When G-d Sends A Rowboat

Well, the nation is moving slowly back to some kind of normal. I'm not completely certain what that means or what that is, but I think that isn't completely realistic thinking. BACK is not the right word. We will never go back to what once was. We have lost our 21st century pandemic cherry to COVID, and while a hundred years ago we managed to survive Spanish Flu, this time, the vast array of transportation modes made transmission rates explode. For the moment, masks are off, people are gathering inside public spaces, and even I'm trying to figure out if my fall jaunt to Israel is gonna happen this year. The jury is still out on that one.

The first minyan back in the chapel
17 bodies/16 zoom boxes. Not too shabby

One of the more interesting conversations about the new normal came this weekend. Our shul had regular services with a full Torah service. Yes, masks were in place. At the same time over 100 intrepid souls sat in our regular places in the pews, we were still streaming live. That stalwart factor of my life, morning minyan, is now outside on Sundays, weather permitting, and inside on Tuesdays. We will gradually add more days. But therein lies the rub: our morning minyan now spans two countries and a bunch of states. 

We have regulars zooming into Minnesota from Canada, New York, Alabama, and Wisconsin. These folks are there every morning and as long as we can see 'em, they are counted to make up the 10 necessary for a minyan. As we go live, do we stop counting them? Does it have to be 10 people in the physical room? Or 10 faces we can see? But we have created this incredible, diverse community and we were there for each other during the duration. How do we not continue to count them to make a minyan? 

One idea is 10 in person is a minyan. 10 on zoom is a minyan. 5 and 5 is not. For a full Torah service with aliyot, 10 must be in the room. What happens if there are not 10 in the room? Is reading from a tikkun without aliyot permissible in this configuration? 

To many, this is a tempest in a teapot. This is our shtick and who cares so long as we make a rational decision for our community? Why does this matter?

Well, it matters to me. Or, should I say, the process matters to me. The conservative movement (not to be confused ever with conservative politics or political parties) looks to the traditions of rabbinic Judaism when faced with change. 

Balancing tradition and modernity is a dance, which ignites innovative ideas—those that shape our work to strengthen synagogues and those that influence how we live meaningfully as Jews today.                                                                United Synagogue for Conservative Judaism 

I'm not going into all the details of what the movement does or does not do, follow the link above if you're curious. But I am interested to see how the adjustments we have made this past year to deal with the pandemic become part of the new reality. It's really very exciting to be in the middle of these changes. 

Changes are not to be underestimated. They aren't always perfect or even tidy. Sometimes, they start small and snowball into something greater. Sometimes it's a small adjustment that ends up with a seismic shift. You never know. Kinda like the butterfly effect. 

And speaking of seismic shifts...

There's an old joke (#3 according to the ZJOD hit parade of humor and one of my all-time faves) where Sam is in a flood zone. He's on the porch when a man comes by in a rowboat, then the second floor when a motorboat comes, then on the roof when the helicopter comes, each time, turning away help by saying "G-d will save me! I have perfect faith!"  And he drowns. When he stands before the throne, he complains "Why didn't You save me? I had perfect faith!" And G-d answers, "But Sam, I sent you a rowboat."

G-d sent Israel a rowboat this week. 

Naftali Bennet & Yair Lapid

Look, I think the first PM of this shift, Naftali Bennett, is significantly too far to the right but here's the thing: this is a coalition government. An Islamist party is in the mix, and the ultra-orthodox are out of the coalition. This is progress. NOT having the Haredim in the mix means that the rest of the Jews have a chance of having more democracy in a place where the population is so diverse and the government these last twelve years has been so deaf. 

I was listening to Arieh O'Sullivan's interview with Jerusalem Post editor-in-chief Ya'akov Katz for KAN, the Israeli English news service. Like most Israelis, he sees this election as an opportunity for the government to actually work for Israelis instead of themselves and power. He points out that Bennett may hold right wing views on some policies, but in the past, while holding other posts, he has encouraged meetings with all sectors of Israel, including Reform and Conservative rabbis. The exclusion of the Haredim from this coalition means relations with the Jewish Diaspora stand a chance of improving. 

Israelis are exceptionally good at criticizing their own government. They have raised it to an art form. Bibi is still a MP and is already saying he will bring this government down. Haredim are planning a march for tomorrow (Tuesday) to protest the new government. Bennett et al are not going to sail smoothly into fixing what's wrong. But they get to begin that process. They will learn to navigate the reefs and the shoals. With luck, they'll have lots of co-pilots willing to help out when and where needed. With even more luck, they'll all cooperate and learn to listen to each other.

This election isn't a rescue helicopter or even a motorboat. It's definitely a rowboat, but one that might help Israel to move slowly forward out of the morass that it is in politically, socially, and internationally. 

Yeah, year, I'm Pollyanna. We know this. But I need to believe that there is hope for the new government the same way there is hope for our government.

Meanwhile, back at the golf club: Yurtle McTurtle made one hellaciously stupid pronouncement today. As The NYTimes reported today:

Senator Mitch McConnell, the Kentucky Republican and minority leader, threatened on Monday to block any Supreme Court nominee put forward by President Biden in 2024 if Republicans regain control of the Senate next year.  

“I think in the middle of a presidential election, if you have a Senate of the opposite party of the president, you have to go back to the 1880s to find the last time a vacancy was filled,” Mr. McConnell said in a radio interview with the conservative commentator Hugh Hewitt. “So I think it’s highly unlikely.”

Why now? Why say something this stupid before the midterms? Well, when you have a teeny-tiny tootsie like the other guy and you're under his thrall and desperate to keep him from exposing whatever teeny-tiny Acme Anvil he has dangling over your head, you're going to say anything to keep him happy. The GOP is not in control of the Senate. The GOP continues to prop up that less-than-benevolent despot because if they don't, he will drop that anvil on their heads. Which, of course, speaks to the larger issue of whether or not our rather fragile democracy is in danger. The biggest hope we have is that in their investigations into tax returns and business practices, the various attorneys-general will be able to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that Feckless Loser is a fraud, a phony, a thief, and a charlatan who has preyed on his minions. We can only hope that his minions finally come to understand they have been betrayed in the worst possible way. If not.......

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

COALITION: 

an alliance for combined action, 

especially a temporary alliance of political parties forming a government 

In Israel's current state, this is a good thing. 

Mowing As A Metaphor: Care-taking and Care-Giving

Today is June 7th. 

My honey, John Deere

I used to make it a point to mow the lawn on June 7th, but them days are long gone. As is my beloved tractor. It was the zen of mowing that I loved. The idea that there was a beginning, a middle, and an end. With earbuds in place, a Broadway show on the iPod, and the big green mufflers over my ears, I got approximately 54 minutes of total alone time. FIL would stand on the deck, moving his arms like one of those guys guiding planes on the tarmac, pointing to a line of lawn I may have missed, but I couldn't hear a damn thing but the music.  That was the good part. I couldn't hear squat.

Those 54 minutes were important to me. Those were 54 minutes during which I could quiet my mind, focus on something specific, and not be afraid of the next minutes. Yeah, I was always afraid of what disaster would strike next. It was never an if, it was a when. But as long as I could drive the mower up, around, and down, all was right in my world. For the moment, anyway. 

But I always mowed on June 7th (unless it was Shabbos because I never mowed on Shabbos) because that's Ziggy's secular date of departure. The secular part is the rationale here. Ziggy was fiercely devoted to his suburban lawn, and caring for it fell to me. Mowing, weeding, feeding...all symbolic acts meant to preserve something. I couldn't do much for the lawn at the cemetery, but I could take care of his lawn.

Sometimes, when I feel particularly bleak, I remind myself that care-taking  and care-giving are inexorably linked. Sure, it's easier to care for and about things you love, that confront you, that force you to pay attention. Other things may dance around the periphery, but don't fall into either care-taking or  care-giving categories. Thinking about stuff like that can make your head explode. Or, it can make you revisit some priorities. 

I happen to know a guy who is up at the Enbridge Line 3 protest. I envy him. He's putting his convictions on the line. I happen to think, along with a couple of petrol-engineers I know, that this pipeline is a bad idea for a whole host of reasons. From The Washington Post: 

The intensifying conflict over Line 3 has been driven in part by Indigenous activists who see a double-barreled threat in the pipeline: a carbon-producing fossil fuel project at a time of worsening climate change and one that also risks polluting tribal lands in the headwaters of the Mississippi River. Emboldened by some victories — such as the cancellation of the Keystone XL pipeline, and the gatherings at Standing Rock — protesters hope to intensify pressure on the Biden administration to suspend the pipeline permit before the project is completed.

Land mismanagement coupled with fossil fuels is a continuous recipe for disaster. We already know what fossil fuels do to the environment, yet no one seems to be in a hurry to stop its usage.  Yeah, yeah, cars and power plants. I know the drill. But if this was your house, wouldn't you be working to keep it healthy for your family? The pipelines have long been under fire as environmental and cultural hazards, yet they keep trying to push them through our state. If Enbridge wants a pipeline to Superior, let them run the damn thing through Thunder Bay and keep it the hell outta Minnesota. 

That pipeline is not taking serious good care of this state, tribal lands, or the air we breathe. If we cannot take a moment to pop our heads out of our collective ass, we deserve to keep breathing methane and other fossil fuels.

I can hear Ziggy in my head: You can't fix stupid.

Trickle down stupidity, just like trickle down economics, doesn't work. This has been proven about a zillion times, but some politicians like to take it out for a spin every so  often the same way people ride around in Hummers telling you they're fuel efficient. Sure they are. Not.

I can hear Ziggy in my head: The size and the decibels of a vehicle when added together are inversely proportional to the size of the owner's winkie.

Regardless, there are some pols who think We, the People, don't notice this stuff, that if they say it, we're gonna buy it hook, line, and sinker. Just like the people who still think the election was stolen. They will never be disabused of that notion because people who tell them "Trust me" are lying through their teeth. They're not caring for their constituency; they are caring only for themselves.  

But lawns and lands are not even close to where our care-taking, care-giving responsibilities end. Not by a long shot. There is a democracy at stake here. Sitting by while voter suppression is the legislation du jour is bad governance. If you're still grousing about electoral fraud, why aren't you demanding recounts of all the Republican elections as well? Or only if you win, it's fair and square? Declaring your allegiance to a habitual liar and unrepentant huckster is bad for your constituents. 

Can you say double standard, boys and girls?

Sometimes, you have to listen to what the hucksters are selling. If a political party comes along and tells its constituency, 

we're against:

• increased access to voting, 
• increased access to affordable health care
• increase access to reproductive health care
• increased access to early education
• increased access to modern curricula
• increased civil equity in gender, religion, and sexual orientation matters
• increased background checks and sensible gun legislation

you can safely bet your last buck they are also against a government of the people, by the people, and for the people. These are not the folks working toward a just and civil society, they are in it for the money and the power, in that order. These people are privateers and they are just like pirates on ye olde open seas. And just like those pirates, they are trying to steal you blind, hoodwink you with their fancy ideas that this is for the sake of small government. Don't buy that precept. It's garbage, and figuring it out is not rocket science. 

Jeff and Mark Bezos

But speaking of rocket science, Jeff  Bezos is  taking his little brother on a joy ride into outer space. Excuse me for  being a little sister AND the mother of  sons, but any time an older child says he's taking a younger sibling on a joyride of any kind, it's time to start worrying BIG time. This is from the same school of thought as, Frozen flag poles taste the best. Like a chocolate Tootsie Pop. You should try it!  

Seriously? Lick a flag pole? Go up in your big brother's rocket ship? Even if this rocket ship is one giant safety feature, how selfish do you have to be to risk a sibling's life? Meanwhile, where is their mother? She's alive, but why hasn't she grounded them both?!?!? Has the woman slipped a cog? 

All of which circles back to caring for a lawn. Which by now you realize is a metaphor for figuring out what is important. 

I cared for the lawn with organic, not hostile fertilizers. I avoided weed killers. I kept a wide apron between my lawn and the pond to avoid run-off. I worked diligently to remove buckthorn and other invasive species from that apron....and I have the scars to prove it. I sowed prairie flowers and grasses back there to help suffocate as many of the non-native weeds that I could. I have no idea if the new owners of my house held on to the information I left them about the protective apron. I don't know what they use for fertilizer, but I hope they pay attention to the needs of the big pond. I hope the loons still stop there on their migration route.

I was a caregiver for that plot of land, and the longer I am away from that role, the more I realize that I still do care, and that I miss being the steward of that small strip of Mendota Heights. I'm sure there's a lesson in there somewhere. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Whether you are care-taking or care-giving,

make time to care for yourself. 

If you are stressed and burned out, 

you won't do the job you want to do. 

The New Normal Isn't Just About Covid

Well, I managed to survive Ziggy's yahrzeit week, capping it all off with the 568th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Turks, and the 68th anniversary of the arrival of Sir Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay  at the summit of Mt. Everest. Young Sir insisted we put candles on the cake, we did, and we all sang Happy Birthday to Saba. We'd never done that one before, but the kids sang with great gusto. Happy birthday, dear Saba. Truth be told, I was rather pissed at Ziggy for not being there. It never ceases to piss me off that he isn't here for his grandkids, that they will never know him except through stories and photos. That they will never hear the squeaky noise or the nose be-boop from his lips. And even though both the Senior Son and the Junior Son are able to replicate those noises, it's just different enough to my ears that my heart hurts just a little. So it goes.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch...tomorrow morning minyan will be live and in person at shul. There will still be masks and social distancing, but we will be back in the chapel on one day a week as we begin the process of reclaiming some semblance of normal. There are still concerns about Mondays and Thursdays when people cluster around the amud (lectern) for Torah reading. I think it's a proximity thing. Plus there are people with children too young to be vaccinated yet, so caution prevails. Which is fine. Meanwhile, we will still use zoom because our minyan now regularly includes people from a bunch of other states as well as Canada. Morning minyan has become a rather robust group and we're not about to deprive anyone of the ability to daven (pray) with us. If someone wants to attend, we are there for them...but we had this discussion a couple of weeks ago.

At the same time, we are acutely aware that the uptick of antisemitism cannot be ignored. The store selling yellow stars to people who think vaccinating is the same as gassing people needs to be recognized for what it is: a symptom of a very sick segment of society. Even though the proprietor of the store in Nashville, hatwrksnashville "apologized" on Instagram, the sentiment lacks a signature or other identification leaving, at least in this writer's eye, room to doubt the sincerity of the apology:

Let's go back to symptom for a moment. 

Symptom: a physical or mental feature which is regarded as indicating a condition of disease, particularly such a feature that is apparent to the patient.

When one has symptoms, one can either ignore it in hopes whatever ails one will go away, or one can go to the doctor to find out if it's a problem in need of attention. There are times if one ignores a symptom, it can kill you. When Jews in 1930s Germany thought Hitler was nothing more than a temporary aberration instead of a symptom of something bigger, over 6 million Jews and other minority groups ended up dying. 

The increase in violence toward Asians is yet another symptom of our nation's sickness. 

The daily reports of mass shootings is yet another symptom of our nation's sickness. 

The refusal to accept the results of a well-examined national election is yet another symptom of our nation's sickness. 

And the refusal of Republican senators to permit a bi-partisan investigation of the events of January 6th is yet another symptom of our nation's sickness. 

We, the People, can continue to keep our collective heads in the sand, refusing to recognize that this is one seriously sick nation while we prepare for the new American order. SCOTUS will hear cases on abortion rights, voting rights, LGBT civil rights, and immigration rights. With the current conservative majority, it is very possible that precedent will be ignored and laws will be overturned reflecting not the voices of We, the People, but the opinions of a narrow, religiously conservative band who would return us to a previous century. Once upon a time, this was unthinkable. Not so much now.

If one wants to narrow the scope to examine the results of our shift toward conservative/right wing government, one needs only to look at Texas, their legislature, and Governor Abbott.

May 5th: From the Texas Tribune  - America's racist history

Mirroring moves by other red-state legislatures across the country, Texas Republicans are attempting to reach into classrooms and limit what public school students are taught about the nation's historical subjugation of people of color.

Two bills moving through the Texas Legislature would bar the teaching of critical race theory, an academic discipline that views race as a social construct and examines how racism has shaped legal and social systems. 

Decrying critical race theory has emerged as a common refrain among conservative Republicans nationwide, but the Texas legislation would go further by discouraging Texas students from discussing current events or controversial public policy issues. 

May 19th, 2021:  From the Washington Post  limiting abortions

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott (R) on Wednesday signed legislation banning abortions in the state as early as six weeks into a pregnancy, a measure slammed by critics as one of the strictest and most extreme measures in the nation and hailed by antiabortion supporters as a landmark achievement.

The Texas bill known as S.B. 8, described as a “heartbeat ban” abortion measure, prohibits the procedure the moment a fetal heartbeat has been detected. By banning abortion after the six-week mark, many women in Texas who are not even aware they are pregnant will not be allowed to get the procedure done in the state. The bill, which goes into effect Sept. 1, does not include exceptions for women impregnated as a result of rape or incest, but offers a provision for medical emergencies.

May 25th, 2021: From the New York Times  open carry gun laws 

Now, within days, Gov. Greg Abbott is expected to sign a wide-ranging law that will throw much of that regulation out the window, allowing virtually anyone over the age of 21 to carry a handgun, no permit required. The landmark bill would make Texas — which has three of the nation’s 10 biggest cities — the largest among 20 other states to adopt a “constitutional carry” law that basically eliminates most restrictions on the ability to carry handguns. 

May 29th, 2021:  From the New York Times   voting restriction

[Update: the bill was defeated  on Monday with the GOP promising to revamp it for passage] 

The Republican-controlled Texas State Senate passed a bill early Sunday that would impose a raft of new voting restrictions in the state, moving a step closer to the expected full passage of what would be among the most far-reaching laws in Republicans’ nationwide drive to overhaul elections systems and limit voting.

 

The bill would tighten what are already some of the country’s strictest voting laws, and it would specifically target balloting methods that were employed for the first time last year by Harris County, home to Houston.

 

In addition to banning drive-through voting and 24-hour voting, which were used by nearly 140,000 voters in Harris County during the 2020 election, the bill would prohibit election officials from sending absentee ballots to all voters, regardless of whether they had requested them; ban using tents, garages, mobile units or any temporary structure as a polling location; further limit who could vote absentee; and add new identification requirements for voting by mail.

 

Partisan poll watchers would also have more access and autonomy under the bill’s provisions, and election officials could be more harshly punished if they make mistakes or otherwise run afoul of election codes and laws.

 

 

These are but four examples of what is moving through the legislature in Texas. You will find similar bills moving through Republican controlled legislatures across the country. Even in Minnesota, the GOP led chamber is attempting to mirror some of these laws. 

It's interesting to note that 59% of Texans are against the new gun law, but that seems not to be of import to either the legislature or the governor. After all, Texas does have a fine history of mass shootings...including one that was planned for a Walmart today. Maybe more people firing at each other is a good thing. But one must ask if the folks of Texas will rise up against that flagrant disregard of the voice of the people? Probably not since most of the state seems to think Feckless Loser won the election. 

In other words, things are moving back to normal...that place where We, the People really don't count for much. 

There is no accounting for this level of collective irresponsibility. There isn't. But like any good symptom of a disease, if ignored, it will spread and fester. Just like it did in Germany, Austria, Poland.....

There is no vaccine against hate. There is no Pfizer or Moderna shot to be given that will stop senseless brutality. Human nature has time and time again proven that we are a warlike species, motivated by hatred of the other coupled with a desire to kill. Don't believe me?  Look at Yemen. Look at China. Look at Myanmar. Ethnic cleansing is alive and well in those places. 

Funny thing about those places....no one protests about the treatment of those people. I guess there are no Jews to blame there. Just a thought. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Day
Not a great Bill Maher fan here, but last Friday, he won my vote.

Do yourself a favor...watch the whole thing. 
"You can't learn history from Instagram."

 

I Am A Zionist...And Damn Proud Of It.

This statement has been posted in a number of places, sometimes presented as a meme, other places as an unattributed quote. I cannot vouch for the statistics at the bottom, but they sound reasonable enough. 

I am not here to defend the actions of the government of Israel or the United States. I am here to tell you I am a staunch supporter of the right of Jews to live in our own homeland. 

That homeland called Israel may be a modern state, but the last time that strip of land had an autonomous government, not run by a foreign power of ANY kind, was the Hasmonean Kingdom of Judah that was absorbed into the Roman Empire around 37 B.C.E. when Herod (yes, that Herod) was installed as a puppet king by Rome. Even Christian history, the preferred version for a good chunk of the world, recognizes that Israel was a Jewish state even then. 

I've written these words before: we are the indigenous people of that area. 

We are not the only indigenous people. There are others with lots of other names. By comparison Palestine is a word invented by the Romans, has never actually been a country or an ethnic group. At least not until the establishment of the modern State of Israel. This is not fiction or opinion; this is historically accurate.

That said, the Palestinians identify as a group now; in a perfect world, the two state solution would have already have been accepted and the Palestinian people would have a working, functional, state of their own. But they don't. 

But that's not what I'm writing about tonight. Tonight, I want to simply point out that being a Jew living in the Diaspora does not mean we are group think, that you know what any of us think about Israel, Gaza, the West Bank, or even Jerusalem unless you have asked one of  us for a personal opinion. For as many Jews there are, there are that many opinions plus one or two or three or a hundred. 

If you don't like the policies of the Israeli government, that does not give you carte blanche to beat up random people on the street, burn synagogues or businesses, or threaten the rest of us with rape, death, mutilation, or anything else. That is ANTISEMITISM. 

Did you get that? 

Let me repeat it just in case you didn't quite understand what I mean:

If you don't like the policies of the Israeli government, that does not give you carte blanche to beat up random people on the street, burn synagogues and businesses,  or threaten the rest of us with rape, death, mutilation, or anything else. That is ANTISEMITISM. 

Increased violence against minority groups is not limited to Jews or the U.S. Hate crimes against Asian Americans have risen almost exponentially since the last administration blamed them for the pandemic. There is certainly a disconnect when it comes to the treatment of Black Americans by the justice system, including but not limited to cops. And the invisibility of the Native American population is beyond reprehensible. 

Jew hating is an ancient practice full of bullshit and lies that seem to cycle through every generation. Germany did an admirable job of attempting to rid the world of Jews, but alas, once again, we survived. One might think that after the oh, so public documentation of the Holocaust, some of this might stop, but no. Even Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan supported the ol' blood libel bullshit:

During a televised speech Monday, Erdogan criticized the ongoing conflict and said he had spoken to a “Jewish prime minister” during a past visit who told him it was the “greatest pleasure” to kill Palestinians when the unnamed official served as a general in the Israel Defense Forces. Erdogan said, “This is part of their nature" and “they are only satisfied by sucking blood."    (from AL-Monitor)

Great to know old habits die hard....or not at all. 

Which is precisely my point. There is a double standard for Us. And by Us, I mean Jews and Israel. It's open season to attack Us because Israel defends itself against thousands of rockets fired at towns and villages indiscriminately. As John Oliver pointed out so well on This Week Tonight last week:

And look, it is true that militants from Palestinian groups like Hamas fired over a thousand rockets toward Israel this week, and that is reprehensible. But — and I realize this is the most load-bearing conjunction in history, “but” — the majority of those rockets thankfully didn’t reach their target, for a very clear reason. The casualties and the damage would have been greater but for Israeli interceptor rockets, the so-called iron dome, which blew most of the incoming missiles to pieces. 

Yeah, Israel has a so-called iron dome. And I know “what if we blew up the rockets with more rockets?” Sounds like something someone drunkenly wrote down on a napkin once, but it is a real military defense system that works. And I also know not all the rockets were shot down. Israeli civilians were killed this week, which is terrible. But the point is, this isn’t “tit for tat.” There is a massive imbalance when it comes to the two sides’ weaponry and capabilities. While most of the rockets aimed toward Israeli citizens this week were intercepted, Israel’s air strikes were not.

 

So, if I'm getting this right, John Oliver would be happier without Iron Dome because then the rockets would've hit many of their targets, thereby killing lots of Israelis. But because they developed Iron Dome to protect their citizens, then there's an imbalance of power that should be negated.  Hmmmm. 

I think Tom Aharon did a great job of debunking John Oliver in his rebuttal piece. If you haven't seen it, it's worth watching:

The more I think about it, I understand that the surgical strikes in Gaza are painful for those people. But y'know what? I didn't see any Hamas warnings to the citizens of Ramat Gan warning those people missiles were being launched at them, whereas the people in Gaza were specifically told which building was being targeted and should be evacuated.

We can all agree what is happening in Gaza is not good. It's not good for Israel, it's not good for the citizens of Gaza under the thumb and above the rat warren of terror tunnels. And it's certainly not good for any of the children on both sides who are going to have long term PTSD from this never ending war. It has to stop. 

As does attacking Jews world-wide for being Jews. Or Asians for being Asians. Or Black American men for driving or walking while being Black American men. Or Indigenous women. Attacking random people for being something is, as Ziggy would say, the surest sign you have a tiny little dick and need to compensate by attempting to act like a bigger one. Guys, that is total bullshit, everyone sees it for what it is, and frankly, you look even stupider than you probably are. 

I am hoping to be back in Israel, pandemic and hostilities permitting, in the fall. When I'm there, I have a sense of belonging, a feeling of homey-ness I don't get anywhere else. Yeah, the Haredi attitude of we're right/you're wrong pisses me off no end. Still, I think about making aliyah a lot...but Little Miss and Young Sir keep me rooted here right now. 

I have been a Zionist since the day I learned what the word meant in first grade. I believe we are entitled to live in our own homeland. I believe ALL Jews should be welcome there. And I believe that we will eventually come to peaceable terms with our neighbors. 

That said, I guarantee that when that day comes, assholes are still gonna be beating up Jews and burning Jewish business and synagogues. Y'know why? 

Because it has NOTHING to do with Israel and the Palestinians. 

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Saturday, May 29th, is the 568th anniversary of the fall of Constantinople to the Turks.

Tradition requires an angel food cake with chocolate frosting. 

Just sayin'. 

Telling Time the Jewish Way

Shavuot begins at sundown and lasts until Tuesday night. Ergo, the blog must go out this afternoon so I can beat the sundown deadline. With kiddies coming for dinner, there is still much to do. And yes, there is cheesecake involved. 

Those who know me in real life know that this is not my favorite holiday. It used to be, but Ziggy's death 10 days after the holiday has relegated it to least favorite because instead of creamed herring, cheesecake, and picnics at shul, I only associate it with death. 

Traditionally, Shavuot marks the time when, in our 40 year desert shvatzir, we arrived at Mount Sinai. According to the Torah, this is zeman Toratenu, the time when we were given the Torah.

In case you are not familiar with the Torah as opposed to the Bible, it's really quite simple: the Torah consists of  the 5 books of Moses:  Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy. That's it. The canon of  the Bible includes the 5 books along with the Prophets and the Writings. The Torah, for all intents and purposes, is the law. It's the guidebook on how to be a Jew. There are 613 positive commandments contained in Torah, and those are the basis for our moral and legal code. 

In other words, the Torah is a Jewish document. Period. End of discussion. 

One of the most important and crucial elements in Torah is the establishment  of the Jewish calendar. There are distinct references to Rosh HaShanah, Yom Kippur, Sukkot, Pesach, and Shavuot. The communal calendar is what makes a people a people. Common celebrations and observances unite a population. You don't find Christmas, Easter, or Ramadan mentioned anywhere. That's because those holy days are not part of our observances. We have a boatload more holidays after the big 5 scattered throughout the year. Big observances like Hannukah as well as little ones like Tu B'shevat. They are remarkably different, commemorate different events, but I don't mind. Some are seriously colorful. Others just make  you remember.

My life runs according to the Jewish calendar. I cannot tell you the English date of Ziggy's death, but I can tell you (without missing a beat) he died after sundown 10 days after Shavuot. Grandma Bessie thought she was born on the first day of  Shavuot, but we know she passed away on the second day of Sukkot. And Young Sir was born the day before Purim. And Ziggy and I were married the day before the 9 days to Tisha B'Av commenced. 

I don't mind telling time that way; it anchors me. Linking provides context. Not a bad thing. 

Being Jewish in these times is interesting at  best, and that's not in a good way. It's open season on Jews all over the globe. Not that this is news. But sometimes, I really wonder why. If Puerto Rico or the US Virgin Islands started lobbing missiles at, oh, say, Florida, what would be the US response? Would we stand by and watch, hands in pockets, as houses and schools are blown up? And for the record, being Jewish does not mean you agree with Israel's politics.

Yeah, well everyone has to hate someone, I suppose. It just really bugs the hell outta me when people  who are reputed to be smart cannot figure out our ties to the land ancient, and that all we really want is to be left alone. That we in the statement is about being Jewish. You don't like Jews? That's your problem, not ours. Don't be Jewish. Don't marry one of us. Just leave  us the hell alone to live our own lives. 

And on that happy note, Chag Same'ach to those who are observing Shavuot. And a guteh voch....a good week...to everyone. Time to light candles.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

If you're worried about the amount of fat in cheesecake,

use half cream cheese, half Neufchâtel (cream cheese "light.")

The best ones have the fewest ingredients. 

Light, Shadow, and Invisibility

Young Sir and I have been having an ongoing conversation about light and dark; specifically sunlight and shadows. This started a couple of weeks ago while we were taking a walk around my block and we noticed our shadows preceding us. I explained about the direction of the light, and then we played with our fingers, spreading them apart, then pushing them together, and noticing how we can see the light between our fingers and then, when we squish 'em together, there is only dark. The conversation picked up again at last Friday's nanny-day. 

We were in the backyard when suddenly he said, "Look, Savta! Shadows!" 

I looked down to study our shadows. Then I pointed to our feet. "Our shadows are still attached to our feet!" We picked up one foot and saw light fill the space, then put it down to see if our shadow was still attached. Young Sir was very relieved to know his shadow was still stuck to him. I just smiled as I thought of Wendy Darling stitching Peter Pan's shadow back onto his feet.

The conversation progressed to cover that which we can see and that which we cannot see. Keep in mind, Young Sir is only 3, so the science isn't all that helpful here. He was, however, glomming on to the word invisible. I think he liked the concept of not being seen. I'm not quite sure how he was processing visible v. invisible, but clearly he knew what invisible meant. 

On Shabbat, I was giving this conversation a fair amount of  thought. The word had come up a number of times this past week, and I was grappling with some of the implications of invisibility. Women of a certain age are routinely invisible, as are widows. You can poo-poo that all you want, but it's the truth and we who are one, the other, or both know how true it is. We certainly are not the only invisible people around here; we are but two clumps. Invisibility is a real issue for all sorts of very real people. And for a variety of reasons, not all of which are earth shatteringly monumental. Some are quite small and seemingly insignificant to those outside the group in question. For those in the group, it is neither small nor insignificant.

But that got me to thinking about what else happened this past week. Allow me to color outside the lines for a moment.

Just about 12 years ago, Ziggy died. Mourner's kaddish had to be said, and even though the strictest obligation for a spouse is 30 days, I decided I would recite the mourner's kaddish for 11 months. Since both my parents were alive, I'd never said kaddish formally before. I came to appreciate the importance of morning minyan. 10 people have to be there (we are an egalitarian minyan counting men and women) and every once in a while, we struggle to get 10. So when my 11 months were over, I kept coming, paying it forward as it were. Work shift issues cut into the number of days a week I could be there, but I worked out a schedule that guaranteed at least one day a week I would go to minyan before work. Another shift change, and I was back to 6 days a week. It was an obligation I accepted not just for the sake of community, but for my own need to center myself in the mornings. 

Some of us are bullish about  being at minyan...even after the start of the pandemic when we had to figure out how we could make this work on Zoom. By looking at the tally sheet to my immediate right, I can tell you today is the 347th day we have had Zoom minyan (there's no morning minyan on Shabbat and holy days that require other arrangements.)

See, I am the keeper of the names, a tradition started on a yellow pad many years ago by Bud Sweet (z"l) and continued to this day...because I brought the sacred yellow pad home that last day in the chapel. I've actually been the keeper for most of the years I've been coming to minyan. The number on the far left with a V- is the actual number of people praying that day in the minyan. We have one who comes in from Canada, a couple from Florida, one from Alabama, one from New York, a bunch from Wisconsin, and some who just show up on Zoom because they know there will be a minyan and they can say mourner's kaddish. During regular times, we listed who had an aliyah to the Torah and who davened each of the 3 sections of the service. These days, there is no formal Torah reading, so we list who read the section. In the 347 days we have been davening together every morning, we have fallen shy of 10 only twice...which is about the same for a year of in-person gathering. Our average daily attendance on Zoom is 26. 

Because we do this every day with no hype, no fanfare, no expectations of anything, we pretty much fly under the radar. We're kinda like the pillars that hold up the sanctuary....after a while, you don't notice them either because they are always there. And that's exactly how it should be. We don't do this for us, we do this for the community. It's a group effort. 

My dad was a minyan kinda guy. For him, it started when a close friend lost her father. Dad started going to minyan to make sure they had 10 men (it was not an egalitarian shul.) And it became a habit. He even had a page to announce. When the folks were making the move to Florida, they gave Dad a plaque to take with him...and they named his pew in the chapel for him. He told me he cried the day they gave him the plaque. He told me going to minyan was one of the most important things he ever did in his life because this is what you do for your community. 

In my home shul that is now gone...having merged with another synagogue...daily minyan was a community responsibility. You got a notice when it was your week to make sure they had a minyan. Minyan duty was an expectation, something that came with your membership, kinda like jury duty. It was an integral part of that community, a shared responsibility. Minyan was important. And most people respected that obligation.

As Governor Walz lifts many of the restrictions on gatherings, a committee was formed to explore how our synagogue would reopen. There are so many moving parts, so many aspects to consider for a community that has traditionally served congregational lunch on Shabbat week in and week out. There are so many classes and meetings to consider, so many Twin Cities-wide community events to evaluate that the committee is, understandably, overloaded. And I get that. 

What I didn't get this week, however, was why our little piece of everyday ritual isn't important enough for us to be asked for representation on that committee. We are the ones who are in the building every day... even when it's officially closed on Mondays. We are on site Sunday thru Friday, rain or shine, snow or sub-zero temps. Reopening impacts us more directly than any single group in the shul. And we have discussed this amongst ourselves, trying to figure out how to answer the inevitable question. 

Turns out, the question may not be addressed to us after all. Seems the chairperson did not have the  "bandwidth" to reach out to us.

Yeah, in the greater scheme of things, we are small potatoes. We are just the ones who are there when you need us, when it's your day to say mourner's kaddish. You just expect we will be there to make a minyan.  And we will. We will be there for you because that's what we do. 

If you must know, morning minyan was the light in my shadow 12 years ago. It got me through that horrible, horrible first year without Ziggy. It got me through the death of my father-in-law, and then my parents. Minyan gave me the bandwidth to learn to breathe again after each tragedy. I suspect it does the same for many others. 

When in the course of mourning one feels bereft, untethered, and alone, minyan is there to hold you up, make sure you're breathing, and most importantly, let you know that you are seen. That you are not standing in a shadow.  That you are not invisible.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Covid restrictions may be lifting right now, but general stupidity is not.

Use common sense: wear a mask in crowds 

and be aware:

not everyone who says they are vaccinated actually are. 

Catch-up Week: Not much happening

Bodies lined up

I suppose I should be writing about what happened in Israel on Mt. Meron on Lag B'omer last week, but frankly, I do not feel compelled to do so. I have very mixed feelings about what happened. Yes, it was a tragedy. Yes, people, including children, died. But the circumstances that led to those deaths was neither new nor unforeseeable. Mt. Meron on Lag B'omer was a disaster waiting to happen. And now it has. Will it change anything? High unlikely. Don't get me started.

I could write about President Biden's first 100 days in office, but gee, everyone under the sun has already done that. His speech the other night was calm, collected, and borderline boring. Exactly how it should've been. Sure, there were some points that were exaggerated, but nothing in that speech had me jumping outta my chair with steam coming out my ears. In fact, I shared a moment with Cruz....I dozed off at one point. 

The most entertaining part of the evening was the rebuttal by Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.) Whoa, there were some whoppers in there. The part about packing the Supreme Court was hysterical. As was the section on voting reform. He did say that America is not a racist country and that President Biden was pulling this nation apart. Wow. Just wow. Where has he been for the last 5 years??????? I'll tell you where: he's been lining himself up to be the Black voice telling Republicans what they want to hear. Near as I can tell, he's not gonna to rock the GOP boat, and the GOP needs a really good looking youngish guy to bolster their image. A match made in evangelical heaven. I'm just not sure the people they want to buy this bull-oney are buying this bull-oney.

yes, that's Kedem grape juice.

On a lighter note, not only did Young Sir get his first haircut last week in time for Lag B'omer, I had him on Friday at my house. We had a great time, and he even had an in-depth phone conversation with his great-uncle, my Big Brother. We took a long walk, picked up some flat rocks, and then painted them. (I'll explain that in a minute.) He helped get the table ready for shabbat, and we all had dinner together. Life doesn't get much sweeter than that....unless, of course, you get to babysit Saturday night because mom and dad are finally having date night with dinner at a restaurant on a patio. I was thrilled. Something normal.  I was so happy for them! And I was even happier when Little Miss removed the book from my hands, made me vacate the story stool, and read her brother one of his bedtime stories. Between Young Sir suddenly looking like a little boy, and Little Miss reading to her brother, I thought my heart would burst.

This is a good time for that. We are counting down the last days of the Omer which means Ziggy's yahrzeit is but a few weeks away. 12 years. That's why we were painting rocks. We will decorate them and put them on Ziggy's headstone. It is unfathomable to me that he does not know these two gigglers. That he never met them. My heart will just have to burst for his, too.

The Wifely Person's Tip o'the Week

Just because many restrictions are lifted,

we are not all safe from Covid-19 infection.

Be smart. Be safe.