Save Darfur Rally - April 30, 2006 - The Video

[Scroll down for another post on the rally]

I took many videos. They were all supposed to be awesome. With music, chants, shouts, speeches. Then at the end something dawned on me - I forgot to turn on the speaker on my camera. So I have a whole lot of SILENT videos. I'm pissed! Some of it was really good music and outstanding inspirational speeches! One memorable speech was held by a Rabbi - "I have a nightmare." I wish I remembered all the words. "I have a nightmare that the genocide will get much worse and nothing will be done...I have a nightmare that the Holocaust will repeat itself in Darfur."

Here's one video after I realised my grave mistake and turned on the speaker.

It's humbling to see so many congressmen and congresswomen get involved in a rally!



Save Darfur

A Day with George Clooney - Save Darfur Rally

I was there today (details will follow). Click on the video of George Clooney's visit to Sudan.

http://www.cnn.com/2006/US/04/30/us.sudan.ap/index.html

http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/africa/04/30/sudan.darfur.reut/index.html

In Memory of

Today is Holocaust Memorial Day. I should have written something last night about it. But it's such an emotionally draining day for me that I need the time away from it before I can talk about it. The day is coming to an end. My memorial candle is almost burnt down.


I'm 37 years old. First generation to Holocaust Survivors.


For those who believe that post traumatic disorder is only unique to survivors of tragedies, then maybe you should talk to children of survivors.


I want to write more. I want to let all my feelings out. But I don't want to cry right now. There'll be another chance this week. There'll be another chance.


Today I just want everyone to know that at least one blogger is thinking of more than twenty relatives who were killed by the Nazis. Today you'll learn that a 37 year old, someone YOUR age, has lost her grandmother to shots fired from a gun held by a Nazi officer at point blank. The Holocaust may be just a history lesson for most of you, but for me it's my life.


In Memoriam of Roza Greifinger, may you rest in peace, with your brothers and sisters, nephews and nieces.

Odd one out

As I read the newspaper this evening, I couldn't help but burst out laughing, in spite of the very tragic piece of news. Something about the editing of this page, and placing one particular article on it - just seemed wrong.

The following are headlines and first sentences of articles on ONE PAGE in the Washington Post:

• "More than 20 Iraqis, 3 U.S. Troops Killed."
• "Torture Persists in Iraqi Prisons, Officials Say"
• "Afghan security forces surrounded Taliban fighters hiding in a village..At least three of the fighters and a police officer were killed."
• "Tensions between the Hamas-led government and President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction flared into a shootout"
• "Iran said its nuclear program is irreversible."
• "At least three Somalis were killed and nine wounded as clashes erupted between rival militias"

and....

[wait for it...]

• "A group of chimpanzees attacked and killed a Sierra Leonean driver and injured two American visitors and a Canadian at a wildlife sanctuary..."

My husband's reaction to this piece of news: "Well yeah! Chimpanzees, terrorists. They're all the same!"

Ok, yes, I do realise this is very sad and tragic, and I'm truly sorry to hear about this horrific killing, but honestly, my dear precious newspaper editor, were you just trying to place all articles with the keyword "killing" in one page for the shock value? So why not place the ads for termite extermination on this page? I just feel sorry for the Chimpanzees. Poor misunderstood creatures. They try to make a statement about their confinement in a sanctuary, they try and make the news, they go and kill, only to be outdone by humans doing the same.


Admittedly there was one more "odd one out" article on this page, but not to worry the keyword was faithfully maintained.

• "Brussels - About 80,000 demonstrators walked silently through the Belgian capital to protest..."

[OK, any guesses? What would EIGHTY THOUSAND demonstrators in Belgium protest? Wild guesses accepted. Religion? Politics? War? Taxes? Environment? Elections? Don't worry, my husband didn't guess right either and he opted for "chocolate." So here it is, the full piece of news from the same page-full of news:]

• Brussels - About 80,000 demonstrators walked silently through the Belgian capital to protest the killing of a teenager who refused to give his digital music player to two young robbers at a Brussels train station.

EIGHTY....THOUSAND demonstrators! EIGHTY *&%^ing THOUSAND demonstrators to protest against a couple of robbers and killers who belong in jail. Oh.my.god! If we could get eighty thousand people in the US to protest against every two robbers/killers - wow, we could have a crime free country! Eighty thousand people!!! Where do you find eighty thousand people in the USA who'd care??? My husband claims it'd be 80,000 criminals protesting.

Ok, enough of the bad news from this one page, here's a more enlightening piece of news (yes, from that same exact page. Page A12 of the Washington Post, Monday, April 24, 2006):

• Rome - "The Vatican will soon publish a statement on the use of condoms to prevent the spread of AIDS."

On that note, let us all pray for less killing around the world and more sex.

Looking for a house

My husband and I spent the weekend looking for a house. It's time to move. We're under no stress of time to find one, so we can take it easy and take our time finding the perfect house. Thankfully, our list of demands is not too conflicting. It's tempting to write our list in this blog, but I'd worry about being laughed at for having the most ridiculous priorities. Apparently, coming from an Israeli culture and architecture, some things just don't make sense to Americans. For example, I refuse to see the common sense behind placing a bathroom in close proximity to the kitchen and dining room. There's just nothing more digusting to me in American architecture than this decision.

In fact, I was so disgusted by it in my new workplace that I demanded a special key for the bathrooms located outside our offices, and a flight of steps away from the office front door. I don't know who's the moron that decided that placing the bathrooms near the kitchen is aesthetically and aromatically a brilliant idea. That moron ought to be shot, right alongside the inventor of the Storm Door.

Anyway, as we were driving around, and I was trying to orient myself after one of the many turns my husband took in three hours, I said, "South?" And he answered, "50/50/90" I already knew what he meant, but he said it anyway, "There was a 50 percent chance it would be south, a 50 percent chance it would be north, and a 90 percent chance you'd pick the wrong direction."

Yeah, I don't think I'm getting very far without my husband.

So we're intent on getting a two car garage single family home. Preferrably one floor, but a split level is also okay, and a two floor would have to be in a particular configuration for us to consider. As we drove around, I'd point out, "two car garage...one car garage...no garage..." etc. This went on for three hours before we decided to head back home. As we were headed back home, I pointed to the left, sort of satisfied with my observation skills at this point and said, "FOUR car garage!" My husband responded calmly, "Also known as the local fire department."

As we headed home I fell asleep, only to wake up one street away from our home, right across from a large church. With brain still hooked on defining houses, I pointed and said, "Big McMansion."

We need a real estate agent. Someone who has patience with two very picky individuals.

Bringing back memories

This is for my best friend in Israel. It brings back fond memories.

Tax Day

I hate this day! Mostly because my husband does the taxes and I get blamed for earning too much money (while he's the one earning far more than I am). So there goes two paychecks on taxes this year.

I'm just glad it's over. I hope everyone else got their tax returns.

Thank goodness, it's Monday!

Excitement on Easter

Once again a Jewish holiday coincides this year with a holiday of a different faith. Easter Sunday fell during Passover. Needless to say that I wasn't too thrilled about it, since it meant I won't be able to eat anything my mother-in-law made. Most of the dishes for Easter contain flour and I cannot eat anything made of flour til Wednesday. So I ended up cooking my own meal.

As I was cooking, my husband's grandfather came into the kitchen to say hi. His grandfather is in his eighties and I absolutely adore the man!!! The love is mutual and our eyes just light up when we see each other. So I gave him a big hug and wished him a happy Easter as he left the room. Next thing I know, I hear people screaming outside, and everyone rushing to the window to see what was going on.

The grandfather was in a car, another car was stopped in the opposite direction next to his, a woman shouting at another younger lady and at my beloved grandpa, and two police cars pulled behind and in front of him, pulling their guns out directed at him. I immediately called my husband to go calm everyone down (he's good at that), and meanwhile his mother came out of the house to check up on what was going on, while I stayed inside the house to make sure the kids (four of them aged 2 to 6 years old) don't do anything stupid, like run in front of the police guns.

As we were standing inside watching the events unfold I was getting rather confused on how his grandfather ended up at gun point, and why this woman was shouting at him. It didn't look like he hit her car, and he definitely didn't have the look on his face of "oh, I'm so sorry." He just seemed slightly bewildered by the excitement.

My husband came back in and told me to keep an eye on the kids and the dog, because this may take a while. Apparently, the young lady had been observed stealing from this woman's store, and the woman called the police on her, but meanwhile, the lady escaped and got into grandpa's car and tried to hijack him! She got into the passenger's seat and had her foot on his right foot which was on the gas pedal. Mind you, his foot has been amputated, so it was rather painful for him to endure. Meanwhile, he used his left foot to press on the brakes and refused to go anywhere.

The police got there in time to see this altercation, and arrested the woman for attempted hijacking and stealing.

The grandfather, after telling his story briefly to the police, asked naiively, "can I go now?" It didn't really sink in with him what had just happened and he was just going to carry on in his merry way. God love his kind soul!

His daughter (my mother-in-law) finally convinced him to go back in the house, while she parks his car. Meanwhile, once the police figured out that grandpa was not the acocmplice, they started looking for this young lady's accomplice who apparently escaped into the same street and got into one of the houses. So I gave the kids instructions - "If you see anyone you don't know come in the house, run to me." Like I would know what to do... But I figured together with four kids screaming we could scare off any unsuspecting thief.

Grandpa got back into the house and I came over and chided him for his actions, "First you come in and give me a hug, and next thing I know you're giving another chick a ride?!!!" He laughed and said, "Well, she got into my car and started shouting - 'my mom is very sick in the hospital, I called the police, drive!' - so I asked her where does she want to go, and she repeated it again 'my mom is in the hospital dying, go already!' - so I put my foot on the breaks and asked her where she wants to go! And then the police came behind me and in front of me and we couldn't go anywhere. But if she told me where she wanted to go I would have taken her...." God love his kind soul!

All is well now, and the rest of our Easter went by uneventful.

It's all about Passover

Passover was awesome. I cooked for ten, after a brief calculation in my confused mind that figured two families should sum up to ten people. But I ended up with 14 people instead. I have a dinner table that can sit ten comfortably, so we managed to squeeze 12, and banished my husband and a friend's son to sit at the island in the kitchen. After scrambling for half an hour to find extra chairs in the house, we finally sat down - two families with four kids each, and my husband and I.

The meal lasted five hours. Would have gone faster if it weren't for the jokes that went around the table every few minutes. When I asked the 19-year-old to pick up the shank bone from the Seder plate. He had a bit of trouble picking it up with the aluminum foil underneath it, and my husband had to comment "how difficult can it be for a 19 year old to raise his bone?!!!" That's when the kid answered with the wrong reply..."but it's dripping!" Yup, we were all pretty much spitting wine out of our mouths with laughter.

Since four cups of wine are mandatory at the meal, and my guests have been to Seders before, somehow it still caught them by surprise when after the long meal, I opened the Haggadah (the book we read from at the Seder) and announced, "THIRD CUP!" Apparently, everyone were already done with the third and fourth cup during the dinner.

The fact that I failed to count my guests ahead of dinner should have been a clue that my brain wasn't all there this week. After we finished the desserts, I opened the refrigerator to look for something when I realised I forgot one main dish and the gravy for the chicken. Needless to say I wasn't too thrilled with myself. So I guess we'll be having carrots with chicken gravy for Easter Sunday.

After four loads of dish washing, and a visit to my relatives in DC yesterday, I'll get just enough sleep to be able to pack my clothes for two days and head down to Virginia. My husband's sister is running her first marathon in Charlotsville on Saturday morning and we were selected to give her the family support. I just wish it didn't have to start at 7:30am!

By the way, the lonely weekend a couple of weekends ago had a good ending to it. After finding myself driving around town and stopping at a side street to cry, I decided I should head back home before I do something stupid. I called my husband and told him I wasn't doing too well. He decided to leave early on Sunday morning and get back home. We ended up having an awesome dinner on Sunday with a particularly awesome "dessert."


Todah la'el hayom yom shishi (TGIF!)

Happy Passover

I wish I had a ton of time to write in my blog now, but instead this is going to be short and segmented.

Passover is one of the three most important holidays in Judaism. Missing Passover is like missing Christmas for the Christians. This is the time when all Jews, no matter how religious or not religious they are - celebrate the holiday. The story of Passover is way too long to write about, so I won't go into details. The dinner we eat on Passover eve (tonight) is called a Seder. Literally - Order. Because there's a specific order to the dinner. We read from a book called Haggadah and then we eat. We finish the dinner with singing (optional). Some dinners last four hours and some last six hours. It depends how religious you are. But it cannot go less than four hours because of the amount of reading and amount of food that is eaten during the Seder. Four cups of wine are mandatory during the Seder (which is why I couldn't invite my Muslim friends to the dinner, but could invite my Catholic friends instead).

The cooking for Passover typically takes several days. I started on Sunday and have been diligently cooking something every evening since. Today I still have four dishes to make. One involves boiling eggs for ten hours (I always get surprised looks when I mention this dish). When I get a chance I'll have to add in the menu for tonight for your pleasure.

Oh, and the dietary restrictions on Passover are a pain in the @ss! Literally. We're not allowed to eat bread or anything made of flour (cookies, crackers, pizza, etc.). Only Matzah, meat and cheese.

Last year I spent the Seder with my family back in Israel. This year I'm spending it with two devout Catholic families. Only problem - they may be Catholic but they hardly agree on anything to do with religion. So the dinner typically becomes quite contentious with the two mothers arguing Christianity at a Jewish Seder. For me - pure entertainment. I can't wait to see the outcome THiS year.

At the end of the Seder the little kids go searching for the Afikoman. A hidden Matzah. When they find it they get a present. Because these are Catholic kids, I got them Easter Bunnies made of chocolate. Talk about confusing little kids about religion...

Passover lasts eight days. The first day of Passover begins the counting of the seven weeks before the harvest holiday - Shavuot. During this period of time no Jewish weddings are allowed, except during one day that falls in the middle called LAG Ba'OMER (literally "33rd day of the harvest").

Wishing everyone a Happy Passover and beginning of Spring!

It's Time for Social Action

Some of you know me in person, some of you only read my blog occasionally. Like other fellow Jews I have a habit of complaining. In some cultures, complaining is seen as b*tching with no purpose. In Judaism - it's cultural. While some may think this is a negative stereotype to label Jews with, I think it's because they don't quite understand the purpose behind it all.

One of the most importants tenements is called Tikun Olam, literally - fixing the world; The imperative to repair the world.

This reflects the Jewish values of Justice (tzedakah), Compassion (khesed) and Peace (shalom). The concept, originally formulated by Rabbi Isaac Luria in sixteenth century Safad, has come to symbolize the quest for social justice, freedom, equality, peace and the restoration of the environment. It is a call to action - to repair the world through social action. It recognizes that each act of kindness, no matter how small, helps to build a new world.

The kabbalah holds that the very creation of the universe by God was unstable, and that the early universe, represented by a pottery vessel, could not hold the holy light of God. In this view, the original form of the universe shattered in shards; the universe that we encounter today is thus literally broken, and in need of repair.

According to this belief, the practice of following the Jewish religious law is so one can repair the tattered shards of creation through their deeds. Therefore, through each fulfillment of a commanded deed (mitzvah) the kabbalists believe, a Jew performs an act of tikkun olam, gradually returning the universe to its form as God originally intended, and making mankind a partner in God's creation.

So yes, we complain.

A lot!

But we do so because the world is never complete or fixed. There's always something we can do to improve it. There's always something we can do to improve the lives of others. There's always something we can do. That's how we were raised. That's what we saw our ancesters do. They complained and then they did something about it.

Tikun Olam is most likely the most important lesson that Judaism teaches kids reaching the age of Mitzvah (Bar Mitzvah for the males at 13, and Bat Mitzvah for the females at 12).

Passover this year falls on Wednesday evening. I will try and write a separate post about Passover. This Passover, Jews around the world will call on fellow Jews to once again engage in Tikun Olam. The American Jewish World Service is calling on everyone to pursue global justice.


Social Action this year concentrates on rallying for Darfur to stop the genocide. On April 30, 2006 join the rally at the National Mall in Washington D.C. between 1:30pm and 4pm.


Please, take a moment of your time to sign the postcard to Save Darfur. Maybe one person cannot do much to save the world, but each one of us holds the responsibility to help others when we can.

The million voices postcard campaign gives your voice a chance to be heard. Sign it and be heard!