Priorities

As important as Yom Ha'atzma'ut is, and as enjoyable as the JIBs are, a post that is far more important may have been pushed down this blog a bit too fast. Please read Treating Cancer, and feel free to voice your own thoughts, feelings, and experiences. Thank you very much.

Yom HaAtzmaut is approaching!

Yom HaAtzmaut is approaching -- Israel's 59th Birthday!

Are you ready?

Are you partying?

Are you saying Halell?
(The Holy Hyrax will tell you why you must!)

Are you planning Aliya?

WHY NOT?

Stop worrying about the JIBs,
and celebrate the revival

of the Jewish people
in their Homeland!

This has been a public service announcement, brought to you by Jameel at the Muqata...and the Holy Hyrax.

It's Voting Time!

The first round of voting in the Jewish & Israeli Blog Awards have begun!

Please come and vote for your favorites, check out blogs you don’t normally read, and see a bigger part of the J-blogosphere.

The Best Posts voting will not start for another few days, thank you for your patience.

Please note! In a change from previous years, voting is no longer allowed once a day for the entire span of the awards, but once for each round of the awards. Please don’t vote more than once in either the first round of voting or the final round of voting – thank you for your assistance.

We hope everyone joins in to enjoy the fun and competitiveness in good taste – have a wonderful week, and good luck to you all!!

This blog is honored to have been nominated in three categories: Best Overall - Group A, Best Large Blog - Group A, and Best of the Rest - Group A (my personal favorite). Thank you very much to all those who nominated or voted for me, I'm extremely flattered!

I'm also pleased that people nominated four different individual posts from this blog [one written by me]. I think it says a lot about the quality and depth of the posts by by my friends, and hopefully will encourage them to write a little bit more this coming year. Thank you so much!

Treating Cancer

I was speaking to my friend over Shabbos - my good friend, the one who sang me down at my wedding, with a daughter two days older than my own, whose wife is fighting cancer at the age of 22 years old. His wife is being treated at one of the best cancer hospitals in the country thanks to an amazing friend who has been working there.

The hospital recently asked him to speak to a number of their nurses as a patient advocate, in order to give the nurses the perspective of a patient and their family and friends about what issues are important to them. My friend started with their "story", then proceeded to take and answer any questions the nurses had. Apparently, he was so good - and brought them to tears on a few occasions - that they've requested for him to come back and speak to another group this week.

The following are a couple of questions and answers he particularly felt were important, and both - particularly the second - are relevant to all of us:

• Q: What's the one point you would wish to get across to the people in this room?
• A: All of you have been working in this field for a period of time. You service countless patients with all their problems, and to some extent, you need to block out and not think about it too much. You need to desensitize yourself to avoid being overwhelmed by the pain, the grief, the troubles - and that's fine and necessary. You've done this many times. But as many times as you may have done this, it is always the first time for the patient. Try to treat the patient as if it's their first time, even if it isn't yours.

Near the end came what my friend felt was the best question of the night:

• Q: Almost all of the questions until now were about patient care and the like. I wanted to ask you - how are YOU doing?
• A: You know, thank you very much for asking me that. I really appreciate that. A lot of people forget that this is really hard on us, too, and that really means a lot to me. Thank you very much. In answer to your question... I'm okay. Thank you very, very much.

This isn't just true regarding cancer. We've had friends and family who have lost pregnancies, even a baby soon after birth, and people often focus - rightfully - on the mother who has just lost so much. In the process, the husband sometimes gets almost forgotten, even though the husband has just lost what was to be his child as well. It's important not to forget that the one who suffers the most is not the only one who is suffering - there are others who are hurting incredibly as well. This is true even if they can't afford to show it all the time, because they are bearing the brunt of the work while they take on the other's responsibilities; or, because they simply don't wish to show it as they feel the need to block it out somewhat.

Be there for the patient, and be there for their family, in whatever way you can, in whatever way they wish you to. You have no idea how much they appreciate your support.

Please daven (pray) for Aliza Rochel bas Liba Yenta.

Thank you to OldandWise for noting in the comments the importance of thanking and appreciating the dedicated staff in these and all situations. It reminded me of one part which I had left out of this post...

A friend whose father is a doctor in a hospital here had a nurse come over to him, seeing that he was a religious Jew, crying and asking him to pray for a young Orthodox mother who had cancer. As you can probably guess, the young lady she was asking for was none other than my friend's wife; she, her husband, and their baby have had a tremendous impact on all those who have come in contact with them - both in the hospital and out of it.

They exemplify what a true kiddush Hashem [sanctification of God's name] is.

A Nice Shabbos

'Tis funny how small the world is, isn't it? Thanks all for a wonderful Shabbos. Sorry, the rest of y'all don't have hyperlinks. :P

JIB Nominees!

The nominees for Best in Class, at least, are fully up to date. (I'm not sure about the rest. UPDATE: Akiva informs me that the Specialty Awards and All-Around Awards are updated as well; the Best Posts are the hardest to put together, and will hopefully be done motzei Shabbos. If you see a mistake, don't hesitate to tell us.) Voting starts sometime early next week; meanwhile, check out all the nominated blogs, find ones you like, and start reading them. That's what these 'awards' are really about.

It appears this blog was nominated for Best Overall, Best Large Blog, and - the one I like the best - Best of the Rest. Thanks!

Have a wonderful Shabbos! Ours should be packed: We thought we were getting a few Baltimore teens, but they had to postpone their trip, so we ended up with a couple sleeping guests, a bunch of eating guests tonight, and being invited to walk 45 minutes on a beautiful Shabbos day to eat with a whole bunch of friends. There isn't a lot I love about New York City, but having a ton of friends around is a nice big bonus.

The Importance of Nuance

There are times when speech calls for nuance, and there are times when nuance actually hurts the points one is trying to make. More often, however, the former is what is needed, and without it, a person's words will cause them to lose respect and credibility. Baruch Horowitz has an excellent letter making this point (among others) at Mishmar that is being sent to Mishpacha magazine in response to the letter attacking R' Yaakov Horowitz*. Check it out.

UPDATE: DovBear & Harry Maryles both chime in as well.

* I don't believe the two Horowitzes are related.

Freewrite

In my college english composition II class today we did a bit of freewriting. The prompt was "What if..."
I'm copying it now from my notebook, verbatim. (except for a few translations from hebrew) Thus, be kind and please forgive the errors. Enjoy...

What if bananas were purple? The world runs on so many rules, so many things need to be constant. We expect to wake up every morning and be able to see and walk and our house will look the same and life will just be typical. But what we don't realize is that bananas don't have to be yellow. The creator of th world can do anything in the blink of an eye. He can make bananas purple, or the sky could fall, or we could all sprout 3rd eyes. He could create a tumor in someone's brain, cause a house to catch on fire, or create an accident on the highway. There is nothing that truly needs to stay constant- G-d just makes it certain things be that way so that He can hide himself in nature. But even the hidden which is constant and normal is a miracle. Who tells our bodies that they need to constantly be breathing and pumping blood and digesting? Weathermen are able to predict the weather, but that's only cuz G-d put in nature the ability to do so- in reality, it could snow in July with no warning (and in Cleveland, you never know!) But sometimes the nature is changed so that we realize there is something more than simply rules of the world. Sometimes we need everything to crash down, for bananas to turn purple, in order for us to remember that there is a plan, that we're here for a reason and we each have something to accomplish. It may be something simple, like a rainy day when you have a class trip planned or a store being out of sugar on Erev Shabbos, but sometimes that's not enough. And that's when G-d sends us the tough wake up calls, the things like illness or money troubles or G-d forbid all the other difficulties out there. That's why it's so important, when things are going well, to see G-d's hand in that too. To have strep throat and be better after a week on penicillin- Chasdei Hashem (A kindness from G-d)! To visit your cute nephew and watch him happily play- Chasdei Hashem! To eat a meal and be satisfied- Chasdei Hashem! Every time something goes smoothly, every time you smile cuz your day just got brightened, every time you attend a Simcha (celebration, like wedding or bar mitzvah) or feel rested after a night's sleep- stop for a moment to realize it's G-d's way of being involved in your life, of showing you that He loves you and cares for you and only wants to give you the best. And when the hard times come, it will be easier to remember that He is in control, and that no matter how difficult it may seem, G-d is cheering you on. And wit that in mind, G-d willing we'll pass all our tests and be able to achieve our Tafkidim (tasks) in this world.

>end mussar shmooze<

Why the J-Blogosphere Matters

(with a nod to DB for the title, who Harry Maryles has an interesting if unsurprising interview with)

Someone wrote what I feel is a poor, terrible letter to Mishpacha magazine complaining about R' Yaakov Horowitz' series suggesting that if we want to stop the problems of kids dropping out and "teens-at-risk", among others, we need to reform our education system. Now, it's one thing to argue [as the letter does] that we don't know if this will stem the tide, even I think you've got to be a complete fool to think it won't help many of the problems in our school systems, but quite another to use terribly poor logic and otherwise stupid arguments to do so:

I understand the logic: If the “best schools” would teach subjects which were interesting to children on the brink, these children might remain. Now these schools teach only Gemara, so these children are bored and fall even faster.

If we teach many secular subjects in our school, will Torah giants emerge? Or does that not make a difference? How does Rabbi Horowitz know that it’s more important to save the falling children? Maybe it’s more important to save the ones with true potential to reach the greatest heights?

Rabbi Horowitz is worried that within a few years many children will fall off the derech. I’m afraid that if his plan for the yeshivos is accepted then the children will fall off the derech — if not this generation, perhaps the next. The responsibility of changing the schools based on a doubtful theory is very scary. (Is the dropouts percentage smaller in girls’ schools which teach secular subjects? I don’t think so.)

Here in Eretz Yisrael, we often have bulletin board messages by the gedolim, warning that if the government forces more secular subjects on our schools, then we will have to abandon governmental aid, to continue the yeshivah studies al taharas hakodesh, without secular studies.

It was revealed to the Taz, who lived during the years of the Decrees of Tach v’Tat, that if he would die, the terrible massacres would be averted. His death would atone for the entire nation. But he said, “I can’t die before I finish writing my commentary on the Shulchan Aruch,” so the troubles began.

We see from this story (in Kisvei Mahari Shub) that we don’t have the correct perspective about what Torah is and what is important.

The Likutei Moharan (64) explains in depth that secular subjects cause heresy. So I don’t comprehend how this topic can be taken so lightly, in newspapers written for ordinary readers, that they should pressure yeshivos to teach more science, more language, less Gemara, and then klal Yisrael will be saved. Please address important questions to the gedolim. Let them decide, and then readers will follow.

Don’t give readers false hopes, based on imagined theories which every true Torah scholar will repulse.

I'm not even sure where to begin, so I won't bother.

I think it's because of people like R' Horowitz, who may not be a "blogger" per se, but definitely contributes greatly to the J-Blogosphere, that shows the importance of the J-Blogosphere. If there's anyone deserving of nomination for Best Contribution in the JIBs, it would be R' Horowitz. And seeing as how there are only a few hours left to nominate... hurry up! :)

Video: Cool Facts

(Hat tip: My sister Vervel) These are some of the many incredible and cool facts about Israel you probably get via e-mail all the time, put to pictures and music. It's interesting to see just how much this has riled up leftists and the like on YouTube. There's quite a bit of anti-Semitism and attempts to deny the facts presented in the video, along with other videos that make outrageous (and false) claims about Israel as well.

The Orthomom Hearing

Canonist was live-blogging it.

Last Day to Nominate!

Today is the last day to put in nominations for the JIBs, so get to it! [click on the badge to the right...]

I've already listed which posts written on this blog I think are worthy of consideration (and almost none were by me, unsurprisingly). Feel free to check them out and nominate them if you agree. I've also posted what I thought was one of the best posts of the year elsewhere; I wish I could remember all of the great ones, but there's just so many, I can't sift through them all. I hope to read through all the nominees at some point, though.

Mr. Bean on Shidduchim

Hat tip: Stephy

Let's Go Tribe! Anyone have tickets? :)

I'm thinking about going to the game tonight at Yankee Stadium. I've never seen Jeremy Sowers pitch - should be really cool, if we (my brother and I) can get cheap tickets. Ironically, a friend of mine called me last week and said, "Hey, I'm watching your Indians play the Angels of Los Angeles or whatever they're called... in Miller Park! [in Milwaukee]" I told him to watch Sowers, Sizemore, and Hafner. Sowers pitched an excellent game, and had two great defensive plays, especially one ball that bounced off first base which he grabbed bare-handed [he'd been running over to cover first, the ball was headed to the first baseman until it hit the bag], then dove and slapped the ball on the bag to beat the runner; and Grady and Pronk each homered. Nice.

UPDATE: Section 14, Row P. Supposedly, that's on the first-base side, but I think it's third - that's going to get my brother (who specifically asked the guy for 1b side) really ticked.

Disturbing Letter in Baltimore?

(Hat tip: G)

Check out this post and picture at AlanLaz. Apparently it has been taken down, but a letter with R' Heinemann's seal and signature had been up at the Agudah telling people not to allow the Baltimore Jewish Times in their homes. I'm curious as to its authenticity (in terms of was it really from him), in light of its being taken down... sad.

Post of the Year?

I was discussing something with a friend tonight, and one of my favorite posts by anyone this past year clicked in my head once again. I think there's something about this post that so many of us can relate to. Excerpts:

Until May 22, 2006, when an angst-ridden, bewildered young BA left her big home country, which she loved as tenderly and certainly as she loved her parents and fled into the arms of her little home, with the passion not of a daughter, but of a bride. And it was a match made in Heaven. What can I say. I'm incredibly, incredibly grateful for the chance that I got... I didn't want to leave. Would you believe it! I didn't want to leave! ... My eyes were wide open. But I didn't want to leave, and still, after I have left, I long to go back, won't have peace until I do. I can't stress enough how much I've learned about myself from this journey.

Yes, it was a real journey, not just a trip. I... It *clicked* right away, if you know what I mean? Look, you don't believe me... but having never been to the country, from the moment I saw its landscapes from the window of the airplane, I felt as if I were *coming back* to the abode I once knew, rather than visiting a completely new place. Everything was SO familiar. The whole country was a MEMORY, not a discovery. I can't explain it; it's simply fantastic... The only thing I can say is it felt RIGHT. So right, that it couldn't POSSIBLY be wrong.

Two weeks was not enough. Two weeks was not NEARLY enough. But there was no need for a vow that I'd be back. There's simply no question about it. None. And there's no question about what direction my entire life will be moving in from now on. Or, who knows, perhaps it was to begin with and I'm simply just beginning to understand. On the way to the airport, I knew one thing - that I was now living in a schizophrenic state of mind. Two realities...

I don't know what to do. But this trip was a glimpse of the future. And the future looks good.

Heh - Orthomom's Lawyer Rocks

Read this response at Canonist. It's enjoyable, it's so good. I love the presentation, too: Firstly, A isn't true. Second, even if A were true, B isn't true. And even if B were true, C doesn't apply, so basically, let's just dismiss this and move on, shall we?

R' Gottlieb's Speech on Abuse

Thanks to Michael for sending me this link... here is the link to R' Dovid Gottlieb's speech on the last day of Pesach at Shomrei Emunah in Baltimore regarding abuse: Click.

R' Gottlieb writes at the top:

Below is an edited write-up of the drasha delivered after Mussaf on the last day of Pesach 5767 (4/10/07)..

Because so many of you who were away for Yom Tov have asked me for a copy of the speech I am presenting it here.

I gave the speech with very basic notes and therefore had to reconstruct it almost all from memory. I have done my best but undoubtedly this is not a “word-for-word” transcription.

It is my hope that the drasha will be read in the same spirit that it was given – as devarim ha-yotzim min ha-lev.

Intro:

I want to talk with you this morning about the problem of sexual abuse in our community.

When I say “our community” I mean both the American Orthodox community and, specifically, the Baltimore Orthodox community.

I am sorry to have to speak about this topic at all and I am particularly sorry to have talk about it on Yom Tov. But I am doing so in advance of a letter that you should all be receiving later this week. The letter is a statement adopted by the Vaad HaRabbonim addressing the issue of abuse in our community.

As difficult as it may be, we feel it is important to address this topic openly and directly because ignorance and silence are two of the greatest allies of abusers. Hidden under the cloud of silence individual acts of abuse can become long-term abuse and small problems can grow into full-blown crisis. And the best antidote for a cloud is sunshine.

Read the whole thing.

Worth Listening to Again

This.

Elsewhere, the JIBs are open for nominations for just two more days, so click on that icon on the left and check out who has been nominated. Nominate those who you think should be and aren't yet, and of course, take the time to check out some of the blogs out there. There are reasons we have these awards, and that's the main one.

Israeli Holocaust Survivor - Hero in Virginia

Hat tip: Michael

Jerusalem Post:

As Jews worldwide honored on Monday the memory of those who were murdered in the Holocaust, a 75-year-old survivor sacrificed his life to save his students in Monday's shooting at Virginia Tech College that left 32 dead and over two dozen wounded.

Professor Liviu Librescu, 76, threw himself in front of the shooter, who had attempted to enter his classroom. The Israeli mechanics and engineering lecturer was shot to death, "but all the students lived - because of him," Virginia Tech student Asael Arad - also an Israeli - told Army Radio.

Several of Librescu's other students sent e-mails to his wife, Marlena, telling of how he blocked the gunman's way and saved their lives, said the son, Joe.

"My father blocked the doorway with his body and asked the students to flee," Joe Librescu said in a telephone interview from his home outside of Tel Aviv. "Students started opening windows and jumping out."

Yehi Zichro Baruch.