Machshava U'Machshavim

Tzniut. Not Tznius.

2009-09-28T11:48:00.000-07:00

GENERIC HALACHIK DISCLAIMER: I AM NOT QUALIFIED TO MAKE A HALACHIK DECISION. I'M ONLY TELLING YOU WHAT I'VE LEARNED FROM THE NASHEI CHAYIL IN MY LIFE, WHAT I'VE LEARNED IN SCHOOL, AND HALACHIK LITERATURE I'VE READ.

Last week I found this post over at Material Maidel's blog that comments on this post of Musing Maidel's. You can take the time to read them (suggested, as Windows Installer says), or you can rely on these summaries:

Musing Maidel: In Israel, everyone was very into being very tzanua and spiritual. It was awesome. Here in chutz l'aretz, people aren't into it as much and are even sliding backwards. Seeing the way one of my role models changed when she had been in chu"l for a while made me realize that we all have to be our own role models.

Material Maidel: It's not such a big deal. Short sleeves over long sleeves are perfectly tzanua. More thoughts to come.

There were at last count 26 comments on Material Maidel's post, and Musing Maidel had disabled comments for hers. But having a blog of my own as I do, I'm going to put my thoughts here.

First off, I strongly agree with the last point that Musing Maidel makes in her post, about how everyone needs to be able to rely on him or herself regarding what they are comfortable wearing (among other things, of course). Seminary/Yeshiva isn't life. It's meant to help prepare you for life and give you the background and knowledge that you need in order to make your own decisions. But once you leave it, you're on your own, and your choices, be they which skirt to buy or whether to talk to members of the opposite gender online, are your own.

Secondly, tzniut is a mindset. It's the mindset of modesty. It's the mindset of "I don't need everyone to look at me," and "I don't need to be the center of attention. I would even say that it's, "Everyone shouldn't be looking at me," and "I shouldn't be the center of attention."

Restrictions on dress fall under the category of tzniut because what you wear influences how people look at you and how you interact with other people (like it or not, folks, it's a fact). Both men and women are required by Jewish law to dress modestly. Yes, I said both men and women. Tzniut is often defined as "dress requirements for Jewish women due to modesty," which is, quite frankly, wrong.

***The next portion of this post is based off of Halichot Bat Yisrael (Halichos Bas Yisroel), by Rav Yitzchak Yaakov Fuchs. Sources I quote are ones that he brings in that sefer.***

However, the issue at hand is the issue of dress requirements for Jewish women due to modesty. Essentially, we are required to dress modestly, in clothing that covers our knees, elbows, and collarbones. In some communities, it is also accepted that the feet must be covered with socks or closed shoes, or that the entire leg be covered. Also in some communites, it is accepted that the entire arm to the wrist must be covered (I have a great tan for about eight inches on each arm).

The parts of the body that must be covered are the neck below and including the collarbone (Mishna Berura 75:2), the upper arm and elbow (Mishna Berura 75:2, 75:7, Chaye Adam 7:2), and the knees and above on the legs (Mishna Berura 75:2 quoting Gemara Berachot).

Thus (yeah, I actually use that word. Please don't stop reading.), if one is wearing a long-sleeved shirt under a short-sleeved shirt, she is in fact covering all of the required area. However, if the shirt is very tight or eye-drawing, the argument can still be made that it is not tzanua and should not be worn. A good part of the reasoning behind women's requirement to dress modestly is actually the commandment of "lifnei iver lo titen michshol," not to put a (figurative) stumbling block in front of a blind person. Women are required to dress modestly because men aren't allowed to see them dressed immodestly.

Some communities, like the one that Musing Maidel was part of in seminary, outlaw the short-sleeves-over-long-sleeves mode of dress entirely. Others permit it entirely.

***I'm now in the area of my own opinion, not strictly halacha. Isn't that what blogs are for, after all?***

In my opinion, the biggest factor in such an outfit is actually the shirt worn over the long-sleeved shell. (To Material Maidel: Lots of people call them shells.) If the shirt has a very tight fit or a plunging neckline, then yes, I'd say that it's not tzanua and probably wouldn't wear it. But some of my friends who did grow up Bais Yaakov certainly would. At that point, it's really a matter of what you're comfortable with.

Likewise in the issue of covering feet - In a community like my midrasha (Israeli seminary. My classmate refuses to let me call it a seminary.), practically no one wears socks, and I have no problem wearing sandals like the rest of them. My Bais Yaakov friends who would wear the low-necked shirt over the shell that I wouldn't wear would never be caught dead showing their toes. (Actual halacha on that - it's minhag hamakom).

Thirdly - Hate to break it to you, but what a lot of people think is chumra is actually halacha. The Shulchan Aruch is not a sefer of chumra, it's a sefer of halacha. Also, people tend to misinterpret some halachot quite frequently.

For example, when I was in high school, a girl in my class said she "held four fingers." By this she meant that she would wear a shirt whose neckline came within four fingers (a tefach) of her collarbone. Where she personally got that idea from is a mystery to me, but it seems that it could have come from the fact that a man is allowed to recite devarim shebekdusha in the presence of his wife (some say any woman) if part of her body that should be covered is exposed, but it is less than a tefach. Well, actually, she still has the obligation to cover it. It's a leniency for him, but not for her. (Insert generic halachik disclaimer here).

Fourthly - I know this sounds a bit corny, but it's true. Halacha gives me the ability and the right to dress modestly. That gives me the ability and the right to not be pressured into dressing in an attracting manner. That lets me concentrate on other things in life.

Lastly (yes, this post is going to end eventually), keeping halacha, especially in things like this, where there are a *lot* of chumras out there and it's often really hard to tell the difference between them and halacha, and when so many things are also influenced by minhag hamakom (custom of the place), is *really* hard. All the more so for everyone in chu"l where it's so hard to find decent clothing that conforms to halacha without breaking the bank on expensive "frummy" stores. So if people aren't conforming to what you think the ideals are, well, give them a break.

Chag Sameach to all you out there!

Offical Seminary Post

2009-09-24T23:07:00.000-07:00

I'm spending this year studying in Israel. Lots of learning and thinking, learning about thinking, thinking about learning, etc. Good hard-core stuff.

But wait, you ask, aren't you in college in the US?

Yes, I answer, but I'm taking a year off.

Why didn't I do that before college, you wonder.

Because I thought I'd be better prepared for it after a year in college, and for some reason I wanted to end up here the same year as the rest of my class. Go figure.

In all honesty, living by yourself is a lot easier once you've done it once. Frankly, I was shocked when they gave us toilet paper for our rooms, because the only thing my roommates and I kept a rotation of last year was buying it. Maybe it's because most of the American girls here aren't used to living by themselves, though at least half of the Israeli girls were doing Sherut Leumi (national service done by many religious girls who don't go to the army) for the last year or two, which meant that they were living away from home. Or maybe it's because as a seminary, they feel a greater need to take care of us than college does.

They are definitely doing more of the mollycoddling than I got last year, especially for us bnot chul (girls from overseas). We have two madrichot and someone who works in the office who are there almost exclusively for us. They spent a whole day and a half before the Israelis got here playing icebreakers with us and telling us a ton of useful stuff, and they arrange trips and hospitality if we need a place for Shabbat. It's quite weird for me because last year was much less of that. Yes, the first few days were orientation, but no one checked to see if you were there, all the events were optional, and if you'd rather figure everything out by yourself, you could. Plus we had to pay for laundry, as opposed to here. Essentially, last year I was among adults, this year I'm among, well, seminary girls.

Another factor is that most of the Israelis have already spent two years in Sherut Leumi, which makes them about 20, and all of the Americans (with two exceptions, me being one of them) just graduated high school and are only 17 or 18. I don't think I would like it if we all were, but this way is good.

We also have very few rules, as opposed to other seminaries - we have no curfew - in fact, no one cares if you sleep here or not. My old classmates are so jealous - we can go anywhere, we can talk to boys, we spend three mornings a week in intense Gemara. In that respect, this place is excellent.

I'm going to be blogging mainly here as opposed to my old site, so...yeah.

People, People

2009-03-14T18:16:00.001-07:00

Just a few hours ago, I had the opportunity to attend an oneg Shabbat in home of the "campus couple" here at my university. The shiur that he gave was about a very interesting piyut found in a geniza and mostly restored, that used the analogy of a woman's period of tum'a to depict the Jewish people's years of galut bavel - first the start of it, then the counting down to the end, and finally the return to Israel - tehora state in the analogy.
One of the girls there started up the discussion of the Torah degrading women from this. I'm not sure why - I didn't hear the first thing she said, so I don't know how she made the logical jump from one to the other. This girl grew up in a frum home but went to public high school. She's also very liberal in her ideology. The thing is, another girl sitting near her sided with her - and made the claim that men are never in the state of tum'a that a woman is in (and by this I mean a state of tum'a induced by an involuntary biological occurence).
I was pretty surprised when she said that, because I thought that she was better educated than she apparently is, but she said it. Meanwhile, a third girl was arguing the hashkafic aspect of it - the fact that we're tamei every couple of weeks doesn't make us bad people, etc. I was siding with her. But my point was very different. I asked the first two girls if they had ever actually read the psukim that talk about the nidah, zav, and zavah. None of them had. They were arguing about something that none of them actually knew about. And yes, I know, we don't paskin halacha from the psukim. I'm perfectly aware of that.
This girl - the first one - was arguing that the Torah degrade women by making them separate during that time, etc., etc. IT DOESN'T. And she was extrapolating from the fact that many other civilizations DID make women separate themselves, that we did too. It's just not true.
It really annoys me when people try to argue without backing themselves up. Yes, she has very strong feelings about this issue, and she has a right to express them, but if she wants to argue the validity of halacha, she needs to argue it from a halachic perspective. And she certainly shouldn't be arguing with the psukim if she hasn't actually read them.
Disclaimer: Nothing in this post implies anything regarding Halacha. All it's meant to be is me ranting about people not knowing stuff they should know.

Pre-Sem

2009-03-09T08:06:00.000-07:00

Disclaimer to my high school friends: I love you guys, but this is my blog and I can write what I want on it. If I hurt you, I'm sorry. There's a reason I'm so happy here.

Yesterday, I met up with a bunch of the girls who are going to be attending my seminary next year. We had all joined the facebook group, and someone had decided that a "preunion" was a good idea, and proceeded to arrange it. We met in a restaurant in Midtown that was expensive enough to have $14 hamburgers, and yet managed to not have anything on the menu more than $20 (as far as I remember. I didn't really look at the wine prices).

It was a very strange feeling for me. I was probably one of the youngest there, because I usually am, just the way my birthday comes out (though it's less than halfway through the year. I never quite figured out why). But yet, I felt ages older. It's the difference between high school and college, I guess. The difference between living at home or alone in a dorm. The difference between paying your own phone bill and buying your own food and not.

Another Step on the Road to Geekdom

2009-02-25T06:50:00.000-08:00

I bought my computer just about a year ago - not quite, but almost. It's an ASUS A8H series notebook with a grey-silver cover and black casing. It's been quite useful and very reliable this whole time - it hasn't crashed yet - but it was never as fast as I wanted it to be. I read the reviews online before I bought it, and that was the general consensus of most of the people who owned it, actually. It came with one GB of RAM expandable to two, but I never knew how to expand it and therefore just lived with it the way it was. Here at YU, I've met a few people who share my interest in computers, including one guy who is a hacker and knows eons more than I do about it. So the other day I asked him if he could put more RAM into my laptop. He proceeded to open up his own computer, show me the RAM, and explain that it was ludicrously simple - all I had to do was buy a stick of RAM (he even told me which site to go to), take out the screws, put in the RAM, and I would be all set to go. Lacking a screwdriver, and being substantially nervous about opening up my laptop without someone to make sure I didn't break anything, I asked him if he would help me. So yesterday I lugged my laptop around all afternoon, after convincing the lady who works in the residence hall office to give me my package with the RAM in it several hours early, and eventually got uptown with both of them. I was also carrying around everything I needed or could possibly conceivably use for my radio show, plus food I bought last night but left in the radio station, so I was definitely weighed down - and buying the Kitzur Shulchan Aruch at the half-broken-down seforim sale didn't help matters. Eventually, we met up and he opened up the panel on my laptop and showed me where to put it. Voila! My computer now runs faster. It's not the fastest thing in the world - it's still not very fast - but it's better than it was. And I'm still running Vista, which takes up a lot of the RAM. But it's definitely better that before.
And besides, I can now say that I've put RAM into a computer. Anyone who doesn't know how easy it is will be really impressed.

Spirit Award

2009-02-23T07:20:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was the NCAA EWFC (Eastern Women's Fencing Conference) Individual Championships. It was round-robin style, so we each fenced 14 other people, including our teammates. Every school in our conference was there, so it could have been as many as 20, but most schools sent only two epeeists, and one had only one. So we were done early, before 3.

Last week was the team championships. The teams voted on the "Spirit Award" and the coaches voted on the coaching staff award. Yesterday the awards were distributed.

The Yeshiva Maccabees won the spirit award!

We didn't win anything else, which means we're not very good, considering that the top nine in each weapon were named to the first and second All-Conference teams, including the first place, who was named Player of the Year. But we know that already. We only practice twice a week - most if not all of the other teams practice every night - and we all start as beginners our first year. Most of the other fencers have at least fenced in high school, though many started earlier. And they all take it very seriously.

We're just there to have fun, and we know it. We want to score points, and winning is very nice, but we know we're not winning the championships and we don't mind if someone else does. Some of us are more competitive than others, but even the most of us are just not as obsessed by it as the girls from the other universities. To a lot of them, it's life.

The spirit award was awarded for team spirit and sportsmanship. Most of the teams are pretty nice, though some are more outgoing than others.

One team was apparently very not nice last year - I heard that their coaches told them not to be - and all of this year, we didn't like them. They were last year's conference champions. They also didn't smile. Most of the time, at the end of the bout, when the fencers shake hands, they both smile - even the loser. This university's fencers didn't. So we went through the whole year not liking them, and getting along great with a few other ones, especially CCNY and Hunter College, which we're very friendly with. Last week, at the team championships, I started talking to them while we were waiting for the teams ahead of us to finish. Guess what? They're nice. They're just like us. And the girl that we knew as the one who didn't smile? She does. All you need to do is give her a reason to.

When the scores were posted, I went to check mine. I had actually not come in last, but second to last. The last-place fencer had been using a bad weapon all day, though, so I think I would have been last if she had been using a good one. I said my indicator (-31, in case you were wondering) out loud, and that girl told me about how her high school team had been like our college team, and that they had played that as long as you didn't fall down, cry, or throw up on the strip, you were doing well. It was very encouraging of her.

She came in second place. One from Haverford, a school we don't really know that well? First place, for the second year in a row. And I was talking to them during the day, and I was very happy when they won. They're both good at what they do and deserved to win. Third place? A girl from Hunter College that helps everyone. Every time I get off the strip against her, she give me pointers and tells me what I should do next time. She's great. Another one of the medalists was the head of the CCNY epee squad, who congratulated me on my improvement when we finished the bout. After we fenced them last week, we were waiting for the foilists to finish, and she showed me a nice move called the epee-retreat. She's great, too. In fact, I was just looking over the list of the top nine, and I'm pretty happy for all of them. Some more than others, and I wish my teammate had done just a little better, because she would have made it, but I'm glad. They deserved it.

We deserved our award also. As one of the Drew fencers put it, there has never been a mean Yeshiva fencer. She actually seemed more impressed with our award than I was. She told me to be proud of it. It was kind of odd for me to realize, but human kindness isn't taken for granted. We put so much emphasis on it that it's natural to me to be generally nice unless I have a reason to do otherwise. Apparently it's not like that for everyone. We go out to a competition and try to score points and have fun. If we're not having fun, we're missing the point of the game. They go to win. If they don't win, then they're disappointed.

And I guess that's why we got the spirit award. Because that's what our coaches stress, and that's what our team is really about. We're there to have fun. Yes, we're there to succeed as well, but we're there to have fun, and if you want to have fun, you want everyone else to have fun, and you're going to be nice to them. Until you get onto the strip, however, at which point you're not nice to anyone.

Skating and Seforim

2009-02-20T11:22:00.000-08:00

I brought back my skates from Toronto after winter break, just over a month ago, but I haven't had time to use them yet. This morning I finally investigated a place call the South Street Seaport, which apparently has important historical significance, but which also has skating for $5 if you have your own skates. It's twice as much as I paid in Toronto, but for NYC, that seems to be cheap. It took me a while to find it, and it was very cold on the way, but I did get there eventually. Of course, I forgot to take my gloves with me, so my hands froze too. The rink is outside and smaller than the hockey-sized one I'm used to, but there were very few people there - kind of like when I go see movies on Friday mornings. Apparently the rest of the world has other things to do on Fridays. I wonder why?

I'm still working the seforim sale, but no longer (thank G-d!) in the featured section. Now I'm a floater, which means I do whatever I feel like unless someone gives me something specific, which doesn't usually happen. I'm spending a lot of time there, though - I've been getting back here between 12 and 1 most nights, which means I'm generally tired the next day. This morning I turned off my alarms and slept in until almost 9:30. I knew it was late because my roommate was up when I woke up, and that almost never happens. It felt really good.

Last night I got the set I've been saving up for, the Talelei Orot Parsha Anthology. It's in Hebrew, but there's an English one as well, which I requested and the Stern Beit Midrash comittee bought for us. So between them I should be good. It's a really nice set because it has a bunch of short vortim on the parsha, from a lot of different sources. My father has been reading it at shul and I thought we owned it, but apparently not. Anyway, it's ten volumes and it's sitting on my shelf ready to be used. (For the record, I did use it last night as well).

With that, Shabbat Shalom!

Back to School

2009-02-05T10:19:00.000-08:00

Well, here we go again. Another semester. Yay!

After trying several times to readjust my schedule, I ended up with four classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays, three on Mondays, and two on Wednesdays. I'm also clocking in about eight hours a week working in the library. Suffice it to say that my days are pretty full. Oh, yes, and I'm the TA for the Intorduction to Computer Science course - I've been saying since tenth grade that I wanted to teach computers, haven't I?

The YU seforim sale is in full swing at the moment, and I'm working there. yay. sort of. That depends on the night. See, I'm not assigned to a specific section, so I do whatever they tell me to when I get there. Last time, that was hanging around the English Halacha section. That wasn't bad at all.

The time before that, I joined a friend in her section, which is the "features," coffee table books, and journals. The problem with this was, to quote the guy in charge, that it is the only section that "doesn't sell itself." In every other section of the room, people will come to look, intending to buy. Nobody intends to buy a coffee table book. I had to actually stop every person - or a lot of them, anyway - and ask them if they would like to take a look at our featured section, and then try to actually sell them on it.

I'm not that good at it!

I don't enjoy it too much, either. After a while, I got used to it, so it wasn't so bad, but still - not my thing. I don't often feel comfortable stopping random people and talking to them, especially trying to convince them to buy something that they probably won't. I must say that there were far more people who stopped to look after we started talking to them, but it still wasn't my cup of tea. No, wait - it may have been - I don't like tea.

So tonight I return, and I will probably do that again. Ah well, if I do it enough I get seforim. Just have to keep thinking about that.

I Can Cook!!!! (well, sort of)

2009-01-21T19:20:00.000-08:00

I have created a recipe!!! I made it today, and it was great when I came back from fencing. Just great. Here's what I did:

Last night:
Put a bunch of chicken consomme powder in a crock pot with water
Went to go buy a parsnip and parsley (I REALLY wanted dill, but didn't get it - it was about three times as expensive!!)
Put a piece of the parsnip and a couple pinches of parsley (dried, by the way) into the soup
Left it for a while
Decided I didn't want to eat all of it and froze a container of it.

Today:
At about 2:45, put the soup into my crock pot
Added a few pieces of canned sweet potato and its juice
Went to a fencing competition and came back at about 10
Ate it - AWESOME!!!

Note to self - next time, add more water to soup, because it boils off over the course of seven hours.

Yay!!!

Winter Break!

2009-01-12T09:15:00.000-08:00

I'm done with exams. Done. Finished. Completed. At least for the next couple of months!

Now just hanging out at home, visiting the other YU (that's York University in Toronto), and of course keeping a couple ears and eyes on the "situation" in Israel.

It really kind of bugs me when people call it that. Come on guys, it's a war. Just call it a war. We've had a "situation" for the past eight years. We have a very different one now. Now we're fighting them with soldiers - paratroopers, tanks, missiles, infantry, and "mighty vessels of war." It's not a "situation" anymore. Nor is it a "conflict," or even an "operation." It's a war. We're sending reserve soldiers in to fight. Get used to it.

I am very pleased to be able to report that the greater "situation", the international media one, is still looking good. I'm especially in favor of "Joe the Plumber," who has been assigned to cover Israel as his first-ever reporting gig. His lack of experience is working tremendously in our favor - he isn't so jaded by the pressure on the rest of the press that he can't give unbaised opinions. Which, if you take out all the double negatives, means that he's calling it as he sees it. And he's in Sderot, which means he's seeing it. His main question, which many of us have asked, is "Why hasn't Israel acted sooner?" Hopefully, enough Americans will recognize him to listen to what he has to say.

In other news, it's my younger brother's birthday today. I am going to attempt to bake him a cake. Wish me luck!

Ender's Game, The Sword In The Stone, and Israel

2009-01-07T07:38:00.000-08:00

First of all, I have two exams tomorrow, so I really shouldn't be spending my time blogging. Secondly, nobody seems to read this anyway. Thirdly, I'm so tired it's hard to study, and the fact that my roomate is still asleep (just flew back in last night, so I don't blame her) and the light is off makes me feel like it's six in the morning, not 10:40.

That having been said, it appears that while I've been sleeping/waking up/davening/going back to sleep for an hour because I was just too tired, the IDF and Hamas agreed to a 3-hour ceasefire. Why? To let the Gazans go out and buy food and whatever else they feel like doing without worrying about getting hit by the IDF. And presumably to get ready to shoot at us again. Also to allow our boys some sleep and rest, which I'm sure they much appreciated.

OK, I understand it. But at the same time, it's funny. It's like saying, ok guys, we're fighting a war - but let's all stop and have lunch now. We'll keep shooting later.

If we're civilized to the point of stopping in the middle of a war to let the other person go out and buy lunch, and they're civilized enough to not shoot us while they're doing it, why the ---- are we fighting?

That's what the public must think. If we're two civilized entities, why are we shooting each other? Over land? Ok, well, the UN can decide that. And while they're at it, why does Israel target schools, hmm? Especailly UN schools?

I'm not going to dignify that last question with a response. They're all over the place anyway, if you take literally a minute to read A Soldier's Mother or any of the others, you'll get your facts straight.

The answer, as answers so often are, is explainable by a story. And no, this isn't just because one of my exams tomorrow is on the stories of Rabbinic literature.

It reminds me of T.H. White's Sword in the Stone - there's a bit in there about a war, and how armies fought. He describes the battles, and says that they were pretty much fought all the same way, and everyone killed each other and the other side was okay with it because they were killing them also.
Then it talks about how this one guy, I think it was Arthur, decided to attack at a different time of day than usual (dawn? I read this book more than five years ago). The other side was taken completely off guard because they had broken the rules . Now, there were never any set rules against attacking then, just nobody ever did. The unexpected is proven to be the best tactic in war, aside possibly from living on top of a hill and throwing things down at the other army without ever having to actually fight them. So of course they won. But they hadn't fought a fair fight.

Now, we don't get along with Hamas, to put it mildly. Their charter makes it quite clear - they exist for the sole purpose of destroying Israel. Incidentally, that means that if they do suceed, they will self-destruct, because if G-d forbid Israel weren't there, they would have nothing to do. I'd like to see them self-destruct. But besides that, everyone should take a careful look at how they're fighting. And let's remind ourselves that there are rules about how to fight in this day and age.
For starters, you don't target civilians!!. The UN has these rules, and guess what? Israel, a member of the UN, abides by them. Hamas doesn't.
Also, you fight the other person's army, not their kids! What, you think that our kids are shooting you? Oh right - that's your kids who are shooting us. Just because you do it doesn't mean we do.

But back to my original point - yes, your unexpected tactics can succeed - for a short time. Because what happens, you see, is your enemies learn from you. This brings me to another book, which I read much more recently - Orson Scott Card's Ender's Game. It's about a kid in the future who's in a school of kids who are training to be soldiers, and the kids are divided up into armies and fight each other. So this one kid comes up with a new strategy and wipes the floor with the other armies. And guess what? In a few weeks they're all using the new strategy, and it's not an advantage anymore.

You might think I'm talking about your rockets. I am, in a way - you launched them at us, we drop them on you. but at this point I'm moving the media side of things. You've manipulated the media for too long, Hamas. As much as the world can't side with you because you're a terrorist organization, they can and do side with Gaza. And when I debate people, in person or online, and they start to 'talk objectively', and tell me how much Israel is hurting Gaza, I have to tell them that they have their facts horribly skewed, because what they think is true is just what they see in the news. They've never read the Hamas charter. They don't see the pictures of the Israeli kindergartens with holes blasted in the roofs. They haven't watched the Sderot "hide-and-seek" video.

But Israel's learned from you. No foreign journalists in the Gaza strip. Their YouTube channel, their IDF spokesperson's blog and Twitter feed, their newspapers actually listening to the IDF when they say not to print anything. This way, they control what gets out. And yes, the world media still skews things to Palestinian side, but not nearly as bad. Yesterday, the IDF YouTube channel was the third highest-watched this week, far above the BBC, for example. The information is out there. Now people have to go find it.

Go educate yourselves. Then tell me what the UN has been doing for the last eight years. Then come back here and tell me that we shouldn't shoot them.

I'll agree with you. But only if you go to them first.

Four more....

2009-01-06T05:16:00.000-08:00

Well, the good news is that Chamas can't claim four of them. The bad news is that we lost five more brave soldiers today/last night.

First Sgt. Nitai Stern (Golani)

Major Dagan Vertman (Golani, Doctor)

Cpl. Yosef Mu'adi (Golani)

Captain Yehonatan Netanel (of the Tzanchanim-Paratroopers) (Father of 3-month-old baby girl)
Alexander Moshivitsky (Engineer)

The Golani soldiers were killed when they entered a house, were mistaken for Hamas by the tankistim, apparently, and shot at. The shell destroyed the house, injured 24, and killed 3. Captain Yehonatan Netanel was either killed by an 'errant tank shell' or by other friendly fire.

Hashem Yirachem.

Other news: IDF killed the head of the Chamas rocket-launching program, Ayman Siam, y"sh.

There will be a rally today outside the Israeli consulate in NYC in support of the IDF and Operation Cast Lead.

According to JPost, a 'senior officer' said that if everything 'goes as planned,' Operation Cast Lead could be over within a few more days. May it be so.

Operation Tefilla, Torah, and Troops

2009-01-05T14:00:00.000-08:00

A long, long time ago someone davened and learned for the Jewish troops as they went into battle.

The weapons have changed.
The enemy has changed.

The soldiers have not changed.
The power of Torah and Tefilla has not changed.

http://israelmatzav.blogspot.com/2009/01/operation-tefillah-torah-troops-gets.html

Sign up to receive a name of an Israeli soldier to daven and learn for, and in our zechut may Hashem bring them all home safely.

If you want to, and you think they would appreciate this, pass this message along.

Gaza War, Again.

2009-01-05T07:49:00.000-08:00

We lost one. Dvir, we will remember you. I hope it will be as the only soldier to give his life in this war.

It seems like this is the most 'modern' war around, and yet so reminiscent of so many fought before. We've taken out most of their communications, we're hacking their sites and their hacking ours, they're partly if not mostly without power, and yet we still have men on the ground shooting at each other. If only we could take another step into the future and play it all out on a computer. If only they were only simulations. But they're not. We're not living in the future, we're in the present - but the present is inextricably linked to the past. We're fighting the same war not just as in 1956, or 1948, but the same wars that were going on in Sefer Yehoshua (Book of Joshua).
Yehoshua Chapter 11:
כא וַיָּבֹא יְהוֹשֻׁעַ בָּעֵת הַהִיא, וַיַּכְרֵת אֶת-הָעֲנָקִים מִן-הָהָר מִן-חֶבְרוֹן מִן-דְּבִר מִן-עֲנָב, וּמִכֹּל הַר יְהוּדָה, וּמִכֹּל הַר יִשְׂרָאֵל: עִם-עָרֵיהֶם, הֶחֱרִימָם יְהוֹשֻׁעַ.
21 And Joshua came at that time, and cut off the Anakim from the hill-country, from Hebron, from Debir, from Anab, and from all the hill-country of Judah, and from all the hill-country of Israel; Joshua utterly destroyed them with their cities.
כב לֹא-נוֹתַר עֲנָקִים, בְּאֶרֶץ בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל: רַק, בְּעַזָּה בְּגַת וּבְאַשְׁדּוֹד--נִשְׁאָרוּ.
22 There was none of the Anakim left in the land of the children of Israel; only in Gaza, in Gath, and in Ashdod, did some remain.

It's the same area. Later, in Sefer Shmuel Alef, King Shaul fought a lot of wars agains the Philistines (not so far from Palestinians, is it?).
David fought Goliat - from Gat.

And so it goes. Can't we just pretend we're not going to keep letting them have it? Cut it out and just take it back.

finals week...grr...

2009-01-04T18:01:00.000-08:00

This finals week thing is driving me slowly insane. I have only four left, and two of them are tomorrow and the other two aren't until Thursday. True, I'm glad of the extra time, but I would really rather get it all over with. The one this morning was one of the hardest, tomorrow's are easy, and Thursday's are - well, not easy, but if I study I'll be okay. In between is the annoying part. Maybe I'll just log a bunch of hours in the library - if I stay there all day I might even make some money.

i do have a final project for my computer class that is keeping me entertained. it was supposed to be a very basic project but i got a bit carried away and am finding myself learning all kinds of fun new things, or at least a few of them. My friend's boyfriend actually helped me out with one of them, too - he's in grad school and got his undergrad in computer science. So i'm hoping to surprise my professor with the project.

after all, it could be done in under one page and I'm handing him four.

Hashem Ya'azor

2009-01-04T05:53:00.000-08:00

T-1 hour 6 minutes to my first exam.

Just logged on this morning to check out Muqata and see what had happened overnight. I was sure there would be casualties reported. Baruch Hashem, bli ayin hara, there don't seem to be, from him or from JPost.

My mother tells me that this Perek of Tehillim is being recommended - I can see why.

Psalms Chapter 60

א לַמְנַצֵּחַ, עַל-שׁוּשַׁן עֵדוּת; מִכְתָּם לְדָוִד לְלַמֵּד.	1 For the Leader; upon Shushan Eduth; Michtam of David, to teach;
ב בְּהַצּוֹתוֹ, אֶת אֲרַם נַהֲרַיִם-- וְאֶת-אֲרַם צוֹבָה: וַיָּשָׁב יוֹאָב, וַיַּךְ אֶת-אֱדוֹם בְּגֵיא-מֶלַח-- שְׁנֵים עָשָׂר אָלֶף.	2 when he strove with Aram-naharaim and with Aram-zobah, {N} and Joab returned, and smote of Edom in the Valley of Salt twelve thousand.
ג אֱלֹהִים, זְנַחְתָּנוּ פְרַצְתָּנוּ; אָנַפְתָּ, תְּשׁוֹבֵב לָנוּ.	3 O God, Thou hast cast us off, Thou hast broken us down; Thou hast been angry; O restore us.
ד הִרְעַשְׁתָּה אֶרֶץ פְּצַמְתָּהּ; רְפָה שְׁבָרֶיהָ כִי-מָטָה.	4 Thou hast made the land to shake, Thou hast cleft it; heal the breaches thereof; for it tottereth.
ה הִרְאִיתָ עַמְּךָ קָשָׁה; הִשְׁקִיתָנוּ, יַיִן תַּרְעֵלָה.	5 Thou hast made Thy people to see hard things; Thou hast made us to drink the wine of staggering.
ו נָתַתָּה לִּירֵאֶיךָ נֵּס, לְהִתְנוֹסֵס-- מִפְּנֵי, קֹשֶׁט סֶלָה.	6 Thou hast given a banner to them that fear Thee, that it may be displayed because of the truth. Selah
ז לְמַעַן, יֵחָלְצוּן יְדִידֶיךָ; הוֹשִׁיעָה יְמִינְךָ ועננו (וַעֲנֵנִי).	7 That Thy beloved may be delivered, save with Thy right hand, and answer me.
ח אֱלֹהִים, דִּבֶּר בְּקָדְשׁוֹ--אֶעְלֹזָה: אֲחַלְּקָה שְׁכֶם; וְעֵמֶק סֻכּוֹת אֲמַדֵּד.	8 God spoke in His holiness, that I would exult; that I would divide Shechem, and mete out the valley of Succoth.
ט לִי גִלְעָד, וְלִי מְנַשֶּׁה, וְאֶפְרַיִם, מָעוֹז רֹאשִׁי; יְהוּדָה, מְחֹקְקִי.	9 Gilead is mine, and Manasseh is mine; Ephraim also is the defence of my head; Judah is my sceptre.
י מוֹאָב, סִיר רַחְצִי--עַל-אֱדוֹם, אַשְׁלִיךְ נַעֲלִי; עָלַי, פְּלֶשֶׁת הִתְרוֹעָעִי.	10 Moab is my washpot; upon Edom do I cast my shoe; Philistia, cry aloud because of me!
יא מִי יֹבִלֵנִי, עִיר מָצוֹר; מִי נָחַנִי עַד-אֱדוֹם.	11 Who will bring me into the fortified city? Who will lead me unto Edom?
יב הֲלֹא-אַתָּה אֱלֹהִים זְנַחְתָּנוּ; וְלֹא-תֵצֵא אֱלֹהִים, בְּצִבְאוֹתֵינוּ.	12 Hast not Thou, O God, cast us off? And Thou goest not forth, O God, with our hosts.
יג הָבָה-לָּנוּ עֶזְרָת מִצָּר; וְשָׁוְא, תְּשׁוּעַת אָדָם.	13 Give us help against the adversary; for vain is the help of man.
יד בֵּאלֹהִים נַעֲשֶׂה-חָיִל; וְהוּא, יָבוּס צָרֵינוּ.	14 Through God we shall do valiantly; for He it is that will tread down our adversaries. {P}

May Hashem continue to strengthen and protect our soldiers.

Oh, and by the way, the Israeli government still says it's not trying to retake Aza. Yeah, right.

Shabbos in the City - Mind on Israel

2009-01-02T07:06:00.000-08:00

I'm about to stay in for my 5th Shabbat so far this year. Why? Finals, those evil things that come to dominate our lives for a few weeks twice a year. I have one on Sunday. So every other week we pretend to be goyim and don't have Sunday classes? Why when finals come around we do? Someone please explain.
Anyway, I don't like Shabbat here that much. Or rather, I don't like here on Shabbat. The fact is that there are several million non-Jews here, and none of them know it's Shabbat. So we still get offered the same best deals on gyms (incidentally, there has to be one BEST deal, they can't all be the best) and walk past the same sidewalk vendors as we do the rest of the week. Furthermore, the shul is a considerable walk away (though not that much farther than mine at home) and when it's cold and snowy it's just not fun.

Warning: THIS IS A RANT.

Another part I don't like is the part where people aren't zocher shabbat. I'm assuming until proven otherwise that everyone is at least nominally shomer shabbat, but there's more to the day than not turning on the lights. The inyan of Zocher Shabbat is directly related to Oneg Shabbat. If all you do is stay in your room and study statistics, you're not going to enjoy Shabbat. One should enjoy Shabbat. I try to avoid my room altogether on Shabbat, because my roomate does study. There's a sentiment that I've often heard expressed - to quote from someone I was talking to a few days ago - "Shabbos is for sleeping and studying." A lot of people here seem to share that sentiment, and it's their choice, but frankly I think they're missing out.

The food is usually the same as the weekday food, which actually isn't bad, at least not the chicken and soup. The challah is actually really good. But last time I was in it was the Sephardi club shabbaton, which meant that they had Sephardi food - and not even good Sephardi food!

I'm Ashkenazi! I want my gefilte fish!!!

There are good points about it, though. It's generally very unstructured, aside from the meals - there are shiruim and often activities, but they're optional, so I get to spend Shabbat doing whatever I want. And since I don't study on Shabbat, it's not at all stressful. There is something special about spending all afternoon in the beit meidrash, I must say. Shabbat might be Yom Menucha, but it's also time to learn, and learning for its own sake is better than studying for exams. Of course, there are also friends and etcetera here, too, which is also nice :)

This week of course, there's another concern - it's entirely possible that Israel will launch a ground invasion of Aza over Shabbat. I've been keeping up with what's going on off of Jameel's blog at The Muqata, which incidentally is awesome, and Israellycool, which is also awesome, and it looks like more and more of Israel is in danger. I'm really proud of Tzahal for sticking to airstrikes until now. They've killed enough of us already, no need to hand them targets. I'm also proud of the Israeli government for its PR this time around. YouTube channel - awesome. Excellent idea. Twitter (Israeli Consulate) - also great. Their blog - again, very good idea. They need a way to get to the people without going through the world's media, and they found it.

I'm faced with the very real possibility that someone I know will get hit. So far Baruch Hashem there have been very few Israeli casualties, but more and more places are within range. I have family in a lot of those places - Beit Shemesh and Be'er Sheva for starters and it goes on from there. And of course there's a nuclear thingy in Dimona. If they get much father they're going to be able to hit Yerushalayim, and that puts my brother in Ma'ale Adumim not far away either. Suffice it to say I have a right to be worried, not that I'm not worried for everyone else who I don't know.

But time to go study!!! May the learning that we are about to do be l'zchut the safe return of all of our soldiers, including Tal, my first-cousin-once-removed.

2008-12-31T09:11:00.000-08:00

We have come to that time of year again - exams!! One wonderful thing about exams - in fact, the only wonderful thing - is that eventually, they're over, and I never have to deal with them again. For another three months.

Sad News

2008-09-01T19:35:00.000-07:00

My great-great-aunt Rose passed away today. I didn't know her that well. She was very short and her eyes always looked funny to me, so as a kid I was scared of her. As I got older I got over that, but I only ever saw her about once a year. I remember that she wore pants and that seemed weird to me. But I also remember that she was always happy to see us. My mother said that she lived long, kept herself busy, and enjoyed what she did.

It used to be that we visited Grampa and Grandma and Aunt Rose and Aunt Liz. Now Grandpa David is the only one of that generation left.

I wish I had told all of them that even though I only saw them once a year or less, I loved them.

Grandma passed away erev Yom Kippur. Aunt Rose passed away sometime this morning - Rosh Chodesh Elul.

Tehay nishmata tzrura b'tzror hachayim.