Rolling on the Grass with Sasha

Posted on: August 23rd, 2012

President Barack Obama was born on August 4, 1961, which means he just turned 51. Here he is sitting with his daughter Sasha during a barbecue with family and friends in celebration of his 49th birthday on the South Lawn of the White House. I turned 51 six years ago, almost seven years, really. My [...]

Captain Picard Visiting our Planet

Posted on: August 22nd, 2012

British actor Patrick Stewart, aka Captain Jean-Luc Picard, the finest captain of the Starship Enterprise ever, is seen here on a movie set on Jaffa Street in the center of Jerusalem. According to JTA, Stewart is playing a disgraced, eccentric British lord in a heist comedy titled “Hunting Elephants,” in which three Israeli senior citizens [...]

Elul in Kibbutz Chafetz Chayim, 1960

Posted on: August 21st, 2012

Elul is in the air. Saying Psalm 27 every morning (and afternoon – or evening, for Litvaks) brings on that sense of a new beginning waiting right around the corner. One thing I ask from God, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of God all the days of my [...]

Happy Hillary

Posted on: August 20th, 2012

The following rant represents only Mr. Yanover’s opinion and does not in any way reflect anything but Mr. Yanover’s opinion. In fact, anything written by Mr. Yanover reflects his own opinion, which a surprisingly small number of other people endorse, including several members of Mr. Yanover’s own family. Just thought you’d like to know. Now [...]

The King in Jerusalem

Posted on: August 19th, 2012

An Israeli Elvis impersonator preformed Saturday night in a restaurant near Jerusalem, in honor of the 35th anniversary of the King’s death. Elvis impersonators are divided into those who do the young king and those who depict him in his later years, when he let himself go. This one is decidedly of the latter category. [...]

LEGO My Brooklyn

Posted on: August 17th, 2012

Jonathan Lopes created a LEGO replica of Brooklyn, complete with the Fairway in Red Hook, the historic Williamsburg Savings Bank, and the A train. Jessica Dailey reported that Lopes, a native Brooklynite, began creating the urban scene four years ago by building an extensive train system. Now the landscape, spotted with various places throughout the [...]

Which Party Is to Blame for Droughts?

Posted on: August 16th, 2012

The hands in the photograph belong to President Barack Obama, who’s holding a few ears of corn during his tour of the McIntosh family farm in Missouri Valley, Iowa, which has been affected by the drought this season. The drought in America is causing a rise in the cost of food products everywhere, including Israel, [...]

Uncle Shmuel Wants You!

Posted on: August 15th, 2012

Among the 350 olim from the U.S. and Canada who arrived at Ben Gurion Airport on Tuesday with Nefesh Be Nefesh, there were 127 young adults who will enlist in the IDF. In fact, they came already dressed in their own uniform. Sort of. When the Messiah arrives, we’ll probably be running hundreds of these [...]

Black Eyed Pea at the Wailing Wall

Posted on: August 14th, 2012

Allan Pineda Lindo, Jr., better known as apl.de.ap (pronounced “Apple D Ap”), is a Filipino-American rapper, record producer, and drummer, best known as member of the Grammy Award-winning group The Black Eyed Peas. Apl.de.ap is a frequent visitor to the Holy Land. Here he is at the Wall yesterday, Monday August 13, 2012. Note the [...]

Go Jump in the Jordan River

Posted on: August 13th, 2012

When you read about the Jordan River in the Bible you easily imagine a massive body of water that crossing it takes a bridge or a miracle (Joshua 3). But when you look at today’s Jordan River, even way up north near its source, you have to conclude that this river had to a have [...]

Is Barack Giving the Priestly Blessing?

Posted on: August 12th, 2012

OK, you be the judge: this is an official White House image of President Barack Obama talking with patrons during a stop at Lechonera El Barrio restaurant in Orlando, Fla., Aug. 2, 2012. To the untrained eye it’s just another press-the-flesh kind of thing, nothing special. Except, what’s the president doing with his right hand? [...]

Everything You Wanted to Know about the Mitzvah Tantz

Posted on: August 10th, 2012

Hundreds of Hasidic Jews on Thursday attended the wedding of the grandson of the Toldos Avrohom Yitzchok Rebbe in Bnei Brak, where this mitzvah dance was performed. The mitzvah tantz (mitzvah-dance) is the Hasidic custom of the men dancing with the bride on her wedding night, after the wedding feast. The bride stands perfectly still, [...]

Separate But Wet

Posted on: August 9th, 2012

Haredi guy floating in the men only beach of the Dead Sea. This so reminded me of the story of the man who can’t fall asleep because he can’t decide if he should sleep with his beard above or below the blanket. The answer here is clear: beard above the water. The Dead Sea seawater [...]

Jacques Rogge: Impartial to a Fault

Posted on: August 8th, 2012

This picture of IOC president Jacques Rogge—who refused to permit the minute of silence in commemoration of the 11 Israeli athletes murdered by Palestinian thugs in Munich—was published by Forbes in November of 2011. The caption below reads: President of the International Olympic Committee Jacques Rogge pauses during a press conference in the West Bank [...]

Age Appropriate

Posted on: August 7th, 2012

This young person stood with his banner at a rally on Monday against bombing of Iran, held in front of the Defense Ministry in Tel Aviv. It was the anniversary of the U.S.’ dropping the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. The child’s plea for freeing the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction was just the [...]

Balabasta Nutty Summer Festival

Posted on: August 6th, 2012

Just in time for its 100th birthday, the ever-evolving Machane Yehuda market has transformed itself once again, this time into one of Jerusalem’s hottest summer cultural venues. On Monday nights throughout August, the shuk hosts “Balabasta” (literally, “come to the shop-stall”), a centennial carnival of sorts, complete with street performances, a collaborative wall-of-origami project, live [...]

Only 5,000 Showed Up, One Caped

Posted on: August 5th, 2012

A mass rally that was supposed to combine Social justice activists with the ‘Suckers Camp’ proved once again that there’s such a thing as too many rallies. Last night the Tel Aviv square looked very sparsely populated, despite organizers’ promises/hopes. But whether or not this spells the end of this wave of rallies – the [...]

Using Donkeys to Kill Sacred Cows?

Posted on: August 3rd, 2012

Some 5,000 people marched in Jerusalem’s “Gay Pride” parade on Thursday, upsetting many residents and contributing very little to the spirit of tolerance. While in Tel-Aviv the parade enjoys massive local support, the insistence on conducting it in the holiest city in the world regularly upsets even liberal minded religious Jews. Some Orthodox Jewish men [...]

Windmill Gets a Facelift (Armlift?)

Posted on: August 2nd, 2012

Montefiore’s flour windmill is a landmark in Jerusalem, built in 1857 in the Mishkenot Sha’ananim neighborhood, then in Ottoman-ruled Palestine. Today the windmill serves as a small museum dedicated to the achievements of Moses Montefiore. On Wednesday, the new cupola and blades were lifted to the top of the windmill, after a six months international restoration [...]

Exposed

Posted on: August 1st, 2012

A drought in Israel in 1985 caused the water level in the Sea of Galilee to fall lower than usual. On January 24, 1986, the remains of an ancient boat were discovered. Archaeologists carefully extracted the remains and preserved them in a museum at Nof Ginosar, near Tiberias. A cooking pot and a lamp were [...]