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A series on Pashkevilim, Anti-Establishment Wall Posters in Jerusalem

Abortion in the Religious Zionist Community

Tips on Staying Home and Staying Sane

Frugal Strategies for Young Families that Pay Off as Your Family Grows

How to Make a Sourdough Starter

Eruv Tavshilin and Shavuot Recipes

Breastfeeding and Introduction of Solid Foods: New Guidelines from the Israeli Health Ministry

The Week of the Police Robots

Dr. Chana Kattan: Large Families Yes, Demanding Careers No

Stepping Off Your Teen's Emotional Rollercoaster

And much, much more.

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Hanging Stockings--an American Chanukah Custom?

From the Motherlode blog at the New York Times, on Jewish couples who have conflicts about holiday customs similar to those of intermarried couples:

I heard recently from Tami Kamin-Meyer, a lawyer with two sons, ages 10 and 14, living in Columbus, OH. “Both my husband of nearly 16 years and I are Jewish,” she wrote in an e-mail. “But his brand of Judaism is far more American than mine. My family is Israeli, and while I am a first generation American, my celebration of Jewish holidays, including traditions and attitudes, are closely aligned with Israeli customs rather than American.” When their first child was born, her husband wanted to hang stockings in the living room, but she did not. (They don’t.) He is more comfortable with prayers and holiday songs in English, which she prefers them in Hebrew. (They incorporate a little of both.)

I didn't know that hanging stockings is a Jewish-American Chanukah custom. But then I've been away a long time.

(I am being sarcastic here, but I guess it didn't come through. Sarcasm doesn't work so well on blogs.)
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Simchat Torah Suggestions

Now that we're through kvetching about our Yom Kippur experiences, we can start analyzing Simchat Torah.

Simchat Torah is a difficult holiday for Orthodox women. It seems like the men are having the fun, while the women are sitting around waiting, watching, and mostly talking. I don't mind sitting separately the rest of the year, when I am actually praying. But an hour and a half is too long to watch dancing, if you can call it that. My husband pointed out that the teenagers in the shul either went elsewhere or stood talking outside.

Our synagogue cut the hakafot (seven rounds of singing and dancing with the Torah scrolls) short in the morning. This worked out well, although the rabbi didn't get to give his annual class. Maybe he could switch it to the evening.

They moved two Torah scrolls close to the mechitza (partition), so that the mothers could see and hear their under bar-mitzvah age sons reading. I missed that last year.

Modern Orthodox Singles writes about her experience, and Isramom has a roundup of blog posts on the subject. Be sure to look at Ilana-Davita's post, and the comments.

Id like to hear more creative solutions for this annual problem.

Sukkot in the ER

When we last met, I was injured at the bottom of a hill near Peduel. At this point I was pretty sure I would recover, so we went to our friends' house in the community of Revava. I sat and nursed my wounds while others prepared the delicious dinner. During the meal, the wrist on the hand that I used to catch my fall began to throb. I once read that to avoid a broken wrist you should fold your arms when you fall, but I'm not sure that advice applies on a rocky mountain. Anyway, I could not move the wrist and it was so painful that we decided to go to the moked, the after-hours care center for our health fund.

After we dropped off the kids at home, the nurse at the moked put a serious-looking bandage on my leg wound, which had started bleeding again. The doctor printed out a referral to the emergency room for a wrist. So we went from a hilltop in Samaria to an urban hospital in one day. We saw the orthopedist almost immediately. My husband had insisted that I mention bumping my head, even though the bump was so small as not to be noticeable. She wrote that we needed a surgeon to look at it. When I questioned this she said they are not "choffefanim." The best I can translate that is to say that they don't do a half-assed job, even though I prefer not to use such language on my blog.

She sent me for the x-ray, examined the wound, ordered a tetanus shot, and gave me a prescription for three days of antibiotics and Optalgin. The nurse handed me two doses of antibiotics to hold me over until the morning, but I refused the Optalgin.

When the orthopedist examined my wrist she said, "Yatzat bezol," which means that I got a bargain--I would probably escape without a cast. The x-ray came back clear, although the orthopedist warned me that it could flare up and a subsequent x-ray might show a crack.

The nurse wrapped up my arm, and another nurse, Ahmed, dressed the wound. The young, blond doctor complained to the nurse (or perhaps intern or medical student) about a patient scheduled for an operation. The operation was delayed because of a different operation. Instead of waiting patiently (no pun intended), he left for home. The previous operation got cancelled, and the hospital lost money because the operating room was ready and waiting for for the second patient.

The x-ray technician commented that Sukkot was the holiday of the "datiim," or religious Jews, but he loves it. It's true that because we tend to be busy on Friday and Shabbat, the week-long holiday is an ideal time to travel. Most Israelis seem to ignore Sukkot or leave the country.

When we first headed to the hospital I had imagined the benefits of a broken wrist: pity, no cooking or cleaning, and a chance to teach the kids a few more household skills. But all in all I was relieved by the diagnosis.

After I finished with the orthopedist I waited patiently for the surgeon. And waited, and waited, for almost an hour. Finally we asked the nurse what happened, and she had misplaced our file. And the doctor had been there all the time, chatting with a friend. But at that point he was treating someone else.

Finally the surgeon checked me out and explained that the health ministry requires anyone with a head injury to be under observation for six hours from the appearance at the hospital. But he also gave me the option of signing myself out, which I happily accepted despite the scary language of the form. He promised us me that if I came back, I would get a warm welcome.

I mentioned that I don't bring my children to the emergency room every time they get a bump, even if it's the size of a golfball. He admitted that he doesn't either. "But you're a doctor," I pointed out, "although I have six children, so I guess I'm almost a doctor by now." Okay, I'm not a doctor, but I still have a pretty good idea of when to bring my kids to the ER.

When we returned to the health fund to have the dressing changed on my leg, the nurse commented that with such a bandage she expected a bigger wound. I wanted to tell her how bad it had looked the night before, but instead I told my husband he could leave the line of forty people in the drugstore. I would skip the rest of the antibiotic.

My friend, a doctor, warned me that a wound on the calf can sometimes lead to an infection near the bone, but I seem to be out of danger. My wrist is still sore. So I guess someone else will have to chop the vegetables for Shabbat.

Holiday riddles

You must know Hebrew, and math, fairly well to get this one:
How is the number 40,320 associated with a Jewish holiday?
Hint: Reduce to prime factors.

This isn't really a riddle, but my son said that Isru Chag Sukkot (the day after Sukkot, and the last day of vacation) is also known as Yom Hacharisha Ha-leumit (national ploughing/grubbing day). The kids use it to do all the homework they neglected over vacation.

In which I fall head over heels. . .

into the rocks of a mountain in the Shomron, that is.

On the first day of Chol Hamoed (the intermediate days of the Sukkot holiday), we went with friends on an organized hike through Nachal Shiloh. We hesitated about the security, the length (four hours!) and the possibility of rain, but decided to go ahead. Being invited to our friends' sukkah for a barbecue afterward didn't hurt.

The hike began in the settlement of Peduel with 136 people, divided into two groups. From Peduel we hiked down to a nachal (creek, dry in this case-- I'm not sure of its name), then up to the ancient city of Tzredah, and back down to Nachal Shiloh and the road, where a car awaited to take drivers back to Peduel.

The hike was rocky and slippery. Even though it had rained in the morning, the sun was hot and there was little mud. The kids enjoyed seeing this turtle:

Near the top of the hill an Arab man drew water from a well, using a rusty bucket. The guide said the water was safe to drink and at least one person refilled a bottle.

We sat under some trees and the guide told us about Tzredah. Tzredah is mentioned in the Book of Kings as the hometown of Yerov'am ben Nevat and in Pirkei Avot as the hometown of the sage Yossi ben Yoezer. Tzredah means the middle finger and the rock formation above the city juts straight up into the air. She advised that children not go over there, because of pits. My husband elected to stay with the two small ones.

The guide explained how archeologists who had come from the wrong direction had missed the distinct topography, and mistakenly placed the settlement of Tzredah in the valley below. But the shards found in the valley turned out to be non-Jewish and from a different period. Then a second archeological team, coming from another direction, identified the spot correctly.

Evidence of settlement in Tzredah

The guide introduced us to a geologist who happened to be on the tour. He explained that Hitler failed to capture Yugoslavia, out of all of the countries of Europe, because the topography was identical to that of Tzredah. The geological terms used to describe the landscape come from Serbian. Whoever rules this area cannot easily be defeated; the geologist referred to it as "topogarchy." (I could not find any mention of this term on the net.) Tanks can't ascend, nor horses -- even donkeys even have a hard time. Goats manage fine, judging by the amount of excrement.

In order to capture as much water as possible and prevent soil erosion, the ancient and not-so-ancient peoples living here built terraces on the hillsides.


We stopped in this cave before starting down.

On the wall of the cave:

Nachal Shiloh

It was a long way down. The guide warned us that it got a little tricky after the beginning. It was more than that. At one point about halfway down there were large rocks with gaps in-between. I tripped over something, banged my leg into a rock, and tumbled over on my head into a gap. I called out but no one heard. I knew my husband and four-year-old were not far behind, along with a few others. When they caught up they helped me stop the bleeding. After resting a few minutes we all continued. Our friends, who were already down in the creek bed, saw we were having trouble and directed us to an easier descent. There was no path and the rest of the group was already at the end. Eventually we made it to the road and my husband was ushered into the car back to Peduel.

Your injured correspondent couldn't resist this last picture:

With a half hour lag between the first and last arrivals, and more than one possible path, someone should have been appointed to stay in the back. Had I fallen down unconscious, I might not have been missed until everyone got to the road.

On that cheerful note, I'll save the rest for another post.

Continuation: Sukkot in the ER

The state of the nation in shul on Yom Kippur

People expect to pray peacefully on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. But the shul is overfull and there are distractions. Especially children.

The acceptable level of noise and activity varies according to the community and physical facilities. But one person's kavanah (concentration during prayer) should not come at the expense of others'. Just because a mother can tune out her children during davening doesn't mean everyone can.

On Yom Kippur, I mentioned to a friend that her two-year-old had pushed down a child in the aisle. The other child went to his mother to be picked up, without crying, so my friend hadn't noticed. This happens. But if parents can't keep an eye on children who wander, the children may be better off at home.

Reports from other communities:

• A dispute over noisy children in Raanana Rambling's shul led to hurt feelings.
• I heard about mothers in Beit Shemesh (not Ramat Beit Shemesh) who fail to reprimand their children in shul because they are observing a "taanit dibbur" on Yom Kippur. During a taanit dibbur one may not speak except to pray.
• One community's email discussion on the subject of children in shul pitted old-timers against newcomers. The community hopes to attract young couples, but rigidity about this issue could deter them.

And grant me a moment to kvetch about other annoying things that people do in shul:

My son noticed a family who gave the 5-year-old son snacks to keep him in shul for the davening. After finishing the snack, the child was allowed to go out to play. I don't believe that kids should eat in shul, especially on Yom Kippur, but I'd be happy for that to be the worst thing to happen.

I don't understand why a child who just finished seudah hamafseket (the final meal before the fast) needs a bag of Bamba the minute she gets to Kol Nidrei. In this case the child went outside to eat. Was junk food invented as a way to keep kids quiet? (Don't answer that.)

And one last, cranky complaint: The shul was freezing, so people opened the windows. This wastes electricity and makes the shul even colder, because the air-conditioner must work harder to maintain the pre-set temperature of the thermostat.

So how were things in your shul this year?

Sukkah weather

The Talmud (Avoda Zara 2-3) records a scenario in which the nations of the world approach God at the end of days to receive their reward. After each nation pleads its case and God ascertains that none of them did anything good for mankind in general (because their accomplishments were self-serving) and for the Jews in particular, the nations complain that they never had a chance to observe the Torah. Because God doesn't want to be unfair, he offers them the "easy" mitzvah of sitting in the Sukkah. It's easy because it involves no financial outlay -- everyone can build one on his own roof. So they build their sukkot, and God makes it as hot as "tekufat Tamuz," the summer months. But is that fair, asks the Talmud? Didn't the Holy One just say that He wants to play it straight? Well, the fall season known as "tekufat Tishrei" can include days as hot as summer.

So the nations build their sukkot and run out from the heat, but not before giving the sukkot a few kicks. The Talmud again asks whether it is fair to criticize the nations, because according to Jewish law one need not suffer by sitting in extremely uncomfortable conditions. We then learn that the nations failed the test not because they left the sukkah, but because they kicked it. In the end they do not receive a reward.

My husband says that he didn't understand the passage the first time he learned it. Having grown up with the cold and wet fall of the Pacific Northwest he could not imagine the sukkah getting so hot that you would want to run out. Then he came to Israel. Even with the extra month of the leap year causing Sukkot to fall in mid-October, the sun is blazingly hot at noontime. The schach, or shady branches that form the roof, does little to help.

In our old apartment we tried to delay lunch until after 2 PM when the sun went behind a building (this was nearly impossible when shul ended at 10:30). Better to build the sukkah in the northern shadow of a building, but we have never been so lucky. At least we are no longer in the parking lot, and have equipped our sukkah with fans.

The forecast for the holiday beginning Monday night includes rain (so I heard). I remember the year our old neighbors, who were brave enough to sleep in their parking-lot sukkah (made of wood to keep out stray cats), ran inside in the middle of the night because of a downpour.

We need the rain so badly, I won't complain (bli neder), although according to this site there's only a 20% chance. I reserve the right to complain about the heat, with no kicking.

A subdued Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur

A member of our shul, a mother of five, lost her fight with cancer on the first night of Rosh Hashana. When the family realized that her death was near, they checked her into the hospital and stayed with her. Had she died at home, the burial would have taken place on Yom Tov with the family walking to the local cemetery. But the hospital storage facilities allowed the funeral to be postponed until Motzei Rosh Hashanah. Close to a thousand people attended including the mayor, whose son had been her student.

When my own mother died I learned that most people continue to leave shul during the Yizkor memorial prayer until after the year of mourning. We found that there was not much basis for this custom, and the rabbi said I could do what I want (I went). I noticed that the teenage daughter, who had finished shiva only the day before, did stay for Yizkor. In our shul, the chazan (cantor) says a prayer in memory of the members who have died over the years. The mother's name was read for the first time.

May her family take comfort from her memory during the coming year.

Gmar Chatimah Tovah

Square Peg sent me a list of songs from the davening, compiled by Jerusalemite Chani Abramson. If you are home with small children tonight or tomorrow, you can print out the list to remind you of songs to sing along with the kids. The list is in Hebrew and does not include musical notes--you have to know the tunes.

It's hard to run a blog without offending anyone. If something I wrote or didn't write offended you, whether on this blog or another, please accept my apology (and feel free to write me and clear things up).

I wish all of you an easy and meaningful fast, and a gmar chatimah tovah--may be be sealed in the book of life for the coming year.

רשימת שירים מתפילת יום הכיפורים

זכרינו לחיים מלך חפץ בחיים...
בספר חיים ברכה ושלום...
דרכך אלוקינו להאריך אפך...
ה', ה', קל רחום וחנון...
אמנם כן יצר סוכן בנו...
כי הנה כחומר ביד היוצר, ברצותו מרחיב וברצותו מקצר,
כן אנחנו בידך חסד נוצר, לברית הבט ואל תפן ליצר...
כי אנו עמך ואתה אלוקינו, אנו בניך ואתה אבינו...
עננו אלוקי אברהם עננו...
רחמנא דעני לעניי עננא. רחמנא דעני לתבירי לבא עננא.
אבינו מלכנו פתח שערי שמים לתפלתנו
אבינו מלכנו תהא השעה הזאת שעת רחמים ועת רצון מלפניך
אבינו מלכינו ,חננו ועננו כי אין בנו מעשים...
שמחה לארצך וששון לעירך....
ובכן צדיקים יראו וישמחו...
אתה בחרתנו מכל העמים...
קדשינו במצוותיך, ותן חלקינו בתורתך...
אשמנו, בגדנו...
על ישראל אמונתו, על ישראל ברכתו...
האדרת והאמונה לחי עולמים...
אדיר אדירנו, ה' אדונינו, מה אדיר שמך בכל הארץ
חמול על מעשיך, ותשמח במעשיך...
באין מליץ יושר מול מגיד פשע..
וקרב פזורנו מבין הגויים...
והביאנו לציון עירך ברינה
נקדש את שמך בעולם...ימלוך ה' לעולם...
ונתנה תוקף קדושת היום... בראש השנה יכתבון וביום צום כיפור יחתמון...ותשובה ותפילה וצדקה...
אין קצבה לשנותיך, ואין קץ לאורך ימיך...
וכל מאמינים שהוא חי וקיים, הטוב ומטיב לרעים ולטובים...
ויאתיו כל לעבדך, ויברכו שם כבודך...
השיבנו ה' אליך ונשובה...
כאהל הנמתח בדרי מעלה- מראה כהן...אמת מה נהדר היה כהן גדול...
היום תאמצנו, היום תברכנו

There's a joker in every class

When I lived in New York, I taught English and Judaism to a class of elderly immigrants from the Soviet Union. Back then it wasn't even the "former" Soviet Union.

As we approached Yom Kippur, I wondered how to explain the basics of the holiday in simple English. The prohibition on intimate relations gave me the most trouble. Finally, I decided to say "A husband and wife do not sleep together." Immediately an old man shouts out from the back, "But with the other people it is okay. . ."

Anything but that

"I'm never going to play with that girl," declares my seven-year-old, when I point out the cute redhead from shul during our visit to the park. "Do you know what she said to me?" He is outraged just thinking of it.

I mentally rehearse my response to the girl's insult. I plan to suggest that she may have done teshuva and regrets her words. I congratulate myself for being so wise. I am ready to hear the worst.

"She said to me, 'Ata rotzeh le-hitchaten iti?'"

She had asked my son to marry her.

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.

Menu and cooking plan for Rosh Hashanah, meatball recipe

On Rosh Hashanah we eat four festive meals. Since this is my blog, I'm going to share how I organized the cooking.

I prefer not to cook in advance, as I like meat to be freshly cooked. Also, food that has been cooked and defrosted shouldn't be refrozen, so pre-freezing causes a problem with leftovers.

Last week I baked and froze the honey cake and challah. I found that wrapping frozen challah in foil ensures that it stays crisp during defrosting. Naturally, I reuse the foil. We also shopped. I used up the honey in the baking, and my friend offered me the extra jar she got as a gift from work.

Last night I asked my kids to peel a large quantity of carrots and onions -- I had already washed and dried parsley and celery. This morning I made meatballs (recipe below), matzah balls (we don't eat them on Pesach, but like them for Rosh Hashanah because of their shape), beet salad, and rice. This afternoon we'll polish the silver and make apple cake because my kids like those jobs, especially coring the apples. I'll make pancakes for supper, with some cooked nectarines that needed to be used up.

Tomorrow on erev Rosh Hashanah I plan to make fish, chicken, potatoes, chicken soup, carrot salad, coleslaw, and sweet potatoes. It sounds like a lot, but they are all simple recipes. If I get ambitious, I'll make a potato kugel. I decided to do the soup tomorrow afternoon so I won't have to worry about storing it until I have more room in the refrigerator. Since it's yom tov and not Shabbat, I have a later deadline. In the meantime the repairman says he'll come "batzaharayim," which means between 12 and 4 PM. Update #1: He arrived at 3PM.

My tentative menu is below. At each meal we also have wine, challah with honey, and cake.

We have guests on Monday evening, so I'll serve more items than usual:

• Apple dipped in honey
  
• Fish--whole fish baked in foil with rosemary and olive oil
• Soup with matzah balls
• Meat dishes, side dishes, and salads

Tuesday lunch:

• Melon as appetizer
  
• Meatballs
• Selection of salads and side dishes
  

Tuesday evening I would prefer to serve a dairy meal, but that means extra work and planning. Here is my compromise:

• New fruit: Pomegranates, oranges
  
• Apple with honey
• Salmon and salads. I'll take the salmon out of the freezer on Monday afternoon, and put it up to cook Tuesday night before washing the lunch dishes. We don't prepare for Tuesday evening until the first day of the holiday is officially over.
  
• Chicken soup
  
• For anyone who is still hungry (i.e. teenage boys), I put out chicken and potatoes.

Wednesday lunch:
If I still have soup and matzah balls, I'll serve it. If I see on Tuesday evening that the meat is dwindling, I can pull something out of the freezer to cook in the morning. This has never happened. I also serve out the foods that are running low in order to make room in the refrigerator.

My meatball recipe follows. It's flexible so feel free to experiment.

Ingredients:
2 tbsp. fresh parsley
1 kg ground beef or turkey, or a combination
2 eggs
1/4 cup bread crumbs or matza meal (I have a large quantity of failed challah for this purpose)
1 tbsp. prepared mustard
2 onions
1-2 carrots
Half a can tomato paste

Batter:
In a dry food processor, chop parsley using steel knife, add carrot and chop finely. Add ground meat, eggs, crumbs, and mustard. Mix well.

Sauce:
Chop onions in food processor. I made the batter in a separate bowl because my processor is pareve, so I didn't need to wash the processor bowl in between. Saute the onions for about five minutes, then add the tomato paste and whatever seasoning you like. I added some beet juice from the cooked beets--don't tell my kids. You will probably want to dilute the sauce some; it shouldn't be thick or sticky, nor should it be watery. I also added some cumin seeds and oregano.

When the sauce is boiling, form meatballs from the batter and drop them into the sauce. Don't worry if some balls are above the level of the sauce, as the sauce increases during cooking, and the meatballs will cook either way. Lower the flame and cook for 30-40 minutes. To check for doneness, cut a meatball in half and check that the juices run clear.

Update #2: The repairman said the motor needed to cool off, so he will return later. He left his gauge as an eravon (guarantee).

Drip, drip, drip

That's the only sound heard from my stand-alone freezer, which decided to stop working yesterday, on Shabbat. The problem with living in a Jewish country is that repairmen also observe the holiday, but I left a desperate message for the one who replaced the motor only six weeks ago.

I've managed to stick most things in my refrigerator/freezer, but am running out of room fast. If he doesn't come I'll manage somehow--I love a challenge, remember? At least it didn't happen tomorrow, or on Rosh Hashanah itself.

My friend says that it's no coincidence when things break so close to the new year. On Rosh Hashanah, God determines how much each person will earn. So if a person didn't give enough charity during the year, He makes sure things even out before the following Rosh Hashanah . . . whether through buying new appliances or paying for repairs. Israeli repairmen must give a lot of tzedakah during the year.

And if you are trying to get organized, check out my Rosh Hashanah Survival Guide. Last year Rosh Hashanah was followed by Shabbat, but most suggestions still apply.

Four cooking days until Rosh Hashanah. . .

Israeli Kitchen has suggestions for Honey Challah and Honey Cake.

Synagogues in mixed communities

Trilcat vents about people who object to government allocations for synagogues, yet visit on holidays or when they want an aliyah for their son's bar mitzvah. I am not sure that the people complaining about municipal allocations for religious purposes are the same as those stopping by for Ne'ilah on Yom Kippur.  Large numbers of Israelis feel close to Judaism, even if it isn't obvious, and want the government to support religious infrastructure. 

In the few mixed religious/secular neighborhoods left in Israel, synagogues operate with a certain level of tension. The municipality donates land and funds to begin building, but the members raise the rest. Each family contributes several thousand dollars or more, not including maintenance costs. So while in theory the synagogue is a public building, members consider it their private domain. Shuls in my neighborhood offer membership only when they can provide a fixed seat for each male family member. So membership is closed, there is little room for visitors, and a shul can get "cliquey' fast. And young couples and others without means have to hop around.

Our synagogue tries to strike a balance between accommodating the outside community and keeping maintenance costs reasonable. We host neighborhood bar mitzvahs, although they cause (preventable) disruption. The synagogue is wheelchair-accessible, including the bathrooms. The "gabbaim" direct visitors to available seats, so they won't get kicked out by a regular. But unless they need a wheelchair, non-members can't hold functions in the shul to minimize noise and traffic on the residential street. 

For the last several years the shul has tried to attract neighbors to High Holiday prayers, and just gave everyone flyers to place in mailboxes. There is no charge for those who don't want a reserved seat.

Fasting on Tisha B'Av for pregnant and breastfeeding women

The 9th of the Jewish month of Av, known as Tisha B'Av, commemorates the destruction of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem. On this most mournful day of the year, Jews are required to fast from sunset until nightfall the following day (August 9-10, 2008).

(On a side note, most rabbinic opinions exempt pregnant and nursing women from fasting on the four minor fast days. My husband was surprised to learn that his colleague's wife, nursing a young baby, was fasting on the 17th of Tammuz.)

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Lag Baomer

We celebrated Lag Baomer on Thursday night. In America, people treat fire with caution.But here, practically every holiday becomes a festival for pyromaniacs. They shoot caps on Purim and burn chametz on every corner erev Pesach. On Chanukah they let kids play with fire at gan parties. And Lag Baomer is the ultimate Israeli holiday for pyromaniacs.

My 6-year-old wanted to have a bonfire too. He called up all of his friends, until he found a boy who didn't have other plans. He had never shown interest in most of those boys before now. We really lucked out because the boy who invited us lives next door to an empty lot. When we arrived, we found that his father had already set up things up. The boy's parents are also olim (immigrants) from Dushanbe (points to anyone who knows what country that is in without looking it up) who arrived in Israel around the same time we did. He knows how to build a fire (see above) and was careful about safety. I was able to teach him one thing--when you roast potatoes in a bonfire it's a good idea to cook them in advance. Otherwise the middle stays raw. Fortunately, we brought the potatoes.

We are not crazy about bonfires, but Lag Baomer is a special day for us because it's my husband's birthday. Happy birthday!

Planting the flag on (Google) Earth: In honor of Israel Independence Day

In honor of Yom Haatzmaut, Israel Independence Day, from IsraelAnswers.com:

Planting the flag on (Google) Earth

Plant the Flag

Click the Flag to see Israeli cities marked on Google Earth

If you would like to see Israel with all its communities marked, click on this link. This will tempororily load our points on Google Earth (assuming you already have Google Earth downloaded and installed on your computer). It will do nothing permanent, to your computer, to Google, or to the Earth.

See our page for screenshots of what Google Earth looks like with our points added. Each community is clickable with basic information. We hope to increase the amount of information available over time. [But you only have to download it once.]

Why are we doing this? Our goal is to counter anti-Israel propaganda by providing accurate source material with an accent on the connection between geography and history. Israel is made up of a myriad of people from all over the world and each community reflects the variety that is Israel.

Downloading Google Earth only took a few minutes.

Shlomo Toren is the brainpower behind this project.