Blog/May 2011/May 13th
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| May 13th (See this week's devar torah) | Comments or questions? Click here! |
Hi, again!
This week we celebrated the modern State of Israel's 63rd birthday. It's not just "Israeli Independence Day", it's a celebration of the open miracle of her continued existence against all odds; and even more miraculous, her blossoming both literally and figuratively. עם ישראל חי!
There are those among the Jewish people who choose to ignore -- or even actively oppose -- this celebration. Some act out of ignorance, more out of apathy and some out of self-hatred. And there are those who contend -- from religious principles -- that the establishment of the State of Israel was a "disaster", and it should not be celebrated. To these last, I would like to say that yes, Israel is not a perfect country; and no, the Messiah has not yet made his appearance. Nevertheless, it is abundantly clear that our prophets' words are coming to fruition in our very days. Do you really want to ignore them? Have you really given thought to the consequences of that?
As for us, we stayed at home because I had to do some work that day (it was not, apparently, possible that it be done another day). So we invited our neighbors over for an early dinner / barbecue, and had a great time.
Sarah was in Reḥovot with her good friend and roommate, at her roommate's cousins' party on Yom Haʼaṣmaut. She ended up getting stuck in that fine city, because there is almost no bus service during our Independence Day. Besides that, she got an additional assignment at work; volunteer hours at a rehabilitation center for geriatric patients at Ichilov Hospital in Tel Aviv.
In other news... not too much happened here. Esther and I both had 'short' work weeks, which is always welcome. I made two releases of our product at work. I've been making continual improvements to my TeX setup, which I use for the M"T Translation Project as well as for my weekly devar Torah. I've also been re-engaging myself in the translation project mentioned above; but the particular part I'm working through involves a lot of "philosophical" concepts which is most definitely not my strong suit.
Dear readers, I would like to encourage you to join us here in the Land. From my front window I gaze upon the hills of Jerusalem rising up -- populated by Jews and Arabs alike. The city which Mark Twain described: "A fast walker could go outside the walls of Jerusalem and walk entirely around the city in an hour". From fourteen-thousand inhabitants in 1868 to more than 750,000 today. The country of which Twain says, "We traversed some miles of desolate country whose soil is rich enough, but is given over wholly to weeds -- a silent, mournful expanse, wherein we saw only three persons". That same country now hosts 7.5 million people. Surely a modern-day miracle, and one I am proud to take part in.
Another week without guests. We'll have to work our way alone through: baked musht, vegetable soup, asado al horno con papas, salatim.
Until next week,
shabbat shalom!
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