We got an advertising brochure for the large charity organization Kupat Hair, the City Fund, operating in haredi communities throughout Israel.
Normally they include stories of people who recover funds in the stock market/find the housekey/make the plane after promising to donate to Kupat Hair. Often the protagonists are (presumably wealthy) Americans or Europeans.
The front cover of this week’s issue shows a picture of Rabbi Chaim Kanievsky “praying for all of the children.” He’s praying that they will be accepted into the yeshiva that is best for them, and that they will pass the days of summer safely.
The next page describes the dangers of summer including newspapers, outings, and books, away from the spiritual protection of the yeshiva walls. They provide a form with spaces for the amount of your donation and the names of children. For sons, you can ask that they be accepted to yeshiva. (I understand that girls have a hard time getting into Seminar, but that must happen at a different time of year.) For sons and daughters, you can request that they pass the summer safely, both spiritually and physically. In the haredi world summer vacation for boys lasts for three weeks, although some have shortened it to two.
On another page there’s a form where you can pay NIS 360 and jump the line to ask Rabbi Kanievsky your halachic question.
My kids were disturbed by the following story. When translating I tried to preserve the dramatic tension of Kupat Hair’s writer:
Opposite a Tough Policeman
Sabbath eve. In the car. Safed. M.B. holds the steering wheel with reliable hands and careens quickly through the ancient alleys.
All drivers can tell you of that moment. [???] The unpleasant surprise. When suddenly after an unexpected curve, a police car waits with a flashing blue light and two haughty and cold-faced policemen blocking your way and requesting you to stop.The policeman signals to M. to open the car window. Their equipment proves that the car was traveling at 130 kilometers an hour. The second policeman points coldly to the sign on the other side of the road: “Up to 80 kilometers per hour,” it says clearly and very [very!] sharply.
“First I am cancelling your license for 30 days! You won’t escape trial. You’ll get a summons to come in a month and a half. You traveled 50 kilometers per hour over the speed limit. Pass your license through the window, please.”
M. is very tense. He gives the policeman the documents, and finds himself promising: “Master of the Universe, I donate NIS 36 to Kupat Hair. Just let this story end well.”
What would you say if you had seen this with your own eyes? The policeman, who had promised a moment before to withdraw the license, leans toward the window of the car. “Shabbat shalom,” he says. He returns the license to M. and signals to him to continue driving. No details. No tickets. No court. No license cancellation. Just NIS 36. [A bargain by any standard.]
The car glides forward, a confounded driver holding the wheel, as he hurries to stop in the nearest parking spot to call from Safed to Kupat Hair Bnei Brak. [Presumably he would need to donate again if he wants to call while driving.]
That’s it. No promise to drive more carefully, no remorse, no lesson to others about safe driving. How ironic that they just warned about the dangers of car accidents during the summer months.
In the next issue we can expect to see the following message:
“I hit three children, rachmana letzlan (God should save us), whose parents did not donate to Kupat Hair. Next time I’ll donate before stepping into the car.”
Related:
This appeared on Rabbi Yehonatan Chipman’s blog today:
July 29 2009. My infant grandson must undergo a major life-saving medical procedure—bone-marrow transplant—in the coming days, and there is urgent need for blood donations, from which short-lived white blood cells will be extracted. Healthy donors with types A+, A-, O+ and O- are asked to report in person at the Blood Bank at Beilinson Hospital in Petah Tikvah: Sun-Thurs: 8 am – 7pm; Fri: 8 am – 1 pm. The initial visit is to give a blood sample for screening and testing; those found suitable will be asked to return one evening for an injection to stimulate production of white blood cells, and will return the following morning. Important: please tell the nurse on duty that the blood is for Erez Chipman.
For further information, please call the Blood Bank at Beilinson, 03-937-7023; Sivan, the contact person on behalf of the family, 054-467-6144; Ika, Erez’s father, 054-536-6101. Unfortunately, for technical-administrative reasons all samples and blood donations must be made at Beilinson; my apologies to all my Jerusalem friends for the inconvenience, and my deepest thanks in advance to all those who make the effort to contribute.
Please forward this message to anyone you know who can help.
Tonight Jews commemorate the destruction of the First and Second Temples in Jerusalem. We observe all mourning rituals, and fast from before sunset on Wednesday until after dark on Thursday.
Here are two posts from previous years on breastfeeding and fasting:
Fasting on Tisha B’Av for Breastfeeding and Pregnant Women
A Radical Ruling: Fasting on Yom Kippur for Pregnant and Breastfeeding Women. This post post contains important tips on getting through the fast.
Water-Saving Showerhead
Many Israelis are distressed to realize that they will be paying a lot of tax on excess water, maybe several hundred shekel a month. In my last post on the water crisis in Israel, I asked readers for suggestions. I’m going to compile the replies here, and add a few comments of my own.
The standard allocation for each family should be more than enough for a family’s normal washing, cooking, and laundry needs. Every drop counts, and saving water saves you money on the water, the sewage, and wear and tear on your water heater even if it’s solar. I doubt that a few long showers by teens would be enough to make a difference, but ever drop counts. If you are way over the limit I think that one of these is the most likely cause:
I took a look at my bill, and noticed that this billing period was about 71, but last one was 56 and the previous 53, and all previous between 43 and 53.
I called the water collection company (my local municipal gviah). The clerk suggested that I check for leaks by turning off all of the faucets, then see if the water meter is spinning. If it is spinning, there is probably a leak.
The clerk went on to say that if I have a leak, the plumber should give a receipt, which I could send to the water bill appeals committee (I kid you not) and I might get a refund!
Well, all that is exactly what happened! I faxed a letter with the gist of what I wrote here along with the receipt, and today they called and said I would be getting an NIS 120 refund! (I think this is how much the 10 cubic meters a month would cost at the lowest price.)
Whatever – the heightened awareness of noticing any movement on the tiny gear of my water meter (a full revolution is one liter, I think) and realizing that you can get money back that easily, and all these water saving tips, were all worth it.
Bottom line – always submit plumber bills to the Gviah – what have you got to lose?
I heard of several people who discovered leaks after being notified by the water company that their usage had shot up suddenly.
People object to the tax claiming that the government is a big water waster, the tax money should go to solve the crisis and not to the government, and that the agricultural and industrial sectors are to blame for the crisis. While these objections have a basis at the end of the day our country’s water is a precious resource and we have a responsibility to use as little as we can.
This is the Way We Wash the Floor
Elana Sztokman’s response to Yael Mishali contains a beautiful description of motherhood.
Sztokman then reports on the Kolech discussion of birth control that offended Mishali:
Petrekovsky described severe mental and emotional anguish that results from all of this reproductive pressure. It should be obvious. The numbers are hard to come by, but it is clear that the system is going to eventually crash. Petrekovsky talked about her fear that many will leave religion. [MiI: Emphasis mine.] We have no statistics whatsoever on women leaving religion because all the studies on the “datlash” (formerly religious) phenomenon in Israel were done on men. Shraga Fisherman’s well-known Noar Ha-Kipot Hazrukot (Youth of the Strewn Skullcaps) research study about the 20-25% of religious youth leaving religion is all about men and not women (hence the title).
I know many women who have raised large families, and to me they seem as frum as ever if not more so. But I am intrigued. Is there anything to this concern? Do you know any mothers of many who have left yiddishkeit?
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