Blog/May 2010/May 14th

May 14th (See this week's devar torah)
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אִם-אֶשְׁכָּחֵךְ יְרוּשָׁלִָם -- תִּשְׁכַּח יְמִינִי. תִּדְבַּק-לְשׁוֹנִי, לְחִכִּי -- אִם-לֹא אֶזְכְּרֵכִי: אִם-לֹא אַעֲלֶה, אֶת-יְרוּשָׁלִַם -- עַל, רֹאשׁ שִׂמְחָתִי.  (תהילים קלז:ה,ו)

Hi again!

The quote above is from the book of Psalms, 137:5,6 -- If I forget thee, O Jerusalem, let my right hand forget her cunning. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I remember thee not; if I set not Jerusalem above my chiefest joy.. This week was "Yom Yerushalayim", the national holiday commemorating the liberation of Jerusalem from Jordanian occupation in 1967. For a brief moment, we had our national destiny in our hands. If it weren't for Moshe Dayan returning control of our holiest sites to the Muslim squatters, who knows how history would have unfolded?

This past week has been a roller-coaster of hot and not-as-hot weather. The heat is increasing towards shabbat, supposedly reaching a peak of about 35C (95F) on Sunday; then cooling significantly for Monday (and who knows what it will be like for shavuot, coming up on Wednesday?). With judicious use of the shades on the windows, and opening and closing them appropriately through the day, we can keep the inside temperature pretty comfortable without using the air-conditioner (but we will have it on over shabbat, just to make sure we're comfy inside).

Esther and I have been working non-stop. Sarah and Daniela have been taking final exams. Not too much exciting to report from us, sorry to disappoint you. Except that Daniela is coming home for the summer in just about two weeks (yeah!).

With all the talk of Iranian nuclear preparations and the possibility of MADness breaking out soon, too many have overlooked the existential threats posed by the resurgence of the Hummous wars with Lebanon. I say we interdict their chickpea supply, or at least substitute sub-standard tehina -- otherwise, we may have to concede the battle for middle-eastern dip supremacy. Can we live with the shame?

Speaking of shame, our signed-peace-treaty partners, the Jordanians, don't seem to have any. What exactly do they stand to gain by burning Israeli products? I mean, I know that the Arab world is unable to do anything productive -- but do they have to be destructive? (That was what is known as a "rhetorical question")

Just this week, in time for "Yom Yerushalayim" -- the OECD unanimously agreed to offer membership to Israel. This is a big deal (though it was barely reported in the MSM). It is a big deal, because it will make it cheaper for Israel to do business internationally. It will also make Israel much more attractive to outside investors. That is why I have to laugh at the idiot-savants who come up with headlines like: "There will be no economic prosperity without peace". Because that claim is absolutely and irrevocably proven false by reality. Just look at the two actual peace treaties Israel has -- with Egypt and with Jordan -- to see how little economic benefit has accrued (although not having to maintain full military readiness on those fronts does save money). And witness the close financial ties we have with the "Palestinians", and how both their economy and ours have flourished despite there being no peace agreements between us.

Odds and ends:

• PA is offended by Bibi's citing the Bible to support our claim to Jerusalem.
• Egyptian with weapons in luggage allowed to board at JFK. The Egyptians were astonished that he was let on board the plane (so was I).
• If you thought the Middle East is weird, think again! A church in Massachusetts offers worship services for dogs.

This week is going to be a quiet shabbat -- just us, no guests. The menu includes: stuffed vegetables, chili, butternut squash soup, lentil salad, carrot salad, cabbage salad, fish salad.

Until next week,
Shabbat shalom !

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