Jewish

One Hundred Equals Twenty

Leora Presents 100=20 While Kindergarten Son Hides Under Table
Leora Presents 100=20 While Kindergarten Son Hides Under Table

Way back over ten years ago, my then kindergarten age son and I were supposed to do a presentation to the rest of his class on a topic related to the book of Breishit. However, my ever social son never took a class with Janice Tomich on presentations skills, so he hid under the table. Instead, I gave the presentation myself.

It seems I started to blog about 100 20 and 7 back in 2008, but I never completed the post. Can anyone explain in the comments how 100 equals 20?

(Update in 2022: see the comments to learn why 100 – 20).

Thanks!

Bradley Beach Shul

bradley beach shul
Congregation Agudath Achim in Bradley Beach, New Jersey may not be the most picturesque part of the Jersey Shore, but for those who attend services at this little shul, it is a special place. My in-laws’ friends threw us a Sheva Brachot (party after getting married) for us here way back in 1993.

Agudath Achim

Batya will be hosting a JPiX carnival this coming August 4 – if you have any posts with photos relevant to a Jewish Photo Bloggers’ Carnival, please submit them to http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_987.html.

Split Vav in Peace

split vav

Yesterday Rabbi Bassous talked about the split vav in the parsha of Pinchas. It is the only case in the Torah of a letter being split.

יב לָכֵן, אֱמֹר: הִנְנִי נֹתֵן לוֹ אֶת-בְּרִיתִי, שָׁלוֹם.
Wherefore say: Behold, I give unto him My covenant of peace;

The rabbi explained that it is to show us one cannot achieve peace through violence. (Of course, he said much more, but I can’t repeat what he said without misquoting or taking it totally out of context. So I will leave just this piece for you to ponder and explore on your own).

Review After Shavuot

shavuot table
Our table, set for Shavuot, with flowers from our yard

On My Blog

daughter at parade mime with girl In Tune with Israel
As you can see, I haven’t had time to blog a lot recently. I do have photos of some curried chickpeas and curried zucchini – hope to post recipes soon.

Elsewhere in the Blogosphere

Jerusalem Day 5771

In honor of Jerusalem, I am posting a few pictures from our 2008 trip:

path in old city

synagogue in the old city of Jerusalem
This is a synagogue that was destroyed by the Arab Legion in 1948. Here it is, in the Old City of Jerusalem, being rebuilt. The original Hurva synagogue was built in the 18th century and destroyed by Muslims. As it lay in ruins for 140 years until being rebuilt in 1864, it became known as the Hurva, which means ruins.

migdal david
Migdal David (Tower of David) is now a fun historical museum by the Jaffa Gate. It wasn’t a museum when I first visited in 1980. You can see the winding tree sculpture on this photo of mine.

flowers in migdal david
These flowers are growing by the arch in Migdal David – you can see my photo of the arch here.

City of David ruins
If you think the “Old City” of Jerusalem is old – actually, it is new compared to the City of David. Pictured are excavations at the site. If you visit Jerusalem, I highly recommend a City of David tour.

For more Jerusalem Day posts:

Birthday Parade in Edison

children in blue and white shirts in Edison, New Jersey
No, it wasn’t the birthday party of any of these nursery school children. It was a Birthday Parade for the 63rd birthday of the State of Israel. When my daughter was in nursery, she wore one of these shirts.

daugher with camera
Now she is in third grade, and she was taking photos along side her mom (me). And chatting with her friend. I’m not sure why she so wants me to be at the annual school parade for Israel, but there I was. I’ve been doing this for a while: here is the 2008 post of this little parade.

therapy dog
Some of her focus was on this dog named Winston. He is a therapy dog.

therapy dog
Here is a portrait shot of Winston the therapy dog. Anyone remember Belle, also a therapy dog? There is also a dog at the bottom of my 2009 RPRY March Around the Block for Israel post.

school parade for Israel
Getting back to the parade, there were children, teachers, parents and neighbors in our little march around the block for Israel. I had a great time chatting with a fellow blogger, Pragmatic Attic.

edison police cars
Thank you to the policemen of Edison, New Jersey who guarded our parade.

Purim Illustrated: Esther Points

Purim 2011

Purim, the Jewish holiday of costumes, festive food, hamantaschen and the Book of Esther, falls this year on March 20. We have begun preparing our annual oatmeal containers that we decorate, fill with edible treats and hand out to a few friends. My daughter created the scene above; I scanned it into the computer, and we plan to print it in a variety of sizes to paste unto the containers.

If you are celebrating, have you done anything to get ready? Any thoughts on the upcoming holiday? Questions?

Ballet Dancer and Egypt

ballet dancer with duck on head
A drawing by my daughter: what does this ballet dancer and Ancient Egypt have in common? Perhaps someone who knows ancient Egyptian history can help. Or maybe you are familiar with some midrashim related to parshat Shmot? (I’m not, but I gather that’s how my daughter got the idea).

What do you see?

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