tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-26710165375277520682010-01-04T11:13:14.963-05:00"This may be read or not as any one pleases." -Benjamin FranklinErachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.comBlogger465125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-16557219698001150492009-12-31T00:00:00.002-05:002009-12-31T00:00:03.623-05:00

December 31, 2009. A day that will live in...disappointment. And, hopefully, growth.I remember the day I turned ten. My whole life prior, I told people I was a single digit years old. That magical single digit. I was one, I was two, I was three, four, five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Those years where only the children belong. I only had that for nine years. Then I left it behind forever. I turned

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-21313735107163250512009-12-29T22:32:00.005-05:002009-12-30T02:38:53.435-05:00

Everything we feel is born out of the perspective we come from. There is some truth in what everyone feels - even if different people feel contradictory things.When I was in high school, Stern was seen as the "frum" college choice. When I was in Stern, I met people who came from the opposite end - they came from worlds where Stern (and YU) was seen as a more "modern" college choice. The same

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-64436274932003382712009-12-28T20:47:00.004-05:002009-12-28T22:47:02.158-05:00

From a website, reiterating the words of a close friend:Sinclair Lewis was invited to talk to some students about the writer’s craft. He stood at the head of the class and asked, “How many of you here are really serious about being writers?” A sea of hands shot up. Lewis then asked, “Well, why aren't you all home writing?” And with that he walked out of the room.Goodbye for now!

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-84896810268753368772009-12-10T22:20:00.002-05:002009-12-10T22:33:44.887-05:00

I've always felt it was stupid to judge people based on where they went to school or similar things of the past. You never know what that person was like then, what the person is like now, etc. I know I don't like being seen in certain ways just because I've gone certain places in my past. I'm nothing like what one would associate with the places I've been.And yet I find myself doing it to others

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-40575944969311417312009-11-29T20:31:00.002-05:002009-11-29T20:34:45.436-05:00

I think this song is beautiful and really speaks to me.(And Glee does such a good job with its songs. Yes...I know this is an old song. I love this version, though.)

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-39010481892220118662009-11-24T22:56:00.000-05:002009-11-24T22:58:43.580-05:00

Is anyone still there? Reading? Listening? Thinking?Somehow it feels like the days of Erachet have passed. I don't know. Something just feels different. Maybe I'm not Erachet anymore. But how could that be?Are you all still here?

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-46836057144978820972009-11-11T02:05:00.004-05:002009-11-11T02:26:06.104-05:00

What I am about to write came from a specific conversation, but the ideas apply to life as a whole. Many times, people ask authors where they come up with their stories from, or they get impressed by a storyteller's imagination.Good writers make good stories, right?I'm not so sure about that.Life is what makes stories. Speakers and writers just take the time to notice them and tell them over. But

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-34037768086980355062009-10-28T16:42:00.006-04:002009-10-28T17:02:51.426-04:00

Respect is likeThe way flowers grow upTowards the rainAnd rain trickles upThrough the roots,The way cliffs of the ravineReflect each other's majestyIn their clear mirror facesSo that each mountain seemsA hundred miles deeper,The way birds sing to the cloudsIn their mellifluous warblesAnd clouds blanket the birdsIn their pillow-like cottons,The way the Earth circles the SunDeclaring all its brazen

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-29513584836231081362009-10-27T12:36:00.004-04:002009-10-27T14:21:09.194-04:00

- An Exercise In Expression From Once Upon A Time -I sit here and try to write a poem, and I wonder, as I am forced to begin - with only five minutes left to class - if I shouldn't have used "compose" instead of "write" because "compose" sounds stronger, more poetic, more like music, and yet more serious, and so less in the business of trampoline-ing me off to nonsensical heights. So I leave it

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-44898772512551295382009-10-25T22:51:00.003-04:002009-10-25T23:09:20.122-04:00

Change is difficult. It's like I have to reorient the different things and people in my life in order to both keep the old and make room for the new. This is both because of what is happening in my life and what is happening in the lives of others. Some of that reorienting can really be kind of wrenching. But I guess no matter what, certain things of the past will always remain with you (with me)

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-89698171466022542752009-10-16T14:41:00.003-04:002009-10-16T15:19:20.481-04:00

A long time ago, speech was the main mode of communication. Few people knew how to read, let alone write. Those who were literate were held in high esteem, and only works of great significance were actually written down. Everything else was oral.Even once most laypeople knew how to read and write, they wrote with care. Letters were often well thought-out chronicles of a person's life and thoughts

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-53190052213746554782009-10-15T15:30:00.003-04:002009-10-15T16:36:16.923-04:00

Sometimes a person might behave in ways he or she regrets - ways that are not representative of who he or she is. Sometimes a person portrays an image of him or herself to the world that is not who that person truly is. This can be frustrating. What's even more frustrating is letting such a thing bother you when really you ought to just go on behaving the way you feel you should. Eventually,

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-59721963297985445072009-10-13T02:07:00.005-04:002009-10-13T02:44:39.297-04:00

There was this moment of transition the minute I entered the airport. Only a few moments earlier, I was in a cab shooting along the Israeli highway; the grainy hills flashed by, swirled in brown, green, and white like a strange sort of souffle. Haven't you ever noticed that Israel has the same green, brown, and white colors everywhere? Except in the Old City where it's all stone, that is.What I

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-55526709349112975522009-10-10T17:50:00.002-04:002009-10-10T18:24:02.417-04:00

Although, sadly, Sukkos is over here in Israel, I am currently sitting in our Sukkah. Why? Because I'm super frum.Just kidding.It's because Mavis discovered that we can actually get internet in our Sukkah. It's not amazing internet, but it's enough that I can write the past few blog posts!Israel has been incredible - I love coming here. In the distance, I can still hear the music and singing from

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-48270974837160642602009-10-08T16:05:00.004-04:002009-10-08T17:15:08.214-04:00

There is a specific pasuk in Ashrei that I have always liked: Karov Hashem l'chol kor'av, l'chol asher yikreuhu b'emet. God is close to those who call Him, to all who call Him...in truth? Sincerely? Translations are always messy. But I always felt that this pasuk was saying, if you strive to be close to God, then God will be close to you. But how can you strive to be close to God?Tonight I went

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-48257224691795817822009-09-29T10:59:00.004-04:002009-09-29T11:25:34.781-04:00

[Side note: Apparently, this is a very tzioni blog. If you google "l'shana haba'ah b'Yerushalayim" (in all various spellings, and even leaving out the 'haba'ah' part, except if you write 'leshana'), this blog is the first hit that comes up!]We have a tradition in my house that each time we break our fast (except the daily morning breakfast), we have Entenmann's doughnuts (my favorite: a tie

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-11921571991029183242009-09-28T23:11:00.005-04:002009-09-29T00:45:09.866-04:00

"Thus far, we have spoken of Aseh toratekha keva in two senses: 1) making Torah primary in terms of values, and regarding our relation to Torah - and to God via Torah - as all-pervasive in our lives; 2) making it a fixed element of our day, with the attendant commitment and discipline. But there is yet another sense of keva which is implied in a baraita:'Aseh toratekha keva' - how so? This

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-76649459682067244812009-09-23T23:41:00.006-04:002009-09-23T23:58:41.538-04:00

Sometimes it's amazing how much you can learn just from watching your friends. It's not that you learn something so obscure - most things are rather obvious. But when I really feel that people I know are behaving in admirable ways, it makes me feel good: about them and about good habits I am picking up from them.I think in general, it is good to surround yourself with people who help you become a

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-77823934416023554002009-09-22T12:45:00.003-04:002009-09-22T13:27:36.420-04:00

The thunderous rumbles of the subway are much louder than the steady hum of the LIRR. This is why it is somewhat difficult to listen to an ipod while on the subway. But today I stuck the little green buds of my earphones into my ears and put my ipod on shuffle, figuring I would give it a try.As V'havienu's Hamalach Hagoel swam around my ears, creating a soundtrack in my head, the sudden sharp

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-43584803696054624112009-09-21T11:06:00.007-04:002009-09-21T19:14:58.372-04:00

Imagine what it would be like if you climbed to the top of Mt. Everest, looked out onto the expanse of the entire world, and shouted, "Forgive me, everyone!"We're in the aseres yemei teshuva right now: a period when we're supposed to be thinking seriously about ourselves, our attitudes, our behavior, and our actions. We have ten entire days devoted to doing teshuva. In addition to doing teshuva

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-50815834884381921212009-09-18T12:59:00.005-04:002009-09-18T13:19:44.147-04:00

"Has anyone been listening to me?" asks Ima, the menu for all our Rosh Hashana meals on a pad of paper in front of her at the table."Yes, yes," says Straight Man."Alright," Ima smirks. "What are we having tomorrow night for dinner?""Umm...challah, apples, honey...""New fruit!" Mavis exclaims. "What are we having for our new fruit?""I dunno..." Ima says teasingly."You know...what is it?""It's a

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-56341296252709977732009-09-17T09:20:00.007-04:002009-09-17T11:27:15.796-04:00

Birthdays.Oh yes, I have what to say about birthdays.Birthdays are those days when you wake up and you feel like the sun should be shining especially for you (and wearing sunglasses and a sunny grin, just like in the pictures) and perhaps a rainbow or two should shoot across the sky, so you can walk over them and have adventures.You feel like there should be a fireworks show, or at least some

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-2291483419136883102009-09-16T23:36:00.003-04:002009-09-17T00:12:29.210-04:00

SJ and I return rather late from our various sojourns of the day (classes, really). N is sprawled on the couch in our living room (living room? living area), our new floor lamp on so she can read."This apartment smells like cooking. Like peppers," says SJ, glancing curiously around for what might be causing the smell. "Did you make dinner, N?""Yeah," says N. "By the way, I love this floor lamp!""

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-6329181226670825722009-09-14T11:27:00.003-04:002009-09-14T11:42:20.455-04:00

Please God, allow me to have clarity in my thoughts and my emotions. Give me the wisdom to know what to do in a given situation and the strength to be able to do it. Please allow me the understanding to know what is right and what is wrong, even when the two are heavily clouded in shades of gray. Let me make good choices and give me the koach to be the best person I can possibly be.Please give me

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2671016537527752068.post-58913780062664422762009-09-11T02:38:00.008-04:002009-09-12T20:47:00.217-04:00

Sometimes life is like a carousel. You hang on to your seat and get pulled round and round: a never ending cycle with the same scenes, the same faces flashing by. You become sick and dizzy of going round in so many circles, but you can't seem to let go of your seat. Your seat is what grounds you, what lets you know where you are. But it, too, is dragged in the cycle. Yet because it grounds you,

Erachethttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00660802321998349072noreply@blogger.com0