what is it that has bought me this happiness?

a few months ago, we hosted a family that had recently made Aliyah for a Shabbat meal. we were discussing with this family their "klita" (absorption) into israeli life and society. for a sundry of reasons, the husband and wife were both suffering from varying levels of cognitive dissonance about their decision to make Aliyah. on one hand, they knew it was the "right" thing to do, while at the same time, just could not be happy.

after discussing several "disadvantages" to the lifestyle that all of us at the table had chosen (being far from family, financial challenges, no sundays off from work), the husband asked me, "in light of these issues, why are you happy here?" i told him in all honesty that simply waking up in the morning and going through my day knowing that i live in the land promised to my nation by the Almighty makes me happy. how could i not be happy when i'm fulfilling the dream that all of my ancestors would have died for? in response, the man said to me, "you've been here for 11 years and you're still singing that tune? doesn't it get old?"

i guess i can see where he's coming from in that if you don't have that "love affair", you can't convince yourself that it's there. what buys me this happiness?

a recent forbes.com article tells us that in general, money DOES buy us happiness since their global survey of the happiest countries results primarily in wealthy countries ranking at the top. a short glance down the list, (make sure to click on the above link to see the table and then to click-through to the full article too), one finds that israel is the 8th happiest place in the world. so, the debate continues of whether money can buy you happiness (i remember learning and reviewing several academic articles to both sides of this argument). one thing is for sure though in this matter. money has not bought me this happiness, nor that of many of the thousands of people polled. i don't know how to answer it, but yes. i am still singing that tune.

jews go home!

ok, call me a tardy blogger. i can't quite keep up with the pace of the news! it's already a week or two old, but how can i let helen thomas come and go without putting in my two agurot?

her apologies are rather meaningless. her thoughts are out there. who knows how many other people think the same way but are not stupid enough to say it out loud, especially not on camera!?

but, if you listen to her comments, there is an element of truth to it. years ago, a friend of mine told me of his vision to erect a large billboard and place it smack in the middle of jewish communities throughout the US. it would be so harsh that it would cause the attention of thousands, especially thinking that it was anti-semetic. it would say something like this:
 

and then at the bottom, it might surprise people to discover that it wasn't sponsored by the KKK or by the Neo-Nazi movement, but rather by the Jewish Agency of the State of Israel. while helen thomas might not have gotten the right countries by listing our homes as germany, poland, and even the US, maybe her statement is that "rude awakening" effect that the described billboard would have. our home is israel and the sooner more jewish leadership begins to quote the pesukim that mike huckabee did in this video, the sooner we will come to be a united people.  and then we won't need to worry about the slandering of some white house journalist.

stanley who?

on thursday, i had to leave the house early to catch a meeting first thing in the morning. before i left though, i wanted to catch the last 5 minutes of the stanley cup finals. since the blackhawks couldn't hold the lead in the last 5 minutes of regulation,  i had to settle for checking the result through my iphone while on the jerusalem-tel aviv highway. it would have been nice to enjoy watching a major chicago sports team bring home a championship. anyway, it's been 49 years since the last cup in chicago, so let's savor it.

see embedded video:



the stanley cup is also referred to as "Lord Stanley" (named after a Canadian "Lord" of preston), and is often idolized (it's also called the "holy grail") by those real hockey fans (i wouldn't quite count myself among them, but as a sports fan and a chicago fan, i am excited about the win).

maybe this will be the start of something great in chicago sports. let's see if i can witness a cubs' championship in my lifetime.

the flotilla charade

well, now that it's been over a week, everything has been said on the flotilla and the massive hoopla that has spawned since. so i won't bother with the pros and cons of the move, whether or not it was justified, how bad a PR rap it has been etc.

i will say, though, that it is obvious that this was simply a charade and a pretext to stage against israel. of all the videos out there showing the IDF soldiers being brutalized by the "peace" activists, bibi NOT apologizing for defending ourselves and glen beck strategically proving our need to board these ships, this one was simply the best: the flotilla choir. a neighbor of mine, shlomo blass, was the executive producer of this short film as latma is one of his biggest clients. though most of you have already seen it (as of the publishing of this post, the clip had over 1.4 million views!), i'd like to repost it in case any hasn't seen it. in this clip, (those of you reading the blog on email, must enter the blog itself to see the embedded video), latma demonstrates what the ultimate objectives of these peaceful travelers.

this exile is coming out of our nostrils

in this week's parsha, Am Yisrael wanted meat! מִי יַאֲכִלֵנוּ בָּשָׂר
they couldn't stand to look at the manna. וְעַתָּה נַפְשֵׁנוּ יְבֵשָׁה, אֵין כֹּל--בִּלְתִּי, אֶל-הַמָּן עֵינֵינוּ

now, is asking for meat so bad? they didn't ask for lobster or ham, they didn't ask for עבר מן החי (limbs from living animals), why was this seemingly fair (and "kosher") request deemed so damning that it resulted in the extreme anger of G-d and displeasure of Moshe (וַיִּחַר-אַף ה' מְאֹד, וּבְעֵינֵי מֹשֶׁה רָע)?

to me the answer is very symbolic.

the mundane lifestyle that was familar from their days in egypt was no longer, no more cucumbers, watermelon and garlic that they were wont to eat. in its stead, the israelites were afforded the opportunity of leading a purely spiritual existence, to eat manna from heaven, physically internalizing the spirituality that G-d bestowed upon them. a way of connecting to G-d that even the greatest prophets of other generations would never experience. G-d replies with (paraphrasing), "You want meat? I'll give you meat. But you won't only eat it for a day or two or a week. You will eat this 'meat' ... until it comes out of your nostrils!"

עַד אֲשֶׁר-יֵצֵא מֵאַפְּכֶם


this story is happening again today, just with different variables. G-d has given the Jewish People an opportunity that our great and righteous ancestors have only dreamed of. a chance to connect with Him on a deep and personal level, to internalize his spirtituality and to dwell in his courtyard. living outside of Israel is also "kosher", also (according to most opinions) is not forbidden. we yearn for our bigger salaries, comfortable lifestyles and cucumbers and watermelon that we have in abundance in america. but by eagerly accepting the exile that we are in, we have despised His Land, we have refused to accept His offer of spirtituality. G-d is responding to us, "you want exile? it won't be just for a week or ten days. it will be until it's coming out of your nostrils!"

jews, put down that meat and come home!

b'damayich chayi

my channukah friends (you remember this post from a couple of years ago?) a few weeks ago, josh & tamar, have had another baby boy! this time, the name didn't fit in so well with the theme that i indicated, but was taken from the same psalm 27, as was their first three sons. his name is tuvel (from the famous words לראות בטוב ה).

i was especially moved since they honored me with the final brachot at the end of the ceremony along with the "Kriyat Shem" (granting of the name) for the newborn. as this honor is usually reserved for rabbis and close family members, i can guess one of two things: 1) when you have 4 boys, everyone's already had a turn and/or 2) they must really like me :) - thanks guys! had you told me in advance, i wouldn't have worn jeans that morning!

may the words we said of b'damayich chayi refer only to the blood of the mila, and that tuvel should grow to be a G-d fearing man.

mazal tov to the amishav-zlatin-eisenstock families!

a short thought on religious zionism

in honor of the upcoming holiday of yom haatzmaut, the rabbi of our shul gave a shiur this evening. though this wasn't the focal point of his shiur, he mentioned an interesting quote which i believe he ascribed to yosef burg.

when asked which of the two words, "religious zionism" he found more significance, his response was "the hyphen". in this way, he hoped to demonstrate that the two must go hand-in-hand and complement each other. rav efrati pointed out that this answer did not seem to comply with rav kook and his teachings. whereas the hyphen and the hand-in-hand approach represents synergy, they do not represent harmony. rav kook's teaching of the land of israel and the torah of israel are meant to correspond to body and soul, respectively.

can't have one without the other. i appreciated that thought going into israel's 62nd anniversary of its establishment. may we all merit to witness the state of israel becoming a true jewish state and the blossoming of our redemption.