This Political Correctness Is A Real Killer

Most Israeli’s reacted to 9/11 with both horror and sympathy. After the shock wore off, they also reacted with stunned disbelief.

I remember having conversations with both native Israelis and Americans who had moved to Israel 30 years ago, and they spoke about how surprised they were at the laxness of American security.

“Where were the F16’s?” someone kept saying, as they looked at footage of the first plane crashing into the twin towers, assuming that if this had happened in Israel an F16 would have shot the second plane out of the sky before it could hit the buildings. “How did they let people just enter the cockpit of the plane?” another asked me later, when details of the terrorist attack came out.

Even more shocking to some, was the fact that the airspace over both the Pentagon and the White House was open to planes.

I feebly tried to explain to these people that noone thought to take these precautions because everyone believed at the time that terrorist attacks don’t happen in America.

Perhaps that was a good excuse then, but it doesn’t hold up now. Now the American people ignore the threats because of political correctness, which I find inexcusable.

The writing has been on the wall for a long time. It’s time for those in charge to be less concerned with hurting people’s feelings and more concerned with protecting people’s lives. Muslims with access to firearms (the armed forces and the police) should be screened much more carefully than they are now. If that puts people out, so be it.

Now is a critical time in America. The terrorist wannabes are looking to see if there is a reaction. If this attack  is passed off as an isolated incident, then I fear that the next attack will be even worse (suicide bomber in a shopping mall, for instance? G-d forbid!).

The Simple Joys of Mechanical Appliances

Our new dryer has been delivered and installed. Yesterday westbankpapa worked from home so that he could receive the dryer that we purchased about two weeks ago. He was then informed that we needed to wait for a technician to install it, otherwise we would not be eligible for the warranty.

When I heard this news I asked him to call the service people right away to make an appointment. Technicians from the major companies only come out to us in the Shomron on a rare basis, so I knew that I could possibly have a wait of up to a month. We were in luck – the service guy would be in Shomron the next day!

So today I waited at home (they said that he would be here in the morning – “up to 12:00″. He showed up at 1:30 pm.) The whole thing was a bit frustrating since all he did was to take off the packaging, attach the “exhaust hose” (what do you really call that tube where the steam comes out?) and plug the thing in. I am not a mechanically inclined person, but I COULD HAVE DONE THE SAME THING – and without missing a day of work!

Anyway, I have nice, clean, dry clothes for my children, even on a stormy day like today (G-d willing we will have many more, until the Kinneret is full).

Baruch Hashem!

Simply Jews Celebrates by Hosting…

Simply Jews celebrates his blogiversary by hosting this week’s HH…..

Another Song That Has Gotten Under My Skin

I have been broadening my music taste lately, and believe it or not I absolutely love the song One Day by Matisyahu.

It doesn’t make much sense though. I usually don’t like rap, and I am skeptical about what I call the “peace song” genre – you know, Kumbaya and all that.

But this song has gotten under my skin. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Matisyahu, he is an American Jew who has a talent for Reggae and rap, and has come to Orthodox Judaism through Chabad, although I don’t know if he identifies with Chabad anymore.

In any case he is another Jew discovering himself and making music along the way.

Enjoy!

Some of These Recipes Look Great….

The latest edition of the Kosher Cooking Carnival is up at Mimi’s, and some of these recipes look great…..

Virtual or Real, Visit Kever Rachel Today

Today, the 11th day of the Hebrew month of Cheshvan, is the Yahrzeit (day of death) of Rachel Imeinu (Rachel the matriarch).

For those of you in Israel who can take the time – go visit in person.

For those of you far away, or who cannot make it physically, take a virtual tour.

The Chumra Stops Here

The Jerusalem Post reports today that a hearing has been held at the High Court of Justice on the segregated busses in Haredi neighborhoods. The Ministry of Transportation has submitted its report on the issue (after a lot of footdragging). The report states that it found that

 ”the segregation itself is not legal, but passengers may voluntarily segregate themselves if they so chose.”

This finding is an attempt to give Egged the right to continue having these separate busses. But it will only work if, as the petitioners demand

“that for every segregated bus on the special routes, there should be an integrated one as well. Furthermore, the segregated buses should be clearly marked as such.”

This last demand by the petitioners sums it up for me – and I wholeheartedly agree with them and I hope they win their case. Many people argue that in Haredi neighborhoods the busses should reflect the standards of most of the passengers, who think that men and women are required to sit separately.

I disagree. I think that public transportation is just that – public. One sector of the population cannot dictate their standards to everyone else, even if they represent the majority of passengers in these neighborhoods. Can Egged have lines to predominantly Muslim cities, and demand that every woman cover her face?  Can Egged have lines in predominantly secular neighborhoods in Tel Aviv and prohibit the passengers from saying Tehillim? Of course not.

If one argues that the passengers have the right to choose a bus line that they are comfortable with – then I agree. But, as the petitioners demand, there needs to be an alternative line for those passengers who do not want to ride on a segregated bus, and they need to be clearly marked. This is the only way that a segregated bus becomes a choice, and not coercion.

Why I Haven’t Written About the Goldstone Report

A lot of bloggers have written posts condemning the Goldstone report. I haven’t – for a very simple reason.

It makes me happy when the UN freaks out and condemns Israel – because it means that we did something right – we defended ourselves.

I didn’t know exactly how to express this, and today I came across Sarah Honig’s article - basically saying the same thing.

There are some who claim that the various condemnations are terrible for Israeli public relations, and worry about our image. My opinion is that the people who hate Israel and/or are anti-Semitic, do so for reasons of their own. The hate comes first, and then they point to various (usually distorted or false altogether) incidents to prove why they are correct in hating us. Perhaps they were taught to be that way from childhood, inheriting their hatred from their parents. Perhaps they have had a bad experience with an Israeli or someone obviously Jewish. The answer to this is for Jews to be careful in their private behavior, always remembering that their actions are under scrutiny. But there is no reason for those in charge of our security to change their actions in fear of our “image”. (This is not to say that there is no importance at all for the IDF to publish reports and videos showing our side of the conflict. I think it is positive, but mainly in order to give us more leeway to accomplish the main goal – protect ourselves.)

I wrote similar thoughts here, and I stand by them today.

…Speaking of Friendships

I work four days a week. I usually debate with myself about what to do with my day off – because sometimes I just need to stay home and catch up on the laundry, cleaning, etc., and sometimes I feel that I should be doing something fun.

Today was one of those days off – and I decided I would go to Jerusalem. I haven’t been to the Kotel for a very long time, and I haven’t been to a Jewish bookstore even longer. I said my daily Tehillim at the Kotel this morning , looking up every once in a while to see the various tourist groups. In the short time I was there a group from America, France, and India came and went (judging by their accents, language, and dress, respectively).

I bought myself a Koren siddur – all in Hebrew this time. The Artscroll siddur that I have been using for the past twenty-five years has finally started to come apart, so I knew that I needed a new one. I like the Koren siddur in both Hebrew and English, but I wanted the large format (the letters in the pocket sized one are a bit too small for me) and it seemed a bit heavy to hold in my hand. So I decided I could “graduate” to an all Hebrew siddur, which is much lighter. I don’t know why I hesitated, I daven from an all Hebrew siddur every Shabbat and I have no trouble finding my way around.

The best part of the day was going out to lunch with Aliyah06 – aka Baka Diary. (I can’t remember if she uses her real name on the blog at all, so I am playing it safe here).

With my kids growing up, I have decided that I finally have more time for female friendships, and I am making an effort to cultivate them.

Jack “Gets It” About Blogging and Friendship

Jack has a great post up about the power of blogging and how the friendships you make via your blog are very special. He is also right that people who don’t blog don’t really “get it”.

In a lot of ways blogging is like having thousands of pen-pals. You write about things that are important to you, and others do the same, and your thoughts are open to the public. Sometimes you hit a nerve and people are put off, and sometimes you express something in a way that just resonates with someone else, and they are drawn closer to you because of it.