Blog/April 2009/Apr 17th
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April 17th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!
Help feed the hungry in Israel!
It looks like the war against the ants has ended in an uneasy cease-fire, as most conflicts do in the middle-east. Plugging the electrical conduits does seem to have stopped their easy access, and we actually saw no ants over the holiday. However, this morning I noticed some ants around the dishwasher, and I assume they are coming in from the electrical outlet the dishwasher is plugged into. <grrr>! What I need is an "Antenator", made by the people who make the Rodenator!
The holiday itself was very relaxing. I think this has been the most relaxing pesach on record (for us, anyway). But the last day of chol-hamo`ed (the day before the last actual yom-tov, there was a sharav -- and so we read with relief the forecast of cooler weather following. So we sat down for the last holiday meal with some friends, and towards the end of the meal the wind picked up -- and the temperature dropped precipitously. Our guests walked home in 50kph winds, and the next day was nice and cool. Rain even fell... weird weather.
During chol-hamoed, we went to the kotel to see birkat hakohanim. The Jerusalem Post had almost no coverage of that even, but the Easter celebrations were front page press. <sarcasm> It makes sense. After all, the two events are not comparable in religious importance. On the one hand you have the idolaters celebrating their "god's" death and resurrection, and on the other hand you have the descendants of Aaron the High Priest continuing to perform a Biblical command to bless His people Israel. Obviously, we should give priority in our press to the idolatrous practices of the surrounding nations.</sarcasm>
- Why can't Israel play the violin?
- Don't cry for me, New York
- Why Hamas couldn't shoot stinger missiles at the IDF.
- A new park near us with purty flowers
Israel's GDP (2008) stands at 188.7 billion USD (at official rate of exchange). $28,800 per capita. Life exp 80.73 Jordan: GDP 19.12 BUSD. $5,000 per cap. Life exp 78.87 Egypt: GDP 158.3 BUSD. $5,400 per cap. Life 72.12 Lebanon: GDP 28.02 BUSD. $11,100 per cap. Life 73.6 EU: GDP 18,850 BUSD. $33,400 per cap. Life exp 78.67 USA: GDP 14,330 BUSD. $47,000 per cap. Life exp 78.11
US aid to Israel (2007) : 2,500 M$USD (2,340 military, 160 financial) (according to the US Gov't FAS site).
Until next week,
Shabbat shalom!
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