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< Blog‎ | August 2007
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'''August 10th 2007'''
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{{blog}}
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Coming up on our second shabbat in the Holy Land... this week has been one of
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ups and downs.
  
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{{bheader|Oct 29th|Devar/5771/Lech_Lecha}}
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We've had a chance to see real chesed (kindness) as well as the opposite.  I'll
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share just two examples so you can get a feel for this land of polar opposites.
  
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Hi again!
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First, the chesed:  people we don't know at all, who only knew of us through
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mutual friends, asked "what can we do to help?".  Since we were a bit vague,
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they proceeded to bring us a table, some food and a bed.  They invited us for
 +
shabbat dinner (tonight).  That being insufficient for them, they literally gave
 +
us their car to use for a couple days.  Just a bit ago, they brought over a cake
 +
for shabbat.  We are still overawed by their real kindness.
  
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Sorry about the short blog last week; I really did run out of time! I'll try to do better this time around.  The weather was very nice this week.  I nearly walked out of work. More medical mayhem. Everyone working as usual. Progress and more progress.  God, I love this place!
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Now, the opposite: we have been unable as yet to get any of Esther's official
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paperwork done, because the government agency personnel have messed things up
 +
beyond belief. Not only that, they are unwilling to move even in the slightest
 +
from their official positions to accommodate people.  So my wife is still an
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"undocumented alien", so to speak.  Sunday presumably we will get that part of
 +
things straightened out... but I don't hold out a great deal of hope.  However,
 +
she did write the Minister of Absorption to let him know just how she feels
 +
about the process so far.
  
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Finally, after months of very hot weather, autumn has started to arrive, and this week was very pleasant.  Just so you know (those of you who don't live here, that is), Israel usually experiences ''sharav'' weather bursts (very hot and dry) in October, and sometimes into November -- but their intensity and duration diminish.  Yesterday we had a one-day heat-wave, and today the temperatures are supposed to drop 11C (about 22F) from the previous day! We may even have some rain.  Now ''that's'' something to look forward to!
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On the other hand, I was able to get my paperwork straightened out (mostly), and
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we were able to convince the bank manager to give us a joint account even
 +
though my wife is undocumented.  This week I had a job interview which perhaps
 +
will yield fruit, and we got all the appliances we had ordered (and they do
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work). So things are improving.  Most importantly, the air conditioning has
 +
been repaired and our internet connection is up and running!
  
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Work, ah, work.  The stress level has been very high for a while, but this week it hit a ludicrous level.  I was so angry one day I almost quit.  Fortunately, I'm not as prone to sudden decisions as I once was, so I still have a job.  Ultimately we were able to hit our deadlines, and everyone (meaning, 'the bosses') is happy.  I'm not so sure how happy the not-everyone are; I can only vouch for my own situation.
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There are ups and downs; some days are easier than others, but all in all we
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really have nothing to complain about.
  
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As I was sitting at my desk yesterday trying to work, my vision got blurry -- as if I had looked at the sun.  It didn't go away, and I started getting concerned.  After a while I figured to check my peripheral vision and noticed that while my left eye was fine, my right eye had almost no peripheral vision!  Then I got ''really'' concerned and called the ophthalmologist I had only just seen last week, and also my regular doctor.  Long story short: it went away after half an hour; my doctor thinks it was a "visual migraine", and that there is nothing really to worry about unless it recurs and last more than half an hour. The eye doctor says there's nothing wrong with my eye, and that probably it would be a good idea to get checked out by a neurologist.  In retrospect, it probably would have been a smart thing to go to the emergency room...
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The most overwhelming thing to happen to me this week was being in a bus in our
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area, and seeing little children all speaking Hebrew - and all from very
 +
different parts of the world.  Black, white and everything in-between - and I
 +
was just overwhelmed with the understanding that the words of our prophets are
 +
coming true (see [http://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1129.htm#14 Jeremiah 29:14],
 +
for example).  And I wondered that anyone could look at that same scene, and not
 +
understand it that way.
  
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Apart from that, all of us were busily ensconced with work. Sarah's job working with the elderly has some very interesting moments.  This week she worked with Holocaust survivors, making sure they were properly enrolled with the various governmental programs designed to assist them.  Daniela finished a paper, and is now a contributor to her school's paper.
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{{blog}}
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{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/August 2007/August 3rd|Aug 3rd|Blog/August 2007/August 17th|Aug 17th}}
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Good news!  I finally made a release of the translation of the introduction to the Mishne Torah to my team of proofreaders.  So B"H, a public release will be coming along sometime soon.  Stand by! 
 
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My friend and ''hevruta'' Fred decided to check out [http://www.kubuntu.org kubuntu] -- not, please note, because of anything I said to him.  But I did help him set it up on his machine ("side-by-side" with Windows, so he can still do whatever he used to do).  According to him, "(K)Ubuntu is much faster than Windows and is probably less  likely to crash or attract viruses, but I suspect that a lot of people with limited computer skills would find it too daunting".  I suspect he is correct; although the installation ''was'' really pretty easy.
 
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On the bus, wandering around the city, pretty much anywhere -- one encounters interesting, beautiful and diverse Jews from all over the world.  I've said it before, and I'll say it again: it's an incredible honor to live where you can see [http://www.mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt1131.htm#6 the powerful words of our Prophets] come to life every day.  God, I ''love'' this place!
 
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This ''shabbat'' we have two guests; one Sarah's friend, and ''her'' friend.  It will be a dairy ''shabbat'': vegetable lasagna, baked salmon,
 
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[http://www.chow.com/recipes/14166-chocotorta-no-bake-chocolate-cookie-and-dulce-de-leche-cake ''chocotorta''], black lentil salad, ''taboule'', eggplant salad, onion soup, lentil soup, quiche and ''salatim''.
 
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Until next week,<br>
 
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shabbat shalom!
 
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{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/October 2010/Oct 22nd|Oct 22nd||}}
 

Latest revision as of 12:41, 29 October 2010

August 10th 2007

Coming up on our second shabbat in the Holy Land... this week has been one of ups and downs.

We've had a chance to see real chesed (kindness) as well as the opposite. I'll share just two examples so you can get a feel for this land of polar opposites.

First, the chesed: people we don't know at all, who only knew of us through mutual friends, asked "what can we do to help?". Since we were a bit vague, they proceeded to bring us a table, some food and a bed. They invited us for shabbat dinner (tonight). That being insufficient for them, they literally gave us their car to use for a couple days. Just a bit ago, they brought over a cake for shabbat. We are still overawed by their real kindness.

Now, the opposite: we have been unable as yet to get any of Esther's official paperwork done, because the government agency personnel have messed things up beyond belief. Not only that, they are unwilling to move even in the slightest from their official positions to accommodate people. So my wife is still an "undocumented alien", so to speak. Sunday presumably we will get that part of things straightened out... but I don't hold out a great deal of hope. However, she did write the Minister of Absorption to let him know just how she feels about the process so far.

On the other hand, I was able to get my paperwork straightened out (mostly), and we were able to convince the bank manager to give us a joint account even though my wife is undocumented. This week I had a job interview which perhaps will yield fruit, and we got all the appliances we had ordered (and they do work). So things are improving. Most importantly, the air conditioning has been repaired and our internet connection is up and running!

There are ups and downs; some days are easier than others, but all in all we really have nothing to complain about.

The most overwhelming thing to happen to me this week was being in a bus in our area, and seeing little children all speaking Hebrew - and all from very different parts of the world. Black, white and everything in-between - and I was just overwhelmed with the understanding that the words of our prophets are coming true (see Jeremiah 29:14, for example). And I wondered that anyone could look at that same scene, and not understand it that way.

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