Blog/March 2008/March 14th

March 14th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi again!

This week Esther attended a birth, to get some practical experience as a doula before finishing up her licensing. She said it was exciting, but the woman giving birth almost broke Esther's wrist by grabbing her hand in a vise-grip. Maybe they should give courses on self-defense as part of the doula training!

We've got only three and a half months before we get possession of the "new" house, God willing -- so we have to get things lined up. I talked to a couple general contractors this week - and found out that I might be too late to get someone for June! One guy said he would call me back and try to arrange a visit to the house, but he hasn't called so far. Another guy is out of the country until after Purim, but he says he is available in June and will talk to me when he comes back. I did talk to a roofer about getting insulation on the roof and sealing the asphalt; that will be done. And I need to talk to a mover and set a firm date - because even if we haven't done anything to fix up the house, we are moving out of the place we're in!!!

Last week I talked about the terrorist attack on the Mercaz HaRav yeshiva in Jerusalem. This week, the family of the murderer erected a "mourning tent" for him. We bleeding-hearts in Israel allowed them to not only erect a large tent, but to put Hamas and Hizbullah flags all over it. Our neighbors the Jordanians however, refused to let his relatives in Jordan do the same. The heart-breaking irony: their reason is Jordan would not permit any group or individual to harm its national security by holding events that publicly supported violence against civilians! Why is it that Jordan "gets it" and we don't? Not precisely related, but related nonetheless... my current personal hero and person I would vote to be Minister of Defense is Tvrtko Kale. Yes, he's "only" a soccer player, but he has more sechel than anyone I've heard in the government. The best part of the interview I linked to, is the reaction from the left-wing interviewer. Priceless! Also well worth reading is the artist Orit's letter to a secular friend (Orit is not "religious" either, just FYI).

Our enemies aren't just here across the way. Not-so-great Britain has banned one of our politicians, Moshe Feiglin from entering that country, even though he has no plans to visit. They think he's a racist or some such; but they have no problem letting in radical Muslim clerics who directly call for genocide against the Jews. Guess where I won't be vacationing? And of course, not content to be left out of the anti-Semitic limelight, Daniel Barenboim is raising funds for Ramallah by throwing a Wagner concert in a Nazi-era theater. Right on, Daniel! You are right at the bottom of the barrel, buddy.

Speaking of bottom of the barrel, why couldn't former governor Spitzer keep his spitz to himself? What is it about "men in high places" that makes them think moral behavior doesn't apply to them? Is it that in order to achieve such a position one must usually be arrogant? I really don't understand it.

A couple weeks ago I mentioned the eyesore being built in Jerusalem. Original budget: 70 million NIS. Current expenditures: 245 million NIS. Good to see our gov't knows how to pinch a penny, particularly when they reduce allotments for education. The newly-semi-privatized Israeli Postal Service is now going to charge a minimum of 35 NIS per package received from outside Israel. This amounts to postal piracy, and affects a large percentage of the population -- and especially those who recently moved here from abroad. Even more so now, that the dollar is at 3.40 (it was 4.305 when we made aliyah, so the purchasing power of our savings in the US is 27% lower than when we moved!)

Speaking of coming from abroad and piracy, deodorant which cost $3.50 in the US costs $10 here. That explains why there is more ... em, "bouquet" here. May you all have a fragrant shabbat!

Shabbat shalom!

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