel". Never mind that there is not, in fact, any such country; never mind, that 99.8% of the residents of M"A are Jewish (the remaining 0.2% are Christians); never mind that we all pay taxes to Israel, speak Hebrew, etc. etc... "Farcebook" knows better than we do. Maybe this explains their slow spiral of death?

The ludicrous liberal open-mindedness which doesn't condemn the attack on the yeshiva or the politically-correct fiction of Facebook, also doesn't see fit to condemn swastikas in Los Angeles and Brooklyn. Feh! I don't care much for the newspaper "HaAretz", but this commentator gets it right.

Both Sarah and Daniela were on "tiyulim" (trips) this week, with their schools. Daniela went to Mount Carmel and then to the Golan Heights, and Sarah went to the Golan Heights for three days. They both had fun and got to see some beautiful landscapes. Neither one of them enjoyed the abundance of cows, however.

The point of these trips is to instill in the students a love of the Land and to teach our historic connections to it. One of the really cool things about living here is that almost anywhere you go, there is a story in the Bible or in the Talmud concerning it.

One thing about Israelis -- you can't say all of them are smart. This fellow is lucky to still be in one piece.


Shabbat shalom!


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