Six13 - Chanukah (Shake It Off)

    This year there has been a flood of good Hanukkah videos. Love it. This one is kind of cute.

Technology and Change

     I have recently updated my internet service. You would think that this would make  me happy. Yes I am pleased that I have updated,  The speed is amazing. This time around it has been a major overhaul. Its kind of like how years ago every time I bought a new radio I would have to figure out how to use it. Oh the anxiety. Thankfully I have people to help me along with things. Updating is not easy for someone like me who enjoys when things don't have to always change so much. 

Hanukkah Explained By Christians

     This video is kind of like people watching a crash on the freeway. Its kind of awful but entertaining at the same time. Sometimes looking at how others view us make us feel more validated.

‪Hanukkah Song Mashup - New York City dance spectacular!‬

Charlie Brown's Hanukkah

     This is cute, but unfortunately has the obligatory comparison to x-mas mentioned. Blech!

Adam Sandler - Original Hanukkah Song Video

    This is an oldie but goodie. I still love it. I love how he states that OJ Simpson is not a Jew well before the murders of Nicole Brown and Ron Goldman. Coincidence or foresight.? You decide.
    

Chanukah is Everywhere

In front of King's Highway Q train station, Brooklyn

Dylan's Candy Bar

 Chanukkah is everywhere if you would only just look. I always like to photograph moments of our Jewish holiday to counteract the overload of images from that other non-Jewish December holiday. Happy Chanukkah!

Dylan's Candy Bar

Dylan's Candy Bar

Hanukkah - Dreidel - music video by Jewish a cappella group Shir Soul - ...

    This video is actually pretty good, but they spend just a little too much time with the first song. Bear with them. Its really pretty good. Enjoy!

The Maccabeats - All About That Neis - Hanukkah

    This latest song perhaps is not as snazzy as some of their others, but still cute. Enjoy...

Help

     I often laugh to myself about people who are not as independent as I am, but really the joke is on me. Even when its admirable to be able to do everything one's self , it is just as important to be able to ask others for help. This is something that is difficult for me and I know that it takes patience as well. Which brings me back to why I like to do things by myself. The problem is that as much as I would not like to admit it, I can't do EVERYTHING and thus there are times that I must ask for help from others. Then again, one is still an independent person even if one needs help from others every so often. 

10 Hours of Walking in NYC as a Jew

   This is pretty funny and a little unexpected. Its PG-13 to let  you know.

Secret video: How anti-Semitic is the UK?

  Provocative if nothing else. This gives a great view visual montage of the UK.

WERE LIGHTING THE MENORAH

     I missed this one from 2012 so I decided to post it now. 

Rallies Scare Me

       There is something that always makes me a little nervous about rallies be they for Israel or save the whales.  There is always that underlying feeling that they could get out of hand. Aside from not understanding what their mission even was,  Occupy Wall Street unnerved me. But still until recently these rallies have ultimately been fairly tame.
        Lucky for us now that there is a black president there seems to be even more civil unrest, not unlike when there were the Crown Heights riots when David Dinkins was mayor of New York City. I do not think that they directly incited any of the tensions but I do not think that it is a coincidence that such unrest has occurred when either of them have been in office. First there was Trayvon Martin, then there were Ferguson riots and now the Eric Garner protests. It seems with the last two the emotions are at a fever pitch. There were riots incited by the death of Michael Brown and there were protest all over the country in a way I do not remember ever happening in my lifetime. Shortly after the pandemonium in Ferguson was the Eric Garner verdict. There have been massive protests in New York that I have fortunately have been able to avoid . People get a little crazy when these things happen. I think that there is an even deeper problem than racism in these cases  which is why I opt not to join up with the protesting masses. There often is police brutality with people in general. It is not just with non-white people. I also feel like these protests have taken on a life of their own. Case in point the burning down of twenty-nine businesses in Ferguson. I do not see the police arresting anyone who burned down those buildings. A bit scary don't you think?
        When I used to think about Arab spring and what is going on in France I could not understand how  these things could happen. With the tempo of the protests in the United States... . Well lets say I am less than calm. I think its time for me to take up saying tehillim for world peace.

Online fundraiser helping Jewish family whose Ferguson business was damaged - St. Louis Jewish Light: Local News - Online fundraiser helping Jewish family whose Ferguson business was damaged: Local News

Online fundraiser helping Jewish family whose Ferguson business was damaged - St. Louis Jewish Light: Local News - Online fundraiser helping Jewish family whose Ferguson business was damaged: Local News: Items are still for sale at STL Cordless in Ferguson. Merchandise is displayed on the walls, and goods are arrayed behind the counters. But on…
   I do not want to discuss the right and wrong as to what happened in Ferguson but I am posting this article because people tend to forget that there are Jews everywhere and that we can be affected by things that you would not think that we would be.

I'm Back

     I went out of town for the Thanksgiving weekend. It was so nice to visit my family. Its nice to be able to clear my head  and have a break from the daily grind. I find that going out of town really helps . Of course the other thing it does is make me realize that I need to get away more often.