Can't Keep A Straight Face

So I was watching the news, and saw how when the Nobel Committee spokesperson announced that U.S. President Barack Hussein Obama won the Nobel Peace Prize, the people in the room couldn't believe it.  They all at the same time made gasping "Uhhh??" sounds.  In fact, I was waiting for someone to either yell out from the crowd, "You lie.", or maybe see someone throw a shoe at him.  I guess the Norwegians are too polite for that.

What really got me, was the un-named man in back and to the right of the screen.  Watch how he himself can't even keep a straight face when Obama's name is mentioned when first announced (18 - 23 seconds in), and then again, even more so, when announced again in English (36 seconds in).  I couldn't stop from cracking up watching him not being able to keep a straight face.

Kidnapped Soldier Alive, Now What?

Skeletal thin and almost barely audible, Gilad Shalit appeared before a Hamas terrorist's video camera and told all of us that his terrorist captors were treating him 'excellently'.  Yah, right.  (Please read news story that Arab teens would rather sit in Israeli jails than live with their own people.)  Gilad also states in the video that his biggest dream is to be freed.  I have to admit that I personally thought that Gilad was probably dead.  No sign of life for three years except for some claimed letter that he wrote.  No visits allowed by the Red Cross or UN and not even a telephone call - since he was kidnapped over three years ago.  But now we know.  And now we must act.

Here is the video tape of Gilad Shalit with a translation I copied and pasted for you here (with minor additions). 

Translation:

“Hello, this is Gilad, son of Noam and Aviva Shalit, brother of Hadas and Yoel, who lives in Mitzpe Hila. My ID number is 397029.  Today is Monday, the 14th of the 9th month (September) 2009.

“As you can see I am holding in my hands, today’s Falasteen (Palestine) newspaper of today, Sept. 14, 2009 published in Gaza.  (The camera zooms in to show paper's date.)

“I read the newspaper with the goal to find information about myself, and in hopes of reading about information of my release and my return home soon.

“I hope the current government headed by Benjamin Netanyahu doesn’t waste this opportunity to reach an agreement and as a result, allow me to finally fulfill my dream and be freed.

“I wish to send my well-wishes to my family and tell them that I love them and miss them greatly, and hope for the day I’ll see them again. Dad, Yoel, and Hadas, do you remember the day you arrived at my base in the Golan Heights, on  the date of December 31, 2005? We toured around the base and you took a picture of me on a Merkava tank and on one of the old tanks at the entrance to the base. Later we went to a restaurant in one of the Druze villages and on the way we took pictures on the side of the road, against the backdrop of the snowy Hermon Mountain.

“I want to tell you that I feel well in medical terms, and that the Mujahidin from the al-Qassam Brigades are treating me excellently. Thank you very much and goodbye.”   (Gilad gets up and shows the camera the paper he is holding with the date.)

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Well?  He's waiting for us.

What are we going to do?  Since we are not in the government and don't have any power to launch a rescue, the questions is what CAN we do?  One thing all of us CAN do is to pray for Gilad and do a  mitzvah (good deed) in his honor.  Perhaps this will tip the scales in his favor and show G-d that his nation cares and feels Gilad's and his family's pain, and that Gilad Shalit is not just the son of Noam and Aviva, but all of our's son.  It may not help on the earthly plane, but in the spiritual realm, it can move mountains.  Prayer is our most powerful weapon.  Let's use it, and let's additionally pray that our leadership stands strong and bold, and indeed launches a rescue mission, attack, or something, to bring our boy home.  We need to make the Hamas and their supporters suffer so much, that they will BEG US to take Shalit back, if we just stop (whatever it is we are doing to them that is making their lives unbearable - like they have been doing to Gilad, and the rest of the Israeli families, victims, that they have left in the wake of their terror). 

So, what part will you personally take in doing something positive for our son, Gilad?

My Husband is Leaving Me, Again!

-And he's taking the kids.  No amount of begging helped.  I am alone in the house, and the quiet is...  well, actually, it's not THAT quiet.  I hear giggling and my husband's low voice telling stories to my kids. You see, my husband left me - for the sukkah.  I usually stick to sleeping in the house.  I am too old for the 'outdoor adventure'. I've turned into an old fuddy-duddy, and hey, I earned it!   Anyway, I peer down from my upstairs bedroom window which is right next to, and above, the sukkah that we built for the Sukkot holiday. If I look out my bedroom window, through the schach and palm branch roof of the sukkah, I can see slits of light from inside there shining through.  I try to peer and see the kids inside, lying in sleeping bags near each other and having a blast with their dad!

Our sukkah (2007) . Notice the green grass and our back yard's rock wall with a small water fall in the back.  Old torn couches were brought in against the temporary wooden wall of the sukkah. My kids placed their mattresses on the grass inside our sukkah, and the table and plastic chairs will be pushed towards the other wall to make room for a few more sleeping bags.

I wonder what G-d thinks as he looks from above and sees His nation, His people, sleeping in sukkot all over the Land of Israel.  It must be a very beautiful site. 

This is the time of year that Jews go out to the sukkah to 'dwell'.  Many men and children sleep there as well, and sometimes us mothers do too.  My kids were ecstatic when I slept out there with them last year.  I decided to stop being a fuddy-duddy wimp and brave the mosquitos, but this year, there aren't so many of those pesty bloodsuckers in our area, so yippee!  However, I confess, my back likes my mattress and I appreciate having a nearby bathroom. And anyway, even ONE mosquito zzzzz-ing near my ear can drive me nuts.  I've become soft in my old age (sigh).

Nevertheless, on Sukkot our sukkah at night turns into a 'wall to wall' sleep hall, with mattresses and old torn couches we use outside, on the grass.  The kids think of it as an adventure.  My husband is just a little less enthusiastic than the kids.  He feels more spiritual sleeping under the stars.  G-d bless that man!

One of the customs we do on the Sukkot holiday is to participate in a 'sukkah hop'.  What is a sukkah hop you say?  It is where all the neighbors get together and hop from sukkah to sukkah.  Of course we don't really 'hop'.  What we do is make a list of whose sukkah we are going to go to, and at what time, and then stroll from one sukkah to the next, oo-ing and ah-ing and admiring the different way children have decorated their family's sukkah.  Everyone who hosts serves refreshments; coffee, tea or cold drinks, cakes, etc. and people can sit and say a bracha (a blessing) over these refreshments in the sukkah.  Then, as guests are sitting and eating, the host of the sukkah gives a 'dvar Torah' or a talk on the Torah. Usually guests stay for about 15-20 minutes and then together move on to the next neighbor's sukkah and the next 'dvar Torah'. It is a lovely time and we all get to see the different sukkot and the different decorations the children made, etc. 

So, in the spirit of the 'Festival of Booths', I thought I would host YOUR sukkah photos.  Send me one photo of your sukkah and, blog room permitting, I will post them up here.  I wish you all a happy and healthy new year, and a wonderful and warm Sukkot holiday!

First sukkah put up by new immigrants in Israel. Yeah!  Submitted by M from Jerusalem.