Thoughts on being Jewish

" In Judaism, exercising compassion by paying a condolence call is a mitzvah, considered by some of our greatest scholars to be biblically ordained. It is a person's duty to imitate God: as God comforts the bereaved, so man must do likewise. The fundamental purpose of the condolence call during shivah is to relieve the mourner of the intolerable burden of intense loneliness. At no other time is a human being more in need of such comradeship." - from Jewish practice website. Shiva generally lasts... Sign in to see full entry.

My father-in-law, Gerald, 88, passed away today. As is customary in the Jewish tradition, we bury the dead within a day after the last breath, but the Sabbath is an exception. Because Gerald died late today, he can't be buried on Saturday, so we must wait until Sunday. He lived in Murfreesboro, TN, so Jacob and I will fly down this weekend, meeting Jeff who was there during his Dad's last moments and was able to hold his hand as he passed. As typical in these mobile times, most of our friends... Sign in to see full entry.

THE KNESSET LESSON- (theatre of the absurd) Teacher: Good morning. Your parents... invited me today... to give you a private lesson in Israeli... citizenship. Pupil: Yeah, we made Aliah from Vancouver last month and I 'm missing a lot of material in Ezrahoot, though I did try to follow the news before we came. Teacher: Not to worry. Today we'll talk about, 'how the Israeli electoral system works." Pupil: That's great. I'm really confused by what I read in the papers and blogs. Teacher: Let's... Sign in to see full entry.

THE RED SOX HOME OPENER, THIS YEAR, WILL BE POSTPONED FOR PASSOVER. RED SOX GENERAL MANAGER THEO EPSTEIN ANNOUNCED THAT THE BOSTON RED SOX HOME OPENER WILL BE POSTPONED TO APRIL 14TH... TO AVOID THE 8 DAYS OF THE PASSOVER HOLIDAY. HE NOTED, BECAUSE 3 OF HIS STARTERS WERE JEWISH AS WERE HIS BOX SEAT HOLDERS, HE WAS FORCED TO MAKE THIS CHANGE IN SCHEDULING. THERE HAVE BEEN SEVERAL COMPLAINTS FROM FANS, WHO ARE ENRAGED AT EPSTEIN'S DECISION... IN FACT, PROTESTS ARE BEING TENDERED TO THE... Sign in to see full entry.

Got the latest Sports Illustrated (well, JEFF's latest) and noticed that the cover model could be the proverbial Girl Next Door. Of course, upon further inspection, she'd be the girl next door if you lived in, um, Tel Aviv. Yep - the SI Swimsuit cover girl, Bar Refaeli, hails from none other than my kinda, sorta homeland, Israel. And apparently, the magazine was scouting lots in the Holy Land - one other model, Esti Ginzburg, is also from Israel. Seven countries and 33 models; two out of 33... Sign in to see full entry.