Leah Meter Maid

Leah

2008-04-25T17:04:00.003+03:00

Sorry for the lack of updates, we had a minor setback on Wednesday. After weaning Leah off the seizure medication she had her first seizure. Scary.
Therapy continues to help, she hates the exercises they are difficult and it hurts.
Her communication skills improve daily, she can type albeit very slowly and read. Speech is a lot slower to return, but she shakes her head real well!
Thanks again to everyone for your continued support!

Prayer works!

Leah's Home!

2008-04-22T15:57:00.002+03:00

She arrived home a couple of hours ago. The first thing she did was send off an email, all by herself! As you can imagine it takes her a long time and she tires easily. Doctors want her to do as much as possible without over doing it, they obviously don't know Leah very well.
Therapy will be as an outpatient three days a week. Overall her health is good, she has issues with walking, some memory loss, loss of language skills and overall frustration. Time, prayer and faith.

Thanks to all of you for your prayers, comments and emails.

Mish

Leah

2008-04-20T17:52:00.002+03:00

Leah continues to improve. I can't say it enough, your prayers have worked. Your emails and comments have brought a smile to her face. She continues to work hard in therapy, and is up on her feet again learning to walk. The speech comes more slowly, she has to really think hard to talk and it's still one word at a time. Her overall health is good. Time, prayer, perseverance, love.
Thanks to Steve over at http://www.hogonice.com/. His readers have been awesome.

"April 19, 2008
Progress Report From Haifa

Scary Nemesis of Brave Islamist Warriors Now Able to Sit up and Eat

Leah Friedman continues to improve. Prayers still needed.

Hope the death threats from the extreme regions of the Religion of Peace have stopped."

And yes, the death threats have stopped.

Chag Kasher V'Sameach

2008-04-19T08:58:00.004+03:00

Woot!

2008-04-18T19:30:00.001+03:00

Leah's Dad brought in his lap top and we spent much of the day reading emails and comments to her.
She tries really hard to talk, type and respond. The body is willing, the brain just can't work fast enough (yet)
Each day she slowly improves, I missed two days seeing her and the improvements are amazing.
Small things that add up, and when they add up daily it's all good.
Leah said one word repeatedly while we were reading to her, Thank you.

2008-04-17T21:09:00.002+03:00

G_d Continues to Answer Prayer.

Leah improves daily, in one way or another.

She has decided to eat and we have been bringing some of her favourite things

to her. Last night she ate an entire plate of fruit.

Physical therapy has her up on her feet and today she took two steps.

Speech is slower to improve and she gets frustrated at not being able to

communicate. She still can't write and we aren't sure if she can read.

The doctors still feel she may be able to go home in a few days!

Thank you everyone for the support, the prayers and messages have helped tremendously.

Are you smarter than a 10 year old?

2008-04-16T05:26:00.000+03:00

2008-04-16T04:18:00.001+03:00

Leah had a half way decent day. She continues to get frustrated easily.
We went through similar things after her last open heart surgery. She wants to be completely well NOW.
Her speech is still limited to one word at a time, today she asked for Mish. The therapist did have her up on her feet today, but she has yet to walk unassisted. She either can't or won't write or read. And food is still something she can take or leave, mostly leave.
Yet doctors are pleased with her progress. I can't say it enough, THANK YOU EVERYONE for your prayers.

2008-04-15T04:44:00.001+03:00

Leah was better today, the new medication has helped a lot.
She is less frustrated and more intent on helping with her therapy. If she continues to improve
they may let her go home in a week or so. She can do her therapy as an outpatient.

Produced for Na'amat Canada, this video showcases the current crisis in Sderot.

2008-04-15T03:50:00.000+03:00

Miracles Prayer, and the Grace of G_d.

2008-04-14T03:51:00.001+03:00

Before I begin the short explanation of how Leah is doing, I would like to thank everyone for their continued prayers, comments and emails.

As all of you know on April the 2nd Leah went into respiratory arrest after taking a new medication.
This has been the longest 13 days of this father's life.

Lack of oxygen for 5 to 6 min may cause irreversibly damage to vital organs, especially the brain. Cardiac arrest almost always follows unless respiratory function is immediately restored, because Leah was not in cardiac arrest yet, the doctors feel she was not without oxygen for more than 4 to 5 minutes. Her pacer/defibrillator also records, and it shows tachycardia, PVC's and some abnormal QT waves lasting for about 4 minutes. The medics arrived within 3 minutes and while they were waiting, Uri did mouth to mouth until medics began bag-valve-mask ventilation. Although only in a coma for 5 days, it felt like years. The doctors began rehabilitation as soon as Leah was weaned off the ventilator. The earlier therapy is initiated the better. They are working on pre-walking exercises to ready other pertinent muscles for Leah to be able to walk again. She has some other issues with writing, her vocabulary is limited to one word at a time, but at least she is talking. Our biggest issue now is that she is so frustrated, more tears than anger. She tires easily and sleeps a lot. Her heart and blood pressure have been almost normal, her foot is healing and the cast should be removed in another week. It is going to be one day at a time for awhile I fear. But each day brings a new gift as Leah continues to improve.
Thank you everyone, G-d Bless you all.

Al Friedman

Wee Princess

2008-04-13T05:55:00.003+03:00

She'd smack me if she knew I wrote the above (wee princess).
She's had a bad 24 hours, full of frustration and tears. The more she wakes up, the more frustrated she becomes. Doctors say it's normal and have given her some medication to help her deal with things. Still not walking, writing or talking much.

This Video was one of her favorites she used to watch it with her Da.

posted by Marc

Leah

2008-04-12T04:54:00.002+03:00

Leah was moved out of ICU. Her brother Ben (who is autistic) and her sister Tiva went to visit her. Ben who normally doesn't show affection climbed in bed with Leah and she began to cry, she said her second word "home".

Someone to Run With

2008-04-12T04:47:00.001+03:00

The weekend before Leah became ill we watched this film together. If it is available in the US, I highly recommend it. The sound track is awesome also.

"Someone to Run With" which is based on a book by the Israeli author David Grossman.
Two screwed-up Israeli teenagers, a lost dog and the crime-ridden streets of Jerusalem add up to a memorable adventure -- and a love story you won't want to resist.

SHE TALKS!

2008-04-11T17:33:00.001+03:00

Prayers continue to be answered! She asked for a Coke. This is the first and only word she has spoken. But it's a start! Thank G-d, thank you everyone for continuing to pray!

I love you

2008-04-10T08:26:00.003+03:00

Leah sat in a chair this morning, she still doesn't speak and will not walk, in time hopefully. She does sign, "I love you" and that one small gesture is so awesome.
Mish is away for a few days so I am in charge, I apologize in advance I am not as "polished" as Mish but will do the best I can.
I'm going to post a youtube video that Leah loves, it has a bad word in it so if that sorta thing bothers you don't click play. (rhymes with Mother trucker)

What would Leah write?

2008-04-09T20:52:00.001+03:00

First she would thank everyone for all the many prayers and emails and twitter comments, we have met so many nice
people on twitter. For the blog posts too many to count for the devotion of friends and family who have literately put their lives on hold. I know that she would want something happy or better still funny. She has several things set aside to post before she became ill, I will begin posting them in between updates over the next week. At some point I will write to everyone, because that is something Leah would also do.
Leah still is not talking and when they tried to get her up to walk she wasn't able. But one amazing thing, one miracle happened today. Her little sister Tiva was there and frustrated because Leah couldn't converse with her. As the family was leaving Leah signed "I love you" (Leah's father is deaf) I love you, how cool is that?

2008-04-09T07:52:00.002+03:00

7:23 Am Wednesday
Yesterday Leah was "weaned" off the ventilator and the breathing tube was removed.
She hasn't wanted to talk, but considering she was intubated that is not surprising.
The doctor has labeled Leah's condition: Brain injury due to lack of oxygen or
Cerebral hypoxia . The doctors are reluctant to tell us how much damage Leah has suffered
and how soon she will recover, it depends on three things, G-d, Leah and the amount of brain tissue deprived of oxygen, and the speed with which oxygen was restored to the brain. They are optimistic because even though it felt like a life time to us, she was in a coma for a short time.
Thank you all for continuing to pray for her.

2008-04-08T18:57:00.001+03:00

Yesterday Leah received 5 death threats via email. This is somewhat the norm for her but due to circumstances her family feel that we should remove the email address and pictures. Two of the threats were from "Palestine" and one inside Jerusalem, the one in Jerusalem is too close for comfort. So until further notice and or Leah is back home safe and sound, the email will be removed.

** Leah's dad just shared that they have also received threats by phone.

2008-04-08T15:19:00.001+03:00

Incredible
The outpouring of love and prayer and messages have made this hard hearted girl melt.
Your prayers have worked two fold, not only does Leah continue to improve, I have begun to believe!
So many people from all over the world have written, amazing.
Today Leah began physical therapy, talk about pissed off. She still wants nothing more than to sleep
and when she is awake wants no part what so ever of strangers poking and prodding her, I figure if they increase the therapy to four or five times a day with in a week she'll be telling them where to go. Because with Leah it is the size of the fight in the girl!
She may not be able to talk (yet) but she can shake her head NO! The doctors say anger is a normal reaction to
her situation and we will be using it to our advantage. She is also breathing more on her own, following people with her eyes around the room, and moving her arms and hands more each time she wakes up.
Her parents wanted me to thank each and everyone of you!

Baruch Hashem
Mish

Prayers have been heard!

2008-04-07T22:03:00.002+03:00

Leah continues to improve slowly. She is now on a "as needed ventilator"
I went to see her earlier today and she was awake for half the time I was there. She's frustrated and she cries, but not from pain. She can squeeze your hand and move her limbs when asked to do so. The doctors are encouraged as are we. I truly believe it was ya'lls prayers. Thank you!

Thank G_d!

2008-04-07T03:57:00.001+03:00

She's Awake!

3AM Monday morning and Leah has opened her eyes. She is still not breathing on her own, but she's AWAKE.

Her step mum said she is following things with her eyes and moaning. I have never been so happy in my life and SO GRATEFUL

to everyone for the emails, chats prayers! G-d bless you all.

As soon as I know more we'll post.

Mish

Some of the MANY emails and Twitter messages

2008-04-06T21:43:00.001+03:00

My very dear Mish

Thank U so much for Urs and Ur friends Leah 's blog input. I wish I was there to caress her face and convey my healing touch..I pray !!! Please give her a kiss for me ..let her know..she will feel it. Give my best wishes to Leah's father.
Again..Toda raba from my heart. Sorry my Hebrew is practically nil !! Shalom Michel

Leah, come on now its time to wake up. Tomorrow is your day to rise. I miss you come back to me! I love you so much.
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

Marc I would like to thank you for the email updating me on Leah's condition. Please tell the Friedman family that my thoughts are on them and Leah each and everyday. I wish I could help in physical way but I can't. BUT I will be praying often each day, that I CAN do. Stay strong and please keep me informed on Leah's condition.
Bill

My amazing amazing
Come dear
It's time to rise
Time to wake and shine
Back to the day
To touch and hold those dear
Who are both far and near
There's no other way
But to recover your days
Many days
Filled with many songs and smiles, embraced of love
Across these miles
So it's time to rise
It's time to wake
Shine

there's not much i can do from here, but i'm here to help if i can.
tuba_man / tuba_man

I will say a prayer for you. Peace and Love from across the waters...
Joe

2008-04-06T07:21:00.001+03:00

I went to visit Leah in the hospital yesterday, coaxed to do so by Goy Boy. He was right I needed to be there.
I don't like hospitals, smells, sights, sounds equal panic attack. Last time I was in one my grandfather died.
Leah looks pale, Mish braided her hair, I had never seen it that way, fragile and frail.
We were supposed to stay for five minutes but Leah's step mum needed to check on the kids, so I volunteered to stay.
The doctors want us to talk to her like she is awake. I was relieved that her hands were warm to the touch.
I sat and held her hands in mine and reminisced old times.
During the disengagement Leah, Avi, Uri and I went to as many protests as we could, Leah felt strongly against it.
One of the times we were in Kfar Maimon, someone had put a banner atop some 8 foot fence, it was pro-disengagement,
little Miss Monkey (Leah) decided she was going to take it down and shimmied up the fence where she got stuck.
Uri and I got her down but in doing so ripped the seat clean out of her pants. Of course this was also the day we got arrested for
blocking the road.
In-between surgeries and illness Leah crammed as much into life as she could, sometimes too much, especially if someone needed her.
AIDS hotlines, food banks, Gay rights, pizza for IDF, she always had time for everyone else. If it were reversed and I was in that hospital bed
she'd be right there, in a heart beat.
I'm going back to the hospital today and each and every day until Leah wakes up, because I love her.
Marc

2008-04-06T06:08:00.002+03:00

Dear Leah...

I like so many before me wanted to write to you, so that when you wake you
will know that your not alone. So many of us share a love and wanting for
you to be well again. I have struggled with what to say. Never thinking it good enough.
Thinking there is always more that could be said. I have shared so very little with
you yet feel so close, You have touched us all in more ways than you will ever know.
All I can do is sit now and pray. Like so many others wishing for your well being and hope.
We all miss you so much and can't wait to hear your laugh, your jokes, your words
of encouragement and hear you just be you. As I was Searching for something to help
move me in the right direction I found this poem and thought of you..Can't wait to hear
your thoughts on it.....so you have to wake up...

~Erie~

True friendship isn't seen with the eyes, it is felt with the heart.
When there is trust, understanding, loyalty, and sharing.
True friendship is a rare feeling, but when it is found
It has profound impact on our well-being, strength, and character.
True friendship does not need elaborate gifts
Or spectacular events in order to be valuable or valued.
To ensure long-lasting quality and satisfaction,
True friendship only needs a few key ingredients:
Undying loyalty, unmatched understanding, unsurpassed trust,
Deep and soulful secrets, and endless sharing.
These ingredients, mixed with personality and a sense of humor,
Can make a friendship last a lifetime!
This is just a thank you, my friend, for all the wonderful and colorful
Special ingredients You've brought to my life!

-unknown Author-

Saturday 9:20PM

2008-04-05T21:26:00.001+03:00

Still no change. With the exception of Leah's father, we are visiting for five minutes on the hour around the clock.
I took Leah some CD's earlier today, Tom and Jerry, Yo Yo Ma. The doctors still feel this is a waiting game. But with each day
she remains in a coma, her chance of waking up "normal" lessen. Thank you everyone for the comments and emails, we will reply to each and everyone as soon as possible. As you can imagine we are all pretty numb.

Mish

Never knock on Death's door: ring the bell and run away! Death really hates that!
Matt Frewer

For Leah

2008-04-05T01:24:00.001+03:00

My name Uri Cohen. Please except apology for English.
I was going to ask Mish to help me but think Leah need to have some comedy
reading my broken English. I too am reason Leah attend Gay Pride Parade.
Leah have compassion and understanding for all peoples. Last year we work
AIDS hotline together.
I was with Leah when she get ill, I was one called Magen David for help.
Not sure how long she stop breath though and that is scary part for me, not knowing.
Medic have hard time with IV and need stick Leah in neck. I wanted to take away her pain
and protect her as she has for me many time. When we grow up together and childrens make
fun at me, Leah protect and tell them leave me alone. When Avi killed and leave me with no friend
was Leah who step in and become friend to me. Leah who love me even like I am.
I not religious person, peoples with religion not like me because I am Gay, but for Leah I am praying
and asking G-d please make her well because I love her also.

Wee Lee

2008-04-04T20:00:00.003+03:00

My name is Tommy and I am the reason Leah is so involved in Gay rights and AIDS.
This is the third time posting to her blog and just once I would like to be invited
when there is good news to share. Those who are close to her wanted to do this so when she comes back she would know just how much she is loved and missed.

This young, vibrant beautiful soul has had a tough time. The last nine years have been
unfair, yet I have never once heard her say, "poor me" Leah has been critically ill before,
and has stared death in the face too many times to count, yet each and every time
she has fought her way back to family and friends who love her. I believe in my heart
that G-d has a plan for this young woman. I pray that she will have many more years to
touch hearts and minds with her humor and generosity. So nap time is over kid, its time to wake up.
I love you babe.

2008-04-04T09:32:00.001+03:00

My name is Marc and I have known Leah for over 4 years. We attend the same shul and that is where we first met.
It was love at first sight, but I was too old for her. Actually it was the other way around, until I found out she was just 14. We did however become friends, and along with Mish, Uri and Avi, had some great times. During the disengagement got arrested together,
attended Gay Pride rallies, concerts and "hung out" I have watched Leah grow from a preteen into a beautiful young woman, I have seen her struggle with health issues, fight for what she believes in, watch her first love die in Lebanon, and be patient and loving with a little brother who suffers from Autism.
Along with Mish and Uri, I have blogged in her absence, and once promised Avi to "take good care of her" while honestly it has been the other way around, she has taken care of me. Leah I need you please get well.
Ani ohev otach

Leah

2008-04-03T19:09:00.001+03:00

I have been asked to write a blog post, my first thought was to pawn it off on someone else.
Those of you who know me understand that 'serious' is not my thing, sarcastic, yes.
I have been sitting in front of this machine for hours, thinking about all the things Leah and
I have been through, remembering, laughing.
The first day we met, she asked me "Do you speak English, cause my Hebrew sucks" she was 14.
Our first gay pride parade, she ditched school and we bussed across town (sorry Mr. Friedman), it wasn't until on the way
back home that she worried about getting caught. Talking to Goy Boy (thank you) this morning in chat I remembered
the first time Leah hugged me, I stood with my arms at my sides, stiff. She whispered in my ear, "hug me back &itch"
Not all of our memories are happy, all her operations, the last one especially difficult. The loss of Avi, her first love.
She is the little sister I never had, at times a royal pain in the behind, but I can't fathom losing her.
B'Ahavah, Mish

Prayers Needed

2008-04-03T02:54:00.001+03:00

Marc here:
Leah became ill earlier today and had to be admitted to the hospital.
Her parents asked that I post something.

As most of you already know she has a rather serious heart condition,
and recently received an implanted defibrillator. Today they increased her medications
and she had a serious reaction that resulted in her going into respiratory arrest.
Although not breathing on her own yet, she is stable. They feel that once she is weaned
off the medication she will improve. Please pray for her. I will try to keep everyone posted.
Leah has had a tough time of it lately. More than her share.

Jerusalem and Tel Aviv

2008-04-02T08:19:00.000+03:00

Subliminal & The Shadow - Tikva (Hope) [Subtitled]

2008-04-02T08:18:00.000+03:00

Mish and Leah's favorite song. HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISH.

posted by Marc

April Fools Google Style

2008-04-01T16:13:00.002+03:00

*for large view click image
posted by Uri

Happy Birthday Mish Elizabeth Weiss

And We're Only 60 Years Old

2008-04-01T01:29:00.000+03:00

Success: Reuters Removes Anti-Israel Blog

2008-03-30T17:27:00.000+03:00

from Honest Reporting
Thanks to the response of HonestReporting subscribers, Reuters removed an anti-Israel blog posting from its website within hours of our communique being published.

Many of you will have returned from your holiday break expecting to read the posting that referred to Israel as the "Zionist regime," and to Israel's West Bank security barrier as "The Apartheid Wall." The blog also failed to attribute its claim that Israeli soldiers were instructed to "kill peaceful Palestinian protestors."

Instead, a click to the original hyperlink reveals a blank space where Reuters has erased all trace of the offending content.

We do not wish to send unnecessary traffic to the original blog posting "Israeli Troops Given the Go-Ahead to Kill Peaceful Palestinian Protesters" but it is still available to view on The Largest Minority blog site.

Reuters, despite its disclaimer, has evidently recognized that hosting such material is inappropriate if the news organization hopes to maintain its credibility.

2008-03-30T17:24:00.001+03:00

Sorry I haven't posted for a few days.
Had some personal stuff going on. I am adjusting to having my arm in a sling (defibrillator)
and cast on my foot. I felt my defibrillator shock me for the first time a few days ago.
It was a stronger jolt than I expected, if I had not been sitting down at the time I might have fallen over.
There was a little pain and a slight burning, then it was over. I was instantly reassured, I was alone and had I not
had the implant? No more Leah.
As soon as the wires heal and the danger of me pulling them out is over (another week) I can lose the sling.
Thank you every one for the emails, Bill, Tee, Tommy.

B'Ahavah, Leah

--

Because You asked..

2008-03-28T00:08:00.002+02:00

Israel Kamakawiwoʻole

May 20, 1959 – June 26, 1997
He became famous outside Hawaii when his album Facing Future was released in 1993 with his medley of "Over the Rainbow" and "What a Wonderful World", which was subsequently featured in several films, television programs, and commercials.
Kamakawiwoʻole was nicknamed "The Gentle Giant" by his admirers. He was described as always cheerful and positive, and he was best known for his love of the land and of the people of Hawaiʻi. Through his consummate ukulele playing and incorporation of other idioms (such as jazz and reggae), Iz remains one of the major influences in Hawaiian music over the last 15 years.
Throughout the later part of his life, Iz was obese and at one point carried 758 pounds (343 kg)(54 Stone) on his 6 foot, 2 inch (1.88 m) frame. He endured several hospitalizations and died of weight-related respiratory illness on June 26, 1997 at 12:18 am at the age of 38

To the Girls of the IDF

2008-03-27T07:02:00.002+02:00

posted by Uir

March 27,2002

2008-03-26T15:35:00.003+02:00

Tomorrow is the six year anniversary of the Passover Massacre, also know as the Netanya bombing. A a suicide bombing carried out by Palestinian terrorists in the Park Hotel at Netanya.
The attack occurred on the night of Passover. The Park Hotel in Netanya held a big Passover dinner for its 250 guests, especially elderly Jews who didn't have family and relatives, in the ground-floor dining room. A Palestinian suicide bomber passed a security guard at the hotel's entrance, walked through the lobby passing the reception desk and entered the hotel's dining room where he detonated an explosive device he carried in a suitcase. Twenty-eight people were immediately killed, and about 140 were injured, of whom 20 were seriously injured. Two of the injured later died from their wounds. Many of the victims were Holocaust survivors.
The terrorist was identified as Abdel-Basset Odeh, a member of the Hamas Iz a Din al-Kassam Brigades, from the West Bank city of Tulkarem, which is just 10 kilometers (six miles) east of Netanya. He was on the list of wanted terrorists Israel had requested be arrested.

While in English language media, the Palestinian Authority condemned the attack saying "The leadership strongly denounces Netanya operation against Israeli civilians and decides to prosecute those involved or responsible," in Arabic it glorified the "shahid" on January 21, 2003, the official PA daily newspaper Al-Hayat Al-Jadida published a report saying "the Tulkarm Shahids Memorial Soccer Championship tournament of the Shahid Abd Al-Baset Odeh began with the participation of seven top teams, named after Shahids who gave their lives to redeem the homeland. Isam, the brother of the Shahid, will distribute the trophies."

The victims:

- Shula Abramovitch, 63, of Holon
- David Anichovitch, 70, of Netanya
- Sgt.-Maj. Avraham Beckerman, 25, of Ashdod
- Shimon Ben-Aroya, 42, of Netanya
- Alter Britvich, 88, of Netanya
- Frieda Britvich, 86, of Netanya
- Andre Fried, 47, of Netanya
- Idit Fried, 47, of Netanya
- Miriam Gutenzgan, 82, Ramat Gan
- Amiram Hamami, 44, of Netanya
- Perla Hermele, 79, of Sweden
- Dvora Karim, 73, of Netanya
- Michael Karim, 78, of Netanya
- Eliezer Korman, 74, of Ramat Hasharon
- Yehudit Korman, 70, of Ramat Hasharon
- Marianne Myriam Lehmann Zaoui, 77, of Netanya
- Lola Levkovitch, 70, of Jerusalem
- Sarah Levy-Hoffman, 89, of Tel-Aviv
- Furuk Na'imi, 62, of Netanya
- Eliahu Nakash, 85, of Tel-Aviv
- Chanah Rogan, 90, of Netanya
- Irit Rashel, 45, of Moshav Herev La'et
- Clara Rosenberger, 77, of Jerusalem
- Yulia Talmi, 87, of Tel-Aviv
- St.-Sgt. Sivan Vider, 20, of Bekaot
- Zee'v Vider, 50, of Moshav Bekaot
- Ernest Weiss, 80, of Petah Tikva
- Eva Weiss, 75, of Petah Tikva
- Anna Yakobovitch, 78, of Holon
- George Yakobovitch, 76, of Holon.

Hot On The Charts Yael Naim

2008-03-25T15:30:00.000+02:00

It's About Time

2008-03-24T14:40:00.002+02:00

The BBC has apologized for significant errors in two recent news reports on Israel.

In a news item on March 7, following the Mercaz Harav Yeshiva attack, the BBC showed a bulldozer demolishing a house, while correspondent Nick Miles told viewers: "Hours after the attack, Israeli bulldozers destroyed his family home. Later, mourners set up Hamas and Islamic Jihad banners nearby."

The house, however, was not demolished; the BBC was embarrassed when news reports from other broadcasters showed the east Jerusalem home intact and the family commemorating their son's actions.

Last week, the BBC apologized live on its news program, admitting it had used footage of another house being demolished.

News anchor Geeta Guru-Murthy said: "Now, we would like to clarify a report we heard at this hour last Friday about the attack by a Palestinian gunman on a Jewish seminary in Jerusalem. In the report, the day after the attack, BBC World said that the gunman's home in east Jerusalem had been demolished by the Israeli authorities. That was not correct, and the images broadcast were of another demolition."

The fabrication was exposed by Boston-based media monitor CAMERA, which revealed that the images used by the BBC were similar to photos taken by the Palestinian news agency Maan from the demolition of the house belonging to Islamic Jihad leader Muhammad Shehadeh in Bethlehem on March 7.

In a second incident, in a news item entitled "Israel jets strike northern Gaza" on March 14 on their News Web site, the BBC reported that Israel was deliberately targeting civilians in an operation targeting Kassam rocket launch sites in Gaza, and claiming that the United Nations secretary-general had described it as an attack on civilians.

"The Israeli air force said it was targeting a rocket firing team... UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned Israel's attacks on Palestinian civilians, calling them inappropriate and disproportionate," the report said.

In a letter to the BBC, Manchester Jewish community member Jonathan Hantman wrote,

"It is one-sided for the report to describe Israel's operations as 'attacks on civilians' while not describing the Palestinian rocket attacks, to which Israel was responding, as 'attacks on civilians' or 'acts of terrorism.'"

Hantman also pointed out that Ban's attributed comments were made weeks earlier to the UN Security Council and not in reference to that particular attack. He added that it was also wrong to mention the UN secretary-general's condemnation of Israel without mentioning his condemnation of Palestinian rocket attacks in the same statement.

"Ban's statement, made some two weeks ago, did not refer to yesterday's attack and did not describe Israel's operations on Gaza as 'attacks on civilians,'" Hantman noted. "He did, however, describe Palestinian rocket attacks as 'acts of terrorism.'"

In his statement to the UN Security Council on March 1, Ban said: "While recognizing Israel's right to defend itself, I condemn the disproportionate and excessive use of force that has killed and injured so many civilians, including children... I condemn Palestinian rocket attacks and call for the immediate cessation of such acts of terrorism."

Apologizing for the error, the BBC said in its response, regarding the speech: "We accept we should have made reference to what [Ban] said about Palestinian rocket attacks as well as to the 'excessive use of force' by Israel. We have amended the report, also removing the reference to Israeli 'attacks on civilians.'"
JPost, Twitter

Tribute to the IDF

2008-03-24T01:19:00.002+02:00

One of the best I have seen. Posted by Marc

Welcome Home Leah and Mish

2008-03-23T17:03:00.005+02:00

The girls arrive home later this evening, their plane has been delayed an hour.
Leah will be going straight to Tel-Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, where they will exchange her pacemaker for a defibrillator.

posted by Marc

Happy Easter

2008-03-22T15:45:00.002+02:00

Psalms and incense filled the air of the Holy City of Jerusalem on what is known as Good Friday, as thousands of Christian pilgrims from around the world prayed along the traditional route Jesus took to his crucifixion.

The faithful, several of them bearing large wooden crosses, walked in procession along the cobblestoned streets of Jerusalem's Old City, following the Via Dolorosa, or Way of Suffering, where Jesus is said to have carried the cross on which he was later crucified by the Romans.

"This is where Jesus suffered, and we are following in his footsteps," said Flora Seguirante, a doctor from Toronto, Canada, her voice quivering with emotion. "I can't describe my joy at being here, at praying here."

As the pilgrims intoned their psalms, their voices mingled across the stone facades of the Old City with the Muslim call to Friday prayers broadcast from numerous minarets.

Incense filled the Holy City's narrow streets, where the Good Friday worshippers crossed paths with Muslim faithful, prayer rugs slung over their shoulders.

The procession set off under bright sunshine outside the Monastery of Flagellation, where Jesus was beaten, mocked and crowned with thorns.

It concluded at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, which is built over the sites where many Christians believe Christ was both crucified and buried.

Happy Purim from Chozinn! (little hardcore)

2008-03-21T18:21:00.000+02:00

posted by marc

Purim Rap Chag Sameach!

2008-03-20T16:14:00.000+02:00

קרב מגע

2008-03-20T02:24:00.001+02:00

Krav Maga "Close Combat"
An eclectic self-defense and military hand-to-hand combat system developed in Israel, which assumes no quarter, and emphasizes maximum threat neutralization in a "real life" context. It came to prominence following its adoption by various Israeli Security Forces.
In Krav Maga, there are no hard-and-fast rules, and no distinction in training for men and women. It is not a sport, and there are no specific uniforms, attire or competitions, although some organizations recognise progress through training with rank badges and different levels. All the techniques focus on maximum efficiency in real-life conditions. Krav Maga generally assumes a no quarter situation; the attacks and defenses are intended for potentially lethal threat situations, and aim to neutralize these and escape via maximum pain or damage to opponents, as rapidly and safely as possible. Crippling attacks to vulnerable body parts, including groin and eye strikes, headbutts, and other efficient and potentially brutal attacks, improvised use of any objects available, and maximizing personal safety in a fight, are emphasized. However, it must be stressed that instructors can and do demonstrate how to moderate the techniques to fit the circumstances. While no limits are placed on techniques to be used in life-threatening situations, the legal need to inflict the appropriate minimal damage in other circumstances is recognised and stressed.

Neutralize the threat
Avoid injury
Go from defending to attacking as quickly as possible
Use the body's natural reflexes
Strike at any vulnerable point
Use any tool or object available to you

Krav Maga was developed in Hungary and Czechoslovakia in the 1930s by Imi Lichtenfeld. He first taught his fighting system in Bratislava in order to help protect the Jewish community from Nazi militias. Upon arriving in the British Mandate of Palestine prior to the establishment of the Jewish state, Imi began teaching hand-to-hand combat to the Haganah, the Jewish underground army. With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, Imi became the Chief Instructor of Physical Fitness and Krav Maga at the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) School of Combat Fitness. He served in the IDF for about 20 years, during which time he continued to develop and refine his hand-to-hand combat method. He died in January 1998 in Netanya, Israel.

posted by Marc for Goy Boy
Mish tells me your interested in "Close Contact" err Combat

Mark Blacknell Why Israel?

2008-03-19T05:44:00.000+02:00

IDF

2008-03-19T05:31:00.000+02:00

IDF

Rabbi Shmuley

2008-03-18T16:33:00.002+02:00

I am often asked why Jews don't believe in Jesus.

Can Jews Believe in Jesus?

Israel Is A Dangerous Place

2008-03-18T02:56:00.001+02:00

Israel Is A Dangerous Place - More amazing videos are a click away

Happy St Patrick's Day

2008-03-17T02:08:00.002+02:00

Eilat

2008-03-17T02:07:00.001+02:00

IDF Save Palestinian Girl

2008-03-16T02:34:00.000+02:00

2008-03-14T22:07:00.001+02:00

I have been meaning to do this for a long time, Hi, my name is Mish currently from Mish Ultimatum (thanks Goy Boy), previously Mish Understood.
Thought I would take this opportunity to post while the Princess is asleep. Yes, I realize this is not my blog, I have something to say.
It's difficult to put into words just how important my friendship with Leah is, we're much more than friends (no, Larry not like that).
She is the sister I never had, she is my family. She puts up with my "stuff" and I put up with hers.
This trip to Ireland was a dream come true for me, this girl originally from New Jersey, now Yaffo, would never have been able to make this trip alone. Despite the difficulty and red tape the UK put us through because I am a soldier in the IDF, it was more than worth it.
Ireland is if possible even more beautiful than the pictures depict. Driving on the wrong side was a challenge, and the accents are hysterical.
In the past when I have tried to say "thank you" I become so overcome with emotion it's impossible to see let alone type. If I lived a thousand years I could never make up for the things you have given me, done for me, been there for me...Leah. A simple THANK YOU just doesn't seem like enough.

Dan Gordon

2008-03-13T17:51:00.003+02:00

Even someone as talented as celebrated Hollywood screenwriter Dan Gordon couldn't have conjured up a scenario like this: a 59-year-old American who had served in the IDF 30 years earlier shows up in Israel during the opening salvos of the Second Lebanon War and demands to join the IDF Spokesman's Unit.

Within a day, he's in uniform and escorting the likes of CNN's Anderson Cooper around the northern battlefield.

However, the story is not one of Gordon's film credits like The Hurricane with Denzel Washington,Murder in the First with Kevin Bacon, Wyatt Earp with Kevin Costner, or The Assignment with Sir Ben Kingsley. This story stars Gordon himself, the 59-year-old American who joined the IDF and served in Lebanon in 2006.

But stories need a beginning, and Gordon's life-long connection to Israel begins in 1963, as he told The Jerusalem Post this week from Los Angeles, "That's the year I first came to Israel from California as a 16-year-old, and lived on Kibbutz Ginagar near Afula. I returned to the US for college [where he graduated from UCLA as a film and television major] and worked for a while, and then came back to live in Israel in 1972," said Gordon.

He joined the IDF in 1973, was in basic training during the Yom Kippur War and finished his service in 1975. Within five years, he had married, fathered two children and moved back to Los Angeles.

"I was a screenwriter, and I just couldn't make a living in Israel. I was working at three jobs, and it wasn't working out," he recalls. It did, however, work out in Los Angeles, where the now-divorced Gordon's career flourished. By the early 1990s, he had written the screenplays for some top Hollywood films and play adaptions. He also wrote novels and co-founded the Zaki Gordon Institute for Independent Filmmaking in Arizona, named for his eldest son, Zaki, who died at 22 in a traffic accident in 1998.

But Israel was never far from his heart; he always made it a point to come back and visit at least once a year. In 2002, during Operation Defensive Shield, he decided to volunteer for the IDF.

"I was in my mid-50s and not an ideal candidate for service, but came over because I felt that as a writer, I could get certain things published in the US that would give an alternative view to all that 'Jenin massacre' nonsense," he said, adding that he has in the past blogged for conservative outlets like The American Thinker and the Huffington Post. Through a combination of "bullying and bullshitting," Gordon worked his way into an IDF Spokesman's Unit.

When the war in Lebanon broke out in the summer of 2006, Gordon was in Israel by the third day.

"All the people I knew from the IDF had retired, and I didn't have any contacts left," Gordon said. But then some good old Hollywood serendipity took hold.

"I had asked my assistant in LA to book me a modest hotel in Haifa. I figured if I couldn't hook up with the IDF, I could still put on a pair of work gloves and volunteer, do whatever I could to help.

"So there I was in the Nof Hotel, 59 years old, and calling everyone I could to find contacts to get into the IDF. I finally got in touch with someone who said, 'I don't know what to tell you, but we have a communications center set up in the basement of the Nof Hotel, go there and talk to them." Gordon walked the two floors down to the basement, went up to the officer and charge and said, "Hi, my name is Dan Gordon, I helped out in the IDF Spokesman's Office before and I'm here to help now." And before he knew it, he was in uniform.

Gordon became an integral part of the unit, with tasks including taking journalists around and embedding them up with combat units, appearing on TV and radio as an IDF representative, and helping to formulate the message being disseminated by the army during the war. He recalled one close call, albeit an embarrassing one.

"One Katyusha landed very close to me, but it wasn't very heroic. I was on my way to pick up Anderson Cooper to embed him with an engineering unit that was going to blow up a bunker in south Lebanon.

"On the way to Kiryat Shmona, I had to stop to relieve myself. The one good thing about the North then, is that the roads were empty, so you didn't have to worry about where to go. So there I was, watering a tree and I heard the whistle of the Katyusha and saw it land and explode 10 meters from the tree. The shrapnel hit the tree instead of me. What an unheroic way to die that would have been," he said.

More...
Dan Gordon is an American writer noted for his film and television work. He graduated from UCLA as a film and television major, and went on to write screenplays including Passenger 57 (1992), Wyatt Earp (1994), Murder in the First (1995), The Assignment (1997) and The Hurricane (1999) (the story of boxer Rubin Carter), as well as several novels.

Gordon is also a co-founder of the Zaki Gordon Institute (ZGI), a film school in Sedona, Arizona. The institute is named for his eldest son, Zaki Gordon, who died in a traffic accident in 1998 at the age of 22 years. Gordon teaches part-time at the institute, which also offers courses online and on DVD. He also teaches at Columbia University School of the Arts, USC School of Cinematic Arts and UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television,[1] to which he donates an annual $5,000 prize to screenwriting students in honour of his son.

A dual Israeli-American citizen, Gordon served in the Israeli Army as a young man, is a captain in the Israel Defense Forces Reserves, and served as an escort officer in the Military Spokesperson’s Unit during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict.

Gordon played the role of a homeless man in the independent film Waiting for Mo (1996), which he produced with his son, Zaki, who wrote and directed the film.

He has been a member of the Directors Guild of America since 1985.

Purim

2008-03-13T15:58:00.003+02:00

Purim is Friday, March 21, 2008.
Shushan Purim is Saturday, March 22, 2008, with some of the customs being performed on Sunday March 23, 2008.

Purim is based on the Biblical account in the Book of Esther. As with many Jewish holidays, Purim can be summed up with the phrase:

They Tried to Kill Us,
We Won,
Let's Eat!

Other customs and traditions include dressing up in costumes, giving children small monetary gifts, Purim comedy plays (Purim Shpiel), making noise during the Megillah reading when Haman's name is mentioned, and drinking wine at the Purim feast.

Favorite children's costumes include the Evil Haman, King Ahashverosh, Mordechai the Jew, Queen Vashti, and Queen Esther. The custom of costumes hints to the verse in Deuteronomy 31: "I shall surely hide my face on that day.."

Purim traditional foods

Purim traditional cookies are called Hamentaschen (Haman's Pockets), or Oznei Haman (Haman's Ears). They are filled cookies shaped in a triangle. Favorite fillings include poppy seed, prune, chopped nuts, and chocolate. Any filling may be used.

Reflections

2008-03-12T12:42:00.000+02:00

Every morning I take the 35 bus line to work. It's a quick ride and usually takes no more than 12 minutes. The third stop after I get on by the shuk is directly in front of Yeshivat Merkaz HaRav. This morning I found myself a bit anxious, unsure of what I was going to see as we passed by. As I looked around, I saw death notices pasted all over the street and flowers that had been brought lined the entrance to the Yeshiva. When the bus pulled up to the stop, the driver shut off the engine and stood. With tears in his eyes he told everyone sitting on the bus that one of the boys killed on Thursday night was his nephew. He asked if everyone on the bus would mind if he spoke for a few minutes in memory of his nephew and the other boys that were killed. After seeing head nods all over the bus he began to speak. With a clear and proud voice, he spoke beautifully about his nephew and said that he was a person who was constantly on the lookout for how to help out anyone in need. He was always searching for a way to make things better. He loved learning, and had a passion for working out the intricacies of the Gemara. He was excited to join the army in a few years, and wanted to eventually work in informal education. As he continued to speak, I noticed that the elderly woman sitting next to me was crying. I looked into my bag, reached for a tissue and passed it to her. She looked at me and told me that she too had lost someone she knew in the attack. Her neighbors child was another one of the boys killed. As she held my hand tightly, she stood up and asked if she too could say a few words in memory of her neighbor. She spoke of a young man filled with a zest for life. Every friday he would visit her with a few flowers for shabbat and a short dvar torah that he had learned that week in Yeshiva. This past shabbat, she had no flowers.

When I got to work, one of my colleagues who lives in Efrat told me that her son was friends with 2 of the boys who had been killed. One of those boys was the stepson of a man who used to teach in Brovenders and comes to my shul in Riverdale every Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur to be a chazan for one of the minyanim.

We are all affected by what goes on in Israel. Whether you know someone who was killed or know someone who knows someone or even if you don't know anyone at all, you are affected. The 8 boys who were killed will continue to impact us all individually and as a nation. Each one of us has the ability to make a profound impact on our world. This coming wednesday morning, I will be at Ben Gurion airport at 7 am with Nefesh B'Nefesh welcoming 40 new olim to Israel. We will not deter. We can not give up. We will continue to live our lives and hope and work for change, understanding and peace.

Sharon Millendorf

A Jew is the Reason Some of us are Sane

2008-03-12T06:51:00.003+02:00

A Jew is the reason some of us are sane

Klaus K. Schmiegel Born Jun 28 1939
AryloxyphenylpropylaminesProzacPatent Number(s) 4,314,081
Inducted 1999

Klaus Schmiegel and Bryan Molloy co-invented a class of aryloxyphenylpropylamines which includes the compound fluoxetine hydrochloride. Fluoxetine hydrochloride is the active ingredient in Prozac®, the widely successful antidepressant.
It was the first commercially available SSRI, or selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter, a chemical that carries messages between nerve calls; it is secreted by one cell and picked up by receptors on another. Once the message is received, a neurotransmitter is retrieved back into the cell that secreted it in a process known as reuptake. Prozac is believed to inhibit the reuptake of serotonin in most patients suffering from depression.
Invention Impact
Since its introduction in the U.S. in 1988, Prozac has revolutionized the treatment of depression.
Inventor Bio
Schmiegel was born in Chemitz, Germany, and in 1951 immigrated to Michigan. He received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of Michigan, an A.M. in organic chemistry from Dartmouth College, and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Stanford University. He joined Eli Lilly in 1968 as a senior organic chemist, remaining there until his retirement in 1993. During his career, he received 18 patents in areas relating to the synthesis of compounds.

2008-03-11T08:13:00.002+02:00

Eight princes fell, in the name of God, in the war on our existence as a sovereign people in the Land of Israel. Dear parents and bereaved families – hold your head up with pain and tears. This was not a massacre, bur rather, a war; a very long war for our existence as a sovereign people.

The evil members of Hamas who are corrupting the land and taking God’s name in vain are not fighting against us as people or as capitulating religious communities that wish to continue the Diaspora here. They are fighting against our sovereignty, which they refer to as the “Zionist regime.”

Shifting the arena of blood and war into the library of the Mercaz Harav yeshiva in Jerusalem, named after Rabbi Zvi Yehuda Kook, is incredibly symbolic – it is a blow to the banner of national Jewish sovereignty. This blow joins the waves of frustration with the State and the IDF that we see both in the religious and general public on all directions, as well as the effect of the accumulated weakness among our leadership.

However, the enemy is miscalculating. The despaired amongst us do not truly represent the spirit of the people or its internal strength. What is reflected through the Israeli media is no more than artificial panic waves. Eventually, our enemies will force us to rise up like a lion and defeat them, and release the name of God from their impure mouth and murderous hand.

borrowed from Jameel

Memorial To the Yeshiva Students

2008-03-10T00:53:00.000+02:00

Tee, this video contains some gory and graphic images, you may wish to skip this one.

SPRING!

2008-03-09T17:49:00.002+02:00

New blog template, no this time it wasn't Uri. Sometime yesterday the blog was hacked.
All of my widgets, and pictures were removed and in their place were pictures of "a different kind" Not wanting to give this group credit I will refrain from posting details. Marc felt I needed something a wee bit more cheerful, so he choose and tweaked this template for me. He spent several hours working on it and frankly I am gobsmacked (flabbergasted). I like it, thank you Marc.
Ireland is as amazing as always, we are eating way too much, I am anyway. Today I began the "work" part of this vacation, accounts payable I do not like you.
Anyone not like the blog?

B'Ahavah, Leah

Torn

2008-03-08T16:57:00.002+02:00

My heart and my mind are in Eretz Yisrael. It is extremely hard to block out what has happened at home. To not think constantly about my father and Uri. I look around me at this beautiful country, the people, the peace, yet it has not always been this way, Ireland too has a dark history.
I can only pray that someday Israel will know this tranquility.

Thank you everyone for your prayers, please continue to pray for Eretz Yisrael.
B'Ahavah, Leah

The names

2008-03-07T09:23:00.002+02:00

The names of the eight victims of Thursday's terror attack in Mercaz Harav Yeshiva in Jerusalem were announced Friday morning.

The casualties were identified as: Yohai Livshitz, 18, from Jerusalem; Yonatan Yitzhak Eldar, 16, from Shilo; Yonadav Haim Hirschfeld, 19, from Kohav Hashahar; and Neria Cohen, 15, also from the capital, Segev Peniel Avihail, 15, from Neve Daniel, Avraham David Moses, 16, from Efrat, Roee Roth, 18, from Elkana and Doron Meherete, 26, from Ashdod.

When we got in... we saw young, 15-, 16-year-old guys lying on the floor with their Bibles in their hands - all dead on the floor

Witnesses said the gunman went into the library at the Mercaz Harav seminary in the city's Kiryat Moshe quarter and opened fire.

'Horrific'

The gunman entered the library at the Mercaz Harav seminary on Thursday evening, where about 80 students were gathered, and fired an AK-47 rifle for several minutes, witnesses say.

One of the students, Yitzhak Dadon, reportedly shot the gunman twice before he was finally killed by an off-duty Israeli army officer, who had gone to the school after hearing gunfire.

"I shot him twice in the head," he told the Reuters news agency.

"He started to sway and then someone else with a rifle fired at him, and he died."

War, death, violence

2008-03-07T08:13:00.002+02:00

I hate posting about the violence and blood shed, I hate the killing on both sides.
Today's posts made me physically ill. But because the western media is so biased against Israel and printing the truth I feel it is important to post.
Leah left me in charge and the posting to my discretion, sorry if I offended anyone but I will continue to post what I feel is important.

Marc

Erie? Where you here?

2008-03-07T08:10:00.003+02:00

This graffiti is on the freedom wall. I have a friend named Erin/Erie in the US.

It Just Gets Worse

2008-03-06T21:29:00.002+02:00

Report: 4 killed in Jerusalem terror attack

Four people reported killed in gun battle with terrorist fleeing scene of attack in Kiryat Moshe quarter; one infiltrator killed, said to have been wearing bomb belt.

Two terrorists infiltrated a rabbinical seminary at the entrance of Jerusalem and opened fire after nightfall Thursday, police said. At least four people have been reported killed, the ZAKA emergency response service said.

Ambulances raced to the scene from around the city and paramedics confirmed that several more people have been wounded.

**Update, 8 dead.
This is a seminary school, non violent Rabbinical students.

posted by Marc

Soldier Killed

2008-03-06T19:00:00.002+02:00

Wouldn't ya know my first day to post and it's bad news.

A soldier in an IDF tracking unit was killed and another soldier was seriously wounded on Thursday by a bomb near Kissufim in the central Gaza Strip.

Palestinian witnesses said a large explosion tore through the jeep, which was on the Israeli side of the border fence, and set it on fire. Several other army vehicles, along with an army helicopter, arrived to rescue the wounded, but also came under fire, the witnesses said.

The wounded soldier was airlifted to the hospital for treatment. The soldiers' families have been notified.

Two other soldiers were lightly wounded in the attack, for which Islamic Jihad's armed wing claimed responsibility. Sources said that a remote had been used to set off the device. Hamas said its men also participated in the attack.

Marc

Dear Blog Readers

2008-03-05T20:55:00.002+02:00

Having a wonderful time, wish you were ALL here. B'Ahavah Leah

Rocks

2008-03-05T14:18:00.000+02:00

Palestinian Arabs nearly lynched two Israeli municipal workers from their car, shown on Israel's Channel 10.

Captain America is a Jew

2008-03-04T17:33:00.002+02:00

Stan Lee (born Stanley Martin Lieber on December 28, 1922
American writer, editor, creator of comic book superheroes, and the former president and chairman of Marvel Comics.

With several artist co-creators, most notably Jack Kirby and Steve Ditko, he co-created Spider-Man, the Fantastic Four, the X-Men, Iron Man, the Hulk, Daredevil, the Silver Surfer, Dr. Strange , and many other characters, introducing complex, naturalistic characters and a thoroughly shared universe into superhero comic books. He subsequently led the expansion of Marvel Comics from a small division of a publishing house to a large multimedia corporation.

Stanley Martin Lieber was born in New York City, New York, in the apartment of his Romanian-born Jewish immigrant parents, Celia (née Solomon) and Jack Lieber, at the corner of West 98th Street and West End Avenue in Manhattan. His father, trained as a dress cutter, worked only sporadically after the Great Depression, and the family moved further uptown to Fort Washington Avenue,[3] in the cheaper Manhattan neighborhood of Washington Heights. When Lee was nearly 9, his only sibling, brother Larry Lieber, was born. By the time Lee was in his teens, the family was living in a one-bedroom apartment at 1720 University Avenue in The Bronx. Lee described it as "a third-floor apartment facing out back", with he and his brother sharing a bedroom and his parents using a foldout couch.

Lee attended DeWitt Clinton High School in The Bronx. where his family had moved next (classmates included actor Martin Balsam, author James Baldwin, screenwriter Paddy Cheyefsky, playwright Frank Gilroy, boxer Sugar Ray Robinson, songwriter Herbie Nichols, cartoonist Irving Hasen, and fellow comic book creator Will Eisner). A voracious reader who enjoyed writing as a teen, he worked such part-time jobs as writing obituaries for a news service and press releases for the National Tuberculosis Center; delivering sandwiches for the Jack May pharmacy to offices in Rockefeller Center; working as an office boy for a trouser manufacturer; ushering at the Rivoli Theater on Broadway; and selling subscriptions to the New York Herald Tribune newspaper. He graduated high school early, at age 16½ in 1939, and joined the WPA Federal Theatre Project.
A text filler in Captain America Comics #3 (May 1941) was Lee's first published work. Cover art by Alex Schomburg.

posted by Uri

Leaving on a Jet plane..

2008-03-04T03:07:00.001+02:00

In less than 5 hours I leave for Ireland.
While away Uri and Marc will be in-charge, although I will be able to post, just not as often.
This is a working vacation for me, time to test all those business classes I have been taking.
My parents own an Import/Export business that someday will be mine, it will be up to me to continue to
run it in such a way that my siblings will be taken care of and my grandparents would be proud of.
Uri doesn't speak English as well as Marc and I so cut him some slack. He also has a bad habit of changing things around.
I have explained to him it's like sneaking into someone's house and re-arranging the furniture while their away, he just doesn't get it.
G_d willing I will return to Eretz Yisrael and the fighting will have ceased.

B'Ahavah,
Leah

Purim March 21

2008-03-03T19:33:00.001+02:00

All Jewish holidays begin the evening before the date specified on most calendars. This is because a Jewish "day" begins and ends at sunset, rather than at midnight. If you read the story of creation in Genesis Ch. 1, you will notice that it says, "And there was evening, and there was morning, one day." From this, we infer that a day begins with evening, that is, sunset. Holidays end at nightfall of the date specified on most calendars; that is, at the time when it becomes dark out, about an hour after sunset.

Purim
In the twelfth month, which is the month of Adar, on its thirteenth day ... on the day that the enemies of the Jews were expected to prevail over them, it was turned about: the Jews prevailed over their adversaries. - Esther 9:1

And they gained relief on the fourteenth, making it a day of feasting and gladness. - Esther 9:17

Mordecai instructed them to observe them as days of feasting and gladness, and sending delicacies to one another, and gifts to the poor. - Esther 9:22

Purim is one of the most joyous and fun holidays on the Jewish calendar. It commemorates a time when the Jewish people living in Persia were saved from extermination.

The story of Purim is told in the Biblical book of Esther. The heroes of the story are Esther, a beautiful young Jewish woman living in Persia, and her cousin Mordecai, who raised her as if she were his daughter. Esther was taken to the house of Ahasuerus, King of Persia, to become part of his harem. King Ahasuerus loved Esther more than his other women and made Esther queen, but the king did not know that Esther was a Jew, because Mordecai told her not to reveal her identity.

The villain of the story is Haman, an arrogant, egotistical advisor to the king. Haman hated Mordecai because Mordecai refused to bow down to Haman, so Haman plotted to destroy the Jewish people. In a speech that is all too familiar to Jews, Haman told the king, "There is a certain people scattered abroad and dispersed among the peoples in all the provinces of your realm. Their laws are different from those of every other people's, and they do not observe the king's laws; therefore it is not befitting the king to tolerate them." Esther 3:8. The king gave the fate of the Jewish people to Haman, to do as he pleased to them. Haman planned to exterminate all of the Jews.

Mordecai persuaded Esther to speak to the king on behalf of the Jewish people. This was a dangerous thing for Esther to do, because anyone who came into the king's presence without being summoned could be put to death, and she had not been summoned. Esther fasted for three days to prepare herself, then went into the king. He welcomed her. Later, she told him of Haman's plot against her people. The Jewish people were saved, and Haman was hanged on the gallows that had been prepared for Mordecai.

The word "Purim" means "lots" and refers to the lottery that Haman used to choose the date for the massacre.

It is customary to hold carnival-like celebrations on Purim, to perform plays and parodies, and to hold beauty contests. I have heard that the usual prohibitions against cross-dressing are lifted during this holiday, but I am not certain about that. Americans sometimes refer to Purim as the Jewish Mardi Gras.

2008-03-03T17:54:00.003+02:00

Let’s be clear. This is a call to genocide.

While the UN and much of Europe wring their hands at the heavy Israeli response to rocket fire by the Palestinians into Israel, there is talk of ‘disproportionate response.’

There is no such thing as a ‘disproportionate response’ to calls for genocide. All conflicts end with ‘disproportionate response.’

The Israelis are entitled to defend themselves from those who openly or not so openly call for their annihilation.

Peace among nations is arrived at when the cost of war becomes overwhelming.

Racism, bigotry and hate are overcome when the cost of racism, bigotry and hate becomes too great for society to bear.

As long as nations and peoples perceive the cost of war as acceptable, then we will have war.

When the cost of slaughtering Jews as ‘business as usual’ becomes to high for the Palestinians to bear, they will respond appropriately. As Abba Eban noted,

History teaches us that men and nations behave wisely once they have exhausted all other alternatives.

Israel has every right to defend herself every way she sees fit- and the world has no business chastising her for her actions. It isn’t as if the rest of the world has a great track record in standing up for Jews. One doesn’t have to go back that far to confirm that. As Jews were trying to leave Germany prior to the war, other European countries blocked their borders to increased immigration. The Swiss were kind enough to send those lucky enough to send those who arrived by train back to Germany, to catch other trains with destinations like Auschwitz, Bergen-Belsen, Dachau and scores of other lesser known ‘work camps.’

Day in and day out, for decades, the Israelis and Jews are bombarded with vicious and vile hate from the Arab world. Day in and day out, Israel is promised destruction, violations of the most heinous kind and ‘rivers of blood.’ We are told that thousands of volunteers are ready to answer a religious call and bring mayhem, violence and death to the Israelis.

The Palestinians, Iranians and Saudis, all outraged at the fact that these Jews will defend themselves, have whipped themselves into a frenzy. They will not tolerate peace agreements that do not allow for the slaughter of Jews. They laughably declare the Israelis to be engaged in ‘genocide’ and Nazi behavior, even as they proudly declare their bigotry and racism and promise to ‘finish what Hitler started.’

The truth is that if the Israelis really wanted to slaughter the Palestinians, they could. They have means to do just that, so either the Israelis are colossal failures at genocide or they have no intent to do so.

This isn’t about political Israel as a nation state. This is about Jews and religious conflict. What we see in the Middle East today is the result of decades of dysfunctional and oppressive leaders who employ and pay for ‘religious’ authorities to manipulate a religion to suit their needs and to find religious justification for their oppression and repression.

Arab leaders and religious authorities issue threats against Jews and Jewish institutions outside the Middle East whenever Israel responds to violence from the Palestinians. There are never threats made against the millions of Christian Zionists or the even more millions Christian supporters of Zionism. There are never threats of violence against the the thousands of churches whose clergy parishioners support Zionism and there are never threats of violence to outspoken gentiles who support Israel.

There are no threats against Christians or gentiles who support Zionism and Israel because the conflict isn’t about Zionism or Israel. As far as the Palestinians and much of the Arab world is concerned, the Middle East conflict is about the Muslim right and obligation to kill Jews.

The Islamist threats to ‘Zionists’ are directed at Jews only. It matters little if those Jews are old people or children. There have been innumerable violent acts deliberately targeting children, in Israel and abroad. There have been acts of violence directed a Jewish Houses of Worship the world over. In Paris, Montreal, Marseilles and elsewhere, Jewish schools have been firebombed.

In every single Arab country, including the Palestinian territories, Jewish shrines have been desecrated. When the Israelis left Gaza, there was an orgy of Synagogue burnings and desecration of holy sites that were encouraged and applauded. For the Palestinians and much of the Arab world, krystallnacht is a festival that is never ending.

Not even the dead are immune from anti Semitism. All over Europe, Jewish cemeteries have been vandalized. On buses and trains all over Europe, Jews have been assaulted, beaten and stabbed. As a result, the Chief Rabbi of France issued an edict that men should not wear their traditional head covering as a matter of safety.

It is ironic that Hijab has become an expression of religious fidelity is demanded by many and at the same time, Jews who wear head coverings, another expression of religious fidelity to the same God, have become a bulls-eye for many of the same people who supposedly claim no issue with Jews, only Zionists.

Most people will say the animus against Jews is the result of the situation in the Middle East- and they would be right. Unless and until the Jews are eradicated, there will be no peace.

Arab author and expert on Hizbollah and Lebanese politics Amal Saad-Ghorayeb makes clear that Hizbollah sees the conflict with Israel as an existential one, having nothing to do with politics or borders.

Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah ( of ‘we have Israeli body parts fame’) proudly declared that

“…if they [Jews] all gather in Israel, it will save us the trouble of going after them worldwide.“

Hamas takes great pleasure in referring to Jews as the offspring of animals in media. Hamas religious preachers reinforce the message. These ‘truths’ are taught in Hamas schools. Even a Mickey Mouse clone was utilized to teach the message of violent jihad. A look at Palestinian 12th grade textbooks crystallizes and acknowledges the real 800 lb gorilla in the room. As far as the Palestinians are concerned, the ‘State of Palestine’ is exists in a world without Israel- and there will be no peace until Israel is eradicated. Holocaust denial, Jihad and Shahad are all now expressions of religious identity. If you do not hate Jews, you are a Muslim who is found lacking.

PA leader Mahmoud Abbas is cut of the same cloth. In a recent interview, he insisted that violence against Israel still a viable option, ‘when the time is right.’ He declared his pride in helping to train Hizbollah in terror and he fondly recalls the days he stood shoulder to shoulder with Yasser Arafat and the PLO (those ‘good old days’ included blowing up school buses with nursery and kindergarten school children, or taking school children hostage). Abbas is an educated man, a scholar with a PhD. His doctoral dissertation was titled, “The Secret Relationship Between Nazism and Zionism.” In his dissertation, he discusses the ‘fantasy’ of the holocaust. He asserts that the few Jews who were killed were victims of a ‘Nazi-Zionist’ plot.

Palestinian and Arab clerics have justified attacks on civilians for decades, reasoning that all Israelis will be involved in defense of their state at one time or another. Old people, women and even babies are legitimate targets for that very reason.

The same logic applies to the Israeli response to the Palestinians.

The vast majority of Palestinians voted for Hamas, who made no secret of their genocidal ideologies and ambitions. The others voted for the PA, who share that ideology but insist on the camouflage of a pretend civility. Therefore, they are fair game. It is a shame that so many insist on hiding gunmen and terrorists in their midst. It is also along and time honored Arab tradition to hide behind women and children.

As long as nations and peoples perceive the cost of war as acceptable, then we will have war. As long as the Palestinians and much of the Arab world see their hate, racism, bigotry and violence as acceptable forms of political and religious expression, the conflict will endure. When they demand better for themselves and their children the political landscapewill change.

When nations that are led by or are under the influence of tyrants or dictators, attempt to justify those actions, we can rightly assume that justification is false. Tyrants and dictators do not make moral choices, because moral choices can only lead to the demise of the tyranny.

Anyone that comes to the defense of tyrannical regimes and their leaders, have themselves made a conscious choice to defend and stand by what is immoral.

The Palestinians wanted to make this about something other than politics. Now, they will bear the burden. The Israelis are under no obligation to tolerate calls for genocide.

from Sigmund, Carl and Alfred

Timeline of Rocket Attacks from Gaza

2008-03-03T15:07:00.000+02:00

For the past seven years, Palestinian terrorist groups have been deliberately firing rockets and mortar shells at Israeli civilians. In Aug. 2005, Israel evacuated all of its civilians from the Gaza Strip, withdrew all of its armed forces and dismantled all of the settlements there in the hope of advancing peace with the Palestinians.

World leaders backed the plan and said it would help make Israel more secure. Germany’s foreign minister at the time, Joschka Fischer, said, “The opportunities that arise from the pullout must now be used to improve both security and the economic situation, and to advance the peace process. As for the Palestinians, they must bring forward reforms to ensure efficient governance, and they must respect the ceasefire.”

Since Israel’s withdrawal from Gaza, more than 4,000 rockets have been fired at Israel. These rockets are killing innocent people including children; maiming and injuring hundreds; and causing exceptional levels of trauma, anxiety and other psychological problems amongst the residents of southern Israel, in particular among the children of Sderot.

Timeline of Deaths Caused by Rocket Attacks during the Peace Process*

July 11-25, 2000: Camp David Summit - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat meet at Camp David with U.S. President Bill Clinton to try to reach final status agreement. The summit fails largely due to Arafat’s refusal to make any concessions.

Oct. 27, 2001: First Rocket Fired from Gaza – Hamas fires the first Palestinian-made rocket, labeled Qassam 1, at Kibbutz Nir-Am in southwest Israel.

In 2001, 249 rockets and mortar shells are fired by Palestinian terrorist groups (245 mortars and 4 rockets).

Nov. 24, 2001: St. Sgt. Barak Madmon from Holon, 26, is killed by a mortar strike while on reserve duty in Kfar Darom.

In 2002, 292 rockets and mortar shells are fired by Palestinian terrorist groups (257 mortars and 35 rockets).

Apr. 30, 2003: Roadmap for Peace Announced - Based upon the principles of the Oslo Accords, the road map calls for reciprocal steps by both sides towards fulfilling security and political obligations.

In 2003, 420 rockets and mortar shells are fired by Palestinian terrorist groups (265 mortars and 155 rockets).

June 28, 2004: Mordechai Yosephus, 49, is killed when a rocket fired by Hamas lands near a kindergarten in Sderot.

June 28, 2004: Afik Ohion Zehavi, 4, is killed when a rocket fired by Hamas lands near his nursery school in Sderot.

Sept. 24, 2004: Tiferet Tratner, 24, is killed in her home by a mortar attack on Neve Dekalim.

Sept. 29, 2004: Yuval Abeva, 2, is killed by a rocket fired by Hamas while playing outside with Dorit (Masarat) Benisian, 2, also killed in the attack. The toddlers were of Ethiopian origin. Twenty others were injured.

Oct. 28, 2004 - Sgt. Michael Chizik, 21, of Tiberias, is killed by a mortar attack on the Morag outpost in Gush Katif in Gaza.

In 2004, 1,157 rockets and mortar shells are fired by Palestinian terrorist groups (876 mortars and 281 rockets).

Jan. 2, 2005: Nissim Arbiv, 26, of Nissanit, is severely injured by a mortar shell in the Erez industrial zone in northern Gaza. He died from his injuries ten days later.

Jan. 15, 2005: Ayala Haya (Ella) Abukasis, 17, is seriously wounded and rendered brain damaged by the shrapnel from a Qassam rocket attack. Abukasis was hit while falling on her younger brother to protect him from the attack. After remaining on life support a week following the rocket attack, she died on Jan. 21, 2005.

June 7, 2005: Muslah Umran is killed while working in a greenhouse in Ganei Tal.

June 7, 2005: Muhammad Mahmoud Jaroum is killed while working in a greenhouse in Ganei Tal.

June 7, 2005: Bi Shude, 46, is killed while working in a greenhouse in Ganei Tal. Shude was a Chinese national.

July 15, 2005: Dana Gelkowitz, 22, is killed by a rocket fired at Moshav Nativ Ha'asara, just north of the Gaza Strip.

Aug. 2005: Israel’s Unilateral Disengagement from the Gaza Strip - Israel withdraws 9,000 citizens from the Gaza settlements and hands the entire territory over to Palestinian control.

Dec. 14, 2005: Jitladda Tap-arsa, 20, is killed while working in a greenhouse in Ganei Tal. Jitladda was a Thai national.

In 2005, 417 rockets and mortar shells are fired by Palestinian terrorist groups (238 mortars and 179 rockets).

March 2006: Palestinian Parliamentary Elections - Hamas wins the Palestinian parliamentary elections and forms a government.

March 28, 2006: Salam Ziadin and Khalid, 16, a Bedouin father and son, are killed when a Qassam rocket they stumble across in the Nahal Oz area explodes.

Nov. 11, 2006: Fatima Slutzker, 57, is killed when a rocket hits the street where she is walking near the home of Israeli Defense Minister Amir Peretz.

Nov. 21, 2006: Yaakov Yaakobov, 43, is severely injured while at work in a Sderot poultry processing plant. He died from his wounds on Nov. 22, 2006.

In 2006, 968 rockets and mortar shells are fired by Palestinian terrorist groups (22 mortars and 946 rockets).

May - June 2007: Hamas Conquers Gaza Strip - Hamas and Fatah militias in Gaza wage war against each other, resulting in a Hamas victory and its de facto control over the whole Gaza Strip.

May 21, 2007: Shirel Friedman, 32, is killed when standing near a car that was struck by a rocket in Sderot.

May 27, 2007: Oshri Oz, 36, is killed in Sderot when a rocket hits his vehicle as he is driving in the city where he worked as a computer technician. He lived in Hod HaSharon, near Tel Aviv, and commuted everyday to Sderot.

May 2007 - Jan. 2008: Increased shelling of southern Israel - After Hamas’s violent takeover of the Gaza Strip, rocket and mortar fire from Palestinian terrorist groups increases dramatically. Terror groups launched an average of 285 rockets every month in this period -- more than one rocket every three hours.

Nov. 27, 2007: Annapolis Conference - Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas sign a joint statement in Annapolis, Md. to lay the groundwork for peace talks and a final peace agreement by the end of 2008.

In 2007, 2,312 rockets and mortar shells are fired by Palestinian terrorist groups (1,263 mortars and 1,049 rockets).

Jan. 9-11, 2008: President George W. Bush’s Visit to Israel - President Bush embarks on a tour of a number of Middle East countries, starting with Israel, to advance peace the negotiations initiated at the Annapolis conference in Nov. 2007.

Israel continues to move forward with its peace agenda, attempting to reach a two-state solution through negotiated agreement with the Palestinian Authority.

Speaking at the Herzliya Conference earlier this month, Olmert explained that “[t]here are endless arguments why not to invest in the attempt [for peace], why the chances are slim, why the dangers are great. I am aware of this. I am familiar with these arguments, excuses and interpretations – and yet, I am fully determined to continue ahead. We have no other way but to conduct peace talks. We have no more promising horizon of hope than the chance to hold dialogue with the present Palestinian leadership.”

January 9, 2008
At least ten Qassam rockets and twelve mortar shells were fired into Israel. Two of the twelve Qassam rockets "directly struck houses" in Sderot.
January 10, 2008
At least one Qassam rocket was fired into Israel hitting a kibbutz in the western Negev about "100 meters from the cafeteria."
January 15-January 18, 2008
More than 120 Qassam-rockets and 65 mortars were fired towards the Western Negev, in a 72-hour period. The attacks injured more than eight Israelis, and two of the rockets struck near a kindergarten, which was full of children at the time of the attack.
February 27
About 50 rockets were fired towards the Negev, one of which struck a parking lot near Sapir Academic College, killing a 47-year-old student there.
March 1
About 50 rockets were fired in a span of 12 hours.

*Source for all listed fatalities from rocket and mortar fire within Israel and in the former Israeli settlements in Gaza: “Rocket threat from the Gaza Strip, 2000-2007” - Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center, Dec. 2007 - http://www.terrorism-info.org.il/malam_ ... reat_e.pdf

Ashkelon

2008-03-02T18:05:00.002+02:00

Ashkelon is a city in the western Negev, in the South District of Israel. Near to modern Ashkelon are the remains of the ancient seaport of Ashkelon, which flourished since the Bronze Age under a succession of rulers including the Canaanites, the Philistines, the Babylonians, the Phoenicians, the Romans, the Muslims and the Crusaders. It was finally destroyed by the Mamluks in the late 13th century. The modern city was founded in the 1950s out of the Arab town of al-Majdal, which had existed at least since the 16th century.

Israel has one of the world's most beautiful coastlines, with white sandy beaches and spectacular Mediterranean views. The coast stretches to the northern border with Lebanon at Rosh Hanikra and south to the Gaza Strip. Just north of Gaza and 36 miles south of Tel Aviv is the southernmost stop for most tourists, the city of Ashkelon.

Like so many other places in Israel, Ashkelon is built upon the ruins of past civilizations. This was one of five Philistine city-states (along with Gath, Gaza, Ekron and Ashdod). The city also plays a role in biblical history as the place where Delilah cut Samson's hair to sap his strength (Judges XIV-XVI). Ashkelon was also a great trading center because it lay along the Via Maris, the route linking Egypt with Syria and Mesopotamia.

The city was first settled at the end of the third millennium B.C.E. It was conquered by the Philistines in the second half of the 12th century. After the Israelite conquest of the rest of the area, the two peoples engaged in several hundred years of conflict. After King Saul was slain by the Philistines, David lamented:

Tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon; lest the daughters of the Philistines rejoice, lest the daughters of the uncircumcised triumph. (II Samuel 1:20)

Even after David defeated the Philistines in much of the rest of the country, he could not dislodge them from Ashkelon. This was finally accomplished by the Assyrian conqueror Tiglath-Pileser III in 734 B.C.E. After roughly 600 years in the region, the Philistines disappeared forever.

The city passed through the hands of the region's subsequent invaders before enjoying a renaissance under the Greeks and Romans. After the Jews, under the leadership of the Maccabeans, overthrew the Greeks in the 2nd century, Ashkelon became an autonomous city. It is believed that Ashkelon was the birthplace of Herod (in 37 B.C.E.), who enlarged and beautified the city, constructing a summer house, palaces and an aqueduct. Under the Romans, Ashkelon was also granted the rare privilege of being exempt from taxes. It became a flourishing trade center and, in particular, a major wine producer.

The city became a Christian city in the Byzantine period and was captured by the Muslims in 638 C.E. The Crusaders came next in 1153, but were defeated by Saladin. Richard the Lion Heart led the Crusaders back, but they were eventually driven out in 1280 by Sultan Baybars. The city was then abandoned until 1948 when the Jews of the new State of Israel began to rebuild it. Ashkelon was reestablished as an Israeli city in 1953.

Today, Ashkelon is enjoying a growth spurt, fueled in part by immigrants from the former Soviet Union. The population is now roughly 90,000. This is primarily a place to hit the beach, though some interesting archaeological ruins are continuing to be unearthed. These include a Byzantine church, a Roman tomb and one of the oldest arched gateways in the world. One of the most notable recent finds is a bronze and silver calf that is more than 3,500 years old and may be distantly related to the biblical tale of the golden calf.

Sderot and Ashkelon News Clips

2008-03-02T05:25:00.000+02:00

Two IDF soldiers killed in Gaza fighting

2008-03-01T19:48:00.001+02:00

Authorities announced on Saturday evening that two IDF soldiers were killed in operations in the Gaza Strip earlier in the day.

Three other troops including an officer were wounded in the maneuver.

Cleared for publication: Two IDF soldiers were killed Saturday during a clash with Palestinian gunmen in northern Gaza Strip.

Staff Sergeant Doron Asulin, 20, of Beersheba, was killed Saturday morning in the Gaza Strip. The second soldier's name is still unknown. Asulin was in the Givati brigade's patrol battalion and the other soldier was of the brigade's Shaked battalion.

Conflicting versions over child's death

Earlier Friday night, the Palestinians reported of four people killed in IDF strikes in the Strip, including a one-year-old baby. However, there were conflicting versions over the circumstances of the child's death.

At first, the Palestinians accused the IDF of attacking the baby's house, but later reported that the house was hit by a stray rocket fired by the Palestinians from within Gaza.

On Friday evening, the IDF reported that it had struck a weapon manufacturing site in the central Strip, as well as a rocket launching pad in the northern Strip.

Charles Krauthammer

2008-03-01T04:25:00.001+02:00

Charles Krauthammer was born to Jewish parents of French citizenship. He was raised in Montreal, Canada where he attended McGill University and obtained an honors degree in political science and economics in 1970. From 1970 to 1971, he was a Commonwealth Scholar in politics at Balliol College, Oxford. He later moved to the United States, where he attended Harvard Medical School. In his first year there in 1972, Krauthammer was paralyzed in a serious diving accident. Krauthammer continued medical training during his rehabilitation, he earned an M.D. from Harvard Medical School in 1975, and then began working as a psychiatrist at Massachusetts General Hospital.

From 1975-1978, Krauthammer was a Resident and then a Chief Resident in Psychiatry at the Massachusetts General Hospital. During this time he and a colleague identified a form of mania (a part of bipolar disorder) which they named "secondary mania" and published a second important paper. The standard textbook for bipolar disease (“Manic Depressive Illness” by Goodwin and Jamison) contains nine citations of his work.

In 1978, Krauthammer quit medical practice to direct planning in psychiatric research for the Jimmy Carter administration, and began contributing to The New Republic magazine. During the presidential campaign of 1980, Krauthammer served as a speech writer to Vice President Walter Mondale.

In 1981, following the defeat of the Carter/Mondale ticket, Krauthammer began his journalistic career, joining The New Republic as a writer and editor. His New Republic writings won the 1984 "National Magazine Award for Essays and Criticism." In 1983, he began writing essays for Time magazine. In 1985, he began a weekly column for the Washington Post for which he won the 1987 Pulitzer Prize for commentary.

In 2006, the Financial Times named Krauthammer the most influential commentator in America, saying “Krauthammer has influenced US foreign policy for more than two decades. He coined and developed `The Reagan Doctrine’ in 1985 and he defined the US role as sole superpower in his essay, `The Unipolar Moment’, published shortly after the fall of the Berlin Wall. Krauthammer’s 2004 speech `Democratic Realism’ set out a framework for tackling the post 9/11 world, focusing on the promotion of democracy in the Middle East.”

Krauthammer strongly opposed the Oslo accords, predicting that Palestinian Liberation Organization leader Yasir Arafat would use the foothold it gave him in the West Bank and Gaza to continue the war against Israel that he had ostensibly renounced in the Israel-PLO Letters of Recognition. These predictions were vindicated by the launching of the second intifada in 2000. In a July 2006 essay in Time, Krauthammer asserted that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was fundamentally defined by the Palestinians' unwillingness to accept compromise.

During the Israel-Lebanon war in 2006, Krauthammer wrote a column, "Let Israel Win the War," saying: "What other country, when attacked in an unprovoked aggression across a recognized international frontier, is then put on a countdown clock by the world, given a limited time window in which to fight back, regardless of whether it has restored its own security?" He later criticised Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's conduct, arguing that he "has provided unsteady and uncertain leadership. Foolishly relying on air power alone, he denied his generals the ground offensive they wanted, only to reverse himself later."

Krauthammer supports a two-state solution to the conflict. Contrary to many conservatives, he supported Israel's Gaza withdrawal as a step towards rationalizing the frontiers between Israel and the future Palestinian state. He believes the importance of a security barrier between the two states' final borders will be an important element of any lasting peace.

Style

2008-03-01T03:46:00.002+02:00

Who would ever think that so much can go on in the soul of a young girl?

2008-02-28T17:27:00.001+02:00

Keep in mind when reading these Ann Frank quotes that she was only 14.

And finally I twist my heart round again, so that the bad is on the outside and the good is on the inside, and keep on trying to find a way of becoming what I would so like to be, and could be, if there weren't any other people living in the world.

Boys will be boys. And even that wouldn't matter if only we could prevent girls from being girls.

Despite everything, I believe that people are really good at heart.

Everyone has inside of him a piece of good news. The good news is that you don't know how great you can be! How much you can love! What you can accomplish! And what your potential is!

How true Daddy's words were when he said: all children must look after their own upbringing. Parents can only give good advice or put them on the right paths, but the final forming of a person's character lies in their own hands.

How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.

I simply can't build my hopes on a foundation of confusion, misery and death... I think... peace and tranquillity will return again.

I soothe my conscience now with the thought that it is better for hard words to be on paper than that Mummy should carry them in her heart.

No one has ever become poor by giving.

The best remedy for those who are afraid, lonely or unhappy is to go outside, somewhere where they can be quiet, alone with the heavens, nature and God. Because only then does one feel that all is as it should be.

Love

2008-02-28T17:17:00.002+02:00

A 1939 Photograph of Peter Schiff Is Discovered, Ending a Decades-Old Mystery

On Jan. 6, 1944, Anne Frank wrote in her diary that her image of him was so vivid she didn't need a photograph to remember him.

Indeed, more than 60 years later, no photograph had been found of Anne Frank's childhood sweetheart, leaving hundreds of readers around the world curious for a glimpse. But now, 81-year-old Earnst Michaelis has identified his dearest childhood friend, Peter Schiff, as the "Petel" or "Peter" from the diary … the mysterious boy who stole Anne Frank's heart.

Frank's Jewish family fled Nazi Germany in 1933 and settled in Amsterdam. During World War Two the Nazis occupied the Netherlands and began deporting Jews to the death camps in 1942, prompting the Frank family to go into hiding.

They lived in a secret annex in a canal-side house for more than two years before their hiding place was betrayed and the family sent to concentration camps.

Anne recorded her years in the attic hideaway in her diaries. A Dutch woman who helped the family found them in the annex after Anne's arrest and gave them to her father Otto who survived the Holocaust. They became famous around the world.

She writes in her diary: "I forgot that I haven't yet told you the story of my one true love."

"Peter was the ideal boy: tall, slim and good-looking, with a serious, quiet and intelligent face," Anne wrote of the 13-year-old she had fallen for in 1940 when she was just 11.

Negev Desert

2008-02-28T17:05:00.001+02:00

Beautiful footage of the Negev

Wednesday, 21 Adar I 5768

2008-02-27T19:36:00.002+02:00

Thank you everyone for the get well wishes. I will reply to all as soon as I can.

I was supposed to have my siblings over this weekend to give Catherine a break. I can handle Tiva but not Ben or the twins. Explaining it to them, especially Ben is difficult.

I have a temporary cast (its pink) as soon as the swelling goes down they will give me a new one. I asked about the walking cast, the doctor said it was a good thing and would stimulate further bone healing and consolidation. Since I am having trouble with the crutches due to the placement of my pacemaker (it pushes it up under my collar bone) I would love to get rid of those.

And once again I am not allowed to drive. I am beginning to think that I was not meant to own a vehicle.

I was looking forward to a weekend watching cartoons with the kids.

One Of My favorites

2008-02-27T06:19:00.002+02:00

Another Brooklyn boy. Born March 8, 1938. Graduated from Queens College 1961. Wrote and drew funny cards for Norcross. After dismissal for loudness and jocular attitude became a freelance gag cartoonist for the former "Mad Mag" guys who were then doing "Cracked". Moved on to doing cartoons for Playboy. Included in several "Best Of" Playboy anthologies. Fell in with the anti-Vietnam War folks and was actually elected delegate to the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago where, in spite of all the riots, was unable to get arrested. In 1971 moved to Israel, changed first name from Jerry to Yaakov, and in 1973 began drawing a daily editorial strip called Dry Bones. In 2003 the toon celebrated its 30th year in the Jerusalem Post. It has been reprinted or quoted by the NY Times, Time Mag, LA Times, CBS, AP, etc.
Forbes Mag said about Kirschen: "In the tradition of Nast, Herblock, and Mauldin."

Once They Were Kings

2008-02-26T18:24:00.002+02:00

“Once they were kings. A half million strong, they matched their faith with fervor and out-matched the Moslem and Christian tribesmen around them to rule the mountain highlands around Lake Tana. They called themselves Beta Israel—the house of Israel—and used the Torah to guide their prayers and memories of the heights of Jerusalem as they lived in their thatched huts in Ethiopia.

But their neighbors called them Falashas—the alien ones, the invaders. And even three hundred years of rule, even the black features that matched those of all the people around them did not make the Jews of Ethiopia secure governors of their destiny in Africa”

Israel's Law of Return (1950) allows Jews and those with Jewish parents or grandparents, and spouses of the aforementioned, to settle in Israel and gain citizenship. Under its provisions, more than 90,000 people, over 85% of the Ethiopian Jewish community, have emigrated to Israel, most notably during Operation Moses (1984) and Operation Solomon (1991). The Israeli government mounted rescue operations for migration when civil war and famine threatened populations within Ethiopia.

The Israeli government officially accepted the Bete Israel as Jews in 1975. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin obtained clear rulings from Chief Sefardi Rabbi Ovadia Yosef that they were legitimate descendants of the lost tribes. They were, however, required to undergo pro forma Jewish conversions to Judaism, as is done in all cases of doubt, however slight.

Beginning in 1984, the Israeli-led Operation Moses began transporting Ethiopian Jews to Israel. In 1985 it came to an abrupt halt, leaving many of the Bete Israel still in Ethiopia. It was not until 1990 that the governments of Israel and Ethiopia came to an agreement to allow the remaining Bete Israel a chance to emigrate to Israel. In 1991, the political and economic stability of Ethiopia deteriorated as rebels mounted attacks against and eventually controlled the capital city of Addis Ababa. Worried about the fate of the Bete Israel during the transition period, the Israeli government along with several private groups prepared to continue covertly with the migration. After El Al obtained a special provision to fly on Shabbat (because of the danger to life), on Friday, May 24, Operation Solomon began. Over the course of 36 hours, a total of 34 El Al passenger planes, with their seats removed to maximize passenger capacity, flew 14,325 Ethiopian Jews non-stop to Israel.

At the height of the rescue, 19,000 people arrived in Israel from Ethiopia within 24 hours.

Individual Ethiopian Jews had lived in Eretz Yisrael prior to the establishment of the state. A youth group arrived in Israel in the 1950s to undergo training in Hebrew education and returned to Ethiopia to educate young Jews there. Also, Ethiopian Jews had been trickling into Israel prior to the 1970s. The numbers of such Ethiopian immigrants grew after the Israeli government officially recognized them in 1973 as Jews entitled to Israeli citizenship.

posted by Uri

Pictures of Israel

2008-02-26T04:20:00.000+02:00

Eilat in pictures

Dead Sea And Judean Desert

10 year old lost hand

2008-02-25T17:00:00.001+02:00

Sderot boy severely wounded in Qassam rocket attack

A ten-year-old boy was severely wounded by shrapnel when a Qassam rocket landed in the center of Sderot on Monday.

According to initial assessments, the boy was playing with his friends in a playground when the alarm sounded. As he was running to take cover the Qassam landed nearby and he was hit in the shoulder by shrapnel.

Magen David Adom, who evacuated the boy to Barzilai Hospital in Ashkelon, said that doctors may be forced to amputate part of his hand.

The Palestinians fired a volley of three Qassam rockets at the western Negev town.

posted by Marc

Ms Leah

2008-02-25T04:33:00.003+02:00

As some of you already know Leah had a little accident yesterday. The metal security door on her apartment closed on her foot breaking it in three places. Earlier in the day she had some furniture delivered and the furniture guys disconnected the pneumatic door closer. Leah expected the door to close slowly, instead it slammed on her foot, catching it between the two doors.
Because of the blood thinners she takes they felt staying over at the hospital was a good idea.
She is now home and has a nice PINK cast.

posted by Uri

Israel steps up border security

2008-02-25T03:17:00.005+02:00

Israel's military has strengthened positions along Gaza's border ahead of a demonstration against the months-long blockade of the territory.
Tens of thousands of Gazan women and children are expected to form a human chain stretching the length of the coastal enclave in Monday's protest.

Israel's Haaretz newspaper reported there are fears of casualties if the troops try to halt the demonstration.

Protest organisers say they have no intention of breaching the border.

"Israel will not intervene in demonstrations inside the Gaza Strip but it will ensure the defence of its territory and prevent any violation of its sovereign borders," said a joint statement released by Israeli Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and Defence Minister Ehud Barak.

"Israel will work to avoid a deterioration of the situation but declares unequivocally that Hamas must assume full responsibility if that happens," said the statement.

Day off school

Monday's demonstration has been organised by the Popular Anti-Siege Committee, a pro-Hamas group.

"We do not have intentions of approaching the fence, either in the north or the south," said protest organiser Jamal Khudary.

"We hope all the participants will abide by the instructions and we will try to prevent any violations."

Hamas has said it backs the demonstration but did not organise it.

Leah would want us to pray for the safety of the innocents, there will be children there.
Also for Mish, http://mish-understood.blogspot.com/ and Leah's Da who are deployed there.

Posted by Uri

Black History Month

2008-02-23T23:52:00.003+02:00

Some may ask why a Black history post on an Israeli blog? Because it is important, like the holocaust, never forget. Great contributions and achievements have been made by the African American population. Here are a few of my favorite quotes and a video featuring Israeli's own Miri Ben Ari.

Miri Ben-Ari featuring Dr. Martin Luther King

Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave,
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.
I rise
I rise
I rise.
Maya Angelou

Racism is not an excuse to not do the best you can.
Arthur Ashe

I used to want the words "She tried" on my tombstone. Now I want "She did it."
Katherine Dunham (1910-2006)

The question is not whether we can afford to invest in every child; it is whether we can afford not to.
Marian Wright Edelman

What happens to a dream deferred?
Does it dry up
like a raisin in the sun?
Langston Hughes (1902-1967)

I can accept failure. Everyone fails at something. But I can't accept not trying
Michael Jordan (1963-)

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King (1929-1968)

Anger, used, does not destroy. Hatred does.
Audre Lorde (1934-1992)

The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself—the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us—that's where it's at.
Jesse Owens (1913-1980)

Freedom is never given; it is won.
A. Philip Randolph (1889-1979)

posted by Marc

Two Great Video's

2008-02-23T19:11:00.000+02:00

One with Israeli Soldiers and the Original.

posted by Uri

For Goy Boy

2008-02-22T23:04:00.001+02:00

We are not pictures cut out of fashion magazines. ALL Israeli women are beautiful.

Time for a Little Good News

2008-02-22T22:02:00.001+02:00

Because G_d knows there is plenty of ban news.
10,000 shoppers descend on Sderot

Hundreds of cars headed to the rocket-hit town from meeting points in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa and Ra'anana.

Modi'in resident Ilan Cohen, who organized the initiative, told Army Radio of his excitement at seeing so many people head to the town.

"More than 10,000 people are coming to the town, there's going to be a huge celebration…I call on all Israelis, there is still time to come, we are not forgetting the people of Sderot," he said, adding, "Israeli citizens are their last hope."

Numerous organizations participated in the solidarity mission and several municipalities even provided buses for the journey to the Gaza belt.

Among the participants were dozens of social movement activists as well as members of student organizations, secular and religious communities and sports clubs. Ra'anana Mayor Nahum Hofree was also spotted among the shoppers.

Police and the Home From Command briefed the shoppers on emergency procedures in the event of a Kassam attack, and on Friday morning, as the they were making their way to Sderot, two Kassam rockets fired from Gaza landed in open areas near the town. No one was wounded and no damage was reported.

Also Friday, a rally in support of Sderot residents was due to take place in Tel Aviv. The rally was organized by Sapir College students and was set to be held in the city's Shenkin Street.

Nearest Book Meme

2008-02-22T17:30:00.000+02:00

I was tagged by thinkingthings

http://elmoscloset.blogspot.com/

Nearest Book Meme

The instructions are simple:

1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).
2. Open to p. 123.
3. Go down to the 5th sentence.
4. Type in the following 3 sentences.
5. Tag five people.

I am re-reading From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas L Friedman

The PLO had a bagpipe band in Beirut. I once heard it perform as part of an honor guard reception for Jesse Jackson when he came to visit Arafat in September of 1979. The bagpipers were Palestinians who had defected from the British- trained
Jordanian army, where they apparently acquired their musical knowledge from Scottish advisers.

I tag Mish, Tom, Niloufar, Goy Boy, and Bill

Little funny to go along with my shopping post

2008-02-21T21:18:00.001+02:00

Shopping in Israel

Grocery Shopping

2008-02-21T18:05:00.002+02:00

I did my first real grocery shopping today as a new home owner I needed everything.
Shopping in Israel isn't like the states, although we do have supermarkets. I prefer the flea market in Jaffa, East of the Clock Tower at foot of Old Jaffa there are some unique places to shop.

Sin of Omission

2008-02-20T21:17:00.000+02:00

This post is for my Da, I owe him an apology.
To say that my father is overprotective is an understatement. If he had his way I would still be living at home and would never age past ten years old.
In some ways I can relate, being ten and my father's daughter was an incredible time in both our lives. But I am no longer ten and I am his daughter.
He raised me to be an honest confident woman, to do what I feel is right no matter the obstacles. But he didn't raise me to lie or disrespect him.

Today I disappointed him, I lied to him and through some quirk of fate he found out. My Da reads this blog, he does not always agree with me but he respects my right to be an individual. He asks few things of me that I feel are unfair and I know that he treats me this way because he loves me.

So back to the lie and my apology.

When I was 15 he bought me my first lap top, along with that generous gift came a few rules. No playing Ever Quest past 10PM on a school night, no chat rooms and no myspace. So of course being a teenager and thinking I already knew everything the first thing I did was open a myspace account. Da never found out, until today. I rarely used the myspace account and never did anything to endanger myself or embarrass him, but that's not the point; I lied and in doing so I hurt him.

I have not been to the myspace account in a very long time, after opening it I quickly lost interest. Today I received an email from myspace in spanish? Somehow my myspace account was moved to their spanish server. I thought it was a bit weird and made a twitter post about forgetting I had a myspace account and as you know my twitter posts show up on the left side of the blog where Da saw it. Busted.

So about an hour ago I got the "phone call". I apologised to him for lying, I have no excuse, I was wrong. I'm sure now he is wondering just what else I have lied about, and I don't blame him. All I can say is I am truly sorry Da

Oh and if you read the twitter posts like I told you to, I used the word "penis" yesterday when referring to spam. SORRY.

Simple and Beautiful

2008-02-19T21:50:00.000+02:00

A video work done in 2005 in Israel...Filmed from a window on the corner of the street