Letters of Thought: January 2009

Friday, January 30, 2009

Picture of the Week 67

The Old Jewish Ghetto in Vilna - Pesach 5765

Wishing everyone a Good Shabbos!

Technorati Tags: Vilna, Lithuaniua, Ghetto, Photography, Picture of the Week

Thursday, January 29, 2009

This meal was actually made sometime back (in honor of my Birthday!) but I never got around to writing it up. With out further ado I give you . . .
Two basement classics (and a bottle of La Chouffe - because it rocks!):

Not-a-Greek-Salad-Basement-style-Greek-Salad:

(A Greek salad is made of Feta, Black Olives, Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Onions - No Lettuce!)

Romaine Lettuce (Iceberg, they say, isn't as good for you)
Olives (See below)
Feta Cheese (The King of Cheeses)
Balsamic Vinegar (Brings in the right balance of sweet and sour)
Olive Oil (One of the few things I purchase on a regular basis!)
Oregano (The spice of choice for everything besides ice-cream!)
Freshly Crushed Garlic (From my roommates)
Salt (וְלֹא תַשְׁבִּית מֶלַח בְּרִית אֱלֹקיךָ)
Pepper (I wish I had freshly ground, but . . .)

Basement Toast (or the bread upon which I live):

Rye Bread (preferably lifted from 1414 - the Yeshiva's Kitchen)
Balsamic Vinegar (From an unopened bottle, left by the Frenchies who lived here two years ago)
Olive Oil (Because if it's not from olives, it's not real oil!)
Oregano (See above)
Garlic Powder (Because, as I've said in the past . . . we have way too much of it in my place)
Crushed Red Pepper (from a pizza store, of course.)
Black Pepper (Not too much!)
Mozzarella Cheese (American Cheese is evil!)
Feta Cheese (because mozzarella is good, but a little feta is betta')
Olives (The best thing to have - they taste great, work in food and as a stand alone snack, they can be used with everything else, and even the brine they come in can be used in cooking!)

Directions:

Spread the Olive Oil and Vinegar on the the slices of bread, apply spices and cheeses. Toast until a golden brown.

Toss the Salad

Enjoy with a nice big cup of La Chouffe (in my Liechtenstein Weizenglass [Yes I know it's not the right glassware, but it's what I've got -and it's Liechtenstein!]) - drink responsibly!

Thoughts for Food:

A pleasing substitute for the butter and animal fats consumed by people to the north, the olive, among the southern nations of antiquity, became an emblem not only of peace but of national wealth and domestic plenty Among the Greeks the oil was valued as an important article of diet, as well as for its external use . . . Pliny describes fifteen varieties of olive cultivated in his day . . .
Both the English name for lettuce and the Latin name of the genus are ultimately derived from lac, the Latin word for “milk”,referring to the plant’s milky juice. Mild in flavour, it has been described over the centuries as a cooling counterbalance to other ingredients in a salad.
The Greek word "feta" comes from the Italian word fetta ("slice") and that from Latin offa "bite, morsel". It was introduced in Greek in the 17th century, likely referring to the method of cutting the cheese in thin slices to serve on a plate.
Wheat-rye breads, particularly light rye (also known as "sissel") and American pumpernickel but also a combination known as "marble rye", are very closely associated with Jewish-American cuisine, particularly the delicatessen. [S]o-called "Jewish rye" is further seasoned with whole caraway seeds and glazed with an egg wash . . . The Jewish-American variety has Eastern European antecedents, including Russian-style brown bread and Riga-style rye bread.
Beer is the world's oldest and most widely consumed alcoholic beverage and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is recorded in the written history of ancient Egypt. The use of hops in beer was recorded by captive Jews in Babylon around 400 BC.

Previous Meals:

Technorati Tags: Salad, Garlic Bread, La Chouffe, Beer, Recipes, Food, Facts, Life

Wednesday, January 28, 2009

And Now for Some Art:

J.M.W. Turner

La danse de l'idiot

In a wedding hall in Brooklyn two souls unite as one.
The groom sits resplendently in his chair - raven black fedora resting eloquently on his head, glimmer of light reflecting of the sweat of his brow. His new wedding frock flies from behind him like the cape of some knight valiant.

Around him, increasingly larger concentric circles of dancing friends twist like cogs in clockwork. Each figure moves in sync with his fellow, their actions guided by the beat of the music and fueled by the common bond of love between them.

Suddenly a man enters the hall. Like every other man, yet different. He doesn't seem to notice the beat.
His beard is messy, his payos stand on end and tangled. His coats, as he has several on, are covered with stains. His hat looks looks miserably crushed.

His eyes rolling in his head, the white of his eyes large and visible for all to see.
His hands move about wildly, as if given a life of their own.
His teeth gnash. And as he walks he sings to himself.

He jerks and spins as he moves towards the groom in what has become apparent to all is a dance. His dance. The fool's dance.

As he moves through the still rotating series of concentric circles, the cogs of the Human machine, his actions sowing seeds of dissonance one must wonder.

Is it the fool who can not hear what has brought us all in sync?

Or is it our own foolishness that hides what he sees from us.

(Image: Stańczyk by Jan Matejko)

Technorati Tags: Weddings, Fools, Thoughts, Life, Art, Judaism

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Loving Lubavitchers - The Hassidic Jew in Hollywood

Note: I think this whole concept has become passé . . . I'm sick of it already!

I don't want this post to be construed as some sort of clichéd cry of any sorts. My point is that Hollywood needs to create more complex and fully fleshed out Jews.

It seems like everyone on the JBlogosphere is abuzz about the Hallmark Hall of Fame movie "Loving Leah".
I saw the flurry on twitter last night about it while it was airing on the idiot box, and thought it would make interesting fodder for a post - specially in light of Actress Susie Essman's comments on The View (featured in the video at the end of this post) where after flouting her utter ignorance about Judaism, her acceptance for all peoples - besides those that differ from her in their views, she goes ahead and remarks that during the course of acting the film she learned that Chassidic Women are not really dressers, going so far to as to remark,
"Have you seen what these women look like?"

Other blogs have picked up on the inherent hypocrisy and blithering ignorance found in this exchange . . . (Though others seemed to have found the kitsch and cheese to be amusing.

Even Crownheights.info and its peanut gallery of commenters are up in arms . . . with photoshopped pictures of the hosts of the View and all (if you ask me, if the photo is inappropriate then it ought not to be shown at all - but that's a whole 'nother post).

[For those of you unfamiliar with the site, CH.info is a "community blog" written in the grand tradition of William Randolph Hearst and yellow journalism.]

While it is important to voice our complaint about being mistreated in the media - who am I to repress the righteous indignation of a fellow Hebrew brother? - I don't think the comments on The View are inherently anti-Semitic, and they are definitely not vile. They are extremely offensive . . . but offensive in their utter ignorance and self-righteous pomp to assume that a superficial understanding of Judaism and a nasty case of Jewish Guilt will entitle one to write off their Medievalistic relatives. What some of my brethren at the tabloid sites don't understand is that by gnashing their teeth and screaming antisemitism they have become caricatures of the very image they seek to dispel.

I didn't watch Loving Leah. I don't plan on it . . . I have far better ways to squander my time. Based upon what I have seen online, I can conclude that the show is riddled with inaccuracies. From the very premise upon which it's founded - that of Yibbum and Chalitza (levirate marriage) - today we almost universally do chalitza alone, the understandings of concepts of tzniut et cetera ad nauseum.

All of this is nitpicking though.

I think it's time that Hollywood grows up a little. I would say that with little exception, the Hassid has been one of the most maligned figures in the Big Book of Hollywood gags - perhaps only the Amish farmer and the Pygmy hunter have come off worse. We're caricatures . . . reduced to a string

of site-gags, MacGuffins and background props - denied the basic right of all elements of literature and theater - character development.
And generally speaking we don't complain, we even laugh with you dear Hollywood. You make us to be diamond merchants and prudes, two-faced swindlers and unbending ideologues, speakers of Yinglish and swayers in prayer . . . and yet you hear nary a peep from us. Why? Because frankly we tend not to give a damn about how you ~~betray~~ portray us. If it makes another Jew happy, laugh at us.

But I think, Hollywood, the time has come for you to do more. Let's see some maturity in Human relations.
I mean the Star-crossed lovers bit, where human love is forced to battle with ideals . . . and only one can remain. If it's a tragedy, then the lovers loose to the ideals. If it is a comedy, they win.

I'd like to see some complexity in human relationships as channeled through film.
It would be refreshing to see a hip hassid one of these days . . . You know, a guy that's with it and in the know, who adds something to the story beyond the "gosh-wow" factor of a dude in 19th century Polish garb. To see the secular Jew approach traditional Judaism with a positive view - nay acceptance - at the end. That would be refreshing . . . but is it brilliant? No. But it is less shallow.

But, my friend in Hollywood (and yes I mean you, you and you . . . and even you) take note.
How about acceptance? Why make the lovely Leah sacrifice her ideals upon the alter of pop-culture and the tepid "feel good" assimilationist belief that "you can be different from us, as long as you're like us." when she could come out a deeper person, one endowed with true power and strength?
Have them come to a mutual understanding that because they care for each other so greatly, they can not ask the one they love to change for them. True love is accepting that what brings us together is that we want the other to be happy with who they are, and what drives us apart the cynical attempt to bring those we love under our shadows and mold them into out own image.

Now that would be a story. An amazing story!

Leah would find the Hassidic man of her dreams, having grown to a stronger and broader person through her troubles. And Jake will realize that life is not as shallow and superficial as he once thought. That modesty is beautiful.
And from here we can branch out to relationships in general.
Jewish women have by far been knocked by Hollywood far more then they deserve.
How about the guy who falls madly in love with the shiksa will realize that, yes the passion is real, but something deeper calls them elsewhere in their Earthly sojourn.

That after the riots in Crown Heights it's not about the African American kissing the Hasid on the lips. It's about the acceptance and pride of who we are, and understanding that someone's difference is the yin to my yang.

Chew on that Pnenah Goldstein.
Efsher vilstu dos essen Ms. Essman.

The video is under the link . . . click on it to see it.

Technorati Tags: Loving Leah, Susie Essman, Hallmark Hall of Fame, Hassidic Jews, Hollywood, Antisemitism, Movies, Essays, Yibbum, Crownheights.info, links, commentary, Pollitcaly Correct, Judaism, Chabad [My that's a heck of a lot of tags!]

Sunday, January 25, 2009

Britons accuse the the BBC of Pro-Israeli Bias(?)

And no my friends, this is not a joke.

CNN is reporting that the blokes at the BBC refused to "broadcast a plea from leading British charities for aid to Gaza . . . "
For which I applaud them but there reason?

"[T]he ad would compromise the public broadcaster's appearance of impartiality."

I'm not sure what's more ironic - that the BBC still considers itself a bastion of impartiality (for those of you who have been living in haze of an apologetic cloud - or under a rock- I refer you to Honest Reporting's One Year Analysis of the BBC) or that people out there actually think the BBC is honestly a pro-Israel organization . . .

In any event, I give credit, where credit is due, and thus wish to commend the BBC (for once) for sticking to their guns - it is entirely inappropriate to give credence to those who wish to aid organizations such as Hamas that are labeled by governing bodies, including the EU, as terrorist groups.
What is more, a news organization is obligated to remain impartial, and by airing advertisements for such a cause breaches the very fabric of fact and impartiality upon which news is based.

Good on you BBC . . . Now let's see you keep it up!

Technorati Tags: BBC, Disasters Emergency Committee, Hamas, Gaza, Israel, News, Media Bias

Friday, January 23, 2009

Picture of the Week - 66

The cemetery in Haditch - 24 Teves, 5766

In honor of the Alter Rebbe's Yahzeit this week, I'm posting a picture from my Great Ukrainian Trek three years ago to Haditch, where the Alter Rebbe is buried.

Please note: I have another new post directly below this one - don't forget to check it out.

Wishing everyone a good Shabbos!

Technorati Tags: Haditch, Ukraine, Chabad, 24 Teves, the Alter Rebbe, Photography, Jewish Cemeteries, Picture of the Week

Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Oldest Full-Time Pulpit Rabbi Passes Away

I was busy working on an article the other day, so please forgive me light posting.

Check it out here

Y'all come back now, ya hear?

Monday, January 19, 2009

Yad Chassidim al Ha'elyonah!

Formally:

I've Got Me a Chalif

Updated 1/20/09: See below

. . . Don't mess y'all.

It's important to note something:

Tonight is 24 Teves, the Yahrzeit of the Alter Rebbe . . .

One of the special takanos that Chassidim took on and that the Alter Rebbe brought down into halacha was the concept of using a polished steel knife.

To quote a note from the English of HaTamim (the renowned journal of Chassidic Thought, Pilpulim in Negla and much more - published by in Otwock)

Most Jewish communities had been using iron knives, which were more difficult to sharpen. If they were highly polished, they would quickly become knicked, and thus unfit for use. The nuisance of constantly resharpening and repolishing them was not considered worthwhile. Moreover, the polished steel knives had been deemed a new innovation, which some authorities wished to avoid. The Alter Rebbe, however encouraged the use of the polished steel knives (see Alter Rebbe's Shulchan Aruch, Vol. 6, Responsum No. 7).

My friends . . . Ashreinu! Today the whole world uses a Chassidishe chalaf! What was once one of the four "reasons" the misnagdim put the Chassidim in cherem, today has become the universally accepted standard.

Technorati Tags: Chalif, Kosher Slaughter, Knives, Photography, Misnagdim, 24 Teves, Chassidim

Friday, January 16, 2009

Picture of the Week 65

This picture has been on the slides-show of pictures on the sidebar for some time now, but was never featured as an actual picture of the week.

With out further ado, I give you, my dear and faithful friends:

The Prague Astronomical Clock.

Pay heed to the inner figure on the upper leftside of the clock . . . a Jew holding a money bag . . . representing the vice of greed.

What of the prejudecies and symbols? I give you a guest post I wrote for my good friend A Simple Jew:

The Kernel Of Truth Within Stereotypes

Enjoy and a good Shabbos to all!

Technorati Tags: Prague, Photography, Stereotypes, Antisemitism, Essays, Links, Picture of the Week

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Revenge of the Don't Read the Fine Print

It's been a while since I've done one of these . . . and after scratching my head over what to write I figured it was time to bring back some of my old sections.

Some background (for those of you who weren't around back then):

Back in Lithuania I was munching on a box of "Sugar Free Egg Kichel". To my shock I saw the words:

"Use of the product may be hazardous to your health."

Printed on the side of the box. Since then I've always kept my eyes out for wacky fine print . . .

This one has been sitting in my archives since last summer, so I figure now is as good as a time as any to bring it out.

While sitting in my room in Petersburg, Russia, I noticed a bottle of some Homeopathic formula to help those wished to quit smoking.

I don't smoke, and I solute all those who wish to quit the nasty habit . . . but at some point the instructions and fine print are just strange odd.

Recommended Dosage:

Adults:
. . .

Children Under 12:
. . .

Infants:
. . .

Now adult cigarette addiction I understand.

Children under 12 . . . It's wacky, but I suppose it can happen (after all I did see this bottle in Russia)

But infants? Babies?

What the heck!

My friends, at times it's worth noting . . . Don't read the fine print.

For others in the series:
Don't read the fine print, Return of Don't Read the fine print, Don't Read The Fine Print -Partie Trois, and More of Don't Read the Fine Print.

Technorati Tags: Fine Print, Humor, Homeopathic Remedies, Dosage Instructions, Photography, Rants

Sunday, January 11, 2009

CNN's iReports lets vile Antisemitism through - "Thank you Hitler"

I know I said I was going to take a break from Pro-Israel posts - for the sake of my nerves - but this is just shocking:

CNN's iReport proudly saying "jews are dead" with a an image from the Bromberg Massacre of 1939 and the caption:

"thank you hitler i wish u just got rid of the rest of them.... "

In the comments?
Few strong handed condemnations - and this "gem":

	Cynthia007 // 17 minutes ago
	THATS SICK Hollyland. We all hate whats happening, but dont lower yourself to ZIONISTS by condoning this crap. And watch yourself, this blog is full of zionists who would sell their mama to get you into trouble.

I realize that iReport is user-generated, and not checked out by CNN's staff - but some vetting most take place for them to choose who is allowed to post up there . . .
There is something seriously wrong if crap like this gets brodcast on CNN's site.

Technorati Tags: Antisemitism, CNN, News, Israel, Terrorism

Looking Through Me

Before I leave the Pro-Israel bit: Check this out . . . it's great.

- I wonder at times . . .
Where does it all begin.

I'm looking at You, but trying to see me.

Steps,
stops,
walls,
pit-falls.

The sound of my voice as it reverberates and echoes in the empty chasms of within.
Growing stronger, gathering speed . . .
An army of a thousand songs, burning and blazing like a savage fire in my breast . . . coming out at last past the jagged guardians of

speech as a desperate gasp.

- Where did I loose you? Was it somewhere in me? Do you tune out, when I'm tuned in?

- As to this one . . . is it? It is? Tis all, but perhaps tis not.

Don't be a fool, Mottel, do what's right and ignore what's wrong. Don't answer the dolt, lest you be tangled in his foolishness.

March on. Break through. Let it be.

(photo credit)

Technorati Tags: Links, Israel, Thoughts, Life

Friday, January 09, 2009

Picture of the Week 64

A prewar apartment building next to a brand new skyscraper - Warsaw, Poland.

Technorati Tags: Warsaw, Poland, Photography, Picture of the Week

Wednesday, January 07, 2009

Here We Go Again - Israel's Northern Front

Image credit: Itzuvi

The Muqata is reporting that Katyusha rockets (the kind Hezbollah used in the last Lebanon War) have landed in Northern Israel . . .

---

CNN has details:

At least three rockets struck northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday morning, wounding two people, Israeli police and emergency medical services said.Those wounded suffered minor injuries, medical authorities said.

As someone said on Twitter, When Israel is forced to strike back at the Terrorist hiding behiond civilian lines, the world needs to remember who struck first.

I had wondered if Hezbollah would take advantage of the situation . . . it looks like my fears have come true.

B'ezras Hashem things well be fine.

----

Jpost adds:

In the IDF's Northern Command, assessments were that the short salvo on Thursday morning was likely to have been fired by Palestinian terror groups and not by Hizbullah, but it could not be ruled out whether Hizbullah might have told Palestinian groups to fire at Israel as its proxies.

---

The Muqata has added that the attacks up North hit a nursing home and that there is fighting near Kissufim between IDF and terrorists!

Technorati Tags: Israel, Katyusha Rockets, Lebanon, War, News, Terrorism, Links

Tuesday, January 06, 2009

Back . . .

I finally got Internet back in this place (please G-d) . . . I'll get some new stuff up soon.

Untill then, might I recommend swinging by the latest edition of Jack's Gaza blog round up.

Sunday, January 04, 2009

The Death of Journalistic Standards

I wanted to put in Chagall's The White Crucifixion, as it represents the needless crucifixion and demonization of World Jewry . . . but lest the foolish be mistaken for other meanings . . . I'm using this image - a Photo of IDF Soldiers training - taken by members of the Golani Brigade

An Open Letter to the people at CNN (and in that general direction to the AP and Reuters as well),

Some journalistic integrity . . . please.
I'm a bit Journalist - I write part time for the news branch of a religious organization - but even I know (And G-d knows how my editors have drilled it into my naturally subjective head) that fluff must go. Facts must be strong and clear, information should be coherent and above all . . . blind to bias, personal opinion and what.

You write here,

"Palestinian medical sources say Israeli forces have killed 37 Palestinians -- both civilians and militants -- since moving into the territory Saturday night.
With those deaths, at least 507 Palestinians, including about 100 women and children, have been killed in the week-long military operation, and 2,600 Palestinians have been injured, most of them civilians, sources said."

Let's see - of the 507 killed, could you please tell us how many were Terrorists ("Militants" in your terminology)? You claim 100 were women and children (an obvious ploy for compassion), so shall we assume that the other 407 men were indeed rocket carrying members of Hamas? Using the number you give us, that means that 80% of those killed were members of a terrorist organization actively involved in a war against a sovereign nation. But wait . . . how many Israelis were killed by rocket attacks? No mention what so ever. I believe the number is 4 (those who know more up to date information can gladly let me know in the comments) plus one soldier killed in battle - thus 4 out of 5 - again 80% - of deaths perpetrated by Hamas have been against civilians. No mention of that however. What about the antecedents to this invasion - the 4,000 plus rockets and 4,000 plus mortars fired over the past eight years! The mental duress that people must live through, the damage to property . . . to body!
Not a peep.
There are plenty of pictures posted on your site of damage and injury to Innocent Palestinians (and a good deal of them are innocent to one degree or an other - they're abused and used by Hamas a human shield - held as pawns in a war) . . . but what of damage to Israel and Israels . . . not a snap shot.

For shame!

More seen at meryl Yourish

Technorati Tags: Israel, Hamas, Terrorism, Operation Cast Lead, Thoughts, News, Media Bias, CNN, Gaza

Friday, January 02, 2009

Picture of the Week 63

Taken in the newly rebuilt "Old" town of Warsaw - Teves 5766

Please note the other new post below . . . Wishing everyone a good Shabbos

Technorati Tags: Warsaw, Poland, Photography, Picture of the Week

Qassams in Brooklyn

This a post script to a post I wrote the other day on Israel's use of Social Media to help win the war on information front . . . I mentioned several interesting places to visit for information on the current operations in Gaza (of note Leora has several others on her blog as well).

At the time I decided, rather flippantly, that while follow @Qassamcount, I would have all updates forwarded to my my cell-phone. That evening while learning a text or two came in about rockets landing in Ashkelon, the Negev and othr places . . . it made of a quick break from learning. Nu. Nothing out of the ordinary.

But at 5:00 in the morning I was woken by a buzzing cell-phone. Half asleep I picked it up to see several rockets had landed in various Israeli cities. I rolled over and went back to sleep. 5:10 came another text - two more rockets had come down. 5:30 another Qassam came down somewhere near Beer Sheva. 6:30, 7:30 . . . They kept coming down, breaking me from some confused dream about a virus destroying my computer (Hashem Yishmor) . . .
While taking a shower my phone went again . . . Drinking my Coffee, Davening learning, eating Lunch . . . While writing this post at the Un-G-dly hour of 4:43 in the morning, a text just came in that another 7 rockets had recently come down.

Something interesting is happening - my life is being interrupted by events abroad.

News can be a form of escapism. We read it to take a break from our daily humdrum, then we return to the grind. It's there when we want it, quiet when we don't. We can go about our lives - perhaps mentioning it as a point of interest to a friend - only returning to it when we want to.

Now, however, I'm being chased. My day is interrupted, at relatively inconvenient times to boot. I don't have the audacity to say that the annoying buzz and bells of my phone can compare to the utter terror and damage of a Qassam - but something is (at least on a figurative level) hitting home. d

When we check the news at the end of the day, it's not that 50 rockets came down, and then it was over . . . it's a constant rain of fire - coming and going at whim, not caring for the schedule of our lives.
Let us pray that it ends soon.

Photo taken during my trip to Israel at a Nachal Chareidi base.

Technorati Tags: Israel, Twitter, Terrorism, Life, War, Hamas, Qassams, News, Thoughts