Difference between revisions of "Blog/October 2009/Oct 2nd"

Latest revision as of 15:36, 9 October 2009

Oct 2nd (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

A short blog for this week, since it was a short week (because of yom hakippurim) and we are rushing to finish preparations for tonight, which is shabbat as well as the festival of sukkot.

Yom hakippurim was sunday-night through monday, and was pretty much the same as it is every year. The public "repetition" of the amidah is, in Ashkenazi tradition, filled with all sorts of extra stuff ("extra" as in "extraneous", and "not required"). So much so, that what would take only twenty minutes without the additions, becomes anywhere from an hour and a half to two or so hours. I'm not going to Ashkenazi services next year, please God -- I'll go back to the Temanim for the high-holidays.

Anyway, Esther came to some of the services -- though it was almost a half-hour walk for her. She's getting better, slowly; but much physical exertion is still beyond her at this point.

Notwithstanding that, she has toiled to produce a nice holiday meal for tonight, with our help. The menu? Glad you asked:

kibbeh
stuffed vegetables
baked fish w/ tomatoes
hummous, tehina etc.
beet salad, cabbage salad, eggplant salad
apple cake
honey cake
homemade sorbets (plum, and orange-mint)

The day before yom hakippurim, I got the sukkah ready. That involved not only erecting the frame (not a big task), but trimming the olive trees so the "roof" of our sukkah is not obstructed (that was a BIG task). But B"H, the sukkah is ready and electrified, ready for dinner tonight. I can't wait!

Survey of events in the middle-East:

Jews being provocative again by getting stoned by Arabs.
Only Muslims are permitted access to the Temple Mount, to our enduring shame.
Regardless of reality, our Left Wing (tm) really does believe peace is possible with the likes of Hamas.
Gaddafi and Chavez sign anti-terror agreement. No comment necessary on that, I think...
Egyptian archaeologist finds Joseph-era coins. There are several problems with this story, not least of which is that "Joseph's name" in "Egyptian" is listed as "Saba Sabani" -- which is definitely not Egyptian, is not what the Torah says (not even close), and sounds to me like Aramaic. It would be cool if it were true, though.

Have to take the eggplant out of the oven now, and finish cooking the other items on the menu... so

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom and Hag sameaH!
שבת שלום וחג שמח!

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 {{blog}}
-{{bheader|Sep 25th|Devar/5770/Haazinu}}
+{{bheader|Oct 2nd|Devar/5770/Sukkot}}
 Hi again!
-First off: Esther wants to thank everyone for the outpouring of support and help during her recent <strike>incarceration</strike> hospitalization and recovery.  B"H, she is slowly getting back to her normal activity level.
+A short blog for this week, since it was a short week (because of ''yom hakippurim'') and we are rushing to finish preparations for tonight, which is ''shabbat'' as well as the festival of ''sukkot''.
-Her hospital stay was four nights. In the US it would have been one night or ''maybe'' two.  Here they don't kick you out of the hospital to save money.  Anyway, the registration process was interesting: we were told to go to the department where the procedure was to be done, and register.  So we went.  But there they told us we had to first register at admissions.  So we went ''there''.  Once there, we took a number and waited ... and were then told we needed a slip from the blood bank.  Of course, it doesn't say that anywhere -- not online, not on the other forms you get.  So we went there.  Returned to admissions, got admitted and went back to the department.  There she was sent to have blood tests done, and they wanted to do an ultrasound, but her doctor said she didn't need to do that.  Then she had to be examined by the ''department'' doctor.  Finally, as we were getting ready to return home (since this was just the registration the day before the procedure), the nurse stops her and says she won't let her go until she gets the blood workup results.  Five minutes later, she tells her that her hemoglobin is way too low, and they need to keep her overnight and give her an transfusion before they can do the operation.  So what should have been a two-hour process ended up taking an entire day (and night!).
+''Yom hakippurim'' was sunday-night through monday, and was pretty much  the same as it is every year.  The public "repetition" of the ''amidah'' is, in Ashkenazi tradition, filled with all sorts of extra stuff ("extra" as in "extraneous", and "not required").  So much so, that what would take only twenty minutes without the additions, becomes anywhere from an hour and a half to two or so hours.  I'm not going to Ashkenazi services next year, please God -- I'll go back to the Temanim for the high-holidays.
-Apart from the administrative run-around, which is obviously something one would like to avoid -- the care was exceptional.  The pre-admission medical checks (and endless questions) are designed to prevent mistakes on the part of the hospital.  For those of you who are concerned about the plight of the poor Arabs -- let me ease your conscience.  At least a third of the patients were Arabs (and a significant number of the medical staff as well).
+Anyway, Esther came to some of the services -- though it was almost a half-hour walk for her.  She's getting better, slowly; but much physical exertion is still beyond her at this point.
-The work week was short (Sunday was still yom-tov) but exhausting.  Mostly because we have a pile of work to do for customers, but lots of days off in the next few weeks.  We don't work this coming Sunday (''erev yom hakippurim'') or Monday (''yom hakippurim'').  We don't work the following week (''Hol hamo`ed sukkot'').  So whatever we can't get done in the next three work days (Tue, Wed, Thu) this week is going to have to wait until after ''sukkot'' is over -- and that puts a lot of pressure on us right now.  But you know what?  I don't mind!  The prospect of an entire week of enforced vacation really sounds good to me right now.
+Notwithstanding that, she has toiled to produce a nice holiday meal for tonight, with our help.  The menu?  Glad you asked:
+* ''kibbeh''
+* stuffed vegetables
+* baked fish w/ tomatoes
+* hummous, tehina etc.
+* beet salad, cabbage salad, eggplant salad
+* apple cake
+* honey cake
+* homemade sorbets (plum, and orange-mint)
-Last week I mentioned [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1251804596413&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Fond Jane] and her cohorts.  Well, this week the [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198162423&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Zbig mouth speaks].  You know him, don't you?  He was [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198170299&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Dhimmy "peanut-brain" Carter's] national security advisor.  And he is greatly respected by his holiness Obama.  Isn't it ironic how history unfolds?  I mean, the anti-semitic Carter -- who presided over the birth of the Mullahcracy of Iran -- is an ardent support of the arguably anti-semitic Obama, who is encouraging the thugs of Iran in their quest to acquire nuclear weapons so they can finally make good on ''their'' genocidal threats against Israel!   And now Zbig-mouth says the US should shoot down Israeli planes if they fly over Iraq.  What a guy! I fervently wish him an excruciatingly painful death.
+The day before ''yom hakippurim'', I got the ''sukkah'' ready.  That involved not only erecting the frame (not a big task), but trimming the olive trees so the "roof" of our ''sukkah'' is not obstructed (that was a BIG task).  But B"H, the ''sukkah'' is ready and electrified, ready for dinner tonight.  I can't wait!
-Prince Obama made a [http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2009/09/23/obama-the-un-new-era-of-engagement/ speech to the UN], which contained nothing too surprising.  Equation of good and evil, moral relativism -- all the things you expect from a "modern" man.  But for those of us living on the "wrong" side of the pre-1967 borders there were a few choice words -- he is looking for "a viable, independent Palestinian state with contiguous territory that ends the occupation that began in 1967".  Wow, even Fatah couldn't have written better copy!  Obama might like to look up the legal definition of occupation... since Israel and Jordan have signed a peace-treaty, no stretch of the imagination can render those territories taken (back) from Jordan "occupied" in the sense his holiness implies.  But the most shocking statement in his speech, in my opinion, was his equation of the "Israeli girl in Sderot who closes her eyes in fear that a rocket will take her life in the night" and the "Palestinian boy in Gaza who has no clean water and no country to call his own".  You really think these are equivalent?  What a schmuck.
+Survey of events in the middle-East:
+* Jews being provocative again [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254163536744&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull by getting stoned by Arabs].
+* Only Muslims are permitted [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253820682552&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull access to the Temple Mount], to our enduring shame.
+* Regardless of reality, our Left Wing (tm) really does believe [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253627558629&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull peace is possible] with the likes of Hamas.
+* [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1254163539299&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull Gaddafi and Chavez sign anti-terror agreement].  No comment necessary on that, I think...
+* Egyptian archaeologist finds [http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/133601 Joseph-era coins].  There are several problems with this story, not least of which is that "Joseph's name" in "Egyptian" is listed as "Saba Sabani" -- which is definitely not Egyptian, is not what the Torah says (not even close), and sounds to me like Aramaic.  It would be cool if it were true, though.
-Our very own Netanyahu then made a powerful [http://www.jr.co.il/articles/pm-netanyahus-speech-at-the-un-general-assembly.htm speech to the UN] in which he actually asked the (rhetorical, I think) question, "Have you no shame? Have you no decency?".  Asking the UN that is like asking the Pope, "are you Catholic?".  Seriously.  However, I wonder with whom Netanyahu is planning to make peace?  With Nasrallah, who said this week [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198155768&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull he will never recognize Israel]?  Or maybe with Haniyeh, who said this week [http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1253198158988&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull he won't respect any deal]?
+Have to take the eggplant out of the oven now, and finish cooking the other items on the menu... so
-Anyway, it's before ''shabbat shuvah''.  I want to take the opportunity to apologize to anyone I've offended (with the exceptions of Obama, Carter and Zbiggy) this past year.  I hope our thrice-daily repeated prayers for peace come true soon; but as long as they don't, I pray our leaders have the ''huevos'' to "keep the powder dry".  We live in interesting times ...
-<!--
-Health care:
-* "No one should die because they cannot afford heath care, and no one should go broke because they get sick"
--->
-Ah, one more thing: Israel goes on "winter time" this Saturday night, so remember to reset your clocks (if you're in Israel), or to make an adjustment (if you're not).
 Until next week,<br>
-Shabbat shalom and gemar Hatimah tovah!
+Shabbat shalom and Hag sameaH!<br>
+{{hebs|שבת שלום וחג שמח!}}
-{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/September 2009/Sep 18th|Sep 18th||}}
+{{nav|Blog|Blog|Blog/September 2009/Sep 25th|Sep 25th|Blog/October 2009/Oct 9th|Oct 9th}}

Difference between revisions of "Blog/October 2009/Oct 2nd"

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Latest revision as of 15:36, 9 October 2009