Blog/September 2008/Sep 5th
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September 5th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!
Sarah started school this week; she's got a very tough schedule ("horrific", in her words). To her credit, the only thing she's really complained about was having P.E. (and a PE teacher who takes it seriously). Apparently there's a bagrut for PE as well. Somehow, I don't see the kids at her school taking that all too seriously. We don't know what sort of tutoring she's going to need, if any -- we'll probably find out in the next few weeks.
We're trying to figure out exactly where we're going to put our sukkah this year. The place with the most room has a fig-tree overhanging it, so that tree would have to be cut-back considerably. The front area isn't the right shape or big enough. So it's going to be an interesting challenge this year. We'll keep you informed. In the meantime, the weather here in the Judean Desert is hot and somewhat humid, making it pretty uncomfortable. I hope the humidity is a sign that winter isn't too far away.
I want to mention two "sickies" this week. My mother, Chanah Rachel bat Flora -- who is not "sick" right now but recovering from an infection which put her in the hospital for a few days; and my friend Michael Shelomo Bar-Ron who was injured while working on his Abir technique. May they both have a speedy and complete recovery! Update: I just found out my friend Dov Ber ben Eliyahu is also in need of refu'a! What is this? Every time I think of someone, they end up in pain?!?
In aliyah news, the Nefesh b'Nefesh organization is taking over responsibility for American aliyah. Now you won't have to deal with the Jewish Agency as well as NBN, you can do everything through one agency, which is a huge win for new-olim. However...
Aliyah advice: NBN is not the only solution. They are excellent at what they do, but they are not helpful when your needs are outside their expertise. That is, if you have never lived in Israel they're great. But if you have, you really need to do research on your own. That is the theme of the 'advice' for this week: make sure you research as much as possible, before you come. That way you will have fewer unpleasant experiences.
One of the things you will notice when you come here is the tension between the "secular" and the "religious". For example, the far-left secular paper "Haaretz" opined that the fact there are a record number of young men entering the yeshivas this year is a disaster that will cost the state 30 billion shekels. I'm not sure how that works out, as there are only 63,000 entering yeshivas. That works out to almost 500 thousand shekels per student... which is more than four years average Israeli salary. The State is not paying for their studies, so what gives? In the Israeli far-left view, one's worth is strictly dependent on one's income. Ironic, given the Stalinist-socialist basis of their ideology...
Speaking of the far-left, The Jerusalem Post's resident idiot Derfner wrote one of the most offensively anti-female pieces I've ever read. Of course, he was denigrating Sarah Palin - of whom I had not even heard until this past Saturday night. It's all right for a woman to be successful and assertive, if she is liberal, but not if she's conservative. At least, that's what I get from his diatribe.
You might think I am "right-wing", based on many of my comments. The truth is that I am independent but have no patience for liberal (or conservative) gas-bags . This upcoming US election had me underwhelmed -- neither of the primary candidates really "did it" for me. That is, until this week. I applaud McCain's appointment of Palin as a brilliant strategic move, which may very well propel his ticket to the Oval Office. Read Palin's speech at the RNC, and tell me you aren't impressed... Then look her up on YouTube! and hear her talk. And read this analysis. I tell you, this might be a turn-around for America. Now, if we could only get someone similar here in Israel...
In the interest of fair disclosure: if you are one of those (primarily left-wing so-called 'liberals') who wishes to boycott Israel, please watch this video first. Don't say you weren't warned.
Until next week,
Shabbat shalom!
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