What Would You Take With You?

Let’s just say I had a rough night last night.

I was having some issues with my computer, and I was on the phone with Compaq describing the problem to them and this was their response:

“We know exactly what the problem is, please give us your credit card number so we can charge you $40 to walk you through how to insert one line of code into Windows” (WHY DIDN’T I GET A MAC)

Anyways, I said forget it, I restart my computer and am greeted with the message, “We’re sorry, a critical line of code is missing from Windows, please reload your operating system.”

AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

I have 2 Recovery DVD’s for my computer, one wipes the hard drive and restores the computer to when it was purchased, wiping the hard drive and all that good stuff. The other fills in missing pieces in Windows.

I have critical data that I hadn’t backed up, so I chose the later.

So I’m sitting there and am told that it will take about an hour to complete the procedure. So I decide to leave it and go daven Maariv and do the Daf. This is a drastic change from when I’d do computer related stuff when I was younger. Then I’d do all sorts of things from pace the room, listen to music, but go the Beis and learn?

Needless to say I was very calm when I rebooted Windows and discovered that the entire “My Documents” folder had been erased!

I had all of my work stuff, school stuff, music, pictures, all of my audio projects. And it was just gone.

So I had take into account, now that it was gone, what would I have to do. Luckily work things were completed, but I do a newsletter and sometime I have to look back at old editions for certain things. The big thing was the 25 page energy audit I was doing for my Environmental Science class. I had been through page 15, and now it was gone. If figured that it would be about six hours worth of work to redo it.

But besides that I have to say I felt relieved. I was free of the burden of my very cluttered drive, and I could let it go. I realized that I could do without most of the files on there. They were only baggage.

So I was up late last night reinstalling programs that had been corrupted. (and I still managed to make it to 6:30 minyan this morning!)

So today I was tweaking, trying to see if there was someway to recover any of my lost files. I was tipped off by the fact that my 100gb hard drive only read 40gb free. All of the folders in the C drive didn’t add up. So I went to the internet trying to find a data recovery program. After numerous downloads and attempts I gave up, the files weren’t in any of the lost files.

Then I decided to just put “Lost My Documents” into Google. . . and my attempt sprung gold!

Instead of erasing my files, the permissions had been changed, all I had to do was sign in in Safe Mode, change the permission and I was good to go!

Well here I am, with my “lost” files back. And it got me thinking about what’s going on in California and Sderot right now. I came across and article asking “What would you take if you had 15 seconds to grab something and get out of the house? Lets say you didn’t have to worry about family members, what object would you consider irreplaceable and would have to come with you. The thing that you absolutely could not live without?

We’ve been discussing in out science class about one of the ways to curb the so-called Global Climate Change, is to like more economically and efficiently. Besides food, shelter, clothing, and religious materials, what is really important?

Just a thought.

Google determines future of Jerusalem!

Take a good hard look at this picture, notice the red line straight down the middle. That's what Google has determined is the line of the border of Israel. Notice how the Kotel and Har Habayit are on the OTHER SIDE!
In related news terrorists are using Google Earth to help plan terror attacks.

"Mother, Father, Husband, Wife" -words banned in Public Schools!

This from World Net Daily:

"Mom and Dad" as well as "husband and wife" effectively have been banned from California schools under a bill signed by Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger , who with his signature also ordered public schools to allow boys to use girls restrooms and locker rooms, and vice versa, if they choose.

"We are shocked and appalled that the governor has blatantly attacked traditional family values in California," said Karen England, executive director of Capitol Resource Institiute

"With this decision, Gov. Schwarzenegger has told parents that their values are irrelevant. Many parents will have no choice but to pull their children out of the public schools that have now become sexualized indoctrination centers."

"Arnold Schwarzenegger has delivered young children into the hands of those who will introduce them to alternative sexual lifestyles," said Randy Thomasson, president of Champaign for Children and Families which worked to defeat the plans. "This means children as young as five years old will be mentally molested in school classrooms.

"Shame on Schwarzenegger and the Democrat politicians for ensuring that every California school becomes a homosexual-bisexual-transsexual indoctrination center," he said.

Analysts have warned that schools across the nation will be impacted by the decision, since textbook publishers must cater to their largest purchaser, which often is California, and they will be unlikely to go to the expense of having a separate edition for other states.

The bills signed by Schwarzenegger include SB777, which bans anything in public schools that could be interpreted as negative toward homosexuality, bisexuality and other alternative lifestyle choices.

There are no similar protections for students with traditional or conservative lifestyles and beliefs, however.

"SB 777 will result in reverse discrimination against students with religious and traditional family values," said Meredith Turney, legislative liaison for Capitol Resource Institute. "These students have lost their voice as the direct result of Gov. Schwarzenegger's unbelievable decision. The terms 'mom and dad' or 'husband and wife' could promote discrimination against homosexuals if a same-sex couple is not also featured.

"Parents want the assurance that when their children go to school they will learn the fundamentals of reading, writing and arithmetic – not social indoctrination regarding alternative sexual lifestyles. Now that SB777 is law, schools will in fact become indoctrination centers for sexual experimentation," she said.

England told WND that the law is not a list of banned words, including "mom" and "dad." But she said the requirement is that the law bans discriminatory bias.

"Having 'mom' and 'dad' promotes a discriminatory bias. You have to either get rid of 'mom' and 'dad' or include everything when talking about [parental issues]," she said. "They [promoters of sexual alternative lifestyles] do consider that discriminatory."

Also signed was AB394, which targets parents and teachers for such indoctrination through "anti-harassment" training, CCF said.

Schwarzenegger had vetoed almost identical provisions a year ago, saying existing state law already provided for penalties for discrimination.

"We had hoped that the governor would once again veto this outrageous legislation but he obviously decided to side with the out-of-touch extremists that control the legislature. This law does not reflect the true values of the average Californian," said England. "True leadership means standing up for what is true and right."

Thomasson said SB777 prohibits any "instruction" or school-sponsored "activity" that "promotes a discriminatory bias" against "gender" – the bill's definition includes cross-dressing and sex changes – as well as "sexual orientation."

"Because no textbook or instruction in California public schools currently disparages transsexuality, bisexuality, or homosexuality, the practical effect of SB777 will be to require positive portrayals of these sexual lifestyles at every government-operated school," CCF noted.

Offenders will face the wrath of the state Department of Education, up to and including lawsuits.

CCF noted that now on a banned list will be any text, reference or teaching aid that portrays marriage as only between a man and woman, materials that say people are born male or female (and not in between), sources that fail to include a variety of transsexual, bisexual and homosexual historical figures, and sex education materials that fail to offer the option of sex changes.

Further, homecoming kings now can be either male or female – as can homecoming queens, and students, whether male or female, must be allowed to use the restroom and locker room corresponding to the sex with which they choose to identify.

AB394 promotes the same issues through state-funded publications, postings, curricula and handouts to students, parents and teachers.

It also creates the circumstances where a parent who says marriage is only for a man and a woman in the presence of a lesbian teacher could be convicted of "harassment," and a student who believes people are born either male or female could be reported as a "harasser" by a male teacher who wears women's clothes, CCF said.

Thomasson said Schwarzenegger also signed AB14, which prohibits state funding for any program that does not support a range of alternative sexual practices, including state-funded social services run by churches.

Affected will be day cares, preschool or after-school programs, food and housing programs, senior services, anti-gang efforts, jobs programs and others.

Thomasson said it also forces every hospital in California – even private, religious hospitals – to adopt policies in support of transsexuality, bisexuality, and homosexuality and opens up nonprofit organizations to lawsuits if they exclude members that engage in homosexual, bisexual, or transsexual conduct.

"It's the height of intolerance to punish individuals, organizations, businesses, and churches that have moral standards on sexual conduct and sexual lifestyles," said Thomasson, in response to the signing of AB14. "This is another insensitive law that violates people's moral boundaries."

The vitriol over the issue rose to new levels in its latest campaign.

As WND reported a board member for the homosexual advocacy group Equality California verbally attacked and threatened CRI for its opposition to the bill earlier.

The board member sent an e-mail and video to CRI threatening the group would be buried if it continued efforts opposing the homosexual advocacy.

"The shocking hate mail we received shows that those behind this legislation do not promote true tolerance," said England. "Only politically correct speech will be tolerated. Those with religious or traditional moral beliefs will not be allowed to express their opinions in public schools."

She also cited an informational document published by the Gay-Straight Alliance Network and the Transgender Law Center that already is lobbying for special treatment in the school system.

"If you want to use a restroom that matches your gender identity … you should be allowed to do so," it advises. "Whenever students are divided up into boys and girls, you should be allowed to join the group or participate in the program that matches your gender identity as much as possible."

Further, the groups advise, "If you change your name to one that better matches your gender identity, a school needs to use that name to refer to you." The advocacy group also warns schools against bringing parents into any such discussion with students.

WND has documented a number of other cases in which educators, including leaders in California, have taken it upon themselves to promote a homosexual lifestyle to children under their charge.

WND reported California Superintendent of Public Instruction Jack O'Connell, under whose supervision hundreds of thousands of children are being educated, has used his state position and taxpayer-funded stationery to praise a "gay" pride event used in the past to expose children to sexually explicit activities.

That drew vehement objections from several educators, including Priscilla Schreiber, the president of the Grossmont Unified High School District governing board.

"I am outraged that a person in this high-ranking elected position would advocate an event where diversity is not just being celebrated but where pornography and indecent exposure is being perpetrated on the young and innocent children of our communities," she said.

This is just plain sick, and I want to point out a striking coincidence.
This past week's Torah portion talked about the destruction of Sodom. Sodom was famous for its sexual immorality.

How was Sodom destroyed? With fire.

What's happening in California right now?

Just a thought.

OK, that's just plain incredible

Rubiks' Cube solved in 10.56 seconds

Rabbi Fass in Baltimore

Last night Rabbi Yehoshua Fass, founder and director of Nefesh B' Nefesh, gave a very passionate and moving speech about the importance of Aliyah. He didn't preach it, just talked about the importance.

The core of his talk was based on five points, five areas in which we have to improve, in order to bring 100,000 olim from North America to Israel in the next 10 years.

Very briefly, his five points were:

1) We shouldn't wait for the rabbis to lead the way.
2) We shouldn't teach our children (or think ourselves) of Israel primarily as a charity case, as a refuge for persecuted Jews or as a country under siege.
3) We have to learn to separate current headlines about Israel from the gift of Eretz Yisrael that Hashem gave us.
4) We shouldn't be concerned that our support for Israel and for aliyah calls into question our loyalty to America. The American Jewish community has matured beyond that stage.
5) We must learn to continuously marvel, appreciate, never lose sight of and enhance all the miracles Hashem has bestowed upon Israel in the last 60 years.

If you want a copy of the MP3 recording of the talk, let me know what your email address is.

A Look at the Arabs relationship to the Shmittah year

Everything I'm about to say is highly theoretical, but I think is something that should be thought about.

A look at some events that happened during the Smittah year for the past 42 years:

5726/September 1965-September 1966: In 1966 security restrictions placed on Arab citizens of Israel were lifted and efforts began to integrate them into the countries life.

Until 1966, Israel's principle arms supplier was France, however in 1966, following the withdrawal from Algeria, De Gaulle announced France would cease supplying Israel with arms (and refused to refund money paid for 50 warplanes)

5733/September 1972-September 1973: 11 members of the Israeli team to the Munich Olympics were kidnapped by Palestinian terrorists.

And let's not forget that 10 days after the end of the Shmittah year, Syria and Egypt started the Yom Kippur War, which was being planned during Smittah

5740/September 1979-September 1980: For the most part was quiet except for the residents of Yamit and other Sinai Jewish residents as the Sinai Peninsula was given to Egypt in April 1979

5747/October 1986-September 1987: Palestinian Arabs start first Intifada (terror war) on Israel

5754/September 1993-September 1994: Rabin and Arafat shake hands on the White House lawn, three days before Rosh Hashanah 5754.

The DOP established May 1999 as the date by which a permanent status agreement for the West Bank and Gaza Strip would take effect. Israel and the PLO subsequently signed the Gaza-Jerico Agreement on May 4, 1994, and the Agreement on Preparatory Transfer of Powers and Responsibilities on August 29, 1994, which began the process of transferring authority from Israel to the Arabs.

On July 25, 1994 Jordan and Israel signed the Washington Declaration which formally ended the state of war that had existed between them since 1948.

5761/September 2000-September 2001: In the Fall of 2000, talks were held at Camp David to reach a final agreement on the Israel/Palestine conflict. Although Israel offered to meet the Palestinian requests for territory and political concessions, including the Old City of Jerusalem, Gaza and the West Bank, Arafat chose to walk out of the talks.

September 28, 2000-two days before Rosh Hashanah-Arabs launch Second Intifada

In October 2000, Palestinians destroyed Yosef's Tomb, a Jewish shrine in Shechem. They also stoned worshipers at the Western Wall (Kotel) and attacked another Jewish holy site, Rachel's Tomb (Kever Rochael).

With the Peace Process increasingly in disarray, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak called a special election for Prime Minister. Barak was hoping that a victory for him would give him renewed authority in negotiations with the Palestinians. But Barak's hopes were not to be, and in February 2001, opposition leader Ariel Sharon was elected PM in a special elections for Prime Minister in 2001. After this election the system of directly electing the Premier was abandoned.

Last time an Israeli Prime Minister was elected, a party was elected in 2006, but not the Prime Minister.

4 years later the elected of that election, Ariel Sharon, threw 10,000 Jews out of their homes in Gush Katif.

5768/September 2007-??: November 26, 2007, a planned "Peace" conference is set to take place in Annapolis, MD, with the possibility of once again offering Jerusalem and the West Bank to the Arabs.

Only time will determine the outcome.

Great, I'm a Missionary, and the history of Christianity

OK Tuesday, that means more fun with my lab partners. This week I was talking with my remaining lab parter (one was absent and the other was, well, lets just say indisposed as I wrote a few weeks ago), and the topic got to politics, religion, and other fun stuff.

One of the things we were discussing was our former lab partner who took his anger out by going downtown to hang out with the crack heads. I mentioned to him what I'd written, that without a good relationship with your parents or teachers, you really don't have anywhere to turn to for support.

Here we go with some history, when the Romans entered Israel 2000 years ago, one of the things they were shocked to find in the Jewish community was that everyone was literate, there was a welfare system set up for the poor, and the entire community provided for the orphans.
The Rambam says that it is an absolute requirement to educate your children, period. The Gemara in Kiddusin (I think 29b, but I might be wrong, it's around there though) says that educating your son (teaching Torah and a trade) are one of the things that a father is required to do (I don't remember off the top of my head what it says about the girls, but the Gemara in Ketubot 52b says that a father has to adorn his daughter with pearls so the men would be attracted to her).
And as all good Jews know and do (right?) that you have to give 10% of your pre-tax earnings to charity.

So my lab partner found all of this stuff fascinating, and said to me, "That's awesome, man, I want to become Jewish!"

Of course I probably could have mentioned Brit Milah to him, and I think he would have changed his mind. (What I could have done was tell him baout the 7 Noahide laws. Oh well, next time)

So this leads to the next thing I want to talk about.

Christians.

I had said that there were three things I had to defend from three different sets of people.
I had to defend the Land of Israel from the Arabs and Leftists (why they go together I still don't know)
I had to defend the Torah from the Christians.
And I had to defend G-d tom the non-religious Jews and Aliyah from the religious.

So regarding point #2, some more history, regarding our favorite people. . .the Romans.

I'm listening right now to a phenomenal audio series from Rabbi Ken Spiro, I highly recommend it. (you can download it here)

Anyways, one of the things he talks about is how the Roman conquering worked.

I guess the Romans liked to collect things, and whenever they'd conquer a new city, province or country, they'd all of the local gods to their own collection.

Then they found the Jews.

The idea of one G-d was entirely new and very cool to them, a single, invisible, all powerful G-d, what a concept.

They also liked all of the cool things that those crazy Jews did, like Shabbos, and eating kosher, but we'll get back to that, now for some history of the J-man.

At the time the Romans entered Israel the Jewish people were a wreck. The Kehuna (High Priests) was corrupt, the people were divided on every issue, no one followed the Oral Torah, which led to false messiahs popping up all over the place.

Mr. J was not unique in any way, there were hundreds if not thousands of these false prophets coming out of the woodworks, each preaching his own, corrupt version of the Torah. Anyways JC never said anything about atoning for sin, or the perfection of man, that can a few decades later when Paul came on the scene.

Now remember how the Romans were really fascinated with Judaism? Well there were a few things hindering them from becoming Jewish, namely, laws.

A big turn off for them was the fact that they would have to get circumcised, a big no-no to them because they saw the human body as something sacred, and not to be "desecrated."

So what did Paul do?

He saw a market.

Take away the "bad stuff" about Judaism, and bing bang boom, you're in business.

So think about this, Christianity, one of the worlds major religions, has its entire basis, created solely on a really good marketing strategy.

So let me ask you this. This man, was supposed to atone for all of our sins, was perfect right? Not to much mention in the Christian text on JC's mess ups right? Why does the Torah mention Moshe's and Avrahams and Aharon's mistakes?

To show that they're human, and humans by definition are fallible. They way we can learn from them. How do the Christians learn?

Lets say that a man kills 100 people. He gets to go to Heaven for being "saved" while the little Jew in Israel, is sent to Hell?

Logic, man.

Anyways, not to knock Christians out there, there are some great Christians who are friends to the Jewish people and to Israel, but the point is don't try to missionize us. We're happy to accept your support, but with no strings attached. My mom's family is Christians, some of them are in this group of friends, while the other is in the group of, "We need to be saved." (I have noticed that these conversations start after I leave the room, but...

Anyways, next I want to write about how frum Jews don't use the name of G-d in their daily speech like the Christians do. But that's for a different post.

An Aliyah Update

So the first step of paperwork is done (only 21,000,000 more to go) I got my birth certificate off to California last week for an apostille (HOW COME NONE OF THE SPELL CHECKERS HAVE THAT WORD IN THEIR DICTIONARY?!!). I should get it back sometime next week, then I can send my info to the Israeli Embassy in Washington, along with a letter from my high schooling saying that I actually was in high school instead of trafficking drugs somewhere over the Mexican border, letter from the Rabbi, and a few other things that I don't remember off the top of my head, but don't worry, everything is under control (AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH!).

So after I get these documents in order I get my Israeli passport (yaaaaay), and can get my Aliyah file moving, contact Nefesh B' Nefesh, and look forward to that July 15th flight.

Now you're probably wondering why I have to get my Israeli passport before I make Aliyah. Well you're going to have to wait for the answer to that question in a different post.

How to Backup your Ipod without using any external Programs

I keep hearing all of these horror stories of people who have not backed up their Itunes libraries and all of their music is on their Ipods.

Then their Ipod stops working/breaks/gets stolen/gets lost. I am going to present to you an extremely easy way to back up your Ipod. The only thing you will need are DVD''s to burn the files to, or an external hard drive.
Note: this is only for Windows. The Mac instructions are posted elsewhere on this blog.

1. The first thing that has to be done is to locate the music on your Ipod in My Computer. This can be done by clicking in the Ipod icon in My Computer (just as a side note the Ipod should be plugged into the computer for the entire process). There should be an icon that says "Ipod control." If there isn't, located at the top of the window click Tools>Folder Options. Click the "View" tab, and go down to where it says "Hidden Files and Folders." Make sure that line that says "Show Hidden files and folders" is clicked on.
Now go back to the Ipod folder and the icon "Ipod Control" should be located there in a lighter yellow from the folders around it.

2. Now click "Ipod Control>music." This will bring you to a lot of folders that start with the letter "F." I'm assuming that this refers to the Drive letter. My Ipod is drive 'f' so I''m assuming that most others are, but the letter isn't important, it's the numbers that are.

3. Now is when you can start backing up your music. If you are burning DVD's, open the program that you use to burn CD/DVD's (I like to use DeepBurner mainly because it's free and it works) and simply drag the folders from the Ipod into the burn list. You can burn about 10 folders for each DVD.
If you are backing up to a hard drive simply drag and drop the folders onto the drive.

Now you're done! You're current library is backed up, but I would highly suggest you have some sort of schedule to back it up in the future.

The only downside to this procedure is that you can't go and take individual songs off of your backups. Apple makes very obscure titles for the file names even though the Track information is the same as it would be on your Ipod. Now we'll talk about getting the music back onto you're new/refurbished/memory-wiped-clean Ipod.

5. To get music back onto the Ipod simply plug the empty Ipod into Itunes, adn drag-and-drop all of the music from the folders into The 'music' part of the Ipod.

NOTE: This will work for all movies that were backed up as well.

So hopefully now you'll fell a little bit more comfortable with the knowledge that all of the music on your Ipod has been backed up.

Hell yes! Aaron Klein!

Terrorists in search of 72 virgins

Here we go again

The 39th president of the United States, Jimmy Carter, who has most recently in the last come to the forefront of news headlines with his book 'Palestine: Peace not apartheid,' is going to be releasing a movie.
Because I don't want to foul up this blog, I will not be posting a link to the trailer, but you can look for it yourself.
This will certainly be a move that will be, in Carter's words, "accurate, yet provocative."
I got news for you, Mr. I'm-so-cool-because-after-I-stopped-being-president-I-didn't-go-to-
Wyoming-and-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-fishing, I don't care if you want to be provocative, what I do have is the accuracy of your claims.
After I see this movie I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about it

Blog Action Day 2007-The Environment

Today is a day that the good folks at Google are trying to change the world. This year they are trying to put some emphasis in the environment. As we know, it's very important to be environmentally conscious, and I have definitely been more environmentally aware since I started
taking my Environmental Science class, and a long the way I've found some very interesting things.

Well obviously, we here in these United States used the most energy of any other country in the planet. We also have the largest amount of energy that is used per capita. This is largely due to the low energy prices, if you go to countries like England, they also use, it would seem, the same amount of energy as us. They have light and heat in their homes, they still drive the car everywhere, but why is the per capita energy use so much lower in England compared to the United States?

Well, like I said before, energy prices. It's cheap to use inefficient cars, and home heating and electrical sources. I England the cost of a gallon of gas is in the $6-7 range. Therefore they have more of en incentive to drive a more economical car.

But anyways this blog isn't about England's energy use. It's about ISRAEL.

I posted a few weeks back a flyer I had made about the ecological footprint Americans and Jews in Israel make. If the every single person in the world lived like Americans do we would need the resources of 7 planet Earths to support everyone. If everyone lived like Jews in Israel, I said that we'd need 1. (It's actually 1.2, but that sounded awkward).

But look at all of the things that Israel has done, not just for itself in the world of conserving energy, but also at what it's done for the world.

Israel developed the drip irrigation method, a way to give each individual plant, even in a large field, the exact amount of water and fertilizer it needs. That means that there is little, if any, runoff into the environment.

Israel is one of two countries, the other being Spain, that requires all residential buildings to have a solar hot water heater to heat the houses water. It's hooked up to an electrically system for the cloudy days, but the majority of the year it's sunny and hot, the perfect weather for this type of system.

OK, so that wouldn't work here in Maryland (in which I've estimated that we have approx. 45 'nice' days a year. But what about areas of the US that have similar climates to Israel's. Texas for example.

Anyways, I think that I've made my point clear, but on a closing note, If the Jews of America made Aliyah, they would not only fulfill the commandment of settling and living in the Land of Israel, they would also make a huge difference in global warming.

"And no one is going to take the Land away from us!"

Talking Tachlis

Moving to Israel
________________

By: Paula R. Stern
( http://www.paulasays.com/articles/on_my_mind/moving_to_israel.html )

Moving to Israel is a personal decision that I made when I turned 13 and learned about the courageous fight for the re-establishment of the land of Israel. It was a battle fought in desperation by a nation that had longed for its homeland for almost 2,000 years. That many of these fighters had only recently survived Hitler's Final Solution made their battle and their victory even more special.


Today, moving to Israel, or aliyah as it is called, is so much easier than ever before. Once, centuries ago, the roads to our land were dangerous and now we fly here on the wings of eagles and the grace of El Al. Now we don't debate how to achieve statehood, how to build our land, but rather the fine points of the laws and rights of each new citizen. Each oleh, depending on the country from which he originates, receives a package of benefits to help him acclimate. It is one way that Israel works hard to ensure a successful aliyah.


There are thousands, even tens of thousands of Jews from North America and around the world who are contemplating and dreaming of coming to Israel. Once, it was as a place of refuge. Today, many come because they recognize that they can offer their families a better life, measured not against materialistic goals, but in favor of community, simplicity, education and more.


For those potential olim, I think the key to a successful aliyah begins in the months before you come. Your attitude, what you expect, what you think is "coming to you" has a lot to do with how successful you will be.

The one, and I stress this, the one thing bad about Nefesh b'Nefesh and other organizations dedicated to helping Jews return to their ancient homeland, is that they give a false impression from the start - out of the best of intentions and love in their hearts. They make you think that there will be thousands of people to greet you at the airport and celebrate your arrival.


Now that is the reality. The Prime Minister has met some planes, ministers, Knesset members, army representatives, thousands of other recent immigrants, friends and family fill the tarmac and cheer as they come off the plane. But it wasn't always like that, and the crowds aren't what you think.


You imagine it's the start - that these thousands will be there to help you with your aliyah but the reality is that in many ways, you are moving across the world, to a "strange" country - and you have to adapt. The country will NOT adapt to you. The crowds will go home. Yes, you'll be invited to meals at families and people will help translate for you and do what they can...but there comes a moment when you make aliyah, when you stand there with your papers in your hand in the bank or in some government office...and there's no one but you...and Israel. And, in that moment - you fly or sink.


If you rant and rave about how things are done in America (in English, of course), you sink. If you sit and explain in your broken Hebrew how you think you brought the right papers, but you aren't sure and you can't fill out all the forms...and sometimes, when there are almost tears in your eyes out of frustration - you fly. Because Israel comes to help you - the real Israel...not the one that met you at the airport.


When I came, I pushed my way, with two small boys in tow, through the lines. Someone from AACI greeted me (thank you, whoever you are) and walked me a few feet to the steps where I went upstairs (alone with my boys). My husband was somewhere outside but I had to take the next few steps alone in order to get to him. And that was an improvement over those who came before me. I did it - with my broken Hebrew and my exhausted little boys and my 12 suitcases and the baby carriage and the baby seat that the airlines didn't let me use anyway and all those carry-ons. And I walked out to my husband - who met me with flowers...and the guy at the airport got us a van for all of our stuff and explained to the driver where to take us...and we got to the place we were renting and the guy dumped all our bags in front of the door and left...and I walked inside this empty place...and sat down and thought. That's it. I'm here (and where did I pack the sheets?)


After all is said and done - the coming home is between you and the land, not you and Nefesh b'Nefesh or the Jewish Agency. The day after you land...or the day after that...or maybe a month later, it will be just you and the Israelis. Accept them (us)...or you won't survive here. Accept all of the quirks of the place. You can complain - but that only damages you because Israel isn't going to change.


Here's a flash for you - you are coming to live in Israel, and as much as we very much want you to come...we'll survive without you. Does that sound harsh? Let me explain. Israelis are very determined to build and protect this land. They (we) have been doing it for 60 years and with God's help...and mine...and yours...they...we... will continue doing it for the next 600 and beyond. In a very short while - you can turn to the next batch of olim and say the same thing.


Despite the laws of the State that say those who come here get this benefit or that benefit, despite Nefesh b'Nefesh's policies that offer this grant or that one, this assistance or that one - nothing is owed to you. If someone trying to help you doesn't act "professionally" enough for you - well, that's not really a fair way to look at it. They are trying to help you - that's more than they have to do. If they succeed - great. If they don't - ok, well, at least they tried - now figure out how to go about getting done what needs to be done.


Amazingly enough, the danger of these organizations is that in helping olim to get here, they may be giving the false impression that this country can't function without you, that our sole purpose for living is to ease your aliyah.


Don't get me wrong and don't be insulted, please. The point is - you are coming to an amazing country. The benefits you will receive (and I do NOT mean monetary) far outweigh the inconveniences, the hardships, the bureaucracy, the pushy Israeli, the overcrowded Misrad HaPanim, the triple stamp so they can throw one copy out in the bank routine, and so much more.


If you look at each day in Israel as a gift...as I do, than you'll do fine here. If you look at your aliyah against a checklist of things you think you have coming to you...you may not do as well. In the end, busy with dealing with kids and registering and finding a job, I never even collected my shipping allocation from the Jewish Agency. It was minor and a hassle to get the papers in order...but I also took some pride in saying I got here on my own...well, mostly on my own (they paid for the flight and the cab).


All this talk about what these organizations do or fail to do ignores the most basic of principles - they are trying to help you fulfill your dream. But, at the end of the day - it is your dream. Come to Israel - don't come (my advice is to come). Israel will still be the most amazing country in the world. If you look at these organizations as an added benefit and not that it is their JOB to get you here...maybe your aliyah will go more smoothly. Maybe you will be sitting here almost 15 years later with a son in the army, a thriving business, a member of a warm and welcoming community, with friends you hold dear and family close by. You'll rise each morning knowing you have the greatest of all priveleges, something Jews dreamed of doing for 2,000 years...you can breathe the air of our land, walk the streets and fields of our country and know as you lay your head down to sleep at night, that there is no place on earth you'd rather be

Ann Coulter off her Rocker!

Now she's done it! Made her feelings come out. Ann Coulter thinks that Jews should convert to Christianity! Look bimbo, this "Fast-track program" religion left out some very important things. Like for instance G-d, many times, says that the Jewish people are an eternal nation who he will never break his covenant with.
Anyways, its late, fast foward to 1:20, that's when it really starts to get good!

The World wants to prove an "occupation"

An excellent video released from the Elders of Zion.

Assimilation at its Best

I found this extremely scary.

A Strange View into a Different World

I had two experiences today that really let me take a peak into the non-Jewish world. But just happened to be during my Environmental Science lab.

Story #1
Well this story is about my missing lab partner. We were assigned lab partners about a month ago, and after one week this guy didn't show up again. He wouldn't return phone calls or emails either.
Anyways, this dude decides to show up today, all like "OK, lets get to work!"
Me, being the Jew, had a hard time telling him, "Well, you know you actually haven't been here for the entire duration of the building of the project (we're building solar hot water heaters) and we can't go back to square one to explain the whole thing to you."

My other partners and teacher took quite a different approach.

"He hasn't shown up, he hasn't done the work, he's out."

So as he was leaving the room, he announced, "Well this sucks, I'm gonna go downtown and empty my bank account out on some crack."

I was wondering what I would do it I had been put in a similar situation.

I'd probably do one of two things: either I'd go home and watch Star Trek for 6 hours or I'd go to the Beit Midrash for 6 hours (or a combination of both).

After my mind was cleared I'd go find out how to fix the problem, or I'd deal with it. I wouldn't look for some temporary fix to my problem (of course I did mention Star Trek, so maybe I would) but drugs? I mean, come on.
Obviously similar things happen in the Jewish world, but at least Jews have someone to turn to, a Rabbi, mentor, but a non-Jew without a good relationship with his parents, and who doesn't do well in school, who does he have to turn to?

Story #2
So after this incident, I went with one of my other lab partners to the Home Depot to pick up some supplies for our project. On the way over there he was listening to some music, which, to my musician ears, sounded horrible.

It wasn't just the arrangements, it the was the extreme profanity in the lyrics, I found it extremely offensive and disgusting.

But I didn't mention anything during the whole trip about it, and after we got back to campus I noticed that these colorful words were falling out of his mouth as well.

At some point in the afternoon he let out one of these swear words in front of the professor. The professor asked him to stop it, not because he was offended, but for my lab partners own good.

Then he went rambling on about how, when you get a job you can't use words like that, how it's unprofessional, blah, blah, blah.

I would have said the reason not to use swear words was that it's disgusting and vile. If you think about it, all swear words revolve around one of two things: sex & poop.

So here you're taking something that is one of the most beautiful things that a person can do with their body (you know the Gemarah does call if 'kodesh') and equating it with. . .well you get the picture.

That's what got me to stop using swear words, I used to be a real punk in high school, thought it was cool to sing Metallica (I still do, but shhhhhh, don't tell anyone) but when I realized this, I stopped. As one wise man I know put it, "It's a people express themselves, but if that's the best you can do, you have some serious problems expressing yourself. I don't think R' Moshe Feinstein ever had problems expressing himself, and I guarantee that he never used a swear word."

Anyways I thought it would be awkward to tell this to my non-Jewish lab partner, but I had to let it out, hope it didn't annoy you.

Thanks for reading (even those of us who happen to be in the back of a classroom during class right now).

I'm going to go to the Beis now and learn a daf Gemarah.

Shalom

Could Someone Please Explain this to me?

I don't get it.

Just a Thought. . .

OK, your driving down the highway and all of the sudden you see this on the horizon:



A motor home that has exploded

Just a thought.

Stupid Al Jezeera

AJ is running an article how Iranian President Ahmadinahad is marking Al-Quds Day (for the sane people like us Jerusalem Day) as a day of "protest against Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories."

Tens of thousands marched through the streets of Tehran in support of Palestinians, chanting "Death to Israel" for al-Quds Day, observed annually on the last Friday of Ramadan.

"Death to Israel," huh.

Ahmadinejad provoked an international outcry shortly after his election in 2005 when he quoted Ayatollah Khomeini as saying the "regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time", widely mistranslated in the international media as "Israel must be wiped from the map".

Can you tell me exactly what the difference is between, "Death to Israel, regime occupying Jerusalem must vanish from the page of time," and " Israel must be wiped off the map?"

Apparently it's OK to say the Israeli government (I'm assuming that's who he's referring to, I'm sure he's not referring to the Arabs) "must vanish from the page of time," and to chant "Death to Israel," but wiping of sovereign country off the map, well! We can't have that can we!

Ahh, bias, bias, bias. Thank You Al Jezeera for the remarkable work you do in in your reporting.

Succot in America. Whoop. Dee. Do.

I'm in a really bad mood. Here I am, in the middle of Chol Hamoed, and what am I doing? Sitting and studying for 3 tests that I have tomorrow.
Now if this were any other time, I wouldn't have problem with this. I'd take it in stride and study for them, then take them, because that's what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm not supposed to be spending my entire holiday, cramped up in my room staring at a textbook.
America is supposed to be the land of opportunity, and it is in a sense, but only a narrow, pre-selected, number of opportunities.
Some people can do it, but that might because they don't care. They don't care that they have to spend Chol Hamoed studying, "It's not really a holiday is it?"
To me Chol Hamoed is the time to, you know, actually have fun? It's the time when the entire Jewish people have left their houses in order connect with the rest of Am Yisrael. We spend our entire lives, isolated as much as possible, because that's what we're told is the best way to be productive.
I have a new way to be productive. Get to know the people around you, do something that matters. Yes you need to make a living, but you don't have to have your living define you. Here in America a question that comes up in a lot of conversations, "What do you do?"
This can mean two things, "How do you spend your time?" and "how are you contributing to society?"
In understanding this very common variable of conversation, what is the person posing the question actually asking. "How can you help me?" and "How do you, in some round about way, contribute to an easier way for me to live?"
Maybe I'm being harsh, maybe I'm not. Maybe someone asking this question is just asking it without really thinking about what it means, and just using it as a conversation starter. But the point is Succot (along with pretty much all other Jewish holiday) is about taking down the walls that exist between Jews, allowing us all to connect from the core.
So as I sit here studying my Marketing textbook, I'm thinking about next year, when Succot will actually mean something besides just an obstacle that I have to get around in order to study for school.

Chag Sameach