Shalom from Jerusalem

SEE IT ALL STARTED WITH A PHONE CALL

2009-11-02T10:14:00.003+02:00

A little over a week ago, my oldest son phoned and the conversation went something like this:
Him: Hi, Imma. I want to ask you something, but you can say no.
Me: OK
Him: We were thinking of going to Italy for a week.
Me: That's nice.
Him: We'll take the baby.
Me: Uh-hu.
Him: Its only for five days. Would you move in to our place and watch the kids?
Me: I think the answer is yes but give me until tomorrow night. I have to think a second. It means that I have to cancel my students.

Do I want to move in there with the babies for a week? Do I want to cancel my students? OY!

Me: Sure!
Him: You mean it?
Me: Yup!
Him: You mean it?
Me: Yup!
Him: She means it!

I said I'd do if for a gazillion reasons. I don't spend enough time with my babies. When they come home from nursery school and second grade, I'm still teaching and when I'm finished they're in bed.

I think my kids deserve some time off.

I don't want my babies with a babysitter. Too long and too scary. Five days isn't a couple hours while Imma and Abba are out for dinner or at the movies.

I can get away. A mini-vacation all for myself.

So, I cancelled my lessons...packed a little suitcase...took my knitting/ a new book/ the 155 page printout of The Sexy Ward (which is as far as I've gotten so far)/my mini laptop and off I went.

Now, don't think I've taken this lightly. It is a huge responsibility watching over a seven and a four year old. Being in someone else's house isn't a nice suite in a hotel room with room service, air conditioning, a mini bar and a view. This is serious stuff here.

Just so everyone would feel comfy and warm and safe we all piled into the big bed and fell asleep. She woke up in the middle of the night and cried for her mommy. I got her a glass of water. She cried. I told her it was all right but if she wanted to cry real loud she would have to go back to her bedroom so she wouldn't wake up her brother.

That stopped her! Ptew!

Then there is the hysteria of getting dressed and out of the house on time. Because her nursery school is too far away to walk, I have to phone a cab in the morning. Mornings are not great times for cabs. Well they are if it is before seven fifteen. After that you are up to here in traffic as every Israeli gets into his car and plugs the arteries leading to the heart of the country.

He is easy. Whatever you give him is fine. She is not so easy. This skirt isn't exactly what she had in mind. The cocoa isn't warm enough. She doesn't want her lunch in that box she wants it in this one. You get it. She is only four...well five this month. I shudder as I picture down the road ten years from now.

The good news is that he is in school until 2:45 each day. And she is in nursery school until 4.

The bad news is that he walks home all by himself now.

I forgot those days when I stood with my heart klapping in the window watching and waiting for my kids to come into sight after school. I forgot.

I forgot until yesterday. There I was standing in the street, in front of their house looking, praying and hoping that the kid comes home safely. Have you noticed that it is never your kid who comes home first? It is always your kid who is busy taking his time, checking out the world, happily chatting with his friends.

And, then, just when you are about to call in the Mounties...there he is!!! Thank God!!! See, that wasn't so terrible was it?

Then an hour later, there you are, back in the street waiting for the lady who is driving the little one home from the nursery school. Four oh five...four ten...four fifteen. What the hell was that lady's cell number. Thank goodness you wrote it in your cell phone memory bank.

What do you mean there is no answer? LADY PICK UP YOUR PHONE!!! WHERE IS MY BABY???

I phoned twice, and just when I was about to go back into the house to find the number of the nursery school, she called. Don't worry she said...we are on the way.

By the time I got the two of them back inside, I was a nervous wreck.

See, I don't want you to think I'm much better with my own kids. I still stand in the window of my mind worrying about them. But I have two safety valves. One...the cell phone. I call until they pick it up. And two...for those who don't live at home, I never phone in the evening as I know they went to sleep at eight o'clock and don't want to wake them up.

What time is it? Ten thirty? Damn! Too late to phone.

I promised the babies we would go out for dinner. I did that for two reasons. One, to make their first night with me special and two to kill time. Quick out for dinner...fill up the bellies...run home and take a shower...put on pajamas...climb into the big bed...turn on the TV and VOILA asleep!

I'm not certain who fell asleep first...but when the phone rang and I woke up to answer it, he was still watching some action movie on channel five.

Sigh!

Today is day two. Three more to go. Today we made it out and away this morning. I still have four and a half hours before I am back in the street waiting to greet him.

Tonight we are ordering in pizza. The fridge is full of wonderful food my DIL made and left for us. The cupboards are stocked and overflowing with stuff my son put in for us.

But pizza is pizza!

Tomorrow, he finishes at one. The plan for tomorrow is grab a cab, pick him up, go get her, off to the mall for a hamburger and chips, then back to my place where hubby and Joe College can take over for a few hours. We're also going to sleep at my place. Nice change.

That leaves Wednesday and Thursday until the kids get back in the afternoon.

I don't remember being this exhausted and happy in a long time. There is nothing like little arms hugging you and little wet kisses or little people saying 'I love you, Bubbie."

So it is all worth it.

Except. I forgot to mention. There are twenty-two steps from the downstairs to the upstairs. Steps I climbed yesterday a million times. Today I learned to shout, "Hey kids. Whoever wants some hot chocolate, COME AND GET IT!"

And, there are even more stairs to get from the road to the front door. Yesterday I climbed them at least six times. Today, I am staying home...downstairs...with my book, my writing, my knitting, a newspaper and my coffee.

Well, until 2:45 when I take up my post in the street.

Sometimes a Bubbie has to do what a Bubbie has to do. And, this is a win-win situation.

Memories. We build memories. And the truth is that they are delicious. It's just that the old grey mar, she ain't what she used to be. Sigh.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

S'PLAIN ME LUCY

2009-10-20T08:02:00.006+02:00

The entire country is reeling from the slaughter of the Oshrenko family A'H by some foreign hit man/men. Well, at least I hope they are foreigners. I don't even want to think that these murderers walk amongst us.

Six people were butchered viciously with a knife...
the grandmother/grandfather/mother/father/three year old daughter and four month old son.

I was going to write a blog about that but words escape me. It is just too big to grasp.

Then, we have the water problem...or should I say the LACK of water problem. If it doesn't rain soon and rain a lot we are in deeeeeeep doodoo. The Jerusalem Post today writes that our options include portable desalination plants or importing water from Turkey.

Turkey??? The country we put on the map??? The one we made rich when they opened their doors to Israelis and finally we had a neighbour we could go visit which we did and did and did again. That Turkey? The one when they had that terrible earthquake and we sent in team after team to find the survivors and set up hospital tents to care for the wounded? That Turkey? Or maybe it is the one that is now showing a TV series where IDF soldiers are shooting and killing innocent little Turkish children? We want THEIR WATER?

Do you remember the scene from the movie The Color Purple where Celie is bringing Mister a glass of water? And she spits in it?

No Mister Turkey. I DON'T THINK WE WANT YOUR WATER.

Are they nuts?

Then I was going to write a blog about how I am addicted to chocol...I mean books. I buy them. I store them. I stack them in the spare room waiting to be read.

But, when I opened my email this morning and read a post from my friend s.f.plangerl I know what I was going to blog. Here it is folks. From the Canadian Free Press:

First Lady Requires More Than Twenty Attendants July 7, 2009 Dr. Paul L. Williams
"In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much," she said.
"See, that's why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, " Michelle Obama

No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn't perform any official duties. But this hasn't deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession.

Just think Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War.

And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary. How things have changed!

If you're one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michelle are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:

1. $172,2000 - Sher, Susan (Chief Of Staff)
2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (Deputy Assistant to the President and Director of Policy And Projects For The First Lady)
3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (Special Assistant to the President and White House Social Secretary)
4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (Special Assistant to the President and Director of Communications for the First Lady)
5. $100,000 - Winter, Melissa E. (Special Assistant to the President and Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
6. $90,000 - Medina , David S. (Deputy Chief Of Staff to the First Lady)
7. $84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (Director and Press Secretary to the First Lady)
8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (Director of Scheduling and Advance for the First Lady)
9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (Deputy Director of Policy and Projects for the First Lady)
10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
11.. $64,000 - Reinstein, Joseph B. (Deputy Director and Deputy Social Secretary)
12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (Deputy Director of Scheduling and Events Coordinator For The First Lady)
13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (Deputy Director of Advance and Trip Director for the First Lady)
14. $57,500 - Lewis, Dana M. (Special Assistant and Personal Aide to the First Lady)
15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M.. (Associate Director and Deputy Press Secretary To The First Lady)
16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (Special Assistant for Scheduling and Traveling Aide To The First Lady)
17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (Associate Director of Correspondence For The First Lady)
18. $43,000 - Tubman, Samantha (Deputy Associate Director, Social Office)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (Executive Assistant to the Chief Of Staff to the First Lady) 20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (Staff Assistant to the Social Secretary)
21. $35,000 - Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
22. $35,000 - Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)
This total damm near $1.6 Million Dollars, that’s just sick!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There has NEVER been anyone in the White House at any time who has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the facilitation of the First Lady's social life.. One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense, when even Hillary, only had three; Jackie Kennedy one; Laura Bush one; and prior to Mamie Eisenhower social help came from the President's own pocket.

Note: This does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and "First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom traveled aboard Air Force One to Europe .
Copyright 2009 Canada Free Press.Com canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/12652

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

WANNA KNOW WHAT I THINK ABOUT OBAMA GETTING THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE?

2009-10-09T23:48:00.001+02:00

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I'M SPEECHLESS...........

have a great day...stay safe...thanks for dropping in.

HALLELUJAH!!!

2009-10-04T08:09:00.007+02:00

Wanna hear a nice story? I mean a really nice story? Of course you do!

About a month ago I got an e-mail from a lady named Donna. Now, my very oldest and one of my very best friends is Donna, but she goes by Sydonia. So, it couldn't be her. Besides, the first sentence of the email went something like this: "Hi, Marallyn, my son Lee is coming to Israel..."

God forgive me, but that is where I stopped reading, and thought Oh no! Another teenager on his way for a week or two in the Holy Land and I don't think I even know this kid.

Anyway, I continued to read--and lucky I did. You ready for this? Donna went on to say that her son Lee was being flown into the country to do the sound for the Leonard Cohen concert and was I interested in two tickets if he could get them for me.

Have I got your attention yet?

OHMYGOD! Who is this Donna and how did she find me and is this a prank like 'Guess what Marallyn, this is your lucky day. Your name has been picked from a gazillion people and if you only phone this number in the Netherlands, you will receive a swimming pool filled with money.' You know about those emails. I am ashamed to admit that once I really did phone that number. Sigh.

But, then Donna went on to say that she was really sorry that I couldn't make it a few years ago to the Walkerville Reunion. Walkerville? My high school? I remembered that Guy emailed me from California to tell me about it. And then I remembered that he told me about a 'kid' from his class, Donna somethingorother, who was helping to organize it!

That Donna! Guy's Donna! And she has a kid! And he lives in Nashville ( I forgot to mention that part). And he's being flown in to do the sound for the Leonard Cohen concert in Ramat Gan!

And do I want two tickets? DO I WANT TWO TICKETS?

Let me back up a second. I did not want a ticket to see Madonna...my kid, Joe College went to see her with the cheap ticket of 500 shekels. The Golden Ring tickets went for 2, 500 a seat!!!

I didn't want to see any of those guys. Well, maybe Elton John a few years ago. BUT LEONARD COHEN?

Both my friend Rena and I wanted to go and I did phone the ticket place but was informed that within 24 hours all the tickets were gone.

Friends, we are talking about 50,000 tickets...sold out in 24 hours and now a lady Donna has a son Lee who can get me tickets, if I am interested!!!

I quickly phoned Guy in California and he is still in contact with Donna from ELEMENTARY SCHOOL DAYS...and yes she is real and yes she is an amazing person.

I have not heard her voice in 47 years! Maybe even a year or two longer than that! This is not an old school chum or a family member who I've been in close contact with.

THIS IS A VERY VERY SPECIAL LADY...who, when her son came home to renew his passport and told her where he was going, somehow remembered that she has an old schoolmate who lives in Israel and maybe this woman would be interested in seeing the concert.

I wrote Donna and told her that, whether or not the tickets come through, the gift had already been given. I mean that. I am still breathless from this story.

I phoned Rena and told her to keep Sept. 24th open as we may have tickets to the...You could hear her shout in Tel Aviv!

In the meantime, Donna and I began exchanging emails and bringing each other up-to-date on what has been going on in our lives the past nearly fifty years! She still lives in Windsor, and I am planning to be back this summer. I cannot wait to meet her again in person.

The day before the concert I got an email from Lee that two tickets would be waiting for me and that the concert starts at 7:45 but we should be there a bit early.

Rena and I left at 3 in the afternoon. She has no sense of direction...I have no sense of direction. She called people...I phoned people...and we sort of knew how to get there.

Now you should know it is less than an hour's drive from Jerusalem, but we were going to hit rush hour traffic, get lost, and have to find a place to park along with 49,998 people!

We did get lost. A nice lady said, 'Follow me' and like the Jews wandering around in the desert, her headlights were like a pillar of fire escorting us to the Ramat Gan Stadium.

We got there! Now we had to park. Right next to the stadium is a mall and we started serpentining through the lanes looking for an open space. I didn't know if those parked were already at the stadium or shoppers getting in some last minute shopping before Yom Kippur on Sunday.

Finally we found a space and were about to move in when a lady with a cell phone at her ear informed us that she had this space and was calling her husband to direct him to where she was standing. Then, I noticed a bunch of other women with open cell phones running after people holding keys and walking to their cars. Within moments I saw a family walk to a car in front of us and before I had a chance to say anything to Rena, I jumped out of the car and stood my ground in front of this new space.

Ok. So, now we are in the right place...we have parked the car...we have almost three hours till the concert. The next question was, do we go inside the mall and use the facilities and maybe grab something quick to eat...or do we figure out how to get to the stadium and find our tickets.

Hands down we went to the stadium. I phoned Lee and he sounded like such a nice man. He had little time as they were doing all the last minute things that have to be done before a huge concert like this and the sound is the most important element. He phoned me back a few minutes later and told me where to wait for the tickets.

Just before the performance, the COMPLIMENTARY V.I.P. TICKETS arrived. While we were waiting we saw a sign that was posted informing late comers that there were still a few seats available on the grass from rows 100 till 200 and were going for a thousand shekels a seat!!!

Our tickets came. WE WERE IN ROW 31!!!

We made our way up into the stadium and Lee called to find out if we had the tickets and where we were seated. Ten minutes later there he was!!! What a very handsome, young man with eyes that sparkled and a smile that came from his heart. I couldn't stop hugging him and thanking him. His answer was, 'My pleasure. After all, you're family!'

That was the first time my eyes filled with tears that evening. But, not the last.

I do not know if I have the vocabulary to tell you what happened during the next three and a half hours. Nothing fancy. No fireworks, no people flying through the sky, no tricks.

Just a 75 year old man, wearing a dark suit and a hat. And a voice. And the sound that Lee had perfected which travelled over the 50,000 people in such a way that we could hear every strum of each guitar...every whispered note...as if he was sitting next to us in our living room.

One of the banks, Discount Bank put a zippered bag on each chair. Inside were a pillow and a flare. For the next three and a half hour those flares didn't stop moving. The stadium was alive.

I must stop here for one second, to say that Israeli audiences are wonderful audiences. I've been to many concerts and plays and I've always been amazed at just how receptive, responsive and intelligent the Israeli audience is.

But nothing was like what happened that night. Israel welcomed one if her own back and he thanked us by blessing us...with his voice...his songs...his love...and finally the Priestly Blessing that only a Cohen(priest) can perform.

I will never ever forget that evening. It was perfect. Just simply perfect. And I was lucky enough to be sitting there sharing and participating in one of the most exciting evenings this country has ever witnessed.

All because of a lady who remembered that she once went to school with a girl who now lives in Jerusalem!

The world can't be a bad place if people like Donna and Lee are part of it.

Thank you. Thank you so very very very much.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

L'CHAIM!!!

2009-07-27T15:49:00.008+03:00

Tomorrow would have been Bubbie Channah's 86th birthday. We both have/had birthdays in July. This is my first July without my mother and my first July without phone calls at seven in the morning wishing each other a great wonderful year.

As I still mourn her death I also celebrate her life. She had a great life.

For those of you who don't know, in my mother's later years she became a junk food junkie! Honest! All those years of making us eat vegetables and balanced meals went right out the window the day she met Ronald.

It was love at first sight. She was seventy-four and I don't know how old he was. He didn't have one grey hair in his head of red curls. He was always smiling and happy to see her. She walked downtown every day to go meet him.

I didn't know if I was happy that they met every day, but the walk was wonderful for her. First she had to go down twenty stairs and then cross Ben Yehudah Street and then walk for between ten and fifteen minutes to get to his place.

After lunch...it was always lunch, she would reverse her path and come home.

She always took her cell phone so I wouldn't worry. She was good about that.

Yes. My mother was addicted to McDonald's!

One day I went with her. Proud as punch, she passed the guard who checked everyone's purse but hers. He knew her, you see.

Then we would say hello to the group of four women who always showed up exactly at 11:00 every day for coffee and a chat. I think they were my mother's age, but they only spoke Hebrew and when they met me we sat for almost a half hour talking as I answered their many questions.
They were wonderful, interesting women who were frustrated that they couldn't sit and talk to Ma.

One day I walked up to the front to get our lunches and an elderly man approached my mother. He spoke with her for a few moments and then walked away.

When I returned to the table she told me that the man had asked her if she was all right. You see, he wasn't used to seeing her sitting there without anything in front of her. He was frightened that she was ill. Somehow she managed to convey to him that her daughter was with her and she was waiting for me.

Usually, when she walked in and approached the counter her food was already waiting for her on a tray. 'But I didn't order yet,' she said. 'Oh, madam. We know exactly what you want. You want a hamburger with the sauce from the Big Mac plus extra chips without salt and diet coke without ice cubes. You want mustard, extra napkins and a knife to cut your hamburger. And sometimes you order a chocolate fudge sundae for desert.

They knew my mom. They loved my mom. My mom was steady income for McDonald's.

I have a photo in my cell phone of Ma sitting in McDonald's happy happy happy.

So, tomorrow, if you don't mind. Go get a hamburger or some chips or a chocolate fudge sundae to toast my mom!

She would love that! Me too.

L'chaim!!!

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

AH SHANDEH

2009-07-26T09:58:00.006+03:00

When I was growing up in Windsor, my parents had a lot of expressions they used when trying to emphasize a point. For example, when my Dad handed me my first set of car keys, he said, 'These keys are like a gun and can kill just as easily.'

That was it! I never went over the speed limit...I never drank and drove ( I don't drink so that one was easy)...I never...I never...

But the biggie was this one from Bubbie Channah A'H. No matter what we did or what we wore or what we said this one loomed over our heads...'Ah Shandeh fahr die goyim!' A shame in front of the gentiles. What gentiles? Our neighbours? The people in school? ALL GOYIM. THE ENTIRE WORLD OF GOYIM...STRANGERS...NOT JEWS.

OY!

I understood where my parents were coming from. And, funnily enough, all my Jewish friends heard their parents say the very same thing. We had to be careful not to shame ourselves in front of strangers.

When Kennedy was killed...ohmygod!!! then, thank God it wasn't a Jew!
When Martin Luther King was killed...ohmygod!!! then, thank God it wasn't a Jew!

Why? Because over the centuries we learned that any spark could cause a riot or pogrom to burst into flames and then came Hitler...yimach sh'mo...may his name be erased forever. Then for sure we learned how to walk close to the buildings and try not to cast a shaddow.

Now, whether this feeling is valid or not doesn't make any difference. Every Jew watches out for ah shandeh fahr die goyim.

And now we have New Jersey! Are they out of their minds? What the hell is that all about? Mayors and Rabbis and important people and New Jersey and Israel and kidneys? Old Rabbis with long beards being hauled away? Rabbis in handcuffs? Are they out of their minds.?!?

Not bad enough we have to live with Madoff now we have the Rabbis? Didn't their mothers warn them about ah shandeh fahr die goyim?

I understand hatred. I live with it every day. Hatred is easy. It is in your face. You can't make a mistake. You know who your enemy is and you learn how to protect yourself.

But anti-Semitism is sneaky. It isn't in your face. You can make a mistake and since you don't know who your enemy is you don't know how to protect yourself.

I experienced two occasions of anti-Semitism in Windsor and didn't stick around for the third. The first was when I was a teen and we were all out canvassing for World Child's Day. A young mother and her little child came up to me where I was standing on Oulette Avenue and came close to my face before she said, 'I don't support anything JEWISH!'

Jewish? World Child's Day? If I remember correctly it was part of a major program from the U.N. We didn't say World Jewish Children's Day....that, thank God, we always took care of privately by ourselves.

The second was even more interesting. Tenth grade. Walkerville High School. We were all gathered in the hall in front of our next class waiting for the bell and Mary Ann turned to me and smiling asked, 'Why do you Jews kill babies to make your bread for Passover?'

WHAT?

The hallway went deadly silent. Thank God, I had heard about the dead babies and blood and matzahs before so I wasn't struck dumb on the spot.

I replied something like are you out of your mind and who told you that stupid thing and why would you even believe something as dumb as that anyway?

The interesting thing was suddenly the football team gathered around me and when the bell rang they walked me into class.

Now you have to realize that that was almost forty years ago. Some things you never forget.

Want to know the best part of the Mary Ann story? Her full name is Mary Ann Martin and she is Paul Martin Sr.'s daughter and Paul Martin Jr.'s sister. And Paul Martin Jr. was Prime Minister of Canada!!! Wonder what other lovly things he learned in that house???

So now the Emperor is Naked. There we are all exposed in front of the world. And I think it is a collective shame. Am I my brother's keeper? I guess I am because I feel sick about this.

I wonder how long it will take before we hear the word Shylock? But, then again, maybe I am just over-reacting.

Bubbie Channah A'H had one more expression that was her litmus paper...'Is it good or bad for the Jews?'

Ma...I think this one is very bad for the Jews. Sorry Ma. Oy!

Shavuah tov...a sweet new week.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

KHUTZ L'ARETZ...ABROAD

2009-07-23T12:36:00.007+03:00

I love going abroad. I don't do it nearly enough, but whenever I do, I feel like a kid in Disneyland. Everything is so big, and so green, and so wet out there. And the people are all so tall. And they are all strangers. A person can hide well among tall strangers.

Not that I ever wanted to hide...what I mean is I can be annonymous--where you dont' have to talk and smile and be smart all the time. Where you can be alone with your thoughts and just watch mankind pass by and daydream and wonder about the people. Did you ever ride on a train and wonder about the families living in those houses you passed along the tracks? That kind of thing.

I did however want to be tall. All my life I wanted to be tall. Bubbie Channah A'H told me that her father told her that if God wanted people to be tall He would have made them a giraffe or a tree!

Honest! She told me. And when I asked her why my Zaidi would say that, she answered,'What was he going to tell his little daughter who was barely five feet tall? Besides, he wasn't so much taller himself.'

Where was I? Yes, abroad.

Whenever I get the chance to travel, I go 'home'...Canada/USA, where my family is. For me a vacation is the chance to reconnect with relatives and people I love so dearly.

Someplace in my heart I still yearn to get to Italy and Scotland. And I don't want to have to bump everyone off so that I don't feel guilty about not going to see them. Vey!

I wanted to go home this summer. But my DIL is expecting any minute now tfu tfu tfu and I promised I would move in with her and the kids for a week or two. She thinks I'm doing her a favour. The truth is how marvellous to be able to spend a week or two with my babies. We do have the best time.

So, khutz l'aretz got pushed back. I'm aiming for December. I'll let you know.

Why December? First of all I have had it up to here with the hot and hotter weather. I'm a Canadian for heaven's sake! Snow! Thunder storms! The Tunnel restaurant! Sigh.

I had these long conversations with myself trying to find a good time to get away. I thought when Bubbie Channah passed away I would be free to take off at a moment's notice and not have to worry about hurrying back ten days later just to make sure she is ok. (You have no idea how I wish I still had to worry about getting back to see how she is.)

Wanna know a secret? Every time I leave Jerusalem and go to Tel Aviv it is like leaving Windsor and going to Detroit. It's just across the way and a whole new world out there.

I always say that whoever lives in Tel Aviv deserves it! I let them fill in the blanks. But Tel Aviv has a lot going for it. And two days ago I decided to get the hell out of here and go sit on the beach and watch the water and write and relax.

I phoned my good friend Frances, who lives fifteen minutes away from Gordon and HaYarkon Streets on the boardwalk and three steps from the Mediterranean Sea, and made a date to meet her on the corner at 9:00 in the morning.

I left Jerusalem by bus at 7:30 and by the appointed time there I was shviting in the heat and mesmerized by the waves and the sound and the sand and the quiet.

Jerusalem is a tense city. For many reasons we have to be. And Tel Aviv is a whole new world. No one checked my bags...no one was guarding the LaLaLand Cafe...yup that's its name...and no one cared that we took up residence at one of the many tables in the sand.

I took my new MSI Wind mini 10 inch laptop and my external modum and put some extra money in my wallet and was all set for the day.

We sat in the sand on low tables and chairs. I don't remember the last time I dug my feet in the sand. How lovely. The entire area we were in was covered by huge umbrellas so we had the heat but not the direct sun. And there was a marvellous breeze coming off the Mediterranean.

And the sound of the waves and the children laughing and playing. We spent almost five hours sitting side-by-side writing and talking and drinking. And then it was time to leave.

How relaxing it is to watch and listen to the water. What a treat! Almost as good as being khutz l'aretz.

We are talking about doing it again soon. But next time we may go late afternoon and watch the sun set into the sea. And then have a nice dinner before I pack up and come back home to Jerusalem.

I always know when I am approaching Jerusalem. There is a change in the air the closer you get to the city. It is cooler and fresher and so very very welcoming. Ahhh Jerusalem. It is not an easy city to leave but it is sure a pleasure to come back to.

See, a vacation is only good because it is exactly that...a vacation. It has three parts...the planning...the doing...and the talking about it afterwards.

Thanks for letting me talk about it afterwards. If you want to join me just let me know. It's a big free wonderful beach out there. And all ours to be enjoyed.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

SHVARTZEHS

2009-07-17T15:01:00.005+03:00

When I was growing up, the only word we used to describe Negroes...that was what they were called way back when...was 'shvartzehs'. My parents and grandparents spoke a lot of Yiddish in the home and that was the yiddish word for 'blacks'.

It may not have been politically correct...but it was the only word in their language. Die Veisseh were the white people.

Our world was divided not between black and white...but rather between yidden and goyim...Jews and Gentiles.

July 1967...I was at my parents house in Windsor when the phone call came from my brother, David, in Detroit. 'Pa! Come get me! They're rioting all over the neighbourhood! Detroit is burning!'

Daddy hopped into the car and went to Detroit to rescue David and a couple of his friends and bring them back from their frat house to our place.

I had to get back to Detroit. Long story but I had to get back to Detroit. So, I hopped into my mustang and drove through the tunnel and on to the expressway. The sky was black with smoke. Huge burned pieces of debris and ash fell like wounded birds onto the expressway. It was terrifying.

The black community was rioting. The worse riots in Detroit history. I saw it. I drove through it. I was part of the people who were under curfew. The militia was called in and tanks rolled up and down the streets destroying the roads.

It took five days.

You have your blacks...and we have ours. No, our blacks don't come from Africa...mind you we do have a great community of Jews from that continent.

No, the people I am referring to have chosen to be black by the dress they wear. Black hats...black coats...black suits and shoes. Our shvartzehs are religious Jews and they are rioting.
As if Jerusalem didn't have enough problems!

My wonderful Jerusalem. They don't want a parking lot to be open downtown on Shabbat. They are protesting the arrest of a terrible lady who is suspected of abusing her young child.

So they are out in the street throwing stones and setting tires on fire and causing all sorts of trouble.

I will not discuss here right or wrong. I have my opinion. They have theirs.

But, here's what I think. You don't like something? Talk to your mayor...congressman...a good looking neighbour...the guy who runs the makolet. But, don't take things into your own hands. What the hell is wrong with you?

And, what about live and let live? My biggest problem with the religious community is that they want to be accepted in every way...shabbat...kosher...you name it they have a rule and a comment and a philosophy and a rabbi who can get his entire congregation out into the streets before the ink is dry on the page.

Ok, ok...freedom of speech. But that does not include burning, hurting our police and soldiers and throwing stones.

They're lucky. They're lucky because the rest of us...die veisseh are not amassing and picking up even bigger stones to throw at them from the other side of the street.

You don't want to park your car on Shabbat? Stay home! You don't want to eat in a restaurant? Stay home! You don't want to go the movies on Shabbat? Stay home!

The parking lot...restaurant...movie theatre is not in their neighbourhoods. So, maybe they should butt out of my business? Maybe, on Shabbat they should enjoy their cholent and their families and their day of rest.

I know...I know. Jerusalem is the capital of the Jewish homeland. Jerusalem should not be like any other city in the world. Jerusalem does not have public transportation on the sabbath. Jerusalem is Jerusalem just because.

Bubbie Channah had a favourite joke. It went something like this: Bessie went with her beau, Sol to a baseball game for the very first time. All of a sudden the batter missed another pitch and started to walk to first plate. When Bessie asked what was going on, Sol said, 'That's Willie Mays. He got four balls and can walk to first base.' Bessie looked at her boyfriend, and then back at the baseball diamond. Then, standing up, she shouted at the top of her lungs, 'You walk proud Willie Mays! You got four balls! You walk proud!'

Whenever someone did anything spectacular in the family, my mother would get a twinkle in her eye and shout, 'You walk proud Willie Mays!'

I don't think my mother would be proud today of her fellow Jerusalemites. I know I'm not.

In my heart I am cheering for our mayor Nir Barkat. And hope he can juggle enough to keep Jerusalem both secular as well as religious.

Maybe I should Facebook him. 'You walk proud Nir Barkat!'

We'll see. If he manages to pull this white rabbit out of the black hat I just might send him a copy of this blog.

Shabbat shalom.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

Who? What?

QUICK...TAKE A LOOK BEFORE IT'S GONE

2009-07-08T07:03:00.007+03:00

I don't know who this man is...but what he says scares me a lot.

And as you can guess I agree with everything he says.

And have been saying something like that for a long time.

What is happening to the greatest country in the world baffles me.

Please look at this and let me know what you think...before it is taken off YouTube.

Someone once called George W. Bush Darth Vader...and was told that President Bush may be Darth Vader but who was The Emperor? The answer then was Vice President Cheyney.

Ok...help...if Obama is Darth Vader...who in the world is The Emperor? Someone is running the store and whoever it is is doing exactly what this man says.

(P.S. Thanks C. for sending me this video!)

Please scroll down and read and listen and then let me know what you think.
Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

"He that would make his own liberty secure, must guard even his enemy from opposition; for if he violates this duty he establishes a precedent that will reach himself." Thomas Paine

Performance Sciences, Inc.
James W. Crafton
President
P.O. Box 190
Evergreen, CO 80437
Direct: 303.445.9062

Importance: High

I thought I better send this before they take this down. He needs to run for
Presdient and I'd definitely go for a rally in Washington, DC

This guy's video on you tube has been so popular that Obama called him
personally. He said that he was very disturbed with the video
and invited him to the White House. Obama also said he wanted the White
House to handle the Press and not to talk about the video or the White House
visit. That's interesting.

Watch it now. This may be the best six minutes invested in your future.
You may have to turn your Sound Control up some.

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeYscnFpEyA

MERDE

2009-06-30T08:42:00.003+03:00

Well, there I was getting happy with France for the first time in a very long time. See, the French, since De Gaulle got pissed that we didn't wait to be turned into ashes by our neighbours in 1967, have not been our number one fans.

Actually, they have done a lot of yukky things such as not allowing our boats to leave Cherbourg. Remember that story? Google it...I am sure it is there. Along with capturing Eichman, may his name be erased from memory, and Entebbe...Cherbourg was a humdinger of a story.

I was a tourist in the country the day they pulled into port.

Sacré bleu! The French!

Then along comes Sarkozy! Who, I thought...silly me...was different. Get this my friends.

Sarkozy urges Netanyahu: Get rid of Lieberman
By Barak Ravid, Haaretz Correspondent Last update - 21:54 29/06/2009
www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1096504.html

French President Nicolas Sarkozy has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
to "get rid" of hard-line Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Channel Two
reported on Monday.

The Foreign Ministry responded to the report by lambasting the French leader
for his "intolerable intervention in internal Israeli affairs."

Sarkozy spent a good portion of his meeting with Netanyahu last Wednesday
discussing the composition of the Israeli official, according to the report.
The presence of three other Israeli officials at the meeting did not deter
the French leader from expressing his true opinion of the foreign minister,
said Channel Two.

Well! Did you ever? How gauche!

First of all, as Bubbie Channah A'H would say,"It's none of his khazersheh business!"

Wait! Wait! I get it! Now all the heads of countries can move diplomats around like chess pieces on a big board. I don't like Ahmadinadoole...checkmate! Hamas in Gaza? Checkmate! How about that bin Laden? Think he should be mated?

How dare you Mr.French President Nicolas Sarkozy?!?!

I never thought I would say this. Come closer, I may have to whisper...I love Lieberman. There, I said it! Why? because I trust him. I may not like everything he says but he says it out loud...in your face. And, after all the sleezy politicians we have had here lately, that is like a breath of fresh air.

One evening, about a year and a half ago, my friend Rena and I were out for dinner. At the time, we were the only people in that part of the restaurant. All of a sudden a guy walks in with an ear piece like the secret service wear. How do I know? I live in Israel. These guys are everywhere a major politician is. You know the look. White cord comes out the back or side of the guy's collar...has a little curly thing like a miniature phone cord and plugs in to one ear.

He checks out the room and then talks into his watch or something and a few minutes later Lieberman and party entered the room and sat across from us.

The man is not someone you could miss or ignore. The man is surrounded by an aura of strength that is almost palpable. The kind of power that is sexy. Well, you know what I mean.

We smiled at each other...ate our meals...exchanged a few words...wished him good luck...and left.

He was charming. I told you, you can run into the most interesting political people in normal restaurants here.

A few weeks ago I was at the beauty parlor talking to Natalie my miracle worker. I happened to mention Lieberman and how amazed I am that I am beginning to really like him.

Oh, Natalie said. He is wonderful.
You know him? I asked.
Yes. And his wife and daughter are amazing women.

Israel! Dontcha just love it?

Mr. French President. Clean up your own house before you point a finger at mine. And, as my Daddy A'H used to say, "Remember, Marallyn, every time you point a finger at someone, you have three more pointing back at you."

I guess the French President didn't have a daddy like I did.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

REALITY

2009-06-27T11:23:00.003+03:00

If you check out the map below you will see that the little green one is Israel.
The rest are the Arab countries.
And do you honestly...honestly... think that the settlements are what is stopping the Middle East from having peace?
No, of course you don't!!!
Neither do I.
Now we have to convince POTUS.
Sigh...
He sure set the ball rolling.

Here is what I got in my email today:

Reuters: Mideast Quartet urges Israel to halt settlements.
YnetNews: G8 calls on Israel to freeze settlements.
BBCNews: Israel urged to halt settlements.

HELLO...IS ANYONE HOME??? TAKE A LOOK AT THE MAP BELOW!!!

Ah, hell...what's the sense talking.

It's the elephant and the Jewish problem...all our fault.

But, maybe one day instead of pointing fingers at the Jews...someone will notice that the settlements have been merely a smoke screen and while everyone was busy getting the smoke out of their eyes, the real problem grew into a raging bull.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

The RUSSIANS are Coming...The RUSSIANS are Coming!!!

2009-06-25T13:16:00.012+03:00

In 1966 a comedy hit the theatres starring Carl Reiner, Eva Marie Saint, Allan Arkin and Theodore Bikel. We were all still in the air raid siren drills and wondering where to build fallout shelters. The name of the film was/is The RUSSIANS are Coming the RUSSIANS are Coming. Here is the plot:

When a Soviet submarine captain comes up for a look at America (off the coast of a small island in Massachusetts) he runs aground. He sends his two English speaking crewmen to procure a boat with enough power to pull them off. The 2 English speakers, along with 7 other Russian sailors, don't exactly blend in and the town is convinced that they are being invaded.

All joking aside, the fear of a Russian invasion was real and very scary when I was growing up.

I think I mentioned in a previous blog that the only time I was really frightened...no, I take that back...the only time I was hysterically frightened during the Yom Kippur War was when we were told that the Russian military was on alert and getting ready to sail to the Middle East.

That's it! We're dead!

Since that time, I really haven't been afraid of our Soviet neighbours. We have over a million Russian Jews and maybe not so Jewish new immigrants...I love them! The Soviet Union is no more and the Russian states are now working towards their own independence. Das V'Danyah Comrade!

Then, one day last week, when I was having lunch with a friend in the Botanical Gardens up the road from my place, she asked me what I thought about all the Czars.

Czars? Peter the Great...Ivan the Terrible...Catherine the Great...Alexander...Nicholas??? I started naming Czars.

No, she said. Obama's czars.

Obama has Czars? Our Obama? I mean your Obama?

Then I started reading about the Czars. What the hell is going on? Hello??? Anybody home???

I Googled Czars of Russia and got the St. Petersburg Times(how appropriate...from Florida, not Russia...PolitiFact.Com...2009 Pulitzer Prize Winner) In it I found a whole article about the czars and who they are and how they came to be and what McCain said about Obama having more Czars than the Romanovs who ruled Russia for three centuries!

And you thought McCain didn't have a sense of humour.

I now know that what a Czar is and that Obama is certainly not the first to use them...but it seems that he has more Czars than anyone else including the Romanovs. :)

There was, however, one sentence that made me see RED...ahem.

But to the extent that Obama has created a number of new positions to oversee various issues and to cut through bureaucratic red tape, he seems to have a lot more czars than his predecessors.

OK...POTUS has Czars and they cut through red tape and he isn't the first but he seems to have more than the other guys had. Am I getting it right?

In order to shorten this blog post, I erased the list of the 28 Czars and their Czar title and their not so sexy real title.

That's a whole lot of people reporting to the President who don't have to get any congressional approval before they get the job. That's a whole lof of people reporting to the President period.

The big deal seems to be the Car Czar...and his assistant. And what the hell do they know about the automobile industry at all? But who cares? They got the job...they owe their boss...they report what they can and everyone is happy.

I'm not happy. The only time I did not vote for Bibi was when I thought he was taking too much power onto his own shoulders and I was worried about our/my freedom. So I voted for someone else. I wasn't sorry then and I am not sorry now.

Now, I voted for him. Now, I trust him. And as the days go by I wish him strength. See, the only thing in the universe that is stopping world peace is our settlements. If we didn't have settlements there would be joy throughout the land and people would be dancing in the streets.

The Iranian people are being shot like sitting ducks in the street and the big deal is our settlements.

Have you any idea how many of our soldiers were wounded and killed because WE did not shoot down any of the demonstrators or people throwing stones and boulders at us during not one but two intifadas?

WE can stand proud and hold our heads high!

But, no I guess we can't. We want the people living in the settlements to have babies and get married and have more babies and have a place for them to live and sleep and eat and play with their friends.

BAD ISRAEL!!! SHAME ON US!!!

Two articles online about Israel caught my attention today. One...Israel has now invented a fridge that converts to an oven on Shabbat so our religious soldiers can eat hot meals.

And, two:
IAF helicopter evacuates Palestinian who fell from cliff
Dr. Aaron Lerner Date: 25 June 2009

IMRA has learned from official IDF sources that on Wednesday afternoon a
Palestinian came to the Lamed Heh passage in the Etzion Bloc south west of
Bethlehem yesterday and reported to the IDF reserve force stationed there
that his friend fell from a cliff in the Wadi Etziona area near the passage.

Medical forces from the Etzion Brigade cane to the site but because of
conditions in the area an IAF rescue helicopter was dispatched and the
wounded Palestinian was evacuated to an Israeli hospital for treatment.

Dr. Aaron Lerner, Director IMRA (Independent Media Review & Analysis)
(Mail POB 982 Kfar Sava)
Tel 972-9-7604719/Fax 972-3-7255730
INTERNET ADDRESS: imra@netvision.net.il
Website: http://www.imra.org.il

For free regular subscription:
Subscribe at no charge: imra-subscribe@imra.org.il

That is who WE are. When we walked into Ramallah a few years ago by mistake THEY butchered us and threw us out the window. Remember? Maybe some of you still do.

How much do you want to bet that neither of these articles hit the waves.

I know what is going to hit the air waves. Obama's Health Care Plan. He gets to put his plan in front of the world all by himself and ABC is giving him the stage...for an hour.

But, what I hear is that ABC is not letting the other team say anything.

When I was growing up each side had to have equal time. Remember?

But, maybe some pigs are more equal than others.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

YOU TELL 'EM LADY!!!

2009-06-22T08:56:00.003+03:00

I received this as an e-mail from my friend Rosaline this morning. I read it and I loved it. So, I decided to share it.

Enjoy.

This is something we should all read at least once a week! Written By Regina Brett, 90 years old, of The Plain Dealer, Cleveland , Ohio

To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me.

It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolled over to 90 in August, so here is the column once more:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends and parents will. Stay in touch.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's more healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

17. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

18. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion...
Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25 No one is in charge of your happiness but you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words 'In five years, will this matter?'

27 Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

36. Growing old beats the alternative -- dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood.

38. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

42. The best is yet to come.

43. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

44. Yield.

45. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.(that's why it is called The Present...mbm)

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

JUST ANOTHER LITTLE OLD ISRAELI...HERO

2009-06-20T10:04:00.005+03:00

I just got this site from my cousin Shelley in Toronto. I opened it and immediately recognized the little old man who was talking. Thanks, Shelley! But...I never knew this story.

There are so many stories in Israel...and everywhere in fact. That is why I love talking to old people...well people who are older than me. :)

They have stories and if we are patient enough and quiet enough we will always walk away smarter and filled with awe.

Meet Shlomo Hillel and then, please go see this youtube. They walk among us.

Shlomo Hillel immigrated to Palestine with his family in 1934 at the age of
eleven. [1] After graduating from the Herzliya Hebrew High School in Tel Aviv,
he underwent agricultural training in Kibbutz Degania Alef, and later Pardes
Hana.
Hillel was secretary of a Hebrew Scouts group which later established
Kibbutz Ma'agan Michael.
In 1945, Hillel and his colleagues worked at a Haganah
munitions factory disguised as a laundry facility in the basement of the Ayalon
Institute in Rehovot.[2][3]
He studied political science, economics and public administration at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Shlomo and Temima Hillel have two children, a son and a daughter. [1] They live in Jerusalem's Ramat Denya neighborhood.
In 1952-1959, Hillel was a member of the 2nd and 3rd Knesset, representing Mapai.
He then joined the Israeli foreign service, and was appointed Israeli ambassador to Guinea (1959-1961), and Côte d'Ivoire, Dahomey, Republic of Upper Volta, and Niger (1961-1963).
In 1963-1967, Hillel was a member of the Israeli Delegation to the United Nations, He returned to Israel to serve as the Deputy Director of the Israeli Foreign Affairs Ministry (1967-1969).[4]
In 1969, Hillel was re-elected to the Knesset on the Alignment
list. He served consecutively from the 7th Knesset until the 12th Knesset. He
was Minister of Police in 1969-1977 and Interior Minister in 1974 and 1977. In
1984 he was elected Speaker of the 11th Knesset.[4]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQNw5MA3DII

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

SOMETIMES YOU JUST GODDA SHARE

2009-06-17T19:33:00.003+03:00

For those of you who don't know him...and for those of you who have never visited his site...meet my brother David...the best of the Pasikovs.

http://www.psychotherapistboulder.com/

have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in

THE TRUTH...THE WHOLE TRUTH...AND...

2009-06-15T09:30:00.005+03:00

Last night...at a little after eight o'clock, everyone I knew was sitting in front of their televisions waiting to hear our Prime Minister deliver his long-awaited speech.

I cancelled students. I grabbed a bottle of water and my chicken salad and made myself comfortable.

From every window of my house, all that could be heard was Bibi talking. None of my neighbours had any other channel on...just Bibi.

Before we go any further, I should state that I am a card carrying member of the Likud party. I get to vote in their internal elections as well as in the national elections. I have voted for Bibi more than once. And once I did not vote for him.

From the moment he began to speak until his final word I was breathless. Finally! Somebody said it out loud. How many people would be alive today if somebody had said it when our leaders at the time ran to embrace Oslo?

So many things he said amazed me. But here is one that made me listen even closer:

"In order to bring an end to the conflict, we must give an honest and
forthright answer to the question: What is the root of the conflict?

In his speech to the first Zionist Conference in Basel, the founder of the
Zionist movement, Theodore Herzl, said about the Jewish national home "This
idea is so big that we must speak of it only in the simplest terms." Today,
I will speak about the immense challenge of peace in the simplest words
possible."

How simple. How elequant. How absolutely correct! And then he went on to say it. He said it out loud....

"Even as we look toward the horizon, we must be firmly connected to reality,to the truth. And the simple truth is that the root of the conflict was, and
remains, the refusal to recognize the right of the Jewish people to a state
of their own, in their historic homeland."

Bingo!!!

I always said, I can love you like mad...buy you expensive gifts...give you anything you want...put your needs above my own....

I can do all that. But I can't make you love me! Either you do...or you don't. And all my fine gestures and all my wonderful, expensive gifts won't make you love me if you don't.

And, when did any of us think, for just one second, that our neighbours love us? Who was it that said, 'Arafat never misses an opportunity to miss an opportunity."?

When is the world going to wake up and realize that we are a splinter in their backside...we are the speck of dust on their pristine carpet...that THEY DO NOT WANT PEACE.

Simple, no?

Thank you Mr. Prime Minister! For the first time in a very long time, I think I can sleep at night knowing that someone is honestly and truely at the helm of our very little ship that is floating in a very big and dangerous sea.

And then, this morning just as I was feeling safe, I read something else. I read an article stating that Obama was happy with Bibi's speech. That's good.

BUT THEN...get this my friends...the article from Haaretz newspaper went on to say:
"At the time of the speech, Haaretz learned, Obama was playing golf."

He what?!!!?

Well...I guess that shows us! I mean exercise is important. And as President of the United States, Mr. Obama must not get enough exercise. And, the speech was around eight at night making it around noon...one o'clock his time. Is mid afternoon a good time to go out in the sun and play golf? I guess it must be. And, if it is good enough for POTUS, then, hell, maybe the rest of the world should have made other plans instead of listening to our Prime Minister.

Hell, it's only Israel. Who cares?

So, if no one cares, then why are we on the front page of everyone's agenda?

He was out playing golf!!!

Here is anther fishbone that remains stuck in my throat. When Bibi and Sarah Netanyahu were in the States a few weeks ago, Mrs. Obama didn't meet with our Prime Minister's wife. She had tickets to a concert...or the theatre, I think it was the theatre. She did ask her husband what to do and Mr. President told her not to change her plans...to go to the theatre.

Mr. Obama, Sir. If it was Mrs. First Lady from Canada...or Germany...or Russia...or Great Britain...or the European Union...or Palestine (is there a first lady...or any lady?)...would you have told your wife the same thing? OF COURSE NOT!!! That would have been an insult. And you wouldn't want to insult any of THEM.

What is POTUS telling Israel? And what message is he sending out to the world about how he feels about Israel?

If golf is more important and going to the theatre is more important to Mr. and Mrs. President of the United States of America...then what is the little anti-Semitic guy going to think...or the Arabs...or the EU?

Me? I take it as a great insult! A slap in the face!

The whole world was waiting for Bibi's speech. He spoke his heart out. He gave the world enough time. He picked an hour that was convenient to everyone.

I guess he didn't know what a lover of golf Obama is. I mean Jackie Mason said it so well. "Me? If I get a splinter in my finger, I run around and take myself into Sinai Hospital and see a doctor. You? If you fall into an open manhole and die...what do I care?"

You think I'll get into a lot of trouble if I say, "Shame on you Mr. President."? Maybe I better not. But as President Carter...also not a great lover of Israel once said..."I have sinned in my heart."

And we are supposed to be great friends. I guess with friends like these, Israel dosen't need any...you fill in the rest.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

DEAR MR. 2000 YEAR OLD MAN

2009-06-14T15:09:00.002+03:00

Do any of you remember Mel Brooks as the 2000 year old man? I love him. Mel Brooks. I love smart. Especially when smart doesn't hurt or make fun of anyone.

For those of you who haven't yet had the joy of listening to the 2000 year old man...don't wait...get the tapes...borrow the old records...talk to someone like me who can quote them verbatum. Sit back and enjoy the brilliance of Mel Brooks.

Carl Reiner had a list of questions...Mel Brooks didn't see them in advance. Carl asked...and Mel answered...and the rest is fireworks.

Carl: You must have had many wives.
2000 YOM: Hundreds and hundreds of wives. (all spoken in a yiddish accent as he...naturally...well you get it...2000 years ago)
Carl: Do you remember all of them?
2000YOM: I remember the third one...Shoiley...a redhead!

Carl: Did you know Paul Revere?
2000 YOM: I knew him and I hated him...anti-Semetic bastard.
Carl: What?
2000YOM: He ran around shouting, 'The Yiddish are coming! The Yiddish are coming!"
Carl: BRITISH...The BRITISH are coming.
2000YOM: Oy, and I didn't send his wife a card or anything.

And on and on and on the joy goes.

Those of us who know the skits talk them in our daily conversations. For example when I am about to hang up the phone with my brother David or my almost brother Maeshey, I'll say...'Ok. You go save France.' and the other will add, 'And I'll wash up.'

Nope. I'm not going to explain. Go...Go my children. Meet the 2000 Year Old Man.

So, why am I writing all this you may ask. One of the many bon mots of wisdom that came out of his mouth was this sentence: "WE MOCK THE THINGS WE ARE TO BE".

And today, I am ashamed to admit, that applies to me. How? Go ahead...ask me.

You know those guys who quit smoking. The ones who smoke their last cigarette and that's it. No more. Finished! Not me Bertram! I'm done Murray!

And then they begin smoking YOURS! Ahhhh. You know those guys.

Well, no I haven't started smoking again. I quit on October 4, 1994. Gained a person along the way, but I don't smoke.

Last week, I decided to quit Diet Coke. Cold turkey. No more Coke. Not for me. Instead, I am drinking water. Don't ask. Me? Water? Fish pish in there. Oy.

Now, if I would have kept my big mouth shut I would have been just fine. But, when have you ever heard of me keeping my mouth shut? I told everyone in the house that I am a new person! Saving the money...watching my health...Coke eats rust...water is wonderful...puhleeze!

In the middle of the night, I began to need a couple of swallows. Not a lot. Just a couple. I could have snuck a bottle into the house and hidden it in my room. But there is nothing more disgusting than warm Diet Coke. Trust me on this one.

I started buying seltzer. Nice. Clear. You can see through it. It does have bubbles but they don't have the right taste.

So I became one of those cigarette guys. I now only drink Diet Coke when I go out with my friends. There I drink Coke with my meal.

I think it is something like having a kosher house but eating treif in a restaurant. My house is kosher...my stomach isn't. I always thought that if my daughter-in-law knew what I ate she'd never let me kiss the babies again. Oy!

My next step is to drink water in the restaurants too. So far I've failed the restaurant test.

But, don't give up on me. There is hope yet. Every time I fill my little empty Coke bottle with water I feel righteous. As I drink and pish I feel thin.

Ah Mr. 2000 Year Old Man. How did you get so smart?

Shavuah tov.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

IT'S HARD TO BE A GOOD DAUGHTER...OY

2009-06-11T08:28:00.005+03:00

I tried to be a good daughter to Bubbie Channah. I did. And it was only after she passed away that I thought of all the things I could have done...should have done...might have done.

But nothing compares to the daughter in yesterday's news here in Israel. All she wanted to do was something nice for her old mother. So she bought her a new mattress. Read on:

June 10, 2009
Woman throws away million-dollar mattress
Philippe Naughton

An Israeli woman who bought her elderly mother a new mattress threw out the old one unaware that it had $1 million hidden inside it.

Israeli newspapers reported today that the woman was left scrabbling through landfill sites in an, as yet, fruitless search for the mattress which contained her mother's life savings.

The woman, identified only as Anat, a resident of Tel Aviv, told Army Radio that she bought the mattress on Monday as a surprise for her mother and got rid of the other one without telling her.

When she realised her mistake she rushed outside to look for the mattress but found it had already been taken by the rubbish collectors. Subsequent searches at three different landfill sites turned up nothing.

The Israeli daily Yediot Ahronot published a picture of the woman searching through refuse at a dump in southern Israel.

Yitzhak Borba, the dump manager, told the radio station that his staff was helping the woman, saying she appeared “totally desperate”, but the mattress was hard to find among the 2,500 tonnes of rubbish arriving at the site every day.

Mr Borba said that he increased security at the site to keep would-be treasure hunters at bay. For her part, Anat is displaying an admirable stoicism. “People have to take everything in proportion and thank God for the good and the bad,” she said.

Oy!!! Am I glad I'm not that lady!!! And you thought you had troubles???
I'm hypervenilating and I don't even know these people. Thank you God...Thank you God...

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

TIME OUT FOR FUN :)

2009-06-09T11:15:00.014+03:00

I'M GREEN!!! I just came back from the makolet...like a 7/11 up the street. Since I only needed a few things, I took my handy green DON'T USE PLASTIC BAGS bag.

I love my bag. I love it so much I bought four of them. I feel so righteous when I fill it up and tell the people at the cash registers, "No, thanks. I'm green!"

Of course we will not discuss how much stuff can fit into those bags and just how heavy they become. Nope. I fill my bag and bending down, ease my arm through the loops, adjust the two straps onto my shoulder, lock my knees and wabble home.

There are just some things you do that make you feel good. My green bags are one...saving water is another.

Coming from a country rich in water, it took me quite some time go get used to the shortages we have in the Middle East, and this year is the worst it has been in a long time.

It is so bad that there are commercials on TV. Famous people tell us we have to cut back on water and save the Kinneret...the Sea of Galilee. As they are talking their faces begin to crack like dry mud in the desert. Very effective.

I now dampen my dishes...turn off the water...soap them and clean with the spongee thing...turn the water back on and rinse. I do the same in the shower...well without the spongee thing.

So, now I have green bags and watch my water consumption. We have plastic bottles in the toilet tanks so that controls the amount of water in the tanks.

I don't buy syrofoam anything...that clogs the environment like shmaltz in your arteries.

I throw away my plastic bottles in the special bin set up next to the makolet.

I don't know why I'm telling you all this, except I thought we would take a break from the OHMYGOD WHATTHEHELL ISGOINGON emails I have been sending lately.

I think that is known as comic relief. (Between us, I always felt the saddest person in the circus was the clown...ahhhhh Pagliacci.)

When I graduated from Wayne State, I moved into a lovely apartment in Royal Oak, Michigan with a girlfriend. There were three apartments on each floor and we were on the ground level. It was a great place...great.

On our floor were two bachelors...David, a young Chrysler exec, and Maynor, a salesman from Lubbock, Texas.

After three weeks, Maynor came up to me one day and said, "Darlin', you are so green if you stand on a mountain, no one will ever find you."

OY!

That was the first time I went from being a greenhorn to just being green!

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

ps. In my last post is a terrible typo...Uzi Landau...not Uri...vey.

COME ON OVER FOR COFFEE...I'LL BRING ROGELACH

2009-06-07T09:13:00.003+03:00

I was told by a friend who I really love and respect that I should stop reading stuff and stop listening to the news and enjoy my life.

What a great idea. But, see I don't live in a place where that is really possible. I live in a place where we were once warned not to go around with headphones as we walked in the street so we could hear the terrorists shout Allah hu Akbar before they knifed us from behind. I am serious. Deadly serious.

I live in a place where during the last intifada, I didn't know for months who would be coming home alive and/or well every evening. And, I had to send my children to school and my husband to work and my Mom to the grocery store and myself into town where my learning center was located...and hit twice by two suicide bombers.

I live in a place where talking to God is a local call. I live in a place where Kings walked. I live in a place where old olive trees watched two Temples being destroyed...well, I'm not sure about that one but it sounds good and it could be true. :)

I live in a place where Jesus was born...lived...and died. Come here I'll show you where he walked.

I live in a place where a champion tennis player's mother lived upstairs from me. Where Ehud Barak's brother lived down the hall from me. I live in a place where I can see AND TALK TO our chaveri Knesset...our members of parliament... in any restaurant in town. I have seen them and I have talked to them. And they were kind and gracious and lovely. Two were at my neice's wedding...Uzi Landau and Limor Livnat.

I live in a place where politicians are family, where policemen are relatives, where doctors are related to the man who owns the little store down the street and asks to be remembererd to the owner.

I live in a place where if I am ever, God forbid, in trouble, the people who come to my rescue are family.

I live in a place where I am surrounded by people who want me dead. I live in a place where my cousins spell PEACE P-I-E-C-E. I live in a place where they won't be satisfied until they own all the pieces. Down to the last grain of sand.

I live in a place where God told Moses He wanted his people to live. And prosper.

I live in a place that God gave the Jews.

And there is room for everyone. Every peace loving person.

I just don't recognize them or know who they are. I see them in my shopping centers and my streets and my hospitals. They are free to come and go.

If I go near any of their places I have been warned that I may not come back alive.

How come they can and I can't?

Maybe it is because I live in a place that sees them as people...that is happy and willing to share everything we have with them.

It used to be that American leaders talked about that great country as a free home for Christians and Jews. Have any of you noticed we have been shoved into third place? Lost our silver and have to be content with bronze. I don't know why but every time I hear him say 'Christians...Muslims...and Jews' it rankles.

That is not true. You and I both know why...but I am tired of doing my imitation of Chicken Little screaming The Sky is Falling!!! The Sky is Falling!!!

But, I won't stop until I am certain that the things that really are falling from the skies over Israel are not things which will hurt us, kill us, or, God forbid erase us from the map.

I know they want to...I know they'd like to...I just don't know if they are brave enought to try to.

But, I do know that helping them get braver is not good for any of us. I loved reading that Hillary said there would be great repercussions if Iran bombed us. Did that make you feel better? What exactly does that mean? And how is that going to be good or bad for the Jews, as Bubbie Channah would ask. I mean, if we are now toast what the hell would we care about repercussions?

I would have felt a lot better if she had said that if they even THINK of bombing us etc. etc. etc. Sigh...

What do you think?

Thank you for all your emails...for those who disagree with me and for those who see things as I do. I am thrilled to hear from you all.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO LISTEN TO A SMART PARENT

2009-06-05T02:34:00.007+03:00

I have been getting a lot of emails concerning my blogs. One group says 'You Rock Girl'...well you know what I mean.

The other group says 'You Should be Ashamed of Yourself'.

So. Please. If you wish to be taken off this list please email me and I will do so immediately. marallyn@gmail.com

When I was growing up in Windsor, my mother had one saying. It was her litmus paper. No matter what news I had or what I wanted to share with her, she would say, "Is it good or bad for the Jews."

When I wanted to be a Brownie in second or third grade, she informed me that Jewish Girls do not go to Brownies...they go to the I.L.Peretz Jewish School instead. End of discussion.

When I wanted to go to Frank Walton's party on one Friday night, my mother told me that Frank wasn't Jewish and that she was certain I would have a great time. But, then what. Jewish girls do not go to gentile boys high school parties. They go to the Jewish Center and mingle with boys that they can date. End of discussion.

I did explain it to Frank and we remained great friends. I have often wondered where he is and what he is doing. He was a nice boy.

I miss my mother. More and more every day I miss my mother. She was interesting, funny, very clever, and intelligent.

I wonder what she would have to say about Obama's speech. If it was good or bad for the Jews. Personally, I think it was terrible for us. Israel for sure. And at one point I think he gave away my Jerusalem!

I didn't know it was his to give away.

I loved listening to him. His voice and words were soft as honey. He spoke of a world all of us would love to live in. If he could deliver that world we would all be safer and happier and better and the lion will lie down with the lamb.

But so far the lions are hungry and the lambs look like easy pickings.

When I was thirteen a new Rabbi came to town. And he opened the first Temple in the city. One evening he called for all the teenagers to come to a meeting. I was one of them. He was amazing. His words filled us with enthusiasm and we were chomping at the bit to get on his bandwagon.

When I got home, I ran to tell my parents all about the Rabbi and his plans for the city. He needs me, I told my parents.

My father A'H, who was always a quiet man. A man well-loved and respected in the community. A man who felt keenly his obligations as a husband, a father and a Jew living in Windsor, said, "Marallyn. It isn't important if he needs you. Of course he needs you. What you have to decide, is whether you need him. Who is he? What is he? Are you certain that you wish to have your name associated with his policies and his ideals."

After carefully checking him out, I realized that I didn't. My Daddy was right.

But, if he would have let me be carried away by words, I would have followed him, supported him and been associated with him.

He wasn't a bad man. He wasn't the strange radical man he turned out to be in later years. But the more time went by, the happier I was that I walked away way back then.

My Daddy taught me a good lesson. He didn't forbid me from getting involved in the youth group the Rabbi was trying to establish. He made me think. And I trusted him. And I respected him. And I thought.

Who am I to tell any of you what to do? And as my friends so aptly put it, my views are coloured by the fact that I live where I live and have lived what I have lived.

But, along with that, because of the above two sentences, I know what I know.

As an astrologer, I learned very quickly the power of air. Not fire. Not earth. And not water. Air. Air carries the pollen that fertilizes the flowers. It carries a kiss blown from one loved one to another. But it also carries disease. And words.

Remember the old saying, 'Sticks and Stones can break your bones...but names will never harm you.' Not true.

During World War II there arose a man who spoke words. Before he died millions were killed. I am not going to elaborate. I am not waving the holocaust flag. But that man...may his name be erased forever...is the only example I have from my own lifetime. Words are scary.

A word spoken in haste can take a lifetime to retract. The big one in my life was being called a Damn Jew. Twice that happened in my wonderful city of Windsor. And I didn't stick around for the third time. I moved where no one could call me that again. There is a huge difference between hatred and anti-Semitism. Well, for me there is.

One other thing my father told me. He said, 'Marallyn, be careful what you put down on paper. Once it is on paper it becomes a document.'

That sentence kept me from being a writer. I became a storyteller instead. Until, a few years ago I had such a burning desire to write that I looked for three years until I found my mentor and friend, David Brauner who taught me how to get my words on paper. Bless him.

I listened to President Obama's speech. Carefully. I listened to what was said and what was left out. Sometimes the spaces are more important than the words. You all know those pictures that come into your emails where you have to look carefully to discover the two faces instead of the vase.

And half truths are even more scary. They sound good and are quickly adopted as fact.

BTW---Mr. President...Whoever destroys a soul, it is considered as if he destroyed an entire world. And whoever saves a life, it is considered as if he saved an entire world. - Jerusalem Talmud, Sanhedrin 4:8 (37a)
The Jerusalem Talmud dates back to the third century C.E. -- Mohammed was not even born until about 570.

Shavuah tov.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

A PICTURE IS WORTH A THOUSAND WORDS

2009-06-05T02:14:00.002+03:00

Have a great day...stay safe...thanks for dropping in.

HALEVAI

2009-06-04T15:28:00.004+03:00

I listened very closely to THE SPEECH. The words flowed like a spring breeze over the airlines and I couldn't help thinking...wow the man can talk. But we all know that.
Today I am going to give him a break. And wait twenty-four hours and listen to all the talking heads both on TV and my friends the bloggers.

And maybe wishes do come true.
Buckwheat wished he had a watermelon.
Bubbie Channah A'H wished she would win the lottery.
I wish everyone sleeps soundly in their own beds.
From my heart Mr. President...AHLEVAI!!!

Halevai is a Yiddish word that means...'if only'...'don't I wish'

Halevai - We Wish
Lyrics: Ehud Manor
Music and singing: Boaz Sharabi

We wish
That from the cloud a rainbow will come down
We wish
That this world will be better some day

We wish
That a new day will come out of the storm
We wish
That the present will last forever

We wish
That grass will grow in the desert
We wish
That we will be able to live in the shade of the fig tree again.

We wish not to hurt
And one will love another
We wish
That the gates of heaven will reopen

We wish
for East and West to join together
We wish
To be able to live like in the old days.

We wish
That one nation will not fight against another
We wish
To never stop hoping

We wish
For man to be passionate till evening
We wish
To have another chance with love

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

A RIVER IN EGYPT

2009-06-03T07:41:00.003+03:00

Well, I cheated. Instead of running down the six flights of stairs to my fallout shelter yesterday, I listened to that little voice that has been talking to me since I can remember. You know the one. It said,"Fool! You want to be part of the exercise? Take the elevator down five minutes before the siren goes off!"

Brilliant!!! Such a smart little voice I have. And that is exactly what I did. I took the elevator down and waited for the rest of my neighbours to join me in the shelter.

A few showed up. We were not happy campers. I asked some important questions like: "Does anyone know how to close and open the metal door?" And, then I went to try. A sinch!

Next question: "How do we know when the hell to get out of here?"

Now that was a little trickier. We all had our cell phones. Of course we did! But none of them worked in the shelter. Duh!

So the plan is that we all buy really good flashlights. We all look to see if we have a radio that runs on both electric and battery power...not such an easy thing these days with iPods etc. And I thought someone should check the big tank of water and the toilets. Well, it is important.

Some of you remember the days when we were getting the sealed room ready and I shlepped my friend Rena with me to the Mall. We happily made our way into the pet shop to buy kitty litter.

Shalom ladies, the man said. What kind of kitty litter are you looking for? Scented, unscented? Is a five kilo bag enough? What kind of a cat do you own?

I looked at him and brazenly informed him that we do not own cats...we have no idea about the different kinds of kitty litter...and that I am certain that one kilo each would be sufficient.

He looked at me strangely.

I explained: You see. We are all getting the sealed room ready. My room does not include a bathroom and from my experience from the last time, as soon as the siren goes off, everyone has to go to the toilet. I bought a huge garbage pail and sturdy garbage bags. Now all I need is the kitty litter to well...you know...

I thought the poor man was going to have an attack he laughed so hard. Hysterical. Rena and I had made the man's day.

Actually, I thought it was a brilliant idea.

We did buy the kitty litter...one kilo each. We did set it all up. We didn't, thank God have to use it. And we found nice neighbours who had cats and donated our unopened bags to them after the all clear.

Today I am not in the kitty litter buying stage...although it did cross my mind. I am in the flashlight and radio buying stage.

I wonder why Israel is such a big part of everyone's agenda? I wonder if Obama is going to bow to Mubarak. Wait! Wait! He didn't bow. It was a mistake.

And everyone is in that river in Egypt.
And I am beginning to fear that Mr. Emanuel is a city in Egypt.

(1. denial...2 Putz ah Yid (port said))

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.

JOE BTFSPLK

2009-06-02T06:17:00.011+03:00

Now that has to be a name you haven't heard of in a long time. Or for you youngsters a name you never heard of.

Joe Btfsplk was a cartoon character from the Li'l Abner comics. Everyone loved poor Joe. Why 'poor Joe'? See, he was always drawn walking under a cloud with little drops of rain just about to land on him.

That is how I feel today in Israel...well, not only today but especially today. See, today we are having a massive air raid drill throughout the entire country. At 11:00 the air raid siren will shrill and everyone has to rush to their fallout shelter or secure room, if they have one in their homes. We don't. Our flat was built before they became a mandatory feature in each apartment. Imagine! A mandatory feature...

I will be home when the siren goes off. My shelter is six floors down in the basement. Jerusalem is lucky. They tell us we have three minutes to get to the shelter. Other places in the country have seconds.

Don't get me wrong. I am glad we are having this drill. I remember growing up in Windsor, Ontario and having fire drills and air raid drills in school where we either had to walk out...single file and slowly...from the building, or dash under our desks and put our hands over our heads.

Then the 'bad guy' was Russia and Russia was farrrrrrrrr away. The fear was real at the time, but the threat was as nebulous as Joe's cloud.

This fear is real and right across the street. And I do not believe this is just an 'exercise'. It is too massive and too serious and too real for just an exercise. I am sorry my babies are going to be rushing into their shelters at school and nursery school today. But I am thrilled they will be with people they trust who will help them understand what is going on in a language they will understand.

The Big Bad Wolf is knocking at the door. And we little ahem 'Pigs' have to build a house of bricks.

I read two articles this morning when I got up. The first was from The Washington Post and I quote:

Obama Says U.S. Must Be More 'Honest' With Israel
By Michael D. Shear
On the eve of his trip to the Middle East, President Obama promised today a dose of tough love for a new Israeli government that has signaled significant disagreement with his administration's policy for the region.

"Part of being a good friend is being honest," Obama told National Public Radio in an interview taped this afternoon. "And I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction, the current trajectory, in the region is profoundly negative, not only for Israeli interests but also U.S. interests. And that's part of a new dialogue that I'd like to see encouraged in the region."

Mr. President, Sir, Part of being a good friend is understanding and accepting, if and when, your friend has a view different than yours. Part of being a good friend, is standing solidly beside your friend in public and, if all forms of dialogue still have you with different viewpoints, then accepting that your friend has the right to think differently than you do. Part of being a friend, is not being friendly with your friend's enemies...with people who have hurt your friend or are planning to wipe him off the face of the earth. Part of being a friend is just that...being a friend. Not a 'fairweatherfriend' when things are going smoothly. But, a real friend, who understands the other guy's fear and pain and will stand beside him when the bully is knocking at his door.

But, my dear readers, I have never thought that President Obama is my friend. Mr. President, walk a mile in my shoes. You don't get it. I know you don't get it. What scares the bejezzus out of me is the thought that by the time you do get it,it will be too late.

After reading the entire article from the Post this morning, I read another article, and I quote: The speaker is Steven Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada.

Toronto (JTA)By Ron Csillag · June 1, 2009
"This week in parliament, we will introduce legislation that will give victims of terrorism the power to obtain just compensation from those responsible for their suffering," Harper said. The bill "will allow victims to sue perpetrators and sponsors of terrorist acts, including foreign states, in Canadian courts."

The measure, Harper said, aims to send a "clear message that our government will hold the sponsors and perpetrators of terrorism accountable for their crimes."

"We remain among the world's most vocal in opposition to not only the nuclear program of the government of Iran but also to its malevolent anti-Israeli and anti-Jewish declarations," Harper said.

"It is all too common nowadays for politicians to claim to support Israel and the Jewish people. Yet when Israel is attacked for the umpteenth time, because its enemies refuse to accept the right of the Jewish state to exist, these same politicians are quick to condemn Israel, to accuse it of war crimes and to demand that it unilaterally suspend its right to self-defense,” he said. "You will not hear that kind of double-speak from our government -- ever."

Back to our friend Joe.One storyline in the early 1970s features him trapping his cloud in a special anti-pollutant jar. Joe becomes romantically involved with a gal for the first time—until her crazed ex-boyfriend shows up to kill him! Joe reluctantly opens the jar and releases his cloud in order to take care of the boyfriend, and wistfully realizes that he wasn't meant for any other kind of life. As he returns to his normal, loner existence, his cloud once again in tow, he is for the moment satisfied to be who he really is.

That is how I feel today in Israel...well, not only today but especially today. Do we, in Israel have to accept as normal a loner existence? I thought the world learned a lesson. But maybe I was wrong. And, if so...then I guess Israel is going to have to tread softly but carry a big stick.

May you and yours never have to do what me and mine are doing today. But, my dear friends, I honestly do believe that if the world doesn't stop the black cloud that is growing over our heads, then all of us are going to run into shelters sooner than you think. So, maybe instead of rhetoric and olive branches we have to shake some sabers and...I was going to say 'call a spade a spade', but I don't want in anyway to be thought of as racist, so, instead I will use a Hebrew expression:l'kroh et ha yeled b'shmoh...to call the child by it's rightful name.

Stay safe. Always.

Have a great day...stay safe...and thanks for dropping in.