Announcement: A Mother in Israel Has Moved

This blog has moved to
AMotherInIsrael.com

I've put up a few new posts to make up for being absent over the last few days, and more are on the way:
Grabbing the Chapper: A Model of Israeli Tolerance and Cooperation
Update List of Injured Soldiers and Civilians
Why I Moved My Blog to Wordpress
Breastfeeding: The Optimal Way to Space Babies

Or you can read them all at once here.

Happy belated Tu Beshevat!

More New Posts at AMotherInIsrael.com: Goats, girls and prayer, parenting, tzniut and more

Join the discussions at my new blog, AMotherInIsrael.com If you're having trouble accessing the feed in your blog reader, try typing in amotherinisrael.com/feed.

Exclusive: Street Goats in Bnei Brak Don't miss these pictures.

Guest Post: Jewish Girls and Prayer. A discussion about educating girls in the Orthodox community.

Babies Need Company. What is socialization for babies?

Blog Notes. Comments on moving house.

An Uninspiring Letter to the Women of Ramat Beit Shemesh.
Rafi posts a letter he received on the RBS list, thanking women for dressing modestly.

News from Around the Jewish Blogosphere Carnivals, congrats and more.

Correcting Others

This article by Rabbi S. Binyomin Ginsburg caught my eye. When the author's friend became a grandfather he told everyone that he had become an einekel, Yiddish for grandchild, instead of a zeidy, Yiddish for Grandpa. No one corrected him, including the writer, until the grandfather had told possibly hundreds of people. He then asked the writer to spread the word about the importance of correcting people.

This made me feel good because I often find myself correcting others. As I wrote here, I started young and the trait seems to run in the family.

In college, my English professor was once talking about poetry. He said that sometimes seemingly unimportant elements of a passage are emphasized, and gave the example of the Bible. "In the Bible," he said, "insignificant words are put in italics." I explained to him that some biblical translations italicize words that don't appear in the original Hebrew like "is" and "the." (This site gives examples from the King James translation of Psalms. Apparently some fundamentalist Christians take issue with the additions.) I realized my comment might embarrass him, but felt it was more important not to leave the other students with the misinformation. I did make the correction directly and respectfully, as recommended in the article, and I hope he forgave me.

Occasionally I correct my fellow bloggers, most often by email. If you have been a recipient of my constructive criticism, consider it a compliment. I only go to the trouble if I think the blogger would care, since I have enough editing and fact-checking to do for my own writing -- I continue to find errors in my older posts.

Like most people I don't enjoy being corrected, but I still prefer to find out about my mistakes in order to improve myself and so as not to (continue) look(ing) ignorant.

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Breakfast with Robin

I generously offered to serve as "blog fodder" for Robin's NaBloPoMo. See the results here.

Commenting on Comments: Building a Blog Community

One of my favorite things about blogging has been connecting with my readers. I especially enjoy the comments section here--it is often more interesting than the original post.

When I first began blogging, I scanned the blog frequently for comments until I realized that I could set Blogger to send me an email. At one point Jameel and I had an exchange of eight comments on a post about blogging, setting the record for many months. (Those early comments disappeared when I switched to Haloscan.)

I'm not 100% sure how the community here grew the way it did, but I'll share some of my ideas:

1. I started by commenting on other blogs that address similar topics. If a blogger begins posting here, I usually add that blog to my reader. (A reader is a web page that lets you know when the blogs you like have been updated. I use Netvibes, but Bloglines and Google Reader are more popular.) Lately I comment less (I hope temporarily), but I still read.
2. Despite my semi-anonymous status (soon to be retired), I am fairly open. People are more likely to comment when they feel that they know the blogger.
3. I try to write on issues that my readers have responded to in the past. Of course, if you don't comment, I have no idea what topics you like.
4. I enjoy learning how others handle challenges I have encountered.
5. Even when writing about daily life I try to present an unusual perspective. I also like to throw out some kind of provocative question.
6. When I get overwhelmed by a lot of intense comments I might decide put my energy into a new post instead. Or bury my head in the sand for a day or two. Some bloggers never respond to comments--that's hard for me to understand.
   
7. I welcome new visitors, and try to be respectful of those who disagree. I actually like dissenting comments, because they generate the most interesting conversation.

As for you lurkers, don't feel you have to leave a comment if you have nothing to say. Visiting and reading is a form of appreciation too. [But comments are better.]

The end of shmitah

This Rosh Hashanah marks the end of the shmittah year in Israel. During the sabbatical year the land is supposed to be left fallow, and whatever grows by itself in the field and on the trees is "hefker," or free for the taking. At the end of the sabbatical year, the Torah requires lenders to forgive debts. (In practice, methods have been developed to circumvent many of these laws, with varying levels of support in the religious community.) Relinquishing ownership of produce and cancellation of debts are ways of mitigating societal inequalities. At the end of 5768, events in the financial world illustrated how economic certainties can change in an instant.

May we all be inscribed in the Book of Life and blessed with a year of peace, prosperity, and happiness. As we look forward to a peaceful and stable 5769, I want to thank all of you who participate in this blog community. I especially thank Leora for the beautiful blog design. Thanks also to Robin, Rafi, Melissa, RivkA, Baila, Lion of Zion, Jameel, Abbi, Regular Anon, Anon Reader, Orthonomics, Tamiri, Trilcat, TherapyDoc, ALN, Liza, Juggling Frogs, Raanana Ramblings, Mimi, Klara, Annie, Miriam, Frum Satire, Ariella, Raggedy Mom, BB, Ilana-Davita, Super Raizy, Sylvia-Rachel, Batya, "Zippo," my brother and sister, and the many others who read, comment, link, send news, and provide corrections and constructive criticism.

Bli neder, we'll meet again next year.

Apology from the Israel Tourism Ministry

I just received this comment about the Jerusalem tourism clip:

hi,
My name is Michal, and I promote the video clip on behalf of the Israeli Ministry of tourism.
I was the one who contacted mominisrael and asked her to embed the clip here.
I have brought your remarks, and others like yours to the attention of the ministry, and they decided to change the clip to have a more appropriate end.
A new version will be ready later on this week, and I will keep you posted when it goes on youtube.
Thank you for your time and attention,
and whoever found this to be insulting - please accept our apology. that was not the meaning of the clip.
Michal | Homepage | 09.16.08 - 9:13 am | #

And who says bloggers don't have influence?

More comments on the video, by Chayyei Sarah and friends.

From your education correspondent in Tel Aviv

"I'm a blogger," I told the young woman who asked for my name and ID at the press conference Sunday morning at the Likud Party Headquarters.
The woman smiled.(
I guess she knew that already. . .

There I was, with Rafi, Carl, RivkA and her husband Moshe. [Lurker must have been lurking too much; I didn't see him.] Scouting the room for Hebrew bloggers I found Anat and Dalia, who cover education for the site Avodah Shechorah. "Avodah Shechorah" means black labor, or getting down to the nitty gritty. The site advocates for Israel to become a welfare state, which is not exactly in line with Bibi's economic goals. But the topic today was education.

Bibi made a special point of greeting the bloggers. I had a better view than at NBN. About twenty journalists attended but more were clearly expected.

Bibi is running for prime minister as head of the Likud, and in honor of the new school year he presented the Likud party's education plan.

His main points:

• As prime minister he would make education a priority, equal in weight to security and the economy. He would head an "education cabinet" and give full authority to the education minister, just as Sharon gave Bibi as economic minister.
  
• Only education can close the vast socio-economic gaps in Israel. Wealthy parents can hire tutors to overcome a weak system, while the poor are left behind. The number of years spent in school affect income and employment more than the parents' education or socio-economic status.
• The level of Israeli students has declined by all measures, despite additional sums invested in education. Israel spends an average amount of money per student, yet our international test scores scrape bottom.
• He studied the successes and failures of other countries, claiming that this method worked when he [supposedly] brought the Israeli economy back from the verge of collapse in the early part of the decade.
  
• His plan focuses on teacher quality, the most important factor in a child's success.
  

How does Netanyahu plan attract good teachers to the educational system?

1. Carefully screen candidates and raise the standards of acceptance. He pointed out that doctors and psychologists require years of training and are not well compensated (in Israel), yet because of prestige spots are still in demand.
   
2. Invest in these high-quality teacher students by providing a high level of pedagogical and academic skills and knowledge.
3. Continue to train new teachers on the job, pairing them with more experienced mentors. Build support for new teachers within the system.
   
4. Raise salaries, but don't count on that alone. France and Australia, respectively, doubled and tripled teacher salaries with no visible improvement in performance.
   

Teachers, what do you think? Is it possible, in theory and in practice, to raise the level of prestige and professional satisfaction within the teaching profession?

Netanyahu presented the five main points of his plan:

1. Tovim lehoraah--the best students go to education (as outlined above). Increase salary and professional training.
2. Give administrators independence and authority, train them in management, and make them accountable for the results.
3. Intervene quickly to assist weak students, especially in the early years. Keep track of progress and address problems the day they are discovered; the next school year is probably too late.
   
4. Return to core subjects. Israeli students spend 56% of their classtime, as opposed to 93% in OECD countries, on reading, writing, literature, math, science, foreign language, history and citizenship.
5. Return values to education: Citizenship, democracy, respect for teachers and principals, zionism and moreshet yisrael (Jewish tradition), and discipline. He spoke about the danger of anti-Israel sentiments in our schools.
   

RivkA asked about cheating. [I was also wondering how Bibi planned to bring discipline back to informal Israeli "zeh lo fair" classrooms.] Bibi said that you need to develop a framework of personal responsibility and accountability. He didn't specify how he would accomplish this.

A reporter asked about the charedim, who recently won the right for their schools to be exempt from core subjects. Bibi replied that we must work within the political reality, and added that even now more charedim and Arabs, including Arab women, are entering the workforce.

I asked about the wisdom of implementing new reforms so soon after the recent Dovrat reforms (now known as Ofek), which aroused strong objections from teachers. He replied that the teachers' union asked him the same question. He plans to uphold with the positive elements of those reforms, and not make change for its own sake. I was hoping he would be more specific, but he only mentioned the renewed emphasis on Zionist education as lacking in Ofek.

Carl and Rafi have included more detail in their posts. RifkA has so far posted only about the logistics of her morning.

AddeRabbi posted his take on the plan, pointing out that Bibi did not bring up the issue of private schools. This concerns me too and I wish I had asked about it. I have read some of AddeRabbi's posts on the private school system in Israel. As I understand it, he believes that parents choose private schools because of supposedly higher educational standards. But Israeli parents, at least in the religious sector, will choose exclusivity over education every time. This holds true from the most modern Orthodox to the most haredi. (According to my husband, parents see schools as a club for parents.)

Bibi mentioned drawing good teachers to development towns and other poorer areas, but if he said how he plans to do this, I missed it. Funneling more educational resources to the lower socioeconomic sectors is a good idea. Because from where I sit, "protekzia" and exclusivity are the name of the educational game.

In which I get invited to a press conference

At the NBN Bloggers Convention, we heard Bibi Netanyahu speak on the influence of bloggers.

Still, I suspect that Stephen from WebAds was surprised to receive a request from Netananyahu's staff to invite a small number of Israeli bloggers to Bibi's press conference this Sunday. In case you were worried, I'm not venturing into politics; the subject of the press conference is right on topic for this blog.

So look for my report (probably not live) from Likud Headquarters on Sunday.

Update: Find my report here.

NBN and Irish music

Much has been written about the various panels and speakers; for reports check the Israeli bloggers on my sidebar.

Zavi Apfelbaum of the Israeli foreign ministry mentioned Ireland as a country that had recently invested in a "brand." The Orthodox wedding I attended last week featured Irish music and most everyone (except me of course) knew how to dance to it. Coincidence?

What I have been thinking about since the conference is the relationship between Israeli and non-Israeli bloggers. Those of us who live here can present an insider's perspective on Israeli life. Whether we promote aliyah, defend Israel's policies or discuss our day-to-day lives, we know that because of our language and background our main audience will always be American (until NBN becomes even more successful, or mashiach comes, or both). We cater to that audience, or at the very least keep it in mind. Much of our feedback is from the Americans. So I enjoyed hanging out with Israeli bloggers for a while. We tend to forget how much we have in common.

For next year, I suggest small groups and perhaps one keynote address. This will allow bloggers to choose topics that interest them and give everyone a chance to talk. And we all know bloggers like to talk. Sitting in the back I became a passive spectator -- and I use the word spectator loosely; you had a better view from the webcast. But I did hear every creak of that annoying door.

Selected Conversations from the NBN Conference

[General impressions on the NBN Convention will have to wait for another post.]

Rachel Yechezkel and I had planned to travel together, then agreed to try and meet at the Jerusalem Central Bus Station. Despite my bus running 45 minutes late and "resting" on the side of the highway a few times, Rachel had stuck around and we went on to NBN together. I realized we had met before, when I picked her up off the street and brought her to our book club. (I do this regularly.) Later she moved to a different town.

I noticed the nursing mother as soon as I walked in. This just had to be someone I knew. . . . Sure enough, it was Abbi. (For the record, she was nursing discreetly.) The baby fussed and made it difficult for Abbi to enjoy the panels, which in my opinion held little interest for non-bloggers (and for at least some bloggers, apparently). I mentioned both Abbi and Klara, another participating commenter, in my half-minute of fame on the webcast. (You didn't miss anything, unless you are curious about what I look like. What the heck, you can look here. I'm on the right next to Rachel; Safranit is on the other side. Notice what she's doing?)

Frum Satire and I met at the refreshment table. I've read his kiddush posts so I was sure to position myself well.

Yael, a podcast blogger, is a fan of this blog. (I had no idea.) Yael has young children and especially likes my posts on breastfeeding. She notes that I have a "lot of good stuff" in the older part of my blog.

I was disappointed to speak to Baila only briefly.

Carl and my husband go way back. According to him, his wife doesn't believe anyone reads his blog. He was afraid to tell her that he was spending half a day at NBN a week before their son's wedding.

Chana (Jenny) Weisberg admires this blog.

Rafi shared details of his camping trip--see his post for more.

Jameel made a DVD containing current episodes of Srugim, because he felt sorry for my TV-less status.

Gila now has a car and promised to visit and tour my beautiful town.

Yael (Oleh Girl) and I spoke about the next flu epidemic, which is scary stuff. I've read both John M. Barry's The Great Influenza on the 1917 pandemic, and an historical novel based on that book called The Last Town on Earth by Thomas Mullen. It's about a town that tried to isolate itself to prevent infection. Yael's comment: "It didn't work, right?"

Back in November, Yaakov Kirschen of the Dry Bones Blog, competed with me, Treppenwitz, and seven others in the 2007 Weblog Awards--Africa and the Middle East. It turns out he never even knew he was a finalist . . .

I introduced myself to Seraphic Secret, an American blogger flown in by NBN, and asked him why he wasn't on a panel. He replied that he doesn't think about marketing or traffic (the only panel relevant for non-Isrealis). "They tell me I have a large readership," he said. When I thanked him for linking to me, he said it was his pleasure and that I have a very nice blog. That pleased me enormously.

Doubletapper asked me to inform my readers that he is not an action figure. His gun looked real.

Israellycool's wife is a good friend of mine (I think that's me he's talking about here.) But after Frum Satire's comments I know better than to ask Dave to put me on his blogroll. :)

I met many other bloggers, but could not find Miriam or Elisheba.

Rachel, Lisha and I took a taxi back to the bus station. Lisha mentioned that Israelis find her "videos of the ordinary" boring, but non-Israelis love them. We noticed someone with an NBN tag, who turned out to be an oleh chadash named Gavi. Gavi thinks that running errands in Beit Shemesh is more interesting than his conversation with me, and that's his prerogative. (He may be right in this case.)

The Jewish/Israeli Blogger's Convention List of Registered Attendees

Anyone who reads more than one or two Jewish blogs knows about the upcoming Nefesh beNefesh Blogger's Convention in Jerusalem.

Despite my "protekzia" at NBN I was not asked to be on a panel; my traffic ratings didn't make the cut. But I love playing hostess, and am curious about who else is planning to attend. If you are registered, please leave a comment or send me an email so I can list you below. I won't list any blogger without permission.

Here are the bloggers who will be speaking, according to the NBN website:

Treppenwitz
Jewlicious
IsraelMatzav
Hirhurim
Israellycool
Esther Kustanowitz
Oleh Girl
My Shrapnel
My Right Word
WhatWarZone
Frum Satire
Kumah

Other bloggers attending:

A Mother in Israel
Dr Savta
Trilcat
Raw Material
Isramom
Me-Ander
Jameel and Jameela
Live from Israel
Life in Israel
Sabra Heart
El Sabor del Rimon
Aliyah Blog
Ill Call Baila
Lurker
Mere Rhetoric
Jerusalemite
Every Day and Its Challenges
Ahuva (microblogger)
Tafka PP
Abbi (commenter)
RivkA
Mystical Paths
Random Thoughts
Double Tapper
Joe Settler


And you???

Blog notes

I want to thank Leora for including me as one of seven favorite bloggers in her blog challenge. Leora will be hosting KCC this month so please send her your food-related posts.

Welcome back to Shifra and Juggling Frogs. We missed you. Check out JF's original new blog carnival.

Mazal tov to Jacob Da Jew on the birth of a baby boy.

Frumhouse wrings out the Dirty Laundry Edition of Haveil Havalim.

The Rebbetzin's Husband found a website that rates blogs based on objectionable content. I'm proud to report that yours truly received an R rating. Just wait until you see my upcoming interview with an Orthodox sex therapist. (I interview her and not the other way around--what did you think?)

Lion of Zion posted about supplementation of breastfed babies with Vitamin D.

And here's a bonus: Nadneyda, a new Israeli blogger.

Why blog?

Commenter AR asks:

What have you gotten out of blogging these 2 years? A creative outlet? New friends? Is it the writing you enjoy most? The opportunity to help other people? Anyway I've really enjoyed reading. Thanks!

I started blogging after I began reading interesting Jewish bloggers who weren't making the points I wanted to make. And I felt I had something to contribute, especially a different approach to raising children. I most enjoy reading bloggers within the community who give an outsider's perspective: Americans living in Israel or Wolfish Musings, whose family became observant when he was a child. For a long time, hardly anyone commented (although the Blogger comments disappeared when I switched to Haloscan; I replaced some of them). But I figured that if I continued to write on interesting topics, people would show up.

I get a tremendous amount of satisfaction when I hit Post. So many times I say to myself, "This post is going to make me famous." Then I come down to earth when hardly anyone comments (lately that hasn't been an issue, thanks!). But as long as people are still reading, it's okay. There's always another post.

Supporting other mothers and olim is a big part of why I blog. Another thing I love is that unless you are deliberately provocative, blogging attracts readers who generally agree with your outlook. Others go elsewhere.

I didn't start blogging to make friends, but it may be the reason I continue.

Okay, that's enough about me and my blog. Tell me about yours.

Blogoversary

I began blogging two years ago this month. I attribute my "success" to editing carefully (except when I didn't), choosing a variety of interesting topics, and my terrific readers and commenters.

Other issues in my life are demanding emotional energy, and I seem to have lost my blogging compulsion. But don't worry, this post may be a sign that you can look forward to more.

In the meantime, in honor of my blogoversary, I invite you to ask questions in the comments. I may even answer some of them.

(Oh, and regarding the poll: Left foot, left foot, left foot, right is the opening line of "The Foot Book" by Dr. Seuss.)

Norton 360 Review

A while ago I got an offer from MomCentral.com to review a new product, Norton 360 Version 2.0, in exchange for receiving a copy. The program is mainly about keeping computers secure, but what attracted me most was the promise that it would make my computer run more quickly.

My computer runs on Vista. Vista has good security, but its features make it slow and cumbersome.

Because I was the first one to reply to MomCentral's offer Norton sent me a yoga mat as a gift along with the software. I knew that obsessively checking my email would eventually pay off.

I was a bit apprehensive about installing Norton 360, because when I recently had to install a printer, I spent hours on the phone with the printer support people. Even though the printer came with an installation disk for Vista, the manufacturer didn't seem to know a lot about it.

So I wasn't surprised when, after running the Norton 360 CD, I got a message asking me to download installation updates. Then a window opened asking me to please wait while my setup files are updated. I waited, and waited, and waited. I followed the instructions for help, and despite it being a Sunday afternoon, I found support by chat with a Norton representative named Nirmal. After Nirmal confirmed who I was and heard my problem, she offered to take over my computer remotely. Living where I do has made me somewhat suspicious of people from overseas who want access to all of my data, but I overcame my apprehension, followed her instructions, and watched, in between hanging some laundry, while Nirmal did her thing and the cursor moved around by itself. It took about two hours for her to install the program and uninstall the old anti-virus software.

Ever since then Norton 360 Version 2.0 does its thing (unlike my printer, which continues to require repeat phone calls to the manufacturer's support line). My computer definitely runs much faster, thanks to the PC tuneup feature. Also, Norton automatically backs up all of my files and pictures at their online site. You can set it to back up your files on external drives, but I don't do well with hardware (did I mention the printer?) It doesn't back up the files at a set time, like just after I turned on my computer after a three-day Yom Tov. Instead it waits until the computer isn't busy. How come no one ever thought of that before?

Norton 360 also saves logins for different sites; I have several gmail accounts and Norton lets me switch between them without trouble. Most of the time I hardly notice Norton 360; unlike Vista, it doesn't need to ask my permission all the time.

Norton 360 is also supposed to make banking and shopping online more secure.

I haven't used all of the features yet, but so far Norton 360 is easy and convenient. Even with Vista.

Happy Pesach

A month ago I committed to writing a post a day (bli neder) until Pesach; despite a few bad days I had fun and the blogging energized me enough to get through Pesach preparations. My readership substantially increased, although recently more than half of my hits came from people searching for a potato kugel recipe. And the LA Times Middle East blog page listed this blog on its sidebar--how cool is that?

Two things made me happy this morning: My son had washed the floor after I went to sleep, and my daughter offered to help iron his shirts (I'm allergic to ironing).

Despite a few rough moments, I confess to enjoying Pesach cleaning. I don't have the stamina I used to but the work seems to have gotten done. We can only hope that I didn't forget some crucial item.

Wishing all my readers, commenters and lurkers a beautiful, kosher, meaningful, relaxing, enjoyable, delicious and memorable Passover.

I can't keep it up

Too much shopping, cooking and cleaning. Sorry, Baila.

Although I think the KCC should count for at least two or three.

My new look

I have been wanting to update the design of this blog for a while, but I am graphically challenged (as I may have mentioned). Help arrived in the form of the talented Leora, who blogs at There Here in Highland Park. She designed this lovely new banner and suggested switching to a more readable template. I hope you all like it.

I have had fun emailing back and forth with Leora. It turns out that one of her best friends from high school became my first friend after making aliyah (and she reads this blog). Yet another of Leora's friends was my college roommate, who still visits me on her occasional trips to Israel.

Leora often highlights her artwork in her blog: See Garden slideshow, Garden watercolor, and Broccoli. And here she explains why her family attends a Sephardi synagogue.

When she's not blogging, commenting, and gardening, Leora works at http://jewishstudies.rutgers.edu/ where she puts together free online courses on Jewish topics. Currently two courses are available, The Israeli Political System and the Bible and History.

She also enjoys small freelance jobs like this one: http://www.treatmentnj.com/, and is always looking for new projects.

Leora, it has been a pleasure to work with you. My readers and I thank you.

Turning over a New (Blogging) Leaf

I'm planning some changes to my blog. A new banner and template are in the works.

In addition I plan is to post a short entry (almost) every day until Pesach (bli neder*). Maybe it will help me become more productive in other areas of my life as well. Or not.

As always, comments are welcome.

*I never really liked the term bli neder, a phrase indicating that the promise you are making doesn't have the status of a formal vow. Noa Yaron, a newscaster who became observant, told how her mother took her aside and said, "Let me see if I have it straight. When you say bli neder (in response to a question), it means no, and when you say be'ezrat Hashem, it means maybe." Yuck.