Blog/February 2008/Feb 8th

February 8th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

Last week I had a close encounter with a recently sharpened knife. During preparations for shabbat, I sliced off some of the skin on one of my fingers. It started bleeding profusely, and I put on a bandage to stop the bleeding. It didn't stop, so Esther decided to take me to a first-aid place. We went at first to my clinic, but it was closed (this was 2pm on Friday afternoon). So we went to Terem, which is the actual first-aid clinic. It was also closed, the sign on the door stating they were closed from 2-6 on Fridays. Since 6 was after shabbat started, I wouldn't have gone there unless I was really bleeding to death. So I went to the ambulance place right next-door, to see if there was a medic on-duty. There was, but he informed me that if he "saw me" he would have to take me by ambulance to Jerusalem, and it would cost me quite a bit. Then he said, "well, let me take a look". So he did, and told me I didn't need stitches, and "hold on... here, take these bandages". He then told me what I needed to do, and told me, "listen: I didn't do anything"... that is, officially! By the way, the moral of the story is, "don't have an emergency in Maale Adummim between 2 and 6 on Friday".

I let the bandage stay on over shabbat. On Sunday, I tried to remove the bandage, but it was stuck to the wound. So I cut around the stuck part, leaving me with a fashionable cloth flag attached to my skin. The next day I soaked the wound in warm water for forty minutes, but the stuck bandage remained. Getting desperate, we called a friend of ours who is a doctor - and she removed the bandage (along with the scab; so the wound resumed its profuse bleeding). But - thank God - it's ok now...

To fully appreciate this, you need to know I've done woodworking for years, and am very familiar with razor-sharp tools. I had just sharpened the knife, and was using it in an unsafe manner. While I was doing that, my internal dialog was going on: "You know, what you're doing is dangerous". "Yes, but I'll be careful". "And if you cut yourself, it will be really painful". "Yes, but I'll be careful". "But you tell your kids not to use a knife the way you're doing". "Yes, but I'll be... OUCH!". Sometimes I wonder where I stash my brain. I guess I'm a cut above...

Good news: our mortgage paperwork is finally done, so now we have to get busy contacting contractors and figuring out exactly which of the many things we want to do, we can actually afford to do. We'll keep you appraised as things progress.

Rare sight: man driving while praying. Esther saw a man driving the other day, wearing tsitsit and tefillin, holding his siddur and praying as he was driving. I guess he wasn't aware that both driving and praying require one's full attention. I wonder where he stashed his brain!?

Most of you are probably familiar by now with the Winograd Commission. What you may not know is that one of the Hareidi online newspapers¹ airbrushed out (notice the empty chair in the picture?) Prof. Ruth Gavison due to modesty concerns. There are a couple problems, though. First, Professor Gavison is (no offense) quite unattractive, and I would wonder at someone who found a blurry picture of her enticing. Second, the airbrush artist left her (bare) hand on the table. And as we know, our Sages said it is forbidden even to look at the little finger of a woman. So the airbrushing didn't even fulfill its purpose -- it left her most attractive feature in the picture.

Not to be outdone in the modesty department, there is a group of women in Beit Shemesh who have decided that burkas work for Jews as well. I'm not sure which of these two stories is more alarming, maybe you can tell me?

More good news: we finally got gas! The gas company delivered on Monday, which surprised me since they were supposed to have had an inspector come by first. On Wednesday we got a call from them, saying that an inspector would be coming on Thursday, between 9 and 11 in the morning. We told them there wouldn't be anyone at home then, but they showed up anyway and were irate no-one was home. Anyway, the inspector showed up last night, and after a protracted session finally agreed to give a permit for the installation. A few things need to be fixed, but at least we're cooking with gas now! B"H!!

This week we took in a movie at the movie-theater for the first time since we made aliyah. It's just as expensive as in the US, but people here earn less, so it's really expensive (or perhaps that theater was more expensive). We got popcorn, and I nearly fainted at the price; but we ventured bravely forth. There were only five other people in the theater (which could have held about 200), so that explains why the tickets are so costly. Or maybe the ticket cost explains why the theater was empty. Anyway, half way through the movie, the film stopped abruptly and the house-lights came up. Intermission! I don't remember the last time I was in a theater that had intermission during a regular movie. Anyway, the movie was ok, but I'm not going to be repeating the experience any time soon.

Shabbat shalom!

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¹ No, I didn't know there were Hareidi online papers either.

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