The Best Type of Shopping

I call it shopping with "fake" money or buying things for "free."

Sounds good, doesn't it?  How could anyone imagine anything better?  Free shopping.  That's better than collecting coupons form the newspapers or magazines.

During my high school teaching days I became a member of the "Irgun Morim," Teacher's Union, and we get a special "charge card" filled with a bit of money to be used only in certain stores (chains to be found all over the country.)  Also, my husband gets a type of "gift certificate" for holidays and his birthday, also good in certain stores.

Especially now, with money rather "tight" I use them to buy gifts and other items.  Of course, if I used them for food they'd be gone immediately.

Not all chains accept them and the list changes from year to year.  Hamashbir, Israel's big department store accepts them, which is convenient, especially for wedding gifts.  I'm sure I had bought things with them in Office Depot, so I went to the one in Malcha Mall yesterday.  My friend helped me pick out all sorts of things I needed.  We really spent a lot of time on it.  At the cash register, I was surprised when they refused the Irgun Morim one, so I pulled out the second type. That, too, was refused.  So I dumped everything and left.  I'm sure it wasn't pleasant for the staff, but I had no choice. 

My friend and I checked the hard to read list on the coupons and double-checked that Home Center was listed.  We went right next door to Home Center and found some of the exact same products for less money.  That's right, less.  And then we found some other things I had needed.  Within a very short time I bought almost everything on my list at very reasonable prices.  All I couldn't find were colored pens.  They let me pay with the Irgun Morim card and I managed to fit it all in my backpack.  Then I found some simple colored pens in Graphos.  They wouldn't take my "fake money," but considering that it would only cost me ns10, I paid cash. 

I hope to remember not to bother even walking into Office Depot.  That's right, even if they're on next year's lists.

Back From The "Dead"

I'm so excited!  I just discovered that one of my all-time favorite jbloggers has blogged again!  I have been in touch with her on facebook, so I know what's new with the family and all.  She and her husband had been extremely involved in the Jewish blog scene when we were all starting to establish ourselves as a special niche in the great world of blogging.

I'm referring to the one and only Baleboosteh.  Here's her post (click) in which she tells us all what's new with the family and some thoughts about blogging.

Bagel Blogger's artwork

Hakarat HaTov, giving recognition for the good someone has done...
It was the Baleboosteh and her husband who took my "hint" about the need for a picture blog carnival to showcase the fantastic pictures some jbloggers had been submitting to Havel Havelim.  They established JPIX.  Now it's run by Leora.  They were also very supportive of the Kosher Cooking Carnival.

Welcome back, Baleboosteh, we've missed you!

"Potted Vegetables," Always a Hit and Diet Friendly, Too

I don't think I've ever blogged my simple, basic vegetable recipe that gets cooked on a stove top.  It's really easy to make.  The key to its success is a good pot, preferably stainless steel and heavy, and of course with a cover.  It doesn't pay to get a light, cheap pot.  The food won't cook as well.

I'm going to just write what I brought to neighbors we were invited to on Erev Shabbat, Friday Night.  You can add many more vegetables.  Quantities are also very flexible.  This isn't a chemistry experiment.  It's only food.

• onion
• garlic
• carrots (smaller pieces than the squash/zuchini)
• squash/zuchini
• fresh pumpkin
• oil
• coarse pepper

Cut up the vegetables and put them in pot in the order listed; cover.  There's a reason for this. 

• The onion and garlic should cook first to impart the special flavor to all the vegetables.
• It takes longer for carrots to cook than squash, so they should be closer to the flames/heat.

Keep the flame/heat low.  And don't add water.  The vegetables have a large percentage of water, and if you cook them properly, that water will be released. 

When the vegetables are starting to get soft, turn off the heat and cover the pot with a heavy towel.  Leave for at least ten minutes, so the cooking will be completed.  Stir and serve.

A Fun and Simple Chanukah Game for The Entire Family

A number of years ago, I adapted a classic children's game of my youth, "pin the tail on the donkey" and made "pin the candle on the chanukiya."

We don't play it every year, but we've played it many times.  It does help when you have just the right amount of people attending the Chanukah party, but since you have to make your own pinning poster, you can be creative and flexible or use teams.

To make things more fun, creative and participatory, I've had the kids decorate all of the "candles."  That gives them something extra to do.  There's always a time at these family (or community) get-togethers when you want to keep the kids busy.

Yes, it's time to plan your Chanukah events.  We're making progress, B"H, on ours.

Matisyahu's Beard Shaving, Does The Beard Make The Jew?

Before

After

Here's his first official message about his decision to shave off his beard:

NOTE FROM MATISYAHU

This morning I posted a photo of myself on Twitter.

No more Chassidic reggae superstar.

Sorry folks, all you get is me…no alias. When I started becoming religious 10 years ago it was a very natural and organic process. It was my choice. My journey to discover my roots and explore Jewish spirituality—not through books but through real life. At a certain point I felt the need to submit to a higher level of religiosity…to move away from my intuition and to accept an ultimate truth. I felt that in order to become a good person I needed rules—lots of them—or else I would somehow fall apart. I am reclaiming myself. Trusting my goodness and my divine mission.

Get ready for an amazing year filled with music of rebirth. And for those concerned with my naked face, don’t worry…you haven’t seen the last of my facial hair.

- Matisyahu

In all honesty, one doesn't need the chassidic garb and look to be a true Torah observant Jew.  I'm not one of those who considers chareidim and chassidim to be more authentic, religious and Torah observant than those of us who consider/label ourselves דתי dati religious, or Orthodox by Jewish American terminology.

Most of us are lucky; the main audience for our religious transformations and observances are just G-d and a few close friends and family.  That can be problematic enough.  But for a celebrity, who had davka been marketed as "Chassidic reggae superstar," there's absolutely no privacy.  Matisyahu runs a very serious professional risk by changing his unique and successful image.  Will his voice be enough to keep him a "superstar" without the added "gimmicks" of the full beard, flying payot and long coat?

Judaism recognizes the fact that we're never spiritually static.  That's why we're supposed to be in constant teshuva, repentance and introspection.

It would be easy to be nasty, cynical and sarcastic about Matisyahu's new look, but I'd rather not be.  Obviously he's a thinking person who has a lot to deal with.  His dialogues with G-d are painfully public.  May G-d give him and his family the strength and wisdom to cope.

Here's a video interview, post-shave.  hat tip Frum Satire

Busy Family

Gone are the days when all my kids lived at home and I could just decide what we were going to do and when.  For the past few days, we've been trying to find one night, just one night during the eight day Chanukah holiday when we're all free and can celebrate together.

I want to see my kids (at least the Israeli ones) and all my grandkids together for a fun night.

Emails are flying fast and furious trying to figure out what to do and when.

Should we just pick any day even not Chanukah?

I My Not Be Ready For Chanukah Yet, But...

Everyday there seems to be another Chanukah song/performance/video up on youtube to watch and share around.  I must admit that some just seem "the same."  I found the Macabeats boring, but I love the scenery in the Light Up the Night - Fountainheads Hanukkah, Ein Prat Academy, Israel.



The music may be boring, because almost all of those I've seen have an element of "electric music," which I absolutely hate. My nature is kinesthetic, former (once one always one to be exact) dancer, and my body just doesn't react well to the much too regular mechanical "beat." I don't feel the energy I feel when all of the instrumentals come from live people.

ps Am I the only one who is turned off by those sounds?

No More Free Ride!

I've been blogging about the Jerusalem Trolley aka Light Rail for quite a while.  My first attempt to pay was a comic disaster.  But since then, very luckily, I learned how to flash my Rav-Kav card at the "paying machine," which is very lucky for me.  Most of my subsequent trips included inspections.

The inspectors are usually very nice and explain how it all works to the puzzled passengers.

The next challenge will be learning new Jerusalem bus routes, most probably as of January 1, 2012.

Coffee Out KOSHER, Keep it Simple and Don't Get Comfortable

As longtime readers and facebook friends know well, I love my coffee.  For health "preservation" reasons, I generally restrict my coffee drinking to early morning before leaving home, but there are times when I do have to, or allow myself to, drink coffee out.  Here in Israel finding a kosher place isn't a major problem, but since coffee is my antidote to jetlag when abroad, I have to think more than twice before ordering.

The OU posted a simple to follow guide to buying/drinking coffee when there isn't a kosher coffee place available.  Simply put, just keep the coffee simple, not the fancy flavored ones, and don't sit down to drink.  Take your disposable cup out with you.

The article is bilingual; there's a Hebrew version on the bottom.

Winter Green

Growing up in New York, seasonal colors were very different from what I see here in Israel, the HolyLand.  The summer was very green, decorated with flowers.  Then in the fall, some leaves changed color and fell.  Winter could be white and green and brown.

About twenty years ago I took a course to improve my Hebrew.  We were forced to read Hebrew, poems, literature and newspaper articles.  The teacher mocked the old Hebrew poems she gave us to read.  She pointed out that they were based on European climate and had nothing to do with the realities in our part of the world.

I think the poem mentioned summer's green and blooming flowers.  In the days that poem was written, Israelis didn't waste precious water on summer flowers and grass.  It's winter when we see green covering the ground, after it rains a few times.

The grass/weeds are getting longer.  Soon the bulbs will bloom.  The rain is a blessing, even though it can be annoying at times...

Learning Something New, To Be a Video News Photographer

I don't know if I'll really make a living from it, but our regional council announced that it was offering a "photography course," and I signed up.  I had absolutely no idea what it was aiming to teach, but since it was a night I don't work, and I'm always taking pictures, and there was a neighbor who could drive me, I signed up.  Oops, that's quite a convoluted sentence. Sorry

It ends up that there's a newish news agency Tatzpit that wants "raw material" from hashetach, the field, and they figured that people like me can contribute.  It ends up that they want more video than stills, so we're getting a few hours of training.

I have learned some tips; so it's not a waste.  There's still a session or two until the course is finished. 

You're Not Going To Believe This One, Totally True and Happened to Me!

The other night at work at Yafiz, Sha'ar Binyamin, a young woman came up to me:

"You look familiar."

I looked at her.  She didn't look at all familiar, but recognizing people isn't one of my talents.  And being my age, with a handful of kids and having worked at so many places, I've been in contact with more people than even the most brilliant could ever remember.

"Are you ---'s mother?"
"Yes, where did you know her from?"

--- is forty years old, so she, too, has lived "many lives," gone to various schools etc.  She is of the first graduating class of the Beit El elementary school, so I guessed that could be their common history.

"We went to gan (nursery school) together."

Well, that daughter only went to gan  in Israel one year, when she was three years old.  The following year we went on shlichut  to London and worked to promote the Betar Zionist Youth Organization.  Do the math.  Yes, that means that she saw the young, mid-twenties me, in today's senior discount me!  That's something!  Even if she had some visual memories of how I looked after we came back to Bayit v'Gan, Jerusalem from London, you must remember that we're in Shiloh for thirty years already. 

How can anyone connect those two images?  I'm fatter, and I've aged!

Getting Ready for Chanukah With Aish's "Jewish Rock of Ages"

The lead singer is Chanan Elias whose performance reminds me of his unforgettable "Rocking the Boat" (Guys and Dolls) I saw close to ten years ago in Jerusalem.  He was as good as or better than Stubby Kaye in the movie.



Here's another Chanuka special.



I guess it's time to make plans for Chanuka and figure out what to buy the kiddies...

Who Says Tech Stuff is Only For The Young? I Figured Out Two New Contraptions in One Week!!

Since the kids no longer live with us, I'm the resident techie in the house, but I generally avoid trying something new. 

Decades ago, I used to have a rule before using any new appliance, whether blender, stove etc to always thoroughly read all instructions, warnings and more.  I wouldn't turn anything on until I could pass a test.  In recent years, I've stopped doing it.  I rarely even glance at the instruction sheets.  There are three basic reasons. 

• One is that I no longer understand what's written in those booklets or multi-lingual, when lucky, sheets of paper.
• Two is that many high-tech things have "menus" that pop up displaying what to do, or the buttons on the machines are pretty simple, simpler than the written instructions.
• Three is that machines are so complicated there's no way to memorize what to do.  It's best to just "guess" and get used to it.  I think it's called being an "intuitive" user, using intuition, rather than actual knowledge.

I've had a collection of appliances to "plug in" and get to know.  They've been sitting around collecting dust.  We haven't watched a DVD for ages, ever since ours died, so we bought one in the duty free at the airport late June on our way to NY.  There's also a new modem and a second-hand printer/fax/scanner.  A couple of weeks ago, my husband was given one of those "media-listening devices" by someone after he led them on a tour.  I claimed it as mine, since he had one which he got as a present for his 60th. 

As I wrote, they were all gathering dust, that is until I began trying to figure out the Q3.  I couldn't use the instructions, because they were in Korean only and couldn't find any on the internet, but I was determined.  Yes, I succeeded!  I can now listen to my Matan shiurim, all the free ones.

And encouraged by that success, I plugged in the DVD and must admit that it took just a few minutes.

There's more here waiting for me, but I have to go now.

Hah! Watch out kiddies!  I'm not dead yet!!!

Landtsmen and Great Music

There's a "game" called "Jewish Geography," in which strangers, neighbors etc. discover that they have some place in common.  A couple of weeks ago, I discovered by chance (of course) that a young man who owns or runs a business that supplies to Yafiz grew up near my childhood home, Bayside, NY, though a full generation later.  It has created a bond between us.  Davka, also because of that neighborhood, I am also a landtsman with someone who married our son-in-law's cousin.  Yes, the new landtsman knows him, too.

At the NGO Monitor's book-launching this week at the Begin Center, we were treated to some great music, because Prof. Alan Dershowitz and Bernie Marinbach are landtsmen.

Listen:

Being a Good Law-Abiding Citizen, Paying for The Jerusalem Light-Rail

Last week I rode the Jerusalem Light-Rail for the last time for free.  Announcements were flashed that the free ride was ending, and from December 1, 2011, we'd have to pay.  Newspaper articles told that there would be assistants/guides to help us learn how to "insert" our "Rav-Kav" cards and fine those who hadn't paid the fare.



So, last night, when I got out of my ride at French Hill, Givat HaMivtar, I was all prepared to pay. With my trusty money-filled card I boarded the train.



Yes, you guessed it. It didn't fit in the slot. I tried all sorts of methods and angles and nothing worked, nothing at all. Was I going to be fined/ticketed?

Of course, this being Israel, I quickly got help.



Could it be that he hadn't paid? My unofficial helper didn't know what to do either.

Finally, at the next stop, I saw people entering and paying.



You just have to flash your card's symbol at the machine's symbol and it "clicks" as paid.

After I sat down across from a young woman, I mentioned how complicated the paying is until you're shown what to do.

"Pay? You don't have to pay. Isn't the train free?"

Call me a fri'yer, sucker, but I did pay. I wonder how many other train passengers still don't have their "Rav-Kav" cards and won't get them until they're caught... by the phantom staff that's supposed to be assisting and policing.

A Bit of Blog Visiting, Shavua Tov, Have a Great Week!

No, this isn't Havel Havelim, it's just my stroll through the jblogger lane...
Please be sure to visit all the blogs and send my regards...

photo by Mason Resnick

The one and only Cosmic X blogged from Jerusalem about the antisemitic attacks in HP, NJ.  Leora reported straight from Highland Park about it. *more in comments

ECI via Carl, don't believe Obama.  His pretty speeches about helping Israel are just empty words. The truth is the opposite.

A bit of poetic justice, I'd say.  Elder of Ziyon writes that Carlos Latuff is now being threatened by the Muslims.

I hope you're working up an appetite; here's what Jennifer in MamaLand planned on serving this Shabbat.

And if you like winter parties, contact Lady-Light, since she has lots of birthdays coming up.

There are other ways of keeping busy; ask the Bima Ima who not only is a mother of four, but she...

When I think "busy," I always think of my dear friend Sharon Katz who actually found some time to see me last week and give me a very impressive fantastic present, which is already hanging on my wall!  Sharon blogs and also edits/produces Voices Magazine.

Not long ago, Yaakov, creator of Dry Bones, mentioned that he was going to China.  Read about his new project.

Chaviva is of my youngest kids' generation, but her question about "ten years ago" or "when you were a senior in high school" is a question we can all answer, sort of.  I answered it on facebook:

I became a Zionist, and here I am. I also worked hard to become more religious, ditto. And (don't forget that I'm very old) there was the 6 Days War and I decided that it was important to live in the live in the liberated Jewish Lands, and I'm in Shiloh.

Not to blow my own horn, but since not all of you read my other blog, Shiloh Musings, I'd like to link my latest article about Tel Shiloh.  Many of us don't get turned on by praying at tombs and graves.  Shiloh is a Holy Place and has been for thousands of years.  It predates Jerusalem.  The Mishkan was here for almost four hundred years; that was before The Holy Temple was built.

Not too many people can keep up with Rafi, the runner and blogger.  Could one of his secrets for this energy be Shabbat?

Shavua Tov!

Have a Wonderful Week!!

Taking A Walk, Lots of Pictures

I don't get to walk enough recently.  I do have some mornings at home, but I'm usually too tired or too busy or both.  The other day it just felt like the right day to walk, the right thing to do.  But I didn't just feel like walking around the neighborhood.  That gets boring.  I do it a lot.  I wanted to walk across the street, keep going and walk to Shvut Rachel.  It's actually very close.  There's a road connecting us, but it's not paved.  There's a cute little caravan neighborhood with mostly small and young families there.

So, I called a friend who said she could walk with me, and we walked to Shvut Rachel and back.  Here are a few pictures.

Yes, the benches are a nice touch, but I doubt if there's much to watch in the basketball court.

Some of the gardens are very impressive, especially considering that caravans are considered temporary housing.  It certainly looks much nicer than my garden, and I'm not being modest.

This little street seems very well cared-for.

G-d willing with time and more rain, it will be full of wild flowers.

Always expect the "unexpected."
When we got back, we noticed that there was some gafitti in the "sports complex."

Frying Pan "Lentil Stew"

Here's one of my cooking "inventions."  I made a pretty quick "lentil stew" of sorts in a frying pan, a covered frying pan*.  I used those light brown lentils which cook the quickest.

• brown lentils
• onion
• carrot
• cabbage and/or squash/cauliflower etc
• water
• vegetable oil, whichever you use
• spices/salt/pepper according to taste, including a slice or two of fresh ginger

The first thing I did was check through the lentils, to make sure there weren't any "foreign objects."  Then I put them in the frying pan and added boiling water, covered, cooked until they began to get soft.  Then I added the vegetables, more boiling water and oil, as you see in the above picture.  I covered and cooked it all until the carrots and lentils were soft.  You may want to add the cabbage only later on in the cooking so it won't get over-cooked.

It really was delicious, filling and an economical and easy to make meal! 

You can be very flexible and creative with the vegetables.  I add onions and carrots to absolutely everything, but you don't have to if you don't like them or are forbidden to eat them.  You can also use cooked/left-over vegetables, but it you do, just add them once the lentils are just about finished.  Personally, I don't like over-cooked vegetables.

ps Serve with salad

*A covered frying pan is one of my absolute necessities when setting up a kitchen.  You can use them for everything!

"Hayo, Haya," Those Were The Days

היו היה "Hayo, Haya," Those Were The Days is the name of a bistro, a nice dairy restautrant in the back of the Clal Building, Agrippas Street, Jerusalem.  I had a late (for me) night snack there a few weeks ago with a couple of my kids.  It's adjacent to the shuq, the Machane Yehuda open market and a short walk from the center of town. 

I had already had dinner at home, so I just ordered some אדום adome "red*" vegetable soup, and my kids shared a techina salad and a large foccacia, which is like a tomato-less pizza.

We were all very happy with our orders.  The food was delicious.

*It's called an "orange" soup in most restaurants and cookbooks.