Several items of interest:
1) In case you’re not yet fully convinced that translation software isn’t - how shall I put this politely? – as, um, effective as it could be:
2) Although our Rav instructed our community to recite the thanksgiving brachah last week, he nevertheless ruled – based, in part, on the Gemara (BT Taanit 18b) – that one should continue to daven for rain.
3) The latest Haveil Havalim is available here. Special thanks to Mottel for including my unintended consequences post.
Greek soldier: {reading from a scroll} His Royal Highness King Antiochus has decreed that you may not observe Shabbat; you must wear ugly shirts emblazoned with a logo; and you may not perform a brit milah.
Assembled people: {shocked} What do you mean we have to wear ugly shirts with logos?!
(From a comedic scene used to great effect by many Israeli kids in their recent Chanukah plays)
Ask any teacher or principal across the country about the newly-mandated school uniform shirts, and they’ll inevitably start gushing about what a wonderful development it is.
You’ll no doubt hear how the shirts engender school spirit and how the staff spends less time dealing with inappropriately and/or immodestly dressed students.
And in spite of the requisite grumbling (see: the aforementioned skit), most students don’t really seem to mind the uniforms that much either.
After all, the shirts generally come in a wide range of colors – giving the students some room to express their individuality.
Yet, nevertheless, school uniforms aren’t immune from the Law of Unintended Consequences.
You see, no one could’ve predicted that the modern version of uniforms waste precious time every morning.
Here’s why: (Note that these issues mainly apply to girls’ schools.)
In other words, as the Hebraically-oriented among you would say, “zeh loh pashut…” (Literally, it’s not simple – i.e. it’s a real problem…)
Not too long ago, a mother of a teen told me that she wishes her daughter’s ulpanah had a uniform.
“It would save her so much time in the morning,” the mother said wistfully.
I had to laugh…
!צום קל ומועיל ושבת שלום ומבורך
B”H, winter finally arrived this week, and although the recent precipitation was – both figuratively and relatively speaking – a mere drop in the bucket, our Rav has instructed that one recite the thanksgiving blessing for rain.
Here is the Hebrew text followed by an English translation*:
ברכת הודאה על הגשמים
מוֹדִים אֲנַחְנוּ לָךְ ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ עַל כּל טִפָּה וטִפָּה שֶׁהוֹרַדְתָּ לָּנוּ.
ואִלּוּ פִינוּ מָלֵא שִׁירָה כַּיָּם, וּלְשׁוֹנֵנוּ רִנָּה כַּהֲמוֹן גַּלָּיו, ושִׂפְתוֹתֵינוּ שֶׁבַח כּמֶרְחֲבֵי רָקִיעַ, ועֵינֵינוּ מאִירוֹת כַּשֶּׁמֶשׁ וכַיָּרֵחַ, ויָדֵינוּ פרוּשׂוֹת כּנִשְׁרֵי שָׁמָיִם, ורַגְלֵינוּ קַלּוֹת כָּאַיָּלוֹת, אֵין אֲנַחְנוּ מַסְפִּיקִים להוֹדוֹת לךָ, ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ וֵאלֹהֵי אֲבוֹתֵינוּ, וּלְבָרֵךְ אֶת שִׁמְךָ עַל אַחַת מֵאֶלֶף אַלְפֵי אֲלָפִים, ורֹב רִבֵּי רבָבוֹת פּעָמִים הַטּוֹבוֹת, נִסִּים ונִפְלָאוֹת שֶׁעָשִׂיתָ עִמָּנוּ ועִם אֲבוֹתֵינוּ.
מִלּפָנִים מִמִּצְרַיִם גּאַלְתָּנוּ ה' אֱלֹהֵינוּ, מִבֵּית עֲבָדִים פּדִיתָנוּ. בּרָעָב זַנְתָּנוּ וּבְשָׂבָע כִּלְכַּלְתָּנוּ. מֵחֶרֶב הִצַּלְתָּנוּ, מִדֶּבֶר מִלַּטְתָּנוּ, וּמֵחְלָיִם רָעִים ורַבִּים דִּלִּיתָנוּ.
עַד הֵנָּה עֲזָרוּנוּ רַחֲמֶיךָ ולֹא עֲזָבוּנוּ חֲסָדֶיךָ.
עַל כֵּן אֵבָרִים שֶׁפִּלַּגְתָּ בָּנוּ, ורוּחַ וּנְשָׁמָה שֶׁנָּפַחְתָּ בּאַפֵּנוּ, ולָשׁוֹן אֲשֶׁר שַׂמְתָּ בּפִינוּ, הֵן הֵם יוֹדוּ וִיבָרְכוּ וִישַׁבּחוּ וִיפָאֲרוּ אֶת שִׁמְךָ מַלְכֵּנוּ תָּמִיד. בָּרוּךְ אַתָּה ה' אֵל רֹב הַהוֹדָאוֹת.
The Thanksgiving Blessing for Rain
We gives thanks to You, Hashem, our God and the God of our fathers, for each and every drop which You sent down for us.
And were our mouths as full of song as the sea, and our tongues as full of joy as the multitude of its waves, and our lips as full of praise as the expanse of the heavens, and our eyes as radiant as the sun and the moon, and our arms as outspread as the eagles of the sky, and our legs as swift as hinds, we still could not thank You enough, Hashem, our God and the God of our fathers, or bless Your Name for even one of the thousands of thousands and the myriads of myriad favors, miracles, and wonders which You performed for us and for our fathers.
From Egypt, You redeemed us, Hashem, our God; from the house of slaves, You liberated us. In famine, You nourished us, and in plenty, You sustained us. From the sword, You saved us; from the plague, You rescued us; and from malignant and numerous diseases, You spared us.
Until this point, Your mercies have helped us, and Your kindnesses have not forsaken us.
Therefore, the organs which You fixed in us, and the spirit and the soul which You blew into our nostrils, and the tongue which You placed in our mouth – they will thank and bless and praise and exalt Your Name, our King, forever. Blessed are You, Hashem, God of bountiful thanksgivings.
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* The Hebrew-to-English translator who translated the blessing (as well as the famous IDF chaplain’s letter and the Har HaZeitim post) has asked me to announce that she’s available for translation work. For more information, please contact me at OurShiputzim at gmail dot com, and I’ll gladly forward all serious inquiries to her.
Top 10 Things Overheard In TRLEOOB*
10. “Homework doesn’t get done by staring into space.”
9. “What’s the kesher?”
8. “Chairs are for sitting on.”
7. “Is it my turn on the computer yet?”
6. “What’s for supper?”
5. “Come here. Don’t yell across the house.”
4. “I can’t fall asleep.”
3. “And this time, don’t forget to wash your neck…”
2. “This is not a restaurant.”
1. “Are you going to put that on the blog?”
What are your family’s favorite catchphrases?
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*TRLEOOB=the real life equivalent of our blog
…And thus, Chanukah 5771 comes to an end.
Strangely enough, we didn’t have a chance to visit a single national park during the festival.
But if you’re thinking that this means that you get a reprieve and that I won’t be boring you to tears with our vacation pictures, think again.
Because during our recent trip up North, Be-All-You-Can-Be graciously took time out from his arduous duties as Our Shiputzim’s official military advisor and led us off the beaten track – I mean that literally; a rugged army jeep would’ve been more in order :-) - to see the wind turbines in the Golan.
So, not only do I have pictures of our trip to show you… (As always, click on the photos for a closer view.)
…But I have a couple of videos too!
According to Be-All-You-Can-Be, the stationary turbine in the second video isn’t broken. Rather, the turbines are programmed to stop turning once they’re all powered up.
Thank you, Be-All-You-Can-Be, for the fascinating tour and for sharing some of your incredible knowledge with us!
!שבת שלום ומבורך
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P.S. Jennifer in MamaLand kindly included my Poland trip post in the latest Jewish Homeschooling Blog Carnival. Be sure to check it out!
As parents of hyped-up kids around the world will agree, oil isn’t the only ingredient many Chanukah treats have in common.
In fact, between the sufganiyot, the chocolate coins, the Chanukah cookies, and who knows what else, the festival tends to be almost as sugar-laden as Purim.
Which means that there’s no better time to visit a chocolate factory than on Chanukah.
And, so, during our recent trip to Katzrin – the scenic town known as the “capital of the Golan Heights” - we headed over to the boutique chocolate factory in Kibbutz Ein Zivan.
Visitors get to watch the chocolatiers at work, taste some of the handmade confections, and even try their own hands at chocolate-making.
Here are some of the chocolate sculptures on display:
Finally, if all this talk about chocolate has made you hungry, check out the newest Kosher Cooking Carnival here. Special thanks to Miriyummy for including my No-Name Bars.
חנוכה שמח וחודש טוב!
In what has become something of a tradition, we spent Shabbat Chanukah up North.
Details to follow, but in the meantime, TSG asked me to post the Dvar Torah she delivered so beautifully on Friday night.
(As always, an English translation is available upon request.)
Take it away, TSG!
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The Shamash
by TSG
דבר התורה הזה מוקדש לעילוי נשמת הרב יהושע פסח בן הרב חיים יעקב אברהם ז“ל.
מצד אחד, הַשַּמָּש הוא הנר הכי גדול, הכי בולט והכי חשוב. כמו כן, הוא ממונה על ההדלקה, ולכן ניתן לראות אותו בתור "מנהיג" הנרות.
אבל מצד שני, לַשַּמָּש אין משמעות בלי הנרות האחרים. הרי, הנרות "הרגילים" הם המצווה, וכפי שאנו שרים בזמן ההדלקה:
"אין לנו רשות להשתמש בהם, אלא לראותם בלבד..."
כידוע, תפקיד הַשַּמָּש הוא לאפשר לנו להתקרב לנרות חנוכה בלי להשתמש באורם. ולכן, הַשַּמָּש בא בעצם לשַמֵש – כלומר, לשרת את הנרות האחרים.
הרב ליאור אנגלמן מסביר שהַשַּמָּש מלמד אותנו על התכונות הנדרשות ממנהיג יהודי. הנהגה יהודית אמיתית פירושה - שירות.
הגמרא (מסכת הוריות דף י') מספרת שרבן גמליאל רצה למנות שני תלמידי חכמים לתפקיד מסוים, אבל מפני שהם היו מאוד ענווים, הם סירבו. אבל רבן גמליאל השיב להם:
"כמדומין אתם ששררה אני נותן לכם? עבדות אני נותן לכם!"
אנו רואים את אותו העיקרון עם יוסף. בהתחלה, הוא חולם שכל האלומות וגם השמש, הירח והכוכבים משתחווים לו. אולם, הבעיה היא שהנהגה כזאת רק מעוררת שנאה. כמו שכתוב:
"וַיֹּאמְרוּ לוֹ אֶחָיו הֲמָלֹךְ תִּמְלֹךְ עָלֵינוּ אִם-מָשׁוֹל תִּמְשֹׁל בָּנוּ וַיּוֹסִפוּ עוֹד שְׂנֹא אֹתוֹ עַל-חֲלֹמֹתָיו וְעַל-דְּבָרָיו." (בראשית ל"ז:ח)
אבל כשיוסף מתבגר, הוא לומד מהי הנהגה אמיתית, ולכן, כשיוסף מתגלה לאחיו, הוא אומר להם:
"כִּי לְמִחְיָה שְׁלָחַנִי אֱלֹקים לִפְנֵיכֶם... וַיִּשְׁלָחֵנִי אֱלֹקים לִפְנֵיכֶם לָשׂוּם לָכֶם שְׁאֵרִית בָּאָרֶץ וּלְהַחֲיוֹת לָכֶם לִפְלֵיטָה גְּדֹלָה." (בראשית מ"ה:ה- ז)
עכשיו יוסף מבין שמנהיג יהודי דומה לשַמָּש – שתפקידו לשרת ולשַמֵש את הכלל.
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Thank you, TSG, and very well done!
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P.S. The latest Havel Havalim is available here. Special thanks to West Bank Mama for including my Poland trip post.
Our rabbis taught*: The mitzvah of Chanukah is [a posting of] “Candlelight” [for] a blogger and his blog.
And the mehadrin is [a posting of] “Candlelight” for each and every [social media site].
And the mehadrin min hamehadrin –
Beit Shamai says: The first day, he posts [on] eight [social media sites]. From here on, he decreases as he goes.
And Beit Hillel says: The first day, he posts [on] one [social media site]. From here on, he increases as he goes…
And so, on the off-chance that there’s still someone out there who hasn’t seen this video yet, here it is:
And now you, too, won’t be able to get this song out of your head…
Bwahahaha!
!חג אורים שמח
May you have a very happy Chanukah!
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*See BT Shabbat 21b.
