our own oddities

as a kid i would sometimes get embarrassed by certain quirks of family members. when i grew up i realized that every family has their quirks even quirks that i thought were unique to my own family. that's definitely one good thing about being an adult, you realize that all families are a little odd and yet we move along with our lives as if  they don't exist.

American Girl Target of Extremist Jews in Israel

what is interesting about this whole conflict is that is religious jew against religious jew.  i appreciate that it is noted by haddassah margolese that no woman should be harrassed walking down the street no matter how she is dressed. it is very important that she mentions this. it is not just bad for hadassah and her daughter because they are religious, it is bad for this to happen to any jewish woman in israel no matter if she is religious or not.
every charedi jew in israel is not enforcing violence against those who disagree with them , its just that because they themselves arent affected by the violence they don't protest.
there is a poem that goes sort of like this that says it all
when they came for the chinese i wasn't chinese so i didn't say anything, 
when they came for the blacks, i wasnt black so i didnt say anything .
when they came for the jews i wasn't jewish so i didn't say anything. 
when they came for the greeks, i wasn't greek so i didn't say anything, 
and so on,
but when they came for me there was no one left to save me

the descendents

i saw the movie 'the descendents' with george clooney on sunday. its the story of a man whose wife was in a boating accident , is on life support and the effect it has on the family members . death can be sudden and random. it suddenly hits and forever changes the loved ones who remain alive whether they like it or not. no one assumes their new life gracefully, but we manage to survive it anyway.
'the descendents' is not so prolific, but  anyone who has  experienced an unexpected death of a loved one can relate to it. anyone who has suffered the loss of a loved one can relate to it.
it is a film worth watching even if you wait until it goes to netflix.

the language of friendship

everyone looks at things a little bit differently. the problem arises when two people think so differently it is like they are speaking different languages. this can be ok if both parties realize this . if only one party is aware this relationship is doomed .unfortunately i have had this happen to me often. i always realize that the other person just doesn't understand what i am saying or where i am coming from. often i make allowances for their lack of understanding, but eventually when i lose my patience the friendship blows up. many people think everyone must think the way they do. consideration for differences must go both ways. one party can't always pick up the slack.

Happy Chanukah from UJA Federation

i just had to post this one. these kids are too cute

The story of Kamtza and Bar Kamtza

as you can see there is nothing new under the sun. unfortunately. may we all learn from the past so we are not doomed to repeat it. may the geula come sooner rather than later.
this video is a little long but it gets the point across .

peace now

i think that a lot of jews believe that v'ahavtah l'rayacha komoch means you just have to love your fellow jew that  is kamocha. or at least the charedim in beit shemesh believe this. does anyone remember why the beis hamikdash was destroyed? hmmmm i seem to remember it was due to sinas chinam amongst jews.

today we celebrate chanukah about the rededication of the beis hamikdash. g-d help us all. hopefully moshiach will come soon. we need some peace amongst our own brethren.