Thanks to everyone who commented on my new “Websites for Small Biz” blog project. This morning I tried to put a fancy magazine theme on the new blog; the fancy shmancy theme crashed the blog, so I had to delete it. I will be experimenting with themes for a while on that blog. There are lots of details to fine tune on a new blog.
I am excited to have another guest blogger that I interviewed. She is from New Jersey, and she writes about: playgrounds! Come back on Wednesday to learn more.
Rosh Hashana is coming next week – for the Jewish New Year, Jews around the world are (supposed to be) preparing themselves spiritually for the day. I approach the upcoming holiday by exploring the simanim, the food symbols that we put on the table. Beets, pictured in the above watercolor, are one siman. More on the simanim next week.
On this day in 1609 the Maharal of Prague, Rabbi Judah Loew Ben Bezalel, passed away: “…For many the Marhal’s greatest claim to fame was tied to a fictional creation called the Legend of the Golem. That legend is a medieval version of the story of Frankenstein, according to which the Maharal breathed life into a human-like figure by sticking a slip of paper with the Tetragrammaton to his forehead.”
I started working on my tech-business blog, and I wrote a whole post about it. On a piece of paper. That I haven’t re-read in over a week. Maybe I’ll have something coherent to say about my new upcoming blog on Sunday or Monday. Meanwhile, this existing blog is where I give myself permission to talk about struggle. Does one really have to present oneself as never struggling in order to be successful? I don’t think so.
How would you respond if you got this comment on your blog:
What I find so cringe-inducing in this blog is your unconditional belief in the virtue of your son serving in the IDF. There are things worth dying for, but I posit that maintaining the status quo in Israel is not one of them. I would take no pride in having a son of mine be a pawn in a political game.
Like mother like daughter: the blog of Nadine, who is the mom of EllieVellie (Ellie tells me she translates the comments for her mother)
I do like design tutorials, especially ones that teach watercolor effects. The top one on this post looks nice, but then something about the graphic bothers me. I keep thinking it’s almost the Jewish month of Elul, and then it’s almost Rosh Hashana – “Teshuva, tfillah u’tsedaqa ma’aviren et roa’ ha-gezaira” (repentance, prayer and charity avert the evil decree) – obviously, the post was written by someone who has never been touched by a Rosh Hashana service. Read Jonathan Sacks on Teshuva, Tefilla and Tzedakah.
I just started reading this book Caspian Rain, book review by Jew Wishes.
Loss necessarily creates a vacuum in our lives whereas consolation is the process of reordering our focus in view of emerging new needs. Consolation allows us to displace some of the importance once attributed to what we’ve lost onto a new locus. So when Yitzchak marries Rivka, we are told (Bereishit 24:67) that he is finally consoled for his mother. He finally finds a new locus for his appreciation of feminine compassion and care that was embodied by his mother.
And then he continues with saying in the Jewish month of Av, which is always in the summer, we enjoy nature. The month of Elul comes right before Rosh Hashana, we concentrate on prayer. “The various rituals of Av and Elul allow us to be more prepared for Rosh Hashanah without a Beit haMikdash. ”
In which Batya explains the food of the Nine Days but then proceeds to discuss what is healthy and what is not
A nice tutorial on how to photograph a rainbow with a garden hose spray gun and a friend
Reluctant Veggie explains a rotation diet – if you get migraines, have chronic fatigue or react to meals, perhaps you have hidden food allergies? She has information on how it all works.
JPIX will appear on this blog on Sunday morning, so please come back and visit.
Upcoming in Highland Park: a clothing drive for Yad Leah in Israel from 9:30 AM until 12:30 PM. at Congregation Ohav Emeth
(someone remind me on Sunday to bring in some clothes for them)
Elsewhere
Gilad Shalit was three years in captivity on Thursday:
A Soldier’s Mother: A Son of Israel (a huge applause for her in all her hard, hard work in getting Gilad to be #3 in Trending topics in Twitter – I was honored to participate – it’s about letting the world know)
Iran: Its About the Women (hat tip: Ilana-Davita)
When we heard Dr. Kedar speak in Highland Park a few months ago, he had a similar message in general about Islam — they don’t want women to have freedom.
Jew Wishes mentioned Journey from the Land of No by Roya Hakakian (review now offline, sadly), a book I highly recommend, especially if you want to learn about Iran. Roya is a good storyteller.
