Leftovers at the Market

You can see from the sign that these items are being discounted due to quality. In other words, they've passed their "sell by date." It is common to see less financially fortunate people sorting through items like these that have been discarded at the end of the day. These particular items may have another day in the discount box, but they'll be tossed soon.

Lychees in the Market

Day of Atonement: Kaparot

Kaparot is a controversial practice among some orthodox Jews whereby they sacrifice a chicken prior to the Day of Atonement. It is controversial in many quarters: among the animal rights activists, among the religiously non-observant, and among biblicists.

The animal rights activists are against this practice for a variety of reasons: the most obvious reason being that the chickens' throats are being cut with a razor blade. However, they also protest this practice as being cruel because the chickens are reportedly kept in small boxes standing in the sun without food or water sometimes for up to a few days. Some also suggest that the way the chickens are secured by their wings being held back, can only cause pain and distress for the chickens.

The religiously non-observant see this practice as ghoulish and cruel, suggesting that placing sins on someone else is unfair or silly. Some simply protest it as nothing more than superstitious cruelty.

The biblicist finds this practice controversial because it sort of resembles the Day of Atonement ritual in that it captures the element of substitutionary atonement, but misses most of the details: The biblical practice of which this is a derivative is described in Leviticus 16 and includes a priest, sacred clothing, incense, a holy place, a bull, a ram and two goats; none of which are either available for or used in the kaparot ceremony.

WARNING: The video is VERY graphic!

Shabbat Shalom

Tradition, Meet Technology

Colors

Prayer rugs for sale in the Old City market.

"That Was Something Special"

Some of my readers will recognize the arched gateway in the photo above to be the gate leading into the covered prayer area in the men's section at the Western Wall. If you did recognize it, then you are probably wondering why there is a car there since you know that people don't usually drive right up to the wall. Unless, . . . of course, you are 99-year-old Rabbi Yoseph Shalom Eliashiv, "the most learned Torah scholar alive today."

I had the rare opportunity to be at the right place at the right time to see what happens when "the most learned Torah scholar alive today" prays at the Wall.

A few minutes prior to his arrival, the police tried to clear the area reserved for Rabbi Eliashiv. Most men more or less cooperated, which is to say: they moved just enough to say that they had moved, but not so much that they would jeopardize their opportunity to be near the rabbi. However, there was one man who actually came to pray, not to see the rabbi; and he made quite the scene as he was prodded several times to move. Finally, in exasperation, he shouted, "I don't care if Rashi is coming to pray, I'm standing right here!" With that, the police conceded, and the man continued to pray in that spot.

I was surprised to see Rabbi Eliashiv arrive in a Citroen, a rather humble car for someone of his stature. As the car approached, the police did their best to keep the onlookers back enough to allow the car to enter. When the Citroen came to a stop near the wall, the crowd pushed in to be near the rabbi. But the security detail managed to forge their way through to the Wall with the rabbi following closely behind them.

As Rabbi Eliashiv prayed near the wall, the crowd pressed in to get a glimpse. One man held his three-year-old son up above the crowd so that the boy could see the rabbi, though I'm certain he was too young to appreciate his good fortune. While the rabbi prayed, every minute or so someone would literally get shoved outside the inner circle by the security team. I can only guess that they got too close for comfort, and had to be put back in their place - away from the rabbi!

Two umbrellas were placed near the wall to protect the rabbi and his entourage from the sun. The push from the crowd was so heavy at one point, I thought the umbrellas and the rabbi were going to come tumbling down. However, the crowd seemed to notice the danger and backed off, if only momentarily.

When the rabbi finished praying and made the difficult trek back to his car, I asked the young man next to me, "who was that?" He was glowing as he gushed, "That was Rabbi Yoseph Shalom Eliashiv. He's the most learned Torah scholar living today. He's something like 100 years old. Wow, that was something special." And it really was.

In closing, I want to draw your attention to a few things you can see in the video below:
1. You can see that the crowd is caught in a dilemma: they want to honor Rabbi Eliashiv by not pressing him, but they also want to get real close to him.

2. As the rabbi is trying to get into his car, an elderly man [I'm guessing around 80 years old] is trying to get an audience. Somehow he managed to get right next to the rabbi, but eventually, a policeman was able to make his way in between them [00:47 in the video] and used the car as a brace to literally push the old man back.

 

3. Due to the shoving, at 00:53 someone in the crowd shouted the N word [nazi] at the police, but several people shushed him.

4. The policeman continued pushing the old man back, when at 00:58 the old man sinks his dentures into the policeman's right shoulder!

 

5. The policeman responded with a swift elbow to the man's face, which finally succeeded in getting him to back away.

6. However, the old man wasn't finished: he managed to get around security and approach the window of the car as it pulled away.  

[My apologies that the video is unstable in places.]

Last Friday of Ramadan

About 20 minutes before the call to mid-day prayer on the last Friday of Ramadan, my attention was drawn to this man.

As he walked through the shadowy alleys of the Old City toward the Haram (Temple Mount), a spotlight of sun highlighted a confident, erect posture. His white flowing Saudi thobe and gold-tassled, crimson prayer rug simply added character to his aura.

High Holy Day Preparations

We have now arrived at the time in the Hebrew calendar that is called the High Holy Days. The three events of this period are Rosh HaShanah (New Year), Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), and Succot (Feast of Tabernacles).

On Friday, a few hours before the start of Shabbat and Rosh HaShanah, I visited the Old City to see what I could see because two different religions had two major events coinciding: the Muslims were observing the last Friday of Ramadan (photos coming soon) while the Jews were preparing for the High Holy Days, which would begin later in the evening.

Here is a photo from the Jewish side:

Shabbat Shalom

Ken and Lucy and Wolf Brand Chili

It's football season and almost time for the State Fair of Texas, so these really hit the spot. Our dear friends, Ken and Lucy Nunn, from North Carolina blessed us with a treasure trove of goodies. And among the goodies were several cans of Wolf Brand Chili, which are now being rationed.

Before Ken came on his last visit, he asked if there was anything special that we would like. Our answer: "Canned chili. Preferably, Wolf Brand Chili, but since you are on the east coast, any local brand of chili will be fine."

Ken likes a challenge, so he searched the Internet to find where he could get Wolf Brand. We never imagined Ken would go to the trouble of shipping WBC from San Antonio, Texas to North Carolina so he could bring it to us in Israel, or we would not have asked for that item. However, Ken and Lucy are like that: They really want to bless those they love. And in God's mercy, we have been one of the targets of their love.

Over the years they have brought a variety of things for us and others: clothes, candy corn, licorice, scented pencils, beef jerky, kids books, scholarships, baseball uniforms, baseball equipment, and chili are a partial list. And, all of it has been gathered, packed and carried with lots of love.

Ken and Lucy, you are a treasure. We love you.

By the way, the chili has been enjoyed in the form of chili cheeseburgers and chili dogs. Next up: Nachos with a perfect blend of cheese, chili and (recently acquired) jalapenos. Thanks for your part in the menu.

No Ticket Today, It's Shabbat

Shabbat Shalom

Graffiti: The Rabbit

Choosing Thomas

The Dallas Morning News has published a beautiful [video] article Choosing Thomas, which details the heartbreaking and joy giving story of TK and Deidra Laux whose son Thomas was a victim of Trisomy 13.

As a parent who has walked this path, I want to complement the staff of The Dallas Morning News on a wonderful job of presenting this story, capturing the heartache and disappointment and fear that parents feel when faced with the terrible news: "There appear to be some serious problems." The staff also did a wonderful job in capturing the surprising joy that a baby with "serious and fatal problems" brings to his/her parents and family and friends.

As I watched the video and read the accompanying article(s) and journal, I continually thought: This is our story. That's what happened to us.

However, our story was different in that our Abigail Hope didn't survive to birth; she was stillborn. Our story was also complicated by the fact that it took place in Israel, far away from our family and most of our life friends.

We were thankful that there were a few people here who hurt with us, but so many seemed to dismiss our situation as nothing too serious. Perhaps some just didn't know what to say, which is common. But in many cases, it was simply a cultural callousness toward these types of things. At least one person assumed Abigail didn't have a name yet, thus she didn't have "person hood." He was wrong on both counts. Others blindly followed the traditional Jewish thought that a life duration of more than thirty days establishes a human being as a viable person. If a child dies before that time, he is considered to not have lived at all.

The medical community offered no comfort either since they could only think of one thing to say: "TERMINATE NOW!" In fact, the country's expert in 3-D ultrasound and genetic abnormalities was shocking in his callousness: In response to our question regarding the reasonable expectation of length of life for Abigail should she survive to full term, he said, "Not long, but I would hope she wouldn't live one second! Her problems are too severe to want her to live. My advice is to terminate NOW!" Unfortunately, that wasn't his only disaster in bed side manner, but I'm not interested to recount the others here.

"Terminate now," was so foreign to our thoughts, the doctors all thought we had parachuted in from another galaxy. We insisted that we wouldn't even consider killing Abigail, and the doctors looked at us in utter disbelief and disdain. Who were we to be so resistant to their advice? They were the experts; and they know the outcome of these situations. I knew our position was right, but it was nice to hear other parents in our situation agree with us - even three years later: Toward the end of the video report [in a voice over the funeral scenes] Deidre Laux clearly articulated our thoughts: "We didn't not terminate because we were hanging onto some sort of hope there was a medical mistake or there was going to be some some sort of medical miracle. We didn't terminate because he's our son." Because Abigail was our daughter! We loved her, broken body and all; how could we even consider breaking her body more?

Burial is another point at which our story and the Lauxes' diverge. In Israel, most cemeteries are religiously segregated, which is to say that Abigail couldn't be buried in a Jewish or Muslim cemetery, the most abundant cemeteries here. As it turned out, she wasn't welcome to be buried in the evangelical Christian cemetery either, which is a story in itself.

This all happened so fast, and the hospital staff was pressing us for an answer regarding the disposition of the body. Dealing with death, especially that of our own child, in Israel was all new to us. We didn't know to whom to turn. And it was late Thursday afternoon, which is to say that the Sabbath was quickly approaching and things would be shutting down for the weekend. We made a few phone calls, only to reach dead ends or endless stalling, which we understood to be a no without actually saying, "no." Meanwhile, the hospital was pressing for an answer.

Finally, we decided to use the service of the Jewish burial society, who gathers the bodies of all children under the age of 30 days and buries them in an unmarked grave. I guess to their credit, even though they don't consider the children to have genuine person hood, at least they give them a somewhat proper burial.

I recommend this video report to you. If you aren't familiar with the emotions and thoughts and struggles that take place when parents are told, "there are some problems," this report will give you some insight.

If you are struggling with the issue of termination, please watch the video - to the end.

In our days on this road, we leaned heavily on each other, but more heavily upon the Lord: "Hear, O Lord, and be merciful to me! O Lord, be my helper! (Psalm 30:10)” He was, and continues to be.

Why Do They . . . ?

I can't begin to guess how many visitors have asked me, "Why do they grow those side-curl things?" For those who haven't been around this type of religious Jew before, the sight of "peyos" can be quite fascinating. And I have to admit, even though I have been quite exposed to "peyos," I find the variety of peyos fascinating.

Apparently, there are many ways to observe the commandment,"You shall not shave around the sides of your head, nor shall you disfigure the edges of your beard (Leviticus 19:27, NKJV)," because in Jerusalem, one can see all types of peyos: short, medium and long peyos; straight, curled and unkept peyos; clearly visible and peyos that are hidden around the ear or under the skullcap.

The longest peyos I've ever seen dropped to the young man's belt. I wonder if he ever struggled with pride in having the longest peyos in Jerusalem.

Clearly, peyos are an effort to fulfill a commandment, but they also seem to serve as a comforter because I often see men nervously playing with their peyos, which usually involves repeatedly wrapping and re-wrapping them around the index finger. Sometimes I see men chewing or sucking on their peyos, which is probably some type of comforter, but seems weird to me. Of course, I've never had hair long enough to suck on it; perhaps it's more compelling than I imagine.

Shabbat Shalom

A New Energy Drink

There must be about 20 different brands of energy drinks in Israel. Of course, everyone has heard of Red Bull, the original energy drink, but so many different brands have flooded the market that one name doesn't stand out from the other any longer. That is, until I was recently walking through the grocery store and my attention was captured by this one:


I've never had an energy drink so I'm not certain as to their effectiveness, but I have to wonder if this one can live up to its marketing hype.

Is This Really Rodeo?

I like rodeo. In fact, I enjoy almost everything about it. But I'm wondering if this actually qualifies as rodeo.

Roasted Peanuts

Roasted nuts - of all varieties - are always available in the market. Peanuts are available raw, boiled, or roasted. Shelled or unshelled. And you can also find them candied in a variety of flavors.