On Trusting the President

Posted on: March 4th, 2013

The caption below this image on the White House website reads: President Barack Obama talks on the phone with President Vladimir Putin of Russia in the Oval Office, March 1, 2013. National Security Advisor Tom Donilon and Deputy National Security Advisor Tony Blinken listen at right. The question is, of course, how do we know [...]

Jerusalem of Ice

Posted on: March 3rd, 2013

From March 3rd through April 4th, Jerusalem’s Old Train Station compound is set to unveil a frosty version of the Holy City dubbed “Ice City,” under the framework of the first-ever Jerusalem International Ice Festival. The festival grounds include an ice bar, an acrobatics show, ice models of Jerusalem landmarks – from the Tower of [...]

Side by Side

Posted on: March 1st, 2013

I wonder what each of these gentlemen is thinking. The guy on the right might be thinking: “Of all days, today she had to put my long pants in the wash.” The guy on the left might be thinking: “Man, it’s hot today.” I’m just saying…

Gaza Batfish Massacre

Posted on: February 28th, 2013

From Ma’an: Batfish return to Gaza shore Fishermen say the locally rare batfish stingray is making a comeback in the waters off the coast of Gaza. For the first time in five years, fishermen say they are catching the rays by the hundreds. The batfish ray takes a triangular shape with large wings — some [...]

President’s Travels

Posted on: February 27th, 2013

This is the president’s plane Air Force One waiting to pick him up from Joint Base Andrews, Md, after a nice trip to Newport News, Va., Feb. 26, 2013. The president has gotten off his chopper and is now walking on the wet tarmac towards his plane. We’ve all glimpsed the insides of Air Force [...]

Subversive Purim

Posted on: February 26th, 2013

This image, circa 1940, from the Steinfeldt Photography Collection of the Jewish Historical Society of the Upper Midwest, is “Children in a Purim play at Temple Emmanuel in Duluth.” The text below the image describes Purim thusly: “Purim is a religious holiday that celebrates the defeat of Haman, the Persian minister who plotted the annihilation [...]

A Dark Purim

Posted on: February 25th, 2013

This is a picture of children at a Purim celebration in Wieliczka Ghetto, 1942 (source: Remember Jewish Klasno, Lednica, and Wieliczka – Genealogy Group). What did it feel like, to be reading about the failed plot to annihilate all the Jews, while outside a new, bigger and more ominous plot was raging? I can’t begin [...]

Megillah and Molotov Cocktails

Posted on: February 24th, 2013

As they have done for the past 21 years, on Saturday night some 50 Jewish men, women and children held evening prayer and read the Megillah at the Yad Yair outpost in the Talmonim bloc. Yad Yair was established in 1991, in memory of Dolev resident Yair Mendelson who was murdered there by Arab terrorists [...]

Not a Flying Nun

Posted on: February 22nd, 2013

The Flying Hareidim

Hot Water Bottle?

Posted on: February 22nd, 2013

I get the kid on the left – he’s a king, he wears a crown. The kid in the middle is an Indian chief, hence the feathers. But what’s the kid on the left wearing on his head? I can tell from the Urim V’tumim board on his chest that he’s the High Priest. But [...]

It’s No Fish Tale

Posted on: February 21st, 2013

The Kineret is filling up beautifully from all the rain Israel has had over the winter. Apparently the fishing is good too. Can you identify what kind of fish, this fisherman has caught?

Dressing Up

Posted on: February 20th, 2013

Hareidi boys dress up in a costumes as part of the Purim Holiday tradition, at the “Talmud Torah Ohalei Menachem” school in the town of Beitar Illit in Gusg Etzion.

Dragons in Jerusalem

Posted on: February 19th, 2013

The International Ice Festival is opening up soon in Jerusalem. Among the displays are incredible sculptures by very talented Chinese artists.

God Wore a Mask

Posted on: February 18th, 2013

The info line at the Israeli Flash90 image service where I obtained this picture reads: “A child stands near a wall decorated with masks at her school which is preparing for the holiday of Purim.” I got the sneaking suspicion from the line above that it is the wall which is preparing for the holiday [...]

Mitzvah Tantz

Posted on: February 17th, 2013

February 15, 2013 - The granddaughter of the head Rabbi of the Hasidic dynasty of Pinsk-Karlin stands in the men’s section and dances the Mitzva Tantz (dance) during her wedding at a hall located in Beit Shemesh.

The Cool President

Posted on: February 15th, 2013

I’m not crazy about President Obama’s policy decisions, in fact, on a few of them I’m totally livid. I didn’t like it when he saved the banks instead of saving the American people and the American economy (saving banks didn’t do that). And I didn’t like it, I still don’t, when he sings the praises [...]

Yarmulke Grab

Posted on: February 14th, 2013

They came down to an intersection just off Route 1, the main highway between Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, burned tires and demonstrated against the demolition of six homes in Ma’ale Rehavam. Ma’ale Rehav’am is an Israeli settlement south of Bethlehem and northeast of Hebron. It was founded in 2001, after the assassination of Minister Rehavam [...]

Spartapuss

Posted on: February 13th, 2013

My daughter Yarden has been very productive with her drawing tablet. I’m very proud.

Smart Trees

Posted on: February 12th, 2013

The problem with the rain in areas that are dry most of the year, is that the water usually comes down all at once, creating flashfloods, and the soil hardens during the long dry period, preventing the rushing water from sinking in. The end result is that after a few days of hard rain, very [...]

Camouflage Talis

Posted on: February 11th, 2013

U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Yaakov Bindell, right, an Orthodox rabbi and chaplain with the 379th Expeditionary Air Wing, leads the service for deployed servicepersons, in Southwest Asia. Bindell is deployed from Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst in New Jersey – and he wears the coolest talis ever. And this is his Facebook page. Go say hi.