Seeing Progress

What Just Happened (2008)

2009-04-12T07:17:00.000-07:00

Not a great movie. But one line made it memorable.

See this movie if you want to see Bruce Willis with a bearded face and a kippah covered head give a eulogy and say what every congregational Rabbi would say if only he had the guts of a great action hero! I'm not going to spoil it for you. You have to have been a congregational rabbi, or lay leader, and seen the movie to know what I'm talking about.

Other than that one line the movie really missed the mark. Actually, even that line, as memorable as it was for its content failed in its delivery. It failed to make use of a really interesting premise and an incredible arsenal of comic talent.

As much as the film makers tried to make up for poor writing with one or two spells of extreme over the top over-acting, the film failed to make much of an impression on me.

The Road by Cormac McCarthy

2009-03-24T15:23:00.000-07:00

I just reviewed The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Check it out here.

Rare Sighting

2008-09-29T03:58:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone!

This is just a post to keep this weblog alive and to tell you all that I'm still here. There is no definite news that I would like to share right now. So I will just suffice with some updates to the features offered by this website.

Some New Features

Wish List
Check out the links in the right collumn starting with my vitally important Amazon.com wish list. There might be something there you want to get me. There might even be something you want me to have, like a book to change my life that you told me about. So take a look. Now is a great time since I have someone to bring stuff from the US soon.

Best of the Web
I'm just sharing what I've discovered to be the best content in the internet. Why bother with Google if you can find links the the best sites right here on Seeing Progress?

That's it for now. Shana Tova and well over the fast!

In front of da United Nations of Benetton.

2007-07-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

We just can't believe that Disney Land still has no seat!

Chaim's Barmitzvah Parshat Tzav

2007-05-12T23:02:00.000-07:00

Chaim and Us

Chaim and All of Us

The Brothers in Law

Pesach 5767 (2007) Visitors - Mom!

2007-04-10T05:50:00.000-07:00

Our Back Yard

Efrat

I'll Catch Up!

Hiking From Ein Sadgmeh (Near Bat Ayim)

I Sure Hope It's Deep Enough!

Leaping Into Ein Sadgmeh (Near Bat Ayim)

Lake Michigan

Ah... Would you believe Ein Sadgme?

Acharai! (Follow Me)

Givat Hatormosim.

My Trusty Guide

Givat Hatormosim.
Um... Please pass the pollen, someone.

Barmitzvah Pictures Coming Soon.

Bar Mitzvah Mazal Tov to Chaim!

2007-03-21T07:34:00.000-07:00

Come With Me to Israel

2007-02-21T01:43:00.000-08:00

Get a box of kleenex ready

Maybe we'll see you here for Chaim's Bar Mitzvah March 31?

Israel's New Weapon

2006-12-31T02:44:00.000-08:00

The AK-47

Peace Breaks Out in the Middle East!

The Good Stuff is Still Happening

2006-07-20T05:28:00.000-07:00

Keep it coming NBN!

Despite the problems, Jews from North America are still coming to live in Israel.

And from France too!

"...and thank YOU for inviting me!"

Efrat's Official Welcome Mission

So Happy!

STING & MATISYAHU live! (Roxanne) 2006 in ISRAEL

2006-07-11T00:50:00.000-07:00

Wee Waz Der, Yo!

More on the Everything about Matisyahu weblog

Nitzanim Coast - Erev Shavuot

2006-06-11T23:06:00.000-07:00

Just a little more...

So Long!

Now how do I get this sand off my face?

Pesach Visitors

2006-04-23T07:24:00.000-07:00

Our Chicago In-Laws Enjoying Israel.

Who's Bed?

2006-04-22T23:43:00.000-07:00

Don't you hate it when this happens?

Voting Day In Israel

2006-03-29T03:56:00.000-08:00

Evey Votes!

Then We Went on a Family Outing.

Got Purple! My Favorite Time of the Year.

2006-03-16T00:19:00.000-08:00

Tired Fruitbearers Wading in a Purple Pond

Looking For a Way Over the Wall?

Think They'll Notice If I Sneak Up From Behind?

Little Dabs of Oil on Canvas.

Or Do You Prefer "Nature's Pixels?"

Our Fish Get Seen, Again.

2006-03-09T04:19:00.000-08:00

Oscar White Today

In Hebrew, "Dag," which sounds a bit like the word Dog in English, means fish. Well this "Dag," was raised on dry dog food. Take a look at him about a year ago next to the same "Giant" (Talk about a misnomer!) Danio, you'll see that he was not malnourished.

Oscar White Around a Year Ago.

More on our fish here and here.

Ki Mitziyoon Tetzei Torah.....

2006-02-14T02:46:00.000-08:00

Not Bad Moshy!

Israel's Favorite Book These Days...

2006-01-01T04:12:00.000-08:00

Harry Potter Book Six came out in Hebrew recently.

Happy Moment in Eilat

2006-01-01T04:10:00.000-08:00

As if this picture needs a caption

Winter Wet, Finally...

2005-12-25T04:46:00.000-08:00

Starting to Trickle Down

Delicious Puddle!

Starting to Stick

Not Like You And Me

2005-12-07T00:43:00.000-08:00

There's a guy that knows how to travel!

Einstein the Genius by Country Farm

Well Albert was a genius.
not like you and me.
he wrote one equation ever' day.
on mondays he wrote three.

mondays he wrote three.

Albert dance around.
Albert be profound.
Albert let your hair stick out
your socks hang down.

Well a man flew in a spaceship
and he went a hundred miles.
He busted through the speed of light.
He came back a child.

yeah...

he came back a child.

Albert dance around.
Albert be profound.
Albert let your hair stick out.
your socks hang down.

Well a man looked through a telescope.
till his eyes were red.
He looked through outer space.
He saw the back of his own head.

back of his own head

Albert dance around.
Albert be profound.
Albert let your hair stick out
your socks hang down

Now I had a frame o' reference.
I laid on the fence.
along came relativity.
I haven't seen the damn thing since.

seen the damn thing since.

Albert dance around.
Albert be profound.
Albert let your hair stick out
your socks hang down

Now a wave and a particle
were walking side by side
one turned to the other said:
"which one of us am I"?

"which one of us am I"?

Albert dance around.
Albert be profound.
Albert let your hair stick out.
your socks hang down.

Yeah Einstien played the fiddle.
he loved to dance and sing.
If that aint genius.
Well that aint anything.

that aint anything.

Albert dance around.
Albert be profound.
Albert let your hair stick out.
your socks hang down.

Download Einstein the Genius by Country Farm
It's a perfectly legal promotional download!

Saw a Fantastic Rainbow This Morning

2005-11-22T04:06:00.000-08:00

Whose Back Yard Has The Pot of Gold?

Happy Bowling day! Koby's 8th

2005-11-19T23:16:00.000-08:00

Determination

Down to the last frame!

The top row is the birthday boy's score. His father's score is on the last row.
I choked and my final score was 108.

Gutter Guards Rule!

That time of year again

More Seattle Wanderings

2005-08-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

The Freemont Bridge Troll

A Closer Look

Seattle Visit

2005-08-12T19:24:00.000-07:00

Bus Ride

At Pike's Place Market

Olympia Visit

2005-08-12T12:13:00.000-07:00

Welcome!

On the Dock

Catchin Somethin

At Sea

Sheesh This is Cold

I Sent My Camera Up North.

2005-08-01T12:26:00.000-07:00

Marching on Nachal Zavitan

A Thousand Words on Water

Take the Plunge!

2005-07-30T13:06:00.000-07:00

Ein Kaleb Again

Listening to Everyone's Prayers

2005-07-23T18:54:00.000-07:00

Another Heart Warming "Only in Israel" Image

It's on my desk top now, thanks to israelreporter.com where you can find this and lots of other pictures from the anti-disengagement demonstration at Kfar Maimon.

This image gallery is the likely source of the picture. But it's been posted on lots of blogs. Here's a partial list to see more captions, explanations, and comments about this picture.

Anti-disengagement minyan on Cross Currents.
Anti-disengagement minyan on treppenwitz.
Anti-disengagement minyan on jewlicious.

Nefesh Benefesh July 13 2005

2005-07-13T20:51:00.000-07:00

What a Nice Welcome!

Getting off the Plane

Slogan Shirt in Heblish

Look What He Brought!

Those little green wings must have gotten really tired carrying him all that way!

Happy 17th Birthday Miri!

2005-07-10T12:26:00.000-07:00

At the Sheraton

Anger Management Frisbe

2005-07-02T11:08:00.000-07:00

I want to thank Sha!, an Israeli blogger who wrote a piece on Bill Goldberg, the modern day Jewish sports legend turned movie star.

Well I have something to add. Goldberg is not only an awsome athlete, he's also an anger management toy!

Meet Frisbe Goldberg!

I bought him for 15 Shekels at the toy store on Emek Refaim. I wouldn't advise going there to ask for one. He had run out of frisb Goldbergs last time I asked.

Just look at him when you're angry and grin - at him, and at yourself.

Happy 14th Birthday Adiella!

2005-06-22T09:30:00.000-07:00

It's Better With Friends

And Eat it Too!

Who Let the Boy In?

Anti-Disengagement Dogs are Cute!

2005-06-17T07:41:00.000-07:00

Our Political Statement

What Are You Doing to Stop it?

Some Log ('er Lag) Ba'Omer Pictures

2005-05-31T11:39:00.000-07:00

The Proud Creator

Hey! We Found some Wood to Burn!

Here's How it Starts

Really Hot!

Friday Outing to Ein Kaleb

2005-05-24T12:28:00.000-07:00

Ein Kaleb in Gush Etzion

Pretty Cool, Eh?

Look closely and you can see the receding tail

Let's Go Fly a Kite...

2005-05-22T03:23:00.000-07:00

I know it's there 'cause I can feel the pull....

Doesn't get any better than this, does it?

I can barely reach it!

I think this just might work!

Some Talk About This Web Log (#1)

2005-05-20T04:14:00.000-07:00

Today I'm gonna tell you a bit about this web log; some of its technical aspects as well as some of its personal aspects.

Other Voices From My Neck of the Woods
You may have noticed some links in the right collum under this heading. These are other web logs that I would like you to read.

treppenwitz
jerusalemrevealed

They aren't the only other blogs I read. I chose them because they both say things that I would like to say about life, love, relationships, parenting and this wonderful little (sometimes I wish it were bigger...) country we live in, but they say better. They are both very talented writers and put enough of themselves into their writting to walk the tightrope between entertaining and enriching all of us readers on the one hand and embarrasing themselves and their loved-ones on the other.

I'm really hoping that neither of them falls off!

Web Pages referring...
At the very bottom (or "foot" if you consider this a reference to a body part) of the page you'll find a little note indicating what links people have clicked in order to get to this website. This tells you which websites are helping people find my blog. With this feature I found out that there are a few Jewish bloggers who have added me to their list of links. There were two. Sorry you two. I can't remeber who you are right now.

Sometimes, I will comment on someone elses blog and leave my url. Sometimes people click those to get here and the name of the webisite I commented on will show up.

My biggest referer is the Efrat wikicitiies website, which seems to be down at the moment. Thanks David for listing me over there. I figured it was you since you listed yourself second but wanted to do something nice for me so you listed me first!

Rememberance Proposal

2005-05-11T05:24:00.000-07:00

We just had Yom Hashoah and Yom Hazikaron Lehalelei Tza"hal. These two days are important for marking the sacrifice made by so many.

One way honor is given to the 6 million who perished in the holocaust and the thousands who died in battle defending the modern state of Israel and its people is by sounding a siren for a full minute as a signal for everyone to stand quietly and respectfully for the duration of the blast.

This year I noticed something that I never noticed before. The dogs in the neighorhood wined in pain because of the high pitch of the sound.

I think something should be done about this.

As far as I know, and I searched my memory for a few minutes, there is no Jewish law or custum that causes pain to animal. Dogs in particular are singled out by the Torah as worthy of kind treatment since they restrained themselves from barking the night of the Exodus from Egypt. The rabbis of Blessed Memory tell us that it was as a sign of gratitude that dogs are awarded treif meat by the verse in Exodus Chapter 11.

So I say, next year we should have that siren re calibrated (is that the right word) so that our actions to bring honor to humanity do not cause pain to furry friends

I Wanna Hold Your Haaaaaaaaand!

2005-05-10T11:45:00.000-07:00

Snake Attack(ed?)

2005-05-03T10:50:00.000-07:00

Look What I Saw on the Way to Work This Morning

Well its not exactly earth shattering news. But at least its timely.

I know what you're thinking. When is that guy gonna start posting things of interest to a wider readership? He's still writing about trivial things he encounters in his mundane existence! But you've got to admit a dead snake is a but more interesting than a frozen puddle and then a thawed puddle, and then a dried puddle, and then a littered puddle....

The Big Picture

Here you get an idea of the size of this beast. Do you notice the wound? There must be a story behind that wound. Let't take a closer look...

A Closer Look

You can't look at this without wondering what happened on the night of April 2 in thr grape fields behind the tennis courts of Gefen Street?

Any guesses? Write yours as a comment on this post!

For you Dog Lovers

2005-05-02T02:46:00.000-07:00

Those of you who love reading about dogs and imagining that they have human-like emotions will love reading what my neighbor wrote today.

Take a look at David Bogner's Three Dog FortNight and have a good laugh!

Israel Is Overgoverned

2005-04-20T11:18:00.000-07:00

A whole ministry for one crop!??!

The Ministry of Strawberries in Jerusalem's Giv'at Shaul neighborhood!

Change of Seasons - Leap Year Erev Pesach

2005-04-17T11:02:00.000-07:00

Here's that frozen lake melted and drying fast

Smooth as Glass. Who Can Resist?

A Closer Look at the Splash!

Amazingly Hot Dogs!

2005-04-10T23:10:00.000-07:00

Today's piece is from Purim even though it's a few weeks late in coming and has nothing to do with the holiday per se. It was just an excuse to bring an animal trainer to the community center in Efrat to entertain the kids. Well, the kids really enjoyed it. My favorite part was when these very formidable creatures jumped through hoops of fire.

I'm waxing creative here. Take a look at this cool effect. It's just fire and a blur of dog.

Here's some just ordinary stills to give you a sense of what kind of animal we're talking about here.

Spring Time Graphic

2005-04-10T13:15:00.000-07:00

Guys in Green

Arabs Helping Israel

2005-04-08T09:46:00.000-07:00

I Mean Other Than Joseph Farrah!

Israel had some stunning success in sports recently thanks to two up and comming stars Abbas Suan and Walid Badir.

Here are some more details about the game against France and Ireland!

And in related news, read about Israel's leading 12 year old Zionist mavin.

Peace in Our Time!

2005-04-05T11:12:00.000-07:00

A Very Inspirational Television Comercial

Today I bring you a video clip advertising an Israeli internet service provider.

Don't worry that its in Hebrew. It's all visual. It's enough to know that the screen caption at the end says; "In real life, it's still impossible. But on the internet new connections are being formed all the time". Oh! And the guy's T-shirt says, "Nothing like serving in a combat unit, bro!"

Click here to download video clip.

Thank you Rinat for referencing this clip.

Purim Pictures

2005-04-01T06:57:00.000-08:00

Trying to Stop Internet Piracy

Adiella and Mishloach Manot

Seudat Purim with Guest From a Neighboring Village

Our Turtles Get Seen

2005-03-11T06:53:00.000-08:00

Here I go again, posting pictures of our animals.

My inclination to show my pets here is underlied by the fact that this medium, although its mainly for consumption by family and freinds, is nonetheless a public issue. I want to share things that are personal and intimate about my life. But I can't be too revealing since you never know who might be reading.

So pets are perfect material for the blog.

Our Turtles
Well, they're not really ours. They belong to some freinds of ours, The Sztockman family (spelled right?) who went to Austraila for a while. Yes, Effie and Yonina, they have gotten bigger!

Still Confined

Being Held

The Silent Scream

Who Are You?

2005-03-11T05:55:00.000-08:00

Here is the seeingprogress position and policy regarding Anonymous posting.

I would like to know the identity of everyone who posts on seeingprogress. The point of seeingprogress is to connect with people and help them connect with me. How can that happen if I don't know who you are?
The best way to do this is to sign up for a blogger account. This way your blogger identity gets appended to each post automatically.
If you don't want to sign up for a blogger identity you have to write something that will make it obvious to me who you are or add your real identity in the body of your post. It doesn't have to be your name. But it has to tell me who you are.
If you don't identify yourself, I will probably delete your post.

In Memory of Oscar Black

2005-03-04T05:26:00.000-08:00

The End of an Era

See my previous post about our fish including Oscar Black

Most Likely Cause of Death: Old Age

Oscar's Freinds Say Goodby

Swimming in a Different World Now.

Did He Measure Up?

Chaim the Equestrian

2005-03-03T23:28:00.000-08:00

Not exactly Prince Charles.

But he's got a similar kind of hat.

Ein Mabua - Round II

2005-02-27T21:05:00.000-08:00

I Knew There Were Fish Here!

I mentioned in the previous post on this subject that a few years back I saw trout in this river. Now that I've fished a few of them out of the water and gotten a better
look I see that I was wrong. They're just plain old white fish. This one's pretty tiny.

Don't worry. We released him with no significant injury to its jaw and without allowing anything to come into contact with its slimy but infection prone skin.

This one's a little bigger.

You can tell by the body language who caught it!

So what kind of fish is it? Lets call 'em "fools trout," since I mistook them for trout when I first saw them.

What's the difference between trout and white fish and why am I making a big deal about this?

Trout have an adipose fin and whitefish don't
Trout are much harder to catch. They are ellusive. They are picky eaters and they "spook" real easy.
They taste different. Trout has what is considered a more delicate rich taste. The color of the meat varies from white to dark pink. Whitefish have a fatty tasting white meat. Its ideal for smoking. But this particular one fried-up quite nicely!
The mouth of a whitefish sometimes points down for bottom feeding. But don't
let that fool you. Its no garbage fish. Trout never have downward pointing bottom feeding mouths. They are strictly surface feeders.
Trout have beautiful colors like red, silver, and blue. They sparkle and flash when they swim. They are the most beautiful fish in the world. White fish are just... not.

After all this, I don't see how I ever made the mistake!

Dangerous Crossings

We've seen user freindlier bridges. But we mangaged.

Swim In Me!

Pollywogs Get Seen

I wish I had taken a picture of the toad-egg strings we saw along the banks of this river last week. It was then that Chaim pointed out the eggs to us. This week, he took great pleasure seeing and helping the rest of us to see the progress of this dynamic form of river life from one week to the next.

At first I figured they were the offspring of frogs. But according to Amy, they are probably toads since the eggs are held together in a string instead of a round clump.

Friday Visit to the "Ma'ayan Mabua".

2005-02-19T20:20:00.000-08:00

Ma'ayan Mabua? Neva hoid of it? Well, you have now.

Its a nice deep fast running brook just outside Jerusalem towards the Dead Sea.

A River Runs Through it!

There are definitely some big trout in this river. I was here once several years ago during the summer when their was great underwater visibility. I saw 'em.

Chaim Found A Stick

You want be Zulu man? You must carry spear!

Three Tribesmen

Wildlife. Get your ass outta here!

It Almost Snowed!

2005-02-15T14:06:00.000-08:00

I suppose everybody goes through this stage when they first get their hands on a digital camera. I've been taking it with me and just trying to capture every interesting thing I come across. Well, I find frozen and semi-frozen puddles really interesting, especially when they represent our dashed hopes for an early February snow.

Coffee Cup on the Surface

Heavy Icing Encroaching From the Shoreline

From Another Angle

Frozen Flower Pot

Movie Review - The Aviator

2005-02-05T10:59:00.000-08:00

Mulit-Cultural Signing in Jerusalem

Question: What do Israel's third president, the Biblical prophet Jeremiah, a mentally ill 20th century American tycoon, and a contemporary Hollywood heartthrob have in common?

Answer: My choice of which direction to go one sunny weekday morning in Jerusalem.

This film got mixed reviews. I think the most glaring flaw was the superficiality of the portrayal of Hughes' mental illness.

What I liked was the way the friendship between Hughes and the Actress Eva Gardner was portrayed. Her moral support gave him the strength to face the Senate witch-hunt hearing of Senator Ralph Owen Brewster. In the movie, her affection, which was not at all romantically motivated, was decisive.

It's nice to see a movie where kindness makes all the difference, even though the informed viewer knows that he didn't live happily ever after.

Our Fish Get Seen!

2005-01-30T10:56:00.000-08:00

My Favorite Species. The Danio

This is my favorite species of aquarium fish. Athough known as the "Giant Danio," I have only once seen one over 3 inches long.

This picture was taken in the pet store in the Malcha shopping mall in Southern Jerusalem.

Our Danio

This guy is hard to photograph. You see his tail there just behind Oscar White? Oh by the way, meet Oscar White. He's the newest addition to our aquatic display.

Here's the Danio hiding behind Mr. White again.

Oscar Black

Here's the old man of the tank. He's been around for years. The recent arrival of another Oscar fish has necesitated the appendage of the sir name "Black" for distinction from Oscar White. Amazing fish, this old Oscar. We feed him on dry dog food. You can hear the stuff crunching in his powerful jaws from across the room.

Oscar Black Again...

All those years in the kitchen and not once did this Oscar offer to do the dishes!

And that, my dear readers, is the difference between him and me!

An Inside Joke

2005-01-26T11:08:00.000-08:00

One morning this week I was standing by the side of the road waiting for a bus to the city. A minibus taxi filled with local villagers pulls up about three meters in front of me to let someone out the front passenger seat. As it pulled up I took a step back thinking, "Is he pulling up to let someone out to kill me?" Then, as I was backing up, I looked a little more inquisitively at the people inside and thought I saw clearly that these people just want to get to work.

The driver looked at me looking at (and seeing?) him and his passengers. He must have "seen" the positive direction of my thoughts. He smiled at me and as he let his passenger out, put up one finger (not THAT finger) to indicate that he has "one" seat free.

I smiled back at him because I got the joke.

It was an inside joke between us. It was funny because the inconceivability of my entering that vehicle was so obvious. It was funny because it was so unexpected that two people who could not possibly know each other would understand each other well enough to exchange smiles and share an unspoken inside joke.

the question remains, what was so funny and what was so true to him?

What did he think I was doing when I stepped back? What did he think I was thinking when I eyed his passengers? What was he really thinking when he smiled at me and put up one finger? And what was he thinking when he saw me smile back?

Now if anyone suggest that I just stop him tomorrow to ask, that would really be a joke, funny in its own way too.

Hobbit Soccer

2005-01-21T10:45:00.000-08:00

One evening a few weeks ago, I decided to do something nice for myself. On the way home from work, I got myself a bottle of Guiness in one of those bottle stores by the shuk and headed off into one of the most charming little old-new neighborhoods of Jerusalem. I thought it was called Nachla'ot. But according to this sign, the name's Mazkeret Moshe.

This neighborhood's got these teeny little hovel-like homes some of which have very short doors giving the impression that hobbits live in them, thus the heading of this post.

So right in the middle of this neighborhood there is the tiniest little asphalt soccer court with a really tall fence to keep the ball in.

A small group of 17-21 year-old-guys with long hair and street clothes was playing, having the time of their lives. One guy tried to make a move, tripped over himself and fell to the groud. His whole body throbbed and jiggled for quite a while from.... laughter. He finally pulled himself out of it and stood up with the biggest smile on his face. What was so funy? Well, lets say you hadda be there. Actually, it wasn't enough to be there, you hadda to be him, or at least able to see inside him which I'm not so good at yet! Anyway, he was laughing and enjoying himself. And I was happy for him.

Meanwhile, a group of tourists came by. Not your typical tourists. These were IDF soldiers appearantly on an educational activity. One soldier made sure they were in the right place and pulled out a fact sheet about the area. "This used to be a Roman theater, the British used to torture prisoners in that building, Monteffiores' horse coughed over on that street...ect, ect..."

The contrast between the two groups was amazing. These guys were falling all over themselves and throbbing with joy. While these guys (and girls) stood in the same place but were following a controlled and controlling script for recreation. Go to the specified location. Read the specified text for a certain length of time and on an on and on until someone in charge decides that the task has been completed enough to say, "lets eat," which eventually someone did.

And there I was with my Guiness, wondering why they put that stupid plastic ball inside the bottle and considering how I might share this sight with others.

At the time, I thought, "too bad I don't have my camera with me." So I came back another day to take these pictures. That day was a very different kind of day - cold, rainy, no soldiers, no hobbit soccer, no Guiness...

Saturday Night Pizza!

2005-01-15T10:53:00.000-08:00

Judging from the lack of response to my last post "weighing in" on current events is not as interesting as what happens at our dinner table. So I'm going back to family pictures. Enjoy!

Here's how SP joins us at the dinner table.

Clockwise from dog: SP, Moshey, Roochie, Evey, Adiella, Avi Katz (neighbor)

Here's another angle. Still no chance of even a morsel of table scraps for SP.

Evey and Adiella

Coffee Anyone?

2005-01-09T13:34:00.000-08:00

The Tear-Jerker of the day.

2005-01-06T05:11:00.000-08:00

The two links to "other voices from my neck of the woods" are the only two local blogs I read regularly. I would probably read more if I had time. These two blogs give expression to a lot of the same feelings I have about many topics including how wonderful this country is.

I really recommend Treppenwitz's post today. It's about the holocaust. Its about survival. Its about Israel. And it's about Zichron Yaakov, where we went when my mother came to visit us last summer.

He calls it not my story.

Read it and weep, and smile, and believe!

Here's the tooth!

2005-01-05T11:03:00.000-08:00

This is SP's tooth. Remember Sweetie Pie and the debate on neutering?

Minnie's 85th keneina hara!

2005-01-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

Minnie Feldman celebrates her 85th birthday.

This is Minnie. That's Roochie's sister's mother-in-law and our resident family dignitary here in Efrat. I can't say I remember much of her speech, except that I almost cried when she thanked G-d for the gift of life and health.

Thank you Minnie for delaying your speech until we got there!

Roochie with Chedvah!

I know Nettie... That's Ched-VAH not CHED-vah!

Some More Family Pictures

2004-12-31T04:39:00.000-08:00

Gas stove, blender, microwave, teenager. What could happen?

Chaim and his friend Akiva hangin' in the bus station mall.

Here's our table with new age Shabbat candles!

Some Family Pictures

2004-12-27T10:48:00.000-08:00

Here's Chaim relaxing at home.

Here's Adiella with her Daat Mikrah

Here's Evey with Nicole, Homer and a few other celebreties.

Here's Chaim and Koby showing us what a sun roof's for.

What Does Seeing Progress Mean?

2004-12-26T20:20:00.000-08:00

Seeing progress has a double meaning. It means seeing that progress is occurring which is an appropriate name for a blog considering that a blog tracks what's happening and comments on the patterns that emerge. But the primary meaning for me is the less obvious one; becoming progressively better at seeing.

Being good at seeing is really important - not so much for the one seeing as for the one being seen. Everybody wants to be seen. When we aren't seen by others we begin to feel isolated and to doubt our own existence or at least the significance of our own existence, which is almost the same thing.

How does one get out of this mess? By being seen by another person. Once you are seen by another person who's eyes can look into your soul you are redeemed. With this redemption comes the obligation to redeem others by seeing them.

That's it. I'm going to be trying to see others and report what I see. I'll probably be revealing a thing or two about myself while I'm at it.

Every Dog Has its Day!

2004-12-24T06:04:00.000-08:00

Meet "Sweetie Pie"

She's in heat and we are doing our best to keep her in the house so that we don't have lots of little puppies to deal with.
I've got a few questions for all you dog owners out there. The first is a medical question and the second concerns medical-ethics.

Anyone have a dog that lost a tooth? That happened to SP. Is this normal? Will it grow back? Do we need to take her in for treatment?
What about neutering? Is it ethical to take that away from an animal? Is it ethical not to? Its a practical ethics quesion for us these days.

Use the comments link to give me your imput!

Bungling Biblical Bus "Trip"

2004-08-14T12:39:00.000-07:00

This happened to me a few weeks ago on a bus in Jerusalem:

I was on the bus today typing some very personal private secretive correspondence on my palm pilot with fold-out key board when this kid in his late teens early 20s comes and sits down next to me and starts looking over my shoulder. He was a good looking kid and had sort of an American teenager look to him. You know, baseball cap, basketball tank top shirt and curly dark hair. So he's looking at my palm and I figure he's an American kid who can read English and so I get a bit worried. Maybe he's reading my private content over my shoulder. And this was really way private stuff. So I turned to him and said in sort of a playful and friendly (with a big smile) but playfully accusatory tone (in English); "Are you reading this?"

The kid is surprised and has no idea what I said cause he evidently doesn't know a word of English. He lurches back and spills his Cola on his shoulder and mutters something incomprehensible to me. So I told him not to worry (switching to Hebrew now) and that I was just writing something very private and that I was sorry about being so oversensitive.

I guess the humor here is in the way he spilled the Cola, the fact that he didn't even seem to notice that he spilled the Cola, how much I mis-categorized him, and how we surprised each other so profoundly and so suddenly.

So then my stop is coming up fast and I had to make a move for the bell and position myself near the back door in time to attract the driver's attention so that he would open the back door for me. But I had to save the file I was writing and then detach and fold up the keyboard first. I was in such a hurry that as I lunged for the door after ringing the bell, I stepped on someone's foot. This guy who's foot I stepped on must have thought that this was the funniest thing in the world. He gave me this big smile and said "darachta vegam fisfasta!" You have both trampled and missed (your stop)! Modeling his words poetically after the verse reporting the words of the prophet to King Achav (Kings 1: Chpt 21) Ratzachta vegam Yarashta? "Have you both murdered and inherited?" So I said back to this guy, "but I haven't murdered and inherited!," to which he replied with typical Israeli cynicism, ode lo! "Not yet!"