Free kids activities in Jerusalem

OK - two posts in two days is a bit too much to begin with right - but anyway...

As everyone (in the northern hemisphere) knows it is now the summer holidays. Fun times will be had by all - or else!

I have been trying to think of places to take my kids, or things to do with them that are fun, age appropriate (which is hard when the ages range between 12 and 1) and most importantly - free (or at least very cheap - vacation becomes expensive you know!)

This week we went to the Israel museum. It was really excellent! Usually we go to the science museum, because that is supposed to be child friendly, but it is not cheap, and too crowded and too complicated for the kids (usually). The Israel museum was really great. Everyone had something to see or do, it was unusual, exciting and most of all - free (for kids for the month of August - adults cost 42 shekel unless you pay with leumi card in which case you get a 21 shekel discount!)

Obviously they have the Dead Sea Scrolls there, which everyone knows about. Now they also have the model of the Second Temple (which used to be in the Holyland hotel) which is great preparation for Tisha B'av. There are so many other things there as well, plus they have special activities for children during the summer.

That was a day well spent (and my son went back the next day for more).

Another free thing, though not 'fun' (but appropriate for Tisha B'Av) is Yad Vashem. It is only for children over 10, and not a great laugh (obviously) but as you know it is really important to educate ourselves and our children about the holocaust.

Today my kids will check out the Old City and the tunnel tours. Apparently they are free as well (though I'm not convinced of that).

But what will we do next week? Any ideas? Please leave comments with your suggestions for kids activities for the summer.

JBlogger Convention

As you have probably noticed by now I haven't blogged in a long time. I always wondered how people could have a blog for many months or years and then just give up. I won't mention names, but we all know several bloggers who have disappeared from our rss feeds. Blogging used to give me such a buzz (though I'm not sure why) that I couldn't understand just giving it up.

Now it seems that I have done just that. At least temporarily. I still have many things that I want to write - not a week goes by that I don't say to myself 'I should blog about that', but somehow it never gets written. I don't have the time, but I never did, so that can't be the reason. I'm doing more writing in other places, so perhaps I don't feel the same need for self expression - I'm really not sure.

Anyway, I'm going to try and start again now to write a bit. The motivation is the First International Jewish Bloggers Convention – which should be exciting. Here - have a look at the badge: (I can't get it to display in the body of the blog, but you can see it on the sidebar if you scroll down slightly)

It is hosted by Nefesh B’Nefesh, and Powered by WebAds, so I can feel like a Zionist at the same time. (I never got one of their free flights - I made Aliya long before they were around, so I may as well enjoy their convention instead).

The theme of the convention is “Taking JBlogging to the Next Level”. And it is just round the corner from where I live (and begins at 5 in the afternoon, which is basically after work - just have to remember to daven mincha early) so it should be a lot of fun.

There will be great speakers (well, I know them as great writers, I hope they can speak) and tips on how to improve the blogs - and of course, most important, free food!

So I hope to see you all there. And hopefully that will inspire me to continue with the blogging.

Until next time ...

(BTW - For those of you who don't live around the corner and can't attend in person you can sign up to watch it live via the internet - pretty neat huh!)

Progressive Action Alliance

An anti Israel group in Texas have started something called '
Freeway Blogging
'. Instead of writing about why Israel is evil they have gone back the old fashioned way holding posters.

Freeway blogging means they stand on a highway overpass during rush hour and hold signs saying, among other things, "Israel Out of the Middle East" and "Palestinian Blood on Jewish Hands". These messages are not only anti-Zionist, but racist and anti-semitic as well.

If it is any consolation they are not only against Israel but also against the President and vice-President of the USA (it seems we are in good company). It seems more like a Pensioners Trip to Wimbledon (without the tennis, obviously) than any well reasoned, or sensible protest. For them Wednesdays is not about American Idol, but about "Israel out of Palestine, Stop Israeli Cruelty, No war with Iran". Apart from being stupid, it really doesn't sound like much fun if you ask me.

The good and clever people at
The Progressive Action Alliance
are confronting the challenge head on by trying to keep them off the web.

They have created an excellent and informative website
Progressive Action Alliance Houston
which explains that Israel has a right to exist and is not an appartheid state.

They have also sponsored bloggers (like me) to write about the good work that they do, and to provide links to them. They want to make sure that their web presence is much stronger than that of the loonies, and that they show up first on any google search.

Good luck to the Progressive Action Alliance (the ones on our side - not the pensioners with the signs). May they merit to revert the evil decree and show the world what a wonderful country Israel is.

Great review of Sefiros

And some criticism.

From Rabbi Yitzchok Adlerstein on Crosscurrents

It is very exciting to have such a wonderful review.

I would also like to take the chance to respond to his critism of the book. He writes:

I hope I am not being picky by pointing out one area that I would have treated differently. The book refers to sefiros, in part, as “a mystical revelation of G-d’s ‘character’….They show us different aspects of G-d’s personality as we perceive Him in the world.” It quite properly encloses the word “character” in quotes (although not the word “personality”), and goes on to caution that we can never use any “physical terms because He is completely beyond human comprehension. Words like ‘kindness’ or ‘strict justice’ are meaningless when applied to an eternal, unchanging Creator.” It tells the reader that sefiros are “not descriptions of G-d Himself, but are themselves part of His creation.”

I’m not sure how to understand that last sentence. Many will take it to mean, I believe, that sefiros don’t accurately describe G-d. Instead, they are approximations
of Him, using inexact, tentative human language which we understand to be a concession to our limitations. If this is true, however, then they do not have to be part of His creation. They are just labels and handles, and not part of anything.

Perhaps the last sentence was not written clearly (though having reread it many times I think it was), but it certainly does not mean what Rabbi Adlerstein thinks. Sefiros are not approximations or limited by human language. On the contrary, sefiros are defined by human language because they are how we perceive G-d in the world. They can be defined and examined minutely (as we have done in the book to a certain extent). Furthermore, in a sense (the kivayachol sense) they do describe G-d accurately. For the kabbalists (and certainly for the chasidim) the descriptions of G-d in this world are precise and accurate.

However, any words or language (or concepts or sefiros) only describe G-d as we perceive him from within the world. This is clear from the very beginning of the Etz Chaim where the Arizal tries to explain why G-d created the world (the Ramchal begins Derech Hashem in the same way). This question can only be answered from a post creation, human, viewpoint. It is clear that G-d exists outside of anything in the world, and there is nothing we can say about him at all. The only thing we have his the name (Hashem - the four letter name of G-d) which somehow describes His essence. Every other name of G-d is a description in human terms of how G-d relates to the world.

The Rambam (in Moreh Nevuchim) writes that we cannot ascribe any positive description to G-d. The kabbalists (and chasidim) do exactly the opposite and describe G-d, and His actions, in detail. R' Tzadok (in Machsheves Charutz and other places) explicitly argues on this point of the Rambam.

The Leshem (in Biurim p. 4 from memory) reconciles the two opinions by explaining that the Rambam is speaking before tzimtzum and the Arizal is speaking of G-d after the tzimtztum. Thus we are speaking about G-d, while knowing that this is only G-d 'as we can understand Him'.

There are very real differences between Rambam's understanding of G-d and the post-Arizal understanding. The most obvious question is when standing in prayer, who am I addressing?

Rabbi Adlerstein continues:

Rabbi Haber’s formulation contains an ironic element that altogether too many people do not notice. Using the word “personality” in reference to Hashem is double inaccurate. First, for the reason he notes himself. Second, because within the word “personality” is the word “person,” which HKBH decidedly isn’t.

Although G-d isn't a person, the Torah definitely describes Him in human terms. Descriptions of G-d's arm, hand, legs, mouth etc. describe G-d as a person. The sefiros describe the personality of that person. Of course, most people understand that both the Torah and the sefiros are talking in metaphorical language. Furthermore, it is the kabbalists who give meaning to these human terms and give precise meanings to these metaphors.

I very much thank Rabbi Adlerstien for his review, and definitly agree with his concluding paragraph:

I hope Rabbi Haber will forgive me for my obsessiveness. It has nothing to do with his fine work. I am increasingly concerned by the lack of theological sophistication in many people I meet. (Could it be related to the narrowing of scope of what people learn, with classical seforim like Moreh Nevuchim and Kuzari shunted to the side by even many serious Torah students?) Too often, I hear (and I have asked friends and mentors who concur) people speak about HKBH as if He were Superman with no vulnerability to Kryptonite. They use human language in regard to Him without appending the word kevayachol/ (as if it were) as people used to do. It gets worse. They make assumptions and predictions about His behavior on the basis of what is “logical” – as if we had any grasp at all of Divine logic (kevayachol!) There are recurring phrases I hear: “Hashem would never treat a person in such a manner; Hashem wouldn’t disappoint a person who did X; of course He would not say ‘No’ to a person who did Y; He wouldn’t produce anything positive through people like that.” I will be much relieved if readers all tell me that I am the only person who hears these things, and there is nothing to worry about!

We raise our children to think of G-d as a person, but instead of outgrowing such childishness, it is reinforced with every Jewish periodical and book which talks of hashgacha pratis miracles and such like. There are very few people who try to learn Moreh Nevuchim, and even fewer who understand it. Hashkafa has been replaced with short stories and pithy sayings. Unfortunately changing that attitude will take a lot more than one book.

Where's the bananas?

CNN are reporting on the Israeli safari park that has gone kosher for Pesach. It is really just an excuse to show orangutans eating matzah.




(If you can't see the video you can watch it here)

Now that you mention it I think I've been to a couple of seders like this before.

I suppose the Orangs don't have to worry about the custom of not eating matzah for 30 days before Pesach!

What I'm waiting for is the follow up clip of them drinking the four cups of wine and singing Ma Nishtana. That would be worth watching!