Blog/March 2011/Mar 25th

Mar 25th (See this week's devar torah)
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Hi, again!

The week started on a high note: purim celebrations, enjoyable outings. Unfortunately, our "cousins" had to add their voices with mortars, rockets and bombs. Unwilling to be left out of the fun, the UN vilified us (once again). But it looks to be ending nicely: rain and cool weather, and of course shabbat!

It was one of the more enjoyable purim celebrations (for me, anyway). Not that there was anything particularly different about it, I was just much more relaxed. Esther and I went to see the purim parade here in Maʼale Adummim, which was nice; lots of kids and their parents, lots of people milling about. The next day, the two of us went on a short trip to a place near Beit Shemesh called ʿemeq haʼela, where there was some really beautiful scenery. Sarah returned to Tel Aviv and gave purim gifts to her ladies, who were very pleased.

But as some of you know, peace was not to reign.

Already the Gazans had sent some fifty mortar shells into the areas surrounding. Then they fired a number of missiles into the surrounding cities of Ashdod, Ashkelon and Beer Sheva. And then, on Wednesday, they exploded a satchel-bomb next to a bus-stop in Jerusalem. This happened only a short period after Esther had passed that very same stop. So far, one person (a British tourist who happens to be non-Jewish) died, and a number of others are still in serious condition. Over thirty people were hospitalized from this particular event. Due to the vigilance of a local kiosk owner, fewer people were injured.

The reactions of the world at large were sadly predictable. The Obamanation condemned the attacks while at the same time "offering condolences" to the Gazans killed in an IDF action the day before. Funny, I don't recall him offering any condolences to the families of the (literally) hundreds of innocent bystanders ripped into shreds by Predator drones in Waziristan and elsewhere. But the worst reaction I saw so far was from Reuters, which wrote: "Police said it was a 'terrorist attack' -- Israel's term for a Palestinian strike". Yes, balanced reporting at its best!

Our useless, pathetic leaders make statements like "Israel will respond with 'utmost strength' to terror. Rather than doing what is required, they exercise their jaws and issue flatulent pronouncements signifying nothing. As they like to say, what you see from there, we don't see from here. Where is King David when you need him?

By the way: if you've run out of ipecac syrup you can read about the vertigo-inducing juxtaposition of "Playboy" and Helen Thomas (she who claims not to be an anti-Semite). It will likewise induce vomiting.

Yesterday we attended a bar-mitzva celebration which was different. Rather than have a big party and music, and so forth -- they invited a rabbi to come give a talk to the crowd. It was interesting and pleasant, and we got to talk to friends.

My ḥevruta had to travel overseas, and entrusted me with his laptop. He apparently likes the way Kubuntu runs on his desktop machine, so he wants me to install it on his laptop as well. So far, so good -- I just need to make sure all the various laptop functions work properly. And I do have another week or so before he returns ...

This shabbat it's just the three of us. The menu includes: sesame-covered tuna steaks, ḥummus, eggplant, corn and bean salad, guacamole, potato soup, baked chicken and yams, roasted zucchini with carrots, cholent, rice, egg salad, various cookies from the purim baskets. And a whole lot of the fruit of the vine, I think...

Until next week,
shabbat shalom!

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