Cover via Amazon I'm reading Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean: How a Generation of Swashbuckling Jews Carved Out an Empire in the New World in Their Quest for Treasure, Religious Freedom—and Revenge by Edward Kritzler. In the aftermath of the Spanish Inquisition, Jews, who were forced to emigrate … [Read more...]
Archives for 2009
Israeli Blogger’s Event with Jacob Share of Job Mob
December 28, 2009 by
When Jacob Share noticed that he had an easier time getting job interviews than his friends, he decided to publish his tips on a blog even though he barely knew what one was. After three years, his Job Mob is among the ten most popular job search blogs, with 1.5 million page views in 2009. Jacob … [Read more...]
Funny Things My Kids Said in 2009
December 27, 2009 by
Image via Wikipedia I've collected my 2009 Facebook "status messages" about my two youngest children, in order to inflict them all on you at once. My son is now 8 and my daughter nearly six. Here they are, starting in January. Daughter: "What color do white and white make? Light … [Read more...]
In Defense of “Fascist” Email List Moderators
December 25, 2009 by
Image by .mw via Flickr Jameel complained about the rejection of a public service message by moderators of the Modiin community email list. The message was from parents looking for other religious parents of autistic children interested in a residential program. The sender received the following … [Read more...]
Carnivals and Links with Mynah Bird
December 23, 2009 by
This bird was identified by Hanan on Facebook as a mynah and not native to these parts. I wrote about another invader here: A Sukkot for the Birds. For more pictures go to Leora's blog. She's hosting a Fall Holidays Edition of JPix, the Jewish blog photography carnival. Fruma Sara hosted … [Read more...]
Toddlers and Weight Gain
December 15, 2009 by
Last week I posted about a child put in foster care because the parents refused to follow medical advice to fatten him up with junk food. When experts also failed to increase his weight, the authorities admitted that the parents weren't the problem and the family was reunited. Over the years I've … [Read more...]
Why I Don’t Like Sufganiyot
December 13, 2009 by
Bloggers, like all writers, can't always choose their subject. Sometimes a subject chooses you. So while I would prefer to write a light, meaningful or amusing post in honor of Chanukah, you will be reading (if you dare) about a rather heavy subject. I'm talking about Sufganiyot, the traditional … [Read more...]
Advice for Beginning Bloggers: Linking to Earlier Posts
December 8, 2009 by
This is part of a series, Advice for Beginning Bloggers. Blog Under Your Real Name. Linking to your old posts is called internal linking. Here are some tips for drawing readers back into your blog and increasing traffic. Why Include Internal Links? It helps long-time readers feel at home … [Read more...]
Links on Choosing Schools, Planets, Water and Carnivals
December 4, 2009 by
A guest poster at Life in Israel asks whether he should send his daughter to a charedi or a religious Zionist high school, and wonders why so many Zionist American immigrants choose charedi schools. I don't know that this is only true of Americans. Maya at How to Be Israeli cut her water bill in … [Read more...]
Review of 2009: Ten Best Comment Threads at A Mother in Israel
This is part of Daniel Scocco's Group Writing Project: 2009 in Review. I've compiled the most interesting comment threads since the beginning 2009. I left out many excellent posts where everyone agreed with me—below are the posts that inspired debate and discussion. A psychologist wrote about … [Read more...]