I was sitting with my friend, T. at the shiva for her father. "I want you to write about this," she says suddenly. "I don't know how to write. I know you'll write something poignant, with humor, like you always do." We've taken care of the humor, at least. Here is the story. T. made aliyah as a child with her family. After she married, she and her Israeli husband went to the US for schooling, and ended up staying for 16 years. They returned to Israel 8+ years ago. Every so often T., who is very careful with money, would lament that they never made it back to the US for a fun visit — it just never worked out (her DH went twice for business). Then one day a co-worker … [Read more...]
Emotional Deficits, Matchmaking, Advocacy and More
February 8, 2011 by 3 Comments
I hope you'll enjoy today's collection of links. My good friend Anne, famous for taking the Burka pictures that got me started on the topic of hyper-tzniut, has begun her own blog for Israel advocacy known as Anne's Opinions. Born in London, Anne has strong feelings about the British press. Ruti Mizrahi asks you to vote for her friend's project to help the homeless in Jerusalem. Ynet on the Taliban women. It looks like the veiled girls are drawing some attention from the authorities. The FDA approves a promising drug to prevent premature birth. Midwest Mama in Israel writes on feminism and marriage as part of Rivki's marriage series at Life in the Married Lane. Michele Borba … [Read more...]
Video: Tuned-Out by Technology
January 31, 2011 by 7 Comments
Call over your teens and pre-teens to watch this excellent video about Facebook and a "tuned-out" family. Even if you have limited Hebrew, you'll understand 90%. The scenes at the dinner table and at the end are especially good. It's produced by girls from the Lehave religious high school in Kedumim. My teen daughter saw it in school. They're teaching kids a lot about Facebook in school. When my seven-year-old daughter saw me on Facebook recently, she warned me about cyber-bullying and identity theft. The title, Kevalim Moderniim, means modern cables. In Hebrew, the word cables suggests being tied up in ropes. Of course, as soon as I watched it I shared it on … [Read more...]
Memories of A Bathing Suit
April 9, 2010 by 9 Comments
At an engagement party in another town I ran into E., an old friend from camp. We started chatting about Facebook. E., who was more into camp than I was, had used it to find other camp friends. I tried to explain to E. why I started using Facebook. Staying in touch with old friends is more important when you move to a place where you don't know anyone. The only person in my town that I knew from before was my husband's aunt, whom I'd met approximately twice. I'm good at making new friends, but it's tough when no one knows your history, your family, or your childhood home. You can't explain all that in a few minutes so people end up with misconceptions about you. As you build close … [Read more...]
Funny Things My Kids Said in 2009
December 27, 2009 by 12 Comments
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 white?" Daughter kept asking whether we were going to lick the liqueur at the Purim seudah. Daughter: "Don't touch my socks. I've worn them for a few days." Son wondered whether you have to make a bracha (blessing) on lightning when you see Harry Potter's scar. Me to son: It looks like you got up on the wrong side of bed. Daughter: He did. I saw him. Son said the list of animals in the parsha … [Read more...]
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