Cheap or Endearing?

      I was recently speaking with an elderly acquaintance who told me that he did not want to spend extraneously on himself because he wanted to leave a lot of money to his children. He did not seem to be living like a pauper, but he was money conscious. My first reaction was that it was very sweet. He loves his children that much. On the other hand he could not be tricked into overspending because he had a goal in mind. I also wished that I was as disciplined. I don't have children at the moment, but its not a bad idea to save for the future. I wish I had that kind of discipline.
      A number of friends of mine said that though they married on the later side neither they or their husband had much saved up. I guess when one is single one can get caught up in the single life and can forget that there will be a future that one should be saving up for.
      As for my acquaintance, I hope his kids appreciate his kindness and love for them now while they are still together.

To Be Free

      I find it very curious and not coincidental that people OTD are often called frei which is Yiddish for free. Its usually proclaimed in a derogatory manner but It still makes me take pause. So often those who go OTD do so because they yearn to be free of mitzvos. I am not sure why many who are OTD prefer to refer to themselves in a negative like off the derech instead of saying they are free Jews. That would sound a lot more positive. Hmm...

IDF attends to Special Needs

      I just watched this video . It speaks for its self. It is about how special needs Israelis are included in the IDF. It is very moving.

      Only in Israel would they find a way to include special ed individuals in their army. It is amazing how deep their feelings for their country is. I dare you to have a dry eye after watching this.

Happy Birthday Israel

I would have liked to have posted this earlier today, but I was stuck at work all day, so this will have to do. Happy Israeli Independence day.
          When I was in Israel at 18 I remember Yom Ha'atzmaut well. I went to the center of town in Jerusalem with my roommate. Everyone had these baby toy hammers that squeaked and they would bop people on the head with them. It was really silly, but also really meaningful. Where else on earth could anyone be so playful with strangers and there not be a riot?  It really struck me as incredible and this was as a Midwestern Jew who had not yet lived in New York City. It was also electric to see the joy of people dancing in the street in celebration of the Jewish State.
           Israel is not perfect, but what country is? The fact that Jews of all backgrounds live there as a country makes it so special. The fact that it is our homeland is special. Forget the Arab-Israeli conflict. We Jews in Israel and world over need to work on V'ahavta L' rayacha kamocha. . We need to treat our fellow Jews with love and respect, even those Jews who are not exactly as we are. Until this happens we will be in galus.

Its Show Time

 I found this clip of the subway "dancers". I could not find a video of the full routine. Usually  they start by saying "Its show time." I guess it looks cool on video , but not so much fun when you are sitting on a train hoping the "dancers" don't hit you in the face by accident. My personal favorite is when they dance while kicking their shoe. Its not at all fun to see in person I must stress. These young men are the only ones who have figured out what to do with the bars that are on the ceiling of the train. Unfortunately they decided to hang from them and  do acrobatics. 

Shiva - To go or Not to go

      If a person wanted to he or she could make a shiva call every night of the week. One would have to be rather depressed to actually do this. Making a shiva call is a big mitzvah, but sometimes when I make one I feel like I would have been better off staying at home.  After going to several shiva houses for people I did not know well I have come to the conclusion that unless you knew the deceased well or the people sitting shiva well it is better to send a condolence card .
      

Meanwhile Years Later

      Things often aren't what one thinks . When I was a kid in school there was a boy a few years older than I was who I thought had a really cool name and came from a pretty frum family. While I still think that his name was really cool,  I realize that he had a more sordid family background than one might think. He had several siblings who went off the derech in radical ways and a brother who I had heard had been in a bad car accident who I found  out years later had really committed suicide. Its always sad when the bubble of illusion is burst and all that is left is cold harsh reality. As a kid you think that everyone you know has it easier than you do and then you find out years later that they really , really did not. Funny how that is.