On My Blog
Photo Memes:
- Cosmos Bipinnatus for Today’s Flowers
- Red Leaves for Ruby Tuesday
- November Beaches for Watery Wednesday
Elsewhere in the JBlogosphere
Soup Beautiful Soup, Leora shares links for soups
In Which I Became A Soldier’s Mother, a post by Mom in Israel
Mom, Dad & Veterans Day, a moving post by Jew Wishes
Unfortunately I didn’t have the time to write a post yesterday, which means that I have failed the Nabloplomo challenge – a post a day for a month.
I also won’t have the time to write a parshah post today; too much shopping, cooking and cleaning to do. We are having visitors for three days. Did I mention that I still have a job too?
Still here is a link to a parshah post by Rabbi Marc Angel which also discusses the meaning(s) and relevance of Midrashim.
I took these photos last Monday near Cherbourg, in Normandy, at the most northern tip of the Cotentin Peninsula.
For more watery photos, visit Watery Wednesday.
On Tuesdays, just post any photo you like (it must be one of your own) that contains the color RED and then link to this blog.
Litioni, proine, imenal, hical, dessevol, misip. What do these combinations of letters have in common?
These are all codes Blogger has required me to type in the past few hours so as prove that I am a real commentator, as opposed to a spammer, before allowing my comments to be made public.
Obviously the people who work for Blogger are nostalgic for the Cold War period – when the West spied on the East and vice versa – and think they will make us feel thrilled and important while we type their cryptograms.
Unfortunately it is more likely that they do not put themselves in the shoes of the human commentators who wish to leave a simple message on people’s blogs. Other blog publishing systems – TypePad and WordPress come to mind – have simpler and less irritating ways of enabling comments and those using their systems are not overwhelmed by spams.
Dear Blogger, today we are celebrating the 20th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall, could you, please, find more adequate and less bureaucratic ways of filtering spams?
Cosmos are practically the only flowers that are left in my garden.
For more flowers from around the globe, visit Today’s Flowers.
I have just read a book of interviews between the French rabbi and radio host Victor Malka and the Jewish philosopher Stéphane Moses (1931-2007).
Stéphane Moses was born in Berlin. His family fled Nazi-Germany in 1936 to settle in Morocco and then France where he studied German and philosophy. He became a university professor and taught at the Sorbonne and Paris X Nanterre before moving to Israel with his wife in 1968. There he taught German literature at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
His family was not completely assimilated but Moses really discovered and understood Judaism as a student when, encouraged by some friends, he started to attend conferences by Léon Askenazi.
His philosophical work focuses on Franz Rosenzweig, Walter Benjamin, Gershom Sholem, Emmanuel Levinas, the Maharal of Prague and Chaim Volozhin. Because of its format the book was a rather easy read which encouraged me to read more Jewish philosophy.
I have now started Rachel Sarai’s Vineyard by Deborah Rey and will probably blog about it soon.
Wat about you? What are you reading?
On My Blog
Memes:
- Spots of Red for Ruby Tuesday
- Mantuan Windows for Window Views
- Attempts at Being Greener for Think(ing) Green
Righteous Among the Nations, an answer to the quiz
Weekly Recipe: Hokkaido Pumpkin Soup
Parshah post: Vayera
Elsewhere in the JBlogosphere
Rachel shares some news, bad and good
Leora encourages us to Learn History of Zionism
A Mother in Israel gives Advice for Beginning Bloggers
When Times are Tough, a post by Eliyahu Fink
I have just discovered this new meme and thought I would give it a go. I am certainmy not a very “green” person but I am trying to change a few habits. One of my top concerns being what we eat and the repercussions on our health.
I happened to go shopping yesterday, like most Wednesdays or Thursdays. For once I had made a rather exhaustive list of what I needed, which included fruit and vegetables. As I had little time I had planned to do all my shopping at the local supermarket rather than go there and to the small greengrocer’s where I often shop.
Once in the green section, I thought I would have a look at the organic products. One of the reasons was that after the summer season it is more difficult to find local products unless you want apples, cabbage or potatoes. Thus a lot of fruit and vegetables are imported from Spain. The problem with Spanish products is that they contain pesticide residues which pose potential health hazards.
Therefore I decided to buy organic potatoes, carrots, zucchini and bananas. Unfortunately since the range is still rather small it was necessary to add some non-organic vegetables, including a Dutch red pepper (most certainly grown in a greenhouse).
What most surprised me was that the total wasn’t too expensive, maybe because of the list which prevented me from buying useless products.
More Think(ing) Green Posts at Ramblingwoodsgreen.
… that he may instruct his children and those after them to keep the way of the Lord by doing what is just and right…
In Judaism it is not enough to believe the right things, what matters is to do the right thing. Faith isn’t as important as deeds.
As Jews we are the people mentioned in this verse, the “those after them” this week’s parshah refers to. If we want to follow in Abraham’s footsteps and be his true heirs, we need to be more than “nice folks”. In his partnership with man, God expects us to make the right ethical choices.
Yet how are we to know what is “just and right”? The answer seems to lie in this very same verse, through instruction. We cannot rely on instinct alone. In the numerous commentaries that have been added to the Torah since it was given to us on Mont Sinai, we have a global navigation system that can help us accomplish this daunting mission.
Last year’s parshah post: Sacrifice Your Son?
