B'H
Names are interesting and I have always been interested in names and their meanings. My name at birth, I always loathed. I hated it even more when I asked my mother what it mean and she told me it meant 'Bubble' in German. I remember at five, thinking what sort of name is that and why would you call a daughter 'bubble'. I hated it even more when I looked it up in a book of names and its meaning was set out as 'Barbarian' or 'strange one' or 'stranger.' I hated my name for years so much so that when I went to boarding school I gave myself a nickname 'Jinx' because I felt I had been JINXED by my name. It repulsed me.
Later in 1980 I changed my names around because I much prefered my second name 'Eileen' which means 'desired' or 'light' or 'pleasant'. I was very happy with the name Eileen and only later changed my name completely by deed poll when I became formally Jewish Orthodox and took a Hebrew name Ilana which means tree. It is very similar in some ways to Eileen. So in a way, I feel Ilana is very similar to Eileen and I have always felt very comfortable with Ilana. It fitted me and my personality and who I am.
I never felt comfortable with 'Barbara'. Barbara is fine for Barbara Steinsand or other famous Barbaras like Barbara Cartland etc etc but the name Barbara never fitted me. I always felt happier when people did not refer to me as that name. Ironically, my mother took it as a personal rejection, the fact that I did not like the name. It sort of typified our relationship through out my life. You do not like the name I gave you therefore you have rejected me. I once has a young Israeli girl in a class I was teaching in Israel. She came in and announced that her name was no longer Chagit but it was now Orit ( I actually cannot remember the name she changed it to, but Orit will do for now). I was surprised and asked her after the class why she had changed from Chagit and I started to say, but Chagit is such a lovely name and then I stopped myself. When she had finished I simply said, 'I understand why. You felt for years that your name did not suit who you were?' She looked at me in surprise and said 'Yes. How did you know?' I shrugged and then told her my story about my name and we laughed. Some times parents do get it wrong. The thing is to admit it.
My mother once said to me about six months after the birth of my son,'What sort of name is Nir?' I explained the meaning and then she told me,'AHHH I bet you will scream blue murder if he wants to change his name when he grows up?'
'No,' I replied,'once he grows up and if he honestly does not like the name, I want him to be happy with a name that he feels comfortable with using and being known by.' I mean that. If my child honestly feels not comfortable with the name I gave him at his birth then he should change it to something he feels fits him.
What brought about this post? Well I was in centrelink yesterday and I was asked by one of their clerks 'what name are you using now?'
It lists on my form all my married names and my birth name. I think they think I am into alias and suspect that I have secret names and businesses everywhere.
I have been known only as Ilana Yael Leeds for many years. My birth certificate had for a while Alana Yael because the clerk who transcribed the deed poll made a mistake which I had to pay to get rectified some years afterwards.
That is another thing, there are variations of the same name with spelling. Ilana can be Elana, Alana, Alannah, Ellena, Ilanit, Ilanna, Ellanna and the variations go on and on. It is all in a name, isn't it?
I love names and their meanings. What is the story of your name?
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Monday, January 23, 2012
Gay Rams and more Gay Bull – roles, rites and their rights
This whole issue of same sex marriage rites is really
becoming quite tiresome. For many years now, same sex couples have enjoyed
rights equivocal to those afforded de facto heterosexual couples and they have
had their relationships treated with respect and given the benefits that are
given not only to heterosexual couples but also married couples. But is this
enough for the Gay and Lesbian and other Bisexual and Transgender mob. No. They
want more and more and more. They want to have their unions blessed the same as
heterosexual couples, by the rite of marriage.
It is an interesting concept, this right, isn’t it? We forget that with
the rite of marriage comes a responsibility to honour and respect the union of
a man and a woman before G-D. So if you are an atheist, marriage rites should
not really be an issue. You don’t believe in G-D and therefore should see no
valid reason to have your union sanctified anyway. Apart from the fact that it
is about honouring the union of a man and a woman who are made in G-D’s image
and the union of a man and woman celebrates the procreativity that is only
possible between a man and woman coming together , not two men and not two
women. There is a feminine element needed and there is the masculine element
needed. Let me give you an example from my country girl background.
Years ago I watched my father putting harnesses on rams with
a blue or red raddle stick attached. Raddle is like a chalk block and the
purpose for this is as follows. You are able to ascertain from the marks of the
raddle the ewes that have been straddled. You can also tell from the wearing
down of the raddle stick on each ram how well he has worked the flock of ewes.
Woes betide the ram whose raddle stick remained intact, or if he has been seen
to straddle only his fellow rams. He usually ends up minus his reproductive
potential in with the wethers (castrated male sheep) whose main role is to grow
wool for a few years and then off to the meat works to become lamb chops or
stew.
There is some interesting material and research has been
done on the brains of male gay sheep which shows some distinct similarities to
gay human males.
http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn3008-homosexuality-is-biological-suggests-gay-sheep-study.html
However the fact remains that while they are afforded every
respect and the rights to humane and gentle care as well as feed and water, as
much as any other sheep in the flock, they are no longer put with the ewes but
allowed to run with the wethers for a year or two. That is a male only
environment usually. There seems little purpose in them being in with the
breeding stock in the paddocks allocated for such purposes.
The same goes with gay bulls and rams. I think studs might
offer replacement animals if some of their livestock turn out to be gay. I have
had a bit of trouble doing the research on that one. One young lass I spoke to from
a NSW stud had a thirty minute conversation with me when I had only intended it
to be five minutes on the phone. ‘Do you have some stud rams that turn out to
prefer their other rammy friends?’ ‘Yes. Sometimes.’ ‘What do you do? ‘‘We ring the buggers and
put them out with the wethers and let them become wool growers.’ This was the
sort of conversation I had expected to have. Instead I had this rather intense
and quite deeply probing question and answer interview which was a megilla (long
drawn out story) in and of itself. I was asked if I was angry about homosexuals
and did I fear homosexuals.(????) When I answered negative to both those
questions, I do not think this lass believed me. There I was informed about the
‘sensitive and caring way they deal with their sheep and livestock and how they
do not cut the tails on their lambs and have stopped mulsing their sheep and
because of the ‘change in attitude towards their sheep they have less
flystrike. ‘ I must be honest here.
I thought she was pulling my leg and I finally told her that she needed to
attend to her kid and I would attend to mine.
By the way the acreage this girl was talking about was
16,000 acres of probably prime Goulburn breeding pastures which she informs me
that they run up to 25,000 sheep. Quite possible that they can keep a watch on
their breeding stock in such a small area and handle the stock far more
intensely than in say a larger area of 60,000 plus acreage. I could see we were
going nowhere with the concept of no mulsing and organic dips and leaving the
tails on lambs. In some areas of Australia that is just not going to be possible
or practical. Maybe I am old fashioned but I am sure no grazier is going to
risk his stock to prove them wrong. There are some places with five or six
paddocks or more the size of their whole NSW property. In fact I am now
wondering after the conversation that I had with this lass whether she was
really have a feed at my expense.
Here is an interesting article. http://highsteaksfarming.com.au/the-rams-get-toey/
Now how does this relate to gay males and females of the
human species? Easy, it does occur naturally but by the same token we should
not call it the same as marriage between a man and a woman. It is a deviation
from the norm and it involves conscious choices in behaviour. I may decide to
become a Buddhist monk and go and shave my head, pray constantly and live an ascetic
life of prayer and mediation. But by so doing, I am not going to have kids, I
am not going to marry and other things. I can not marry or I cannot have my
cake and eat it too.
Simply put if you have a bolt and a nut you can
join them together and they connect in a way that only a nut and bolt can and
form a union of two parts with an
important function by virtue of the fact that they connect. You cannot have
the same connection with two bolts and two nuts. It just doesn’t work the same way, does it? The same sex issue is a non issue.
I have included a sample of an imagined conversation between
Michael Barnett of Aleph Australia and myself.
MB: Oh so here we
have Ilana Leeds enemy of homosexuals with her war on homosexuals. How’s your f#*king
kennel cough BITCH? I hope it kills you.’
He stands his hands on hips tapping his Nike shoe against
the pavement. Ilana steps back a step or
two because she detects a hint of steam arising from Michael and is not sure
whether he has been working out too hard in the gym or he is just about to blow
a gasket being in such close proximately to the worst enemy that the world’s
gay community could ever hope to have – an unrepentant supporter of
heterosexuality.
IYL: Michael, I
am not sure why you are such an angry young man or middle aged man. If you are
secure in yourself and your relationship, surely you do not need to be married to
prove your love for your male partner? After all what do you really want? Is it
attention or is it just to have what others in heterosexual marriages have,
without the other responsibilities that it involves?
MB: You are a
homophobic moron, Leeds. Apart from your obsession with bestiality. You just
don’t get it do you? There is a great spiritual lack in our relationship
without a marriage ceremony. We need fulfilment and for our union to be
sanctified just like any heterosexual couples do. We feel discriminated against
because we can’t have what they have. Are you so insane that you do not see
that?
IYL: Do you
believe in G-D Michael?
MB: Answer my
question first, bitch.
IYL: (Gently and
speaking really softly and soothingly reassuring) Michael, it is really
important that you do answer my question first which will lead us up to the
most important point of all this. Do you
believe in G-D?
MB: No, not in
your version of G-D. Maybe there is G-D but it is not your G-D. (Michael cannot
help himself. He is intrigued, as after all he desires love and happiness and
above all to be accepted and loved.)
IYL: Michael, I
don’t own G-D. I don’t even have copyright on G-D. G-D is for all of us and G-D
made man and woman in its image for a purpose. Do you know what that purpose is Michael?
MB: (Looking
aghast and unsure of how to answer this.) And you vicious homophobe, what is
your point? You vile hateful individual,
you despoiler of young gay youth. You denier of their sexuality. What is your
f**king point?
IYL: Michael I am
saying is that no one is perfect and we all have to struggle with ourselves in
different ways and on different levels. However marriage is for a man and a
woman who want their union sanctified legally and it bestows certain rights and
recognition in communities and in society. Some people believe marriage is only
a piece of paper and that the real soul mate connection and union is above that
physical act of signing a document before a marriage celebrant or a JP.
Marriage is for a man and a woman because it blesses two people – one a man and
one a woman who come together for a holy purpose or it should be holy and that
is to create a house and a home based on opposites as set out in Torah. A woman
is set opposite her mate, a male in order to oppose him and to help him form
himself into a complete whole as he does her. When those two people come
together they bring into a being a divine spark that can result in new life and
a new individual being created. They become partners in the act of creation.
Can you honestly say Michael that can happen with two men or with two women
coming together? There Michael I rest my case. And further more I am not
denying that there is real love between you and your partner or that of any
same sex couple, but I am saying it is frankly and sadly a sterile union when
compared to the beauty depth and passion of the union between a man and a woman
who truly and honestly love one another and are married through truth and that
truth is sanctified through a marriage ceremony.
MB is speechless with anger and surprise. He breaks down and
cries. Ilana kindly offers him a tissue from the box she has brought along to
dry her own tears at Michael’s plight and that of other gay people who are
unable to unfortunately participate in marriage as a rite for it is simply put
only for a man and woman to join together and not for same sex couples.
For those who want a bit of interesting reading on gay sheep
it is quite well documented as is homosexuality in the animal world. You have
to worry about these scientists.
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Differences between a terrorist and an activist are
B'H
An activist uses all means at his or her disposal to peacefully create calm and order out of chaos. A terrorist uses fear and anger to destroy order and to create chaos in order to achieve set aims.
An activist sees those around him or her as human beings. A terrorist does not see human beings only tools and pawns in the game.A terrorist has lost the ability to mourn the dead because his or her 'high' is the power of fear and the death and destruction they have caused.
An activist for any cause should be defensive, but it is a fine line between activism and terrorism. Lastly there is a little bit of the terrorist in every activist and a lot of the activist in each terrorist. That is what can make each such individual so dangerous if lines are crossed. . However a true activist attempts to bring about quiet revolution within the individuals that they come in contact with and build them up
An activist uses all means at his or her disposal to peacefully create calm and order out of chaos. A terrorist uses fear and anger to destroy order and to create chaos in order to achieve set aims.
An activist sees those around him or her as human beings. A terrorist does not see human beings only tools and pawns in the game.A terrorist has lost the ability to mourn the dead because his or her 'high' is the power of fear and the death and destruction they have caused.
An activist for any cause should be defensive, but it is a fine line between activism and terrorism. Lastly there is a little bit of the terrorist in every activist and a lot of the activist in each terrorist. That is what can make each such individual so dangerous if lines are crossed. . However a true activist attempts to bring about quiet revolution within the individuals that they come in contact with and build them up
This is an image of anger and hatred. The face is covered with a mask. There are no humanising features and it could be anyone. a man or a woman. It is a mask and anonymous. It is the face of a terrorist.
Now by contrast look at the face of the man below. An open inquiring face, friendly and the face of someone who connects with people. A man who is a scholar and whose love of life pours out through his eyes and the lines of his face are relaxed and friendly. He is or was rather a genuine warm friendly person. This person sought to build and to create, not to destroy. Yet he and most of his family were destroyed last year nearly twelve months ago by terrorists.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Defamation and Democracy
B'H
In Australian law, in theory, we are protected by the law against people who would seek to defame or misrepresent or besmirch our reputations in the work community and in society. This can work against us as in the case of Darryn Hinch - a man I do have intense admiration for. He went to jail for naming sex offenders on public radio. Now the law is a funny business when it is all said and done.
I am investigating the possibility of a defamation lawsuit and have to contact a person who is making it their business to deal with this sort of thing. I have been advised to to to Legal Aid by a left wing Law firm which is known nationally but they are also known for their support for a certain lobby group in society.
What is defamation?
The law is now fairly uniform across Australia and whether that is to my advantage or not remains to be seen.
Here is a more detailed analysis if you need it. http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%203/volume3_69.htm#member
There is a statue of limitations but I also will have to go down the path of a certain party having incited hatred towards me and my young son of 8 years old to such an extent as certain members of a lobby group would feel justified and doing harm to us. I have had again persons drive past my flat on a certain road in Caulfield and scream out 'Bigoted slut' and other 'endearing' epithets. Interesting and extremely worrying that my son has to be subjected to that sort of rubbish and even me. Obviously we are dealing with quite deranged and demented people. I am glad, sincerely glad that some of the people from the homosexual communities that I have met through work or study or simply in all walks of life, have been on the whole quite rational human beings and good citizens. While I will not promote or support a gay life style, I will treat gay people or homosexuals with respect deserving of any human being. I remain unequivocally on the side of promoting male female heterosexual relationships and marriage as the ideal and healthiest lifestyle as is my right in a democratic society.
To call me a homophobic or blame me for the death of young gay peoples because I do not support gay marriage rights is both absurd and in fact cyberbullying when numerous posts and blogs are written with me as the main focus and the intent is one of malice and indeed disturbing malice that could cause harm to both myself and my young son for the obvious reasons. What boundaries do these people place on their behaviour? Obviously none what so ever.
This all started well over a year ago and has continued up to a few weeks ago. All very weird that one single parent has all this focus from the GLTGB community. On would think they had bigger fish to fry than harrassing more vulnerable members of society.
The Uniform Defamation Law requires that a plaintiff must commence proceedings for defamation within a year of publication or broadcast. However, courts may extend this to up to three years if the plaintiff can demonstrate there were good reasons why they could not start the action within a year.
We have the right in a democracy to voice our opinions and our beliefs, so long as they do not incite hatred or violence against another group of people. We can express ideas so long as those ideas do not cause harm to others. When we become autocratic and dictatorial and we believe only our views and our opinions are right and only our views must be give respect and space, then we are censoring all opinions except our own and are totally unbalanced in our approach to debate.
Some people are obviously not sublte enough to see that. They think censorship is all about their opinions and not about their censoring of what others say in a reasoned and sensible manner. Only very frightened and violently inclined people with no argument to back them, resort to such techniques. I focus on the argument rather than the person. That is all. the issue is respect and the rights of the individual to freedom of speech without harm to others.
In Australian law, in theory, we are protected by the law against people who would seek to defame or misrepresent or besmirch our reputations in the work community and in society. This can work against us as in the case of Darryn Hinch - a man I do have intense admiration for. He went to jail for naming sex offenders on public radio. Now the law is a funny business when it is all said and done.
I am investigating the possibility of a defamation lawsuit and have to contact a person who is making it their business to deal with this sort of thing. I have been advised to to to Legal Aid by a left wing Law firm which is known nationally but they are also known for their support for a certain lobby group in society.
What is defamation?
The law is now fairly uniform across Australia and whether that is to my advantage or not remains to be seen.
The publication of any false imputation concerning a person, or a member of his family, whether living or dead, by which (a) the reputation of that person is likely to be injured or (b) he is likely to be injured in his profession or trade or (c) other persons are likely to be induced to shun, avoid, ridicule or despise him.
Publication of defamatory matter can be by (a) spoken words or audible sound or (b) words intended to be read by sight or touch or (c) signs, signals, gestures or visible representations, and must be done to a person other than the person defamed.
Here is a more detailed analysis if you need it. http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%203/volume3_69.htm#member
There is a statue of limitations but I also will have to go down the path of a certain party having incited hatred towards me and my young son of 8 years old to such an extent as certain members of a lobby group would feel justified and doing harm to us. I have had again persons drive past my flat on a certain road in Caulfield and scream out 'Bigoted slut' and other 'endearing' epithets. Interesting and extremely worrying that my son has to be subjected to that sort of rubbish and even me. Obviously we are dealing with quite deranged and demented people. I am glad, sincerely glad that some of the people from the homosexual communities that I have met through work or study or simply in all walks of life, have been on the whole quite rational human beings and good citizens. While I will not promote or support a gay life style, I will treat gay people or homosexuals with respect deserving of any human being. I remain unequivocally on the side of promoting male female heterosexual relationships and marriage as the ideal and healthiest lifestyle as is my right in a democratic society.
To call me a homophobic or blame me for the death of young gay peoples because I do not support gay marriage rights is both absurd and in fact cyberbullying when numerous posts and blogs are written with me as the main focus and the intent is one of malice and indeed disturbing malice that could cause harm to both myself and my young son for the obvious reasons. What boundaries do these people place on their behaviour? Obviously none what so ever.
This all started well over a year ago and has continued up to a few weeks ago. All very weird that one single parent has all this focus from the GLTGB community. On would think they had bigger fish to fry than harrassing more vulnerable members of society.
The Uniform Defamation Law requires that a plaintiff must commence proceedings for defamation within a year of publication or broadcast. However, courts may extend this to up to three years if the plaintiff can demonstrate there were good reasons why they could not start the action within a year.
We have the right in a democracy to voice our opinions and our beliefs, so long as they do not incite hatred or violence against another group of people. We can express ideas so long as those ideas do not cause harm to others. When we become autocratic and dictatorial and we believe only our views and our opinions are right and only our views must be give respect and space, then we are censoring all opinions except our own and are totally unbalanced in our approach to debate.
Some people are obviously not sublte enough to see that. They think censorship is all about their opinions and not about their censoring of what others say in a reasoned and sensible manner. Only very frightened and violently inclined people with no argument to back them, resort to such techniques. I focus on the argument rather than the person. That is all. the issue is respect and the rights of the individual to freedom of speech without harm to others.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
It is all about the state of Israel and our love of fellow Jews
B'H
Lately what has happened in Israel has distressed me on many levels. We have this split between - not only religious and the secular, commonly known in Israel as the Dati and the Hiloni, but between various levels of religious observance among the Haredi communities or I should say some members of the Haredi community who have sought to embarrass their more learned and civilised peers and elders by behaving in an unorthodox trashy manner, and the Modern Orthodox stream of Judaism.
It pains me deeply on a very personal level, that I should and indeed any Jew should have to see such scenes take place in Israel - the land of the Jews - our holy state. How much blood has been shed for the state by men and women in the IDF and by others who settled the land and are still settling the land today and we are tearing at the fabric of the state. This has got to stop. Israel and Israelis need to come together and bond as a family and reflect on on individual differences and opinions and agree to disagree on some matters.
I am not calling for Haredi members to forgo their high standards of modesty or tzniut or glatt kosher or anything else. BUT as a Jew I am asking them to look at their practice of Ahavat Israel and their fellow Jew. On a personal level I keep kashrut that may be more difficult to observe than many want to keep, but by the same token, others may be far more strict, on some matters. Are we to become autocratic dictators of what is Judaism and only one opinion matters and that opinion must be law? What is the Talmud based on? Mishna and gemora - and how many opinions are expressed? Are not things debated? Have Jews become stupid that we have to brawl like our cousins down the road in Aza and use their methods to intimidate and bully and cow others into submitting to what we believe it the right way to do things. To use such methods that have been used here in the following links makes me what to weep tears of blood.This sort of behaviour allows the Hitlers and our little buddy with the ratty beard and mad eyes in Iran to win media allies and the ultra orthodox (and Israel ultimately) to lose them. It does nothing to promote Torah Judaism or its values and it is the biggest hillel Hashem (desecration of G-D's name) to behave in such a manner and call yourself an observant Jew. If you do such things as depicted in the following articles, I would prefer to hear about you taking off your kapote, cutting off your peyot, eating treif, and desecrating the Shabbes and yom tovim but still treating your fellow human beings with respect than to hear about observant Yidden behaving in such a wild undisciplined and frankly despicable manner. That sort of behaviour is not the way gentlemen and scholars, especially Torah scholars should behave or are expected to behave.
You hurt every Jew in the land of Israel with your behaviour and every Jew outside of Israel and outside of Yiddishkeit with your behaviour. I wish I could write this in Yiddish and Hebrew because this sort of behaviour has to stop if we are to stand united against the biggest threat we are to face as a nation. We have to start thinking with our kophs and not let our emotional rages over turn our commonsense.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/ultra-orthodox-teens-accost-u-s-immigrant-boy-in-beit-shemesh-1.407677
Many years, I was on a kibbutz in Israel in 1986 up in the Galil. Very difficult year and I kept putting off a decision right to the end until I decided to follow what I knew I had to do ultimately for the sake of a future generation. Now I remember being quite horrified by many of the things that went on on the kibbutz because it was a very secular kibbutz and I arrived in Israel without a clear understanding of the differences between secular or hiloni Jews and the religious Jews. I naively (and it makes me smile rather sadly and much more wisely now) believed 'I am in Israel. The land of the Jews after 2000 years and we all love each other.' Got that. We ALL LOVE EACH OTHER. Oh boy, did I need an education on that one. I got it. And I am still getting it.
The first Shabbat I was in the kibbutz these guys and I won't name them because they could become ba'ala Tzuva and I would embarass them about their past behaviour, they did a skit which was highly uncomplimentary about the Ultra Orthodox in Me'ar Sharim burning down bus shelters because of pictures of women in scanty clothing being plastered on them. My reasoning was, OK, if the pictures are immodest, we should not have them there, and frankly I agreed with the Ultra Orthodox because I for many years I had found myself being quite disturbed by the trashing of women through their sexualisation in the media and advertising. When I expressed my dismay to my then boyfriend, he shrugged and said something like its all 'shteyot' or nonsense. When I expressed an opinion later to another member of the kibbutz, I met with a quite strident tirade about 'parasites' 'not serving in the army', 'in for a free ride' and freeloading, it went on. I gave that lady who was housemate a wide berth after that. I lit Shabbes candles and she almost had a fit and wanted me out of the house. She told me that her family in Haifa made a point of never ever lighting Shabbes candles because of the holocaust and I told her that because of the holocaust you should - just to give one to Hitler in his eye and any other anti semite.
Then when they bought in a soft core porn movie for the kibbutz members to watch in the Heder Ochel I was more than shocked. I was embarrassed and more than that, some members had their children present. I walked out with a girl and I will mention her name, Anita Steiner. Anita and I went up to her Kibbutz house and had a coffee and a chat. My ex boyfriend also did not watch and I was very proud of him over that. He was and still is probably a very decent guy. His wife is a lucky woman and should continue to be so. I had good taste in ex boyfriends when I was not frum and bad taste in husbands - that is most likely the reasons I am divorced now. I used to believe that a good woman can make a bad man good and a bad woman can make a good man go bad. But now I think that the bad man has to have a thread of decency and respect for himself as to want to be good and to try to be good. An honestly bad person will never take up fully with a good person. If a person is a criminal and loves criminal behaviour too much, they will avoid all attempts to turn them to a better more Torah true life style. They will enjoy the excitement and the cheap thrills of their wild and un G-D like behaviour and they won't want to be Torah Jews or even just plain good people. They will enjoy the duplicity of their lifestyle and deception is exciting and a way to get thrills for them. Why do people not do the right thing? Because they are being naughty and it gives them some secret childish pleasure to deceive others and to think they are getting away with something. That is the way children think. The next level which is a little more sophisticated, is for them to think that they are getting away with it and that no one knows. They then try to justify their behaviour to themselves and to others. Now these guys in Beit Shemesh are obviously thinking "Hey we are Torah observant Jews and we are in the right. We keep kosher, Shabbes, Yom Tovim, halacha and we are right, always right.' Wrong. You are not right. You have disrespected your fellow Jews and you have furthermore created a massive HILLEL HASHEM. All your Torah learning and all your study is for nothing if you can behave in such a manner towards your fellow Jew in the Land of Israel and to children. Is this the way that Torah Jews behave? Is this what you want to show the world? How educated and civilised religious Jews behave? The names of the sages - the tanaim, the amarim, the Torah and all it stands for have been desecrated. This is what makes me most sad. That you abuse children, young sweet innocent children who look up to you. Is this the way you educate and what will their perceptions of the ultra orthodox Jewish world be in the future if this is the way the Ultra Orthodox Jews behave in the street. Not all of them, but you know how one or two bad apples can tarnish the whole barrel's image, especially if they are on top and as observant Jews you are on top of the Jewish world or meant to be and you need to live up to that image and do not tarnish it.
I have probably gone on too much and who will read this rant, but I feel good having said my piece of peace and if one person reaches out to the other and understands and creates peace than this blog will have achieved what I want. It starts with one small move, a hand shake between men and a nod of acknowledgement between women and taking small children across the dangerous road and leading them on to the pathways of peace for the future generations. We will have to learn to tread more softly and together. We want Moishiach now. Not tomorrow but right this minute. He is needed. Now more than ever.
Lately what has happened in Israel has distressed me on many levels. We have this split between - not only religious and the secular, commonly known in Israel as the Dati and the Hiloni, but between various levels of religious observance among the Haredi communities or I should say some members of the Haredi community who have sought to embarrass their more learned and civilised peers and elders by behaving in an unorthodox trashy manner, and the Modern Orthodox stream of Judaism.
It pains me deeply on a very personal level, that I should and indeed any Jew should have to see such scenes take place in Israel - the land of the Jews - our holy state. How much blood has been shed for the state by men and women in the IDF and by others who settled the land and are still settling the land today and we are tearing at the fabric of the state. This has got to stop. Israel and Israelis need to come together and bond as a family and reflect on on individual differences and opinions and agree to disagree on some matters.
I am not calling for Haredi members to forgo their high standards of modesty or tzniut or glatt kosher or anything else. BUT as a Jew I am asking them to look at their practice of Ahavat Israel and their fellow Jew. On a personal level I keep kashrut that may be more difficult to observe than many want to keep, but by the same token, others may be far more strict, on some matters. Are we to become autocratic dictators of what is Judaism and only one opinion matters and that opinion must be law? What is the Talmud based on? Mishna and gemora - and how many opinions are expressed? Are not things debated? Have Jews become stupid that we have to brawl like our cousins down the road in Aza and use their methods to intimidate and bully and cow others into submitting to what we believe it the right way to do things. To use such methods that have been used here in the following links makes me what to weep tears of blood.This sort of behaviour allows the Hitlers and our little buddy with the ratty beard and mad eyes in Iran to win media allies and the ultra orthodox (and Israel ultimately) to lose them. It does nothing to promote Torah Judaism or its values and it is the biggest hillel Hashem (desecration of G-D's name) to behave in such a manner and call yourself an observant Jew. If you do such things as depicted in the following articles, I would prefer to hear about you taking off your kapote, cutting off your peyot, eating treif, and desecrating the Shabbes and yom tovim but still treating your fellow human beings with respect than to hear about observant Yidden behaving in such a wild undisciplined and frankly despicable manner. That sort of behaviour is not the way gentlemen and scholars, especially Torah scholars should behave or are expected to behave.
You hurt every Jew in the land of Israel with your behaviour and every Jew outside of Israel and outside of Yiddishkeit with your behaviour. I wish I could write this in Yiddish and Hebrew because this sort of behaviour has to stop if we are to stand united against the biggest threat we are to face as a nation. We have to start thinking with our kophs and not let our emotional rages over turn our commonsense.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/ultra-orthodox-teens-accost-u-s-immigrant-boy-in-beit-shemesh-1.407677
Many years, I was on a kibbutz in Israel in 1986 up in the Galil. Very difficult year and I kept putting off a decision right to the end until I decided to follow what I knew I had to do ultimately for the sake of a future generation. Now I remember being quite horrified by many of the things that went on on the kibbutz because it was a very secular kibbutz and I arrived in Israel without a clear understanding of the differences between secular or hiloni Jews and the religious Jews. I naively (and it makes me smile rather sadly and much more wisely now) believed 'I am in Israel. The land of the Jews after 2000 years and we all love each other.' Got that. We ALL LOVE EACH OTHER. Oh boy, did I need an education on that one. I got it. And I am still getting it.
The first Shabbat I was in the kibbutz these guys and I won't name them because they could become ba'ala Tzuva and I would embarass them about their past behaviour, they did a skit which was highly uncomplimentary about the Ultra Orthodox in Me'ar Sharim burning down bus shelters because of pictures of women in scanty clothing being plastered on them. My reasoning was, OK, if the pictures are immodest, we should not have them there, and frankly I agreed with the Ultra Orthodox because I for many years I had found myself being quite disturbed by the trashing of women through their sexualisation in the media and advertising. When I expressed my dismay to my then boyfriend, he shrugged and said something like its all 'shteyot' or nonsense. When I expressed an opinion later to another member of the kibbutz, I met with a quite strident tirade about 'parasites' 'not serving in the army', 'in for a free ride' and freeloading, it went on. I gave that lady who was housemate a wide berth after that. I lit Shabbes candles and she almost had a fit and wanted me out of the house. She told me that her family in Haifa made a point of never ever lighting Shabbes candles because of the holocaust and I told her that because of the holocaust you should - just to give one to Hitler in his eye and any other anti semite.
Then when they bought in a soft core porn movie for the kibbutz members to watch in the Heder Ochel I was more than shocked. I was embarrassed and more than that, some members had their children present. I walked out with a girl and I will mention her name, Anita Steiner. Anita and I went up to her Kibbutz house and had a coffee and a chat. My ex boyfriend also did not watch and I was very proud of him over that. He was and still is probably a very decent guy. His wife is a lucky woman and should continue to be so. I had good taste in ex boyfriends when I was not frum and bad taste in husbands - that is most likely the reasons I am divorced now. I used to believe that a good woman can make a bad man good and a bad woman can make a good man go bad. But now I think that the bad man has to have a thread of decency and respect for himself as to want to be good and to try to be good. An honestly bad person will never take up fully with a good person. If a person is a criminal and loves criminal behaviour too much, they will avoid all attempts to turn them to a better more Torah true life style. They will enjoy the excitement and the cheap thrills of their wild and un G-D like behaviour and they won't want to be Torah Jews or even just plain good people. They will enjoy the duplicity of their lifestyle and deception is exciting and a way to get thrills for them. Why do people not do the right thing? Because they are being naughty and it gives them some secret childish pleasure to deceive others and to think they are getting away with something. That is the way children think. The next level which is a little more sophisticated, is for them to think that they are getting away with it and that no one knows. They then try to justify their behaviour to themselves and to others. Now these guys in Beit Shemesh are obviously thinking "Hey we are Torah observant Jews and we are in the right. We keep kosher, Shabbes, Yom Tovim, halacha and we are right, always right.' Wrong. You are not right. You have disrespected your fellow Jews and you have furthermore created a massive HILLEL HASHEM. All your Torah learning and all your study is for nothing if you can behave in such a manner towards your fellow Jew in the Land of Israel and to children. Is this the way that Torah Jews behave? Is this what you want to show the world? How educated and civilised religious Jews behave? The names of the sages - the tanaim, the amarim, the Torah and all it stands for have been desecrated. This is what makes me most sad. That you abuse children, young sweet innocent children who look up to you. Is this the way you educate and what will their perceptions of the ultra orthodox Jewish world be in the future if this is the way the Ultra Orthodox Jews behave in the street. Not all of them, but you know how one or two bad apples can tarnish the whole barrel's image, especially if they are on top and as observant Jews you are on top of the Jewish world or meant to be and you need to live up to that image and do not tarnish it.
I have probably gone on too much and who will read this rant, but I feel good having said my piece of peace and if one person reaches out to the other and understands and creates peace than this blog will have achieved what I want. It starts with one small move, a hand shake between men and a nod of acknowledgement between women and taking small children across the dangerous road and leading them on to the pathways of peace for the future generations. We will have to learn to tread more softly and together. We want Moishiach now. Not tomorrow but right this minute. He is needed. Now more than ever.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
One of those days
It has been one of those days. We all have them. You feel
like it would be better if you stayed in bed, but you do not have the luxury of
such. It is a day when you feel like nothing you do is right for you or your
family. We have to get through them
though. We have to focus on what needs to be done, whether it is washing a
floor, cooking a meal or just helping your child with some homework and doing
the right thing by them.
To make matters worse, your child complains that he cannot sleep because of the traffic noise at night. There is nothing you or I can do about that. We cannot make the traffic stop unless we move out to the country and live on the outskirts of a country town. Then there are other disadvantages of isolation but maybe we are both bits of loners. He with his cars and once he learns to read properly he will become absorbed.
The high point was our walk to the park today and finding
out that the pond where we go to feed the ducks and geese has had the “Do Not
Feed The Birds’ sign removed and it is chockers full of carp or yellow belly
fish. I want to find out if we can fish there. There were so many fish in a
huge school looking for bread crumbs in the water from the ducks and geese.
Time to say some tehillim.
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Melbourne Jewish Women's Show, Weather and the versatile nature of compote concoctions
B'H
Well Melbourne weather, as usual, it is full of changes. We started yesterday with pouring rain, fined up for a short while, then storms and rain and hail in some places, then it was fine with clear skies then rain again. It is quite exciting all this change and one does a fast turnaround in the wardrobe department because one never knows what one is supposed to wear or whether one should carry an umbrella and multi dress. You have heard of multi tasking, well Melbournians have to multi dress. It pays to start light and accessorise to protect oneself from the weather and dress for all occasions. Today again has been no exception. Rain, sunshine and cloudy. We do not have yesterday's wind yet, but let's wait and see. Good Old Melbourne never yet disappoints.
The Melbourne Jewish Women's show is back on air at 1674 AM at 7pm and we are talking with Rabbi Braun a very talented Israeli born Chazan. He sings with his two twin sons and they are great. Beautiful voices all. We are very happy to be back on air.
Now let us talk about compote. Compote is a marvellous food for people of all ages. Especially for babies and for older people who may have teeth and gum problems. It is easily digestible as soup is.. As you can see above I have been experimenting with different flavours and textures of compote. The blended variety is better. I am also thinking of vegie compotes and a line of natural baby foods and a line of tasty spiced soups for people who like taste and zing in their food.
The compote on the left has peach and papaya pieces in it and the middle one in the round container is mainly apple and pear based with some banana and mango. The one on the right is mainly strawberry, a touch of banana and some apples and pears. I had to blend it first before I cooked it - hence the subtle colours and quite delicate flavours.
Just imagine getting people weaned off Hungry Jacks and Mac Donalds and Subway fast food and into the supermarkets to buy a pot of compote for lunch. You could have natural healthy vegie compote for first course and then finish off with a fruit compote. I have made so far around five different varieties of compote and I have given my son some of the strawberry for breakfast after his toast. He was a bit resistant to the idea at first but enjoyed it once he had been convinced to taste it. It has loads of vitamin C and other trace elements which ensures a good start to the day. We are going to be eating a lot of compote in the next few weeks.
Well Melbourne weather, as usual, it is full of changes. We started yesterday with pouring rain, fined up for a short while, then storms and rain and hail in some places, then it was fine with clear skies then rain again. It is quite exciting all this change and one does a fast turnaround in the wardrobe department because one never knows what one is supposed to wear or whether one should carry an umbrella and multi dress. You have heard of multi tasking, well Melbournians have to multi dress. It pays to start light and accessorise to protect oneself from the weather and dress for all occasions. Today again has been no exception. Rain, sunshine and cloudy. We do not have yesterday's wind yet, but let's wait and see. Good Old Melbourne never yet disappoints.
The Melbourne Jewish Women's show is back on air at 1674 AM at 7pm and we are talking with Rabbi Braun a very talented Israeli born Chazan. He sings with his two twin sons and they are great. Beautiful voices all. We are very happy to be back on air.
The compote on the left has peach and papaya pieces in it and the middle one in the round container is mainly apple and pear based with some banana and mango. The one on the right is mainly strawberry, a touch of banana and some apples and pears. I had to blend it first before I cooked it - hence the subtle colours and quite delicate flavours.
Just imagine getting people weaned off Hungry Jacks and Mac Donalds and Subway fast food and into the supermarkets to buy a pot of compote for lunch. You could have natural healthy vegie compote for first course and then finish off with a fruit compote. I have made so far around five different varieties of compote and I have given my son some of the strawberry for breakfast after his toast. He was a bit resistant to the idea at first but enjoyed it once he had been convinced to taste it. It has loads of vitamin C and other trace elements which ensures a good start to the day. We are going to be eating a lot of compote in the next few weeks.
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