See you in the funny papers.

Yom rishon, 9 Adar aleph 5771.

"Efraim," by Yoni Kempinski of Arutz Sheva and BaSheva

Comics have a lot to offer, besides their entertainment value.  For someone who is learning a foreign language, they have the benefit of being short and to the point, as well as having lots of pictures to help explain the writer's message.  Comics are also a great way to begin to understand what matters to a culture.

"How great!  Finally, good news!"

"The Kinneret rose 8.5 centimeters"

"That's great, but Israel is still too dry."

"Right -- eight and a half centimeters is really not enough!"

"Need to save the Kinneret!"

"I need the ruler just for a minute..."

"Where is the number... Here it is -- I found it!"

"I have something important to send to the Kinneret!  What's the address?"

This is a country of people who watch the level of a lake, because it's success is ours.  This is a nation filled with lots of people who pray for rain when we haven't had as much as we hoped for.  This is the only place I've ever lived where little children, partying teenagers, and workers for whom it is inconvenient are unbelievably grateful when it rains.  They may gripe a little...  but they also say "Baruch Hashem."

"You who listen to prayer, grant dew and rain on the face of the earth, satisfying the whole universe from Your goodness...  Spare us and have compassion on us and on all our produce and fruit, blessing us with bounteous rain."


Haveil Havalim #304, The Blog Carnival Went Bust Edition, is up at The Rebbetzin's Husband's place. Don't forget to vote for the homeless shelter!  Tomorrow's the last day to vote!

Weather Reports

Yom shlishi, 4 Tevet 5771.  Happy solar birthday, Dearly Beloved!

 

I have mentioned before how much fun it is to have an online community email list that is frequented by interesting people who love to help each other.

It's a pretty nice way to communicate other issues as well.  For instance, we just had the first serious winter storm of the season.  Of course, there is the usual communication that makes a list so helpful:

How do we find out if there is school today?

Is school on time?

School is open today, right?  How do we find out for sure?  High schools?  I'd hate to send the kids out to wait for buses that aren't coming.

We called my son's bus driver and he assumed business as usual. The snow is pretty superficial. Big question is if there's ice on the roads. I assume there would have been an announcement of some sort if there was any problem. But dress the kids really warm cuz it could take longer than usual...

And the final, authoritative word:  SCHOOLS ARE OPEN REGULAR TIME

But then there was the stuff that makes living in Neve Daniel, with our amazing winds and our not-boring listmates, so much fun:

There is a black bicycle helmet with yellow flames in my yard.  The wind probably put it there. If you are missing it, now you know where it is :-)

Has anyone seen a black barbecue cover flying around anywhere? Our bbq is cold.

Green schach-mat bag on our porch. If you are missing one, we will be happy to return the one that just landed on our mirpeset. That is, if it is still on our mirpeset when the storm has passed...

Yair's beloved kippa flew off in yesterday's storm.  It is large and black with purple trim.  Please let us know if  you find it.

Happy Precipitation,

Nava

And my own contribution to the weather report:

Just now, btw, I am listening to the wind take red roof tiles off of a part of my roof and dash them to the patio below.  The sound is somewhere halfway between beautiful and destructive.

May the rain follow, and it will all be worth it.  (I feel bad for my landlord, though.  He really liked adding those tiles...)

Where the tiles used to live.

Where they landed.  Crash!  Bang!  Smash!

After the Dearly Beloved cleaned up.

The wind was so strong, it blew furniture around the yard.

Sigh.  If we get lots of rain, the cleanup will be worth it.

I hope all items found their owners, and not too much of value was lost or destroyed.  I give the kids a bracha for a snow day -- and their parents a bracha for not too many snow days.

And I thank Hashem for the blessing of rain.

May it continue until our worries of fire and drought and famine have passed.  May this year truly be blessed, with rain in its proper time for our crops and our cattle, with good health and good friends.

Happy solar birthday, Dearly Beloved!  Till 120, in good health.

Glossary:
Schach-mat: used to cover the traditional temporary dwelling we build at the Festival of Tabernacles.
Mirpeset: balcony
Kippa: scullcap

Geshem Blessings

Yom revi'i, 5 Shevat 5770.

We tried very hard to be good Jews before we lived in Israel.

We said the prayers for rain, even when we were unable to start our car, which was stuck in a foot of snow and ice.  We tried to have Eretz Yisrael in mind.

We learned in our Jewish youth the midrash of how Hashem was so angry at the serpent for misleading Chava that He gave the serpent the worst punishment imaginable to a creature of Hashem:  He caused the serpent to become a snake, crawling on its belly on the ground, the very dust providing its nourishment.

Naturally, the question is asked, "How can having all the food one needs, available all the time, be a punishment?"

The answer is a poignant lesson in the extreme.  Imagine if your father would tell you, "I am utterly disgusted with you.  You are a total disappointment to me.  I never want to see you again."  Then, he reaches into his wallet, and takes out his checkbook.  He writes a check for you, for a million dollars.  "Take this," he says.  "It will take care of all of your needs.  Don't ever call."

The snake's food is always there for him.  He need never cry out to Hashem to provide for him.

The Jew in Israel must always cry out for rain, as Hashem did not give us unlimited sources of water via uncontested rivers and lakes.  Our Jordan River is constantly under siege by neighboring countries.  And we must constantly pray with real kavana for our Lake Kinneret to be full enough to provide the water we desperately need.

In the old country, we prayed, as per the instructions in the Artscroll siddur.

In Israel, the rabbis call for special days of fasting and prayer.  We deprive ourselves of food, and feel our collective prayer for rain as one overwhelming voice crying out from the depths, until, at last...

...when the first drops come, there is a collective sigh, a spiritual shaking of each other's hands.  "We did it.  We finally got it right.  We finally got something right together.  Hashem heard us..."

Perhaps this is the beginning of the ultimate good, when we will make peace among ourselves, when the world will at last see us for the good that we give, as per His design, in His holy name?

We will not rest.  We will not assume, nor place our trust in man, nor in princes.

We will continue to cry out to Hashem for our needs, and try to do His will in this world.

The knowledge that we pray not only for ourselves, but for the world, gives us a sense of higher purpose:  You who listen to prayer, grant dew and rain on the face of the earth, satisfying the whole universe from Your goodness.

We in Israel who so desperately need achdut, unity, feel a rush of hope that we have gotten a step closer, no matter what  is going on in the headlines.

 For all of our efforts when we lived elsewhere, we never felt as clearly our sense of purpose, our sense of connection to our Creator, to each other, and to our Land, as we feel when we speak of the weather here in Israel!

Spare us and have compassion on us and on all our produce and fruit, blessing us with bounteous rain.

May we merit life, plenty and peace as in the good years...








Glossary:
Geshem: one word for rain.  Just as the Eskimo has many words for "snow," the Jew has many words for "rain."
Midrash: an explanatory story, illustrating and clarifying difficult Biblical concepts
Chava: Eve
Kavana: intense focus

Just a little reminder: we're all in this together.

Yom shishi, 5 Cheshvan 5770.

Hat tip to Haim Makovsky


Glossary:
Mashiv HaRuach U'Moreid HaGeshem:  the prayer for rain, very important to a country that relies so heavily on G-d's blessing of rain for its very survival.

Fall Colors, Real and Imagined

Yom rishon, 27 Tishrei 5769.




Mystically, beautiful metal floweirds* from some planet far, far away, have sprouted in Neve Daniel. Perhaps they are a gift from Above, a Heavenly thank-you note for the keeping of shemitta.



While they have brought with them a certain amount of controversy (three Jews, five opinions, et cetera), they certainly have been a delight for the eyes. It will be fun to watch and see what else develops.
I'll be watching the ripening earth, lush and brown after our prayers for rain have been answered with so much love, to see what else grows (indigenous to this planet, and otherwise).
















More fall colors: There are fruits you just don't see too often in Baltimore. And even if they get to the grocer as the unique fruit for Rosh Hashanah, are they this ripe and luscious?

Rav Avigdor Miller, zt"l, in his beautiful work The Universe Testifies, first introduced me to the lucid thought that colorful food is clear evidence that Hashem loves us.








Ah! I see a future etrog liqueur!

When the chill weather of Chanukah returns, we will have a little something to warm the spirit.

L'chayim!



*Credit for this unique name for the shemittah blossoms goes to Zvi ("The Box") Ron. Nice job, Reb Zvi. You keep your well-earned title of The Name Guy in Neve Daniel. Long may you reign.