Blog/March 2019/Mar 22nd
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We celebrated the holiday of Purim this week. As is our tradition for the past decade or so, we had our Purim meal with our friends with whom we made aliyah on the same flight. We had a good time — even Mom!
I’m a bit perturbed by people noticing that the Hindu holiday of “Holi” fell out the same time as Purim, and attempting to connect the two. With all respect to my Indian friends, the two are completely unconnected in just about every possible way. This, despite some Jewish attempts to make Purim into a poor imitation of Carnival. Suffice it to say, neither of those comparisons is in any way correct.
I’ll drop that topic for now, it gets me riled up.
This week a couple of Iranians were arrested in Buenos Aires with poorly forged Israeli passports. The forgeries weren’t only “bad”, it’s almost as if Iranian intelligence wasn’t even trying. Couldn’t they have found someone who knew Hebrew well enough to distinguish the letters from each other? C’mon, guys…
You might be wondering how someone as wealthy and powerful as Jeff Bezos could have embarrassing pictures exposed? Pretty easily, it turns out. Read the article if you’re interested in online security and privacy in general.
In Israeli news this week, the co-founder of the “New Right” party, Ayelet Shaked, released a video ad which stirred up a lot of controversy. It looks like an ad for a perfume called “Fascism”. During the ad, the voiceover mentions a number of things Shaked has fought for, such as “restraining the (overreaching) Supreme Court”, and for which her detractors have labeled her as being “Fascist”. The ad ends with her spraying herself with the perfume and saying, “Smells like democracy to me”. It’s a brilliant send-up of the Israeli Left, but unfortunately it’s probably too subtle for many to understand. Certainly, labeling the bottle of perfume in English but having nothing else in English contributes to a “bad look” internationally, since it looks like she’s embracing fascism, which by definition she’s not.
The preparations for my knee surgery continue. I got a pair of crutches so that I could get used to them before I need them. The PT person gave me more painful exercises to do. The operation is presumably scheduled for next Thursday, and they’ll call me at the start of the week to let me know exactly when and where and what I need to do. Hopefully I’ll be out the same day I go in; I don’t want to hang around there more than I must.
And the beautiful grandchildren are progressing! Gabe is able to stand-up on his own (while grabbing something). Naomi has learned to clap enthusiastically. It’s an exciting time for them and their parents (and grandparents)!
The weather’s been spring-like, and our shabbat should be pleasant. But unstable weather is forecast for the next week, so we’ll probably have cold and rain off and on. In the meantime, we’ll enjoy the nice weather.
Three for dinner (and breakfast and lunch).
This week’s menu will include:
homemade ḥalla,
five-minute meatballs,
mashed potatoes,
schnitzel,
berenjena de la abuela (Esther’s grandmother’s eggplant recipe),
various salatim,
and Purim desserts.
Until next time,
shabbat shalom!
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