Difference between revisions of "Blog/April 2008/April 11th"

Latest revision as of 09:34, 25 April 2008

April 11th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

NOTE: There was a problem at my web hosting provider which caused the partial loss of last week's blog right after I had posted it. Fortunately for you, I managed to restore the words of wisdom.

Since this is the week before Pesach, I bring to your attention a brilliantly written investigative report, The Renegade Exodus and Other Crimes of Moses. Let me know what you think of it...

We shipped Daniela off to the US, where she'll be until after Pesach. While there, she's going to spend time looking at Stern College and seeing how she likes it. Then she'll spend Pesach with friends in the Seattle area. On her way back, she'll bring my mother for her first trip outside the US (excluding Canada, which doesn't count -- sorry, Canadians).

Sarah took her first bagrut, or Israeli matriculation exam. She was pretty tense going into it, but did perfectly (100 score). That it was the bagrut in English helped a lot... since, after all, her English is not too shabby. Now she gets off until after Pesach, which is nice. She will enjoy her time off.

The banks, however, are not nice. We still don't understand how our "credit card" is supposed to work. We got refused for a very small purchase, though we had plenty left on our "credit" as far as we can tell. That's frustrating; but being unable to withdraw cash from the ATM at our bank because it's usually out of cash, is infuriating. <grrrr>!

I can tell you one nice thing though: shopping here for Pesach is a fantasy come true! Most of the products in the markets are already "kosher for Pesach" (at least for those of us who eat kitniyot. There is literally every kind of product you might want, ready for even the most picky Pesach consumer. Esther bought wine the other day, and got two wineglasses free (remember when they used to do that in the US, a long time ago?). Now if we only had the Pesach offering to eat, then we'd be set!

Shabbat shalom!

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 {{blog}}
-{{bheader|April 4th|Devar/5768/Tazria}}
+{{bheader|April 11th|Devar/5768/Metsora}}
 Hi again!
-This past motsai-shabbat Sarah and some of her classmates threw a party for one of their friends who was going back to Australia, so she took the bus to Jerusalem where they met in a restaurant and had a fine time.  Finally around 11 at night she called to ask when the bus would return; she took it back and ended up at home around 11:45.  I'm relating this because it shows for one thing, how safe one generally is here.  Back in the USA we would never have allowed her to travel by bus late at night; but here it's normal especially after shabbat.
+NOTE: There was a problem at [http://www.hostmysite.com/ my web hosting provider] which caused the partial loss of [[Blog/April 2008/April 4th|last week's blog]] right after I had posted it.  Fortunately for you, I managed to restore the words of wisdom.
-More than that, though I think it's indicative of a shift on her part as well - she herself would never have taken a bus at night "back home".  Earlier we got notice that Daniela was accepted to Stern College, which was not a surprise -- but just the other day we got further notice that they are giving her a full scholarship to their honors program, which is a huge surprise and actually makes her attendance there feasible.  Now she has to decide whether or not that's what she really wants to do.
+Since this is the week before {{wiki|Pesach}}, I bring to your attention a brilliantly written investigative report, ''[http://thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=1862 The Renegade Exodus and Other Crimes of Moses]''.  Let me know what you think of it...
-I have been officially promoted at work, though as far as I know there is no extra salary associated with the extra responsibility.  Essentially, in addition to my other tasks I am also going to be the technical contact for our company to our various potential clients. My bosses were pleased with how I have handled the one potential client - as was the client - so they decided to put all such contacts on my shoulders. Now if I can only convince them to put more silver in my pocket...
+We shipped Daniela off to the US, where she'll be until after Pesach.  While there, she's going to spend time looking at Stern College and seeing how she likes it.  Then she'll spend Pesach with friends in the Seattle area.  On her way back, she'll bring my mother for her ''first'' trip outside the US (excluding Canada, which doesn't count -- sorry, Canadians).
-The saga of the house move continues. This week we contracted with a mover to move the contents of our rental to the house. B"H we should be moving the last week of June. In the meantime, we met with an electrician and a general contractor just today. I'm afraid to find out what their estimates are going to be -- particularly the general contractor who is all excited about replacing the plumbing in the house -- we'll see.
+Sarah took her first ''{{wiki|bagrut}}'', or Israeli matriculation exam.  She was pretty tense going into it, but did perfectly (100 score).  That it was the ''bagrut'' in English helped a lot... since, after all, her English is not too shabby.  Now she gets off until after Pesach, which is nice.  She will enjoy her time off.
-I found a local supplier of soft matsah so I just placed an order.  Anyone interested can ask me this week and I'll give the contact information.
+The banks, however, are not nice.  We ''still'' don't understand how our "credit card" is supposed to work.  We got refused for a very small purchase, though we had plenty left on our "credit" as far as we can tell.  That's frustrating; but being unable to withdraw cash from the ATM ''at our bank'' because it's usually out of cash, is infuriating.  <grrrr>!
-A dutch parlimentarian recently released a short movie, [http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/AntiSemi/12749.htm "Fitna"], which shows verses of Quran interspersed with scenes of muslim terrorist violence.  Needless to say, it has been banned almost everywhere -- even in cyberspace where supposed freedom from tyranny is a byword. "Bye-word" is more like it.  Since we need to show more respect for Islam you might enjoy the following video: <youtube v="y9dXGJ2rYdA" />
+I can tell you one nice thing though: shopping here for Pesach is a fantasy come true!  Most of the products in the markets are already "kosher for Pesach" (at least for those of us who eat ''{{wiki|kitniyot}}''.  There is literally every kind of product you might want, ready for even the most picky Pesach consumer.  Esther bought wine the other day, and got two wineglasses free (remember when they used to do that in the US, a ''long'' time ago?).  Now if we only had the Pesach offering to eat, then we'd  be set!
-Ay, there are so many interesting things going on! First, in actual good news, let me recommend anyone interested in my friend Elisheva Barre's new book "Torah for Gentiles" feel free to contact her at shevabar@hotmail.com.  It's an interesting read, and full of information.
-Do you remember me talking about [[Blog/February 2008/Feb 22nd|the bridge in Jerusalem]]?  Well the expensive eyesore has developed cracks in the welds!  Just wait till some ''shahid'' detonates him-or-herself next to it...
-The presumed child-abuse scandals involving members of the religious community have been all over the news recently. I don't know whether the accusations are true or not; that's a matter for courts to decide. What I do know, however, is that the despicable and smarmy manner in which the media choose to depict the stories is not good for anyone. And I wonder -- were it not for the uncompromising anti-religious stance of most of the media, would the stories not be reported a bit more moderately? When they describe people as belonging to a cult it automatically prejudices the reader -- which of course is their intent.
-Of course anti-religious stances are nothing new among the media or the rest of the so-called 'elite' here.  Whether lauding the foundation of [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1206632349683&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull 'Open House'], or permitting [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/125834 public sale of chamets] during pesach in Jerusalem, our 'elite' surely make known their contempt for the unwashed masses. Too bad the demographics point to a marked drop in the 'elite' and a huge upsurge in the 'unwashed masses'. Up the revolution!
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 Shabbat shalom!
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Difference between revisions of "Blog/April 2008/April 11th"

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Latest revision as of 09:34, 25 April 2008