Worth Reading

This week's Haveil Havalim is brought to you by Benji over at WWZ.
I have been having trouble putting into words all the things that have been running through my head during the events of the last few days in India. So instead I will just mention that instead of waiting for next week's Haveil Havalim you'll find some perceptive posts on the subject on the following blogs:
Leora at Here in HP Modulate besides her own insights links to a number of thoughtful posts. The Rebbetzin's Husband gives a powerful drasha and Treppenwitz who just returned from India writes about his feelings having narrowly missed being in the thick of this.
I wish to add my condolences to all the bereaved.

Kislev: A new month, A new baby

Gali: Discover G-d's Glory In This World

The Jewish month of Kislev arrived on Friday bringing with it our new granddaughter. On Shabbat all over the world we read the weekly portion Toldot. In the synagogue at Hadassah Hospital on Mt. Scopus my son was called to the Tora to bless and name his new born daughter.

With great diffiuculty Rivka conceives twins and we are told ויתרוצצו הבנים ברבה "And the children struggled together within her". A famous midrash tells us that when she passed by the place where there was idolatry Esav wanted to get out and participate and when she passed the place where the God of Abraham was exalted Yaakov wanted to get out and participate. But we also know our children are taught Tora by an angel up until the time they are born and then when they enter this world they must give up that knowledge only to re-learn it for themselves during their lifetime. If that is so then why was Yaakov so anxious to get out? The reason is that knowledge we achieve by working hard to learn and discover for ourselves is of greater value to us than what is handed to us without any effort on our part. So while the knowledge and understanding of G-d and his Tora that we acquire during our lifetime is not 'new', our re-discovery of that knowledge is the source of great joy for us.
Gali is the imperative form of the verb לגלות to reveal, discover or find out. Her parents wish for her is that she discover her way to Tora and sanctity.

Amen, may it be God's will.

Waiting for a bus as the sun was setting...

I photographed this tree.

I 'played' with the photo in IrfanView and made it sepia.

You can see more pictures like this one or find out how to participate in this challenge as well.

Tagged - In or Out?

Does this mean I have arrived? Both Batya and Leora 'tagged' me for this meme. So who am I to be a spoilsport. Here goes:
Here are the rules:
1. Link to your tagger and list these rules on your blog.

2. Share 7 facts about yourself, some random, some weird.

3. Tag 7 people (if possible) at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs.

4. Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blogs.

And here are my seven facts:

1. I was hoola-hoop champion on my block (115th Street) in 1959.

2. When I was a kid we had two pets, one a parakeet named Dinky who lived around 10 years and the other a turtle named Tommy (very original) who was donated to the Bronx Zoo sometime in the late 60s.

3. I spent 20 years on a moshav in Ramat Hagolan.

4. In Ramat Hagolan I taught English.

5. I solicited a $2 donation 'to help Israel' from Bill Cosby (in front of Ripley's Believe It Or Not in Times Square) in June 1967.

6. I have lived in Israel since 1967.

7. I am very tall but Michelle Obama is taller than me.

I'm tagging:

Rafi
Jameel
Gila
West Bank Mama

You turned my mourning into dancing, caused me to loose my sackcloth and gird me with joy

I"ll call Baila has put out a yummy 35th edition of the KCC and there is a big new Haveil Havalim over at Ima on (and off) the bimah. My good friend Batya at Shiloh Musings asked us all "where were you when?" and I hope to answer that in a moment.

But first, where was I last night? Thanks for asking, David and I went to Jerusalem for the Shlomo Carlebach Yahrtzeit Concert. You might subtitle it a sixties mimouna. Graying flower children gathered to honor the memory of 'The Dancing Rabbi' so much an icon (pardon the expression, those of you who know what that means outside the cyberworld) of my generation. I first saw and heard him in the lunchroom at YCQ when I was in the 6th grade. He sang accompanied by his guitar all the while 'jumping up and down'. His mother, doubling as his agent, sold his record at the back of the room. Need I say that we were enthralled with the idea that Jewish music could be so entertaining and that a Rabbi could play the guitar and jump up and down. His music is so much a part of our experience. What would SSSJ rallies have been like without 'Od Avinu Chai'?

And so last night on the way home to Rehovot after being transported back to the 60's I noticed on my cell phone (where else does one notice the date nowadays?) that it was going on November 23rd and since I was already in the 60's I couldn't help but think of that infamous day. Like Batya, I was in school, but at Jamaica High School. The bell rang (in those days bells actually rang) I walked out of a class and saw a group of kids walking with Mrs. Lipitz the art teacher. They were coming towards me nodding in a sort of disbelief. One of them said, "President Kennedy has been shot!" The rest is sort of a blur but we ended up in our homerooms being sent home early. There was stillness in the streets and on the bus as if someone turned off the sound.

Later that evening after we made kiddush and ate Shabbat dinner my mother and father felt the need to go to shul and we went to the Conservative synagogue which was closest to our home (also I guess because it was way after the Orthodox services were over). They had to open up an extra extension because people from all over the neighborhood came. Many many were not even Jews. Everyone seemed to need to make a connection with God and Friday night the place to be was the synagogue. This was the only time in my life we sat together as a family in shul. (Does anyone remember the slogan ‘A family that prays together stays together’???) At the end of the service when it came time for kaddish the rabbi got up and explained that we would all stand for the recital of the Jewish prayer for mourners. Everyone, even my father, cried.

My title here is from Tehillim 30 (Psalms) and seemed appropriate at this convergence of anniversaries. May all their neshamot have an aliya.*

*May their souls rest closer to God

Half Way to Hanuka!

Why is this man smiling?

We are at the half way point between the end of Succot and the beginning of Hanuka. Today we announced the upcoming month of Kislev and on the 25th of Kislev we light the first candle of Hanuka.

What has that got to do with my smiling man? Well, he holds a cake made with the grated rind of an etrog (citron fruit). Since this year was shmita we had to treat our Israel grown etrogim with special respect and we couldn't just let them dry up as usual. We were advised to use them in food. So we did. I made a cake like this right after the holiday (also many of my neighbors 'donated' their etrogim to the effort and received a small cake in return). But we put away 1/2 a cup of grated rind in the freezer and today we are having a festive half-way mark before Hanuaka as the month of Heshvan (sometimes called mar-heshvan or bitter heshvan for lack of holidays) wanes.

Here's the recipe:

Cream:

1/2 a cup of margarine with 1 1/2 cups of sugar then add 4 eggs (beating them in one at a time)

Stir in:

100 grams (4 oz) grated semi-sweet chocolate

1/2 cup finely shaved citron peel (the recipe I took it from says you can also use candied orange or lemon peel)

Add:

2 1/3 cups of sifted flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of cloves

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

alternatively with one cup of water or orange juice

Beat until smooth.

Bake in a moderate oven.

I usually bake this in loaf pans but this time I wanted to put half of it away so I used two small heart shaped pans which I have around. It also comes out nice in a bundt pan.

Usually I serve it with powdered sugar on top but the man found the other chocolate bar and melted it on top of the cakes. It tasted good but in my opinion the cake is sweet enough without the chocolate icing.

Ripe Red Sabras

These are sabras (prickly pears) that grow in Israel. People born in Israel are called sabras because they are prickly on the outside but sweet on the inside.

I took this picture in Jerusalem today. I went on a walking tour of the Har Hazeitim (Mt. of Olives) cemetery where I have an ancestor buried. It was a beautiful day. I hope to be posting more about that trip soon.

For now, it seems appropriate to post this in honor of Ruby Tuesday which I learned about from Ilana-Davita and Here in HP.

Thanks ladies!

The Mama Rachel Edition of Havel Havelim

Last week was the the Yahtzeit of our foremother Rachel and also Yitzhak Rabin as well as being the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht in Germany 1938. All this gave West Bank Mama plenty to link to in her Mama Rachel Edition of Havel Havelim. Click over and you won't be bored all week.

Jewish Couples, Jewish Mothers, Jewish Voters

Hadassah Sabo has inaugurated the Yiddishe Mama Blog Carnival over at her In the Pink blog. Besides my favorite Isramom post there are Jewish mother posts from all around. Worth visiting. Jewlicious has posted a very well organized Heveil Havalim which should keep everyone busy analyzing the election etc for at least a week.

I'd like to share some ideas that came to mind this week.
Dr. Beetcha Har-Shefi has a piece in this week's Makor Rishon* entitled ספר תולדות הזוגיות which roughly translates as The History of Couplehood. (Zug means couple as in involved in an intimate marital relationship and zugiut describes that relationship. I have never seen a good English term for this.)

I'd like to take some of her points (in my own words and shorter) and link them up to an idea I heard about Noach and some of my own ideas.

Dr. Har-Shefi writes that while B'reshit is a history of humanity it is presented as the story of male and female and how close (or how far)their relationship comes to being complete and complimentary. Before the tree of knowledge sin Adam and Eve had a perfect relationship. The punishment and the banishment from the garden of Eden led to the a severe breach in the harmonious relationship where women are ignored almost completely except in the capacity of anonymous childbearing. Lemech is mentioned as having two wives giving rise to the description in B'reshit Raba of the description of the generation before the flood having kept two wives, one for childbearing purposes and the other for sexual relations. The one who bore the children lived 'like a widow' and the other 'drank from the cup of sterility' and spent her life sitting by him 'decked out like a harlot'. The situation deteriorates and the objectification (is that a word?) of women gets so out of hand that just before the flood things have gotten so out of hand that we have difficulty even understanding the last few sentences in parshat B'reshit (with the giants and the sons of the elohim taking the daughters of man as they wish).

This brings us to the flood and Noach and his wife and his sons and their wives. Here I'd like to tell of an insight which I heard from Rav Dr. Benny Lau (on TV no less, erev parshat Noach). He pointed out that when they enter to ark the go in Noach and Shem and Ham and Yafet and Noach's wife and the wives of his sons (B'reshit 7,13). This is because they will not be having sexual relations as this is not appropriate while the world is being destroyed outside. But then Rav Lau pointed out that when Hashem tells Noach to leave the ark (B'reshit 8, 16) he tells him to leave the ark, you and your wife and your sons and their wives with you. The message is that although the destruction was brought about because of promiscuity and degenerate life style you must not fear returning to normal couplehood (zugiut). In the end Noach essentially fails at this. (Rav Lau continued on this point but I want to get back to Dr. HarShefi and I don't want this post to take forever to write.)

Then Avram comes to mark the beginning of a new era. He and Sarai are a unit, she is referred to often throughout the text by her name Sarai the wife of Avram. Indeed this is not in harmony with the world around them and their couplehood is put to the test by rulers who have yet to internalize the faithful relationship between one man and one woman. Their inability to bear children together is of course a major force in their story. From the Hagar story we learn that Hashem's promise to Avraham of giving him progeny was meant for him and Sarah. This teaches us a lesson about the connection between the ideal of marriage and the mandate 'be fruitful and multiply'.

"One the one hand marriage is not just the vehicle for fulfilling 'be fruitful
and multiply' but an ideal in its own right, as it is written: "Anyone who finds
himself without a wife finds himself without goodness, without blessing …
without peace" (Tur Even Haezer aleph, as quoted in Yebamot). On the other hand
the commandment 'be fruitful and multiply' is intimately connected with the
ideal of marriage. The completeness which is achieved through marriage is a
precondition as well as the means of begetting children and it is the method of
establishing place for the shechina in this world by filling the world with
humans who were created in Hashem's image."

Rav Ezra Bick of Yeshivat Har Etzion's KMTT started a series in which he will be teaching the parsha with Ramban's commentary. In the Lech Lecha podcast he elaborates on familiar מעשה אבות סימן לבנים 'the actions of the fathers are a sign for the sons'. We often read this as a forshadowing of history as in just as Avraham walked about Eretz Yisrael symbolically taking possesion of it so do his children inherit the land; just as Avraham goes down to Egypt so his children return to Egypt, etc. But Rav Bick expands on this. He says that we can also read this as our father's action being a sign for us to follow, an example to learn from.

I love reading B'reshit and having access to insights like these in the print and elctronic media have enriched my understanding and appreciation of torah.

*Many of this week's articles are posted there in Hebrew but this one isn't (yet?) and there is no English site that I know of.
**My translation of the last paragraph (including the quote) of Dr. Har-Shefi's article.

Now, We MUST!!!

So, according to some of my fellow JBloggers Obama's victory should have me worried.

Very worried.

This is because George W. Bush has turned out to be such a great friend of Israel. I may be getting old and forgetful but it seems to me that in 2000, along with many others, I was apprehensive about Bush's attitude towards Israel. Most of us here would have been a lot happier with Al Gore. Besides Bush's other chasoren (negative traits - but in Yiddish it sounds much worse) he (and his old man) was close with 'the Arabs' having the family's money coming from oil deals.

Fast forward 8 very difficult years. To hear it today we never had a beter friend than W. So where did all the terror, the intifada, the sell-out of Gush Katif and abandonment of the displaced families come from. If things are so good, why are they so bad?

WHY?

Because no one else can do this for us! Sharon sold out Gush Katif. Not Bush. Olmert dragged us through war he didn't know how to win, Livni is, pardon the expression, waffling on Jerusalem and my fellow bloggers think Obama is our problem???

We need to learn from the US. We need to find our own great Jewish hope. We need our own change around here. It's our turn now.

Now, We MUST!!!

Listen to Gila too!

Politics and Religion (not what you think)

If you can't beat 'em - join 'em!
Everyone, even here in Israel, is obsessed with the US elections this year. I just can't get away from it. As I have mentioned before, I did not vote in this election (the whole JBlogsphere was full of where to vote in Israel last week).
I do, however, have a bittersweet memory of elections past.
In August of 1964 I went with a friend to the NY State Democratic convention where we waited outside and found someone who gave us tickets to the visitors gallery (it was in an armory in Manhattan) where we saw Robert F. Kennedy accept the nomination for US senator. This was a man who helped stand up to the Russians and sent out the National Guard to guarantee James Meredith the right to go to college in Mississippi*. We were way too young to vote but we were excited about seeing RFK.
After it was over and Kennedy departed to celebrate his victory we went down to the convention floor to pick up some souveniers. There was red, white and blue plastic bunting tacked to the speakers platform and I took a long piece of it and folded it up to bring home. I'm not sure what I actually planned to do with it but it was in my closet several weeks later when my dad enlarged our succa and we were looking for something to cover the extra length of the wall with. We had a colorful and patriotic succa that year (also waterproof).
I had the feeling that I had it all, Jewish and American. Not bad at all.
We signed up with the local Democrats and were invited to help campaign for the ticket in our area of Queens. We were invited to join a campaign bus one Friday afternoon which was accompanying RFK to rallies around Kew Gardens, Woodhaven and Forest Hills (if I remember correctly).
We went on the bus and arrived at his stops before him with signs and cheer when he arrived and give out flyers to the people who were passing by or actually listening to the speeches. It was a crisp fall day and the feeling was exhilarating! I felt really good about it.
Then it started to get close to Shabbat. On the bus they announced that we were all invited to continue with the candidate to a restaurant nearby for a fish dinner. (Friday in those days meant fish for Catholics - nothing is the same any more.)
I got off the bus and took a city bus home, in time to light shabbat candles and have chicken soup and flanken.

-------
*So I'm so old that this history is current events to me.

Haveil Havalim #189 - The Elections Edition

Over at Esser Agaroth: Haveil Havalim #189 - The Elections Edition we're all ready to wrap up the US elections and shift our very wordy attention to the upcoming Israeli elections.