It was still a teenager. 19 going on 20. That was the first time I visited Israel. I was there around the time of the the 6 Day War. The first place I visited was Jerusalem. And, my first destination in Jerusalem was the Old City of Jerusalem. (You know, that was the “international City” that barred Jews from entry from 1948 until the time it became part of Israel. Where the gravestones from the major Jewish cemetery outside the walls were looted to finish the construction of the Intercontinental Hotel, then owned by King Hussein.) It was my desire to walk up to what was then called the Wailing Wall (it is now known as the Western Wall).
Tag Archives: Israel
This is not something we want to have grow!
We know that water shortages are not just looming- they are here. (Check out this blog post.) But, we are not only running out of water, desertification is occurring – around the world.
Continue reading This is not something we want to have grow!
A little perspective?
Thursday, 26 September 2013 (or Friday, depending where you were in the world) was Simchat Tora- the rejoicing of and in the Tora. On that holiday, we read the last section of the Tora and immediately start anew with the first. From Zot HaBracha (Deuteronomy 33-34) to Breishit (Genesis 1-6:8).
What a difference a word makes…
The third book of the bible, Vayikra (Leviticus), has an interesting pronouncement. This book (with its ten parshiot- weekly readings, 27 chapters in all) is concerned with priestly duties (hence Leviticus, of the Levi tribe, of which a select portion were the Kohanim- priests), sacrifices, and the laws. And, no, sacrifices are no longer effected. (They stopped with the destruction of the Great Temple.)
What I learned from the WSJ today…
So, as I am wont to do, I was devouring my newspapers at St. Elmo’s (the best coffee shop in Alexandria- come visit!) and ran across this article by Reuel Marc Gerecht (Israel’s New Islamist Neighborhood) that blew me away. It was even a topic of conversation with a few of my friends. Not because it discussed Israel (which is a topic near and dear to my heart), but because of the thought processes it engendered about the more global situation.
Yo, Ho, Ho and a Bottle of Rum!
When I moved to Charlottesville (VA), I found out that I was wrong about a whole bunch of things. No, not about Southern mentality, as it radically differs from that of Northerners. (But, I’m not making light of that at all!) Instead, it was that I found out that Thomas Jefferson was not dead- instead, he was alive and still the mayor of the place!
A shot to be felt ’round the world?
We know the four letter curses, the 10 letter curses. But, we dread the 6 letter one… C A N C E R…… But, maybe not for much longer.
Let’s sue! (Forget baseball, this is the real American past-time.)
I got married in New York some 40 years ago. And, because it was New York, there were
Continue reading Let’s sue! (Forget baseball, this is the real American past-time.)
450,000<>1 million
Note: I normally do not publish on weekends and holidays. This is a special post to update the Friday post.
It can happen here. It shouldn’t!
One of my friends, Paula Lee Bright, wrote last week about how Baby Boomers have had their retirement nest eggs destroyed. I remarked at the time, that I had lots to say on this subject, but wanted to avoid the Politics (I have no problems discussing politics on this blog)- and had written extensively on this subject in various other blogs and publications.